18-year old wonderkid Paul Seixas wins opening Tour de l'Avenir prologue - Nordhagen, Widar and Torres lose time to Frenchman

The Tour de l'Avenir has begun this Saturday and some of the very best young climbers in the world go the chance to immediately put their skills on display. The 3-kilometer long climbing prologue in Tignes provided an opportunity for gaps to be created already, and it was France's 18-year old Paul Seixas to take the victory.

However it can be argued whether this is his first pro win or not, as it is an under-23 event. But the truth is the leader of the French national team put in a storming ride, beating Italy's Lorenzo Finn by a less then a second. The two had a sizeable gap over the rest, and although the gaps are small, Seixas already managed to put in 8 seconds on Jorgen Nordhagen, 9 on Jarno Widar and 14 on Pablo Torres in the opening day of the race.