“He has to be protected” - Vincenzo Nibali questions Paul Seixas’ Tour de France debut amid huge French pressure

Paul Seixas has been fast-tracked into the biggest race in cycling, and Vincenzo Nibali is not convinced the Tour de France was the right place for his Grand Tour education to begin.

The Decathlon CMA CGM Team youngster is set to make his Tour debut under a level of attention few first-time Grand Tour riders ever experience. His spring performances have already marked him out as one of France’s most exciting young climbers, but the combination of home expectation, nervous racing and three weeks of pressure has left Nibali urging caution.

Speaking to Bici.Pro, the 2014 Tour de France winner said he would have chosen a less aggressive path for Seixas.

“Seixas is a young rider from whom we should expect everything,” said Nibali. “Let us not forget that he is only 20 years old (Seixas turns 20 on September 24, 2026) and has huge pressure from all of France. I would have opted for a less risky choice, such as the Giro d’Italia as his first major stage race, to gain confidence and start to understand his limits in a 21-day competition.”

Nibali won the Vuelta a Espana in 2010, the Giro d’Italia in 2013 and 2016, and the Tour de France in 2014, placing him among the select group of riders to complete cycling’s Grand Tour treble.

The Italian pointed to the daily strain of the Tour, where even stages that look manageable on paper can quickly become draining.

“Let us remember that at the Tour,” he continued, “true flat terrain does not exist, and even in the less treacherous stages you can come home with 2,000 metres of climbing. So there is a risk of having stages that are very stressful and psychologically difficult. In particular, for someone like Paul Seixas who, being French and talented, carries a huge media impact with him for anything he does.”

For Decathlon, Seixas does not need to ride for the podium to become one of the most discussed riders of the race. A strong mountain day would feed the hype. A difficult one would bring its own scrutiny. The Tour has a way of turning every reaction around a French hope into something bigger.

Nibali came back to the same idea through Giulio Pellizzari, using the Italian as an example of why young climbers sometimes need space to absorb difficult races before being judged too quickly.

“He has to be protected,” Nibali said of Seixas. “Look at Giulio Pellizzari this year. We all expected something more in terms of the general classification, but in my opinion he explored his limits and I am convinced he will come out with a few more ideas, more developed and more aware of his means.”

Pellizzari had gone into the Giro d’Italia carrying major expectation after winning the Tour of the Alps in the spring, but his race became more about learning than delivering an immediate GC breakthrough. He responded quickly in Slovenia, helping Florian Lipowitz to victory on the queen stage before finishing second overall himself.

At the Tour de France, Seixas will face that same learning curve under far heavier French scrutiny. He will get his first taste of three-week racing in the most exposed setting possible. Decathlon’s task now is to make sure the race becomes an education rather than a verdict.