Sensational Seixas impresses once again in Huy
April 22 nd 2026 - 16:54
He was participating in the 90th edition of La Flèche Wallonne to “find his place” in this race, and it turned out he was due to be the first across the finish line in his very debut. Paul Seixas already was the sensation of the season, and his dominating performance up the Mur de Huy just added one more reason for the French fans to believe he is bound to mark a new era in road cycling. The Decathlon-CMA CGM proved to be head and shoulders above his many rivals, powering away with about 250 meters to go and leaving Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) and Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) far behind, fighting to round out the podium. At just 19 years and 210 days old, Seixas became the youngest-ever rider to win La Flèche Wallonne, defeating a record that was set 90 years ago in the first edition of the race by Philémon De Meersman (who won being 21y, 150d). If he keeps thriving at this pace, this achievement should be just one footnote in a long, prolific career that is seemingly just getting started.
174 riders took the start in the 90th edition of La Flèche Wallonne, held over a 200-kilometre course between Herstal and the Mur de Huy, at 11:49. There was one non-starter: Alexey Lutsenko (NSN Cycling Team). The sun was shining and the sky was blue as six riders went clear after 11 kilometres: Sjoerd Bax (Pinarello-Q36.5), Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X), Jardi Van Der Lee (EF Education-EasyPost), Alan Jousseaume (TotalEnergies), Vincent Van Hemelen (Flanders-Baloise) and Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA). They quickly built a sizable advantage, clocked at 2’45” atop the Côte de Trasenster (km 31,4). The wide range of favorites in the field meant many teams contributed to the chase, namely Tudor Pro Cycling (backing former winners Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi), Ineos Grenadiers (for Kévin Vauquelin), Lidl-Trek (for Mattias Skjelmose), UAE Team Emirates (for Benoît Cosnefroy) and Decathlon-CMA CGM (for Paul Seixas). The gap remained steady through the first half of the race, reaching 3’00” at kilometre 76.
Julian Alaphilippe falls out of contention early on
Decathlon-CMA CGM sped things up in the approach to the final circuit, which was to be tackled three times and featured the climbs to the Côte d’Ereffe, the Côte de Cherave and the Mur de Huy. At kilometre 100, with 100km to go, the advantage of the break was down to 1’55” - and it was reduced even further in the first climb to Huy (km 125,6), where it was clocked at 1’10” as Van Hemelen was dropped from the front group and Alaphilippe was distanced by the bunch. Movistar’s Raúl García Pierna and Iván Romeo launched a number of attacks after the first ascent of the Mur, but were unable to create a new breakaway group.
Andreas Leknessund, last man standing at the front
The gap remained steady through the second lap of the final circuit. Uno-X’s Tobias Halland Johannessen crashed on the descent of the Côte de Cherave (km 157,2), yet managed to bridge back to the peloton shortly after. Leknessund and Van Der Lee powered away in the second climb to the Mur de Huy (km 162,8), which they crested with a 40” lead over the bunch, but were rejoined at the front by Bax and Otruba with 31 kilometers to go. The Norwegian national champion would go clear for good in the last climb up the Côte d’Ereffe (km 181,6) as the rest of the escapees were reeled back in by the bunch, where many teams fought for position but no squad was really at the helm. Vauquelin quickly solved a mechanical issue, while Hirschi suffered a crash that erased his name from the list of candidates for the win.
Dominating performance by Seixas up the Mur de Huy
Leknessund was caught at the foot of the Côte de Cherave (km 194,4) by a peloton where many teams fought for position yet nobody was daring or strong enough to actually launch an attack. Decathlon’s Jordan Labrosse led the decimated bunch into the Mur de Huy, with Paul Seixas hitting the front with 800 meters to go. The young Frenchman bid his time with great poise, keeping men like Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla), Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) firmly at bay. Those three were the sole riders remaining in his wheel when he unleashed his final acceleration 250 meters from the finish. Schmid (2nd) and Tulett (3rd) were quicker than Cosnefroy (4th) and secured a podium spot as the talented Decathlon cyclist scored what arguably is his biggest victory to date.
