For his first victory as a professional, Paul Seixas joined the prestigious list of winners of the Tour de l’Avenir, which has revealed so many champions.
At just 19 years of age, he achieved a victory that counts, and above all confirmed all the promise he had shown. So much so that the presentation of the CIC Yellow Jersey by Bernard Hinault took on great symbolic value, as Paul Seixas established himself as the great hope that French cycling had been waiting for.

Nine years after David Gaudu, he became the nineteenth French winner of the race and thus assumed the role of favorite that had been assigned to him, while also living up to the high expectations surrounding him.
His preparation had not been ideal, disrupted by health concerns during the month of August, and his performance in the mountains was not as exceptional as he had hoped, perhaps due to his inability to train at altitude. But in the end, Paul Seixas pulled out all the stops to rise above the fairly compact group of the world’s best young hopefuls in the final time trial. Over the 10.3 km of the uphill time trial between Montvalezan and La Rosière resort, he confirmed the dominance he had already shown in the shorter but similar prologue. This time, he opened up significant gaps, 28 seconds ahead of Norway’s Jörgen Nordhagen and 33 seconds ahead of Belgium’s Jarno Widar, who won both mountain stages in Tignes and the morning half-stage in La Rosière. The Belgian had shown incisive punch on each of the two mountain finishes, and it was only logical that he took second place in the final classification, with the podium completed by Nordhagen, another big name already recognized at the world level.

Paul Seixas therefore beat, without necessarily being at his best, all those who embody the rising generation, including Italy’s Finn (4th), who came out of the juniors with the world title, and Spain’s Torres, the sensation of Colle delle Finestre in 2024 when he made up nearly four minutes on England’s Joseph Blackmore and was only twelve seconds short of winning the Tour de l’Avenir.

Maxime Decomble discovers himself

In addition to Paul Seixas’ victory, another Frenchman, Maxime Decomble, who had held on to his yellow jersey on the Col San Marco and the Petit Saint-Bernard in the early morning half-stage around La Rosière, joining the group of favorites at the start of the final climb, where he nevertheless allowed Paul Seixas to close the gap to 29 seconds in the general classification (compared to 51 seconds at the start of the stage).

Determined to defend his chances, Maxime Decomble could only manage eighth place in the time trial and was unable to hold on to a podium spot (fifth). But beyond the final result, he discovered a broader range than he had imagined and proved himself to be a complete rider, close to the best climbers. The French team, as with the women’s team, won the team classification, confirming a strategy that held up well throughout the week.The Biofioul green jersey went to a promising British sprinter, Noah Hobbs, while Jarno Widar won the polka dot jersey for best climber, Alden. And in his first year in the U23 category, Paul Seixas was the natural winner of the white jersey sponsored by the Parc des Oiseaux, awarded to the best young rider.

The 2025 Tour de l’Avenir was an excellent vintage.