Paul Seixas claims Del Toro was ‘blocking’ him as Pogačar made race-winning attack, but ‘no regrets’ after sensational Strade Bianche debut

Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) is coming for Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). He may have fallen short at Strade Bianche on Saturday, but while the World Champion was able to solo nonchalantly to a record fourth victory, the 19-year-old Frenchman in second place suggested he won’t have things all his own way for long.

Seixas is the sport’s latest teenaged super-talent and, after an eye-catching debut season in 2025, looks to have made the step to the very top of the sport since the turn of this year. A stage win and second overall at the Volta ao Algarve was followed by a win at the Faun Ardèche Classic, sending the hype machine into overdrive ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Pogačar.

Seixas couldn’t quite give the Slovenian the match many had hoped for, but he stood head and shoulders ahead of most of the world’s top riders as the best of the rest.

“I didn’t say it beforehand but we had the podium as an objective today," Seixas said. "It was a very ambitious objective – I’d never done the race, I knew almost nothing about the gravel sectors.

"I knew I could play on my talents as a cyclo-cross rider, albeit a retired one – two years ago I stopped. But I fought all day to go after this result.”

Seixas was among the nine riders to go clear as Pogačar’s UAE team split the race on Monte Sante Marie, and he came agonisingly close to following the World Champion when he made his race-winning move a few kilometres later, and almost 80km from the finish.

In fact, Seixas said he was disrupted by Pogačar’s teammate, Isaac del Toro.

“I tried to follow him [Pogačar]. He attacked just ahead of a descent. They played the team card. Del Toro was blocking. He really didn’t want me to get past. I was going by him, he was going by me, and he was breaking in front of me. I lost a bit of time on the descent, them I had to plug the hole that he had made.”

Seixas, remarkably, almost did just that. In fact, he started to claw Pogačar back and for a moment it looked like he was ripping up the script that we’ve grown so used to at Strade Bianche in the past few years.

But just as he was regaining contact at the top of the main climbing section of Monte Sante Marie, Pogačar kicked again and left him in the dust.

“I think he was more managing his effort, whereas I was going all out,” Seixas acknowledged. “He was looking back a few times, and seeing I was coming back, so he re-accelerated. He was more in management mode. I lacked 500 metres. But that’s how it is. He was just stronger, he is the best rider in the world. No regrets.”

Seixas went on to do battle with Del Toro, just three years his senior and another of the sport’s great talents. The pair exited Sante Marie together, and with Del Toro not contributing given his teammate out front, Seixas had to settle back into a larger chase group while the victory went off into the distance.

Seixas waited for the second ascent of the Colle Pinzuto inside the final 25km to launch a decisive attack from the chase, with only one rider able to follow: Del Toro.

Again, the Mexican didn’t offer a turn, and perhaps the most remarkable part of Seixas’ ride was the way he managed to single-handedly hold off the rest of the chasers, and still drop Del Toro on the final climb of the Via Santa Caterina to claim second place, one minute after Pogačar.

“One minute… it’s one minute too much, the minute that makes him win. It’s not so much, that’s right, but it’s still a minute,” Seixas said, though he was far from downhearted.

“I wasn’t far off following him, and that shows I’m progressing, and my progressions the most important thing,” he added.

“For sure it gives me a lot of confidence. To do this in a race that’s new to me, to come second and beat every other rider at the start apart from Pogačar, that gives me a lot of confidence for what’s to come. It shows that my hard work has paid off and that I can play among the best this year.”

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