'I just tried to be smart and wait until the last moment', Del Toro wins Grand Colombier summit as Ayuso rues early attack and bloodied Seixas fights back

Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG) won stage 7 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on the Grand Colombier, catching and dropping Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) on the final steep ramps of an 8.4km climb averaging 10.2%. Ayuso finished 24 seconds back, Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) was third at 38 seconds, and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike) crossed the line together at 41 seconds.

Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), who started the day in yellow, conceded 2:33 but retained the race lead by 42 seconds over Jorgenson. The 133.6km stage from La Bridoire featured 3,820m of climbing, with the Grand Colombier's opening 4km the most punishing stretch: gradients of 10.6%, 10.8%, 12.7% and 14.9% before any flattening.

Results

La Bridoire – Grand Colombier • Jun 13 • 133.6km

Stage ResultsGeneral Classification

Pos	Rider	Team	Time
🥇	Isaac del Toro Romero	UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRGUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG	3:41:41
🥈	Juan Ayuso Pesquera	LIDL-TREKLIDL-TREK	+0:24
🥉	Tobias Halland Johannessen	UNO-X MOBILITYUNO-X MOBILITY	+0:38
4	Matteo Jorgenson	TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKETEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE	+0:41
5	Cian Uijtdebroeks	MOVISTAR TEAMMOVISTAR TEAM	+0:41
6	Mattias Skjelmose Jennow Jensen	LIDL-TREKLIDL-TREK	+1:17
7	Paul Seixas	DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAMDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM	+1:21
8	Cristian Rodriguez Martin	XDS ASTANA TEAMXDS ASTANA TEAM	+2:29
9	Jose Felix Parra Cuerda	CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGACAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA	+2:31
10	Jan Castellon Ribalta	CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGACAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA	+2:33
11	Luke Tuckwell	RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHERED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE	+2:33
12	Léo Bisiaux	DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAMDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM	+2:56
13	Lennart Jasch	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAMTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	+3:07
14	Ben Tulett	TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKETEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE	+3:18
15	Alex Baudin	EF EDUCATION - EASYPOSTEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST	+4:31
16	Jordan Jegat	TOTALENERGIESTOTALENERGIES	+4:31
17	Guillaume Martin Guyonnet	GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITEDGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED	+4:31
18	Kévin Vauquelin	NETCOMPANY INEOSNETCOMPANY INEOS	+5:02
19	Lars Craps	LOTTO INTERMARCHÉLOTTO INTERMARCHÉ	+6:21
20	Georg Steinhauser	EF EDUCATION - EASYPOSTEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST	+6:25
21	Sam Maisonobe	COFIDISCOFIDIS	+6:38
22	Clément Berthet	GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITEDGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED	+7:03
23	Ramses Debruyne	ALPECIN-PREMIER TECHALPECIN-PREMIER TECH	+7:18
24	Kevin Vermaerke	UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRGUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG	+8:35
25	Pablo Torres Arias	UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRGUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG	+9:51
26	Simone Velasco	XDS ASTANA TEAMXDS ASTANA TEAM	+9:51
27	Harold Alfonso Tejada Canacue	XDS ASTANA TEAMXDS ASTANA TEAM	+9:51
28	Rudy Molard	GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITEDGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED	+10:21
29	Yannis Voisard	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAMTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	+12:09
30	Andreas Lorentz Kron	UNO-X MOBILITYUNO-X MOBILITY	+12:39
31	Torstein Træen	UNO-X MOBILITYUNO-X MOBILITY	+12:39
32	Lennard Kämna	LIDL-TREKLIDL-TREK	+12:39
33	Mathis le Berre	TOTALENERGIESTOTALENERGIES	+12:39
34	Carlos Verona Quintanilla	LIDL-TREKLIDL-TREK	+14:58
35	Valentin Paret Peintre	SOUDAL QUICK-STEPSOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+15:49
36	George Bennett	NSN CYCLING TEAMNSN CYCLING TEAM	+15:49
37	Vlad van Mechelen	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUSBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+15:49
38	Carlos Rodriguez Cano	NETCOMPANY INEOSNETCOMPANY INEOS	+17:23
39	Laurens de Plus	NETCOMPANY INEOSNETCOMPANY INEOS	+17:23
40	Quinn Simmons	LIDL-TREKLIDL-TREK	+17:23
41	Michel Heßmann	MOVISTAR TEAMMOVISTAR TEAM	+18:24
42	Robbe Dhondt	TEAM PICNIC POSTNLTEAM PICNIC POSTNL	+18:24
43	Bruno Armirail	TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKETEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE	+21:02
44	Pavel Sivakov	UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRGUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG	+21:02
45	Hugo Houle	ALPECIN-PREMIER TECHALPECIN-PREMIER TECH	+21:02
46	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TOTALENERGIESTOTALENERGIES	+21:02
