2026 Paris-Nice preview - Vingegaard's redemption quest in the Race to the Sun

Known as the Race to the Sun, Paris-Nice has earned a mythical status in the sport since the inaugural edition back in 1933. The race is renowned for often starting in gloomy, cold conditions where crosswinds can wreak havoc, before finishing in the spring sunshine amid the mountains in the foothills of Nice.

Across the 83 editions so far, there have been 56 different winners, with Sean Kelly being the emphatic record holder for most victories after the Irishman won seven consecutive editions from 1982 to 1988.

Twelve months ago, Matteo Jorgenson successfully defended his yellow jersey, becoming the third rider in the 21st century to win back-to-back editions of Paris-Nice. 

Tim Merlier dominated the first two sprint stages before Visma | Lease a Bike seized control of the general classification battle by winning the team time trial on stage 3.

Stage 4 was a chaotic affair after bad weather conditions saw the stage be briefly neutralised. When the action resumed, it was João Almeida who powered his way to victory on the first uphill finish, pipping pre-race favourite Jonas Vingegaard, who moved into the race lead.

Stage 5 didn't go to plan for Vingegaard, who crashed heavily. The Dane was able to finish the stage, but was distanced in the steep uphill finish to La Côte-Saint-André as Lenny Martinez danced his way to the stage win.

Jorgenson was well-placed to take the race lead off his Danish teammate, and the next day would see Vingegaard abandon before the stage start, with a concussion as a result of the incident.

Despite the absence of the two-time Tour champion, Jorgenson and Visma navigated a cross-wind chaos stage 6 won by Mads Pedersen before managing the challengers on the final two mountain stages in and around Nice, where Michael Storer and Magnus Sheffield picked up quality stage wins. 

In the end, Jorgenson's final winning margin was 1:15 over Florian Lipowitz in second and 1:58 over Thymen Arensman in third.

Kicking off in Achères, the opening stage is one that will please the puncheurs with opportunities to attack on the two ascents of the steep Côte de Chanteloup-les-Vignes inside the final 30km. It could be an interesting battle between those willing to roll the dice with an attack, and the versatile fast-finishers hoping things stay together until the finish.

In fact, the puncheurs are likely to be the most satisfied riders with this route, with stage 4 to Uchon, stage 5 to Colombier-le-Vieux, and stage 6 to Apt all featuring multiple climbs characterised by their steepness rather than length, which could favour the punchy riders in the peloton. 

The sprinters will be looking at stage 2 to Montargis as an opportunity to make their mark, though, as is often the case with Paris-Nice, the riders will have to be wary of potential crosswind chaos.

The team time trial event returns for the fourth consecutive year to Paris-Nice, and with the opening stage of the 2026 Tour de France in Barcelona being a TTT for the first time since 1971, it’s an important opportunity to prepare and fine-tune ahead of the main event.

Stage 3's TTT will take place in the Nièvre region with a distance of 23.5 kilometres between Cosne-sur-Loire and Pouilly-sur-Loire across rolling terrain.

For the second consecutive year, the race’s major summit finish will take place on stage 7 at Auron. In 2025, Michael Storer danced his way to victory on the slopes of the climb to Auron, whilst Mads Pedersen spectacularly led home the group of general classification contenders. This is the stage where the pure climbers will be looking to capitalise in the battle for the yellow jersey.

Due to municipal elections, the usual final stage has been adapted. The route still heads around the climbs of Nice, but the Col de la Porte (7km at 7.2%) is the most significant test, coming in the first half of the stage. 

The final categorised climb of the 2026 edition is the Côte du Linguador (3.3km at 8.8%), with the summit coming just under 20km to the finish line, where the winner of the 2026 Race to the Sun will be crowned.

Here is a full stage-by-stage guide for the 2026 race.

One of the major story lines ahead of the race is the return of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike). The three-time Grand Tour champion was set to kick off his campaign in the Middle East at the UAE Tour in February. 

However, a training crash in Málaga and a bout of illness that followed put pay to the Danish rider's plans. Instead, a return to Paris-Nice is now the agenda for Vingegaard, who will be eager to right the wrongs of twelve months ago after he crashed out with a concussion.

