86th edition of the Škoda Tour de Luxembourg; Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu

On Wednesday 16 September 2026, the 86th edition of the Škoda Tour de Luxembourg began with a presentation of 102 riders from seventeen teams at Place Guillaume II (Knuedler), in front of Luxembourg City Hall, attracting several hundred cycling fans.

The event brought together sponsors, organisers and Tour Director Andy Schleck, the 2010 Tour de France champion, who signed autographs for fans. Luxembourg City’s First Alderman Maurice Bauer, Aldermen Patrick Goldschmidt and Simone Beissel, Luxembourg’s Minister of Sport Martine Hansen, Minister of Culture Eric Thill and Minister for Digitalisation Stéphanie Obertin also attended, alongside other officials.

The Luxembourg national team received a particularly warm welcome from the crowd during the presentation. Led by sports director Jean-Pierre Drucker, the six-rider squad included Mats Berns, Loïc Bettendorff, Mathieu Kockelmann, who won a stage of the race in 2025, Noé Ury, Larry Valvasori and Luc Wirtgen.

For the 2026 edition, the organisers highlighted the participation of several prominent riders, including Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), the 2023 world champion and winner of the opening stage of the 2024 Škoda Tour de Luxembourg, and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek), winner of the 2020 Giro d’Italia. Other notable participants included Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek), Jasper Stuyven (Soudal-Quick Step), Dylan van Baarle (Soudal-Quick Step) and Davide Piganzoli (Team Visma | Lease a Bike).

The opening stage (Luxembourg-Knuedler to Luxembourg-Fëschmaart, 157.5 km) began with a neutral start at Place Guillaume II before the peloton headed towards Dommeldange for the official start in front of the Alvisse Parc Hôtel. The route featured several closely spaced climbs, with the three main difficulties concentrated within approximately 50 kilometres.

A six-rider breakaway formed early in the stage, featuring Luxembourg national team rider Noé Ury alongside Cole Kessler, Fábio Costa, Ruud Junior Nagengast, Malte Hellerup and Jonathan Malte Rottmann. The group established a lead of more than three minutes over the peloton before gradually losing riders. With 77.4 km remaining, only Costa and Hellerup remained at the front, while Hellerup continued alone in the lead with 16.6 km to go.

The peloton eventually caught the breakaway ahead of the Montée de Clausen, setting up a battle over the final kilometres towards the Fëschmaart. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) claimed victory in the opening stage, finishing in 3:45:42. Pierre Gautherat (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) finished second, followed by Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) in third place.

In the provisional classifications following the opening stage, Malte Hellerup (Team ColoQuick) led the mountains classification with thirteen points, while Pierre Gautherat (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) topped the young riders' classification. Team Visma | Lease a Bike led the team classification.

On Thursday 17 September 2026, the second stage will take riders from Niederkorn to Junglinster over 166.8 km, with an elevation gain of 2,326 m and a neutralised start scheduled for 14:30.