Date: Sunday March 8, 2026 - Sunday March 15, 2026
Start: Achères
Finish: Nice
Total distance: 1,245km
Stages: 8
Defending champion: Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike)
N ow in its 84th edition, Paris-Nice, nicknamed the ‘Race to the Sun’, has become a cornerstone race in many riders' calendars outside of the three Grand Tours. The testing week-long tour serves as a key early-season benchmark as the first major European stage race of the year. Run by ASO, the same company which runs the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Nice features a demanding route with competing riders needing to be strong climbers and time triallists to be in with a chance of winning. Much like the Tour, the leader in the General Classification will wear a yellow jersey.
Sean Kelly holds the record for victories in this race having won seven consecutive editions from 1982 to 1988. The only other rider to come close to Kelly’s record is French rider Jacques Anquetil, who won the Paris-Nice GC on five occasions. No one in recent years has come close to rivalling Kelly’s dominance.
Defending champion Matteo Jorgenson will forgo this year’s race to focus on the Italian March block: Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-Sanremo. That leaves the title open to João Almeida, who will lead UAE Team Emirates-XRG in Tadej Pogačar’s absence. Also in contention for the GC will likely be their former teammate who now rides for Lidl-Trek Juan Ayuso. On the stage-win front, Mads Pedersen, Olav Kooij, and Michael Matthews are already familiar winners from the race, and will aim to repeat their successes.
Paris-Nice teams:
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Alpecin - Deceuninck
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Bahrain - Victorious
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Cofidis
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Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
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EF Education - EasyPost
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Groupama - FDJ
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Ineos Grenadiers
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Lidl - Trek
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Lotto Intermarché
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Movistar Team
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NSN Cycling Team
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Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
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Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe
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Soudal Quick-Step
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Team Jayco Alula
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Team Picnic PostNL
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Team Visma | Lease a Bike
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TotalEnergies
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Tudor Pro Cycling Team
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UAE Team Emirates - XRG
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Uno-X Mobility
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XDS Astana Team
Paris-Nice 2026 route:
The 2026 edition follows a similar format to previous years with the race starting in the Le Yvelines department of Paris from the town of Acheres on the South bank of the river Seine, before heading south towards Nice where the race finishes. It is a well-rounded race, featuring a team time trial, a chance for the sprinters, a couple of medium mountain stages and plenty of opportunities for those who love climbing.
Stage one is deceptively hilly – with four categorised climbs over the 171.2km route. Puncheurs will have opportunities to attack twice on the steep 12% ascent of the Cote de Chanteloup-les-Vignes inside the final 30km as the course loops through Carrieres-Sous-Poissy. Sprinters will have to work hard not to get dropped up the climb, with an exposed descent before a flat finish in Carrieres.
Stage two from Epone to Montargis is relatively flat, and the exposed terrain at Gatinais makes crosswinds a critical factor in who wins the stage. It is the flattest stage of the route excluding the time trial, which makes it one of few chances for the sprinters, despite the three category three climbs spread over the first 100km.
The TTT returns to Stage 3 in classic Paris-Nice fashion, where Visma’s black and yellow brigade took victory last year. This year’s edition will serve as important preparation for the opening stage of this year’s Tour de France, which is set to be a TTT in Barcelona. With no real substantial climbs, the 23.5km stage is much flatter and slightly shorter than in previous years, so teams might be forced to reevaluate how to spread efforts.
The following stage sees the first summit finish atop the Signal d’Uchon, a category two test which concludes with 2km at 11%. The route climbs into France’s smallest mountain range, the Morvan, where riders will face the Cote de la Croix des Cerisiers and Cote de la Croix de la Liberation, separated by a sprint at Autun.
Stage five takes on a relentless 205km lumpy route from Cormoranche-Sur-Saône to finish in the Ardèche hills. The first 100km undulates with a couple of category climbs, before riders leave the valley floor to meet three more hills, with the climb out of Saint-Jean-de-Muzols maxing out at 16%. The peloton will traverse the 3.2km ascent of Cote de Saint-Barthélemy-le-Plain to conclude the longest stage of the race in the commune of Colombier-Le-Vieux. The stage is likely to be a breakaway win but GC riders could also be in the mix.
The next stage is another hilly day which sets off from Garde Bouches-du-Rhône and weaves through the scenic limestone massifs of Luberon: an apt warm up for the race’s major summit finish in the following stage.
A shivering, blue-libbed Michael Storer on the podium at the 2025 finish in snowy Auron made the 2025 Queen Stage of the so-called ‘La Course au Soleil’ one to remember– for audiences at least. The stage once again starts in Nice and will climb the substantial Côte de Carros (category two) and Côte de Bouyon (category three), before the tough ascent of 7.3km at 7.2% to the summit finish in Auron, which was introduced last year when freezing conditions forced organisers to redesign the route.
The final stage retains the traditional format of starting and finishing in Nice, but the route brings significant changes. Castagniers and Levens feature in an uphill start to gear up for the most significant test of the stage up the Col de la Port, 7km at 7.2% halfway through the race. Riders will bypass the perched village of Aspremont to face a sting in the tail at Côte du Linguador (3.3km at 8%) 20km from the finish line at OGC Nice football stadium. If there are small time gaps between the top 10, no rider will be able to rest on their laurels.
Stage one: Achères - Carrières-sous-Poissy / 171.2km
Stage two: Épône - Montargis / 187km
Stage three: Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire - Pouilly-sur-Loire / 23.5km (TTT)
Stage four: Bourges - Uchon / 195km
Stage five: Cormoranche-sur-Saône - Colombier-le-Vieux / 205.4km
Stage six: Barbentane - Apt / 179.3km
Stage seven: Nice - Auron / 138.7km
Stage eight: Nice - Nice / 145km
