France put Worlds hopes on Seixas as teenage star gets heavyweight support

Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) will spearhead the French squad in the elite men’s road race at the 2026 UCI World Championships on 27 September in Montréal, Canada

The 19-year-old is set to line up for his second elite Worlds, having finished 13th on debut back in 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda.

This time around, Seixas will arrive at the Worlds having finished fourth in his Grand Tour debut at the Tour de France, before competing in both the GP Québec and Montréal. 

Seixas is aiming to break Karel Kaers’ record from 1934 as the youngest winner of the elite men’s road race, and the first French winner since the recently retired Julian Alaphilippe in Leuven in 2021.

Seixas will be supported in his quest by Decathlon teammates in Jordan Labrosse and Nicolas Prodhomme, who are both set to make their debut in the elite men’s road race. 

In addition, the French squad is set to include fellow debutant Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), as well as Bruno Armirail (Visma | Lease a Bike), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), and Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who all started the Vuelta a España, though the latter abandoned on stage 13.

The squad is rounded out by Louis Barré (Visma | Lease a Bike), although the 26-year-old suffered a setback on Thursday after a training crash left him with an injured wrist and ruled him out of the GP Québec on Friday.

L'Equipe reports that French national coach Thomas Voeckler has until noon on Saturday to submit an initial list of twelve names, including reserves if Barré can't race. The Visma rider is set to undergo another MRI scan later this Friday.

In addition to the road race, Seixas will feature in the time trial alongside Armirail. 

Meanwhile, the elite women's squad for the road race includes Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-Suez), Léa Curinier (FDJ United-Suez), Célia Gery (FDJ United-Suez), Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), Marie Le Net (FDJ United-Suez), Evita Muzic (FDJ United-Suez), and Maeva Squiban (UAE Team L'IMAD).