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Friday, June 5, 2026
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Current racing
- June 1 - 6: Ethias-Tour de Wallone
Upcoming racing:
- June 7: Brussels Cycling Classic
- June 7 - 14: Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- June 10: Circuit Franco-Belge
Latest completed racing:
- May 8 - 31: Giro d'Italia
- May 28 - 31:
Tour of Norway - May 20 - 24: 4 Jours de Dunkerque
- May 23: Veenendaal - Veenendaal
- May 19: Classique Dunkerque
- May 17: Rund um Köln
- May 16: Tour du Finistère
- May 10: Tro-Bro Léon
- April 26 - May 3: Tour of Turkey
- April 28 - May 3: Tour de Romandie
- May 1: Eschborn-Frankfurt
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We posted the report from new GC leader Riley Sheehan's NSN Cycling Team with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Arnaud De Lie's Team Lotto-Intermarché:
Arnaud De Lie claimed victory in the fourth stage of the Tour de Wallonie in Eupen thanks to a powerful sprint finish. For a long time, it seemed that the win would go to the late attacker Riley Sheehan, but De Lie managed to catch and pass him in the final metres. “I don’t even know if I raised my arms at the finish, I went so deep.”
Arnaud De Lie wins Tour de Wallonie stage four.
With numerous climbs along the route and an uphill finishing stretch, the fourth stage promised plenty of action. The high pace significantly reduced the size of the peloton. “I knew it would be difficult to fight for the win. Already on the first passage of the finish line, the pace was extremely high. Thanks to the work of my team, I was constantly well positioned.”
In the final kilometres, victory seemed destined for the attackers, Riley Sheehan and race leader Laurence Pithie. Sheehan in particular had built a solid advantage at the foot of the uphill finishing section. It was there that Arnaud De Lie launched his effort and began to close the gap metre by metre. “I didn’t hesitate for a second to accelerate at the bottom of the climb,” said De Lie. “I came in with speed and managed to surprise the rest of the group. The final 150 metres were extremely tough. I wanted to push even harder on the pedals, but I simply couldn’t. In the end, it was just enough to win.”
De Lie relied entirely on his own strengths. “I was really focused only on my own effort. I know that I’m very strong in efforts lasting close to a minute. Once I saw that I was rapidly gaining ground, I just gave everything until the finish line. Of course, you think about the victory, but my main focus was on producing the best sprint possible.”
After several days in which Lotto-Intermarché had not always enjoyed the best of luck, the stage win provided a welcome boost for the team. “This victory gives us a huge amount of confidence. During the first days, luck was not always on our side, but today everything finally fell into place. It was really great to race together with the team under these circumstances.”
Tomorrow’s final stage takes the peloton over a demanding route from Bassegne to Aubel. Arnaud De Lie is currently third overall, just three seconds behind race leader Riley Sheehan.
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Here’s the team’s update:
Known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and then as the Critérium du Dauphiné for almost eight decades, the prestigious French race is getting a new name this year - Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes - in order to explore the region the event now visits, one spanning from the famous Massif Central to the mighty Alps.
Taking place from 7 to 14 June and consisting of eight stages, this 78th edition will cover a total distance of 1204 kilometers and feature more than 30 classified climbs. A 28.4km team time trial in Perreux and three summit finishes (Crest Voland, Grand Colombier, and Plateau de Solaison) stand out at the most demanding stages of the Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes, the ones that will shape the general classification of what is one of the last major stage races before the Tour de France.
Steff Cras, Pascal Eenkhoorn, Ethan Hayter, Valentin Paret-Peintre - fourth overall at the Volta a Catalunya this season - Pepijn Reinderink, Martin Svrcek, and Mauri Vansevenant are the seven Soudal Quick-Step riders who’ll line up in Vizille, from where things get underway on Sunday.
