It’s winter in Europe but from now on the sun sets later each day. If you want another cue that spring is getting closer then the 2026 Paris-Nice route is out today.
No surprises for the start outside Paris and the finish in Nice. But like a sandwich it’s the filling that counts. This looks promising with some novelties including a revised final stage.
It’ll run between Sunday 8 March and Sunday 15 March. Here’s a closer look at the eight days…
Stage 1 is the habitual start in the Yvelines départment to the west of Paris. The two final climbs to Chanteloup-les-Vignes are steep and use the course of the defunct Trophée des Grimpeurs race where heavyset sprinters risk being dropped. There’s little time to get back with an exposed descent before a flat finish in Carrières.
Stage 2 is for the sprinters and that’s all they’re getting this week so anyone who struggled with the climbing yesterday will need to deliver here. The race went to Montargis in 2024 where Arvid De Klein won the sprint. The course twists a bit to catch any crosswinds as it traverses flat terrain of the Gâtinais so if Mother Nature helps then the day can turn into a semi-classic.
Stage 3 could be the wine stage with the finish in Pouilly and close to Sancerre. But it’s a 23km team time trial and with “Paris-Nice” rules , awarding a team the win but taking individual times. The format is established here but also serves as a dress rehearsal for of the Tour de France’s opening stage in Barcelona.
What’s different is the course isn’t as hilly as we’ve had in recent years. The oenological reference is not just for thirsty followers but means the terrain is exposed thanks to the vineyard monoculture. So if it’s windy it’ll be tougher but otherwise we should see teams come in with more riders together. The tactics could be different with teams used to burning up rouleurs before climbs now thinking of how to spread the effort.
Stage 4 goes to France’s smallest mountain range, the Morvan. It’s déjà vu with route from Autun borrowing that of Stage 7 in the 2021 Tour de France but that finished further away in Le Creusot when Matej Mohorič won, this finishes before at the top of the Signal d’Uchon which has almost 2km at 11% to the finish but the average is meaningless with 20% one moment and then 5% the next.
Stage 5 tracks the Rhone river south before a finish in the Ardèche hills. The race leaves the valley floor after the intermediate sprint in Sarras to take a steady climb to Sécheras and then goes back to the valley floor. The next climb gets a first category label and the climb out of Saint-Jean-de-Muzols looks like it’s the Chemin de l’Officier, a tarmacked farm track. Once done there are bigger roads with steadier gradients to the finish.
Stage 6 starts in the Rhone valley and prone the howling Mistral wind. The finish returns to Apt where Tiesj Benoot won in 2020 just before the Covid pandemic hit but worth remembering for the manner of his win, like a hero in a martial arts film flooring all enemies he seemed to take on the peloton and win. It’s another hilly day and promising for that with a finish in the scenic Lubéron.
Stage 7 goes to Auron. Paris-Nice went there last time and snow meant the Col St. Martin from La Colmiane was scratched from the route and an abbreviated version found. This route is almost repeated with no big climb mid-way but instead a dash out of Nice using a side road to the Var valley at Carros to help split the field before going to Isola and then the final climb. Look closely at the profile because most of the slope at the end is up a white water river, big ring riding. The ski station turn is with 7km to go and 7% includes some 9-10% sections.
Stage 8 keeps the format of starting and finishing in Nice but the route is different, gone is the Peille/Pancrace climb and the Col d’Eze too. It’s uphill at the start via Castagniers and then Levens. After Lantosque there’s 13km to the Col de Porte with the final 7km at a steady 7%. A pity there’s no left turn here to take in more climbing but the right turn and descent to L’Escarne leaves the race open to more riders and less easy to control. The Col de Châteauneuf comes next, 6.6% says the profile but it’s a twisty backroad that rewards attacks as it’s easy to get out of sight. The Chemin de Linguador is the last climb and a narrow and irregular road. The final novelty of the day is the finish is no longer on the Promenade des Anglais by the sea but instead by the OGC Nice football stadium because of municipal elections that day and the stadium offers easy out-of-town logistics.
The Verdict
There’s déjà vu with the return to Montargis and the Signal d’Uchon is back, plus the routes sets up the feeling as the Ardèche finish of Stage 5 could host a stage in July 2027 and these roads should feature in the Dauphiné Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes soo too.
The sprinters have it harder especially as the opening stage is less accessible than usual for some and the following day is all they have. The team time trial is fun for a Tuesday but the new rules have exploited hillier courses.
