Winter Park > Shalal Sijyat Rocks 172km Stage 3 continued the Jan Christen Show, box office Jan was at it again. I did say he needed to attack earlier than normal, but to go only halfway up the climb was a surprise, even from him! The boy isn’t someone who’ll wonder, what if. Anyway, he blew up in the final kilometre and Yannis Voisard took a sensational win, but can he handle another windy stage?

Ses Salines > Ses Salines 23.8km TTT I have no idea why someone thought it was a good idea to have a TTT in January, but that’s what we’ve got. I suppose the organisers were keen to get Remco on the start line, but it all seems a little weird to me.

Winter Park > Bir Jaydah Mountain Wirkah 144km After two days full of echelons, some riders will be delighted to hear that stage 3 is going to be relatively boring, that is until the big finish. This is the first of the GC days and will give a really good indication of who’ll be fighting for the win on Saturday.

Palmanova > Palmanova 148km The first of 5 races for the men over in Mallorca. We kick off with a climbing race, Jan Christen won it last year, but he’s not back to defend his title. Almost 2900m of climbing in just 148km is a tough day at this time of year, a very hard way to kick off the season.

AlManshiyah Train Station > AlManshiyah Train Station 153km The wind did blow in the opening stage, and we found out that none of the GC riders can ride an echelon! It was another episode of the Jan Christen Show, this guy is box office. He crashed, unluckily just before the first echelon was formed, then put his team to work in the chase. He then crashed again, getting distance by over 1 minute to the peloton. We caught a brief glimpse of him trying to draft behind a car claiming he was seeking medical assistance for a cut to his...

AlUla Camel Cup Track > AlUla Camel Cup Track 158km The opening stage of the AlUla Tour should be one for the sprinters. The finish at the camel track is well known in this race, last year it was the final stage and echelons caused a few of the GC riders to miss out. Will there be splits this year?

The 6th edition of the AlUla Tour, it sticks with the balance of 3 sprints and 2 GC days, I think it works well for us watching fans. Last year, Tom Pidcock blasted his way to GC success but he’s not back to defend his title, but will Eddie Dunbar manage to keep it within the team?

Binissalem > Andratx 109km Same route as last year when Thalita De Jong took the win from Silvia Persico and Cédrine Kerbaol. It’s a day for the climbers but it does help if you’ve got a punchy finish.

Llucmajor > Llucmajor 134km Day 2 for the women over in Mallorca. After today’s climbing race, this one should be for the sprinters. 

La Nucia > Valencia 206km The 3rd of the races in the Valencia area, this one should be a bunch sprint. Groenewegen won here in 2024, he’d love to immediately get a win for the Unibet Rose Rockets.