Paul Seixas leads pre-Tour de France storylines to watch at Critérium du Dauphiné

For many, and not just in France, Paul Seixas is the story at the Dauphiné. He finished eighth overall in 2025 at just 18 years of age, and, well, a lot has happened in the twelve months since. Seixas’ sparkling start to 2026 yielded impressive wins at the Ardèche Classic, Itzulia Basque Country and Flèche Wallonne, which only heightened speculation that he would make his Tour de France debut this July.

The decision was confirmed after Seixas went head-to-head with Pogačar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, matching the world champion on the Redoute and only losing touch near the top of the Roche-aux-Faucons. Seixas seemed to improve exponentially with each race this spring, and the giddy hope in France is that he can continue that growth into July.

The Dauphiné is the next gauge of Seixas’ progress. In the absence of Pogačar and Vingegaard, he is arguably the favourite for overall victory. The week in the Alps will give Seixas some valuable pre-Tour experience in carrying the weight of expectation. It’s also a test of his Decathlon CMA CGM team’s readiness, with Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Matthew Riccitello among his supporting cast here.

Seixas won his first pro race on the Alto da Fòia at the Volta ao Algarve in February, but he was beaten to the overall title by Juan Ayuso. The Spaniard looked assured in his first race in Lidl-Trek colours, and it seemed to augur well for his ambitions of finishing on the Tour podium. 

Paris-Nice and a rendezvous with Vingegaard was the next test on Ayuso’s agenda, and he made a confident start by moving into yellow after the team time trial. A heavy crash on the following day’s rainswept stage to Uchon forced Ayuso out of the race and denied us the enthralling prospect of a duel with Vingegaard.

That was more or less the end of Ayuso’s spring. Although he returned to action at Itzulia Basque Country, he was forced out by illness after three days, and he would also miss the Ardennes Classics. 

In the weeks since, Ayuso has been training at Sierra Nevada as he builds towards the Tour. After missing so much spring racing, the Dauphiné will be an extremely important waystation for Ayuso. 

It will also be his first race since Lidl-Trek announced a massive overhaul of its management, including the removal of general manager Luca Guercilena, who played such a key role in prising him away from UAE Team Emirates-XRG last autumn.

After placing second overall at the Vuelta a España last year, João Almeida looked to have earned the freedom to chase more personal success at UAE Team Emirates-XRG. In December, the team announced that he would lead the line at the Giro d’Italia and that he would be spared duty in support of Pogačar at the Tour in order to build towards the Vuelta.

Almeida began his season in typically solid but unspectacular fashion, placing second at the Volta Valenciana and third at the Volta ao Algarve, but he was anonymous at the Volta a Catalunya, where he finished 38th, more than 20 minutes down on Vingegaard, the man he intended to beat at the Giro.

It was clear that something was awry and in late April, Almeida announced that he would miss the Giro as his preparation had been affected by illness. “I just won’t quite be ready in time,” he wrote.

Last month, UAE sports manager Joxean Matxin Fernandez revealed to Domestique that Almeida would make his comeback at the Dauphiné, but he downplayed the idea that the Portuguese rider was now in contention for the Tour, pointing out that he hadn’t been in their initial plans.

UAE have suffered a spate of injuries, however, with Marc Soler ruled out of the Tour after his crash at the Giro, where Adam Yates suffered a concussion. One imagined a decision about Almeida’s place in the TOur picture wouldn’t be taken until after his week in the Alps - but the Portuguese rider has already ruled himself out in an interview with O Jogo, insisting that he wasn't ready.

Almeida’s teammate Isaac del Toro, by contrast, is certain to line up at the Tour, where he is set to play a key role in support of Pogačar. Indeed, Del Toro might even find himself in contention for a podium spot in his debut Tour if circumstances allow it, but his first duty will be to Pogačar’s cause.

At the Dauphiné, however, Del Toro has the reins of leadership at UAE, and he will be keen to add to his burgeoning haul of WorldTour victories after his triumphs at the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico earlier this year. 

Itzulia Basque Country promised to offer an intriguing duel between Del Toro and Seixas, the two rising young stars of world cycling, but the Mexican crashed out on stage 3 and the thigh injury he sustained ruled him out of the Ardennes Classics to boot. 

Del Toro recovered quickly and trained at Sierra Nevada in May ahead of the Dauphiné. He was a touch subdued on the opening two days in the Basque Country, at least compared to the rampant Seixas, but he will hope to fare rather better against him here. 

Vingegaard misses the Dauphiné after cruising to victory at the Giro d’Italia last month, but the race will still see a sizeable part of his Tour supporting cast in action. Wout van Aert returns to road competition for the first time since his emotional Paris-Roubaix victory in April, while Matteo Jorgenson – initially slated for the Tour de Suisse – is also set to race this week in France along with Bruno Armirail.

At the Giro, Visma were in control of every situation without ever looking like they had been pushed to extremes, and the expectation is that Victor Campenaerts and Sepp Kuss will be ready to go again in the service of Vingegaard in July. They will hope to see encouraging signs from Van Aert and Jorgenson, in particular, this week before the Tour squad links up for a final altitude camp in Tignes after the Dauphiné.

Grischa Niermann would normally have been the lead sports director at the Dauphiné and Tour, but he steps back from that role ahead of his September move to Lidl-Trek, with Marc Reef instead taking the reins. As well as the start of the formal build-up to the Tour, the race also heralds a new era at Visma.