The reported deal would eclipse Pogačar’s salary and signal just how far teams are willing to go to sign cycling’s brightest young star.
Paul Seixas is at the center of a new mega-transfer rumor reportedly worth $13 million per season. (Photo: (Photo: Maarten Straetemans / Begla Mag via AFP))
Updated June 26, 2026 01:41PM
Paul Seixas hasn’t even started his first Tour de France, and he’s already at the center of what could become the wildest transfer deal in modern cycling.
Pinarello-Q36.5 has contacted Seixas’ representatives about a possible move after his Decathlon-CMA CGM contract expires at the end of 2027, Daniel Benson reported Friday on Daniel Benson’s Cycling Substack.
The number Benson reported is jaw-dropping at around €13 million per season.
If accurate, it would make the 19-year-old Frenchman the highest-paid rider in the peloton and blow the doors off cycling’s salary market.
That would put him above Tadej Pogačar’s widely reported UAE Emirates-XRG base salary, estimated between €8 million and €10 million per season.
No deal is signed, but Benson reported that Seixas’ agent confirmed Pinarello-Q36.5’s interest.
Pinarello-Q36.5 officials did not comment when Velo reached out to team officials.
The deal would make Seixas cycling’s highest-paid rider
Still, the numbers are staggering for a rider who’s yet to win a grand tour or even start the Tour de France.
Pinarello-Q36.5 has the checkbook to make this happen. The second-tier team is backed by billionaire Ivan Glasenberg and the team has already been making major moves.
The Swiss-based squad signed Tom Pidcock ahead of 2025 and added nearly a dozen riders for 2026 before its Tour de France debut next month.
The massive offer for Seixas — still unconfirmed — reveals just how crazy the elite men’s peloton is going over the 19-year-old French phenom.
Benson and other media have linked Seixas to cycling’s richest teams, including UAE Emirates-XRG, Visma-Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek and Netcompany-Ineos.
Decathlon is expected to fight hard to keep the jewel of its system. Sources told Velo the French team is working to sweeten its offer beyond 2027.
Seixas is touted as being the first young rider capable of challenging Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard for the Tour de France.
If €13 million per year is truly on the table, cycling’s transfer market just entered a new world.