2026 Stage Races Thread

[eth-dog]

Since it's leaked into the Tour thread I felt it's probably better off having a dedicated thread for these. Of the main GC candidates in the Grand Tours, here are the races they're riding in this regard:

Paris-Nice: Almeida, Ayuso, Onley, Uijtdebroeks, Gaudu, L Martinez
Tirreno-Adriatico: Roglic, Hindley, Carapaz, Jorgenson, Bernal, Tiberi
Volta a Catalunya: Mas, Evenepoel, Vingegaard, Almeida, Pidcock
Itzulia Basque Country: Seixas, Roglic, Uijtdebroeks, Ayuso, Del Toro, Tiberi
Tour de Romandie: Roglic, Pogacar, Tiberi
Tour Auvergne - Rhone-Alpes: Tiberi, Onley, Ayuso, Uijtdebroeks, Evenepoel, Del Toro
Tour de Suisse: Pogacar, Jorgenson, L Martinez

I'd expect Romandie and Suisse to fill more as time goes on. Catalunya with Remco vs Jonas probably an interesting early marker. Paris-Nice looks weak, Tirreno is likely between Roglic, Carapaz and Jorgenson, and Romandie is probably the most interesting one of all in terms of the start list, Pogi is obviously the favourite but has never beaten Roglic in a week long race (that both have finished).

Predictions (in order): Ayuso, Roglic, Vingegaard, Roglic, Pogacar, Evenepoel, Pogacar.

 

[Daka]

Milan wins stage 4 of the UAE Tour

Paul Seixas got his first pro win on stage 2 Volta ao Algarve

 

[Daka]

Looks like a good battle in the Volta ao Algarve,

Stage 3 18.5k ITT next

 

[eth-dog]

Ayuso and Almeida probably assert themselves tonight for that race.

Ganna unbackable favourite.

 

[Daka]

Ayuso and Almeida probably assert themselves tonight for that race.

Ganna unbackable favourite.

How does Seixas go in the TT? he is very young not watched much of him.

 

[eth-dog]

How does Seixas go in the TT? he is very young not watched much of him.

He's probably the first genuinely good one France has produced of GC guys since Hinault. But he's not as good as the others yet

 

[Daka]

He's probably the first genuinely good one France has produced of GC guys since Hinault. But he's not as good as the others yet

Ganna wins no surprise there.
Ayuso 7 secs behind gains more time as lead
Seixas impressive only 12 secs behind Ganna at 19.
Almeida on the other hand terrible 42 secs behind Ganna.
GC Shaping up to be out of Ayuso v Seixas.
Would have to favor Ayuso due to experience still.

In the UAE tour Milan wins stage 5.

 

[Daka]

Del Toro cooked Tiberi that's a wrap, Plapp finishes 2nd on the stage.

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Impressive 2 rides from Plapp in UAE.

Finishing 3rd on GC behind Del Toro and Tiberi and in front of Remco, Gall, Tullett, Haaland Johansson, Gee-West, van wilder and others is a nice outcome.

(Please don’t **** it up tomorrow)

 

[Daka]

Impressive 2 rides from Plapp in UAE.

Finishing 3rd on GC behind Del Toro and Tiberi and in front of Remco, Gall, Tullett, Haaland Johansson, Gee-West, van wilder and others is a nice outcome.

(Please don’t **** it up tomorrow)

Plapp 3rd on GC and Remco Evenepoel 10th is kind of nuts...

Del Toro climbed Jebel Hafeet significantly quicker then Pogacar did last year.
there was a big crosswind with Pogacar's win but still. Del Toro is looking scary you can see why he has been given the call up to be Pogi's right hand man at the Tour De France.

 

[Orange Agent]

This is Plapp's best GC performance and something he hasnt really showed yet to stay with the front group on long climbs and finish strongly. He still rides too bigger gear a lot of the time but he is looking better every year.

Remco's excuses here were pretty weak, the clock is ticking on whether he can actually do this or he is just a TT specialist who could be a super domestique if he wants to accept that.

From what I remember of Pog he rode most of the climb solo, the bunch was still pretty big for most of it this year.

 

[Daka]

Big news!

 

[eth-dog]

Paris-Nice starts on Sunday, 8 stages, good GC representation.

If he's riding at 90% (which I doubt) I'd expect Jonas to win from Ayuso comfortably but we'll see.

Tirreno-Adriatico starts Monday, but you'd need a FloBikes subscription to watch that.

 

[Daka]

Paris-Nice starts on Sunday, 8 stages, good GC representation.

If he's riding at 90% (which I doubt) I'd expect Jonas to win from Ayuso comfortably but we'll see.

