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Thursday, April 9, 2026
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Current racing:
- April 6 - 11: Itzulia Basque Country (Tour of the Basque Country)
- April 7 - 10: Région Pays de la Loire Tour
Upcoming racing:
- April 12: Paris-Roubaix
- April 14 - 18: O Gran Camiño
Latest completed racing:
- April 8: Scheldeprijs
- April 5: Ronde van Vlaanderen
- April 4: GP Miguel Indurain
- April 4: NXT Classic
- April 3: Classic Adélie de Vitré
- April 1: Dwars door Vlaanderen
- March 31: Paris-Camembert
- March 23 - 29: Volta a Catalunya
- March 25 - 29: Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali
- March 29: Gent-Wevelgem
We posted the report from the race organizer with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Axel Laurance's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Axel Laurance continued his superb early season momentum with victory on stage three at Itzulia Basque Country.
The Frenchman capped off a strong day in the breakaway with a well judged victory, besting Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in a two-up uphill sprint into Basauri.
Axel Laurance beats Igor Arrieta to the line. Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency
Earlier Laurance had worked his way into a group of 16 riders, which gradually opened out a gap over the peloton across an undulating parcours.
Bouncing back well from a crash on Tuesday, Laurance went clear with Arrieta following the descent off the Bikotz Gane climb. The pair were able to open out enough of a gap to stay away, despite some tactical games in the final kilometre.
Victory gave Laurance his fourth win of 2026, and his first WorldTour stage win for the INEOS Grenadiers.
Kevin Vauquelin finished at the head of the GC group as they crossed the line 1:04 back on his compatriot. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) retained the overall lead on the day.
Axel Laurance: "It was pretty hard, I didn’t know what to expect with the crash I had yesterday, but in the end I did everything to recover as best as I could and I was really optimistic for today. I knew yesterday the legs were good. We didn’t know if it was a breakaway or bunch sprint, but I was ready for everything. In the end it was a good day for me.
"Igor Arrieta was really strong. I know he’s a really good climber, and for sure I was suffering on the climb with 40km to go. But we did a good downhill. I knew it was hard for me, as I’m not used to this kind of really long effort, with 25 kilometres with only two guys. We had to push quite hard and I was struggling to recover, but I knew he was also not feeling good. In the end when he launched I had cramps straight away, but I did everything perfect and it was just mentally in the end. When I saw the finish line I became someone else. I knew it was only a few seconds of suffering for a really big enjoyment.
"Tomorrow is going to be hard – I need to recover before that. But the guys look really strong in the team and we have multiple cards to play. It’s good for us.
"[Four wins] is really special. Last year I knew I was strong but I never won. It started to be frustrating and you lose some confidence. This year I really restarted from zero. I knew that I didn’t lose anything last year and that I could be a winner again. I think I showed it again today, when I saw the finish line I have this killer instinct and I never lost it. It’s good to remember."
Here's the Itzulia Basque Country stage three report from second-place Igor Arrieta's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
Coming up just short in a thrilling finale at Itzulia Basque Country, Igor Arrieta rode to second place on stage 3 for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. On a punchy uphill finish in Basauri, the young Basque native lost out to the fast finisher Axel Laurance of Ineos Grenadiers.
It was a brave and determined ride from the local, who spent most of the afternoon in the day’s breakaway. With all eyes on the stage victory, it had been a big battle just to get into the select group of riders that made its way off the front, but it was a fight that Arrieta would not let go.
Once off the front, Arrieta worked diligently to extend the breakaway’s advantage. That gave the break an advantage of a minute and a half heading into the penultimate climb of the day, which was a healthy gap but one that meant the riders would need to work well to reach the finish before the peloton.
As such, on that penultimate climb of Bikotx Gane, Arrieta pressed ahead alongside seven other riders, including Laurance, the eventual stage winner. These riders continued their charge towards the finish, and their work increased the front group’s advantage over the peloton to two minutes on the last climb of the stage.
Using his local knowledge, Arrieta pressed on over the summit of that final climb, known as the Sarasola, and it was only Laurance that could follow the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider’s wheel. Together, they created a gap over their breakaway companions, and as they headed towards the final 20km, they worked in unison to ensure they would contest the stage victory between them.
Once in sight of the finish town, Arrieta looked to conserve his energy as best possible, in the knowledge that Laurance packed the strongest punch for the uphill finish to come. Sensing this disadvantage, it was Arrieta who first opened up his kick for the line in Basauri, hoping to dislodge the Frenchman from his wheel.
Arrieta finishes a close second.
