The off-season is over, and the 2026 road season is about to begin as riders from around the world head to Australia for the opening race of the men’s WorldTour calendar, the Tour Down Under (January 20-25).
There are some major names on the start list of the 26th edition of the race, including Adam Yates, Matthew Brennan, Jay Vine, and Ben O’Connor, though the biggest stars of the men’s peloton won’t be racing down under.
Grand Tour contenders
Tadej Pogačar
It’ll be some time before we see the reigning world champion and the top rider in the peloton start his racing season. Last year, Tadej Pogačar kicked off his campaign in February at the UAE Tour, where he won the race for a third time.
This season, he won’t turn a pedal in anger before March, with Strade Bianche hosting his season debut as it did in 2024.
Last year, Pogačar won it again, his third win in five starts. On March 7, he’ll head to Siena as the favourite once again before turning his attention to the first four Monuments of the season – Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Jonas Vingegaard
Jonas Vingegaard is switching up his season in 2026, taking on the Giro d’Italia for the first time as he aims to complete the Grand Tour set.
Heading to Italy means a new lead-in to the Tour de France, while his early season also gets a shake-up. In the past three years, Vingegaard has started his season on the Iberian Peninsula at O Gran Camiño and the Volta ao Algarve, but this year, he’ll head to the UAE.
Vingegaard will start his season at the UAE Tour (February 16-22), returning to the race for the first time since 2021, when he took a mountain stage victory on Jebel Jais.
Remco Evenepoel
2026 marks a fresh new beginning for Remco Evenepoel, who has switched to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe after seven years at Soudal-QuickStep.
Despite the change, his main season goals remain the same, with Liège-Bastogne-Liège and…
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