The youngest rider in the men's WorldTour, Paul Seixas (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), is in the middle of his debut race in cycling's top division, the UAE Tour, this week. After an impressive debut at the GP La Marseillaise, he admits it feels like "another world."
Labelled a 'super talent' after taking home the junior time trial world title in Zurich last year, Seixas is calm when he speaks, showing no signs that he's feeling the pressure of French and international media hyping him up as a star of the future.
"The feeling is good, it’s another world from all the races I’ve done except for La Marseillaise. I’m pretty happy to be here and enjoy the moment," Seixas told Cyclingnews ahead of stage 1 in the UAE.
"It’s another level here but it proved I can be in my element and not be last at the level of the race. But I don’t know where I am so we will see.
“I'll just try to enjoy the moment and yes, the media is something, but you have to keep focused on the race and do your job. That’s it."
At just 18, he's one of several 2006-born riders expected to make an instant impact after skipping the U23 level and jumping right into the WorldTour alongside Albert Withen Philipsen on Lidl-Trek.
Remco Evenepoel has most notably proved that this route can work. However, it requires a calm head and heaps of talent to succeed. Those around him at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, however, are confident that Seixas possesses such characteristics.
"He’s super talented and already on a really good level," Felix Gall told Cyclingnews before stage 3. "When I was his age for me it was a much harder process, so it’s a bit hard for me to imagine how it is but I think he’s dealing with it super well.
"He seems also really relaxed and is just enjoying being here racing and taking the next steps."
While Seixas' presence in a strong five-rider attack in Marseille and the sprint he managed after they were caught to take fifth impressed everyone, Gall is Decathlon's chosen leader in the UAE.
“I think we will ride for Felix, we have great hope with him," said the 18-year-old. "He’s a very strong rider and I admire him. I hope he will get a great result and I’m here to help him so I’ll enjoy it this week."
The Austrian won one of the Tour de France's hardest stages in recent memory into Courchevel in 2023 and has been working a lot on his time trial to make him more of a complete GC rider.
“I think as a team we are making good progress [in time trialling] but for me personally, I’m now really in a good direction," said Gall.
"I’ve always had problems the past years that I was not able to put down the power on the TT bike. I would always get a numbness, a tingling feeling in my lower legs and then after 10 minutes I was basically standing still.
"Then we finally found a solution and yesterday was not the longest, but a really good indication for the rest of the time trials this season. It’s a bit of a relief to not lose much time."
Gall started stage 3 sitting 19th, 51 seconds down on overall leader Josh Tarling (Ineos) after the race against the clock, while Seixas started in 23rd a further four seconds back on GC.
With constantly changing wind conditions during the stage 2 time trial, Seixas ended up in the tougher window and had to produce a good save to prevent himself from crashing but ultimately lost more time than he would have liked.
"I think today’s ride was not bad maybe I was in good shape but the wind was so strong for 20 minutes, so it was difficult to set a good time today," Seixas told Cyclingnews after stage 2.
"It could have been better if I was earlier but that’s the game and today was just a good effort and we’ll see in the coming days."
With the first of two mountaintop finishes to Jebel Jais on offer during the third stage, Gall is excited for his first climbing test in 2025. But, of course, the presence of Tadej Pogačar changes things, with the Austrian certain of the world champion trying something before the typical sprint for the climbers.
“I’m feeling great, I had a really great altitude camp. I’m in good shape and I’m excited to race. Today is the first test," said Gall.
"I never did the climb but I will be surprised if Tadej waits for the sprint. It's not the hardest but I think he wants to go early, last 2-3kms that’s what I personally expect.
"Sunday is definitely much better for me but we really want to be ready when Tadej is attacking and you have to be really focused in the final as it’s not the typical mountaintop finish."
Seixas echoed what he said before stage 1 that Gall was the team's focus, however, the Austrian is confident in his young teammate being right up there with him.
"I’m pretty sure he will be up there," Gall said. "That’s for the plan for the final that we are together."
