Circuit Franco-Belge: Corbin Strong out-paces Paul Magnier for first win of 2026

Corbin Strong (NSN) claimed an emphatic victory in the Circuit Franco-Belge, holding off Anders Foldager (Jayco-AlUla) and Giro d'Italia points classification winner Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep).

The Kiwi timed his effort perfectly in the uphill finish, kicking early as Magnier struggled to get on top of his gear. The Frenchman was uncharacteristically bogged down and was passed by Foldager just before the line.

The Pro Series race victory is Strong's first since last year's Arctic Race of Norway and comes after Strong went up against an unbeatable Magnier during the Giro d'Italia.

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"The last few days since the Giro started to feel all right. I really enjoyed this race, so it was one I wanted to recover well from after the Giro and come here and get a good result. So I'm, I'm really happy to win today," Strong said.

"It's a big relief. It hasn't been an easy start to the season. I think when I've been fit and healthy and had a good run at a race, I've been in good shape, but there have been very few opportunities, I think, for me - a lot of crashes and illness in the first part of the year - so to come here and get a win is a really nice feeling."

The Circuit Franco-Belge, a 195.6-kilometre race from Tournai with one 50-kilomtre loop followed by five 22.7km circuits ending on the Mont-de-l'Enclus. Each of the local laps includes two climbs - the Col du Horlitin and the tougher Côte de Trieu-Knokteberg (1.2km at 7.4%) - with an uphill finish.

Timo Roosen (Picnic PostNL), Andrea Pietrobon (Polti VisitMalta), Artur Torney (Flanders-Baloise), Alexys Brunel (TotalEnergies), Iker Gómez (Equipo Kern Pharma), Axel van der Tuuk (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Léandre Huck (Van Rysel Roubaix), Jocelyn Baguelin (Aarco) and Luca Cretti (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) made up the early breakaway, but as the television cameras turned on, their nearly two-minute lead evaporated to just a handful of seconds with 78km to go.

As the gap hovered in the double digits, Torney, Brunel, Gomez, and Van der Tuuk split from the rest of the lead group, but while the group reformed, Brunel attacked and rode solo until 65km to go when all of the escapees were back in the peloton with three laps to go.

With 61km to go, Leander Van Hautegem (Flanders Baloise) put in a stinging attack and was joined by Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) and they were able to gain over a minute on the peloton. But the young Belgian struggled as the gap began to drop, and lost contact with Kelderman on the Col du Horlitin with 41km to go.

As Visma-Lease a Bike were more than happy to just follow the attacks with sprinter Matthew Brennan in the group, Groupama-FDJ United took a chance with 32km to go, with Cofidis and NSN joining in to try and break up the peloton. It didn't work, but the acceleration slashed Kelderman's lead to just 15 seconds with 30km to go.

Sensing a chance to bridge across, an attack came with 26.5km to go from Johan Jacons (Groupama-FDJ United), with Colby Simmons (EF Education-EasyPost) and De Bondt joining in. They made it to Kelderman at the start of the final lap but with a margin over the peloton of just 17 seconds at 22.7km left for the peloton to shut down.

Simmons, unable or unwilling to take a pull, was ridden out the back of the lead group by De Bondt, leaving Kelderman and Jacobs at the front, dooming the breakaway as the Visma rider had little interest in pushing the pace. The peloton was all together on the final ascent of the Horlitin.

The sprinters now had to survive the Knokteberg, but De Bondt tried yet again to force a breakaway. While he was joined by five riders, they were shut down before the climb. Visma-Lease a Bike countered the attack, with Louis Barré forcing the pace to shell some of the sprinters.

Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) was the most notable victim of the pace, and while Barré was caught before the top, Visma had to work to bring Brennan back into the race. And, as they made contact, an short-lived attack flew off the front, keeping the pace high to prevent any more sprinters from rejoining.

Soudal-QuickStep took control of the final kilometres for Magnier, but had to drop back to bring him forward. Riley Sheehan (NSN) came to the front early to push the pace for Corbin Strong, who duly took the lead and the sprint victory with apparent ease.

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