Domination, it seems, is not to everyone’s taste.

On stage 10 of the Tour de France in the Massif Central, the victor was once again Tadej Pogačar, his third triumph in the 2026 edition extending his lead in the GC to 3:36 to Jonas Vingegaard. He has never had such a comfortable lead at this stage of the race.

The tens of thousands of fans by the roadside on Bastille Day, however, were not united in joy in seeing another Pogačar win.

Speaking after the stage – his 24th victory in the Tour – Pogačar revealed that he had been the subject of booing from some spectators, though he didn’t specify how frequent it was.

What the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider did reveal was that negative comments directed towards him only serve as inspiration.

“For sure I have haters and haters gonna hate,” Pogačar said, sounding somewhat like the rapper Eminem whose short cut bleached blonde hair he has mimicked.

“To all the booers who are out there, they just give more boost to my teammates. They put wood on the fire.”

Though Pogačar has never been the subject of a vitriolic, toxic atmosphere in the same way Team Sky and Chris Froome were in the mid-2010s, neither was it the first time that fans have expressed their disapproval with Pogačar’s stranglehold on the sport.

“In this scenario, when someone is booing me or anyone… I always think about tennis and Novak Djokovic and the great mentality he has,” Pogačar continued. “He has had one of the toughest careers [with] getting boos and unnecessary hate.

“He is the greatest and I always look up to Novak Djokovic when someone is booing and think about him.”

Despite experiencing some unpleasant reactions from fans, Pogačar was keen to point out that cycling is not as tribal as other sports. “For example, in tennis or in football there is much more booing and people go against one player or one team because it’s one against one and it’s 50-50,” he said.

“I also need to say that in cycling there isn’t so much booing. 99% of people are cheering for everybody. I think cycling fans are the greatest among all sports so we should be happy and grateful for all fans.”

With regards to the race at large, Pogačar looks to have a near unassailable lead in the yellow jersey, with only illness or a crash likely to prevent him from winning a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey.

He has made a mockery of pre-race anticipation that longtime rival Vingegaard would be able to mount a credible challenge to the maillot jaune this July.

“I cannot say anything about the form of my competitors – I can just say that mine is really good,” Pogačar said.

“I think so far the Tour has been laid out really good for our capabilities as a team. With me and Isaac [del Toro] together, it was to our advantage in the first 10 days.

“Now we will see when the big mountains come like Alpe d’Huez [on stages 19 and 20] and the Markstein [on stage 14], as they’re really pure climbing days.

“I hope my form will also be good for these kinds of days, but for sure the competitors will also be ready for the big mountains.

“I need to be really focused and not get too ahead of myself, to keep calm and think about anything that can happen. In one day you can easily lose 30 minutes. I need to keep doing what I can and as a team we will see how things develop during the Tour. I hope it stays like this.”

Tadej Pogačar stormed to victory on stage six of the 2026 Tour de France, ripping up the general classification in the process, and taking back the yellow jersey on Thursday.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider flew away on the Col du Tourmalet, 43km from the finish, and put over two minutes into his closest rival, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), by the finish. It is his 23rd stage win at the race, and second of this Tour already.

Pogačar won the Souvenir Jacques Goddet over the top of the Tourmalet, with just 30 seconds on Vingegaard, but pushed on down the descent and on the final climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre. Meanwhile, previous yellow jersey Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) crashed after losing time, ending his time in the race lead. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) finished third.

Del Toro was part of a chase group including the other main favourites, like Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), which finished 2:57 behind the winner.

Pogačar now leads the race by 2:42 over Vingegaard, just six days into this Tour.

"I think top five, I would say," the world champion said when asked where he would rank this win. "I got flashbacks to the stage with the Tourmalet in 2023 when I broke my hand. I got a lot of flashbacks, it was a similar finish. It was a really incredible victory, one of the sweetest for sure.

"Yesterday on the bus when we were coming from the stage with the guys, there was a lot of hype already talking about today’s stage," he continued. "Today I woke up at 7 and my mind was going crazy already, I was really excited for today. All the guys were really hyped, so I knew it was going to be a good day. We just committed, we were going like nothing to lose, if we explode we explode. In the end, we succeeded and I’m super proud of everyone today, it was crazy teamwork."

As for whether he planned to decimate the race, he said: "In my mind I left everything to coincidence. Whatever happens happens, I was not calculating minutes or seconds, I just wanted to go all the way to the finish full gas.

"I think I would not take the yellow jersey today, because Torstein crashed on the Tourmalet. It’s a shit downhill, really dangerous if you miss a corner. I hope he’s ok. I would still prefer if he would keep the jersey today, so I hope he recovers fast and can continue racing."

