Paul Seixas: “I am not sure that I will be on the starting line of the 2027 Tour de France. We will analyze it with the coaches and decide which is the best option for the World Cup”
France needed an emergence like that of Paul Seixas. It’s been more than 40 years since no Frenchman wears yellow on the last stage of the Tour. At this time, some names sounded like candidates, but none with as much force as Seixas. The team cyclist Decathlon CMA CGM He broke into the peloton two seasons ago after sweeping through his teens.
His performance in 2026 it has justified all the expectations that it has generated in France: triumph in Lombardy and Walloon Arrowthe general of the Itzuliasecond in Strade Bianche and Liège and fourth in the Tour. There is hardly any precedent for a cyclist with such a record at such a young age, not even the man himself. Tadej Pogacar.
Such is the size of the French rider that in his country they already expect him to be the next local winner of the Tour. This is where the French can be disappointed. In an interview with RMC Sport, Paul Seixas left his participation in the 2027 Tour de France up in the air: “I am not 100% sure that I will be at the starting line of the Tour”.
The World Cup as a reference in 2027
There is a compelling reason: next year’s World Cup. The event will be held in Sallanches (Haute Savoie), an area very close to where his grandparents live. “It’s in his house, I’ve been waiting for this moment for years,” he declared in the interview. It is not just a question of proximity: the 2027 World Cup has an ideal route for climbers. More than 5,000 meters of altitude difference that allow cyclists with their characteristics dream about the rainbowa prize that is often reserved for classicists or sprinters (or unique all-rounders like Pogacar).
The World Cup will be just one month after the end of the Tour de Franceso it leaves little room to rest and prepare for the Sallanches event. It would be easier to change the calendar and run the Giro d’Italia in May and leave enough time to prepare for the World Cup. “We will analyze it with the coaches and decide which is the best option for the World Cup,” explained Seixas.
“Whatever great return I undertake, I will have great ambitions. We have to find a way to combine those two objectives,” he said. Yes indeed, He also acknowledged that it will be difficult to rule out the Tour: “Honestly, I really want to do it.” In the coming weeks, doubts will be cleared up once it is confirmed what its racing calendar will be.
