“The team wanted me to win, but I said: No, Nico deserves it more than I do!" - Paul Seixas overrules team orders to hand Nicolas Prodhomme first pro win at Tour of the Alps

The 18-year-old Paul Seixas has been incredibly impressive at the Tour of the Alps this week. The French, widely touted as a rider with the potential to end his nation's long wait for a Tour de France win, also showed his class on the final stage. But whilst he a first pro win looked a certainty, Seixas instead opted to hand the win to his Nicolas Prodhomme at the line.

The vastly more experienced Prodhomme, so long a loyal domestique for the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, was also searching for his first professional win and with the pair of teammates well clear of the rest as they entered the finale, Seixas decided to grant his domestique the win in a classy move made even classier when the 18-year-old revealed in a post-stage interview that his team had actually wanted him to take the victory instead.  

“The team wanted me to take the win, but I said, ‘No, Nico deserves it more than I do!’" the French wonderkid explained to the media at the finish line afterwards, realising time is very much on his side. "I know I’m still going to improve. He’s riding incredibly well, but you never know. It gives me so much joy to let him have it today!”