Teenage French star Paul Seixas added another WorldTour victory to his burgeoning tally, with a solo win on stage two of the Itzulia Basque Country stage race on Tuesday.
It is only his second career WorldTour win – he took the first on Monday, in the stage one time trial.
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“Racing like that is what I love,” he said. “Going for the win with more than a minute’s lead feels really good, and it rewards all the work we put in beforehand. Before the stage started, I had marked this one as a key target – it was the hardest of the week, and we had planned to attack the day after the time trial. The goal was to open up gaps and then manage the race over the long term.
“I didn’t hesitate to attack,” he added. “The worst thing is being afraid to go for it. Racing like that is what I love, it’s why I ride.”
Results
Itzulia Basque Country 2026, stage 2: Pamplona-Iruña > Cuevas de Mendukilo, 164km
1. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, 164km in 4:11:48
2. Mathias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +1:23
3. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
4. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar
5. Ben Tulett (Gbr) Visma-Lease a Bike
6. Alex Beaudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost
7. Ion Izaguirre (Spa) Cofidis
8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, all at same time
9. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS-Astana, +1:31
10. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana, +1:43
General Classification after stage 2
1. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, in 4:11:48
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +1:51
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +2:08
4. Mathias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +2:14
5. Ben Tulett (Gbr) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:27
6. Alex Beaudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:31
7. Ion Izaguirre (Spa) Cofidis, +2:36
8. Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +2:44
9. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS-Astana, +2:48
10. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar, +3:01
