Weekend in France: Alpes-Maritimes, Classic Var.

 

The 58th Tour des Alpes-Maritimes moved from a two-day stage race to a one-day format. It still offered a challenging race. The 154km routed includes four climbs: Col d’Eze, Col de Chateauneuf, Col de Carros and Cote de Gourdon before descending into Boit. 

Two breakaway riders, Lenny Martinez and Marco Brenner entered the final climb with 20 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the 13-rider chase group. Paul Lapeira (Decathlon) caught and passed the two-rider breakaway and crossed the finish line by two seconds ahead of Christian Scaroni (XDS) and Simon Carr (Cofidis) to secure his first win of the season on home soil.

Without the classic Mont Faron climb, the Classic Var held for the third time as a one-day race, with the Classic Var returning in 2026 as a flatter edition. Jason Tesson claimed TotalEnergies’ first victory of the 2026 season. The Frenchman outsprinting Tor Gudmestad (Decathlon) and Rick Pluimers (Tudor) to the line in Brignoles, France.