"He will never be able to start with lower expectations than right now": Marc Sergeant urges Paul Seixas to make his Tour de France debut

The cycling world is abuzz with one major question: will French prodigy Paul Seixas make his Tour de France debut this summer? After an extraordinary spring campaign, the debate over whether the teenager is ready for the biggest race in the sport continues to rumble on. Former professional cyclist Marc Sergeant recently weighed in on the discussion, arguing that there is no better time for the young talent to take on the Grande Boucle.

According to Sergeant, sending Seixas to the Tour this year offers a unique psychological advantage. Because he is still so young, the burden of expectation would be virtually non-existent compared to making his debut later in his career when he is an established professional.

"He will never be able to go to the Tour with less pressure than this year. He can do nothing wrong, precisely because he is still so young," Sergeant explained. "If it goes badly, he can say: 'Maybe it was a bit early, but I came here to learn,'" he said in an interview to Het Nieuwsblad.

Waiting too long, Sergeant warns, could actually backfire and create an unnecessarily harsh environment. Furthermore, simply being exposed to the sheer scale of the event early on is a massive asset.

"If he rides the Tour for the first time as a 21-year-old and it disappoints, people will quickly say: 'He has been a professional for three years and still fell through the ice.' He will never be able to start with lower expectations than right now," Sergeant continued. "And the experience he can gain this year is enormously important. The Tour is a circus like nothing else. He can discover all of that now, while the stakes are lower."

Beyond the mental aspect of racing the Tour, there are naturally concerns about whether a teenager's body can withstand three grueling weeks of Grand Tour racing. However, Sergeant is relaxed about the physical toll, pointing to Seixas's recent performances in highly demanding stage races.

"I am fairly certain he will come through the Tour well," Sergeant stated confidently. "When you see how he performs day after day at the Itzuliae Basque Country, a very hard race, I don't think you can assume he will crack in the Tour."

Furthermore, Sergeant notes that modern cycling offers plenty of scientific safeguards to protect young riders from doing long-term damage to their bodies. If the fatigue becomes too much, there is no shame in pulling the plug early.

"And if he genuinely feels bad, he can simply abandon. Especially with the data monitoring they have now, the right decision can easily be made."