Copenhagen Sprint 2026 preview, profile, favourites & predictions - World's best sprinters go head-to-head on echelon fest

On the 14th of June the World Tour peloton will take on the newest of the top-category races. This is the Copenhagen Sprint, a race created at a period where riders are making their final adjustments towards the Tour de France, and one where the sprinters will have a big opportunity. We preview the race ahead.

The route is 227 kilometers long and doesn't present any climbing challenges. The race is quite literally designed for the sprinters and so naturally, in the flatlands of Denmark, no difficulties were inserted on the course, in order to ensure the favoured riders get the chance they travelled to northern Europe for.

The route is long and it will be a very fast race, starting in Roskilde and ending in the capital of Copenhagen. The finale is not overly technical, it will be very fast and tense. The race goes by areas that are known to be windy and so it is also possible that not all of the peloton will make it to the finish.

The wind will blow hard from the north and that means that echelons are actually likely, not just possible. Within Copenhagen itself this shouldn't be felt much and shouldn't affect the sprint either, but it will make the race harder and we could well have several sprinters that will never be in contention for the top result in the first place.

The echelons will make the race more unpredictable than initially expected, however a bunch sprint is still inevitable. And we cannot predict which riders will be in front ultimately. We can take a look at the leadouts for this race since it's a pure sprint day, and look at it through the lens of a regular sprint.

Jonathan Milan - Simone Consonni - Edward Theuns - Max Walscheid

Jasper Philipsen - Florian Sénéchal - Jonas Rickaert

Tim Merlier - Bert van Lerberghe - Casper Pedersen - Yves Lampaert

Jordi Meeus - Danny van Poppel - Arne Marit - Mick van Dijke

Dylan Groenewegen - Elmard Reinders - Niklas Larsen

Tobias Lund Andresen - Tord Gudmestad - Rasmus Sojberg Pedersen

Pascal Ackermann - Luka Mezgec - Robert Donaldson - Dries de Bondt

Matteo Malucelli - Davide Ballerini - Gleb Syritsa

Sam Welsford/Ben Turner - Ben Swift

Arvid de Kleijn/Luca Mozzato - Maikel Zijlaard

Matteo Moschetti/Sam Bennett - Emils Liepins

Milan Fretin - Alexis Renard - Hugo Page

Orluis Aular - Ivan García Cortina - Jon Barrenetxea

We can also take into consideration Juan Sebastián Molano, Emilien Jeannière, Jason Tesson, Paul Penhoët, Arnaud de Lie, Axel Zingle, Madis Mihkels, Noah Hobbs, Marijn van den Berg, Soren Waerenskjold, Itamar Einhorn, Oded Kogut, Luca Mozzato, Daniel Skerl and Alberto Bruttomesso.

These men either do not have a leadout as luxurious as their rivals or will ultimately be sharing leadership/UCI point chasing duties with other sprinters from their team. But perhaps, having a simpler task to follow one rider instead of a leadout can help their chances.

*** Jonathan MIlan, Tim Merlier, Dylan Groenewegen

** Jasper Philipsen, Jordi Meeus, Tobias Lund Andresen

* Pascal Ackermann, Matteo Malucelli, Arvid de Kleijn, Matteo Moschetti, Milan Fretin, Juan Sebastián Molano, Madis Mihkels, Noah Hobbs, Soren Waerenskjold

Pick: Tim Merlier

How: Regular bunch sprint.