Sports
The warning signs for Tadej Pogacar as cycling’s king kicks off 2026 campaign
Seven years ago a rangy young Slovenian took his first professional victory, outsprinting bona fide climbers Wout Poels and Enric Mas atop the gruelling Alto da Foia climb, the highest peak in the Algarve.
That Slovenian went on to be the dominant force of modern cycling, certainly the best rider of the 21st century and increasingly non-contentiously, the best rider of all time.
But all eras must come to an end and while Tadej Pogacar, now 27 and in his prime, shows no sign of being conquered, the next generation are coming. And this weekend’s Strade Bianche, one of the most thrilling of all the Classics, may be the time they shine.
One of them, 19-year-old Paul Seixas, is unnervingly similar in many ways to the four-time Tour de France champion – and recently took his own maiden pro victory on the very same Alto da Foia, before soloing away Pogacar-style to a dominant win at Faun Ardeche.
And in years to come the teenager from Lyon will be able to call on a similar financial might to the super-teams, as his Decathlon CMA CGM squad bid to become a top-three team in the next three seasons, having dispensed with long-time sponsor AG2R La Mondiale.
Last year’s European bronze medallist, Seixas is one of the most exciting talents in a sport which all too frequently churns through brilliant young things and discards them when they fail to live up to expectations. French cycling abounds with such cautionary tales, most recently with the permanently unlucky Thibaut Pinot and yesterday’s hopeful, David Gaudu.
But if Seixas can keep his feet on the ground – perhaps not the best metaphor for a man whose best attribute is pedalling up into the clouds – he may yet end a French Tour de France drought going back decades, and challenge the indomitable Pogacar.
Potentially starting at Strade Bianche. The sweeping white roads of sterrato – gravel – of the Tuscan hills play host to one of the most romantic races on the cycling calendar, not quite a Monument but almost monumental in its grip on the sporting imagination.
Three of the last four editions have been won by Pogacar, both times soloing away into the distance, disappearing in a plume of white smoke, and striding up the punishing Via Santa Caterina to glory in Siena’s honey-coloured city centre.
But there is positive news for the challengers. This year’s parcours is slightly shorter, at 203km, and features 18km less gravel than last year, in a bid to open up the race slightly and avoid yet another Pogacar procession.
And he is not infallible: last year he made a rare mistake on the sterrato, put under pressure by Britain’s Tom Pidcock on a descent, and slid out. Pidcock – the champion in 2023 – waited for the blooded and bruised Slovenian but may have regretted the sportsmanlike gesture as he ultimately finished second, nearly a minute and a half behind Pogacar.
But the 26-year-old is at his best in Classics like Strade Bianche and remains a serious threat this weekend, even after a disappointing 48th-place finish in last week’s curtain-raiser, Omloop Nieuwsblad.
The Briton is the undisputed core of Pinarello Q36.5, the second-tier outfit pushing to disrupt the hegemony of big-budget squads like Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
What they lack in resources they make up for in ambition and fighting talk: Pidcock’s coach Kurt Bogaerts told Dutch outlet Wielerflits this is “one of the races that [Pidcock] gets out of bed for”, and added: “Tom has a good sense of his capabilities, and then it’s a matter of waiting to see how the opposition reacts. We’re going to try to do that again.”
This is Pogacar’s first outing of the season and his form is unknown. While it’s unlikely he’ll have an off-day, the rest of the peloton can still dream of glory in Tuscany, with the season wide open before them.
Strade Bianche is a race for the Classics specialists, but also the mavericks. Swashbuckling Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe may be in the mix; at the very least he will put in a romantic, possibly doomed attack. Wout van Aert will be there too, but on the basis of his crash-ridden, disrupted winter and season so far, it will be disappointment again for the Belgian star.
Puncheur Ben Healy – another born racer – is a major contender after a stellar 2024, in which he wore the yellow jersey, won a stage of the Tour de France, and came third in the World Championships.
A race like Strade Bianche suits the Irishman’s unpredictability, as it does moustachioed cowboy Quinn Simmons. The American is another capable of keeping pace with Pogacar on difficult Classics terrain, most recently at Il Lombardia last October, and if he takes to the start line with his hair flowing in the breeze – indicative of an impending attack – he could be a major threat too.
Seixas may have company in the young super-talent category, in the form of Pogacar’s teammate Isaac del Toro who on any given day can shine too. Here it is likely to be in the Slovenian’s shadows, as he is expected to serve as the springboard for a race-winning attack, but he has outsmarted and outmuscled teammates before, notably Juan Ayuso at last year’s Giro d’Italia.
All this may be wishful thinking, but even if it takes years to arise, the results of this spring may well set in motion the beginnings of a new era in cycling.
The decision of organisers RCS to make the parcours easier compared to some in previous years could reverse the trend of the past decade towards tougher and tougher racing, with inevitable results.
And even if brutally hilly courses are here to stay, the likes of Seixas are not content to let Pogacar run amok. Instead the talented teenager plans on taking the fight to him, come what may – and that may be just the shake-up cycling needs.