EUROTRASH: YOU Tell US: The Best Spring Classic to Watch?

SUMMARY AND PERMALINK

TOP STORY

• Reader Poll: What’s the Best Spring Classic to Watch?

RACE NEWS

• Race to the (Eventual) Sun Conclusion: Vingegaard Shines at Paris-Nice
• Race of the Two Seas (and Many Bruises): Tirreno-Adriatico Wrapup
• Swinkels Claims First WorldTour Victory at Trofeo Alfredo Binda
• Tour of Rhodes: Astana Development’s Matteo Scalco Wins Stage 3 & GCx

TEAM AND RIDER NEWS

• Primoz: All In for the Vuelta

Reader Poll: What’s the Best Spring Classic to Watch?

We’re one true Spring Classic into the calendar — a relatively new entrant, Strade Bianche — and as we follow Tirreno and Paris-Nice but mostly are pining for MSR are the Ardennes races, we thought we’d put it to you in rather specific fashion: If you could — or had to — watch just one Spring Classic from start to finish, which one would you choose? 

Here are your options, with a brief case for each:

• Strade Bianche — The Tuscan backdrop is spectacular, the course is unrelenting, and the White Gravel is not only stunning, but unforgiving, making for a suspenseful race — even when Pogačar attacks early.

• Milan San Remo — Watch all 300 kilometers? Absolutely: That’s a small price to pay to be able to follow the ultimate, thrilling 30K.

• Tour of Flanders — The positioning battles alone make it exhilarating for even a casual fan; the fans and the history make it worth watching even if the result is never really in doubt.

• Paris-Roubaix — The true icon. Pavé, punctures, slide-outs, and a velodrome finish that somehow, after all that, often ends in a sprint.

• Amstel Gold — Constant twisting roads and short punches create a race that almost never settles, with late attacks and small gaps often deciding the win.

• Liège-Bastogne-Liège — Long, selective climbs — and often harsh weather — make it a true war of attrition, rewarding bold moves from GC‑style riders and delivering big-name duels.

So which is it: Beginning to end, coffee (or a lager?) in hand, comfy on your couch…Which would you watch? Submit your response below by Wednesday evening (U.S. time) — and your rationale or suggestions for other Classics to mike@pezcyclingnews.com.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

RACE NEWS

Race to the (Eventual) Sun Conclusion: Vingegaard Shines at Paris-Nice

The whole idea of “The Race to the Sun” is that a springtime journey from north-central France to the Riviera should start under gray skies, with the denouement taking place amid sunshine and 20-degree temps. (Americans, that’s warm — in Celsius.)

Chalk it up to climate change, or rough luck, or coincidence, or all three but NOT THIS YEAR. After writing about crashes upon crashes on slick roads in the first few stages, I hoped conditions might improve, but they in fact declined and became so dismal that the penultimate stage was shortened. Last Thursday I suggested that races like Paris-Nice and Tirreno Adriatico might not be worth the risk; today I’m quite confident they’re not.

That said…we all were able to take in some exciting racing. Here’s a last-three-days breakdown:

Stage 6 – Friday, March 13: Barbentane–Apt (179.3 km)

If you tuned out after Jonas Vingegaard buried the GC on Stage 5 — sure, justifiably — you missed a cracking stage. Harold Tejada, the 28-year-old Colombian from XDS Astana, launched a daring solo move over the top of the final climb and rode it all the way home to Apt. His first WorldTour win, the second of his pro career, and a reminder that while Jonas was busy collecting jerseys, somebody still had to race. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) had earlier tried his luck on the climb, found nobody wanted to follow, and then found Tejada didn’t need him anyway.

Stage 7 – Saturday, March 14: Nice–Isola (47 km)

ASO had designed what should have been the queen stage — a mountain sufferfest up to Auron. Mother Nature had other plans. Snow killed the summit finish the night before; biblical rain in Nice the morning of killed the rest. What remained was a sodden 47 km pancake that sent the sprinters’ soigneurs scrambling for the good wheels. Ineos’ Dorian Godon — a team and a rider who clearly wanted something out of this charade — had the best leadout train on the day and duly outsprinted Biniam Girmay and Cees Bol. Vingegaard stayed warm. Smart man.

Stage 8 – Sunday, March 15: Nice Circuit (129.2 km)

The finale played out beautifully for those of us who love a bit of drama with our café au lait. Vingegaard attacked on the Côte du Linguador and only one rider could follow him: Lenny Martinez, making his second cameo of the week count. The two cooperated on the descent and sprinted it out in the streets of Nice, with Martinez edging the Dane on the line. Tie it up with a bow.

General Classification

Vingegaard. Obviously. The double Tour champion seemingly easily took the yellow jersey, the green jersey, and the polka-dot jersey, presumably just to have something to do between Stages 4 and 8. Dani Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was second and a delightfully determined Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) third. The rest? They raced hard, got rained on, and hopefully spent an additional, relaxing day in Nice.

All that complaining notwithstanding, Sean Kelly won this thing eight times in conditions arguably worse than this. Just saying.

Race of the Two Seas (and Many Bruises): Tirreno-Adriatico Wrapup

My kvetching about early-season stage races notwithstanding, we have seen an interesting dynamic develop heading into the meat of the Classics season: Top cat Tadej’s been away(ish), so the mice have been playing — Seixas turned heads at Algarve; Vingegaard reigned supreme at Paris-Nice; and Isaac Del Toro staked his own heir-apparent claim at Tirreno. Here’s how the final three stages went down.

Stage 5 – Friday, March 13: Marotta-Mondolfo–Mombaroccio (184 km)

First, a word about Michael Valgren. The 34-year-old Dane from EF Education-EasyPost had not won a bike race in 1,639 days. That’s roughly four-and-a-half years of staring at podiums from the wrong side of them — and of EF’s Jonathan Vaughters audibly, explicitly stating his confidence in Valgren. He’d just had a baby one month ago. He was in a breakaway. He dropped Julian Alaphilippe — who still puts up a fight — with 6km to go. And he held off Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and a resurgent Matteo Jorgenson (Visma) by 11 seconds to win on top of a medieval hilltop sanctuary. Amstel and Omloop winner. Emotional wreck. Pure cycling gold. Meanwhile, del Toro used the stage finale to attack Giulio Pellizzari three times on the final climb — once, twice, three times — until the Italian cracked, and the Mexican reclaimed the Maglia Azzurra.

Stage 6 – Saturday, March 14: San Severino Marche–Camerino (188 km)

Del Toro had to beat his best mate to do it. Pellizzari is from the Marche region. This was essentially his back garden. Del Toro, showing all the sentiment of a man who wants a WorldTour stage race trophy, responded to Jorgenson’s attack inside 500 metres by launching the decisive move inside 200 metres, dropping the American and winning by three seconds. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) pipped Jorgenson for second, costing the American a crucial time bonus that would have moved him to second overall. Pellizzari, bless him, attacked repeatedly on the finish circuit and still ended up fourth. The Maglia Azzurra was sealed. Del Toro looked, per reports, “somewhat sheepish” at the finish. Cycling is a sport of friends doing terrible things to each other for a living.

Stage 7 – Sunday, March 15: Civitanova Marche–San Benedetto del Tronto (143 km)

Jonathan Milan won the final sprint for the third consecutive year — because some things in cycling are as reliable as the Adriatic being flat and cold in March. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) , fast becoming one of the most exciting cyclists in the pro peloton, tried to steal it with a solo attack from 7km out and nearly pulled it off, but Filippo Ganna (Ineos) Ganna’d, reeling him in with a few hundred meters left, and Milan came through for Lidl-Trek with a stunning lead-out from Edward Theuns. Classic finale.

General Classification

Isaac del Toro became the first Mexican ever to win Tirreno-Adriatico, and at 23, the youngest winner since Thomas Dekker in 2006. Having won the race in 2024 and 2025, Matteo Jorgenson was second, with Giulio Pellizzari third, no doubt consoling himself with some excellent local wine. Del Toro now heads to Milan-San Remo clearly in exceptional form. As to whether this will prove determinative on the Cipressa, shoulder-to-shoulder with Pogačar and van der Poel…I’m skeptical, but happy for some intrigue.

Tour of Rhodes: Astana Development’s Matteo Scalco Wins Stage 3 & GC

XDS Astana Development Team rider Matteo Scalco achieved an impressive victory in the final stage of the Tour of Rhodes. Matteo arrived at the finish line solo after a successful attack, with an advantage of 59 seconds. That was enough to secure the overall victory in the race.

The final stage of the Tour of Rhodes, covering a distance of 156.5 kilometres, was held in Kremasti and featured climbs throughout the stage. Matteo was part of the breakaway group before launching his solo move which brought him the first victory for the team.

Said Scalco: “Today was the queen stage and we knew the overall classification would be decided here. The team did a fantastic job both yesterday and today, especially today, making the race as hard as possible for the others. The race really opened up on the toughest climb…where I attacked together with another rider. I attacked again on the final climb, about 20 kilometers from the finish and managed to go clear alone. I really want to thank the team for believing in me this year.”

Four-time Vuelta a España winner Primoz Roglic has revealed his rest-of-season race schedule — and it’s a short one, focused entirely on earning a fifth Red Jersey.

In honor of Jonas Vingegaard’s Paris-Nice victory, we’re re-sharing last year’s interview with the two-time Tour de France winner.



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