The 2026 Women’s WorldTour is already underway, with the Women’s Tour Down Under taking place over the weekend, but it’s a gradual start to the season, and we still have a few weeks to wait for many of the top riders to start their racing campaigns.

Names like world champion Magdeleine Vallieres, Ally Wollaston and Chloé Dygert have already opened their accounts in Australia, but most of the major Classics and Grand Tour racers are still in pre-season training mode, with most opting to start in February or March.

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Tour de France Femmes champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is targeting the yellow jersey once again this year, and is set to follow a similarly race-light run-in, prioritising training and only the biggest races.

Last year, she started at the UAE Tour, but after an off-season elongated by ankle surgery, she’s pushed her debut back for 2026 and will kick off at Strade Bianche (March 7), followed by the Tour of Flanders. She’s set to skip Paris-Roubaix, despite winning it in 2025, giving full leadership to Marianne Vos. She’ll then race the Ardennes and the Vuelta Femenina before the summer is likely all about training for the Tour and trying to defend her title.

“The high expectations for the coming year give me extra motivation to improve,” she said. “I perform better when there’s pressure, so I see very little negative in those expectations. I’m absolutely ready to give the best of myself again.”

Elisa Longo Borghini is set to start her season at the UAE Tour (February 5-8), racing as the leader of the home squad UAE Team ADQ. Even before moving to the Emirati squad, though, Longo Borghini has favoured the UAE Tour for her season debut, riding it the last three years and winning the GC there twice. With the usual Jebel Hafeet final on the cards again in 2026, the Italian will surely be chasing a third overall win there.

She has not confirmed her spring programme yet, but with the Giro d’Italia Women her ultimate summer goal once again, it’s likely to be a selective, targeted programme of the biggest races – likely focusing on the Ardennes – to lead into the Giro. She’s set to race the Tour de France Femmes too, taking advantage of the longer gap between the two Grand Tours.

Lorena Wiebes will also start her season in the UAE, the race organisers confirmed this week, which has become her traditional starting point, too. She’s won six stages there in the last three editions, and with three more sprint opportunities on the parcours this year, that’s fairly likely to become nine, given her growing dominance in the sprint field.

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Wiebes will likely then race a busy Classics season, though she hasn’t confirmed her schedule, but she will lead in the flatter races as SD Worx refocus away from GC riding and back onto the Classics.

Demi Vollering is one of the biggest names who hasn’t yet confirmed where she will start her season; in fact, FDJ United-Suez haven’t confirmed the programme of any of their top riders.

Given she missed out on the Tour de France victory again last year, Vollering may well shake up her approach in 2026. She’s usually favoured racing quite a lot whilst many of her rivals prioritised training, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see her pare back the racing this season, so it’s hard to predict where she may start. Previously, she’s made her debut at February’s Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, but a lighter approach could see her only parachute in for the Classics. We’ll update you when we know more.

Marianne Vos has also tended towards a lighter, more focused racing calendar in recent seasons, and that’s no different for 2026. She will start her season with Ferrand-Prévot at Strade Bianche, going on to race Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the race she most wants to win. She’ll skip the smaller Belgian Classics to focus on those big goals. She’s also set to return to the Tour with Ferrand-Prévot, as the two build on their winning relationship.

Lotte Kopecky had an off-season that was somewhat disrupted by injury, as she cut the end of her 2025 season short and has been working through a back problem during the winter. She found her form in the winter, returning to some success on the track, but as a result of her difficult year, she’s readjusted her expectations for 2026. She’ll step back on her previous ambitions to target more stage races, and mainly focus on Classics and one-day racing.

With that in mind, it looks like she will start her season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (February 28), and we expect to see her in most of the big Classics, whilst her summer goals remain unconfirmed. Keep in mind: she’ll be wearing the regular SD Worx kit rather than the world or Belgian champion’s jersey for the first time in a long time when she does make her debut, don’t miss her!

Marlen Reusser will start her season this week, taking part in the women’s Mallorca Challenge races (January 24-26). This block proved a fruitful start to the year for the Swiss rider in 2025, as she took the win on just her second day of racing at the Trofeo Palma after a tough 2024 and move to Movistar. The time trial world champion can probably hope for a repeat of that, given the light field in Mallorca.

Having made a big step up as a stage racer in 2025, the rest of Reusser’s schedule will probably mix the major Classics and top stage races as she looks for a repeat of her Grand Tour podiums.

helping her teammate Noemi Rüegg to the overall win. She will presumably stay on for the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, and then return to Europe before targeting the Ardennes Classics.