The day's early break began with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) surging up the road in search of points, follows Huub Artz (Lotto Intermarché) and Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike).

The only notable thing to happen early on was Artz being pulled up by the race jury over his position on his handlebars, which ended up with the Belgian dropping out of the break.

With 135km to go, the bunch split up on the Côte de Loucrup, the first classified climb of the day. Visma-Lease a Bike applied a lot of pressure to the front of the peloton, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) briefly looking isolated.

Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was briefly distanced after he stopped for a nature break, and the peloton pressed on.

Once Pedersen won the intermediate sprint, he sat up and was caught with 123km to go. Immediately, the action to try and get into the day’s next break began, especially at the race headed onto the Côte de Mauvezin. However, with a lot of action at the front of the peloton, it proved difficult to establish anything significant. Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Xabier Mikel Azparren (Pinarello Q36.5) headed up the road, before O’Connor forged on alone.

The Australian built up a lead of over a minute approaching the Col d’Aspin, the opening first-category climb of the race. On the Aspin, UAE Team Emirates-XRG took to the front of the peloton, and O’Connor was caught with 73km to go.

Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) won the KOM sprint at the top of the Aspin, ahead of Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step). On the next climb, the hors categorie Col du Tourmalet, the front of the race got dramatically smaller. Among those dropped under pressure from UAE was Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility), the yellow jersey, who was dropped. Next to go was Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5).

Just 14 riders remained in the front group with 5.5km to go on the Tourmalet, three UAE riders including Isaac del Toro and Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelsmose (Lidl-Trek), Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Martinez, Egan Bernal (Netcompany-Ineos) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility).

Yates dropped back, then Del Toro took over. The UAE pair moved clear, shadowed by Vingegaard, Lipowitz and Seixas, with Evenepoel further back. Pogačar pressed on alone 4.1km from the top, as Vingegaard, followed by Lipowitz and then Del Toro, sought to fight back.

Over the top of the Tourmalet, Pogačar had half a minute on Vingegaard, a gap which only extended on the descent. Meanwhile, Træen was over seven minutes back, looking like he was heading out of the yellow jersey. A crash on the descent then fully ended his yellow dream.

The chase group including Seixas, Lipowtiz, Evenepoel and others swelled with just over 27km to go. On the final climb of the day, Pogačar’s lead to Vingegaard ballooned to over 90 seconds, with the group of other chasers another 40 seconds behind.

Results

Tour de France 2026 stage six: Pau > Gavarnie-Gèdre (186.2km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 4:32:07
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:38
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +2:57
4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
5. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
7. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, all at same time
9. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +3:02
10. Sepp Kuss (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:06

General classification after stage six

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 21:11:57
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:42
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +3:27
4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:30
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +3:34
6. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +3:55
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:00
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +4:21
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+4:57
10. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek, +7:10

Tadej Pogačar crossed the Col du Tourmalet first on stage six of the 2026 Tour de France to win the Souvenir Jacques Goddet.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider pushed on alone 4.1km from the top of the hors categorie climb on Thursday, after initially attacking with his teammate Isaac del Toro.

Pogačar was chased by his rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) over the top of the Pyrenean climb, but he had an advantage of around 30 seconds by the time the Tourmalet was summited. He also had almost a minute and a half on a group containing Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)

The award is given yearly for the rider to reach the top of the Tourmalet first, along with a €5,000 cash prize, and 20 points in the mountains competition. It's the first time Pogačar has won the prize, although the Slovenian has won three stages which have included the climb.

Interestingly, the prize has never been won by a rider who has gone on to win the race, showing how remarkable Pogačar's attack on the climb was.

On Thursday, with the Tourmalet 38.5km from the finish, Pogačar looked in an excellent position to win stage six, which would be his second of the race. With yellow jersey Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) over seven minutes behind the leader on the road, it also looked like the Slovenian was heading into yellow.

This early in the race, it looked like he was putting his stamp on proceedings, with 15 stages still to come. The second-category climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre (18.7km at 3.7%) was still to come after the Tourmalet.

More to follow...

How many Tour de France stages do you think Tadej Pogačar will win this edition? Before this year, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had won 21 times across six races, so an average of 3.5 stages per race, or a win every six days, if you prefer that metric. For context, Marcel Kittel won 14 stages in six Tours, 2.3 a race, or a win every seven days, in total. Kittel was a dominant sprinter, while Pogačar is a general classification rider.

After three stages of the 2026 Tour de France, Pogačar has already won a 22nd stage, putting him just 13 behind the record held by Mark Cavendish. Feasibly, the Slovenian could win another five stages; even when he finished second at the 2023 race, he won two. That doesn’t leave many opportunities for other teams.

