Race thread: 🇫🇷 Boucles Drôme–Ardèche 2026, Feb 28 & 29

Little by little, the season reaches its cruise speed, and this week-end adds 2 extra steps: the first Belgian classic, but also the first two .Pro races in France (all the previous ones were class .1).

The race take place on the sides of the Rhône river. On Saturday, on the West bank, that is Ardèche; and on Sunday on the East bank, that is Drôme.

Those are the same locations which were used for the European Championship last year and saw the victory of Pogatchar before (at a distance) Evenepoel and, way farther, Seixas.

The teams will be the same on the two one-day races:

Expected riders:

• Grégoire🇫🇷 and Costiou🇫🇷 for FDJ;
• Christen🇫🇷 and Sivakov for UAE;
• Jorgenson🇺🇸 for Visma;
• Skjelmose🇩🇰 for Lidl-Trek;
• Scaroni🇮🇹 for Astana;
• L. Martinez🇫🇷 for Bahrain;
• Seixas🇫🇷 and Riccitello🇺🇸 for Decathlon;
• Healy🇮🇪 for EF;
• Brenner🇩🇪 for Tudor.

Saturday's race in Ardèche is usually for a climber or a climber-puncher. The mini-wall of Costebelle introduced during the European Championship will make an entry in this year classic course. I don't know whether they kept the Magic Roundabout which gave Grégoire the victory on the classic last year 😆

Riders who made a top-10 last year and will be present again: Grégoire🇫🇷, Brenner🇩🇪, Champoussin🇫🇷, Scaroni🇮🇹, Skjelmose🇩🇰, Romo🇪🇸 (from 1^st to 7^th)

Riders who made a top-10 at EC and will be present again: Seixas🇫🇷, Scaroni🇮🇹, Skjelmose🇩🇰, Sivakov, Grégoire🇫🇷 (from 3^rd to 10^th).

Link to PCS page

While at the EC Pogatchar took off in the St-Romain de Lerps climb (IIRC), the rest of the classification was determined by accelerations in the successives ascensions of the Hell's Vale or at its treacherous summit.

On Sunday we cross over the Rhône for race which is more for punchers and generally more open to varied profiles.

Riders who made a top-10 last year and will be present again: Skjelmose🇩🇰, Tullett🇬🇧, Hirschi🇨🇭, Bagioli🇮🇹, Godon🇫🇷, Champoussin🇫🇷, Q. Simmons🇺🇸 (from 2^nd to 8^th)

Link to PCS page