Paul Seixas finished 15th in the individual time trial at the World Cycling Championships in Montreal. Before the race, he had set high expectations, but he collapsed four kilometers from the finish line due to cramps. The cyclist from Lyon, possibly influenced by an aggressive race strategy from his coach, Thomas Voeckler, did not finish higher than 15th. After returning to France, Seixas took revenge by breaking several records. According to Le Dauphiné, Seixas visited his parents and then rode on the Rhône Valley roads, breaking three records related to different climbs. These records had previously belonged to his compatriot and former professional, David Moncoutié. The performances were recorded on Strava, a popular app for tracking athletic achievements, with Seixas outperforming Moncoutié on the climb of Anse (1.83 km at 8.03%), the Lachassagne segment (3.05 km at 5.7%), and Grave-Anse (0.91 km at 12.3%). David Moncoutié praised Seixas's performance, while Seixas stated, "I told myself that the day I came back, I would not do things halfway." Before the World Championships, Seixas had said that any result other than a victory would be perceived as a failure. After finishing 15th, he was particularly harsh on himself, stating, "It is a shame what I did today. Cramping like that is a mistake of a child. I have never cramped in my life on the bike. I am extremely disappointed, not only for myself because that is what I deserve, but for all of France, for the entire team that did an incredible job and does not deserve a leader like me." According to Marc Madiot, Seixas simply faced stronger opposition, stating that in a one-day race like the World Championships, all the planets have to align for a victory. Madiot noted that Seixas gave what he could but it was not enough. Seixas admitted, "Everything was going very well, I had incredible legs," before admitting his mistake. He added, "I don't want to get into this debate: it had to be done this way, it had to be done that way. The race, the riders did it. They lost, they lost." Seixas expressed the need to accept being beaten, stating, "You have to accept being beaten. That is also part of the deal. Somewhere, today, we no longer accept defeat. I'm sorry, being beaten is part of the race. You can be beaten. You fight to win, you try to win, you do what you have to do to try to win, but you have to accept being beaten sometimes."