Cycling young guns Del Toro, Seixas bring burgeoning rivalry to Tour de France Singapore Criterium

SINGAPORE – Not exactly friends but not enemies either. That is how cycling starlets Isaac del Toro and Paul Seixas describe the dynamic between them.

What is undeniable about the pair though, is that they are gifted riders.

Touted as two of the sport’s brightest talents, Del Toro and Seixas will on Nov 8 take their burgeoning rivalry from the rolling hills of the French countryside to the hot asphalt of Singapore’s roads, when they race in the Tour de France EFGH Singapore Criterium.

The pair have been locked in a duel for much of the 2026 season and their holy grail was the Tour de France’s white jersey for the best young rider, which Mexican Del Toro, 22, won by finishing third overall. Seixas, 20, was fourth on his Tour debut.

Both finished behind UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Tadej Pogacar, who won a record-equalling fifth Tour title, but Del Toro and Seixas’ performances marked them out as the riders most likely to challenge the Slovenian great in the years ahead.

Speaking to the media at the Singapore Recreation Club on Nov 7, Del Toro said that they have a cordial relationship despite not being friends.

Noting that Seixas has made good progress, he said: “I consider him (just) another rider… We have some contact but we are not friends, but he’s a good guy.

“But if I’m honest, after all my interviews, I feel that this rivalry is fueled more by the media than ourselves. If you want to put it that way, maybe we do have something in the races that are similar, we are young but we have different styles and goals and everyone is just doing their job.”

Seixas believes that Del Toro is a “really nice guy” and added he appreciates the competition the Mexican brings because “he is really strong”.

“I don’t really know Isaac besides his professional side because when we see each other, it’s at the races where we are focused,” said the Frenchman, who also said he felt their rivalry was a product of the media.

“... I don’t always have Isaac on my mind, on the roads we are opponents but that’s it. I feel like we are pretty much on the same level and I’m really looking forward to the battle tomorrow.”

Del Toro finished just over two minutes ahead of Seixas in Paris on July 26, but their race had been even closer and only 24 seconds separated them before the queen stage in the Alps on July 24.

Del Toro, who also won Stage 2, arrived at the Tour having already won the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.

Seixas became the youngest rider to start the Tour since 1937 as he came to the race off the back of a successful spring in which he won the Tour of the Basque Country and La Fleche Wallonne.

Retired British sprint legend Mark Cavendish, who won a record 35 Tour stages, believes that the sport will keep producing riders of this calibre.

“I’m very proud to be able to see some of the most incredible bike riders in the industry possible, and now and before,” said the 41-year-old Isle of Man native, who called time on his career after winning the 2024 edition of the Singapore criterium.

“We were just talking about it the other day, that Paul is younger than my son and that puts things in perspective.

“This sport moves on and the thing that makes cycling beautiful is that no matter what you do and no matter who does it... I enjoyed watching this year’s Tour de France as well as last year’s, but I didn’t enjoy racing as much when these guys were coming through, but I’m very fortunate to have shared the road with them.”

This year marks the fifth edition of the criterium, the only Tour de France event in South-east Asia, which will be held on a circuit passing the Padang, Anderson Bridge and the Esplanade waterfront.

The field also includes Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay and Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen, who were second and third respectively in the Tour’s points classification this year, as well as Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen.

Girmay, the 2024 Tour green jersey winner, was fourth in Singapore in 2024 and second in 2025, when Italy’s Jonathan Milan edged him in a rain-soaked sprint.

He aims to do one better this time.

Asked if 2026 is his year, Girmay said: “I hope so… I’ve been chasing this (win) for two years, and this will be my third year.

“This year I have more of an opportunity because there are no more sprinters, but we also have these two (Del Toro and Seixas) strong riders, so let’s see.”

The two young guns were conservative with their pre-race predictions.

Seixas said the rain could “change a lot of the race” on Nov 8, also noting the flat course and that his strength is climbing.

Del Toro, meanwhile, cited the “heat and humidity” and admitted that he is “not in the best shape”.

“But I will try to make a disaster (for everyone else) and maybe in the disaster, if I’m in the mix, I can win.”