Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
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Current racing:
- March 3: Le Samyn Classic
Upcoming racing:
- March 4: Trofeo Laigueglia
- March 7: Strade Bianche
- March 8 - March 15: Paris-Nice
- March 9 - 15: Tirreno-Adriatico
Latest completed racing:
- February 25 - March 1: Giro di Sardegna
- March 1: Faun Drome Classic
- March 1: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
- February 28: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- February 28: Faun Ardèche Classic
- February 22: Tour des Alpes Maritimes
- February 16 - 22: UAE Tour
- February 18 - 22: Volta ao Algarve
- February 18 - 22: Vuelta a Andalucia - Ruta Ciclista del Sol
- February 21: Classic Var
- February 16: Clásica Jaén
- February 15: Clasica de Almeria
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Here’s the team’s post about its upcoming racing:
UAE Team Emirates-XRG announces its squads for Trofeo Laigueglia and Strade Bianche, with Pogačar chasing a fourth title in five years
Raring to go in his second full season as the reigning world champion, Tadej Pogačar will lead a fearsome UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad at the upcoming Strade Bianche. The Slovenian will head up a seven-man squad on the white roads of Tuscany on Saturday, 7 March.
Tadej Pogacar wins the 2025 Strade Bianche. Sirotti photo
There, the 27-year-old will look to claim the title for a fourth time, having won the race in 2022, 2024, and 2025. Between all-conquering, long-range attacks and bouncing back from a dramatic crash to win the race last season, Strade Bianche has become synonymous with feats of excellence from the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider.
As such, anticipation has been building for this race ever since Pogačar laid out his 2026 battle plans at the team’s winter training camp.
With the world champion eyeing up a record-making fourth success in Siena, UAE Team Emirates-XRG has put together a highly-capable squad that will be guided in the team car by Sports Directors, Andrej Hauptman and Manuele Mori.
Making his third appearance in as many years at Strade Bianche, Isaac del Toro will be back on Italian roads for the first time this season. Having taken the runner-up spot at the Giro d’Italia last year before romping to seven victories in eleven races in Italy to close out his 2025, the Mexican national champion will feel right at home in Tuscany.
Del Toro’s first outing of the season landed him two stage wins and the overall title at the UAE Tour in late February.
Alongside Pogačar and Del Toro at Strade Bianche will be an accomplished list of riders: Jan Christen, Felix Großschartner, Domen Novak, Florian Vermeersch and Kevin Vermaerke. Between them, the defending champion will have plenty of firepower to call on to make the race as selective as possible on Saturday afternoon.
It is a task that Pogačar is relishing.
Pogačar: “Strade is a race where I have unforgettable memories. My record there is pretty good and I hope that I will be in a good position again come Saturday. We expect there to be some strong rivals, the startlist is always at a high level for these big races and it should make things exciting for the fans.
“It is my first race of the season, and I hope to have a good start. I’ve been cheering on from the couch until now, so I’m excited to get stuck in myself again and finally race. The team has been on a good wave at the moment with many wins already and we hope to continue that over the next few races.”
At 202.7km in length, this year’s Strade Bianche route is moderately less difficult than in recent seasons. Gone are two sectors of gravel in La Plana and Serravalle, reducing the total number of kilometres on the white roads down from 80km to 64km. These will be spread across 14 sectors in total.
Amongst those remain some of the race’s most iconic tests, such as the Monte Sante Marie and S. Martino in Grania. The former has seen Pogačar make irrepressive attacks in the past, and falls with a little over 70km to ride.
Before the race draws to a conclusion with the Via Santa Caterina – and the fabled Piazza del Campo – there will be visits to the double-header of the Colle Pinzuto and Le Tolfe. These gravel sectors often separate the best from the nearly men at the end of a tough race.
With its gorgeous vistas, oftentimes immaculate weather, and winding gravel tracks, Strade Bianche has become a must-see event on the calendar. With Tadej Pogačar in tow for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, that billing becomes ever more fitting.
