There is hardly an astonished description that 19-year-old Frenchman Paul Seixas has not heard about his career as a professional cyclist. Because he is already a champion. And on July 4th he will start the Tour de France for the first time.
Around 40 journalists gathered around Seixas in a small room in a hotel in Voiron near Grenoble. On the table where Seixas sits there are 20 microphones from TV and radio stations, and the table is littered with cell phones in recording mode. And Seixas, 19 years old, slim, curly hair, friendly face, smiles relaxed and is as calm at this moment as he would be on a training ride with a tailwind.
At the beginning of June, the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes begins the next day, the Frenchman Seixas arrived as the five-star favorite for the difficult tour. A year ago it was still called Critérium du Dauphiné, and even with a new name, this is the most demanding preparation competition for the Tour de France, which begins on July 4th in Barcelona.
With Seixas in the role of a podium candidate. For him, this press conference is a lesson in media literacy, something that will affect him in a much more violent way during the Tour of France. Because in France he is considered either the chosen one or the messiah, and in any case as the next big winner in the peloton, especially since he is already known as champion.
Seixas masters all aspects of his sport
At the end of April, Seixas won the Flèche Wallonne, a hilly and demanding Ardennes classic. It was already his seventh win of the season. Four days later he presented himself at the Monument Liège-Bastogne-Liège and was the only rider to counteract every attack from Tadej Pogacar, the current cycling grandmaster, until the very last climb. Pogacar won ahead of Seixas, who wrote another chapter in his amazing saga with this second place.
France is celebrating a golden child it has just received after years of hardship and defeats in the Tour de France, the country’s national shrine. Because Seixas has mastered all the styles required of a successful tour driver: he is an outstanding time trialist. He shines in the mountains. He is brave and fast on the descents. He controls his bike in an extraordinary way.
He learned how to use his machine in off-road cyclo-cross races, in which he was very successful as a teenager. And he has a fascinating racing instinct. It has been 41 years since Bernard Hinault, a pillar saint of French sporting history, last won the Tour of France. Seixas actually seems to be the one who could make the nation, which is used to winning, cheer again. Whenever.
Praise from Bernard Hinault and the tour director
Hinault himself, who won the Tour, the largest and most important cycling race in the world, five times – a record – is enthusiastic about Seixas’ achievements. He is currently not only winning one-day races such as the Walloon Arrow, but also difficult stage tests such as the recent Basque Country Tour, which runs over many mountains – and with confidence. “It can’t be a coincidence that someone is so good and consistent at this level. There’s something about him that inspires optimism for the future. Hats off, really hats off,” says Hinault.
Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour de France, is currently completely enthusiastic about Seixas’ development: “My goodness, what a driver. We haven’t seen someone like him in France for 50 years, since Hinault. Unbelievable.”
Paul Seixas before the start of the 8th stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
At the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Seixas fell on the penultimate day, but together with his teammates from Decathlon CMA CGM, he managed to catch up three minutes behind on the final climb with a furious comeback, another formidable feat by the young Seixas. During the final stage he left the race early, a precautionary measure; because of his abrasions and bruises he could no longer take part in the fight for the day and overall victory. And that’s what Seixas says: “When I start, I want to win too.” He quickly announced that the fall wounds would not be a problem for his start on the tour.
Unwavering Rest before the tour debut
With this self-confidence and unshakable calm, Seixas is now tackling his biggest task to date, the start of the Tour of France, together with the expectations of his compatriots who are interested in cycling, and that is most of the 68 million inhabitants. So the tour isn’t a burden? “I’m preparing for it as best I can. And I’m really looking forward to it,” says Seixas in Voiron in an interview with Sportschau.
He doesn’t feel any pressure of expectation from outside, “but only from myself. I want to be successful, achieve results, and constantly improve.” He was made aware of the media volume and the many millions of spectators on the side of the track who came to see him. He responded to that, “by mentally preparing myself for it.” Because he definitely has experience when it comes to media issues,”for four or five years,” he says, he’s been in the public eye for so long. Because of his many successes and his versatility at a young age.
Pogacar: “This boy is going to be a monster on the bike”
The anthemic titles “the chosen one” and “Messiah” come from Marc Madiot, the head of the French selection Groupama-FDJ, who is very influential in the world of cycling. Furthermore, Madiot said: “Paul will be the driver France has been waiting for. He has gifts that only a few people have, Tadej Pogacar for example. He has everything in his repertoire.” Patrick Lefevere, who led the successful Quick-Step team for many years, recently said: “Paul Seixas is a child prodigy.” The world champion and current tour winner Pogacar is also impressed with Seixas. After his victory in the difficult gravel classic Strade Bianche in March, which he won ahead of Seixas, Pogacar said: “This boy is going to be a monster on the bike. We’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the future.”
Head to head at Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Tadej Pogacar (l.) and Paul Seixas (r.).
19 years old, huge potential, already a winning driver – Seixas is currently the most sought-after driver in the world. His contract expires in 2027 and he is already being linked to the very financially strong teams UAE, for which Pogacar also drives, and Ineos Gernadiers. However, Seixas isn’t worried about that at the moment: “I have a contract.”
“Race after race I started winning”
Seixas’ career took off early. “Success came step by step, race after race I started winning and getting better,” Seixas said last October. “I won his first racing bike competition straight away. It happened in Bourg-en-Bresse. I was eight or nine then,” he says. A winning driver was born because this young guy just didn’t stop winning.
But this calm, this balance, this relaxedness in conversation and in his entire demeanor despite the huge hype surrounding himself – how does he manage to put that aside? And is he always like this? Answer: “Yes, I am. It has to be that way. It is – along with everything physical – the prerequisite for being successful.”
