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Saturday, March 28, 2026

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Start every day off with a smile and get it over with. - W. C. Fields

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Plato's dialogue Crito is available both in audiobook and Kindle eBook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Current racing:

• March 23 - 29: Volta a Catalunya
• March 25 - 29: Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali
• March 28: Classic Loire Atlantique

Upcoming racing:

• March 29: Gent-Wevelgem
• March 29: La Roue Tourangelle
• March 31: Paris-Camembert
• April 1: Dwars door Vlaanderen
• April 3: Classic Adélie de Vitré
• April 4: GP Miguel Indurain

Latest completed racing:

• March 27: E3 Saxo Classic
• March 25: Ronde Van Brugge - Tour of Bruges
• March 21: Milano-Sanremo
• March 20: Bredene Koksijde Classic
• 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

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Volta a Catalunya stage five reports

We posted the report from the race organizer with the results.

Here's the report from stage five winner & GC leader Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Jonas Vingegaard claimed a dominant win in the queen stage of the Volta a Catalunya, also taking a double triumph on the day. The Dane attacked on the slopes of the Coll de Pal and rode solo to the finish. With the victory, Vingegaard secured Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s seventh win of the season.

“I’m very happy with the gap I managed to create today,” Vingegaard said afterwards. “I love racing big races and winning big races. To do it here for the first time is really special.”

Jonas Vingegaard winning Tour of Catalonia stage five.

The hardest stage of the Spanish stage race came alive early. On the first climb, Davide Piganzoli showed himself at the front by joining a five-man breakaway. The young Italian held on well in the group but played no major role in the finale.

On the descent leading into the final climb, a crash occurred with Jørgen Nordhagen and Menno Huising involved. Fortunately, both riders were able to continue and reach the finish. An already reduced peloton then began the day’s decisive ascent, where Sepp Kuss and Vingegaard showed their strength.

The American set a high tempo on the slopes of the Coll de Pal before Vingegaard launched his attack. The Dane demonstrated his strong form and dropped his rivals, riding solo to take his fourth win of the season.

However, Vingegaard later admitted it was far from an easy day. “It was a tough stage. I didn’t feel at my best early on. On the final climb I thankfully felt much stronger again. My teammates did excellent work throughout the day, and Sepp made the difference on the final climb. I’m proud of the team effort today.”

Here's the report from third-place Lenny Martinez's Team Bahrain Victorious:

Lenny Martinez finished third on Stage 5 of the Volta a Catalunya, reaching the podium after a demanding day in the high mountains.

The 153.1 kilometre stage from La Seu d’Urgell towards La Molina marked the first major GC test of the race, with over 4,000 metres of climbing and a long final ascent. Strong winds near the summit led organisers to adjust the finish location in the final kilometres.

After an early breakaway animated the stage, the race came back together on the approach to the final climb, where the pace steadily increased and the group of favourites was reduced.

Stage five of the Tour of Catalonia gets started.

On the decisive part of the ascent, Jonas Vingegaard (VISMA) made the difference with a solo move to take the stage victory ahead of Felix Gall (DECATHLON). Martinez followed just behind, riding his own pace in the final kilometres to secure third place.

With this result, Martinez moves up to third overall in the general classification and takes the lead of the young rider classification heading into the remaining stages.

Lenny Martinez:
“Yeah, it was a tough stage. I didn’t feel particularly great during the middle of the day, but my legs started to come back later on. We managed to get a bit of a gap at the start of the climb with Felix Gall and Florian Lipowitz. Once Vingegaard bridged across, I tried to hold his wheel, but the pace was just too high. In the end, third place is not so bad.”

Here's the Volta a Catalunya report from points classification leader Dorian Godon's Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Oscar Onley led the Grenadiers home on the stage five summit finish at Volta a Catalunya, as Dorian Godon continues to lead the points classification.

Facing five categorised climbs, Embret Svestad-Bardseng, Carlos Rodriguez and Onley combined well in the bunch while an earlier break attacked up the final HC climb.

Ninety-three kilometers into Tour of Catalonia stage five, a break has a 1min 50sec lead on the pack

Onley set his own tempo to lead home the Grenadiers, finishing 18th on the day, while Godon maintains his lead in the points jersey. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) won the stage solo to move into the overall lead with two stages to go.

