Nineteen-year-old French cyclist Paul Seixas won the 90th Flèche Wallonne on April 22, 2026, securing his first Monument-classic victory in his debut appearance at the race. His win came just two weeks after claiming the Basque Country round-trip, marking a rapid ascent in the spring classics hierarchy. Seixas defeated Swiss rider Mauro Schmid and British rider Ben Tulett by three seconds on the Mur de Huy, the decisive 1.4-kilometre climb averaging 8.9 percent gradient near Huy, Belgium.
The victory underscores a shift in climbing dominance, with Seixas demonstrating both explosive power and tactical restraint on the final ascent. Unlike his earlier aggressive tendencies, he delayed his attack until 200 metres from the finish, conserving energy by drafting behind rivals before launching a decisive sprint. This approach contrasted with his prior tendency to initiate attacks too early on steep finishes, a tendency noted in pre-race analyses of his form.
Schmid, the Swiss national champion, finished second after a tactical wait for his legs to recover following Seixas’ attack, acknowledging he had reserves but no direct response to the Frenchman’s surge. Tulett took third, while Benoit Cosnefroy and Mattias Skjelmose completed the top five. The race covered exactly 200 kilometres from Herstal, with the final selection occurring on the third ascent of the Mur de Huy after a breakaway was neutralised seven kilometres from the summit.
Seixas’ win makes him the youngest-ever winner of the Flèche Wallonne, surpassing previous age-related benchmarks in the race’s 90-year history. His success continues a French resurgence in Ardennes classics, following Benoit Cosnefroy’s strong showings and aligning with the broader trend of young riders excelling in late-season uphill finishes. The result likewise places him in the immediate lineage of Tadej Pogačar, who won the same climb in 2025.
The victory sets up a highly anticipated confrontation in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, where Seixas will face reigning world champion Tadej Pogačar and recent Amstel Gold Race winner Remco Evenepoel. That race, scheduled for the following Sunday, concludes the Ardennes trilogy and serves as the final Monument of the spring classics season. Evenepoel, riding for Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe, had opened the trilogy with a win in the Amstel Gold Race.
German representation remained limited, with no rider breaking into the top twenty. Anton Schiffer of Visma–Lease a Bike crashed into a roadside ditch during a chaotic final phase involving multiple falls but remounted and finished the race. Georg Zimmermann of Lotto–Dstny supported team captain Lennert Van Eetvelt before the final climb but did not feature in the decisive selections.
How does Seixas’ victory impact his standing in the 2026 World Tour rankings?
While the Flèche Wallonne awards significant UCI points, the sources do not provide updated World Tour standings or specific point allocations from this race, so no definitive impact on his global ranking can be stated from the given information.
What tactical adjustment did Seixas make compared to his earlier season performances?
According to his own post-race comments and observers’ notes, Seixas delayed his attack on the Mur de Huy until 200 metres from the finish, opting to conserve energy by drafting behind rivals earlier in the climb rather than launching an early, full-gas effort as he might have done two weeks prior.
