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Friday, March 20, 2026
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2025 Tour de France | 2025 Giro d'Italia
Last year we said, 'Things can't go on like this', and they didn't, they got worse. - Will Rogers
Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2021: The Little Cannibal Dominates is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing
- March 20: Bredene Koksijde Classic
Upcoming racing:
- March 21: Milano-Sanremo
- March 23 - 29: Volta a Catalunya
- March 25: Ronde Van Brugge - Tour of Bruges
- March 25 - 29: Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali
Latest completed racing:
- March 19: GP de Denain
- March 18: Danilith Nokere Koerse
- March 18: Milano-Torino
- March 8 - March 15: Paris-Nice
- March 9 - 15: Tirreno-Adriatico
- March 7: Strade Bianche
- March 4: Trofeo Laigueglia
- March 3: Le Samyn Classic
- February 25 - March 1: Giro di Sardegna
We posted the report from fifth-place Axel Zingle's Team Visma | Lease a Bike with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Milan Menten's Team Lotto-Intermarché:
Milan Menten finished second at the GP de Denain. He was the fastest sprinter in the peloton, only beaten by breakaway rider, winner and former teammate Alec Segaert. “It’s a bit frustrating that we just couldn’t catch him, but I’m really happy with my current form.”
Menten is clearly in good shape. After his fifth place at Nokere Koerse yesterday, he sprinted to second place in Denain today. Only eventual winner Alec Segaert, who attacked with 50 kilometres to go, managed to stay clear of the peloton. “He just stayed ahead of us, but we really came close,” Menten explained.
It was Alec Segaert who won the race.
“We were perfectly positioned as a team all day. We were exactly where we needed to be. When Arnaud (De Lie) had a puncture on the second or third cobbled section and we lost him, we switched to plan B for me. Together with Toon (Aerts), we tried to stay in the right moves.”
De Lie eventually suffered three punctures and could no longer play a role in the race. Menten also had his share of bad luck. “I had mechanical issues twice and went into the final with a rubbing brake. Luckily, we managed to stay with the chasing group. In the end, it was about gambling on a sprint and hoping we could still catch Segaert. Toon delivered a strong lead-out and I won the bunch sprint. It’s frustrating that we didn’t catch Alec, but I’m really happy with the form I’m in right now.”
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Seventh-place Axel Huens' Team Groupama-FDJ United posted this GP de Denain report:
Eager to take on the cobbles in his native region, Axel Huens lived up to his own expectations this Thursday at the Grand Prix de Denain. First seen at the front when the race exploded 50 kilometres from the finish—although he was unable to follow the leading duo—the rider from Groupama-FDJ United held his position all the way to the line in a reduced peloton and ultimately finished seventh. It marks a second top-10 finish in two days for the team, ahead of the Bredene Koksijde Classic on Friday.
A group on the cobbles of the 2026 GP de Denain
Less than a month before the “Hell of the North,” riders had a full-scale rehearsal this Thursday with the second round of the FDJ United Series, the Grand Prix de Denain–Porte du Hainaut. No fewer than 23 kilometres of cobbles, spread across 13 sectors, were on the menu—mainly in the second half of the race. The real difficulties only began with 90 kilometres to go, but the battle started much earlier in the peloton.
“It was a long fight to form the breakaway,” confirmed Frédéric Guesdon. “We wanted to try to get someone in it, because it sometimes goes far in this race. We had to avoid being caught out. Titouan and Bastien tried, but in the end Blake made it into an initial move of eight riders with the right teams. However, the peloton immediately chased behind with the teams that had missed out, and after more than 60 kilometres, a nine-man breakaway finally went. The peloton never gave them more than two minutes, which helped keep the pace high.” Before hitting the cobbles, Groupama-FDJ United lost Matteo Milan due to a crash, and the nervousness began to rise. “Positioning is never easy before the first sectors because everyone wants to be at the front, but we weren’t too bad, especially with Axel and Thibaud, who were our protected riders today,” added Frédéric.
