It would be easy to look at the April demonstrations of power from Paul Seixas at La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne and Itzulia Basque Country and reason that cycling\u2019s most prized teenager is already close to being the finished product.<\/p>\n
The youngest-ever winner of the Belgian classic is evidently the real deal, but the Decathlon CMA CGM Team leader is only getting started. On Sunday he faces Tadej Poga\u010dar, Remco Evenepoel, Tom Pidcock and other established starts at Liege-Bastogne-Liege.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I can improve on everything \u2026 you\u2019re never at the end of the game,\u201d Seixas told The Athletic<\/em> in February. The 19-year-old has proven himself to be a fast learner, but there are plenty more lessons for him to take on board and tweaks to make to his way of working.<\/p>\n If he can keep improving, on and off the bike, alongside natural development and experience taking care of the rest, he could grow into the rival who can usurp Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n Here, then, are six areas that Seixas is sharpening as he looks to become even better.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s used to doing his own thing in the bunch,\u201d team-mate Oliver Naesen told The Athletic<\/em> at February\u2019s Volta ao Algarve, where Seixas won a stage and finished second overall to Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek).<\/p>\n A lieutenant on the team for the likes of Romain Bardet and Felix Gall over the years, Naesen tells his captains to outsource responsibility for any crash or time loss to helpers: \u201cFor Paul, it\u2019s not so much of a problem as for other climbing leaders. But over a multi-day race, you really can save a whole lot of energy by not giving a damn and just following your guys, knowing and trusting they will bring you safely to the line within the winner\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n Shrewd, efficient racing day in, day out could make a crucial difference mentally and physically, especially if (or rather, when) Seixas wants to take on Tadej Poga\u010dar and Jonas Vingegaard in Grand Tours.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s something he will have to learn: he sometimes finds his own way because he\u2019s used to it from junior racing, he\u2019s very agile in the peloton,\u201d Naesen says. \u201cHe\u2019s strong enough, but they [the WorldTour\u2019s biggest GC stars] are all strong enough to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Seixas\u2019 win at Itzulia Basque Country earlier this month was the first time a French male rider had won a WorldTour stage race since 2007 (Ander Gillenea \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Seixas is only 19 and as jaws drop and records fall with seemingly every passing race, the prodigy has leapfrogged the team hierarchy to the very top. Leadership as a teenager, dictating what he wants to peers some of who are almost double his age, is not straightforward, and time can only help.<\/p>\n That also goes for a team that is unaccustomed to defending WorldTour stage race leads and needs experience to excel at that.<\/p>\n His Decathlon CMA CGM team-mate Nicolas Prodhomme acknowledged that the team was \u201ca bit too demanding\u201d at Itzulia Basque Country, needing to accept certain riders breaking away so as to not frustrate other teams or riders, rather than chasing them down.<\/p>\n The second-year professional can still glean benefits from some professional cycling basics too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt starts with food: I was eating healthy, but not watching it so much,\u201d Seixas told The Athletic<\/em> two months ago. \u201cI did more focus in the [winter] training camp, eating good things for my body really precisely.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI also started doing some breathing exercises to improve my capacity.\u201d Seixas is also gaining muscle; last year, he added two kilos.<\/p>\n \n Is Seixas the rider set to depose Tadej Poga\u010dar at the very top of the sport? (Marco Bertolrello \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Whatever the race, Tadej Poga\u010dar is the yardstick for Seixas and the rest of the bunch, but the youngster is not afraid, still discovering what he can and cannot do.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has to get to know his own capabilities still by racing some of the best without setting himself a ceiling,\u201d Oliver Naesen says.<\/p>\n Seixas finishing as runner-up at Strade Bianche was a promising sign in his first race of the season against the sport\u2019s superstar; he will likely be the favourite for any race where the Slovenian is not present.<\/p>\n His team-mates are unsurprised by his level. \u201cYou see it in training. The other day we did a recon, and he\u2019s just on 300 watts all the time,\u201d Sander De Pestel (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) told The Athletic<\/em>. \u201cWe were like, \u2018Paul, woah, easy\u2019. And he\u2019s like, \u2018oh\u2019, not realizing how good he is. And I think that\u2019s his strength too. He\u2019s doing a lot of things right already, but I think he can still improve.\u201d<\/p>\n Seixas would do well to stay off social media and avoid Googling his own name. It could be easy to be spooked by the sheer weight of opinions and immense expectations. Hype has turned to realistic hope that he could be French cycling\u2019s messiah and the nation\u2019s first man to win the Tour de France since 1985.<\/p>\n \u201cI really need to stay calm because I guess there\u2019s a lot of pressure on me. I take it as a positive effect, I manage it well,\u201d Seixas told The Athletic<\/em> in February. \u201cAlso, the people around me are very wise, which is important.\u201d<\/p>\n The straight-talking, experienced Naesen advocates patience. \u201cIf I were him, I would try to be as natural as I can about progression. Nature and time will do their thing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the hardest things is coping with the environment: outside expectations, inside expectations even from yourself and the team \u2014 and trying to keep those aligned in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n Naesen has also raced with Poga\u010dar and Evenepoel when they were 20-year-old phenoms too. \u201cI\u2019ve seen with them, it sort of takes away the smile on their faces sometimes, that\u2019s what we saw in the past. I hope Paul can be as free as long as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Seixas\u2019s Decathlon team are yet to confirm whether the 19-year-old will make his Tour de France debut this summer (Ander Gillenea \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Both the soon-to-be-announced decision about whether to take Seixas to the 2026 Tour de France and whether he will stay at Decathlon CMA CGM Team at the conclusion of his contract have become causes c\u00e9l\u00e8bres in the cycling world.<\/p>\n Team-mates and rivals\u2019 opinions have been solicited and his team manager Dominique Serieys has suggested he is confident of extending Seixas\u2019s deal. There has even been speculation that French president Emmanuel Macron has been on the phone, advocating for Seixas to stay on the French-registered team.<\/p>\n Speaking as a pundit on RMC recently, Groupama-FDJ United president Marc Madiot said: \u201cEveryone says, \u2018he has to do this, he should do that, he should do the Tour\u2019. There is just one thing [we forget] \u2014 he is the one who decides what he will do and how we will do it \u2026 I\u2019ve crossed paths with this kid two or three times, and I understood one thing: nobody will decide for him and nobody will impose anything on him.\u201d<\/p>\n Seixas has the power. Whatever his race calendar turns out to be this season, he is in a dream scenario, able to dictate his terms with the WorldTour, and many suitors, at his feet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nUsing the Decathlon unit more intelligently<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nLeadership lessons<\/h2>\n
Food for thought<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/04\/23145447\/GettyImages-2264673854-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDon\u2019t set limits<\/h2>\n
Ignore the noise<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nControlling his destiny<\/h2>\n