This will mark Vingegaard's third appearance at the race, after he finished on the third step of the podium in 2023 behind Tadej Pogačar and David Gaudu, before going on to win the Tour de France for the second time later that season.

Visma | Lease a Bike are the current kings of Paris-Nice, having won three of the previous four editions; Primož Roglič was victorious in 2022, before Matteo Jorgenson's double success in 2024 and 2025. Vingegaard will be looking to etch his name in the roll of honour, and despite it being his first race of the season, the Dane will be the rider that everyone is looking at to beat.

Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) made the ideal start to life with his new team a few weeks ago in Portugal. The 23-year-old Spanish rider won a stage and the general classification at the Volta ao Algarve on debut against a plethora of riders who he will face once more at Paris-Nice, another race where he will make his debut.

Ayuso has opted to ride Tirreno-Adriatico in the previous two seasons, and has had great success, finishing 2nd in 2024 before winning last year. He knows how to win, and this time of year, and after making a great start with Lidl-Trek, will be full of confidence as he has the opportunity to test himself against the benchmark, Vingegaard.

The young Spaniard lost a really valuable in Mattias Skjelmose, who is suffering from tendinitis of the right wrist. That loss definitely doesn't make it easier for Ayuso, as they could've race very strongly together as a duo.

Brandon McNulty is another big contender for the general classification. Due to João Almeida being ruled out of the race due to sickness, McNulty gets the chance to go for himself here.

In the last race he did, the Volta ao Algarve, McNulty suffered from bad luck in about every stage: a crash, a flat,.. you name it. Last year he also raced Paris-Nice, but was taken out of the race due to illness. It's fair to say that the American will want to take his revenge here.

Ineos Grenadiers will be looking to expand on their performance at the recent Volta ao Algarve, where there were promising signs from new signings Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin, who finished 4th and 5th on GC, respectively. Both riders are set to line up at Paris-Nice, and with Carlos Rodríguez also in the mix after his second place at the Tour de la Provence, the British team will have multiple options to play in the battle for the overall title.

After a combative final stage at the Volta ao Algarve, Onley highlighted Ineos's strength and depth on the stage, which allowed them to race combatively and stated, "That's exactly why I wanted to join this team, to play like this in these kinds of races."

There was a time when the British team used to rule this race. Over eight editions from 2012 to 2019, the British team won the race six times with five different riders: Bradley Wiggins (2012), Richie Porte (2013, 2015), Geraint Thomas (2016), Sergio Henao (2017), and Egan Bernal (2019).

With a combination of GC contenders, Ineos will be hoping to shake up the 2026 edition and return to winning ways.

Other riders who could be in the general classification picture include former stage winners and podium finishers Daniel Felipe Martínez and Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), the duo of Lenny Martinez and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious), who blend youth and experience.

Iván Romeo (Movistar), who recently won a stage and the GC at the Vuelta a Andalucia is in great form and a rider who could win a stage and feature high in the GC. Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) finished 8th twelve months ago and has also made a strong start to the season, finishing 4th at the UAE Tour.

Beyond the general classification picture, some of the fast men who could be in contention for the stages that end in a group sprint or in particular stage 2 which is the most likely to be for the sprinters include Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious), Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM), Bryan Coquard and Milan Fretin (Cofidis), Alberto Dainese (Soudal Quick-Step), Biniam Girmay (NSN), Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) Rick Pluimers (Tudor) and Casper van Uden (Picnic PostNL). 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Ayuso

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Vingegaard

⭐️⭐️⭐️  McNulty, Onley, , Tejada, Vauquelin

⭐️⭐️  Vlasov, D. F. Martinez, Ca. Rodriguez, Piganzoli

⭐️  Romeo, L. Martinez, V. Paret-Peintre, Gaudu, Rondel, Cras

Hard to call who will win this one. Both Lidl-Trek and Team Visma | Lease a Bike have strong TTT teams. Vingegaard is the best climber when he is in top form, but Ayuso already has a stage race in his legs after winning the Volta ao Algarve. Given that, we opted for Juan Ayuso.