With different potential paths for his future and a keen eye on a home Worlds as priority, will the Frenchman opt for an alternate schedule in upcoming season?
Seixas could indeed skip the Tour next summer(Image credit: Getty Images)
Paul Seixas made history in July as the youngest starter at the men's Tour de France in 89 years, before delivering on his promise as the hottest prospect in the sport to finish fourth on debut. It was huge for cycling in the era of Tadej Pogačar, with a look at his potential heir to the throne, but also for France, who have been waiting more than 40 years for their next home winner in the men's Tour – not since Bernard Hinault won in 1985 has La Marseillaise rang out in Paris as the yellow jersey champion stood on the final podium.
With all that said, an immediate return to cycling's biggest race in 2027 seems incredibly likely, especially given how rapidly Seixas seems to be taking the experience from every race he starts into his next goals. Just look at how quickly he moved on from completely berating himself at the World Championships for cramping to becoming Il Lombardia's youngest-ever winner two weeks later.
Seixas was fourth at the first time of asking, in the longest race he'd ever done, only around two minutes off Isaac del Toro on the podium, and he did all of that at only 19. Now 20, and starting to think about where he can showcase his wealth of talents in 2027, the French star was unwilling to say a return to the Tour was a guarantee.
Speaking on the 'Super Moscato Show' on RMC this Monday, a week after the Tour's 2027 route was presented in Paris, Seixas stayed vague about his schedule.
"I have the general outline, but there are some decisions that are still unknown to me. I'm waiting for the team's opinion. It will depend a lot on what my coach says," he said, which is not uncommon at all for this time of year, with upcoming team training camps in December and January always serving as the place for planning calendars and announcing anything for Decathlon CMA CGM and almost every team in the WorldTour.
What Seixas doesn't hold back on is that he already has his eye on a home World Championships in Haute-Savoie – the department where his grandparents live – next August, and it's the Grand Tour that comes before it which is still up for discussion between him and the team. It's here that the door is potentially open to him not racing at the Tour.
"What's the best option, this or that Grand Tour before the World Championships? I'm obviously going to try to perform well in a Grand Tour, but I need to know how to structure the season around that. Knowing that no matter which Grand Tour I take part in, I'll have high ambitions for it," said Seixas.
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"I haven't yet considered what I'm going to do next season. That will come in due time, and quite soon. I can't tell you I'm going to ride the Tour de France if I don't know yet."
Seixas has already been on the podium at the World Championships (Image credit: Getty Images)
Though the Tour route, like Worlds, also passes through Haute-Savoie, with somewhat of a dress rehearsal of the rainbow jersey race on stage 10 to Sallanches, it's not to say that Seixas doesn't want to return to the Tour in 2027. He openly admits that: "It passes a lot through Haute-Savoie, near my grandparents' house. It's nice and it makes me want to ride it," but it may not be seen as the best path to success by him or his team.
Even with the end of the Tour coming on July 25 and the road race at Worlds being on August 29 – more than enough of a gap to do both, which the likes of Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel will surely do – there is room for Seixas to potentially make his Giro d'Italia debut instead in May.
Not only would this allow him a full block of recovery and then build-up towards the Super Worlds in France, but it could also put him within striking distance of victory at a Grand Tour in 2027 or at least an expected podium, with the stacked start list at the Tour making anything higher than fourth still seem a tough ask with Pogačar, Evenepoel, Del Toro, and Jonas Vingegaard all likely to be present.
Like Seixas, his team made sure to stay vague about Grand Tour hopes for 2027, with sports director Julien Jurdie choosing to focus on that goal of a top three instead of a specific race when he spoke in the wake of Seixas' Lombardia success.
"His program isn't known yet; we'll finalize that this winter. But Paul loves Strade Bianche, so I think he'll want to add that race to his palmarès," Jurdie told Ouest-France.
"He should once again tackle Monuments like Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Lombardy, and unsurprisingly, next year the goal will be to aim for a podium finish in a Grand Tour. We'll see which Grand Tour he rides."
With two time trials on the route and without an abundance of summit finishes for Pogačar to completely dominate, it's a Tour route that brings Seixas potentially closer to the likes of Del Toro and Vingegaard. However, the Giro should be equally difficult and suited to Seixas, with the rain and cold that can always threaten to affect the Italian race being no problem for the young Frenchman, who thrived in adverse weather conditions en route to his Itzulia Basque Country victory.
How his 2028 contract could change things
Seixas and teammate Riccitello during this year's Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images)
The other big question mark surrounding Seixas is whether or not he will extend his current contract with Decathlon CMA CGM, which expires at the end of 2027, or join a new team from 2028 onwards.
Seixas admitted he has grown tired of the whole process, with each stunning performance causing several people to tell him what to do. No decision over his future has been made yet, but it will come in the next 12 months, or sooner if he wants to be "free" of the speculation.
"It's going to become increasingly oppressive. I can't just decide at the last minute, either," he said to RMC. "But perhaps I'll start the [2027] season without making any announcement - I don't know yet. I think there will come a point where I'll want to be free of this."
However, the contract situation could be key to defining which Grand Tour he rides in 2027. While most of his schedule was unveiled in the early months of 2026, Seixas' historic participation at the Tour wasn't announced until May – allowing for months of speculation and anticipation.
If he extends with Decathlon, the Giro and Worlds combination seems more likely, with a real shot at winning the pink jersey, and the best chance at Worlds on home roads and on the last climber-favouring course for a while, with the upcoming World Championships in Abu Dhabi, 2029, Copenhagen, 2029, and Brussels 2030 set to suit the sprinters and Classics specialists. Having just struck gold at Il Lombardia as a Monument winner, Seixas won't want to wait until Trentino 2031 for his next chance at rainbows.
However, if he decides to move teams from 2028 onwards, Decathlon would likely favour putting their big star into his second Tour de France and a final hope of winning cycling's biggest race with a French rider on a French team before he leaves.
Former long-term team manager Marc Madiot sees this as a likely possibility, with success at the Giro and Worlds also potentially solidifying Seixas' position as Pogačar's main challenger for years to come.
"The question is whether he will still be with his current team after 2027 or not. Because if he has a long-term contract with Decathlon CMA CGM, he can make the World Championships on home soil his main objective next year, and go for the win in the Giro before that. But let's imagine he signs with another team. In that case, instead of Decathlon CMA CGM, I would put him in the Tour de France in 2027," said Madiot on RMC.
"After 2027, the World Championship course [in 2028] won't be suited to him. Let's imagine he extends his contract with Decathlon CMA CGM. He could go and win the Giro, become world champion, and thus become Tadej Pogačar's main rival. We would have a showdown at the top in 2028."
Seixas should face off with cycling's top rider in the hilly Classics, and maybe one of the big one-week races, and his team are expecting him to step up even more and provide serious challenges as he did at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. But their main battle may have to wait for Worlds in August if Seixas opts for the Giro as his approach.
"I think everyone now wants to see this battle between Paul and Pogačar. Paul is gradually closing the gap," said Jurdie. "I think on Saturday [referring to Il Lombardia], Pogačar must have watched the race thinking he'd be in trouble soon. He might have thought, 'He's going to give me a hard time next year!' There will be high expectations for Paul in 2027."
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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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