Seixas limits damage on hotly-anticipated Tour debut

BARCELONA

It was the most hotly-anticipated Tour de France debut in decades, but teenage French sensation Paul Seixas was just in his “bubble.”

The 19-year-old talent is France’s greatest hope to end their 41-year wait for a home Tour winner, and join the likes of record five-time victors Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault in claiming the yellow jersey at the Grand Boucle.

But while the whole country waited with baited breath for his first impressions of the Tour after July 4’s opening stage in Barcelona, Seixas seemed almost nonplussed by the fuss.

“Of course it was great but at the end of the day, it’s a time-trial, we’re really in our bubble, so it’s strange,” he said.

Seixas put in a strong finish on the final Montjuic climb to the 19.6km team time-trial to give his Decathlon CMA CGM outfit sixth place on the day.

It left him 10th overall, 39 seconds behind leader Jonas Vingegaard, and 27sec off reigning champion Tadej Pogacar.

“We did well to limit the damage today, I’m happy with how it felt,” Seixas said.

At just 19 years of age, Seixas displays a remarkable maturity, and also an ability to block out the frenzy around him.

While warming down on the rollers outside his Decathlon CMA CGM team’s bus after the time-trial, he was already looking forward to what was to come in the next few days, notably the first road stage and the first mountainous stage.