{"id":519563,"date":"2026-03-05T04:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T04:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/519563\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T04:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T04:53:08","slug":"luke-rowe-reveals-paul-seixas-predicted-his-long-range-ardeche-solo-pre-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/519563\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke Rowe reveals Paul Seixas predicted his long-range Ard\u00e8che solo pre-race"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nA teenager riding without fearSeixas produced one of the most eye-catching performances of the early 2026 season in Ard\u00e8che, attacking on the C\u00f4te de Saint Romain de Lerps with more than 40 kilometres remaining. The move quickly split the race, with Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader Matteo Jorgenson<\/a> briefly attempting to follow before being forced to let the young Frenchman go.<\/p>\n

From there, Seixas rode alone to the finish, holding off the chasers to claim the biggest one-day victory of his young career.<\/p>\n

For Thomas, the performance was a reminder of both Seixas\u2019 talent and the personality behind it. \u201cHe\u2019s special,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cProper professional, lovely bloke, down to earth. Still a kid, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowe believes that youthful instinct is also reflected in the way the Decathlon rider approaches racing. \u201cHe races like that too \u2014 no fear, just goes for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That freedom to commit fully to a move, even from far out, proved decisive in Ard\u00e8che as Seixas rode clear of riders far more established in the peloton.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level now is scary\u201d<\/p>\n

The discussion between Thomas and Rowe soon broadened to the wider evolution of the sport, with both men reflecting on how dramatically the level of the peloton has increased in recent years. \u201cThe level now is scary,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good time to retire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowe laughed in agreement. \u201cWe got out at the right time. I\u2019d have got the [bleep] kicked out of me if I was still a pro.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas suggested that riders entering the sport today are developing under very different conditions compared with even a decade ago. \u201cIf you were 25 now, you\u2019d train differently, eat differently, everything\u2019s changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowe agreed that while he still occasionally misses racing itself, the relentless process required to reach peak condition is something he does not miss. \u201cI miss being in top shape and racing, but I don\u2019t miss the process of getting into that shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Seixas, however, that process is only just beginning. And if Rowe\u2019s insight is anything to go by, the bold move that delivered victory in Ard\u00e8che was not a spontaneous gamble.<\/p>\n

It was exactly the kind of fearless attack the teenager had already decided to try long before the decisive climb arrived.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A teenager riding without fearSeixas produced one of the most eye-catching performances of the early 2026 season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,257008,79612,165723,63661,176605,85],"class_list":["post-519563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-faun-ardeche-classic","tag-geraint-thomas","tag-luke-rowe","tag-matteo-jorgenson","tag-paul-seixas","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}