"I don’t regret anything": Axel Laurance sees Settimana Coppi e Bartali GC win slip through his fingers in final sprint
Cycling
Axel Laurance’s Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali 2026 left mixed feelings: brilliant on stage wins, but with a bitter ending in the fight for the overall. The INEOS Grenadiers rider came within a hand's reach of winning both the final stage and general classification, but marginal difference between him and Mauro Schmid decided otherwise.
Laurance opened the race on a high, winning the first stage. But just two days later a late puncture denied him the chance to contest another victory. Far from dwelling on it, the Frenchman hit back immediately and took his second win in Valdobbiadene, once again beating Mauro Schmid in the reduced sprint.
After that win, he made clear his mindset and motivation heading into the stage.
"I was frustrated about the day before, I wanted to win here again. The team did a good job, making the race as hard as possible because I prefer sprints that come after a tough day," he told Cycling Pro Net.
A leader under pressure
With that momentum, Laurance rolled into the final stage in the overall lead, but with a slender cushion of just two seconds over Schmid. Everything was set for a finale as tight as it was demanding.
A fast rider himself, Laurance found himself in a notable difficulty on the decisive ascent to Monte Stella against much better climber that is the Swiss champion Schmid.
"I wasn’t sure I could pull it off," the rider himself acknowledged the difficulties he faced at that key moment. "I tried to bluff a bit, but my legs were failing. I made a great descent to get back, but it was hard to recover afterwards."
A finale on the limit
It all came down to the sprint, where Schmid edged it by a whisker, denying Laurance a third stage win and snatching the overall in the dying metres. At the finish, the Frenchman offered a cool-headed analysis. "I was exhausted. I wanted to wait as long as possible, but I never had the legs to attack."
He also admitted there was room to do better in the run-in. "It was a great battle, I don’t regret anything," though he confided to have made "a small mistake" in the final sprint.
Axel Laurance
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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