Preview Vuelta a Murcia 2026 - Can Tom Pidcock enter the new season with a victory for Great Britain?
Cycling
The Vuelta a Murcia will be taking place from the 13th to the 14th of February, having a two-day format this year. The race provides stages for the sprinters, classics specialists and climbers to build on their form towards bigger goals this spring, whilst providing reputable wins for those who venture out in southern Spain. We take a look at their profiles.
The Vuelta a Murcia is a race with tremendous history, decades of some of Spains' very best who have taken part in it and have won it as well. Pedro Delgado won the initial edition of the race back in 1981 whilst Miguel Induráin was the winner in 1986, both of which far before going on to Tour de France glory.
he race continued to feature prominent national and international start's throughout 1990's with Marco Pantani winning it in 1999 whilst being the Giro and Tour de France's reigning champion; Whilst this century Murcia's very own Alejandro Valverde won the race on five times in total. The likes of Denis Menchov, Alberto Contador (who was stripped of his in in 2011), Nairo Quintana and Philippe Gilbert also stand on the race's palmarès. On some years, this was a one-day race, and this has been the case since 2021. Last year it was Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team's Jan Christen who took a surprising victory in the sprint.
Profile: Cartagena - Yecla
Stage 1: Cartagena - Yecla, 178.2 kilometers
The opening stage of the race is one where all the action will be condensed in the finale. The stage starts off in Cartagena and finishes in Yecla, with a 1.3-kilometer long climb at 7% ending with just over 3 kilometers to go. The downhill finale makes it very hard to organize any chase, and we could see a late attack succeeding.
Profile: Murcia - Santomera
Murcia - Santomera, 178 kilometers
The second and queen stage of the race features a route that is more widely known by the riders, starting off from the city of Murcia and then climbing the Alto Collado Bermejo, which is 16 kilometers long at 5.5%. However, the climb is positioned in the first third of the day, and it may very well not have an effect on the outcome of the race.
Most likely, the riders will save their legs towards the ascent to Cresta del Gallo, which is 4.4 kilometers long at 6.6%, and ends with 23 kilometers to go. This ascent should split the peloton up into bits, and then the riders that remain close to the front can battle it out for the win in either a small group sprint or through tactical racing in the flat arrival to Santomera.
Prediction Vuelta a Murcia 2026 overall classification:
*** Tom Pidcock, Tim Wellens
** Marc Soler, Hector Alvaréz, Simone Velasco
* Quinten Hermans, Pello Bilbao, Raul García Pierna, Jon Barrenetxea, Lorenzo Rota
** Marc Soler, Hector Alvaréz, Simone Velasco
* Quinten Hermans, Pello Bilbao, Raul García Pierna, Jon Barrenetxea, Lorenzo Rota
Pick: Christian Scaroni
Original: Rúben Silva
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- I would love to have his inconsistency. How many wins this year? 2 TdF stages, a WC, a Euro championship, San Sebastian, multiple wins early year. Monument podiums. I'd take it. I don't think he has a chance in the TdF, but he is still amazing.mij04-11-2026
- He's not going to win the TdF. Maybe if they make every single stage a TT he could win. But I still believe Tadej would just sharpen his TT skills and win.mij04-11-2026
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
- And the place he calls home is in Slovenia with his parents.RidesHills04-11-2026
- I think Tadej will be working on his new C7 TT position for the Tour de France :-)frieders304-11-2026
- Every great cyclist has at least two Giro/Tour doubles, and in modern cycling or what we call modern cycling, Miguel Indurain is the only guy to do it twice. I think Tadej should go for it and commit if he is putting up good numbers somewhere around January/February.awp04-11-2026
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