Hinault explains why he believes Seixas should ride the Giro in 2026

Liège-Bastogne-Liège is on the horizon, and Seixas is making his debut at La Doyenne. The question on most people's minds is how he will compare against Tadej Pogačar, who is targeting a third consecutive win and fourth in total at the race.

Hinault remains the only French male rider to win multiple editions of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, with the Badger victorious in 1977 and 1980.

Due to the rapid rise of Seixas, there will be plenty of speculation as to whether he will be the rider to match Hinault at not only Liège, but also become the first French male rider since Hinault in 1985 to win the Tour de France.

With Tadej Pogačar on the verge of a record-equalling fifth Tour title, and two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard also in the mix, Hinault remains unconvinced whether the Tour de France is the right option for Seixas this season as he looks to make his Grand Tour debut.

Hinault has suggested that the Giro d’Italia could be a better option, where Jonas Vingegaard is set to make his debut, as a gauge to find out how the Frenchman will cope with the length of a Grand Tour.

“Everyone says he should ride the Tour… I’m not convinced. If I were in his position, I would go and test myself in other races: at the Giro d’Italia, I would find myself up against Vingegaard, and that would give me an idea of my ability to last twenty-one days of racing,” said Hinault ahead of Liège in quotes collected by Cyclism’Actu.

“Because the only doubt we can have is about those twenty-one days.”

Hinault also acknowledged the pressure that comes with racing the Tour de France and the challenge of competing against Tadej Pogačar in what would be his first three-week race.

“And then to find yourself up against Pogacar for twenty-one days… he won’t give anything away,” said Hinault. “When you know his ability and his desire to win, and especially this year, with the aim of equalling the record of five Tours, you have to be careful.”

Despite his suggestion, Hinault doesn’t doubt that Seixas’ mindset is strong enough to want to compete against the best and the biggest races, and draw similarities to himself racing against Eddy Merckx.

“When I arrived at the start, I told myself: ‘He is like me. He is made of the same material, he has two legs, two arms, a head, and he uses them. I will do the same as him,'” said Hinault.

“And I think Paul has a bit of that. He does not say to himself: ‘The other one is stronger than me.’ He wants to fight him, and he will do it.”