Decathlon CMA CGM's decision to bring Paul Seixas to the Tour de France has been amply justified, the team's management said, even if he was unable finally to conquer third place overall in the final mountain stage.
Seixas' participation in the Tour sparked a huge amount of debate in the months before the race, given the 19-year-old was the youngest rider to start cycling's premier event since 1937.
Despite this being rated as one of the hardest Tours in recent history, his never having ridden a three-week race before and the immensely heightened public and media expectations following his stunning first half of the season, Seixas nonetheless finished fourth overall.
The Frenchman reached his limits on the final day of climbing on Alpe d'Huez, though. Despite a sustained acceleration by Seixas' teammates Nicolas Prodhomme and Matthew Riccittello on the last major climb of the race, the Col de Sarenne, Seixas was unable to close the 24-second gap on GC on Mexican Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and in fact found himself struggling.
But even if the young Frenchman ended up losing 1:40 on Del Toro - also notably flailing at several points - Decathlon insisted that rather than disappointment with fourth place, they were delighted with how Seixas had performed all round. Furthermore, as Team Manager Julien Jurdie told reporters after stage 20, the benefits of racing the Tour would be reaped by Seixas deep into the second half of 2026, and well beyond that, too.
"No doubt about it, his fourth place overall," Jurdie told a small group of reporters, including Cyclingnews, after the stage when asked if he was feeling more satisfied with Seixas fourth place or disappointed he hadn't conquered the third place on the last day.
"Three weeks ago in Barcelona, it's clear that we'd barely have imagined that Paul could have taken a top five finish in his first Grand Tour and in the Tour de France, on top of that.
"We don't have any regrets. Paul was feeling good but not great this [Saturday] morning and we knew we had a bit of a gap already on [Lenny] Martinez (Bahrain Victorious, fifth overall). We did everything right, it's just that Paul couldn't follow his teammates' pace.
"You can make all the plans you want, but at the end of a Grand Tour, it's the legs that talk.
"But I can't forget the way Paul has fought so hard throughout the three weeks, that's what's been most impressive of all. What wit the heat in the first half and the speed throughout, it's pretty amazing what he's managed to achieve.
"Mentally speaking, he's a monster. He's a real champion."
Plenty of outside observers pointed out that if there was one year where Seixas would not have such a massive weight of expectations, it would be in 2026, whereas if he and his team had opted to wait a season, there would be much more pressure on him to perform. But as Jurdie pointed out, the way that Seixas was able to battle with the very best of the GC racers spoke volumes about what he could achieve.
"There's nothing quite like fighting with the really top names and he was fighting for the podium on day 20 of the race," Jurdie said. "A kid who discovers the Tour and who has nothing but smiles, nothing to show but satisfaction - that's just extraordinary.
"The team did a great Tour, collectively and we got that stage win as well with Olav Kooij [on stage 5], too.
"Mentally, Paul has seen he's got work to do, and I'll say it again, given his young age, it's only logical that at times and after 20 stages, he found it a bit tough. That's sport.
"But he's learned a lot from this and his 2026 season has been extraordinary, both mentally and physically. We had a lot to discover about his capacity to recover. And now we have the answers.
"It was our objective to get him in the top five, and to be honest, we had dreamed of the podium. So we can't be anything but satisfied."
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