2026 Minor Races Thread
Ok, so we're not going to create a race thread for ALL races this year, especially since we're only about 10 people reading here :)
This thread is available for you to write about all the races which don't have a race thread.
View original on lemmy.world
Majorcan races
OK, so Evenepoel has decided to crush the small Spanish 1.1s, like UAE's almost-winner of the Tour of Italy was doing last year on Spanish and Italian 1.1s, depriving small World Teams and all Pro Teams of any chance to compete for the win.
I truly hope that the teams categories and the races categories will be reformed one day, so that most 1.1 are protected from most World Teams, and Pro Team and Conti riders have a chance to battle.
That's the only sport I know where, all year long (and not only during a Cup event), 2^nd^ and 3^rd^ division players/riders have to face the top of the 1^st^ division in every match/race. Just imagine that you are a second division French or even Austrian football club, and you have to play and get a beating by Madrid, Munich and Liverpool every bloody week, without a local championship to play where you face other clubs of your level and win every other week on average. This is nuts.
Professional cyclists are a refreshing bunch: it is 2026, and after the previous 2 days, you can still find a few riders who relay Evenepoel! 😆
Another easy win for him, after getting angry at the motorbikes, getting angry at a Movistar rider, and probably getting angry off camera too. He pretty much won in the same way as yesterday: breaking away in a descent, and then growing the gap on the flat against 8 riders... As he hadn't dropped Rondel yet, he climbed the last climb faster than anyone too (yesterday he went easy on the last one as he reached it with a 2 minutes gap), dropping him as soon as a couple of hundred metres after the climb started, as Rondel was burned by simply staying in the Belgian's wheel on the flat.
Tomorrow, Evenepoel won't take part in the last Majorcan race tomorrow; unfortunately, it is for sprinters.
I find it so incredibly boring to see a phoenomen ride alone for 30+ kms. Give me a good sprint any day.
Not a small race at all, but I was very impressed with the way Brennan and Lund Andresen got over the hill in the Mapei Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
I was also impressed with the way they managed to keep it all together in the final, with Brennan being perhaps a little too eager to close gaps and stay at the front. Maybe that's what cost him the victory in the end.
First French race: Grand Prix la Marseillaise (raced on Sunday the 1st)
It was a pleasant surprise. The removal of the Route des Crêtes could let us fear a bore fest with a massive sprint in the end. But as the race was shorter it got more nervous and uncontrollable. It still ended in a massive bunch sprint but there was 70 km of action since the final section of the Espigoulier climb, as the traditional scenario of a breakaway of small riders 2-3 mn ahead was broken as Décathlon pulled the peloton hard and caught the breakaway just at the bottom at the descent. Then until the end, there were many attacks, many groups splitting, rejoining, splitting again, pushing, letting go, etc. Lapeira did a significant 1-man breakaway but he is no Evenepoel and was caught as soon as the road started rising a bit for the last climb. Mifsud attacked twice in this last climb; the first time he caught Lapeira but was caught up by the peloton soon after, the second one near the top brought him and two other riders almost under the flamme rouge! Unfortunately, while Mifsud (now Polti) and Hardouin (Roubaix) gave all they had from the attack til the end, one of those 3 riders (Mariault from CIC) was more interested in sabotaging the breakaway. This attitude turned out to be utterly stupid as nobody in his team scored a single point in the end... The stubborn Mifsud however managed to stay in the bunch and score a couple of points.
International week Coppi & Bartoli
It looks like it won't be broadcasted on Youtube this year.
I was WRONG: it finally appeared on the Youtube channel of the Italian league: https://www.youtube.com/@legaciclismoprof/streams 👍
Official website
PCS page
PCS profiles
Tour des Pays de la Loire (7–10/4/2026) 🇫🇷 Ⓟ
In parallel with the Tour of the Basque Country, this 4-day race has been upgraded to the .Pro class. However, teams didn't seem to take notice, and the startlist remains similar as when it was a 2.1. Actually, due to the disappearance of 2 French WT, there are now less World Teams than last year. But there are more Pro Teams.
I think that the organisation tried to add a bit more relief to the stages to honour the new classification. Except for the final stage in the city of Le Mans with its Gazonfier hill, they were relatively boring until now, with many sprinters victories. I mean, it was those French races where there are hills, there are attacks, but gaps don't get created and (part of) the sprinters and sprinters-punchers almost always manage to reach the line at the front of the race. But with circuit finishes and the geography of the region, you can only do that much.
The first 2 days go towards the Ocean, and the last 2 days come back into the countryside.
Maps and profiles are on my post in French https://sh.itjust.works/post/58065974 . NB: the technical guide was both clean and thorough. Higher ranked races could take a leaf out of their book.
And EF starts with only 4 riders... The two defections raise the average age of the team up to... 21 y.o...
With only 112 riders starting on the first day, that's the shortest startlist of the 2.Pro raced this year. Al-Ula and Andalusia weren't much more populated, but still a little bit more. (The one-day races are significantly more populated.)
Out of the five 2.1 events raced so far, it only beat the shortest (Provence) by 3 riders and Bessèges by 1 one rider.
We can recognise the French touch in this podium 😃 😮💨
Stage 1
Well, sometimes I don't think right. The few false-flats today were absolutely not enough to avoid a mass sprint in any way. So everyone went for a mass sprint.
And tomorrow, with the arrival on the coast, is guaranteed for sprinters. Unless wind could split the bunch?
Stage 2
On the women (one-day) race, there was a rather spectacular crash in the fences during the sprint 50 m from the line.
There seems not to be any wind at all, even in the area of marshes. 😞
Only Davy (🇫🇷 Nice) tried to attack 9 km from the line, but he was caught after 1.5 km.
Nothing else happened but a couple of crashes, each involving several riders, perhaps 15 or 20 km from the line.
The sprint itself didn't cause troubles, but the mile or two before, Jesus, crossing the city centre to reach the shore, full steam ahead through narrow streets made narrower by random street furniture, it was scary at hell, and we believed there was going to be crashes at the front of the bunch 10 times. Yet no crash was witnessed (at least from the front camera) in that part either...
