Seixas surprised himself with strong World Championships time trial: "Fucking insane, because I was suffering after just five kilometers"

The Belgians had mixed feelings on Monday morning, as the silver and bronze at the World Championships time trial for juniors was indeed a good result. But there was, of course, some disappointment because there was that one strong Frenchman who took the victory: Paul Saixas, soon to be the youngest WorldTour rider ever!

Seixas is only seventeen years old (he will blow out eighteen candles on Tuesday, September 24) and is a product of the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale training brigade (you know, that team which has been extremely successful in 2024). He will make his entrance into the WorldTour next year on behalf of that same WorldTour brigade, so we can really speak of a great talent. And it's not surprising if you take a look at his results list from last season.

Seixas talks about a dream come true

In Zürich, he put the cherry on top of that strong season with a time trial title. "It's a bit of a surprise," the rider from Lyon began the flash interview. "I hadn't specifically come here with a goal. I was mainly going for the best possible result and the best time of my life. But when you become world champion, that is of course a dream come true. I had never dared to think about it. Maybe a little bit, but it was mostly just a dream."

"That dream is now reality and that is fucking insane," said a broadly smiling Seixas, who also explains how his pacing plan was (or was not) structured. "After the second time check, I felt that I was getting a bit worse. Because I must say that even after just five kilometers I felt like I was really suffering. I thought, 'this is going to be a long time trial.' The finale was really crazy. When I crossed the finish line, I only then realized that I had achieved something great. That is brilliant."