Nineteen-year-old Paul Seixas obliterated a field packed with Grand Tour contenders to win the opening time trial of the 2026 Itzulia Basque Country, claiming his first WorldTour victory with a commanding 23-second margin over Kévin Vauquelin and pulling on the leader’s jersey in only his second season as a professional.
The Decathlon CMA CGM rider dismantled the short but vicious 13.8-kilometer course through Bilbao on Monday, posting the fastest time on both the steep opening climb of Alto Santo Domingo and the brutally steep uphill sprint to the finish. Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos Grenadiers) finished second at 23 seconds, with Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) third at 27 seconds. Pre-race favorites Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel finished further down, with Roglič fourth.
How Seixas Won
The stage 1 time trial course was designed to test every discipline. A steep opening climb immediately separated the pure time trialists from the climbers, a technical descent demanded bike-handling nerve, and the rolling middle section rewarded sustained power. The final kilometer reared upward viciously — the kind of short, punchy finish that has defined Basque Country racing for generations.
Primož Roglič, the race favorite and three-time Vuelta a España champion, set an early benchmark of 17:37 that looked formidable. Roglič was strong on the Santo Domingo climb and even more effective on the rolling terrain that followed, moving into the hot seat with the confidence of a rider who has built his career on winning time trials at stage races.
But Seixas was something else entirely. The French teenager attacked the opening climb with an aggression that suggested either supreme confidence or youthful recklessness — and by the time he hit the summit with the fastest split of the day, it was clear it was the former. He held his advantage through the technical descent, gained time on the rolling section, and then powered up the final climb with the kind of sustained effort that left the commentary team scrambling for superlatives.
Twenty-three seconds is a demolition in a time trial this short. Over 13.8 kilometers, it translates to a gap that would be impressive over a flat 40-kilometer course. On a mountainous parcours against a field of this caliber, it borders on extraordinary.
Who Is Paul Seixas?
For those unfamiliar with the name, Seixas has been circled in development team notebooks for two years. The French rider turned professional with Decathlon CMA CGM at the start of 2025 and spent his debut season building quietly — strong results at smaller races, an impressive engine revealed in training data, and the kind of composed race craft that teams look for in riders earmarked for Grand Tour leadership roles.
What makes Seixas particularly interesting is his versatility. Unlike many young stage race talents who emerge as pure climbers and learn to time trial later, Seixas appears to be genuinely elite against the clock already. His ability to climb with the best while also producing time trial-winning power is the combination that defines Grand Tour champions — and at 19, he is younger than Tadej Pogačar was when he won his first Tour de France.
The comparison is premature, of course. One time trial stage does not make a Grand Tour contender. But it places Seixas firmly on the radar of every team director and cycling analyst following this race — and it gives the Itzulia Basque Country a storyline nobody predicted heading into the week.
What It Means for the GC Battle
Seixas’ victory reshuffles the general classification picture significantly. The pre-race narrative centered on a showdown between Primož Roglič, Remco Evenepoel, and potentially Isaac del Toro. Now a teenager in the leader’s jersey adds an entirely unpredictable variable.
The remaining stages through the Basque Country’s relentless climbing terrain will test whether Seixas can defend his lead against the established Grand Tour contenders. The Basque Country’s roads are notoriously unforgiving — barely a flat meter across the entire route — and the GC favorites will have multiple opportunities to claw back time on summit finishes throughout the week.
For Roglič, the 23-second deficit is manageable but unwelcome. He entered the race as the standout favorite and will need to attack on the climbs to overhaul Seixas. Evenepoel and del Toro face similar challenges from further back. The question that will define the rest of this race is simple: can Seixas climb well enough to limit his losses on the mountain stages, or will the experienced GC riders reel him in?
What This Means for You
If you follow professional cycling, add Paul Seixas to the list of names you need to know. The sport is experiencing a generational talent explosion — Pogačar, Evenepoel, del Toro, and now potentially Seixas — that is making stage racing as compelling as it has been in decades.
For amateur cyclists, Seixas’ time trial performance underscores the value of developing all-around abilities rather than specializing too early. His strength across climbing, time trialing, and technical descending reflects the kind of comprehensive bike handling and fitness that translates to every level of the sport. If you are looking to develop your own time trial abilities, understanding FTP testing and training zones is a practical starting point for structured improvement.
The Itzulia Basque Country continues through the week, with mountain stages that will determine whether Seixas’ time trial lead holds or whether the GC favorites wrestle back control. Either way, the cycling world has a new name to watch.
Stage 1 of the 2026 Itzulia Basque Country was a 13.8 km individual time trial in Bilbao on April 6. Stage 2 continues on Tuesday.
