Looking to revive Bernard Hinault's legacy, Paul Seixas will be the youngest rider to race Tour de France since 1930s!

Paul Seixas is yet to turn 20 later this year, but he's already viewed by many as one of the best cyclists in the world. And so, it doesn't come as a huge surprise that Decathlon CMA CGM adjusted their plans for this summer and will bring their gem to the hearth of Tour de France, to face off with Tadej Pogacar among others. Just how unprecedented it is to see such a young cyclist at the Tour de France, you'd have to go back nearly a full decade for Danny van Poppel.

But Seixas will be the youngest in almost an entire century. Seixas (19 years and 283 days) will be the youngest participant since 1931 participant Fabio Battesini. The Italian, who was 19 years and 131 days old at the time of race start, won a stage in his debut and belonged among the leading figures of the first week of the race with another podium. Paul Seixas certainly aims to, at the very least, follow in Battesini's steps this summer.

"I’m only 19 years old, but as I’ve said before, age is neither a barrier nor an excuse. This decision, made in consultation with the team management, was carefully considered and developed collectively over the past few days," Seixas commented his choice to participate already in 2026 in today's team press release.

Looking at his palmares in 2026 with victories at La Fleche Wallonne or Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, and podium finishes from Strade Bianche, Liege-Bastogne-Liege where only Tadej Pogacar was one level above Seixas, it's not hard to see why the 19-year-old Frenchman is immediately seen as a top-3 favourite and why some of the French fans are already preparing to welcome the arrival of their long-awaited successor to Bernard Hinault's legacy of five Tour de France victories in late 1970s and 1980s.