Telling Paul Seixas to slow down? - Daan Hoole explains team time trial moment as he gestured to teenage star
Cycling
Paul Seixas rode his first team time trial with Decathlon CMA CGM on Tuesday, with the team recording a solid sixth place finish and a respectable time amongst the other leading teams in the discipline.
However, there was one big moment the 19-year-old sensation appeared to be putting his own team under pressure, leading to Daan Hoole gesturing to Seixas, and seemingly asking him to ease up and slow down. With cameras catching the interaction clearly, Hoole himself has cleared up what happened.
While admitting that much of their plan came to fruition, the team did lose specialist Stefan Bisseger in the lead-up to the finale, meaning that Seixas himself would come through to do some turns and up the pace.
Hoole hinted that Seixas' turns - particularly in the uphill sections - had put his teammates under pressure and the gesture was aimed to ensure turns would be longer and not sharper.
Hoole clears up Seixas gesture
"Paul is of course a very strong rider. He is one of the best climbers in the world. When he is leading on the climb, things naturally go fast," Hoole told reporters after the stage.
"We had lost Stefan [Bisseger], so I told him then that he needed to take longer turns. Eventually he did that and he was super strong. Truly the main engine of our team. And then you notice that it isn't going fast enough. Then you need more riders."
The stage was a dress rehearsal of sorts for the French team, who know the opening stage team time trial will be crucial for ensuring the teenage starlet is immediately up to pace with rivals Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard as he arrives to the Grand Depart with lofty ambitions.
Hoole thinks Tour de France team time trial is 'easier'
Hoole believes the Barcelona team time trial is easier for the team, with less climbing in the earlier sections, and gave a simple and blunt assessment of the plan: deliver Seixas to the final climb and let him do the rest.
"In the Tour, it is a different time trial," Hoole said. "I would even say easier, because it is flat and then the climb. Now it is a climb and then flat. So you have to find that balance between going hard on the climb, but keeping the heavier guys on board.
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"In the Tour, it’s simply about getting to the climb as quickly as possible and wishing Paul good luck there. Then he heads to the finish."
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
- dude, Lemond never even was in the same race as Armstrong. He throws all these aspersions on other American riders who might usurp his throne as the greatest ever American racer. He doesn't say a single thing about (foreign) dopers who he actually raced against. Biggest douchebag move ever. I used to revere that guy, now I despise him. His actions are so weird.fatsupermodel02-11-2026
- This is just stupid, You do what you are good at not what you are weak at. He has no results to speak of when he participated. Even Froome, Conatdor had very little. With Pogi there he wont win none of the classics. he is already 30+ with a few years left at the top. It takes years to get good at classics. Is that really worth the effort???abstractengineer02-11-2026
- Sure, little fella.awp02-11-2026
- You'll be the ongoing joke of 2027 with anything you post here!frieders302-11-2026
- Awwww your inside information must be from PogiFanGirl. You two daughters of different mothers?frieders302-11-2026
- Hey PogIFanGirl...wipe that cream from your lips! You're ever loving drooling and whatever you have for Tadej has your brain fried!frieders302-11-2026
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