How to watch the 2026 Volta a Comunitat Valenciana and Etoile de Bessèges live and on TV in the UK and USA - Dates, stages and schedules

From the 4th to the 8th of February, the European stage-race calendar will open up with two races simultaneously. In France there is the Etoile de Bessèges whilst in Spain the peloton will tackle the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana. Here are the dates, stages and schedules for both races, as well as where to watch them live and on TV in the United States and United Kingdom.

The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana is one of the most cherished early-season stage races on the European calendar, marking its first edition in 1929 and evolving over nearly a century into a key preparation target for GC-oriented riders and ambitious classics contenders alike. Initially known under names like Vuelta a Levante and Vuelta a Valencia, the race has seen interruptions — including a long hiatus after 2008 before its successful revival in 2016 — but its reputation has remained sky-high as the teams race in the road where they train all winter long to prepare for their seasons.

In the 20th century it gave chance to many Spanish riders who have added this race into their palmarès, however in the 1950's it became popular amongst international figures as well, specially with Rik van Looy taking the win back in 1959 - the second non-Spanish win, and the only time until 1990 where there wasn't a Spaniard on the podium.

The list of winners then grew in quality exponentially in the 1980's with Bernard Hinault and Stephen Roche being crowned winners; the likes of Alex Zülle, Laurent Jalabert, Alxandre Vinokourov, Abraham Olano, Alejandro Valverde, Alessandro Petacchi have then won the race as well... Since the 'modern' Valenciana was brought back in 2016 the list of winners has not become more modest, with Nairo Quintana and Tadej Pogacar amongst those who have raised their arms. Last year it was Santiago Buitrago who won the overall classification.

The 2026 Volta a Comunitat will be held from the 4th to the 8th of February. Stage dates and times (in Central European Time: CET) are as follows:

The race will be broadcast on the traditional channels, most notably Discovery, MAX and Eurosport.

In the United States and Canada it will be possible to follow each stage live on FloBikes; In the United Kingdom it will be possible to keep up with the race on TNT Sports.

One of the cornerstone early-season stage races on the European cycling calendar... First held in 1971 as a one-day event called the Grand Prix Bessèges, it evolved into a multi-day stage race by 1974 and has been a five-day fixture almost every year since, marking the dawn of the professional road season in southern France each February.

Over the decades there has been a wide variety of winners in this race, big names who have marked generations: Jan Raas, Eddy Planckaerts, Adrie van der Poel, Robbie McEwen, Thomas Voeckler... This decade we have seen GC wins from Benoît Cosnefroy, Tim Wellens, Benjamin Thomas, Neilson Powless, Mads Pedersen and most recently Kévin Vauquelin who dominated the 2025 edition with victories at the queen stage and final time trial.

The 2026 Etoile de Bessèges will be held from the 4th to the 8th of February. Stage dates and times (in Central European Time: CET) are as follows:

The race will be broadcast on the traditional channels, most notably Discovery, MAX and Eurosport.

In the United States and Canada it will be possible to follow each stage live on FloBikes; In the United Kingdom it will be possible to follow the race on TNT Sports; In France you can see it on L´Équipe and in Belgium RTBF will be broadcasting the race.