PARIS —Teenage French starlet Paul Seixas sprinted to stage five victory at the Tour of the Basque country on Friday, edging out Florian Lipowitz to extend his overall lead.
The 19-year-old has dominated this week in northern Spain, winning three of the five stages, AFP reported.
Barring a disaster on Saturday, he will become the first Frenchman in 19 years to win a World Tour stage race.
He would be a year younger than the sport’s dominant star Tadej Pogacar was when he won the Tour of California in 2019, aged 20.
Javier Romo came third more than a minute down to complete the podium after a tough day of riding, which started and finished in Eibar, and featured eight categorised climbs over 176.2 kilometres.
Wearing the yellow leader’s jersey, Seixas triumphed once again in the race’s Queen stage, although he found it harder going than in his previous stage wins.
Seixas holds a 2min 30sec lead on second-placed Red Bull rider Lipowitz, while veteran Primoz Roglic dropped to third, 3min 40sec behind the leader.
“That was a hard stage. I said this morning that I wanted to maybe win it and today (my team-mates) did a great job,” said Seixas, who said he was not feeling his best.
“I tried to go all out in the climb, I was a bit dizzy, well not dizzy, but I was struggling a bit,” he continued.
“I had the feeling that maybe I couldn’t go all in… maybe because it was the end of the day and of course it was a hard stage…
“Then I felt the legs coming back after the downhill, with Florian we rode well until the finish. He was really strong today and also the other guys, today was a close battle and chapeau to everyone.”
Lipowitz attacked but Seixas went with him, leaving behind Romo and Roglic, others, behind with less than 30 kilometres to ride.
They went together all the way to the finish, with Seixas doing most of the work and Lipowitz tucking in behind on his wheel.
Seixas still had enough in the tank to come around the German and cross the line, pumping his fist in celebration.
The final stage on Saturday takes riders 135.4 kilometres from Antzuola to Bergara, featuring six climbs.
Seixas said he was not counting the race as won even though it will be tricky for Lipowitz or anyone else to overhaul him.
“Maybe I have the legs to win but (tomorrow) is another day and I have to be focussed and concentrate,” he added.
“Nothing is done for the moment. I know the other riders are really great riders, great opponents, and they are winners and they want to win.
“So tomorrow will be another day and they will still attack.”
