The Fight for Pogačar’s Crown Begins at Itzulia: Del Toro vs. Seixas is the Narrative of the Next Era

Believe it or not, but the Tadej Pogačar era will eventually end.

And when it does, it’s Paul Seixas and Isaac del Toro who will battle to be crowned king of a TikTok peloton that starts grand tours and classics, and wins both.

The rise of Seixas and Del Toro in the past 12 months has rivaled the Artemis space rocket in terms of power and intensity.

After a blitz of grand tour near-misses, monument breakouts, and a shared podium at Strade Bianche, the 19-year-old French phenom and the Mercxian 22-year-old Mexican are hailed as those most likely to be the next “new” Tour de France winner.

And while these Gen-Zs aren’t “rivals” yet, it feels inevitable that their relationship will ripen.

When Pogačar vs. Vingegaard is retired and washed-out, Seixas vs. Del Toro will be next.

(Because c’mon Remco, you know you’re a classics rider, really.)

The Itzulia Basque Country this week will give us a preview of this duel that will define the post-Pogačar peloton.

And after just 14km of racing, Seixas is in control and wearing the leader’s jersey.

The 19-year-old delivered a performance that would have done Pogi proud in Monday’s hilly TT. He rocketed to the line 23 seconds faster than next-best Kévin Vauquelin and drove a wedge into his key rivals.

Del Toro finished 50 seconds back, while pre-race favorite Juan Ayuso hemorrhaged more than a minute in an uncharacteristically error-prone ride.

Check the full results at the bottom of this post.

Gen-Zs vs the Old Guard at Itzulia Basque Country

From Monday through Saturday, baby-faced Del Toro, Seixas, Ayuso, and Florian Lipowitz take on grizzled warhorses Primož Roglič and Mikel Landa in one of the cruelest stage races in the calendar.

After the short opening time trial on Monday, the next five stages across the green Basque hills are uncompromising and steep.

There’s no marquee summit finish, but every stage amasses more than 2,800 meters of ascent in a tour that looks like a six-day Ardennes classic.

It’s a race for a sport where boundaries have become blurred between rider “types,” and phenoms like Pogačar and Evenepoel drive the narratives.

First stage-race clash between the princes of peloton

Itzulia Basque Country won’t be some two-horse race.

Far from it.

Roglič and Ayuso won here before, Vauquelin is already a threat, and such a spicy route means nothing is a formality.

But Del Toro vs. Seixas should command the attention of those hoping to see into the future.

Until now, they’ve raced together only four times, and never at a stage race.

That those four clashes were the Rwanda world championships road race and TT, Il Lombardia, and Strade Bianche speaks volumes about their potential. That they never placed outside the top-16 says even more.

UAE Emirates XRG will expect Del Toro to deliver the Basque Country’s Txapela trophy hat this week.

Torito already won both UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico this season without breaking too much of a sweat.

Another stage-race victory this week would put him on a Pogačar-esque clean streak for 2026.

It would also reconfirm the fact that IDT could share the podium with Pogačar when they link up at the Tour de France this July.

Meanwhile, Seixas and his Decathlon CMA-CGM entourage claim that Itzulia is primarily a stepping stone to the Ardennes classics. After standing up to Pogi on the sterrato of Tuscany in March, the 19-year-old is so sure of himself he hopes to slay the Slovenian in Liège.

But the secret truth is that Itzulia will also prove decisive in whether Seixas makes his grand tour debut this summer in the crucible of Le Tour.

The French nation has otherworldly hopes for its “New Messiah” after he finished between Pogačar and Del Toro at Strade Bianche last month.

Seixas’ imperious stage-win Monday certainly won’t quell that fire.

Itzulia Basque Country stage 1 results: