Warm-up for the Tour de France - Paris-Nice set to host team time trial once again in 2026

Team time trials are back in full force in the world of cycling and in 2026 we're getting several of them once again. One of cycling's least frequently raced disciplines will be part of the 2026 Paris-Nice according to several sources, which will serve as important training ahead of the Tour de France.

This certainly is a conscious decision. The 2026 Tour starts in Barcelona with a 19-kilometer long team time trial which finished atop the Alto de Montjuic. The discipline requires the teams to put some emphasis on the riders that it takes to the race, but at the same time it requires multiple variables in order to put in a good time - even though the rules are now not the same when it comes to the times taken at the line, with an individual timing now being favoured.

But the TTT is a discipline that requires a tremendous amount of skill for the riders involved, to ride in a formation, be as aerodynamic as possible as a group, the energy expenditure and strategies involved with pacing and the riders that will be 'used up' and drop earlier in the effort. It's a complex exercise, and one that is also not easy to replicate in training on open roads. Hence, when one of the Grand Tours features one of them, it is regular for other stage-races to do the same so as to attract some teams into bringing (in this case) their Tour de France lineups and test themselves in a real-life race.

This will be the fourth consecutive year in which the French race will feature a TTT, whose route will be presented on the 17th of December - the same day as the Vuelta a España. According to the French news outlet Le Journal du Centre, there will be a 23-kilometer long effort between the towns of Cosne-sur-Loire and Puilly-sur-Loire. The location hints at a flat course and a stage that is certain to take place in the first half of the race, most likely stages 3 or 4 as has been the case in recent years.