The eyes of much of the cycling world may be focussed on Flanders this weekend as cobbled Classics season kicks off with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Belgian Opening Weekend. Further south, though, there's a similar weekend of racing going on, too – something of an 'Alternative Opening Weekend'.
A host of big names are heading to Valence in South East France on Saturday and Sunday for a pair of smaller hilly Classics, the Faun-Ardèche Classic and the Faun Drôme Classic.
The two races, named for sponsorship of local refuse collection company Faun Environnement, have drawn a stellar field of racers, including major GC names Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), US racers Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), top puncheurs Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Cristian Scaroni (XDS-Astana).
Along for the ride, too, are a host of home favourites, including rising stars Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Romain Grégoire (Groupama FDJ-United), and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), as well as Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Clément Champoussin (XDS-Astana).
Last year's races saw Grégoire and Juan Ayuso come out on top. This year's routes retain similar parcours, with Saturday's Faun-Ardèche Classic featuring 3,400 metres of elevation and 11 major climbs spread across its 187.6km route, and Sunday's 189km Faun Drôme Classic coming with 2,200 metres spread across 17 hills and an uphill finish.
One rider who plenty of home fans will be looking out for is Lenny Martinez, now in his second season at Bahrain. He came away with 17th place and a DNF upon tackling the races for the first time in 2023, but this time around, having started his season with fifth place at the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes, he's aiming higher.
"We are approaching two very tough races with a very high level of competition. The start lists are strong, but in general I believe we have a good roster and we should aim for a top-five result in both races," said Bahrain Victorious directeur sportif Romain Kreuziger.
"Starting with our leader, Lenny – for some it might have seemed hard that he didn’t win last weekend, but for us it was actually perfect. He tested himself and raced without overthinking, which was exactly the plan.
"I'm happy about that because now he knows where he stands. This weekend, we will race with a bit more tactical awareness, especially against the other strong contenders."
Paul Seixas, at 19, the great hope of French GC racing, has already raised his arms in victory in 2026. The second-year pro beat Ayuso to win stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve before finishing the race second overall behind the Spaniard.
He'll no doubt be hoping to add to his palmarès this weekend.
"I wouldn't say my status has completely changed, but it's no longer a surprise that I'm here. I'm at the front, and that's what's expected now," Seixas told Le Dauphiné Libéré.
"The real change is that I'm not necessarily going to discover new races anymore, but rather trying to get results, to assert my status, and to continue progressing to get closer to the best. The goal is to raise my arms in victory as much as possible, but to raise my arms in victory as much as possible, you have to race against the best.
"There was already a huge field in the Algarve, but it's against these riders who have the most impact on a race that I need to compete to see what I'm missing to reach the highest level."
Seixas, the reigning Tour de l'Avenir champion, has been hailed by some as a potential future rival to Tadej Pogačar. However, he said that, for now, he's "adopting the habits of a team leader" and figuring out his rate of progress.
"For now, I still need to improve; [Pogačar, Evenepoel, and Vingegaard are] still a cut above. But right now, I want to see how I've progressed compared to last year, when I already had the chance to compete against them," he said.
"I think if you're afraid, you've already lost. The word 'fear' is too strong and doesn't capture what you feel at the start of a race. I'd say it's more about respect, a lot of respect for these guys.
"In any case, there's an eagerness to give 100% against the very best. You have to win when everyone's there; that's the most important and the most rewarding thing for a rider with a competitive spirit. The goal isn't to take over when [Pogačar] isn't there anymore. The goal is to be able to beat him one day."
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