Following a successful first edition last year, the Copenhagen Sprint races are here again in 2026. One of the newest additions to the WorldTour calendar that was developed off the back of the 2022 Tour de France Grand Départ in the city, the Copenhagen Sprint sees the women’s peloton kick the action off this year on Saturday 13th June with the men following on Sunday, making for a cycling-filled weekend in the Danish capital.
As the name suggests, this is one for the sprinters, and so it’s no surprise that Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) took the crown in the inaugural women’s edition in 2025, while Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) prevailed in the men’s race.
The courses are relatively unchanged for 2026 save for a few kilometres shaved off the men’s race and a few added to the women’s parcours. Wiebes is back racing after her disqualification from the Giro d’Italia Women – and given she’ll likely be riding angry that’s bad news for her rivals. On the men’s side, together with the the Tour de Suisse this is the last-chance saloon for the likes of Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen to test their form ahead of the Tour de France. There are a few flat days for the fast men to encounter in the opening week of the Tour, though the Barcelona Grand Départ should be a hilly affair beforehand.
Copenhagen Sprint 2026 key information
- Dates: Women’s – Saturday 13th June; Men’s – Sunday 14th June
- Start: Roskilde
- Finish: Copenhagen
- Distance: Women’s 156km; Men’s 28.2km
- Live television coverage: HBO Max, TNT Sports 6/9, FloBikes
Copenhagen Sprint 2026 route
The Copenhagen Sprints will once again begin in Roskilde, known for hosting Denmark’s biggest music festival. The route then heads northwards through Frederikssund, which hosts an annual Viking Games, then rolls by Hillerød and its Frederiksborg Castle, where the race turns southwards. The men will clock up some additional kilometres and move to the coast towards Fredensborg and Humlebæk. The parcours then come back together and through Ballerup – which hosted the Track Cycling World Championships in 2024 – for the eastern approach into Copenhagen.
Both races will conclude with an 10km circuit around Copenhagen, passing by Sankt Hans Torv in the Nørrebro neighbourhood, the National Gallery of Denmark and Rosenborg Castle. The women will tackle the loop on three occasions while the men will circle around central Copenhagen on five times of asking. Both races will then end on Sølvgade, right next to the city’s botanical gardens.
Knowing Danish topography, the profile is as flat as a pancake and a sprint is almost a certainty. The race is called the ‘Copenhagen Sprint’ after all.
Copenhagen Sprint 2026 women’s favourites
Lorena Wiebes. End of list. It’s hard to see past the dominating Dutchwoman at the best of times, let alone when she’s been angered by the UCI over his dismissal from the Giro. It sets up a nice showdown between her and Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo, who swept up the Giro sprints in the absence of Wiebes and enjoyed a stint in the maglia rosa.
Elsewhere, completing the podium could be Fenix Premier-Tech’s Charlotte Kool, Canyon-Sram’s Chiara Consonni or Human Powered Health’s Maggie Coles-Lyster.
- ★★★★★: Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-ProTime)
- ★★★★: Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)
- ★★★: Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech), Chiara Consonni (Canyon-Sram)
- ★★: Maggie Coles-Lyster (Human Powered Health), Georgia Baker (Liv-AlUla Jayco)
- ★: Kathrin Schweinberger (Human Powered Health), Linda Zanetti (Uno-X Mobility), Nienke Veenhoven (Visma-Lease a Bike), Mia Griffin (Picnic PostNL)
Copenhagen Sprint 2026 men’s favourites
Jordi Meeus returns to defend his title having recently won stages at the 4 Jours de Dunkerque and Tour de Wallonie, while he was victorious in his last race of the Brussels Cycling Classic too.
This is the first time Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) have faced off away from the cobbles of Roubaix all season after a delayed start to the year for Merlier through injury. It’s been a while since Philipsen’s last race – a DNF at Roubaix – while in the meantime, Milan only managed to notch one victory at the Giro. Upon his return to the peloton, Merlier won Scheldeprijs, Ronde van Limburg and three stages at the Tour de Hongrie.
It hasn’t been a prosperous year so far for Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarche) but he did triumph on the penultimate stage at the Tour de Wallonie. Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM) enjoyed a hot start to the season by claiming victories at the Tour Down Under and Tirreno-Adiatico but things didn’t click for him at the Giro, a second place behind Paul Magnier on the opening day his best result in Italy.
- ★★★★★: Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
- ★★★★: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step),
- ★★★: Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché), Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets)
- ★★: Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ United), Milan Frentin/Alexis Renard (Cofidis), Pascal Ackermann (Jayco-AlUla), Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
- ★: Matteo Malucelli (XDS Astana), Sam Welsford (Netcompany Ineos), Orluis Aular (Movistar), Sam Bennett (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling)
Copenhagen Sprint 2026 live TV and streaming guide
The Copenhagen Sprint will be streamed live on HBO Max and on TV through TNT Sports 9 and 6 in the UK and Ireland, as elsewhere, it’s FloBikes in the United States and Canada.
If the race isn’t being broadcast in your country or you are travelling abroad, a VPN will allow you to hide your device’s location to access content that is normally geo-blocked. One such VPN provider is ExpressVPN, which is well reviewed, helps users to find free-to-watch cycling, and costs start from around £5 per month.
Live TV and streaming times
All times are listed in BST and are subject to change.
Women’s race: Saturday 13th June
- TNT Sports 9: 12:10-16:45
- HBO Max: 13:00-16:45
Men’s race: Sunday 14th June
- TNT Sports 6: 09:35-15:35
- HBO Max: 09:35-15:35