Teenage French prodigy Paul Seixas has said he wants to "compete for the overall classification until the very end" at his debut Tour de France, but that pursuit will kick off properly on Thursday's stage to Gavarnie-Gèdre, the first mountain stage of the 2026 race.
It's set to be a huge test for Seixas, with the Col d'Aspin and "mythical" Col du Tourmalet featuring on the tough Pyrenean route, one which Seixas went to recon last month as he built up to one of the most anticipated Tour debuts in decades.
At just 19, he is the youngest starter in the race for 89 years, but has taken everything somewhat in his stride so far, currently sitting 11th overall after five hectic days of swelteringly hot racing from Barcelona to Pau, and within striking distance of his major rivals.
"Tomorrow is the first major stage for the general classification. Paul has reconnoitred the stage, so he knows what to expect," Decathlon CMA CGM sports director Julien Jurdie told Cyclism'Actu after stage 5, which the French team won through Olav Kooij.
"We know it will be a very difficult moment and probably the highlight of this first week of the Tour de France. We imagine there will be attacks or a very high pace set by Visma-Lease a Bike or UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
"It's the key moment of this first week; we'll have to be ready. There's already the Col d'Aspin before the Tourmalet, so it will be a demanding day. We've prepared ourselves mentally, and now we're eager for tomorrow to see where Paul stands against the best in the general classification."
With Kooij taking some of the pressure off France's expected best hope to end the 45-year drought at the men's Tour since Bernard Hinault last captured the yellow jersey for the home nation, Seixas can head towards the Tourmalet with confidence.
He will also have top support in the form of talented US climber Matthew Riccitello. He is a top GC prospect himself at 24, having finished fifth and won the best young rider's white jersey at last year's Vuelta, plus was alongside Seixas when he completed his recon of the Tourmalet and the finishing climb for Thursday's stage 6.
"It was my first time doing Tourmalet and Aspin also. Of course. It's a mythical climb, and then also the climbs in the Alps will be quite special, but it is a really long and hard climb, which I think everybody knows, and I think, yeah, for sure, tomorrow will be a decisive day," Riccitello told Cyclingnews as he spoke to reporters before the fifth stage in Lannemezan.
"Paul's a favourite for the race, so we have to race like that, and we'll see tomorrow what the plan is. But I'm looking forward to it. I'm confident in my form, and I should be there and be able to help Paul when it's hard.
"It's cool, I think, for my first Tour to be here with a team that's so strong and has so much attention is special, and just trying to enjoy it. There's definitely even more stress, more attention than normal, but it's cool."
Seixas has long said this is a Tour of discovery, despite the expectations that he could challenge Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who have won the past six editions between them, but he's staying humble heading into the first big climbing tests.
"A successful Tour would be one where I can compete for the overall classification until the very end," Seixas told France TV after stage 5.
"First and foremost, I want to finish it, see how my body evolves over these three weeks, how I get through them. In terms of results, I haven't set myself a specific objective."
After the 19-year-old exploded his career to new heights in the spring, winning Itzulia Basque Country and La Flèche Wallonne, while also finishing runner-up to Pogačar at Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Thursday will truly expose whether his status as a potential Tour contender should be taken so seriously this early.
All of France and the world of cycling will be watching as its supposed heir apparent faces his most crucial test yet at the Tour de France.
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