Lesser known races 2026 edition

[yaco]

My pet hate. A WT rider dropping back to the development team. This should not be allowed.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

One of the ugliest races I have ever watched, that final km winding through an industrial park with abandoned railways and dirty car parks. Amazing

 

[Dazed and Confused]

BEAT almost made it on the podium:

1	Sheehan Riley	NSN Development Team	125	75
2	Thijssen Gerben	Alpecin - Premier Tech	85	55
3	Bloem Joren	Unibet Rose Rockets	70	40
4	Kerckhaert Jochem	BEAT CC p/b Saxo	60	32

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Brennan won in Luxembourg again, but it's okay because he's riding for the WT team there.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Cosnefroy destroyed the competition on the uphill finish after being in a front group that detached itself from the peloton during echelon action in the last 25kms. Last 25kms were very entertaining.

1	Cosnefroy Benoît	UAE Team Emirates - XRG	25	30	11″	4:20:51
2	Renard Alexis	Cofidis	15	18	6″	,,
3	Kanter Max	XDS Astana Team	10	12	4″	,,
4	Maris Elias	Team Flanders - Baloise	5	7		,,
5	Gaviria Fernando	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	3	4		,,
6	Merlier Tim	Soudal Quick-Step		3		,,
7	Oliver Ben	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling		2		,,
8	Stites Tyler	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling		1		,,
9	Parisini Nicolò	Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team				,,

 

[yaco]

Brennan won in Luxembourg again, but it's okay because he's riding for the WT team there.

Brennan is riding in a mixed team. 3WT riders and 3 Development riders. In saying that, I thought you could only upgrade 2 Devo riders per race for a WT team.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Brennan is riding in a mixed team. 3WT riders and 3 Development riders. In saying that, I thought you could only upgrade 2 Devo riders per race for a WT team.

You're actually allowed to upgrade 4 for a race like this, so NSN could also have started with one fewer rider in Belgium and called themselves the WT team. The difference is that in Luxembourg there isn't any real competition, whereas 6 riders in the top-8 in Belgium are either current or former WT riders.

 

[Netserk]

Brennan is riding in a mixed team. 3WT riders and 3 Development riders. In saying that, I thought you could only upgrade 2 Devo riders per race for a WT team.

i think max 2 devo riders in .pro races and more in .1 races

 

[yaco]

You're actually allowed to upgrade 4 for a race like this, so NSN could also have started with one fewer rider in Belgium and called themselves the WT team. The difference is that in Luxembourg there isn't any real competition, whereas 6 riders in the top-8 in Belgium are either current or former WT riders.

Its excellent to upgrade riders from the Devo team to ride for the WT team as it gives them experience and of course they are not expected to win. However, pulling one rider from the WT team to the Devo team defeats the purpose of Devo riders learning to win at that level. I would have loved to see how Verbrugghe could have gone in the final but of course this opportunity was taken away.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I guess it can work similar to a "conditioning stint" in the minor leagues like they do in American sports. But I feel like it ought to be a case of you can allocate riders for a conditioning race or two with the development squad only if they've been out a set amount of time or are below a set number of race days.

Otherwise I think it's something that can be exploited, if not for teams in the pursuit of UCI rankings points, then in the pursuit of championship startlist allocations and qualification.

 

[search]

Over in Wallonie, Gerben Thijssen won the all important podium battle. Sheehan had a handicap start, though. Unibet essentially a DNS

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

1	Merlier Tim	Soudal Quick-Step	25	30	10″	3:16:03
2	Gaviria Fernando	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	15	18	6″	,,
3	Molano Juan Sebastián	UAE Team Emirates - XRG	10	12	4″	,,
4	Kanter Max	XDS Astana Team	5	7		,,
5	De Longhi Lorenzo	Campana Imballagi - Morbiato - Trentino	3	4		,,
6	Oliver Ben	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling		3		,,
7	Buda Simone	Solme - Olmo - Arvedi		2		,,
8	Einhorn Itamar	NSN Cycling Team		1		,,
9	Persico Davide	MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort				,,
10	Parisini Nicolò	Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team				,

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

Gaviria as usual.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2055295865187651939

View: https://x.com/faustocoppi60/status/2055295865187651939?s=20

 

[Tim Cahill]

Gaviria's *** tactic almost worked, he's revving up the form for the tour, won't be pedalling through wet cobbled corners either.

 

[search]

Hungary continues with the queen stage today, including a ~20k circuit up to the Pecs climb in the end

The last time they used this finish, it actually wasn't too selective (Poels won, Nys s.t. in 4th), but they've added a lap since (now 4 instead of 3), and wet weather should make things harder as well.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Come on electric double!!

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Rain all day in Hungary may short circuit Electric Double. I don‘t know if he‘s good in bad weather.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Paul is a man for all seasons.

 

[yaco]

Crazy in Hungary. Commissionares have cancelled the last ascent ( there are 2 left) with 2okms to go and 3kms before the second last climb which became the last climb. And Soderquist who is 20s down on the lead is in a break with 1 1/2 minutes.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

This can‘t be legal

 

[Devil's Elbow]

The jury might as well have canceled the whole race.

 

[nightowl]

So farcical it's hilarious

 

[yaco]

Think it cost UAE another win with Cosnefroy.

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

Think it cost UAE another win with Cosnefroy.

I'd say Jayco. With the original route, they were the favorites today

 

[yaco]

I'd say Jayco. With the original route, they were the favorites today

I don't think Plapp could have dropped Cosnefroy on the final climb.