Étoile-sur-Rhône > Étoile-sur-Rhône 190km Same route as last year, and in that edition a small group of favourites got away and UAE had both Ayuso and Hirschi in the group. Hirschi attacked before the finish and he took the win, Ayuso won the sprint behind to complete a 1-2. Will UAE be able to do something similar this year?

A Pobra do Brollón > O Cebreiro 137km The Queen stage in Gran Camiño. In what is an action-packed day of cycling, don’t forget to give this a watch, as there’s 3061m of climbing in just 137km.

Guilherand-Granges > Guilherand-Granges 170km My, oh my, what a start list I see before my eyes. It’s a great route if you love steep climbs and now more teams seem to be viewing this as an opportunity to not only get a win, but also help riders to prepare for big goals just around the corner. Lots of contenders for Paris-Nice and Tirreno Adriatico are here, pushing the quality level up significantly. 

Ourense > Pereiro de Aguiar 15.6km ITT After two sprint finishes, the race is ready to seriously shake up the GC. The riders are faced with a tough 15.6km ITT, a day that some of the little climbers will fear.

Ghent > Ninove 197km The Omloop, I love this weekend! The route is very similar to last year, this is a race Visma have dominated in the last three editions, winning all three of them. They have consistently arrived with the strongest team, allowing them to play the numbers game and ultimately take the win. Looking at the start list, this will not happen this year, UAE arrive with the strongest squad, and they should also be looking to put pressure on everybody else. Visma still have the race favourite in Van Aert, but winning this race will be harder...

Marin > A Estrada 133km Cort won the opening stage, surprising Lonardi by launching early. Apparently, Polti were being dicks and not chasing early in the day, so they got a large slice of karma. Stage 2 is too hard for the pure sprinters, it’s a challenging finish and a day where the GC will start to take some shape.

Maia > Matosinhos 191km An interesting stage kicks off the race, the sprinters will be concerned about the cobbled climb with 46km to go, there’s bonus seconds at the top of the hill too. This is likely to be the only stage for the fast men, they’ll hope for a steady day and a bunch sprint.

Just the 4th edition of the race, everyone will be hoping for better weather than last year. There are 5 stages, none of them are pan flat and it features a tough ITT. The start list is missing Visma, so there’s going to be a new name on the trophy this year.

Benahavís > La Línea de la Concepción 168km A tough stage to finish off the race. The riders start in Benahavís, I was there last summer, it’s a lovely village up in the hills. They roll out through the golf courses and then start the long climb towards Ronda. It could be another day for the break or a GC battle, but we’ll miss most of the action as by the time the TV cameras turn on, things will have settled down.

Salir > Malhão 19.7km ITT The race ends with a very demanding time trial.