Poreč in the sign of cycling: Nexetis triumphed among female cyclists, Viggo Moore won the Poreč Classic and the finale

Poreč in the sign of top-class cycling: Nexetis confirmed dominance among female cyclists, Viggo Moore won the Poreč Classic

Poreč and its surroundings were once again at the centre of international road cycling on Sunday, 8 March. In a single day, two races from the Istrian Spring series were held, the women’s Poreč Classic Ladies and the men’s Poreč Classic, and both confirmed why the beginning of March in Istria is increasingly establishing itself as an important stop in the early part of the European season. Two races, two different outcomes, and the same picture on the ground: a large number of teams, a high level of competition, tension until the finish, and very good attendance along the roadside, especially on the sections of the route that pass through the Poreč hinterland and the area of Tar. For visitors who arrived because of the races from other parts of Croatia and abroad, an additional motive was also staying in a city where sport has long been an important part of the pre-season, so many combined following the race and accommodation in Poreč with a weekend on the western coast of Istria.

The races in Poreč once again showed this year how much Istrian Spring is more than a sporting calendar date. It is a project that has been developing in Istria for more than two decades and that gathers continental and development teams, young riders in search of a breakthrough, and squads seeking their first serious tests of form here at the beginning of spring. That is exactly why the results from Poreč are not merely isolated flashes, but also an important signal about the balance of power at the start of the season. In the women’s competition, Switzerland’s Nexetis confirmed that it did not come to Istria for an episodic victory, but with a clear ambition to mark the entire week. In the men’s race, meanwhile, aggressive riding and courage at the right moment proved decisive, and the victory went to Viggo Moore of the Tirol KTM Cycling Team, after a finale in which fine margins decided the order on the podium.

The demanding Istrian route decided the race again

The start of both races was near the Parentium hotel in Poreč, from where the caravan quickly headed inland. The central part of the route once again included the selective circuit linking Kukci, Bokići and Labinci, a section that riders and teams know well, but which year after year just as effectively separates those who can control the pace from those who are only trying to survive the tempo. On paper, this is not a route with one decisive long climb that would immediately scatter the peloton, but it is therefore full of short and intense changes of rhythm, undulating sections, and technical passages that require constant concentration. It is precisely such a profile that most often exhausts teams in succession and sets the stage either for a sprint by a reduced group or for a breakaway that can last to the finish.

In the women’s race, the riders crossed that section five times, while the men’s race included two additional laps, so the total load was significantly greater. Such a schedule is important not only for physical expenditure, but also for tactics: the more a race breaks up over repeated laps, the harder it is to control every attack attempt, and every wrong assessment can open space for a rival team. In practice, that was visible in Poreč as well. A seemingly compact race became more tense with every lap, and as the finish in Tar approached, it was clear that either a precisely timed sprint or a breakaway strong enough to withstand the peloton’s chase would decide it. For the spectators along the route, but also for those who planned the weekend through accommodation offers in Poreč and the surrounding area, it was precisely this combination of landscape and uncertainty that was one of the main reasons why Istrian Spring has been attracting more and more attention for years.

Nexetis continued its winning run in the women’s competition

The women’s Poreč Classic Ladies race, the fourth edition of this event, offered a very solid and tactically disciplined race. At the start there were 17 teams and a total of 91 riders, and they had to cover 107.2 kilometres. Conditions were very good, which favoured a high riding pace and the retention of a compact peloton for most of the day. Such a development increased the chances of a group sprint, but at the same time created additional nervousness because it was clear that the finale would be extremely demanding in terms of positioning. In such situations, it is not necessarily only the fastest sprinter who wins, but also the team that manages to protect its leader from the wind, contact, and a wrong entry into the final metres.

In the final 500 metres, the most composure and speed was shown by Jasmin Liechti of Switzerland’s Nexetis. Her victory was not merely an individual success, but a logical continuation of the team’s very successful performance in Istria. Nexetis had already celebrated earlier in Umag, where Nika Bobnar took victory at the Umag Classic Ladies, so Poreč further confirmed the strength and depth of that squad. After the race, Liechti pointed out that the team entered with a clear plan, that they had tried earlier to split the group, but after unsuccessful attempts they turned to preparing the sprint. Such a statement says a great deal about the race: although the final result suggests a standard peloton sprint, behind it lies a series of tactical adjustments during the ride itself and the team’s ability to change plans quickly without losing focus.

