Fred Wright sprinted to his second road race victory at the British National Championships in Aberystwyth on Sunday after a brutal afternoon.

Three years after his first title – and only career victory until now – the Pinarello Q36.5 rider was part of a three-man group which made it to the finish. Wright beat Lewis Askey (NSN Cyling) on the line with a bike throw, with Connor Swift (Netcompany-Ineos) following in in third.

The trio had been away with Mattie Dodd (Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy) and Elliot Rowe (Visma-Lease a Bike Development), but they were dropped with just under 10km to go on the final lap. Rowe won the sprint for fourth, meaning he is the new under-23 British national champion.

The big split happened with around 60km to go of the race, as the five that would decide the destiny of the elite and under-23 race escaped, initially with Jed Smithson (Hagens Berman Jayco) as a member, before he was replaced with Swift. As the quintet entered the local circuit in Aberystwyth for the final few laps, it was clear that the victory would come from this group.

Despite multiple attacks from Askey and then Swift in the closing kilometres, neither could distance Wright, who appeared confident in his ability to win in the end. Swift led the trio out into the finale, before Askey launched the sprint, with Wright rounding him on the line.

"It was a typical National Championships really, attacks from the start, full gas racing until a select group formed," Wright said post-race. "It's random but at the same time it does follow the same pattern: we take chunks out of each other for as long as we can and then a select group forms. I was happy to make that group and then we slowly whittled it down. The three of us were the strongest on the day and I played my cards well in the final. 

"I was trying not to think about it [winning] at the end. The year I had in the stripes was really special and as soon as you're not in them you really miss it. I was trying not to think about it too much in the last 10km. Just think about racing, how you would do things normally, without going too crazy. It's such a special thing, and I'm really happy to hopefully take these to the Tour. That's always special.

"I do love it, I hope I can start the Tour of Britain this year, I don't know what my schedule will be. It's lovely racing on British roads, we've had a really nice day here. We've had a really nice weekend at the seaside."

Results

British National Road Championships, elite men road race (187.3km)

1. Fred Wright, Pinarello Q36.5, in 4:15:47
2. Lewis Askey, NSN Cycling
3. Connor Swift, Netcompany-Ineos, both at same time
4. Elliot Rowe, Visma-Lease a Bike Development, +17s
5. Mattie Dodd, Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy, at same time
6. Ollie Wood, RCC Racing, +3:05
7. Tom Portsmouth, Guidon Chalettois
8. Adam Mitchell, Vendée U Primeo Energie
9. Jed Smithson, Hagens Berman Jayco, all at same time
10. Danny Riwnyj, Foran CT, +3:12

Zoe Bäckstedt soloed to road race victory at the British National Championships on Sunday, attacking alone with 14km to go in Aberystwyth.

The Canyon-SRAM rider doubled up on her time trial victory from Thursday, holding off Josie Knight (DAS-Hutchinson) to take the elite title for the first time. Millie Couzens (Fenix-Premier Tech), the defending champion, finished third.

Knight might not have won, but alongside Bäckstedt was the standout rider of the race, having been in the early break and then leading for 90km on her own, with a significant gap of up to eight minutes at one point.

However, after joining forces with Matilda McKibben (O'Shea Red Chilli Bikes) and Jo Tindley (Smurfit Westrock), Knight's lead was cut down, before Bäckstedt attacked alone in search of the leader. With 14km to go, the 21-year-old caught Knight, and passed her.

Despite a concerted chase effort behind, Bäckstedt held off the remnants of the peloton, with the gap remaining at two minutes to them.

"The first part was super interesting, there was a break of ones and twos, who got maybe six or seven minutes ahead of us," the victor said, post-race. "On the last lap of the big lap, it was quite hard over that steep climb, and I was hanging on for dear life at the end of that. It wasn’t the most ideal feeling, so I knew it was going to be a hard day. Then on the long climb as we entered the small circuit, I felt really good, and Flora (Perkins) attacked and I followed it and went over the top of her, and then it was a 55km solo day to the finish to try and catch Josie. 

"It’s been a super good week. To win the time trial on Thursday and be on the podium with my sister that was a real highlight. To have her on the side of the road today and in the feed zone for me has been great. To have my whole family here has made it a great week where I could be super relaxed and have fun."

"It was a long old day," Knight, for her part, said. "Last year I got into a break and we worked quite well together, I am not the most confident rider, I don’t do a lot of road racing, so I’m not the most confident in the peloton, so I tried to get into a break to have a good day out. Unfortunately, I did that but I ended up on my own. Once I was gone I got a time gap of 25 seconds to four riders, and I was like, ‘do I wait for them, is it better in a group?’ and then it soon went to 45 seconds, so I knew I was in for a long day.  

"I was having mental battles with myself and asking ‘will they not just catch me already and put me out of my misery?' I was getting the time gaps so I knew Zoe was coming across, so I tried to give it all, but she just came past like a steam train.

"I was just chuffed to hang on for second. My team car kept coming up alongside me and telling me to believe in myself and that I could get second. So I just emptied myself to the line, so I am really happy." 

Bäckstedt also won the under-23 race at the same time. Imogen Wolff (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Erin Boothman (Liv AlUla Jayco Continental) finished in the third group on the road to take second and third in that classification, respectively.

Results

British National Road Championships, elite women road race (128km)

1. Zoe Bäckstedt, Canyon-SRAM, in 3:30:44
2. Josie Knight, DAS-Hutchinson, +1:42
3. Millie Couzens, Fenix-Premier Tech, +2:02
4. Pfeiffer Georgi, Picnic PostNL
5. Anna Morris
6. Imogen Wolff, Visma-Lease a Bike
7. Erin Boothman, Liv AlUla Jayco Continental, all at same time
8. Josie Nelson, Picnic PostNL, +2:03
9. Anna Henderson, Lidl-Trek
10. Noémie Thomson, DAS-Hutchinson, all at same time

Lizzie Deignan is to join the Great Britain Cycling Team as a sports director, a year after she retired from the pro ranks.

The 37-year-old, world champion in 2015, will work with men’s and women’s road cycling lead, Matt Brammeier, in pursuit of silverware for Great Britain’s road riders at major events en route to the 2028 Olympics in LA.

Deignan retired last year after a career which saw her win the Worlds, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix Femmes, La Course by Le Tour de France, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and more. The new DS role is just one of the new hats she has put on in 2026, with Deignan also launching a coaching service, and becoming race organiser for the Otley Cycle Races.

"I’m excited about the opportunity to work with a strong and talented group of riders; I believe we’re one of the strongest road nations in the world," Deignan said. "It’s been over 10 years since my world title so it’s time for us to step into our potential and deliver more rainbow jerseys.

"It’s always a proud moment to represent your country - my aim is to help each rider who does that achieve their maximum performance with the best possible support."

"Bringing Lizzie into the team is a real coup," Brammeier said. "Having only recently retired from the bunch, she has so much insight and knowledge into both GB’s riders and the opposition. She also understands how we work as a team first-hand and can support and advise on how to get the best out of our riders on race day.

"Beyond that, Lizzie is a true legend of the sport and has directly inspired some of our future stars to want to follow in her footsteps, so to be working alongside her will be a real joy for them. Most importantly, she is just incredibly passionate about the sport and seeing Great Britain achieve success at the highest level and that shines through above everything."

Jayco AlUla will line up at the 2026 Tour de France with a team hunting for stage victories across all 21 days.

The Australian squad, the fourth to announce their lineup for the Tour, will feature Michael Matthews, Ben O'Connor and Luke Plapp, all Grand Tour stage winners.

O'Connor won on the Col de la Loze at last year's Tour, and will be looking to bounced back from a Giro d'Italia which looked promising, but ended in 16th overall. Plapp won a stage of the Giro last year from a breakaway, which he will be seeking to do again. Matthews, meanwhile, is back racing for the first time after he broke both of his wrists in a training crash.

They will be joined by Kell O'Brien, Felix Englehardt, Pascal Ackermann, Luke Durbridge and Mauro Schmid. Ackermann is there for bunch sprints, with five Grand Tour stage wins before, while Mauro Schmid will also be looking for success on the lumpier days, after a season which has seen him take four victories.

"If you’d told me three months ago that I would be lining up for the Tour de France, I don’t think I would have believed you," Matthews, a four-time stage winner and former green jersey victor, said. "I’ve worked really hard to get back in time for the Tour, together with the team and I’m really looking forward being back.

"After missing last year with my illness and then with my crash earlier this year, it’s given me even more motivation and hunger. The Tour is the biggest race of the year and even though this will be my 9th time racing it, making the squad is always a big deal."

"We have a very strong, well-rounded team for this Tour de France," sports director Mat Hayman said. "We have Pascal there for the sprints and then a lot of rouleurs looking for stage opportunities, whether that's in the medium or high mountains.

"It’s pretty exciting to have a couple of riders who are starting their first Tour de France with Kell and Felix, it's a massive step for them in their careers. Then on the other side you have Luke Durbridge who will be returning for his 12th Tour, a real stalwart of the team and someone we can always rely on.

"There’s a strong Australian theme with Ben returning off a stage win last year. Michael Matthews has fought back from injury to be ready to take on the Tour, which has been really impressive. Then we have Plapp, who's won a stage in the Giro and would love to add one in the Tour de France.

"Rounding out the team we have Mauro Schmid, it’s yet to be seen whether he will be back in his Swiss champions colours or maybe he’s flying under the radar this year!"

The team will be taking to the roads of France in a special switch-out kit, with more 'electric' green highlights added to the purple jerseys. The kit was debuted at Paris Fashion Week.

"No leader's jersey clash to avoid, no UCI mandate, just a desire to drop something unexpected on cycling's biggest stage," MAAP said.

A group of non-governmental organisations have called on the UCI to suspend the licence of UAE Team Emirates-XRG over the UAE's alleged role in the Sudan civil war.

In a letter to the UCI's president, David Lappartient, on Thursday, FairSquare, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Sudan Unlimited, and Christian Solidarity Worldwide, write that Tadej Pogačar's team is used "to project a positive image of the UAE, which stands in marked contrast to the violence and repression that underpins its power".

They also call on the UCI to "conduct an immediate review of its licensing policies".

The UAE has been accused of providing support to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan, who, according to the UN, have carried out acts which show "hallmarks of genocide". Amnesty International published evidence last year that the UAE had provided arms to the RSF.

Last year, Salem Aljaberi, the UAE’s assistant minister for security and military affairs, said: "The UAE strongly rejects the suggestion that it is supplying weaponry to any party involved in the ongoing conflict in Sudan."

FairSquare, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Sudan Unlimited, and Christian Solidarity Worldwide, argue that the "stern action" of suspension should happen until the UAE cuts support from the RSF.

In the letter to the UCI this week, the group of NGOs write: "UAE Team Emirates is under the financial and political control of the UAE state... It is financed and branded by state-owned companies in the United Arab Emirates. The team's principal sponsors are two state-controlled entities. Emirates airline is owned by the government of the emirate of Dubai, and XRG is the investment wing of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, which is owned by the government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi."

They continue: "The UAE’s actions in this regard [supporting the RSF] have prolonged and exacerbated the conflict in Sudan in which more than 150,000 people have been killed, with documented indiscriminate attacks on civilians, and more than 30 million people left in need of humanitarian aid."

"It is clear that the team and its participation in UCI events acts as a prominent vehicle for the international branding and promotion of the UAE," it continues. "The UAE has used its financial strength to create the best-resourced and most successful team in world cycling."

UAE Team Emirates-XRG are currently the number-one ranked team in men's cycling, which they have been since 2023. In Pogačar, they have the world's best cyclist, who has won four Tours de France since 2020, and is the favourite for next month's edition.

The letter continues: "Cycling’s most prominent and celebrated races have become a very public platform that the UAE state is using to project a positive image of the UAE, which stands in marked contrast to the violence and repression that underpins its power. The UCI has a responsibility to respect human rights throughout all its operations."

The NGOs write: "The UCI’s code of ethics acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the integrity and reputation of cycling throughout the world and its 'duty of neutrality' in their dealings with governments. In this context, the participation of teams established, funded, or promoted by governments facing persistent allegations of serious human rights violations raises questions about the processes undertaken by the UCI in the granting of licenses."

UAE Team Emirates-XRG said: "As a sports team, we don’t engage in geopolitical commentary." The UCI was separately contacted for comment.

Good legs fuelled by a double paella ready meal and the presence of his dad on Father's Day was all it took for Yorkshire rider Adam Duggleby to smash the British 100-mile time trial record last weekend.

The Addform VLV-Garden Shed UK rider's stunning 3:10:48 lowered John Archibald's previous mark by more than two minutes and saw the record continue on its slow march towards a sub-three-hour time.

Set on the E2/100C course on the A14 on the Cambridgeshire-Suffolk border, the 41-year-old had travelled down the night before and, staying in an Airbnb, made do with a brace of microwave meals in preparation.

"I had like a paella thing, literally like a ready meal, but I had two of them – you know what the portions are like – and I thought, well, that's enough carbs, I'll be alright with that," he tells Cycling Weekly. It being Father's Day and with his dad there too – a ubiquitous presence at Duggleby's races – and a fine day out on the course, all the stars were aligned.

"I'd have been annoyed if I hadn't got a record, I would have felt like I'd just wasted his day, really," says Duggleby. "But he doesn't mind coming and watching me anyway, to be honest. He pretty much always comes to the long distance stuff."

Talking of long-distance stuff, the idea of riding a century against the clock would boggle the mind of many: so much focus for such a long time. But when you're going as fast as Duggleby, it almost becomes a different event.

"Most cyclists at a certain level are doing three-hour rides, four hours, five hours all the time. So a three-hour ride, it's not that long," he says. "You're concentrating and calculating in your head all the time, whether you're going too hard, going too easy, when should you drink…? You're obviously looking where you're going and making sure you don't hit a pothole, and knowing where the next junction is that you've got to come off… you're just constantly thinking, so the three hours flies past, to be honest."

Duggleby is a former Paralympic tandem pilot and won medals on the road and track with stoker Steve Bate across the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021 Games – including gold in the TT and pursuit in Brazil.

He and Bate also hold numerous British tandem time trial records, including at 10, 25 and 50 miles.

At 41 years old, Duggleby had wondered whether he was too old to go for a new 100 record last weekend, but it didn't take long to realise that he was on a good day after averaging 31.6mph for the first 30 miles.

He suffered a bad patch mid ride, but managed to tackle it with a drink and a nootropics gel to come back stronger than ever. "After I'd had that, I felt really good, to be honest," he says. "I felt like the best I've ever felt at the end of the 100 – the motivation of actually knowing I was on for the record, and knowing I wasn't too far from the end. I know an hour sounds like a long way from the end, but in the 100 it feels like you're almost there."

His ride ultimately saw him record a 19:05 10-mile time trial, 10 times over: most riders would consider just one an incredible feat.

Duggleby hopes to put his form to use at numerous national championship time trials across the summer: perhaps he will add another record to his already crowded quiver.

Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz will co-lead Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe at the Tour de France, the team confirmed on Friday morning.

The news was expected, but still significant, as Red Bull will line up with the two third-placed riders from the last two editions. They will be joined by Jai Hindley, Maxim Van Gils, Mattia Cattaneo, Jan Tratnik, Nico Denz and Tim van Dijke.

"The Tour is no longer won by an exceptional rider alone, but by an exceptional team," Zak Dempster, chief of sports at Red Bull, said. "We believe we are bringing one of the most complete squads to the start. With Remco and Florian, we have two leaders who have already proven they can stand on the Tour podium. Their different strengths give us tactical options that could prove decisive."

The team have already expressed that the road will decide who is the out-and-out leader at the Tour, but going in with two solid GC options will allow them to challenge other teams in a different way.

In fact, while he is competing as a super domestique, Jai Hindley is another GC options, having finished third at the Giro d'Italia already this season.

"Remco is still the team leader and Florian Lipowitz is a bit of the second man but in terms of sporting performance, they are on equal footing," team boss Ralph Denk told Het Laatste Nieuws and Het Nieuwsblad this week.

"Eventually, there will come a day when one or the other feels better. Then they will have to fight it out between themselves on the road. I am convinced that this can work."

Lipowitz has had the better season in general classification terms, finishing on the podium at the Tour de Romandie, Itzulia Basque Country and the Volta a Catalunya, and winning the Tour of Slovenia while Evenepoel won Valenciana and finished fifth at Catalunya.

Evenepoel finished third at the 2024 Tour de France, but faded after winning the individual time trial at last year's race, eventually leaving the race on stage 14. He hasn't raced since Liège-Bastogne-Liège, preferring to train away from competition.

Lipowtiz, meanwhile, impressed on his way to third overall last year. That might have been 11 minutes behind winner Tadej Pogačar, and over six minutes behind Jonas Vingegaard, but it showed promise.

"The strength of this roster goes far beyond Remco and Florian," sports director Patxi Vila said.

"We have experienced climbers, strong all-rounders and riders capable of taking responsibility in every race situation. Every Tour develops its own dynamic, and with this team we have an answer to almost every possible scenario."

Ethan Hayter won for the fourth time in the elite time trial at the British National Championships on Thursday, setting a blistering pace in blistering heat.

The Soudal Quick-Step rider completed the 38.4km course in 44:10, at an average of 52.15kph. Connor Swift (Netcompany-Ineos) finished second, 1:30 behind, with Josh Charlton (Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy) a further 10 seconds back.

"It’s my second consecutive title and my first victory of the season, so obviously, I’m happy to be on the podium and know that I will keep the jersey for one more year," Hayter said post race. "I liked this course a lot, and as soon as I left the start house, I found my rhythm and kept it the entire time, which shows that I came here with strong legs. We’ll see what I can do on Sunday, when I’m ready to give everything again."

"It was survival and I really benefited from all the overseas training I do," he added. "It was a case of fighting and seeing what you can do. Going into the road championships on Sunday, I’m looking forward to it, but we’ve got such a strong field, we’ll have to see what happens on the day."

Alongside Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM), who won earlier on Thursday, Hayter won for the second year in a row in Lampeter, Wales.

Also on Thursday afternoon, Erin Boothman dominated the under-23 women's time trial. The Liv AlUla Jayco Continental rider set a time of 33:36 around the 25.6km course, which would have placed her third on the elite podium. Awen Roberts (Canyon-SRAM Generation) was second, 1:51 behind, with Abigail Miller (UAE Development) in third, a further 45 seconds back.

"It’s one of the highlights of my year so far, it’s great to do it off the back of a great season so far so it's a great moment," Boothman said. "We knew it was going to be hard, and I went out pretty hot in the first lap, just trying to hold on. I always want to do well at the national championships, this is my first elite one, and I’m super happy to be able to pull it off."

Results

British National Road Championships, elite men ITT (38.4km)

1. Ethan Hayter, Soudal Quick-Step, in 44:10
2. Connor Swift, Netcompany-Ineos, +1:30
3. Josh Charlton, Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy, +1:40
4. Ethan Vernon, NSN Cycling, +2:05
5. Jack Brough, AVC Aix Provence Dole, +2:52
6. Finlay Pickering, Jayco AlUla, +2:58
7. Matthew Rossiter, HUUB Wattshop, +3:12
8. Joe Laverick, +3:28
9. Charlie Tanfield, +4:02
10. Tom Mead, Team Bottrill Nopinz, +4:55

British National Road Championships, U23 women ITT (25.6km)

1. Erin Boothman, Liv AlUla Jayco Continental, in 33:36
2. Awen Roberts, Canyon SRAM Generation, +1:51
3. Abigail Miller, UAE Development, +2:36
4. Eilidh Shaw, UAE Development Team, +3:00
5. Lily Martin, Loughborough Lightning, +3:05
6. Carys Lloyd, Movistar, +3:10
7. Imogen Wolff, Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:10
8. Lucy Glover, Smurfit Westrock, +3:43
9. Grace Ward, O'Shea Red Chilli Bikes, +4:35
10. Isabel Mayes, +5:04

Zoe Bäckstedt defended her time trial title at the British National Championships on Thursday, storming to victory in the elite women's race.

On home roads in Wales, the Canyon-SRAM rider won for a second year in a row, beating Anna Morris by 21.97 seconds in Lampeter. Elynor Bäckstedt of UAE Team ADQ, the victor's sister, finished in third, 1:05.07 behind the winner.

It was a repeat of last year's winner, but this year's podium was special as it was an all-Welsh affair. The heat was high, with temperatures over 30 degrees centigrade, although the region was only covered by an orange weather warning, not the more severe red, as other parts of the UK.

Zoe Bäckstedt, setting off last, set the fastest time at the first time check, although that was brought back a bit over Morris at the second, however, by the end, the margin of victory was clear. It meant the 21-year-old averaged 46.9kph over 25.6km.

"It was super hard, the heat made it 10 times harder than I think I expected to be," the winner said post-race. "It was a super nice course, really fast, with country roads basically. Classic Welsh roads, but it was really fun in a way, even though I think everyone suffered through it. Happy that it's done and over with, and I'm just glad to come home with the jersey.

"The route was fun, super small, Welsh roads, super technical. Going through a farm entrance, that kind of thing. It was really fun, nice to do two laps as well, so it wasn't one really big circuit, but you could break it up, and pace it a bit better. Another really good course in Wales."

Morris, who is without a team, added: "I think I executed it as well as I could have today, Zoe is super tough to be, she's so strong, she has done some great performances recently. To do the ride I did today, I think I got it all out. I'm really happy with that.

"As soon as you're in the direct sun it got really hot, and the heat definitely built on the second lap. It was definitely a battle against the heat."

The elite women's race followed the U23 men's event, which was first on Thursday morning.

Ben Wiggins was the victor, riding the 25.6km course at an average of 52.9kph. He beat Henry Hobbs (Visma-Lease a Bike Development), 1:19 behind, with Finlay Tarling (NSN Development) in third, three seconds further back,

Wiggins, who rides for Hagens Berman Jayco, took the win following two consecutive second-places at the event. It was also 12 years after his father, Bradley Wiggins, won the senior title for a third time.

The 21-year-old said: "I was second twice as a junior, second twice as an U23, so I needed to get it done today. It was one of my biggest goals this season, a pathway to the Worlds in September. If I want to go there and be competitive, I really needed to get the job done at the nationals.

"I didn't think it [the heat] affected me this week. A lot of us have come off the Giro Next Gen, so I did a lot of heat preparation for that race as well, but I think it carried over well. I think I dealt with it pretty OK."

Results

British National Road Championships, elite women ITT (25.6km)

1. Zoe Bäckstedt, Canyon-SRAM, in 32:45
2. Anna Morris, +21s
3. Elynor Bäckstedt, UAE Team ADQ, +1:05
4. Becky Storrie, Picnic PostNL. +1:23
5. Izzy Sharp, Handsling Alba Development, +1:36
6. Pfeiffer Georgi, Picnic PostNL, +1:40
7. Millie Couzens, Fenix-Premier Tech, +1:52
8. Anna Henderson, Lidl-Trek, +1:54
9. Flora Perkins, Fenix-Premier Tech, +2:10
10 Claire Steels, Movistar, +2:10

British National Road Championships, U23 men ITT (25.6km)

1. Ben Wiggins, Hagens Berman Jayco, in 29:02
2. Henry Hobbs, Visma-Lease a Bike Development, +1:19
3. Finlay Tarling, NSN Development, +1:22
4. Jacob Bush, Picnic PostNL Development, +1:27
5. Matty Dodd, Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy, +1:29
6. Dylan Sage, Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy, +1:42
7. Jack Baldie, Pronto Bikes Race Team, +1:43
8. Seth Jackson, Hubo-Scott CT, +1:43
9. Adam Howell, Bourg-en-Bresse Cyclisme, +1:47
10. Angus Stoneham, SCO Dijon Team Matériel-Velo.com, +1:53

Biniam Girmay said he is "full of confidence" as his NSN Cycling team announced their lineup for this year's Tour de France.

NSN are the third team to reveal their eight riders for the French Grand Tour, which begins next Saturday, 4 July, and will primarily be looking for sprint success with Girmay.

The Eritrean won three stages and the green jersey in a historic 2024 edition, but didn't get closer than second last year. Now with a new team, he is looking to once again shine on cycling's biggest stage. It will also be the first Tour for NSN, the team which was formerly Israel-Premier Tech.

"Everybody who knows me understands how special the Tour de France is to me – but I’m more interested in creating more special moments than looking back on what I’ve achieved in the past," Girmay said in the team's press release.

"I know my form is good, but it’s also great knowing that I have a really committed team around me. We have worked hard since the start of the season to discover the best ways to work together, to build trust in each other, and to score the best results possible.

"I’m going into this year’s race full of confidence and with a real sense of anticipation for the first sprint opportunities."

Girmay has won three times this season, including a stage of the recently-completed Baloise Belgium Tour; his first shot at victory will come on stage five to Pau. However, the race beings in NSN's home city of Barcelona, where they will be looking to make a mark.

He will be joined by Lewis Askey, George Bennett, Marco Frigo, Matîs Louvel, Krists Neilands, Jake Stewart, and Tom Van Asbroeck.

"We’ve got a good group of riders for the race, focused predominantly around Bini and the sprints," head sports director Sam Bewley said.

"But the race is 21 stages. We want to have a purpose and a goal across the entire race, so it’s important to have guys like George, Krists, and Marco in his first Tour there so we can keep NSN in the race across as much of the three weeks as possible.

"We feel confident with the guys we have to be able to deliver some good stage outcomes from breakaways, mountain stages, or how the Tour plays out, in addition to our primary focus of the sprints."

Netcompany-Ineos rider Oscar Onley has been ruled out of the Tour de France with a "significant shoulder injury", his team has confirmed.

The 23-year-old Briton, who finished fourth at the race last year, abandoned the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes after crashing into a ravine on stage six less than two weeks ago.

At the time, Netcompany-Ineos announced Onley had dislocated his shoulder. A new medical update from the team has now revealed he will not be fit enough to start the Tour on 4 July.

"Following Oscar Onley's crash on stage six of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, further medical investigations have confirmed a significant shoulder injury," the team wrote in a statement.

"Unfortunately, this means Oscar will be unable to compete in this year’s Tour de France.

"He has already begun rehabilitation and is making encouraging progress. We wish Oscar a full and speedy recovery."

Commenting in the press release, Onley said: "I’m gutted not to be able to line up for the Tour de France this year. My focus is now on recovering and getting my shoulder in a good place, but I’m really motivated to try and make something out of this season.

"I am looking forward to watching the boys racing in France in the coming weeks, especially knowing how hard everyone has worked."

Onley made a cryptic allusion to his Tour absence in a Strava post on Wednesday, when he uploaded a 44km training ride in Andorra with the caption: "Road to the tour... of Guangxi."

The 23-year-old signed for Netcompany-Ineos in December last year, breaking his contract with his previous Picnic PostNL, with a view to leading the British squad's GC ambitions at the Tour.

At the time, Netcompany-Ineos director of racing Geraint Thomas described Onley as "mature beyond his years", adding he "complements our rider roster perfectly".

Onley's best GC results this season are fourth overall at the Volta ao Algarve, and 12th at the Volta a Catalunya. He abandoned the Tour de Romandie and Paris-Nice due to illness.

Netcompany-Ineos now face a leadership dilemma with nine days to go until the Tour opens in Barcelona.

There are doubts, too, over Kévin Vauquelin, seventh overall last year, who announced he will miss this week's French National Road Championships due to a virus. The team has not commented on Vauquelin's Tour participation.

Tadej Pogačar will start the 2026 Tour de France as the overwhelming favourite for the yellow jersey, which would be his third in a row.

However, it is not a done deal that the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider will win the race for a fifth time, with there being a whole host of challengers, from Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) to Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) via Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM).

There are 23 teams with 184 riders at the race, so eight per squad. Lineups are typically announced in the 10 days before the start of the race on Saturday 4 July, with some being revealed with plenty of time, while other teams leave it to the last minute.

With National Championships happening across Europe this weekend, it is a final chance for riders to make the case for their inclusion, while there will be some riders sweating over fitness and health.

The first squad to be officially announced was Visma-Lease a Bike on Tuesday. Victor Campenaerts, Edoardo Affini, Per Strand Hagenes, Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss, Bruno Armirail and Davide Piganzoli will all support Vingegaard as he starts his bid for a third yellow jersey.

That was followed later on Tuesday by Uno-X Mobility, who are competing at the Tour for the first time as a WorldTour team rather than an invitee. They will be riding for Tobias Halland Johannessen, who finished sixth overall last year. Their team includes former stage winners Magnus Cort and Jonas Abrahamsen.

On Wednesday, NSN revealed their eight riders, which will be led by Biniam Girmay, hoping to win a stage at the race for the first time since 2024. There are two British riders in the team, in Lewis Askey and Jake Stewart.

Friday morning saw Jayco AlUla's team announced, with a collection of strong riders hunting for stages, including Ben O'Connor, Luke Plapp, Michael Matthews and Mauro Schmid.

That was followed by Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, who will be co-led by Florian Lipowitz and Remco Evenpoel, joined by former Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley,

On Sunday afternoon, Bahrain Victorious announced their team, which will be led by Antonio Tiberi and Lenny Martinez. Tiberi is making his debut at the French Grand Tour, but finished fifth at the Giro d'Italia in 2024. Martinez, meanwhile, won a stage at Paris-Nice this year, and finished on the podiums of both the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour de Romandie.

The list of teams set to compete at the Tour is below, alphabetically. We will update this page as more rosters are announced in the coming days, with riders struck out as and when they abandon the race.

Read more: Tour de France 2026 route

Tour de France 2026 start list

Alpecin-Premier Tech

Bahrain Victorious
Antonio Tiberi (Ita)
Phil Bauhaus (Ger)
Damiano Caruso (Ita)
Kamil Gradek (Pol)
Lenny Martinez (Fra)
Matej Mohorič (Slo)
Robert Stannard (Aus)
Vlad Van Mechelen (Bel)

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

Cofidis

Decathlon CMA CGM

EF Education-EasyPost

Groupama-FDJ United

Jayco AlUla
Pascal Ackermann (Ger)
Luke Durbridge (Aus)
Felix Engelhardt (Ger)
Kelland O’Brien (Aus)
Ben O’Connor (Aus)
Michael Matthews (Aus)
Luke Plapp (Aus)
Mauro Schmid (Sui)

Lidl-Trek

Lotto Intermarché

Movistar

Netcompany-Ineos

NSN Cycling
Biniam Girmay (Eri)
Lewis Askey (GBr)
George Bennett (NZl)
Marco Frigo (Ita)
Matîs Louvel (Fra)
Krists Neilands (Lat)
Jake Stewart (GBr)
Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel)

Picnic PostNL

Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling

Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
Remco Evenepoel (Bel)
Florian Lipowitz (Ger)
Mattia Cattaneo (Ita)
Nico Denz (Ger)
Jai Hindley (Aus)
Jan Tratnik (Slo)
Tim van Dijke (Ned)
Maxim Van Gils (Bel)

Soudal Quick-Step

TotalEnergies

Tudor Pro Cycling

UAE Team Emirates-XRG

Uno-X Mobility
Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor)
Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor)
Anthon Charmig (Den)
Magnus Cort (Den)
Andreas Kron (Den)
Anders Skaarseth (Nor)
Torstein Træen (Nor)
Søren Wærenskjold (Nor)

Visma-Lease a Bike
Jonas Vingegaard (Den)
Edoardo Affini (Ita)
Bruno Armirail (Fra)
Victor Campenaerts (Bel)
Matteo Jorgenson (USA)
Sepp Kuss (USA)
Davide Piganzoli (Ita)
Per Strand Hagenes (Nor)

XDS Astana

Pro cycling's anti-doping body is trialling using power data to fight cheats in the sport.

The International Testing Agency (the ITA) announced on Tuesday that it would be embarking on a two-year 'feasibility and pilot study' to explore whether longitudinal analysis of power data could work as a supplementary intelligence tool in men's cycling.

Sixty riders from five pro teams, including Jonas Vingegaard's Visma-Lease a Bike, are part of the study, with three further squads approving participation frameworks.

Last year, Adam Hansen, the head of the riders' union the CPA, said that his organisation and riders were "100 percent against this".

According to the ITA's press release, it is hoped that the research will help understand "typical variability" in performance over time and across different rider profiles and age groups.

It reads: "Researchers are studying how performance evolves throughout a rider’s career, how race performances relate to training data and how repeated efforts can be analysed in a meaningful and reproducible way despite the many variables inherent to elite cycling.

"The work particularly examines what researchers describe as 'excess performances', which represents individual performance trajectory of an athlete adjusted for the average performance of all athletes within the population at the same age as well as any confounders.

"The model therefore examines the change in an athlete’s performances over time rather than focusing solely on an isolated exceptional performance."

The study will evaluate factors that influences power data, including differences between power meters and calibration; systematic and random measurement error; race dynamics and rider specialisation; and the relationship between training and race outputs.

"A key objective of the feasibility phase is to determine whether meaningful longitudinal analysis remains possible despite these influencing factors," the ITA said.

The first year of the study will focus on retrospective analysis using historical rider data to see if a "meaningful and sufficiently reliable" monitoring approach can be developed, and then a pilot year using real-time data.

The five teams taking full part are Picnic PostNL, Jayco AlUla, Visma-Lease a Bike, Decathlon CMA CGM, and Cofidis, while Uno-X Mobility, Tudor and TotalEnergies have approved participation frameworks. Discussions are reportedly going on with other teams.

To support this study, the ITA has also created a "Power Data Advisory Panel", formed of representatives from sports science, athletes, cycling technology and integrity operations.

"We are constantly looking at how to make the cycling anti-doping program smarter and more effective," Benjamin Cohen, the ITA's director general, said. "Power data has been part of the conversation in cycling for many years. It is one of the sport's most widely used performance tools, yet until now its potential contribution to anti-doping has remained largely unexplored.

"Thanks to the commitment of riders, teams and recognised experts, we now have the opportunity to assess its potential through a structured scientific process and determine whether it can meaningfully complement the anti-doping toolbox in the future."

If successful, and then approved by both the UCI Funding Committee and the UCI Management Committee, the UCI's regulations would be amended to require the mandatory sharing to the ITA of individual power data for all pro male riders. It could then be rolled out to women's cycling later, according to the body.

Cat Ferguson will not make her Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift debut this August after being diagnosed with two fractures in her ankle, her Movistar team has confirmed.

The 20-year-old crashed on the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia Women at the end of May, and has since been recovering at home.

Ferguson previously told Cycling Weekly that she was on the long list for this year's Tour, which begins in Lausanne on 1 August. She will now need "several weeks" to heal from her injuries, Movistar wrote in a statement, ruling her out of the race and this week's British Road Championships.

"Following the fall [Ferguson] suffered in the first stage of the Giro d'Italia Women, she was initially subjected to various tests to assess a possible traumatic brain injury (TBI) and multiple contusions," the team wrote.

"Upon her return home and during the three weeks that followed, despite showing progressive recovery, Cat's clinical progress was not as expected. For this reason, the diagnostic studies were expanded, which have ultimately revealed the existence of two fractures in the ankle.

"Cat will need several weeks of recovery to ensure proper consolidation of the fractured bones and adequate healing of the injuries. As a result, she will not be able to compete in the upcoming National Championships or in the Tour de France."

Ferguson herself posted an update on her Instagram stories saying she was "heartbroken" to miss the summer races.

She added that she she will now spend a minimum of three more weeks on crutches.

Ferguson enjoyed a promising start to the 2026 season. She opened the year with victory in the Spanish one-day Trofeo Llucmajor, before going on to win a stage of the Setmana Valenciana, and finish fourth at Omloop Nieuwsblad, her best-ever result in a cobbled Classic.

The rest of her Classics campaign, she told Cycling Weekly in April, brought "real disappointments"; she abandoned Paris-Roubaix after suffering from food poisoning, and “wanted a bit more” than her 21st place at In Flanders Fields-In Wevelgem.

Ferguson then returned to winning ways at the Navarra Classic in May, where she scored her third victory of the season. That was her last race before she withdrew from the Giro on stage one.

It is unknown when Ferguson will be available for team selection again. Last season, she earned her first WorldTour victory at the Tour of Britain Women, which starts on 19 August this year.

Visma-Lease a Bike have named the seven riders that will join Jonas Vingegaard in the team at the Tour de France next week.

Victor Campenaerts, Edoardo Affini, Per Strand Hagenes, Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss, Bruno Armirail and Davide Piganzoli will all support the Dane as he starts his bid for a third yellow jersey in Barcelona on 4 July.

Wout van Aert, the 10-time Tour stage winner, will be absent from the race for the first time in eight years due to an elbow injury. The Belgian crashed in training earlier this month and, despite racing and winning a stage at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, has since developed an infection in his elbow wound, the team announced last week.

Visma-Lease a Bike presented their eight-rider Tour squad on Tuesday with a YouTube live stream from their performance centre in Den Bosch, the Netherlands. None of the riders were present, as most are on a training camp in the French Alps.

Asked about the team's goal for the Tour, lead race coach Marc Reef said: "It's very obvious, I think, especially when you have Jonas: we want to win the Tour de France."

Vingegaard is expected to be the main challenger to defending champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at this year's Tour. The two riders have shared the last six yellow jerseys between them; Vingegaard won in 2022 and 2023, and placed second in 2021, 2024 and 2025 to Pogačar, who also won in 2020.

"I have a lot of belief in myself, and that also gives the other guys belief," Vingegaard said. "They really believe in the plan we have and believe that it's possible to win the Tour de France again. It's now three years ago I won it the last time, and ever since it's been a big goal for me."

Earlier this year, Vingegaard completed the Grand Tour trilogy when he won the Giro d'Italia by a convincing margin of more than five minutes.

The 29-year-old also won five stages at the race, adding to previous victories at Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya, in what has been his most prolific season start to date.

As their usual yellow clashes with the leader's jersey, Visma-Lease a Bike will wear a limited edition black kit called 'The Architect' at the Tour, inspired by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí.

The Tour de France starts with a team time trial in Barcelona on 4 July, and runs to its Paris finale on 26 July.

Not since 1959 had the Tour de Suisse seen dominance like it did last week. The organisers had planned for a race, but instead they got an exhibition. On his debut appearance, Tadej Pogačar’s overall victory was crushing: he won by six minutes and 32 seconds, the race’s largest winning margin in 67 years, and in fewer stages – just five compared to the usual eight. Pogačar won three of them.

At times, it seemed effortless for the world champion. On stage one, he charged out of the peloton, like a seal swimming through a shoal of fish, to win with a 71km solo that earned him the race lead and a two-and-a-half-minute advantage.

Victories for Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) and Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) then interrupted the Pogačar show, before regular programming resumed; he won stage four’s time trial by four hundredths of a second ahead of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), and then tagged and swallowed the escaped Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) on the final day to stamp the GC with a stage win. It was, in ice skating parlance, the final twirl at the end of a gold-medal-winning routine.

But what does it mean for the Tour de France? It’s now less than two weeks until the Grand Départ in Barcelona on 4 July. Pogačar hailed his sojourn in Switzerland as “really good preparation”, a chance to “test the legs, the heart, the lungs, everything”. Though he hasn’t shared the results of that self-assessed cardiogram, everything seems to be in fine working order – perhaps even better than ever. “I’m really looking forward to a whole month in France,” he told Cycling Pro Net with a confident grin.

Still, if the world champion’s on-bike performances weren’t a big enough warning sign for his Tour rivals, then a training tale he told L’Équipe last week certainly was. “On our camp [in Sierra Nevada], there’s a climb that I tested on last year,” he began. “I set a really good time, and I told myself, ‘Wow, I will never be able to go faster than that.’”

Pogačar returned to the unnamed climb at the end of his camp earlier this month. How did he fare? “I was significantly faster than last year,” he said. “From a training perspective, I would say I'm stronger.” It bears reminding that Pogačar won the Tour by four minutes and 24 seconds last year.

Pogačar’s approach to this year’s edition has been more refined. In a bid to arrive at the race fresher than any of his rivals, the Slovenian has done fewer race days than ever before, and to a near-perfect record too – he has collected 13 wins in just 16 starts.

Over the past six editions, he averaged 24 pre-Tour race days. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), by comparison, has already completed 36 in 2026, mostly due to racing, and winning, the Giro d’Italia.

It’s hard to know at this stage which strategy is better. But if a reduced calendar stops Pogačar showing signs of burnout in the final week of the Tour – “I can’t wait for it to be over,” he said after his stage 18 press conference last year – then this winning formula may prove the most potent yet.

So roll on 4 July. Mark the day Pogačar will begin his bid to earn a record-equalling fifth Tour title, one that will bring him in line with Bernard Hinault, Miguel Induráin, Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx.

Pogačar has previously branded comparisons between him and Merckx as “complete nonsense”. Forgive me, then, for drawing another parallel right now: just before Merckx won his fifth Tour de France in 1974, he made his debut at the Tour de Suisse, and topped the overall standings.

History could now repeat itself. And the Tour might see a level of dominance it hasn’t witnessed in decades.

For each article in this long-running WATT WORKS FOR ME series from Cycling Weekly's print edition, we ask a pro rider about their favourite things in training: what has helped them most in getting to where they are today. The aim is to get to the heart of the beliefs and preferences they hold dear when it comes to building form, maximising fitness and ultimately achieving results. For this edition, we speak to Maddie Leech.

How did you get into cycling?

I started after watching the 2016 Rio Olympics. I wasn’t doing many sports at the time, and track cycling came on [the television]. I got my mum to find me a local club and she found Huddersfield Star Wheelers – I think it was the first one that came up on Google. I actually started with cyclo-cross and then road, but I quickly dropped cyclo-cross because I was terrible at it. I then did track and road as a youth rider.

How do you find splitting track and road?

With GB, the track stuff takes preference. I do find the balance quite hard. A lot of the time, the track competitions are split in between a lot of the main road races. If I’m on track, it’s not much volume, just hard, intense riders. Then if I’m out road racing in Belgium, it’s four hours on the cobbles and in the wet. It’s quite a switch.

What are your favourite training sessions?

I quite like a three-hour session with some Zone 3 blocks of 15-20 minutes each, maybe three times in a ride. I’m a diesel rider, so I find it quite nice to sit at one power and just ride that.

What’s the best training advice you’ve ever received?

Sometimes less is actually more. I used to think I had to smash all of my rides and go as hard as I could, but actually, since I’ve started doing my easy rides easier and my hard efforts harder, I’ve made more of an improvement.

You won your first world title last year. What training went into that victory?

In the Madison, you need a lot of repeated efforts, so I was doing a lot of VO2 efforts, like two-minute efforts, or 30 seconds on and off. I also did a lot of strength stuff, like gym work and using big gears on the road for low cadence, high power.

What has that victory done for your career?

It’s given me a bit more confidence in myself. At that competition, I actually wasn’t feeling my best, and I struggled quite a lot in the team pursuit. The Madison win reminded me that, even if you don’t feel how you think you should, you can still perform well.

What are your long-term ambitions?

I’d like to get to the LA Olympics [in 2028]. I’d like to ride the Madison there, and the team pursuit and the omnium – I’ll take anything if there’s an opportunity.

Quick-fire round

What’s your nickname? Everyone calls me M-Dog.

If you could ride in one place for the rest of your life, where would it be? I quite like the Lake District.

Biggest inspiration? Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny – they’re who got me into cycling.

Cafe stop order? I don’t like coffee, so a smoothie or a Diet Coke, and chocolate cake.

Favourite hobby outside of cycling? Walking in the Peak District.

Best moment of your career so far? Winning the Madison world title.

Worst moment of your career so far? Crashing in the first year I did Paris-Roubaix in 2023. I was in agony.

Dream race to win? The Olympics, Madison.

A combative Jhonatan Narváez held off the peloton and out-sprinted his breakaway companion Xando Meurisse to win the third stage of the Tour de Suisse.

The pair had been in the day’s early break before attacking on the first categorised climb of the day, Wildhaus.

With a flat run into the finish the sprinters teams had held out hope of contesting the stage and gave a spirited chase into the finish, but the leading pair crossed the line with just tens of metres between them and the rampaging bunch.

Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) was the best of the rest winning the bunch sprint for third place.

Narváez’s win is the second for the UAE Emirates-XRG team after his team leader Tadej Pogačar took a dominant win and the general classification lead on stage one. The Ecuadorian likely expected to be working for his leader for most of this week but Pogačar’s 2.50 lead has given his team-mates freedom to pursue their own glory.

This year has been a banner year for Narváez, who won three stages of the Giro d’Italia last month and now has carried his good form into the Tour de Suisse.

Last year, his first with UAE Emirates after leaving Ineos Grenadiers, he showed signs that he was capable of such results on a regular basis but often worked in the service of others.

Soon after the start the race climbed the first category ascent of Wildhaus. That served to shake-up the running order and by the top only two riders remained out front, Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Xando Meurisse (Pinarello Q36.5).

They crested the climb with the lead of over four minutes over the peloton containing yellow jersey wearer and Narváez’s team-mate Tadej Pogačar.

In the middle was a group of eight riders comprised of Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Antonie Tideri (Barhain Victorious), Ewen Costiou (Groupama-FDJ United), Michał Kwiatkowski (Netcompany Ineos), Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal-Quick Step), Simon Dalby (Uno-X Mobility) and Marco Brenner (Tudor Pro Cycling).

The leaders gap grew on the descent as they benefited from descending on dry roads while the chasers and the peloton both had to deal with increasingly heavy rain.

However, as soon as the race hit flatter ground the peloton’s power began to show as they steadily reeled in the chasing group. They were caught with 48 km to go but at that point the two lone leaders still had an advantage of over three minutes.

As the race became hit by very heavy rain they were able to hold the gap steady despite the chasing of EF Education-EasyPost, working for Luke Lamperti, and Visma-Lease a Bike, working for Matthew Brennan.

But as the finish got closer they were being pegged back faster and faster, with 15km to go the pair had a lead of just 1.25. By 10km to go the rain had returned and they enjoyed a gap of a minute, victory a slim but tantalising possibility.

With two kilometres to go NSN and Bahrain Victorious came to the fore to try and push the pace further for their sprinters.

Although the bunch could see the leaders in the final straight there was eventually nothing they could do to catch them.

Tomorrow will be a stage for the rouleurs as the peloton takes on a 24km time trial.

Results

Tour de Suisse, stage 3: Bad Ragaz > Bad Ragaz (157km)

1. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG in 3:34.46
2. Xando Meurisse (Bel) Pinarello Q36.5
3. Magnus Court (Den) Uno-X Mobility
4. Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Premier Tech
6. Corbin Strong (NZl) NSN Cycling Team
7. Axel Laurance (Fra) Netcompany Ineos
8. Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco AlUla
9. Pau Miquel (Esp) Bahrain Victorious
10. Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, all at same time

General classification after stage 3

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 10:29:52
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +2.50
3. Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +3.07
4. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek, +4.16
5. Finlay Pickering (Gbr) Jayco AlUla, +4.41
6. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +4.44
7. Ilan van Wilder (Bel) Soudal-Quick Step
8. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, at s.t.
9. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG , +4.57
10. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Decathlon CMA CGM, +5.11

British rider Zoe Bäckstedt cruised to a dominant win in the bunch sprint at the end of the third stage of the Tour de Suisse Women.

The Welshwoman was positioned expertly by her Canyon-SRAM team in the closing kilometre. Bäckstedt was the first to hit out and quickly gained several bike lengths.

She crossed the line pedalling in the saddle to claim her ninth pro win.

Filling the other podium positions were Lily Williams (Human Powered Health) in second and Shari Bossuyt (AG Insurance-Soudal) in third.

The provisional result showed fellow Brit Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-Suez) having fallen out of second place on the general classification following a crash with 3.5km to go. However, there was a five kilometre rule in place – which saw her given the same time as the rest of group she was with – once the jury had made adjustments.

Speaking after the finish Bäckstedt was quick to give credit to her team for the win. She said: “My whole team did an amazing job today and truly I couldn’t have done it without them.

“I was a bit nervous when the break went and we didn’t have anyone in it. But it was controlled quite nicely and we managed to bring it back with just enough time before the finish.”

Tomorrow will see the riders take on a 24km time trial and Bäckstedt, who has won five TTs in her short career so far, will once again be among the favourites for victory.

She said: “Tomorrow will be super brutal with the heat, every day has been super hard with the heat, and the climbing, but tomorrow it should be a good day for me again.”

The provisional result showed fellow Brit Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-Suez) having fallen out of second place on the general classification following a crash with 3.5km to go. However, there was a five kilometre rule in place – which will likely see her given the same time as the rest of group she was with – once the jury has made adjustments.

Speaking after the finish Bäckstedt was quick to give credit to her team for the win. She said: “My whole team did an amazing job today and truly I couldn’t have done it without them.

“I was a bit nervous when the break went and we didn’t have anyone in it. But it was controlled quite nicely and we managed to bring it back with just enough time before the finish.”

Tomorrow will see the riders take on a 24km time trial and Bäckstedt, who has won five TTs in her short career so far, will once again be among the favourites for victory.

She said: “Tomorrow will be super brutal with the heat, every day has been super hard with the heat, and the climbing, but tomorrow it should be a good day for me again.”

The day had been raced at a high speed of 43kph on average.

Megan Arens (Picnic-Post NL) instigated the breakaway as the flag dropped and she was then joined by a gaggle of seven other riders. They were: Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal), Alice Towers (EF Education-Oatly), Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-Suez), Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek), Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco), Femke Markus (SD Worx-Protime) and Kathrina Sadnik (Visma-Lease a Bike).

The gap to the break eventually swelled to near two minutes but with the sprinters teams keen to contest the finish they were never given more time than that.

As the peloton drew closer there were a series of attacks from the break but most of the group was brought back before the bonus seconds sprint at 17.5km to go, aside from Markus who crossed the line first.

The GC riders battled for the other bonus seconds with Marlen Reusser (Movistar) taking two and overall leader Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) taking one.

The next sprint, just one kilometre down the road, was won by Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-Suez) who picked up three seconds, ahead of team-mate Marie Le Net with Reusser picking up an additional second for third.

The predictable lull following the second sprint was broken by a counterattack by Laura Asencio (Ma Petite Entreprise) and she initially gained 18 seconds on the peloton.

Asencio seemed to have inspired the other team as a group of six tried to bridge the gap as the race approached 10km to go but they were shut down.

The peloton could see Asencio now and she was caught not long after the 10km mark.

As the race entered the final 5km Human Powered Health and Canyon-SRAM, working for Zoe Bäckstedt came to the fore to take control of proceedings, though they were challenged by several other teams including Lidl-Trek.

At 4km to Lauren Dickson, who sat second in the general classification, came down in a crash along with several other riders.

Under the flamme rouge Canyon-SRAM once again came to the front with Bäckstedt in third wheel.

The Welshwoman hit out early and put several bike lengths into her competition before cruising across the line.

Results

Tour de Suisse Women, stage three: Bad Ragaz > Bad Ragaz (120km)

1. Zoe Bäckstedt (GBr) Canyon-SRAM at 2:49.29
2. Lily Williams (USA) Human Powered Health
3. Shari Bossuyt (Bel) AG Insurance-Soudal
4. Babette van der Wolf Babette (Ned) EF Education-Oatly
5. Jasmin Liechti (Sui) Switzerland
6. Marta Lach (Pol) SD Worx-Protime
7. Letizia Paternoster (Ita) Liv AlUla Jayco
8. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team ADQ
9. Marie Le Net Marie (Fra) FDJ United-Suez
10. Franziska Koch (Ger) FDJ United-Suez, all at same time

General classification after stage 3

1. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team ADQ, in 8:20.54
2. Lauren Dickson (GBr) FDJ United-Suez, +25s
3. Sarah Van Dam (Can) Visma-Lease a Bike, +35s
4. Steffi Häberlin (Sui) SD Worx-Protime, +54s
5. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar, +55s
6. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, +58s
7. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly, +1:01
8. Kim Le Court (Mri) AG Insurance-Soudal, +1:14
9. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:27
10. Thalita De Jong (Ned) Human Powered Health, +2:18

A breakneck chase all the way to the line by Tadej Pogačar could not stop breakaway rider Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) from sprinting to victory in Locarno on stage two of the men's Tour de Suisse.

The Frenchman was part of a 14-rider escape that dominated the day. With a brace of small but tricky climbs immediately preceding the finish the break split apart and was almost caught as Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and his fellow GC riders began their inevitable rampage.

But six riders held on to contest the win, with Pogačar, accompanied by Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) and Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious), finishing just four seconds back. The Slovenian held on to his yellow jersey, and now leads EF Education-EasyPost's Richard Carapaz by 2:50, with Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) a further 17 seconds in arrears.

Afterwards Grégoire described the day as "really hard", and said that there was little he and his breakaway companions could do as Pogačar's trio ate up their lead from behind.

"We couldn't do anything," he said, "we were just full gas, we couldn't accelerate. We just had to wait and wish that he won't be able to come back. And finally it was [close] but we did it."

Today was the 23-year-old's second Tour de Suisse stage win – he took one last year too. It was a race that suited him, he said: "It's a race I like a lot – the [stage] profiles are really good for me and it's a moment of the year when I have good legs."

The 157.7km stage started and finished in Locarno, and featured the same double-climb finish as the stage two of the Tour de Suisse Women, which was held this morning and won by Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ). Just like the women's race the final quarter of the men's stage was an all-action affair in which numerous protagonists knocked seven bells out of each other without relent.

Up until then the race had been set steady, with a 14-rider break maintaining a small gap for much of the day. It was a solid looking group, featuring among others Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek), Julan Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling), Giro d'Italia star Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious), Fred Wright (Pinarello-Q36.5) and of course Grégoire.

As the first of the back-to-back climbs approached, the break was all together and more than two minutes ahead. But with UAE Team Emirates-XRG stepping up the pace behind, the gap began to fall. By the time the 3.5km ascent was crested, the peloton had been strung out to breaking point, led by Pogačar, teammate Jhonatan Narvaez, and Vacek, the breakaway had split in two, and its lead had been halved.

After a short descent the race hit the steep, 1.4km slopes of the Via Consiglio Mezzano. With the reduced breakaway pounding the pedals ahead, shedding riders here and there, Pogačar attempted to launch Narvaez for the stage win. But it was without success: the Ecuadorian blew up. And so the Slovenian did what any win-hungry champion would do – attacked himself.

With Vacek somehow holding on, the pair picked up breakaway dropout Eulálio as they sliced into the time gap of the leaders. All of the front runners stayed upright down a technical urban descent and then it was into the centre of Locarno, wide roads giving hunters a glimpse of quarry, quarry a glimpse of hunters.

Going into the final kilometre the gap was just 10 seconds and the result hung in the balance. But the leaders had enough in the tank, and enough will to win, to pull off one final surge to the line, from which Grégoire walked away with the spoils.

ResultTour de Suisse, stage 2Locarno > Locarno, 157.7km

1. Romain Grégoire (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United, 157.7km in 3:26:25
2. Marcel Camprubí (Spa) Pinarello-Q36.5
3. Bart Lemmen (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
4. Filippo Zana (Ita) Soudal Quick-Step, all s.t.
5. Finlay Pickering (Gbr) Jayco AlUla, +2s
6. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek, +4s
7. Emiel Verstrynge (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech
8. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, both s.t.
9. Afonso Eulálio (Por) Bahrain Victorious, +9s
10. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +32s

General Classification after stage 2

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 6:55:02
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:50
3. Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +3:07
4. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek, +4:16
5. Finlay Pickering (Gbr) Jayco AlUla, +4:41
6. Ilan van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +4:44
7. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
8. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, at s.t.
9. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Decathlon CMA CGM, +5:11
10. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +5:12

Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) went solo on the final climb, winning stage two of the Tour de Suisse Women and taking the yellow jersey in Locarno.

Behind, her closest chasers and fellow GC hopefuls Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) and Marlen Reusser (Movistar) helped the Italian's cause by taking a wrong turn with 3km to go.

Femke De Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike) who won yesterday's first stage and the yellow jersey, came in more than two minutes down and ceded her GC lead.

Afterwards Longo Borghini, who has never won at the Tour de Suisse before, told media:

"I didn't understand why Kasia was not turning with me, but then I saw she was suffering a little bit and I wanted to try something. I found myself with a gap and I just went straight to the finish line.

"It was all or nothing," she added, "and this time I succeeded. I'm super happy because I don't live far from this place. I live close to Verbania so it's always nice to win somewhere close. My family was here watching me, and I'm pretty proud of the victory here today, also of my team."

Asked about tomorrow's stage she replied: "Tomorrow we'll think about tomorrow. I just want to enjoy the yellow."

A loop based on Locarno, on the Swiss banks of Lake Maggiore, the stage was a short one at 105.6km, with the only classified climbs coming in a one-two punch just before the end.

Nevertheless, it took more than 30km of riding for the day's two-up break, comprising Carlotta Cipressi (Human Powered Health) and Margot Vanpachtenbeke (Lidl-Trek) to go clear.

The pair prised open a gap that grew to nearly two-and-a-half minutes at its largest, before slowly and inevitably being swallowed up again as the GC riders and their teams set themselves for the brace of climbs that made up the last 20km of the stage.

The first climb, the 3.5km Fanghi, saw the GC favourites come to the fore, with last year's winner Marlen Reusser taking the bull by the horns and being joined by Niewiadoma, Longo Borghini, and Sarah Van Dam of Visma-Lease a Bike.

However, British GC hope Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-SUEZ), and eventually yellow jersey De Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike), were both tailed off.

An attack over the top of the Fanghi by Longo Borghini over the top saw everyone save Niewiadoma dropped, and when they hit the second climb in quick succession, the shorter and steeper Via Consiglio Mezzano, Longo Borghini showed her strength and revealed Niewadoma's fatigue, pounding away on the pedals to open a solo gap.

Niewiadoma was joined by Reusser and Van Dam, but the trio was unable to make any inroads on a powerful looking Longo Borghini. When the front pair took a wrong turn, simply riding straight past the marshal and the direction signs in the heat of the chase, Van Dam managed not to make the same mistake, but the day already belonged to Longo Borghini.

ResultsTour de Suisse Women, stage 3:Locarno > Locarno 105.6km

1. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team ADQ, 105.6km in 2:34:35
2. Sarah Van Dam (Can) Visma-Lease a Bike, +30s
3. Steffi Häberlin (Sui) SD Worx-Protime, +47s
4. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar
5. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, both s.t.
6. Kim Le Court (Mri) AG Insurance-Soudal, +1:03
7. Lauren Dickson (GBr) FDJ United-Suez
8. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly, both at s.t.
9. Thalita De Jong (Ned) Human Powered Health, +1:29
10. Yara Kastellijn (Ned) Fenix-Premier Tech, +1:31

General Classification after stage 2

1. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team ADQ, in 5:31:26
2. Lauren Dickson (GBr) FDJ United-Suez, +27s
3. Sarah Van Dam (Can) Visma-Lease a Bike, +34s
4. Steffi Häberlin (Sui) SD Worx-Protime, +53s
5. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar, +57s
6. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, at s.t.
7. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly, +1:00
8. Kim Le Court (Mri) AG Insurance-Soudal, +1:13
9. Femke De Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:37
10. Thalita De Jong (Ned) Human Powered Health, +2:17

The 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women will start in Cockermouth, Cumbria, and end in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, British Cycling confirmed this morning.

The 11th edition of the WorldTour race will return to taking place over five days from Wednesday 19 August to Sunday 23 August, with its position in the calendar shifting from June to late summer. The route for the men's race was announced earlier this week.

Stage one will start and finish in Cockermouth, the first time the women's race has been there, although the men's Tour of Britain has visited before.

Next on the menu is Lancashire, with stage two from Clitheroe to Blackpool, with both again hosting the men's Tour, but never the women's equivalent. The last time Blackpool hosted an elite bike race, Mark Cavendish won on the promenade.

The third stage takes place entirely within Wales, with the day beginning in Mold, and finishing in Llandudno, on the Great Orme. This hilly test will present a different challenge to 2024, when Lotte Kopecky won on the sea front in Llandudno. Wout van Aert won atop the Great Orme in 2021 in the men's race, beating Julian Alaphilippe.

The next day, the race heads back to England from Wales, with stage four starting in Llanidloes, Powys, before heading to Hay-on-Wye. The final day starts and finishes in Leamington Spa, a town where Chloe Hosking and Sarah Roy have won before.

"We are excited to be bringing the prestigious Lloyds Tour of Britain Women to these fantastic locations in August," Jonathan Day, the director of events for British Cycling Ventures, said. "For the first time, there is parity in the number of stages with the men’s race a couple of weeks later, so it is a huge opportunity to create a real festival of cycling, with the women’s race kick-starting a brilliant few weeks of world class road racing.

"We are bringing new hosts and stages in Mold, Llanidloes, and Hay-on-Wye, and it is fantastic to return to previous hosts of the Tour in Cockermouth, Clitheroe, Blackpool, Llandudno and Leamington Spa, bringing real variety to each of the stages as we head across England and Wales.

"On behalf of British Cycling Ventures, I would like to say a huge thank you to our partners across the five stages for supporting the hosting and delivery of this August’s landmark race and enabling us to bring a memorable and action packed five days of world class racing to their communities, spreading the joy of cycling along the route, and inspiring more people to get on a bike and live healthier lives."

Next year will also see the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift come to the UK, in 2027. The men's race is set to start in Edinburgh, with the women's in Leeds.

Tour of Britain Women 2026 stage table

Tadej Pogačar made a 70km solo attack look like a coffee ride on Wednesday, when he sailed to victory on stage one of the Tour de Suisse.

The world champion peeled off the front of the peloton on an uncategorised climb, set up by his UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mate Brandon McNulty, with 71.7km to go. He then stretched out his advantage to more than two minutes to claim the leader’s jersey and his tenth win of the season.

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) finished second, Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) third.

"This was definitely not the plan, but somehow it worked, thanks to my team-mates, I think," Pogačar said afterwards. "Without them blocking at the back, setting the pace before, this wouldn’t be possible.”

At points, Pogačar seemed almost confused by how effortlessly he drew the gap out. He checked regularly over his shoulder, perhaps expecting to see a group in pursuit, but all he saw was open road.

"I didn’t have a radio [at the time of the attack], so I didn’t know what was going on in the back, so I just kept riding hard," he said.

"Once I knew the gap was quite big, I could settle into the rhythm and try to hold it to the finish, which was super long and really hard, but was also, at the same time, quite technical, so it was really nice to be alone.”

The victory, and the seemingly offhand nature of it, sent a warning message to Pogačar’s rivals at next month's Tour de France: this is a rider who can win at will, and with ease. He has now collected 10 victories in just 12 race days this season, the lion’s share coming at May’s Tour de Romandie, his last race, where he won four stages and the general classification.

This year’s Tour de Suisse has been reduced from eight stages to five, bringing it in line with the women’s race, which is taking place concurrently. Visma-Lease a Bike’s Femke de Vries won stage one on Wednesday morning.

The opening stage of the men’s race took place entirely in northern Italy, on a thin loop tracing the Adda river, starting and finishing in Sondrio.

Uno-X’s Fredrik Dversnes began the day with a solo jaunt. That ended when the Norwegian was tagged and passed by Pogačar, who rode away comfortably, like Godzilla destroying a city, then wondering where all the rubble came from.

It would take another 20km before a rider dared to chase the world champion. Carapaz, whether he believed he could catch him or not, sprung out of the chase group, where Pogačar's lieutenants Felix Großschartner, Jhonatan Narváez, and Brandon McNulty patrolled the pack.

The Ecuadorian went on to earn second place for his effort, but not without the fright of Bagioli behind him, who finished just 15 seconds adrift. The rest of the GC favourites, including Primož Roglič (Red-Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), all lost more than four minutes to Pogačar.

Thursday's second stage of the Tour de Suisse will see the race return to Switzerland, on an undulating route out of and back into Locarno.

Asked for his plan for the day, Pogačar said: “Stay safe and keep the jersey. We have a strong team, so we can try and go for the stage with Jonny, Brandon, Felix or anybody else. We’ll see how the guys feel.”

Results

Tour de Suisse 2026, stage one: Sondrio > Sondrio (144km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:28:51
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:14
3. Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:29
4. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +4:02
5. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek
6. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time
8. Felix Großschartner (Aut) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +4:05
9. AJ August (Netcompany-Ineos), +4:30
10. Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, at same time

General classification after stage one

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:28:51
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:22
3. Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:39
4. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +4:16
5. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek
6. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time
8. Felix Großschartner (Aut) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +4:18
9. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Decathlon CMA CGM, +4:43
10. AJ August (Netcompany-Ineos), +4:44

Sixteen-year-old Camsmajaco rider Shane O’Brien died on Tuesday in a training incident in Ireland.

The teenager's team announced the news on Wednesday, describing him as a “talented rider who had a bright future ahead of him”.

Born in County Cork, Ireland, O’Brien was a first-year junior on the 21-rider roster of Camsmajaco, a British feeder squad paired with WorldTour team Netcompany-Ineos, and launched at the start of this year.

A statement from Camsmajaco read: “It is with immense sadness that we report the death of Shane O’Brien, a first-year junior with us.

“Shane tragically died yesterday in a training accident in Ireland.

“Shane was a talented rider who had a bright future ahead of him, and was a kind-hearted, gentle and positive young man. We were honoured to have him as a member of the team and he will be forever in our hearts.

“Our thoughts at this devastating time are with his family, friends, teammates and all who were lucky enough to know him.”

According to a report in The Irish Times, O'Brien struck a parked lorry in Ballygalane while training on Tuesday morning and was pronounced dead at the scene. Gardaí, the national police force, are appealing for witnesses.

O’Brien last competed on 7 June, when he finished the three stage Côte d’Or Classic Juniors in France. He also raced across Ireland, Belgium, the UK and the Czech Republic this year, as he looked to gain experience with a view to turning professional.

Cycling Ireland said it was “shocked and deeply saddened” by the news of O’Brien’s death.

“Shane, formerly of Fermoy CC and more recently with Camsmajaco was well known and loved in the cycling community. He recently made his national team debut at Course de la Paix in the Czech Republic and had shown great promise as an emerging talent,” the governing body said.

“Shane will be missed dearly by all in the cycling community in Ireland. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and teammates at this time of tragic loss. May he rest in peace.”

The 16-year-old’s older brother, Liam O’Brien, was competing for Lidl-Trek Future Racing at the Giro Next Gen this week, but did not start Wednesday’s fourth stage in order to return home.

“Our thoughts and prayers go to Liam O’Brien and his family, as Shane O’Brien, Liam’s brother passed away yesterday,” the Giro Next Gen posted on social media. “The Giro Next Gen sends their love and support in these difficult times.”

Free-to-air highlights of the Tour de France are to be shown on 5 in the UK this July, it was announced on Wednesday, after an agreement with TNT Sports.

The terrestrial channel, formerly Channel 5, has signed a deal until 2028 to show daily coverage of Tour, as well as highlights of the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, presented by Rebecca Charlton. The station will also show live coverage of the UK Grands Départs of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in 2027. Highlights will be on 5 at 7pm every evening, starting Saturday 4 July in Barcelona. Daily highlights of the 2027 Tour de France Femmes will also be available on 5.

This season will be the first season in decades that the Tour will not be shown live, in full, on television for free. In 2025, it was revealed that ITV would no longer televise the Tour, the exclusive UK rights having been sold to Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), the parent company of TNT Sports.

Live coverage in the UK will remain on TNT Sports and HBO Max, with contracts costing £30.99 a month, although it can be purchased for £25.99 a month on a 12-month contract.

Last month, Scott Young, EVP at Warner Bros Discovery Sports Europe, said: "I think you need to have a free-to-air product. And there will be a free-to-air product."

The announcement followed a "competitive tender process", according to a press release. The deal for Tour and Vuelta highlights lasts until 2028, with the Giro deal going to 2029.

"The Grand Tours are the most prestigious cycling events in the world, watched and adored by millions, and we are delighted that 5 will be their new free-to-air home in the UK," Reemah Sakaan, the president of 5, said. "Our daily highlights show for the Tour de France will be available to everyone at 7pm each evening this July and we’ll also have daily highlights through both the Vuelta a España and the Giro d’Italia for the next three years, plus next year we’ll have live coverage of the Tour de France’s historic return to the UK.

"The Tour de France kicks off an incredible summer of sport on 5, adding to the rapidly expanding range of premium sport we have for people to watch, including the best of the action from the Commonwealth Games this summer. This new deal with TNT Sports reflects our long-term commitment to bringing brilliant coverage of the world’s best sporting events to millions of viewers and providing access to premium audiences for advertisers."

"By combining a strong free-to-air highlights offering with our comprehensive live coverage, we are delivering unprecedented access to the sport across every platform," Young said. "Cycling is one of the most compelling sports in the world, featuring extraordinary athletes and unforgettable moments, and it's important that those stories are shared with the widest possible audience.

"Expanding reach and engaging new audiences across our rights portfolio remains a key strategic priority, and partnerships such as this play an important role in achieving that ambition."

Charlton added: "It’s an absolute dream to have the opportunity to bring the racing to life for all of the cycling fans out there as well as guiding some new viewers along for the ride. We’ll be bringing highlights of all of the action as well as telling the stories around the racing and I for one, cannot wait!"

The 2026 Tour de France begins on Saturday 4 July, running until Sunday 26 July.

Femke de Vries beat Lauren Dickson in a two-up final sprint to win stage one of the Tour de Suisse Women on Wednesday.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider and her FDJ United-Suez rival were together from around 17km to go of the tough opening stage of the Women's WorldTour race, and the pair worked together, opening up a significant advantage before the final. As both searched for their first ever professional victory, Dickson opened up the sprint, before De Vries came round and triumphed in Sondrio.

De Vries now leads the race narrowly over Dickson; Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) attacked the group of favourites to finish third.

The pair who contested the win were part of a significant breakaway which split off from what was left of the peloton with 42km to go, which was made up of 12 riders. Urška Žigart (AG Insurance-Soudal) launched off the front on the penultimate climb of Triangia, before she was caught by De Vries and then Dickson. When De Vries went hard on the descent, the two other attackers could not follow, before Dickson made it back on, setting up the finish.

There was a brief attack from Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) on the final climb of Bordighi, but this did not last, which then allowed Kerbaol to launch off the front. The ostensible favourites for the race, Niewiadoma-Phinney, Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) and defending champion Marlen Reusser (Movistar) now trail De Vries by 48 seconds, and Dickson by 44.

"It’s my first win in a UCI race so it’s super special, I’m incredibly happy, I don’t believe it still," De Vries said on television post-race.

"I was really scared for the climb. At the beginning of the climb, I felt like I had a bit of cramp, I never get cramp, and now it starts? I just committed, I heard the gap was getting smaller, so I just had to go all out. I pushed Lauren onto the front at the beginning [of the final] and she started the sprint and I was really patient, I’m really proud of myself how I did that. It’s my first WorldTour win, my first win, so incredible."

Asked what being in the lead would be like, she replied: "Super special, the leader’s jersey in a WorldTour race. I have super good memories of this race from two years ago. It was my first WorldTour race with the team, and I already got a third place, and I really love this race."

"It's an interesting race, because the roads are really narrow, and it's quite technical," Dickson, for her part, said. "Being in position is so important, Franzi [Koch] did some really good moves, I was able to bridge across, and from there it was just pure racing. My radio wasn't working, so I was really trying to race on instinct. I think we worked well together, maybe I messed up the sprint a bit at the end, but it’s not often I find myself in that situation.

"I think I went too early. I wasn’t sure, because the ramp, if I could get the momentum, but I didn’t quite have it, but it was good.

"I wanted to give it everything I had, and to stay attentive to what she was planning as well, it’s always watching the other rider and calculating your own moves."

Asked about the next days, Dickson added: "I’ll have to see what our DS plans, but we’d love to take the win in this race. We have a lot of motivation from the Giro and I think we work really well as a team, so we’ll just have to see what Lars [Boom] says."

Results

Tour de Suisse Women 2026 stage 1: Sondrio > Sondrio (109.3km)

1. Femke de Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 2:56:13
2. Lauren Dickson (GBr) FDJ United-Suez, at same time
3. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly, +29s
4. Kim Le Court (Mri) AG Insurance-Soudal, +38s
5. Sarah Van Dam (Can) Visma-Lease a Bike
6. Steffi Häberlin (Sui) SD Worx-Protime
7. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team ADQ
8. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar
9. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, all at same time
10. Juliette Berthet (Fra) FDJ United-Suez, +57s

General classification after stage 1

1. Femke de Vries (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 2:56:13
2. Lauren Dickson (GBr) FDJ United-Suez, +4s
3. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly, +35s
4. Kim Le Court (Mri) AG Insurance-Soudal, +48s
5. Sarah Van Dam (Can) Visma-Lease a Bike
6. Steffi Häberlin (Sui) SD Worx-Protime
7. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team ADQ
8. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar
9. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Pol) Canyon-SRAM, all at same time
10. Juliette Berthet (Fra) FDJ United-Suez, +1:07s

A stacked field of WorldTour stars, British domestic riders and amateurs are all set to compete at the British National Road Championships next week in Wales.

The event will crown 10 national champions across the elite and under-23 categories, starting with the time trials next Thursday 25 June. The circuit races will follow on 26 June, before the road races on 28 June.

All of last year’s elite winners are on the start list to defend their titles: Millie Couzens (Fenix-Premier Tech) and Sam Watson (Netcompany-Ineos) in the road races, Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM) and Ethan Hayter (Soudal-Quick Step) in the time trials, and Kate Richardson (Handsling Alba Development) and Cameron Mason (Alpecin-Premier Tech) in the circuit races.

Also down to compete across the four days is a raft of men’s pro riders, such as: Ben Turner, Ben Swift, Connor Swift (Netcompany-Ineos), Owain Doull (Visma-Lease a Bike), Ethan Vernon, Lewis Askey, Joe Blackmore (NSN Cycling), Fred Wright (Pinarello Q36.5), Bob Donaldson (Jayco AlUla) and Callum Thornley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

Josh Tarling (Netcompany-Ineos) is named on the start list to race the time trial; however, he is unlikely to compete after breaking his collarbone at last week’s Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

The women’s events will count an equally stacked field, including: Cat Ferguson, Carys Lloyd (Movistar), Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek), Imogen Wolff (Visma-Lease a Bike), Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic PostNL), Flora Perkins (Fenix-Premier Tech), Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-SUEZ), Alice Towers (EF Education-Oatly) and Erin Boothman (Liv AlUla Jayco Continental).

National Series leader Morven Yeoman will compete as part of a DAS-Hutchinson team that includes Noémie Thomson, both of whom have starred in British domestic races this season.

Likewise, Rapha CC duo Matthew Bostock and Ollie Wood, the respective City of London Nocturne and Lincoln GP winners, are also on the start lists.

The full start lists can be found on British Cycling's website: time trials, circuit races, road races.

Speaking ahead of the championships, Bäckstedt hailed the “strong roster” of riders in the UK.

“It’s never going to be easy, but I hope I’ll come into this in good shape and fighting for the win,” the Welshwoman said.

Hayter, a former national road champion and defending time trial champion, will be looking to win a title for the third year in a row.

“Nationals always seem to bring out the best in me,” he said. “Each year the level gets higher, but it makes for aggressive, exciting racing.”

The time trials will take place in Lampeter on 25 June. Both the circuit races and the road races will be held in Aberystwyth, as they were in 2025.

This year’s championships mark the second year in a three-year agreement with the Welsh government to hold the event in the country. Wales will also host the third stage of the UK Tour de France Grand Départ in 2027, which will run from Welshpool to Cardiff on 4 July.

Wout van Aert is out of the Tour de France due to the effects of an elbow injury which resulted in an infection, his team announced on Wednesday morning.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider was expected to be a key support rider to Jonas Vingegaard's attempt to win the yellow jersey back, but will now miss the French Grand Tour for the first time since 2018.

Van Aert injured his elbow in a training crash the week before the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, with an infection developing which meant a trip to hospital was required. The team and Van Aert have decided that full recovery is the priority over attempting to be on the start line of the Tour in just over two weeks' time.

The Belgian appeared to be struggling at Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes last week, leaving the race on stage six, but not before he won stage five, allaying some fears about fitness. However, there were reports this week that he had missed the start of Visma's pre-Tour training camp, and the problem appears big enough to force him out of the team's key target for the season.

"This is of course a big disappointment. The Tour de France is one of my main goals every year," Van Aert said in a statement on the squad's website.

"Unfortunately, a crash during training has put a spanner in the works, and the injury to my elbow has worsened and has still not healed sufficiently. Together with the team, we have concluded that starting the Tour in top form is not feasible at this point. My full focus is now on my recovery so I can return to my best level later this season."

Van Aert hasn't missed a Tour since joining Visma-Lease a Bike in 2019, winning 10 stages in that time, and the green jersey in 2022 as well. The 31-year-old was also a key part of Vingegaard's overall triumphs in 2022 and 2023, so his absence is a huge blow for his team.

"Wout is one of the most important riders in our team and we would obviously have loved to have him at the start of the Tour," sports director Marc Reef added. "In recent days we have explored all options, but ultimately his health comes first. With the recovery process required, it is not possible for him to reach top form in time for the Tour de France. It is unfortunate that he will not be there, but we are convinced this is the right decision for his recovery and the rest of his season."

It is not the first time that misfortune has struck Van Aert, who fractured his ankle in a cyclo-cross crash at the beginning of the year, before fighting back to form to win Paris-Roubaix in memorable circumstances.

In 2022, he tested positive for Covid days before Flanders, depriving him of an opportunity at Belgium's biggest race; Mathieu van der Poel went on to win. A year later, Van Aert finished third at Roubaix after puncturing on the Carrefour de l'Arbre. Van der Poel won. In 2024, Van Aert looked in great form, before crashing at Dwars door Vlaanderen and ending his tilt at the Classics early. Last year, he raced them all, but was coming back from the serious knee injury he suffered at the Vuelta a España the previous summer.

154 riders started last week’s renamed Critérium du Dauphiné, the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, each of them desperate to fine-tune their form ahead of the Tour de France, which is now weeks away. Just 91 riders finished, with 40% dropping out mid-race, or failing to finish the final stage. Last year, 128 riders finished. This year’s finish rate of the key Tour de France warm-up race is the lowest since 2005.

Not all the riders who left the race did so because of serious illness and injury. The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes finished with three brutal back-to-back-to-back mountain stages, and perhaps the parcours just didn’t fit in with a rider’s training plan. There were precautionary abandons, too, the odd slightly sore throat perhaps making a rider think twice about signing on in the morning. The Tour de France is the biggest goal, after all.

However, there were high-profile incidents, and riders involved in crashes throughout the week, with some notable riders now sweating over their fitness or health ahead of the Tour. Among those are Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), a stage winner last week, who reportedly has had a setback on his recovery from an elbow injury sustained in a training crash pre-race. Josh Tarling (Netcompany-Ineos) crashed on stage six and broke his collarbone, requiring surgery; his teammate Oscar Onley crashed into a ravine the same day, and was able to finish, but with a dislocated shoulder. Teenage sensation Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) crashed on stage seven and was forced to abandon the next day.

The majority of these riders should be on the start line of La Grande Boucle in Barcelona next month, on Saturday 4 July, having recovered. But it’s impossible to say whether they will be in the same place physically had they not suffered these crashes. Other incidents may well occur at the five-stage Tour de Suisse, which begins tomorrow, the other final proving ground for those wanting to challenge at the Tour de France. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), the biggest name of all, will no doubt be hoping to get through the week unscathed.

The depleted finisher numbers raise the question of whether racing ahead of the season’s key goal is worth it for riders. The consensus appears to be shifting a little, with the highest profile players embarking on fewer race days before the biggest targets. This is undoubtedly a shame for fans, and is also a repudiation of what was believed to be true. Riders are taking time off from their day job – racing – to train for other races. Altitude camps are thought of as just as important as a preparation event.

Remco Evenepoel won’t have raced for 68 days by the time the Tour de France comes around, with the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider not pinning numbers on again after Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Clearly, his team think that this is a better preparation for the Tour than taking part in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes or Suisse, and the Belgian has done enough racing in the past to know how everything works, but one could still imagine some rustiness in the bunch come July.

Illness and injury don’t just come at races – Van Aert was bashed up in a training crash, while Tom Pidcock won’t start the Tour de Suisse due to a virus picked up away from racing, road racing anyway. To suppose that you’re better protected outside of the bunch might be a little true, but it doesn’t tell the whole story, or prepare you for the intensity of the Tour de France entirely.

Crashes and misfortune are part of cycling, and while I hope that the start list for the Tour de France is as unaffected by that as possible, I also hope that teams aren’t even more minded in the future to hold their big names back. Let them race.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.

Tom Pidcock will not start the Tour de Suisse on Wednesday after missing training days due to a mild viral infection.

The Briton was due to lead Pinarello Q36.5 at the five-stage race as part of his preparation for the Tour de France, which begins in less than three weeks.

Instead, and "health permitting", Pidcock will compete in the one-day Andorra MoraBanc Classica on 21 June, his team said in a statement.

"Following a small number of missed training days at the teams altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada due to contracting a mild viral infection, the Pinarello Q 36.5 Pro Cycling Team has decided to amend Tom Pidcock’s June race programme to allow for additional recovery and training time," the team said.

"As such the Tour of Switzerland has been removed from his race calendar to be replaced, health permitting, by the Andorra MoraBanc Classica on 21 June.

"While disappointed to miss the Team's home race, Tom has returned home to Andorra where he will continue to train and is now very much looking forward to competing on his adopted home roads around the mountains of Andorra.

"Further updates will be provided in due course."

The team made no mention of changes to Pidcock's plans for the Tour de France, where he is still expected to compete.

The 26-year-old last competed at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Nové Město, Czech Republic, on 24 May. The Olympic champion won the cross-country event, and finished second in the short track the same day. He hasn't competed on the road since he placed second at Eschborn-Frankfurt on 1 May.

Earlier this month, Pidcock travelled to Sierra Nevada, Spain, for a pre-Tour training camp with his Pinarello Q36.5 team-mates.

He has said he will not target the general classification at this year's race, despite finishing third at the Vuelta a España last September.

“This year I’m not going with any expectations,” he said on the Fredono Going Mental podcast. “I want to race, and I want to have fun, and the rest will come. If I’m not saying, ‘Ok, I want to win a stage, I want to podium, I want to be top five,’ or whatever it is, then there is nothing to fail at.”

The Tour de France begins on 4 July with a team time trial in Barcelona, Spain.

The 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain Men will start in Lincoln and end in Earlston, the Scottish Borders, British Cycling confirmed this morning.

The 22nd edition of the race will be the first to take place over five days from 2 to 6 September, following on from five days of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women in late August.

It had already been announced that the race would visit North Yorkshire, but it has now been revealed that it will also head to Lincolnshire, East Yorkshire and the Scottish Borders across the week.

Stage one will start and finish in Lincoln, the home of the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix, the first time the modern men's Tour of Britain has visited the cathedral city, although it was a regular host of the Milk Race and has also been home to the British National Road Championships.

The next day, stage two will cross Lincolnshire from Boston to Skegness, before stage three takes place from Hull to Beverley, across East Yorkshire.

The penultimate day, Saturday 5 September, will head over the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales for a hilly test, which will surely decide who is the winner of the whole race. Stage five starts and finishes in Earlston, south of Edinburgh in the Scottish Borders.

"We are delighted to be bringing the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men to these fantastic locations later this year," Jonathan Day, the director of events for British Cycling Ventures, said in a press release. "We are bringing new hosts and stages in Lincoln, Boston and Skegness, and Leyburn, and it is fantastic to return to previous hosts of the race in Hull and Beverley, Helmsley, and the Scottish Borders.

"Taking the Tour to Lincoln for the first time, a city synonymous with its love for cycling, will be special for the opening stage of the men’s race, before the route winds its way up the east coast via North Yorkshire, before reaching the Scottish Borders in Earlston.

"On behalf of British Cycling Ventures, I would like to pay thanks to our partners across the five stages for supporting the hosting and delivery of this September’s race and enabling us to bring another memorable and action packed five days of world class racing to their communities, spreading the joy of cycling along the route, and inspiring more people to get on a bike and live healthier lives."

Next year will also see the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift come to the UK, in 2027. The men's race is set to start in Edinburgh, with the women's in Leeds.

Tour of Britain 2026 stage table

Matt Bostock (Rapha CC) and Nina Lavenu (AG Insurance-Soudal Devo) sprinted to narrow victories last weekend at the City of London Nocturne, a rebooted night-time criterium event held in the heart of the capital.

Thousands of people lined the barriers to welcome the return of the races, which disappeared from the British calendar eight years ago, and are now one of three UCI-registered events in the UK, alongside the Tours of Britain and the CiCLE Classic.

Bostock's victory in Saturday night’s hour-long men’s elite crit came from a four-rider move that formed around the halfway mark. The bunch was initially strung out by British circuit race champion Cameron Mason (Alpecin-Premier Tech), who went on to be one of the key attackers in the front group alongside Bostock, Thomas Mein (Hope Factory Racing) and Alec Briggs (Tekkerz CC) into the race’s finale.

On the closing lap, the landmarks on the 1.3km circuit – the Bank of England, Royal Exchange and St Paul’s Cathedral – vanished behind the darkness of nightfall. Bostock wound up his winning sprint with 300m to go, and led through the final chicane to win ahead of Mason and Briggs.

“It means everything,” the 28-year-old Manxman told TNT Sports afterwards. “I was underskilled in the corners there against those boys, I think. To be honest, they’re probably some of the best cornerers in the world, really. I had my work cut out for me, but I’m glad I got one up on them.”

The women’s elite event, which took place just before the men’s, was decided by less than a bike length to the backdrop of the City of London sunset.

Lavenu’s AG Insurance team-mate Leonie Bentveld marshalled the front of the pack from the outset, and led a nine-rider group that splintered away after a crash. Also up the road were two stars of this year’s British domestic season: Morven Yeoman (DAS-Hutchinson), who won May’s Lincoln GP, and Kate Richardson, the recent Tour of the Reservoir champion.

As Bostock would do an hour later, Lavenu got a jump on the group into the final straight. Richardson sprung to close the gap, and had the finish line been drawn 100m further, may have pipped the 20-year-old Frenchwoman, who held on to take the victory.

Third place went to Yeoman, the new leader of the UK’s Rapha Super-League.

Heralding the success of the event on LinkedIn, organiser James Pope toasted the Nocturne as signalling “a new era of city criterium racing in the UK”.

The events were registered with the UCI under the ‘CRTP - Pro Criterium’ classification – the same as the Tour de France's end-of-season Saitama and Singapore exhibition criteriums – which does not award UCI ranking points.

Age-defying ultra-cycling star Joe Barr rolled into Navy Pier, Chicago on Friday afternoon to set a new provisional world record for riding the length of Route 66.

He had started the attempt at Santa Monica pier on the Californian coast 10 days, 12 hours and three minutes earlier, and travelled 2,448 miles across eight states along the way. The also saw him climb more than 21,000 metres.

The numerical designation of the famous cross-America route – often known as the 'Mother Road' – is no coincidence. Barr himself, who hails from Northern Ireland and is a former pro road racer, is 66. In fact, only a day after finishing the attempt, he turned 67.

Many would consider it a remarkable achievement and a remarkable undertaking for somebody of that age, but Barr's own philosophy is that age is a "red herring", not something to be hung up about.

He slept around four hours a night and rode an average of more than 200 miles a day, trailed by a faithful support crew that included his wife, performance nutritionist Jill Mooney. She told Cycling Weekly after the attempt: "We've faced heat and altitude in Race Across America, but Route 66 brought unrelenting extreme heat in Arizona and New Mexico and extreme humidity through Oklahoma and Missouri.

"It was challenging to manage the balance between core temperature, hydration electrolytes, and fuel. Add the constant vibration from a 100-year old road and you'll get a sense of the performance Joe has delivered."

Barr himself added: "Route 66 delivered everything a route of this caliber should – extreme heat, altitude, and challenging road conditions. In the early days it had me on the ropes but I got stronger as I adjusted to race conditions. The support from the team and from the Route 66 community was incredible. To pull this off before I turned 67 years old, in the centennial year of Route 66 – I couldn't ask for more."

Directly after the attempt Barr and his team gave away the Campagnolo-equipped Colnago Concept aero bike that he used for the attempt in a raffle.

Barr, who along with Mooney, runs the BarrUltra coaching and training community, has previous with riding across the USA - he has finished the Race Across America twice, winning his age category on one of those occasions. The details of his Route 66 ride have now been passed to Guinness for ratification.

Belgian rider Liam Slock won his first professional race in unusual circumstances at the GP Gippingen on Sunday, crashing over the finish line.

The 25-year-old Lotto Intermarché rider was blown off-balance as he went to celebrate with the finish just metres away, and ended up winning shoulder first. It meant that the photos of his maiden victory are interesting, to say the least.

It did not matter that he did not ride across the line, as with his bike, he made it across, and took the victory. Fortunately, he was also largely unharmed.

"Luckily the win came with it, otherwise this would probably have been the fail of the year,” Slock said post-race. “There was an incredibly strong wind and I briefly underestimated it. I realised quite early that I was going to win and started celebrating early because I really wanted to enjoy the moment. I raised my arms in the air and then a gust of wind caught my handlebars...

"The fact that I then crashed makes this a story worth framing. It feels a bit silly, but above all I’m just incredibly happy.”

The Belgian had bridged across to Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), and attacked the pair on the steep final climb, with 500m to go, putting enough daylight between him and the chasers to celebrate.

"The race had actually been going really well all day," Slock explained. "We were always where we needed to be every lap. At one point a large group got away and I was able to follow comfortably. When Aleksandr Vlasov and Richard Carapaz attacked in the finale, I decided to bridge across.

"That took a lot of energy because those guys are among the very best. But once I made it across, I tried to save as much energy as possible. I thought that if I managed to do that, I might be able to win."

However, as he took his hands of the handlebars, a gust of wind took his bike away from him, meaning that Slock will be immortalised as crashing across the finish line, as opposed to just being the successor to Thibau Nys, Maxim Van Gils and Neilson Powless as winner of the Swiss one-day race.

Isaac Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG claimed his second successive summit finish victory to top the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes GC, overturning Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe's Luke Tuckwell's narrow advantage on the final day.

Del Toro won the seventh stage to Grand Colombier and repeated his success on the HC climb to Plateau de Solaison, attacking just a few kilometres into the 11.5km climb which was the fourth and final categorised ascent of the day.

No one was able to respond to 22-year-old Del Toro's attack and his nearest challenger, Lidl-Trek's Juan Ayuso, finished exactly a minute in arrears.

Tuckwell, who took yellow on stage six after placing third from the breakaway, finished eighth at Plateau de Solaison. It wasn't enough to keep hold of yellow, but he did secure a highly commendable and unexpected second place overall. Ayuso rounded out the podium.

Paul Seixas, the pre-race favourite, abandoned after the day's first climb. He crashed hard on stage seven and had a number of cuts and bruises on his arms, hands and legs.

Whether or not Seixas would have been able to fight Del Toro for the title is unknown, but what is clear is that the Mexican champion has bounced back after crashing out of April's Itzulia Basque Country.

He has now won all three of the WorldTour stage races he has ridden this season, adding victory at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to his successes at the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico.

In fact, he is unbeaten in the last five stage races he has completed, having also won last year's Tour of Austria and Vuelta a Burgos. Those wins came after he finished second on debut at the Giro d'Italia, spectacularly losing the maglia rosa on the penultimate day to Simon Yates.

Del Toro will now prepare for his maiden Tour de France where he will ride in support of UAE leader and defending champion Tadej Pogačar.

"It's simply something incredible," Del Toro said after his victory. "I feel honoured. If you had said to me at the beginning of this year I would have won this race, I would have doubted you.

"It's an enormous privilege to be in this situation, to be in the best team in the world. I feel very proud and happy because everything happened how we had planned for it to work out."

He added: "It means a lot to win. It's super nice and I am obviously super happy about today."

How it happened

The fight for the breakaway broke out as soon as the final and decisive stage got underway in Beaufort, with the Col du Pré beginning immediately. Netcompany-Ineos, who have had a difficult race with the abandonment of Oscar Onley and sub-par performance of Carlos Rodríguez, were represented by three riders: Rodríguez, Kévin Vauquelin and Laurens De Plus.

Léo Bisuaix of Decathlon CMA CGM was also present, as were Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal - Quick-Step), Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana) and Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ).

Because Bisuaix was only 4:40 adrift of the yellow jersey, and Vauquelin just over a further minute behind, the breakaway was never permitted an advantage of more than three minutes. At various points the group fractured over the following two categorised claims, but it kept coming back together.

The big news of the first hour of riding, though, was the withdrawal of Seixas after the descent of the first climb. The French teenager crashed on stage seven but despite finishing and signing on for the final day’s racing, the 19-year-old quit after just 30km of racing.

It meant that fellow youngster Tuckwell of Red Bull had one less rider to worry about as he attempted to hold onto yellow. Yet the Aussie knew he would still come under serious pressure from Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Ayuso and Del Toro.

Despite some pre-stage predictions of carnage from the get-go, the GC cohort decided against launching attacks early on and instead waited for the final climb of Plateau de Solaison which averages a punishing gradient of 8.9% for 11.5km. The ascent will make its Tour de France debut this July.

At the bottom of the climb, the eight escapees had a lead of 42 seconds, and it didn’t take long for drama to ignite from behind.

Within a kilometre Tuckwell had lost contact with the front of the favourites group, and he stuck obdurately to the wheel of his teammate Maxim Van Gils as he fought to maintain the race lead, and failing that to not fall of the podium.

UAE’s young Spaniard, Pablo Torres, was setting a brutal pace at the front of the group when Del Toro launched a seated attack out of Torres’s wheel with 8.8km to go. No one could respond. No one would see Del Toro again until the very top of the climb.

Within a kilometre Del Toro had a lead of 18 seconds over Ayuso, Jorgenson and Mathias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), and after two kilometres that advantage had doubled. It was Tadej Pogačar-esque.

With 5.3km remaining, Ayuso distanced his teammate Skjelmose and Jorgenson and for a brief while he appeared to be reducing Del Toro’s advantage. But Del Toro only pulled away again, finishing the queen stage exactly a minute ahead of Ayuso.

Jorgenson slipped further back, finishing in the same group as Tuckwell who looked overjoyed to have secured second place overall. Prior to the race, the young Australian was a virtually unknown figure, despite finishing sixth at last month’s Tour de Romandie. Now he has truly burst onto the scene.

But the headlines belong to Del Toro who will be a deluxe domestique for Pogačar in the mountains at the Tour, and will also be a podium contender himself.

Results:Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, stage 8: Beaufort > Plateau de Solaison (120km)

1. Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:35.07
2. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, at 1:00
3. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, at 1:02
4. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, at 1:31
5. Cristián Rodríguez (Esp) XDS-Astana, at same time
6. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Netcompany-Ineos, at 1:36
7. Maxim Van Girls (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, at 1:43
8. Luke Tuckwell (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
9. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar
10. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time.

Final general classification

1. Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 29:35.05
2. Luke Tuckwell (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, at 54s
3. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, at 1:17
4. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, at 1:36
5. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, at 1:46
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, at 2:41
7. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar, at 3:11
8. Cristián Rodríguez (Esp) XDS-Astana, at 3:15
9. José Félix Parra (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, at 6:25
10. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United, at 7:21

Just three weeks out from his expected debut at the Tour de France, Paul Seixas has abandoned the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

The 19-year-old Frenchman crashed hard on Saturday’s stage seven but mounted an impressive chase back to the front group and then valiantly finished the race, crossing the line 1:21 behind the stage winner Isaac Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

He sported a number of bruises and scratches to his arms, legs and hands upon finishing the stage, but declared that he would be at the start of Sunday’s stage eight.

The Decathlon CMA CGM teenager did indeed sign on in Beaufort, but he was dropped on the day’s first climb, the Col du Pré. Following the descent he hopped into his team’s car.

It is the first race he has abandoned mid-stage in his young professional career. How this will affect his build-up to the Tour will become clearer in the coming days.

The Lyon-born rider has emerged as France’s greatest hope to finally end their long barren run without a home Tour de France winner after winning Itzulia Basque Country, La Fléche Wallonne, and finishing second to Tadej Pogačar at both Strade Bianche and Liége-Bastogne-Liége.

He was the main favourite to win the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes – previously called the Critérium du Dauphiné – and was well-positioned to do so going into the final weekend, sitting seventh overall and 32 seconds shy of Matteo Jorgenson in fourth. Luke Tuckwell of Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe was the surprise leader but was not expected to win the overall title.

Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) has won an action-packed stage seven of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, as Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) holds onto yellow.

Approaching the finish line on the top of the Grand Colombier, del Toro put his sunglasses back on, glanced backwards and, satisfied, took a bow.

“I’m getting better and better after every race,” he said in an interview with TNT Sports after the stage. “I’m not full of confidence, but I really wanted to try to take the win today.”

This was the 19-year-old’s first professional victory on French soil, but del Toro still has his sights set on bigger things. “I’m still hungry, so it’s something that will keep me alive for the next races,” he said. “[Winning the GC] was always the goal.”

“It’s crazy to be in this position sometimes, and when [the team] starts to help me, it feels super special,” he added. “You don’t know how special it is to see Mexican fans on the side of the road and have all their support…It’s simply incredible.”

Today’s 133.6-kilometre mountain stage featured six classified climbs and 3,728 metres of elevation gain, culminating on the famous Grand Colombier. Approached from its shorter, steeper and lesser-visited side, this 8.4-kilometre climb has an average gradient of 10.2%, with slopes of over 20%.

The stage had proven eventful from the outset, with more than 10 riders abandoning before the start, including Oscar Onley (Netcompany Ineos), who had crashed the day before, João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), Jorgen Nordhagen (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost).

A crash involving Dani Martinez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Alex Diaz (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Gal Glivar (Alpecin-Premier Tech) delayed the start of the race, which was then neutralised for a gravel descent and restarted at kilometre 30.

But the big news, however, was a crash for GC favourite and 19-year-old French superstar Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), whose knees and elbows were cut, and whose white young rider’s jersey was stained with blood. Although Seixas promptly returned to his bike, he initially found himself almost four minutes down on the peloton.

A full team effort from Decathlon CMA CGM saw the gap slowly whittle down, with Seixas eventually rejoining the group with around 35 kilometres remaining, pointing his finger forwards as he made contact.

By the foot of the Grand Colombier, a hard-fought five-man breakaway had been caught, with the peloton back together.

Seixas’ efforts, however, had taken their toll. The French rider, along with Tuckwell, was distanced just over two kilometres into the climb.

Capitalising on the gap, Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), attacked with 6.7 kilometres remaining, soon going solo. He held around 20 seconds over a select group behind him, including del Toro, Johannessen, Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar) and Matteo Jorgensen (Visma-Lease a Bike), who took the helm.

Del Toro, however, was biding his time. At just over four kilometres from the summit, he jumped out from Jorgensen’s wheels, caught —and immediately passed— the lone Ayuso.

Del Toro finished with a lead of 24 seconds, moving up to third place on the general classification. Ayuso claimed second place, with Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) completing the podium.

Seixas, cut and bruised, lost 1 minute and 21 seconds, but finished the stage in seventh place, to the cheers of an adoring French crowd.

Tuckwell, meanwhile, retained the yellow leader’s jersey that he had won the day before, finishing 2 minutes and 33 seconds behind del Toro. He now holds a lead of 42 seconds in the general classification before tomorrow’s mountain stage.

“The goal was to try and do everything that I could —and use my decent advantage this morning— to try and keep the jersey,” said Tuckwell in a post-stage interview. “It was my first time on this climb, so it was quite unknown to me. I had such a nice advantage that I could just pace myself the whole way, and I didn’t have to react.

“I was really struggling in the middle. I was thinking that this was going to be quite touch and go, and then I got to about a kilometre-and-a-half to go and someone on the side of the road said: ‘Only one minute to the group.’ That was the motivation I needed, because I’d pulled my radio piece out. I basically went full to the line, and saw the time as I crossed. I had enough.”

“Tomorrow is another crazy, crazy day,” he added. “I’ll recover as well as I can and fight for it.”

RESULTS

TOUR AUVERGNE-RHÔNE-ALPES 2026, STAGE 7 LA BRIDOIRE › GRAND COLOMBIER (133.6KM)

1. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG in 3:41:41

2. Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek, 0:24

3. Tobias Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, 0:38

4. Matteo Jorgenson (US) Visma-Lease a Bike, 0:41

5. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar "

6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, 1:17

7. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, 1:21

8. Cristián Rodríguez (Esp) XDS Astana, 2:29

9. José Félix Parra (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, 2:31

10. Jan Castellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, 2:33

GENERAL CLASSIFCATION AFTER STAGE 7

1. Luke Tuckwell (Aus) Red Bull - Bora - hansgrohe, 25:59:09

2. Matteo Jorgenson (US) Visma | Lease a Bike, 0:42

3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 0:49

4. Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek, 1:06

5. Tobias Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, 1:33

6. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, 1:54

7. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl – Trek, 1:59

8. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Movistar, 2:17

9. Cristián Rodríguez (Esp) XDS Astana, 2:33

10. José Félix Parra (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, 3:02

GC favourite Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) has crashed at the beginning of stage seven of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

Today’s pivotal 134-kilometre mountain stage is expected to provide a showdown between the race’s main GC contenders, with Seixas a hot favourite. The Frenchman’s crash, however, may scupper his hopes for both the stage – and the overall win.

Although Seixas quickly returned to his bike, he initially found himself four minutes down on the peloton, with teammates Dan Hoole and Stefan Bissegger enlisted to help pull him back.

At the foot of the Lacets du Grand Colombier —a 7-kilometre climb with an average gradient of 8.4%— Seixas was around 2 minutes and 20 seconds down, paced by Aurélien Paret-Peintre.

Images of Seixas show his white young rider’s jersey dotted with spots of blood, with cuts to his knees and elbow. As the peloton crests the Lacets du Grand Colombier, Seixas trails by more than two minutes.

After the Lacets du Grand Colombier, which is 57.4 kilometres from the finish of the stage, the riders will descend, before climbing the 7.7-kilometre Col de Richemond and finishing atop the 8.4-kilometre Grand Colombier. Will Seixas be able to make it back – and if so, what will he have left for the finale?

Wout van Aert will not start stage six of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes stage race, with the team citing ongoing discomfort from a pre-race training crash.

His decision not to start stage six comes hard on the heels of victory in stage five of the race in a sprint finish – a result somewhat at odds with his performance as a whole over the week, which has seen him off the pace and clearly suffering with the after-effects of the crash.

A team statement released by his Visma-Lease a Bike team on Friday morning said: "Wout Van Aert will not appear at the start of stage 6 of Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes today. He is still experiencing significant discomfort in his elbow related to the crash he sustained last week. Wout will travel back to Belgium for further medical examinations. Join us in wishing Wout a smooth recovery."

Despite his win at Villars-les-Dombes yesterday, which saw Van Aert pull a little-used trick from his extensive repertoire to win a bunch sprint, the Belgian has looked off the pace at times. Comments from his team suggested that too much celebrating following his Paris-Roubaix win in April might have had something to do with it, but it no longer looks as simple as that.

He showed up at Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes sporting gauze bandages, but told reporters at the time that his training crash, which saw him come off his time trial bike, had caused "very limited" damage.

After his win, he said: "I think it was a difficult start. It was even difficult today, mentally... I’m happy with this. I have to keep working now."

Van Aert was dropped and lost 24 minutes on a relatively innocuous first stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, with Visma head of performance Mathieu Heijboer telling Nieuwsblad: "He has to come from further back than usual," he added. "That isn't even about data. It just takes a little longer to get going again.”

That was followed by a disappointing performance in Tuesday's team time trial, which saw him dropped after just eight minutes. Afterwards he admitted that he had hoped to be in better condition so close to July.

"I find it difficult to answer that right now," he conceded, when asked whether he would be fully fit for the Tour de France. "Today was a disappointing day for me; we will see how things develop. I don't intend to give up."

His stage five win and the apparent lingering effects of his training crash may give Van Aert and his team hope that this is not just a simple lack of condition. With his next race set to be the Tour itself, he has a shade over three weeks to rest, recover, and re-find the form he needs to support Jonas Vingegaard in his attempt to complete a Giro-Tour double.

Even when he's not in his finest form, Wout van Aert still manages to show his class, as he proved at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on Thursday, when he soared to victory in stage five's bunch sprint.

The 31-year-old – who crashed in training early last week, started stage one in bandages, and was dropped in stage three's team time trial – led out the dash in Villars-les-Dombes, and held off Hugo Hofstetter (NSN Cycling) and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) to the line.

The victory marked Van Aert's first on the road since he won Paris-Roubaix in April. It also dispelled concerns about his shape going into next month's Tour de France.

"Of course, winning is always nice, especially in a race like this. I’m really happy with this stage win," he said afterwards.

Asked if he felt his form had improved since the start of the race, Van Aert said: "Probably the shape is not much different now. The last two days were just a bit easier and suited me better with my current form.

"I think it was a difficult start. It was even difficult today, mentally. It's still painful sometimes after the crash I had just before this race, but the team I had around me, they were chasing the breakaway the whole day. I just had to try.”

After the breakaway stole the spoils on stage four, stage five gave the sprinters one final, flat opportunity before the race enters the mountains.

It was hopeful thinking, then, when a six-rider group escaped minutes after the flag drop in Saint-Chamond, and kicked away on a duo of category-four climbs. The sextet were afforded little time by the chasing peloton; their advantage barely extended beyond two minutes, and after more than four hours out front, they slipped back into the rush of the bunch, which barrelled towards a sprint finale.

Speeds rose up to 70kph as the peloton approached the finish town. Cofidis's Benjamin Thomas was first through the right-hander that unfurled the 3km finishing straight; his sprinter, Bryan Coquard, got lost in the melee, however, as Visma-Lease a Bike and Netcompany-Ineos, riding for French champion Dorian Godon, jostled at the front.

"Honestly, the sprints were going pretty well already the whole year, and also the last few weeks in training. In the sprint, I was definitely confident I had a good chance," Van Aert said.

That much was clear when the Belgian was first to kick with 200m to go. Taking the inside line around a slight right bend, he lashed a bike length ahead, and sat up in his saddle in celebration.

"I’m happy with this. I have to keep working now," he said, with an eye on the fast-approaching Tour.

Stage one winner Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) continues to lead the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, 12 seconds ahead of Netcompany-Ineos duo Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley.

Results

Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026, stage 5: Saint-Chamond > Parc des Oiseaux Villars-les-Dombes (195.8km)

1. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 4:31:59
2. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) NSN Cycling
3. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Victorious
4. Vito Braet (Bel) Lotto Intermarché
5. Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Fra) Picnic PostNL
6. Dorian Godon (Fra) Netcompany-Ineos
7. Nadav Raisberg (Isr) NSN Cycling
8. Henri Uhlig (Ger) Alpecin-Premier Tech
9. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis
10. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Tudor Pro Cycling, all at same time

General classifcation after stage 5

1. Alex Beaudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, in 18:07:12
2. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Netcompany-Ineos, +12s
3. Oscar Onley (Gbr) Netcompany-Ineos, at same time
4. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +15s
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek, +47s
6. Matthias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +47s
7. Jørgen Nordhagen (Nor) Visma-Lease a Bike, +50s
8. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Netcompany-Ineos, +57s
9. Léo Bisiaux (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +59s
10. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +1:00

As far as closely guarded digits go, the power data of top professional riders ranks up there with the Fort Knox door code or the King's phone number. So Cycling Weekly was as surprised as any when Remco Evenepoel revealed his functional threshold power (FTP) on his YouTube channel this week.

Surprised not only because such things are so often kept hush-hush; in addition to that, the figure was very much in the bracket marked 'jaw-slackening'. How about this: 425 watts.

It's even higher than Tadej Pogačar's reported, but unverified, 415 watts number.

The figures were revealed in a conversation the Olympic champion had with coach Dan Lorang on a windswept Mount Teide in Tenerife. In the middle of a series of efforts and in-between painful looking blood-draws to measure lactate, Lorang tells him: "It's that fine line: 420, we are under threshold; 425 we are somewhere there…"

Extrapolated using Evenepoel's 63kg frame, that works out at a full 6.75 watts per kilo – just a shade under the fabled 6.8kg that, in theory, was guaranteed to the win the Tour de France.

For those unfamiliar with functional threshold power – usually just known as FTP, it's a key power training metric approximately equivalent to the effort a rider can maintain for an hour, and can be used to set lower and higher zones.

In the video, Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe coach Dan Lorang, who leaves the team after the Tour de France, explains the protocol: "Today we have a threshold day," he says. "That means several efforts where we do a steady pace. It should be a preparation for longer climbs also in the race. We start here with smaller intervals; further in the camp we do a little bit longer intervals."

Having already done a long warm-up effort at a trifling 350 watts, Evenepoel's ready to grit his teeth, and selects some tunes to match. "Now we're starting with some harder music," he tells the videographer as he scrolls through his phone, "because it will be painful."

If various reports are to be believed, the Belgian's numbers – both outright power and w/kg – are also higher than Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). The Slovenian's FTP has been estimated at 415 watts which, for his 66 kilos of weight, add up to 6.29w/kg. These figures were not disproved when Pogačar revealed his wattages, apparently unwittingly, on a Strava training file earlier this year.

Evenepoel's 22-minute video is an insightful look at a two-day training camp on Tenerife that peeks into not only his power data but his calories too, as well as the day to day of being on training camp at altitude.

Quinn Simmons charged to victory from the breakaway on stage four of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes as the peloton ran out of road on Wednesday.

The Lidl-Trek rider was part of a 10-man group which made it to the finish in Montrond-les-Bains, metres ahead of the on-rushing peloton. After Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) kept the break's hopes alive with a powerful turn, Simmons opened up the sprint, holding off Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies).

Speeds reached 70kph in the closing two kilometres, as the wind pushed the riders along. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) won the sprint for 11th place from the bunch, as they miscalculated catching the break. Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) finished in the peloton to remain in the yellow jersey of race leader.

It was the third-fastest stage in Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes history, races at an average of 46.9kph across its 167.4km. Wednesday was Simmons's first victory of 2026, and his first since stage three of the Tour de Suisse last year, also won from the breakaway, although that was solo. The 25-year-old was one of the stars of last year's Tour de France, in the break on four stages, including to Vire Normandie on stage six, when he finished second. Fans can therefore be reassured that he is back in form ahead of July's big race.

"Behind the Tour, this is the biggest stage race of the year for us, so to come here and to take a stage here... It's been a year since I put my hands in the air, so it's pretty special," Simmons said in his TV interview post-stage.

"The biggest six weeks of our season is right now, so to have a confirmation that the form is there is really nice, and I hope I can keep going like this."

"Two days ago I thought I could win a stage, but we needed to save the legs for the team time trial, so today I was finally unleashed, and I wanted to get the job done," he continued. "I was a bit scared when they only gave us two minutes, I was hoping for a bit more, but in the end, it plays to my favour when the break has to ride hard the whole way. If we have to play games in the final, for sure I would be marked, so like this, you can just go. I've never won a sprint before, so that's kinda good.

"The Tour is the biggest goal for everyone, it's easy to say that, and I was quite sure I was going to be there, but you have to show your form. Yesterday and today I showed that, so I'd say hopefully I'm there in July."

The day was dictated by a large breakaway which formed around 90km to go from the finish, on the category-two climb of the Côte de Chougoirand, after 70km of fierce racing to get into the big move.

There were 12 riders up the road: Simmons, Sam Watson (Netcompany Ineos), Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Andreas Kron (Uno-X Mobility), Castrillo and Raúl García Pierna (Movistar), Lars Craps (Lotto Intermarché), Jordan Jegat and Vercher (both Total Energies), Jon Castellon (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), and George Bennett and Marco Frigo (both NSN Cycling).

Watson left the move after crashing heavily with 39km to go, with Bennett moving back to the peloton shortly after.

They were only allowed a maximum of around two minutes on the peloton, with teams behind hoping to control the race for a bunch sprint, chief among them Visma-Lease a Bike and Cofidis.

As the gap tumbled in the final kilometres, the chance of victory swung between the bunch and the riders up the road, with it hovering just under 10 seconds under the flamme rouge. However, due to a powerful final turn from Castrillo and some inspired sprinting, the break won the day.

Results

Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026, stage 4: Le Puy-en-Velay > Montrond-les-Bains (167.4km)

1. Quinn Simmons (USA) Lidl-Trek, in 3:34:08
2. Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
3. Mattéo Vercher (Fra) TotalEnergies
4. Marco Frigo (Ita) NSN Cycling
5. Raúl García Pierna (Esp) Movistar
6. Andreas Kron (Den) Uno-X Mobility
7. Jorgan Jegat (Fra) TotalEnergies
8. Lars Craps (Bel) Lotto Intermarché
9. Jan Castellon (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, all at same time
10. Pablo Castrillo (Esp) Movistar, +4s

General Classification after stage 4

1. Alex Beaudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, in 13:35:13
2. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Netcompany-Ineos, +12s
3. Oscar Onley (Gbr) Netcompany-Ineos, at same time
4. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +15s
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek, +47s
6. Matthias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +47s
7. Jørgen Nordhagen (Nor) Visma-Lease a Bike, +50s
8. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Netcompany-Ineos, +57s
9. Léo Bisiaux (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +59s
10. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +1:00

Chris Froome will be among 32 athletes tackling a charity ride across the Mediterranean in aid of the Princess Charlène of Monaco Foundation next week, it was announced on Wednesday.

The 41-year-old will be joined by fellow ex-WorldTour pros Jakob Fuglsang and Filippo Pozzato for Together Crossing for the Pelagos, a "sporting and charitable initiative" which will take place Friday 19 June. It consists of a crossing of the Med on special 'water bikes' from Viareggio in Italy to Monaco, a distance of 225km.

There will be eight teams with four riders on each, raising money for the Princess Charlène of Monaco Foundation and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, for "ocean awareness and protection". The 225km 'ride' will go through the Pelagos Sanctuary, a protected marine area across the French Riviera, Monaco, and the Ligurian coast, and is supported by sunglass brand Scicon Sports. The crossing also aims to raise public awareness about water safety and supports educational programmes dedicated to drowning prevention.

"By combining sport with ocean conservation, my Foundation aims, through The Crossing taking place in June, to inspire commitment, promote the protection of the Mediterranean and demonstrate that human achievement and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand," Princess Charlène said last week, according to the Monaco Tribune.

It is the latest turn for Froome, who has not raced since last August and appears to be without a team. In March, he was announced as chief innovation officer at Vekta, an AI training platform, while in April he took part in a Gran Fondo in Panama alongside Alejandro Valverde, where he recreated his famous run up Mont Ventoux in 2016.

The four-time Tour de France winner is yet to officially announce news of his future in cycling. “People will know soon enough,” he told Cyclingnews in December, but has largely remained quiet, apart from a few social media posts about skiing, basketball, and a rallying event in Monaco, close to where he lives.

"The Water Bike Crossing holds a special place in the history of Scicon Sports," Claudio Fantin, operational manager at Scicon Sports, said in a press release. "Being part of this project means returning to the origins of a journey that helped define an important part of our identity.

"We are proud to support an event that every year raises funds for educational programmes dedicated to drowning prevention and water safety. It is a message we fully share and are happy to support once again."

Olympians and former WorldTour riders are among the names on the start lists for the revived City of London Nocturne this weekend.

The criterium event, formerly known as the Smithfield Nocturne, is returning to the British racing calendar after eight years, with charity pro-am racing on Friday and elite criteriums on Saturday evening.

Named on the provisional start lists for the elite races are the current British criterium champions Cameron Mason (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Kate Richardson (Handsling Alba Road Development Team).

There are also former WorldTour riders expected to compete in Ryan Gibbons, the former South African champion who rode for UAE Team Emirates and Lidl-Trek, and Alex Dowsett, the six-time British time trial champion and two-time Giro d’Italia stage winner who retired from Israel-Premier Tech at the end of 2022.

Gibbons is down to compete in the elite race, while Dowsett will take part in Friday’s charity pro-am team relay – an event in which 20 corporate teams will race with a pro rider.

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Ed Clancy will also lead a pro-am team.

In the elite criteriums, British Olympic silver medallist Josie Knight will be part of an eight-rider DAS-Hutchinson squad in the women’s event. Likewise, Knight’s GB team-mate and recent Lincoln GP winner Ollie Wood, also an Olympic silver medallist on the track, will compete in the men’s event for Rapha Cycling Club.

The elite races at the City of London Nocturne are UCI events registered under the ‘CRTP - Pro Criterium’ classification – the same as the Tour de France Saitama and Singapore Criteriums – so do not award UCI ranking points.

Both events do, however, count towards the Rapha Super-League, a domestic points-based competition made up of eight marquee events. As such, many of Britain’s domestic teams will line up with full-strength squads.

The elite events will take place on a 1.3km closed road circuit, starting and finishing on Queen Victoria Street, near Bank Station. The women’s elite criterium will start at 8pm on 13 June, ahead of the men’s race at 9pm. Both will be broadcast live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

The full provisional start lists for the elite criteriums are below.

Women's elite criterium start list

Men's elite criterium start list

As a dedicated cycling fan, you'll know only too well that it is now 318 days since our annual dose of French mayhem that we call the Tour de France ended. The wait has been a long one. Nil desperandum though, for there are only 24 left as I write until the show blasts off again and yesterday we were afforded a teasing glimpse as to what it might look like.

The third stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes was a team time trial, exactly like we'll see in Barcelona when the Tour de France begins on 4 July, and if yesterday's event is anything to go on, we're in for an absolute treat.

Team tactics, rider hiccups, big stars and even bigger time gaps are what we're likely to be looking at when the dust settles on the stage-one razz around the Spanish city. Far from the usual week-long wait to see which GC hopeful will deign to pop their head above the Tour's parapet first, it's going to take a mere 19 blistering kilometres of breath-holding.

The jeopardy levels have been raised by ASO's new-ish team time trial format, which sees rider times all recorded individually, with the fastest rider home registering the win for their team. It was first trialled at Paris-Nice in 2023, and was used in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on to great effect.

With teams no longer hamstrung by having to wait for a certain number of riders (the time is usually taken on the fourth rider through the finish), they are now free to push on if they think it more efficacious, however many members get tailed off. This in-flight decision pressure was starkly outlined yesterday when Netcompany-Ineos GC hope Oscar Onley dropped his chain. The team waited for the young Scot, but not without much flailing of arms and, one presumes, gnashing of teeth, from his fellow GC man Kévin Vauquelin, who was frustrated by the delay.

In addition, rather than the team having to stick resolutely together all the way to the chequered flag, as the finish approaches the most spritely rider is free to blast off alone to snatch the quickest possible time.

This is exactly what happened yesterday on the 800m climb to the finish – a very similar finale to the one in Barcelona. We saw teams launch their strongest (almost universally GC) riders from the bottom of the climb, with Paul Seixas, Isaac Del Toro and, most successfully, Matteo Jorgenson of winners Visma-Lease a Bike put in all-out solo efforts to the top, while Onley and Vauquelin worked as a duo despite the earlier friction to record the second-best time. Just behind them, yellow jersey Alex B made his own heroic effort, hanging on to the race lead after a nail-biting climb to the finish which looked as though it could go either way almost to the end.

In the final count, more than a minute separated the top-10 finishers and the GC had been chipped, flicked, and volleyed into the crowd – aside from its leader it was almost unrecognisable.

Many of the usual 'best' teams were there or thereabouts, and in Barcelona we can probably expect Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard to be among the top finishers. But they're going to be relying on their teams even more than usual, and the gaps are going to open.

The team time trial, which hasn't been seen in the Tour since 2019, was always a spectacle, but it could also be rather dull, or feel like an unjust punishment for GC hopefuls with weaker teams. Refreshed and liberated in this new format, its reappearance on 4 July has the potential to be remembered as one of the most exciting stages of this year's race.

Both the road races and time trials at the 2028 Olympics are expected to end in uphill finishes.

The organisers revealed this week that both events will finish outside Los Angeles's Griffith Observatory, one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks, located on the south side of Mount Hollywood, 346m above sea level.

Although the exact route is yet to be unveiled, it is thought the events will end with a 7% incline that lasts around 2km.

The men’s and women’s road races, scheduled for 22 and 23 July, will start at Venice Beach Boardwalk, and are expected to venture into the Santa Monica Mountains, before heading to Griffith Park.

The time trials, to be held on 19 July, will begin and end in the ‘Griffith Park Zone’, with a start at LA Zoo and a finish at Griffith Observatory.

August’s Paralympic events, too, will be held in the same area of the city; the road races, time trials and mixed team relay will all start and finish at LA Zoo.

“In the Griffith Park Zone, Olympic and Paralympic champions will cross iconic finish lines set against recognizable landmarks and stunning views overlooking Los Angeles,” The LA28 organisers said in a statement.

The UCI confirmed the news on Wednesday morning, writing that the "elevated position" of Griffith Observatory "indicates that the athletes will have an uphill finish in their bid for the individual time trial and road race Olympic titles".

The full details of the courses will be published later this year.

At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the road races were held on a hilly circuit around the city’s Montmartre area, with a flat run-in to the line beneath the Eiffel Tower. Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel won the men’s race solo, while the USA’s Kristen Faulkner attacked late from a breakaway to claim the women’s gold medal.

The time trials in Paris took place on flat 32.4km courses around the city centre, and were won by Evenepoel and Australia’s Grace Brown, also beneath the Eiffel Tower.

As previously announced, the track cycling events at the LA Olympics will take place at the Carson Velodrome, BMX racing and freestyle at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, and mountain biking at the City of Industry.

Matteo Jorgenson sprinted solo through the uphill finish at Perreux to secure victory for Visma-Lease a Bike at the Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes stage three team time trial.

It saw the Dutch team place 10 seconds ahead of Netcompany-Ineos, who suffered a dropped chain with Oscar Onley that may well have proved crucial in the final reckoning.

EF Education-EasyPost were third, with their French rider Alex Beaudin clinging onto the leader's yellow jersey by 12 seconds after a gutsy solo assault on the finishing climb.

It offered a thrilling glimpse four weeks into the future, when the Tour de France kicks off in Barcelona with a stage of exactly the same format – including individual timing for each rider rather than whole teams.

Afterwards Jorgenson declared it "seven times better than winning on your own". "Because you get the moment afterwards together, which in cycling you don't often get. It's a really cool discipline," he said, "and a really nice day."

"It didn't really go as planned at all," Jorgenson said. "We lost Wout [van Aert] really early, he wasn't feeling super. And then Ben flatted and almost crashed on the main descent of the day so that was a hairy moment. I think we adapted well to the situation and we rearranged things and readjusted.

"Honestly I think the last 10K downhill we couldn't have gone any faster – Bruno [Armirail], Edo [Affini], Per [Strand Hagenes], were all incredibly strong and I was given a free ride to the last climb."

A victim of a collarbone-breaking crash at Amstel Gold in April, Jorgenson said it was great to be "back on top" and that the performance boded well for the rest of the race, which finishes on Sunday 14 June.

"It feels good to win a race. It's really nice after the spring I've had to come back and be on top again... I'm super happy to be part of this team and take this win together," he said.

How it happened

The race saw the teams compete over a hilly 28.4km (17.6 mile) course based on the town of Perreux in the Loire region. The first third of the parcours was made up of two long climbs, after which 12km of mostly downhill riding delivered the teams to the foot of a final, 800m haul up to the finish.

Jayco-AlUla set an early benchmark, breaking the 50kph barrier with their 33:46 with sprinter-rouleur Michael Matthews leading them in.

But as the later teams began to come through that time was bested, and then routed. Notable among the faster finishers as were Lidl-Trek (4th at 32s) with Juan Ayuso leading the team in alongside Matthias Skjelmose and Decathlon CMA CGM, with the closely watched Paul Seixas leading the team in solo to sixth place at 45sec.

Once Netcompany-Ineos and Visma-Lease a Bike were underway (the fourth and third-last teams respectively) it quickly became apparent that the stage win would likely come down to a battle between the pair. Netcompany-Ineos led comfortably through both time checks, only for Visma-Lease a Bike to run them close shortly afterwards.

Both teams had issues though – Visma earlier on, losing an off-colour Wout van Aert and then Ben Tulett to a puncture. Netcompany suffered a late problem when Oscar Onley derailed his chain, and the decision was made to wait – much to the chagrin of Onley's fellow GC hopeful Kévin Vauquelin, who displayed his displeasure via a series of arm-flails. It was a heaving, uphill sprint to the finish for both Netcompany and Visma, with the efforts of Onley and Vauquelin being pipped by Jorgenson for nine seconds only minutes later.

With Guillaume Martin leading Groupama-FDJ United in well down, the final effort was left to EF Education-EasyPost and their GC leader Alex Beaudin. They put in a thumping performance that was perhaps greater than the sum of their parts, but the final climb provided a nail-biting will-he, won't-he denouement as Beaudin romped away up the climb. His efforts were rewarded – he kept yellow and led the team in to a third-place finish.

Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes 2026, stage 3 TTT: Perreux-Perreux, 28.4km

(Teams with first rider/s to finish)

1. Visma-Lease a Bike (Matteo Jorgenson), 28.4km in 32.52
2. Netcompany-Ineos (Oscar Onley, Kévin Vauquelin), +9s
3. EF Education-EasyPost (Alex Beaudin), +29s
4. Lidl-Trek (Juan Ayuso, Matthias Skjelmose), +32s
5. Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe (Daniel Martínez, Maxim van Gils), +40s
6. Decathlon CMA CGM (Paul Seixas) +45s
7. Movistar (Cian Uijtdebroeks, Diego Pescador), +52s
8. Jayco-AlUla (Michael Matthews), +54s
9. UAE Team Emirates-XRG (Isaac Del Toro), +1:01
10. Bahrain Victorious (Santiago Buitrago), +1:05

General Classification after stage 3

1. Alex Beaudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, in 10:01:01
2. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Netcompany-Ineos, +12s
3. Oscar Onley (Gbr) Netcompany-Ineos, at s.t.
4. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +15s
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek, +47s
6. Matthias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +47s
7. Jørgen Nordhagen (Nor) Visma-Lease a Bike, +50s
8. Maxim van Gils (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +56s
9. Bruno Armirail (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike, +57s
10. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) Netcompany-Ineos, at s.t.

For the first time since 2019, a team time trial is back on the menu at the Tour de France this July, but now there’s a twist: times will be recorded individually, not as a team.

Anyone who has watched – or indeed competed in – any of the last four editions of Paris-Nice will already be familiar with this every-man-for-himself timing rule. ASO has been trialling it at the race since 2023, and will do so again on Tuesday afternoon on stage three of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, in what has been billed as a key dress rehearsal before the Tour de France’s opening stage in Barcelona.

So how does an individually timed team time trial work? Do the riders still race together? And is it the winning team or individual who is declared the stage winner?

Team time trials exist to test speed, unity and cohesiveness against the clock. Riders typically race in a close line, sheltering from the wind and saving the strongest riders for crucial moments.

Historically, and according to standard UCI rules, a team’s time is taken on the fourth rider across the line, with all riders granted that same time in the stage and general classifications. In recent years, however, event organisers ASO have tried to make the format more exciting at their races by introducing individual timing.

The rules in place on Tuesday’s stage three of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes dictate that each rider will receive their own individual time in the team time trial. As previous editions of Paris-Nice have shown, teams tend to treat this as a lead-out effort; many protect their leader for as long as possible, before releasing him to attack the final part of the stage.

The winner of the stage is the entire team, rather than the fastest individual. At Paris-Nice this March, for example, Kévin Vauquelin clocked the fastest time, and so his Netcompany-Ineos team were declared the stage winners.

In the general classification, it is the riders’ individual times that count. As such, riders aiming for high overall placings will try to finish as quickly as possible, while those unconcerned by the GC may drop off the back of their team’s paceline, and roll across the finish line minutes later.

There is still a time limit, however, and any riders finishing outside a generous extra 30% of the winner’s time will be eliminated from the race. At Paris-Nice, Vauquelin’s time was 26:40, meaning the time limit was 34:40, or an extra eight minutes. No rider missed the time cut.

Announcing the new format ahead of the 2023 edition Paris-Nice, ASO said: “This should force each team to adopt the best strategy to lead out their leader in the final stretch, which is not unlike team spring events on the track. The innovation should also stop a whole team sweeping the top GC standings.”

Six-time British time trial champion Alex Dowsett described the individual timing as “brilliant” at the time.

“The most efficient way of doing the race will be to have your GC guy dropped off with 500m to go," Dowsett explained. "Maybe he has taken some turns, maybe he hasn't, that depends how strong he would be, and how much energy they want to save for days to come.”

Tuesday’s team time trial at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is 28.4km long and takes place on a loop from the commune of Perreux. The stage begins at 15:05 CET (14:05 BST) and the starts are organised in ascending order according to the team classification, with the exception of the race leader’s team starting last.

The team time trial at the Tour de France will be shorter, at 19.6km, and will open the race on the first day in Barcelona. The race’s first yellow jersey will go to the individual rider with the fastest time on the stage.

Danish rider Anthon Charmig escaped to victory on stage two of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes after spending his day in the break.

The Uno-X Mobility rider proved himself best of a 10-man breakaway, which had led the peloton with a gap of over 5 minutes for the majority of the day, taking only his second ever pro win (the last one coming four years ago), and his first victory on European soil.

"For me, I don't get too many chances," the delighted Dane told reporters. "It's an incredible feeling! I'm so happy to be here."

"I think the whole team has really stepped up. The atmosphere in the team is really good. We have so much fun together. I have come straight from four weeks at altitude with the team, and we had a really good time. For motivation, it's the perfect environment, and it shows in the results."

Charmig got away from the lead pack after the final climb, the Côte de Saint-Vidal, and just kept increasing his lead, chased by Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Picnic PostNL), Vlad Van Mechelen (Bahrain Victorious) Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama - FDJ United) and Raúl García Pierna (Movistar). Renard-Haquin finished second, ahead of Van Mechelen.

Frenchman Alex Baudin finished 59th but retains his lead in the general classification, after an impressive victory in the opening stage yesterday, having been well looked after by EF Education-EasyPost teammates Ben Healy and Sean Quinn throughout the day. Local lad Clément Braz Afonso deprived him of the polka-dot King of the Mountains jersey, however, with an impressively powerful performance on the final two climbs of the day.

The rider everyone is watching this summer, Decathlon's Paul Seixas, rode a measured race, the French teenager finishing safely in the peloton in 30th place for the stage to move into 15th spot in the GC. Britain's Ben Tullett (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) moved up to fifth and eighth in the GC respectively.

Much less positive news about João Almeida, with the UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider dropping out the back of the peloton, clearly still suffering the effects of the illness that put him out of the Giro, with an appearance at the Tour de France looking increasing unlikely

How it happened

Today's 234.3km route from Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux to Le Puy-en-Velay was the longest stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné, now known as the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, for over 20 years, and there will be some sore legs for the team time trial tomorrow, especially among the 10 riders who broke away from the peloton early on.

Afonso (Groupama - FDJ United) pushed particularly hard in the final 35km, riding hard over the penultimate peak, the category-2 climb of Côte des Baraques (4.2km at 6.6%), with fellow Frenchman Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché). Afonso was first over the summit, securing five points and putting himself in pole position for the polkadot jersey, which he subsequently secured.

By the time the breakaway reached the top of the final climb of the day, however, the rearing summit of Côte de Saint-Vidal (which has a gradient of 14% at its apex), Anthon Charmig was preparing to make a move. The Dane seized his chance during the descent, and soon established a commanding lead. With just 5km to go to the finish line, and the terrain flattening out, his lead went out to 30 seconds over the five remaining chasers, and he made the win look easy in the end.

Meanwhile, back in the peloton, EF Education-EasyPost were busy trying to keep control of the GC after the team's first ever win in this race yesterday. Netcompany Ineos started putting the pressure on during final climb, but Healy and Quinn held them off, and Alex Baudin retains the yellow jersey for another day in the alps where he was born.

Results

Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes stage two: Vizille > Saint-Ismier (146.2km)

1. Anthon Charmig (Den) Uno-X Mobility 5:40:29

2. Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Frais) Picnic PostNL 0.:41

3. Vlad Van Mechelen (Bel) Bahrain - Victorious "

4. Raúl García Pierna (Spa) Movistar 0:43

5. Clément Braz Afonso (Fra) Groupama - FDJ United 0:44

6. Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Cofidis 1:56

7. Jordan Jegat (Fra) TotalEnergies 1:59

8. Nadav Raisberg (Isr) NSN Cycling 2:10

9. Finn Fisher-Black (NZ) Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 3:13

10. Maxim Van Gils (NZ) Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe "

General Classification after stage two

1. Alex Baudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost in 9:27:40

2. Ramses Debruyne (Bel) Alpecin-Premier Tech, +32

3. Kevin Vermaerke (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG "

4. Léo Bisiaux (Fra) Decathlon-CMA CGM "

5. Ben Tullett (GBr) Visma-Lease a Bike "

6. Luke Tuckwell (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe "

7. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Netcompany-Ineos "

8. Oscar Onley (GBr) Netcompany-Ineos "

9. Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United "

10. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco-AlUla "

For an amateur club like Foran CT, winning a round of the National Road Series – the UK’s flagship racing calendar – can stand as the holy grail. Now it’s a reality, thanks to Danylo Riwnyj’s inspired solo victory at the Tour of the Reservoir.

The 27-year-old basked in a wind-afflicted race on Sunday afternoon, attacking on the last of three laps, with 14km to go, to take a momentous victory for his team.

“Everyone was ecstatic,” Riwnyj said of the aftermath. “The team owner, Tom Quaid, was just over the moon. Last year, the whole plan for the team was to try to win at least one. We kept sending team after team to these races, and just couldn’t get the result.

“This year, we went to Lincoln GP and it was a really close one [Foran’s Oliver Hucks finished 9th, 21 seconds down]. This is definitely the team’s best result in the UK.”

Founded in 2018 in south-west London, Foran is a fully amateur project, sponsored by its namesake construction company that also lends vans, used mid-week on building sites, to the squad to travel to races.

“The idea of the team was just to have fun with a group of lads that were all local to each other,” Riwnyj said. “The results are showing that we’re actually capable of a bit more than just turning up to races. Now we’re in the front, and winning them as well.”

At the Tour of the Reservoir on Sunday, Riwnyj led a four-rider move on the final lap. The race, to that point, had been characterised by “chaotic attacks”, which the Foran rider followed closely, before breaking free to win by 54 seconds.

“It was in my favour towards the end because the final 8km was a tailwind,” he said. “I just used that to my advantage and rode away from them.”

There have been no British men’s UCI Continental teams in the National Road Series since the collapse of Saint Piran at the end of 2024. The circuit is today made up of lower-level elite development teams and amateur clubs like Foran, a field that Riwnyj feels has intensified the racing.

“There’s so much good talent in the UK scene, so many individuals, and it makes it more exciting because there’s so much fire in it,” he said. “In a way, it’s harder [without Continental teams]: the lack of control makes the racing a lot more attritional. It’s definitely survival of the fittest.”

Born in London with Ukrainian roots, Riwnyj began cycling during Covid, around four years ago. He now balances racing with a part-time job as a sales advisor at Sigma Sports, and this year also won the Wally Gimber Trophy and five-stage Rás Mumhan in Ireland. “I’d say the harder the race, the better it is for me,” he said.

The Foran rider's next goal will be the British Road Championships, scheduled for 28 June in Ceredigion, Wales. Last year, Riwnyj finished 18th, as one of only two amateur club cyclists in a WorldTour-stacked top-20.

“I want to come back and prove that it wasn’t just a miracle last year, maybe do one even better,” he said. “Nationals is always the biggest calendar date for us amateurs.”

Another holy grail, perhaps, might not be so far away.