Stage 3
It finally gets a bit interesting.
Cofidis tried a team attack already 85 km from the line.
Well, that's a winner I'd forgotten existed, but the I remembered that he's won the race before. Hopefully an indication of a good Ardennes-campaign to come.
Always present to terrorise our little, defenceless races. The other ones, which stayed class 1 this year, were safe from Viking looters this year, but a .Pro race was too tempting for the horde. That's 2, 2 and 1 on the stages so far.
::: spoiler Spoiler Basque Country But Cofidis had its revenge on the other side of the Pyrenees! :::
The young L'Hôte (🇫🇷 Décathlon), who didn't relay the others much after they caught him, declared that he felt a bit 'short' on his bike for the last lap, as his saddle had dropped a bit 😃
Bessega🇮🇹 did well for Polti. I feared that, as too often, Polti would disappear in the last mile after having very visible or active.
The splits + the various time bonuses built an interesting GC before the final stage:
Several favourites, like Costiou^1^ (🇫🇷 FDJ) are in the group at 17′, which has about 30 riders.
A pity the breakaway men wasted a lot of time in the last kilometre, they could have entertained more hopes for final GC if they hadn't.
note 1 : I mean, Costiou didn't impress me so far this year, he always seems a bit limited and unable to make a difference (his GC win in Bessèges is only thanks to the final TT); but he is generally listed among the favourites, is still in that 30 riders group, and finished 2^nd^ of the peloton today behind Strong🇳🇿, so he is not off the game yet.
Stage 4
A really good stage today. Lots of time bonuses available. Lots of small but difficult hills. Lots of attempts.
In the final configuration, Kamp (🇩🇰 Uno-X) did most of the work in the group of 4 chasing L'Hôte (🇫🇷 Decathlon), receiving only the help of C. Strong (🇳🇿 NSN). I guess Q. Hermans (🇧🇪 Q36.5) could have been right not to relay, as he was far in GC and he finished last on the sprint, but that's more disputable for Venturini (🇫🇷 Unibet) who was just a few seconds behind C. Strong🇳🇿 in GC and could have great hopes for the sprint. Kamp🇩🇰 probably also paid a bit his earlier efforts when he was in the group that won the time bonus sprint and broke away at that point.
L'Hôte🇫🇷 had tighten his seat-post today, obviously! 🤣 Another brilliant day for Decathlon, even though he was close to be caught up 1 km from the goal.
A bit of a disaster for Cofidis and Coquard🇫🇷 who grabbed the first time bonus on top of a hill in Le Mans, but disappeared later in one of the Gazonfier climbs. And the team got fined for a sticky bottle for L. Rouland... who finished over 4 minutes behind! Coquard🇫🇷 had said he wasn't really interested in the first 2 stages, but concentrated on the last 2; well, the result, 16^th^ on Thursday and 22^nd^ on Friday, is no better than on Tuesday and Wednesday...
Costiou🇫🇷 exemplified what I told about him yesterday: he is always a bit listless this year. He attacks, without dropping everyone but still putting them behind him, but then never pursues his efforts despite looking OK. Best FDJ (himself) is therefore only 15^th^ in GC, in one of the easiest 2.Pro of the season... That's behind Unibet, Bardiani, Caja Rural, Cofidis who screwed up, Total, Polti and even Euskatel and Roubaix... FDJ is lucky that EF is not very good so far and that Picnic sucks badly (but managed to put Bittner 2^nd^ on the WT race-of-fractures), because otherwise it would be very visible that this team has an awful start of season.
Boucles de la Mayenne 🇫🇷 May 28–31
There is some heavy stuff this year among the starting riders, with riders who restart competition like Pedersen (🇩🇰 Lidl-trek), Kooij (🇳🇱 Decathlon) and Brennan (🇬🇧 Visma), on top of Cosnefroy (🇫🇷 UAE).
I didn't check whether the prologue is televised elsewhere, but in France it is not; but the 3 stages are.
PCS profiles
Hoping Pedersen gets his first win of the season here.
I guess you didn't imagine having to say this sentence 6 months ago!
I suppose it depends whether he comes to just restart easily and ride miles in a peloton, or if he is already in full form.
Stage 2 is the most hilly; nothing very steep but nothing flat. It is probably the most suitable stage for a Pedersen in shape, if the sprinters aim for the other stages. And perhaps Cosnefroy is past his peak shape; I mean, he won twice this month, and I see he is still expected on the Dauphiné (which surprises me a bit), but he didn't had any significant break since January...
He won a prologue of similar length 2 years ago. That's another possibility. This one will be more punchy, not because of slopes but because of curves; it will give a first piece of information about his punch of the moment.
Given his injury he's had a fine spring, just... no victories. I think he'll go for wins, he's not in the habit of starting races where he isn't fighting for the win.
Mwell... nobody gave a fuck about GC during the 3^rd^ and last stage. Not only there wasn't a single attack in the finish, but nobody tried to grab a time bonus despite the fact that there were no less than 3 Intermediate Sprints with time bonuses!
To add to the nonsense, this is on a 2.Pro, where stages almost don't bring any UCI points, while the final GC is pretty generous in UCI points. Despite the fact that the winner broke away in the last 2 editions on the same circuit, everyone was just waiting/riding for a sprint this year.
So basically, the classification was determined by the 6 km long prologue, among the 15 riders who were in the first group in stage 2 (the hilly one).
The Pedersen case.
His prologue wasn't a success. 20^th^ at 15 seconds over 6 km. Pajur Romet was closer to him, than he was close to the winner...
On stage 2, as he already did a couple of times earlier this year, he rode like he had his magic legs from the previous years. Expect he hasn't, even against the field of riders in Mayenne (which wasn't so bad this year). The legs he has now require him to ride more intelligently. One may wonder if he wasn't just rehearsing efforts, I don't know.
