Now that race selection and planners are (or should be) done, my two cents on the Calendar.
Generally speaking, I like many of the new hills profiles, and I think some of them will be really good to create gaps. Having quite some MM stages will be interesting as well to see the impact of the MM stat - will it be the pure climbers who have an advantage, will the puncheurs keep up - or is it really a high MM stat (so currently strong Mo AND Hi, but that will change) that is important?
My pain point however are the TTs. Yes, I do have a decent TTer, and I like TTs in general, so I'm definitely biased. But I don't appreciate shortening or removing TTs in general - if TTers are too much bang for the buck, then make them cost more. Of course, we do need races for non-TTers, in particular for the climbers, no question about it! But it feels like this season it was pushed quite far, with some PRLs / short TTs dropped, GTs with rather little TTing, neither TdS nor Dauphiné with a "serious" TT... But I guess we'll find a good balance on the calendar - and we'll never have everyone being happy, as some would only be happy if there weren't any TTs left at all ^^
More specifically, though, I'd like to see the calendar for PCT TTers adapted. I feel they're at quite a disadvantage compared to PT and CT:
- PT has a classic (Herbiers) and two stage races (Praha, Deutschland) for pure TTers. Plus a weird classic in Arenberg, but I don't really count that one in.
- CT has a classic (IoM) and a stage race (Sun Tour) for pure TTers.
PCT has neither a classic nor a stage race. Sure, there's Deutschland, but I mean there's no race explicitly for the PCT specialists - meaning HC or C1.
There used to be Arab Tour and Celtic Chrono, basically providing the same opportunities to PCT TTers as PT and CT still have. I would definitely like to have these two back, just because it means that TTers should be as useful in PCT as in PT and CT.
I'm aware that there are two potential GC races for TTers in PCT, with Danmark and Norway, but they're not for the "pure TTers" (unless they get lucky). So for me, one solution would be to remove one of them and replace it with an "Arab-Tour like" race, or e.g. modify Denmark to no longer feature that hilly stage. I agree that simply adding another race for versatile TTers would be overkill. But I'd like to have a situation more or less like in PT, where we have Tasmania + Praha, two for the versatile TTers, one for the pure specialists.
And bringing back Celtic Chrono or any other kind of ITT classic for PCT should be doable as well. Could even use the IoM or Chrono des Nations route, just with a different startlist, to reduce load on stage making.
And this year, there's even something else: the clash between Deutschland and Danmark. I mean, that would be like having Praha or Tasmania clashing with Deutschland, definitely something that would not be done. Again, it feels quite unfair for PCT TTers. Would like to see that clash removed next year.
Hopefully I'm not even concerned by any kind of changes to the PCT schedule next year, but I still feel that the number of big scoring opportunities available isn't quite balanced with the other divisions.
Last but not least, thanks a lot again for putting together a challenging and interesting calendar, looking forward to see how it all pans out in-race And yeah, I might be critizising the TT calendar, but the rest really looks good to me, I like it! Also another stage race for cobblers (Cheshire) - although we might have to think about adding one for PCT cobblers as well (Faso for CT, Cheshire & Franceville for PT, maybe just move one of them to HC)...
PCT also has access to Ukraine and Slovenia, are those not counted, simply because there's a TTT in Slovenia and the hilly stage in Ukraine? You mention Tasmania multiple times, so just trying to fully understand what point you want to get across Fabi.
Yes, PCT has access to PTHC, but in most cases at least the Top 5 are just out of reach, so the scoring potential is lower than in HC and potentially even C1. CT also has access to C1/HC, but not counting that either because unless you have a Powless monster, scoring chances are a bit limited.
I consider Norway PCT's Tasmania equivalent, but I'm just missing a Praha equivalent (i.e. pan-flat race with a TT). And a CdN equivalent. That's what I'm saying in short.
Maybe just adding a reason why I don't think that you can "count" PTHC races the same for PT and PCT TTers: In a PCT race, an 80/81 TTer will be considered a race favourite and will be given preferential treatment in terms of positioning even in hilly stages. In PTHC, these riders (speaking of emg. Zmorka, Bjerg, Bissegger) will just be ignored by the game - so in races like Ukraine or Slovenia, they will most likely not finish close to Wirtgen, Würtz or Dunbar, but they might not even make the Top 50. Less of an issue e.g. for Deutschland where you wouldn't expect big gaps, but in the hilly TT races - at least with PCM 24 - being among the Top 3-5 favourites or not easily makes a difference between GC Top5-10 or outside Top 50, even with just one TT point difference. This is why I don't consider PTHC TT races to be good scoring opportunities (having no Dunbar).
Edited by Fabianski on 18-08-2026 10:21
It would be if there was one 15km ITT instead of the two short ones I guess. But yeah, seems like 7.8km is long enough to filter out the pure PRL specialists... So might do the job, we'll see. Top 5 for Bissegger would still surprise me given his low PRL, but maybe Larsen can do sth ^^
It would be if there was one 15km ITT instead of the two short ones I guess. But yeah, seems like 7.8km is long enough to filter out the pure PRL specialists... So might do the job, we'll see. Top 5 for Bissegger would still surprise me given his low PRL, but maybe Larsen can do sth ^^
Bjerg won it last year, I do agree that it reads more like a prologue specialist race moreso than a proper TT specialist race but I wouldn't dare say that Bjerg isn't a proper TTer.
It would be if there was one 15km ITT instead of the two short ones I guess. But yeah, seems like 7.8km is long enough to filter out the pure PRL specialists... So might do the job, we'll see. Top 5 for Bissegger would still surprise me given his low PRL, but maybe Larsen can do sth ^^
Bjerg won it last year, I do agree that it reads more like a prologue specialist race moreso than a proper TT specialist race but I wouldn't dare say that Bjerg isn't a proper TTer.
