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Wednesday, March 25, 2026
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2025 Tour de France | 2025 Giro d'Italia
To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle. - Walt Whitman
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 2: 1971 - 2011 is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- March 23 - 29: Volta a Catalunya
- March 25: Ronde Van Brugge - Tour of Bruges
- March 25 - 29: Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali
Upcoming racing:
- March 27: E3 Saxo Classic
- March 28: Classic Loire Atlantique
- March 29: Gent-Wevelgem
- March 29: La Roue Tourangelle
- March 31: Paris-Camembert
- April 1: Dwars door Vlaanderen
- April 3: Classic Adélie de Vitré
- April 4: GP Miguel Indurain
Latest completed racing:
- March 21: Milano-Sanremo
- March 20: Bredene Koksijde Classic
- March 19: GP de Denain
- March 18: Danilith Nokere Koerse
- March 18: Milano-Torino
- March 8 - March 15: Paris-Nice
- March 9 - 15: Tirreno-Adriatico
- March 7: Strade Bianche
- March 4: Trofeo Laigueglia
- March 3: Le Samyn Classic
We posted the race organizer's stage one report with the results.
Here's the report from GC leader Dorian Godon's Team INEOS Grenadiers:
Dorian Godon sprinted to fourth place on stage two at the Volta a Catalunya to retain the overall race lead.
The Frenchman unleashed another powerful sprint into Banyoles after freestyling the final run-in. Fourth meant Godon was able to hold onto the jersey due to stage placings, in no small part due to his victory on the opening day. Magnus Cort (UnoX-Mobility) began his kick early and was able to hold on to win.
Magnus Cort wins stage two.
The Grenadiers worked hard throughout the 167.4-kilometres to help patrol the front of the race, supporting Godon, as well as GC contenders Oscar Onley and Carlos Rodriguez. The pair would both finish safely in the peloton ahead of GC tests to come later in the week.
Victor Langellotti got through a huge amount of work at the front of the peloton, with Embret Svestad-Bardseng and Bob Jungels also hitting the front late on.
Wednesday presents another flat finish sprint
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Here's the Tour of Catalonia stage two report from Andrea Raccagni's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
The Volta a Catalunya continued on Tuesday with another hilly parcours, this time between Figueres, the hometown of Salvador Dali, to Banyoles, one of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics venues. Despite the vertical gain of almost 2000 meters and the numerous short climbs on the route, the sprinters were eyeing this stage, and for that reason, several teams shared the responsibility at the front of the peloton, chasing the five-man breakaway.
Surprisingly, the escapees put up quite the fight, despite their maximum gap hovering around just two minutes. With ten kilometers to go, two men were still up the road with a 40-second gap, and it took a big effort from the bunch to bring the last member of that move back, just as they rode under the flamme rouge.
The break early in the stage.
Andrea Raccagni piloted countryman Alberto Dainese there, and the fast Italian sprinted on the 4% drag to the line to a solid top five on the stage won by Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility). His younger teammate finished just outside the top ten, which helped him pull on the white jersey as the best young rider in the race. It’s for the second time this season that Dainese leads the youth standings at a World Tour event this season after the Tour Down Under, where he ended up winning the jersey.
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And here's the Tour of Catalonia report from Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Team Visma | Lease a Bike has once again enjoyed a trouble-free day in the Volta a Ciclista Catalunya. The yellow-and-black squad safely guided team leader Jonas Vingegaard to the finish line and did not get involved in the battle for the stage win.
The second stage of the Catalan stage race took the peloton from Figueres to Banyoles for a race of almost 170 kilometres. Five riders formed the breakaway and built up a maximum lead of three minutes. The last remaining escapee held on for a long time, but with two kilometres to go, it came to an end. Magnus Cort proved to be the fastest in the sprint.
Stage two gets its official start.
"I think we had a relatively quiet day", sports director Marc Reef said. "Five riders broke away and from that moment on we were able to save energy. It was important to be at the front in the final, because the last 27 kilometres were mainly downhill. We wanted to stay out of trouble and the guys did a brilliant job. Ultimately, we entered the final three kilometres in a good way."
Reef predicts that tomorrow’s stage will be tougher. "That’s partly down to the start, as there are two tough climbs in the early stages. In addition, we’ll need to be alert if the wind comes into play in the final stretch. I expect a somewhat more hectic day tomorrow."
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Here’s the team’s news:
The UCI WorldTour calendar continues this week with the ongoing Volta a Catalunya before shifting back to Belgium, where the atmosphere is building toward the Tour of Flanders in the coming weeks. A key block of cobbled Classics begins with Ronde van Brugge on Wednesday, March 25.
The race represents a new version of what was previously known as Brugge–De Panne. While the organisers have redesigned the parcours, now featuring both start and finish in Brugge, its essence remains unchanged: a flat and fast race traditionally suited to sprinters.
