2026 Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine (2.1), France

40th edition: August 25 - 28, 2026

Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine podium history | Start list | 2025 edition
Stage 1 | Stage 2

2026 Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine Tour overall map

---

Wednesday, August 26: Stage 2, Puilboreau - Lezay, 199.5 km

Stage 2 map & profile

Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the 2024 Tour de France: The Happy Warrior Triumphs is available print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the link on the right.

Weather at the finish city of Lezay

The race:

 

Results:

 

GC after stage 2:

 

Stage 2 map & profile:

Stage 2 map

Stage 2 profile

---

Tuesday, August 25: Stage 1, Saint-Cloud - Dompierre-sur-Mer, 191.5 km

Stage 1 map & profile

Milan Fretin (on left, head down) on his way to winning the stage and the GC leadership. Photo: Getty Sport

Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2021: The Little Cannibal Dominates is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the finish city of Dompierre-sur-Mer at 2:40 PM, local time: 26C (79F), fair, with the wind from the southwest at 19 km/hr (12 mph). There is just a 1% chance of rain, though it did rain on the riders halfway into the stage.

The race: Here's the report from second-place Paul Penhoët's Team Groupama-FDJ United.

On paper, the opening stage of the TPC in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, also known as the Tour Poitou-Charentes, was bound to favor the sprinters. In practice, it was indeed the fast men who took center stage in Dompierre-sur-Mer after 191 kilometers. Paul Penhoët then carried the hopes of the Groupama-FDJ United cycling team, with only Milan Fretin managing to beat him to the finish line. Another mass sprint is expected on Wednesday in Lezay.

Before the time-trial specialists take the spotlight on Thursday, during the individual time trial that is always decisive on the “TPC,” the sprinters had their shot on Tuesday for the opening stage of the French race. A bunch sprint seemed the only realistic outcome, particularly as a breakaway of just five riders formed early in the race. “It wasn’t a dangerous breakaway, so we didn’t take control from the start,” explained William Green. “Later on, though, there was a possibility that the other teams would stop riding into the headwind if they weren’t getting any help, so we eventually joined the chase. We tried to adapt as well as possible to deliver the best performance we could. We have a very strong team here, both for the general classification and for the sprint, and we were highly motivated today. The goal was to back Paul in the final, as it suited him well.”

The breakaway never gained more than a three-minute advantage, and Groupama-FDJ United took on its responsibilities through Johan Jacobs. “Since we started riding fairly late, Johan felt capable of pulling at the front of the peloton and doing his job in the final,” William added. “He was a key teammate today.”
The Swiss rider’s work, combined with that of the other sprint teams, enabled the peloton to catch the breakaway just after the first passage across the finish line, with about 15 kilometres to go. “We knew the circuit would be quite technical,” William explained. “There was quite a lot of road furniture, some wind and narrow roads, so we took control for the whole last lap. Even before crossing the finish line for the first time, we moved to the front with confidence and really gave it everything in the final.”

Then, thanks in particular to the work of Blake Agnoletto, Cyril Barthe and Matteo Milan in the closing kilometers, the Groupama-FDJ United lead-out train remained at the front to put Paul Penhoët in the best possible position. “The initial plan was for Matteo to launch Paul,” William explained. “Coming into the final 500 metres, Matteo was at the front, but there was a bit of a headwind, so Paul decided to move back into fourth position and launch his effort from behind. Fretin went just after that, around 350 meters from the finish, and caught Paul somewhat by surprise. But, to be honest, there wasn’t much we could do. Paulo was beaten by a faster rider on the day. There are no regrets, and we are very pleased with the team’s performance.” The French sprinter therefore had to settle for second place, while the rest of his teammates were awarded the same finishing time following a crash in the final.

On Wednesday, a second round between the sprinters is expected in Lezay, after 200 kilometers.

