Place Name: Route De Nice
Address: 992 Route De Nice, 83170 Brignoles, France
Details: February 21, 2026
The Classic Var has changed quite a bit in its first three editions from a proper mountain top finish in 2024 to what may turn out to be a slightly reduced bunch sprint this year. The start list is quite good for the puncheur type but the terrain for today's Classic Var may not support support such a style of racing. When the riders leave the start in La Garde, they will begin the hardest climb of the day. The Rocbaron is 6.8KM at 4.3% and tops out 22KM into the 176KM race. The rest of the day is rolling but none of the gradients exceed 4-5%. Once through the commune of Régusse with 60KM to go, the remainder of the race is predominantly downhill or flat. The last 2.5KM into Brignoles are straight and set up perfectly for bunch sprint.
Riders to watch: Phil Bauhaus, Frits Biesterbos, Andrea Bagioli, Quinn Simmons, Thibaud Gruel, Milan Menten, Stanisław Aniołkowski, Clément Izquierdo, Giovanni Lonardi, Matyáš Kopecký, Rick Pluimers, Marc Hirschi
Short sleeves, sunshine, Provence. What more could one ask for? When racing got underway, a group of four split off to form the break of the day. The group consisted of Jonas Walton of CIC Pro Cycling, Lucas Bénéteau and Antoine Berger of St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93, and Noah Bögli of Elite Foundations. With 95KM to go, they had 2 minutes 45 seconds on the peloton being led by Tudor Pro Cycling, Bahrain Victorious, and Lidl-Trek. The roads were perfect for racing with constant lefts and rights and never a meter of flat as the riders made their way through very rural areas of the Var, East of Marseille. The bunch entered La Verdière with the Château sitting proudly above them on the hilltop, 2 minutes 5 seconds after the break had passed through.
Out of La Verdière, the peloton backed off for a few kilometers but they went right back to it with Cofidis adding a man to the chase. With 50KM to go through the town of Aups, renowned for their Black Truffle market, the gap had been cut to just 75 seconds mainly under the pressure of Tudor Pro Cycling but others were sharing the load as well. The bunch played with the break for another 25KM, leaving the gap hovering at 75 seconds. Unibet Rose Rockets and Polti-VisitMalta joined in the push to the front with Picnic-PostNL and it seemed like the peloton was happy to finally close the break down.
After the town of Cabasse, just under 12KM remaining, the road narrowed and completely new teams found themselves blocking the front of the peloton. XDS-Astana, TotalEnergies, Groupama-FDJ United, and Decathlon CMA CGM were in prime position. They could hold their spot at the front quite easily because the road simply wasn't wide enough for anyone to sneak through. Things finally opened a bit wider with 9KM to go which allowed Lotto Intermarché to reach the front. Walton was pushing on in the break but with 6KM to go, they were within touching distance and were officially reabsorbed 1KM later.
With 3KM to go, the group was tense but still in control. Everyone was in color order until 2.5KM to go when they swung right, onto a large, department road. There was some road furniture through the corner which forced a number of trains to check up but Decathlon CMA CGM took the perfect line on the inside and were first through. They hit the gas once on the large road and strung the bunch out. It took a mad dash from the other teams to reorganize and move back to the front. Under 1KM to go, Bahrain Victorious reappeared at the front with Tudor Pro Cycling tucked in behind them. On the other side of the road, Decathlon CMA CGM were trying to hold their spot but Cofidis were coming as was Picnic-PostNL.
Lead outs were depleted except for Decathlon CMA CGM who took sole ownership at the front with 600M to go. Cofidis had found their way into second position with the rest of the sprinters fighting for that wheel. Cofidis moved out and unleashed Stanisław Aniołkowski just outside of 200M to go but he was swarmed by riders coming out of the slipstream on his left and right. Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious emerged from behind Aniołkowski but he was over-geared and got bogged down in the last 100M. On each side of Bauhaus was Jason Tesson of TotalEnergies and Tord Gudmestad of Decathlon CMA CGM. Gudmestad had the early edge but Tesson had finishing speed and the Frenchman crossed the line to give TotalEnergies their first win of the season. Gudmestad took second with Rick Pluimers giving Tudor Pro Cycling a third place after all their hard work during the day.
Tags: Classic Var, 2026, February, La Garde, Brignoles, Jonas Walton, Lucas Bénéteau, Antoine Berger, Noah Bögli, Jason Tesson, Tord Gudmestad, Rick Pluimers