"If he's not on the Tour, we won't hold it against him at all": Prudhomme invites Paul Seixas to try the 2026 Tour

The end to a seemingly eternal wait of French cycling fans might be on the horizon. Four decades passed since Bernard Hinault's fifth Tour de France victory in 1985, but a talent which seems to have the qualities to become Hinault's successor has emerged in Paul Seixas. The 19-year-old demonstarted his qualities right off the bat in 2026 with a dominant solo victory at Faun-Ardèche Classic, followed by a runner-up result at the Strade Bianche, bowing only to the current cycling king Tadej Pogacar.

For Christian Pruhomme, who became the Tour de France director in 2007, it would be a fulfillment of his mission to witness a home rider triumph at Grande Boucle during his function - something his predecessor Jean-Marie Leblanc could only dream of.

Of course, it was clear that Seixas was going to become something special already during his debut professional season when he podiumed the European Championships, among others. But it was only at the start of this year, that Prudhomme truly started to believe the magical moment when a French rider stands on top of the podium in Champs-Élysées is closer than we might've thought.

"I heard Dominique Serieys (director of the Decathlon CMA CGM team) talking about his victory in the Ardèche, and he said that we thought he'd be with three or four riders, and that he could win. That's exactly what I imagined too," Pruhomme explained to RMC Sport.

Coming into the French 1.Pro race which took place on the roads of last year's European Championships, Seixas was definitely counted among the main favourites alongside countryman Lenny Martinez, Matteo Jorgenson, or Mattias Skjelmose - all high-profile leaders with extensive palmares, but that he would completely decimate them with a 40-kilometer Pogacar-esque solo was something unthinkable.

"Seeing him do a 42km breakaway, distance himself from highly talented riders, as he did, and go all the way, obviously I don't see the young talent Seixas in quite the same way anymore since his victory in the Ardèche, without a doubt. There's the Algarve, etc., his first two victories on the professional circuit, at only 19 years old."

The feeling of overwhelming talent was underlined a week later at the Strade Bianche when Seixas was the only rider to be able to counter Tadej Pogacar's attack, if only briefly. Once again, the question arises: Should Decathlon CMA CGM take the gamble and send their young superstar-in-making to Tour de France this summer?

"He's a gem," he insists. "If he's not on the Tour, we won't hold it against him at all, that's obvious, but if he is on the Tour, we won't hold it against him either."

At the end of the day, the most important is for the rider himself to be confident about taking this step. "I think that in his own environment, his family, himself, they will know better than me what the right answer is, but in any case, yes, we must protect him, we must polish this diamond, without a doubt, because he is pure talent," he concludes.