Lesser known races 2026 edition

[Squire]

Yeah, the mistake is that every team wants to give their Second tier sprinter the chance instead of attacking, but that‘s unsurprising

On the other hand, there weren't really that many strong potential attackers in the race either. Morgado definitely, but he was too late to the party. Cofidis with Page and Biermans should have tried something, Unibet too. And ideally Lotto, because Menten and De Schuyteneer aren't fast enough in this field, but that was unlikely I guess.

All in all it was quite passive racing throughout, but I guess with good weather it's hard to make a difference.

 

[Samamba]

That's on other teams tbh. I suppose maybe they were banking on Philipsen not having been that quick so far this year, but they have absolutely gifted him the win.

Don't agree with is. Or not in the end at least, they should've all went for the attack way more. Like Lotto and Red Bull for example were definitely blocking attacks for a long time. But in the end they had no other choice then to ride or Segaert won.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Result in Belgium:

1	Philipsen Jasper	Alpecin-Premier Tech	250	125	4:16:19
2	Meeus Jordi	Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe	170	85	,,
3	Molano Juan Sebastián	UAE Team Emirates - XRG	140	60	,,
4	Jeannière Emilien	TotalEnergies	120	50	,,
5	Menten Milan	Lotto Intermarché	100	45	,,
6	Kubiš Lukáš	Unibet Rose Rockets	80	40	,,
7	Biermans Jenthe	Cofidis	70	35	,,
8	Penhoët Paul	Groupama - FDJ United	60	30	,,
9	De Schuyteneer Steffen	Lotto Intermarché	50	26	,,
10	Morgado António	UAE Team Emirates - XRG	40	22	,,

Happy to see EJ getting back in the top 10 game.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

What happened to dainese

 

[Samu Cuenca]

What happened to dainese

Carlton Kirby mentioned him at one point, so that probably didn't help.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

What happened to dainese

managed to beat Kopecky for a 18th place.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Moving swiftly along to the next race scheduled for tomorrow: 67th Grand Prix de Denain - Porte du Hainaut (1.Pro).

A different graphic with a build in comprehension test from race organizer:

Startlist: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/gp-de-denain/2026/startlist

There will be live footage.

 

[Squire]

Hagenes power!

 

[proffate]

Molano absolutely Gaviriad it going with 250 to go on an uphill sprint

Except he got a podium

 

[Dazed and Confused]

The last stage in Taiwan was won by Carstensen. Lotto took industrial farming to a new level. Final GC:

1	1	-	Grisel Matys	Lotto Intermarché	125	100	16″	13:37:18
2	2	-	Fox Matthew	Lotto Intermarché	85	70	12″	0:04
3	3	-	López Jordi	Euskaltel - Euskadi	70	50	11″	0:05
4	4	-	Gimeno Nil	Equipo Kern Pharma	60	36	7″	0:09
5	10	▲5	Hopkins Dylan	Roojai Insurance Winspace	50	28	3″	0:13
6	5	▼1	Cobo Iván	Equipo Kern Pharma	40	24	3″	,,
7	6	▼1	Browning Fergus	Terengganu Cycling Team	35	20	3″	,,
8	7	▼1	Bettles Carter	Roojai Insurance Winspace	30	18	3″	,,
9	8	▼1	Quartucci Lorenzo	Burgos Burpellet BH	25	16	2″	0:14
10	9	▼1	Koishi Yuma	Kinan Racing Team	20	14	2″	,,

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Except he got a podium

Even the washed-up version of Gaviria sometimes managed that. The final stage of Romandie 2023, where he launched with at least 300 metres to go and won, comes to mind.

 

[yaco]

Matthew Fox is an interesting rider. he got into the WT by riding for a club team for the last two years. Even the Aussies know little about his background.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Nice nine-rider break in Denain, breaks are notoriously hard to reel in in flat cobble races.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

solid brisk pace so far according to pcs: 47.2 km/h avg after 92kms. Live pics in about 40mins.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

We‘re live and the Peloton is significantly reduced at the moment with some splits.
Edit: mostly back together now

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Whoever wins has a big asterisk on their name as roglic is not here

 

[Netserk]

barry is a big boy

 

[Dazed and Confused]

de Lie behind peloton with a rough, but short sector (nr 9) coming up.

 

[Samamba]

Where tf is the Lotto car or just De Lie's teammates

There's still time to come back but obviously need to drop back teammates

 

[Netserk]

Where tf is the Lotto car or just De Lie's teammates

There's still time to come back but obviously need to drop back teammates

not the smoothest return

 

[Samamba]

not the smoothest return

I hope it was because of comm issues cause this was a lot of wasted energy for no reason. De Lie himself also too panicky, had enough time imo after next sector to come back with teammates or between cars

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Another mech for De Lie, as well as Bol

 

[Netserk]

hagenes was the one to close the gap ?

 

[Samamba]

Yeah well race over for De Lie

 

[Netserk]

strong wind again today , crosswinds on the previous sector