Three hilly days are open to the breakaway and can influence the GC because the Saturday stage to Auron is “only” a short summit finish, gains can be small. The revised final stage is good, having observed and written that the route had become settled with riders knowing where to attack, this mixes things up.
Finally a inside-cycling mention that Yannick Talabardon gave part of the presentation. The ex-pro had been the race’s deputy and stood in last year when his boss François Lemarchand crashed on a bike ride just before the race but Lemarchand has retired and so Talabardon in officially in charge now.
The contenders
It’s too early to know who is riding but ASO’s press release mentions some names. By deduction it sounds like Matteo Jorgenson may not be back for three in a row, instead the organisers expect Visma-LAB Simon Yates to return, he has been runner-up twice. If Jonas Vingegaard is expected to ride the Giro it’s likely he does Tirreno-Adriatico as part of the package.
Plus we know Tadej Pogačar is not riding, instead for UAE Joao Almeida makes his bid to collect more one week stage races. We’ll see Lidl-Trek team mates Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose, plus Cian Uijtdebroeks in Movistar kit.
Is Kévin Vauquelin a grand tour contender? He, Ineos as well and French fans are wondering and his view is that week-long stage races are within reach first. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain) will be stage hunting – he grew up not far from Uchon finish – and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) trying to rebuild his results. Olav Kooij starts because he’s at Decathlon but Mads Pedersen and Michael Matthews will find the terrain suits more.
Only TotalEnergies get a wildcard invite when the race can invite more, so notably Unibet Rose Rockets are absent. Will they get a Tour wildcard? That’s gone from very likely to probably with this exclusion and even if they’re racing Tirreno-Adriatico instead it’ll mean the Tour with one less World Tour stage race on French roads before.
Looks an interesting course and I like that they’re prepared to mix up the final stage (even if officialdom has slightly forced their hand in this respect). The balcony road between Levens and Duranus is spectacular
It’s good to see the course change. Sometimes outside influences work, the Champs Elysées stage of the Tour would probably never have changed without the Olympics as a prompt. Paris-Roubaix only became what it is today because the regular roads were being tarmacked to make them modern. There must be other examples…
If it’s cold or raining wednesday, thursday and friday then there won’t be a lot of GC riders remaining…
Wednesday stage, near home, is a hard one. Roglic was dropped that day on the 2021 TdF and Carapaz attacked. At the top of Uchon he was alone. The stage was much longer (250km) and harder in the mid-part.
Stage 5 seems very hard too.
It can be very good racing overall !
The Tour stage was a great one, hard from the start with Van der Poel and others racing to get clear on the flat. Paris-Nice doesn’t have live TV from the start so we might miss some action but the courses seem to take take this into account, more obstacles saved for later.
I’m disappointed that the Rockets won’t be there, as I’m very curious to see how they will bring a different energy to the peloton in 2026. I don’t see why they wouldn’t be invited.
A surprise, especially as Victor Lafay if he’s recovered has a good chance for days like Uchon. But we’ll see what the team does next year because they have a refreshing communications style but have now assembled a relatively old squad (Groenewegen, Poels and just signed Venturini etc) which is a bit of a contrast.
Interesting this one. I’ve had an eye on them due to their unusual beginnings and the couple of Brit riders they’ve had in recent years (loved Zeb Kyffin’s win in the far east at the end of the year). A glimmer of hope for riders coming out of our hugely diminished domestic scene.
Anyway. Unusual beginnings, refreshing communications style etc etc. but suddenly reality bites as you hit a higher level? You need experience. Reliability. Presumably they need to meet some expectations set by sponsors. All of a sudden you’re a traditional team, doing traditional things.
Half of their 2026 squad is new to the team and, as you say, the riders that most will have heard of are older and on the way down in their career arc. But that could easily be seen as shoring up their position with ASO in terms of a wild card for Le Tour. That is by far their biggest priority at the moment.
The rest, those who are mostly unknown to the wider world and there are up to 10 or 11 of them, continue to be hopefully canny acquisitions lower down the pecking order of the peloton. Also, of those who have moved on the only one they might have regretted at the time is the only one who has moved up to WT, Huens.
Overall, if this were football, they’d likely get a positive rating for their transfer window from the pundits.
Ho hum Ayuso / Skjelmose, that will be interesting…..( possibly in the Chinese Curse sense)
Is this the last post before Christmas? Even if it isn’t, It’s an opportunity to thank you for all your work and insight this year and to wish you and all your readers a very Happy Christmas.