Big names, debutants and riders in form: France’s Opening Weekend promises fireworks

Let’s begin with the Faun Ardèche Classic, a race that is always a tough start to the French spring thanks to its rolling terrain. Punchy riders usually come out on top here, as the recent honour roll shows: Romain Grégoire (2025), Juan Ayuso (2024), Julian Alaphilippe (2023) and Brandon McNulty (2022).

The course is once again demanding this year, with climbing almost immediately after the start. In the finale, the riders tackle the steep Val d’Enfer twice: 1.4 kilometres at an average of 10.9%. There is also some longer climbing in the middle section of the 187-kilometre race, although the gradients there don’t hit double digits.

That profile has (again) attracted a strong field. For Lidl-Trek, Mattias Skjelmose and Quinn Simmons will line up. The Dane is starting his sixth season as a pro — something he looked forward to on Instagram. “The off-season is always a magical period. I always find it fascinating how I seem to forget different setbacks and difficult moments from the past season, and now I’m left with only my hopes and dreams,” Skjelmose wrote.

“I know I’ve done everything I could over the past five months to prepare, but in the end it’s more about the level of your rivals than what you’ve done yourself. That’s one of the magical things about sport.”

And the rest? UAE brings Jan Christen, Pavel Sivakov and António Morgado. Paul Seixas, who recently won in the Algarve, is there for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, while riders like Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), Wout Poels (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Ben Healy (EF Education–EasyPost), Marc Hirschi (Tudor), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and Grégoire are also on the list.

) make his debut in France. “I would describe myself as a puncheur who likes long, hard one-day races, and that’s exactly where I want to keep developing,” the Frenchman said via the team’s website. Also set to start for the Killer Bees are riders such as Matteo Jorgenson and Ben Tulett.

So yes — France also has an Opening Weekend, because there is racing again on Sunday with the Drôme Classic. That race also boasts a strong recent winners list, including Ayuso (2025), Marc Hirschi (2024) and Jonas Vingegaard (2022).

Sunday’s race is 189 kilometres long and has slightly fewer metres of elevation than the day before. Still, the finale is far from easy: the short climbs come one after another at high speed. And if that still hasn’t decided things, the final kilometre rises sharply as well. It’s a day for the punchers.

The Drôme Classic start list is almost identical to Saturday’s, meaning big names like Christen, Grégoire, Jorgenson, Barré, Skjelmose, Martinez, Bernal, Healy, Hirschi and Poels are all expected again. The only notable absence is Seixas, who is only racing the Faun Ardèche Classic.

Fans wanting to follow the races from France this weekend can tune in on HBO Max. On both days, coverage begins at 13:40, with around three hours of racing expected. The finish is anticipated at approximately 16:30 on both Saturday and Sunday.