February 8, 2026
The GC is all to play for with time gaps still very tight after four days of racing. Today's ITT from Alès up to L'Hermitage is 10KM and mostly flat along the banks of the Gardon River. The last 2KM will make the difference however because the road rises at an average of 7% which is hard enough to force a gap. Last year, the top 10 were spread across 45 seconds on the stage and if those gaps are repeated, anyone in the top 15 stands a chance at the overall title.
Race Summary
Rain and ITT bikes mix like water and oil but that's what the riders had to deal with today. Rain was reasonably heavy at the start making the trip through the streets of Alès quite slippery. There were no real issues throughout the day however and everyone got through safely that we saw. The hot seat was indeed a game of musical chairs. A number of riders occupied the top spot but the fastest on the day was Ewen Costiou of Groupama-FDJ United. He set a time of 14 minutes 57 seconds, 5 seconds better than his teammate Maxime Decomble and 6 seconds better than Paul Lapeira of Decathlon CMA CGM.
As expected, the GC was completely overhauled. Costiou did enough in the ITT to take the overall as well. Lapeira finished second, 2 seconds down with Decomble in third at 12 seconds. This edition of Etoile de Bessèges may not have had all the big names as it has in the past but it certainly created a fun and exciting race that went down to the last moments and allowed riders from smaller teams to shine.