WorldTour 2026 Review: Winners, Teams and Newcomers

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The WorldTour 2026 review shows a season with one clear dominant rider and a new generation. Tadej Pogačar won 22 races, including his fifth Tour de France. Jonas Vingegaard took the Giro, Enric Mas the Vuelta. UAE Team Emirates-XRG leads the UCI team ranking. 20-year-old Paul Seixas won Il Lombardia.

The men’s season ended on October 18 with the Tour of Guangxi in China. Another 20-year-old won there: Jarno Widar. Our WorldTour 2026 review puts the big races, the best riders and teams, and the newcomers into context. We also share our own Bobshop figures: which team jerseys were the most popular in 2026.

Grand Tours 2026: three stage races, three winners

The Grand Tours 2026 went to three different riders from three different teams. The Grand Tours are the three-week stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España.

Giro d'Italia
May 8–31

Jonas Vingegaard

Visma | Lease a Bike

over 5 min ahead of Felix Gall

Photo: MFonzatti, Wiki­media Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

Tour de France
July 4–26

Tadej Pogačar

UAE Team Emirates-XRG

approx. 6.5 min ahead of Remco Evenepoel

Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency

Vuelta a España
Aug 22–Sept 13

Enric Mas

Movistar Team

2:15 min ahead of Primož Roglič

Photo: Yannick Arts, Wiki­media Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

What made the Giro 2026 special?

Vingegaard won the Giro with authority and took five stage wins. He has now won all three Grand Tours at least once. Visma celebrated this with a special edition, the “The Trilogy” jersey. You can find our route preview in the article on the Giro d'Italia 2026.

How dominant was Pogačar at the Tour?

Pogačar won his fifth yellow jersey with a lead of almost six and a half minutes. According to Escape Collective, the Tour 2026 was the fastest in history, with an average speed of 43.3 km/h. The green jersey went to Mads Pedersen, the polka dot jersey to Richard Carapaz. Isaac del Toro won the young rider classification, Lidl-Trek the team classification. For the first time since 1999, no French rider won a stage. All pre-race favorites are in our Tour de France 2026 preview.

Why did Enric Mas win the Vuelta?

Pogačar led the Vuelta by almost four minutes. On stage 8 he crashed and broke his collarbone. After that, Enric Mas took the lead and kept the red jersey all the way to Madrid. For Mas, it is his first Grand Tour win after four Vuelta podiums. He is the first Spanish Vuelta winner since Alberto Contador in 2014. You can find the route in detail in our Vuelta 2026 preview.

Pogačar 2026: three of five Monuments

In 2026, Pogačar won three of the five Monuments. The Monuments are the five oldest and most important one-day races. The other two wins went to Wout van Aert and Paul Seixas.

Paris–Roubaix was the day Pogačar missed his chance to win all five Monuments. Mathieu van der Poel, winner of the three previous editions, lost contact after a mechanical in the Arenberg Forest. Pogačar did not ride Il Lombardia. He had not raced again after his crash at the Vuelta.

Pro teams 2026: UAE leads the UCI team ranking

UAE Team Emirates-XRG is the strongest of the pro teams in 2026, with around 30,982 points in the UCI team ranking.

Further down the ranking there are surprises. The ProTeam Pinarello-Q36.5 is in 12th place, ahead of several WorldTeams. Tudor and Cofidis also make the top 18. NSN Cycling Team has a WorldTour license but is only in 19th place.

Which riders won the most races in 2026?

With 22 wins, Pogačar is the most successful rider of the season. This is shown by an analysis from CyclingUpToDate for races of category 2.1 and higher (as of October 20).

Behind Pogačar, two more stars had a strong season. Remco Evenepoel finished second at the Tour and third in Flanders and Liège. He won the world time trial title again and became European champion. Mathieu van der Poel was on the podium in Flanders and at the Worlds. In Roubaix, a mechanical cost him a fourth win in a row. Tom Pidcock rode for the ProTeam Pinarello-Q36.5 and narrowly finished second in both San Remo and Guangxi.

Who became world champion in 2026?

