"Seeing him at the start alongside Pogacar, Vingegaard..." - Tour de France director Prudhomme on Paul Seixas' debut

Paul Seixas announced this Monday that he would be participating in the 2026 Tour de France, confirming the build-up we have been seeing throughout the past year. The Frenchman is in a metheoric rise and will be a star at the upcoming Grand Boucle without a doubt. Tour director Christian Prudhomme has talked about the upcoming participation in a recent interview.

“This is obviously great news. Even back at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, I was in a car on the side of the road, behind Pogacar and Paul Seixas, who were in the breakaway. And what did I hear? ‘Allez Paul, allez Seixas, allez Paul!’ So, obviously, that’s going to be amplified during the Tour de France," Prudhomme said in an interview with RMC Sport.

Prudhomme likens Seixas' evolution to that of Bernard Hinault, France's last Tour winner. “[In 1977] He won the Dauphiné, but he didn't ride the Tour; he came the following year. And obviously, there was a real desire for it, but back then, it was very different, since we were in a period of French riders winning".

The world of cycling is now not the same, but Seixas brings that flame back to the French, who have in the past years not even been part of the podium fight. This year, it will be the Tour's youngest rider himself who can break int the podium for the nation's first time since Romain Bardet in 2017.

"Now we've been waiting since 1985, for over 40 years. Paul Seixas is clearly not the favourite for the next Tour. But seeing him at the start alongside Pogacar, Vingegaard and the others is something very powerful".

Prudhomme is not shy of proclaiming his expectations for the Decathlon CMA CGM Team rider, who brings the 'home crowd' factor back into the spotlight. In the past, riders such as Thomas Voeckler, Julian Alaphilippe, Thibaut Pinot and Bardet himself were crowd favourites, stage winners at the Tour, and all riders who were beloved by the fans that surrounded the peloton for three weeks.

“It doesn’t seem unrealistic," he says of Seixas potentially finishing on the final podium. "In his first Grand Tour, Pogacar finished third overall at the Vuelta (in 2019, ed.) and won three stages. I don’t know if Paul Seixas can do that, but I’m convinced he’ll give us some emotions because, beyond the performance itself, he’s capable of attacking from far out, he’s capable of attacking anywhere. He has the carefree spirit of youth. He’ll be the youngest rider to start the Tour since 1937, and he’ll ride with ambitions, so that’s something huge.”

The way he has been handling the pressure has also been impressive, but the Tour will without a doubt be on another level. “I can’t imagine what it must be like, and I don’t think he fully realizes it either. We all say we need to protect him from the pressure, but in reality, we’re doing everything, because we want him to be there, to put him in the spotlight and celebrate his participation.”