Will riders like Van der Poel and Van Aert come up short? Here's what Abrahamsen has to say about the chances for his type of riders in the 2026 Tour

Abrahamsen was among the small group of attackers who managed to win a stage last year. The Norwegian from Uno-X won the eleventh stage to Toulouse by beating Mauro Schmid of Jayco AlUla in a two-man sprint. Other transition stages last season went to Mathieu van der Poel, Ben Healy, Tim Wellens, Kaden Groves, and finally Wout van Aert.

“It looks like a nice route,” said Abrahamsen. “I foresee an open race, especially with that tough finish. There are also quite a few sprint stages, so every rider will get their chance in this Tour de France. With the team time trial and individual time trial included, it's a bit of everything. I'm not very good at the team time trial, so I'm glad it's one by one, haha.”

“I've never climbed Alpe d'Huez before, so I'm looking forward to going there. I've done that climb many times on Zwift, because that's what we have to do in Norway in the winter,” says the always cheerful Scandinavian. “But now I'm finally going to climb it for real, the climb I've actually climbed the most in my life. Hahaha.”

Compared to 2025, the number of opportunities for the classic types is somewhat more limited, he notes. “I see a few opportunities for punchers and attackers, the type of rider I am. But there are fewer than last season, when there were a lot of opportunities right from the start. Although I have to say that the start of a race like this is often so hectic that it still goes to the GC contenders when they go full throttle,” he says, referring to Tadej Pogacar, among others.

“In the last two weeks, I do see some opportunities for us punchy riders. I can't say yet which stage suits me best. But I think I'm going to focus more on the last two weeks, as I did this year – unintentionally,” says the man who broke his collarbone just before the Tour. “In general, that's where the opportunities lie for the attackers in the Tour. And I would love to win in Paris.”