Paul Seixas, a great hope for French cycling, wins the Tour de l'Avenir

Is this the true gem that French cycling has been waiting for for nearly forty years? Frenchman Paul Seixas, 18, touted by some as the rider likely to succeed Bernard Hinault, the last French winner of the Tour de l'Avenir in 1985, won the 61st edition of the Tour de l'Avenir on Friday, August 29.

Paul Seixas, who competed in this event as part of the French team and made his professional debut with the Décathlon - AG2R La Mondiale team, won the final stage, a 10.4-kilometer individual time trial held on the climb to my resort of La Rosière (Savoie).

Second in the general classification, 29 seconds behind his compatriot Maxime Decomble before this final time trial, Paul Seixas finally beat the Belgian Jarno Wildar by 40 seconds and the Norwegian Jorgen Nordhagen by 44 seconds. Decomble finished ^5th , 1 minute 20 seconds behind.

Paul Seixas had performed less well than expected in the high mountains, his preferred terrain, during the two previous stages. But the French prodigy, the 2024 junior world time trial champion, was able to regain the necessary resources to set an excellent final time trial and win what is the flagship race for the under-23s.

"I didn't think I'd win like this by such a large margin. Even at 90% of my fitness, I'm capable of winning the Tour de l'Avenir, so it's magnificent," said the rider from the Décathlon AG2R La Mondiale team after his victory.

In 2025, Seixas (already) made a name for himself among professionals by finishing ^8th in the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, won by Tadej Pogacar, and by placing 3rd in the French time trial championship.