There's little left to be surprised about, because 18-year-olds in the professional world are no longer counted. But among all, Paul Seixas is one of those who seems to have that extra something to become a champion. 7 months ago he won the Giro della Lunigiana - beating Lorenzo Finn, another hopeful with that extra spark - today he's competing with some of the world's best climbers at the Tour of the Alps 2025.

Born in 2006, from Lyon, 185 centimeters at just 61 kg, with a boyish face, because he's essentially still a child. Raised between road and cyclocross, Seixas (pronounced exactly as it's written) became world champion in time trial last year and won everywhere, stage races and international classics. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale didn't hesitate: a year of apprenticeship among U23 isn't necessary, he goes directly professional.

A pure talent, who only needed a couple of months to challenge even professionals. At his debut with the big riders, he finished 5th at GP La Marseillaise, then placed 10th in the Jebel Jais stage at UAE Tour (a WorldTour race, let's remember), then finished 2nd at Paris-Camembert and now has scored two podiums in two at Tour of the Alps.

"I'd say this first year as a professional is going great, I certainly didn't expect to be at this level - he explains while eating candies during recovery -. When I think that last year I was with juniors and now I'm fighting with some of the world's best riders, it's crazy. It's incredible how much I've improved in just one year, but since becoming professional I'm basically training twice as much and apparently this is making the difference. Until last year, I wasn't training that much."

"It's clear that the junior-WorldTour jump is considerable, but working well in recent months has been enough for me to already be here at this level. I know it sounds absurd, but that's how it is," Seixas admits, surprised but not too much.

While waiting to discover his limits, the young Frenchman explains he particularly loves mountains (his dream is to go to Nepal): "I'm first and foremost a climber, but I'm trying to improve in every important aspect of professionalism - he continues with apparent ease -. I'm working on time trials, explosiveness, everything basically. I want to become an all-round rider."

It's not even impossible to see him win this Tour of the Alps. "We'll see, this is already good. Today (yesterday, ed.) we did the first Telves climb at a very high pace, I thought I would burst on the second climb. But instead we were all in the same condition, we were suffering. I recovered well, but Storer was going at a really too high pace, he was the strongest."