85 race days and almost 14.000 kilometers - The World Tour's busiest rider of the 2026 season
Cycling
The 2026 season is now over, and within the World Tour field, plenty interesting statistics have emerged regarding the full season. One rider in particular, Baptiste Veistroffer, has stood out for being the busiest rider in the entire first division of the sport.
Lotto - Intermarché have worked hard in 2026 to conquer victories and UCI points, in order to maintain their license at the top of the sport for the upcoming years. Within the team there are several true workhorses, as the team has effectively designed the busiest calendars of the 2026 season.
Baptiste Veistroffer has raced, according to ProCyclingStats, on 85 days this year, and has spent a total of 13.884 kilometers on the road during UCI professional events this year. The French rider has topped both charts, effectively making his presence felt in the peloton.
His teammate Liam Slock raced 83 race days and, together with EF Education-EasyPost's Georg Steinhauser, the two were the second-busiest riders of the season in terms of race days. EF Education and Groupama - FDJ riders have together with Lotto filled up the entire Top6 - in fact, the only teams to have riders race over 80 race days this year. Guillaume Martin, Darren Raffterty and Rémy Rochas have done the same.
In terms of kilometers, it was Soudal - Quick-Step's Dries van Gestel who has finished the closest to Veistroffer, widely influenced by his constant presence in the long cobbled classics.
Baptiste Veistroffer was the pro rider who raced the most in 2026
Baptiste Veistroffer's 2026 season
Veistroffer's achievement is perhaps even more due to his background. The Frenchman has just finished his second season as a professional rider, as he was part of Decathlon's development team up until the end of 2024.
In 2025 he revealed himself to be a quality rouleur and classics specialist, a very aggressive rider who would often take on all-day breakaways regardless of the event. In 2026 he has cemented that reputation, but he has now also created a reputation as a rider who is capable of being on the road non-stop from January to October, as a competitive figure nonetheless.
Veistroffer's truly impressive 2026 campaign began all the way on the 20th of January at the Tour Down Under, followed by the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. He followed that up with a large racing block in the Middle East, winning a stage at the Tour of Oman and linking that up with the Muscat Classic and the UAE Tour.
After flying to Europe he raced the Volta a Catalunya, GP Miguel Indurain and Itzulia Basque Country. Only four days later, he started the Tour of Hainan in China; and a week after that he was back in Belgium where he took part in Liège-Bastogne-Liége - in the breakaway of the day.
The Belgian did take a month-long break then, but was back to action by late May. He raced the Boucles de la Mayenne, and followed that up with the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The Frenchman earned himself a ticket to the Tour de France, in which he competed in - taking part in four breakaways and winning the most combative rider of the day on three separate stages.
Baptiste Veistroffer was often awarded the most combative award at the 2026 Tour de France
But Veistroffer's season was far from finished. Three weeks after the Tour he start La Polynormande, and then backed that up with the Tour du Limousin where he won the KOM classification. He raced the Bretagne Classic and then flew to Asia where he would race for the remainder of the season.
He started and finished the Tour of Taihu Lake, the Hong Kong Cyclothon and then finished his season on the 18th of October at the Tour of Guangxi, where he took part in two breakaways and also conquered the overall classification.
Riders with the most race days in 2026
| # | Rider | Team | Racedays |
| 1 | VEISTROFFER Baptiste | Lotto Intermarché | 85 |
| 2 | SLOCK Liam | Lotto Intermarché | 83 |
| 3 | STEINHAUSER Georg | EF Education - EasyPost | 83 |
| 4 | MARTIN Guillaume | Groupama - FDJ United | 82 |
| 5 | RAFFERTY Darren | EF Education - EasyPost | 82 |
| 6 | ROCHAS Rémy | Groupama - FDJ United | 81 |
| 7 | DÍAZ José Manuel | Burgos Burpellet BH | 80 |
| 8 | AZPARREN Xabier Mikel | Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 80 |
| 9 | PARET-PEINTRE Valentin | Soudal Quick-Step | 80 |
| 10 | LE BERRE Mathis | TotalEnergies | 80 |
| 11 | BENNETT George | NSN Cycling Team | 79 |
| 12 | POLITT Nils | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 79 |
| 13 | APARICIO Mario | Burgos Burpellet BH | 79 |
| 14 | MACKELLAR Alastair | EF Education - EasyPost | 79 |
| 15 | CALZONI Walter | Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 79 |
| 16 | ZANA Filippo | Soudal Quick-Step | 78 |
| 17 | LEKNESSUND Andreas | Uno-X Mobility | 78 |
| 18 | VERCHER Mattéo | TotalEnergies | 78 |
| 19 | BALDERSTONE Abel | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | 78 |
| 20 | CASTELLON Jan | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | 78 |
Read also
Riders with the most racing kilometers in 2026
| # | Rider | Team | Kilometers |
| 1 | VEISTROFFER Baptiste | Lotto Intermarché | 13884 |
| 2 | VAN GESTEL Dries | Soudal Quick-Step | 13619 |
| 3 | ROCHAS Rémy | Groupama - FDJ United | 13603 |
| 4 | SLOCK Liam | Lotto Intermarché | 13297 |
| 5 | HUENS Axel | Groupama - FDJ United | 13235 |
| 6 | STUYVEN Jasper | Soudal Quick-Step | 13072 |
| 7 | LE BERRE Mathis | TotalEnergies | 13059 |
| 8 | MAGNIER Paul | Soudal Quick-Step | 13047 |
| 9 | DE SCHUYTENEER Steffen | Lotto Intermarché | 13001 |
| 10 | CALZONI Walter | Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 12933 |
| 11 | TURCONI Filippo | Bardiani CSF 7 Saber | 12906 |
| 12 | ZANA Filippo | Soudal Quick-Step | 12834 |
| 13 | BENNETT George | NSN Cycling Team | 12749 |
| 14 | MAESTRI Mirco | Team Polti VisitMalta | 12701 |
| 15 | VERCHER Mattéo | TotalEnergies | 12628 |
| 16 | VAN MOER Brent | Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 12615 |
| 17 | MARTIN Guillaume | Groupama - FDJ United | 12614 |
| 18 | ZANONCELLO Enrico | Bardiani CSF 7 Saber | 12532 |
| 19 | BARTA Will | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 12503 |
| 20 | WARBASSE Larry | Tudor Pro Cycling Team | 12499 |
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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