In his first time with the Elite national team, Paul Seixas finished 13th and first French rider in the road race at the World Championships in Kigali on Sunday. The young transalpine rider was extraordinary, who at just nineteen years old not only managed to complete one of the toughest World Championships ever, but also positioned himself near champions like Roglic, Sivakov, and Hindley.

France is smiling because it has almost certainly found a new champion in Paul Seixas, capable of bringing the country back to the top of the most important races, and now awaits to see what he will be able to do next year, when with his Decathlon AG2R (which will become Decathlon CMA CGM next year), he will participate in the most important races.

Rwanda and the World Championships were a great discovery for him, as was wearing the Blues jersey and racing alongside Julian Alaphilippe, who wore the world champion jersey for two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021.

There are great projects for him, and the French national team coach Thomas Voeckler, when he revealed the names of the riders who would depart for Rwanda, referring to Seixas had said: "Paul should not be seen as a call-up, he is a boy with strong potential, so he is not a call-up, but a project for the future".

Seixas is 185 centimeters tall and weighs just 61 kg, but his legs have the right strength to take him to the highest levels. We saw him win the last Tour de l'Avenir and the Tour of the Alps, obtaining several placements in the most challenging stages, demonstrating his qualities as a great rider. In the world time trial, he was below his expectations, finishing 16th, but admitting that he did not feel at his best. Regarding last Sunday's road race, the young man from Lyon perfectly remembers the effort, defining it as one of the hardest of his life. "I didn't think we could go so far" – Seixas said in Kigali on Sunday evening – "I'm sure this was the toughest race of my life".

France hoped to finish in the top 10, but did not succeed in its intent. However, Seixas with his thirteenth place has ignited hope for the future.

"I'm really happy to have finished the race and while racing I was only thinking about how far the finish line was. I really wanted to help the team as much as possible, especially Pavel Sivakov, our leader. Perhaps he did not have the day he hoped for".

Sivakov, an experienced rider, was the spearhead of the French team, but had to settle for fifteenth place, crossing the finish line 40" after the Lyon rider. "Not managing to finish in the top 10 is a shame. But we have gained a lot of experience and this will certainly serve us".

Paul Seixas was exhausted after 267 kilometers of racing, but at the same time, he was happy with what he had managed to do.

"In the last kilometers, it was really tough. When you have nothing left to give, it's all in your head. You go on because you can still find something inside yourself. This will serve as a learning experience for the future. In the end, I tried to resist and give my best to get into the top 10. I didn't succeed, but I didn't arrive with unknown riders. Rarely have I reached such a point of suffering. It was perhaps the toughest race of my life. I can say that with this effort, I truly surpassed a personal milestone".

Kigali will be remembered as Tadej Pogacar's World Championship, who for the second time conquered the world jersey, and will also be remembered as the race where Remco Evenepoel, once again, failed to tame his emotions. In Kigali, we also saw very young riders fighting with the best, and this lets us intuit that in the coming years, riders like Seixas will be at the top of the World Tour.

"I wanted to discover how the national team works, and so did Thomas Voeckler, in order to be ready for the future. From what I see, it's an environment I like. It's nice to be able to do as many races as possible with the team, to gain experience for the future. It will be useful to me in the years to come". The nineteen-year-old from Lyon was among the first to restart on Sunday, because his season is not over, and next Sunday, we will find him again with the Blues jersey, ready to play for the best position at the European Championships that will be raced right in France.