De Toro wins second mountain stage, Seixas loses time

On the final climb of the race’s second mountain stage, Del Toro—who will serve as a key domestique for Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France—proved to be the strongest rider. Just under two kilometers from the finish, he overtook Ayuso and built a 24-second lead. Norway’s Tobias Halland Johannessen finished third, 38 seconds behind.

Australian Luke Tuckwell successfully defended the leader’s jersey but now holds a lead of just 42 seconds over American Matteo Jorgensen. Del Toro, Ayuso, Johannessen, and top favorite Paul Seixas are also less than two minutes behind Tuckwell.

Seixas limited the damage on the 133.6-kilometer stage. After a crash, he made up a four-minute deficit thanks in part to the help of his Swiss Decathlon teammate Stefan Bissegger. On the difficult final climb, the 19-year-old then lacked the strength to keep up with the best. He finished seventh, 1:21 minutes behind.

On Sunday, the race formerly known as the Critérium du Dauphiné concludes with another mountain stage. The route runs 120 kilometers from Beaufort to Brison on the Plateau de Solaison, just under 50 kilometers from Geneva.