Paris-Tours 2026 Preview | Sprinters take on a gravel battle among the vineyards

The season is really coming to an end now. After the Tour of Lombardy, there isn’t much left on the schedule, but there is still something. And Paris-Tours remains a phenomenal finale to the cycling year. With its revised route, this French race is definitely not to be missed. Who will make the best run through the vineyards? Read the preview below!

1896. The first edition of Paris-Tours was held two centuries ago, making it one of the oldest races on the calendar. And right from the start, the list of winners has included some of the biggest names. For example, Lucien Petit-Breton won in 1906, a year before his first Tour victory. But in the decades that followed, the winners were primarily classics names.

Joop Zoetemelk won it twice, while Sean Kelly, Adrie van der Poel, Jan Raas, and Johan Museeuw also claimed victory. Increasingly, however, it became a sprinter’s race, with Alessandro Petacchi, Erik Zabel, John Degenkolb, and Fernando Gaviria taking the win. That had to change, the organisers said. With a new route through the vineyards, the race was turned on its head.

On the gravel roads, we suddenly saw the true powerhouses emerge from ahead. Christophe Laporte won in 2024, while Matteo Trentin surprised friends and foes alike by claiming his third victory in Paris-Tours last year.

2025 Matteo Trentin
2024 Christophe Laporte
2023 Riley Sheehan
2022 Arnaud Démare
2021 Arnaud Démare
2020 Casper Pedersen
2019 Jelle Wallays
2018 Søren Kragh Andersen
2017 Matteo Trentin
2016 Fernando Gaviria

In the days of Erik Dekker, Philippe Gilbert, and Fernando Gaviria, Paris-Tours was a very different race. It was a race that often came down to a sprint, but where attackers also had a small chance on the hills around Tours. But the organizers overhauled the race in 2018. With sections through the vineyards, it suddenly became the French Strade Bianche.

Once again, we’ll be struggling along the gravel roads. It will probably be a while before the race really gets interesting. From Chartres, the course will be virtually flat for about 150 kilometers, with no real hills or unpaved roads. But then things will really heat up. The Côte de Changay kicks off the final stretch about sixty kilometres from the finish.

The first unpaved section comes right after that. There are a total of ten such sections on the Paris-Tours course. The Côte de Goguenne will be a key section, located about fifty kilometers from the finish. From there on, the course is a constant series of climbs and descents, with the vineyard sections following one another in rapid succession. With about thirty kilometers to go, the section at Les Épinettes is a long one, coming at a crucial moment.

It also features a series of short, steep climbs: ascents less than a kilometer long but with steep gradients. The Côte de Rochères (400 meters at 11 percent) is one of them. The most important gravel section is the Peu Morier, the longest of them all. It is 1.6 kilometers long and begins about twenty kilometers from the finish line.

After that, the only remaining unpaved section is the Rochecorbon (800 meters), 12 kilometers from the finish. From there, it’s pretty much a straight shot to Tours, although the Côte de Rochecorbon is the final climb. The route winds through the finish town, but the finish line itself will be long and straight.

Paris-Tours has often been raced under dramatic conditions, but expect a quiet day on Sunday. No rain, a light breeze, and about sixteen degrees.

Times
Start: 10:55am GMT | 05:55 AM EST
Finish: approximately 3:58pm GMT | 9:58 AM EST

The classic specialists are ready to give it their all again this fall. Visma | Lease a Bike will field Timo Kielich, Per Strand Hagenes, and former winner Christophe Laporte, though he isn’t the only rider who has won here before. Riley Sheehan will be there for NSN (along with Lewis Askey), while Matteo Trentin (Tudor) could become the sole record holder with his fourth victory. That team is also bringing Stefan Küng, Rick Pluimers, and Luca Mozzato to France.

But many eyes will be on the Belgian sprinters. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) have already shown they can handle tougher races, and they’re not afraid of a little gravel. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) is still finding his form, but seems to be getting better and better. This race might be more suited to Jenno Berckmoes.

Decathlon CMA CGM will be fielding a strong lineup. Paul Lapeira and Stefan Bissegger battled for the win together last year, but fell short. With Pierre Gautherat and Noa Isidore joining the team, they’ll have strong support. Groupama-FDJ will also have several contenders in the mix with Bastien Tronchon, Thibaud Gruel, and Grégoire Gromain.

The same goes for Netcompany INEOS, which is fielding Josh Tarling, in-form rider Dorian Godon, and Axel Laurance. Laurance did crash in the Gran Piemonte, though. Uno-X Mobility typically excels in races like this and can do so with specialists Soren Waerenskjold, Jonas Abrahamsen, and Rasmus Tiller. XDS Astana has three extremely dangerous riders in Mike Teunissen, Alberto Bettiol, and Davide Ballerini.

Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) has come close several times and is now hoping for that one victory. He’ll be teaming up with Jakob Söderqvist and Toms Skujins. Aimé De Gendt, along with Fred Wright, is the man to watch for Pinarello - Q36.5, while at Unibet Rose Rockets, most eyes are on Lukas Kubis, but also on Matyas Kopecky and Lander Loockx. Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) also consistently performs well on these types of roads.

Top Favourites: Christophe Laporte (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
Dark horses: Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CGM), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Stefan Küng (Tudor), and Riley Sheehan (NSN)
Long Shots: Dorian Godon (Netcompany INEOS), Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Per Strand Hagenes (Visma | Lease a Bike), Lewis Askey (NSN), Thibaud Gruel, Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ), Mike Teunissen, Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), Lukas Kubis (Unibet Rose Rockets), Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto-Intermarché), and Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility)