Profile: Marseille – Saint-Victoret
Stage 1: Marseille – Saint-Victoret, 163 kilometers
The opening stage of the race takes place from Marseille to Saint-Victoret and it is a roller-coaster of a stage, lacking any big climb however presenting plenty of them throughout the day. 2400 meters of climbing in 163 kilometers, starting right from kilometer 0.
The riders take on plenty ascents, in which attacks may come at any time. The last notable of which comes with 30 kilometers to go, but most of the finale has a downhill trend which also makes it rather hard to put on an effective chase. All–in-all, a day that is designed to be hard to control and quite chaotic.
Profile: Forcalquier – Station de Lure
Stage 2: Forcalquier – Station de Lure, 175.5 kilometers
The queen stage of the race sees the riders return to the Station de Lure, the climb which hosted the race’s most recent mountain stage back in its 2022 edition, where Nairo Quintana took the win. It is not as difficult as Chalet Reynard, but is a proper climbing tests, specially in mid-February when many riders are still working on their form.
The 175-kilometer long stage is not particularly hard, it features some small climbs but the efforts will mostly be guided towards the summit finish. The climb is 13.7 kilometers long at 6.4% and should make the race’s key differences for the overall classification.
Profile: Rognac – Arles
Stage 3: Rognac – Arles, 205 kilometers
The final stage of the race finally provides a proper opportunity for the sprinters to have unmatched competition, although the day is anything but easy. The first third does feature some tough terrain where a strong group may go up the road, but the finale is fully flat into Arles, after 205 kilometers on the road.
Prediction Tour de la Provence 2026 overall classification:Â *** Matthew Riccitello, Carlos RodrÃguez
** Mathias Vacek, Neilson Powless
* Tao Geoghegan Hart, Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Guillaume Martin, Brandon Rivera, Wout Poels, Clément Champoussin
Pick: Matthew Riccitello
Original: Rúben Silva