Pogacar Continues Where He Left Off As Vingegaard Starts 2026 Brightly

Sporting blonde hair as we opened the 2026 cycling calendar at Strade Bianche, Pogacar attacked with 78km of the 204km race left and cruised to a third straight victory in the Italian one day classic. The four time Tour de France winner has now won the race a record four times to add another piece of history to his collection.

If one racer is expected to win big at an Ivy Casino and take the jackpot, it would certainly be Pogacar as he will undoubtedly again steal many of the headlines that are available for this calendar year, but Danish professional Jonas Vingegaard is looking to make his own road racing news this time around and as we head towards the end of the month of March, the 29 year old has just helped himself to his first Paris-Nice title after he clinched second spot in Sunday's race.

The two time Tour de France winner was ultimately pipped to the line on stage eight by Frenchman Lenny Martinez, but by that point he had already given himself a commanding overall lead and remained clear in the general classification.

Colombia's Harold Tejada crossed the line in third a few seconds behind the winner in a pack of several racers, as Vingegaard remained four minutes and 23 seconds clear of Daniel Martinez in second to seal the title. The Colombian will be disappointed with the eventual gap that built up, but he slipped adrift following a crash when there was 50km remaining in the race.

The Dane will be delighted with his victory and he will take plenty of confidence from it as he hopes to make far more of an impact once again this year, and it does mean, of course, that he now moves forward on a positive path as he turns his eyes and attentions to his tilt at the upcoming Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France double that takes place in May and June, respectively.

Given Saturday's race had to be shortened somewhat owing to the inclement weather and the heavy snow fall that hit the summit finish, there were obviously a number of concerns about how Sunday's finale stage would go, but thankfully for Vingegaard the conditions were much better on the day and the 145km stage started, and ended, in Nice on the Allianz Riviera.

Vingegaard had originally led Martinez for the break away from the main peloton for the final and gruelling climb, but as the metres ticked down, the 22 year old Team Bahrain Victorious climbing specialist saw his honed talents come to the fore. The Frenchman somewhat predictably found the extra gear that many knew he had to ultimately come out on top in the enthralling final sprint.