"This lad is going to be a force to be reckoned with!" Will a "prodigy" soon become Tadej Pogacar's biggest rival?

The 19-year-old rising star from Lyon is heading for his first overall victory at World Tour level in northern Spain – and fuelling the hype back home. His potential seems limitless. “This lad is going to be a monster on the bike. We’re going to be seeing a lot more of him in the future,” said none other than Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar in March.

At the time, the world champion had just won the gruelling one-day race Strade Bianche. The rider who kept up with Pogacar for the longest on the gravel roads of Tuscany was Paul Seixas. It is still too early for a changing of the guard at the top of the cycling food chain. But Pogacar’s designated successor is clearly ready.

Dreams are therefore flourishing, particularly in France. No rider from the cycling stronghold has won the Tour de France since Bernard Hinault in 1985. Generations have tried, and all have failed: riders such as Richard Virenque, Laurent Jalabert and Thomas Voeckler; Julian Alaphilippe, Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot. They won stages, the mountains’ jersey, and some wore the yellow jersey, at least for a while. None of them stood on the podium in Paris as overall winners.

If one is to believe reports coming out of France, Seixas will end the dry spell. "I believe he is the chosen one. He will be the rider France has been waiting for," said Marc Madiot on RMC in early March.

The influential president of Team Groupama-FDJ United has searched in vain for Hinault’s heir during three decades in management. The rival French team Decathlon CMA CGM may now have found what they were looking for in Seixas. Seixas, said Madiot, is “the Messiah. Seixas has something that few others have, like Pogacar. He has everything in his repertoire.”

The 1.86 m tall Seixas is not only strong in the mountains. He also impresses with outstanding abilities in the time trial. Seixas, the 2024 Junior World Champion in this discipline, dominated Monday’s opening time trial in the Basque Country, beating Lipowitz by 33 seconds, for example.

In France, calls are growing for the new rising star to make a swift Tour debut. Whether Seixas will actually be on the start line at the Grand Départ in Barcelona on 4 July remains to be seen, however. If Bernard Hinault has his way, the French should be a little more patient whilst waiting for his successor. Seixas, says the 71-year-old, should instead compete in the Vuelta or the Giro first, “then we could say that he has the potential to last the full three weeks.”