Lesser known races 2026 edition

[Dazed and Confused]

Solid race action. Good win for Lapeira.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

1	Lapeira Paul	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	125	75	3:38:08
2	Scaroni Christian	XDS Astana Team	85	55	0:02
3	Carr Simon	Cofidis	70	40	,,
4	Brenner Marco	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	60	32	,,
5	Martinez Lenny	Bahrain - Victorious	50	28	0:08
6	Costiou Ewen	Groupama - FDJ United	40	24	0:09
7	Mariault Axel	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	35	20	,,
8	Breuillard Nicolas	TotalEnergies	30	18	,,
9	Champoussin Clément	XDS Astana Team	25	16	,,
10	Mifsud Andrea	Team Polti VisitMalta	20	14	,,

Brenner probably did a little too much earlier.

 

[AlfaLum]

Unfortunate for Brenner and Martinez that Paret-Peintre got dropped. If they had kept him on board Decathlon wouldnt have led the chase.

I also think Brenner had a bit too much respect for Martinez in the end. If he would have attacked from the bottem of the climb he could have made it.

 

[RedheadDane]

Oh, ***...

(I did wonder what was going on with how they kept showing the caravan...)

 

[tobydawq]

Impressive that Picnic could avoid a top 10 in that situation.

 

[Samamba]

Marti 1 - Mulu 0

The duel has started

2 out of 2 for NSN in Rwanda, they'll win at least 4 this week.

 

[kingjr]

Unfortunate for Brenner and Martinez that Paret-Peintre got dropped. If they had kept him on board Decathlon wouldnt have led the chase.

I also think Brenner had a bit too much respect for Martinez in the end. If he would have attacked from the bottem of the climb he could have made it.

I'm so glad he's back in this kind of shape anyway after his crash in the Giro last year. I hope he can reach his full potential over the next few years.

 

[Rob5091]

Tour of Sardinia back from the dead - well, 2011 anyways, but amongst all the kiddies and wannabies are 2 WT teams (according to PCS).

 

[RedheadDane]

Tour of Sardinia back from the dead - well, 2011 anyways, but amongst all the kiddies and wannabies are 2 WT teams (according to PCS).

And not just that!
Live on Max.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Yep, out Italian friends have managed to facilitate a stage race:

First stage tomorrow. Startlist: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-di-sardegna/2026/startlist
An abundance of young and hopeful riders are involved together with a few well know "veterans".
Looks pretty good on paper. Stream should be available.

 

[SafeBet]

Andrea Raccagni Noviero was initially scheduled to ride this but he's ill. Soudal QS has a very solid team nonetheless.

 

[Rob5091]

And not just that!
Live on Max.

They seem to have sorted out the TV broadcasts pretty well -
https://legaciclismoprof.org/giro-d...clismo-internazionale-nellisola-dopo-15-anni/

As Lega Ciclismo we have worked to give maximum visibility to the event with daily and live Rai Sport and international coverage on HBO Max / D+ in Europe and the USA. The live broadcast will start every day from 13:40 to 15:20".

TELEVISION DISTRIBUTION 2026

In 2026, the Lega Ciclismo introduces a new multi-platform distribution architecture, with the aim of significantly expanding the national and international coverage of its competitions.

In Italy, in addition to the coverage guaranteed by Rai Sport, the races will also be distributed through the HBO Discovery platforms, consolidating the presence on the main broadcast and OTT operators.

Starting from 2026, a differentiated territorial distribution model is also activated, which provides for the strategic combination of Free-to-Air, Pay-TV and OTT streaming, with specific declination for individual markets and geographical areas, in order to maximize penetration, profiled audience and enhancement of rights. The competitions will also be available on the official digital channels of the Cycling League.

This new distribution formula allows to increase global coverage and offer partners greater visibility on strategic markets.

What has happened with the Giro TV rights, do we know?

A familiar face -

 

[search]

What has happened with the Giro TV rights, do we know?

I haven't seen any announcement either, but the old package Eurosport bought included all RCS races until the end of 2025.

So as they did show UAE Tour last week, there must be a new agreement already.

 

[Cycling111]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2026240859868455385

Ver: https://x.com/faustocoppi60/status/2026240859868455385?s=20

 

[Cycling111]

Justice for Pidcock

 

[search]

just giving Groenewegen a circular wheel looks like nonsense to me, but well, maybe the real analysis was more detailled. And who really cares, to be honest.

edit: here's the original photo finish. He may very well be ahead indeed, even without the circular wheel

 

[Berniece]

Justice for Pidcock

They are never going to take that away from WVA. For the interested, great write up about it here

Who won the Amstel Gold Race? Human error in photo-finishes

Investigating the photo-finish of last Sunday's Amstel Gold Race. With millimeters separating the two riders does the photo-finish camera tell the truth?

www.tglyn.ch

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Really meaningless analysis re Groenewegen . This is the sort of deep post analysis which should be avoided at all cost. Make an informed decision and stick with it.

 

[Squire]

just giving Groenewegen a circular wheel looks like nonsense to me, but well, maybe the real analysis was more detailled. And who really cares, to be honest.

I was thinking the same, but if you look at his back wheel, that's also way more circular than Moschetti's. So maybe the riders further away in the picture get circular wheels.

But I also agree that it's a bit too late to change it. It feels a bit like VAR disallowing a goal post-match.

 

[Netserk]

edit: here's the original photo finish. He may very well be ahead indeed, even without the circular wheel

yeah its actually a bad miss on the day

 

[search]

over in Rwanda, Jurgen Zomermaand from Picnic attacked and has around 25s over ~10 chasers with 4k to go.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I was thinking the same, but if you look at his back wheel, that's also way more circular than Moschetti's. So maybe the riders further away in the picture get circular wheels.

But I also agree that it's a bit too late to change it. It feels a bit like VAR disallowing a goal post-match.

Presumably Unibet filed a complaint much sooner, most probably on the day of the race or maybe the day after. Not their fault that the UCI operate at the pace Kenny van Hummel needs to deal with double digit gradients.

 

[Samamba]

Bit surprising. Benelux dominance

1. Zomermaand
2. Van Gils
3. Vanhuffel

Marti destroyed himself reacting to some attacks. Mulu also not good enough. No cooperation behind Zomermaand when he went.

 

[danielzu]

Seemed to me like Mulu had some sort of technical issue. He raised his arm and dropped back in a situation, where it went downhill. He pointed to his bike as well

 

[Breh]

Zomermaand

Top-tier lastname.