Climbers Classics - 2026 Faun-Ardèche and Faun Drome Preview

The 2025 editions of the Faun-Ardèche and Faun Drome Classics were won by Romain Grégoire (Faun-Ardèche) and Juan Ayuso (Faun Drome), respectively. Grégoire succeeded just ahead of Marco Brenner, with Ayuso going on to win with a stomping 40-kilometre solo effort.

Previous winners in the 2020's edtions of the Faun-Ardèche have included: Juan Ayuso (2024), Julian Alaphilippe (2023), Brandon McNulty (2022), David Gaudu (2021) and Rémi Cavagna (2020).

Comparatively, in the Faun Drome, winners include: Marc Hirschi (2024), Anthony Perez (2023), Jonas Vingegaard (2022), Andrea Bagioli (2021) and Simon Clarke (2020).

There is set to be only one previous winner competing in the Faun-Ardèche classic, and that is the defending champion, Romain Grégoire. 

In Faun Drome, two prior winners will take the start, those being Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) and Marc Hirschi (Tudor).

Key information for the Faun-Ardèche Classic

• Date - Saturday, February 28
• Distance - 187.6km
• Start Location - Guilherand-Granges
• Finish Location - Guilherand-Granges
• Start time (CET) - 11:44
• Expected finish (CET) - 16:13

Key information for the Faun-Drome Classic

• Date - Sunday, March 1
• Distance - 189km
• Start Location - Étoile-sur-Rhône
• Finish Location - Étoile-sur-Rhône
• Start time (CET) - 11:54
• Expected finish (CET) - 16:18

Starting with Faun-Ardèche on the Saturday, 187.6 kilometres await the riders, who will tackle over 3,000 metres of elevation in the race, with the route beginning and concluding in Guilherand-Granges, the location of the UEC European Road Championships back in October 2025.

From the off, there is an immediate opportunity for riders to try their luck at a breakaway with the Côte du Pin. After that, there is the Col de la Justice before the peloton tackles the mainstay climb to the Faun-Ardèche, which is the Val d'Enfer, completed four times in the race. 

The Val d'Enfer is certainly where the fireworks will take place, with gradients on the climb reaching a maximum of 14% midway through the 1.5-kilometre climb. Enticingly, the last ascent of the Val d'Enfer is situated just over 5 kilometres away from the finish line.

To spice up the race even more, the Mur de Costabelle is a pre-appetiser to the aforementioned climb with the 300-metre Mur, including gradients up to 13.3%. 

Onto the Faun Drome Classic, which is the longer route of the two courses, coming in at 189 kilometres but with 1000 metres less elevation gain than the Faun-Ardèche, with just over 2,000 metres of elevation. The Faun Drome is more of a hillier classic rather than the climber-favoured Faun-Ardèche.

The majority of the action for the race will take place in the final third of the stage, with the Col de Tartaiguille and the Côte des Roberts likely to see a race-deciding move take place. The earlier mentioned Col de Tartaiguille is 4.3 kilometres at an average of 4.4%, the Côte des Roberts is the steepest climb of the race with an average gradient of 7.7% for 1.6 kilometres.

The finish line is situated on a slight crest with an average gradient of 5.1% for just over a kilometre, so it could favour the puncheurs who obtain a strong kick.

Defending champion Romain Grégoire comes as one of the top for the race with the parcours almost tailor-made for his punch, where we have seen the Frenchman display it numerous times before, but the most impressive display of his kick has to be his stage win in Burton Dassett on stage 4 of the 2025 Tour of Britian where he outkicked Remco Evenepoel. It would not be a surprise to see Gregoire launch an offensive on the penultimate ascent of the Val d'Enfer.

Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana) always begins a season well, and the same can be said in 2026 as the Italian has taken home the GC at the Tour of Oman with a brilliant performance on the beast, Green Mountain. Scaroni also has precedent in this region as he took a fourth at the European Road Championships back in October, and Scaroni launched some attacks on the exact same climbs. If it is a reduced bunch, Scaroni is a prime candidate.

Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) recently took his first-ever professional win after taking stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve. Like Scaroni, Seixas will have fond memories of the region as he took third at the European Road Championships after dropping the aforementioned Scaroni.

Other riders to keep an eye on include Ben Healy (EF-Education-EasyPost) for a trademark Ben Healy long-range attack, as well as Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike), Jordan Jegat (Total Energies).

With a less rugged day in the saddle, Faun Drome lends itself to a reduced bunch finish. Favourites for this outcome include Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana), Dorian Godon (Ineos), Alex Aranburu (Cofidis), Axel Laurence (Ineos), Louis Barre (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek).

For Cycling Fantasy particpants we have some picks for you with your budget of 500 credits for each race. A star-rider you should pick for the Faun-Ardèche is Romain Grégoire, who is a heavy favourite for a podium spot, and he costs 800 of your 5000 budget. 

A 200 credit rider with potential upside is Ben Tulett (Visma | Lease a Bike), who is just 200 credits and is fresh off the back of competing in the UAE Tour, where he took an 11th-place finish in the draggy sprint on stage 1. 

Other potential budget riders include: Jakob Omrzel (200), Diego Pescador (200), Paul Seixas (200) and Jarno Widar (200).

For Faun Drome, the star-rider you should select is Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana) who costs just 600 credits. The main reason why we have chosen the Italian is that he is able to cover all bases of race situations, whether that be a lone attack, or a reduced bunch sprint.

Our value picks for this race include Marco Brenner (200), Antonio Morgado (200) and Mathieu Kockelmann. (200)