Stage two was won by his teammate, Isaac del Toro, while stage one’s team time trial was won by Visma-Lease a Bike. There are now 18 more days for teams to make an impact; if we imagine that at least a few of the days in the big mountains are destined for GC riders, and there will be a handful of days which end in bunch sprints, then it doesn’t leave a lot for everyone else.

Spare a thought for the 18 riders who fought hard to make the breakaway on stage three. Given their size, how early it was in the race, and how there were unlikely to be huge gaps at the finish line, they would have all been hoping that they would have some leeway to compete for the stage win. Getting in a break is not something that happens by accident, but after a lot of effort, positioning, and skill, so for it all to be for nothing must have been dispiriting.

UAE did not need to pull them back on Monday; the race was not on the line, there is lots of road to win the yellow jersey on. As soon as Tuesday morning, there was speculation that Pogačar might be looking to give the jersey back away, so they don’t have to control the race for basically three weeks. Therefore, stage three was just a show of strength, a point proven, the Slovenian and his team showing that they can do what they want.

The Tour’s organisers, ASO, probably loved the opening stages, the big names in the distinctive jerseys, a GC battle which, for now, has the illusion of being close, due to there not being incredibly selective climbs. For the casual fan, I suppose it’s nice to see the big names doing it all.

However, I long for some novelty, for not complete domination, for teams not called UAE, or Visma to a lesser extent, to dictate the race, and to allow other story lines to grow. Perhaps this will happen on stage four, and there are still a lot of stages left, I just fear another Tour de Pog. At least wait until the Vosges, please. By the way, I think Pogačar has four more stages in him this year; any advance?

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.

Tadej Pogačar sprang to victory on stage three of the Tour de France on Monday, taking the yellow jersey in the process.

Launched across the finish line by his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate, and yesterday’s stage winner Isaac del Toro, Pogačar took an impressive win on the ascent to Les Angles, securing a two-second gap over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) The two GC rivals are now level, but as a result of count back, Pogačar now has the race lead and the maillot jaune.

Richard Carapaz took third place on a day when his EF Education–EasyPost teammate Alex Baudin led a spirited breakaway and took the KOM jersey.

During his post-ride interview, Pogačar was effusively complimentary about Del Toro, who put another massively impressive ride on a tough, long, hot and hilly stage.

"It’s because of him, it’s because of Isaac today, I got some extra power I think in the final," said the Slovenia. "He committed more than 100% in the final climb, all the team actually. In the middle of the stage we decided that it’s possible to go for the stage win, and I’m really happy that we start the Tour like this. An incredible finish today.

"If we can win like we won today, and the team feels super good, then we have to take the opportunity. We tried, we gave it all, and we won.

"To take the yellow jersey is a dream for any cyclist, of any age. For me, I don’t know which time already, but every time I can get it is really special. I don’t know for how long this will last, but we try to enjoy every moment."

On a day when most people expected a breakaway to prevail, it came down instead to a battle between the GC contenders during the final 10km, with very few spectators as the stage finished in France, but in an 'exceptional format', due to soaring heat and the heightened risk of wildfires.

The second-longest stage of this year's Tour had a tough and challenging parkour – not a mountain stage, but relentlessly lumpy, with lots of long climbs and a total of 3940 metres of altitude gain across the day, including an uphill finish.

The first third of the stage was ridden at a frenetic pace, with average speeds of 43km per hour despite the lumpy terrain and temperatures in the mid to late 30 degrees celsius. An early crash on the first climb took down multiple riders and left Bruno Armirail (Visma-Lease-a-bike) with a visibly injured right knee and a broken shoe.

With 125km to go, after one-and-a-half hours of relentless riding, the race seemed to settle and then 19 riders made a move. Of this group, Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) was best placed, with decent position in the GC and a vaguely realistic chance of moving into yellow if he could get the right support from riders around him.

Visma-Lease a Bike appeared almost content to let go of the yellow jersey for a stage and sat back, and UAE Team Emirates-XRG soon capitalised, significantly stepping up the pace and chasing the advance group down. The breakaway failed to establish enough of a gap and it was soon whittled down to six riders, with Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon CMA CGM), Vlad Van Mechelen (Bahrain Victorious), George Bennett (NSN Cycling), Raúl García Pierna (Movistar) and Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies) hanging in with Baudin.

Baudin mounted an attack during the second-last climb of day – the relatively gentle, but long, ascent of the Col du Calvaire, and fellow Frenchman Nicolas Prodhomme stuck with him. Baudin took the points at the top of the climb, and with it the KOM jersey, and stayed doggedly ahead of the peloton until 11.5km to go, but the UAE-led peloton was always going to reel him in.

