"Pogacar is an alien, but Seixas is the Messiah. He is the one who is 'expected'" - Marc Madiot after another resounding victory by his 19-year-old prodigy

France has been searching since 1985 for an heir to succeed “The Badger” Bernard Hinault. It is a 41-year void without a Tour de France victory that now seems to be illuminated by new hope. After years of believing that Romain Bardet or Thibaut Pinot could end that drought, a youngster from Lyon has emerged, making the French nation believe again.

Paul Seixas is the name on everyone’s lips in France. Having started the 2026 season battling for the overall classification at the Volta ao Algarve against Juan Ayuso and João Almeida, he further underlined his talent last Saturday at the Faun-Ardèche Classic with a victory many have described as “a Pogacar-style win.”

For Marc Madiot, team manager of Groupama–FDJ United, his prodigy is the “new messiah, the chosen one”, as he said in an interview to the microphones of RCM Sport.

“For me, he is already among the five or six best riders in the world. We have Tadej Pogačar, Isaac Del Toro, Jonas Vingegaard, Paul Seixas, Mathieu Van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel. In the peloton, we have the ability to feel the balance of power. And he has already shown that balance of power,” said Madiot.

“Everything is faster today, that applies to all sports, so it is perfectly logical that at 19 or 20 years old we are reaching physical levels that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Seixas has something that others do not have, or that very few have, like Pogačar. Messi also had something others did not have when he started kicking a ball. For now, we see no weaknesses in Seixas. He has everything in his repertoire.”

For the experienced Frenchman, Seixas has no weaknesses and, at just 19 years old, he has no doubt in stating that Seixas will be the long-awaited successor to Hinault.

“We hope he wins the Tour de France and manages to lead the peloton. For that, he needs exceptional physical attributes and exceptional qualities in terms of race strategy and positioning. He has everything now. Inevitably, he will have to work on certain areas, but the foundation for success is there. There are no weaknesses.”

The climb he tackled on Saturday at the Faun-Ardèche was the same used in the European Championship, and the FDJ rider took an impressive 34 seconds off the time recorded at the Europeans, where only Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel had been stronger.

Now Seixas is even stronger and possesses a powerful weapon in the individual time trial, as he proved at the Volta ao Algarve, placing him at a very high level in the hierarchy of riders who are contenders for overall victory.

“I think he is the chosen one. He will be the rider France has been waiting for to win the Tour. And also the rider of old Europe. Pogacar is Slovenian. He is, in a way, an alien who comes from another world. In cycling, we are rooted in history, with the Italians, Belgians, Spaniards… Seixas is, in that sense, the Messiah, he is the one who is expected”, said Madiot.

Madiot says Seixas is the chosen one. Next Saturday, on the white roads of Tuscany, the young rider will have the opportunity to ride alongside the man many consider the best cyclist in the world today. Who will eat whose dust in Italy? The protagonists will have the final word.