{"id":1908743,"date":"2026-04-28T23:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T20:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1908743"},"modified":"2026-04-28T23:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T20:48:17","slug":"bernard-hinault-weighs-up-paul-seixas-and-a-tour-de-france-debut-at-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1908743","title":{"rendered":"Bernard Hinault Weighs Up Paul Seixas and a Tour de France Debut at 19"},"content":{"rendered":"
He\u2019s still just 19 but the calls for Paul Seixas to make his Tour de France debut are growing ever stronger.<\/p>\n
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Already one of the hottest topics in the sport, the discussions about such a move is ratcheting up another notch.<\/p>\n
The reason?<\/p>\n
A watt-busting victory in La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne, and a stunning performance against Tadej Poga\u010dar in Sunday\u2019s Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge.<\/p>\n
Sure, Poga\u010dar went on to win, but Seixas gave him a real scare. He matched him on La Redoute, despite the world champion\u2019s best efforts to distance him. He then pulled through hard after the descent, showing both form and determination, and only faded when Poga\u010dar went to the lung-busting limit on the C\u00f4te de la Roche aux Faucons.<\/p>\n
Was the Slovenian worried? He confirmed on Sunday afternoon that he was.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOn La Redoute I was really going deep,\u201d Poga\u010dar admitted. \u201cI could see he was a little bit on the elastic but at the top he came next to me and I was really impressed. Also he was pulling quite strong all the way and we opened a big gap, which was really good for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was in the back of my head already preparing to do sprint because he was so strong. But I tried on Roche-aux-Faucons, I tried with my pace and I know the climb really well, it suits me well. Luckily he was dropped, but I was prepared to go head to head in a sprint with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are few, if any, other riders Poga\u010dar would say the same about on such a testing parcours.<\/p>\n
Seixas is clearly a huge talent. But ride the Tour this year?<\/p>\n
One renowned expert is tactful about it while hinting it\u2019s not the ideal course of action.<\/p>\n
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Comparing and contrasting talents and eras<\/h2>\nFive-time champions Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault at the 2019 edition of the Tour (Photo by Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bernard Hinault is one of cycling\u2019s five-time winners of the Tour. He\u2019s also the last Frenchman to triumph in that race. It\u2019s been a staggering 41 years since someone from the home nation has brought yellow to the final podium, although Laurent Fignon went agonizingly close against Greg LeMond in 1989.<\/p>\n
Does Hinault think Seixas should line out in the Tour this year?<\/p>\n
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\u201cPersonally, I\u2019ve always said that I think it would be better to do the Giro d\u2019Italia or the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a once to see if he can handle the 21 days of racing,\u201d the Tour legend said, speaking to Europe 1<\/em> in recent days.<\/p>\n
However he held back from telling Decathlon CMA CGM what to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, it\u2019s up to him and his team to decide,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Normally outspoken, Hinault is being surprisingly tactful. However he is very qualified to express an opinion about this matter. He rode his own first Tour in 1978, and before that made his Grand Tour debut the very same year in the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
And the outcome? He won the Spanish race and then, two months later, took the Tour de France.<\/p>\n
It was an incredible double for someone who had never competed over three weeks before.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s worth acknowledging is that there is a clear difference between the two riders. Hinault was 23 years of age at the time, a full four years older than Seixas is now.<\/p>\n
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He was also in his fourth year as a pro, two years more than his compatriot, and had been deliberately held back until then by his team manager.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why he didn\u2019t enter the Tour in 1977, despite winning Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge and the Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9.<\/p>\n
\u201c[It was] for the simple reason that it wasn\u2019t in the program we had made with Cyrille Guimard,\u201d he explained, talking about that decision. \u201cWe said we\u2019d come in \u201878, we\u2019d do a Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a beforehand to see if we could last the 21 days, and from there, if we could last the 21 days, we\u2019d say we could win the Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victory in the Vuelta meant that his Tour place was guaranteed. And when he won that race too, it was obvious that one of the best champions of all time had been discovered.<\/p>\n
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\u2018He\u2019ll be up against Poga\u010dar, no slouch\u2019<\/h2>\nBernard Hinault leads Greg LeMond in the Tour de France (Photo by Graham Watson\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
It\u2019s now a distant 41 years since Hinault won his final Tour. He was then, and is now, known as someone with a very strong mind.<\/p>\n
That contributed to his nickname of Le Blaireau<\/em> and, like badgers, he is regarded as self-sufficient, tough and stubborn.<\/p>\n
Those qualities plus his physical gifts combined to secure him five wins in the Tour, as well as three Giri d\u2019Italia and two editions of the Vuelta. In all he clocked up 145 victories, amongst them the road world championships and Paris-Roubaix.<\/p>\n
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What\u2019s remarkable is that in the years since his 1978 Vuelta\/Tour double, nobody in the men\u2019s peloton has won their debut Grand Tour.<\/p>\n
Instead the trend has been for riders to build experience bit by bit, making their three week debut in the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a or the Giro d\u2019Italia, and perhaps limiting their ambitions to a stage win or top ten finish.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s understandable. Even Poga\u010dar was \u2018only\u2019 third in his first grand tour, the 2019 Vuelta.<\/p>\n
So, if he rides, how likely is it for Seixas to defy all expectations and actually win?<\/p>\n
Hinault concedes it is very unlikely.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll be up against someone like Poga\u010dar, who\u2019s no slouch,\u201d he pointed out. \u201cTo beat him, I think it will be difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s the danger. The French media is already hyping Seixas up, heaping considerable pressure on the shoulders of someone who is still a teenager.<\/p>\n
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Even if the rider is himself hugely ambitious, there is a danger that people will expect way too much way too soon. That in turn carries its own risks.<\/p>\n
A word of warning<\/h2>\nJulian Alaphilippe was tipped for the top after a superb showing in the 2019 Tour de France but never built on that performance (Photo: Jeff Pachoud\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The history of pro cycling is full of cautionary tales.<\/p>\n
There have been several French riders who have been termed the new Hinault, and who have ultimately not delivered on expectations. Jean Francois Bernard shouldered that particular burden around the time Hinault retired.<\/p>\n
More recently Richard Virenque and Julian Alaphilippe were hyped by some as future Tour winners, yet ultimately fell short.<\/p>\n
And Belgians too have endured the same kind of problem.<\/p>\n
Lucien van Impe is the last Tour winner from that country, triumphing way back in 1976. Since then countless riders have been crushed under the tag of being the next Eddy Merckx.<\/p>\n
And yet something is really obvious, even at 19 years of age. Seixas is truly a huge talent, a once in a generation phenom.<\/p>\n
Hinault is clear that he is the best French rider to emerge in a long, long time.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou can\u2019t argue with that, considering everything he\u2019s accomplished,\u201d he said. \u201cThe World Championship in Kigali, the European Championships where he finished 3rd. I think he\u2019s a very, very good rider.\u201d<\/p>\n
And yet he seems a little wary.<\/p>\n
\u201cWon\u2019t we burn him out if we make him do too many things at once?\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a valid question, and one Decathlon CMA CGM would be wise to ponder.<\/p>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-161858852.jpg”] Shane Stokes Published April 28, 2026 11:48PM He\u2019s still just 19 but the calls for Paul Seixas to make his Tour de France debut are growing ever stronger. Already one of the hottest topics in the sport, the discussions about such a move is ratcheting up another notch. The reason? A watt-busting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1908743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1908743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1908743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1908743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1908743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1908743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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