Itzulia Basque Country: Isolated Paul Seixas clinches first WorldTour stage race title as AJ August wins rain-battered final stage

Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) conquered the 2026 Itzulia Basque Country and, in the process, became France’s first overall winner of a WorldTour stage race in 19 years, but having dominated for five straight days, the 19-year-old’s previously iron grip on the yellow jersey faltered dangerously at the last.

Riding through atrociously wet and windy conditions on a short but very punchy 135.2 kilometre stage, a mass assault by Uno-X Mobility and their leader Tobias Johannessen, 5:39 down on Seixas at the beginning of the day, saw the Frenchman eventually lose around three minutes of his lead on the Norwegian racer after he was forced to chase alone for the best part of the final hour.