Twelve hundred metres from the summit of the Alto da Malhão on Sunday, it looked as if the Paul Seixas hype train was about to reach hypersonic speeds.
The captions were being prepared – ‘The Next French Tour de France Winner’, ‘The New Tadej Pogačar‘ – and the latest cycling superstar was about to be officially anointed.
Seixas, after all, had been so impressive on the two previous GC days. He notched the first win of his career atop the Alto da Fóia on stage 2 with a performance that was sensational given his limited experience. With Ayuso glued to his wheel and João Almeida dangling off it – such was the sustained power – Seixas rode on the front for well over a kilometre. The fact he didn’t seem to ask for a turn was the sign of a cool head and a bucketload of confidence.
At the top, and after comfortably surviving a volley of Almeida accelerations, Seixas punched to the front at the perfect moment, giving himself the ability to dictate the lines through the twisty narrow roads to the finish. Ayuso arguably had more power and speed in the locker but he simply couldn’t find a way past.
“Paul was more intelligent than me,” Ayuso acknowledged at the finish, and it was an important comment.
The Spaniard is hardly an old hand, still just 23 years of age, but he has over four full years of…
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