Cycling's rising star Paul Seixas will compete at the Tour de France in July, with a whole country hoping that he can end a four decades drought for French riders.
The 19-year-old Frenchman, widely regarded as a potential great and France’s best hope for a future Tour de France winner, announced his participation at cycling's showpiece race in a video released by his CMA CGM Decathlon team.
Seixa's precocity is rare. He has been in an impressive form this season, finishing runner-up to four-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar at the Strade Bianche and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He also became the youngest winner of the Flèche Wallonne.
“It’s a childhood dream of mine, something I’ve often imagined, and now it’s very close to becoming reality,” said Seixas, a versatile rider with excellent climbing and time trialing skills. “I’m only 19, but as I’ve already said, age is neither a barrier nor an excuse.”
It has been nearly 41 years since a French rider last won the Tour de France, when Bernard Hinault claimed the last of his five titles back in 1985.
Over the past four decades, France has produced talented riders such as Thibaut Pinot, Romain Bardet, Warren Barguil or Julian Alaphilippe. All raised hopes but ultimately fell short, often facing rivals backed by stronger and better-funded teams.
That could change following Seixas' announcement, who has a strong team. Decathlon, a global sporting goods company, has joined forces with CMA CGM, one of the world’s largest shipping firms, to invest in a French team with Tour-winning ambitions. The team said last year it aims to win the Tour de France within the next five years.
“We needed to take the time to carefully analyze all the data and also talk with Paul and those around him,” said Dominique Serieys, the team's CEO. “He has had a remarkable start to the season and is already among the best riders in the world. And the best are meant to line up at the biggest race on the calendar: the Tour de France. With great humility and in a learning mindset, Paul will start in Barcelona with genuine ambitions to achieve the best possible result in the general classification.”
This season, Seixas also became the youngest winner of a WorldTour stage race at the Tour of the Basque Country. Seixas will take part in his first Tour at a younger age than Pogačar, who was 21 when he first appeared at the three-week race and went on to win. Hinault was also older, first lining up at 23.
“My results since the start of the season have given me a lot of confidence; I feel ready and I will have ambitious goals,” he said. “It’s not my mindset or my view of cycling to line up at the Tour de France with the sole aim of discovering it. I will aim for the best possible overall classification.”
As part of his preparations for the Tour, Seixas will also compete at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in June. Following the Tour, Seixas plans to ride in Canada before the world championships and the Tour of Lombardy.
The Tour de France starts on July 4 from Barcelona, Spain.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
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