Vingegaard sees Seixas as a future Tour contender: “I’m not saying it can’t happen this year”

Vingegaard had already commented on Sunday about the stage-one route at Paris–Nice, calling it “not suitable for the WorldTour” because of the poor road surfaces. Even so, the two-time Tour winner finished safely in the bunch and now looks ahead to the harder stages still to come.

With the mountains on the horizon, he hopes to fight for the overall win. “I’m here to win. I’ve had a good winter and I’m in pretty good shape,” said the Dane. He did, however, crash this winter after an amateur rider became involved — and wanted to clarify that story. “I didn’t crash because of him. It was more that he was following me, and I took a corner too fast.”

After Paris–Nice, the two-time Tour de France winner will build towards his debut at the Giro d’Italia, using the Tour of Catalonia as part of that lead-in. Vingegaard believes racing the Giro will ultimately make him stronger for the Tour de France. “Every time I rode the Tour and the Vuelta, I felt stronger in the Vuelta,” he explained. “I hope that by riding the Giro, I can have that feeling in the Tour this time. Tadej did it in 2024 as well.”

Pogačar is a major source of motivation for Vingegaard. “I want to beat the best, and I know I’ve beaten him twice already,” said the Visma | Lease a Bike leader. Over the last two seasons, however, Vingegaard has had to accept that Pogačar was stronger — something he links partly to the effects of his crash in 2024. “If people knew the consequences of that crash, they’d understand why it took so long to get back into form.”

Alongside Pogačar, there has been a lot of talk in recent months about the rise of Seixas. Vingegaard has also been impressed by the 19-year-old Frenchman. “He’s absolutely one of the best cyclists at this moment,” Vingegaard said. But he still finds it difficult to judge whether Seixas can already be a genuine Tour contender this year. “In the future he will definitely be a serious contender — although I’m not saying it can’t happen this year.”

To finish, the most recent Vuelta winner also offered advice to the young Frenchman. “He should try to stay calm amid all that pressure. But as a Frenchman, he will inevitably carry a lot of pressure with him,” Vingegaard added. For now, the Dane is focused on Paris–Nice, where the climbing will start to feature more and more from Tuesday onwards.