47	Sergio Samitier Samitier	COFIDISCOFIDIS	+22:00
48	Matteo Vercher	TOTALENERGIESTOTALENERGIES	+22:22
49	Toms Skujins	LIDL-TREKLIDL-TREK	+25:07
50	Sean Quinn	EF EDUCATION - EASYPOSTEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST	+25:07
51	Maxim van Gils	RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHERED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE	+25:47
52	Gianni Vermeersch	RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHERED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE	+25:47
53	Joan Bou Company	CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGACAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA	+25:47
54	Pello Bilbao Lopez de Armentia	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUSBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+25:47
55	Geoffrey Bouchard	TOTALENERGIESTOTALENERGIES	+28:06
56	Nicolas Prodhomme	DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAMDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM	+28:06
57	Aurélien Paret Peintre	DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAMDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM	+28:06
58	Roland Thalmann	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAMTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	+28:06
59	Nicolas Breuillard	TOTALENERGIESTOTALENERGIES	+28:06
60	Quentin Pacher	GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITEDGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED	+28:06
61	Robin Donzé	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAMTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	+28:06
62	Lorenzo Fortunato	XDS ASTANA TEAMXDS ASTANA TEAM	+28:06
63	Clément Braz Afonso	GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITEDGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED	+28:06
64	Anders Skaarseth	UNO-X MOBILITYUNO-X MOBILITY	+28:06
65	Raul Garcia Pierna	MOVISTAR TEAMMOVISTAR TEAM	+30:17
66	Stefan Bissegger	DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAMDECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM	+33:23
67	Martin Bugge	UNO-X MOBILITYUNO-X MOBILITY	+33:23
68	Maxime Decomble	GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITEDGROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED	+33:23
69	Jacob Eriksson	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAMTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	+33:23
70	Anthon Charmig	UNO-X MOBILITYUNO-X MOBILITY	+33:23
71	Felix Engelhardt	TEAM JAYCO ALULATEAM JAYCO ALULA	+33:23
72	Valentin Ferron	COFIDISCOFIDIS	+33:23
73	Alessandro Covi	TEAM JAYCO ALULATEAM JAYCO ALULA	+33:23
74	Baptiste Veistroffer	LOTTO INTERMARCHÉLOTTO INTERMARCHÉ	+33:23
75	Sergi Darder Gari	CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGACAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA	+33:23
76	Mauri Vansevenant	SOUDAL QUICK-STEPSOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+33:23
77	Vito Braet	LOTTO INTERMARCHÉLOTTO INTERMARCHÉ	+33:23
78	Martin Svrček	SOUDAL QUICK-STEPSOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+33:23
79	Henri François Renard Haquin	TEAM PICNIC POSTNLTEAM PICNIC POSTNL	+33:23
80	Callum Thornley	RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHERED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE	+33:23
81	Dorian Godon	NETCOMPANY INEOSNETCOMPANY INEOS	+33:23
82	Nikias Arndt	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUSBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+33:23
83	Georg Zimmermann	LOTTO INTERMARCHÉLOTTO INTERMARCHÉ	+33:23
84	Max Walker	EF EDUCATION - EASYPOSTEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST	+33:23
85	James Alexander Knox	TEAM PICNIC POSTNLTEAM PICNIC POSTNL	+33:23
86	Matthew Fox	LOTTO INTERMARCHÉLOTTO INTERMARCHÉ	+33:23
87	Luke Durbridge	TEAM JAYCO ALULATEAM JAYCO ALULA	+33:33
88	Julien Bernard	LIDL-TREKLIDL-TREK	+33:46
89	Benoit Cosnefroy	UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRGUAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG	+34:16
90	Thibault Guernalec	TOTALENERGIESTOTALENERGIES	+34:16
91	Alastair Mackellar	EF EDUCATION - EASYPOSTEF EDUCATION - EASYPOST	+34:27
92	Edoardo Affini	TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKETEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE	+35:00
93	Matteo Trentin	TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAMTUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM	+35:00
94	Jasha Sütterlin	TEAM JAYCO ALULATEAM JAYCO ALULA	+35:00
95	Santiago Buitrago Sanchez	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUSBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+35:17
96	Henri Uhlig	ALPECIN-PREMIER TECHALPECIN-PREMIER TECH	+35:26
97	Hugo Hofstetter	NSN CYCLING TEAMNSN CYCLING TEAM	+35:32
98	Nadav Raisberg	NSN CYCLING TEAMNSN CYCLING TEAM	+35:36
99	Lennert Belmans	ALPECIN-PREMIER TECHALPECIN-PREMIER TECH	+35:53
100	Phil Bauhaus	BAHRAIN VICTORIOUSBAHRAIN VICTORIOUS	+36:22
101	Ethan Edward Hayter	SOUDAL QUICK-STEPSOUDAL QUICK-STEP	+36:29
102	Lucas Plapp	TEAM JAYCO ALULATEAM JAYCO ALULA	+36:29
103	Michael Gogl	ALPECIN-PREMIER TECHALPECIN-PREMIER TECH	+36:29
104	Bryan Coquard	COFIDISCOFIDIS	+37:29
105	Benjamin Thomas	COFIDISCOFIDIS	+37:29
106	Alex Diaz Alvarez	CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGACAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA	+37:50

