Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
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2025 Tour de France | 2025 Giro d'Italia
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Current racing:
- March 8 - March 15: Paris-Nice
- March 9 - 15: Tirreno-Adriatico
Upcoming racing:
- March 18: Danilith Nokere Koerse
- March 18: Milano-Torino
- March 19: GP de Denain
- March 20: Bredene Koksijde Classic
- March 21: Milano-Sanremo
Latest completed racing:
- March 7: Strade Bianche
- March 4: Trofeo Laigueglia
- March 3: Le Samyn Classic
- 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
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Max Kanter's Team XDS Astana:
XDS Astana Team rider Max Kanter claimed victory on Stage 2 of the Paris–Nice stage race. Kanter won the bunch sprint from the peloton after a superb team effort and a perfect lead-out by Mike Teunissen in the final kilometer of the stage.
For Max Kanter, this victory marks his first success in the UCI WorldTour races, while for XDS Astana Team it is the team’s first win at this level in the 2026 season.
Max Kanter wins Paris-Nice stage two.
“For me, this victory is a dream come true. Paris–Nice is a very prestigious race and winning a stage here is something incredible. The last few weeks have not been easy for me, I had some health issues, and coming here I wasn’t sure about my form. Yesterday, on the first stage, the feelings were not very encouraging, but the speed was still there and today everything came together. I tried to stay focused throughout the whole stage, but the final kilometers were quite nervous, and with 2 km to go we lost many positions. However, Mike Teunissen stayed calm and I trusted him. Mike delivered a perfect lead-out, doing a phenomenal last kilometer and bringing me into the final 200 meters. After that I just gave everything I had in my legs, and no one was able to pass me. This victory gives me a lot of confidence that I can win at this high level. I want to thank the whole team – the guys gave 100% today”, – said Max Kanter.
Here's the Paris-Nice stage two report report from GC leader Luke Lamperti's Team EF Education-EasyPost:
Luke Lamperti defended his overall lead at the end of stage 2 of Paris-Nice.
The American also leads the young riders’ classification and sprinters’ competition as the Race to the Sun heads into its third stage, a 23.5-kilometer TTT along the Loire. He and his teammates rode a great finale today, pushing through traffic, as the peloton surged around roundabouts in the last kilometers of their journey from Épône to Montargis. Kasper Asgreen and Marijn van den Berg did huge turns to bring Luke to the front, as their rivals chopped into corners and tried to elbow them into the wind. He just got hemmed in along the barriers before he could launch his sprint and had to settle for fifth.
“I was a bit boxed in,” Luke said. “We were good. We had Asgreen there and Marijn brought me to position, but in the end, we didn't get to fully open up. We got it a bit wrong, but okay, we can learn from our mistakes and watch it back. We got a bit stuck on the barrier, always trying to go, and we never really got out, but it still was okay.”
The Paris-Nice stage two peloton with 71 kilometers to go. ASO photo
Luke is just the fifth American in history to wear the yellow jersey at Paris-Nice. For over 90 years, France’s most prestigious spring stage race has been the test of form for classics contenders. As he builds towards his favorite races, Luke will be honored to wear the maillot jaune tomorrow in the TTT.
“To go last team and have the jersey for tomorrow will be special,” Luke said. “Just to have another day in it and in a TTT as well is super nice. We’ll enjoy it for sure.”
Fourth-place Dorian Godon's Team INEOS Grenadiers posted this Paris-Nice report:
Dorian Godon unleashed a solid sprint effort to claim fourth place from a technical finish at Paris-Nice.
As expected stage two culminated in a mass bunch sprint into Montargis, with the French national champion arriving late on the right-hand side of the road to secure a top-five finish.
Max Kander (XDS Astana) held on for the win, while Sunday's victor Luke Lamperti (EF Education - EasyPost) retained the race lead.
Despite a fractured finale, the team's GC trio Oscar Onley, Carlos Rodriguez and Kevin Vauquelin all emerged safely to sit on the same time overall.
Attention now quickly turns to Tuesday's 23.5km team time trial, which presents a key test in the GC battle.
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Here’s the Paris-Nice race report from ninth-place Clément Russo’s Team Groupama-FDJ United:
The lead-out man turned sprinter. On stage two of Paris–Nice this Monday, Clément Russo put his lead-out duties aside to take part in the final sprint himself in Montargis. Isolated in the final kilometres, he nevertheless managed to find his way through the bunch to secure ninth place and a top 10 finish. On Tuesday, a crucial team time trial will be on the menu of the “Race to the Sun”.
Paris-Nice stage two's early break about 18 km into the stage: Casper Pedersen, Mathis Leberre, & Mattéo Vercher. They were all caught with 59 kilometers to go.
