What We Learned From Cycling's Spring Classics 2026

As attention turns to the build-up to the Giro d'Italia, the first of the year's Grand Tours, AFP looks back at a thrilling set of spring one-day classics and what we learned about the main protagonists.

Tadej Pogacar Remains Indomitable

Anyone hoping that Tadej Pogacar might lose form or motivation and open the door to someone else winning once in a while has had that pipe dream shattered.

If anything, the 27-year-old world champion is still getting better.

He has had five races this year and won four of them, finishing second in the only one he did not claim, Paris-Roubaix.

The Slovenian opted for a relatively light workload in the early part of the year, but he seems even more unbeatable than ever.

He finally chalked off Milano-Sanremo at the sixth attempt, and there now remains only one major single-day classic missing from his trophy cabinet: Paris-Roubaix.

The very fact that a four-time Tour de France winner is competing for success at Paris-Roubaix is remarkable in itself, but Pogacar has come genuinely close to winning it in his two participations.

The rest will have to wait for some time yet for the king to abdicate.

Paul Seixas And Wout Van Aert Lead The Biggest Takeaways

Cycling fans have got used to Pogacar's domination, but it may be coming to an end sooner than expected.

French 19-year-old Paul Seixas has long been hyped as the great hope for a home Tour de France winner, and this year he has proved that he is already the real deal.

Dominant victories at Itzulia Basque Country and La Flèche Wallonne showed that he is already one of the best in the world.

But his willingness and ability to go toe-to-toe with Pogacar in a thrilling battle at Liège-Bastogne-Liège at the weekend suggested that it will not be long before he is able to beat the incomparable Slovenian.

France waits with bated breath to see if he will start the Tour de France in July, and if he does, Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard will have a genuine contender to battle against.

Some people wondered whether Wout Van Aert's best days as a one-day classics specialist were behind him at the age of 31.

But this spring, he proved he remains a force to be reckoned with.

His Paris-Roubaix victory, beating Pogacar in a sprint finish to win only his second Monument, rounded off an impressive campaign.