February 5, 2026
The sprinters did not survive the Côte de la Méditerranée in Bellegarde but they should have redemption today. There are 160KM between the start in Saint-Gilles and the finish in Domessargues but only 1,000M of elevation. The course leaves Saint-Gilles and heads North, skirting around the metropolis of Nîmes and the 2,000 year old Arena of Nîmes, to form a figure eight circuit that crosses the Gardon River, back and forth. There are three climbs on course, the first is the Côte de Clarensac, 1.8KM at 4.4%. The last climb of the Côte de Montagnac is on the circuit and will be ridden twice. It is 1.1KM at 5.4% with the top of the second ascent coming with over 20KM remaining in the stage. The sprinters shouldn't have trouble with any of these climbs. The only wildcard on the day is the wind. There are consistently open and exposed stretches of road in this part of the world and of the wind does pick up, it could change the outcome.
Race Summary
Everyone was hoping for better weather but it wouldn't come today. Rain and a bit of wind were forecasted for the entire day and no sun would be seen. Four riders got away early to form the break including Samuel Leroux of TotalEnergies, Axel Bouquet of St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93, Arnaud Tendon of Van Rysel Roubaix, and Maël Guégan of CIC Pro Cycling. They built a lead and still retained 2 minutes 45 seconds with 74KM to go with race leaders of Flanders Baloise controlling behind. Unibet Rose Rockets added to the chase as did Pinarello Q36.5 with thoughts on Dylan Groenewegen and Matteo Moschetti for the sprint win.
Rain continued to fall, as did the gap to the break. The race was very controlled and with 29KM to go through the finish line for the final lap, the gap was down to just 90 seconds. The race crossed the Gardon River on a long, impressive bridge that spanned torrents of white water from all the rain the area has received in recent days. With 24KM to go on the lower section of the Côte de Montagnac, Bouquet was dropped from the break but the writing was on the wall and the peloton were coming for the others. Positioning for the sprint began with 15KM to go as teams moved forward as one, across the road. The rain was heavier now and the sky was black with precipitation. As the kilometers ticked by, the teams who found themselves at the front of the peloton were happy to be there and were not too eager to push any harder than necessary which allowed the break to stay out longer than expected.
Under 5KM to go, the gap was still 30 seconds. Leroux was starting to struggle and skip turns so, through a left corner with 3.5KM to, Tendon attacked and neither Leroux or Guégan could close the gap. Tendon went under 1KM to go with about 12 seconds and the peloton were in a mad scramble to pull him back. Two Decathlon CMA CGM riders took massive pulls and when the sprint opened up, it was heartbreak for Tendon as he was passed by the bunch just 150M from the finish. Emerging from the mist were three riders, Groenewegen, Moschetti, and Mathieu Kockelmann of Lotto Intermarché. As they reached the line, all three lunged forward and it was impossible to tell who won. After a closer look, Kockelmann crossed first with Groenewegen in second and Moschetti in third. Everyone was hoping for Tendon to hold on but he slipped back to finish 13th on a day he will remember as a near miss.