Tour of Guangxi 2026 previews, profiles, favourites & predictions - Tom Pidcock and Juan Ayuso headline final stage-race of the year
Cycling
The 2026 Tour of Guangxi will bring the World Tour calendar to a close, and will be one of the final races of the season. The Chinese race will take place from the 13th to 18th of October and host an array of Tour de France stage winners headlining it. Below, you will find the preview, route, dates, schedules and more.
The race was first held in 2017 with Tim Wellens taking the win in its inaugural edition. Typically, the race is almost fully flat in nature, with one day for the puncheurs to fight for the overall classification.
That has led to the race being won by classics specialists and climbers solely, with Gianni Moscon and Enric Mas taking the wins in 2018 and 2019 respectively. From 2020 to 2022, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the race did not take place.
In 2023 its return saw Milan Vader of Visma take the overall win; whilst Lennert van Eetvelt won the following year. In 2025 it was Jayco's Paul Double who won the overall classification following his win on the queen stage.
Stages Tour of Guangxi 2026
| Stage | Date | Day | Starting location | Finishing location | Distance | Type | Start time (local) | Start time (CET) | Finish time (local) | Finish time (CET) |
| 1 | 13 October | Tuesday | Chongzuo | Chongzuo | 149.5 km | Flat | 10:30h | 04:30h | 14:00h | 08:00h |
| 2 | 14 October | Wednesday | Chongzuo | Jingxi | 179.2 km | Hilly | 11:10h | 05:10h | 15:00h | 09:00h |
| 3 | 15 October | Thursday | Jingxi | Bama | 211.3 km | Hilly | 11:00h | 05:00h | 15:00h | 09:00h |
| 4 | 16 October | Friday | Bama | Tian'e | 164.8 km | Hilly | 11:00h | 05:00h | 15:00h | 09:00h |
| 5 | 17 October | Saturday | Jinchengjiang | Yizhou | 169.8 km | Hilly | 10:30h | 04:30h | 14:30h | 08:30h |
| 6 | 18 October | Sunday | Yizhou | Nongla | 165.9 km | Hilly | 10:00h | 04:00h | 14:00h | 08:00h |
Preview Tour of Guangxi 2026 overall classification
The overall classification will have two main contenders in two riders who just finished Il Lombardia. Tom Pidcock and Jarno Widar are two puncheurs who love the short and steep climbs and on the final stage both could have the upper hand over the rest of the competition. They must ensure they also fight for bonus seconds over the days, but both do carry a strong sprint which can see them do so.
Afonso Eulálio, Léo Bisiaux and Mikkel Honoré present themselves as second-liners to win the Chinese race, which often sees surprises as it's not easy to maintain top form at this point of year - aside from the long travelling and time schedule changes which often make it harder for some riders to recover.
Defending champion Paul Double will be present but only as an outsider, whilst the likes of Juan Ayuso, Kévin Vauquelin, Maxim van Gils, Louis Barré and Jhonatan Narváez are potential winners of the race but only if they find their best legs.
Prediction Tour of Guangxi 2026 overall classification
*** Tom Pidcock, Jarno Widar
** Afonso Eulálio, Léo Bisiaux, Mikkel Honoré
* Paul Double, Neilson Powless, Clément Braz Afonso, Juan Ayuso, Javier Romo, Diego Pecador, Kévin Vauquelin, Alessandro Pinarello, Adrien Boichis, Maxim van Gils, Ilan van Wilder, Louis Barré, Jhonatan Narváez, Clément Champoussin, Marco Brenner
Pick: Tom Pidcock
Preview Tour of Guangxi 2026 stage 1
Like most of the stages in this race, the opening day will be a bunch sprint and one that will be interesting. Last year Paul Magnier hit big and won all bunch sprints of the race, but this time around he has competition in Olav Kooij as competition. The two will be rather evenly matched and will make life hard for each other.
But the sprinter field does have a lot of quality and depth. Kaden Groves, Jordi Meeus, Juan Sebastián Molano, Max Kanter and Milan Fretin can also be in the mix for the win whilst pure sprinters Sam Welsford and Fabio Jakobsen may not have better opportunities than in a race like this at this time of year.
Prediction Tour of Guangxi 2026 stage 1
*** Olav Kooij, Paul Magnier
** Kaden Groves, Jordi Meeus
* Matevz Govekar, Luke Lamperti, Lionel Taminiaux, Sam Welsford, Fabio Jakobsen, Juan Sebastian Molano, Erlend Blikra, Max Kanter, Milan Fretin, Matteo Moschetti
Pick: Olav Kooij
How: Regular bunch sprint.
Profile stage 1: Chongzuo - Chongzuo
Chongzuo - Chongzuo, 149 kilometers
The race begins with a stage starting and finishing in Chongzuo, a pan-flat day with no obstacles towards a bunch sprint - which will elect the first leader of the race.
Profile stage 2: Chongzuo - Jingxi
Chongzuo - Jingxi, 179 kilometers
Stage 2 of the Chinese race will begin in the same city, but not feature the same flat profile. A cmall climb of 8.5 kilometers at just over 3% will be placed with under 40 kilometers to go - but nothing that should disrupt the flow of the sprinters.
Profile stage 3: Jingxi - Bama
Jingxi - Bama, 211 kilometers
The third day of racing will begin in Jingxi and provide a different challenge for the riders, with 211 kilometers on the menu.