On paper, it was the least demanding stage of Paris–Nice. Between Épône and Montargis, the peloton certainly had 187 kilometres to cover but very little elevation to tackle. Moreover, weather conditions were also quite favourable across the departments of Yvelines, Essonne, Seine-et-Marne and Loiret. “There was a bit of nervousness at the start because of the wind, but it was forecast not to be significant, and once the race got underway it turned out to be even less,” said William Green. “So it became less of a factor.”
A classic race scenario unfolded throughout the day, with only four – then two – riders forming the breakaway, which was nevertheless caught relatively early, around sixty kilometres from the finish. The peloton briefly became lively ahead of the intermediate sprint, a crash occurred a few kilometres later, and then Dan Hoole attempted to surprise the sprinters in the final twenty kilometres.
Yet, the Dutch rider only had a handful of seconds’ advantage as the race approached Montargis and the final five kilometres, which were a bit technical. From the first key points, Clément Russo made sure he was positioned at the front. “Today was his opportunity,” added William. “And honestly, he did a super job. We know he’s got this amazing feeling in the final, we already saw it at the Ruta del Sol. He showed it again today and executed the plan perfectly.” Never sparing his efforts to move up and find space when necessary, the usual lead-out man was able to enter the final straight within a first group of riders slightly detached from a very stretched peloton. On the line, Clément Russo sealed it with ninth place, while Max Kanter took the victory. “This result seems like nothing, but at the same time it’s really something when you think that he did this all alone in the final five kilometres,” said William. “It could even have been better if he hadn’t been blocked in the sprint.”
After taking his first top 10 of the season, the Lyon native will return to his domestique role on Tuesday for a decisive team time trial. “The goal is clear: to improve on the past years,” concluded William. “This is the main objective, and we want to be in the top 10. We have a nice team, and we did a good preparation. We’ll make the maximum effort and assess things tomorrow evening.”
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And here's the Paris-Nice stage two report from Team Picnic-PostNL:
Stage 2 of Paris-Nice took the peloton on a 187-kilometre route from Épône to Montargis that was widely expected to end in a bunch sprint. Early in the stage, a four-rider breakaway moved clear of the peloton, later reducing to two riders as the race progressed. The escapees were eventually caught with 59 kilometres remaining, after which the peloton settled into a calmer rhythm for much of the run-in to the finish.
With around 20 kilometres to go, Daan Hoole launched a solo attack and managed to build an advantage of around half a minute. The peloton, however, gradually reeled him back in as the sprint teams prepared for the finale, with Hoole only caught inside the final kilometre. Team Picnic PostNL entered the closing kilometres aiming to position Casper van Uden for the sprint. In a hectic finale, Van Uden was unfortunately held up through a chicane in the final hundred metres, leaving Niklas Märkl to contest the sprint, where he finished 15th.
We psoted the report from stage winner and GC leader Filippo Ganna's Team INEOS Grenadiers with the results.
Here's the Tirreno-Adriatico report from third-place Max Walscheid's Team Lidl-Trek:
The old TT love is truly back for Max Walscheid: Already in his second race on the Trek Speed Concept the 32-year-old German impressed and finished third on stage 1 of Tirreno-Adriatico
After a short stint in the hot seat in an even hotter tent behind the finish line of Lido di Camaiore, Walscheid was only beaten by Filippo Ganna and Thymen Arensman over the panflat 11.5 kilometres.
Max Walscheid finishes his time trial. Sirotti photo
Walscheid beat Magnus Sheffield by half a second to fourth place, with Jonathan Milan three seconds behind Walscheid in fifth to secure another top result for Lidl-Trek on the opening day of the race of the two seas.
“I think it was a good performance. To be honest I did not feel perfect, but I could definitely push quite solid power and I’m also happy about the time. We’ll see what it’s worth in the end”, he said when leaving the hot seat with roughly 25 riders still to come. It was worth a lot.
The 2-metre-giant from Heidelberg proved how much power he can push with the pedals and the potential which still sits within him, when he’s set-up ideally for the fight against the clock. That is what Walscheid praised already a day before he went on the road to race to third place at the Tyrrhenian coast.
“I am pretty satisfied with my TT setup and I started the season knowing that now it’s depending on how many watts I put on the pedals”, he said on the eve of the race and elaborated on how happy he is with the attention the team puts into his time trial efforts.
“I have given my input, but did not have to find special solutions by myself – different than how it was in previous years of my career . I think when you look at my TT results you can see, in which years the focus on that topic was good and in which it was less so.”
Walscheid had raced to 5th place at the ITT European Championships in 2021 and followed up with 11th ten days later at the World Championships in Bruges, where he also won the gold medal with the German team in the relay. But, after that his results on the TT bike went missing, before he regained his TT momentum back in 2024 and 2025. “Looking back I have to say that I lost my motivation for time trialing completely in between for a period.”