Tirreno-Adriatico starts Monday, but you'd need a FloBikes subscription to watch that.

I think Ayuso has to be favorite,
There is no way Jonas is peaking for Paris-Nice, however I did hear he is looking to prove some the critics wrong.
It would still be a good race for him to have on his CV as he crashed out last year as leader with concussion
Looking at the parcours it doesn't seem like it has crazy steep gradients. TTT will be crucial.
Stage 4 and 7 look like dangerous stages for Ayuso will be interesting to see if he can hold Vingegaard wheel.

 

[eth-dog]

I think Ayuso has to be favorite,
There is no way Jonas is peaking for Paris-Nice, however I did hear he is looking to prove some the critics wrong.
It would still be a good race for him to have on his CV as he crashed out last year as leader with concussion
Looking at the parcours it doesn't seem like it has crazy steep gradients. TTT will be crucial.
Stage 4 and 7 look like dangerous stages for Ayuso will be interesting to see if he can hold Vingegaard wheel.

Nobody's peaking for it. I'm saying 90% fitness post crash fwiw.

The TTT is very good for Jonas, compared to Ayuso. V-LAB a much stronger TTT team on the preliminary start list atm

 

[Orange Agent]

Paris-Nice starts on Sunday, 8 stages, good GC representation.

If he's riding at 90% (which I doubt) I'd expect Jonas to win from Ayuso comfortably but we'll see.

Tirreno-Adriatico starts Monday, but you'd need a FloBikes subscription to watch that.

SBS on demand is streaming both races. It's probably only the last 90 minutes or something like that.

 

[eth-dog]

SBS on demand is streaming both races. It's probably only the last 90 minutes or something like that.

I think they'll do the entire ITT for TA as they have 3 hours of the coverage, or at least the vast majority of it.

Roglic probably gains 30-ish seconds on Del Toro on the ITT, not sure Isaac will be able to gap him like he did Remco in the UAE tour to make it up

 

[Vader]

SBS on demand is streaming both races. It's probably only the last 90 minutes or something like that.

Stage 1 of Paris-Nice is scheduled from 1:20AM for 120 minutes, so I doubt it's the full stage.

Tirreno-Adriatico isn't showing up in the TV guides yet, as it's more than 7 days away.

Interestingly, the SBS Guide for Strade Bianchi says that the Men's Race is scheduled for 12:20AM on Sunday morning, for 175 minutes, and claims to be the "Full Race". Given that the race is 203km, with riders averaging around 40kph, I can't see them showing the "Full Race" in under 3 hours...

 

[Daka]

Stage 1 of Paris-Nice is scheduled from 1:20AM for 120 minutes, so I doubt it's the full stage.

Tirreno-Adriatico isn't showing up in the TV guides yet, as it's more than 7 days away.

Interestingly, the SBS Guide for Strade Bianchi says that the Men's Race is scheduled for 12:20AM on Sunday morning, for 175 minutes, and claims to be the "Full Race". Given that the race is 203km, with riders averaging around 40kph, I can't see them showing the "Full Race" in under 3 hours...

It's annoying, but it seems like it's the way things have headed sometimes races have been going for 1 hour and half of riding before SBS coverage starts, I think it's like that with other networks around the world too.

 

[eth-dog]

It's annoying, but it seems like it's the way things have headed sometimes races have been going for 1 hour and half of riding before SBS coverage starts, I think it's like that with other networks around the world too.

Yeah SBS cover it as soon as they get coverage

 

[Vader]

It's annoying, but it seems like it's the way things have headed sometimes races have been going for 1 hour and half of riding before SBS coverage starts, I think it's like that with other networks around the world too.

It's what they used to do with the Tour de Frog, for many, many years.

I don't have a problem with them skipping the first few hours. Let's face it, the only thing which ususually happens in the early stages of most races is the breakaway forming. Most of the action usually comes in the back half.

What I DO object to is missing half the race and still advertising that they're showing the "Full Race". That's a blatant lie.

 

[eth-dog]

Startlist for Paris-Nice 2026

Competing teams and riders for Paris-Nice 2026. Top competitors are João Almeida, Jonas Vingegaard and Juan Ayuso.

www.procyclingstats.com

Interesting that a few teams have elected to go sprint at P-N instead of T-A. Jayco going full train.

 

[Daka]

No Almeida at Paris-Nice




Also bit of a blow for Ayuso

 

[eth-dog]

No Almeida at Paris-Nice




Also bit of a blow for Ayuso

McNulty probably the leader for UAE then

 

[eth-dog]