The question around Paul Seixas and his possible Tour de France debut have been swirling pretty much since the minute he made his pro debut at the start of last year, but in the recent weeks and months, the speculation and debate has only intensified. Going toe to toe for so long with Tadej Pogačar on Sunday at Liège- Bastogne-Liège, in particular, has sent it into another dimension.
His Decathlon CMA CGM team have been clear that they wanted to get the first part of the season done before deciding if Seixas will be at the start line in Barcelona this July. But the time to make a decision is now looming, and fervour around the 19-year-old is only growing.
If the rumours are true, we'll have a decision on whether Seixas will start this year's Tour de France as soon as the end of this week. But even when that comes, there's still going to be the debate of whether it's the right choice, and whether he should make his Tour debut this year.
On the one hand, he's more than proven his ability to rub shoulders with the best for several months now, and he's done plenty of huge races. But on the other hand, he is still only 19, he's never done a Grand Tour, and France in July is another level of pressure and hype.
We've already had columnist Sean Kelly saying that Seixas shouldn't ride the Tour this summer, but we wanted to dive a little deeper into the question with a debate of our own. Even at Cyclingnews we can't agree, so we have Deputy Editor Patrick arguing the case for, whilst Assistant Features Editor Matilda is against.
So should Paul Seixas ride the Tour this summer? Let's get into it.
Opening thoughts
The question of experience
Is pressure a problem?
Would he get a result?