Walscheid now feels it really helps again to put the effort in – and that culminated in a podium finish at Tirreno-Adriatico’s opening time trial. “I have already found a setup with the team with two tests on the track and one in the wind tunnel. So I can say the support I experience here is superb and the team provides everything you need to ride your bike fast. If now I put 500 Watts on the display, then it all comes together,” he said before racing to third place in Lido di Camaiore.
Interestingly Walscheid did not even feel he has reached top shape yet. “I think there are still some percentages of space in my build-up – and that’s normal and right so, because of course I want to be good here, but at the same time the classics season until Roubaix is still very long”, he said.
“I have a very intense period ahead of me with Tirreno, Nokere, Denain and Koksijde. That is very hard, but I need that to build up my shape. So I hope this can bring me in perfect condition towards the classics.”
The classics, that’s the second love of Walscheid next to time trialing. And at Lidl-Trek he also could deepen that relationship further, as he has been looking forward to racing together with Mads Pedersen all winter already.
“If you have one of three or maybe five riders in the world, who could win these big classics as your teammate then this is of course an incredible motivation,” he said.
“I collected a lot of experience at these races over the years and am very keen to contribute that.”
And then there is love number three for Walscheid as well: bunch sprints. Before being known as a good time trialist, he was a hopeful sprinter already himself. In 2018 he won the Münsterland Giro ahead of strong competition like John Degenkolb and André Greipel, led out by then and now teammate Edward Theuns.
Eight years later Walscheid still is fast, but over the years he developed into the role of a very strong leadout man. And similar to the situation with Pedersen, he also wants to excel in that role for Milan.
“If you bring him to the finale properly and ideally also lead him out until he starts his sprint, he wins. That is something I have not experienced in that way in my career, yet. I have worked with really strong riders, for sure. But he really has that especially high top class,” Walscheid praised his new Italian teammate, with whom he already celebrated three stage wins at the UAE Tour.
Max Walscheid, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhiher, Patrick Konrad, Simone Consonni and Edward Theuns after Jonathan Milan's victory on stage 4 of the UAE Tour - Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images
“Of course you want to start strong together straight away, but on the other hand a trusted relationship also needs time. I think, UAE Tour was a good kick start”, Walscheid explained, but also knows there is always work to do to improve the sprint train.
“To know it will definitely be worth it to give your all, motivates a lot. And I think everybody in the team and in the sprint train is motivated, not to be the weakest link in the chain.”
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Here's the report from eighth-place Ethan Hayter's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Ethan Hayter confirmed the strong start to the season he is enjoying, taking another good result in a World Tour individual time trial. After finishing fourth at the UAE Tour’s stage against the clock, the British Champion was again Soudal Quick-Step’s top finisher in an ITT, this time in Italy.
Ethan Hayter finishes his Tirreno-Adriatico time trial. Sirotti photo
Tirreno-Adriatico got underway Monday with a 11.5km stage for the specialists, who had the perfect conditions to hit some impressive speeds on the roads of Lido di Camaiore. The team’s last rider to roll down the ramp, Hayter was among the fastest at the finish thanks to a 54.74km/h average speed, which put him into eighth place at the end of this stage won by Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers).
Ilan Van Wilder, who came to the “Race of the Two Seas” with the ambition of doing a good general classification, was another Soudal Quick-Step rider to put in a solid effort on the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, concluding it in 12:56.
Very likely, the standings will change on Tuesday, when the riders will face the hilly roads to San Gimignano, where tricky dirt roads and a punchy finish await.
And here's the Tirreno-Adriatico report from 16th-place Matteo Jorgenson's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Matteo Jorgenson managed to limit the damage in the opening time trial of the Tirreno-Adriatico. The American recorded the sixteenth fastest time on the perfectly straight course, while Filippo Ganna set the fastest mark.
Matteo Jorgenson finishes his time trial. Sirotti photo
In the traditional opening time trial along the coast of Lido di Camaiore, Wout van Aert got things started for Team Visma | Lease a Bike. The Belgian posted a time of 13:18, after which it was a matter of waiting for the big names.
Jorgenson, one of the favorites, delivered a solid performance. He clocked 12:52, keeping the time lost to his rivals under control. In the end, Ganna proved by far the strongest with 12:08, taking the victory in the first stage.
“I had hoped for a better time,” Jorgenson admitted honestly. “Fortunately, my legs felt good. I know my form is solid right now, and I was able to keep the time lost to my competitors to a minimum.”
Team director Jesper Mørkøv was pleased with his rider’s performance: “It’s a good start to the week. Matteo lost a little time to some of his rivals, and we need to make up for that over the coming days. But I’m confident that Matteo can do it.”
While Jorgenson went all out, Van Aert took it easier with an eye on the rest of the week. “I felt good. The time trial was a nice preparation for the rest of the week. Tomorrow promises a great stage, and I hope to play a significant role in the challenging finale. There are also opportunities later in the week. Hopefully, it will be a great week.”
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