July 29, 2026
It's a sprinter's paradise in Denmark with four of the five days as likely bunch sprints and maybe a fifth as a slightly reduced bunch kick. There is not a lot of terrain to play with so the organizers have created relatively long stages to wear down the riders. Bonus seconds will also likely play a big factor in who takes overall honors at the end of the week and, being in Denmark, the wind could wreak havoc if the conditions are right. Day one starts and finishes in the Northern city of Aalborg, Denmark's fourth largest city by population. The riders will take on a large counter clockwise loop of 192 km with four intermediate sprints in the first 100 km, the last of which in Slettestrand has bonus seconds available. The course gently turns back towards Aalborg where the riders will enter a small circuit within the city with 20 km to go. There are bonus seconds available on the first passage of the finish line proceeded by three laps to complete, each of which contains a 700 meter rise at 6% on the Mølleparken. The last time up comes 3.5 km from the finish which could ruffle the feathers of the some of the sprinters but we should still see the majority of the peloton coming to the line together with a stage win and the first leader's jersey on offer.
Highlighted Riders
Tibor Del Grosso, Tim Torn Teutenberg, Wout van Aert, Riley Sheehan, Casper Van Uden, Erlend Blikra, Ben Oliver, Tom Crabbe, Lukáš Kubiš, Anders Foldager
Race Summary
Warm and sunny conditions were presented to the riders as they rolled out of Aalborg. It took nearly 50 km, but a break did form consisting of Daniel Stampe of BHS PL-Beton Bornholm, Matias Malmberg and Manuel Oioli of Swatt Club, Mads Landbo of ColoQuick, and Marius Hobolth of Give Steel. When live coverage began with 95 km to go, the five leaders had 1 minute 20 seconds on the peloton being led by Lidl-Trek, Visma-Lease a Bike, Flanders Baloise, and Unibet Rose Rockets.
The bunch was tapping along nicely until 75 km remaining when they crossed over the Limfjord on the Aggersundbroen. A bit of wind was blowing from their right side and Visma-Lease a Bike put the race in the gutter to the left. Lidl-Trek, Uno-X Mobility, and Unibet Rose Rockets got involved and a split formed in the back third of the peloton. The acceleration brought the break back but just as they were getting caught, there was a touch of wheels near the front of the peloton and riders went down everywhere. The road was completely blocked left to right with bikes and bodies. Only around 35 riders made it in the first group with riders scrambling to form chase groups behind. With 65 km to go, group two of around 30 riders was at 1 minute and closing. The front group eased up in indecision and the connection was made 7 km later although around 40% of the peloton was still stuck in groups way behind and would never make it back.
A few of the smaller teams took the opportunity during the momentary lull to jump away to form a new break. Malmberg went away again, this time with his Swatt Club teammate Mads Andersen, and they had Sebastian Nielsen of ColoQuick along for company. The gap approached 40 seconds before Alpecin-Premier Tech and Visma-Lease a Bike organized the chase. The bunch picked up speed as they twisted through the grain and maize fields and passed little farms that dotted the exposed countryside.
With 36 km to go, Lotto Intermarché got involved with the chase but the three leaders were able to hold between 40-55 seconds over the next 10 km as they entered the suburban streets of Aalborg. Nearing the second Bonus Sprint of the day, NSN Cycling came to the front and the peloton was in drag race formation to keep position. Even with the extra speed, the three leaders managed to stay away long enough to battle out for the Bonus seconds on the finish line. Malmberg rolled through uncontested and, having taken second in the first Bonus sprint of the day, he will end the day with 5 seconds in the pocket.
The peloton came through the finish line 20 seconds later and it was Uno-X Mobility that took control to position for the climb of Mølleparken on the back half of the lap. Once on the climb, the crowds were spectacular, cheering Nielsen who had attacked and went clear of the Swatt Club duo. Uno-X Mobility sent Rasmus Tiller up the road on the climb but he could not bridge up to Nielsen who soloed across the finish line around 10 seconds ahead of Tiller with 2 laps remaining. The peloton was only another 5 seconds behind and the whole race was in the same camera shot along the finish straight.
Only Nielsen was left in front of the peloton by the second time around to Mølleparken but he was dangling at just 10 seconds. Nielsen was swept up as Niklas Larsen of Unibet Rose Rockets attacked with Menno Huising of Visma-Lease a Bike on his wheel but a reaction from behind by Uno-X Mobility had the race back together over the top. A counter attack formed on the downhill with many of the main teams involved. Visma-Lease a Bike had Christophe Laporte in the move with Lukáš Kubiš and Tomáš Kopecký of Unibet Rose Rockets, Tim Torn Teutenberg of Lidl-Trek, Henrik Pedersen of Uno-X Mobility, and Pier-André Côté of NSN Cycling. They took the bell with 6.5 km to go and 14 seconds on the peloton that had Visma-Lease a Bike spread wide across it.
Alpecin-Premier Tech got organized and started the chase but on the final ascent of the Mølleparken, Wout van Aert of Visma-Lease a Bike sprinted out of the peloton and blew everyone off his wheel except for Søren Kragh Andersen of Lidl-Trek who was pulling himself inside out just to hold on. Kopecký did his best to keep the front group clear but van Aert and Kragh Andersen made contact just under 3 km to go to make eight riders in the lead with a 17 second advantage on the peloton. Laporte was the only rider in the group willing to work but that was enough to keep everyone together coming into the final kilometer. At 800 meters, it looked like Kopecký was going to lead out Kubiš but the Czech National Champion let the wheel go and a gap formed to his teammate. Teutenberg snuck in on Kopecký's wheel and it was up to Laporte to close things down. Laporte rode into the slip stream of Teutenberg and launched van Aert into his sprint. Teutenberg didn't have the speed to match van Aert and Kubiš who were side by side at 25 meters from the line. Van Aert had started the sprint just ahead of Kubiš which was the buffer he needed to hold on for the stage win and the first leader's jersey. Kubiš was second with Teutenberg drifting to fourth behind Henrik Pedersen in third. The peloton came in 17 later led by Jensen Plowright of Alpecin-Premier Tech which may prove to be a deficit too large for anyone in that group to overcome by the end of the week.