Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) put on a show for the fan-lined streets in Japan as he reeled in a late attack from World Champion Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) to win the Tour de France Saitama Criterium on Sunday.
After 14 of the 17 laps of action at the off-season exhibition event were completed, the big-name riders moved away from the peloton: Seixas, McNulty, former yellow jersey wearer Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility), and former Tour fourth-place finisher Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers).
McNulty made his move on the penultimate lap around the 3.7km city circuit, centred around the Shintoshin train station and the Saitama Super Arena, with Seixas slowly clawing him back before going solo and celebrating over the line.
"It was quite a good race. With three laps to go, we started to attack, and we got the breakaway to four, and then we rode well together for one lap," said Seixas.
"After that, Brandon attacked; it was really strong. I tried to follow and quickly saw I was alone in the pursuit. I started to come back – I tried and tried, and with one lap to go, I found a moment that I think I was a bit stronger, and I counter-attacked, and then it was the right move. I finished it in the TT way, like I like.
"It's a great finish for me after the disappointing second place last week, so I'm happy to finish like this, and it was nice to see a new country for me in Japan and to race here."
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Seixas succeeded Jonas Vingegaard as the champion in Saitama, joining a list of winners that also includes Tadej Pogačar, and the 2026 race ambassador, Mark Cavendish.
To keep the action exciting for the 100s who showed up in the grey and rainy conditions, the likes of Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla), Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana), and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep) made sure to keep the points and King of the Mountains classification sprints close.
Matthews took home the former at his first time doing the Saitama Criterium, with Paret-Peintre winning the KOM classification, and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) taking the combativity prize
With several Japanese riders also joining the WorldTour stars on the start line for the 62km race, the locals had plenty to cheer for, including some early moves from long-term pro Yukiya Arashiro (Solution Tech NIPPO Rali) and current national champion Yuhi Todome (Aisan Racing Team).
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James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
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