Lesser known races 2026 edition

[Danskebjerge]

The guy´s first place deserves respect. Until the mountain stage arrives, they should work for him.
40 seconds is a considerable difference and the field is weak.

This guy's case is strange. He seems to be the only one on UAE who has experienced a physical improvement this year, while the rest seem to have gotten worse in Volta and Itzulia Julius is flying

Yeah, but his career before that has been a disaster compared to his talent as a teenager.

 

[Roku]

Quite funny to see pro riders blasting through places I ride my bike like a grandpa.

Happy about another Wanty guy winning. Johansen deserved it, he is having a great season.

 

[RedheadDane]

Happy about another Wanty guy winning. Johansen deserved it, he is having a great season.

He wasn't one of the guys who got left out by the merger.

 

[Mayomaniac]

You can take the man out of Portugal, but not the Portugal out of the man. Well done, Julius.

If we get to see Robo Reis in this stage, the GC will still be his.

Robo Reis is a myth, we've never actually see him.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Spain, stage 2:

I think the great dane could be in trouble.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Robo Reis is a myth, we've never actually see him.

Yeah, he will probably not get a better chance of winning something outside of Portugal again after today.

 

[tobydawq]

UAE's first non-monument win in 30 days. The end of the crisis?

 

[Roku]

He wasn't one of the guys who got left out by the merger.

But he rode for Wanty in 2022 and 2023. Once a Wanty, always a Wanty.

 

[Boehmand]

The guy´s first place deserves respect. Until the mountain stage arrives, they should work for him.
40 seconds is a considerable difference and the field is weak.

This guy's case is strange. He seems to be the only one on UAE who has experienced a physical improvement this year, while the rest seem to have gotten worse in Volta and Itzulia Julius is flying

He's had a strange career.

As a junior he was a generational talent, but then couldn't quite duplicate it as a senior, especially with a dual focus on the track (became world champion with the 4000m team), and ended up on a Portuguese conti-team.

UAE seem to have found the key.

For next season, when Pogacar is not doing the cobbled classics, he should be part of that squad, because he has a huge engine that suits those races.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Tomorrow, in Belgium we have Ronde van Limburg (1.1).

Startlist: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/ronde-van-limburg/2026/startlist

This usually ends in a bunch sprint,

 

[search]

checking the calendar, it seems like ExtraGiro has already cancelled two of their races again, with Reggio Calabria and Magna Grecia?! Lets see if Lyon-Torino can happen. Would be quite a surprise, although apparently some of the l'Avenir guys are involved there.

well...

La première édition de Lyon-Turin annulée

La première édition de Lyon-Turin annulée : La première édition de Lyon-Turin, prévue du 1er au 3 juillet prochains, n’aura pas lieu, a appris DirectVelo. ExtraGiro...

www.directvelo.com

 

[RedheadDane]

Just to add to the bit about the many Danish stage wins in O Gran Camiño; Johansen was actually only the 3rd Dane to win a stage.
The other 10 were won by Cort (1 in 2022 3 last year) and Vingegaard (3 in 2023, 3 in 2024).

 

[Dazed and Confused]

In China, the first stage of Hainan is under way. 20 Kms to go, all together.
Sprint coming up.
Like to stream (weibo):

微博直播

 

[search]

can't get that stream to work for whatever reason, but it's also on "Hainan Touch's" Youtube channel:

View: https://www.youtube.com/live/bA9xOCYDP80

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Rajovic ahead of Malucelli must be the most typical Chinese pro race top-2 you could have asked for.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Strong sprint by rajovic. Came from a long way back. He is in great shape at the minute.

 

[search]

Today's finish in Galicia:

O Gran Camino 2026 Stage 2 Finish

O Gran Camino 2026 Stage 2 Finish - 24.7 km, +449 m. Bike ride in Ribadeo, Galicia

ridewithgps.com

The climb is quite tough and irregular, but I guess 20k should be enough for some kind of regroupment

An angry attack from Romeo should more or less be a given, though.

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

Nations with most stage wins in O Gran Camiño - The Historical Route.

Country		Wins
Denmark		11
Canada		2
Spain		1
Ukraine		1
Great Britain		1
Guatemala		1

 

[Netserk]

timesplits yesterday

#	Start*	Rider	Time	#	KM/h		Time	#	KM/h		Time	#	KM/h
1	16:50:00	JOHANSEN Julius	4.54,062	1	51.418		2.34,599	3	44.243		10.15,072	2	51.214
2	16:16:00	REIS Rafael	5.06,333	9	49.358		2.44,483	19	41.585		10.08,707	1	51.749
3	16:05:00	OLIVEIRA Nelson	5.00,975	3	50.237		2.43,053	14	41.950		10.16,332	3	51.109
4	15:19:00	NORDHAGEN Jørgen	5.05,9	8	49.428		2.41,933	11	42.240		10.24,026	6	50.479
5	16:42:00	OTRUBA Jakub	5.12,825	27	48.334		2.48,013	27	40.711		10.21,711	4	50.667
6	15:52:00	YATES Adam	4.58,909	2	50.584		2.34,925	4	44.150		10.50,327	17	48.437
7	16:48:00	GOSZCZURNY Patryk	5.14,734	31	48.041		2.50,534	36	40.109		10.23,026	5	50.560
8	16:46:00	PINARELLO Alessandro	5.10,352	19	48.719		2.43,645	17	41.798		10.35,792	8	49.545
9	16:32:00	SALGUEIRO Carlos Miguel	5.01,835	4	50.094		2.53,738	44	39.370		10.40,465	10	49.183
10	16:00:00	LEIJNSE Enzo	5.04,385	6	49.674		2.43,112	16	41.934		10.51,031	18	48.385

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Spain: 6 Riders up the road with 90secs. 55kms to go.
Climb coning up in aboyut 25kms. Live pics now.

 

[Squire]

The chronically unimpressive De Schuyteneer outside of the podium in this field.

#freeKockelmann

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Romeo dragging 100 riders up the climb including the great dane. Not enough pace boys....

 

[Samamba]

The chronically unimpressive De Schuyteneer outside of the podium in this field.

#freeKockelmann

He started his sprint with 270m to go...

Agreed that he's chronically unimpressive tho, but Kockelmann is not any better than him right now in a sprint.

Also their schedules barely overlapped this year.

 

[Netserk]

baby bees swarming

 

[Tim Cahill]

Doesn't seem to be much impetus to form a proper chase, Otruba can win this, its mostly downhill/flat after this and he's a tter.