The duo responded to the first accelerations, and Axel Huens even tried to anticipate with a group of about ten riders around 65 kilometres from the finish. However, the peloton regrouped before the decisive sequence of sectors 8, 7, and 6. It was indeed in sector 7, from Maing to Quérénaing, that everything blew apart. Per Strand Hagenes increased the pace and the peloton quickly shattered.
“Axel was well positioned and made the effort to get back on,” Frédéric explained. “A group of four got away, but that’s when Axel felt that Hagenes was a level above. He pushed again, while Axel needed a moment to recover. Then Alec Segaert came back very fast from behind, and we weren’t able to follow him either. Still, what Axel did was good, because we needed to be alert at that moment, and it was worth trying to follow.” From then on, a clear race situation emerged, with two riders up front and a reduced peloton behind. “We were in the mix with Axel, Thibaud, and Cyril,” Frédéric said. “But we lost Bastien to a puncture in sector six, which was unfortunate. Then it was about understanding who was still in the peloton. UAE took up the pace, we waited for things to settle, and then it became lively again in a sector—Thibaud followed and then counterattacked on the road.”
The young Frenchman broke away with half a dozen others but couldn’t make it stick, and it was the next move that proved successful. “At that moment, we weren’t vigilant enough and missed the counterattack,” Frédéric admitted. “So we had to sacrifice Cyril, who joined the chase.” With 10 kilometres to go, the Segaert–Hagenes duo had around a 30-second lead over the chasers and one minute over a 30-rider peloton, but the two groups merged six kilometres from the finish.
“We still had two good cards to play for a strong result, but unfortunately Thibaud crashed with three kilometres to go, leaving us with only Axel,” Frédéric added. While Hagenes was caught, Segaert managed to hold on solo to the finish, and the peloton sprinted for the remaining places just two seconds later. Well positioned, Axel Huens gave it everything and secured seventh place. “It’s a good result—he rode the race he had to and finished where he belongs,” concluded Frédéric. “He confirms he’s an important part of this group. Maybe there was potential for more, but it could also have been worse. The disappointment is for Thibaud—without his crash, we might have had two riders in the top 10.”
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Here's the news from Pedersen's Team Lidl-Trek:
Mads Pedersen will line up at Milano-Sanremo this weekend after recovering from the wrist fracture sustained earlier this season at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, with the Lidl-Trek rider cleared to race following a series of medical checks that confirmed he is fit to compete.
The Danish rider’s rehabilitation has progressed more quickly than anticipated, with the team taking a carefully managed approach to his return to the bike.
2025 Giro d'Italia stage 13: Mads Pedersen just beats Wout van Aert. RCS photo
“Mads’ recovery has progressed as well as we could have hoped — if not better,” said Dr Jens Hinder, Head of Rider Welfare. “With fractures, the central challenge is always timing: mobilise too early and you risk the repair, but immobilise the joint for four weeks and you then face a further two to three weeks rebuilding range of motion.
We took a carefully managed approach, introducing gentle wrist loading early — beginning on the rollers in Mallorca, then progressing to a gravel bike with adapted handlebars — always within strict parameters to ensure there was no risk to the fracture site. Mads’ attitude throughout made a real difference; his positive mindset was a genuine factor in both the healing and rehabilitation process.
All medical checks confirm he is ready to race.”
Pedersen himself admitted that a start at La Classicissima had not been the original plan, but that strong training sessions over recent days convinced both rider and team that the decision was right.
“Honestly, the plan was not to race Sanremo,” Pedersen said, “but we have done some really good training and we wanted to see specific numbers to be able to have a chance to make a good result in this race as well. After a few hard trainings this week, we believe that it is a good decision to race again, pin the numbers on, and get comfortable in a race again. Of course, the doctors and my coach also had a say in how and when I could make it back. Dr Jens did a lot of examinations with me and my hand and he is 100 percent confident that I am able to race again already — so it’s pretty nice to be back already. It’s really nice to be able to be at this point and start here in Italy. It’s a good starting point ahead of the Belgian Classics too.”
Milano-Sanremo takes place on Saturday.