Complete results:

191.5 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.331 km/hr

1	Milan Fretin	Cofidis	4hr 31min 26sec
2	Paul Penhoët	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
3	Tord Gudmestad	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	s.t.
4	Brody McDonald	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
5	Karsten Feldmann	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
6	Paul Hennequin	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
7	Mathias Sanlaville	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	s.t.
8	Yanne Dorenbos	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
9	Tom Mainguenaud	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
10	Romain Cardis	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	s.t.
11	Tommaso Bessega	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
12	Daniel Årnes	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
13	Dario Belletta	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
14	Luke Verburg	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
15	Jan Sommer	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	s.t.
16	Gianluca Pollefliet	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	s.t.
17	Jason Tesson	Team TotalEnergies	s.t.
18	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
19	Matteo Milan	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
20	Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	s.t.
21	Peder Dahl Strand	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
22	Simen Evertsen-Hegreberg	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
23	Frank Aron Ragilo	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
24	Antoine L'Hote	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	s.t.
25	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
26	Maxime Decomble	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
27	Antoine Raugel	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
28	Gabriele Bessega	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
29	Tyler Stites	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
30	Jahkim Carty	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
31	Wessel Mouris	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
32	Ronan Augé	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
33	Anthony Turgis	Team TotalEnergies	s.t.
34	Remi Cavagna	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
35	Samuel Leroux	Team TotalEnergies	s.t.
36	Victor Jean	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	s.t.
37	Noah Bögli	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	s.t.
38	Francisco Muñoz	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
39	Camille Charret	Cofidis	s.t.
40	Marius Innhaug Dahl	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	s.t.
41	Nino de Jong	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
42	Otto van Zanden	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
43	Vincent Hoppezak	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
44	Clément Dubois	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
45	Filip Pantzare	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
46	Txomin Juaristi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
47	Cole Kessler	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
48	Vilgot Reinhold	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
49	Guillaume Bagou	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	s.t.
50	Jean-Loup Fayolle	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	s.t.
51	Baptiste Gillet	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
52	Max Nielsen	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
53	Hugo Scala Jr	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
54	Stefan de Bod	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
55	Harry Lasker	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
56	Jonas Walton	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	s.t.
57	Leo Hayter	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
58	Clément Davy	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
59	Ion Izagirre	Cofidis	s.t.
60	Kepa Ormazabal	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
61	Dylan Massa	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
62	Yago Aguirre	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
63	Blake Agnoletto	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
64	Johan Jacobs	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
65	Alexander Konijn	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
66	Joseph Brookes	Cofidis	s.t.
67	Axel van der Tuuk	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
68	Owen Geleijn	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
69	Nate Pringle	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	s.t.
70	Eivind Broholt Fougner	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
71	Alfie George	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	s.t.
72	Adrián Benito	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
73	Hodei Munoz	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
74	Adam Toupalik	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
75	Philip Heijnen	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
76	Fabien Grellier	Team TotalEnergies	s.t.
77	Elia Blum	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	@ 1min 41awx
78	Loris Rouiller	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	@ 0sec
79	Gabriele Raccagni	Team Polti-VisitMalta	@ 0sec
80	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	@ 0sec
81	Clement Izquierdo	Cofidis	2:11
82	Nicolas Debeaumarché	Cofidis	s.t.
83	Victor Guernalec	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	s.t.
84	Niklas Larsen	Unibet Rose Rockets	@ 0sec
85	Victor Papon	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	@ 0sec
86	Niek Voogt	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	@ 0sec
87	Kévin Avoine	Van Rysel-Roubaix	@ 0sec
88	Killian Théot	Van Rysel-Roubaix	@ 0sec
89	Antoine Berger	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	@ 0sec
90	Axel Bouquet	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	@ 0sec
91	Similien Hamon	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	@ 0sec
92	Léandre Huck	Van Rysel-Roubaix	2:29
93	Thomas Gachignard	Team TotalEnergies	@ 0sec
94	Lorrenzo Manzin	Team TotalEnergies	@ 0sec
95	Diego Sevilla	Team Polti-VisitMalta	@ 0sec
96	Thibault Guernalec	Team TotalEnergies	@ 0sec
97	Hjalmar Klyver	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	@ 0sec
98	Yohann Simon	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	@ 0sec
99	Joes Oosterlinck	Van Rysel-Roubaix	@ 0sec
100	Théo Delacroix	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	@ 0sec
101	Gari Ugarte	Euskaltel-Euskadi	8:02
102	Conor Murphy	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	8:11
103	Joris Chaussinand	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	8:20
104	Maël Guégan	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	19:16

 

