Pluimers goes close, but has to concede Classic Var win to France’s Tesson

The Classic Var was held for the third time as a one-day race, but with a completely different character. In 2024, the organisers opted for a finish on Mont Faron: a well-known climb from the now-defunct Tour Méditerranéen.

Lenny Martinez impressed on that climb, while the 2025 victory went to Christian Scaroni: the Italian of XDS Astana was then best on a kind of “Mur de Huy-lite” finish in Fayence. That finale has now been replaced, with the Classic Var returning in 2026 as a flatter edition.

The French race still attracted a strong start list, even though it faced competition this weekend from races like the UAE Tour, the Volta ao Algarve and the Ruta del Sol. From a Dutch perspective, riders such as Bauke Mollema (Lidl–Trek), Frank van den Broek and Frits Biesterbos (Picnic PostNL were among those on the start line.

The break of the day featured four relative unknowns: Lucas Beneteau, Antoine Berger (St Michel), Jonas Walton (CIC) and Noah Bögli (Elite Fondations). It was a move for publicity—one that was always likely to be caught. The peloton kept the speed high over the final 50 kilometres and gradually reeled them in.

Unibet Tietema Rockets and Picnic PostNL did the most work in the chase, ensuring the escapees would have a tough time in the closing kilometres. They fought hard, but were caught inside the final five kilometres, setting up a sprint finish in Brignoles.

Decathlon CMA CGM and Bahrain Victorious kept their lead-out trains relatively intact, but they appeared a little early. Tudor and Lotto–Intermarché seemed to time things better. The sprint was disrupted by a crash involving a rider from Unibet Tietema Rockets, after which Tord Gudmestad opened the sprint—but it was Jason Tesson (TotalEnergies) who proved quickest.