"It might be better to test himself at the Giro": Bernard Hinault cautious about Paul Seixas' debut at the Tour de France

Paul Seixas and the possibility of his participation at the 2026 Tour de France are the hot talk at the moment. The 19-year-old rising star of French cycling made great strides at the start of this season. So great, that his team bosses at Decathlon CMA CGM can't hide that the odds of Seixas' Grande Boucle debut have increased notably over the past weeks.

Naturally, Seixas at the Tour would be an excellent advertisement for the race, and thus Tour director Christian Prudhomme expressed his hopes for Seixas to indeed travel for the Grand Départ in Barcelona this summer. Of course, hoping that Seixas can potentially end French four-decade-long wait for Tour de France winner since Bernard Hinault's victory in 1985.

RMC Sport have asked Le Blaireau himself to give his thoughts on Seixas at the Tour. The five-time Tour de France winner acknowledges that Paul Seixas "is a very good rider", but that it is not necessary to throw him in the deep end too soon. Rather, he'd prefer to see Seixas test himself in the three-week racing at either the Giro or Vuelta.

"If it’s to put him in the Tour de France and then he’s burned out, I think it’s better to think about it, to say we might manage it as best as possible. At 19, if he comes up against a Pogacar and finishes 10 minutes behind, it might be better to go and test himself in another race and if he went to the Giro d’Italia, if he found himself against Jonas Vingegaard, it would give an idea of ​​his abilities," he confided.