French cyclist Paul Seixas announced on Monday that he will compete in his first Tour de France this summer, the youngest rider to start the famed race in 89 years when it begins in Barcelona, Spain on 4 July.
No homegrown hero has claimed the sport's most prestigious race since Bernard Hinault brandished the crown for a record-equalling fifth time in 1985.
"It is my childhood dream, something I've often dreamed about and now it's so close," 19-year-old Seixas said in a statement published by his Decathlon CMA CGM team.
"My results since the start of the season have given me a lot of confidence," added Seixas. "I feel ready and I will have ambitious objectives."
Setting out from Barcelona on 4 July, 20 stages will cover more than 3,300km before the finish on the Champs Elysées in Paris on 26 July.
In a video posted to social media by Decathlon, Seixas is shown visiting his grandparents in the eastern Haute-Savoie region near his home in Lyon.
Organisers unveil routes for men and women at 2026 Tour de France
"I've come here to announce to you something special, I have a race in July," he tells them before they guess that he is talking about the Tour de France.
Seixas, who turned professional last year, started cycling at the Lyon Sprint Évolution club when he was eight-years-old. In 2021, he joined the Vélo Club Villefranche Beaujolais (VCVB) in Villefranche-sur-Saône.
He began the 2026 season with second place in the Tour of the Algarve. He followed up that success in Portugal with top prize in the Ardeche Classic.
Remarkable season
At the start of April, Seixas became the youngest winner of the Itzulia Basque Country since the inception of the race in 1924. There was also a victory in the Fleche wallonne.
"Paul has had a remarkable start to the season and is already among the best riders," said Decathlon CMA CGM Team chief executive Dominique Serieys.
"And the best riders are destined to compete in the biggest race on the calendar: the Tour France. With great humility and a focus on learning, Paul will start in Barcelona with genuine ambitions to achieve the best possible result in the general classification."
Paris-Roubaix: The world's most legendary cobbled cycle race
As speculation mounted that Seixas might participate in the 2026 Tour de France, Marc Madiot, the sporting director of the French team Groupama-FDJ United, warned it would be unwise for the young star to compete so soon.
"We underestimate what the Tour de France is," he told French broadcaster RMC on Sunday. "When you ride the Tour de France ... you enter into a washing machine which wears you down, which devours you day after day," he added.
Seixas' Blegian team-mate Oliver Naesen told Cyclingnews last month: "If Paul's not ready, then who is ready? He's 100 percent ready to go to the Tour de France."
