'I don't pay too much attention to expectations' - Seixas after Tour de l'Avenir glory

Paul Seixas started the Tour de l'Avenir with a bang, living up to his high expectations after winning the prologue in Tignes 1800, which was basically a V02 max test. He pipped Lorenzo Finn by the barest of margins. After that, however, Seixas wouldn't be in the yellow jersey until after the final stage as his French teammate, Maxime Decomble led from stage 2 until the finale.

Speaking to DirectVelo, Seixas was jubilant after triumphing with the young Frenchman stating, "It means a lot, it's the biggest Espoir race, I think it's going to be the only one of my life, so to be able to win it is still magnificent."

As Seixas mentioned, it is almost a forgone conclusion that he will be a main player in the upper echelons of elite men's cycling from 2026 onwards. The youngster will be spearheading the Decathlon AG2R team, who have lofty expectations for him. Seixas has already laid solid foundations in his neo-pro season, including eighth in the GC at the Dauphiné and two second place finishes at the Tour of the Alps, including 'gifting' a win to teammate Nicolas Prodhomme.

"I'm very happy, it shows that despite the fact that I'm not at 100%, I still manage to be there in the match, to hang on all week and to go for the win, so that's the most important thing," Seixas told DirectVelo.

"The fact that mentally I hung on too. Sometimes, when you don't have the right feelings on the bike, you take a little knock to your morale. I think it's a mental challenge, it's in the tough moments that you realise how difficult this sport really is. I was the favourite and it wasn't necessarily easy to take on with my form, but I never gave up and I managed to hang on until the end to get this victory."

The final stage of the 2025 Tour de l'Avernir was a gripping one, with the GC up for grabs between Widar, Finn, Jorgen Nordhagen and Mateo Ramírez. It was all set for a showdown on stage 6b with a time trial for yellow.

"At first, I wanted to manage it a bit with the power meter, but I quickly saw that either I wasn't in the game, or my power meter was wrong. Fortunately, it was wrong, but I didn't panic. I saw that Lorenzo Finn wasn't too far ahead, and I was able to make small gaps," Seixas said.

"I saw that Widar had quickly gained 30 seconds back, and I had my sights set on him from time to time. I knew I was setting a good time, because Lorenzo is a very strong opponent. Afterwards, I thought I was behind Widar. I didn't get destabilised. I took a time check and quickly saw that I had a good lead. It really blew me away, of course. I finished as best I could, I was full throttle, full throttle, full throttle, I couldn't accelerate, even if I wanted to. In the end, it worked, and it's magnificent."

Seixas now joins David Gaudu, Tadej Pogačar, Egan Bernal amongst others on the roll of honour at the Tour de l'Avenir. "I don't pay too much attention to expectations," Seixas said. Every year is different, he is a great champion, and for the moment, I do not compare myself to him. He's someone different, he's perhaps one of the greatest cycling champions of all time. For the moment, I'm following my own path; I'm not at that level at all. I'm progressing at my own pace, and little by little, I hope to progress further."