GC after stage 1:

• GC leader: Milan Fretin (Cofidis)
• Mountains classification leader: Victor Papon (Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur)
• Points classification leader: Milan Fretin (Cofidis)
• Best young rider: Filip Pantzare (Lucky Sport Cycling team)
• Teams classification leader: Groupama-FDJ United)

1	Milan Fretin	Cofidis	4hr 31min 16sec
2	Kévin Avoine	Van Rysel-Roubaix	@ 2sec
3	Filip Pantzare	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	0:03
4	Paul Penhoët	Groupama-FDJ United	0:04
5	Tord Gudmestad	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	0:06
6	Victor Papon	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	0:07
7	Brody McDonald	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	0:10
8	Karsten Feldmann	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
9	Paul Hennequin	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
10	Mathias Sanlaville	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	s.t.
11	Yanne Dorenbos	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
12	Tom Mainguenaud	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
13	Romain Cardis	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	s.t.
14	Tommaso Bessega	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
15	Daniel Årnes	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
16	Dario Belletta	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
17	Luke Verburg	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
18	Jan Sommer	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	s.t.
19	Gianluca Pollefliet	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	s.t.
20	Jason Tesson	Team TotalEnergies	s.t.
21	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
22	Matteo Milan	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
23	Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	s.t.
24	Peder Dahl Strand	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
25	Simen Evertsen-Hegreberg	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
26	Frank Aron Ragilo	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
27	Antoine L'Hote	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	s.t.
28	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
29	Maxime Decomble	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
30	Antoine Raugel	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
31	Gabriele Bessega	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
32	Tyler Stites	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
33	Jahkim Carty	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
34	Wessel Mouris	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
35	Ronan Augé	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
36	Anthony Turgis	Team TotalEnergies	s.t.
37	Remi Cavagna	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
38	Samuel Leroux	Team TotalEnergies	s.t.
39	Victor Jean	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	s.t.
40	Noah Bögli	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	s.t.
41	Francisco Muñoz	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
42	Camille Charret	Cofidis	s.t.
43	Marius Innhaug Dahl	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	s.t.
44	Nino de Jong	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
45	Otto van Zanden	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
46	Vincent Hoppezak	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
47	Clément Dubois	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
48	Txomin Juaristi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
49	Cole Kessler	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
50	Vilgot Reinhold	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
51	Guillaume Bagou	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	s.t.
52	Jean-Loup Fayolle	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	s.t.
53	Baptiste Gillet	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
54	Max Nielsen	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
55	Hugo Scala Jr	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
56	Stefan de Bod	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
57	Harry Lasker	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
58	Jonas Walton	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	s.t.
59	Leo Hayter	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling	s.t.
60	Clément Davy	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
61	Ion Izagirre	Cofidis	s.t.
62	Kepa Ormazabal	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
63	Dylan Massa	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
64	Yago Aguirre	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
65	Blake Agnoletto	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
66	Johan Jacobs	Groupama-FDJ United	s.t.
67	Alexander Konijn	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
68	Joseph Brookes	Cofidis	s.t.
69	Axel van der Tuuk	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
70	Owen Geleijn	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
71	Nate Pringle	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	s.t.
72	Eivind Broholt Fougner	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
73	Alfie George	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	s.t.
74	Adrián Benito	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
75	Hodei Munoz	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
76	Adam Toupalik	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
77	Philip Heijnen	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
78	Fabien Grellier	Team TotalEnergies	s.t.
79	Loris Rouiller	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	s.t.
80	Gabriele Raccagni	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
81	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	s.t.
82	Niklas Larsen	Unibet Rose Rockets	s.t.
83	Niek Voogt	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg	s.t.
84	Killian Théot	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
85	Antoine Berger	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	s.t.
86	Axel Bouquet	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	s.t.
87	Similien Hamon	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	s.t.
88	Thomas Gachignard	Team TotalEnergies	s.t.
89	Lorrenzo Manzin	Team TotalEnergies	s.t.
90	Diego Sevilla	Team Polti-VisitMalta	s.t.
91	Thibault Guernalec	Team TotalEnergies	s.t.
92	Hjalmar Klyver	Lucky Sport Cycling Team	s.t.
93	Yohann Simon	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	s.t.
94	Joes Oosterlinck	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
95	Théo Delacroix	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93	s.t.
96	Elia Blum	Elite Fondations Cycling Team	1:51
97	Clement Izquierdo	Cofidis	2:21
98	Nicolas Debeaumarché	Cofidis	s.t.
99	Victor Guernalec	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	s.t.
100	Léandre Huck	Van Rysel-Roubaix	2:39
101	Gari Ugarte	Euskaltel-Euskadi	8:12
102	Conor Murphy	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	8:21
103	Joris Chaussinand	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	8:30
104	Maël Guégan	CIC Pro Cycling Academy	19:26

