Twelve hundred metres from the summit of the Alto da Malhão on Sunday, it looked as if the Paul Seixas hype train was about to reach hypersonic speeds.
The captions were being prepared – ‘The Next French Tour de France Winner’, ‘The New Tadej Pogačar‘ – and the latest cycling superstar was about to be officially anointed.
Seixas, after all, had been so impressive on the two previous GC days. He notched the first win of his career atop the Alto da Fóia on stage 2 with a performance that was sensational given his limited experience. With Ayuso glued to his wheel and João Almeida dangling off it – such was the sustained power – Seixas rode on the front for well over a kilometre. The fact he didn’t seem to ask for a turn was the sign of a cool head and a bucketload of confidence.
At the top, and after comfortably surviving a volley of Almeida accelerations, Seixas punched to the front at the perfect moment, giving himself the ability to dictate the lines through the twisty narrow roads to the finish. Ayuso arguably had more power and speed in the locker but he simply couldn’t find a way past.
“Paul was more intelligent than me,” Ayuso acknowledged at the finish, and it was an important comment.
The Spaniard is hardly an old hand, still just 23 years of age, but he has over four full years of experience in the pro peloton. Likewise, Almeida is one of the world’s best stage racers and a Grand Tour podium finisher.
By their side, Seixas, two days into his second professional season, did not appear the junior party. So while we have long been aware of Seixas’ physiological gifts, it was his maturity and mentality that stood out atop Fóia.
The following afternoon, the excitement around Seixas grew louder. He didn’t win the stage 3 time trial, and it gave him an uphill struggle in the general classification, but his fourth place was nevertheless an immensely promising result.
Losing just 13 seconds to powerhouse Filippo Ganna on a largely flat 19.5 kilometres is some achievement, and there were telling comparisons below him on the results sheet, too – 15 seconds faster than TT specialist Stefan Küng, and around half a minute up on Almeida and Red Bull’s duo of Florian Lipowitz and Dani Martínez.
Seixas has had some eye-catching time trials, including in his debut season last year, but the jury has still been out regarding his true abilities against the clock – most simply due to a lack of available evidence.
This ride in the Algarve, though, would suggest he very much does possess that critical weapon in the armoury of any credible Grand Tour contender. Perhaps the question marks over Seixas’ time trialling credentials have been fuelled by France’s recent history in that respect. It was a glaring achilles heel for Romain Bardet, twice a podium finisher at the Tour de France, and barring a couple of odd purple patches, left Thibaut Pinot playing catch-up, too.
Seixas, whisper it, might just be that complete package France has been pining for for the past 40 years. Bernard Hinault, as if it needs repeating, remains the last home winner of the men’s Tour de France, all the way back in 1985. The early career of Paul Seixas will, inevitably, be framed within that narrative, no matter what he or his team do about it.
Victory in the Algarve would have only fuelled that fire, not least in the context of more recent history – Tadej Pogačar won the Volta after winning atop Fóia in his first season, Remco Evenepoel did the same in his second.
“Everyone is different, everyone has their own path. There are similarities, but it’s coincidence that makes these things happen,” Seixas said when this was pointed out to him – another sign of his maturity and perhaps his ability to deal with the pressure coming his way.
Needing to win the final stage with a four-second gap in order to snatch the GC from Ayuso, he could not quite find the lift-off button that would have handed us that oh-so-convenient narrative breadcrumb, and sent the hype machine into overdrive.
Nevertheless, watching him at the Volta ao Algarve – brains and brawn, ability and application – it very much felt that, after a debut 2025 season flecked with promise, we were looking at someone who has truly arrived.