Pogacar faces challenge from rising star Seixas at Strade Bianche race

Tour de France champion and UAE Team Emirates-XRG star Tadej Pogacar will face stiff competition from teenage French sensation Paul Seixas when he begins his 2026 season bidding for a record fourth Strade Bianche title on Saturday.

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Pogacar's long-range attacks in his three victories at Strade Bianche have become the stuff of legend, and he has been imperious on the picturesque white gravel roads of Tuscany.

Last year, the four-time Tour de France winner claimed victory at Strade Bianche despite crashing 50 kilometres from the finish and losing around 30 seconds to his breakaway companion Tom Pidcock.

The 27-year-old is once again the overwhelming favourite this weekend, but the rise of Seixas has led some to believe that Pogacar may soon have a legitimate rival to his cycling crown.

At just 19 years old, Seixas is already more advanced than Pogacar was at the same age.

Last year, Seixas won the Tour de l'Avenir -- the junior equivalent of the Tour de France -- as an 18 year-old, and last month he took his first victory as a professional by winning a stage of the Volta ao Algarve.

Pogacar was 19 when he won the Tour de l'Avenir in 2018 and a year older than that when he secured his first professional victory -- also a stage win in the Algarve.