Seixas sends message to Pogacar and Vingegaard with Tourmalet KOM

The 19-year-old French rider is set to become the youngest rider to start the Tour de France in 89 years after a stellar 2026 so far, which included winning Itzulia Basque Country and La Flèche Wallonne as well as taking second behind Tadej Pogačar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Following a block of altitude training with his Decathlon teammates, Seixas was in the Pyrenees over the weekend to scout Stage 6 of the upcoming Tour. Seixas analysed much of the mountainous route between Pau and Gavarnie-Gèdre, which features both the Col d'Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet.

The Col du Tourmalet will serve as the penultimate climb on stage 6, with the riders set to tackle the eastern side of the ascent via its Sainte-Marie-de-Campan approach (17km at 7.3%).

However, on Sunday, Seixas set a Strava KOM on a segment on the western side out of Luz-Saint-Sauveur, the direction the peloton will descend on race day. 

Seixas completed the 10.1km segment at 6.9% in a time of 25:25, putting 35 seconds into the previous record set by his compatriot Lenny Martinez during stage 14 of the 2025 Tour. Though it is important to note that the full ascent is 18km in length and come the Tour de France, the stakes will be completely different.

Before embarking on his highly anticipated debut Tour, Seixas will line up for the Critérium du Dauphiné (Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), which kicks off on June 7. The 19-year-old finished eighth overall on debut last year, but will be looking to become the first French winner since Christophe Moreau back in 2007.

The list of those who will look to stop Seixas includes Isaac del Toro and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) and Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos). 

After winning the Giro d'Italia on Sunday, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) will not race again until the Tour begins on July 4 in Barcelona. Meanwhile, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) will forgo the defence of his Dauphiné title to make his debut at the Tour de Suisse, before targeting a record-equalling fifth Tour title.