Brilliant Seixas crushes rivals in Itzulia stage 1 time trial

Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) romped his way to time trial victory on the opening stage of Itzulia Basque Country. 

The Frenchman was among the early starters in sunny Bilbao, and he set a blistering benchmark around the 13.8km course, with a time of 17:09, which nobody would be able to match for the rest of the day. 

The closest challenger was Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos Grenadiers), who finished 23 seconds behind Seixas, while Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) came home for third at 27 seconds behind the stage winner.

Meanwhile, Seixas gained significant time on some of the favourites for the GC. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) conceded 51 seconds to the stage winner. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) shipped 1:16 to Seixas on his return to racing after crashing out while leading at Paris-Nice.

This marks Seixas’ third victory of 2026, and in the process, he moves into the lead of a WorldTour stage race for the very first time in his professional career, and it’s likely to be the first of many considering his immense talent. 

For the third consecutive edition, the race kicked off with an individual time trial. It was the sunny setting of Bilbao that played host to the opening stage this year, and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) began his effort before the TV coverage kicked off, and the Slovenian star set an early benchmark with a time of 17:37. 

There was plenty of anticipation ahead of Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) beginning his effort, and the 19-year-old duly delivered on the hype, rocketing around the 13.9km, posting a new fastest time of 17:09.

Roglič’s teammate, Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) finished shortly after Seixas and was just a few seconds behind his Slovenian teammate, with a time of 17:42. 

The second-place position changed multiple times, with Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) finishing in 17:36, before Vauquelin slotted ahead in a time of 17:32, but Seixas’s time remained significantly ahead.

The final two riders who seemed most likely to challenge the time of Seixas, Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) and Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), were among the final five riders to roll off the start ramp.

Through the first intermediate checkpoint, Seixas was clear of both Del Toro and Ayuso, and the gap continued to expand as the kilometres ticked by. Ultimately, it would prove to be an emphatic victory for the teenage Frenchman, who illustrated that he will be a difficult rider to beat in the 2026 edition of Itzulia Basque Country.