Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Friday, April 10, 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 stage winner Alex Aranburu's Team Cofidis with the results.
Here's the race organizer's stage four report:
Alex Aranburu takes his third Itzulia stage victory in Galdakao, Paul Seixas extends his lead over the other favourites in the general classification.
We’ve reached the halfway point of the 2026 Itzulia, following a grueling stage that started and finished in Galdakao. Today, the stage winner would be decided on 3 sections of the ascent to Elorritxueta (El Vivero), including the final steep section.
From the very start, riders fought fiercely to make the day’s breakaway. But it wasn’t until the 64-kilometre mark that Brandon McNulty (UAD, 32) broke away from the peloton. He gradually pulled ahead, while a chasing group of 34 riders formed behind him. Amongst them, Clément Braz Afonso (GFC, 22) posed the biggest threat in the GC, at 4 minutes and 1 seconds.
McNulty’s maximum lead was 3 minutes 45 seconds over the peloton and 1 minute 30 seconds over the chasing group. Following the first crossing of the finish line, the peloton upped the tempo. Bahrain Victorious began to close the gap to just 1 minute 30 seconds with 30 km remaining to the finish. Visma–Lease a Bike joined the chase, to help Ben Tullet.
During the second ascent of Elorritxueta (El Vivero), McNulty was neutralized by the breakaway, and there were attempts to break away from within the lead group. Behind them, the Decathlon CMA CGM Team took up the pace at the front of the peloton. Florian Lipowitz tested the leader with a surge, but the leader quickly closed the gap, thwarting his attempt. There was plenty of tension among the favourites. Lipowitz continued launching attacks to test the leader. The Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe team had two strong contenders in Roglič and Lipowitz, and also had Luke Tuckwell in the breakaway to support their team leaders.
The race was wide open following the descent. With 17 km to go, a breakaway group formed, consisting of Marc Soler, Luke Tuckwell and Anders Halland Johannessen, holding a 15-second lead over the chasing pack. The peloton was 1 minute 40 seconds behind, but the climb to Legina still lay ahead. The leading trio failed to coordinate, and Anders Halland Johannessen (UXM, 203) surged ahead.
The final climb began, with gradients exceeding 17%, a narrow road, and a 1 minute 15 second gap between the breakaway and the peloton. With just 10 km to go, Alex Aranburu tried from the breakaway, gaining a crucial lead of a few metres. In the group of favourites, Lipowitz made another attempt, but the yellow jersey proved too strong. It looked as though a stage win was within reach.
From the summit of Legina (El Vivero), Aranburu began a time-trial-style push, closely followed by Tobias Halland Johannessen. The Cofidis rider knew the descent like the back of his hand and hurtled down, opening a small gap on Johannessen. The Norwegian cyclist from Uno-X Mobility struggled on the descent. On that very descent, the race leader launched a downhill attack that only Igor Arrieta could follow. The young French rider taking a big risk.
With 4 km to go, Johannessen caught Aranburu, and the two began taking turns at the front to stay clear of the chasing riders. They were 23 seconds ahead of the chasing pack. Pello Bilbao and Ion Izagirre joined the group led by Seixas and Arrieta
Alex Aranburu heads for the finish line for the stage win.
The final victory would be decided in a sprint up to the finish line. The leading pair were caught by the chasing group, which included Seixas and Izagirre. Johannessen launched the sprint, with Aranburu on his wheel, but Aranburu proved the fastest, taking victory in the fourth stage of the Itzulia.
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And here's the Basque Country Tour stage four report from Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet's Team Groupama-FDJ United:
A sense of déjà vu. On the roads of the Tour of the Basque Country, the Groupama-FDJ United cycling team once again rode aggressively this Thursday, during a fourth stage that was again favorable to breakaways. This time, the French squad managed to place three riders up front: Quentin Pacher, Clément Braz Afonso, and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet. After a selective final, it was the Norman climber who achieved the best result of the day, taking a promising fifth place.
Quentin Pacher at the Tour Down Under in 2025. Sirotti photo
Day after day, the race unfolds in similar fashion in the Basque Country. At least, the fourth stage, covering 167 kilometers around Galdakao, followed a scenario quite close to the previous day. With numerous riders eager to join the breakaway at the start, it took more than an hour and a half before a group finally managed to get away. “Since stage two, we’ve known there are good opportunities for stage wins,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “Today, it took seventy kilometers before the break went. It was a big fight and it never really settled down. Thirty-three riders went clear, including Guillaume, Quentin, and Clément. It was a good move for us.”