On stage 3, his team only rode to bring him to the sprint. There was an interesting movement, far from the finish, with 2 Lotto (including Veistroffer) and 2 Lidl-Trek (including Pedersen), but the latter refused to relay the Lottos, a pity for it would have been fun and the teams leading the peloton were in complete panic when they saw this movement. On top of his tendency to start too early, he took way too much wind, for he lost the wheels of his teammate SKA. He was easily beaten by Kooij, but beat everyone else.
Since nobody rode for GC, he was the only rider, among the first 30 riders in GC, winning a place in GC ranking (actually 2 places) on the last stage, thanks to the time bonus at finish. :)
So, I had picked that name at random, to describe a completely unknown rider.
Would you believe that today, just 4 days later, the same guy wins the prologue at the Tour of Estonia?! 🤣
la Roue Tourangelle (29/3/2026) 🇫🇷 ①
That's tomorrow, Sunday. Yep, on the same day and at about the same time as Gent–Wevelgem, isn't that brilliant? Why didn't they put this race on Saturday, between the two Belgian races of the week, is beyond me (well, my bet would be that it is 99% about the local elected officials who don't want it on a Saturday).
The finish line is in Tours, in the Loire valley.
It is one of those French races which present punchy hills, but those (or the field of riders) are often not enough to completely break away and avoid the victory of a sprinter within a group of undetermined size.
As this is a 'mega'-thread, I won't put pictures of the course here, to avoid overloading the page; but they are on my small post in French: https://sh.itjust.works/post/57573667
PCS page
No Uno-X this year, they have become too good for our little races, but Beton will represent the tradition of Danish looters 🤣
Brilliant Sunday for the World Team FDJ, engaged on 3 races:
Anyway... This year a group managed to break away in the final part around Tours and the peloton completely gave up. I think the decisive factor was that the varied first group who broke away was then joined by another group composed of only 'major' French teams (WT and big PT). Then there was almost no team left for pulling behind (and the smaller teams who weren't at the front had generally already played their cards) .
Coquard (🇫🇷 Cofidis) started his sprint too early and then went backwards. I thought Marcellusi (🇮🇹 Bardiani) had 'stopped' too, but he managed to finish 2^nd^ I don't know how.
And that's another victory for Unibet! This team is really tailored for this kind of hard-but-not-too-hard races.
Tour of Oman
stage 2 (8/2/2026)
A breakaway developed at km 2 (there was a bit of fighting this time), with Alrahbi (🇴🇲 Oman selection), Goszczurny (🇵🇱 Visma), Gelders (🇧🇪 Soudal-QS), Marsman (🇳🇱 Alpecin) and the lone escapee from the Muscat Classic 2 days earlier: Veistroffer (🇫🇷 Lotto-Intermarché).
190 km to go: good luck!
Before the first climb (Fanja), the gap was 4 minutes. On top, the order was 1. Goszczurny 2. Veistroffer 3. Marsman, just 3 yards ahead of the other two. In the descent after the top, Gelders stopped on the side of the road. And the Oman fellow was dropped. Gelders didn't finish the stage (why? the heat perhaps).
In the peloton, Jayco followed by UAE were leading during the climb.
So, only 3 men left in the breakaway and 100 km to go (with only 3 minutes left)...
A few miles later, Goszczurny obediently follows the instruction on the official race sign, telling to make 3/4 turn of the roundabout by the right in order to go left. The others two disobey the sign, and cut by going directly left. The Polish rider is thus dropped, but they immediately wait for him.
75 km to go, only 1mn45 left. 60 km, 1mn30.
The Intermediate Sprint 50 km from the goal is gifted to Goszczurny by the other two. Strangely, soon after, the gap is announced as 3mn45 again!
Then comes the main climb (almost 4 km at 9% on a freaking highway). The 3 men manage to stay together, Goszczurny gets those points too. Behind, Jayco, Cofidis and Astana lead the peloton in the beggining of the climb, a few riders are dropped, then it is back to Jayco and UAE leading.
After the downhill, with 33 km to go, the gap is 2 mn. About the same 25 km from the line. Several teams like Total, Jayco and Tudor accelerate the chase, the peloton is basically in single file. 20 km to go, still a bit more than 1mn30 to catch.
1mn15 at 15 km. The last climb is as steep as the previous one, but much shorter, and on a normal road. However, it is followed by an uphill false flat.
In the peloton, Double (Jayco) attempts an attack. He doesn't manage to create any gap. The front of the peloton is disorganised.
1 minute at the top (14 km to go). After leaving the Mountain points to Goszczurny gain, Veistroffer uses the false flats to attack.
The final mile is another climb, 5-6% only this time.
One Uno-X leads the chase. Replaced by UAE (Yates)when he drops.
Veistroffer reaches the last 2 km with a gap of around 40 seconds. Goszczurny and Marsman are caught by the peloton.
Baptiste Veistroffer (🇫🇷 Lotto-Intermarché)manages to stay about 15 seconds ahead of the sprinters!!! Mulubhran (🇪🇷 Astana) winning the peloton's sprint.
190 km of breakaway today, after 150 km solo two days ago...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYgpe4NQFgw
Stage 3
I just saw the very beginning.
Veistroffer did it again! I saw the Uno-X leading the peloton immediately reaching for his radio, and imagined what he said: "Hey Boss! The leader of the race attacked at km 0. There was no such plan in our morning briefing. What do I do?" 😆
His little group was chased and caught after perhaps 4 or 5 km. Then 1 km farther he tried again, without success. Another 2 km, one more try. And one more at km 10, with a Total; and when they're caught, he tries again, and this time a large group breaks away.
edit:
So, Veistroffer didn't feel it was a true breakaway, there were too many people in it polluting his clean air. After 10 km in this large group, he attacked again, 4 guys and then 2 more followed him, and the real breakaway was formed.
These breakaways are not a stroll in the park like they often are for most of the distance: here, the guys are pushing pushing pushing for hours. Pacher (🇫🇷 FDJ) was dropped 40 km from the line; he wasn't attacked, it was on the flat, he just couldn't relay nor even keep a wheel to stay in the line any more.
