<\/p>\n
The American was careful not to directly compare himself to Seixas as a rider. In fact, he immediately dismissed that idea. \u201cFirst of all, Paul Seixas, he is just phenomenal,\u201d Van Garderen said. \u201cThere\u2019s no way I was going to get on a podium of Liege.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pressure of becoming a nation\u2019s next hope<\/p>\n
Instead, Van Garderen pointed towards the wider atmosphere surrounding Seixas and the way entire cycling nations can quickly place enormous expectation onto one young rider. \u201cAnd he\u2019s French,\u201d Van Garderen explained. \u201cThe French have been yearning for this. I think they\u2019ve tried to speak it into existence with some of the riders that we knew weren\u2019t quite on the Contador-Froome level. Names like Bardet or names like Thibaut Pinot, who were amazingly talented riders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut yeah, I think that\u2019s a similar case with me,” accepts the American. “I think everyone wanted in that post-Lance Armstrong era to… it\u2019s like they wanted to squint and maybe if they looked hard enough they could see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Van Garderen emerged during a turbulent period for American cycling. Armstrong\u2019s downfall had left a vacuum in the sport, and after Van Garderen finished fifth overall and won the white jersey at the 2012 Tour de France, he quickly became viewed as the next major American Grand Tour contender.<\/p>\n
That expectation followed him throughout his career, something he admitted became increasingly difficult to manage after his breakthrough performances. \u201cWhen I had a really good Tour in 2012 when I won the white jersey, remember my teammate was Cadel Evans, who was the defending champion,\u201d Van Garderen explained. \u201cSo there was nobody looking at me and I was totally playing with house money. And then that result kind of pushed me into like an upper echelon and I definitely had a lot of trouble repeating it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, he sees France placing similarly enormous hope onto Seixas after the teenager\u2019s astonishing rise over the last few months.<\/p>\n
Paul Seixas\u2019 remarkable 2026 riseSeixas\u2019 2026 season has transformed him from highly-rated prospect into one of the biggest stories in world cycling. The 19-year-old has already claimed major victories this season and stunned the peloton at Liege-Bastogne-Liege<\/a> when he briefly followed Pogacar\u2019s acceleration on La Redoute before eventually finishing second on his debut at the Monument.<\/p>\n That performance changed the conversation around him almost overnight. \u201cWe were talking earlier about who’s going to be the next guy to come up,\u201d Van Garderen said. \u201cNobody mentioned this kid\u2019s name. And that was my answer. I was like, it\u2019s probably a name that we haven\u2019t heard of yet.\u201d<\/p>\n