Seixas Doubles Up: French Prodigy Wins Itzulia Stage 2 Solo to Extend Overall Lead
Paul Seixas is turning the 2026 Itzulia Basque Country into a one-man show. The 20-year-old Frenchman attacked on the final climb of stage 2 from Pamplona to Lekunberri, riding away from the GC favourites solo and extending his overall lead at the top of the general classification. It was his second consecutive victory in as many days after his stunning time trial win in Bilbao on stage 1 — and it has forced the biggest names in stage racing to reassess everything they thought they knew about this race.
The 164-kilometre stage through the Navarrese hills was supposed to be the day the established order reasserted itself. Primož Roglič, Isaac del Toro and Juan Ayuso all arrived with plans to claw back the deficit Seixas had opened in the opening time trial. Instead, the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale rider attacked on the steepest ramps of the final categorised climb and simply rode everyone off his wheel. The gap opened quickly — five seconds became ten, then twenty, then thirty — and by the time Seixas crested the summit alone, it was clear that this was not a rider hanging on to a lead. This was a rider extending it.
Roglič led the chase from the group of favourites and limited his losses as best he could, finishing in the chasing group alongside Mattias Skjelmose. Del Toro, who arrived at the Itzulia as the pre-race favourite after winning both Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice this season, was unable to match the acceleration and will need to find a different approach in the mountain stages ahead. Ayuso's Lidl-Trek comeback from his Paris-Nice crash injury continued to look difficult, with the Spaniard losing further time on the final ascent.
For Seixas, the performance confirms what his Bilbao time trial had only hinted at: this is a rider operating at a level that belies his age and experience. Just four months ago, the Frenchman was a relative unknown outside of domestic racing circles. His Decathlon-AG2R team had quietly built their Basque Country campaign around him, but few outside the team management genuinely believed he could challenge riders with Grand Tour podiums on their palmarès. Two stages in, Seixas has answered that question emphatically.
The general classification now looks daunting for the chasers. Seixas's combined time advantage from the time trial and today's stage gives him a cushion that will require a significant mountain stage attack to overturn. Roglič, the most experienced GC rider in the race, will know that the terrain from stage 3 onwards favours longer, sustained climbing efforts where his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe squad can control the pace and isolate Seixas from his teammates. But the question the Basque mountains must now answer is whether anyone in this field has the legs to drop a rider who has looked utterly commanding on every type of terrain.
Del Toro's UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad will regroup overnight with a clear plan: the Mexican prodigy needs to attack earlier, harder, and more unpredictably if he is to dislodge Seixas from the race lead. Stage 3 offers the first genuine summit finish of the race, and it is there that the true mountain credentials of every contender will be tested in full. The five remaining stages traverse some of the most demanding terrain in European stage racing, with several days featuring over 3,000 metres of climbing.
For now, though, this is Paul Seixas's race to lose. The Frenchman has been the revelation of the 2026 spring season — a talent that has arrived not gradually but all at once, fully formed and fearless. Whether he can sustain this form across the brutal Basque mountains remains the great unanswered question of the week. But after two stages and two victories, the burden of proof has shifted entirely onto those trying to catch him.