A Tour de France designed for Paul Seixas? Jerôme Pineau has no doubt French interest was taken into consideration
Cycling
The 2027 Tour de France route was revealed this Thursday morning in Paris and has taken the cycling world by storm. The more traditional and time trial-heavy route might be one that better suits Paul Seixas, as argued by former B&B Hotels - KTM.
In words to RMC Sport, Pineau sees a better chance of France returning to the top steps of the podium than with its previous big hope. “That kid can do everything. 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".
Ever since leaving the cycling world as a team manager at the end of 2022, Pineau has remained a vocal figure within the community as an experienced, and often critical voice.
A former professional rider, he has seen the rise and demise of France's most recent Tour de France hopes: Jean-Cristophe Peraud, Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot and Julian Alaphilippe.
In 2026, a new French player entered the field: Paul Seixas. Having turned professional the year before, the then 19-year old took on his first Tour, finishing in fourth place amongst a field of top riders at their best level.
Paul Seixas was fourth at his Tour de France debut
Was the Tour course designed thinking of Seixas?
Seixas' evolution in the sport might continue in future years, but he is already a well prominent figure in the present, having just won his first monument at Il Lombardia.
Just as notable have been his performances against the clock. He was third at the recent time trial World Championships, with 39 kilometers in length - similar to those the Tour has presented - and with a course that was mostly pan-flat.
Seixas was fourth at the Tour de France's time trial, although that was mostly an uphill and downhill challenge. On flat roads, the Frenchman has proven to be a specialist.
Pineau believes Seixas - alongside Remco Evenepoel's - specialty in the discipline is a large reason why the organizers opted to place 71 kilometers of flat time trials at the Tour, terrain in which Tadej Pogacar may not be able to make the difference - or even have to defend himself.
“Obviously, if he (Seixas, ed.) 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," Pineau argues.
The goal, for him, is pretty clear: "They think about how to break the hegemony of Pogacar and UAE.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Mathieu and Wout!!! You must start in CX this winter! (hope you reading comments here...) ;-)averagecyclist12-11-2026
- Who made you site boss?Lozza12-11-2026
- This shows so well you’ve never ventured out to a cycling event and checked out spectators.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- I preferred the one about amateur riders and passing (perhaps to explain why he can’t ride at 220 which would probably be more effective to return to shape).Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- Not just ManU, far worse in some minority sports ventures.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- From your writing it sounds like you’ve been sharing your views with people here for quite a while, quite presumouptuous for a new profile.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- Which is amazing given his weight and size, though, unlike in boxing and some rare instances we haven’t a clue what his fighting weight was. Anybody know why these “public” figures floated around are considered as being accurate?Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- That’s a first point, everyone can have an off year or just stagnate before a new upward cycle. What would have been more interesting is including Skjelmose’s performance into the discussion, things have also been expected from him after several performances in the past but he hasn’t really progressed either, his TdF was basically what you would have expected but he’s 26 and been kind of stuck at this level for at least 2-3 years. Maybe he’s a late developer or maybe he needs something to change but as manager I’d be just as demanding and worried about both. Perhaps the recruitment concept was to have enough talent so at least one every year would be in shape and they’ve just been unlucky. Don’t want to rub it in but you could even say Mads lost a notch, so is it the riders or is it more to do with the team?Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- Bingo...I was also going to say that young pretty women are obsessed Pogi fan girls... who are chasing him. All glossy "____" (blank) about Tadej. PS: You can all fill in the "blank" yourselves, whatever you prefer. The definition of glossy is: It looks unusually shiny, glazed over, watery, or vacant/unfocused.PogiSloFans12-11-2026
- Are you able to discuss ANYTHING without making a reference back to your Special 1? It’s almost as if you’re paid by his marketing team to improve his ranking in search results.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
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