This set the scene for an exciting finish, with all the GC contenders in the mix as the pack entered the final kilometre. Having seized control of the race, UAE Team Emirates-XRG were in a commanding position, and Del Toro launched Pogačar into the pole spot with 500 metres to go.

Results

Tour de France stage three: Granollers › Les Angles (195.9km)

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 4:45:11
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2s
3. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost
4. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, both at same time
5. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +4s
6. Lennert Van Eeetvelt (Bel) Lotto Intermarché
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
8. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
9. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
10. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, all at same time

General classification after stage three

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 8:46:55
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, at same time
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +23s
4. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +24s
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +27s
6. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +48s
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +53s
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +1:09
9. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility, +1:11
10. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:17

Defending Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar goes into Stage 1's 19.6km team time trial on a new Colnago time trial bike, code-named the TT2. The Slovenian was spotted using it during the Tour de Romandie prologue in April already - no doubt a move to get some race-effort miles on it in preparations for July.

According to Colnago, complete bikes, including a solid-disc rear, can be built to the UCI weight limit of 6.8kg, which is an incredible feat. The TT2 is some 580g lighter than the model it replaces, with savings said to come from across the bike to improve stability and weight distribution and to aid performance on modern WorldTour TT courses and uphill finishes. Of course, it's faster, too, thanks to a new-fangled front end with a conventional steerer (no bayonet here) that is claimed to save 2 watts over the TT1 and cull weight.

The new bike is also bang-on trend to accommodate wider tyre clearances – up from 28mm to 30mm. Based on what we examined, that might be considered overkill, as Tadej's bike was fitted with 25mm Continental GP5000 TT TR tyres.

The bike is built with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 components and adorned with Carbon-Ti trim here and there. Up front is a one-by-specific 64T Carbon-Ti chainring with an 11-30T cassette out back, driven by 160mm cranks – a balanced gearing configuration for the flats but something that will pose a notable challenge for the double-kick ascent up Montjuïc hill to the Olympic Stadium.

Despite the narrow-wide profiling of the Carbon-Ti chainring, Pogačar is using a UAE-branded K-Edge chainkeeper to ensure retention across all terrain types.

An interesting move was the fitment of 25mm Continental GP5000 TT TR tyres – the narrowest size we've seen across all the teams we visited at the Grand Depart weekend in Barcelona. Despite the 22mm internal rim width of the Enve SES Pro wheels, the tyres will - at the most - inflate to between 26-27mm, which suggests it's been employed as an aerodynamic move. UAE Team Emirates-XRG have also been running 28mm tyres on their Colnago Y1Rs and V5Rs road bikes, again an aerodynamic ploy, according to the mechanics.

Pog's Colnago TT2 rolls on a pair of Enve SES Pro wheels with a 100mm depth up front and a solid disc at the rear.

The touchpoints come compliments of Enve and Fizik. The Slovenian's cockpit is a custom one-piece Enve solution that mounts directly to the basebar via dual risers. For extra support, there's a bridge near the top that doubles as a Wahoo computer mount.

After parting ways with Prologo at the end of the 2024 season, UAE Team Emirates-XRG are now using Fizik saddles, with Tadej opting for the 192g 3D-printed Aeris 1.0 TT model.

We spotted some interesting hacks on the Colnago TT2. For hand retention during cornering, the base bar has grip tape mounted over a layer of black electrical tape – not the prettiest solution, but these rudimentary solutions have become part of the discipline.

Closer examination of the front end reveals an extra shifter button that has been hot-glued onto the Dura-Ace Di2 ST-R9180 STI TT brake levers. Given that these levers already have a remote shifter button, the extra shifter offers an alternative for shifting with the index finger rather than the thumb.

Other details worth noting are the gold Bikone ceramic bottom bracket, gold Carbon-Ti UDH-compatible dropout and axles, 140mm front/rear disc rotors, and Shimano Dura-Ace pedals. Sadly, no baby Hulk sticker was to be found.

Colnago TT2 bike specs

• Frameset: Colnago Carbon monocoque
• Fork: Colnago Carbon fork with 25mm steerer
• Cockpit: Custom Enve bar and extensions
• Seatpost: Colnago Aero
• Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2: 64T, 11-30T
• Wheelset: Enve SES Pro front, SES Disc Pro rear
• Tyres: Continental GP5000 TT TR 25mm
• Saddle: Fizik Aeris 1.0 TT

Brimming with energy and sporting a blonde-dyed buzzcut that will put paid to any ideas of tufty hair protruding from helmet vents, Tadej Pogačar addressed a packed Tour de France press room in Barcelona for a look ahead to the race.