The breakaway was caught in the beginning of the final climb. They could have been lucky and benefitted from the mass crash in the peloton a few miles earlier, but that crash happened in a roundabout, and a small half of the bunch had chosen to ride on the right of the roundabout and was unaffected as the crash happened on the left side of the roundabout.
Anyway, that was an extra 180 km spent in a breakaway for Veistroffer. The battle with Vercouillie is intense 😀
Stage 4 (10/2/2026)
Damien Touzé (🇫🇷 Cofidis) crashed on that day. I didn't see it. However, he suffered internal injuries, and as a result he won't ride again this year, and this may also be the end of his pro carrier. 😨
Besançon classic & Tour du Jura (17 & 18/4/2026)
Two one-day class .1 races (the Sunday one was cancelled) in France on Friday and Saturday. Happening at the same time/period as the more upmarket Flèche Brabançonne and Amstel, they usually present a rather weak field, which allowed G. Martin (🇫🇷 FDJ) to score 2 wins last year. This is exacerbated this year by the presence of O gran Camiño in parallel: while in previous years many Spanish Pro-Teams were coming, only Kern will be there this year.
Maps and profiles on my post in French: https://sh.itjust.works/post/58613242
On the first race, the decision is usually only made in the second and final climb of the Côte de la Malate in Montfaucon. Fun fact, the race passes on C. Berthet's doorstep a few hundred metres from the top. The victory smiles upon (short) climbers or possibly punchers-climbers.
The second race course is nowadays more reminiscent of a mountain stage in a GT. The peloton may often be split before the last climb, contrarily to the Besançon race where it normally arrives compact at the bottom of the final climb.
PCS pages:
edit: Oh, by the way, Gaudu was expected but his participation was cancelled. Allergies this time...
edit 2: Décathlon brings quite the team who did a good Basque Country (except for the last day): Bisiaux🇫🇷, Prodhomme🇫🇷 and Riccitello🇺🇸. It may not be as easy as usual for FDJ.
Besançon classic
As I alternated between races, it is quite possible I missed some, but I didn't see any action this year in the circuit. Usually there are a few attempts in the first climb, in the descent, on the plateau...
We could discover the new Scandinavian small team Lucky Sport thanks to a long solo breakaway.
FDJ pulled the peloton all day long. And naturally disappeared in the final climb: their favourites vanished (Martin🇫🇷 24^th^ at 1′20″...) , and their best rider in the end is one of those who were wasted in pulling the peloton : C. Braz🇫🇷. Yet another disaster.
The winner is of course a rider whom I had not quoted 😃 as he hadn't ridden in a year! J. Jegat (🇫🇷 Total) managed to beat the two Décathlon riders Bisiaux🇫🇷 and Riccitello🇺🇸.
Behind, J. Meehan🇮🇪, joined by B. Munton🇿🇦, stuck to the first three a long time. Munton🇿🇦 finished better but both produced a very honourable performance.
Then we saw our traditional Spaniard, this year, Unai Iribar🇪🇸 from Kern.
First Conti riders are: T. Champion (🇫🇷 St-Michel) and A. Mariault (🇫🇷 CIC), 9^th^ and 10^th^. Then there is a Jaime Jamaica (🇨🇴 Nu Colombia) 15^th^.
I hadn't paid attention to the fact that Jegat, despite his top-10 in last Tour de France GC, had never won anything before today! This a good way to start a season 👍
Dunkirk classic 19/5/2026 🇫🇷 Ⓟ + 4 days of Dunkirk 20–24/5/2026 🇫🇷 Ⓟ
Les 4 jours de Dunkerque were split a year ago into a 1-day race and a 5-day race. Yep, the 4 days last 6 days.
Both remained class .Pro, which is not warranted for the 1-day race but brings big UCI points. As a result, there are no less than 10 WT. We'll see if one day escapes sprinters and sprinters-classicmen. Cassel stage should in theory favour punchers as well as breakaways, but as all teams come with sprinters and control the race, the best one can reasonably hope is a sprinter-puncher.
PCS profile for the classic
PCS profiles for the stage race
Stage 1: a rather spectacular circuit in Laon. I didn't know the place (only the name). Gautherat (🇫🇷 Decathlon) managed to crash into a wall again.
Stage 2: there are days like this... The stage was 100% a sprinter stage, yet the peloton misjudged the breakaway of 5 then 4 Conti riders: 2 Roubaix, 1 CIC, and 2 then 1 Nice, despite Guégan (CIC) refusal to relay in the last miles. And it is Nice who get its 1^st^ professional victory thanks to Victor Papon🇫🇷!
Stage 3 and 4: cobbles... Pithie (🇳🇿 Bora) is very, very strong. On stage 3, one could say that he was helped by other teams/riders, but on stage 4, he had to everything by himself (and against everyone): pulling, chasing, puling, chasing, attacking, and again. His team (Bora) is nowhere to be seen, very weak.
Stage 5: the mass sprint couldn't be avoided this time (neither could the crash...) Pithie (🇳🇿 Bora) almost lost the race because of a puncture just before the sprint zone, but made it back into the peloton.
Overall, the race was significantly better than what I forecasted in my negative presentation. 👍
The classic wasn't that bad this year; the rain and the very different course (country roads) probably helped. At least its final part, as Artem Shmidt (🇺🇸 Ineos) attacked in the small wall used as finish line, 1 lap (13 km) from the actual finish. There was a group who followed him, but on the flat after they looked at each other and were caught by the peloton. He caught the last survivor (Mariault 🇫🇷 CIC) of the breakaway (there were 3: another CIC who got a puncture, and 1 Roubaix bonked out), then dropped him just by taking curves in a faster/riskier manner, while Mariault🇫🇷 was also bonking out a bit (the cold and the rain really did their grinding work today). His advance increased as he was giving 100% of what he could give, and the bunch never caught him even though he had nothing left in his legs for his second climb. There was a crash in the fences in that final climb.
