'The worst thing is being afraid to go for it' – young French star doubles up at Itzulia Basque Country with stage 2 win

Paul Seixas wins stage two of the Itzulia Basque Country 2026 — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Teenage French star Paul Seixas added another WorldTour victory to his burgeoning tally, with a solo win on stage two of the Itzulia Basque Country stage race on Tuesday.

It is only his second career WorldTour win – he took the first on Monday, in the stage one time trial.

The 19-year-old Decathlon CMA CGM rider attacked the bunch on the day's main climb, the 9.4km San Miguel de Aralar, towards the end of the 164km parcours. He caught the early breakaway and quickly passed through them before executing a textbook descent and finishing on the final short climb with a 1:25 time gap over Mathias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), who led in the chasing group, followed by Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

Afterwards Seixas said the stage, which took the peloton from Pamplona to Cuevas de Mendukilo, was the hardest of a consistently challenging week, and that he had ringed it on the calendar for a possible victory.

"Racing like that is what I love," he said. "Going for the win with more than a minute’s lead feels really good, and it rewards all the work we put in beforehand. Before the stage started, I had marked this one as a key target – it was the hardest of the week, and we had planned to attack the day after the time trial. The goal was to open up gaps and then manage the race over the long term.

"My team-mates did a great job all day; they positioned me perfectly when it mattered," he said.

"I didn’t hesitate to attack," he added. "The worst thing is being afraid to go for it. Racing like that is what I love, it’s why I ride."

With 10 bonus seconds added to his time gap, plus his time trial victory on stage one, Seixas is now sitting pretty in the yellow jersey, 1:59 ahead of GC runner-up Roglič, with 2:08 to Roglič's team-mate Florian Lipowitz. It will take a significant turnaround at this point for one of Seixas's rivals to unseat him.

Seixas will now have to defend his jersey over two hilly days, before the race turns mountainous again for the final two stages.

Results

Itzulia Basque Country 2026, stage 2: Pamplona-Iruña > Cuevas de Mendukilo, 164km

1. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, 164km in 4:11:48
2. Mathias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +1:23
3. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
4. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar
5. Ben Tulett (Gbr) Visma-Lease a Bike
6. Alex Beaudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost
7. Ion Izaguirre (Spa) Cofidis
8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, all at same time
9. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS-Astana, +1:31
10. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana, +1:43

General Classification after stage 2

1. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, in 4:11:48
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +1:51
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +2:08
4. Mathias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +2:14
5. Ben Tulett (Gbr) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:27
6. Alex Beaudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:31
7. Ion Izaguirre (Spa) Cofidis, +2:36
8. Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +2:44
9. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana, +2:48
10. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar, +3:01

After cutting his teeth on local and national newspapers, James began at Cycling Weekly as a sub-editor in 2000 when the current office was literally all fields.

Eventually becoming chief sub-editor, in 2016 he switched to the job of full-time writer, and covers news, racing and features.

He has worked at a variety of races, from the Classics to the Giro d'Italia – and this year will be his seventh Tour de France.

A lifelong cyclist and cycling fan, James's racing days (and most of his fitness) are now behind him. But he still rides regularly, both on the road and on the gravelly stuff.