Paul Sixas became a ghoul of the Cadet class. The already winning French road champion, winner of the French cyclo-cross Cup in Quelneuc, and now French Discipline Champion, this Saturday, in Liévin (see classification). The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes rider was so scared at Hauts-de-France that he collected points, but the Cadet 2 wore a much warmer blue and made the difference on the last lap. to DirectVeloPaul Seixas looks at his racing, which could have turned into a nightmare, but also his future ambitions, which the AG2R Citroën U19 team is following.

DirectVelo: Everything has never been so easy for you!
Paul Seixas: I didn’t have a good start and then ended up in the top 6-7 pretty quickly. In the first round I had some problems, I rubbed a lot with Woods. He kicked me in the knee with the bike, I was in terrible pain the whole race. I arrive on the second lap, and fall after the overhang. He took off a shoe, I had to stop to put it back on. I wasn’t far from the leader, but suddenly I’m missing another 20 or 30 seconds into the story and find myself still in seventh place.

How did you manage to get back then?
It was technically difficult, I was still on the potato fishing trip. I was trying to grab. I saw at the bell that I wasn’t far away, because for a while I thought it was all over. Mentally, it gave me a boost of energy. I doubled, physically I was tormented at the end, which made all the difference. I finally took the lead, in the last section of the post. I changed my bike, I should have done it earlier. But it made me gain speed, widened the gap a little bit and did that.

“It was terrible”

How did you deal with this mental ordeal when you struggled with all your problems?
I try never to tell myself it’s bad, anything is always possible, but I knew it was going to be very difficult. You had to be there mentally and technically. I told myself I have nothing to lose, I should go out there and do what I can. I worked.

What do you think of the department and its conditions?
It was terrible. There was a lot of muck. Sometimes I find it a little tough in mud, I prefer dry, tough terrain. I qualify for strength and lightness. There I had to adapt. Usually this year in the mud I haven’t been doing very well and I’ve had some problems. But then I overcame them to re-motivate myself, to tell me that nothing was lost even if I wasn’t on very favorable ground.

“It is necessary to be at the top in the higher categories”

Already followed by AG2R Citroën U19 and champion France Cadets on the road, do you get the impression of the increasing and changing dimensions?
Of course, that’s something that makes me mature as I get close to the races. I know I don’t have to put incredible pressure on myself before the tournament, or else it’s uncontrollable. I know there are bigger events that are going to happen in the little ones. In Cadet, nothing is playing right now, I’m not playing my life in some way. Losing France due to a mechanical or physical problem means nothing, it’s a bonus. Rather, we should be at the top in the higher categories. For now it is just preparing for the future. It’s just fun, that’s what I have to tell myself before the French championships.

Collect addresses as you do, have you ever imagined such a scenario?
I was necessarily thinking about it. dreamed of When you win one, you want more. endless. The advantage, when you’ve already won or been on the podium, is that you know you can do it. I’ve been thinking about it for months, and all my preparations have focused on it. I knew it was possible. I let the spell do, I did what I could and it worked.

‘It’s a children’s dream’

So many teams care about you, so why did you choose to have the AG2R Citroën U19 follow you?
What they gave me. They have some very interesting shows for me. Like the others in the end, but we had to choose. It was my childhood dream for me. When it happens, it’s huge. I shouldn’t rush too much. I made an informed choice, based on the suggestions. The AG2R Citroën U19 offers me a lot of advantages, I find the team great and what they do is top notch. I am also very happy to defend the VC Villefranche Beaujolais jockeys at the same time, I am very good at this club.

Are you going to the professional mode?
No, that’s part of the deal. To go to AG2R, I had better do well in school. And I always keep on escaping academically. I always got good grades. I am about 16 years old on average. I know I have to work, and never leave school. We shouldn’t tell ourselves as a Cadet we’re going to make a cycling career. We must have the dual project in this era. Things will change, we should not get carried away and let go of everything. Otherwise, if we do not succeed in this way, we have nothing behind us.