Trentin hunting history, Philipsen and Merlier chasing glory

Paris-Tours is one of the great fixtures on the French cycling calendar, not only because of its longevity — Sunday 11 October will mark its 120th edition — but also because of a history spanning more than a century of champions, battles and sometimes unexpected scenarios. Once again this year, the list of contenders for victory is as long as the list of vineyard tracks on the route: 10.5 kilometres across the 216.2 kilometres between Chartres and Avenue de Grammont in Tours. The riders come in search of one of autumn's first moments of glory… and one of the last of the season.

Five former winners are on the start list, including defending champion Matteo Trentin (Tudor). Victorious in 2015, 2017 and 2025, the Italian could become the first rider to win Paris-Tours four times, but he will have to overcome a man with unfinished business. Third in 2024 and a non-starter last year, Jasper Philipsen, winner of 17 Grand Tour stages, will be looking to trade bronze for gold. In doing so, he would end an unusual drought for Belgium, which has gone six editions without a victory since Jelle Wallays in 2019. Belgium will be counting on the Alpecin-Premier Tech sprinter, but it has other cards to play. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) arrives in excellent shape and will make his first appearance in the race after a summer packed with victories at the Tour de France (three stages), in Britain and on home soil. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Intermarché) has made a habit of winning French one-day races — the Grand Prix du Morbihan in 2023, Tro Bro Leon in 2024 or the Bretagne Classic in 2025 — but Paris-Tours is still missing from his palmarès.

France also has plenty of cards to play on home soil. The most recent French winner, in 2024, Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) will be looking to double his tally after finishing second last year. His compatriot Dorian Godon (Netcompany Ineos) is capable of winning in a wide variety of scenarios, whether from a small-group sprint or in a more open, attacking race, as was the case for Thibaud Gruel (Groupama-FDJ United) and Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-CMA CGM), who let their opportunity slip away in the finale last year. His successor as French champion, Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), will be looking to shine in the blue, white and red jersey, accompanied by Bastien Tronchon, pushed by his stage victory at La Vuelta. Young Italian sprinter Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana) came close to doing the same, finishing runner-up twice in Spain. A strong finisher from reduced groups, Riley Sheehan (NSN) triumphed in Tours in 2023 ahead of Lewis Askey… who is now his teammate. Second place was also the result achieved by Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek) in 2022 and his teammate Mathias Vacek in 2024. Meanwhile, Uno-X Mobility has options for every scenario, with breakaway specialist Jonas Abrahamsen and sprinter Soren Waerenskjold looking to round off a season in which the team has already won stages at all three Grand Tours.