Cofidis and EF had been the main teams pulling the peloton, and they have 0 rider in top-12 at finish...
First PT is T. Müller🇩🇪 for Unibet, 5^th^.
As far as Contis are concerned, Sanlaville🇫🇷 is 12^th^ for CIC, Konijn🇳🇱 15^th^ for Nice and Bouquet🇫🇷 18^th^ for St-Michel.
WT who failed: Picnic and above all NSN.
Ronde de l'Isard 20-24/5/2026
https://www.ronde-isard.fr/edition-2026/
For the first time, this U23 race was sort of televised (one camera moto in 4G, and there is mostly no 4/5G in our mountains ;)).
A few pictures from the last and hardest stage (over 4000m of climb: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/ronde-de-l-isard/2026/stage-5/info/profiles).
Here is Rémi Daumas (🇫🇷 FDJ devo) who broke away in the previous climb, changed bike after the descent, regained his gap and still has 2 extra passes to climb after this one. He will will have more than 2 minutes over the chase/peloton, but will lose a bit in the beginning of the last climb, and a lot in the downhill false flat leading to the finish, which is more flat than downhill. Hence no race victory, but still a stage victory with an old-school 90 km (!) breakaway...
The first peloton where we can see the Yellow jersey Huw Buck Jones (🇬🇧 Bourg-en-Bresse) pulled by a teammate, and the in the Green Dots jersey of points classification, Niels Driesen (🇧🇪 Lotto devo). The Brit will lose his jersey in the last metres of the stage to the Belgian, because of time bonus as they sprinted for second place of the stage.
And in a galaxy far, far way, here is half of the Vendée U team (Total's 'devo'), pushed by the sweeper car. They won't finish the stage/race.
Tour of Limburg (15/4/2026)
From what I saw, there wasn't much racing. A. Withen (🇩🇰 Lidl-Trek) was in a breakaway that became a solo breakaway in the circuit, I reckon. When he was caught, or about to be, in the last (long) lap, there was no attack in the hills; on the cobbled sector there were one or two tiny attempts only; then (6 riders of) Lidl-Trek tried to create an echelon on the plateau, but failed to create any split; then Aimé de Gendt (🇧🇪 Q36.5), followed by 4 or 5 other riders, managed to create a little gap, but that gap never became larger than 50 m; so it was a mass sprint. No crash, though.
If only there had been a bit of racing before, the Lidl-Trek or the De Gendt movements could very much have worked. But since no one tried anything before the last 15 km, of course there were still many riders in the peloton, and many fresh riders among them, to make sure it would end in a sprint.
edit: Oh, and I forgot: the results. In those conditions, the ultra-favourite Merlier (🇧🇪 Soudal-QS) won as expected, and very easily. Gaviria (🇨🇴 Caja Rural) brings some welcome points for his team with his 2^nd^place (several bike lengths behinf Merlier). Aniolkowski🇵🇱 and Crabbe🇧🇪, 6^th^ and 7^th^ bring a few relatively interesting points for Cofidis and Flanders-Baloise.
Browsing the results, I see that Caja Rural placed 3 other riders between 10^th^ and 13^th^ and one more in top-20: they really came for the points!
Tour of Hungary 🇭🇺 13–17/5/2026
This race is not usually the most interesting of tours, and having been promoted to 2.Pro for 4 years and welcoming no less than 7 World Teams this year, it probably isn't going to get better: out of 5 stage, 3 or 4 seem promised to sprinters, and Merlier (🇧🇪 Soudal-QS) is coming...
And for the remaining stage(s), there are names like Cosnefroy (🇫🇷 UAE) and Plapp (🇦🇺 Jayco), which leave little hope for other riders.
Link to the official roadbook
PCS startlist
PCS profiles
I used to watch this race 10 (?) years ago, and while the puszta was already as boring as a plain can be, some of the finishes on old-school town roads or final circuits were pleasant, and even if most riders were unknown to me, the race was open.
Route d'Occitanie (formerly Route du Sud), 🇫🇷 2.1, 18–20/6/2026
So, this is another race that had to reduce its span, down to 3 days this year while it was 4 days.
Yet, the course seem well balanced, with the first two stages which may appeal to both punchers and sprinters (and breakawaymen for the first one), and the 3^rd^ stage which is a mountain stage in the Pyrenees but not too hard and with a bit of bumpy flat in the end, looking more open than your usual regular hard mountain stage.
The field is naturally weak, so Piganzoli (🇮🇹 Visma) looks like an obvious favourite after his 8^th^place on the Giro d'Italia, should the fate of the race be decided in the climbs of the last race, which doesn't completely look like a given.
Gaudu still appears on the startlist, but I heard he may not show up.
More details and pictures on my post in French
PCS page
He didn't show up indeed.
The walls/hills on the first two stage were underused, so they both ended in sprints (while the two pure sprinters crashed and withdrew in the middle of the first stage...)
On the first stage, he did a crappy attack on the flat where he didn't gain 1 yard gap over the other riders; on the 2^nd^ he tried to go for a time bonus but failed at getting any.
Yet on the mountain stage, he did exactly as planned. Nothing happened in the first climb, but in the second the Visa train broke the peloton in many pieces, and then he made a clear attack, and that was it. Chaser maintained the gap for a while, but then his advantage grew. He also kept his advantage on the 20+ km of bumpy final circuit. The circuit didn't look like much on the profile, but it was actually pretty hard and interesting, never flat).
St-Michel Auber won the Mountain jersey! I name the team, because while Delacroix🇫🇷 did the little points at the beginning, then he was dropped and it was 3 teammates of him who where pulling the peloton in the Hourquette of Hancizan so that no one else would score big points there, and 2 of them passed first. They were also lucky that Piganzoli🇮🇹 didn't want the points, because he finishes just 2 points behind, while he had let the 2^nd^ St-Michel and one of his teammates pass the pass before him. Visma seem to let smaller guys win secondary stuff most of the time, unlike UAE.
Le Samyn (Tuesday 3/3/2026)
It appears that Van Aert (🇧🇪 Visma) would finally start his season there, just a couple of days before going to the Strade Bianche.