Last in a series of big GC players to subject themselves to media questioning in the sumptuous surrounds of the city's Recinto Modernista, with the Sagrada Familia looking on just a block away, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had his 'Pogačar' dialled up to 11 as he began by offering his smiley thanks to the media for turning up, flanked by team-mate Isaac Del Toro.

The questions went this way and that, with those asking them perhaps aware that the usual 'what are your hopes for the race?' and 'how's your form?' were somewhat redundant ('winning' and 'pretty amazing, thanks', presumably being the answers).

Asked about his rivals and in particular Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Pogačar took the first of more than one opportunity to big up the young team-mate sitting beside him.

"I don't think [Vingegaard] is the only one that can come close. I think there's quite a few guys here that could push for the victory – this guy next to me…" he said, nodding towards a slightly embarrassed looking Del Toro.

"But competition between me and Jonas the last four years was spectacular, I would say. I think we push further to new heights every year," he said.

A certain amount was also made of his scant 2026 racing calendar – he has only raced 16 days up to now, but he said he was feeling, "pretty good. Only 16 days of racing, but the training kilometres also count, and there's been a lot."

Was racing fewer days helping him to enjoy it more, he was asked.

"I've enjoyed racing all my lifetime," he responded, batting the question away, "but I must say that maybe I even enjoy it more every year because I've stayed in the same team with the same riders and people around me, so every race I feel like I look forward to coming back with the teammates and staff. The race is also there, but mainly I enjoy just seeing the team and being around the guys."

The 27-year-old, who is gunning for a landmark fifth Tour de France win this year, was asked, too, about his pro cyclist girlfriend Urška Žigart, who broke her jaw in a crash in the recent Tour de Suisse. "Thank you for the thought," he offered, before explaining that she was healing fast and already riding outside, even if the doctors had advised against it. And he addressed, too, the €100,000 he donated to his home village of Komenda, which was hit by a storm last month, with roofs ripped off houses. "I think it's quite important to have a roof over your head," he said. "While I was growing up in Komenda, for me everything was perfect, all the neighbours, all the people there… It's my time to give back."

The Tour de France begins on Saturday with a team time trial, around a city that is already thrumming to the beat of the race, dripping in Tour de France Yellow. Pogačar will hope to be sporting that yellow too come Saturday night, and he left no doubt as to how much he was looking forward to it, giving local journalists the top line they had perhaps turned up for.

"I really like Barcelona. It's one of the coolest cities ever," he gushed, before quipping, "It would be better to be here for vacation. But yeah, I'm really looking forward to the Grand Départ here, and really excited to race around here and similar roads as in [the Volta a] Catalunya. I think we are in the same hotel as we were on stage one in Catalunya, so it's quite familiar."

And Pogačar in the race lead on Saturday? That might be more familiar still.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG have announced the seven riders that will support Tadej Pogačar as he defends his title at this year's Tour de France.

Isaac del Toro, Felix Großschartner, Brandon McNulty, Nils Politt, Florian Vermeersch, Tim Wellens, and Adam Yates will all join the Slovenian at the race, which begins this Saturday 4 July in Barcelona, Spain.

If Pogačar wins the yellow jersey, he will equal the all-time record, and join an exclusive club of five-time winners, alongside Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Induráin.

"The Tour de France is always the biggest challenge of the season and also the race that motivates us the most," Pogačar said in a statement. "Every year, you arrive at the start knowing that anything can happen over three weeks, and that’s what makes it so special.

"We’ve prepared really well as a team, everyone has worked incredibly hard, and now we’re excited to finally get started in Barcelona.

"I feel good, I’m looking forward to racing, and I know I’ll have a fantastic group of teammates and staff around me. We have a lot of confidence in each other and have built up a lot of experience together over the years."

Pogačar has never finished lower than second in six previous participations at the Tour. He won on debut in 2020, aged 21, when he dramatically overturned the GC in a penultimate day time trial to La Planche des Belles Filles.

The 27-year-old then went on to win in 2021, 2024 and 2025, finishing second to Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in 2022 and 2023.

Del Toro is the only debutant in UAE Team Emirates-XRG's squad for this July's edition. The 22-year-old Mexican placed second on debut at the Giro d'Italia last season, winning 18 times throughout the year.

This season, both Del Toro and Pogačar have topped the GC at every stage race they have finished; Del Toro won the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, while Pogačar won the Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Suisse.

"From a training perspective, I would say I'm stronger," Pogačar said of his form a week ago at the Tour de Suisse, speaking to L'Équipe.

Although the world champion has only completed 16 race days in 2026 so far, he has enjoyed one of his most successful season starts to date, winning three Monuments in Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The Tour de France opens with a team time trial in Barcelona on 4 July.

Looking ahead to the race, Pogačar said: "There will be strong rivals, difficult stages and many other unpredictable moments, but we’re ready to give everything."

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.

Jhonatan Narváez sprinted to victory on stage four of the Giro d'Italia from a reduced group in Cosenza on Tuesday, as Giulio Ciccone secured the pink jersey.

Narváez of UAE Team Emirates-XRG had the speed on the run-in to beat Orluis Aular (Movistar), as Lidl-Trek's Ciccone finished third and moved into the race lead because of bonus seconds.

Aular went off early, with 350m to go, giving Narváez the time to round him and win by a clear bike length on the line.

It marked a turnaround for UAE's fortunes in the Giro, coming days after they lost three riders in a mass crash on stage 2, including their GC hopeful Adam Yates.

There were still around 40 riders in the peloton come the finish, but that number had been thinned down brutally by the category-two climb of Cozzo Tunno, peaking around 45km from the finish, meaning none of the top-rate sprinters were able to contest victory.

It was Narváez's third stage victory at the Giro, and came months after he was seriously injured at the Tour Down Under, where he broke vertebrae.

"It's really big for me, this victory here, coming from three months training in Ecuador," Narváez said on TV post-race. "I want to send thank to my family, my wife, my team, they have been a great support this time. Obviously, this victory is also for my team-mates, they crashed on stage two, they've been working for a while to come here in good condition, and finally we take the victory today, but we were good on stage two too. I think we are happy now.

"Jan [Christen] is a great guy, he was trying to take the maglia rosa," he said of his team-mate, who sprinted to the Red Bull KM bonus seconds, and also launched a flier in the last couple of kilometres which came to nothing, but set his team-mate up. "He's a young guy, he needs to learn how to race. He did a great final, and in the end for me, it was just waiting for the sprint.

"I knew they [Movistar] worked so hard in the climb, also Ciccone was there. I think I took a really good corner, 700m to go, and in the end had the legs in the last straight."

The key point of the stage was the Cozzo Tunno climb, 14.4km at 5.9%, where Movistar put the pace on to distance all the pure sprinters in order to set themselves up best for the stage win. Among those dropped were pink jersey Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana), and winner of two stages already Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step).

Most of the riders aiming for general classification survived without worry, apart from Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) who dropped off the back of the peloton on the second-category climb. He made it back in before the finish, but his performance will give some pause for thought ahead of more significant climbing stages.

Results

Giro d'Italia 2026 stage four: Catanzaro > Cosenza (138km)

1. Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:08:46
2. Orluis Aular (Ven) Movistar
3. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek
4. Ben Turner (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
5. Alessandro Pinarello (Ita) NSN Cycling
6. Afonso Eulálio (Por) Bahrain Victorious
7. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Bel) Lotto Intermarché
8. Diego Ulissi (Ita) XDS Astana
9. Andrea Raccagni Noviero (Ita) Soudal Quick-Step
10. Michael Valgren (Den) EF Education-EasyPost, all at same time

General classification after stage four

1. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, in 16:18:51
2. Jan Christen (Sui) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +4s
3. Florian Stork (Ger) Tudor
4. Egan Bernal (Col) Netcompany-Ineos, both at same time
5. Thymen Arensmen (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, +6s
6. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, at same time
7. Lennert van Eetvelt (Bel) Lotto Intermarché, +10s
8. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar
9. Markel Beloki (Esp) EF Education-EasyPost
10. Jan Hirt (Cze) NSN Cycling, all at same time

Tadej Pogačar proved that he can just about win in any situation on Thursday as he won stage two of the Tour of Romandie in a reduced bunch sprint.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider was part of a significant 32-rider group which made it to the finish after a lumpy stage and timed his sprint to perfection to beat Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers). Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) finished third.

He had survived as riders put in attacks on the final climb, including from Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

It was the second victory in a row for Pogačar, who extended his lead in the yellow jersey as a result. Three stages remain of the race, with the odds of the Slovenian winning every stage now shortened. While Pogačar winning a sprint seems remarkable, it was a front group made up of mostly climbers, in a race almost without any sprinters of not, apart from Godon, who was beaten into second.

"We knew the final lap, we did it three times, and I knew the sprint was going to be tough because of the climbs before," Pogačar said on TV post-stage. "It was indeed, a super-fast climb with a tailwind. The sprint was pretty much headwind and quite downhill, so you couldn't be too much in front. I was, the last corner, too much in front, and suddenly some guys came, and they were too early, and that was an advantage for me."

Asked if the final climb of Vuillens, which they had ascended thrice, was decisive, he said: "To make the difference in time gaps no, but it makes the difference in the legs. If you go over the limit then for sure it's hard to do a good sprint. Luckily for me it was under control and I could still do a good sprint."

