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Sunday, June 7, 2026
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Current racing:
- June 7: Brussels Cycling Classic
- June 7 - 14: Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Upcoming racing:
- June 10: Circuit Franco-Belge
Latest completed racing:
- June 1 - 5: Ethias-Tour de Wallone
- 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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Matteo Jorgenson's Team Visma - Lease a Bike posted this update:
For Matteo Jorgenson, the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes marks his first race since breaking his collarbone in an unfortunate crash at the Amstel Gold Race. Together with the American rider, we look ahead to the upcoming week of racing in France.
The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes gets underway on Sunday and consists of eight stages with several challenging finishes, a team time trial on the third day and a strong field of contenders. While Wout van Aert will pin on a race number for the first time since his victory in Paris-Roubaix, Jorgenson makes his comeback after recovering from a broken collarbone.
Matteo Jorgenson at the 2026 Strade Bianche. Sirotti photo
Jorgenson is eager to pin on a race number again after a period focused on recovery due to his unfortunate crash in the Amstel Gold Race. “I am really looking forward to racing again. I think this year I haven’t raced that much, which was by choice. Once I broke my collarbone, more races were removed. I’m really looking forward to getting back and to getting a number back on again”, Jorgenson says. “In the last three weeks I have trained really well with my teammates in Sierra Nevada. I have felt really supported by the team throughout the whole recovery process. I feel healthy and 100% so I am ready to race.”
The American is approaching the race with clear motivation. “I always want to try to win. It’s been my goal all season to win a race. In the end, I only missed two weeks of training. The injury set me back, but I was able to train really well and feel completely ready now.”
Sports director Maarten Wynants is also looking ahead with confidence. “It will become a tough Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, especially with this strong list of participants. We are also present with a strong line-up and as always we will do everything to get the best possible result out of it. For both our leaders it’s their first race back. For Matteo, it’s his first race after his injury. He has trained really good to be back in form. For Wout, it’s his first race back after his win in Paris-Roubaix, which means he is really motivated.”
Here's the Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes stage race news from Team UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
With the Giro d'Italia in the rearview mirror, all eyes will soon turn to the second Grand Tour of the season, the Tour de France. As the build-up to the sport's biggest race begins in earnest, the Critérium du Dauphiné awaits UAE Team Emirates-XRG and the WorldTour peloton.
Only, from now on, the race won by Tadej Pogačar in 2025 will be known as the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes going forward. Despite the name change, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes presents the same difficult challenge for the world's best.
Raced across eight stages from Sunday, 7 June to Sunday, 14 June, the French stage race will feature three summit finishes and a whole host of mountains. It is across this mountainous terrain that the successor to Pogačar will be decided, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG looking to its talented roster of climbers to go in defence of the title.
Heading up the eight-man squad will be this year's UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico winner, Isaac del Toro. Making his comeback from a crash that forced him out of Itzulia Basque Country, Del Toro is looking forward to debuting in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Isaac del Toro after stage 7 of the 2026 Tirreno-Adriatico. Sirotti photo
Isaac 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.”
In France, Del Toro will be joined by a squad more than capable of showing itself across the race's various mountains. From the team car, directions will be given by Sports Directors Fabrizio Guidi, Tomas Gil and Marco Marzano.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG seven-man squad is made up of Del Toro, João Almeida, Benoît Cosnefroy, Ivo Oliveira, Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, and Kevin Vermaerke. As for Del Toro, this year's edition will mark race debuts at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes for Almeida and Torres.
As the annual precursor to the Tour de France, the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (née Dauphiné) is a race in which UAE Team Emirates-XRG has enjoyed much success in recent years.
The Emirati squad won the race for the first time as Pogačar stormed to three stage victories in 2025, whilst previous stage success had been taken through Dan Martin (2018), Davide Formolo (2020) and Mikkel Bjerg (2023).
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Here’s the report from Imamura’s Team Lotto-Intermarché:
Shunsuke Imamura has successfully defended his Japanese national time trial title. In Shizuoka, the rider from the Lotto Development Team proved to be the fastest among the elite men. “It was very important for me to bring the national champion’s jersey back to the team,” he said.
Shunsuke Imamura has proudly worn the distinctive red-and-white Japanese time trial jersey for the past year, and he will continue to do so after once again claiming the national time trial title today. Following the Four Days of Dunkirk, Imamura returned home to focus entirely on the national championships. “Of course, after that busy month of May, I returned to Japan with a clear goal: to defend my national title,” he explained. “I was quite nervous about it. It was very important for me to bring the national champion’s jersey back to the team.”
“The course was mostly flat, so that was not the main challenge. The heat and humidity, however, made the race very demanding,” Imamura continued. “I started to fade a little towards the end, but I tried to pace my effort as well as possible and managed to hold on all the way to the finish.”
