Paris-Nice, nicknamed the Race to the Sun, is one of the biggest one-week stage races on the men’s WorldTour calendar with Tour de France and Giro d’Italia hopefuls using it to test early season shape and Classics contenders using it to keep building form.
The 2026 edition returns from 8th-15th March, with last year’s winner Matteo Jorgenson not present to defend the title he’s won the past two seasons, with Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Jonas Vingegaard taking over instead as the American takes on the concurrent Italian race Tirreno-Adriatico.
Aiming to spoil the Visma party this time are Lidl-Trek’s new signing Juan Ayuso, who arrives fresh from victory at the Volta ao Algarve last month, his former teammate from UAE Team Emirates XRG Brandon McNulty, who has been drafted in last minute to replace João Almeida. Ineos Grenadiers bring new signings Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin as well as Carlos Rodríguez, while Bahrain Victorious Frenchman Lenny Martinez is here and in form, looking to build on his stage win in 2025.
Paris-Nice 2026 key information
- Date: 8th-15th March 2026
- Start: Achères
- Finish: Nice
- Stages: 8
- Distance: 1,229.9km
- 2025 winner: Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike)
- Most wins: Sean Kelly (eight)
- Live television coverage: TNT Sports 1/3/4, Discovery+, FloBikes, NBC Sports, SBS, Eurosport, France TV
Paris-Nice 2026 route and stage-by-stage preview
Paris-Nice cuts a line down central France from northwest Paris to Nice in hte southeast. Beginning with a hilly day and a flat stage, the race moves to a team time-trial on Stage 3 before the hills then come thick and fast.
The GC action will undoubtably be decided on the final two days in the mountains, Stage 7 ending with a summit finish on the Category 1 Auron (7.3km, 7.2%) and Stage 8 hitting three Category 1 climbs before the finish in Nice. While typically crowning the winner at the Promenade des Anglais, municipal elections have forced organisers to move the finish line just a few kilometres west at the Allianz Riviera stadium of football team OGC Nice.
Stage 1, Sunday 8th March: Achères – Carrières-sous-Poissy, 170.9km
The 2026 Paris-Nice begins with a day backloaded with punchy hills, perfect for the puncheurs, breakaway artists and Classics men to shine. It’s a tribute to the French race Polymultipliée de Chanteloup, which begins in Achères. The peloton enters two laps of a circuit towards the finish line that takes riders over the Côte de Chanteloupe-les-Vignes (1.1km, 8.3%).
Stage 2, Monday 9th March: Épône – Montargis, 187km
Stage 2 is one for the sprinters with a 187km stretch from Épône to Montargis. There’s three hills on the menu but they’re not difficult and come mostly in the first half of the day. This year’s sprinting field isn’t the strongest, with most of the top sprinters injured or elsewhere. The headline name is NSN’s Biniam Girmay, with others looking to upset the Eritrean including Nico Denz, Phil Bauhaus, Pascal Ackermann, Casper van Uden and Alberto Dainese and Milan Fretin.
Stage 3, Tuesday 10th March: Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire – Pouilly-sur-Loire, 23.5km (TTT)
The team time-trial is slightly shorter than 2025, heading over only a couple of lumps before an ever so slightly uphill finish.
Last year, Visma-Lease a Bike beat Jayco-AlUla by 14 seconds.
Stage 4, Wednesday 11th March: Bourges – Uchon, 195km
The first summit finish comes on Stage 4 after 2,520m of climbing. All the action comes in the final 60km, with the Côte de la Croix des Cerisiers (6.2km, 4.3%) teeing up the Côte de la Croix de la Libération (4.6km, 5.3%), which hits a maximum gradient of 12%, and Uchon (8km, 4.5%) with a maximum gradient of 16%.
Stage 5, Thursday 12th March: Cormoranche-sur-Saône – Colombier-le-Vieux, 206.3km
Stage 5 is the longest of the race and packs in the most daily elevation with over 3,000m to contend with. The bulk of this comes in the last 30km, with the Côte de Sécheras (3.9km, 7%), Côte de Saint-Jean-de-Muzols (2.2km, 11%) and Côte de Saint-Barthélemt-le-Plain (3.2km, 7.6%) before an uphill test to the line.
