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Thursday August 20, 2026
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Current racing:
- August 18 - 21: Tour du Limousin-Périgord
- August 19 - 23: Renewi Tour
Upcoming racing:
- August 22 - Sept 13: Vuelta a España
- August 25 - 28: Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
Latest completed racing:
- August 13 - 18: Arctic Race of Norway
- August 16: Cyclassics Hamburg
- August 16: La Polynormande
- August 3 - 9: Tour of Poland
- August 4 - 8: Vuelta a Burgos
- July 29 - August 2: Tour of Denmark
- August 2: Circuito de Getxo
- August 1: Clasica San Sebastian
- July 28 - 30: Tour de l'Ain
- July 4 - 26: Tour de France
- July 26: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
- July 8 - 12: Tour of Austria
- June 24 - 28: National Championshps
- June 17 - 21: Tour de Suisse
- June 17 - 21: Baloise Belgium Tour
Here's the team's post:
NSN Cycling Team will head to La Vuelta with an eight-rider squad focused on making the most of its opportunities across the three weeks, combining experienced Grand Tour campaigners with three riders making their debut at this level.
George Bennett, Jan Hirt, Hugo Hofstetter, Moritz Kretschy, Alexey Lutsenko, Pau Martí, Nick Schultz and Floris Van Tricht will line up in Monaco on Saturday 22 August for the final Grand Tour of the 2026 season.
Pau Marti wins a stage in the 2025 Tour of Protugal.
The team heads into the race with options across a wide variety of terrain. Hofstetter will provide opportunities in the faster finishes, while the mountain and medium-mountain stages will offer chances for the team’s climbers and breakaway specialists.
“Our goals for La Vuelta are mainly focused around stage results,” says Sports Director Pat McCarty. “We want to win a stage and be present on or near the podium in stages across each of the three weeks.
“We start with a few sprint opportunities, already on Stage 2, where we will focus on supporting Hugo in the faster finishes. From there, we will target every breakaway opportunity with our best-fit riders for that stage’s profile.”
This year’s lineup brings together very different levels of Grand Tour experience, with Kretschy, Martí and Van Tricht — all of whom have come through the team’s development program — set to make their Grand Tour debuts.
For Martí, the occasion carries additional significance as the Spaniard prepares to make his Grand Tour debut at his home race.
“To make my Grand Tour debut at La Vuelta makes it very special,” says Martí. “It’s a race I grew up watching at home and dreamed of one day being on the start line, so I’ve prepared for it with a lot of hard work and excitement.
“These days at home have made me realise even more how big it is. Every time I go out in my village, people stop me to ask about La Vuelta and wish me luck. You can really feel how excited everyone around me is, and racing in Spain always gives you that extra motivation in front of our home fans.
“The stages through the Comunidad Valenciana are the ones I’m especially looking forward to because they are very close to home and I know there will be family and friends on the roadside. It would be amazing to try to fight for one of those stages, whether from the breakaway or the peloton. I also think the medium-mountain stages can suit me well.
“My main goal is to enjoy every moment and learn as much as possible. It will be my first time racing for three consecutive weeks, so I know I can learn a lot from the more experienced riders. When I have my own opportunity, I’ll give everything to try to fight for the win, and on the other days I’ll do everything I can to help the teammate who has the opportunity.”
McCarty believes the balance between first-time Grand Tour riders and experienced campaigners will be one of the team’s strengths.
“Our team for La Vuelta this year will bring experience and excitement. We have three riders — Moritz, Pau and Floris — starting their first Grand Tour ever.
“Along with that young exuberance, we have some experienced riders who have won stages in multiple Grand Tours. For me, this is a great mix for what we want to accomplish.”
Across the three weeks, the team expects opportunities to come both in the sprints and from breakaways, with the shape of the general classification helping determine when to commit its resources.
“There are really a number of opportunities in each week, depending on the race dynamics,” McCarty adds. “We’ll need to be smart about where we can use our energy on the more difficult stages to try for stage results.
“In terms of sprints, we see about five opportunities across the race, with Stages 2, 5 and 8 before the first rest day. In the second week, there are also a number of difficult stages that could result in a breakaway making it to the finish.
“We’ll see where the race stands after the first rest day, but we expect and will be ready for a number of open stages going into September. It looks like an exciting Vuelta.”
La Vuelta begins with a technical 9.4-kilometer individual time trial through Monaco, which will become the first venue to have hosted the opening stage of all three Grand Tours.
