Cycling's rising star Paul Seixas will compete at the Tour de France in July, with a whole country hoping that he can end a four decades drought for French riders.
The 19-year-old Frenchman, widely regarded as a potential great and France’s best hope for a future Tour de France winner, announced his participation at cycling's showpiece race in a video released by his team.
Seixas, who rides for the CMA CGM Decathlon team has been in an impressive form this season, finishing runner-up to Tadej Pogačar at the Strade Bianche and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He also became the youngest winner of the Flèche Wallonne.
“It’s a childhood dream of mine, something I’ve often imagined, and now it’s very close to becoming reality,” said Seixas, a versatile rider with excellent climbing and time trialing skills. “I’m only 19, but as I’ve already said, age is neither a barrier nor an excuse.”
It has been nearly 41 years since a French rider last won the Tour de France, when Bernard Hinault claimed the last of his five titles back in 1985.
Over the past four decades, France has produced talented riders such as Thibaut Pinot, Romain Bardet, Warren Barguil or Julian Alaphilippe. All raised hopes but ultimately fell short, often facing rivals backed by stronger and better-funded teams.
That could change following Seixas' announcement, who has a strong team. Decathlon, a global sporting goods company, has joined forces with CMA CGM, one of the world’s largest shipping firms, to invest in a French team with Tour-winning ambitions. The team said last year it aims to win the Tour de France within the next five years.
“We needed to take the time to carefully analyze all the data and also talk with Paul and those around him,” said Dominique Serieys, the team's CEO. “He has had a remarkable start to the season and is already among the best riders in the world. And the best are meant to line up at the biggest race on the calendar: the Tour de France. With great humility and in a learning mindset, Paul will start in Barcelona with genuine ambitions to achieve the best possible result in the general classification.”
This season, Seixas also became the youngest winner of a WorldTour stage race at the Tour of the Basque Country.
“My results since the start of the season have given me a lot of confidence; I feel ready and I will have ambitious goals,” he said. “It’s not my mindset or my view of cycling to line up at the Tour de France with the sole aim of discovering it. I will aim for the best possible overall classification.”
As part of his preparations for the Tour, Seixas will also compete at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in June. Following the Tour, Seixas plans to ride in Canada before the world championships and the Tour of Lombardy.
The Tour de France starts on July 4 from Barcelona, Spain.
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First place, Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar of the UAE Team Emirates, center right, congratulates second place France's Paul Seixas of the Decathlon team, center left, during the Belgian cycling classic and UCI World Tour race Liege Bastogne Liege, in Liege, Belgium, Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Paul Seixas of France catches his breath after crossing the finish line to win the Belgian cycling classic Fleche Wallonne (Walloon Arrow), in Huy, Belgium, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Second place France's Paul Seixas of the Decathlon team celebrates on the podium during the Belgian cycling classic and UCI World Tour race Liege Bastogne Liege, in Liege, Belgium, Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States said Monday it is ready to “guide” commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz in a new effort to end the blockade wreaking havoc on the global economy.
The U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center advised ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it had set up an “enhanced security area.” The American military has said the initiative might involve guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft and 15,000 service members but has not specified what kind of assistance or escorts it would provide ships.
That has left open the question of whether shipping companies, and their insurers, will feel comfortable taking the risk given that Iran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so.
Iran’s control of traffic through the crucial artery for the world’s oil and gas supplies has proved a major strategic advantage in its war with the U.S. and Israel, allowing Iran to inflict tremendous pain on the global economy despite being outgunned on the battlefield.
The effort to revive traffic risks unraveling the fragile ceasefire that has held for more than three weeks.
U.S. President Trump in a social media post on Sunday promised that the U.S. would “guide” ships out of the strait, warning that Iranian efforts to block them "will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”
He described part of what he called “Project Freedom” in humanitarian terms, designed to aid stranded seafarers, many on oil tankers or cargo ships, have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began. Crews have described to The Associated Press seeing intercepted drones and missiles explode over the waters as their vessels run low on drinking water, food and other supplies.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency later called Trump’s “Project Freedom” part of his “delirium." Iran’s military command said on Monday that ships passing must coordinate with them.
“We warn that any foreign military force — especially the aggressive U.S. military — that intends to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz will be targeted,” Major General Pilot Ali Abdollahi told state broadcaster IRIB.
It was unclear as of Monday morning whether any vessels, many of which have become essentially stranded by the standoff, were attempting to cross or whether ships were staying put.
The Joint Maritime Information Center said the U.S. has set up an “enhanced security area” near the Oman side of the strait. It urged mariners to coordinate closely with Omani authorities “due to anticipated high traffic volume.”
It warned that passing close to usual routes, know as the traffic separation scheme, “should be considered extremely hazardous due the presence of mines that have not been fully surveyed and mitigated.”
The disruption of the waterway has become one of the most enduring consequences of the war that the U.S. and Israel launched Feb. 28, squeezing countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas and raising gasoline, food and other prices far beyond the region.
Iran has put particular pressure on Trump, who promised to bring down gas prices and faces midterm elections this year, and has called U.S. moves to dislodge its grip over the strait ceasefire violations. They have vowed not to return the strait to prewar conditions and moved to impose charges on transiting ships.
The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran and enacted a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling 49 commercial ships to turn back, U.S. Central Command said Sunday.
The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
U.S. officials hope the blockade helps break the deadlock, forcing Iran back to the negotiation table under pressure. Yet thus far negotiations are still in the proposal and review phase, with no publicly announced talks between the U.S. and Iran underway.
“We think that they’ve gotten less than $1.3 million in tolls, which is a pittance on their previous daily oil revenues,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Sunday, adding that Iran’s oil storage is rapidly filling up and “they’re going to have to start shutting in wells, which we think could be in the next week.”
Iran’s 14-point proposal made public over the weekend calls for the U.S. lifting sanctions on Iran, ending the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdrawing forces from the region and ceasing all hostilities, including Israel’s operations in Lebanon, according to the semiofficial Nour News and Tasnim agencies, which have close ties to Iran’s security organizations.
Iranian officials said they received and were reviewing the U.S.'s response, Mizan, the news agency of Iran’s judiciary reported Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei saying Sunday.
But “at this stage, we have no nuclear negotiations,” Baghaei said. Iran’s nuclear program and enriched uranium have long been the central issue in tensions with the U.S., but Tehran would rather address it later.
Iran’s proposal wants other issues resolved within 30 days and aims to end the war rather than extend the ceasefire, according to Iran’s state-linked media. Trump on Saturday said he was reviewing the proposal but expressed doubt it would lead to a deal.
Pakistan said Monday it has facilitated the transfer of 22 crew members from an Iranian vessel seized by the U.S., describing the move as a confidence-building measure as Pakistant attempts to revive talks between the two sides.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the crew members, who had been aboard the Iranian container ship MV Touska, were evacuated and flown to Pakistan overnight. They are expected to be handed over to Iranian authorities.
The vessel will be brought into Pakistani territorial waters for necessary repairs before being returned to its original owners, the ministry said, adding that the process is being coordinated with the support of Iran and the U.S.
Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Munir Ahmed contributed from Islamabad, Pakistan.
People view rugs at the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman looks at jewelry in the window of a gold shop at Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Iran, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man stands in the water, appearing to fish, as bulk carriers, cargo ships, and service vessels line the horizon in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, April 27, 2026.(Razieh Poudat/ISNA via AP)
Vehicles drive past a billboard with graphic showing Strait of Hormuz and sewn lips of U.S. President Donald Trump in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Cargo ships are seen at sea near the Strait of Hormuz, as viewed from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