Meanwhile, earlier in the week, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will take an ambitious roster of riders to Albenga for the start of the Trofeo Laigueglia. Taking place on Wednesday, 4 March, the Italian one-day event will see the Emirati squad look to defend its title from 2025.
In fact, UAE Team Emirates-XRG has won this semi-Classic on two occasions, through Jan Polanc and Juan Ayuso in 2022 and 2025, respectively.
With podium places also attained by Ayuso and Alessandro Covi in the recent past, this is a race the team knows well.
So it is that Sports Directors Fabrizio Guidi and Marco Marzano head up a team full of potential protagonists, with the experience of Benoît Cosnefroy, Felix Großschartner, Kevin Vermaerke, and Domen Novak complemented by the youthful exuberance of Adrià Pericas and António Morgado.
Raced from Albenga to Laigueglia, the Trofeo Laigueglia is 192km long with a fraction under 3,000m of elevation gain. Much of that is thanks to a succession of climbs that fall in the final 100m, including the Cima Paravenna (7.2km at 5.5%), Colla Micheri (1.9km at 8.4%), and the Testico (7km at 4.6).
The Colla Micheri will be ridden on three occasions inside the final 40km, before a quick run to home after the Capo Nele with just metres remaining.
At the Trofeo Laigueglia, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will look to build on its strong start to the season, which sees the squad sit at the top of the UCI rankings and with 13 victories already to its name.
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Here's the preview from Team Lotto-Intermarché:
The Samyn Classic officially opens the Walloon cycling season. After the Flemish Opening Weekend, a fresh team is ready for the Walloon cobbles. Matys Grisel (20) will ride Le Samyn for the first time and looks ahead to the race. “I’ve been following this race since I was a kid, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
With Cédric Beullens, Felix Ørn-Kristoff, Roel van Sintmaartensdijk, Sébastien Grignard, Steffen De Schuyteneer and Vito Braet, a team is ready that already found its rhythm on the Flemish roads last weekend. Tomorrow they will be joined by Matys Grisel. He comes from the French block of races Classic Var – Tour des Alpes-Maritimes. The rider from Picardy is set to ride his very first Le Samyn (UCI 1.1). “I used to watch Le Samyn when I was young,” he says. “Precisely because, with its cobbled sections, it’s a race that suits me.”
Matys Grisel will race Le Samyn.
The slightly uphill finish suits Grisel perfectly. And given his excellent start to the season- he delivered consistent performances at the Étoile de Bessèges and finished fourth in the young riders classification- he is hoping to deliver a strong result at Le Samyn as well. Compared to last year, the course has become significantly tougher. The local laps have been redesigned, meaning the race now features considerably more elevation gain, with a total of 1,850 metres. “My legs feel good and in the recent races I was always up there at the front. That gives me confidence. Moreover, we’re starting with a strong team, so I hope we can show ourselves.”
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And here's the Le Samyn news from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
The Opening Weekend is already history, but that doesn’t mean we won’t continue our adventure on home soil, ready to take on more hills and cobbles, this time in the province of Hainaut.
The Samyn Classic, another race that we have won multiple times, is scheduled this Tuesday, over a 204km relentless course where positioning will play an important role. Narrow roads, tricky corners, a dozen climbs and a total of 29 cobbled sectors are the main ingredients of what should be an action-packed edition of this one-day race which usually favours the attackers, but where a reduced bunch sprint is also possible.
Soudal Quick-Step goes to the start of the 58th edition with a strong seven-man team comprising Ayco Bastiaens, Laurenz Rex – a former winner of the event and our top finisher in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne – Martin Svrcek, Warre Vangheluwe, Bert Van Lerberghe, and Devo riders Ceriel Desal and Stan Van Tricht.
Laurenz Rex wins the 2024 edition of Le Samyn
“The cobbles can make the difference and we can go on the offensive as there will be opportunities to do that, but we can also get involved in the fight for a top spot if it comes down to a mass gallop. Laurenz showed his speed here two years ago, and if this will be the scenario again, then we will try to do our best to support him in the sprint”, said sports director Niki Terpstra, himself a former winner of the Samyn Classic, on two occasions.
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