"There'll never be less pressure than this year": Ex-sports director sees nothing to lose for Paul Seixas by racing Tour

The debate over a possible Tour de France debut for the very young climber Paul Seixas, a rider representing Decathlon CMA CGM Team, has split the cycling community between those urging caution and those ready to roll the dice.

Amid the storm, Marc Sergeant’s voice at Het Nieuwsblad is the one of reason and pragmatism, highlighting the positive of not delaying what seems inevitable further than necessary.

The former sports director’s (Sergeant linked most of his staff career with Lotto) logic rests on a clear paradox: the lack of real demands on his shoulders at this stage of his career. In recent comments, Sergeant argues that the Frenchman’s youth is his ultimate shield against relentless media and sporting scrutiny.

"He’ll never be able to go to the Tour with less pressure than this year," the expert states firmly, explaining that any current misstep would be read immediately as a valuable learning moment rather than a failure.

For Sergeant, the real danger lies in a conservative strategy of waiting two seasons, when Seixas will be a fully established professional and expectations will be sky-high. If, in that future scenario, the performance doesn’t follow, the verdict from the surroundings will be brutal. "They’ll say he’s been a pro for three years and still caves," the Belgian analyst anticipates of the fierce reactions that would erupt if his long-awaited debut is delayed and things go wrong on the road.

Beyond pure psychological management, Sergeant sees the French Grand Tour not as a final exam the gifted climber must pass, but as a stage where he can continue learning.

The environment of the most important stage race on the international calendar offers a fast-track education in handling the peloton’s daily tension and the public’s overwhelming attention. "The Tour is a circus like nothing else. He can already discover it all now," the analyst explains, downplaying the drama of a potential physical collapse by the promising rider over three weeks.

In modern sport, where data analysis sets the tempo, the team’s coaches can monitor fatigue to the smallest detail. If the numbers point to wear that threatens his long-term development, abandoning is a fully legitimate and controllable move.

However, Sergeant has full confidence in a talent who has already shown remarkable maturity. Citing his impressive level in brutally demanding races, the Belgian rules out a premature crack. "I’m quite sure he’ll come out of the Tour well. If you see how he performs day after day at the Itzulia Basque Country, which is a very hard race, I don’t think you can assume he’ll necessarily have a bad day at the Tour," he concludes with total conviction.

The recommendation to throw the peloton’s great pearl into the arena rests on his enormous engine and the irreplaceable tactical advantage of riding unshackled by general classification duties. But it'd clearly be a shame if the only rider able to compare uphill with Tadej Pogacar were to be absent from the biggest race of the season.