"He's on a good team" - French president Emmanuel Macron speaks of Paul Seixas and his Tour de France debut
Cycling
The Tour is France's main sporting event and one in which the home nation has now won since 1985 - with Bernard Hinault taking the honours at the time. It is important for the French to regain their place at the top of the sport after many decades and this may happen through Paul Seixas. French president himself Emmanuel Macron has been following the Tour and the 19-year old.
Macron was present on the route this Thursday, as the riders moved through the Pyrenees. On the Col du Tourmalet, the mountain that has been part of the race the most, Macron was present on site and watched as the riders went by.
He would've been particularly focused on two riders who have been performing very strongly thus far in this Grand Boucle, representing the colours of France.
"What they did is magnificent. I believe there are two French riders in the top ten, both were extraordinary. They managed their race very well," he said to RMC Sport, referring to Paul Seixas and Lenny Martínez.
Seixas is, of course, his priority. That is because Seixas is the youngest rider to race the Tour in almost 70 years and has begun the Tour with very high ambitions. The results he obtained this spring were an excellent showcase of what he might be able to do in the future.
It is not the first time Macron speaks of the young super-talent, and in previous months it has been rumoured that he may aid Decathlon CMA CGM Team maintain Seixas onboard. His contract ends at the end of 2027, and at the time being all of the sport's main teams are looking to sign him beyond that season.
"He's on a good team," Macron argued, with Decathlon now carrying the country's main hopes to perform in the Tour over the coming years. With two French title sponsors and a meaningful budget increase this winter, it certainly feels plausible that Seixas renews with his current team.
"We have high hopes I think he can still achieve great things".
Paul Seixas' Tour de France is being followed by president Emmanuel Macron
Read also
Macron hoping to see Paul Seixas win at the Tour de France
The Tour thus far has been dominated by Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates - XRG, who have won every mountainous or hilly stage of the race. Team Visma | Lease a Bike struck an early blow on the Barcelona team time trial, but Jonas Vingegaard's advantage has since disappeared and has been reversed.
With the battle between the 'big two' and Remco Evenepoel's statements regarding his teammate Florian Lipowitz, Paul Seixas has been able to somewhat escape the spotlight. To his advantage, the pressure does not seem to be as high as what some of his direct rivals are experiencing.
Whilst he has not been able to put in the dominant performances that marked the first half of his season - naturally, due to tougher competition - Seixas is entering stage 8 in sixth place when it comes to the overall classification, 3:55 minutes behind Tadej Pogacar but only 28 seconds behind Isaac del Toro who currently closes out the podium.
He does this after recovering from the injuries he suffered in his only race building up to the Tour. "After the Dauphiné (the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, ed.), which had worried us a bit in recent days, he's delivered".
Macron has high hopes for the French flag-bearer, who maintains his ambitions of finishing in the podium very much alive. "I hope he wins one or more stages and maintains this good GC position, and even goes higher."
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- again, nothing is going to be resolved. it is a discussion board. I simply said I didn't see how MS impeded LBs sprint. the UCI doesn't care about my thoughts, and I am really not that emotionally invested in it.mij09-11-2026
- provoke change, lol. this is a discussion board. nothing is going to change by what I say here. just commenting that it didn't look like MS impeded Brand. beyond that not trying to go too deep.mij09-11-2026
- as excellent as maga rednecks chloe dygert (and quinn simmons)?Ketterechts09-11-2026
- so what i understand is: i left a comment calling out the endless author CVs for being an unnecessary flex of expertise, and you responded by lecturing me (and others) on discrimination and value systems. hats off to you. you definitely lost me!Ketterechts09-11-2026
- I just love the flood of Americans into the top ranks of world cycling. In addition to being studs on the bike, they all seem to be excellent emissaries for our country.Occam09-11-2026
- ANATOMY OF A G.O.A.T. EDDY MERCKX about TADEJ POGAČAR: Merckx: “He has revived a style of cycling that we had almost forgotten. He is now better than me.” Key statements by Merckx about Pogačar in 2026: - Acknowledging his superiority: This time, Merckx openly admitted, without any subsequent backtracking or reservations, that Pogačar had surpassed him and was now above him. This contrasts with 2024, when he quickly softened his remarks about Pogačar being faster. - The possibility of a historic triple (Giro, Tour and Vuelta): During the July Tour de France (where Pogi claimed his fifth title), Merckx stated that Pogi was the only cyclist in history capable of winning all three Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España) in a single season, provided the conditions were right and he had sufficient team support. - Lack of serious competition: Merckx emphasised that Pogačar has no real rivals in the mountains since 2024, thanks to his extraordinary climbing ability and the fact that he continues to improve despite still being under 28 (he turned 28 in autumn 2026). - Praise for his racing style: Merckx highlighted how Pogačar is bringing back the aggressive, uncompromising spirit of cycling's golden era, when races were not merely about calculated stages and tactical conservatism, but about attacking from long distances. PS: This is not "boring" ... this is called making real history, not only statistical history. Capish?PogiSloFans09-11-2026
- It’s off-season mate, I’m bored and fed up with the mediocrity of people unwilling to provoke change when they admit things aren’t right. What have you done lately to make anyone realise you won’t put up with things? What conversation, are you dictating to me which part of the incident I have to be interested in or telling me other parts are taboo? That’s what I guess the UCI would really like, let them moan, let it blow over for them pass on to the next thing, let’s keep the status quo, let’s try our best not reviewing or revealing anything about decision-making just like every time before, they’re used to it by now so we can take the risk they’ll never give us grief.Jumpyjohn09-11-2026
- As far as CUTD headlines go this is far from the worst. It helps if you look at it twice and realise it’s a list of descriptions from distinct events. You can’t deny the reality of being a rival if you consider the picture immediately below, frontrunner is unfortunate but I’m guessing this time it’s more a linguistic failure than a clickbaiting opportunity. Just a reminder that this is not an anglo website, for those who find it too tedious to interpret text to get the gist of things which are rarely of great importance (as opposed to eg purposely biaised DOJ extradition translations in order to achieve hidden agendas), there are plenty of anglo cycling websites google can suggest.Jumpyjohn09-11-2026
- Ah, finally someone willing to be a bit proactive.Jumpyjohn09-11-2026
- So? Do you understand the way instructions, decisions and authority work? Do you think in a football match if after a match (or even after play has gone on) a player tells the referee he did touch the ball with his hands when the referee didn’t award opponents a penalty that they will revise the score or force a replay? You really don’t get my point, it’s not against the rider but everyone here is so emotional for her they can’t get back to an issue which needs resolving for the future and the first step (or maybe second) is to try to understand how and why it happens, none of you have contributed in the least to that. All everyone is interested in is letting everyone know they agree how unjust it was, not even sure anyone thinks that could affect anything.Jumpyjohn09-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment