The ΔΕΗ Tour of Hellas 2026 concluded in spectacular fashion, living up to the excitement built over the previous days, with a thrilling finish at Syntagma Square in the heart of Athens. Denmark’s Mads Andersen of Swatt Club emerged victorious after delivering a dominant and unstoppable sprint in the closing metres of the city-centre circuit.
With the overall classification virtually decided in favour of Václav Ježek of Kasper Crypto4Me following Saturday’s summit finish on Mount Parnitha, attention turned to the battle for victory on the final stage, held entirely within the Attica region.
Throughout the 146.5 km route from Piraeus to Syntagma via Attica’s eastern coastline, the 20 teams in the race carefully positioned their sprinters for the decisive finale. The leaders’ jerseys in the points, mountains and young rider classifications were never seriously threatened, as Kristian Belohvosciks of Bike Aid, Loïc Bettendorff of Hrinkow Advarics and Ježek respectively retained their leads comfortably.
Everything came down to the final sprint, launched unexpectedly by Andersen around 400 metres from the finish line. No rider could match his pace, and the Dane sealed a triumphant end to his ΔΕΗ Tour of Hellas 2026 campaign, crossing the line ahead of Serbia’s Dušan Rajović (Solution Tech Nippo Rali) and Greece’s Nikiforos Arvanitou of Team United Shipping.
Race Summary
After an unforgettable journey through Western Central Greece, Epirus, Thessaly and the lush slopes of Mount Parnitha, the remaining 89 riders — from the original 120 starters — lined up at Marina Zeas in Piraeus for the fifth and final stage of the race.
The official start was given at Flisvos, where attacks began immediately ahead of the first intermediate sprint, located less than ten kilometres later along the Glyfada coastal avenue.
Kristian Belohvosciks of Bike Aid proved fastest in the sprint, securing the six points that mathematically guaranteed him the points classification jersey, which he had worn since the opening day of the ΔΕΗ Tour of Hellas 2026.
With bonus seconds available at the two Avance Miles segments between Vouliagmeni and Varkiza, Colin Chris Stüssi (Team Vorarlberg) was the only rider among Ježek’s theoretical challengers to actively attempt reducing the gap to the race leader. His gain, however, amounted to just one second. Matteo Fabbro (Solution Tech Nippo Rali) claimed the first Avance Mile and its three bonus seconds, while teammate Dušan Rajović won the second.
Soon afterwards, an eleven-man breakaway formed before losing three riders, leaving Axel van der Tuuk (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Luca Cretti (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort), Ashmore Jack Clark (Atom 6 Bikes – Cycleur De Luxe – Auto Stroo Team), George Radcliffe (Atom 6 Bikes – Cycleur De Luxe – Auto Stroo Team), Manuel Oioli (Swatt Club), Bogdan Zabelinski (Cyprus), Štěpán Zahálka (Kasper Crypto4Me) and Bram Danklof (Azerion / Villa Valkenburg) at the front.
The day’s only King of the Mountains sprint in Keratea was won by Radcliffe, although the jersey safely remained with Loïc Bettendorff of Hrinkow Advarics.
Ahead of the final intermediate sprint in Ilioupoli, Cretti, Oioli and Van der Tuuk managed to break clear. Van der Tuuk collected the maximum six points at the final sprint before the peloton entered the Athens city-centre circuit.
The leading trio crossed the arc at Syntagma for the first time less than a minute ahead of the peloton, before being joined by Zabelinski prior to the second passage.
Shortly after the second lap of the circuit, Van der Tuuk accelerated away from the others, with only Zabelinski able to follow. The pair were first to hear the bell signalling the final 6.5 km lap, cheered on by enthusiastic crowds lining the streets of Athens.
Inside the final two kilometres, however, the peloton reeled them back in as all teams prepared their sprinters for the decisive showdown.
Showing tremendous confidence in his form, Mads Andersen of Swatt Club launched a bold attack 400 metres from the line and held on all the way to victory, greeted by huge applause from the crowds gathered in front of the Hellenic Parliament and Syntagma Square.
Nikiforos Arvanitou of Team United Shipping contested the sprint strongly and secured third place behind Andersen and Dušan Rajović of Solution Tech Nippo Rali. It marked the Greek national champion’s second podium finish of this year’s Tour, capping an impressive performance throughout the five-day race.
Overall race leader Václav Ježek of Kasper Crypto4Me successfully achieved his objective of remaining safely within the lead group to secure overall victory at the ΔΕΗ Tour of Hellas 2026, while also winning the Best Young Rider classification.
