At 9 o'clock on Sunday morning in Canada, on the starting line in Brossard, a duo comes together completely, those two riders who were rivals not twenty years ago, but just in 2023, when Seixas won the Lunigiana by just 6" over Lorenzo Finn.

At the Zurich World Championships it was the great day that earned the junior world title for the Ligurian, while the Frenchman finished sixth, he who in Switzerland became the time trial world champion. Parallel stories of teammates between Lollo and the young Frenchman burdened with an immense task, that of bringing his French cousins back in the yellow jersey to the Champs-Élysées.

Paul and Lorenzo, moreover, share success at the Tour des Jeunes, with the Decathlon CGM rider having won the Tour de l'Avenir and the Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe rider fresh from the same success in the race that launched Pogacar, Del Toro and fellow champions. They chose different paths, the Frenchman turning professional immediately and the Italian adopting a more "gradual" maturation, if you can call it that, a path that saw him secure a second world title (Kogali 2025) among the under-23s, a prelude to a 2026 characterized by the combination of Giro Next Gen and Avenir.

Go where talent takes you, now to Montreal, within a month of his stage win and overall classification at Lago Serrù, rewarded by Bernard Hinault, who along with the yellow jersey also gave him the same lion cub they award on the Tour podium.

"After winning the Sibiu Tour instead of defending my under-23 title, the idea of competing in the Elite race came about, I discussed it with the technical staff, including Marino Amadori. I feel ready to live a full 2027 among the professionals, I'll do it with the goal of improving further and carrying with me the special experience of the all-Italian stage at the Avenir, when I had all the support behind me".

Finn will race the world championships confident that the Italian team is up to the task, under the eyes of his parents, dad John (who rented a bike here in Canada) and mom Chiara, who continue to use their vacation time to follow their son at races. Not exactly around the corner but "we actually lived right here in Montreal a year and a half ago, now twenty-five years ago, he's a computer engineer and I'm in management".

Next year won't be the time to rack up air miles, though. It's being held at Seixas' home, who knows if we'll get a "direct showdown" between Seixas and Finn.