Tour de France director hails Seixas' debut decision: 'He'll give us emotions'

Prudhomme had already lobbied publicly for Seixas to ride the Tour this year, and he learned of the Frenchman’s decision shortly before it was announced publicly by his Decathlon CMA CGM team on Monday.

“This is obviously great news,” Prudhomme told RMC, adding that Seixas’ presence at the Tour would generate considerable enthusiasm on the roadside.

“Even back at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, I was in a car on the side of the road, behind Pogačar and Paul Seixas, who were in the breakaway. And what did I hear? ‘Allez Paul, allez Seixas, allez Paul!’ So, obviously, that’s going to be amplified during the Tour de France.”

Prudhomme compared the clamour around Seixas’ debut to that of Bernard Hinault back in 1978, when the Breton won at the first attempt having resisted calls to ride the Tour the previous year. 

“He won the Dauphiné [in 1977], but he didn't ride the Tour; he came the following year,” Prudhomme said. “And obviously, there was a real desire for it, but back then, it was very different, since we were in a period of French riders winning. Now we've been waiting since 1985, for over 40 years. Paul Seixas is clearly not the favourite for the next Tour. But seeing him at the start alongside Pogačar, Vingegaard and the others is something very powerful.”

While Prudhomme acknowledged that Tadej Pogačar is the outright favourite to win the Tour, he suggested that Seixas could be in the mix for a podium finish in Paris in his first-ever three-week race. Seixas has enjoyed an astonishing start to 2026, winning Itzulia Basque Country, Flèche Wallonne and the Faun-Ardèche Classic before placing second to Pogačar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

“It doesn’t seem unrealistic,” Prudhomme said. “In his first Grand Tour, Pogačar finished third overall at the Vuelta and won three stages. I don’t know if Paul Seixas can do that, but I’m convinced he’ll give us some emotions because, beyond the performance itself, he’s capable of attacking from far out, he’s capable of attacking anywhere. He has the carefree spirit of youth. He’ll be the youngest rider to start the Tour since 1937, and he’ll ride with ambitions, so that’s something huge.”

Prudhomme also touched upon a paradox of Seixas’ participation in just his second season as a professional, with the desire to shelter him from hype seemingly overridden by the excitement generated by his decision to ride the Tour.

“I can’t imagine what it must be like, and I don’t think he fully realises it either,” Prudhomme said of the attention Seixas will face in July. “We all say we need to protect him from the pressure, but in reality, we’re doing everything – because we want him to be there – to put him in the spotlight and celebrate his participation.”