Putting Pogacar and Vingegaard on notice? Paul Seixas takes Tourmalet Strava KOMs during Tour de France reconnaissance

Decathlon CMA CGM Team rider Paul Seixas has traveled straight from a two-week altitude camp in the Sierra Nevada to the Pyrenees to scout stage 6 of the upcoming 2026 Tour de France. The 19-year-old French rider spent his weekend analyzing the key climbs of the mountainous stage between Pau and Gavarnie-Gèdre, which features both the Col d'Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet.

On Saturday, Seixas was joined by Nicolas Prodhomme and Matthew Riccitello to ride the final 100 kilometers of the upcoming stage. The group tackled the Col d'Aspin (12 km at 6.5%) and the Col du Tourmalet (17.1 km at 7.3%) before completing the scouting session by climbing back over the Tourmalet from the opposite direction. In total, the ride covered 136 kilometers with 4,200 meters of elevation gain in 4 hours and 45 minutes.

The following day, Seixas and Prodhomme went back out for another specific mountain block. Their Sunday route covered 90 kilometers and 2,900 meters of elevation gain in just over 3 hours and 15 minutes, repeating the Tourmalet to Gavarnie-Gèdre combination and including a high-intensity effort on the Tourmalet from the Luz-Saint-Sauveur side.

Strava data uploaded by the Decathlon CMA CGM rider showed significant intensity on Sunday's final climb, resulting in new best times on several known segments:

10.1 km segment (6.9% average): Seixas completed the section in 25 minutes and 25 seconds, averaging nearly 24 km/h. This time was 35 seconds faster than the one of the man holding the former record, Lenny Martinez, who did so during stage 14 of the Tour last year.

8.7 km segment (6.5% average): Seixas went more than 1 minute and 30 seconds faster than Martinez on this section.

While training efforts and race-day conditions obviously differ due to cumulative fatigue and team tactics, the reference point is notable. During that stage, Martinez had been part of an aggressive frontline group containing Thymen Arensman, Sepp Kuss, and Ben Healy, eventually crossing the Tourmalet summit alone in the polka-dot jersey.

Seixas now has one week remaining for final training and recovery before his next major competitive appointment. He is scheduled to line up at the 2026 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (formerly known as the Critérium du Dauphiné), which runs from June 7 to June 14.

The week-long event serves as the primary Tour de France preparation, and the young Frenchman aims to target a strong result. Last year he finished in eighth place, 8:25 behind winner Tadej Pogacar.