Star of Bessèges improves safety, but big teams still stay away

The defining story of last year’s edition was the chaos during the opening stages. Maxim Van Gils crashed, and less than a day later another vehicle appeared on the course. Those incidents prompted almost all of the major teams to pull out. Teams such as Lidl-Trek, INEOS Grenadiers and Soudal Quick-Step will not be lining up in France this time.

Last year, riders like Mads Pedersen, Kévin Vauquelin, Filippo Ganna, Paul Magnier and Arnaud De Lie were on the start list at the Star of Bessèges. After the chaos of 2025, the organisers will have to make do this year with standout names like Paul Lapeira and Dylan Groenewegen — a notable difference compared to 2025.

Following the disastrous 2025 edition, the organisers have sat down and introduced additional safety measures. Roads will be closed 20 minutes in advance instead of the previous 10, dozens of motorbikes will be sent up the road to warn of hazards, and gendarmerie motorbikes will be assigned exclusively to the peloton zone.

With these changes, the organisation hopes to limit the damage this year — with mixed success. The positive is that the race stays on the calendar and can still count on support from (mainly French) WorldTour and ProTeam squads.

However, there are still six fewer WorldTour teams on the start list compared to last year — and that is largely down to what happened in 2025. Jürgen Foré, CEO of the absent Soudal Quick-Step, admitted to Het Nieuwsblad that memories of last year’s edition certainly played a role in the decision not to start this year.

That some teams who withdrew last year are not returning this year is not a huge problem for former rider and Star of Bessèges security director Romain Leroux. “If teams like Decathlon CMA CGM or Lidl-Trek wanted to race here this year, I could have accepted that, because they’ve been coming for years. But teams like Bora and Soudal, who only raced last year and made fools of us, I wouldn’t have needed here,” Leroux said firmly.

The organisation has also rewarded the teams that did continue in 2025. All teams that finished last year’s chaotic edition were invited first, and only then were the remaining WorldTour teams approached. Fortunately for the organisers, four top-tier teams will still start.

Another boost for the race: positive messages from within the peloton. Both Marc Madiot (Groupama-FDJ boss) and Laurent Pichon (sporting director at Pinarello–Q36.5 Pro Cycling) told L’Équipe they have “enormous appreciation for the organisation” and stressed how important small French races like this are.

The UCI 2.1 stage race, which begins on Wednesday 4 February with a flat stage featuring a rising final kilometre, will now have to prove that these measures are enough — and that it can slowly rebuild trust among the biggest teams in the years ahead.