Pogačar Wins 5th Tour Stage as 18-Year-Old Seixas Takes White Jersey

Q: Is teenage phenom Paul Seixas's explosive debut a bigger story than Pogacar's historic dominance?

No. Paul Seixas is the freshest and most intriguing subplot of this Tour, but Tadej Pogacar’s dominance remains the bigger story. Pogacar is not just winning stages; he is shaping the race historically. His victory at Le Markstein was his fourth stage win of this Tour and the 25th of his Tour de France career, while extending a commanding overall lead with only Jonas Vingegaard still within five minutes. He is also openly hinting at riding the Vuelta a España in pursuit of a Grand Tour slam, a milestone that would place him in rare company. That scale of achievement makes his campaign the defining headline. Seixas, though, is the most important emerging story. At 19, the youngest rider in the Tour since 1937, he has gone from promising talent to genuine contender. On the Col de Haag he helped blow apart the race, matched Vingegaard on the descent, beat him in the sprint, took over the young rider classification and rose to fourth overall, only 15 seconds off the podium. Given his 2026 wins at Itzulia Basque Country and La Flèche Wallonne, this is not a fluke but a breakthrough at the sport’s biggest event. What makes Seixas significant is that he may be the clearest sign of what comes after the Pogacar-Vingegaard era. But for now, he is still reacting to a race being dictated by Pogacar. Seixas is the story of the future; Pogacar is still the story of the present.

3 articles · Updated · inrng.com · Jul 19

Paul Seixas finished third behind Tadej Pogačar and Isaac del Toro, moving up to fourth overall and becoming the youngest rider ever to wear the Tour’s white jersey.
Pogačar made the decisive move on the Owl Hairpin after Jonas Vingegaard had paced the favorites for much of the final climb, then held on for another stage win while Del Toro took second and a six-second bonus.
Vingegaard reached the line with Del Toro and Seixas but lost six seconds in the sprint, while Remco Evenepoel recovered from being dropped to finish only four seconds behind the Dane.
That reshuffle tightened the race behind Pogačar: Seixas sits 15 seconds behind Evenepoel and three seconds ahead of Juan Ayuso, with second through seventh overall covered by 80 seconds.
The result follows Pogačar’s Stage 14 victory and reinforces UAE’s control, though the report notes Visma’s repeated pacing for Vingegaard is eroding his cushion over the other podium contenders.