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Friday August 28, 2026
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Current racing:
- August 22 - Sept 13: Vuelta a España
- August 25 - 28: Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
Upcoming racing:
- August 30: Bretagne Classic Ouest-France
Latest completed racing:
- August 19 - 23: Renewi Tour
- August 18 - 21: Tour du Limousin-Périgord
- August 13 - 18: Arctic Race of Norway
- August 16: Cyclassics Hamburg
- August 16: La Polynormande
- August 3 - 9: Tour of Poland
- August 4 - 8: Vuelta a Burgos
- July 29 - August 2: Tour of Denmark
- August 2: Circuito de Getxo
- August 1: Clasica San Sebastian
- July 28 - 30: Tour de l'Ain
- July 4 - 26: Tour de France
- July 26: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
- July 8 - 12: Tour of Austria
- June 24 - 28: National Championshps
- June 17 - 21: Tour de Suisse
- June 17 - 21: Baloise Belgium Tour
We posted the organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner & GC leader Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
Tadej Pogačar won stage 6 of the Vuelta a España on Thursday afternoon, with the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider extending his lead in the Red Jersey. The Slovenian now holds an advantage of three minutes and 34 seconds at the top of the general classification.
For Pogačar, it is his third stage win in six days, and his first taken on Spanish soil in this year’s race. With the Gran Salida in the rearview mirror, the Emirati squad has continued its magnificent start to the race in the Vuelta’s homeland.
After a daring attack on the day’s final climb, Pogačar was brought into an entertaining battle with Enric Mas of Movistar, who emerged as the Slovenian’s strongest climbing rival. The pair came together at the summit of the Puerto El Bartolo (9.4km at 7%) and, despite a few scares on the descent, traded turns towards the finish.
In the town of Castelló, Pogačar got the better of Mas in a two-up sprint, producing echoes of their Il Lombardia battle from four years ago. The day was Pogačar’s, with the world champion taking his 22nd victory of the 2026 campaign.
Tadej Pogacar wins Vuelta a España stage six. Sirotti photo
Pogačar had made his move with 24.5km to go on stage 6, after having been set up by the brilliant work of his teammates. It took 400m for the Slovenian to distance his immediate rivals before Pogačar went in search of the remaining remnants of the breakaway. The race leader eventually dropped all around him some 2.8km from the summit of the Puerto El Bartolo.
But that was just the beginning of the excitement.
Just as the 27-year-old looked set to press on over the summit alone, Mas of Movistar burst into the fray. Displaying a tremendous amount of fortitude, the three-time Vuelta a España runner-up mastered the gravel tracks of the final climb and bridged up to Pogačar. At the summit, their advantage over those behind stood at 34 seconds.
Onto the descent, Mas initially took the initiative, before being passed by Pogačar. For a moment, it seemed as though the 27-year-old might distance the Movistar man, but a tight corner almost got the better of Pogačar. In a split second, Pogačar was in the grass and off the road. It took a clever save from the race leader to remount his bike and quickly rejoin the wheel of Mas.
With that scare behind him, Pogačar continued to work with Mas, and the pair drove on towards the finish town.
Meanwhile, Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) were trying their very best to rejoin the front of the race. Thus ensued a thrilling back-and-forth battle between the leading pair and the three riders behind. Hovering between 15 and 25 seconds, the gap between the two groups left the race well poised.
In the end, despite Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) linking up with the three chasers, Mas and Pogačar proved too strong to be caught. Inside the final kilometre, the pair engaged in a two-up sprint for the stage 6 victory.
That victory proved to be Pogačar’s. The No.1-ranked rider in the world extended his GC lead ahead of the race’s first summit finish on Friday.
Earlier in the stage, questions were posed as to whether the day would suit the GC riders or a breakaway. With four classified climbs on the route, it was certainly feasible for a large breakaway to go up the road, after all.
However, such was the enthusiasm to be in the breakaway that the battle to go up the road stretched on for almost half the stage. This lengthy contest swung the day back in favour of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who would now only need to control the breakaway for less than half a stage in order to give an assist to the team leader, Pogačar.
