Paul Seixas Makes History at La Flèche Wallonne — 19-Year-Old Youngest Ever Winner

Paul Seixas made history on Wednesday. The 19-year-old Decathlon CMA CGM rider became the youngest ever winner of La Flèche Wallonne, launching a devastating 300-metre acceleration on the final ascent of the Mur de Huy to drop every rival and claim the biggest result of his career. He finished the 200km race from Herstal in 4:35:29 — Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) crossed three seconds later in second, with Ben Tulett (Visma–Lease a Bike) arriving at the same time in third.

The Race — Controlled Chaos Before the Mur

For most of the day, the race ran to type. A six-man break — Sjoerd Bax, Andreas Leknessund, Jardi van der Lee, Alan Jousseaume, Jakub Otruba and Vincent Van Hemelen — was kept on a tight leash by Decathlon CMA CGM and UAE Team Emirates–XRG, never allowed more than three minutes. Leknessund made a late solo push for glory but was reeled back in with 7.5km remaining. After that, only the Mur de Huy mattered.

The day wasn’t clean getting there. A series of mid-race crashes reshaped the contender list — Marc Hirschi was forced out entirely, while Guillaume Martin, Warren Barguil and Diego Ulissi all got caught in the chaos. Seixas himself went down, reaching the final climb with a bloodied arm. It made his eventual dominance all the more striking.

The Winning Move — 300 Metres of Pure Power

Decathlon’s domestiques drove the peloton hard onto the lower slopes of the Mur’s third and final ascent — the 1.3km wall averaging 9.6%, with ramps touching 26% — before peeling off and leaving Seixas to handle the rest. With 400 metres to go, he sat near the front of a still-sizeable group. Then came the 300-metre mark.

He detonated.

“I looked at the others and judged them and then I attacked and gave it full gas all the way. I felt I was really strong so I made my effort with 300 metres to go. I saw they were struggling behind, so I just went full gas to the line.” — Paul Seixas

Tulett cracked immediately. Schmid was the fastest of the chasers to the line, but the gap was already irreversible. Seixas won by three seconds — the largest winning margin at La Flèche Wallonne since Julian Alaphilippe’s four-second victory in 2018, excepting Pogačar’s obliteration in 2025 — and came within two seconds of the all-time Mur de Huy climbing record.

Historical Weight — A Record That Stood for Over a Century

At 19, Seixas is now the youngest rider in history to win La Flèche Wallonne, and the second-youngest ever to win any Ardennes Classic — behind only Victor Fastre, who won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1909 at 18. The company he’s joined on debut is almost nonexistent. Marc Hirschi managed it, in the anomalous Covid-edition of September 2020. Valverde needed one run before the first of his five wins. Alaphilippe finished runner-up twice before his hat-trick run began. Pogačar had three unremarkable top-ten finishes before his 2023 victory.

Seixas did it first time. At 19. With a bloodied arm.

It’s his seventh win of the 2026 season — coming off a dominant week at Itzulia Basque Country, where he took three stages, the overall GC, and swept every classification. Fourth-placed Benoît Cosnefroy was characteristically blunt in his assessment:

“I didn’t make any mistakes… Paul Seixas rode like a boss.” — Benoît Cosnefroy

Teammate Oliver Naesen went further, telling Cyclingnews he believes Seixas is “the only one capable of following” Pogačar at Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

What’s Next — Liège-Bastogne-Liège This Sunday

The 112th edition of Liège–Bastogne–Liège takes place Sunday, April 26, over 259.5km and 11 categorised climbs. The race’s decisive sequence comes in the final 34km — the Côte de Desnié, followed by the Côte de la Redoute with its 20% maximum gradient, and a final sting at La Roche-aux-Faucons before the finish in Liège. Pogačar and Evenepoel, both absent Wednesday, return as the dominant forces — the pair have shared the last five editions between them.

Now Seixas arrives in the best form of his life.

“That’s going to be a great race. I will try to defend myself as best I can, but today is already a sign that I am in form.” — Paul Seixas

Sunday has the makings of one of the great Monument showdowns in recent memory.

Full Results — La Flèche Wallonne 2026

• 1. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) — 4:35:29
• 2. Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) — +0:03
• 3. Ben Tulett (Visma–Lease a Bike) — s.t.
• 4. Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) — s.t.
• 5. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) — +0:08
• 6. Alex Baudin (EF Education–EasyPost) — s.t.
• 7. Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) — +0:10
• 8. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious) — s.t.
• 9. Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) — s.t.
• 10. Andreas Kron (Uno-X Mobility) — s.t.

Sources

• Velo / Outside Online — La Flèche Wallonne 2026 Results: Seixas Win