The Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic takes place on Sunday 6 September 2026, bringing 130.7km of rough-road racing to the western tip of Brittany and, for UK viewers, several ways to watch it live.
The race officially starts at 12:25 BST, but television pictures begin later in the afternoon. TNT Sports and HBO Max are scheduled to show the Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic live from 14:00 BST, with the finish in Plouhinec expected at around 15:40 BST.
There is also a free viewing option. International coverage is currently scheduled to begin on YouTube and Facebook from approximately 13:50 BST, ten minutes before the TNT Sports and HBO Max broadcast.
That should still leave viewers with almost two hours of racing from a course containing 18km of Breton ribinoù, 13 different rough-road sectors and a six-lap finishing circuit where the race is expected to fragment.
For anyone unfamiliar with the event, our beginner’s guide to the Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic 2026 explains what the ribinoù are and why they have become central to this rapidly developing French Classic.
Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic 2026 at a glance
| Detail | Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic 2026 |
|---|---|
| Date | Sunday 6 September 2026 |
| Start | Pointe du Raz/Plogoff |
| Finish | Plouhinec |
| Distance | 130.7km |
| Climbing | Around 1,440 metres |
| Ribinoù | Around 18km |
| Distinct rough-road sectors | 13 |
| Final circuit | 6 laps |
| UCI classification | 1.Pro |
| Neutralised start | 12:15 BST |
| Official race start | 12:25 BST |
| Free online coverage | Around 13:50 BST |
| TNT Sports/HBO Max | 14:00 BST |
| Expected finish | Around 15:40 BST |
The neutralised departure takes place beside the Pointe du Raz before the race proper begins near Plogoff ten minutes later.
From there, the riders head across the Cap Sizun peninsula before eventually reaching the Plouhinec finishing circuit.
How to watch Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic in the UK
The simplest option for subscribers is HBO Max, where live coverage is scheduled from 14:00 BST until approximately 16:00 BST.
The race is also part of the TNT Sports cycling schedule in the UK from 14:00. With several major races taking place on Sunday afternoon, viewers using a traditional television package should check their electronic programme guide for the specific TNT Sports channel.
HBO Max is the more straightforward option if you want to select the Pointe du Raz feed directly.
Sunday is particularly busy. The Vuelta a España, Tour of Britain Men and several other European one-day races are taking place on the same afternoon, so the various TNT Sports channels will be carrying different events simultaneously.
For anyone following several races, Pointe du Raz fits neatly into the early afternoon before the Vuelta reaches its decisive final hours.
Can you watch Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic for free?
Yes.
The race is currently scheduled to be shown live on YouTube and Facebook from approximately 13:50 BST.
That gives UK viewers a free alternative to TNT Sports and HBO Max and, importantly, is expected to begin around ten minutes earlier than the main subscription broadcast.
The Pointe du Raz organisers have made online streaming an important part of the event as it has grown from a French domestic race into an international professional Classic.
There is one qualification worth keeping in mind. International social-media feeds can sometimes be geographically restricted where exclusive broadcast rights apply. If the YouTube or Facebook stream is unavailable in the UK on Sunday, HBO Max or TNT Sports remain the reliable alternatives.
France 3 Bretagne and other French platforms are also carrying the event, but they should not be treated as dependable UK options because regional restrictions can apply.
What time does Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic start?
The riders roll away from the Pointe du Raz at 12:15 BST, with racing officially beginning at 12:25 BST.
That leaves approximately 85 minutes between the flag dropping and the first scheduled international live pictures at 13:50.
It is a sizeable gap for a race that lasts little more than three hours.
Pointe du Raz is not built around one final climb where everybody can afford to wait. Its difficulty comes from repeated rough-road passages, narrow roads, short climbs and constant changes of rhythm.
By the time the broadcast begins, the race may already have lost a considerable number of riders from the main group.
Why the opening part matters even though it is not televised
The 2026 route contains around 18km of ribinoù, substantially more than the first UCI edition last year.
These rough Breton tracks are spread across 13 distinct sectors, although the riders encounter rough roads considerably more than 13 times because three sectors feature on each lap of the Plouhinec circuit.
Across the full race there are 28 separate ribinoù passages.
Our Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic 2026 route guide goes through the sectors individually and explains where the race is most likely to split.
The first half crosses the exposed Cap Sizun peninsula. There are few long, simple stretches of road where the bunch can completely settle, while an Atlantic wind could make positioning even more important.
The sectors themselves vary considerably. Some are relatively straightforward unsealed lanes. Others combine stone, dirt, grass and narrow entrances where riders can lose position before the difficult surface has even begun.
A favourite who enters one of those sectors 50th in the peloton may spend the next several kilometres trying to repair the mistake.
What will be happening when coverage starts?
The first free pictures are expected at approximately 13:50 BST, followed by TNT Sports and HBO Max at 14:00.
By then, the riders should be around halfway through the race and approaching the period where the longer ribinoù begin to have a cumulative effect.
That is a good point to join.
The first hour may establish an early breakaway, but much of the decisive racing should come later as the stronger teams begin using the rough roads to remove rivals.
Unlike Paris-Roubaix Femmes, there is no single celebrated sector that obviously defines the race. Pointe du Raz works through accumulation.
One difficult passage is manageable.
