Seixas Fever Reaches Boiling Point Ahead of Epic Clash with Pogačar at Liège

The biggest question in cycling right now isn’t if Tadej Pogačar wins Liège-Bastogne-Liège for a fourth time, but whether 19-year-old Paul Seixas can actually beat him.

Seixas Fever is hitting next-level overdrive with more than a week to go before their generational clash on April 26.

Tour de France boss Christian Prudhomme is already conjuring up his ideal scenario.

“I dream of a sprint in Liège between Pogačar and Paul for the victory,” Prudhomme said on RMC. “And I think it is possible.”

That dreamscape is no longer as far-fetched as it might have seemed at the start of 2026, and even the suggestion of a Pog-toppling reveals just how much Seixas is super-charging the peloton.

After coming close at Strade Bianche and winning Itzulia Basque Country, the unassuming French teenager is no longer a “future star.”

He is an immediate threat, not just to Pogačar, but to everyone else in the elite men’s peloton.

And if that wasn’t enough, the debate about whether or not Seixas will race the Tour de France this summer is bubbling behind the scenes. Team sources told Velo a decision will be made after Liège.

While many caution that he is still only 19 and that the lad needs some space, the bidding war for his future is going nuclear.

So much so, Eurosport Spain reported that French President Macron might be getting involved.

The future of France’s first and best chance to win the yellow jersey since Bernard Hinault in 1985 is now a question of national security.

All eyes on Ardennes

First up is Liège.

The so-called Doyenne of the monuments is Pogačar’s next race after a heartbreaking close call to Wout van Aert on the Roubaix velodrome.

The Slovenian isn’t expected to race Amstel Gold Race or La Flèche Wallonne, so the next big matchup is in the Ardennes.

Of course, Remco Evenepoel and a host of others will be there, but all eyes will be on Seixas.

The French phenom will arrive on a tidal wave of hype that has the French (and many others) believing that he can go toe-to-toe with the sport’s dominant force.

Prudhomme — perhaps adding gas to the fire for the race owned by ASO — said he thinks Sexias can match Pogačar on the race’s most decisive climbs in the final hour of racing.

“I believe that, whatever the attacks, Paul Seixas will not be distanced in the Redoute or the Roche aux Faucons,” Prudhomme said.

Pogačar has used those short but sharp climbs as his favorite hunting ground, riding rivals off his wheel with long-range accelerations to assure the kill.

No one’s been able to follow the past two editions, but Seixas might be the exception.

And if he does, Prudhomme might get that two-up sprint he’s dreaming of.

Tour or not?

The other burning question this month is whether Decathlon CMA CGM will bring the French phenom to the Tour de France.

With how the Tour will be inevitably linked to his future, some pundits think, why wait? Given that he needs to learn the race and deal with the pressure eventually, Seixas should get it over with sooner rather than later.

And, with the way he’s racing, he might even hit the podium in 2026.

“He has a podium in his legs since there are only Pogačar and Vingegaard above him currently,” Maxime Monfort, sports director at Lidl-Trek, told RMC. “Remco Evenepoel has qualities, but on a climb of more than 10km, he cannot follow, while that favors Seixas.”

It’s an interesting proposition because some rumors are already flying that a deal is done to leave Decathlon by the end of this season, despite having Seixas under contract through 2027.

One notion is that if he’s already leaving the team, you might as well take him to the Tour and squeeze maximum publicity for sponsors.

The other side of the argument is that he’s still too young, and he should go to the Vuelta instead, put three weeks into his legs, test his progression away from the Tour spotlight, and maybe even win the bloody thing.

One source told Velo that Seixas is already calling the shots about his career, so the final decision could be in his hands alone.

Right now, the smart money is on Seixas starting the Tour.

Questions of money, taxes, Macron

Behind the scenes, the stakes are even higher.

Transfer rumors are taking a life of their own, and word around the paddock is that Seixas could leave Decathlon by the end of this season despite being under contract through 2027.

UAE Emirates-XRG is said to be leading the big-money chase for his signature. Some peg his market value near $8 million, a huge figure that would make him one of cycling’s richest stars.

That amount is complicated by France’s tax structure and social charges.

If Decathlon wins the Seixas sweepstakes and keeps him, a salary that big would balloon even higher due to what the team would also have to pay to cover the French contributions.

Belgian daily HLN reported that the team was considering moving its headquarters to Switzerland as a way to skirt around some of the tax issues, something team brass has denied.

Seixas’ future has grown so sensitive that French President Macron has reportedly taken an interest.

Eurosport reported that Macron — who allegedly intervened to keep soccer star Mbappe on PSG for a few extra seasons before he left for Real Madrid — wants to make sure that France’s best Tour hope since Hinault won in 1985 stays on a French team.

That’s how big Seixas is right now.

For now, everything loops back to Liège.

If Seixas collapses in the Pogačar duel, the transfer hype will cool, and the debate about the Tour could go back to a slow simmer.

But if Seixas beats Pogačar, cycling would lose its collective mind.