Seixas switches to MTB a day after winning Il Lombardia

Paul Seixas doesn't seem too eager to start his vacation. Less than 24 hours after winning Il Lombardia 2026, the Frenchman will put on a race number again this Sunday to compete in the Roc d’Azur CIC, one of the major historical events of French mountain biking.

Seixas will go from winning Il Lombardia to racing 55 km of MTB

The Decathlon CMA CGM cyclist surprised everyone this Saturday in Como by clinching his first Monument at just 20 years old. Seixas attacked in Civiglio, went solo, and finished ahead of Enric Mas and Giulio Ciccone in a race that definitively confirmed his huge leap in level this season.  But Seixas's season will still have at least one more chapter, and it will be quite different.

According to L'Équipe, Seixas planned to drive this Saturday from Como to Fréjus, a journey of about four hours, to be at the start of the Roc d’Azur CIC on Sunday morning.

The main event of the competition has a course of 55 kilometers and 1,275 meters of positive elevation through the Massif des Maures, with the start and finish at the Base Nature of Fréjus.

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This is not exactly an easy race to loosen up after Lombardia. Held since 1984, the Roc d’Azur has become one of the key events in French MTB. 

Seixas's decision was also practically improvised. The Frenchman explained to the press that he signed up on Friday afternoon and that his intention is to keep riding for a few days before taking a definitive break after some team commitments.

The race will also have a much more relaxed component than Lombardia. Seixas will be accompanied by Bruno Armirail and acknowledged that the idea is mainly to enjoy before closing the season.

Will it also be the competitive debut of the Van Rysel RCR-XC 32"?

Seixas's presence also introduces a particularly interesting question from a technical standpoint: what bike will he use in the Roc d’Azur.

This week, Van Rysel officially presented the new RCR-XC, its first MTB and a bike developed directly around 32-inch wheels. The model will be the Decathlon Ford bike in the World Cup starting in 2027 and has been developed as a purely competitive platform.

The RCR-XC has already been tested by the Decathlon MTB program riders during its development, but it has not yet been confirmed that Seixas will use it this Sunday or that the Roc d’Azur will become its official race debut.

Precisely for this reason, his appearance in Fréjus will be even more interesting. That one of Decathlon's big names takes the start of one of the most important MTB races in France just a few days after the presentation of the new 32" bike inevitably puts the spotlight on the equipment he will appear with on the starting line.