Place Name: Avenida Rey Juan Carlos I
Address: Avenida Rey Juan Carlos I 65, 04740 Roquetas de Mar, Almería, Spain
Details: February 15, 2026
There isn't a lot in the way of the sprinters between the start in Puebla de Vicar and the finish in Roquetas de Mar to avoid a bunch sprint. This has historically been one of the first big bunch finishes of the year and has produced winners such as Caleb Ewan, Alexander Kristoff, and Olav Kooij in recent past. The course starts and finishes along the Gulf of Almeria and the flat coastal roads. There are two categorized climbs in the first 100KM but neither averages more than 4.5% and shouldn't be a factor in the race. The last 50KM are flat and there will be a lot of fresh legs which makes this sprint unique. The course provides a perfect scenario for teams to drill their lead outs at race pace and practice their timing and cohesion as a unit.
The sprint field is stacked, here are some names to watch: Milan Fretin, Arnaud De Lie, Matteo Moschetti, Emilien Jeannière, Giovanni Lonardi, Orluis Aular, Fernando Gaviria, Pascal Ackermann, Biniam Girmay, Phil Bauhaus, Dylan Groenewegen
When the live broadcast began, we were greeted with beautiful blue skies, gorgeous blue water, and plentiful sunshine which we expect to see this time of year in Andalucía. With 76KM to go, a group was away that included Javier Ibáñez of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Pablo Carrascosa of Equipo Kern Pharma, Ander Okamika of Burgos-Burpellet BH, Bram Deman of Flanders-Baloise, and Márton Dina of MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort. The peloton were travelling 3 minutes 25 seconds behind as they passed through the endless marsh coast and plastic covered green houses that need to be seen to believed.
The gap slowly eroded down to 1 minute with 44KM to go as TotalEnergies, NSN Cycling, Lotto Intermarché, Cofidis, and Unibet Rose Rockets all contributed evenly throughout the day. The five leaders managed to arrive at the first passage of the finish at 27KM to go but the peloton were less than 10 seconds behind. The race was all together with 24.5KM to go and immediately, other teams pushed forward in color order.
The bunch was an organized kaleidoscope of colors with every member of each team sitting in a line, spread from one side of the road to the other. It was a bit too early to start drag racing but the leading rider of each team had the responsibility to hold position without spending too much energy. A few crashes near the back of the peloton frayed the nerves and the speed picked up as the bunch reached 10KM remaining. A fourth crash split the peloton with 7KM to go leaving about 70 riders at the front of the race.
The bell rang out for one short, 6KM lap. NSN Cycling and Lotto Intermarché led through 4KM to go but it wasn't long before other teams rushed forward to find their position. Pinarello Q36.5 came up with four riders in front of Matteo Moschetti but they were pushed around by Tudor Pro Cycling who took the lead through 1KM to go. At 900M, NSN Cycling came surging forward with four riders with Biniam Girmay tacked on to the back. There wasn't enough time for other sprinters to move up so Girmay's wheel became prime real estate. Moschetti, Arnaud De Lie of Lotto Intermarché, and Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious were all battling for that spot. NSN Cycling set up the perfect lead out, holding the right side of the road. Girmay only had to sprint through 160M of fresh air while the others were dodging and weaving, trying to find a gap. No one but Girmay was able to get a clean run and the Eritrean grabbed his second win of the season. Last year's winner, Milan Fretin of Cofidis, took second with Moschetti in for third.
Tags: Clasica de Almeria, 2026, February, Puebla de Vicar, Roquetas de Mar, Javier Ibáñez, Pablo Carrascosa, Ander Okamika, Bram Deman, Márton Dina, Matteo Moschetti, Biniam Girmay, Milan Fretin