“Seeing where Paul Seixas has already got to motivates me” - Lorenzo Finn eyes same path as teenage rival after youngest-rider Worlds baptism in Montreal
Cycling
Lorenzo Finn and Paul Seixas were racing against each other long before either reached the elite World Championships. In Montreal, the two teenagers arrived with very different expectations.
Seixas was France’s undisputed leader, with an entire national team built around his bid for the rainbow jersey. Finn, still only 19 years and 282 days old, was the youngest rider in the field and had been asked by Italy to stay close to Giulio Ciccone for as long as possible. He ended up completing all 274 kilometres.
Finn crossed the line 55th after what he described as the hardest day of his career, around ten minutes behind new world champion Brandon McNulty. “I felt like I was ‘dead’,” the Italian told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “But it was a good experience. For the first three or four hours I felt pretty good. Then, as the race went on, the lights gradually went out. But come on, I’m happy I was there. Happy to have taken this experience away with me. A brick for the future.”
Only a few months earlier, Finn had still been accustomed to races of 160 or 170 kilometres. Montreal took him close to 280 against an elite field containing former world champions, Grand Tour winners and riders with years of WorldTour racing already behind them.
“I had to try to hang on for as long as possible so I could stay close to Giulio Ciccone,” he explained. “And up to a certain point, I managed it. Then when the race ‘exploded’, my legs let me down a bit. But positionally we were there, Italy raced well. Maybe in the finale I felt the weight of a long season with lots of commitments.”
That season has already included far more than most riders manage before turning 20. Finn followed his 2024 junior world title and 2025 U23 rainbow jersey by winning both the Giro Next Gen and Tour de l’Avenir in 2026. The latter victory put his name alongside Seixas again, one year after the Frenchman had won the same race.
Finn has already won multiple Rainbow Jerseys at youth level
“It makes me hope I can follow the same path”
“Two extra hours of racing compared to what I’m used to, almost 280 kilometres... you feel that,” Finn said of Montreal. “Until a few months ago, normal for me was 160-170 kilometres, and definitely at different speeds. The emotion of being at the front, shoulder to shoulder with so many champions, I still managed to experience it. For as long as I could.”
One of those riders was Seixas, his former youth-category rival and now already established as one of the biggest young names in the elite peloton. “Paul was a rival of mine in the youth categories and seeing where he has already got to motivates me,” Finn said. “It makes me hope I can follow the same path.”
Seixas’ own World Championships eventually unravelled with cramps on the final lap, but Finn pointed to the experience surrounding the pair once the race reached its decisive phase. “Well, he’s human too. And then if you look at who was up front... we’re talking about riders who already have many years of WorldTour experience. The only Under-23 rider was Del Toro.”
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Finn has deliberately taken a more gradual route into the senior ranks, but there has been little hesitation once the racing has started.
“Lots of friends, and family too, tell me that maybe I don’t realise what is happening to me,” he said. “But to me it just feels like I’m working hard and doing my job. I’ve already had plenty of satisfaction, but by character I’m not someone who settles. At the end of the day, I haven’t achieved anything yet. I don’t feel like I’ve given everything. The road is still long, I’m not stopping.”
That road could lead into a Grand Tour as soon as 2027. “It would be nice to be at the Giro d’Italia,” Finn admitted. “And the same goes for the Vuelta, where I could arrive with more races and experience in my legs. But we haven’t spoken about it with the team yet. We’ll see.”
For now, Montreal has given Finn almost 280 kilometres of elite racing to take into that first full WorldTour season. Seixas may already be further along the same road, but Finn will not have to wait long before finding out how quickly he can close the gap.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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