'They immediately think of Seixas' – 2027 Tour route gives French hope clear chance to shine

Like his likely rivals next July, Paul Seixas was not in attendance at the Tour de France route presentation in the Palais des Congrès on Thursday, and unlike some rival teams, Decathlon CMA CGM opted against publishing their management’s immediate reaction to the route. 

But that relative media blackout was never going to stop instant speculation as to what Seixas might achieve next July on a route that appears to have been devised to ensure Tadej Pogačar will face a closer battle than he did this year.

With 71km of time trialling on the route, Remco Evenepoel has ample reason to be pleased with the route devised by Thierry Gouvenou and company, but the Belgian isn’t the only one: there is plenty on offer for Seixas between Edinburgh and Paris.

The punchy terrain dotted across the three weeks looks well suited to Seixas’ gifts, which he showcased in his recent Il Lombardia victory. He might be especially enthusiastic about stage 10 to Sallanches, which offers a taste of the course for the following month’s World Championships.

And after securing a relatively surprising bronze medal in the time trial at the World Championships in Montreal, Seixas certainly won’t be cowed by the 38km test on stage 7 in the Loire Valley or by the 33km effort on stage 16 in Toulouse.

Or as L’Équipe put it: “While the Tour director may say it's about slightly rebalancing things in favour of Remco Evenepoel, who finished a magnificent second, and that’s perfectly legitimate, this shift also benefits Paul Seixas.”

Speaking to Ouest France, Tour technical director Thierry Gouvenou insisted that the increase in time trialling kilometres wasn’t designed to favour any particular rider, instead couching it as a rebalancing for the supersonic 2020s.

“For a long time, the gaps in the mountains weren’t very big so we reduced the time trials accordingly, and now the gaps in mountains have grown again so the time trials are longer,” Gouvenou said.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme broke with traditional decorum last spring by making a very public appeal for Seixas to make his Tour debut as a teenager in 2026, and the French hope responded by placing a fine fourth overall in Paris.

On Thursday, Prudhomme pushed back against the idea that the Tour had been designed expressly for Seixas, echoing Gouvenou’s line that the extra time trialling was in the interests of competitive balance rather than any specific rider.

“We’ll never design a course for just one rider,” Prudhomme told RMC. “We’re adding more time trials because we want to rebalance things. Among the very strong time trialists, there’s obviously Remco Evenepoel, but there’s also Paul Seixas, yes, I won't hide that from you. 

“But Tadej Pogačar is capable of beating everyone, including in time trials, though of course, we want to keep the suspense going for as long as possible. If Paul Seixas progresses as much between 2026 and 2027 as he has this year, then we’re going to have a fantastic summer, I have no doubt about it.”

On Thursday afternoon, mind, L’Équipe ran a story wondering if Seixas will even ride the 2027 Tour. With the World Championships on home soil taking place on August 29, just five weeks after the end of the Tour, the newspaper wondered if Seixas might be tempted to target the Giro d’Italia or Vuelta a España instead.

“For the general public, it might seem obvious that he'll do the Tour,” Decathlon’s deputy CEO Mathieu Charpentier told L’Équipe. “For the team and for Paul, a process of reflection will take place to create the best possible programme. The only certainty today is the World Championships on home soil.”

But after his breakout showing in 2026, it seems unthinkable that Seixas will forgo the Tour. Much like Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet before him, one imagines that he will have to endure a serious setback at the Tour before he ever countenances skipping the main event in July. ASO will certainly be expecting him.

That surely factored into ASO's route design for 2027, even if one observer isn’t convinced that Seixas needs as much help as the French hopefuls who went before him.

“That kid can do everything!” former B&B Hotels manager Jérôme Pineau told RMC. “A few years ago, when we were dreaming of Julian [Alaphilippe] getting the yellow jersey, we saw a lot of punchy finishes, they were thinking of him. But Seixas, he’s good everywhere! 

“Obviously, if he were really bad at time trials, they wouldn’t have added a second time trial. But it’s clear that Christian Prudhomme and his team, when they spend weeks designing the course, they immediately think of Seixas. They think about how to break the hegemony of Pogačar and UAE.”