Team Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe posted this Tour of Catalonia report:

Florian Lipowitz finished the first mountain stage of the Volta Catalunya in fourth place, putting himself in a good position in the battle for the podium ahead of the final weekend.

On the fifth stage of the race, after four mountains in the run-up, the final climb of more than 16 kilometres up to the La Molina ski resort still had to be tackled. Jai Hindley led the remaining peloton into the finale. When the attacks began ten kilometres before the finish, Florian was wide awake and countered the attacks of the competition.

"I covered the first moves and then we managed to stay ahead of the rest of the peloton," said the 25-year-old. "The climb was very tough, there was a lot of headwind. And Jonas Vingegaard" - the day's winner - "was simply on a different level today."

Screen shot of Jonas Vingegaard winning stage five.

Florian recognised this without envy. But he also saw that his team had made a good impression. "I think that in the end we put in a good performance and showed convincing teamwork on the course." With Remco Evenepoel in sixth place, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe was the only team to have two riders in the top 10.

"Lipo was in front, so it wasn't my job to chase," explained Remco. "I did what I had to do: wait. In the last two kilometres, I pushed a little bit and then set up my sprint. And that was certainly okay."

With the aftermath of the crash on stage 3 still in his bones, there might not have been much more in it, even in a different constellation. "He still had to pay for it a bit," said DS Patxi Vila, "but it was still a very positive ride for him. Overall, I also saw a good performance from the team. After missing out on the leading group of five strong riders, it was up to us to control the race afterwards. But we did that well."

A difficult weekend - another mountain top finish on Saturday and the final stage in Barcelona, where Primož Roglič secured overall victory with a spectacular ride a year ago - are now still on the programme. "We still have two days to go. We'll have to see what comes our way - but overall I'm feeling pretty good," said Florian, looking ahead to what lies ahead.

E3 Saxo Bank Classic reports

We posted the report from second-place Per Strand Hagenes' Team Visma | Lease a Bike with the results.

Here's the report from third-place Florian Vermeersch's UAE Team Emirates-XRG:

Florian Vermeersch delivered what is becoming a trademark strong performance today to finish third at the E3 Saxo Classic, securing a podium result for UAE Team Emirates-XRG in one of the most prestigious cobbled races of the spring calendar.

The 208km WorldTour classic, which hits most of the iconic Flemish bergs such as the Taaienberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, played out in dramatic fashion right to the final kilometere as groups looked like merging very late in the day.

The decisive move came on the cobbled sectors deep into the race, where Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Premier Tech) launched a trademark solo attack, riding clear with over 40km remaining and ultimately taking victory by a small margin.

Behind, Vermeersch was among the strongest riders in the chase, showing resilience after a difficult moment earlier in the race where he suffered a mechanical at a crucial point. Despite that setback, the Belgian fought his way back into contention and positioned himself in the elite chasing group heading into the finale.

For the third year in a row Mathieu van der Poel wins the E3 Saxo Bank Classic. Sirotti photo

In the final kilometres it looked like Van der Poel would be overhauled however some hesitation right inside the final 1.5km meant the group of Vermeersch never caught him and so the Flandrien contested the sprint from the reduced group, crossing the line in third place, just  behind Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), who finished second.

Florian Vermeersch:
“I’m happy with the podium and the legs I have. It’s a little bittersweet though as I felt it could have been more. I maybe expected one more pull from my competitors as we were closing in on Van der Poel but that didn’t happen and he got the victory and we sprinited it out for second.

"But that’s racing and I can be happy with the podium. The positive thing is that Sunday we will go again and try for the win.”

And here's the E3 Saxo Classic report from Team Groupama-FDJ United:

The “Holy Week” of Belgian cycling got underway this Friday at the E3 Saxo Classic, a proper rehearsal for the Tour of Flanders. Keen to play an active role in the race, Groupama-FDJ United first put Bastien Tronchon in the breakaway, and the Frenchman managed to stay clear until the Oude Kwaremont, around forty kilometers from the finish. He was then joined by four of his teammates in a peloton chasing Mathieu van der Poel, who nevertheless went on to take victory. In the sprint for the remaining places, Thibaud Gruel ultimately finished fifteenth.