In turn, the Emirati squad roared into life, with João Almeida and Kevin Vermaerke trading turns for an extended period of time at the front of the peloton. Their work was swiftly followed up by Pavel Sivakov on the lower slopes of the Puerto El Bartolo, as the advantage of the day’s breakaway tumbled below two minutes.
Twisting the knife further, Jay Vine and finally Pablo Torres delivered the pièce de résistance for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. Attacking over the top of Torres with 3.8km of the climb to go, Pogačar had the breakaway well in sight and could engage in what proved to be a sensational battle for the day’s honours.
Stage 6 was won by Pogačar on Thursday afternoon, but his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates could be credited with an instrumental assist.
Pogačar: “We had a plan that we could let the breakaway go today, but it took nearly two hours to form a breakaway. So in the end, we had to pull for less than half a stage to control. So João and Kevin did a great job to keep it together, and then we could go for the stage with Pavel, Jay and Pablo leading out on the climb, and setting me up for a perfect attack.
“I was just really surprised on the top. [Mas] flew by me like a rocket. I was not expecting it because I heard in the radio that I was leading by 40 seconds from the second chasers. There was no mention of Enric, so when he passed me, I was a little bit shocked. I was sure he knew the downhill, and then I was just happy to be with him into the last 10km of the headwind. I had no water, it was nice to have a companion next to me.
“In the end, I knew that I could beat him in the sprint, but I still appreciated that he committed fully. I also committed fully to the finish line, so chapeau to him, and it was a great race.”
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Here's the Vuelta report from Oscar Onley's Team Netcompany INEOS:
Oscar Onley fought valiantly to limit his losses and retain his white jersey after a stern GC test on stage six of the Vuelta a Espana.
Onley battled to the line in a chase group after being dropped stage winner Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and a small group of GC favourites on the final climb.
The result sees him move to seventh overall, +5:37 on race leader Pogacar.
Oscar Onley heads to the start of stage six. Sirotti photo
Earlier, there was a hectic start to the race, with many break attempts failing to go clear with Axel Laurance and Jack Haig's early moves thwarted.
This caused a high pace throughout the stage, with four categorised climbs on the agenda, the final one ending with a gravel section.
Once a break had established itself, UAE Team Emirates took up the reins and pushed the pace to keep them in sight. Indeed, Pogacar attacked on the Puerto El Bartolo to go solo from a dwindling bunch, with Onley in tow.
The world champion then went clear of the Netcompany INEOS rider, with Onley part of a small GC group behind. Earlier efforts then caught up with the Scot, and he lost more time to his rivals as they crested the summit and descended into Castelló.
A savvy ride from Onley then saw him wait for another chase group, to allow them to tackle a tough headwind together on the final run-in to the line, which saw him limit his losses and retain the white jersey.
Oscar Onley:
“I probably overcooked the final climb a little bit and paid the price towards the top. I took the descent at my own pace, and to be honest I didn’t want to be alone for the headwinds at the bottom and to the finish.
“When I saw Skjelmose and Kuss’ group coming to me, I tried to pull with them."
Gianmarco Garifoli's Team Soudal Quick-Step posted this Vuelta report:
One of the toughest climbs of this Vuelta came early, on the sixth stage, and its name was Puerto El Bartolo. Averaging 7.1% over 9.4 kilometers, this monster of a climb had two kilometers of gravel which seriously tested the riders together with the gradients that in some parts reached 17%. It was there that the main attacks of the GC men came, more than four kilometers from the top, spelling the end of the road for the breakaway, which also contained Gianmarco Garofoli.
Soudal Quick-Step’s Italian, riding his second Grand Tour of the season, was among the last riders to be brought back on the demanding unsurfaced section, having put in an impressive effort up until that point, which helped the group take their maximum advantage to almost three minutes.
Team Soudal Quick-Step at the stage six teams presentation ceremony. Sirotti photo
Despite being caught and despite spending a lot of energy in the breakaway, Gianmarco still finished the stage won by Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) as the first Soudal Quick-Step rider to cross the line in Castello, which returned as a finish for the first time in eleven years.
