Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Friday, April 17, 2026
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Current racing:
- April 14 - 18: O Gran Camiño
- April 15 - 19: Tour of Hainan
- April 17: De Brabantse Pijl
Upcoming racing:
- April 19: Amstel Gold Race
- April 20 - 24: Tour of the Alps
- April 22: La Flèche Wallonne
- April 26: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Latest completed racing:
- April 19:
Tour du Doubsrace cancelled - April 12: Paris-Roubaix
- April 6 - 11: Itzulia Basque Country (Tour of the Basque Country)
- April 7 - 10: Région Pays de la Loire Tour
- 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
We posted the report from second-place Alessandro Pinarello's NSN Cycling team with the results.
Here's the report from sixth-place Jørgen Nordhagen's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Jørgen Nordhagen made a strong impression in the third stage of O Gran Camiño. The 21-year-old Norwegian finished sixth in the third stage and moved up to second place in the general classification. He is now just one second behind the leader, Alessandro Pinarello.
The peloton set off on a 169-kilometre stage from Carballo to Padrón, with one serious obstacle along the way. On this Alto Pico Muralla, a second-category climb, Nordhagen showed his best form. The young Norwegian climbed alongside the best riders and reached the summit with five companions. Along the way, Nordhagen picked up a number of bonus seconds, which put him in a strong position for the general classification.
It was Ivan Romero who took the stage win in stage three.
In the final kilometers, Ivan Romeo launched an attack and immediately opened up a significant gap. The chasers failed to reel in the Spaniard, allowing Romeo to take the victory. Nordhagen crossed the line in sixth place, 25 seconds behind the winner. Afterwards, Nordhagen was honoured as the new leader of the general classification, but following a recalculation, it turned out that Pinarello is the new leader.
"That works in our favour, because now the ball is in NSN's court", sports director Robert Wagner says. "Tomorrow’s stage is so gruelling that there will undoubtedly be a gap of several seconds. Jørgen is in a strong position and showed today that he can keep up with the best on the climb. That’s a good sign."
Wagner continues: "In the final, it turned into a tactical battle between the leaders. At one point, three riders broke away, after which Yates and Jørgen exchanged glances for a fraction of a second. After that, it was man against man, and although Jørgen lost a few seconds to Pinarello, he gained a few on Yates. All in all, I don’t think it was such a bad day after all."
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And here's the O Gran Camiño report from Adam Yates' UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
On the third stage of O Gran Camiño, Adam Yates rose up to fourth overall for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. The Briton placed fifth on the stage to Padrón, with an adventurous ride over the day’s only categorised climb.
Yates was well placed heading into the day, having produced a good time trial on stage 1 and finished inside the leading group on stage 2, but it would require imaginative tactics on stage 3 to animate an otherwise flat parcours.
Adam Yates after stage 8 of the 2024 Tour of Switzerland. Sirotti photo
The cat-2 Alto Pico Muralla (10.7km at 3%) was the only climb on Thursday afternoon, but fell with more than 40km to ride. Sensing an opportunity, Yates was one of a number of riders who went on the attack on the climb’s upper slopes, with the group soon opening a gap of over 50 seconds to the peloton behind.
Over the ensuing descents, the front group of six riders split into two, and the eventual stage-winning move was made by Iván Romeo of Movistar. Meanwhile, Yates stuck to task and eventually came across the line in fifth place. That result was enough to see the 33-year-old move to fourth overall, now just 14 seconds from the race lead of Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Yates: “It was a good day of racing in general – the last 45km made for a hard final with some tricky roads and bonus sprints along the way, not my ideal terrain especially with some tactical games being played also, so I think we can look forward to the next 2 days that finish uphill and hopefully play for a result.”
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Here's the team's news:
The race that makes the transition to the Ardennes Classics, the final part of the spring campaign, Brabantse Pijl returns this year with a parcours identical to the one of last season. This means that the peloton will once again travel from Beersel to Overijse, over 162.6 kilometers which contain a total of 21 hills - including the Holsthede, Hertstraat, Moskesstraat, and the famous S-Bocht Overijse (1300 meters, 4.2%), the final difficulty of the day and the place where the winner has emerged so many times in the past.
