Presented this Thursday at the Palais des Rois Sardes, the Tour des Alpes Maritimes will feature a novelty for this new edition. The race will begin on February 22 in Villefranche-sur-Mer.
The Tour des Alpes Maritimes will change its format for the 2026 edition. Usually a multi-day event, this year’s race will take place over just one day. This decision was made to make the race more dynamic according to the organizers. Building on last year’s success with approximately three million viewers in over 200 countries, this new edition aims to push its limits further. “We want to give ourselves all the means by putting all our media outlets into it to highlight this sport, its riders, and partners,” explained Simon Perot, CEO of the Nice Matin group.
The race, the teams, and its riders
The start will be at 11 a.m. from the port of Villefranche-sur-Mer before the cyclists embark on a 162.2-kilometer route (approximately 3000 meters of ascent) to Biot. The course will pass through 25 towns with three passes: Eze, Châteauneuf, and Carros, before a final peak at 760 meters in Gourdon. For this tour, 19 teams will be present, including seven World Teams (XDS Astana, Lidl Trek, Bahrain Victorious, Lotto, Team Picnic Postnl, Decathlon CMA CGM, and Groupama FDJ). Several favorites among French spectators will also be present, including Lenny Martinez (Bahrain), Victor Lafay (Unibet), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon CMA CGM), and Rudy Molard (Groupama FDJ). The previous edition was won by the Italian Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana).