At just 21 years old, the Czech rider has every reason to look ahead to a bright professional future.
Quotes
Václav JEŽEK - ΔΕΗ Tour of Hellas 2026 and Best Young Rider Winner
“Really great teamwork. Our team delivered a perfect performance. They stayed at the front almost the entire time, so I’m really proud of the team. And of course, it’s very important to win the Under-23 classification.
“Before the start of the stage race, I just wanted to do my best, but I didn’t know how things would go. And now, in the end, I’m the overall winner and also the winner of the Under-23 classification. So yeah, I’m really happy”.
Mads ANDERSEN – Stage 5 Winner
“The fifht stage was similar to the other three sprint stages, where I tried a different tactic compared to the others, to launch my sprint from far out and maybe get a small gap before the pure sprinters came back. Today it paid off, and I’m so fucking happy to take the win.
“Overall, Greece is a beautiful country and I’m really impressed by the whole organisation and the way this race is put together. It’s just a pleasure to be here”.
Kristians BELOHVOSCIKS – Points Classification Winner
“At the moment it’s still a bit bittersweet, because I won the points jersey after five days of racing here in Greece, which is a really great achievement, but at the same time I made a small mistake in the final stage and I wasn’t really there in the fight for the stage win. I was at the front, but not truly in contention for victory on the final stage, so it’s a bit bittersweet. But I’m super happy about winning the jersey, and being here on the podium in Syntagma Square after five days of racing is something beautiful.
“When it comes to the overall experience, as always, Greece is beautiful. Even last year, with the bad weather, I still remember it as a really great race”.
Loïc BETTENDORFF – Mountain Classification Winner
“The last stage was really fast. In the beginning it was quite hectic because everyone wanted to get into the breakaway, and also because of the intermediate sprints, where riders were fighting for the bonus seconds. But the team kept me protected all day, so it was really good.
“Now I feel better because it’s finished. It was a couple of hard days, especially the last two, but I’m happy that we managed to pull it off like this. We had a goal from the beginning, and now we have the jersey”.
Georgios BOUGLAS - Burgos Burpellet BH (Team General Classification Winners) Rider
“Today I felt good, and we were well positioned, but in the final corner, with around 800 metres to go, we lost our positions a bit and I lost the wheels of my teammate because we got stuck slightly further back through the turn. I believe that cost us, if not the victory, then at least a place on the podium, but that’s cycling. It still shows that we are in good shape. We finished with two riders in the top ten and we won the general classification, so overall we are happy. Still, I believe we could have achieved something more in today’s stage as well, maybe raise our hands in victory or be back on the podium again.
“Together with the rest of the riders from Burgos Burpellet BH, we were contenders throughout the whole race, in every stage, and that shows we are on the right path. We hope even better days are coming. We also want to thank the Tour of Hellas for this amazing organisation, because we are not used to having events of this level in Greece. It gives motivation not only to us, but also to the younger riders, so it is very important to be able to race in such high-level events here at home”.
Domenico POZZOVIVO – General Classification Second Place
“Today was a fast stage. The pace was really high from the start because of the bonus seconds available early in the stage, but I think we managed things very well as a team. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to close the entire gap to the breakaway. I also tried to do it for Dušan Rajović, but in the end we finished second on the stage and second in the general classification. We already won a stage, so we can still be happy.
“I think the route of the ΔΕΗ Tour of Hellas was very good. Maybe it didn’t suit me perfectly because yesterday’s finish wasn’t really a steep climb, but overall the route had every kind of stage: flat stages, high mountains and a summit finish. So, I think it has been a really good week of racing and also very good preparation for the next races”.
Colin Chris STÜSSI - General Classification Third Place
“We had a bit of illness in the team. Already on the first big mountain stage we lost two riders because the stage was too hard. And then yesterday we lost two more, so in the end we were down to just two riders.
“I really liked the race. I liked the climbs here and I tried to make the difference over the last two days. I managed to do that, and with only two riders left in the team, it’s even more special to finish on the podium”.
Dušan RAJOVIĆ – Stage 5 Avance Mile Winner
“I was actually quite tired today, and at the intermediate sprint with the bonus seconds I needed to go for it because those seconds could help us in the general classification. In the end, one rider attacked in the final kilometres and we weren’t able to catch him, so I finished second today and I’m quite satisfied with that.
“Of course, in the end the team was riding for Domenico (Pozzovivo), our leader, so finishing second in the GC is still a good result. It’s a bit of a pity that he couldn’t win, but overall we are satisfied”.
