"I won't ride the Tour this year" - Despite extraordinary expectations, 18-year old Paul Seixas brings rumours down to the ground

At only age 18, the average junior or first year under-23 rider's age, Paul Seixas is currently climbing up mountains with Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. The Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale is not just a diamond in the rough anymore, he is already the real deal and a leader in the making. However, he confirms that he will not be riding the Tour de France yet in any context.

"I managed to manage it well. It was extremely tough, both mentally and physically," Seixas shared with Cyclism'Actu after stage 7. "Especially with the heat, you feel it tenfold. From the first climb, it was full throttle. I didn't feel great at first. The first 30 minutes were okay, but at the end of the climb I was a little worse. I said to myself, 'We'll see how it goes.'"

"Then on the Croix de Fer, I found my legs a little better when the going slowed down. I managed to get ahead and save some energy for the final climb, and after that, I managed to avoid blowing up. I suffered through the series of climbs, but that's normal, and I still managed it really well, I think."

Seixas, riding only his second World Tour race, has been climbing up the GC throughout the race. A Top10 in the time-trial was already a very surprising result, but the truth is that on both Combloux and Valmeinier - two mountain stages ridden at a brutal pace - the Frenchman has not only survived but thrived. This Saturday, he climbed up to sixth in the overall classification, ahead of solid Tour de France contenders such as Matteo Jorgenson, Carlos Rodríguez and Enric Mas.

The French team even worked at the head of the peloton in the start of last afternoon's climb. "If Bruno Armirail rode, it was mainly so that he could protect me. I preferred to be at my own pace, rather than a crazy pace like UAE or Visma. I didn't want to get my engine blown out right away and delay the fight a bit, because I didn't know if I was going to hold out".

Whilst obviously he could not participate in the fight for the stage win, in his own terms he's ridden a brilliant stage to climb up the GC. "But in the end, it was pretty good. Obviously, it gives me a lot of confidence. The riders I'm finishing with are guys I see on TV, who are going really hard, and I managed to hang on to them and be part of it. It's a source of pride. Tomorrow I just hope to hang on and survive, and we'll see how it goes in the end".

Lastly, as previously mentioned, he has shed light into the question of whether this week would change the team's plan to take him to the Tour de France. "No. It's definitely a dream to ride the Tour, but it doesn't make sense to do it now. No matter the result, I won't ride the Tour this year," he said.