{"id":521270,"date":"2026-04-09T10:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T10:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/521270\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T10:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T10:50:12","slug":"look-at-pogacars-first-year-as-a-pro-their-results-are-fairly-comparable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/521270\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLook at Pogacar\u2019s first year as a pro\u2026 their results are fairly comparable\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u201cLeo Bisiaux was the big name in the team at the time, but even as a first-year junior, Paul was already producing better test results than Leo,\u201d he explained. \u201cEven then, he was by far the strongest in terms of numbers. It was already clear that this was coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basque Country performances accelerate the Pogacar comparison<\/p>\n

What has changed this week is not the existence of that potential, but the level at which it is now being expressed. Against a field featuring established WorldTour names, Seixas has not just competed, he has created decisive gaps. \u201cI was shocked when I saw what he did yesterday in the Basque Country,\u201d Donie admitted. \u201cThese are not small names he\u2019s beating, with Del Toro, Roglic, Lipowitz, Ayuso\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Those names, and the margins between them, are what have driven the Pogacar comparison from a long-term projection into a present-day discussion. \u201cLook at Pogacar\u2019s first year as a pro; their results are fairly comparable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Donie still sees that trajectory trending upwards at a pace. \u201cI even think he\u2019s already getting close now,\u201d he added. \u201cIn Strade Bianche, Del Toro was still between him and Pogacar, which created a gap. He almost came back anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking further ahead, he pointed to the natural progression of riders at that level. \u201cYou know he\u2019s only going to get stronger,\u201d Donie said. \u201cPogacar also still had to sit behind Roglic in 2020. I think he will eventually get very close to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Paul Seixas in the yellow jersey at Itzulia Basque Country 2026<\/p>\n

Mentality behind the rise<\/p>\n

That trajectory is not only built on numbers, but on approach. Even at youth level, Donie points to a mindset that set Seixas apart from his peers. \u201cI always found him very mature, a very calm person,\u201d he said. \u201cHe never looked down on others. Even though he was by far the best, he never behaved arrogantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was during his junior years that that mentality translated into a decisive shift in ambition and commitment. \u201cThat\u2019s when he realised: I can make it as a cyclist,\u201d Donie explained. \u201cAfter that, he gave everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

That commitment is reflected in how Seixas approaches training compared to his peers. \u201cThe result is that he sometimes does crazy things,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can see on his Strava that he does an eight-hour ride in the off-season, while most riders want to get away from the bike. That\u2019s Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his trajectory already matching some of the sport\u2019s biggest benchmarks and his results now backing that up at WorldTour level, the comparison to Pogacar is no longer theoretical. It is becoming part of the conversation around Seixas in real time, and one that is only likely to grow as the season develops.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cLeo Bisiaux was the big name in the team at the time, but even as a first-year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,119597,112065,101,8782,6549,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-521270","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-itzulia-basque-country","10":"tag-paul-seixas","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tadej-pogacar","13":"tag-tour-de-france","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}