His strategy paid off, as he secured a second consecutive national title in the elite category. “I’m very happy about that. I would like to thank everyone who supported me along the way. Now it’s time to prepare well for the road race later this month and fight for another national title.”
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Here’s the team’s post:
Soudal Quick-Step's Giro d’Italia campaign delivered success on multiple fronts, with the team taking three stage victories with Paul Magnier, who also won the iconic maglia ciclamino. But perhaps most pleasing of all was the way the team came together around the young Frenchman throughout the three weeks of racing.
For Ayco Bastiaens, the race marked his first ever Grand Tour. For Dries Van Gestel, it was a reminder of just how rewarding it can be to play a key role in a successful sprint train.
Looking back on the race, both riders speak of a Giro that exceeded even their own expectations.
A fairy-tale beginning
“It felt like a fairy tale”, explained Bastiaens. “To start in Bulgaria, win immediately, take the pink jersey and then go all the way to Rome with the maglia ciclamino and take three stage victories was amazing.”
Paul Magnier wins 2026 Giro d'Italia stage one. Sirotti photo
While the results looked impressive from the outside, Van Gestel admits there was no guarantee things would unfold so perfectly: “Of course we believed in Paul. He had already shown last year and this season that he is one of the fastest riders in the peloton. But when you arrive at a Grand Tour with riders like Jonathan Milan and the other top sprinters there, nothing is certain. That’s why winning the first stage and taking the pink jersey was such a relief. It was something we had talked about and dreamed about since January. To make it happen on day one was really special.”
A team fully committed
One of the defining features of the Giro was the commitment shown by every member of the squad.
Bastiaens spent countless kilometres on the front controlling stages and protecting the team’s ambitions, a role he embraced throughout the race.
“I’m always devoted to the team and I never have any problems motivating myself for that kind of work, but it’s always easier when you know you have one of the fastest riders in the bunch who can finish the job at the end of the day. It was a really nice group. Everybody was 100% committed and when you have that, the days pass very quickly. We were always looking forward to the sprint stages, and everybody had a good attitude. It was really fun.”
Van Gestel saw the same thing from inside the lead-out train: “On television we looked really solid and organised. When you’re actually doing it, it doesn’t feel like that at all. You’re constantly asking yourself if you’re doing enough and whether everything is going according to plan. But then you watch the footage afterwards and you see from the helicopter shots that everything looks calm and under control. It was nice to see because it reflected all the work that went into it.”
The victory nobody expected
Ask either rider for their standout moment and they both arrive at the same answer: Magnier’s victory on stage 18, his third of the race. The stage had been expected to be broken up by a short but sharp climb towards the end, but a combination of Paul’s supreme condition and some great teamwork guiding him meant the day would finish in a reduced bunch sprint. “I think that was my highlight”, said Bastiaens. “Nobody really believed at the start of the day that he could win.”
Van Gestel agreed: “We honestly didn’t expect it to end in a bunch sprint. The stage was hard, the GC riders were racing aggressively, and we thought it would be difficult just to limit losses in the points classification.”
Instead, the team rallied around Magnier once again, as Bastiaens explained: “We brought him back into position and he finished it off. To win the stage and strengthen his hold on the maglia ciclamino at the same time was incredible. It was a huge team effort. Everybody was so happy. That victory gave us a huge boost heading into the final week and was a big motivation to keep fighting all the way to Rome.”
Growing together
Van Gestel has spent the last two seasons working closely alongside Magnier and believes the Frenchman has matured significantly in that time.
“He wanted to sprint at every opportunity and spent energy simply because he loved riding his bike. Now he’s become calmer and more professional. He still has the same joy and enthusiasm, but he’s much more organised. You can see it in the small details and in the way he approaches racing.”
For Van Gestel, helping guide that development has become one of the most satisfying parts of his own role: “I’ve always enjoyed working for a leader. What gives me the most satisfaction is knowing I contributed to a victory. With Paul, I’ve found that feeling again. Seeing him win and knowing I played a part in it is something I genuinely enjoy.”
Looking ahead
The celebrations may now be over, but neither rider has had long to reflect. Bastiaens was back training within days of arriving home.
“Next week we’ll already be racing with Tim (Merlier) again, so it’s back to reality”, he laughs.
Still, the memories of Rome will stay with both riders for a long time. For Bastiaens, completing his first Grand Tour while helping Paul Magnier secure the points classification was the perfect introduction to three-week racing. For Van Gestel, it was a reminder of the power of teamwork and the satisfaction that comes from contributing to something special.
And for Soudal Quick-Step, it was three weeks that will be remembered for a very long time.