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Here's the post from Pithie's Team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe:
There are riders who command attention all at once, and riders who earn it by accumulation. A good result here, another there. A presence that keeps returning until it begins to look less like coincidence and more like pattern.
Laurence Pithie’s opening months of 2026 have unfolded in that second manner. Across different races and different terrain, he has kept surfacing where it matters: near the front, near the moment, near the result. Most recently, at Paris-Nice, he came close again, finishing second on a stage and leaving with the sense that his first victory in the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe colours is not a distant idea, but one hovering just out of reach.
Laurence Pithie after stage two of the 2025 Paris-Nice.
None of it feels accidental. “I think it’s been a positive start to the season,” he says. “We definitely started off well in Australia and have built my form from there. We took a bit of a different approach this year, skipping the national championships and coming straight to Europe for a training camp. We had a few of the Classics boys there, and Jai as well, so it was a really good environment. We could train properly, train hard, and I think the work we did has shown itself already in the races.”
Paris-Nice offered the clearest expression yet of where Laurence stands. It was, he says, “a super good week for us”, not only because of individual placings but because of the way the team functioned throughout the race. Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe placed Dani Martínez second overall, and while the week did not yield a stage win, it brought repeated confirmation that the group was moving in the right direction.
“We worked really well as a team and everyone was on great form to go for the results we wanted,” Laurence says. “We were often in the top five on most stages, so that was a really nice week. Even if it almost came undone on the final day, we managed to salvage it with good teamwork, and Dani brought home the GC podium.”
For Laurence himself, his near miss on the second stage only sharpened his appetite. A second place can sting, but it can also clarify. It can tell a rider not only that he is close, but how close.
“I’ve been chasing a win since the start of the season,” he says. “I’ve been close a few times now, and that second place definitely keeps me hungry to fight for more. I think I just need a bit of luck to go my way and for things to pan out well. The win shouldn’t be far away, I hope.”
That hunger is made more interesting by the kind of rider Laurence is becoming. His value lies not in fitting cleanly into a single category, but in operating between them. He’s not the purest sprinter, by his own admission, but he’s far more than simply durable. A rider who can survive the climbs, read a changing race, and remain useful when the cast of contenders has already been reduced.
“For sure, versatility is one of my strengths,” he says. “I’m not the best sprinter, but I can climb quite well. If I can make it over the climbs with a select group, then that versatility definitely helps me. At the moment, I’d say it’s one of my better strengths.”
And here's the Milano-Sanremo preview from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
One day after the spring equinox, Pavia welcomes the World Tour peloton for the start of the season’s first Monument, Milano-Sanremo, a race which our team won on three occasions: 2003, 2006, and 2019.
The route, a massive 298 kilometers in length, once again has as its main attraction the climbs of Cipressa (5.6km, 4.1%) and Poggio (3.7km, 3.7%). Coming in the last 30 kilometers of the race, these two legendary hills are the places where those hoping to avoid a bunch sprint will make their moves in order to reduce the size of the peloton. The summit of the Poggio - which has been part of the course since the ‘60s - comes less than six kilometers from the finish on the emblematic Via Roma, meaning the chasers won’t have an easy task to make it back to the front, especially as the descent is a fast and technical one, favouring the attackers.
In 2021, Jasper Stuyven took a flyer in the final three kilometers and held off a select group to claim a memorable victory in “La Primavera”. The experienced Belgian will make his 29th Monument appearance on Saturday, together with a strong Soudal Quick-Step team that will include also Paul Magnier - one of last season’s best sprinters - Casper Pedersen, Pepijn Reinderink, Laurenz Rex, Maximilian Schachmann, and Fabio Van den Bossche.
Jasper Stuyven wins the 2021 Milano Sanremo. Sirotti photo
“It’s the first Monument of the year and the start of one of the season’s best months. It’s also a race where anything can happen and so many scenarios are possible. The squad we are taking there is a strong one and very motivated to fight for a good result on the Via Roma. Of course, we know it’s not going to be easy - it never is in a Monument race - but we are more than ready to show the Wolfpack spirit and give our best on Saturday”, said sports director Davide Bramati.
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