Del Toro's patience, Ayuso's regret

Ayuso played his card early and launched clear almost right at the bottom of the climb and managed to hold off everyone except Del Toro. After the stage, the Spanish rider voiced his frustration after a tactical miscalculation.

"I'm just disappointed because I went obviously too far out, too early, and I threw away the win," Ayuso said in an interview with Cycling Pro Net. "My teammates deserved it today." Asked why he launched when he did, he said: "Because I'm stupid. No, I mean the pace was not super hard and then it was the hardest part and I thought, okay, on the wheel I'm not going to save much."

He showed he had the legs on the day and rode admirably after getting his teammates to set up the attack, and knew he had the legs. "That's why it's a bit hard, because I did have the legs today. My team rode amazing. They put me where I had to be and controlled all day."

Meanwhile, behind Ayuso's acceleration, Del Toro sat and waited before kicking on the final parts of the first steep section of the climb. He dropped all his remaining rivals and then set off after Ayuso. The Mexican champion took time to get energy back in the legs over a flatter part before pushing again as the slopes rose again. He caught Ayuso, attacked him and dropped him in a swift move. "I just tried to be smart and don't waste energy and try to do the move in the right moment," Del Toro said. "Sometimes you can regret, so I wait until the last moment."

Del Toro, who said earlier in the week he was not yet at 100%, framed the win as confirmation he is building towards the Tour de France. "It gives me some peace for my work in the Tour. I think I'm going in the right way."

Heat shapes the climb

Further back in the stage, Johannessen fought back from a bad day on stage 1 in the race to put in a superb ride and take third place despite struggling in the heat. "It was so hard and so warm," he said. "If you could manage the heat the best then you would have the best chance to do a good climb. I feel like I'm better and better in the heat."

The yellow jersey of Tuckwell lost 2:33 to Del Toro but managed to hold onto the jersey by 42 seconds over Jorgenson after limiting losses in a very mature and measured ride. "I just tried to ride on a tempo that I could do the whole way," he said. "I was struggling quite a lot in the middle few kilometres actually. I was thinking, 'Oh, this is going to be close.' But then once we came out with about 2km to go, I started to find my legs a little bit more and basically just went as hard as I could to the finish."

Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany-INEOS), who finished 18th at 5:02, was among the first to attack but paid for the effort. "I went into the red," he said. "I had something like heat stroke. I took time to come back and after that I knew I wasn't at 100%. My heart was blocked and so were my legs."

Seixas crashes, fights back

Paul Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM) crashed during a neutralised section caused by gravel on the road, sliding at around 70km/h and sustaining heavy abrasions. He was visibly bloodied on the final climb, with blood staining across his jersey, but fought back to finish seventh at 1:21.

"I misjudged a corner. I wanted to take the outside, I thought the rider wasn't coming fast enough, but I arrived much too fast," Seixas said. "I flew through the air. I slid like a toboggan on the road for 20, 30 metres. On dry tarmac, it doesn't feel good."

He said the worst damage was to his hands, which blistered despite wearing gloves, making it difficult to grip the handlebars or brake late in technical descents. His teammate Léo Bisiaux was the last rider to work for him on the final climb, his efforts brought Seixas back into the yellow jersey group before the final ascent.

"I started four minutes back. At that point I thought the race was over, I could go home," Seixas said. "But when you see all these guys sacrificing for you, you can't let them down. Today I didn't do it for me. I did it for the whole team."

Seixas said he intended to start stage 8. He holds the combativity prize but now sits further from the overall lead, with Tuckwell holding a 42-second advantage over Jorgenson heading into the final days.

Cover image credit: Gaetan Flamme