“I thought he was too young, but why not?” – Geraint Thomas backs Paul Seixas for Tour de France debut... but not as a GC contender

Geraint Thomas has become the latest high-profile figure to weigh in on the increasingly heated debate around Paul Seixas and a potential Tour de France debut, backing the French teenager to start this summer while warning against placing overall expectations on his shoulders.

Speaking on his Watts Occurring podcast, the INEOS Grenadiers figure admitted his own view has shifted following Seixas’ recent performances.

“I thought he was too young, but why not?” Thomas said.

Thomas, now working as Director of Racing at INEOS Grenadiers, is also part of a set-up that has been linked with a potential future move for Seixas, alongside UAE Team Emirates - XRG. “I just wouldn’t have him riding for the GC, although he probably will. The most important thing is that the team tries to downplay it in the media,” he added.

Thomas’ position reflects a wider split in opinion that has developed across the sport as Seixas’ rise has accelerated. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot has argued that a rider in this kind of form should take advantage of the moment. “I think when you have the form, you have to take advantage of it,” she said after Fleche Wallonne.

In contrast, Bernard Hinault has urged caution over a potential Tour debut this summer. “Everyone says he should ride the Tour... I’m not convinced,” he said, pointing to the very different demands of a three-week race.

Thomas, however, is not convinced that keeping Seixas away from the Tour would reduce the scrutiny surrounding him. “That pressure is coming regardless,” he explained. “The sooner he gets used to it, the faster he will learn to deal with it.”

For Thomas, the Tour is not just about performance but about exposure to the environment that will eventually define Seixas’ career. “The most important thing is that the team tries to downplay it in the media,” he reiterated, pointing to the need to control expectations around a rider already under intense scrutiny.

He sees the current moment as a unique window in which Seixas can experience the race without the weight of expectation that will inevitably come later. “Right now, nobody is disappointed if he doesn’t win, but in a few years, that might be different,” Thomas said.

That logic underpins his belief that early exposure could accelerate Seixas’ development, particularly on the mental side. “If he learns to handle the pressure now, maybe he will be ready for it when a real performance is truly expected of him.”

Thomas also placed Seixas’ emergence within the wider context of the sport, particularly the dominance of Tadej Pogacar. “Twelve months ago we thought nobody was going to beat Pogacar in the next five years, and then suddenly Seixas is here,” he said.

That shift, in Thomas’ view, may not be an isolated case. “Behind Seixas there are more talents waiting that we know nothing about yet. There is a 17 year old out there somewhere that we don’t even know exists, who might come knocking soon.”

He even suggested the landscape could change quickly again. “I give it 18 months before someone else is even better. The more big challengers there are, the more motivated Pogacar will be. That is very good for the sport.”

Seixas’ second place at Liege-Bastogne-Liege has only intensified the conversation. After following Tadej Pogacar deeper into the race than any of his rivals and outperforming established contenders such as Remco Evenepoel, the 19 year old has moved from emerging talent to potential Grand Tour factor in the space of a single afternoon.

That performance has amplified what was already a powerful narrative in France, the search for a genuine Tour de France contender for the first time since Bernard Hinault.

While the debate continues externally, internally Decathlon CMA CGM Team are yet to confirm whether Seixas will ride the Tour this summer. Performance director Jean Baptiste Quiclet has stressed that any decision will be based on long term development rather than short term momentum, with the team determined not to take unnecessary risks at this stage of the rider’s career.

That leaves Seixas at the centre of one of the sport’s defining questions heading into the summer. Should he be protected from the Tour, or exposed to it?

Thomas’ answer is clear. Let him ride. Just not to win.