Pogacar still without peer, but Seixas gives him glimpse of future in Liège

It’s been a paradoxical kind of spring. When Tadej Pogačar soloed clear on the Monte Sante Marie to claim another routinely crushing victory at Strade Bianche in March, there looked to be no end in sight to his reign over the biggest races on the calendar.

In the seven weeks since, Pogačar has collected three more Monument victories, breaking records, rivals, bikes, and pretty much everything bar Wout van Aert’s heart in the process. Soberingly, the 2026 iteration of Pogačar looks a clear upgrade even on the all-conquering versions that swept all before him over the previous two seasons.

Yet amid that sequence of otherworldly displays, a challenger has clearly emerged to Pogačar’s hold on the sport and on our imaginations. Pogačar has never been better than he is now – and an eyewatering record on the Côte de la Redoute on Sunday proves it – but his regime has perhaps also never faced an existential threat quite like the one posed by 19-year-old Paul Seixas, who matched him all the way up the climb en route to second place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Yes, Jonas Vingegaard has twice humbled Pogačar at the Tour de France, and, yes, Mathieu van der Poel has had his number in various Classics over the years, but each man’s challenge has also been limited to his own, specific sphere of influence. 

Van der Poel found ways to beat Pogačar on the cobbles and on the Via Roma, while Vingegaard looked better equipped to cope with the rigours of high altitude and white heat of three weeks of racing at the Tour de France. 

But Pogačar, as we know, simply rearmed and hit back remorselessly. He has now dropped the cobbles specialist Van der Poel three times on the Oude Kwaremont, and he has pointedly run up the score against the endurance specialist Vingegaard at the past two Tours. 

On Pogačar’s watch, the cycling world has become a unipolar one, but Seixas’ remarkable progress this season seems to signal the rapid emergence of a rival superpower capable of shining in stage races and hilly Classics alike. Although he was still soundly beaten in the end, Seixas’ performance at Liège-Bastogne-Liège only confirmed his astonishing upward trajectory.

At Strade Bianche, Seixas had shown his impertinence by briefly following Pogačar’s initial attack on the Monte Sante Marie with 79km to go. Crucially, he then showed his intelligence by understanding precisely when to tap out and avoid going into the red. He would be rewarded with second place in Siena, albeit a minute off a Pogačar who had long since toggled into energy-saving mode.

The present and future of cycling went their separate ways in the weeks that followed, their paths not crossing again until Sunday. While Pogačar was busy cementing history in the Classics, Seixas was starting to lay the foundations of his own palmarès with exhibitions at Itzulia Basque Country and Flèche Wallonne. 

Liège, however, promised a different kind of challenge, as it presented Seixas with a chance to gauge himself once more against the most exacting yardstick of all. And he measured up well, lasting longer and going closer than ever before in a confrontation with Pogačar.

Last autumn, Seixas impressed with third at the European Championships, and with plucky showings at the Worlds and Il Lombardia, but in truth, he was never really in any kind of a contest with Pogačar. Even at Strade Bianche, he showed a sustained flash of his potential, but no more than that. 

At Liège-Bastogne-Liège, by contrast, Seixas was, for the first time, resolutely in the same bike race as Pogačar. The Slovenian had won this race in 2024 and 2025 by cruising clear on La Redoute, barely bothering to rise from the saddle, but when he reached for the same manoeuvre here, Seixas was ready.

On the Monte Sante Marie seven weeks ago, Pogačar quickly dialled up the power until Seixas wilted, but the 19-year-old has been improving with each passing day since. On La Redoute, Pogačar made a series of standing accelerations in a bid to shake off Seixas, but the Frenchman responded each time. 

Over the other side, Seixas wasn’t cowed by his illustrious breakaway companion, swapping turns as they sped towards the Côte des Forges and the Côte de la Roche-aux-Fauçons. For 20 dizzying kilometres, it looked as though the teenager might be about to slay the would-be GOAT, until Pogačar summoned up one last onslaught 500m from the top of the final climb to bludgeon his way clear.

Seixas never cracked, mind, and when he came home 45 seconds down in the fastest Liège-Bastogne-Liège in history, it was hard not to think of the morning’s London Marathon, where Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha became the first men in history to cover 42.2km in less than two hours in an official race.

There could only be one winner in Liège, but Pogačar and Seixas both did truly extraordinary things here, things beyond the reach of just about everybody else in the professional peloton. 

Ask Remco Evenepoel, who took a distant third after being unable to follow on La Redoute. At the Tour of Flanders three weeks ago, Evenepoel’s third place had been something to celebrate at the end of his surprise debut. Here, it was just something he salvaged from a day of severe disappointment. 

Although Evenepoel won Amstel Gold Race last week and although he has claimed seven wins so far this year, his transfer to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe hasn’t proved at all transformative. The idea was to get closer, much closer, to Pogačar. Instead, the world champion looks to have moved further beyond Evenepoel’s reach. And worse, a younger rider now seems to have cut in ahead of him. 

Evenepoel will turn his thoughts towards challenging Pogačar at the Tour de France, the raison d’être of his move to Red Bull. The trouble is, he’s not the only one with July on his mind.

Seixas’ display will do nothing to temper speculation that he will make his Tour de France debut in 2026, not least because his Decathlon CMA CGM team outlined that a decision would be taken after the Ardennes Classics.

At this point, it seems more likely than not that Seixas will ride the Tour, with Pogačar telling reporters in Liège that he expects to see the Frenchman in July. Pogačar also warned the French media to “take care of him,” but his well-meaning admonishment should probably be directed elsewhere.

After all, Tour director Christian Prudhomme has been among those most responsible for talking up the prospect of Seixas lining up in July, issuing a series of what a football tabloid reporter would call ‘come-and-get-me’ pleas to the youngster. If Prudhomme, usually a dispenser of measured takes, has surrendered so giddily to Seixas hype, then what hope have the rest of us?

On the evidence of his performances this spring and, above all, his mind-bending rate of improvement, Seixas would likely make an immediate impact in his debut Tour, despite his tender years and even though he has never raced a Grand Tour before. 

But just because Seixas would likely perform very well indeed at the 2026 Tour doesn’t automatically mean he should ride it. His long-term development should be the prime consideration for his team – but, cycling being cycling, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be.

Then again, after watching Seixas match Pogačar on La Redoute, Decathlon might be unable to resist the temptation. Pogačar’s victory showed that he is still, by a distance, the strongest rider in the professional peloton – but Seixas’ precocious bid to close the gap is fast becoming the most compelling story in cycling. 

Pogačar still hasn’t met his match, but he might just have found his biggest rival yet.