The problem is having to do it repeatedly while also responding to attacks, climbing short rises and fighting for position before the next sector.
Photo Credit: Arkea-B&B HotelsWhat time should you start watching?
For the maximum available coverage, start with the free online feed at 13:50 BST.
If you are watching on TNT Sports or HBO Max, 14:00 BST is early enough to catch most of the important tactical racing.
Anyone with less time could reasonably join at around 14:30 BST, but waiting much later carries a risk.
The 2025 edition provides the warning. The decisive selection formed well before the finish, with Paula Blasi eventually attacking from a small front group and riding alone to victory.
Our report from the 2025 Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic shows how thoroughly the rough roads broke up the peloton. By the finish, there was no conventional bunch left to organise a chase.
The same can easily happen again.
If viewers wait until 15:15 for the supposed final 25 minutes, the winning move may already have gone.
The Plouhinec circuit should decide the race
The second half revolves around a 9.32km finishing circuit in Plouhinec, completed six times.
Almost 56km of the race takes place on these laps.
Three ribinoù sectors are included on each circuit, creating 18 rough-road passages during the finale alone.
That repetition is what makes the 2026 route particularly difficult.
Riders see the same roads again and again, which removes the element of surprise but increases the physical damage. They know exactly where the difficult entrances, corners and climbs are coming, yet each passage arrives with more fatigue in the legs.
Teams can also plan their attacks around that knowledge.
A rider who discovers on the first lap that one rival is struggling on a particular ribin can attack in the same place next time around.
The circuit should steadily strip riders away until a much smaller group is left contesting the final laps.
When will Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic finish?
The current schedule has the finish at approximately 15:40 BST.
As with any road race, the exact time will depend on the speed of the peloton, the weather and how aggressively the race develops.
A viewing window of 14:00 to 15:45 BST is therefore the safest option for anyone primarily interested in the decisive racing.
That covers almost the entire expected broadcast, gives enough time to understand which riders have survived the opening sectors and should include all six laps of the most important part of the Plouhinec finale.
Paula Blasi returns as defending champion
The 2026 field is considerably stronger than the one that contested the first UCI edition last season.
Paula Blasi returns as defending champion with UAE Team L’IMAD after winning alone in 2025.
Her victory was a particularly good demonstration of how this race works. A five-rider selection containing Blasi, Lauren Dickson, Anneke Dijkstra, Sarah van Dam and Célia Gery escaped as the rough roads dismantled the peloton.
Dickson attacked from the group and briefly looked capable of holding on.
Blasi bridged across, passed her and continued alone to the finish.
It was not simply a matter of being strongest on one climb. Blasi had survived the positioning battle, dealt with the rough roads, recognised the decisive selection and still had enough left to attack late.
The 2026 route asks for the same qualities, but with even more ribinoù.
Longo Borghini, Kerbaol and Rüegg strengthen the field
Blasi is not UAE Team L’IMAD’s only option.
Elisa Longo Borghini and Maëva Squiban give the team significant depth, particularly on a route where having several riders capable of following attacks is more valuable than trying to protect a single leader all afternoon.
Longo Borghini’s Classics experience makes her an obvious threat if the race becomes attritional. Squiban has the climbing strength to attack on the harder portions of the circuit rather than waiting for a small-group finish.
EF Education-Oatly bring Cédrine Kerbaol and Noemi Rüegg, another pairing well suited to an unpredictable race.
FDJ United-Suez have options including Célia Gery, who finished fourth here last year, alongside Ally Wollaston and Sofia Bertizzolo.
The full Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic 2026 start list contains the complete current field of 118 riders across 18 teams.
The stronger start list is another consequence of the race’s promotion from UCI 1.1 to 1.Pro level for 2026.
Pointe du Raz has developed remarkably quickly
This is only the fourth edition of the race.
Pointe du Raz began in 2023 as a two-day French domestic event containing an individual time trial. It remained a stage race in 2024 before being completely reshaped for 2025.
The time trial disappeared, the event became a one-day UCI 1.1 race and the ribinoù moved to the centre of its identity.
That format worked.
Pointe du Raz has now been promoted again after only one season on the international calendar, becoming a Women’s ProSeries race for 2026.
Our history of the Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic traces that change from Élyne Roussel winning the original two-day event in 2023 to Blasi taking the first UCI one-day edition two years later.
Few professional races have changed this much in such a short period.
The important point for viewers is that Pointe du Raz now appears to have settled on what it wants to be: a short, aggressive Breton Classic where technical rough roads are as important as conventional climbing.
Best way to watch Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic 2026 in the UK
UK viewers have three main options on Sunday:
- YouTube and Facebook: free coverage scheduled from approximately 13:50 BST
- TNT Sports: live coverage scheduled from 14:00 BST
- HBO Max: live coverage scheduled from 14:00 BST
The race starts considerably earlier at 12:25 BST, while the finish is expected at approximately 15:40 BST.
For most viewers, 14:00 BST is the time to aim for.
That should provide around an hour and 40 minutes of live racing and cover the increasingly important Plouhinec circuits, where repeated ribinoù passages are likely to reduce the field rapidly.
Waiting for the final ten kilometres misses much of what makes Pointe du Raz worth watching. This is a race where the winning move can begin two laps earlier, when somebody enters a rough sector five places too far back and suddenly discovers that the strongest riders have already gone.
