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Monday, February 16, 2026
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2025 Tour de France | 2025 Giro d'Italia
We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. - Carl Sagan
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 1: 1909 - 1970 is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- February 16: Clásica Jaén
- February 16 - 22: UAE Tour
Upcoming racing:
- February 18 - 22: Volta ao Algarve
- February 18 - 22: Vuelta a Andalucia - Ruta Ciclista del Sol
- February 21: Classic Var
Latest completed racing:
- February 13 - 15: Tour de la Provence
- February 15: Clasica de Almeria
- February 13 - 14: Vuelta a la Region de Murcia
- February 7 - 11: Tour of Oman
- February 4 - 8: Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- February 4 - 8: Etoile de Bessèges
- February 6: Muscat Classic
- 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
We psoted the report from stage winner Axel Laurence's Team INEOS Grenadiers with the results.
Here's the report from GC winner Matthew Riccitello's Team Decathlon CMA CGM:
Matthew Riccitello: "It was definitely a stressful day with the wind and a big breakaway at the front. The team was extremely strong all day to control the gap and protect me from the wind, we were perfect. Starting the season like this with DECATHLON CMA CGM is a really nice feeling. I'm super happy with how the last three days have gone and I can't wait to see what the rest of the season has in store. I was already thrilled to be part of this team, and now I'm even more so. It was a real team effort; I couldn't have achieved such a good result without them."
Matthew Riccitello (right) beats Carlos Rodriguez to win Provence Tour stage two. Photo: X. Pereyron/LNC Cyclisme
Luke Rowe: "I think we should be satisfied. What pleases me most is the way the riders and behaved, even more than the result itself. Today, they controlled the race without stress, I never felt that we were in a situation where we were going to lose. Yesterday, the team positioned Matthew Riccitello really well before the climb, then they played tactically with Aurélien Paret-Peintre. It's always nice to win a race so early in the season."
The news
Aurélien Paret-Peintre at the foot of the podium
Fourth in Tour La Provence and first Frenchman, Aurélien Paret-Peintre had a successful race, keeping pace with the leaders during the queen stage.
Key number: 5
Like the number of professional victories for Matthew Riccitello. After winning the overall classification of the Istrian Spring Trophy in 2022, as well as a stage and the overall classification of Tour Sibiu Cycling Tour 2025, Matthew Riccitello has made a flying start to 2026. He won the queen stage of Tour La Provence, the overall classification, and the best climber's jersey.
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And here's the Tour de la Provence stage three report from Team Groupma-FDJ United:
In fine form since the start of the season, Victor Loulergue once again made his mark this Sunday in the final stage of the Tour de la Provence. Heading towards Arles, the day’s breakaway got the better of the peloton, and the 21-year-old was part of it. Although he was unable to match Axel Laurance in the closing moments, the rider from “La Conti” still secured an excellent fourth place at the finish. Rémi Daumas finished sixth overall and best young rider, while Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet placed thirteenth.
Axel Laurence wins stage three.
Just over 200 kilometres made up Sunday’s third and final stage in Provence, but from the start in Rognac, it was above all a demanding first hour that awaited the riders before heading towards Arles. “We had decided to stay alert from the start and we were right to do so,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “Victor Loulergue felt the most capable and motivated to go in the break, and he didn’t miss a single move at the start! There was an initial move of around fifteen riders at the top of the first small climb with all the favourites, and he was already there. It came back together, then a group of ten went clear — he was still there — but in the end it was the third move that stuck. They first went clear as a group of eight and he bridged across on his own, just in time! He really earned his place at the front.”
After around thirty kilometres, a nine-man breakaway managed to open up a gap, although the peloton kept it at around three minutes. “It was a hard start, and then it was full gas pretty much all day,” Victor said.
“We knew everything could be decided in the last fifty kilometres, so we stayed calm, even though there weren’t many sprinters’ teams left to chase,” Frédéric explained. “The wind was going to make the difference. If it had been crosswinds, it would have split the bunch and opened up a second race. But it was a tailwind, which ultimately favoured the break. Ineos had a rider up the road, so they had no interest in bringing it back, and we started to realise the break had a real chance of making it.”
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With forty kilometres to go, the gap was down to just one minute, and it then stabilised all the way into the final. With fifteen kilometres remaining, the time difference was still unchanged as the first attacks were launched within the breakaway group. Victor Loulergue managed to respond once, then again to another acceleration eight kilometres from the finish, but he was unable to follow Axel Laurance’s decisive move inside the final five kilometres. “He was starting to struggle,” Frédéric admitted. “He was a small step behind each time. You could sense some fatigue and that he was relying a bit on the others. He didn’t manage to follow the right move, but the strongest riders were up the road.”In the end, only Laurance reached the finish alone, while Victor Loulergue emptied the tank in the sprint a handful of seconds later to secure fourth place. “It’s frustrating to come so close to victory again,” the young rider commented at the finish. “It’s the second time this year I’ve finished fourth. That said, after such a strong day out front, I was a bit drained in the final. I’m still happy because I’m in the mix, but I want more and I’m here to try to win races. Hopefully it will come soon.”
“We were quite active this weekend, especially with such a young team,” Frédéric added. “On top of Victor’s result today, Rémi finished sixth overall and best young rider, and Guillaume was just outside the top ten. We were present in the breakaways and the young riders learned how to race as a team around a leader. There are plenty of positives. Only the crashes of Blake and Lorenzo in the final kilometre today slightly dampened the weekend”.
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Here’s the team’s news:
Jasper Stuyven and Dylan Van Baarle will get their maiden season with the squad underway in Portugal.
The only team to have won the overall classification of the Volta ao Algarve six times – a feat achieved with four different riders – Soudal Quick-Step will be once again present at the start of the five-day race which this year runs its 52nd edition.
Dylan Van Baarle leading the pack in stage 14 of the 2025 Giro d'Italia. Sirotti photo.
It will be the first outing in the Soudal Quick-Step colors for Monument winners Jasper Stuyven and Dylan Van Baarle, who have joined the team ahead of this season, and also their only appearance before the Opening Weekend. Joining them on the start line will be one of the best sprinters in the world, Paul Magnier, who returns at the start of a stage race for the first time since last year’s Tour of Guangxi, where he scored five victories on his way to winning the points jersey.
Our squad for Portugal’s most important race will be rounded out by former Belgian Champion Yves Lampaert, Maximilian Schachmann – runner-up here in 2020 and fifth overall last year – Dries Van Gestel and neo-pro Jonathan Vervenne.
Two flat stages, the traditional uphill finishes to Alto da Foia and Alto do Malhão, and a 19.5km flat individual time trial make up the parcours of this edition, and sports director Tom Steels is confident the Wolfpack can leave its mark on it: “The route is pretty much the same as in the past. We aim for good results in the bunch sprints with Paul, but our team includes riders who can do well in the ITT while also helping out in the sprints. It’s a balanced squad and we are looking forward to our week in Portugal.”
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