Results Itzulia Basque Country 2026 Stage 1 | Paul Seixas obliterates field to claim first WorldTour win in Bilbao time trial

Paul Seixas has announced himself on the WorldTour stage in emphatic fashion, storming to victory on stage 1 of Itzulia Basque Country 2026 with a dominant ride in the opening time trial in Bilbao.

On a short but demanding 13.8km course that combined a steep opening climb, technical descending and a punishing uphill finish, Primoz Roglic looked to have laid down a familiar marker. But the script was torn up in spectacular fashion by the 19-year-old Frenchman.

Roglic had surged into the early lead with a time of 17:37, moving comfortably into the hotseat after gaining time across every sector of the course. Strong on the Alto Santo Domingo and even more effective on the rolling section that followed, the Slovenian quickly established himself as the rider to beat. Behind him, few could get close.

Tobias Halland Johannessen briefly threatened at the first checkpoint but faded in the second half, eventually conceding 29 seconds. Matthew Riccitello impressed early with the fastest split on the opening climb, only to lose significant time on the flatter run-in, finishing half a minute down. Bruno Armirail then moved into provisional second at 22 seconds, while Ben Tulett hovered just behind in third.

But the race shifted dramatically with the arrival of Seixas. The French prodigy set the tone immediately, climbing the Alto Santo Domingo significantly faster than anyone before him. By the second intermediate point, he had already extended his advantage, and from there he only accelerated further.

At the finish, the scale of the ride became clear. Seixas stopped the clock 28 seconds faster than Roglic, a huge margin over such a short distance, underlining just how exceptional the performance was.

With the benchmark set, attention turned to the next wave of contenders, and the first serious attempt to challenge Seixas came from Brandon McNulty. The American started strongly, cresting the Alto Santo Domingo with the third-fastest time, just three seconds down on Seixas, but quickly faded as the course progressed. After a scrappy final sector, he could only manage seventh at the finish.

Behind them, Ilan Van Wilder delivered one of the most complete rides of the day, finishing fourth at 29 seconds and within a second of Roglic, while Kévin Vauquelin produced a strong late effort to move into second place, 23 seconds down on Seixas. Elsewhere, Ethan Hayter struggled to stay in contention from early on, and Mauri Vansevenant held a place inside the top ten.

As the race reached its decisive phase, the expected late challenge never materialised. Isaac del Toro, one of the standout riders of the season, was unable to match the early pace and eventually finished 13th, 50 seconds down on Seixas, a significant deficit on such a short test.

Juan Ayuso endured an even tougher afternoon. The Spaniard lost over 20 seconds on the opening climb, suffered a moment on the descent where he briefly lost control, and never recovered his rhythm.

At the finish, the damage was severe. Ayuso crossed the line in 35th place, 1’16” down, a major early blow to his general classification ambitions after his recent crash in Paris-Nice. There were suggestions that shifting wind conditions may have played a role for the later starters, but even accounting for that, the time gaps remained striking.

Further down, Cian Uijtdebroeks conceded close to a minute and a half, while Mikel Landa, the final rider on the road, was unable to challenge the leading times.

Seixas, meanwhile, had long since settled into the hotseat. His ride proved untouchable. The 19-year-old not only secured the stage win, but also claimed the first leader’s jersey of the race and with it, a breakthrough victory that immediately reshapes the general classification.