“What I did today is a disgrace”: Seixas is too hard on himself after his World Championships in Montréal

Paul Seixas was one of France's great hopes for the World Championship in Montreal, and for much of the race, everything seemed to unfold according to his plans. The French team toughened the circuit from the early laps, and the young Frenchman managed to stay among the best until the decisive part. But perhaps they went too far. Some cramps on the last lap ended his chances and left him deeply disappointed with his performance.

Paul Seixas: "It's a shame what I did today"

France was one of the teams that took the most responsibility once the race entered the Montreal circuit. Bruno Armirail set a very high pace during the early laps, and the peloton quickly lost units.

Even Remco Evenepoel, who finished 12th after struggling for much of the race, pointed out after the race the toughness of that French move: "It was a really strange race because of the high pace set by France. Perhaps they also ended up destroying their own leader."

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But Seixas managed to overcome that initial selection and reached the decisive kilometers with real chances of achieving a great result.

"It was a race for strong men, and for me, it was perfect. It's a huge disappointment. My teammates gave everything so I could achieve the best result, and this is a failure."

The Frenchman assured L'Équipe  that until that moment, his feelings had been excellent.

"Everything was going very well, I had incredible legs, and honestly, I don't feel like talking about it much. It's a shame what I did today, to have cramps like this."

Seixas was particularly hard on himself.

"It's a rookie mistake. I had never had cramps on the bike in my life. I'm disappointed in myself, but it's what I deserve. My teammates did an incredible job. They don't deserve a leader like me."

Seixas points to hydration, but doesn't know what caused the cramps

The problems appeared when the race was practically decided. Seixas was still in the group chasing Brandon McNulty and faced the last lap still with possibilities of entering the fight for medals.

But then the cramps came.

"It must have been hydration, I don't know. I also don't feel like talking about it much."

The Frenchman therefore did not provide a definitive explanation of what caused the problem. What he was clear about was that once the first symptoms appeared, his options had become enormously complicated.

"When I started to have cramps, I knew it was going to be complicated, but I thought about my teammates, about everything they had done, and I held on until the end."

Seixas lost contact definitively with the best and finished 15th, 2:47 behind Brandon McNulty, who was crowned world champion after attacking 33 kilometers from the finish.

The result contrasted especially with the prominence that France had during much of the 273.7 kilometers of the race.

"My teammates don't deserve a leader like me"

More than losing the chance to win a medal, Seixas seemed affected by not being able to turn all the work done by his teammates into a result.

"It's extremely frustrating to fight to finish like this. It's my fault, and I'm tremendously disappointed with what I've done."

Even when it was pointed out to him that he had been very close to the best for much of the race, the Frenchman refused to seek comfort in his performance.

"You could say it wasn't far off, but today I was very far off."

The disappointment was still too recent when he spoke to the media in Montreal.

"Right now, it's hard for me to be comforted. You can't turn the page easily after something like this. I'm going to need time."