Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Friday, February 6, 2026
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2025 Tour de France | 2025 Giro d'Italia
It costs a lot of money to look this cheap. - Dolly Parton
Les Woodland's book Tour of Flanders: The Inside Story - The rocky roads of the Ronde van Vlaanderen is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- February 4 - 8: Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- February 4 - 8: Etoile de Bessèges
- February 6: Muscat Classic
Upcoming racing:
- February 7 - 11: Tour of Oman
- February 13 - 15: Tour de la Provence
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
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from Team Groupama-FDJ United:
Heading towards Domessargues, the peloton once again had to battle the elements this Thursday during the second stage of the Étoile de Bessèges–Tour du Gard. Despite the conditions, the day still ended in a bunch sprint, with Cyril Barthe getting involved to claim his first top-10 finish of the season (10th). Above all, Maxime Decomble and Ewen Costiou stayed out of trouble and finished in the peloton on the eve of a hillier stage.
Mathieu Kockelmann wins stage two.
After an explosive finish in Bellegarde the day before, pure sprinters were given their first real opportunity of the race on Thursday, with a slightly uphill finish in Domessargues after 162 kilometres of racing. A scenario similar to the previous day unfolded, with four riders up the road, very difficult weather conditions, and a tense chase in the final between the peloton and the breakaway. “Today, the main objective was to protect our GC leaders,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “With the rain and some exposed sections with crosswinds, it was still a risky day, and it was extremely important to stay well positioned and alert. Only in the final ten kilometres, if everything was under control, could we then move up to try and contest the sprint with Cyril.”
Constantly present near the front of the bunch, Groupama-FDJ United perfectly fulfilled their primary objective and even took control in the final minutes. However, in the last four kilometres, the French squad suffered a little setback. “Everything was going well, but Axel [Huens] crashed and that disrupted us a bit,” explained Benoît. “The positive thing is that he’s fine, despite some nasty scrapes. In the sprint, Cyril did what he could. He was just missing that little extra.” Starting from a bit too far back on the slightly uphill finish, the Frenchman had to settle for tenth place, with victory going to Luxembourg’s Mathieu Kockelmann. “This week, we knew we first had to get through the tricky stages before the two key days for the general classification — Sunday’s time trial and tomorrow’s stage to Bessèges,” Benoît concluded. “We have two strong cards to play, so we’re confident.”
As of Thursday, Ewen Costiou and Maxime Decomble sit 12th and 13th respectively on the general classification, twelve seconds behind race leader Tom Crabbe.
Content continues below the ads
We posted the report from stage winner Remco Evenepoel's Team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe with the results.
Here's the report from third-place Mathias Vacek's Team Lidl-Trek:
It was a wild and windy day on the Spanish coast for stage two of Volta Comunitat Valenciana. The conditions for the 17-kilometre individual time trial were extreme enough for race organisers to decide that finishing times would not count towards the overall general classification and that all riders would compete on road bikes rather than time trial bikes.
Despite the turbulent weather, Mathias Vacek showed his strong engine and came third on the stage, just 16-seconds behind individual time trial world champion and winner of the day, Remco Evenepoel. Mathias Norsgaard also finished inside the top-10, giving the team plenty of confidence with three exciting stages still to come this week.
Remco Evenepoel racing to first place in the stage.
Immediate race reaction…
“I knew it would be windy already, but during the recon it was surprising how dangerous it was. They decided to remove the time trial bike and use a normal bike to be safe and have no danger on the course. Nothing changed for me, I was still going for it and trying to take the stage. I knew Remco would be strong and he would go for it too. It was a good time trial to start the season. Even though I was on a normal bike I am satisfied with how it went and confident for the next stages.”
Fighting on for Mads
“Mads was the leader and the man of the team so it was bad for him [to crash on stage one] and I’m sorry he started the season like this. But he is mentally strong and will be back soon even stronger, so I wish him the best. We are still here fighting for him and for the team. The shape is quite good, the level is high here so it will not be easy to win a stage but I’ll do my best, I am confident and we will see how it goes.”
Content continues below the ads
Here's the Valenciana stage two report from fourth-place Ben Turner's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Ben Turner finished fourth in the time trial on stage two of the Volta Comunitat Valenciana.
Having switched to road bikes due to the windy conditions, Turner was the fastest Grenadier of the day, clocking a time of 20:33.705 to come home in fourth place on the 17km course.
Ben Turner winning stage four of the 2025 Vuelta a España. Sirotti phnoto
“I really felt like I could push it in the legs today, I could recover, and hold quite a nice pace so I think it’s pretty solid. It was a bit of a crazy day with the bike changes and not knowing what was going to happen, but I think it was solid enough. I had a good feeling and that’s the main thing. I got a good effort out, like in a normal TT, so that’s positive, especially at this time of year.”
Artem Shmidt started off proceedings for the team in his USA national kit, briefly sitting in the hot seat with a time of 21:42.42, before finishing inside the top-20.
Tomorrow’s third stage will see the peloton head for the hills, covering 158km from Orihuela to San Vicente del Raspeig.
Content continues below the ads
And here's the Volta a Valenciana stege two report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Jonathan Vervenne rode to seventh on the second stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, a 17km individual time trial, with some undulating, tricky and technical roads, held between Carlet and Alginet.
It should have been one of the most important days for the general classification, but due to the strong gusts of wind, it ended up not counting in the fight for the yellow jersey. Because of the strong winds, the riders had to compete on the road bikes and the organisers decided the GC times wouldn’t count.
Jonathan Vervenne racing to seventh place. Photo: Getty Sport.
The reigning U23 European ITT Champion, Vervenne was among the early starters and had a solid rhythm the entire stage, averaging almost 49km/h – which saw him finish in 21:09, just half a second outside the top ten. As the times weren’t taken into account, Dries Van Gestel remained Soudal Quick-Step’s best placed rider in the overall standings of the Spanish race.
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary