Domen Novak warns Paul Seixas: "Pogacar won his first Tour while eating pizza and drinking beer"

Comparisons between Paul Seixas and Tadej Pogacar, with the former being mentioned as a potential successor to the world champion, are becoming increasingly frequent. However, Domen Novak, Pogacar’s Slovenian super-domestique, adds some caveats. While Novak says he has great respect for the French prodigy, he believes maintaining that level won't be easy.

Novak saw from the front row at Strade Bianche how Seixas was able to threaten Pogacar for the first time (even if only briefly). “That boy is really very good. Everyone compares him to Tadej and wants to put him alongside him. And if you look at his age, he’s even better than Tadej was at that age,” the UAE Emirates XRG rider told the Slovenian outlet Siol frankly.

But Seixas is already living a very professional life at Decathlon CMA CGM. According to Novak, that carries some long-term risks. “Everything is very professional, which on one hand is great. But on the other, I worry about the psychological cost they will have to pay. These guys are pushed so hard at nineteen and twenty. I don’t know if they’ll still be able to race at thirty.”

Whereas Pogacar took a different approach. “You have to know something. As far as I know, Tadej didn’t go to a high-altitude training camp at nineteen. He was riding for the Gusto Ljubljana team. I can say he won his first Tour while eating pizza, drinking beer, and playing PlayStation. I think he’s a real natural talent. The young guys coming up now already have a lot of experience. They’ve trained at altitude for a month and are used to being away from home for a long time. That’s a very different approach,” the Slovenian said.

Bakelants: "Evenepoel was at least just as good"
A similar caution is heard in the Sporza podcast Wielerclub Wattage. Analyst and former Decathlon rider Jan Bakelants acknowledges the talent of the very young Seixas but doesn’t see his abilities as unique. “Seixas tried for a long time at Strade to put pressure on Pogacar. We didn’t see the 19-year-old Pogacar do anything like that,” Jan Bakelants makes the comparison.

“But to cool down the Seixas hype a bit: one Remco Evenepoel was at least as good or maybe even better than Seixas at nineteen. Because Remco won the Clasica San Sebastian in a very impressive way at nineteen,” concludes the Kempenaar.