Home hope will be on the start line in Barcelona
Could be first male French winner since Hinault in 1985
The cycling prodigy Paul Seixas will make his Tour de France debut this year, raising hopes of France’s first male homegrown winner since 1985.
The 19-year-old Decathlon-CMA CGM rider has prompted intense debate in France after a dazzling start to 2026 with his team weighing the benefits of early exposure to the Tour against the risk of overburdening a rider still in his first season as a professional.
Seixas made the announcement on his team’s social media on Monday. “I’ve come here to announce to you something special, I have a race in July,” he tells his grandparents, before they guess that he is talking about the Tour. He will be the youngest rider to start a Tour in 89 years when the Grand Boucle begins in Barcelona on 4 July.
