Team time trial set to return for fourth consecutive year at Paris-Nice in 2026

Le Journal du Centre reports that the team time trial event will return to Paris-Nice for the fourth consecutive year in 2026. 

In the 2025 edition, a 28.4-kilometre team time trial was held on stage 3 in Nevers, beginning on the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, a racing circuit which hosted the Formula One French Grand Prix from 1991 to 2008, and since 2003 annually hosts the Superbike World Championships.

The city of Nevers is located in the Nièvre region, and that region is where the Race to the Sun will head once more for the team time trial in the 2026 edition

It is expected that the time trial will take place in the Nièvre region with a distance of 23.5 kilometres between Cosne-sur-Loire and Pouilly-sur-Loire, according to Le Journal du Centre.

This time trial could serve as important preparation for the teams ahead of the Tour de France, which is set to kick off with a team time trial for the first time since 1971, with a 19.7km route in Barcelona.

The last team time trial at the Tour came in 2019 when it was Jumbo Visma who successfully defended Mike Teunissen’s surprise yellow jersey by storming to the stage win in Brussels.

The format at the Tour will be different to 2019. First trialled by ASO at Paris-Nice in 2023, before returning in 2025, the times are taken individually at the end of the stage rather than the usual format of the fourth or fifth rider to cross the finish line.

Visma | Lease a Bike’s General Manager Richard Plugge has been among those who questioned the team time trial format for the Tour, suggesting that the element of ‘team’ has been lost. 

However, with few chances to prepare, Paris-Nice may have become an even more attractive prospect for teams who harbour big GC ambitions at the Tour next Summer.

The details for the 2026 edition of Paris-Nice are expected to be revealed in depth during the route presentation, which will take place on December 17. What is already confirmed is that the 2026 edition will take place on March 8-15.