'I didn't take enough risks' - Seixas disappointed despite sterling Algarve TT

It says something about Paul Seixas’ great expectations that he came away from the stage 3 time trial at the Volta ao Algarve nursing regrets about his performance. If we didn’t know it already, this is no ordinary 19-year-old bike rider.

A day after landing his first professional win atop the Alto da Fóia, Seixas remains firmly in the hunt for final overall victory after placing fourth in Friday’s time trial, a display that leaves him just seven seconds off Juan Ayuso’s yellow jersey.

Speaking to reporters after the finish in Vilamoura, however, Seixas confessed to a degree of disappointment at conceding those seconds to Ayuso after he had started the day level on time with the Lidl-Trek rider.

For context, Seixas finished the 19.5km time trial just 13 seconds down on Hour Record holder Filippo Ganna (Ineos), while he was half a minute quicker than home favourite João Almeida. By any metric, this was a most assured outing from the Decathlon CMA CGM rider, who is only in his second year as a professional.

“Yes, but when you come so close to taking the jersey, it’s obviously disappointing,” Seixas said. “I also felt that I didn’t take enough risks on the descents and it was quite a technical parcours, so I think the disappointment lies there – the power was there but I have to work a bit on the technical aspects. 

“I wasn’t really able to work on that at the training camp in Sierra Nevada, so maybe the steering was lacking. The roads aren’t perfect here, so you have to be careful too. But it was a good performance all the same.”

Thanks to an agreement with the race organisation, Ayuso and Seixas were able to race in their team skinsuits rather than their overall leader and best young rider jerseys, but the Frenchman revealed that doesn’t yet have all of his 2026 time trial kit in place.

“I worked really well on the time trial this winter, we improved the position and everything around it, like the helmet,” he said. “I have laced shoes at the moment, so there are little details we can improve. I don’t have the aero shoes yet because they’re not ready, so maybe the seven seconds came down to that… But I didn’t take enough risks, I was too cautious on the corners, I think.”

Seixas caught the eye in his first pro season with eighth at the Dauphiné, third at the European Championships and victory at the Tour de l’Avenir. Expectations are rising that he will make his Tour de France debut in 2026, though his Decathlon team has not yet confirmed his Grand Tour programme. His fast start to the season certainly augurs well for the year ahead.

“The winter efforts have paid off and so has the Sierra Nevada camp, I really went up a level,” said Seixas, who will vie to take the yellow jersey from Ayuso on the double ascent of the Alto do Malhão on Sunday’s final stage in the Algarve.

“The climb is very short, so picking up seven seconds on a very solid Ayuso is going to be difficult, but we’ll try everything with the team.

“I guess it’s all or nothing. I have nothing to lose. Now we’re here to win, and we already did it but now there’s the GC in line and I will do everything in my power to do the best performance. And then I will see, I guess.”