British Grand Départ on ice, Pogačar’s plan for Sanremo, Paris-Nice set for big freeze

The WorldTour’s Big Four stage racers – Vingegaard, Pogačar, Evenepoel and Roglic — are all on the road at last, as the European season really gets going. 

We start, though, with the news that the much-rumoured British Grand Départ, set to take place in 2026, has been shelved. UK Sport deputy CEO Simon Morton tells us, "We are not actively pursuing hosting in 2026," as the funding crisis in local government takes hold and cuts are made to government-backed sporting events in what's an election year. Yet after this latest gloomy development for British cycling, Morton suggests there is still some hope that the Tour and/or Tour de France Femmes could return to the UK, perhaps in 2027.

After his demolition derby on his rivals at Strade Bianche, Tadej Pogačar is now turning his attention to Milan-Sanremo, one of two Monuments he's still to win. His 81km solo ride to success on Tuscany's white roads underlined once again that the UAE Team Emirates rider can create his own script for one-day races, but can he do that for Sanremo, the most predictable of the lot? We speak to Jayco-AlUla DS Matt White, who believes that the Slovenian is likely to make another early attack, but won't find is as straightforward to hold on when he does.

In our final story, we look ahead to the finale of Paris-Nice, which is once again threatened by a big freeze as it heads towards high finishes in the southern Alps just inland from the Côte d'Azur.   

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