Paul Seixas takes cautious approach ahead of Tour de France debut and Pogacar battle

This week, it was finally confirmed: Paul Seixas will ride the Tour de France. After a breakthrough first half of the 2026 season, all of France had been longing for his participation, hoping he could emerge as the long-awaited successor to Bernard Hinault, the country’s last Tour winner in 1985. On Monday, Decathlon CMA CGM confirmed that Seixas will make his Tour debut.

Speaking on Super Moscato Show on RMC, the 19-year-old French rider described his selection as the fulfilment of a childhood dream and said the decision had deep personal meaning for his family.

“For my grandfather, it is something exceptional,” Seixas said. “He has watched the Tour for a very long time, and so have I since I was little. It is a childhood dream coming true, and I am very happy to be able to share that with my family.”

Seixas’ announcement had already drawn attention in France after he revealed the news to his grandparents, who were not aware of the decision beforehand. The rider said only a small circle had known in advance.

“There were not many people who knew,” he explained. “My grandfather and my grandmother did not know. There were my parents, my brother and the team management. That was it, six or seven people, not more.”

The Decathlon CMA CGM rider said he had long hoped to ride the Tour in 2026, despite other Grand Tour options being discussed.

“I think I always wanted to do the Tour this year,” he said. “There were a lot of things in competition with the Giro and the Vuelta, but it was quickly refocused on the Tour. It really mattered to me to do a two or three week race this year.”

Asked about his ambitions, Seixas was clear. He will not start the race simply to gain experience or hunt stages from a distance. His first Tour will be built around the overall standings.

“Yes, of course, I am going there for the general classification,” he said. “I do not want to lose time in the first week to go for stages. I really want to ride for the general classification. That is where I will gain a lot of experience.”

Seixas admitted that the final two weeks remain an unknown. He has never raced a Grand Tour before, but said that uncertainty is part of what attracted him to the Tour.

“The first week will be something I know, even if it will be different at the Tour because of everything around it,” he said. “The riders are extremely motivated. Everyone is at their peak. After that, the last two weeks will be unknown for me. There will be a part of discovery, but I hope to be up there.”

His preparation will now shift towards the demands of three week racing. Seixas said his early season targets had required shorter efforts, while the Tour will demand more work around threshold, durability and recovery.

“When you look at my objectives, I worked more on shorter efforts, around four or five minutes,” he said. “Now it will be different preparation, more around threshold. On longer efforts, I hope to be even better. Durability, repeating efforts and handling the days will make a big difference.”

Inevitably, the challenge with Tadej Pogačar came up, but Seixas was quick to keep expectations in check.

“The facts speak for him,” he said. “He has won almost everything at the start of the season and he has won the Tour four times. For now, I cannot even imagine a comparison. But of course, I will fight to be the best I can and try to tease him a little, even if only at the start of the Tour.”

He added: “Nothing is impossible, but you still have to be measured in your ambitions.”

Despite his attacking reputation, Seixas said he expects to ride more cautiously in July.

“At the Tour, it will be different,” he said. “You have to manage your efforts well. I will be more measured, calculate more, knowing that there are three weeks ahead and that I have never done it before.”

One of the biggest challenges, he said, will not only be physical but organisational.

“I think it will really be time management,” Seixas said. “On the Tour, every minute counts. We have already had a discussion about that with the team. We are already prepared for it. We will have to optimise time to get as much recovery as possible and put the days together well.”

The French public is expected to follow Seixas closely throughout the race, and the rider said he sees that attention as a source of energy rather than pressure.

“It is going to be incredible,” he said. “The French public will be there, like every summer on the Tour. They will support the French riders and me. In any case, it will be madness and an unforgettable experience.”

For Seixas, the Tour will be both a test and a discovery. A podium would be the dream result, he said, but he refused to frame the race only in terms of success or failure.

“If I had to choose, finishing on the podium would give me the most satisfaction,” he said. “But if there is one of the three, a podium, a big stage win or wearing yellow, I think the Tour would be successful. In any case, there is no failure. It is a discovery.”