Just over a week before the “Ronde” and two weeks ahead of “Hell of the North,” almost all the Flemish Classics specialists were present at the start in Harelbeke this Friday for the opening of the cobbled fortnight. It all began with the E3 Saxo Classic, featuring sixteen climbs and four cobbled sectors over 208 kilometres. The Taaienberg, Paterberg, and Vieux Quaremont were among the key moments on the route, but many teams were already looking to anticipate the main battle, as was the case for Groupama-FDJ United.

Per Strand Hagenes leads in the first group of chasers. Sirotti photo

After thirty kilometres of fighting, Bastien Tronchon then managed to make his way to the front of the race. He was joined by five other riders, but it took nearly another half hour of effort before the peloton finally let them go. The gap then grew beyond three minutes, reaching a maximum of 3’30. It held steady at that level at mid-race, just before tackling the Oude Kruisberg and the almost continuous sequence of climbs. In the peloton, tension steadily increased, particularly approaching the Taaienberg, 70 kilometres from the line.

The gap then dropped to just 2’30 while two riders broke away from the pack, including Mathieu van der Poel, who soon launched a solo chase behind the breakaway.

At the front, Bastien Tronchon and his fellow escapees continued to work well together, but they could not prevent the Dutch favorite from catching them at the top of the Kapelberg, 45 kilometres from the finish, just before heading onto the Paterberg. At that point, a peloton of around fifty riders was only one minute behind, with Romain Grégoire, Valentin Madouas, Thibaud Gruel, and Axel Huens among them. Up front, van der Poel did not hesitate, immediately accelerating on the Paterberg before definitively going clear on the Oude Quaremont. “Bastien didn’t miss much to come over the top with Dewulf, which would have resulted in him holding onto the chase group that formed afterwards,” explained Frédéric Guesdon.

While the leader was engaged in a solo effort of more than forty kilometres, counterattacks multiplied in the peloton. As soon as he was caught, Bastien Tronchon even tried to launch another move approaching the penultimate climb of the day, but it was ultimately a trio that broke clear at the summit. Just behind, Romain Grégoire attempted to bridge across with a slight delay and eventually missed the move. This group eventually caught Dewulf and led the chase behind van der Poel over the final thirty kilometres.

Within the peloton, the chase also got underway slightly later, driven by Groupama-FDJ United. “I think we were really strong as a team,” said Romain. “We had five riders in the main peloton at the end, so we had to take responsibility and try to go for a result in the sprint, especially with Thibaud. We tried to pull, and I think we could have come back if a few more teams had joined forces.” Although the gaps narrowed in the final, and Mathieu van der Poel lost much of his advantage, the peloton ultimately failed to come back.

The Dutchman took victory after a tense final kilometre, while a group of around thirty riders sprinted for sixth place, twenty-four seconds later. Thibaud Gruel finished 15th. “We took our responsibilities. It didn’t necessarily work out in the sprint, but I think we did what we had to do,” Romain added. “We’re disappointed with the result because I think we rode a good race,” said Frédéric. “The guys feel they deserved a better result, and they know how important that is for the team and for this group. They stepped up but weren’t rewarded.”

Valentin Madouas (26th), Romain Grégoire (29th), and Axel Huens (31st), active in the final, also finished in the peloton this Friday, while Bastien Tronchon came in a bit further back after emptying himself in the chase. “I got sick before the first Classics, and the start of my season didn’t live up to my expectations,” Bastien said. “Clearly, things are improving, and this race really boosted my confidence. Now I need to recover.”

Racing on this terrain for the first time, Romain Grégoire added: “It was as hard as I expected. I wasn’t at my best on the climbs, so I suffered a bit.”“I think he still lacks a bit of confidence,” Frédéric concluded. “He’s less comfortable on cobbled climbs and needs to learn how to handle them, but he was still in the mix for his first time. We even had five riders up front, and almost all of them were young. Romain, Thibaud, and Axel were all riding their first E3. From that point of view, it’s a positive day, and it makes us optimistic for what’s next, even if I believe we deserved much better.”