Isaac del Toro conquers Grand Colombier as Paul Seixas crashes, chases back, and concedes over a minute

Isaac del Toro delivered a commanding solo win on the 7th stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, attacking on the final climb of the Grand Colombier and crossing the line 24 seconds ahead of Juan Ayuso. The 22-year-old Mexican of UAE Emirates reeled in Ayuso's long-range attack inside the last 2 km after the Spaniard had gone clear 7 km from the summit.

Seixas crashes then mounts a wild chase

The stage was turned upside down early when French hope Paul Seixas crashed at km 32, shortly after the race had been neutralised for gravel on a descent. Television images were not available at the moment of the fall; organisers circulated a photo of the 19-year-old sitting in the grass with a torn suit and cuts to his elbows and knees. He remounted with a gap that ballooned to four minutes, and two Decathlon CMA CGM rouleurs, Stefan Bissegger and Dan Hoole, immediately dropped back to shepherd him. Over the next 65 km they clawed back the deficit, with reinforcements Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Nicolas Prodhomme and Léo Bisiaux taking over on the lower slopes of the Grand Colombier. Seixas reconnected with the yellow-jersey group 38 km from the finish, never having taken a single turn on the front.

It's really incredible, we closed a four-minute gap without help from anyone, without panicking. Paul stayed very, very calm. With Luke Rowe in the car, we'd never seen anything like it.

The final climb decides the stage

On the Grand Colombier (8.4 km at 10.2 %, with ramps of 14 %) Juan Ayuso launched a solo bid at the 7 km banner. Del Toro, who had lost a mountain domestique earlier, bridged across steadily and caught the Lidl-Trek leader with 1.7 km to go. He then powered away to win by 24 seconds. Tobias Halland Johannessen rounded out the stage podium.

General classification tightens before the finale

Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) was distanced early on the final climb but limited his losses and held the overall lead. He now tops the standings by 42 seconds over Matteo Jorgenson, with Del Toro third at 49 seconds and Ayuso fourth at 1:06. Seixas, awarded the day's combativity prize, slipped to sixth at 1:54, likely ending his bid for the overall title.

The 8th and final stage runs Sunday from Beaufort to Plateau de Solaison (Brison).