Clément Braz Afonso was also the best-placed rider from the group on the general classification, just over four minutes behind race leader Paul Seixas. “Yesterday we already had two riders in the break,” added Guillaume. “Today it was great to have three. It gave us tactical options and allowed us to take advantage of our strong collective. Uno-X was also well represented, so we let them do some of the work at first.” The peloton allowed the group nearly three minutes of a gap, while Brandon McNulty was caught about 35 kilometres from the finish after being out front alone for a long time.
Two climbs remained at that point, and as the riders began the first of them toward Elorritxueta (4 km at 7.5%), the gap to the peloton had dropped to just 1 minute 30 seconds. “Quentin made a strong effort on the penultimate climb,” Guillaume explained. “That helped split things up and hold off the peloton a bit longer.” The breakaway shattered under the pressure of the slope, leaving only around ten riders at the front by the summit. “At the top, we took stock and Clément told me he wasn’t feeling that great anymore,” Guillaume said. “So he put in some solid efforts on the flat to keep the gap.”
It also helped prevent some rivals from getting away in the transition section before the final climb of the day. One rider began that last ascent alone with a 15-second lead, and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet worked hard to follow the accelerations on the Legina climb (3.2 km at 8%). Always up there, the French rider only conceded a few seconds at the top to Tobias Halland Johannessen and Alex Aranburu. “He found himself in a group of four about fifteen seconds behind, and they almost made it back with one kilometer to go, so we really believed in it,” said Benoît Vaugrenard.
After five flat kilometers, a final uphill kilometer decided the stage, with the last 400 meters at nearly 8%. In the end, the Groupama-FDJ United rider lacked the final kick to bridge the gap to the leading duo. He nevertheless pushed hard to secure fifth place, finishing thirteen seconds behind the local stage winner. “He had already given a lot, and Aranburu was simply the strongest in that kind of finish,” Benoît said. “It’s still a very good fifth place.” “I did my best at the end,” Guillaume added. “I wasn’t far from the win, but I have no regrets. There were stronger riders than me today, but I’m happy things are moving in the right direction. I’m not at my best level yet, but I’m improving day by day. It feels good to see my legs coming back after long months of doubt and searching for confidence. I’d been feeling better in training for a while, but I needed to confirm it in racing.”
With his second top-10 finish in two days, he has also climbed to 16th place overall. “He’s improving every day,” confirmed Benoît. “It’s good for his confidence. He’s finding his form again, and it’s great to see.” As for attacking again during tomorrow’s queen stage? “I think the breakaway has less chance of succeeding given how hard it will be,” Benoît concluded. “There may be more opportunities on Sunday.”
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Here's the news from Pogacar's UAE Team Emriates-XRG:
Three days out from the third Monument of the season, UAE Team Emirates-XRG is delighted to present its lineup for Paris-Roubaix, with Tadej Pogačar hoping to take a historic victory for the Emirati squad.
Already a winner of both Milano-Sanremo and the Ronde van Vlaanderen this season, Pogačar heads into Sunday’s race as the current title holder of four of the five great cycling Monuments. Were he to win on Sunday, he would become the first rider since Roger De Vlaeminck in 1979 to have won all five, totalling Milano-Sanremo, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia.
For Pogačar, Paris-Roubaix is the last Monument standing, and perhaps his ultimate test. It is a race once thought beyond the realms of reach for a rider that makes winning Grand Tours their bread and butter. In fact, last season, the Slovenian became the first reigning Tour de France champion to start Paris-Roubaix since Greg LeMond in 1991.
It had been a generation or two since a rider in Pogačar’s ilk even seriously contemplated taking on the challenge of the Hell of the North.
The Hell of the North. L’Enfer du Nord. A Sunday in Hell. Perhaps there are no words quite right to sum up Paris-Roubaix. Raced across the toughest cobblestones found in northern Europe, it is a race unlike any other, and has set Paris-Roubaix apart as the toughest one-day race on the entire calendar.
