Lesser known races 2026 edition

[Samamba]

Wait....that was NOT Beloki for third?

Somehow Baudin passed him at some point.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Spain:

1	Izagirre Ion	Cofidis	250	125	5:00:29
2	Simmons Quinn	Lidl - Trek	170	85	0:06
3	Baudin Alex	EF Education - EasyPost	140	60	0:10
4	Aranburu Alex	Cofidis	120	50	,,
5	Bagioli Andrea	Lidl - Trek	100	45	,,
6	Scaroni Christian	XDS Astana Team	80	40	,,
7	Van Eetvelt Lennert	Lotto Intermarché	70	35	,,
8	Champoussin Clément	XDS Astana Team	60	30	,,
9	Beloki Markel	EF Education - EasyPost	50	26	,,
10	Etxeberria Haimar	Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe	40	22	,

Too bad Baloki couldn't hang on for third, but EF got it anyway with Baudin.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Ion was looking sneaky good in Paris Nice, I think he has something special prepared for this block, in the midpoint of his career.

Expert knowledge

 

[Tim Cahill]

Beloki knew he was going to get caught so they attacked after the descent and he pulled Baudin.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

In the Netherlands they seems to prefer having del Grosso hidden well away from the public:

1	Del Grosso Tibor	Alpecin-Premier Tech	125	75
2	Schmid Mauro	Team Jayco AlUla	85	55
3	Pedersen Casper	Soudal Quick-Step	70	40
4	Foldager Anders	Team Jayco AlUla	60	32
5	Artz Huub	Lotto Intermarché	50	28
6	Taillieu Aldo	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	40	24
7	Eenkhoorn Pascal	Soudal Quick-Step	35	20
8	Remijn Senna	Alpecin-Premier Tech	30	18

 

[Samu Cuenca]

View: https://youtu.be/ggxfZlheUHU?is=BlUAsNbHEn04tvyQ

 

[Dazed and Confused]

In France (35th Boucle de l'Artois (1.2)), a really bumping ride is live on the tube:

View: https://youtu.be/Cl31A19YkZ4


32kms to go.

 

[Samamba]

Aldo Taillieu 6th in NXT, still annoyed Lotto lost him due to the merger. Big talent.

 

[Samamba]

Beloki knew he was going to get caught so they attacked after the descent and he pulled Baudin.

Even caused the gap between Baudin and others, very well played.

 

[RedheadDane]

You certainly can't accuse the moto in Artois of being too close...

 

[Dazed and Confused]

France:

1	Desal Ceriel	Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team	40	15	4:13:00
2	Källberg Axel	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	30	10	0:30
3	Roy Léo	Team Vittel N'side	25	7	1:18
4	Valjavec Erazem	Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team	20	4	,,
5	Beaune Mavric	Veloce Club Rouen 76	15	2	,,
6	Cowan Quentin	Team Vittel N'side	10	1	,,
7	Jacques Lucas	Color Code - Alu Center	5		1:29
8	Evertsen-Hegreberg Simen	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	3		,,
9	Milan Matteo	Groupama-FDJ United CT	3		1:34
10	Walls Matthew	Team Storck - MRW Bau	3		,,

 

[danielzu]

Very bad tactics from astana. Controlling the race all day and then trying nothing in the final. If Scaroni hadn't the legs today, they had enough good riders here to try something different

 

[jmdirt]

Ion, congrats old man!

Man, I'd love to be 37 again!

 

[Rob5091]

So Izagirre has peaked for the year - congrats on another win.

Trofeo Piva on Sunday - Col San Martino and back 179.8 km (1.2U)
Startlist at https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/trofeo-piva/2026/startlist
See tomorrow's winners today! (Yes, team Pogi is here)
(Ayuso a winner back in 2021 and the great Mark Padun in 2017)

TV on the Tube at 15.30 CET

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXXBUIvspWs

 

[search]

Short highlights from yesterday's NXT Classic:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8hlVt40ySE

 

[yaco]

Schmid got 85 points for finishing 2nd in the NXT classic. He would have been to ride Ronde Vlaanderen where he could have got more than 85 points.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Very bad tactics from astana. Controlling the race all day and then trying nothing in the final. If Scaroni hadn't the legs today, they had enough good riders here to try something different

Tejada crashed inside the last 10km.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Schmid got 85 points for finishing 2nd in the NXT classic. He would have been to ride Ronde Vlaanderen where he could have got more than 85 points.

There seems to be very little history of Schimd even participating in the cobbled races. Why would he suddenly be a factor in RvV.

 

[yaco]

There seems to be very little history of Schimd even participating in the cobbled races. Why would he suddenly be a factor in RvV.

He would have needed to finish 13th or better which was a possibility. Do you realise how bad Jayco's cobbled squad is.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

He would have needed to finish 13th or better which was a possibility. Do you realise how bad Jayco's cobbled squad is.

Yes, its pretty bad, but just about everybody from 13th and up are accomplished riders in these races. Everything is possible ofcourse, but the odds didn't look good imo. Anyway, hopefully he can keep the form into the Ardennes block.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Tomorrow we have the 72nd Région Pays de la Loire Tour (2.Pro) where farmers and perhaps lesser established pro cyclists line up.
First up:

Stage 2:

Another day, another stage:

It all ends in Le Mans:

Startlist: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/region-pays-de-la-loire/2026/startlist which suggest there might be room for surprises.

From what I can tell, there will be live pics and the stages are scheduled to end more than 60mins before the eta in the Basque country.