Runner Paul Seixas put an end to the French curse. The 19-year-old cyclist became, on Saturday, at the Tour of the Basque Country, the first Frenchman since Christophe Moreau in 2007 to win a stage race at World Tour level. An immense talent which promises him the greatest conquests, including in the Tour de France.
Published on: 04/11/2026 - 5:54 p.m. Modified on: 04/11/2026 - 6:35 p.m.
A rider like Paul Seixas, winner of the Tour of the Basque Country on Saturday April 11, "we haven't seen that in France for 50 years", exclaimed the director of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme.
Paul Seixas, 19, won the Tour of the Basque Country on Saturday in Bergara, becoming the first Frenchman since Christophe Moreau in 2007 to win a stage race at World Tour level, cycling's top division.
Winner of three stages this week, the prodigy of the Decathlon CMA CGM team won the general classification with a 2 min 30 sec lead over the German Florian Lipowitz at the end of the 6th and final stage won in pouring rain by the American Andrew August (Ineos).
The Norwegian Tobias Johannessen completes the podium, taking advantage of Primoz Roglic's failure, to climb to third place overall.
The youngest runner
With this sixth success after only fourteen months in the professional peloton, Seixas confirms his immense talent which promises him the greatest conquests, including in the Tour de France.
By succeeding Laurent Jalabert, the last French winner in 1999, on the Tour du Pays Basque list, the Lyonnais also becomes the youngest rider to win a World Tour stage race.
Also read: Can Paul Seixas, French cycling prodigy, become the new Pogacar?
He erases Tadej Pogacar who won the Tour of California at the age of 20 in 2019.
His repeated performances awaken the greatest hopes in a country weaned from victory in the Tour de France since Bernard Hinault in 1985.
Seixas could compete in his first Tour de France this summer, a decision which must be made after his next two races, the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège which will take place on April 22 and 26.
With AFP
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