Being Paul Seixas, the Boy King of the Tour de France

Paul Seixas is only 19 years old, but he is already one of the most talked-about athletes in France. He is riding in the Tour de France, the world's most famous bicycle race, and he is doing something almost no one expected — keeping up with the best riders on the planet. Seixas sits in sixth place overall, less than 30 seconds behind the riders on the podium. For a teenager, that is an incredible achievement.

Seixas was born on September 24, 2006, in the Beaujolais region of France, a place known for its wine and rolling countryside. His father remembers taking him on a long hike in the Swiss mountains when Paul was just two years old. While other kids got tired and sat down on rocks, little Paul was always out front, waiting. By age four or five, he was making Christmas lists of mountain peaks he wanted to climb one day.

He started cycling young and quickly showed he was special. He is now the youngest man to ride in the Tour de France since World War Two. He is also the youngest winner of a one-week WorldTour stage race and the youngest champion of a tough race called La Flèche Wallonne. Before the Tour started, he finished second to Tadej Pogačar — one of the best cyclists in the world — at two major spring races, beating everyone else both times.

Crowds go wild for Seixas wherever he goes. At one point, fans were chanting his name so loudly that he could not hear interview questions. He politely asked them to be quiet, and they listened right away. Later, French President Emmanuel Macron visited him near the Pyrenees mountains and called him 'extraordinary,' saying: 'I hope he wins one or more stages. We're behind him.'

France has not had a Tour de France winner in 41 years, and French fans are hungry for a champion. Seixas gives them hope. The country's biggest sports newspaper, L'Équipe, has even assigned a reporter to follow him full time. Already, like soccer star Kylian Mbappé, people just call him by his first name — 'Paul.'

His team, Decathlon CMA CGM, works hard to protect him from too much pressure. They have watched other French riders, like Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet, struggle under the weight of big expectations. Pinot once admitted to burning out and said he was glad he never won the Tour de France. The team limits Seixas' media time and makes sure he gets enough rest to recover after hard stages.

His teammate Aurélien Paret-Peintre, who is 30 years old, shares a room with Seixas and acts as a mentor. Paret-Peintre helps him manage stress and recover after tough days. 'After the stage, I tell him: Bye, go quickly to the shower,' Paret-Peintre said. He also acts as a go-between for Seixas and the team when the young rider is tired and needs fewer interviews.

Even Pogačar, the top-ranked cyclist in the world, has noticed how mature Seixas is. 'I admire him. At such a young age, he's so mature,' Pogačar said. That maturity shows up in small ways — after winning his first professional race, Seixas celebrated for about 15 seconds, then worried he had left his recovery shoes on the bus. He wanted to make sure he recovered perfectly, even after a big win.

Seixas is also riding smart. He knows he cannot attack alone against more experienced riders like Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. So he picks his moments carefully and saves his energy for when it matters most. After one mountain stage, he explained: 'Many riders didn't think about how to manage the climb — they went all out from the bottom. After that, we let Vingegaard ride, because he had the most to lose.'

His calm attitude under pressure is nothing new. At age 15, he entered a French cyclocross championship where he crashed twice and lost a shoe — but came back to win on the final lap anyway. 'It's all about having fun,' he said afterward. 'I let fate take its course.' That spirit is still with him today, as all of France hopes Paul Seixas is just getting started.