The future of the teenage sensation Paul Seixas has been in question ever since he started setting the world alight this spring, but Decathlon CMA CGM are hopeful of clinging onto the Frenchman and are looking to build a team around him with a string of high-profile signings. Negotiations have only ramped up during the 19-year-old's Tour de France debut.
Cyclingnews understands that Laurens De Plus, Pavel Sivakov, and Ben O’Connor will all be riding for Decathlon CMA CGM from next season.
Sivakov and O’Connor have both been linked to the team by the French newspaper L’Equipe in recent weeks, and we have learned that the pair have signed three-year deals that are now finalised.
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On top of that, multiple sources indicated that De Plus will also move to Decathlon, agreeing terms on a two-year deal that just needs to be boxed off.
With Decathlon CMA CGM likely to lose Giro d’Italia runner-up Felix Gall, along with his domestique Gregor Mühlberger, Decathlon are looking to sign quality riders to fill out a Grand Tour team, and it all points towards giving Seixas support - and a reason to stay.
De Plus is regarded as one of the most dependable domestiques in the WorldTour and is set to move after spending six seasons as Netcompany Ineos. Before that, he spent two seasons with Visma and three at QuickStep. He has previously finished 10th overall in a Grand Tour, the 2023 Giro d’Italia, which came after missing nearly two full seasons in 2020 and 2021.
The 30-year-old is lacking recent Grand Tour experience, with his last three-week appearance coming in 2024.
Ben O’Connor will return to the team he rode for during four seasons, and where he won a stage of the Tour de France and finished fourth overall in 2021, as well as a podium at the Vuelta a España in 2024.
The 30-year-old Australian has spent the past two seasons at Jayco-AlUla but has not had the same GC fortunes and now looks set to take on a domestique role for a more realistic challenger.
Sivakov has long since seen his own Grand Tour ambitions relegated at UAE Team Emirates, with whom he has helped Tadej Pogačar to victory in the past two editions of the Tour de France. The 29-year-old Frenchman has spent the past three seasons at UAE after six seasons with Ineos.
The three signings, which follow the appointment of Romain Bardet as Head of Sport, suggest that Decathlon CMA CGM are trying to build a strong project around Seixas as they look to hold onto the sport’s hottest property in years to come. Seixas has a contract through 2027, but rival teams have been circling, with reports of huge-money propositions sent his way and speculation over a possible early exit.
There have also been reports that the Decathlon team could switch their registration from France to Switzerland in a bid to be able to increase Seixas’ salary towards his market value.
L’Equipe reports that Aurélien Paret-Peintre, who is riding this Tour alongside Seixas, is on the verge of signing a new long-term contract extension.
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