He clearly showed his ambition. "The objective is to win [...] With the form I have, with the desire of the team, it would necessarily be a disappointment to go for something other than the title." Facing the press before the online race of the world championships (start at 3 p.m., live on France 2 and france.tv), the leader of the French team Paul Seixas, twenty years old for three days, announced that he was playing for the title and nothing else, or almost.
Already a bronze medalist in the time trial, the Lyonnais dreams of achieving the greatest victory of his (young) career and climbing to the highest step of the podium after the 12 laps on the Montreal circuit on Sunday. In an open edition after Tadej Pogacar's withdrawal, how much can Seixas dream of the coveted rainbow jersey?
“In shape”, with “confidence”
Already on the offensive in his declarations, the Frenchman arrives full of confidence before the start of the main event, always haloed by this breath of fresh air which accompanies his explosion at the highest level. His podium on the time trial, behind specialists Remco Evenepoel and Filippo Gana, “shows that [he] is in good shape”, and “gives confidence”.
"The ambition in itself is legitimate since recently, he came out of the Tour well. That was the question, he came out of the Tour really well, he feels in good shape, he gave guarantees on the races two weeks ago [Grand Prix de Québec, 17th, and Grand Prix de Montréal, 2nd]", says Lilian Calmejane, former professional rider and France Télévisions consultant.
The 273 kilometer long course, with 3,800 meters of elevation gain, less demanding than that of the 2025 edition in Rwanda but with some nice bumps (Camillien-Houde coast, 1.8 km at 8%, or the Polytechnique coast, 780 meters at 6%) may also suit it. Especially in light of the first lessons learned from the junior and hopeful races throughout the week, believes Lilian Calmejane: "We can see that the course is still selective. Even if the peloton among the pros is more homogeneous, it's an argument that works in its favor, to see that there are restarts, that the bumps are hard, it works in its favor."
"It's a fairly open course. Depending on the scenarios, we can get closer to a punchers-climbers or punchers-sprinters course. It will be between the two. It will be a puncher, that's for sure, but the rest will depend on the tempo, if it's aggressive, if it's tactical."
Paul Seixas
at a press conference
As the only leader, he will also be able to count on a team made for him, which is totally devoted to him, in particular with his teammates at Decathlon-CMA CGM Nicolas Prodhomme and Jordan Labrosse, his occasional training buddy Jordan Jegat on the roads of the South, or even the road captains Bruno Armirail and Pavel Sivakov. “I am here for Paul [...] The objective is to be world champion with the France collective and we put ego aside,” assured the UAE-Emirates runner, who will join Seixas next year within Decathlon.
Harden the race
But despite all its ambitions, the road is not traced straight, without obstacles towards the world summits. During the event, Paul Seixas will have to help set a racing pace that suits him, at the risk of being forced to adapt. “For it to suit me better, we obviously have to toughen up the race,” he admitted during the week. An opinion shared by Lilian Calmejane: "I think that if the race decides very, very early and everyone is a little broken, then Paul Sexais will have his say."
It will perhaps try, like the juniors with Lancelot Gayant, to make strong nations face their responsibilities. If we manage to put very strong runners as scouts and behind, Belgium in particular, or the Netherlands, start to roll or expend energy far from the finish, then it is certain that three laps from the finish, if the race is completely broken up, there is still something to do.
Lilian Calmejane, France Télévisions consultant
at franceinfo: sport
Because in the event of a fight until the last moments, or even a sprint with several people at the finish, Paul Seixas has so far shown less control and guarantees. At the finish of the Montreal Grand Prix in mid-September, he was dominated in the exercise by Isaac Del Toro. “Any runner will tell you that arriving alone is the best because it’s the simplest,” he explained. "But arriving with one or more runners can also suit me, because I'm not slow in the sprint either. After 270 kilometers of racing it's not the same and we saw during the time trial that it was a fairly hard finish with a big false rising ground."
Above all, we will have to show ourselves the best of the favorites, a group which has necessarily grown since the announcement of Tadej Pogacar's withdrawal after his violent fall in the Vuelta. “Remco [Evenepoel] is the number one favorite. Then there is Paul [Seixas] and Isaac [Del Toro],” said Pavel Sivakov three days before the race. Evenepoel, the most prominent runner at the moment, and who is aiming, within the impressive Belgian armada, for an unprecedented time-line race double in the same edition of the Worlds, will have a nice target on his back. As for the Mexican from UAE-Emirates, he beat Seixas in the Tour de France this summer, and perhaps took the psychological advantage at the Montreal Grand Prix.
A record in sight?
Lilian Calmejane, who sees "at least three, four riders better" than the Frenchman, "two, that's for sure", adds an additional name to the list: Matthieu van der Poel. "Van der Poel offers every guarantee. I don't have a single example in the recent past where he lined up for a Monument or a world championship, when he was prepared and in good shape, where he missed out."
Getting a medal, for me, will be a very good result. And we should already rejoice about it. And then winning is the icing on the cake.
Lilian Calmejane, France Télévisions consultant
at franceinfo: sport
If successful, the French rider would make a sensational entry into the history books. At twenty years and three days old (he celebrated his birthday between the time trial and the road race, on September 24), he would become the youngest world champion in history in the men's peloton, overtaking the Belgian Karel Kaers, aged 20 years, two months and fifteen days during his victory in 1934. For an ever bigger, ever crazier dream.