It looks like he will be the only 'big name' on the race (or do we count Groves (🇦🇺 Alpecin) or Kubish (🇸🇰 Unibet) as big names?), but former winners Rex (🇧🇪 Soudal-QS) and Hofstetter (🇫🇷 NSN) should be present in the large peloton: 25 teams including 9 WT for a 1.1!
Official site (in French)
PCS page
Do we know if Groves is ok after crashing on sunday? I also wonder if Decathlon considers adding Tobias Lund to the start list, he's clearly in great shape.
Oh, I didn't know he was part of the crashes. I watched a bit of Kuurne-Bruxelles-K last night, but it may have happened earlier than the parts I watched.
At this time of the day, he hasn't been pulled off start lists yet.
edit: Are you positive he crashed? The only written bits I could find seem to lean toward the hypotheses that he didn't have the legs and just disappeared as Girmay did.
No Laporte (🇫🇷 Visma) today. Visma seems to specialise in illnesses.
Yeah, well, kinda.
He got a puncture 10 km from the line. He and a teammate dropped from the peloton waiting for their car. Except that the cars weren't behind the peloton. So they switched bikes, but as they didn't do it by stopping right behind the bunch, but dawdled for a long while, they were far behind the peloton when they finally stopped and switched... And then he stopped again to get his second bike from the car... So he never came back...
Next stop for him is Strade Bianche on Saturday. That should mean even more punctures, with his luck 😃
I didn't follow very accurately the race. I know that Hagenes (🇳🇴 Visma) stayed ahead of the peloton for around 30 km, never getting much gap, but still he wasn't caught up the last km. Cofidis accelerated on the last (?) cobbled section, they didn't quite break away but there was a split somewhere behind; unfortunately they stopped when they saw there were other riders in their backwheel, and so did those other riders, so that group was very soon caught up by the rest of the peloton; it could have been something, but no, a mass sprint finish was written.
GP de l'Escaut / Scheldeprijs (8/4/2026)
The same as usual on this sprinters race: mass crash after mass crash. 🩹 🩹 🩹
I would like to mention the last breakaway man, Bram Dissel🇳🇱 from the conti Beat/Saxo, who resisted the bunch more than expected. This is a big guy, he was as big as the sum of the two Tartelettes who were with him in the breakaway 😁
la Route Adélie de Vitré (3/4/2026) 🇫🇷 ①
That's tomorrow Friday. This race is composed of loops that go in and out of the town of Vitré (in Britanny). It is a pretty hilly circuit without much flat, so punchers or even puncher-climbers have a chance, even though sprinters often manage to survive and win.
Link to my post in French with the circuit(s) and the profile
The FDJ team may appear as favourite but Gautherat (🇫🇷 Decathlon) who just won Paris–Camembert on Tuesday will be there, as well as Venturini (🇫🇷 Unibet) who won the Roue Tourangelle two days earlier.
PCS page
Uno-X isn't coming, so there are only 3 World Teams (FDJ, Décathlon and Lotto-Intermarché) and 3 of the big PT (Total, Cofidis, Unibet). The rest is smaller PTs and 5 Contis.
There were many attacks, but when it wasn't a lone rider from a small team, the attacks were weak, not long and not relayed. So no difference was made. The fact that I mixed this race up with another one (another circuit race, perhaps the Polynormande ?) didn't help 😉
Gautherat (🇫🇷 Decathlon) won again, but I figure he should be relegated, for he crossed the road, which had the consequence to corner 2 sprinters in the right fence, who had to break.
Another Decathlon rider also hit the last survivor of the early breakaway when he was was caught a few miles from the line and tried to insert into the head of the peloton. I wonder whether this Van der Tuuk (🇳🇱 Euskatel) didn't believe he was winning one lap from the actual end, by the way.
FDJ managed to fail and arrive after Pro Team riders, as usual... Costiou🇫🇷 attacked in a hill but made no difference, and while he looked fresher than the guys in his wheel, didn't push on the summit. Cavagna🇫🇷 was in one of the attacks of the last laps, but he dursn't push either. Like they trusted Penhoët🇫🇷 for the sprint...
And... Marc Brustenga (🇪🇸 Kern Pharma) gets his first victory on the Good Friday!
Mercan'Tour 🇫🇷 June 3
This little class 1, one-day, mountain race takes place in the south of the Alps – the road runs alongside the Mercantour National Park. The course is the same as last year, the startlist a bit better (it couldn't be worse ;)).
My short post in French with profiles
Official website
PCS page
Oh dear, the level of our French climbers on such a small race 🙄
Daumas (🇫🇷 FDJ devo), who was flying in the Pyrenees on the Ronde de l'Isard, was dropped early and didn't finish. Pacher (🇫🇷 FDJ) was dropped early too. A. Maire🇫🇷, Unibet's climber, didn't finish.
Decathlon lead the race, especially the last teammate of Bisiaux🇫🇷, Rémi Arsac🇫🇷 (Décathlon devo), who pulled the peloton during the climb of Couillole Pass and after, dropping many riders. Bisiaux🇫🇷 attacked, created a gap, but never managed to extend it, and near the end was caught by a group of 3: 2 Kern Pharma and the 78 years old Pozzovivo (🇮🇹 Sol. Tech-Nippo).
Berthet (🇫🇷 FDJ) who had tried to chase Bisiaux🇫🇷, had been caught up earlier by this group and couldn't follow it.
Jegat (🇫🇷 Total) was no good today either.
In fact, if we consider duos, next best duo after Sosa🇨🇴/Ruiz🇪🇸 (Kern) who came 1^st^ and 2^nd^ (despite Sosa🇨🇴 having a puncture near the beginning of the last climb) was... the St-Michel–Auber conti!! 😲
Indeed, Champion🇫🇷 and Guglielmi🇫🇷 came 7^th^ and 8^th^, way better than G. Martin (🇫🇷 FDJ)...
