Preview Tour des Alpes Maritimes 2026 - Astana deploy A-team to win 1.1 clasic

The Tour des Alpes Maritimes will be taking place on the 22nd of February in 2026, and is back to a one-day race format, which will give the climbers and classics specialists the chance to take a prestigious victory in the packed French February calendar. We preview the race ahead.

The Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var has been split over the past few years, with the Classic Var becoming its own even. The Tour des Alpes Maritimes now exclusively focuses on the southeastern corner of the country and is the race that carries the legacy of the decades-old event. It's first edition dates back to 1969 and was won by none other than Raymond Poulidor, one of France's best ever.

This is a race that has often marked the start of the international cycling calendar and features massive names as its historic winners suhch as Joop Zoetemelk, Bernard Thévenet, Sean Kelly and even Laurent Jalabert managed to win it on two occasions. In the 21st century however the list of winners hasn't lost much prestige; as Philippe Gilbert cemented his name as a winner in his early career back in 2025.

Filippo Pozzato, Davide Rebellin, Thomas Voeckler and Thibaut Pinot are all riders who are in the race's palmarès; whilst this decade Nairo Quintana has taken the overall win in both 2020 and 2022. In 2025 it was Christian Scaroni who took the win in the two-day stage-race, beating Santiago Buitrago and Lenny Martínez.

The profile is that of a hilly classic, with tons of climbs, of different lengths and gradients, which could lead to some chaotic racing without a doubt. The start will be in Villefranche-sur-Mer and although the race is only 155 kilometers long, the climbing starts right from kilometer 0 and there is a total of 2900 meters of climbing accumulate. There is a 7.4-kilometer long ascent averaging 5% at the start, the Col d'Èze tackled from an easy side, right at the start.

A few longer ascents will eventually culminate in the ascent to Gourdon which is 11.8 kilometers long at 4.6% - not overly hard, but likely to be used by some of the more pure climbers to try and make some damage in the peloton. Because from there on out the race becomes much more explosive, with a combination of short and sharp climbs. The finale will be familiar to those who've raced Paris-Nice, as the city of Biot has hosted the same finale before, on a small hilltop which is 1.6 kilometers long at just over 5% coinciding with the finish line.

*** Christian Scaroni, Aurélien Paret-Peintre
** Simone Velasco, Ewen Costiou, Quinn Simmons
* Clément Champoussin, Diego Ulissi, Alberto Bettiol, Lenny Martínez, Paul Lapeira, Lorenzo Rota, Marc Hirschi, Joppe Heremans

Pick: Christian Scaroni

How: Reduced peloton sprint