Alas, it was not to be for Arrieta, who was passed by Laurance with only 75m of the day remaining. Exhausted as he crossed the line, the Spaniard was sad to miss out on the victory, but his efforts were rewarded with the combativity prize and a spot on the day’s podium. It had been a fine outing for the man from Navarre.
Arrieta: “It was a really hard day. I knew that Axel was really the favourite for today’s stage, I tried my best in the breakaway and in the end, I was on the limit. I tried to pass him as much as possible, knowing that he is faster than me in the final, but it is what it is. I did my best so congratulations to him.
“When we go together [off the front], you need to still push as hard as possible, and then in the end I tried to save as much as I could to win the sprint against him. Unfortunately, he was just the strongest today.”
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Here's the Basque Coutry Tour stage three report from fourth-place Ilan Van Wilder's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Ilan Van Wilder bounced back after a tough stage two and put himself in contention for a top ten overall finish at the World Tour race. The peloton spent the day around Basauri, and even though the parcours was milder than the one of Tuesday, it still had plenty of hills that ended up playing in favour of the breakaway.
Soudal Quick-Step’s Belgian was one of the 15 riders that went in the breakaway, and with none of them a GC threat, the bunch allowed this group to take their maximum advantage north of three minutes. It was only when they entered the last 20 kilometers that the chasers decided to increase the tempo, but by that point, the escapees knew the stage would belong to them.
Ilan Van Wilder racing in stage eight of the 2025 Tour of Switzerland. Sirotti photo
One of the strongest guys in that move, Ilan worked hard the entire day, initially to help the group extend their lead, and in the last kilometers, to reduce the gap separating them from two men who had attacked on one of the day’s climbs. It was thanks to his solid effort that the breakaway came close to bringing the duo back and fighting for the victory, which eventually went to Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers).
On the 1600m climb to the line, Van Wilder continued to dig deep and accelerated to take the last bonus seconds still in play, before concluding fourth. It was a result that helped him gain five places on the general classification, where he now sits just half a minute from the top ten.
And here's the Basque Country Tour report from Ben Tulett's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
In the third stage of Itzulia Basque Country, the breakaway riders battled for the stage win. Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader Ben Tulett crashed in the peloton but still made a strong impression in the finale. The Brit remains in the top five of the general classification.
On the third day of the Basque stage race, the riders faced 153 kilometers, starting and finishing in Basauri. After an opening phase over rolling roads, the focus of the stage came in the final section. In total, three categorized climbs had to be tackled. Tulett started the stage fifth overall.
The day’s breakaway only formed after more than an hour of racing. A strong group of fifteen riders quickly built up a significant lead. In the peloton, things briefly went wrong for Tulett. The 24-year-old Brit, together with teammate Tim Rex, was involved in a crash on the approach to the first climb of the day. Fortunately, both were able to continue and rejoined the peloton shortly afterward.
Ben Tulett after winning stage 4 of the 2025 Coppi-Bartali race.
On the final two climbs, the lead group was gradually reduced. In the peloton, the favorites remained calm, allowing the early breakaway riders to fight for the stage win. In the end, Frenchman Axel Laurance proved strongest after attacking together with Igor Arrieta. In the peloton, race leader Paul Seixas tried to gain a few seconds in the steep final kilometer, but Tulett responded attentively to the young Frenchman’s last move. The Brit finished thirteenth.
“A solid result given the circumstances,” said sports director Frans Maassen. “Ben had a heavy crash, so it’s a relief that he came away without too much damage. He was well supported by his teammates and still managed to show himself in the finale. We hope the damage is limited with the coming stages in mind. Today was a very tough transition stage, and the next few days will also feature demanding stages. We’ll have to take it day by day.”
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We posted the report from race winner Tim Merlier's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Pavel Bittner's Team Picnic-PostNL:
The “unofficial sprinters’ world championship” saw the peloton take on a the traditional flat route from Terneuzen to Schoten, with a sprinkling of cobbles along the way on Wednesday afternoon. With no strong wind or rain throughout the day, what can sometimes be a very attritional race, looked set to be a big bunch sprint come the finale.
Tim Merlier wins the 2026 Scheldeprijs. Sirotti photo
Team Picnic PostNL set out with a clear goal and plan of helping to control the race so that it did come down to that bunch kick, where they would go for it with fast finisher Pavel Bittner. Robbe Dhondt contributed to the early pace making in the peloton, before Dillon Corkery pitched in, with the bunch keeping the breakaway in check as the kilometres ticked down.
