The young star of the AG2R La Mondiale Decathlon, Paul Seixas, completed the most important race of his career to date last week. At the Critérium du Dauphiné he achieved an incredible eighth place in the general classification, beating the likes of Carlos Rodríguez, Guillaume Martin and Sepp Kuss.

However, unlike many of his rivals in the top rankings, the 18-year-old Frenchman will not be competing in the next Tour de France . The team has instead opted for a more gradual and cautious approach with the neo-pro, who will not take part in any Grand Tours this year.

Seixas, who went straight from the junior category to the pros this year, has already completed 22 days of racing , including three major stage races: the UAE Tour, Tour of the Alps and Dauphiné.

Jean-Baptiste Quiclet, the team's performance director, explained the reasoning behind this decision to L'Equipe: "Last year, in the junior category, he was riding 100-120km races. In terms of training load and intensity, there are priority issues to resolve before tackling a Grand Tour. The Tour is the most intense and tough race of the year, with a 15-20% increase in training load over the course of a month."

The alternative program

The young French talent will instead compete in the National Championships at the end of June, followed by a rest period and a high altitude training camp in Les Arcs. His next appointment with the stage races will be the Tour de l'Ain in August, while for the end of the season the Tour de Luxembourg, the Tour of Guangxi and potentially the World Championships in Rwanda are in consideration.