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And here’s the Vuelta stage six report from Clément Berthet's Team Groupama-FDJ United:
The Vuelta’s first two mountain stages have delivered their conclusion over the past few days, and Clément Berthet has shown that he is right up to the pace. Sixteenth in Andorra despite a puncture, the French climber produced a very solid ninth-place finish in Castelló on Thursday and now sits 13th overall. Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet is 16th, while Bastien Tronchon narrowly missed out on the top 10 (12th) on Wednesday in a reduced bunch sprint.
Vuelta stage six gets started.
The day after the first summit showdown at Font-Romeu was called off due to a heavy hailstorm, the general classification contenders had perfect terrain and ideal weather on Tuesday to battle it out in the Principality of Andorra. More than 3,000 metres of elevation gain had to be tackled over a short, explosive 105-kilometre stage, and the fight began on the long Port d’Envalira, where the peloton was considerably thinned out. Clément Berthet and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet managed to stay with the right group, but on the Colla de Beixalis, 50 kilometres from the finish, Tadej Pogačar launched a solo attack.
“We knew what was going to happen beforehand and it was fairly straightforward,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “Guillaume and Clément fought hard, but Clément was unlucky because he punctured on the penultimate climb, the Coll d’Ordino. Without that, he would probably have finished around 12th. It’s a shame to have lost time in that way, but that’s racing. That’s the only downside to this Andorra stage, because otherwise he showed that he was in good shape.” After less than three hours of racing, Clément Berthet crossed the finish line in 16th place, 6’29” behind the winner and Slovenian red-jersey wearer, and moved up to 16th overall.
On Wednesday, the general classification was not expected to change during a stage suited to puncheurs and sprinters, although riders also had to be wary of a key section midway through the race. “There was a big ten-kilometre stretch with a three-quarter tailwind, and everyone was worried about it,” Benoît recalled. “The breakaway was brought back and it was extremely nervous, just as we expected.” The peloton nevertheless didn’t split apart and approached the final series of climbs, between 60 and 30 kilometres from the finish, almost as a complete group.
“We knew the bunch would be reduced on the final climb, but Bastien was very well positioned and we were counting on him for the sprint,” Benoît added. Despite several attacks in the final, a peloton of around 100 riders did indeed contest what was almost a mass sprint, with Bastien Tronchon taking 12th place on the day. “He was well positioned with 1.7 kilometres to go, just as we had planned, but he lost some positions before the final corner, with 300 metres to go,” Benoît said. “It’s a shame because I think he had the legs for a top-10 finish. It was a sprint that depended heavily on positioning, and he was lacking a little confidence to move further up the line. He’s riding very well, but it’s been a while since he has fought for the top places because of his injuries.”
After leaving Catalonia behind, the peloton entered the Valencian Community on Thursday for a very hilly sixth stage, with the final featuring the climb to Puerto El Bartolo (9.5 km at 7%), including a very steep gravel section. “We knew there was a chance the breakaway could go today, but we also knew that UAE had the cards in its hands,” Benoît explained. “In the end, the race never really eased up. The breakaway went after 75 kilometres, but UAE immediately started riding, and that didn’t bother us too much since we had nobody up the road.”
Although very active during the first two hours of racing, Groupama-FDJ United missed the right breakaway, which nevertheless failed to build a sufficiently large advantage before the final climb. “It was a very difficult day and everyone was already pretty tired when they reached the foot of the last climb,” Clément Berthet said. Nevertheless, he delivered an impressive performance. While he logically could not stay with Tadej Pogačar and his main rivals, he produced an excellent climb to reach the summit alongside Mattias Skjelmose, Oscar Onley and Sepp Kuss. “I’m quite happy with the way I managed my effort,” he said. “I stayed in the wheels on the more rolling section and managed the gravel section as well as I could. I found myself in a small group and we managed to work well together all the way to the finish.”
After a technical descent and ten kilometres of flat roads, Clément Berthet secured his first top-10 finish of this Vuelta, taking ninth place, 1’38” behind the red jersey. “I managed to produce a decent sprint and I’m quite happy with my day,” he said. “It bodes well for what’s to come.”
“Clément was truly outstanding,” Benoît praised. “Finishing ninth on a hard stage like this is not only a very good result, it’s also encouraging for him and for the team. It suggests good things for the rest of the race, but we’ll continue to take things one step at a time.” On Thursday evening, Clément Berthet sits 13th overall, while Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet is 16th. Another summit finish awaits on Friday, with the stage ending at Aramón Valdelinares (10 km at 6%). “It could finally be a day for the breakaway,” Benoît concluded.
