"Euphoria and confusion" - Paul Seixas describes following Pogacar up Côte de La Redoute

There are second places that feel underwhelming… and others that herald the future. Paul Seixas’s in his first Liège–Bastogne–Liège clearly belongs to the latter. At just 19, the Frenchman delivered a monumental ride, the only one able to follow Tadej Pogacar’s attack on La Redoute, keeping the suspense alive deep into the finale.

“Today I was a hair’s breadth away,” he admitted with a mix of ambition and satisfaction after the finish. Far from settling, Seixas raced with personality from the outset, in an edition defined by a blistering pace and early selection. “It was my first Liège, I wanted to give it everything, and that’s what I did,” he explained, making clear there was no room for speculation in his plan.

Decathlon CMA CGM Team didn't hide from the work during the afternoon and committed to the chase alongside UAE when a large breakaway including Remco Evenepoel went up the road.

But the key moment came on the mythical Côte de la Redoute. There, when Pogacar launched, only one rider could respond: Seixas. “My team positioned me perfectly and that allowed me to hold his wheel,” he said, highlighting the collective work behind his success. He crested on the limit, but with enough clarity to believe in his chances: “I was in a state of euphoria and confusion.”

That instant, face to face with the master of the Ardennes, marked a before and after in his career. Not only for the result, but for the confirmation that he belongs at that level.

La Doyenne, however, is unforgiving. On the demanding Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, Pogacar tightened the screw again… and this time it was definitive.

“I was just short of the rhythm to follow him,” he admitted candidly. Even so, he managed the final effort wisely to secure a hugely valuable second place: “I finished as best I could to make sure of second.”

The unusually fast and selective nature of the race from the gun played in his favour. “It was a very fast Liège, high speed from the start, and that helped us,” he analysed. The relentless pace quickly thinned the bunch and removed some of the usual chaos in the key moments, allowing him to ride more protected and with greater tactical clarity.

Beyond the result, the message is clear: Paul Seixas has arrived. “I feel great, I’m very happy that all the team’s effort paid off,” he concluded. His debut brings not only a podium, but the sense that cycling has a new figure in the making.