Seixas signals a change of approach for the Tour de France: 'It will be something different'

Il y va! Or in English: he's going! Paul Seixas sent the French public into a frenzy with a stunning announcement about his debut at the Tour de France. The young prodigy doesn't always show his hand, but he did open up to French radio station RMC about his race plan — which has shifted slightly — and his goals for the Grande Boucle.

"I'm really going for the GC, and I'll gain a huge amount of experience along the way," the Decathlon CMA CGM prodigy continues. "Based on what I've done this spring, I think I'll be able to hold my own in the first week. After that, we'll have to fight. We have a good team, and hopefully everything goes to plan."

And then, of course, there is the ever-formidable Tadej Pogačar. Does Seixas think he can beat him? "Right now, the facts speak for themselves," the Frenchman laughs. "He's won almost every race this spring, and he's already won the Tour four times. Right now, I can't even imagine comparing myself to him."

But: "Of course I'll be fighting to show the best of myself, and I'll try to needle him a little at the start of the Tour." And if Seixas had to choose between wearing the yellow jersey, winning a stage, or finishing on the podium? "Finishing on the podium," he says, without a moment's hesitation.

Seixas elaborates: "If I have to choose between those three, that's the goal. If any one of those three comes off, it'll be a successful Tour. That would already be a truly beautiful scenario." Even so, wearing yellow could become a reality — and sooner than you might expect. "It's not impossible. There's also a team time trial on day one, which should suit our team well. All the other teams will obviously be ready for it too."

In the spring, attack was certainly the best form of defence for the Frenchman. More of the same in the Tour? "In the Tour, I think it'll be different. You need to manage your efforts carefully. I'll be a bit more calculated with my energy. I need to last three weeks — something I've never done before. We'll have to see how things go before going on the attack."