From there, 21 stages and more than 58,000 metres of elevation gain await before the race concludes in Granada on Sunday 13 September.
NSN Cycling Team at La Vuelta (Saturday 22 August – Sunday 13 September)
Riders: George Bennett (NZL), Jan Hirt (CZE), Hugo Hofstetter (FRA), Moritz Kretschy (GER), Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ), Pau Martí (ESP), Nick Schultz (AUS), Floris Van Tricht (BEL)
Sports Directors: Pat McCarty (USA), Oscar Guerrero (ESP), René Andrle (CZE)
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Here's the Vuelta preview from Team Lidl-Trek:
The final Grand Tour of the season is here, and Lidl-Trek arrives at La Vuelta a España 2026 with a versatile eight-rider squad ready to take on one of the toughest editions in recent years.
The 81st Vuelta gets underway on August 22 with a short individual time trial in Monaco, before the race heads through France and Andorra and into Spain. Across 21 stages and 3,275 kilometres, the peloton will face a route packed with climbing, including seven summit finishes, a 32-kilometre individual time trial and more than 58,000 metres of elevation gain. The decisive moments are likely to come in the mountains, with the final week featuring tough finishes at La Pandera, Peñas Blancas and the new summit finish at Collado del Alguacil. The race concludes in Granada on September 13.
Mattias Skjelmose will lead Lidl-Trek’s general classification ambitions and the Dane arrives in Spain after a strong Tour de France, where he finished sixth overall. The Vuelta route offers plenty of opportunities for Skjelmose to put his climbing, time-trialling and tactical strengths to work.
Mattias Skjelmose racing in stage twenty of the 2026 Tour de France. Sirotti photo
Alongside Skjelmose, Mads Pedersen will be a riders to watch on the punchier stages, where his explosiveness and finishing speed can make the difference. He is fresh off winning the green jersey and a stage at the Tour and will be hoping to produce a similar performance in the final Grand Tour of the year.
Thibau Nys adds another winning threat, with his ability to combine sprinting strength and resilience opening up opportunities across the varied route.
Although his build-up to the race has been difficult, Nys explains he feels confident ahead of the Vuelta:
"It’s clear that the season is far from what I had hoped for after my knee injury, surgery and the whole recovery from that. I was looking forward to racing a lot and we started off well in Suisse and the Nationals, then having a good preparation in Majorca to be in top shape at the Vuelta and also San Sebastián and Burgos, both of which I looked forward to and had made a goal. The last week of my training camp in Majorca I got some symptoms of illness and it looked a bit like I might not be able to make the start line of the Vuelta, but in the end I turned around quickly.
"I have the feeling I am in the shape I wanted to be and I can’t expect more than that after what I have been through. Actually, the last training rides I did really surprised me with my good shape. I hope I can show that in the Vuelta, I think we have a really nice team and some clear goals. I am looking forward to it and I hope to turn around the bad luck of this year and finish it off nicely."
Julien Bernard, Lennard Kämna, Patrick Konrad, Jacopo Mosca and Mathias Norsgaard complete a team packed with experience and versatility, ready to support the team’s GC ambitions while taking their own opportunities when the race opens up.
Sports director Maxime Monfort explained the team line-up:
"We start with eight motivated guys. Skjelly is the GC leader. It's his second Grand Tour, but he's really feeling great, and he's going for GC. We can dream big, but, of course, he doesn't know how he's going to react in the third week. Everything is going well for the moment.
"Then we have Mads who is also riding his second Grand Tour. He will not specifically chase green and wants to help the team as well as targeting stage wins – it is great to have him in this state. Thibau hasn’t had the perfect preparation because he was sick but we believe he can be good and we are happy to have him. He can be a game-changer in stage hunting and can help the team in general. We also have Julien who is a great helper with a lot of experience, the same with Konrad and Kämna who are really important in the mountains. Jacopo Mosca was impressive in Poland and is always committed, and so is Norsgaard who will do a job protecting Skjelly and Mads.
"It will be a hot Vuelta as always and a difficult race with a lot of climbing from day three. There are a lot of chances for breakaways and it will be hard right until the crazy final stage in Granada."
Three weeks of demanding racing await, with opportunities spread across almost every type of terrain. Lidl-Trek heads into La Vuelta with clear ambitions: to fight for the General Classification, hunt stage victories and make its mark on the final Grand Tour of the season.
