Paul Seixas will take on Del Toro and world champion McNulty at the 2026 Tour de France Singapore Criterium

First up is Isaac del Toro. Del Toro and Seixas, two of the sport's fastest-rising names, are heading to the Tour de France Singapore Criterium on November 8, where they will race laps around Marina Bay and the Padang.

The race director expects them to be a nuisance for the sprinters.

"Sprinters and their teams may have difficulty controlling this circuit, so I expect a very open race. Of course, the sprinters will be among the favourites, but riders like Del Toro and Seixas can be unpredictable and are not afraid to attack."

Singapore is the fifth edition of the race, and the field also includes sprinters Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility).

Decathlon CMA CGM bring Nicolas Prodhomme and Rasmus Pedersen to support Seixas, plus biathlete Emilien Jacquelin as a guest rider.

In September, Del Toro beat Seixas in a sprint at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. A few weeks later at the Worlds in the same city, they were the centre of attention again, but it was Del Toro's trade teammate Brandon McNulty who rode off with the rainbow jersey.

Tom Pidcock's verdict on the 2026 World Championship road race lit the fuse: "Del Toro was obviously working for McNulty in the end there", the Brit said afterwards.

Seixas was right in the middle of that chase. It was clear for all to see that Del Toro and Paul Seixas were marking each other, with neither willing to go to work for the other.

The Frenchman was incredibly hard on himself afterwards, going as far as to say: "It's shameful, I've let my teammates down."

A week after the Singapore Criterium, Seixas will meet the new World Champion. The start list for the Saitama Criterium on 15 November has Brandon McNulty, Enea Sambinello and Daan Dijkman for UAE, and Paul Seixas, Nicolas Prodhomme and Rasmus Pedersen for Decathlon.

The ASO-run event opens with a team time trial, followed by a 2.45km city circuit that will be tackled 25 times, resulting in a total race distance of 61.25km.

McNulty arrives in form. He finished his season in Italy, where he was fifth at Il Lombardia and won the Veneto Classic solo on 18 October, his first win in the rainbow jersey.

Worlds silver medallist Michael Matthews, Oscar Onley and Valentin Paret-Peintre are also entered, and Mark Cavendish is set to be in Saitama as an ambassador of the event.

UAE first came into the Seixas story in March. After Strade Bianche, Het Laatste Nieuws reported that UAE had signalled their intent to sign the Frenchman. Team boss Mauro Gianetti did little to cool things down: "It's extraordinary to see a rider with such a clear talent like Paul Seixas."

There are other ties too. Seixas's younger brother Nino interned with UAE, and his agent Joona Laukka also represents Benoît Cosnefroy, who moved from Decathlon to UAE for the 2026 season.

The competition for Seixas goes far beyond UAE, though. Visma | Lease a Bike and Netcompany-Ineos are also desperate for the Frenchman's signature.

Johan Bruyneel recently made the case for Visma being the perfect new home for Seixas. However Seixas himself said he was 'bored' with the conversation.

Seixas's contract with Decathlon runs to the end of 2027, and he is not rushing to decide what comes next. Speaking on RMC, he said: "For now, I haven't made a decision. Throughout my young career so far, I've spent my time chasing contracts."

The coming criteriums are mostly processional and usually add nothing to the transfer debate.

But when a rider of the calibre of Paul Seixas is on the table, every big team with hopes for a Grand Tour dynasty in the future will be watching.

XDS Astana: Haoyu Su, You Li (China), Davide Ballerini (Italy)
Uno-X Mobility: Torstein Traeen, Fredrik Dversnes, Anders Skaarseth (Nor)
UAE Emirates-XRG: Brandon McNulty (USA), Enea Sambinello (ITA), Daan Dijkman (NED)
Netcompany Ineos: Oscar Onley (GBR), Thymen Arensman (NED), Oscar Rodriguez (ESP);
Jayco AlUla: Michael Matthews (AUS), Mauro Schmid (SUI), Dries De Pooter (BEL);
Decathlon CMA-CGM: Paul Seixas, Nicolas Prodhomme (France), Rasmus Pedersen (Denmark);
TDF Criterium special guests: Yukiya Arashiro (JPN), Valentin Paret-Peintre, Emilien Jacquelin (FRA)