Such a fierce reputation did not faze Pogačar, who made his Roubaix debut for UAE Team Emirates-XRG in 2025, to much fanfare and intrigue. Eventually riding to second place behind the day’s winner, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Pogačar more than demonstrated his capabilities across cycling’s most imposing terrain.
Pogacar finishes second in 2025, 1min 18sec behind winner Mathieu van der Poel. Sirotti photo
It might have been even more for the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man, had he not misjudged a corner with 38.1km to go and hit the deck. From that point on, victory was all but assured for Van der Poel, who rode to his third victory in succession.
Prior to the fall, it had been Pogačar who had put the hurt on his opponents from afar, with the then-four-time Grand Tour winner going clear of the peloton alongside the Alpecin-Deceuninck duo of Van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen. Noting his numerical disadvantage, Pogačar kicked again inside the final 50km, dispatching Philipsen from the wheel.
Perhaps only the crash prevented what was expected to be a two-up showdown between Van der Poel and Pogačar in the Velodrome.
Ready to try and go one better this time out for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Pogačar will be back at the start line in Compiègne alongside his teammates Florian Vermeersch, Nils Politt, Mikkel Berg, Sebastián Molano, António Morgado, and Rui Oliveira.
Together, the team will be headed up from the cars by Sports Directors Fabio Baldato, Marco Marcato and Marco Marzano.
Speaking ahead of the race, Pogačar is eager to take his confidence from the Ronde van Vlaanderen into a second start at Paris-Roubaix this weekend.
Pogačar: “It’s no secret that Paris-Roubaix is one of the big goals for this part of the season. The few races I’ve done so far have gone perfectly so the motivation is high but the pressure is low.
“I’m going to enjoy it no matter what the result and I’m looking forward to a good weekend of racing. We have such a strong team with guys who have been on the podium here before so it’s not only me who is capable of a result.”
The 123rd edition of Paris-Roubaix will mark a fifth start at l’Enfer du Nord for Pogačar’s teammate, Vermeersch, with the Belgian scoring his best result to date on debut in 2021. That day, the then-22-year-old produced an exceptional performance in the first muddy Paris-Roubaix in a generation.
Heading into the velodrome alongside fellow debutants Sonny Colbrelli and Mathieu van der Poel, Vermeersch got the better of the latter (now a three-time champion), but was pipped to the victory by Colbrelli. It was a display that made the world sit up and take notice, with Vermeersch set to head into this weekend’s race as one of the faces to watch.
It is a marker he has earned through his fifth-place ride for UAE Team Emirates-XRG last season and his exceptional performances throughout this spring.
The 27-year-old has been at the forefront of racing right from the flag drop at Omloop Nieuwsblad. There, Vermeersch claimed third place after tearing the race to pieces on the Molenberg. This form continued through the spring, where another third place followed at the E3 Saxo Classic, with the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider also proving instrumental to the Monument victories of teammate Pogačar at both Milano-Sanremo and the Ronde van Vlaanderen.
At the latter, Vermeersch once more detonated the action on the Molenberg and continued his effort to the finish in Oudenaarde to take a well-deserved seventh place. Fresh from signing a long-term contract extension with UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the Belgian will hope to prove just as influential on the result at this Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix.
Vermeersch and Pogačar are not the only riders with an impressive history at Paris-Roubaix for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. Indeed, their teammate Nils Politt placed fourth for the Emirati squad in 2024.
It is a race that suits the German to a tee, and he produced a career performance to take the runner-up spot at Paris-Roubaix back in 2019. That day, the tall rouleur was only bettered in a two-up sprint in the Roubaix Velodrome by Philippe Gilbert, with the Belgian taking victory in his fourth of cycling’s five Monument Classics.
Gilbert never did quite manage to join the exclusive club of three riders who have won all five Monuments in their career, but this is the task that has been set out in front of Pogačar.
In winning this year’s Milano-Sanremo, the Slovenian joined Gilbert with wins at four of the five, and now only Paris-Roubaix remains for Pogačar to sit alongside Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx, and Roger De Vlaeminck in the history books.
With victory at last weekend’s Ronde van Vlaanderen, the world champion became the first rider in history to win four Monuments in a row – dating back to last year’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège – and with a win on Sunday, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider would be the title holder in all five Monuments concurrently.