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
Juan Sebastian Molano (31) will race in the colours of Lotto-Intermarché from next season onwards. After eight seasons with UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the Colombian sprinter will join our Belgian team. With Molano, Lotto-Intermarché adds an experienced and fast rider who has already proven on several occasions that he can deliver in a sprint at the highest level.
Juan Sebastian Molano wins 2023 Vuelta a España stage twelve. Sirotti photo
Lotto-Intermarché is delighted to announce the signing of Sebastian Molano. The 31-year-old Colombian has signed a two-year contract and will start a new chapter in his career with our team. “After eight years in the same environment, I think this move will do me a lot of good,” Molano says. “I felt it was time for something different, and I’m convinced that a new and fresh environment will take my motivation to an even higher level. Because even after all these years in the peloton, that’s still what I am: motivated to achieve results.”
At Lotto-Intermarché, the pure sprinter will be given that confidence. With victories including Brugge-De Panne last season, the Grand Prix de Denain and stages in races such as the Vuelta a España and UAE Tour, Molano has more than proven himself. At Lotto-Intermarché, the aim is for him to fully play to his strengths as a sprinter again.
“Here, I’ll be a 100 percent sprinter again, and I’m really looking forward to that. I still remember the time when my current teammate Tim Wellens raced in Lotto colours. When I was a kid, André Greipel was one of my big heroes. I love Lotto-Intermarché and I’m really happy that I’ll soon get to wear that jersey myself. I’m also very curious to experience what it’s like to race for a Belgian team. Belgians are crazy about cycling (laughs). Races like Brugge-De Panne, Nokere… where everyone goes all-in, not only the riders but also the fans along the road… I think that’s incredible. I also dream of the Tour de France, which I’ve never raced before. That will be a huge motivation for me. I want to do everything I can to be at my best throughout the season and be ready for the Tour.”
Jean-François Bourlart, CEO of Lotto-Intermarché: “Sebastian is a rider who fits perfectly with what we want to add to our team. He has pure speed, but also the experience to position himself at the key moments and finish off a race. He has raced at the very highest level in recent years and knows what it takes to win. With us, he will have the freedom to fully go for his own opportunities again. We are therefore very happy to welcome him from next season onwards, and we will do so with open arms.”
Here’s the team’s announcement:
Edoardo Affini will continue to wear the colors of Team Visma | Lease a Bike in the coming years. The 30-year-old Italian has extended his contract with the team until the end of 2029, extending a successful collaboration that started in 2021.
Since joining Team Visma | Lease a Bike in 2021, Affini has become one of the team's most reliable and experienced riders. His commitment, professionalism and consistency have made him an integral part of the team over the past six seasons. Alongside his work for the team, the Italian has also continued to achieve strong results in the individual time trial discipline, where he has established himself as one of the specialists in the peloton. Affini has been of major impact in recent team time trial victories such as in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Tour de France.
Edoardo Affini in the GC leader's red jersey after stage three of the 2022 Vuelta a España. Sirotti photo
Affini is pleased to continue his journey with Team Visma | Lease a Bike. "I am really happy to extend my contract with the team. I think these next three years show the mutual trust and confidence we have built after already working together for six years. I have found my place here, and I am looking forward to continuing to work and improve in this environment."
The contract extension marks the continuation of a strong partnership between Affini and Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Since joining the team, the Italian has fully embraced the team's way of working and has established himself as one of the key pillars of the squad, both on and off the bike.
Marc Reef, Head of Racing, is happy that Affini will remain part of the team for the years to come. "Edoardo has become an important pillar of our team. He is a rider who combines exceptional physical qualities with experience, intelligence and a strong sense of responsibility. Whether he is working for a leader in a Grand Tour, supporting the team in the classics or focusing on his own ambitions, Edoardo always brings the same level of professionalism. Under all circumstances, he is a source of calm and quality for the team, and he has also become a true culture carrier within the group. We value his contribution enormously and are proud that he will continue this journey with us until 2029."