"He wants to be in the biggest races" - UAE's Matxin on how Paul Seixas' development and Tour debut compares with Pogacar

Whilst UAE Team Emirates - XRG is chasing stage wins at the Giro d'Italia, their Tour de France block is at Sierra Nevada training at altitude in order to reach their best level in July. Tadej Pogacar will be facing none other than Paul Seixas, who will be the youngest rider in the race and an absolute wildcard ahead of his first Grand Tour.

“I think that deep down, a young rider always has ambition, especially when he wins and finds himself competing against the best, so he wants to be in the biggest races,” Joxean Matxin shared in an interview with Domestique. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG manager, a team looking to sign the Frenchman, was asked about the rider who may end up being the World Champion's biggest rival this summer.

Quite specifically too on the choice of the Tour for his first Grand Tour, instead of the Vuelta a España which was the second possibility on the table. “Based on my experience with riders like Ayuso, Tadej or Del Toro, my opinion is that a 19-year-old rider should possibly race another three-week event before the Tour de France so he can adapt to that format".

"That way, when he gets to the Tour de France, he’ll know what three weeks are like and he’ll have understanding of what a three-week race entails".

“But everyone makes their own decisions. And to be honest, we didn’t even have a Grand Tour planned for Tadej in his first year because he was so young, but we put him in the Vuelta to speed up the process".

Seixas is now effectively in his second year as a pro, although he moved up directly from the junior ranks - as Decathlon CMA CGM Team recognized the talent they had in their hands. But he will not follow a gradual build-up process when it comes to the Grand Tours - although that is not a necessity for many riders.

“Exactly the same thing happened with Juan Ayuso, and with Del Toro, he did a Vuelta the year before he did the Giro, even if nobody remembers it because he was sick. Then he did a Giro and now he’s doing the Tour, and I think that’s possibly the most natural way to develop a young rider.”

But Seixas has already exceeded many expectations when it comes to several different situations over the past year. At age 19, there may never have been a rider as talented as him; whilst the negotiation power on his side is something never before seen in the history of the sport for a rider with such youth.

Matxin knows too that UAE must be cautious and cannot underestimate Seixas, because they don't have a previous Grand Tour to gauge what he might be capable of doing. “He’s a very important rival, although both he and we are in a position where we just have to see how far he can go".

“So far, the longest race he’s ever ridden was probably the Tour de l’Avenir last year, and he did very, very well there. So at the Tour, we’ll see how far a rider who is both very young and very good can go.”