Cycling: impressive once again, Paul Seixas wins the Walloon Arrow and succeeds Tadej Pogacar

The French prodigy won his first major classic at 19 on Wednesday.

Published on 04/22/2026 at 16:30



Updated on 04/22/2026 at 16:51

Reading time: 3min

Tadej Pogacar had warned: the defending champion was not present at the start of the 90th edition of the Flêche Wallonne on Wednesday, April 22. The Slovenian saw Paul Seixas emerge victorious at the top of the Mur de Huy. The Frenchman from Decathlon-CMA CGM impressed in the final ramp, setting his pace, untouchable. Just four days before meeting Tadej Pogacar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, one of his big season goals, the young French prodigy once again leaves a mark, eleven days after his resounding victory at the Tour of the Basque Country. At 19 years and 210 days, the Lyonnais is the youngest winner in the history of the Flêche Wallonne, in his very first participation.

“It’s incredible, it’s huge as a victory. Last year I watched it on TV. I come this year and for my first participation I win, it’s incredible,” savored the Frenchman at the finish, after thanking his teammates who “controlled the breakaway” all day, while protecting him in the peloton. “I’m really happy to finish. […] It was really rough from the start of the circuit. Everyone was tired. I had to stay in the wheels, endure. I knew I had to set a tempo at the foot to wear out the other riders. I went for it, I watched the signs to see where I was, I sized up my opponents,” he added, lucidly, after shining in the race with his bold talent.

With his right elbow and thigh bloodied from a fall in the last forty kilometers, Paul Seixas managed to recover, unlike another highly anticipated Frenchman at the Flêche Wallonne: Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos Grenadiers). Second in the last two editions, the Norman finished the race with the bike of his teammate Axel Laurance, and quickly disappeared from the radars in the final ascent. Other highly anticipated French riders, Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), and Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Emirates) were still in the fight at the beginning of the third and final ascent of the Mur de Huy.

But like Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) and Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a bike), who complete the podium, the various French favorites of the day could do nothing against Paul Seixas, the first French winner in Huy since Julian Alaphilippe in 2021. And with a clear lead, after his performance in the final ascent, he sends a strong message to the rest of the peloton three days before Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

At the Ardennes Monument, Paul Seixas will face the big absentees of the day, Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel (among others), for a battle eagerly awaited by the cycling world. “It’s going to be another ball game, I’m going to fight to be the best I can, but today I showed that I’m in great shape,” simply smiled Paul Seixas.