Brandon McNulty won the world road race in Montréal on September 27. He is the first US world champion since 1993. Michael Matthews and Mathieu van der Poel followed 13 seconds behind. According to the cycling magazine Velo, McNulty had not won a single race all season before that. In the time trial, Remco Evenepoel won his fourth world title in a row.

Cycling season 2026: newcomers and stories

Paul Seixas is the newcomer of the 2026 cycling season. The 20-year-old Frenchman (Decathlon CMA CGM) won eight races, including a Monument.

Which newcomers impressed in 2026?

Paul Seixas 20

Decathlon CMA CGM

First pro win at the Volta ao Algarve. At 19, the youngest winner of a WorldTour stage race (Itzulia Basque Country). Then a win at La Flèche Wallonne, second place in Liège and the solo win in Lombardy.

Photo: Hugo LUC, Wiki­media Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

Jarno Widar 20

Lotto Inter­marché

First pro win at Tre Valli Varesine. In the season finale, he won the queen stage to Nongla and the Tour of Guangxi, nine seconds ahead of Tom Pidcock.

Photo: MFonzatti, Wiki­media Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped (2024)

Paul Magnier 22

Soudal Quick-Step

15 wins and the points jersey at the Giro. This makes him number two on the winners list behind Pogačar.

Louis Barré 26

Visma | Lease a Bike

Third overall in the season finale in Guangxi, 16 seconds behind Jarno Widar.

Photo: Georg­Der­Reisende, Wiki­media Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

How did the season finale in Guangxi go?

The Tour of Guangxi (October 13–18) is the only men’s WorldTour race in China. Over six stages, the peloton rode 1,043 kilometers. The first days belonged to the sprinters: Paul Magnier won stage 1, Milan Fretin (Cofidis) took two stage wins, Biesterbos (Picnic PostNL) one.

The race was only decided on the last day, on the final climb to Nongla. Jarno Widar won the stage and took the overall lead. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) finished second, nine seconds back. Louis Barré was 16 seconds behind Widar. For Widar, these were the first WorldTour wins of his career.

In the women’s peloton, Demi Vollering shaped the season. Among other races, she won the Tour de France Femmes, the Giro d'Italia Women and the world title in Montréal.

Which stories shaped the 2026 season?

Five moments of the 2026 season tell more than the list of winners.

Team jerseys 2026: which pro teams the fans bought

At Bobshop, the most popular team kits in 2026 were those of Netcompany INEOS, Movistar Team, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Tudor Pro Cycling Team and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. This is shown by our own sales analysis.

What stands out: only two of the five teams are also at the top of the UCI team ranking. UAE is first, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe second. Netcompany INEOS ends the season in 8th place, Movistar in 13th, Tudor as a ProTeam in 17th. For many fans, design and loyalty clearly count for more than ranking points when they buy.

Gobik · UCI rank 8

Net­company INEOS

New design in light gray and teal with orange accents, debut at the Giro 2026.

Shop the team kit →

Gobik · UCI rank 13

Movistar Team

Minimalist design, popular with fans. Vuelta win with Enric Mas.

Shop the team kit →

Pissei · UCI rank 1

UAE Team Emirates-XRG

Team of the Tour winner. Special editions such as the TDF Celebration and the world champion jersey.

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Sportful · UCI rank 17

Tudor Pro Cycling Team

ProTeam in 17th place, ahead of several WorldTeams.

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Specialized · UCI rank 2

Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe

Team of Remco Evenepoel. The race version is identical to the pro kit.

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Anne Nanni’s take

“Pogačar remains the benchmark. 22 wins despite his season ending in August speak for themselves. But the real news of 2026 is Paul Seixas. Second in Liège at 19, winner in Lombardy at 20: nobody has climbed to the top this fast in a long time. I expect a real duel between the two in 2027. For fans, the season was full of surprise winners such as Mas, McNulty and Widar. Our sales figures show that many fans do not follow the ranking when they choose a team jersey, but their favorite team. My conclusion on the WorldTour 2026 review: Pogačar dominated the season, and the next generation has arrived.”

You can find all teams of the season, from UAE to Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe to Tudor, together in our shop.

Discover pro team jerseys at Bobshop now