Paul Seixas counters Brandon McNulty to win Saitama Criterium - Tour de France-organised showpiece sees 20-year-old wrap up season in style
Cycling
Paul Seixas officially closed his 2026 season account as he took a solo victory in the Tour de France's Saitama Criterium in Japan on Sunday. The 20-year-old now heads into his winter break after a sensational breakthrough year that saw him finish fourth at the Tour.
Seixas finished second at last week's Singapore Criterium behind Isaac del Toro. However, without the Mexican present in Japan this weekend, the Decathlon CMA CGM rider wrapped up his season's racing in style as he bested Brandon McNulty to the finish.
The ASO-organised event brings a handful of high-profile riders to the land of the rising sun as part of the annual Saitama Criterium with Seixas, McNulty and 2026 Tour yellow jersey wearer Torstein Traen among the riders at the start line.
Taking in 63 kilometres over the course of 17 laps of a 3.7 kilometre circuit, Seixas had time to celebrate as he came over the line just seconds ahead of world champion McNulty. Traen completed the podium while INEOS rider Oscar Onley finished fourth place.
The finish followed McNulty's attack in the final kilometres as Seixas brought him back and countered to put away the American UAE rider.
Paul Seixas, Decathlon CMA CGM’s world-class star.
Seixas closes out season
UAE, Decathlon, Jayco AlUla, INEOS and Uno-X Mobility were among the teams represented while other major riders at the race included Mauro Schmid, Michael Matthews, Thymen Arensman and Valentin Paret-Peintre.
Meanwhile, Seixas will now settle into his off-season and get to work on mapping out his next steps. With the Giro and Tour routes now announced, the Frenchman faces speculation about what will be his next Grand Tour.
"It's important to know how to switch and go to another goal. If you don't do that then you stay on what you have and you don't want more," he said in quotes reported by France24.
"I always want more, and I think the guys who won a lot in their career, they always work like that."
Decathlon rider's breakout 2026 season
At 19, he took an unprecedented fourth place in his debut at the Tour de France following Strade Bianche and Liege-Bastogne-Liege podiums. Among his early-season victories, he took Fleche Wallone glory as well as Itzulia Basque Country overall.
At the Tour, Seixas was in the fight for the podium with Isaac del Toro throughout the final week, but missed out after a battling stage 20 performance.
Read also
Seixas was among the strongest riders at the World Championships as leader of the French team before cramp struck in the final lap of the race. However, he would bounce back emphatically just two weeks later.
Winning Il Lombardia, the 20-year-old dropped the rest of the field on the penultimate climb of the race and went solo to take a first-ever monument victory - closing out his UCI road racing season before his criterium appearances.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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