19-year-old Paul Seixas uncorks Pogačar-esque solo raid at Itzulia to build mammoth GC lead over a bunch of seasoned climbers.
(Photo: ANDER GILLENEA / AFP via Getty Images))
Updated April 7, 2026 10:24AM
Paul Seixas obliterated Monday’s climbing TT at Itzulia Basque Country, and it seems like he was only getting started.
The 19-year-old phenom backed up Monday’s brutal display of aero power by blowing away all his rivals (again) on Tuesday’s vert-loaded mountain stage through the Basque steeps.
The French wonderkid attacked on the merciless slopes of the penultimate climb at 27km to go, and never looked back.
Seasoned GC racers Primož Roglič, Florian Lipowitz, Juan Ayuso, and fellow young gun Isaac del Toro were left choking on exhaust in a sensational display straight from the Pogačar playbook.
Seixas gained close to one minute of a lead over the summit of the merciless cat.1 ascent, plowed through the breakaway, and railed the downhill.
He delivered a final coup de gras by driving the wedge further on the final grind to the finish line in Cuevas de Mendukilo.
Seixas pushed to the line nearly 90 seconds ahead of a pack of GC wannabes who already appear out of range of victory.
“It was the plan today,” Seixas revealed at the finish. “It was maybe a bit ambitious to attack so early, maybe I attacked earlier than what I wanted, but I felt it.
“After two or three minutes I was regretting it, but by then I had no choice, so I pushed on until the finish,” he said.
Seixas sets pulses racing through France
Seixas has been touted the savior of French cycling, and he’s delivering on the hype. (Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images))
Seixas is now 1:59 ahead of next-best Roglič on GC, and even further ahead in front of potential. Nobody would question this new superstar winning a third and fourth stage before the 6-day race is done.
Meanwhile, pre-race favorites Del Toro and Ayuso suffered further damaging losses while Seixas ran riot a second day in a row.
Pogačar’s sidekick at UAE, Del Toro, is now close to three minutes down on GC, while Ayuso’s race went even further off the tracks after his terrible opening time trial. Lidl-Trek’s new centerpiece hemorrhaged time in the finale Tuesday and is four minutes away from Seixas’ leader’s jersey.
Seixas rolled out the “not over ’til it’s over” line in his winner’s interview Tuesday, but his superiority is clear.
“The overall isn’t finished, it’s never over til the last day,” he said. “But now I’m sure I have the level to win here.
“I have the gap and now we’re going to manage that.”
Seixas’ recent meteoric rise has lit a flame under the French press.
National sports daily L’Equipe gushed close to a dozen stories of praise Tuesday morning after its cycling darling delivered his monster time trial Monday.
He will need his own full-color supplement Wednesday morning after this huge solo.
And the hype is well-deserved.
The 19-year-old might be going interstellar.
He’s got the full backing of newly monied superteam Decathlon CMA-CGM, watts to rival the world elite, and the racing savvy to stitch it all together.
Itzulia Basque Country stage 2 results: