Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, June 11, 2026
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Current racing:
- June 7 - 14: Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Upcoming racing:
- June 14: Copenhagen Sprint
- June 14: GP Gippingen/Canton Aargau
- June 17 - 21: Tour de Suisse
- June 17 - 21: Baloise Belgium Tour
Latest completed racing:
- June 10: Circuit Franco-Belge
- June 7: Brussels Cycling Classic
- 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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We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Quinn Simmons' Team Lidl-Trek:
After helping Lidl-Trek deliver a strong performance in yesterday’s team time trial, Quinn Simmons carried his form into Stage 4 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, producing a perfectly executed ride to take victory from the day’s breakaway.
The 12 rider move formed early in the 167km stage but never established a big advantage over the peloton. With Simmons represented in the move, the Team was able to settle into a defensive position behind while the breakaway worked together to maintain its lead over the rolling terrain.
As the kilometers ticked down, so too did the gap to the peloton. With 20km to go and the gap sitting just inside 40 seconds, it didn’t look likely that the break would survive. Constant cooperation and a healthy tailwind meant it came down to the wire, with the breakaway seeing off the peloton by a handful of seconds. Backed by the confidence gained from the team’s impressive ride in the time trial the day before, Simmons timed his effort to perfection, launching a powerful sprint to surge clear and secure the win.
Quinn Simmons wins Tour Auvergne - Rhone-Alps stage four. Sirotti photo
With a stage victory now secured and confidence running high throughout the squad, we look to carry this momentum into the remaining stages, as the race heads towards the high mountains.
From Quinn...
"It was a big fight for the breakaway today and I really believed there was an opportunity, but then when the bunch only gives us like 2 minutes max, I was actually a bit in a bad mood and in my head, I thought it was just going to be a hard training, but yeah, we come and we hit the tail wind and it was a super strong group and luckily we didn't play any games. Everyone worked well together and I think we need to all give each other credit for fully committing and making sure one of us won.
"I think it's pretty special when a break actually goes like this and everyone respects that we're all super strong and we just have to beat the peloton, racing like this is super fun. I mean, it's a dream for any breakaway rider and to just hold off the peloton and it's my 1st sprint I ever won, so that's also kind of cool."
Here's the Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes report from Team Netcompany-INEOS:
Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley retained second and third overall as the breakaway prevailed on stage four of Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes.
The GC duo were part of the peloton which was unable to catch the day’s breakaway as Quinn Simmons (Lidl Trek) earned the victory.
Dorian Godon sprinted to 16th on the stage, but the peloton was contesting minor placings as the break took the spoils on the day.
Sam Watson was part of the breakaway which finally escaped the peloton after a 60km-long tussle on hilly parcours.
It took the category two Côte de Chougoirand to make the difference as Watson managed to bridge over to a trio of escapees who created an initial gap.
The British national champion then worked as part of the 12-rider group which managed to eek out a stable gap of around 1:30.
Kévin Vauquelin racing in stage 13 of the 2025 Tour de France. Sirotti photo
Unfortunately, Watson then suffered a crash on the descent of the Côte de la Roche en Forez and dropped back, but he was ok to continue and rode to the finish.
Meanwhile, the break continued to fight for every second on the run-in to Montrond-les-Bains and successfully evaded the chasing peloton to contest the stage win between them.
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Here's the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes report from Wout van Aert's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
The breakaway managed to stay clear of the peloton in the fourth stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Wout van Aert was ultimately the fastest rider from the peloton, crossing the line a few seconds behind stage winner Quinn Simmons.
The fourth stage took the peloton from Le Puy-en-Velay to Montrond-les-Bains. Right from the start, the riders faced several categorized climbs. A long battle unfolded before the day’s breakaway was established, but eventually twelve riders succeeded in breaking away from the peloton.
One day after its victory in the team time trial, Team Visma | Lease a Bike once again set its sights on success. The yellow-and-black squad took responsibility for chasing down the breakaway. After a long pursuit, the peloton closed the gap to around ten seconds, but the leaders impressively held on in the final kilometers. The ten remaining breakaway riders sprinted for the stage win, with Simmons coming out on top. Shortly afterward, Van Aert was the fastest rider in the bunch sprint. The 31-year-old Belgian finished eleventh.
Wout van Aert before the start of stage one. Sirotti photo
“The breakaway was very strong today,” Van Aert said afterward. “As a team, we did our part in the chase. My teammates put in a tremendous effort, but we just couldn’t catch the breakaway. In the end, I was the fastest rider in the peloton, but of course that doesn’t mean much. What I’ll take away from today is that I felt good on the bike and that we once again showed ourselves as a team.”
“After a tough start, it was difficult to gain control of the race,” sports director Maarten Wynants reflected. “Once the breakaway had gone clear, it wasn’t easy to organize the chase effectively. We did everything we could as a team, but in the end, we came up just short. Tomorrow offers another opportunity on a similar course, although we will also continue to focus on the general classification.”
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We posted the report from winner Corbin Strong's NSN Cycling team.
Here's the report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Paul Magnier made it into the top three at the 85th edition of the Circuit Franco-Belge, a demanding Belgian one-day race that took place Wednesday afternoon, in the province of Hainaut. It was an action-packed day of racing, but despite the numerous attacks that came in the last hour and the many hills on the 195.6km course, it culminated in a reduced sprint, just like last year.
Corbin Strong wins the 2026 Circuit Franco-Belge. Photo: Sprint Cycling
Our team controlled the closing kilometers of the race after a hectic day in the saddle, bringing back the various riders who attacked and keeping things together as the peloton gradually increased the speed in anticipation of the uphill finish in Mont-de-l’Enclus. The final kilometer was a selective one, featuring a punishing 10% section just before the line, so not just raw power, but also timing and positioning were essential there.
With the help of his teammates, Paul started the climb well-placed, but the gradient in what was his first appearance since the Giro d’Italia proved to be a bit too much for the Frenchman after a hard day in the saddle. Despite this, he was still capable of an impressive effort and took third behind Corbin Strong (NSN Cycling) for his eighth top-three finish of the season.