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Thursday, February 5, 2026
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2025 Tour de France | 2025 Giro d'Italia
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Current racing:
- February 4 - 8: Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- February 4 - 8: Etoile de Bessèges
Upcoming racing:
- February 6: Muscat Classic
- February 7 - 11: Tour of Oman
Latest completed racing:
- January 28 - February 1: Challenge Ciclista Mallorca
- January 31-February 1: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
- February 1: GP Cycliste de Marseille - La Marseilaise
- January 29: Surf Coast Classic Race cancelled
- January 17 - 25: Tour Down Under
- January 25: Classica Comunitat Valenciana 1969-GP Valencia
- January 1: GP Sven Nys
- December 30: Superprestige Diegem
- December 29: Trofee Loenhout-Azencross
- December 26: World Cup Gavere
- December 23: Superprestige Heusden-Zolder
- December 14: World Cup Namur
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We posted the report from third-place Arne Marit's Team Polti-VisitMalta with the results.
Mads Pedersen crashed out of the race. Here's the latest update from his Lidl-Trek team:
Update on Mads Pedersen's condition after his crash on stage one of Volta Comunitat Valenciana
Mads Pedersen suffered a fracture of the left wrist and right collarbone in the crash on day one at Volta Comunitat Valenciana, which will be operated on tomorrow.
The team’s first priority is to ensure Mads gets the best care possible and the immediate focus will be on a successful recovery to minimise the disruption to his season goals.
We will announce his return to racing in due course and will share any further updates only if necessary.
Mads Pedersen before the start of 2025 Giro d'Italia stage eight. Sirotti photo
Here's the Valencia report from Dries Van Gestel's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
The 77th edition of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana got underway this Wednesday with a stage between Segorbe and Torreblanca, a finish for the first time this century at the Spanish race. The undulating parcours had only two notable difficulties, Puerto los Madroños and Oropesa del Mar, and it was on the latter that the peloton split due to a sudden change of pace at the front.
Around 20 riders, including Viktor Soenens – a top ten finisher last season at O Gran Camiño – were left in the front group, who found itslf almost half a minute clear on the flat part taking to the finish. One rider quickly attacked, trying to take advantage of the situation, but he was brought back inside the closing kilometer after the second group managed to come across and contributed to the pace-setting.
Biniam Girmay wins stage one.
In the bunch sprint, Dries Van Gestel had a good turn of speed and took ninth place, behind stage winner Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team), while Soenens concluded in the same time and will be among the last batch of riders to roll down the ramp on Thursday, when the race schedules an individual time trial.
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We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from fourth place Maxime Decomble's Team Groupama-FDJ United:
The Étoile de Bessèges–Tour du Gard got underway this Wednesday in a convincing way for the Groupama-FDJ United Cycling Team. After a demanding day marked by challenging weather conditions and constant tension, Maxime Decomble and Ewen Costiou held their own in the short uphill finish in Bellegarde. The 20-year-old Frenchman even came close to the podium, securing fourth place just two seconds behind the stage winner.
Tom Crabbe win stage one.
Seventy-two hours after the opening of the French calendar with the Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille–La Marseillaise, France’s first stage race of the season began this Wednesday and will run through Sunday. The Étoile de Bessèges–Tour du Gard thus launched its 56th edition with the now traditional explosive finish in Bellegarde. A total of 150 kilometres were on the day’s menu, with rain making life difficult for the peloton for a long time as it chased down a four-man breakaway.
“We know this stage well and we’re always wary of it,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “You can lose everything very quickly, so we had to stay vigilant on wet roads and with such a high level of tension. These are stressful days, but the team was strong, united, and fully focused on the day’s objective.” “It was very nervous today, we had to fight for position all day long, and the pace was really high in the final”, added Ewen Costiou.
In the final thirty kilometres, the peloton indeed had to work hard due to the strong resistance of the day’s breakaway. That resistance was so effective that the last man standing stayed clear until just 500 metres from the line. At the foot of the final ascent of the Côte de la Méditerranée (700 m at 8%), Maxime Decomble and Ewen Costiou were well positioned by their teammates. Although neither of them was able to follow the wheels of Tom Crabbe and Lukas Kubis in the final hectometres, they did finish in the first chasing group, two seconds back, with Maxime Decomble taking fourth place on the line.
“I’m really happy because the goal was not to lose any time,” said the young rider from La Ciotat. “The whole team was protecting Ewen and me, so this result is a way of thanking them for the work they did. It was really great, and I even surprised myself on a personal level.” “The job is done,” Benoît added. “We had to be well positioned at the foot of the climb, and once we were there, we knew we could also fight for the bonus seconds. It was very close, but it’s still a pretty successful day for us.”Ewen Costiou crossed the line in eleventh position, while further gaps were made from thirteenth place onwards. “Starting well is obviously good for the group’s confidence,” Benoît concluded. “That said, we can’t afford to relax. There are still hard stages to come, and the weather could be just as challenging. Our priority remains protecting our two leaders, but if the course and stage profile allow it, we may try to go for the sprint tomorrow.”
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Here's the post from Laporte's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Christophe Laporte experienced a turbulent cycling season. A virus kept the Frenchman off the bike for several months, before he made a sensational comeback in the fall and won the Tour of Holland. Looking ahead to 2026, Laporte and Team Visma | Lease a Bike are aiming to peak once again in the spring classics and the Tour de France.
A muddy Chrisophe Laporte wins the 2024 Paris-Tours. Sirotti photo
“If you had told me this a few months ago, I wouldn’t have believed it”, Laporte said in October after securing the overall win at the Tour of Holland. “Personally, it was extremely important for me to return to a high level at the end of the season and head into the winter period with confidence. I didn’t want to constantly wonder whether I would ever be able to get back to my old level.”
“Now I’m convinced that I can”, Laporte continues. “Next season, I want to be the best version of myself again. I feel good, actually better than I expected. During my vacation, I put the bike aside for three weeks and then happily started training again. Mentally, I’m fully recharged.”
Tour ambitions
The situation was very different a year earlier. Medical tests in January revealed that Laporte was suffering from the cytomegalovirus. He missed the entire spring and did not race a single Grand Tour in 2025. “After riding the Tour de France ten years in a row, suddenly having to watch the race from the couch was a very strange experience.”
Next summer is set to mark Laporte’s eleventh start at the Tour de France. “As a French rider, the Tour de France is incredibly special, one of the most beautiful races of the year. I’m really looking forward to racing there again. As a team, we have a big goal: to win the Tour again with Jonas. I want to play my part in that.”
Classic dream
In addition to the Tour de France, the 33-year-old rider has more big plans for the new cycling year. “As a team, we need to be at our best in the spring. Over the past two years, I wasn’t fit and largely had to skip most of the spring season. My goal now is to be in perfect shape again and to fight for victories with the team.”
“And especially in the biggest classics: Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix”, Laporte lists. “But actually, every spring classic is a major race in my mind. Wherever we line up, we have to be racing for the win.”
Laporte already has April 12, 2026 circled in red on his calendar. “I would love to win Paris–Roubaix one day. That’s my dream. Winning it as a French rider on home soil would be incredible. Of course, that race also requires a lot of luck. Hopefully this year will be our team’s day.”
“Personally, I just want to enjoy cycling again and be able to race as I used to. I feel like I’m still improving. My level at the end of the season was already quite strong, and I’m holding on to that feeling during the training camps now. As a team, we want to win the biggest races. To do that, I need to be at my very best in 2026”, Laporte concludes.
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