Stage 6, Friday 13th March: Barbentane – Apt, 179.3km
A couple of Category 2 tests arrive on Stage 6 for not-so-scary Friday the 13th, the last coming just 5km from the finish line, which could once again see a late breakaway take the spoils. The Côte de Saignon is only 4km in length and 5%, but could serve as a launching pad before the downhill finish in Apt. Not to be confused with the hit song by Rosé and Bruno Mars.
Stage 7, Saturday 14th March: Nice – Auron, 147.8km
Stage 7 once again travels from Nice to Auron, but instead of going via the Côte d’Aspremont, Côte de Belvédère and La Colmiane, this year the peloton deviates and saves the explosive action for the end. Riders are hit early with the Côte de Carros (7km, 5.1%) and Côte de Bouyon (1.7km, 6.1%) double punch to help form the breakaway, before a long plateau then follows towards the main event, the 7.3km, 7.2% average gradient climb to Auron.
Tudor’s Michael Storer won on Auron last year, but won’t be competing this time around, instead taking on Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy.
Stage 8, Sunday 15th March: Nice – Nice, 129km
The grand finale follows the same pattern as last year with a trio of Category 1 climbs on the cards in the the Col de la Porte (7km, 7.2%), Côte de Peille (6.6km, 6.6%) and Col des Quatre Chemins (3.3km, 8.8%). The latter comes in the last 20km of the stage, hitting 14% before the descent to the finish where the winner will be crowned at the Allianz Riviera stadium.
Paris-Nice 2026 favourites
This will be the first stage race of the year for Jonas Vingegaard. His Visma-Lease a Bike team has claimed the past two editions with Matteo Jorgenson but Vingegaard himself has never won here, third in 2023 and a DNF through injury in 2025. Juan Ayuso is making his debut in the race after winning the Volta ao Algarve in impressive fashion last month.
João Almeida will no longer be leading UAE Team Emirates XRG at Paris-Nice after coming down with the flu, so Brandon McNulty takes on that leadership role. Red Bull’s Aleksandr Vlasov arrives having finished seventh overall at both Valenciana and Andalucia, meanwhile Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin will be taking on their second stage races for Ineos Grenadiers having finishing fourth and fifth in Algarve respectively. Other strong contenders should include Lenny Martinez and David Gaudu and Dani Martínez.
Cyclist‘s ratings
- ★★★★★: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek)
- ★★★★: Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers)
- ★★★: Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos Grenadiers)
- ★★: Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Dani Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers)
- ★: David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ United), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana), Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
How to watch Paris-Nice 2026
Viewers in the UK can watch Paris-Nice on TV with TNT Sports, which is also available to be streamed through Discovery+. FloBikes has the coverage across Canada, as it’s NBC Sports for the US and in Australia it’s on SBS. The full broadcaster list is below.
International broadcasters
- Australia: SBS
- Basque Country: EITB
- Belgium: RTBF, VRT
- Canada: FloBikes
- China: Zhibo TV
- Denmark: TV2DK
- Europe: Eurosport (not UK)
- France: Eurosport, France TV
- Hungary: MTVA
- Italy: Rai Sport
- Japan: J Sports
- Latin America: DirecTV
- Latin America & Caribbean: ESPN International
- Luxembourg: RTL
- Middle East & North Africa: Abu Dhabi Sports
- Netherlands: NOS
- New Zealand: Sky Sport
- South East Asia: beIN Sports Asia
- Spain: Teledeporte
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Supersport
- Switzerland: SRG SSR
- United States: NBC Sports
UK TV times
Stage 1, Sunday 8th March
Discovery+: 14:15–16:30
TNT Sports 4: 14:15–16:30
Stage 2, Monday 9th March
Discovery+: 14:10–16:15
TNT Sports 1: 14:45–16:15
Stage 3, Tuesday 10th March
Discovery+: 14:10–16:15
TNT Sports 1: 14:45–16:15
Stage 4, Wednesday 11th March
Discovery+: 14:10–16:15
TNT Sports 1: 14:45–16:15
Stage 5, Thursday 12th March
Discovery+: 14:10–16:15
TNT Sports 1: 14:45–16:15
Stage 6, Friday 13th March
Discovery+: 14:10–16:15
TNT Sports 1: 14:45–16:15
Stage 7, Saturday 14th March
Discovery+: 12:25–14:30
TNT Sports 1: 12:30–14:30
Stage 8, Sunday 15th March
Discovery+: 14:15–16:00
TNT Sports 3: 14:15–16:00