French cycling sensation Paul Seixas is targeting a Tour de France debut this summer after a stellar first professional season.
UP-and-coming French cyclist Paul Seixas is dreaming of a Tour de France debut this summer. The 19-year-old begins the new season as the designated leader of the Decathlon CMA CGM team.
He kept pace with cycling’s elite in his debut season, taking third in the European Championships road race. He finished behind four-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar and double Olympic gold medallist Remco Evenepoel.
“Obviously when you follow these guys once, it gives you a lot of confidence,” Seixas told AFP at his altitude training camp in Spain. “Being much younger than them, I tell myself that if last year at the end of the season, I managed to keep up with them, that means that if I progress further, I will be able to close this gap.”
No Frenchman has won the Tour de France since Bernard Hinault’s fifth victory in 1985. Many believe Seixas could be the rider to end that nearly four-decade drought.
He will open his competitive year at the Tour of the Algarve from February 18-22. The young star has been preparing intensely at a high-altitude camp.
“I haven’t seen my parents or girlfriend for two months,” said Seixas. “But we know why we do it, when you come back down, you really feel the difference.”
Regarding the Tour de France, Seixas remained cautious about his participation. “It would definitely be a dream, but it’s not my goal this year,” he told AFP.
He added, however, that the prospect “makes me want to push myself in training to succeed in the race.”
