Lesser known races 2026 edition

[TastyGroceries]

Yeah, and clever riding from Grégoire to use Visma's strength in number at his advantage instead of riding passively

 

[Potomac]

Drome was a good race so far.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Grégoire the favourite I would think, Jorgenson looks very thin, should be interesting in the Ardennes.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Messing about far too much!!!

 

[RedheadDane]

Of all the times the stream could freeze...

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Gregoire takes it. Jorgenson 2nd.

 

[Rob5091]

Gregoire wins in France - the peloton was close behind.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

France:

1	Grégoire Romain	Groupama - FDJ United	250	125	4:14:11
2	Jorgenson Matteo	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	170	85	,,
3	Martinez Lenny	Bahrain - Victorious	140	60	0:02
4	Hermans Quinten	Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team	120	50	,,
5	Lapeira Paul	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	100	45	,,
6	Godon Dorian	INEOS Grenadiers	80	40	,,
7	Scaroni Christian	XDS Astana Team	70	35	,,
8	Aranburu Alex	Cofidis	60	30	,,
9	Nerurkar Lukas	EF Education - EasyPost	50	26	,,

 

[Cycling111]

This must have been UAE's worst race in years. Not a single rider in the top 25. Not even Christen or Morgado.

 

[TastyGroceries]

This must have been UAE's worst race in years. Not a single rider in the top 25. Not even Christen or Morgado.

Cosnefroy looked strong but got a bit unlucky with how the tactics turned out, and burnt all his matches for the finish by chasing the front duo alone

Edit: Christen is 17th

 

[Alexandre B.]

This must have been UAE's worst race in years. Not a single rider in the top 25. Not even Christen or Morgado.

Cosnefroy was strong but his move on Mur d’Allex was not astute at all.

 

[Berniece]

Tomorrow is Le Samyn, they made it much harder this year compared to other editions. Still around 200km's, but now 1.850 meters of altitude.

 

[repre]

Tomorrow is Le Samyn, they made it much harder this year compared to other editions. Still around 200km's, but now 1.850 meters of altitude.

wow, that's a different beast now. Like that route

 

[Salvarani]

Looking at the startlist I wonder if a few teams have realised this

Feels like Visma should have this race in the bag

 

[search]

didn't they only change the finishing climb and added a couple of local laps?

But yeah, good to see that they try to toughen it up a bit. With the good weather we always use to get now this race is not hard enough anymore.

 

[search]

here's the old circuit

Ename Samyn Classic 2025 Circuit local màj 2024.11.27

Mise à jour 2024.11.27 - 29.1 km, +231 m. Bike ride in Dour, Wallonië

ridewithgps.com

and the new one

Ename Samyn Classic & Beobank Samyn Ladies 2026 Petit Circuit local màj 2025.12.29

28,1 km (idem pour les dames) - 27.4 km, +223 m. Bike ride in Dour, Wallonië

ridewithgps.com

 

[Berniece]

didn't they only change the finishing climb and added a couple of local laps?

But yeah, good to see that they try to toughen it up a bit. With the good weather we always use to get now this race is not hard enough anymore.

They removed the flat section of 100km's, and do more laps on the circuit. From 3 laps to 6.

 

[search]

They removed the flat section of 100km's, and do more laps on the circuit. From 3 laps to 6.

yeah, but as a result lost the longest cobbled sector, Rue du Vert Pignon. Not sure it really adds much. The climbs are all easy

 

[Samamba]

I do think it's harder, but profile definitely (like always) just makes it look harder than it actually is. Great weather to, sunny and no wind. That being said, Visma seems to have by far the strongest team so I don't expect a sprint.

Not a fan of making every race harder, but this one definitely needed it. Too many sprints the past few years, and this race was never ment to be for sprinters.

 

[Netserk]

there are some nasty cobbled roads they could add

 

[Rob5091]

WvA on the startlist for Samyn so Visma to be visible most of the day.

 

[Rob5091]

No Laporte for Visma at Samyn according to PCS. No reason given.

 

[Berniece]

No Laporte for Visma at Samyn according to PCS. No reason given.

He is ill

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2028757292644983076

View: https://x.com/vismaleaseabike/status/2028757292644983076

 

[Rob5091]

I don't suppose Laporte was out on the beers last night and has a touch of "cocktail flu", but it would be nice to be a little more precis.