Pascal Eenkhoorn finishes 2025 Tour de France stage 20. Sirotti photo
“This year, it puts on the table an important team time trial, some long stages and a tough final weekend, so plenty of days that can have an impact on the general classification. Steff and Valentin can try something in the mountain stages, Pascal and Ethan will be important for the TTT, while Pepijn, Mauri and Martin can go in the breakaways, as there should be some chances. Most of the riders come from altitude training camp, so let’s see what we can do in France”, explained sports director Tom Steels, who’ll lead the team from the car together with Wilfried Peeters.
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The team posted this:
As defending champions, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will head to the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes with a squad packed to the rafters with climbing talent. Celebrating its 78th edition this year, the race formerly known as the Critérium du Dauphiné will welcome the Emirati squad and the WorldTour peloton on Sunday, 7 June.
Running over eight stages through to Sunday, 14 June, the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes presents one of the toughest climbing tests of the season, and serves as an ideal tune-up for those with an eye on the Tour de France. A prestigious scalp in its own right, however, the week-long stage race was won by UAE Team Emirates-XRG for the first time in team history last season.
It was Tadej Pogačar who claimed that prize with three stage victories along the way. Before the two-time world champion, Emirati stage wins at the Dauphiné had come through Dan Martin (2018), Davide Formolo (2020), and Mikkel Bjerg (2023).
Tadej Pogacar won the 2025 edition. Sirotti photo.
Hoping to guide the squad to further success at the race now known as the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Sports Directors Fabrizio Guidi, Tomas Gil and Marco Marzano will take the reins for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
At their disposal will be a wealth of climbing talent, including Grand Tour podium finishers João Almeida and Isaac del Toro. For Almeida, Del Toro and their teammate Pablo Torres, this year’s Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes will present a race debut and the opportunity to hit the ground running after injury and fitness lay-offs.
For prior experience at the eight-day stage race, the trio only need to look for their teammates for the coming week, with the full UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad as follows:
– João Almeida (Por)
– Benoît Cosnefroy (Fra)
– Isaac del Toro (Mex)
– Ivo Oliveira (Por)
– Pavel Sivakov (Fra)
– Pablo Torres (Spa)
– Kevin Vermaerke (USA)
Benoît Cosnefroy last raced in the UCI 2.UWT event back in 2020, and is a man bang in form. The Frenchman added four victories to his name in the month of May alone, with a win at the Grand Prix du Morbihan followed up by standing on the top step of the podium at the Tour de Hongrie and the Boucles de la Mayenne. At the latter, the 30-year-old saw off stiff competition to land his first GC victory in two years.
With his explosive punch, Cosnefroy is a valuable weapon in the Emirati squad’s arsenal, as seen in his support of Pogačar’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory in the spring.
With 36 wins thus far in 2026, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will certainly hope to add to this number at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, where Del Toro will pin on a number for the first time since his ill-fated Itzulia Basque Country in April.
Prior to crashing out of Itzulia Basque Country, Del Toro had won his first two stage races in 2026, taking at least a stage win apiece from each. First up was the UAE Tour in February, where the Mexican delivered a thrilling display on the Jebel Hafeet climb to seal the title. After taking a podium place at Strade Bianche, Del Toro then followed suit at Tirreno-Adriatico by adding another prestigious title to his palmarès.
Taking time to recover after his Basque Country exit, the 22-year-old will be raring to go in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Del Toro: “I’m excited for the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It’s my first time at the race and I hope it will be the start of a beautiful summer of racing in France for me. Training has been going well, and things are going in the right direction.
“The level of racing will be high, no doubt, as a lot of the peloton are preparing for the Tour, but I think we are ready. It’s been a while now since my last race and I’m excited to pin a race number on again.”
As for the parcours itself, this year’s Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes presents a particularly mountainous challenge for the peloton. There is 22,673m of climbing across its eight stages, totalling 1,207km of racing. For the general classification contenders, there is no time to ease into the race, either.
