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Follow us on GooglePer Strand Hagenes won Paris-Tours. The 23-year-old Norwegian from Visma | Lease a Bike surprisingly emerged as the best rider in a small elite group in the final stretch, after countering a late breakaway by Toms Skujins. Jasper Stuyven finished second for Soudal Quick-Step, while Laporte— who had already won in 2024 —rounded out the Visma celebration in third place.
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Paris-Tours was never boring from the start. After just about 10 kilometers, a strong breakaway group of twelve riders formed, including Yves Lampaert, Stefan Bissegger, Jakob Söderqvist, Jonas Rutsch, Matis Louvel, Julius van den Berg, and Martijn Rasenberg. The peloton never let the group get too far ahead, but their lead still grew to 3 minutes halfway through the race.
Visma | Lease a Bike and Netcompany INEOS took charge of the chase for team leaders Christophe Laporte and Dorian Godon for a long time, while the pace was exceptionally fast during the first two hours, with an average speed of over 48 kilometers per hour. Unfortunately for the Unibets Rose Rockets, Rasenberg was the first to drop out of the breakaway due to a flat tire.
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Paris-Tours kicks off amid vineyards
As expected, the race changed completely when, about 70 kilometers from the finish, the succession of climbs and unpaved vineyard roads began. The lead of the eleven remaining breakaway riders quickly dropped from just over two minutes to less than a minute, while the first attacks also began from within the peloton.
Lewis Askey tried to break away, among other things, with defending champion Matteo Trentin close on his heels. At the front, the increased pace also proved too much for a large portion of the breakaway. Bissegger, Lampaert, Storm Ingebrigtsen, Louvel, and Van den Berg were ultimately the five who remained and tried together to breathe new life into their attack.
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Godon involved in a crash
In the approaching peloton, a crash had major consequences for the rest of the race. Godon, who was among the top favorites following his victory in Gran Piemonte, went down. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) and Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) were also down. With 40 kilometers to go, the peloton was suddenly significantly thinned out, though a few groups did manage to catch up.
On the Côte de la Vallée Chartier, Pierre Gautherat (who will ride for UAE Emirates-XRG next year) launched an attack from the peloton, effectively ending the last breakaway’s chances. The Frenchman gained a bit of a lead, but Per Strand Hagenes (Visma) and his Decathlon teammate Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen caught up. The pace slowed briefly, leaving thirty riders in the breakaway.
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Elite group battles for victory at Paris-Tours
On the final unpaved stretch of Rochecorbon and the subsequent Côte de Rochecorbon, the next breakaway immediately took shape. Decathlon CMA CGM applied pressure once again, and six riders managed to break away: Askey, Laporte, Hagenes, Jonas Abrahamsen, Paul Lapeira, and Thibaud Gruel. A strong group—including Toms Skujins, Jasper Stuyven, and Florian Sénéchal—managed to catch up, with the peloton close behind.
Anything could still happen in the final 5 kilometers, knowing that the riders weren’t allowed to look at each other. Skujins decided to make his move just before the final kilometer, knowing he wouldn’t win a sprint anyway. Hagenes went after the Latvian to catch Laporte, but when the Norwegian opened up a gap, he decided to go for it and take the lead.
It turned out to be a surprising and winning move, because since no real sprint developed behind him, Hagenes was able to stay ahead and win. It was his second victory of 2026, following the Antwerp Port Epic, and already his fifth career win. In the U23 category, Héctor Alvarez took the win; he had recently been crowned European champion in both the road race and the time trial at the U23 level.
Results of the 2026 Paris-Tours
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
David Bavin-HobbsChief Editor
David has been working in the sports & cycling industry for 16 years. Covering racing, business and technology, he has worked in communications for cycling companies, teams, and as a journalist. His proudest achievement is winning the first bike race he ever entered. He hasn't won a race since.
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Latest Comments
- Why is the Chrono des Nations only “three-quarters of an hour”? Is that the usual length of the time trial, or just an estimate?sprocketspiny10-10-2026
- Great ride from Seixas, but I’m slightly surprised Evenepoel couldn’t follow when the pace went up. Was it simply fatigue, or did the climb not suit him this year?cyclechamp4510-10-2026
- Heavy legs after such a long season, yet he still wins the sprint for fourth. That’s a proper professional mentality. Best of luck at the Chrono des Nations.julien10-10-2026
- Seixas was phenomenal on the Civiglio. Evenepoel’s honesty is refreshing too—fourth place on a bad day still shows just how strong he is.tourdeforce910-10-2026
- I’m a bit confused by the photo finish explanation—if the image shows time rather than distance, how can it prove who crossed first? And why was the result not explained immediately after the race?velodromevirtuoso109-10-2026
- 13,000 captures per second is some serious technology! Still, I can understand why Ciccone felt frustrated when the margin was so tiny. Hopefully the organisers publish the full image so fans can see exactly what happened.patriciaw09-10-2026
- Evenepoel handled this well. No need to turn a razor-thin result into a bigger argument, especially with the governing body confirming the procedure. That jersey and Specialized bike combination should look absolutely brilliant in Lombardy.cadencekingm09-10-2026
- A finish decided by fractions of a second will always create debate, but the UEC’s explanation of the EtherLynx system sounds pretty conclusive. Photo finishes are often misunderstood—the image represents time, not a normal view of the riders’ position. Fair play to Ciccone for accepting it graciously.pedalpowe2909-10-2026
- This feels a bit overdramatic from the media. Until Roglic or his agent confirms it, all these “insiders” are just guessing. Still, seeing him line up with Pidcock would be pretty cool.breakawaybikerd09-10-2026
- I’m still learning the team side of cycling: if a team has 29 contracts already signed, how can it still add Roglič? Do riders leave, or are there limits on how many can be registered?samanthak09-10-2026
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