Tour de la Provence 2026 Stage 2

February 14, 2026 Yesterday's parcours offered opportunities and uncertainty that we probably won't see today. The Montagne de Lure hosts the finish of the Queen stage after 175KM and nearly 3,200M of elevation gain. After leaving Forcalquier, the start is rolling but not too difficult. The riders enter a circuit after 35KM that they will complete twice. On each lap is the 6.6KM, 3.4% climb of the Col de Buire, an intermediate sprint in Forcalquier, and a short climb to Fontienne. The last time up to Fontienne comes 19KM before the finish. There is a short downhill after the riders exit the circuit then the mighty Montagne de Lure will begin. The climb is 13.7KM at an average gradient of 6.4%. The last time it was used in the Tour de la Provence, Nairo Quintana won in front of Mattias Skjelmose and Matteo Jorgenson. It is a bona fide climb and the best rider should win the day. It was a cool start but thankfully the rain jackets only had to function to keep the riders warm. Light clouds hung over the race as the start was signaled and a group of six got away including Declan Irvine of Novo Nordisk, Esteban Foucher of Groupama-FDJ United, Baptiste Gillet of Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur, Diego Pablo Sevilla of Polti-VisitMalta, Mathis Le Berre of TotalEnergies, and Gustav Wang of XDS-Astana Development Team. With 70KM remaining near the commune of Saint-Étienne-les-Orgues and on the approach to the second passage of the Col de Buire, Irvine had been dropped and the remaining five riders had 3 minutes 20 seconds on the peloton being led Ineos. Race leaders, Van Rysel Roubaix, contributed to the chase and with 63KM to go, Decathlon CMA CGM put a man forward as well. By the top of the Col de Buire at 59KM to go, sharp shadows were cast on the road as the sun shone a bit brighter than it has in recent days. The peloton ripped the descent and as the road flattened near the bottom, the forest turned to agricultural fields which was exposed to the wind. Riders were split off the back and three distinct groups formed. The second group on the road, just behind the break, was the largest with around 50 riders and contained all of the overall contenders as far as we could tell. EF-Education EasyPost continued to drive the group along, passed the medieval looking hilltop town of Banon, and towards the second intermediate sprint in Forcalquier. With 32.5KM to go, dropped riders from previous splits rejoined the first peloton and the bunch took a moment to take roll call and get re-organized. The gap went from 1 minute 50 seconds up to 2 minutes 15 seconds but Decathlon CMA CGM hit the front with the entire team and looked intent on making the rest of the race fast. The French squad split the peloton on one occasion but when the climb of Montagne de Lure began with 14KM to go, the bunch was together and the break was just 10 seconds ahead. Le Berre was the last man caught from the break as the Ineos mountain train was charging at full steam for their man Carlos Rodríguez. They continued to drive forward with riders getting split off the back every minute or two. With 6.5KM to go, the favorites group reached the snow line. The pace went up when Andrew August took to the front and with 5KM to go, the group was down to 10 riders. The first attack came from Carlos Rodríguez of Ineos. Aurélien Paret-Peintre and Matthew Riccitello of Decathlon CMA CGM were the only ones to immediately follow but it wasn't long before Paret-Peintre was popped. Paret-Peintre was in second position when he dropped, leaving Riccitello with a few bike lengths to close. It took him a few hundred meters to do so but the pair were together at 3KM to go. Rodríguez kept at his pace while the American sat behind, periodically jumping between climbing in the saddle and then in the drops. With 1,500M to go, Rodríguez slowed a bit but Riccitello wouldn't pull through. Paret-Peintre and Brandon Rivera of Ineos were behind and closing at just 7 seconds at the 1KM banner. Still Rodríguez set the pace as piles of snow were drifting across the road and making visibility difficult in some spots. Inside the barriers at 200M, Riccitello made his effort. He got the jump on Rodríguez and had the lead coming into the final corner but Rodríguez had a bit left and the pair lunged forward towards the line. Riccitello did just enough to hold off Rodríguez to take his first win for his new team. Behind, Rivera took third place on the stage at 14 seconds, on the same time as Paret-Peintre in fourth. The GC reflects the stage results and, with an expected sprint tomorrow, will likely end as it stands now.