As Paul Seixas continues to move through the gears at an astonishing rate, the question over the possibility of a Tour de France debut this summer is only growing louder, and he has a voice of support from within his own team in the shape of Oliver Naesen.
The Tour was not on Seixas' original schedule, but following a highly promising debut season in the professional ranks last year, the 19-year-old Frenchman has well and truly broken out in 2026.
He has seven wins to his name already, wiping the floor with a high-class field at Itzulia Basque Country earlier this month before taking out La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday to set up a blockbuster battle with Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, and Tom Pidcock at Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.
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For Naesen, a Decathon CMA CGM stalwart and road captain, there is no reason why Seixas should not be fast-tracked to the start line of the 2026 Tour de France in Barcelona in July.
"My opinion is just what it is – the team will decide ultimately – but I mean, this question about him maybe not being ready for it… If he’s not ready, then who is ready? That’s the question, you know. He's 100% ready to go to the Tour," Naesen told Cyclingnews.
Opinion has been divided on whether Seixas should go to the Tour. The race comes with the spotlight of the biggest cycling race in the world, one that's especially bright for such a talent from the host country, which hasn’t celebrated a men's home winner since Bernard Hinault in 1985.
Sean Kelly pleaded patience in a recent column for Cyclingnews, but Naesen doesn't buy into the idea that the Vuelta a España might offer a gentler introduction to Grand Tour racing – in fact, he says, the opposite might be true.
“Imagine they don't send him there, and he goes to, let's say, the Vuelta, and he finishes maybe fifth or something," Naesen said.
"Again, this is purely my opinion, but let's say he finishes fifth in the Vuelta, then next year you can't go to the Tour and finish ninth on GC, and everybody is happy.
"Whereas, if this year he goes to the Tour, wins a stage, and finishes ninth on GC.
We will all be like, 'Oh, nice, man.' So that is how I would do it if I were the boss, but yeah, I'm not the boss."
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