June 14, 2026
There are few races on the calendar like the Copenhagen Sprint. In most instances, like the recent Brussels Cycling Classic, a series of hills are thrown in to mix up the dynamic and add more fatigue to the legs before the finale but Denmark is so flat that the organizers really have no choice but to make a pancake flat course. One option they do have however is to make the race longer which they have done, setting a 228 km route through the Danish countryside before entering Copenhagen for a technical city circuit. With 56 km to go, the riders will enter the circuit for five full 10.5 km laps. On each lap there are 17 corners including a 180 degree turn. In the last 4 km, there are four corners with the last one coming 900 meters from the finish. Since the outcome is so likely a sprint, teams have brought their fastest men for a battle royale in one of the last few remaining pure sprints before the Tour de France.
Highlighted Riders
Jordi Meeus, Jasper Philipsen, Arnaud De Lie, Tobias Lund Andresen, Noah Hobbs, Paul Penhoët, Sam Welsford, Tim Torn Teutenberg, Orluis Aular, Tim Merlier, Oded Kogut, Fabio Jakobsen, Pascal Ackermann, Juan Sebastián Molano, Søren Wærenskjold, Matteo Malucelli, Milan Fretin, Matteo Moschetti, Arvid De Kleijn, Giovanni Lonardi, Emilien Jeannière, Dylan Groenewegen
Race Summary
The start was cool and overcast with a gentle breeze whistling through the branches of the trees in the town center of Roskilde. When the flag dropped at KM0, four riders simply rolled off the front and into the break of the day. The four intrepid riders were Anders Foldager of Jayco AlUla, William Blume Levy of Uno-X Mobility, Rune Herregodts of UAE-XRG, and Frederik Rodenberg of the Danish National Team. Rodenberg's teammate, Mads Andersen, wanted in on the fun and was able to bridge up to make five leaders, four of whom were Danes, and the gap was able to expand as the peloton trundled along before organizing a chase.
The gap was approaching 3 minutes as the break rode onto the beautifully curved Crown Princess Mary's Bridge over the Roskilde Fjord. With almost no real hope of making it to the finish ahead of the peloton, the three intermediate sprints along the route offered some sort of consolation prize to the five riders in the break. The first of the sprints came with 192 km to go but unfortunately it went uncontested with Rodenberg just leading the group across the line.
There was a burst of action with 188 km to go when Lidl-Trek felt the wind was strong enough to split the peloton. The flurry lasted about 5 km before the German squad shut it down but it did shed a few unprepared riders out the back and brought the gap from 3 minutes 25 seconds down to 2 minutes 40 seconds. Mattia Cattaneo of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, Ayco Bastiaens of Soudal Quickstep, Johan Price-Pejtersen of Alpecin-Premier Tech, and Gianluca Pollefliet of Decathlon CMA CGM went back to the front to continue their work and they allowed the gap to go back out to a hair over 3 minutes.
With 155 km to go, Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe decided to increase the chasing effort which made more than a few grimace. Riders at the back were sprinting out of corners just to stay in contact and 40 seconds disappeared off the gap in no time. Cattaneo let the others back in line for pulls a few kilometers later when the gap was down to 2 minutes 10 seconds. Stage 15 of the Giro int Milan was likely in the minds of many and leaving a break with a sizeable advantage going into city circuit was the last thing they wanted to happen.
Over the next 50 km, the gap steadily decreased and, as Rodenberg led through the second sprint with 101 km to go, the gap was down to 1 minute 20 seconds. The tug of war continued inside 75 km remaining with the gap out to 2 minutes as the break reached the wider ring roads of Herlev. Rodenberg snagged the third and final sprint with 70 km to go and immediately pulled the pin to retreat back into the peloton after a job well done.
Both Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Soudal Quickstep added a man to the chase to bring the 2 minute disadvantage closer before the circuit. Unibet Rose Rockets offered a resource to the chase and all of a sudden, the peloton to sprang to life. Teams were getting organized and the tension was much higher than it had been all day. The break reached the circuit at 57 km remaining with a lead of 1 minute 30 seconds.
Seeing the circuit with the barriers and current road conditions, it was even more technical than previously thought. The pavement had plenty of rough spots and there was even a short cobbled/clinker section to negotiate. The peloton was strung out almost in single file through the corners and would bunch up slightly before stringing out again through the next corner. Through 4 laps to go, umbrellas went up at the finish line as rain came down. The gap was down to 1 minute but the wet road would make it that much more difficult for the peloton to fully close the gap.
The precipitation proved to just be a passing shower and by the time they came through 3 laps to go, the sun was out and the road was mostly dry. The gap had come down to 43 seconds under added pressure from Decathlon CMA CGM and EF-Education EasyPost. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe had inconspicuously disappeared from the front as had Alpecin-Premier Tech but Soudal Quickstep were fully committed and always had at least one man in rotation.
The crowd had really assembled at the finish line with spectators standing four or five deep along the barriers despite the periodic rain showers. The gap was down to around 20 seconds through the finish line but, shortly after, everyone's worries came true when a load of riders hit the ground after a member of TotalEnergies clipped one of the feet on the barriers and went over the bars. The vast majority of the peloton was caught behind and less than 30 riders made it through safely and unencumbered. Jasper Philipsen made it through the scramble and his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammates went to the front to assist Decathlon CMA CGM in the pace making while the likes of nearly every other team was chasing furiously behind.
Rain hammered down once again with 15 km to go making the situation even more chaotic. In the front split with Tobias Lund Andresen and Jasper Philipsen was Sam Welsford of Netcompany-Ineos, Danny van Poppel of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, and Julius van den Berg of Picnic-PostNL but it was still just Alpecin-Premier Tech and Decathlon CMA CGM doing the chasing. The four leaders took the bell at 10.5 km to go with 15 seconds on the first chase. Another large group which contained many of the sprinters who were stuck behind the crash were at around 30 seconds.
With 5 km to go, the four leaders had 10 seconds and were still working as a cohesive unit. Just 1 km later however, the first rider to skip a turn was Blume Levy to the dismay of the others given how long they had worked together and close the chase was. Only one rider was left for from Alpecin-Premier Tech and Decathlon CMA CGM who were still riding as Netcompany-Ineos sat behind with two riders in front of Welsford. The momentum was going out of the lead group however and Blume Levy continued to sit on. With the catch being imminent, Herregodts tried to break free in a bid to go solo. Foldager closed the gap under the 1 km to go banner with Andersen and Blume Levy on the wheel and Netcompany-Ineos now driving the chase just 50 meters behind. Decathlon CMA CGM took over the lead out once out of the last corner which caught the leaders once and for all with 500 meters to go.
Decathlon CMA CGM still had two riders in front of Lund Andresen with van den Berg and Welsford in fourth and fifth position. 400 meters to go, Søren Kragh Andersen of Lidl-Trek launched on the right side and was followed by Philipsen, van Poppel, and his Lidl-Trek teammate, Tim Torn Teutenberg. Kragh Andersen ran out of steam before the sprint could properly open up which forced Philipsen and the others to jump over to the Decathlon CMA CGM train. Philipsen made it to the wheel of Lund Andresen just as the Dane was starting his sprint but, using the extra momentum, Philipsen was able to come passed in the last 100 meters to take the win by slightly less than a bike length. Lund Andresen was a disappointed second place with Welsford just behind for third.