Tour of the Appenines 🇮🇹 ① (26/4/2026)
The Giro dell'Appennino will take place tomorrow Sunday, at the same time as Liège–Bastogne–Liège. As the Appenines are the name of the mountain range that forms the whole Italy and this a 1-day race, it obviously only uses a very small part of it: the Ligurian Appenine near France, that it crosses, starting from the plain of Novi-Ligure in the North, and going southwards (through several loops) to reach the Mediterranean Sea in Genoa.
Victim of the collision of all mountain races at the same time, it won't host a single WT, and only 4 PT.
We may be able to watch it live on https://telenord.it/diretta-streaming after 13:45 (I wouldn't put my money on it, but...)
PCS page
I couldn't watch it. I guess it was a matter of broadcasting rights, as the broadcast introducing the race was streamed.
This must be an important factor, but I also suspect that as those races are often organised, not by big sport/entertainment event organising companies, but by small local cycling clubs, they cannot afford paying big teams for coming. There are the official fees (2600 € to each WT/PT for a 1.1), and... there is the racket by big teams who demand extra money to come or to send a 'big' name, as the official fee is only a minimum amount.
la Flèche du Sud 🇱🇺 13–17/5/2026
This 5-stage race got upgraded to class 2.1, but it looks very much like the teams didn't get the message: there won't a be a single World Team, nor a single Pro Team!
Actually, Visma comes with a 50% WT / 50% Conti team. Per UCI regulations, it counts as a WT, as on a class .1 race, you can include up to 4 Conti riders in a World Team on a class .1, while you can only include up to 2 WT riders in a Conti team.
Grand-Prix du Morbihan 🇫🇷 Ⓟ, Saturday 9/5/2026
The day before Tro Bro Léon, we are already in Brittany for another .Pro classic, which Cosnefroy🇫🇷 won last year for the 3^rd^ time. He'll be there again, this time under the colours of UAE and not AG2R any more.
As you can see, most of the distance is made in a circuit with 2 variants.
PCS page
I don't think there was so little action in the previous years. UAE, Decathlon and Uno-X locked the race – more by numbing the peloton than by pulling hard or accelerating. Beside the little early breakaway of 3, there was basically only a little solo by a Burgos (?), a group of 9 who stopped relaying as soon as they got a gap of 50 m (only one Visma and like 2 others riders (NSN + ?) wanted to relay, the UAE, the Decathlon, and the Uno-X rider refused), and a solo by one Lucky Sport rider.
And then a crash in the final climb when all riders suddenly wanted to be at the front. There was ample room on the right of the room, but they were all trying to ride up by the left of the road. I said to my TV "if they continue, they will land on the grass". They kept doing it again and again, until 3 or 4 of them ended up in the meadow below the road.
Cosnefroy (🇫🇷 UAE) wins for the 4^th^ time with a tiny margin over Isidore (🇫🇷 Decathlon). The first 7 seven positions are occupied by French riders! Uno-X failed hard compared to the attitude they showed during the race, they end up after the 15^th^ position.
On the French TV, for many laps, the common thread of the race comments (together with some attention from camera bike) was "is Gaudu still hanging to the bunch?" 😆 Jeesus... and indeed he was struggling to follow Conti riders (and finished behind 4 Nice and 4 Lucky Sport riders for example).
Tour of Hellas (Greece) 🇬🇷 6–10/5/2026
This 2.1 has started today. Live stream (and replays) are on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tourofhellas/streams
PCS profiles
PCS startlist
Uncommon teams and riders: the biggest team is Unibet (I think there are 6 Pro Teams). I see a team from Philippines, a selection from Cyprus, a Czech Conti team which hosts Pavel Bittner's little brother (but he's not on this race).
On the last stage – the usual circuit for sprinters in Athens, sprinters didn't win, for one big guy managed to do the 1-mile stunt. I thought he was coming to the peloton's front to pull it, but he gradually crushed the pullers/launchers who were in his wheel. When I saw (at 500 m?) that it was Pozzovivo🇮🇹 who had to lead the chase for the peloton for all regular sprinters teammates were already agonising, I knew this Mads Andersen (🇩🇰 Swatt Club, a Conti team) would make it 😃 I suppose it is his first victory at professional level, because he seems to mostly ride class 2 and below.
Muscat Classic (Oman, 6/2/2026)
During 150 km, the camera bike followed a guy in red lost on a motorway across the desert – Veistroffer (🇫🇷 Lotto-Intermarché).
Astana tested the peloton in the first of the last two climbs, about 20 km from the line, and caught Veistroffer.
In the last climb, Double🇬🇧 launched the first attack for Jayco, followed by two guys including the almost local UAEan UAE rider Jasim Al-Ali🇦🇪 who completely blew up after a while.
Then the decisive attack saw A. Yates🇬🇧 (UAE), Plapp🇦🇺 and Schmidt🇨🇭 (both Jayco) drop everyone. Yates🇬🇧 lead the climb, and Plapp🇦🇺 the descent. Plapp🇦🇺 almost killed the breakaway when arriving on the short flat section, but Yates🇬🇧 told him he was alone against 2 Jaycos, so one of them should better pull 😀 Schmidt🇨🇭 won the sprint against Yates.
Scaroni🇮🇹 (Astana) preceded the peloton by a few yards.
First French rider came just after the top-10. First rider from a French team 15^th...
Tour of Asturias 🇪🇸 ① (23–26/4/2026)
This 2.1 started yesterday. We should be able to watch it on the Asturian TV website https://www.rtpa.es/ at around 15:45 today and tomorrow, 13:30 on Sunday (Spanish time).
The field is pretty deserted (only 2 WT and 4 PT), as all the almost-top guys chose to go to the Alps/Trentin to do nothing. This is pretty much the continuation of the Tour of Galicia.
PCS profiles page
The team Nu Colombia pulled off the race, as its rider Cristian Muñoz died today, after an infection contracted following a crash on the Tour du Jura on Sunday in France.
