'Signing Seixas when you already have Pogacar is ostentatious' - Lefevere blasts UAE management

After Paul Seixas' breakout performances, nearly every WorldTour team with the financial resources to sign the 19-year-old is surrounding him with Seixas' contract running until 2027 and Seixas's agent confirmed to Daniel Benson that talks regarding a contract extension were placed on hold.

Patrick Lefevere, speaking in his Het Nieuwsblad column, stated his opinion on not wanting UAE Team Emirates-XRG to sign yet another wonderkid after the likes of Isaac del Toro, Jan Christen and Pablo Torres, along with the news that Paul Seixas' younger brother, Nino, was training with UAE.

“It doesn't matter to me, as long as he doesn't end up at UAE Team Emirates. Excuse the word, or not, but Matxin is getting a bit too horny as a manager," said Lefevere.  

After Seixas' performances in 2026, from the Volta ao Algarve to his second place at Strade Bianche, many within the cycling domain are tipping Seixas to be the rider who topples the Pogacar cycling empire in the near future, but with UAE lurking in the shadows, would Seixas then simply become a part of the UAE leader procession?  

Lefevere holds a similar opinion: "Signing Seixas when you already have Pogacar is ostentatious behavior. You can have the most money in the entire World Tour, but that comes with a certain responsibility and code of ethics.”

With the 'hype' of Paul Seixas and his breakout performances, naturally, the Frenchman's agent will be driving a price for his rider, ensuring that Seixas receives a 'fair price', but Lefevere believes that the role of the agent has changed over the course of the last few years,  “They play the game so much more aggressively than before," said Lefevere. 

"They are now offices, with five or six representatives who all want to score and are constantly marketing their riders.  It is bad when a nineteen-year-old rider believes he can become Pogacar’s successor at UAE. Pogacar himself is barely 27. An agent who tries to sell that story to his rider deserves a professional ban,”

The next time we could see a Pogacar and Seixas battle is pencilled in for Liege-Bastogne-Liege, which is on April 26, and that would be something if Seixas can challenge Pogacar at the monument, especially after the Slovenian's domination at the 2025 edition. It would potentially quash Lefevere's stated comments, but of course, it will be a difficult task for Seixas.