Second place went to Olga Wankiewicz of the Polish team MAT Atom Deweloper Wrocław, while third was Corinna Lechner of Wheel Divas Cycling Team. The standings themselves confirm how close the finale was, and the winner’s time gives the race additional weight. Poreč Classic Ladies 2026 was completed in 2 hours, 47 minutes and 44 seconds, which is also the fastest edition of the race so far. That is not merely an interesting statistical detail. A faster finishing time speaks of the ever higher level of preparedness of women’s teams, stronger competition, and the increasingly serious status of this race in the calendar. In recent years, women’s cycling has been gaining visibility ever more strongly in the international calendar, and races like this show that the growth in quality is not an abstract trend, but a very measurable fact on the road.

The men’s race offered a different scenario and a breakaway that decided the winner

If the women’s race smelled of a sprint for a long time, the men’s offered a different tone from the start. The Poreč Classic, held for the 27th time this year, continues to attract the maximum number of entries and confirms its status as one of the most recognisable early-season races in this part of Europe. At the start there were 28 teams and 159 cyclists, and the route was 141.6 kilometres long. From the very beginning, the pace was high, with frequent attacks and attempts to form a breakaway. Such races often look chaotic in the first hour, but it is precisely in that seemingly untidy period that the key selection emerges: who has the legs for the real move, and who is only responding to every initiative and spending energy without real gain.

The decisive moment occurred around the 70th kilometre, when four riders managed to break away from the peloton and gradually increase their advantage. At one point it grew to two minutes and 45 seconds, which on such a course and with such competition is already a very serious gap. After that, the peloton tried for a long time to organise the chase, but failed to neutralise the escapees completely. In the finale, three riders arrived almost together, while the fourth nevertheless dropped out of the battle for the very top, and the victory went to Viggo Moore of the Tirol KTM Cycling Team. Second was Mihael Štajnar of Pogi Team Gusto Ljubljana, just four hundredths behind, and third was Gal Oblak of Factor Racing.

Such an outcome shows how open the race was and how tiny details decided the very finish: the moment of coming out of the slipstream, the judgement of the distance to the finish, the distribution of strength in the last kilometres, and composure when the legs are already working at the limit. After the race, Moore admitted that the outcome somewhat surprised him, but also stressed that he entered the race with a clear idea of how to seek his chance. It is precisely that combination of courage and adaptation that is often decisive in races like the Poreč Classic. The strongest favourite on paper does not always win, but the rider who most accurately judges the moment when the race is breaking up. Moore’s victory therefore seems like the result of the maturity of the whole team, and not only individual explosiveness in the finale.

Slovenian presence and regional competition remain strong

Although the victory in the men’s race was taken by an American rider in the jersey of the Austrian team Tirol KTM Cycling Team, the final standings once again showed how competitive Slovenian teams and riders are on Istrian roads. Mihael Štajnar in second and Gal Oblak in third left a strong mark on the race, and that impression is even stronger when the results from Umag are also taken into account, where Slovenian representatives were likewise very visible. For regional cycling, that is an important message. Istria is geographically and logistically a natural meeting space for Croatian, Slovenian, Austrian, and Italian teams, and the races from the Istrian Spring series are increasingly confirming themselves as a relevant early test of form for the wider Central European circle of squads.

That regional dimension additionally heightens public interest. The races are not closed sporting events for a narrow circle of connoisseurs, but events that easily spill over into a broader tourist and social context. Poreč, Tar, Kaštelir-Labinci and other places on the route become a stage for international sport for one day, and that also has clear promotional value for the destination. At a time when the pre-season is increasingly viewed as a period for higher-value content, professional cycling fits well into the image of Istria that wants to connect active holidays, sport, and outdoor stays. That is why information about accommodation close to the event venue is especially sought after on such weekends, particularly among team support staff, fans, and guests planning to stay for the finale of the series as well.