João Almeida will not take part in the Giro d'Italia, it was revealed on Monday morning, after suffering from illness in the build-up.

After it was reported in the Portuguese press on Sunday, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider posted the news on Instagram on Monday. He was one of the top favourites for the race, alongside Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).

Later on Monday morning, it was also revealed that Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) would also not start, due to a small pelvic fracture.

"Unfortunately I won’t be at the start of the Giro d’Italia next month as planned," Almeida wrote.

"Sickness in the past months has affected my preparations too much and has meant I just won’t quite be ready in time which is a shame as it’s a race I love so much.

"After talking it through with the team we decided it was best to take a rest period and switch focus to new goals later in the season."

"We haven’t set out those new goals yet but that will be done calmly in the next few weeks…" he continued. "For now it’s time to first rest-up a bit and build things back up slowly.

"Best of luck to the guys for the Giro, will be cheering from home."

Almeida finished second at the Vuelta a España behind Vingegaard last season, after winning three WorldTour stage races. 2026 began well, with podiums overall at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana and the Volta ao Algarve.

However, 38th at the Volta a Catalunya hinted at bigger problems, and Almeida suggested he would undergo tests to figure out the problem. "I just need to rest a bit and maybe see what’s wrong with me," he said then.

In his stead, UAE will likely line-up with Jay Vine and Adam Yates as leaders at the Giro, two riders with Grand Tour stage wins and podiums in their lockers.

In a press release from Soudal Quick-Step, Landa said: "I am obviously disappointed, as I had worked hard to come back from a difficult winter and was starting to feel good again in Itzulia. I had been experiencing some discomfort, but the type of fracture made it difficult to fully identify at first. Now that we have clarity, I can focus fully on my recovery.

"It’s a shame to miss the Giro d’Italia, especially as I was motivated to return after last year. But the priority now is to get healthy again and rebuild my condition, and then we will look ahead to new goals later in the season."

"The cobbles, the stress on the body, it’s definitely one of the roughest, toughest, hardest races I’ve done. I think I gained some experience that maybe next time that I come here it will not be so extremely hard as it was today."

Almost 365 days ago, that was Tadej Pogačar's verdict after his debut Paris-Roubaix, where he finished second, looking as exhausted as I have ever seen him after a race. It wasn't the buoyant, jokey man we have all become used to, but someone who had been put through the wringer.

He finished second that day, behind Mathieu van der Poel, after a performance which belied any kind of conception of what we thought about the 'Hell of the North'. We might have expected the supreme race-craft, the positioning and the power, but this was a Tour de France winner, a climber, going toe-to-toe with Van der Poel, without any experience of the race. He did crash, possibly showing his naivety, but he still finished second, beating Classics specialists like Mads Pedersen and Wout van Aert.

Last year it felt like an adventure, almost a free hit – we didn't know what to expect, so second place was huge, a confirmation that yes, the Slovenian could do something not seen since 1981, and win both the Tour and Roubaix.

This year is different. There is pressure on the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider, because we all know he could win. Forget question marks over his knowledge of the race, over whether he's heavy enough to perform on the pavé or whether a general classification rider could look at home in the biggest Classic of them all.

It is now a serious possibility, maybe even 50:50, that Pogačar will win Paris-Roubaix. He is no longer a wildcard, an outsider, and could become the first person since Roger De Vlaeminck in 1977 to win all five Monuments, and become the first person ever to be the champion of all five at the same time. Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia last year, Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders in 2026. There is only one left. I will not be surprised if he wins. That would have once sounded ridiculous, but no more.

The 27-year-old goes into almost every race as the favourite, so this is nothing new for him, but it will change the perception of the race. His rivals can look to him and his team to pull, to chase every move, to be in charge of the race, essentially. A moment of inattention could result in an incident like last year's minor crash, or something altogether more serious. The stress will be real.

It is not a done deal, however, no fait accompli. This isn't Flanders, Strade Bianche, or Lombardia, races that suit Pogačar to an overwhelming extent. There is the chaos of the cobbles, and also the 170 riders in the race to contend with. Van der Poel of Alpecin-Premier Tech is top of the pile of these, with three wins in a row; he appears to be able to power through the race unlike anyone else, and has sprinter Jasper Philipsen as a teammate to muddy the waters in any chase. The Dutchman is chasing legendary status himself, with the opportunity to be the first person to win four in a row.

The race itself is incredibly flat, for a WorldTour event anyway. There isn't a clear route to victory for Pogačar, no Oude Kwaremont or Le Tolfe to climb away on.

