Feeling sorry for Del Toro. This kid has taken his mantle. Doesn't turn 20 until late September.
Del Toro and Seixas appear to have a lot in common. Both don't do lots of talking, especially about themselves, instead let their legs do the talking.
Paul Seixas impressed all he raced against today. He showed some good instincts, and unlike the other chase groups, Seixas knows how to pick the right wheels.
I also enjoyed watching his teenage brain start to smoke when Del Toro rode the right race, if you want to cross to Tadej, go for it, I won't help and you , you have to drag me with you. Paul finally settled down and started nibbling at Pogacar minutes, guy rode brilliantly. A couple of FDJ pushes actually helped Seixas more than his own team.
Without Jan Christen and Isaac Del Toro working so hard against Seixas succeeding the race might have been different, it was all UAE could do to cover every time the 19 jumped and when he was pushing hard to cross he looked great, big big motor.
I think all the ---mantle-- rivalry --stuff is just projection from pundits and people who don't know how busy these guys are... From what I see from Isaac and Paul nobody is living rent free in their heads and both look to be concentrating on getting better.
Pidcock made some complimentary comments about UAE but from what I saw, majority of the action was against Paul and other riders who made moves couldn't really sustain anything. Simmons, Jorgenson, Del Grosso, Gregoire, Vermeersch, Healy nobody could hold anything for very long. Del Toro's wheel was not the best today, but none of those other guys could keep it,