"I wanted to race with panache, something you cannot do with Pogacar around" - Paul Seixas succeeds the Tour champion

The past week saw spectacular battles of the most coveted talents of both men's and women's peloton as the traditional under-23 stage race Tour de l'Avenir unfolded on the French-Italian borders. The men's side saw an overwhelming favourite at the start with French supertalent Paul Seixas coming down from his debut season as a pro where he proved everyone of his enormous talent. But across the week, he must've feared for his overall victory as the race didn't always develop the way he would've liked to.

"I'm very happy," Seixas begun his account at DirectVelo, "it shows that despite the fact that I'm not at 100%, I still manage to be there in the race, to hang on all week and to go for the win, so that's the most important thing."

"Sometimes, when you don't have the right feelings on the bike, you take a little knock to your morale. I think it's a mental challenge, it's in the tough moments that you realize how difficult this sport really is. I was the favorite and it wasn't necessarily easy to take on with my form, but I never gave up and I managed to hang on until the end to get this victory."

Seixas could not really hide his excitement about winning the "mini-Tour", but with the same breath, he reveals that this was probably his last time at the race. As a top-10 finisher at the "big" Critérium du Dauphiné, there'll be bigger goals on his schedule in next years. "It means a lot, it's the biggest under-23 race, I think it's going to be the only one of my life, so to be able to win it is still magnificent."

For the most part of the race, Seixas actually wasn't in the spotlight. The Frenchman took yellow after the opening prologue of 3 kilometers, but quickly dropped down in the rankings. That was when a group of 19, including his teammate Maxime Decomble, rode away on stage 3 and gained over two minutes on the peloton. Since then, France had two leaders with Decomble in yellow and Seixas waiting in the shadows.

But in both queen stages, Jarno Widar (Belgium) was faster to the line and so the situation in GC as riders entered the final mountain time trial was still close. Decomble in first place had half a minute on Seixas, but Lorenzo Finn (Italy) and Widar were within 10 seconds of Seixas. Anything could happen, but the 18-year-old French wonderkid left no room for doubts and won with a difference of a class on La Rosière.

How did the victory come around on Friday afternoon? "At first, I wanted to manage it a bit with the power meter, but I quickly saw that either I wasn't in the game, or my power meter was wrong," he laughs. "Fortunately, it was wrong, but I didn't panic."

"I saw that Lorenzo Finn wasn't too far ahead, and I was able to make small gaps. I saw that Widar had quickly gained 30 seconds back, and I had my sights set on him from time to time. I knew I was setting a good time, because Lorenzo is a very strong opponent. Afterwards, I thought I was behind Widar. I didn't lose my composure. I took a time check and quickly saw that I had a good lead."

Overall, Seixas can look at his Avenir with satisfaction and a sense of pride. He knows well there won't be as many opportunities to race with open cards when he returns to his duties in WorldTour, where aliens dictate the pace.

"I wanted to race with panache, it's not an opportunity I often have in the pros, when you come up against opponents like Tadej Pogacar, or others. They are much stronger than me, the only thing we have to do is save ourselves all week, stay in the wheels, and go for a Top 10 or whatever we can."

The 18-year-old is often regarded as someone who could become the successor of the Slovenian phenomenon. But even more importantly, the rider who ends France's four-decade long drought at Tour de France. "Every year is different, he is a great champion, and for the moment, I do not compare myself to him. He's someone different, he's perhaps one of the greatest cycling champions of all time."