{"id":117671,"date":"2026-04-10T16:10:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/10\/insatiable-seixas-closes-in-on-historic-gc-victory-at-itzulia\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T16:10:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:10:48","slug":"insatiable-seixas-closes-in-on-historic-gc-victory-at-itzulia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/10\/insatiable-seixas-closes-in-on-historic-gc-victory-at-itzulia\/","title":{"rendered":"Insatiable Seixas Closes in on Historic GC Victory at Itzulia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>19-year-old prodigy sprints to third stage win in Basque Country as speculation stirs whether he can beat Poga\u010dar in Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"border-border-light border-t py-base-tight\">\n<div class=\"flex h-4 justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex gap-x-base-tight\">\n<div class=\"\"><button class=\"inline-flex shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full hover:cursor-pointer bg-bg-surface hover:bg-bg-light focus:bg-bg-dark text-primary border border-solid border-border-light aria-pressed:bg-brand-primary aria-pressed:text-text-surface py-very-tight px-base-tight gap-tight font-semibold font-utility-2 opacity-50\" aria-label=\"Loading audio\" aria-pressed=\"false\" id=\"article-listen-button\" disabled=\"\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"18\" height=\"18\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 18\" fill=\"none\" class=\"\"><title>Listen to this article<\/title><path d=\"M12.5265 16.2C12.2326 16.2 12.0122 16.1265 11.7184 16.053C11.2775 15.9061 10.9102 15.6122 10.6898 15.2449C10.4694 14.8775 10.3959 14.4367 10.5428 13.9959L11.5714 10.3959C11.6449 10.1755 11.7184 9.95509 11.8653 9.80815C12.0122 9.66121 12.1592 9.51427 12.3796 9.36733C12.6 9.29386 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class=\"hidden sm:inline\">Listen<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\"> (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images))<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Updated April 10, 2026 10:54AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a target=\"_self\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/tag\/paul-seixas\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Paul Seixas<\/a> was made to do it the hard way Friday but didn\u2019t falter in dispatching Florian Lipowitz for his third win in five days at Itzulia Basque Country.<\/p>\n<p>The teen prodigy was relentless through the back-half of Friday\u2019s heinous multi-mountain stage and was rewarded with a sprint victory that puts him on the brink of history.<\/p>\n<p>Only one short hilly stage on Saturday stands in Seixas\u2019 way of becoming the first French rider to win a WorldTour-level stage race since 2007.<\/p>\n<p><em>Not bad for a 19-year-old.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Seixas has been <a target=\"_self\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/teen-phenom-seixas-blows-up-itzulia-with-sensational-solo\/\" rel=\"noopener\">insatiable all week<\/a> in the grippy Basque steeps.<\/p>\n<p>He attacked uphill, downhill, and on the flat, and was rarely troubled by a GC field decimated by crashes and illness. Pre-race favorites Isaac del Toro and Juan Ayuso both took the exit door ahead of time.<\/p>\n<h2>Seixas pushed to the limit but delivers hat-trick victory<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_982250\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-982250\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2270737375.jpg?width=1080&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x, https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2270737375.jpg?width=2048&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 2x\" src=\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2270737375.jpg?width=2048&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">Seixas denied Lipowitz after a relentless performance in the Basque Country.<\/span> (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Seixas now has a 2:30 GC lead over closest rival Lipowitz.<\/p>\n<p>A marquee first major stage-race victory is his to lose.<\/p>\n<p>But after two huge stage wins earlier in the week, it wasn\u2019t so easy for Seixas in a vert-packed stage Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was a hard stage,\u201d he said at the finish. \u201cI said this morning that I wanted to maybe win it, and today the boys did a great job to control all day long.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lipowitz resisted when the prodigal teen piled on the pressure on the penultimate climb of the day.<\/p>\n<p>The German hung to the wheel on the brutal Cat.1 slope while Seixas burned the rest of the peloton out of the wheel.<\/p>\n<p>Lipowitz clung to the Siex-press through much of the final 30km while his young rival continued to hammer bloody-minded on the front.<\/p>\n<p>The two began to relay in the final 10km to keep away the chasers, but Lipowitz was on borrowed time.<\/p>\n<p>Seixas <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LeCyclismeFR\/status\/2042633439216652334\" rel=\"noopener\">kicked from second wheel<\/a> in central Eibar to squeak his rival in the 2-up sprint.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI tried to go all-out in the climb, but I was struggling,\u201d Seixas said in his winner\u2019s interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know why, but I had the feeling that I couldn\u2019t go all-in. It was a hard stage today,\u201d he said. \u201cThen I felt the legs coming back \u2026 Today was a close battle.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>A showdown with Poga\u010dar in Li\u00e8ge is calling Seixas<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_981689\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img alt=\"The king and two princes: Poga\u010dar, Seixas, Del Toro went 1-2-3 at Strade Bianche.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-981689\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2264673662-1200x800.jpg?width=1200&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x, https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2264673662-1200x800.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 2x\" src=\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2264673662-1200x800.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">Seixas finished second to Poga\u010dar last month at Strade Bianche.<\/span> (Photo: Marco BERTORELLO \/ AFP via Getty Images))<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Seixas hasn\u2019t won the Basque tour yet, but thoughts inevitably turn to his potential for the future.<\/p>\n<p>In the short term, he\u2019s slated for a showdown with Tadej Poga\u010dar and Remco Evenepoel later this month at Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge.<\/p>\n<p>His victory wasn\u2019t so convincing Friday, but it\u2019s not totally out of the question that the 19-year-old pulls a huge upset in his very first appearance at La Doyenne. <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/cyclingflash.com\/news\/why-paul-seixas-can-already-challenge-tadej-pogacar-this-year-in-liege\" rel=\"noopener\">Dozens of column inches<\/a> across the European media are already ruminating on how it could happen.<\/p>\n<p>It would be a very Pogi-eque thing to do, after all.<\/p>\n<p>Later down the line, Seixas\u2019 summer schedule is currently blank.<\/p>\n<p>Decathlon CMA CGM will struggle to resist sending him to the Tour de France. It\u2019s been 41 years and counting since the <em>maillot jaune<\/em> owned a French passport.<\/p>\n<p>A nation expects.<\/p>\n<h2>Results: Itzulia Basque Country stage 5<\/h2>\n<p><iframe class=\"fp-remove\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.procyclingstats.com\/widgets\/result.php?h=729d5fc7e39aab779638da6b68ac00180822f2bb\" width=\"520\" height=\"320\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/seixas-closes-in-historic-gc-victory-at-itzulia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>19-year-old prodigy sprints to third stage win in Basque Country as speculation stirs whether he can beat Poga\u010dar in Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge. Listen to this articleListen (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)) Updated April 10, 2026 10:54AM Paul Seixas was made to do it the hard way Friday but didn\u2019t falter in dispatching Florian Lipowitz for his third [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117671"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}