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PLATEAU DE SOLAISON, FRANCE - JULY 19: (L-R) Remco Evenepoel of Belgium and Team Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe celebrates at finish line as stage winner ahead of Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia and UAE Team Emirates - XRG - Yellow Leader Jersey during the 113th Tour de France 2026, Stage 15 a 183.9km a 155.3km stage from Champagnole to Plateau de Solaison 1501m / #UCIWT / on July 19, 2026 in Plateau de Solaison, France.
It has been 41 years since Bernard Hinault became the last Frenchman to win the legendary Tour de France in 1985, and it’s been nine years since the French even had a rider on the podium.
But that could all change this year thanks to 19-year-old phenom Paul Seixas, who is the youngest competitor in the race since 1937, and it appears that the French are doing everything possible to ensure his success.
Seixas, who rides for French team Decathlon CMA CGM, won the 2025 Tour de l’Avenir, which is largely considered the most famous Under-23 race in the world, with previous winners such as Greg LeMond, Miguel Indurain, and Tadej Pogacar.
He’s continued that success into the senior level, where he won the 2026 Tour of the Basque Country ahead of German star Florian Lipowitz, who finished third in the 2025 Tour de France.
After the first two weeks of the 2026 Tour de France, Seixas found himself in fourth place, more than five minutes behind Pogacar for the lead, but just seconds behind Belgian Remco Evenepoel for the final spot on the podium.
That’s when things began to get weird.
French Judge Approves Middle Of Night Doping Tests At Tour De France
Prior to Sunday’s 15th stage of the Tour, both Pogacar and second-placed Jonas Vingegaard, who won the Tour in both 2022 and 2023, were woken up in the middle of the night and forced to take anti-doping tests.
Under normal circumstances, the International Testing Agency is only allowed to test riders within certain hours of the day.
However, a French judge granted the agency permission to conduct the tests under the explanation that it has “serious and specific suspicions that the rider may be involved in doping activities”
Note that Seixas was not subject to the same testing in the middle of the night.
During Sunday’s stage, Vingegaard was involved in a crash that took him out of the race. While he didn’t blame the 2 a.m. wake-up call for the crash, he also didn’t deny that it could have played a factor.
Seixas remained in fourth place, however, as Evenepoel won the stage and Pogacar’s teammate, Isaac del Toro, finished just six seconds behind, making up 56 seconds on Seixas in the process and moving onto the podium.
Monday was a rest day for the riders ahead of a 26.1-kilometer time trial on Tuesday. Evenepoel, the reigning world champion in the discipline, is considered the favorite to win the stage, with Pogacar, del Toro and Seixas all expected to contend.
However, late Monday night, Evenepoel and the rest of his team were all subjected to doping tests. Yet again, Seixas and his Decathlon teammates were not.
This has led many to believe that testing officials are targeting Seixas’s competitors in order to get the Frenchman on the podium.
Seguint la classificació, ara ja els hi toca als Decathlon.
Ho veurem? No, però el jutge francès lluita contra el dopatge. https://t.co/brLYeAxSnW
— Roger Coll (@rogerce_27) July 21, 2026
Is that what’s happening? Only the French judge and the testing agency can say for sure. But it’s definitely suspicious enough to raise some eyebrows.