'Last year I was watching on television, now I just won this race' – Paul Seixas flies to La Flèche Wallonne victory on debut, becomes youngest winner
The Frenchman beat Mauro Schmid and Ben Tulett on the Mur de Huy
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French phenom Paul Seixas sprung late on the Mur de Huy to win La Flèche Wallonne on his debut at the Ardennes Classic, the biggest victory of his nascent career.
The Decathlon CMA CGM rider timed his decisive attack late on the steep finish in Belgium, leaving it to the final 200m to put daylight between him and his rivals. At 19 years and 210 days, he is the youngest-ever winner of the race in its 90-year history, by almost two years. He also bounced back from coming off his bike at some point on Wednesday, and then flew up the Mur in under three minutes.
Behind, Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) rode to second, just ahead of Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike). The race was decided, as ever, on the final ascent of the Mur de Huy, and its final ramps of 15%. Seixas was at the front from the bottom, but waited until the dying moments to make the crucial dig which delivered him to this significant win.
Article continues belowThe win was Seixas's seventh of the season, following victories at the Volta ao Algarve, the Faun Ardèche-Classic, and three stage wins and the overall at Itzulia Basque Country. The hype machine was already in overdrive for the emerging force of cycling, the best French hope for a generation, but now it will go even higher.
"The plan was to set a strong pace today," Seixas said in the flash TV interview following his win. "That started right from the start when turning onto the local circuit. From that moment on, it was a real struggle. I mainly had to stay on the wheel of my teammates. I really have to thank them, too, because they rode brilliantly.
"I was brought into a good position for the final climb. This victory is really down to the team. I am very satisfied. This is an enormously important victory. Last year I was still watching on television, now I just won this race."
Up next is Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where Seixas will race against Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who beat him at Strade Bianche last month, and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), who won the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday.
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"That's going to be a great race, yes," he laughed when asked about his prospects for Sunday. "I will try to defend myself as best I can, but today is already a sign that I am in form."
Results
La Flèche Wallonne 2026 (200km)
1. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, in 4:35:29
2. Mauro Schmid (Sui) Jayco AlUla, +3s
3. Ben Tulett (GBr) Visma-Lease a Bike
4. Benoît Cosnefroy (Fra) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, both at same time
5. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +8s
6. Alex Baudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, at same time
7. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Cofidis, +10s
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious
9. Romain Grégoire (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United
10 Andreas Kron (Den) Uno-X Mobility, all at same time
Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling, he's happy. Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds.
Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes.
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