"The race will revolve around him" - Paul Seixas backed to dominate Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes by former French rider

Paul Seixas could dominate the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes as he steps up preparations to make his Tour de France debut in just one month, at least that's according to one former French cyclist who believes the demanding route could dictate how the Decathlon CMA CGM rider takes on the race.

The race, formerly known as the Criterium de Dauphine, has traditionally served as a key warm-up race for the Tour and 19-year-old Seixas seems keen to honour tradition in his pursuit of stepping up to compete with Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard.

Seixas has been a revelation in 2026, taking podium finishes in high-profile races such as Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Strade Bianche as well as sweeping up the overall victory at the Itzulia Basque Country. The French rider carries the hopes of the nation heading to the Grand Depart, and further fuelled hopes with a KOM-claiming training ride on the Col du Tourmalet over the past week.

Ahead of the WorldTour stage race, French ex-professional rider Cyrille Guimard is hoping for a battle in France beginning on Saturday, with demanding mountain stages and other favourites such as Juan Ayuso and Isaac Del Toro expected at the start line.

"I'm hoping for a great race, a real battle. The only thing I'm worried about is the route," Cyrille Guimard told Cyclism'Actu.

"​​It's almost all summit finishes or very difficult stages, plus a team time trial. I think they're exaggerating the difficulty. Over eight days of racing, the balance isn't very good. But we could have a very exciting race considering the terrain and the quality of the riders."

For Guimard, home roads and the underrated support of young climber Léo Bisiaux is the perfect cocktail for fans to get a glimpse of what to expect from Seixas when he arrives at the Tour.

He said: "He's going to walk, anyway. Besides, he's on home turf. He knows most of the roads he'll be riding on. He'll be eager to shine. I think the race will revolve around him, that's obvious."

"He'll have another very strong rider with him, one who gets much less attention, Léo Bisiaux, who could potentially support and assist him. I'll mainly be observing. Because depending on his performance and the competition, we'll get a first glimpse of what he might do in the Tour de France."

However, Seixas has been warned to be cautious. With summit finishes and multiple mountain passes during stages, it's expected to be an attritional race in the general classification.

"But I think he'd be wise to be cautious in this race. As I said, there are too many climbs. And often, when there are too many climbs, the race is neutralized on a large number of passes. We'll mainly see some action on the summit finishes."

He added: "The organizers should be told that the more climbs you add, the less action there is. On the first day, you already have five passes. The race might be over by Sunday evening."

Reflecting on the Giro d'Italia, Guimard was disappointed by the lack of general classification battle due to Jonas Vingegaard's dominance. However, he finds it difficult to assess the Danish rider's level in respect of Pogacar due to him spending the Giro preparing for July.

"I think it was a rather lacklustre Giro we saw, a race that was, frankly, a bit bland. There was no emotion in this Giro d'Italia for those who were able to watch it."

He added: "Since there was no real competition, we can't know for sure. His accelerations—because they weren't even attacks—he'd just accelerate, take off, and nobody moved behind him.

"Gall rode his own race to finish second. In fact, he was training. Besides, when you listen to his own analysis of the race, he was indeed preparing for the Tour de France."