The race will not be fully flat, and the finale somewhat hilly. A set of small hilltops (most notably 2.7Km at 4.7%) and 800 meters at 5% will be placed inside the final hour of racing, but only if they are raced at full speed can they damage the peloton.
Profile stage 4: Bama - Tian'e
Bama - Tian'e, 164 kilometers
Stage 4 is this year's novelty in the race, with some climbing added to the mix on a day that can prove tricky. In a race with only one stage that usually creates some differences, any second won on stage 4 could prove decisive for the overall classification.
The stage departs from Bama and features around 2700 meters of climbing. There will be a few categorized climbs and a lot of rolling terrain in which it is not easy to control the race.
With just under 50 kilometers to go there will be a 2-kilometer long climb at 7% (inside a longer slight uphill drag); whilst with 23 kilometers to go there is a sharp hilltop of 1.7 kilometers at 8.5%.
The road to the finish in Tian'e is almost fully downhill from that point onwards, and so it could be a battled and tactical finale with the GC riders trying to anticipate their rivals.
Profile stage 5: Jinchengijan - Yizhou
Jinchengijan - Yizhou, 169 kilometers
The fifth stage of the race returns to its more traditional course. There will be three categorized climbs after the riders depart Jinchengijan, however a bunch sprint in Yizhou will be hard to prevent.
Profile stage 6: Yizhou - Nangla
Yizhou - Nongla, 165 kilometers
As usual, the race features the Nongla summit finish, crucial for the GC. The final stage of the race, 165 kilometers in length, begins in Yizhou, and is almost fully pan-flat.
The final climb to Nongla then features 3.2 kilometers at 7.3%. The most meaningful part of the climb are the final 1.2 kilometers which average almost 15%, making it a perfect finale for the puncheurs.
Read also
List of winners Tour of Guangxi
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| 2025 | Paul Double | Christophe Laporte | Jhonatan Narváez |
| 2024 | Lennert Van Eetvelt | Oscar Onley | Alex Baudin |
| 2023 | Milan Vader | Rémy Rochas | Ethan Hayter |
| 2019 | Enric Mas | Daniel Martínez | Diego Rosa |
| 2018 | Gianni Moscon | Felix Großschartner | Sergei Chernetski |
| 2017 | Tim Wellens | Bauke Mollema | Nicolas Roche |
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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- "inside the tent pissing out" is an idiom based on a quote from President Lyndon Johnson. Not sure if you're saying you don't understand the term. The full phrase is "it's probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in."wrsty12-10-2026
- Pissing out?? Who is forcing them? They can follow Ayuso's example. And they can be leaders on another team. Ayuso's example again. :)MajorPayne12-10-2026
- Hmm it's an interesting take with certain disclaimers e.g. comparing them at the same age (Pogi wasn't given chances so early in his career so we will never know), the level of the competitors in the race or tour (really hard to compare, as you would be looking at multiple competitors, let alone comparing just Seixas vs Pogi). In any case, Seixas' future certainly looks very bright, especially as he has the advantage of youth, access to new scientific knowledge/methods that weren't around when Pogi started, and most importantly has Pogi as an extremely good example to aspire to (e.g. copying training methods, nutrition, tactics, race craft, etc., to list just a few...).Pogboom12-10-2026
- > He’s so much better than Pogacar was at 20 years old It does not mean NOTHING. What is important how long you can be at the top. Most of the best riders are (really) good for 4-5 years (Alaphilippe, Sagan), of course outside this window you can win stages etc. but forget about GC winner in main tours. Talents like Pogacar (in case of GC) or MvdP (monuments or CX - 15 years being on top!!!) are rarity. It might be that if you start being good fast, you end up being good still young.averagecyclist12-10-2026
- Winning Il Lombardia would surely mean much more to Remco than to Seixas, after his crash there and then second places where he was far ahead of the rest but still far behind Pog, and had to blink away tears at the finish. Wonder if he will ever have such a good chance again.Hills3312-10-2026
- Yeah him, Del Toro for sure - not that they all pan out, but then how can you tell what someone was going to be capable of if they never got to be an out-and-out leader? Either way, their squad has a lot of riders who could be leaders at other teams but they are safely inside the tent now, pissing out.wrsty12-10-2026
- "removing any barriers to their golden goose" What barriers? Ayuso maybe? :) :) :)MajorPayne12-10-2026
- And let's not forget, Tadej Pogačar won his first Tour de France eating pizza, drinking beer and playing Playstation. This kept goinig on for another two years and when he lost the Tour 2X to Jonas, things dramaticaly changed. Today Pogi is a "killing machine." In 2024, in the Tours rest day, Pogi said: "If I compare the year 2019 to what we're doing today, we were real amatuers." ... That is the difference between Pogi and Seixas. Seixas immediately got professional help and advice, he knows exactly what he wants and is already at a very high level. So, the paths of Pogi and Seixas weren't the same.PogiSloFans12-10-2026
- Paul Seixas took off from the WC to Lombardia - smart move it seems. Although Remco at least got the Euro jersey.mij12-10-2026
- Why on EARTH would a rider capable of leading races, leading an entire squad in any race he wishes to go and be (yet another) second fiddle rider to his main competition? Especially when his career is in the ascendant, holding the hope of a nation. You want to be the best - then you want to race against the best. I wish UAE as a team all the best for the most part, but I really dislike their approach of removing any barriers to their golden goose by warehousing them on their squad until they get sufficiently bored and/or pissed off and leave.wrsty12-10-2026
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