July and the Tour de France saw a huge step forward for Paul Seixas, but the next few weeks will define the next chapter of his career as the French teenager negotiates a potential new contract with Decathlon CMA CGM and considers other offers from rival teams.
Decathlon team manager Dominique Serieys told Cyclingnews during the Tour that he is confident of convincing Seixas to stay beyond the end of 2027 and feels the performance of the French team at the Tour has shown that Seixas can go on to win the Tour de France with Decathlon.
"Paul will recharge his batteries for at least two weeks with his friends and family before resuming training. Then, let’s say, between mid-August and early September, we’ll open discussions. But it’s a continuous process," Serieys insisted to Le Parisien at the end of the Tour.
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"The conviction that Paul must have, and that we already have, is that Paul will win with us."
UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Visma-Lease a Bike, Netcompany Ineos and other teams have all shown interest in signing Seixas, with several sources insisting to Cyclingnews that UAE already have some kind of pre-contract agreement in place. Daniel Benson reported on his Substack that Pinarello-Q36.5 had entered the race in June, with reports of Seixas potentially earning €13 million per season if he were to join the Swiss team, but Decathlon told Cyclingnews that billionaire team owner Ivan Glasenberg had denied making that offer.
Seixas was in no rush to decide on his future, preferring to put off any contract talks until after the Tour de France. His strong performance and fourth place in the GC have arguably strengthened his hand and his contract value.
Seixas is represented by rider agent Joona Laukka, but it was announced on Tuesday that he has agreed a deal with the Sportfive international sports marketing agency to develop a long-term marketing strategy, brand image, and commercial partnerships.
Sportfive manages major commercial campaigns and helped secure the Netcompany sponsorship for Ineos and Shine by Cegid as a new sponsor at Decathlon. A first deal for Seixas saw him become an ambassador for watch brand Breitling.
Seixas has become a national hero in France and is one of the rising stars of professional cycling. Decathlon and CMA CGM are huge French companies, and Serieys has a five-year plan for the team that includes creating a women's team in 2027. Romain Bardet will join as the team's Head of Sport for 2027 and Luke Rowe is tipped for a more senior sports director role.
However, Serieys' biggest task is convincing Seixas to stay at the team as he targets victory at the Tour in the years to come.
"Unlike the teams that want to compete with us on this issue, we have no pressure or set timeline between us," Serieys insisted to Le Parisien.
"The pressure surrounding this is coming from the media and also fueled by those trying to court him. I want to emphasise that we remain very calm. Paul wanted to be free of this during the Tour. And we’ll deal with the rest later."
Serieys, who took over as team manager in 2024 after a long career in motorsports, has been working to strengthen the Decathlon team.
"We'll have four or five new recruits that we'll announce in September," Serieys said, with Ben O'Connor, Pavel Sivakov and Laurens De Plus set to be key signings as Felix Gall and Gregor Mühlberger move to Lidl-Trek.
"We've identified the key players and the evolution the team will undergo. Because today, a team is built with many teammates. And not just for the Tour de France.
"In any case, I repeat, the conviction that Paul must have, and that we already have, is that he'll win with us.
"He's already won races, after all. And let's not forget the arrival of Romain Bardet as head of the sports division. We're going to continue strengthening the team to be better than the others. And remember, Paul is 19 years old. Tomorrow, regardless of the length of our contract renewal, three or five years, he'll only be 23 or 24."