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And Team Jayco AlUla posted this Vuelta update:
Team Jayco AlUla will line up at the 81st edition of La Vuelta a España with a young and motivated team, headed by British talent Paul Double.
With one Grand Tour already under his belt, the 30-year-old will be looking to take every opportunity to hunt stage wins during the third and final Grand Tour of the season.
Starting in Monte Carlo next Saturday, the Spanish tour will skip the tradition final stage in Madrid and for 2026, draw its conclusion in Granada on September 13th, following a route almost entirely Mediterranean.
Paul Double wins stage five of the 2025 Tour of Guangxi
Youthful motivation
Alongside the Tour of Guangxi winner Double, fellow Briton Finlay Pickeringwill be looking to perform on the hiller stages with this year’s course suiting the duo’s characteristics with no less than six major mountain stages to come. Like Double, the 23-year-old has one Grand Tour ticked off after already experiencing La Vuelta in 2025.
Adding an extra abundance of energy and motivation to the team will be a trio of Grand Tour debutants. Two young Australians in the shape of Rudy Porter and Hamish McKenzie, who are both ready to support the team leaders, whilst gaining valuable experience for the future.
Dane Asbjørn Hellemose adds another hint of determination to the squad as the 27-year-old will finally make his Grand Tour debut and be seeking out every opportunity to jump into breakaways.
Valuable Experience
At his first Grand Tour in Team Jayco AlUla colours, Italian Alessandro Covi, will be looking to achieve results not only in the hilly stages but also the flatter days when the peloton arrives in a bigger group, with the 27-year-old an extremely versatile rider in the team’s roster.
Rounding out the squad will be two experienced men with German Jasha Sütterlin, a key rider to support the leaders with a strong engine that will be invaluable when it comes to positioning on the flat. Dutch climber Koen Bouwmanis set to start his 13th Grand Tour and will bring a huge amount of experience to guide the fairly youthful squad.
Team Jayco AlUla at the 2026 La Vuelta a España:
Koen Bouwman (NED) – 5th appearance
Alessandro Covi (ITA) – Debut at La Vuelta
Paul Double (GBR) – Debut at La Vuelta
Asbjørn Hellemose (DEN) – Debut at La Vuelta
Hamish McKenzie (AUS) – Debut at La Vuelta
Finlay Pickering (GBR) – 2nd appearance
Rudy Porter (AUS) – Debut at La Vuelta
Jasha Sütterlin (GER) – 5th appearance
Paul Double:
“I’m very much looking forward to lining up at La Vuelta with GreenEDGE. It will be my second Grand Tour and hopefully with everything learnt last year I can have more success. I’ve been re-finding my legs in the last few races so I’m hoping to capitalise wherever opportunities reveal themselves. For sure it’ll be a tough few weeks ahead but I’m looking forward to racing in Spain, also a chance to brush up on my Spanish which is quickly becoming rusty.”
David McPartland (Sport Director):
“We are heading to the Vuelta this year with the goal of chasing stage results. We have a young and very motivated team for the final Grand Tour of the season. A lot of riders will be making their debut at the race, this brings a lot of added motivation and we’re looking forward to seeing what they can achieve. Hopefully many stages that will end with breaks going to the line and, for sure, we are looking to take every possible opportunity we can to get the most out of this race and end the season on a high.”
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We posted the report from stage winner Jonathan Milan's Team Lidl-Trek with the results.
Here's the report from Tim Merlier's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
The longest day of the race was made even more complicated by the harsh weather conditions and the presence of some small climbs which ended up splitting the field on the last lap. Soudal Quick-Step, who controlled the breakaway from the start of the race, took over the reins in the peloton again to bring things back together for Tim Merlier and did a fantastic job in the nervous closing kilometers, when they reeled in the escapees and made sure to position the Belgian fast man close to the front of the reduced bunch ahead of the flamme rouge.
It was a complicated sprint, with no lead-out trains, just riders fighting for positioning, but Merlier still delivered a strong acceleration to take his sixth Renewi Tour podium finish.
Jonathan Milan wins the first stage of the Renewi Tour.
“In the finale it was hard to keep the overview of the race situation. I had space in the sprint but was in the wind quite early, and felt that. Because of the cold I didn’t have the legs anymore to win the sprint. But I think that we rode a collective strong race with the team and that’s something to take into the next stages”, Tim explained.