Having triumphed here four times with as many different riders, most recently last year, our team will naturally aim to be again among the protagonists and fight for a good result on Friday, when the 66th edition takes place.
Pascal Eenkhoorn, Gil Gelders, Tour Down Under best young rider Andrea Raccagni, Pepijn Reinderink, Maximilian Schachmann - who will be at the start of Brabantse Pijl for the first time in his career - Martin Svrcek and Louis Vervaeke are the seven Soudal Quick-Step for the Belgian one-day event.
Remco Evenepoel beats Wout van Aert to win the 2025 Brabantse Pijl.
“The many climbs coming in quick succession should make an important selection before the closing lap, but we have a strong team where multiple riders can be in the mix in the finale, so that gives us confidence. We are prepared to do our best on Friday, and hopefully we’ll get a good result”, said sports director Sep Vanmarcke.
Here's the Brabantse Pijl preview from Team Jayco AlUla:
Mauro Schmid and Andrea Vendrame will headline Team Jayco AlUla’s roster for the hilly Ardennes Classics, with both aiming to capitalise on strong starts to the season.
Starting with Brabantse Pijl on Friday, 17 April, the riders will dip into the Netherlands for the Amstel Gold Race (April 19), followed by a return to Belgium for La Flèche Wallonne (April 22), and closing with the oldest monument of them all, Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April 26).
Schmid has been on flying form of late with the overall victory and a stage at Coppi e Bartali, wins at the Muscat Classic and a stage of the Tour of Oman, plus second at the recent NXT Classic. The Swiss champion will be targeting strong results across all four races, particularly at Amstel, where he helped Michael Matthews to a top-five finish last year.
Mauro Schmidt wins the 2026 Muscat Classic.
Vandrame, who will start his Ardennes campaign in the Netherlands, has enjoyed a very solid star to the year with consistently picking up top-10 placings right from the off. It will be the 31-year-old Italian’s first tilt at these races, but he’s proven himself time and again on similar terrain.
Also contesting all four races will be Anders Foldager and Alessandro Covi, who will be key support riders for both Schmid and Vendrame. Alan Hatherly will join the team for the final race of the block, adding to the punchy firepower in the line-up.
Racing from Brabantse Pijl until Flèche Wallonne will be Davide De Pretto and Asbjørn Hellemose. Meanwhile, Filippo Conca will ride at Brabantse, Jasha Sütterlin will contest just Amstel, and Koen Bouwman comes in for Liège. Rounding out the line-up will be Dries De Pooter, who rides Brabantse and Liège.
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And here's the Brabantse Pijl news from Edoardo Zambanini's Team Bahrain Victorious:
Edoardo Zambanini will lead the Bahrain Victorious lineup at the De Brabantse Pijl on 17 April, as the team targets a strong result in the 66th edition of the race, first held in 1961.
Zambanini returns to a race where he finished 17th last season and will be aiming to move further up the rankings. Alongside him, Pau Miquel, who placed 12th last year, brings valuable experience from this race and will play an important role in supporting Zambanini throughout the day.
Edoardo Zambanini racing in the 2022 Vuelta a España. Sirotti photo
The lineup is completed by Kasper Borremans, Balint Feldhofer, Fran Miholjević, and Attila Valter. Both Feldhofer and Borremans step up from the Development Team, continuing their progression at WorldTour level and gaining valuable experience in a demanding one-day race.
The race will start in Beersel at Provinciedomein Huizingen and finish in Overijse, covering a total distance of 162.6 km with 1,677 metres of elevation gain. After the start, the peloton heads towards Lennik before returning via Beersel to Overijse, where the decisive phase begins. Riders will tackle three laps of a local circuit of approximately 20 km, featuring key climbs including Hertstraat, Moskesstraat, Holstheide, and the S-bocht in Overijse—sections that are expected to shape the final outcome.
Sports Director Aart Vierhouten commented:
“This race is a hard race, we need to make sure the team supports Zamba as we look to take him into the top ten. The entry into the circuit mid way through the race will be a critical point and we will put Zamba in the right place to achieve a strong result inside the top ten.”