'It's changed a lot' – Paul Seixas raring to take on Canadian GPs and World Championships with Pogačar's possible absence opening up opportunities

Fresh off of fourth in his debut Tour de France, Paul Seixas is highly motivated to take on his final block of racing in 2026 – and perhaps even more of a contender with Tadej Pogačar's participation in the coming races in doubt.

Seixas challenged Pogačar at the World Championships, European Championships and Il Lombardia last autumn, and with the Slovenian currently uncertain for at least Worlds after breaking his collarbone in a crash at the Vuelta a España, the Frenchman has suddenly rocketed up the list of favourites for Worlds and Lombardia.

First up, though, is a first-ever trip to North America for the Grand Prixs de Québec and Montréal next week, which will not only be a good warm-up for the Worlds in Montréal, but could be a good chance for Seixas to score a win, too.

"It's a really good opportunity for me," Seixas told assembled media on Wednesday, speaking from an altitude in Les Arcs where he is preparing for his final goals of 2026.

"I think obviously the course that suits me more in the Montreal Grand Prix, because I think it's a bit harder than Québec. I look at the races last year, and Québec was really more open for a lot of riders, and Montréal was really hard from what I heard and from what I saw. It was really hard pace and of course the positioning is really important, but you see, in the end, it was really by the pedal stroke, and by the strength in the legs, more than in Québec. But I think both races are open, also because now it's different without Pogačar, so we will see."

The chance to check out the Worlds course in advance is also obviously a big draw for the Frenchman, who finished 13th in the road race in Kigali last year and will be hoping for a lot better this year.

"To race two weeks before on the same course as Worlds is really important, and I can really see points where I have to improve my tactics, and how it feels to be in the bunch and how are the roads."

Straight back to work after the Tour

Finishing fourth overall in the Tour de France in only his second year as a pro – at still only 19 – Seixas' season is undoubtedly already a huge success, but he certainly didn't take the foot off the gas after the Tour and has a lot of motivation for these final big goals.

Far from being fatigued after a busy season, Seixas seems to be feeling better than ever.

"I did time off after the Tour, and I think that was really good, really well managed by the team, so I feel fresh now," he explained.

"We are in a training camp at altitude in Les Arcs. I'm really happy for what I did after the Tour, I think it was good. I can build on some good base after the Tour and all the season.

"I feel great, honestly, on the bike. So I think I'm ready to be good in the last block of races for the end of the season. Of course, the main goals remain the World Championships and Lombardia, so I think I can build strength day by day from now on."

This may be his first time kicking off his late-season goals with the Canadian races, but Seixas knows from last year what it takes to put together a good final block, and given his success last autumn, he seems to have an 'if it isn't broken, don't fix it' mentality.

Despite being a year – and a Grand Tour – further into his career, he's not in a drastically different place in terms of confidence or feeling than he was during his break-out autumn 12 months ago.

"I think I'm pretty much at the same point," he said. "Last year when I came here, it was different because I had Tour de l'Avenir before, so I wasn't feeling the best at this moment last year. This year I'm coming from two weeks of training, so it's different.

But I feel ready, in the end. I feel good in my head, I feel ready mentally, and I think physically I'm already quite good. So I think I will be good, I hope. I feel ready."

The Pogačar question

The big difference between this year and last year, though, is that Seixas might not be up against Tadej Pogačar this time around.

Pogačar was never due to do the Canadian races, opting for the Vuelta a España instead to build up to Worlds and Lombardia, but his heavy crash out of the Spanish race and subsequent surgery have placed question marks over whether he can even be back in action for his final goals of 2026.

Only leaving hospital on Wednesday after collarbone surgery, making it back in time for the World Championships road race on September 27 seems to be a big challenge, which could open up the race, particularly for his closest rivals – riders like Seixas.

"Of course, I think it's changed a lot," Seixas said of Pogačar's crash and possible race absences. "First, I want to say that I think it was really unlucky for him. We all saw the video, and what happened was really unlucky. It can happen to anyone.

"Now, of course, it changes the racing because, as we see from this year and the past years, he is really the boss of cycling, so when he is here, he changes the race on his own. But now it will be maybe a bit more open. But there is a lot of strong riders still, and I guess we'll see.

"It will be interesting to see how it goes in Montréal, and maybe after that we can have a look at what can happen in Worlds."

He was also not afraid to admit that Pogačar's absence does change his mindset going into these races, although he wasn't getting ahead of himself or ruling out a return for the Slovenian.

"Honestly, I think that it changes a lot in the head," he said. "Because when Tadej is here, you have to think about how you're going to race with him, so it's pretty much like you see when he attacks you just try to hang on, and if you attack before – you can try something, of course, but there's really not much chance that it succeeds because he has a strong team. When he feels like he's in danger, he can do anything.

"But for the moment, it's too soon to think about it. We only learned about the crash a few days before, and we don't know how it goes for him. So I hope he can recover as fast as he can."

Whether Pogačar makes it back or not, though, Seixas will still be up against some hugely strong riders in Canada these next few weeks, and rather than being cowed by the strength of the field, he's raring to go.

He'll face the likes of Remco Evenepoel and Tom Pidcock already in the Grand Prixs, and then added horsepower from Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel for Worlds.

"I'm really excited," he said about racing against Van der Poel specifically, a rider he hasn't faced often in one-day races.

"He's a great rider that I watch for more than five years on TV, and it's really a dream to compete against him and against Remco and the others. And I'm really motivated to look forward to battle with them."

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