Paul Seixas To Ride Tour de France 2026 In July

French teenage prodigy Paul Seixas announced on Monday that he will ride the Tour de France in July for the first time, raising hopes of a first home winner in more than four decades.

No Frenchman has won the Tour de France since Bernard Hinault did so for a record-equaling fifth time in 1985.

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2026 Tour de France

Paul Seixas Confirms Tour de France Debut

The 19-year-old Seixas has been in stunning form this season, winning seven races and pushing all-time great Tadej Pogacar close in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège Monument one-day classic a week ago.

He has ridden two week-long stage races and four one-day classics this season, and has not finished below second.

He will be the youngest rider to start a Tour de France in 89 years when the Grand Boucle begins in Barcelona on July 4.

In a video posted to social media by Seixas's Decathlon CMA CGM team, he is shown visiting his grandparents in the eastern Haut-Savoie region near his home in Lyon.

"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 de France.

Paul Seixas Faces Huge Three-Week Test

Seixas's potential participation in the sport's most prestigious race has been the subject of much speculation, especially since he has demonstrated that he is already one of the best riders in the world.

Many experts believe it is too soon for him to tackle the 3,333-kilometer (2,069-mile) three-week race, which includes eight mountain stages and five summit finishes.

It will be his first Grand Tour and the first time he has tackled a race longer than eight days.

But he has excelled in every other challenge put before him this season.

"If he's not ready, then who is ready?" his Belgian teammate Oliver Naesen told Cyclingnews last month.

"He's 100 percent ready to go to the Tour de France."