Mataró > Vallter 173km Today’s finish was rather incredible. Evenepoel and Vingegaard get away, Evenepoel gets very angry at Vingegaard not working and then somehow manages to crash himself with around 500m to go. Vingegaard then sits up as he doesn’t want to win that way, and Godon got the stage win. Cycling never fails to disappoint! The GC battle begins with the climb of Vallter 2000. Last time the race visited here, Pogačar won by a mile in 2024, the year before it was Ciccone taking the win. It’s crazy that this stage looks pretty flat, apart from the...

Brugge > Brugge 144km Rinse and repeat, the women’s race should be similar to the men’s.

Mont-roig del Camp > Vila-seca 159km Stage 2 went the way of Magnus Cort in what ended up being a very messy sprint. Ineos and NSN rode all day for nothing, will they try and control this stage for another sprint finish?

Brugge > Brugge 203km New name and a new route for what used to be known as Brugge-De Panne. The peloton is now faced with laps of a circuit on the outskirts of Brugge, it would normally end in a big sprint.

Figueres > Banyoles 167km Day 2 in Catalunya and a stage which will interest the sprinters. The opening stage was won by Dorian Godon, he just had enough gas to pip Evenepoel on the line. This is the easiest stage of the race; I’m expecting a much bigger bunch at the finish than you saw today.

Sant Feliu de Guíxols > Sant Feliu de Guíxols 173km The 105th edition of the race kicks off with the usual stage starting and finishing in Sant Feliu de Guíxols. The uphill grind to the line has allowed a mix of riders to win here, Michael Matthews loves this finish, but Primož Roglič has also won here. It’s one of those stages where the top 10 contains a weird mix of riders. 

I would say we’ve had some minor GC battles so far in 2026, this is going to be the first major one. Vingegaard is going up against Evenepoel, Lipowitz and Almeida, it’s going to be very interesting to see how they match up against each other. Due to the routes used in Paris-Nice and Tirreno, it’s also going to be the first battle in the high mountains in Europe this year. The route’s a good one, potentially the hardest edition of Catalunya I’ve seen for quite a few years.

Ichtegem > Roeselare 203km Just the 15th edition of the race, one that is relatively long and has a little bit of cobbles. It would normally end in a sprint, but last year, Alexys Brunel won from the break. The start list features many riders who were challenging over the last week in Koksijde, Denain and Nokere Koerse. 

Genova > Sanremo 156km After an absence of 20 years, this race returned in 2025, Lorena Wiebes winning the sprint from an elite group of riders. This year, the big news is that Vollering and Longo Borghini aren’t here, which should be good news for those wanting another sprint.

Pavia > Sanremo 298km The first monument of 2026. After watching UAE rip up the rule book in 2025, I wonder what plans they have for this year’s edition of the race. Pogačar has won just about everything in the sport, all that’s really missing is Sanremo and Roubaix, two races he’ll do everything he can to try and win. Due to that, sprinters don’t really stand a chance of winning this race anymore, they’ll have to wait for Pogi to win and then move onto a different target.