“Seixas is better than Poggi was at his age”: Geraint Thomas has no doubts, but points to the Frenchman's biggest challenge

Paul Seixas' extraordinary season has taken comparisons with Tadej Pogačar to another level. The latest to weigh in is Geraint Thomas, winner of the 2018 Tour de France, who believes that the Frenchman is more developed than the Slovenian was at the same age. However, there is an important difference between the two that could explain part of that advantage.

Geraint Thomas sees Seixas more advanced than Pogačar at 20 years old

During the latest episode of Watts Occurring, the podcast he shares with Luke Rowe, Geraint Thomas did not hold back in praising the Decathlon CMA CGM rider after a 2026 season in which he has confirmed his status as a great promise of world cycling.

"What he has done this year has been incredible. He deserves credit for it. What more can be said? He is better than Poggi was at his age", Thomas stated.

The Welshman, currently competition director of Netcompany INEOS, explained that his assessment is not based solely on the results achieved by the Frenchman.

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"It's not just the victories, but also how he looks. He simply seems more advanced, more developed."

The results support, at least in part, that comparison. Seixas has won the Itzulia, the Flecha Valona, and the Giro di Lombardia, becoming at 20 years old the youngest winner in the history of the Italian Monument. He also finished fourth in his first Tour de France when he was still 19 years old.

Thomas believes that the Frenchman's room for progression remains enormous and addressed Rowe directly, who works as a sports director at Decathlon CMA CGM: "It's going to be an exciting few years for him, for France, and for your team."

The big difference between Seixas and Pogačar according to Domen Novak

However, comparing the two cyclists solely based on their results at a certain age can be misleading.

Domen Novak himself, Pogačar's teammate at UAE Team Emirates-XRG, had already raised this issue in a interview with Sportal in March.

Novak acknowledged then that Seixas was showing a higher level than Pogačar at his age, but he introduced an important nuance: the differences in their preparation during their early years.

"As far as I know Tadej, at that age he wasn't doing altitude camps yet. He was racing for Gusto Ljubljana. I can say he won his first Tour eating pizza, drinking beer, and playing PlayStation".

Beyond the obviously informal tone of that last statement, Novak wanted to highlight that Pogačar reached the elite with less specialized preparation than some of the young talents in the peloton currently follow.

Seixas, on the other hand, is already developing an extremely professionalized preparation, with long altitude camps and very demanding planning from his early seasons.

For Novak, this evolution also raises a question about the future of young riders. In that interview, he expressed his concern about the mental strain that can result from reaching such high levels of demand at just 19 or 20 years old.

Thomas believes Pogačar could continue improving until he is 35

In any case, considering that Seixas is more advanced at 20 years old does not mean that Thomas believes he is already at the level of the current Pogačar.

In fact, the Welshman believes that the leader of UAE Team Emirates-XRG still has room to evolve.

"Pog is still improving. This year we've seen the best Pog so far," he explained during the podcast.

Thomas went even further when discussing the Slovenian's sporting longevity.

"Mentally, if he can stay committed and do everything right, I think he can continue improving until he's 35."

For the former Tour winner, the main question lies not so much in Pogačar's physical abilities but in his capacity to maintain the motivation and level of commitment required to dominate professional cycling for so many years.