Lido di Camaiore > Lido di Camaiore 11.5km ITT The usual opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, a short TT in Lido di Camaiore. It’s Ganna day.

The 61st edition of the race, and I’m a big fan of the route. When it was first published, some thought it was designed for Ganna, those people were clearly smoking crack. I’ve always been a big fan of Tirreno, it’s a brilliant race, much better than Paris-Nice.

Achères > Carrières-sous-Poissy 171km A very typical opening stage of Paris-Nice. The sprinters will hope to survive, but the final climb is hard enough for action and some will definitely be dropped. 

The 84th edition of this beautiful, old race. After winning the race in consecutive years, Matteo Jorgenson, is not here, it should be a new name on the trophy this time round. It’s the usual mix of sprints and climbing stages, with quite a few riders nervously checking the weather forecast.

Siena > Siena 202km This year the route is slightly shorter, and the amount of white road has been reduced too. After previously looking to make the race harder and harder, the organisers are now starting to realise that less is more. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an exceptionally demanding race, over 4000m of climbing is something you’d see in a grand tour mountain stage. As you’ll know, Tadej Pogačar makes his season debut, he’s trying to win this race for the fourth time.

Siena > Siena 133km The 12th edition of the race, it’s been dominated by Vollering and Kopecky over the last 4 years, with both winning twice. Who’s going to be first to bag three titles?

Albenga > Laigueglia 192km Changes are in the air, some with a serious nod to Milano-Sanremo. This year the race starts by climbing Capo Mele, Capo Berta and then the Cipressa, we’ll be back here in two and a half weeks. Juan Ayuso won this race last year; will UAE keep their crown in 2026?

Quaregnon > Dour 204km In previous years, the riders have done a loop before hitting the lap circuit, but not this year. The race now immediately heads for Dour, with the riders doing two laps of a big loop and four laps of a smaller circuit. That means more kilometres of cobbles (16.6km in total), which can only be a good thing for watching fans. The big news is that Van Aert is racing, he’s recovered from the illness which ruled him out of Omloop, Visma will hope he’s competitive. 

Quaregnon > Dour 133km The 15th edition of the race, and there’s been a slight change of route, the riders have a new finish to deal with. It also means a different approach to the first sector in the lap which significantly reduces the length of the cobbles. The rest stays the same, with the women doing 3 full laps of the circuit. 

Étoile-sur-Rhône > Étoile-sur-Rhône 192km Juan Ayuso won this race last year, going solo with 40km to go. The Spaniard isn’t back to defend his title, it’s more than likely going to be a brand-new name winning in 2026, Marc Hirschi is the only rider on the startlist who’s won this race before. Solo winners are a thing in this race, will it happen again this year?