Preview Classica Camp de Morverdre 2026 - Morgado, Tiberi and Champoussin headline first mountain race of the year

The Classica Camp de Morvedre will take place on the 23rd of January and will be the first race of the European calendar in 2026. It is estimated to start at 12:18CET and finish at 16:25CET.

The Classica Camp de Morvedre holds a unique place as the first race in the European cycling calendar as a revived classic. Originally launched in 1982 as the Vuelta Camp de Morvedre, the one-day event was a regular fixture in the Spanish racing scene throughout the 1980's. Early winners included Swiss rider Gottfried Schmutz in the inaugural edition, and Spaniards such as Eduardo Chozas in 1983, a noted climbing specialist who later enjoyed stage wins in the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia. Across the decade the event also saw victories from riders like José Luis Laguía, Peter Hilse (twice), and Erich Mächler, while legends such as Bernard Hinault featured prominently in podium spots, cementing the race’s reputation for competitive fields and exciting finishes.

Following the 1989 edition, however, the race fell into a long dormancy and was absent from the calendar for over three decades. Its resurgence came in January 2025, when organizers relaunched it as the Clàssica Camp de Morvedre on the UCI Europe Tour, initially classified as a 1.2 race. In the 2025 comeback edition, Urko Berrade of Kern Pharma etched his name into the new chapter of the race’s history.

This is a race that is guided towards the puncheurs and climbers, starting out and finishing in the town of Estivella, whilst having three ascents of the Alto del Garbí mark the race. One will be early on, but then the riders will tackle the 5.1-kilometer long climb which averages at 9% gradient two more times; one with 47 and the last with 20 kilometers to go before a downhill finish back into town.

*** Clément Champoussin, Antonio Tiberi
** António Tiberi, Pablo Castrillo, Lorenzo Fortunato
* Iván Romeo, Urko Berrade, Michael Matthews, Andrea Vendrame, Diego Ulissi, Christian Scaroni, Diego Ulissi, Marc Soler, Wout Poels

Pick: Clément Champoussin

How: Small group sprint that will go in the final climb.