Like always in Scheldeprijs it was chaotic in the final ten kilometres but the team remained in good position, with Development program riders Thom van der Werff and Christiaan van Rees riding well in the .Pro level race to keep the squad towards the front. Coming into the closing few kilometres Julius van den Berg and then Niklas Märkl took over, and despite the chaos, they could position Bittner in a position to go for it in the sprint. Bittner kicked past several riders but just found Merlier faster on the day, but he and the team could still end the day on the podium with a strong second place.
Speaking after the race Bittner said: “We were serious about setting up a bunch sprint today. Robbe pulled from the start so we could take a nice position together in the peloton with the guys. I think the main thing to take from today was that everyone really wanted to go for it together. They kept coming back and showed a lot of fighting spirit, and that’s what we need for the next races, and it helped me tremendously to go for a result today in the final. In the last kilometre I came into it really well, but it was a really messy headwind sprint. Luckily, I could connect with Niklas at around 200 metres to go. Then when Merlier opened, I had a clear path so I could do my sprint. In the end it’s a second place that we can be happy with. For sure, we really want, and I really want to find that win, but with the way we rode I see it as a win already and we just have to take that into the next races. I’m happy with today.”
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We posted the report from stage winner & GC leader Ethan Vernon's NSN Cycling Team with the results.
Here's the report from Team Groupama-FDJ United:
The Tour of the Basque Country offered an opportunity for breakaway riders around Basauri this Wednesday, and the Groupama-FDJ United cycling team tried to make the most of it. After a long battle at the start, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet and Clément Braz Afonso managed to enter the leading group on this third stage. However, the French duo were caught out about thirty kilometers from the finish by two riders, and then fought for the remaining places on the finish line. The Norman climber claimed ninth place, while his teammate finished seventh.
Ethan Vernon wins stage two.
The day after a very demanding stage toward Cuevas de Mendukilo, during which Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet and Clément Braz Afonso battled around twentieth position, the riders faced the least elevation gain of the week this Wednesday. “Even before the start of the Tour of the Basque Country, we were targeting this stage,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “It was the least difficult of the week, but still tough with 2,800 metres of climbing. With the team we had, we wanted to animate the race. We also knew that the time gaps created yesterday could work in our favor and that the breakaway had a chance. However, we couldn’t miss the right move!”
Many riders had the same idea in this third stage, and the fight lasted nearly an hour and a half. “There was a battle for almost 60 kilometres,” Benoît continued. “Maxime tried first, then Guillaume followed a strong group, but the decisive move only formed later with Guillaume and Clément. The breakaway never had a big advantage, but we knew it would be decided up front.” “It was a great move,” added Guillaume. “Only two teams had two riders, and we were one of them, with two strong cards to play.”
Fifteen riders broke clear with just under 100 kilometres to go, came over the first categorized climb with nearly a two-minute lead, and then headed toward the Bikotx-Gane climb, whose final three kilometers averaged nearly 9%. The first attacks in the break came on this ascent, more than 30 kilometres from the finish, but eleven riders remained more or less together near the summit, including the Groupama-FDJ United duo. However, the decisive move came shortly afterward. “Laurance and Arrieta attacked on a descent where the pace was very high, and the guys told me they were already at their limit at that moment,” Benoît explained.
“It’s a bit of a pity, but I think they were the two strongest out front. No real regrets.” “We were a bit caught out when these two went on the descent, but they were very strong as well,” confirmed Guillaume. The gap quickly grew to thirty seconds over a chasing group of nine riders and even exceeded a minute before the final hills.
“We had to hope they would start looking at each other, which they did a bit, but we came back a little too late,” Guillaume added. “In the final, Clément and I attacked one after the other, but after the start of the stage we had, I didn’t have much strength remaining, like everyone else. We just went with what we had left.” “The chase came back to within twenty seconds on the final uphill kilometre, but the leading duo controlled things and saved enough for the sprint,” Benoît added. In the end, Axel Laurance took the victory, while Clément Braz Afonso crossed the line 24 seconds later in 7th place, two positions ahead of his teammate. “Even if the result isn’t quite there yet, things are improving,” said Guillaume.
“There are positives with this double top 10 in a WorldTour race,” added Benoît. “It’s important to be competitive on this kind of stage. We came up against stronger riders, but we were in the mix. Maybe Clément did a bit too much in the final, otherwise a top five was within reach. That said, he’s been very active since the start of the season. For Guillaume, who had been lacking confidence in recent weeks, it was good to get back on the attack. We know he enjoys that. Overall, it was a good day, and there could be more opportunities for breakaways this week.” The week will continue without Rémy Rochas, who was unfortunately forced to withdraw following his crash on Tuesday.