Stage 4
UAE rode for Pericas🇪🇸 (2^nd^ in GC, 30 seconds behind Quintana (🇨🇴 Movistar)) in El Padrun, and it was a small peloton that was left for San Esteban de las Cruces. Pericas🇪🇸 produced his attack but couldn't gain a meaningful gain. Cadena (🇲🇽 Stork/Bau), winner of stage #3 and 6^th^ then attacked at least 3 times: the first 2 times, he was followed by Quintana🇨🇴 and one or two other riders; however he managed to break away alone on his last attempt. He managed to finish the climb alone, and then it was like yesterday, with the downhill and the flat, he could stay ahead and win the stage.
GC gaps got tighter, but it was insufficient to change drastically the General Classification, as gaps made on Stage 2 were still a bit too important. Only S. Fernandez (🇪🇸 Caja Rural) went from 3^rd^ to 5^th^, as his little group never managed to catch Quintana🇨🇴's little group and lost a few seconds.
Tour of Andalusia (stage 1, 18/2/2026)
::: spoiler Spoiler
I was surprised to see Laporte (🇫🇷 Visma) win a mass sprint. Already in his final days in Cofidis, his role had diversified, he had started to turn into a classic rider rather than a sprinter; and this option increased once he joined Visma. Even before that, his best performances were after a hard race, in groups with very few sprinters or none at all; he won very few mass sprints, even at medium level.
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Tour of Andalusia (stage 3, 20/2/2026)
::: spoiler Spoiler
Today, Laporte (🇫🇷 Visma) missed the victory because of his own leadout Zingle🇫🇷 who got in his way when he moved aside in the end of his launching effort. He still finished 3^rd^ on the same line as the first two.
Penhoët (🇫🇷 FDJ) was coming fast, but it is a law of nature that Penhoët can never win, therefore Fretin (🇧🇪 Cofidis) suddenly appeared on the other side between Laporte and the fence to snatch the victory.
Oh, and Crabbe (🇧🇪 Flanders-Baloise) who surprised everyone by winning a stage on the Star of Bessèges, scored a couple of UCI points again by finishing 5^th^, before Aranburu🇪🇸 and Pidcock🇬🇧!
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Tour of Algarve (stage 2, 19/2/2026)
::: spoiler Spoiler
This Seixas🇫🇷 is truly something. He was pulling Ayuso🇪🇸 and Almeida🇵🇹 (which are now in different teams) most of the time in the final climb, and still beat them in the end. For his first race of the year... against a very decent field of opponents...
Almeida🇵🇹 was really struggling all along that climb. It was not just his usual painful start. I mean, 'struggling'... those 3 guys dropped everyone else, even though a few riders like Onley🇬🇧 and Ricitello🇺🇸 managed to come back close in the end.
Seixas🇫🇷 didn't get the leader jersey, because Ayuso🇪🇸 intelligently did several bonus sprint in this stage and the first one, ending up in the same total of time bonus as Seixas. So, it was a matter of ranking, and Ayuso🇪🇸 finished in the first half of the bunch on the first stage while the young Frenchman was musing at the back.
:::
Tour of Algarve (stage 3 ITT, 20/2/2026)
::: spoiler Spoiler
Seixas🇫🇷 again showed a very good TT, 4^th^ at only 13 seconds behind the winner Ganna (🇮🇹 Ineos), better than Vauquelin, Küng and especially Almeida🇵🇹 who came only 30 seconds later. Onley🇬🇧 and Ricitello🇺🇸 are pushed back 1 mn away.
Unfortunately for him, the second best today is Ayuso🇪🇸, therefore the Spaniard consolidates his first place in GC (for only 7 seconds though, I think, so the final GC is still open between those two riders).
:::
Very impressed with him this week, he's the real deal. He's only 19 too, so if he doesn't do well in a GT in the next 3 years that's probably fine and nothing to worry about. Lovely to see such a great French talent!
It depends what 'doing well' means, but I reckon he can already do well on a Tour of Spain this year. If they put him on the Tour de France, it will be much more uncertain of course.
Last year he already did very well on the 8-day long Dauphiné (had he not fallen on the last climb of the last day, he would have finished 6^th^!). Then he was the best Frenchman on the 270 km WC race in Rwanda despite not being the chosen leader, and got the bronze medal behind Pogatchar and Evenepoel on the 200 km EC race on the following week. Oh, and looking at the stats, I had forgotten that less than a week later, he was in the tiny group for 5^th^ place in the Tour of Lombardia, with Del Toro, Vine and Pidcock.
I mean: long, hard stages/races (battling with big names on top of that) do not seem to be a problem for him; and neither does a large week of continuous stage racing (it doesn't get much longer than that on a GT before the first rest day). Very unlike Lenny Martinez who has shown his limits many times as soon as racing days start pile up, if you will.
Despite his good 2025 year, it's the first time he crosses a line first on a pro race (and that's a .Pro race which is fashionable for good climbers to start a season, not a .1 or a race which is a bit scorned these days).
His own video debrief of Stage 2 final climb, subtitled in English, and with excerpts from the race:
https://twitter.com/decathloncmacgm/status/2024584478895612384
It is quite different from mine, because I saw it in the middle of the night and I most certainly fell asleep in the last miles 😜 So trust him, the video, and not my account!
I am pretty sure they're sending him to the Tour de France. The logic seems to be that in the giro or the vuelta people will expect him to make a result, in the tour not so much so in a sense it's easier for him to do the tour and get it over with and ride with less pressure. Not sure I follow it completely, but it's the plan anyway, so...
Tour of Algarve (final stage, 22/2/2026)
::: spoiler Spoiler
Well, Ayuso🇪🇸 wasn't annoyed by Almeida🇵🇹's train, he didn't suffer from Ricitello🇺🇸's acceleration, he wasn't dropped by Seixas🇫🇷's attack, and he won the stage, consolidating his final victory, while no difference could be made between the leaders. Earlier, Ayuso🇪🇸 had put all chances on his side by scoring another 1 second bonus: he took the race really seriously.
Who is that Gloag🇬🇧 within these 6 best riders???
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