The year before it was Farantakis, on the same route. Don't know if it was the wind that had a heavy impact last year (I'd think so) or just the game version handling distances so much differently.
Before, it did have one 20km ITT stage and it was clearly a TTers race. But yeah, guess I just don't fancy it for my TTer who sucks at prologues
Agree with Fab, and obviously am biased as a TT heavy team. I like the calendar this year in all divisions and appreciate all the work that’s gone into it, but it’s very noticeable ITT’s have been replaced with TTT’s and prologues in most races or removed all together. If the point of removing ITT km’s was due to the fear of several riders that might take advantage of them, I feel like replacing them with TTT’s basically just does the same thing and rewards the few teams that actually care about them (good for them).
For PT teams, potentially having five major stage races on the calendar (depending on PTHC band selections) where there’s not a notable TT in Tirreno, PN, Dauphine, Suisse or Romandie is a bit crazy. Adding the lack of TT in GT’s as well feels strange too - I know GT routes are somewhat cyclical but it’s been trending this way for a while.
The only explanation i’ve really seen is that people complained about TT’s and so that was taken into consideration during calendar creation (please correct me if I’m wrong).
I think there were a couple of factors over the last few seasons that have probably come together in the 2026 season in the low TT KMs.
Longer term, with time gaps lowering on other terrains it seemed like any race with an IT turned into an IT race and so one-dimensional TTers were scoring results in lots of races.
Last season the start lists for climbing races without TTs were absolutely stacked while those with TTs tended to be soft. This is because across PT/PTHC/HC/C1 it seemed like there were a lot more options for climbers with decent TT. Generally, this should be the case since they are more versatile, but we felt it had gone a little far, particularly when the current version seems to balance TT and MT pretty evenly in MTTs moving races like Japan and Andorra away from pure climbers.
In addition to the above, for GTs and PT stage races, the routes are varied each year and we happened to go less IT friendly this year, But also TOA has an ITT and relatively few MT stages, so would consider that a move in the other direction versus other years.
A few thoughts on changes, these are just mine, Abhi and I haven't really talked and probably won't get serious for a few months.
- I think making Denmark a pure IT races makes some sense. Since all of Norway, Slovenia and Ukraine have something for climbers Current parcours confuses the AI anyway.
- Probably won't change Amissa Bongo, like the sprinter/prl balance in that race.
- Could see moving Isle of Man to C1, need more C1 days anyway. Not sure about a new classic or bringing back Olympia as a stage race.
- Will probably have a decent ITT in either Suisse or Dauphine next year and shift between neither, one or both having ITs going forward
- Will likely ahve more ITs in GTs next year (although TDF does have a 50k IT this year). But might do a minimal IT TOA. Tour of Continents will also shift over time in weight of ITs
And as always anyone who wants to be a stagemaker has a chance to influence the calendar.
So, don't take this as a complaint post (schedule was known pre-transfers anyway), but I'd just like to point out the current imbalance across divisions, in particular for what you'd call "one-dimensional TTers". Ocampo might be the archetype for those, a great TTer, with decent PRL but not much else.
For such a rider, what does the calendar have on offer?
In PT:
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha (PT)
Chrono des Herbiers (PT)
Deutschland Tour (PTHC)
In PCT:
Deutschland Tour (PTHC) OR Post Danmark Rundt (C1)
In CT:
Herald Sun Tour (C2)
Isle of Man ITT (C2)
Post Danmark Rundt (C1)
I'm counting Danmark in as well, as the hilly stage should be easy enough to allow the top TTers to be positioned well enough to not lose time (like Bjerg last year). But yeah, for PCT riders it's not a cool situation - either you face PT competition in Deutschland or have the lower C1 scale in Denmark (where you're at risk of getting dropped in the hilly stage). No HC race for the specialists, no classic.
You may argue about Tropicale - no, it's not a TTer race. It's a race for PRL specialists who can also TT - Zmorka will be great, but the other PCT/CT 80+ TTers can't expect a Top 5 there.
If you have a TTer who can decently handle some hills (let's call it the Würtz archetype), there are more options:
In PT:
Tour of Tasmania (PT)
Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha (PT)
Chrono des Herbiers (PT)
Deutschland Tour (PTHC)
Tour of Slovenia (PTHC)
In PCT:
Deutschland Tour (PTHC) OR Post Danmark Rundt (C1)
Tour of Slovenia (PTHC)
Tour of Norway (HC)
In CT:
Herald Sun Tour (C2)
Isle of Man ITT (C2)
Post Danmark Rundt (C1)
Tour of Norway (HC)
Ukraine needs more than some "decent" skills on the hills, so leaving that one out. Guess there are enough races for the Manos and Wirtgens of this world anyway.
I think it's perfectly fine that PT TTers get the most options, given that they've got the most RDs.
However, PCT's calendar really feels unbalanced, in particular for the Ocampos.
My suggestion would be to make Post Danmark Rundt completely flat (basically same as Deutschland and Sun Tour, or reduce by 1 stage) and move back to HC. Plus move IoM to C1.
If clashing TT GC races are desired, then I'd prefer having one for all divisions. Maybe for different types of races, e.g. Tasmania/Deutschland, Denmark/Slovenia and Sun Tour/Norway. Won't end up like this because of the Tasmania season opener, but if I don't want to touch the classics, the other one for PT would be Praha/Slovenia which would be a bit harsh because of the TTT in the latter. But I'm sure someone comes up with a good idea - if clashes are indeed wanted.
Guess I've now added my 2 cents on all of training/OVL, talents and calendar so I'll try to shut up