The route starts from the Markt, the historic centre of Brugge, and initially heads south through Torhout, Wingene and Beernem before returning to the Brugge area. From there, the race enters a decisive circuit phase. After a first passage over the finish line on the wide Gulden-Vlieslaan, the peloton will complete two laps of a 59-kilometre circuit. This includes a short cobbled section on Brieversweg (1.3 km) and several exposed, fast sections along the Damse Vaart, part of the 2021 UCI Road World Championships time trial course. The total race distance is 202.9 km.
The new course presents a double challenge, especially considering the expected weather conditions. Heavy rain and strong winds are forecast, increasing the likelihood of echelons and splits in the peloton well before the finale.
Sports Director Nikolas Maes highlights the key factors:
“It’s a new parcours, so we don’t know exactly how the race will unfold, but it’s clear that the wind and rain will make it very hard. These conditions usually create echelons, with the race opening up and coming back together repeatedly.
It will be crucial to be attentive from the start due to the weather forecast. The focus will be on bringing our leaders into the key zones and surviving the splits. Mental sharpness and strong bike handling in these conditions will be essential to stay in the front group.”
Bahrain Victorious will aim to be competitive in the sprint with experienced fast man Phil Bauhaus alongside young talent Zak Erzen, who recently showed strong form with a sixth-place finish at GP Monseré.
Phil Bauhaus wins Tirreno-Adriatico stage three. Sirotti photo
They will be supported by Oliver Stockwell and Kamil Gradek, who will play a key role in protecting the leaders early in the race. Alberto Bruttomesso, Daniel Skerl and Attila Valter will focus on positioning the team ahead of the crucial sectors.
Maes adds:
“We have the ambition to go for the sprint, but the harder the race becomes, the more difficult it will be to be there in the final. With Zak showing good form recently and Phil bringing a lot of experience, we believe we can survive in a reduced group of around 20–25 riders.
"That’s the scenario we are aiming for, arriving at the finish after a hard race and fighting for a good result.”
And here's the Ronde van Brugge preview from the UAE Team Emirates-XRG:
With three WorldTour one-day races to come, this week in Belgium promises the usual mix of unpredictable weather, challenging cobblestones and exciting racing. The names of some races may be new, but the opportunities ahead of UAE Team Emirates-XRG remain the same.
With that in mind, the Emirati squad is ready to announce its seven-man lineup for the Ronde Van Brugge (formerly Classic Brugge-De Panne), with the E3 Saxo Classic and In Flanders Fields – From Middelkerke to Wevelgem (formerly Gent-Wevelgem) to come later in the week.
Across all three races, the squad will be directed by the experienced Sports Directors Fabio Baldato and Marco Marcato. The former won three stages of the Ronde Van Brugge, back when the race was a multi-day stage race known as Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde.
It will be the Ronde Van Brugge first up for the UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad, which will be run to and from Bruges for the first time. Formerly the Classic Brugge-De Panne, in its existence as a one-day race, the route has veered away from De Panne this season after last year’s crash-marred edition.
It was UAE Team Emirates-XRG who navigated the mayhem in the best way possible by placing Sebastián Molano into a winning position. There, the Colombian started his sprint from far, some 400m from the line in De Panne. Surprising the rest of his competitors, Molano held his advantage to the line and claimed a memorable win.
Juan Sebastian Molano wins the 2023 GP Denain.
The 31-year-old will be back in tow for UAE Team Emirates-XRG on Wednesday, 25 March, with the sprinter joined by Luca Giaimi, Rune Herregodts, Julius Johansen, Vegard Stake Laengen, Rui Oliveira and Florian Vermeersch. The latter comes fresh from helping Tadej Pogačar towards a famous victory at Milano-Sanremo, and is chomping at the bit to get stuck into another block of racing on home roads.
Vermeersch: “I’m really looking forward to this next block of racing. As a Belgian, it’s an honour to be a part of these races and there is a special atmosphere around for them. We have a strong team with lots of experience and we aim to make it count. After the win in Sanremo the team is on a bit of a high and we hope to continue that into these Classic races.”
From Italy to Belgium, Vermeersch and his teammates will be greeted on Wednesday by the forecasted weather of high winds and freezing temperatures. Such conditions may serve to create a more attritional race than might be expected from the relatively ‘tame’ parcours in and around Bruges.
No longer heading to the coast in De Panne, the route of the new Ronde Van Brugge will take the peloton on two loops: one to the north of Bruges and one to the south.
The loop of the south heads through the likes of Wingene and Beernem, before joining the northern loop in Oedelem after 45km. From here, the riders will face three loops of a circuit that includes a cobbled sector at the Brieversweg.
In the event of a sprint finish, the fast men will have plenty of room to ply their trade, with the finishing straight in Bruges taking place on the spacious boulevard of Gulden-Vlieslaan. The final true corner falls well over 10km from the finish line, with the race organisers placing a heavy emphasis on safety in the rejigged parcours.