Call it selection if you will. In competitive terms, because Paul Seixas abandoned his companions in the second stage of the Basque Country Tour, a solo effort brought home with a mortgage on the final victory. Then there's the other kind of selection, that of the news. On the day when PSG-Liverpool in the Champions League is to be presented, L'Equipe had no qualms about dedicating the front page to the 19-year-old from Lyon. Full page: in yellow, and what other color would it be?, the surname Seixas in the headline precedes a play on words that harks back to football: "LA LIGNE DES CHAMPIONS" is written in huge letters and capital letters, just like the performances the Decathlon CMA CGM Team rider has been treating us to.

That cover alone says much if not everything about the expectations of French sports fans regarding Seixas, who, through his exploits, has apparently forced the entire media circus to quickly shelve any downplaying of a welcome success, this yes, yet in the Basque Country, not at the Tour de France. It shouldn't sound like an exaggeration, then, L'Equipe's choice to give absolute priority (even monopolizing pages 14 and 15 inside) to the cyclist who is moving at lightning speed towards his debut as an absolute protagonist at the Grande Boucle.

Just a few weeks ago, the debate was still alive about the advisability of Seixas participating in the Tour, given his very young age. Now, almost by popular demand, the last illustrious resistances seem to be falling, so great is the French desire to identify with a rider capable of filling a void that has lasted 40 years. For now, we rely on the photograph of the 2025 Tour de l'Avenir, final podium at La Rosière, just beyond the Little St. Bernard. That August 29th of last year, as tradition dictates, Bernard Hinault was on the awards podium, the last Frenchman to wear the yellow jersey on the Champs-Élysées. Back in 1985.