Paul Seixas lined up for the Roc d'Azur CIC, a 55km mountain bike race starting in Fréjus, on Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after winning the Tour de Lombardie on the road. RMC Sport reported the start at 8h15 and followed the race live, noting that the 20-year-old French rider was treating the event as an end-of-season outing rather than a target result.
According to RMC Sport, Seixas was not fully equipped for the discipline. He rode a Decathlon-Ford mountain bike that did not belong to him, and he only picked up mountain bike shoes on Saturday evening. RMC Sport reported that he went into the race without real preparation, yet still managed to place himself near the front in the early kilometres alongside Jordan Sarrou, a five-time winner of the event. Bruno Armirail, another well-known French rider, was also listed among the starters.
Why it matters
The appearance underlined how quickly Seixas has moved from a promising young road rider to a headline name in French cycling. RMC Sport described his Lombardie victory as a first Monument title, and other outlets reporting on the same weekend framed it as a landmark result. That he could turn up the next morning for a mountain bike race in Fréjus, on borrowed equipment, showed both the depth of his current form and the relaxed way he is closing out the season.
For the Roc d'Azur CIC itself, his presence brought attention to a race that already carries weight in the off-road calendar. RMC Sport noted that the 55km course demands strong climbing ability, and that a good result would require real climbing form. The comparison it drew was with the Tour de Lombardie, which offered 4,600 metres of positive elevation across 239km of road racing the previous day.
How the race unfolded at the front
RMC Sport's live coverage tracked a fast and unsettled race. After more than an hour of racing, four riders remained at the front, with Jordan Sarrou, the French favourite, among them, and Joshua Dubau also in the group. RMC Sport reported that the pace at the front was not dropping, and that a top-10 finish would be difficult for Seixas even though the result carried little weight for him the day after his Lombardie win.
Seixas was dropped from the lead group at one stage, according to RMC Sport, which counted close to 10 riders still ahead of him at that point. The Frenchman lost ground on a descent but was expected to regain contact on the climb that followed. RMC Sport also reported that he had put a foot down several times on the descents, and noted that avoiding injury was the priority.
The lead group kept changing shape. RMC Sport reported that Jules Rossel, another French rider, came back up to the front group with one other competitor, restoring the group to six. Later, three riders rejoined the leaders after more than 1 hour 20 minutes of racing, with Dubau and Sarrou still in contention for the win. On the Col de Bougnon, the front of the race narrowed to three: the Canadian Cole Punchard, alongside the French pair of Dubau and Sarrou. RMC Sport then reported that the Italian Jakob Dorigoni fought his way back to the front after that climb as the race moved towards its conclusion.
In the women's race, RMC Sport reported that Léna Gérault was at the front with one other competitor after 1 hour 40 minutes of racing.
The Lombardie win behind the weekend
Seixas won the Tour de Lombardie in Como on Saturday, according to RMC Sport, taking the Italian end-of-season Monument solo. RMC Sport reported that he became the youngest winner of that race and the youngest winner of any Monument in the post-war period. The victory closed what RMC Sport called an exceptional season for the rider from Decathlon-CMA CGM, who had just turned 20.
Coverage from other outlets put the result in similar terms. L'Équipe described the win as a crowning moment and the end of innocence for Seixas. Ouest-France reported that he would follow the Lombardie victory by taking part in a mountain bike race. Eurosport gathered reaction describing him as lucky and as "Monsieur" now, with rivals and observers alike won over by a rider it called an unusual phenomenon. Sports - Orange published a numerical breakdown of the Lombardie win.
RMC Sport also noted that Seixas shared his Lombardie performance on Strava, with times faster than those of Tadej Pogacar, and linked to a separate piece on the behind-the-scenes story of the win, headlined around the line that he "seemed so strong".
The two events could hardly be more different in setting. Lombardie is a long road Monument with a demanding elevation profile, while the Roc d'Azur CIC is a 55km off-road race where climbing strength matters but equipment, positioning and technical skill carry more weight. RMC Sport's account made clear that Seixas arrived at the second without the usual preparation, borrowing a bike and sourcing shoes the night before.
What happens next for Seixas is a return to the road calendar after a season that already includes a Monument. For the riders still fighting at the front of the Roc d'Azur CIC, the outcome was set to be decided in the closing kilometres, with RMC Sport suggesting a possible sprint among a group of five.
