{"id":521930,"date":"2026-03-08T05:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T05:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/521930\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T05:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T05:50:09","slug":"paul-seixas-calls-out-strange-uae-strategy-at-strade-bianche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/521930\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Seixas calls out ‘strange’ UAE strategy at Strade Bianche"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Seixas didn\u2019t exactly have a bad day out in Sienna<\/a>, finishing second behind reigning world champion Tadej Tadej Poga\u010dar. But it was \u201cStrange,\u201d according to the Frenchman, who called out UAE-Emirates strategy after the finish.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old Frenchman isn\u2019t casting doubt on\u00a0Poga\u010dar\u2019s 80-km solo to win Strade Bianche<\/a>. \u201cTadej Poga\u010dar was, like he was in every race in 2024 and 2025, one or two steps above the rest,\u201d the Decathlon-CMA-CGM rider was happy to conceed.<\/p>\n

Instead, Seixas took issue with Poga\u010dar\u2019s teammate, Isaac del Toro.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Del Toro couldn\u2019t stop Seixas entirely, but he did slow him up. Photo: Sirotti
\n\u201cIt was a game, and they decided to play it that way\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of waiting to bring Seixas back, Poga\u010dar\u2019s Mexican teammate was clearly intent on disrupting his attempts to get away in the first place. On Monte Sante Marie, del Toro disrupted the Frenchman\u2019s attemts to chase, repeatedly. Something that did not pass unnoticed by the promising French star.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big strange. When he attacked, I tried to follow Pidcock. But del Toro blocked me,\u201d Seixas told Eurosport\u00a0after the finish. \u201cNot once or twice, but three times I was held up. It was a game, and they decided to play it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The timing of del Toro\u2019s moves was crucial.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Tadej is in front of you, twenty or thirty meters is obviously too much. I tried to get back on his wheel and was very close, but the climb was five hundred meters too long,\u201d Seixas explains. \u201cHe controlled his effort, looked back, and didn\u2019t want me on his wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Seixas had nothing but respect for Poga\u010dar\u2019s on the podium. Photo: Sirotti
\nA second showdown, a more solid strategy<\/p>\n

Coming into the finish, Seixas was alone with del Toro ahving dropped Pidcock and the remaining chasers. Again, the Mexican rider sat on. This strategy, Seixas had no issue with.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t want to take over. That was understandable, because he had Tadej in front,\u201d the Decathlon racer explained. \u201cI thought: he\u2019ll pass me at the end. I was just riding for the podium.\u201d<\/p>\n

That makes Seixas\u2019s second place at the Italian Classic all the sweeter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat I still finished second and managed to get [del Toro] off my wheel was incredible,\u201d Seixas says. \u201cI\u2019m very happy with my second place. It\u2019s incredible to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul Seixas didn\u2019t exactly have a bad day out in Sienna, finishing second behind reigning world champion Tadej…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[205499,49,48,635,42476,141519,82,141378,1422],"class_list":["post-521930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-2026-strade-bianche","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-isaac-del-toro","tag-paul-seixas","tag-sports","tag-strade-bianche","tag-tadej-pogacar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}