Preview Etoile de Bessèges 2026 stage 5 - Larsen and Kubis set to try and take GC win for Unibet Rose Rockets

The 2026 Etoile de Bessèges will be taking place from the 4th to the 8th of February and is the first stage-race of the season in France, and one of the first in Europe. We preview stage 5, which is set to start at 13:15 and finish at 15:55CET.

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 race finishes with its traditional time trial in Alès, which is flat almost in its entirety, until the the final 1.8 kilometers which average out at 7%. This ascent however is very steep at points, going up to almost 20% and making it a proper difficult end to the race.

The startlist is very modest and Niklas Larsen, third at the European Championships, is the only time trialist on the list of meaningful quality. Hence the Dane could take the win and perhaps the overall classification, whilst his teammate Lukas Kubis could also potentially defend it as he is also a strong climber in this type of effort. Maxime Decomble of Groupam - FDJ and Paul Lapeira are the two men who could potentially take on the Unibet Rose Rockets riders.

*** Niklas Larsen, Maxime Decomble
** Paul Lapeira
* Lukas Kubis, Lorenzo Rota, Dylan Teuns, Xabier Mikel Azparren

Pick: Niklas Larsen