Right from the gun in Vizille on the opening day, the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes heads to the mountains with a selective route that will no doubt create the first gaps amongst those with an eye on the podium. Heading to Saint-Ismier after 146.1km, stage 1 includes five classified climbs, the last of which tops out with just 20km to ride. It is no easy test, either, with the Côte de Rousset averaging 7.6% for 8.2km.
There will be no rest for the wicked on stage 2, with the day’s route between Saint-Martin-Le-Vinoux and Le Puy-en-Velay the longest of the week, at 233.9km. Although, despite accumulating to 3,741m of elevation gain, none of the five climbs is overly difficult, which could swing this stage in favour of a breakaway victory.
The last climb, the Côte de Saint-Vidal, rises for 2 kilometres at 7.4% before the finale flies downhill for a little over 10km.
Back to the general classification battle, stage 3 will be earmarked by all. Taking the form of a team time trial that begins and ends in Perreux, the stage 3 TTT follows the same rules as what will await the peloton in Barcelona at the Tour de France. Namely, the riders will head off the start ramp in teams, but it will be individual times that are taken at the finish of this 28.3km course.
Although the stronger riders may look to dart off on their own towards the end, teamwork will certainly be important across a rolling parcours with 426m of elevation gain.
After a dearth of opportunities for the sprinters across the first three days, the fast men may get their chance to shine on stage 4. Running from Le Puy-en-Velay to Montrond-Les-Bains, the 167km-long stage may include six categorised climbs, but none of these lies within the final 50km, which is flat as a pancake.
The last of the day’s climbs is the Côte de Roch-en-Forez (2.1km at 4.5%). Beyond its KOM marker, the road continues to climb and tops out with 52.5km to ride. From here to the finish, we can expect to see the teams with a sprinter to coalesce a chase of whatever breakaway is up the road.
Should they not get their way in Montrond-Les-Bains, the sprinters will almost certainly be at the forefront on stage 5. Clocking in at a little under 200km, the route between Saint-Chamond and Parc des Oiseaux has a pair of category four climbs within the first 10km, but beyond this, the route looks fairly straightforward for a sprint finish.
To the final three days, then, where the 2026 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes heads to the mountains for a trifecta of summit finishes to determine the winner of the yellow jersey.
First up is stage 6 to Crest-Voland, which looks to be the so-called easiest of the three, all things considered. The route from Saint-Vulbas is not too technical, with a long climb midway through the stage serving as an appetiser for things to come.
The last 21km of racing will see the riders climb the Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine (11.5km at 5.1%), descend for 3km, and then begin their approach of the climb to Crest-Voland. The final 5.9km of racing average 7.7% to the finish line.
A familiar test will await the race’s best climbers on the penultimate day, with stage 7 climbing towards the summit of the Hors Catégorie Grand Colombier.
There are a trio of shorter climbs to begin the day, none lasting for more than 5.5km, before the race settles into its groove for 40km and heads towards the longer tests. The Lacets du Grand Colombier is up first, standing at 8.4% for 7km, before the Col de Richemond (7.7km at 6%) further softens the legs.
From the summit of the Richemond to the foot of the final climb is a 14km descent, before the riders are challenged by the 8.4km-long Grand Colombier ascent. Taking the riders up to 1501m of altitude, the last climb averages 10.2%.
If that wasn’t enough, stage 8 on Sunday, 14 June serves as the Queen stage of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (née Dauphiné). There is a whopping 3,816m of climbing packed into a final day of racing that stretches for just 120km from Beaufort to Plateau de Solaison.
Right out of the blocks, the riders will tackle the 6.9km-long Col du Pré, with an eye-watering average gradient of 10.1%. Soon will follow the Montée de Bisanne (11.4km at 7.7%) and the Col des Aravis (7km at 6.8%), before a 30km stretch of mostly downhill will lead the peloton into the last climb of this year’s race.
Heading up to the Plateau de Solaison, the final ascent averages 9.1% for 11.3km. This is where we will see the final blows delivered in the 78th edition of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and Tadej Pogačar’s successor crowned.