Of course, a whole host of riders will aim to stand in Pogačar’s way this weekend, not least of which Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Deceuninck. The Dutchman has won the past three editions of Paris-Roubaix and can equal the record of four victories at l’Enfer du Nord should he take an unprecedented fourth title in a row on Sunday.
Joining Van der Poel and Pogačar on the start line in Compiègne will be the likes of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), but it is the parcours as much as any opponent that makes Paris-Roubaix one of the most difficult tests of the cycling season.
Standing at 258.2km in length, Paris-Roubaix includes some 30 sectors of pavé, otherwise known as the infamous cobblestones. These sectors add up to make 54.8km of the race spent on the bone-rattling leftovers of 20th-century Europe. Amongst their number lay the notorious five-star sectors of the Trouée d’Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l’Arbre.
With each sector given a designated difficulty between 1-5 stars, the roadbook marks out these three sectors as the toughest of the day, and with good reason.
Falling with 95km to go to the finish, the Trouée d’Arenberg regularly marks the start of the Paris-Roubaix finale. It might sound like a long way to go, but anyone not in the right position at this stage of the race can count themselves out of the final podium. It is the most hotly anticipated moment of the race and as such, draws thousands of spectators to the Arenberg Forest each year.
Out of the Arenberg Trench, the challenges do not relent in Paris-Roubaix. Despite being known as a ‘pan-flat’ race, the five-star sector at Mons-en-Pévèle actually poses a difficult climb, especially given the dilapidated nature of the pavé. It was here that Pogačar surged to distance Philipsen and make it a two-man front group in last year’s race.
Further into the afternoon, Carrefour de l’Arbre marks the last real test of Paris-Roubaix, and those cobbles come to an end with just 14km to ride to the finish on the concrete banks of the Roubaix Velodrome. By this point, each rider will be at their limit, and any form of sprint in the aged structure can throw up any number of surprises.
Last year, Pogačar rode into the Roubaix Velodrome almost a minute ahead of his nearest competitors. Unfortunately for the Slovenian, the day’s winner Van der Poel had already crossed the line and celebrated his third victory in succession.
Both riders will be in search of their own history on Sunday, but between their strong competition and the nature of the pavé, they will have to go to hell and back to achieve it.
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Here's the team's update:
Tim Merlier will take on Paris-Roubaix, one of the oldest and most prestigious races in the world, which our team has won on six occasions with three different riders. The former European Champion, who is fresh off the back of his victory at Scheldeprijs on Wednesday, in what was just his second racing day of the season, will make his sixth appearance on the cobbles of northern France and is brimming with excitement at the thought of being again at the start.
“I can’t say that I will go there with big ambitions, which is normal after several months without racing. One thing that I can say for certain is that I’m glad to be at the start of one of the greatest races in the world”, said a smiling Tim.
Tim Merlier wins the 2026 Scheldeprijs on Wednesay, April 8. Sirotti photo
One of the most consistent riders of this Classics campaign, with top ten results in Milano-Sanremo, In Flanders Fields, and De Ronde, Jasper Stuyven is another Soudal Quick-Step rider who can’t wait to tackle the race which he has an affinity with since winning the junior version in 2010, as the reigning World Champion. Sixteen years later, the Belgian has ten Roubaix starts and three top-ten finishes, and is confident he can play an important role again this weekend.
“Obviously, Paris-Roubaix is a race I’m always looking forward to. It’s been a while since I had a good race there, but I hope to take my good legs and shape from the past weeks to the cobblestones of France. It’s a race that I just love, a race from which I have great memories ever since I was there as a junior. I hope to fight for a podium and leave it all out there. It would be great to do better than the fourth place that I had in the past, that would be a great conclusion to my Classics campaign”, Jasper said ahead of his 11th participation.
Soudal Quick-Step’s team for the 123rd edition of the French Monument will feature also 2022 winner Dylan Van Baarle, Yves Lampaert, a top-three finisher here in 2019, Dries Van Gestel, Bert Van Lerberghe, and Jonathan Vervenne.
“Dylan is a former winner on the velodrome, while Jasper is always consistent in these races, and we can aim for a good result. It’s a race that also suits Yves, who has had some good results here. Tim, Bert and Dries bring in a lot of experience, while Jonathan - our neo-pro - will gain experience and get used to this race, which for sure is something that will help him in the future”, added sports director Tom Steels.