Istrian Spring is not only a series of races, but an important sports and tourism platform

This year’s Istrian Spring programme took place from 4 to 15 March, with races in Umag and Poreč and the final stage section under the name Istrian Spring Tour. According to the official calendar, the finale begins on Thursday, 12 March, and lasts until Sunday, 15 March. It is a category 2.2 race in the calendar of the International Cycling Union, which means it attracts a large number of development and continental line-ups, but also riders aiming for important UCI points and a breakthrough to a higher level of professional cycling. This year’s edition includes a prologue in Vrsar on 12 March, then the Poreč–Funtana stage on 13 March, the Novigrad–Motovun stage on 14 March, and the final Pazin–Umag stage on 15 March.

For organisers and local communities, that multi-day structure is especially important because the race connects several towns and municipalities, from Poreč, Umag, and Novigrad to Funtana, Motovun, Vrsar, and Pazin. In this way, the event goes beyond the boundaries of one city and becomes an Istrian product in the full sense of the word. On the one hand, it brings international visibility and sporting prestige, and on the other, it fills the pre-season calendar with content that attracts guests of a different profile from classic summer tourism. These are guests who come because of activity, follow sport, plan movement across several locations, and often stay for several days. Within such a framework, accommodation for visitors in Poreč also gains additional value because the city becomes one of the key strongholds of the entire event.

Why these races matter beyond the results

At first glance, the Poreč Classic Ladies and the Poreč Classic can be viewed as one-day sports news items with clear answers to the basic questions: who won, what the race looked like, and what comes next. But their meaning is broader. Races like these confirm that Istria has the capacity to organise events that simultaneously meet strict sporting criteria and remain attractive enough to a wider public. They also show that the area of western Istria is being used ever more successfully for pre-season sporting content that combines professional competition and destination marketing without exaggeration and artificial spectacle. Cycling has an additional advantage here: it is naturally tied to the landscape, roads, local places, and the rhythm of the area, so the viewer does not get only a sports story, but also a very concrete picture of the terrain on which everything is taking place.

In a sporting sense, Jasmin Liechti’s victory confirms that Nexetis is currently one of the teams making the best use of the Istrian part of the season. In the men’s competition, Viggo Moore obtained a result that may carry greater weight than the one-day victory itself, because successes like these often change the status of young riders within the season and open space for bigger races and more responsible roles in the team. At the same time, the placings of Wankiewicz, Lechner, Štajnar, and Oblak show that the competition was not only numerous but also seriously distributed among several teams and countries. That is precisely where the value of Poreč in cycling March lies: here, not only trophies are won, but also the first important answers about form, tactics, and ambitions for the continuation of the year.

For spectators, however, the most important thing may be something else. On Istrian roads, cycling in its most attractive form was once again seen: changes of pace, uncertainty, the great work of teams that often is not visible at first glance, and finales in which seconds, even hundredths, change the entire impression of the day. In this way, Poreč once again confirmed that the beginning of spring in Istria is not only an introduction to the tourist season, but also a period in which sport takes the leading role, and the road between the city, the hinterland, and the coast becomes a stage on which result, reputation, and a story that continues already from 12 March are built at the same time, when the Istrian Spring Tour opens a new chapter of this year’s series.

Sources:

• UCI – official calendar and classification of the Poreč Classic 2026 race, with the date and race status in the international calendar (link)
• UCI – official calendar and classification of the Poreč Classic Ladies 2026 race, with the date and race status (link)
• UCI – official calendar of the Istrian Spring Tour 2026, with dates from 12 to 15 March and the competitive framework of the race (link)
• ProCyclingStats – results of the Poreč Classic Ladies 2026 race, including Jasmin Liechti’s victory, the podium, and the winning time of 2:47:44 (link)
• ProCyclingStats – results of the Umag Classic Ladies 2026 race, confirming the earlier victory of the Nexetis team in the series through Nika Bobnar (link)
• ProCyclingStats – profile and results of Viggo Moore, with the recorded victory at the Poreč Classic 2026 over a distance of 141.6 kilometres (link)
• ProCyclingStats – profile of Mihael Štajnar, confirming second place at the Poreč Classic 2026 (link)
• FirstCycling – overview of the Istrian Spring Tour 2026 with the officially published stage profile: Vrsar–Vrsar, Poreč–Funtana, Novigrad–Motovun, and Pazin–Umag (link)
• myPoreč – official events calendar with a description of the Istrian Spring Tour 2026 and the host towns in Istria (link)
• Glas Istre – announcement of the Istrian Spring 2026 series with the context of the races in Umag and Poreč and the finale of the stage race (link)