Paul Seixas, the 19-year-old Decathlon-CMA CGM rider, announced Monday that he will make his Tour de France debut this July. Seixas will be the youngest rider to start the race since 1937, bringing France's biggest homegrown hope in a generation to the start line of the sport's biggest race.
The Lyon-born cyclist has had a dazzling start to the 2026 season, establishing himself as a serious contender for the podium. In April, Seixas won the Tour of the Basque Country, becoming the first Frenchman since Christophe Moreau at the 2007 Criterium du Dauphine to claim a WorldTour stage-race title. He also won the Fleche Wallonne and was beaten only by world champion Tadej Pogacar in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
Seixas' participation has prompted debate regarding the benefits of early exposure against the risk of overburdening a rider in his first professional season. However, the rider, whose biggest dream is to win the Tour de France, is seen as a potential answer to France's long wait for a home victor since Bernard Hinault in 1985.
The 2026 Tour de France is scheduled to start in Barcelona on July 4 and finish in Paris on July 26.