 

Stage 1 map & profile:

Stage 1 map

Staghe 1 profile

---

Start list with back numbers, August 24, 2026:

	Team TotalEnergies
1	Samuel Leroux
2	Thomas Gachignard
3	Fabien Grellier
4	Thibault Guernalec
5	Lorrenzo Manzin
6	Jason Tesson
7	Anthony Turgis
	Decathlon CMA CGM Team
11	Antoine L'Hote
12	Tord Gudmestad
13	Gianluca Pollefliet
14	Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen
15	Marius Innhaug Dahl
16	Conor Murphy
17	Nate Pringle
	Groupama-FDJ United
21	Remi Cavagna
22	Maxime Decomble
23	Paul Penhoët
24	Cyril Barthe
25	Johan Jacobs
26	Blake Agnoletto
27	Matteo Milan
	Cofidis
31	Milan Fretin
32	Clement Izquierdo
33	Piet Allegaert
34	Ion Izagirre
35	Camille Charret
36	Nicolas Debeaumarché
37	Joseph Brookes
	Unibet Rose Rockets
41	Adam Toupalik
42	Eivind Broholt Fougner
43	Karsten Feldmann
44	Niklas Larsen
45	Owen Geleijn
46	Ronan Augé
47	Wessel Mouris
	Euskaltel-Euskadi
51	Paul Hennequin
52	Axel van der Tuuk
53	Txomin Juaristi
54	Hodei Munoz
55	Gari Ugarte
56	Yago Aguirre
57	Kepa Ormazabal
	Modern Adventure Pro Cycling
61	Leo Hayter
62	Stefan de Bod
63	Brody McDonald
64	Cole Kessler
65	Harry Lasker
66	Hugo Scala Jr
67	Tyler Stites
	Team Polti-VisitMalta
71	Adrián Benito
72	Gabriele Bessega
73	Tommaso Bessega
74	Francisco Muñoz
75	Dario Belletta
76	Gabriele Raccagni
77	Diego Sevilla
	CIC Pro Cycling Academy
81	Maël Guégan
82	Joris Chaussinand
83	Jean-Loup Fayolle
84	Victor Guernalec
85	Similien Hamon
86	Mathias Sanlaville
87	Jonas Walton
	Nice Métropole-Côte d'Azur
91	Tom Mainguenaud
92	Victor Papon
93	Clément Davy
94	Baptiste Gillet
95	Alexander Konijn
96	Dylan Massa
97	Jahkim Carty
	St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93
101	Romain Cardis
102	Axel Bouquet
103	Antoine Berger
104	Théo Delacroix
105	Morne Van Niekerk
107	Yohann Simon
	Van Rysel-Roubaix
111	Daniel Årnes
112	Kévin Avoine
113	Léandre Huck
114	Joes Oosterlinck
115	Antoine Raugel
116	Killian Théot
117	Clément Dubois
	Elite Fondations Cycling Team
121	Elia Blum
122	Alfie George
123	Guillaume Bagou
124	Noah Bögli
125	Loris Rouiller
126	Victor Jean
127	Jan Sommer
	Lucky Sport Cycling Team
131	Frank Aron Ragilo
132	Hjalmar Klyver
133	Max Nielsen
134	Simen Evertsen-Hegreberg
135	Vilgot Reinhold
136	Peder Dahl Strand
137	Filip Pantzare
	Azerion / Villa Valkenburg
141	Yanne Dorenbos
142	Nino de Jong
143	Luke Verburg
144	Niek Voogt
145	Otto van Zanden
146	Philip Heijnen
147	Vincent Hoppezak