“He has that charisma you can’t buy” – Paul Seixas destined for cycling greatness following European Championship podium at 19, claims beaming Thomas Voeckler

At just 19 years of age, Paul Seixas produced a performance at the European Championships that may come to define the start of a generational career. While Tadej Pogacar stormed to a commanding solo victory and Remco Evenepoel chased behind in silver, Seixas stood firm against cycling’s two modern-day titans to claim a superb bronze medal on home soil — a ride that left France’s national coach Thomas Voeckler beaming with pride and convinced that the teenager is destined for greatness.

“He has that charisma you can’t buy,” Voeckler told DirectVelo after the finish in the Val d’Enfer on Sunday afternoon. “It’s not a showy charisma — he naturally brings others along while staying as discreet as possible. He’s a gem.”

The race was brutal in its simplicity: Pogacar went long, Evenepoel countered, and the rest were left to fight for the scraps. Yet Seixas refused to be intimidated by the scale of the names around him. When Christian Scaroni tried to escape late, the Frenchman clawed him back with raw determination, defying fatigue and expectation alike to secure bronze — France’s first men’s elite medal at the European Championships since 2021.

“He did a typical Paul Seixas performance,” Voeckler said. “I’m amazed but not surprised, because we don’t know where his limits are. Beyond the physical, he showed huge character — he carried all his teammates along with him. There were Pogacar and Evenepoel, and then there were the others. Among those others, he won.”

What made Seixas’s result all the more remarkable was not just the podium itself, but the company he kept. Racing alongside Pogacar, Evenepoel, Ayuso, Skjelmose and Vingegaard — all established Grand Tour winners or contenders — the teenager’s bronze hinted at a future where he might soon fight for more than minor medals.

Voeckler is under no illusions about the scale of what’s ahead. “I used to think a rider’s best years were between 27 and 32,” he admitted. “But since Evenepoel came along, we’ve learned you can already be incredibly strong at 19. There have been precocious talents elsewhere, but now France finally has one.”

Voeckler’s management of Seixas on the road was notably calm. When Pogacar disappeared up the road and Evenepoel went in pursuit, the French coach made the pragmatic call to stop Seixas from collaborating with the Belgian — saving his legs for the podium fight that followed. “When Pogacar goes, you don’t see him again,” Voeckler said. “Whether it’s Pogacar or Evenepoel who wins, it’s not a French rider — our job was to get the best result for France.”

That result came with maturity well beyond Seixas’s years. Voeckler, a former Tour de France hero himself, knows the temptation to over-manage young riders but insists his new protégé must be allowed to grow at his own pace. “I want him to be natural, to ride his race,” he said. “It’s not my place to tell him how to take third — he doesn’t need me for that. You have to let him live his life and find his own way.”

If Seixas can already stand on a podium alongside Pogacar and Evenepoel before his 20th birthday, it poses a tantalising question: what might he achieve when he reaches his peak? Voeckler’s belief is unwavering. “We’re in a bit of a lull internationally,” he noted. “That will change in the next few years — and I believe Paul will be right there when it does. He’s not finished growing, and he hasn’t changed a bit since I first heard about him. His head hasn’t swelled a millimetre.”

For now, Seixas’s bronze is both a reward and a warning shot. France may have found its next true star — one who, in Voeckler’s words, already carries himself like a champion.