France has waited four decades for a rider like this. At 19 years, 9 months and 10 days, the Lyonnais prodigy will be the youngest Tour starter since 1937, arriving off a fantasy spring: Flèche Wallonne, the Itzulia overall with three stages, and second at Liège behind Pogačar. The team preaches 'ambition but humility' — a nation preaches yellow, someday soon.
Palmarès
- La Flèche Wallonne winner — youngest ever (2026)
- Itzulia Basque Country overall + 3 stages (2026)
- 2nd Liège-Bastogne-Liège behind Pogačar (2026)
- Tour de l'Avenir overall winner (2025)
- Junior world time trial champion (2024)
- 7th Il Lombardia — youngest Monument top-10 in over a century (2025)
Cut-out factBoth of his parents were competitive karate athletes; Paul fell for cycling watching races on television with his grandfather.
The squad
Riding the 2026 Tour with Olav Kooij, Tiesj Benoot, Daan Hoole, Matthew Riccitello, Nicolas Prodhomme, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Cees Bol — see the full Decathlon CMA CGM team page.
Portrait: AI paper-collage render (gpt-image-2).
A fan project — not affiliated with the Tour de France or A.S.O.