"Maybe the best [thing] would be to attack with surprise, but I don’t think I can do that anymore. Everybody’s looking at me," Pogačar told Cycling Weekly earlier this year. "I’ll just go with the flow, see where the race takes me, and try to gamble for the final maybe, with a small group sprint. I know after such a tough race I can do, for me, a solid sprint. There’s always a chance."

Beyond Van der Poel and Philipsen, Lidl-Trek's Pedersen has finished on the podium of the last two editions, and is coming back into top form, while Van Aert of Visma-Lease a Bike is surely due another shot at victory at the race which probably suits him more than any other.

There's Ineos Grenadiers' Filippo Ganna, former world time trial champion, and winner of Dwars door Vlaanderen this year, and strong sprinters like Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) and late addition Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step). There is also a sense that the race is due a surprise winner, something not unusual at the mayhem in Northern France. It's 10 years since Mat Hayman won, after all.

However, there is something inevitable about Pogačar, something that just feels right. If he wins – if – it might not be a surprise, it would not scramble our brains, but perhaps it should. Riders in 2026 aren't supposed to be able to win it all, but somehow the Slovenian can and is. All we have to do now is sit back and watch history happen.

Often described as Merckxian in his achievements and the way he races, Tadej Pogačar made yet another bit of history on Sunday as he won the Tour of Flanders for a third time. It marked the twelfth Monument victory of his career and moved him ahead of Roger De Vlaeminck in the all-time list, meaning that he is now second only to Merckx himself.

The World Champion has been unstoppable so far this season, winning all three races that he has ridden, with victories at Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo preceding his Flandrian triumph. He has now won four consecutive Monuments and is one win away from completing the full set.

With multiple victories at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia to his name, a Paris-Roubaix cobble is the only omission from Pogačar’s Monument trophy cabinet. Having impressed on debut at last year’s race, he is set to return to the Hell of the North this weekend in the hopes of becoming only the fourth rider in history to win all of the Monuments.

If he were to win Roubaix, then he would be the only rider to ever hold all five race wins at the same time, and given his incredible record at Liège and Lombardia over the last few years, he could go on to become the first rider to win all five Monuments in a single season.

Speaking to Eurosport after his victory at Flanders, Pogačar was asked if he thought such a feat was possible, to which he replied, “In one year, I don’t know. Next week is the really tough one. I will give it a go, but it’s going to be difficult. I don’t want to think about it, but I’ll just go from race to race and enjoy Roubaix next.”

“Just to win one race, not even a Monument, is hard in cycling,” he continued. “Even if you have the best legs, everything needs to click together. Even after San Remo or today, I’m not thinking that I can win all five this year.”

Perhaps afraid of his words coming back to haunt him, or simply of jinxing it, the Slovenian rider’s objectives for the season are evident from his schedule alone, as he looks to win wherever he races.

Whatever happens, one thing seems certain: Tadej Pogačar will create yet more cycling history this season.

Everything hinges on Paris-Roubaix

If Tadej Pogačar is to win all five Monuments this season, then Paris-Roubaix will be his toughest challenge, as he has effectively shown that he can win Liège and Lombardia with his eyes closed at this point.

Of the five major one-day races, Pogačar’s characteristics are probably least suited to the Hell of the North, with his weight and size counting against him, as he is more susceptible to bouncing over the uneven cobbled roads.

The rigorous terrain did not seem to phase him too much on debut at last year’s race though, with only Mathieu van der Poel able to follow him over the pavé. It was ultimately a crash on a cobbled sector and a poorly timed puncture that put him out of contention, as he was forced to settle for second place whilst his Dutch rival soloed to victory.

Van der Poel will be his main adversary once again at this year’s race, with the likes of Mads Pedersen, Wout van Aert and Filippo Ganna also among the contenders. He will certainly have the power to match them over the cobbles, but the issue will be dropping them from his wheel if he hopes to avoid the uncertainty of a sprint in the Roubaix velodrome.

If Pogačar is able to get a gap, then it will be difficult to bring him back, as even Van der Poel struggled to make any inroads into his advantage once he went clear at the Tour of Flanders.

However, Roubaix is a different race and not always won by the strongest rider, as punctures and mechanicals are a constant. Luck will therefore be a major factor once again during this year’s race, and the Slovenian rider will need some on his side if he is to win.

One aspect that will play in Pogačar’s favour will be his team support, as UAE Team Emirates-XRG will bring a strong lineup to support the World Champion. Among their number will be former Paris-Roubaix runner-up Florian Vermeersch, who finished fifth at last year’s race and has been in tremendous form throughout the Spring Classics so far this season.

The Belgian rider will hope to be towards the front to support his leader as late into the race as possible, but it will ultimately be Pogačar’s own legs that decide the outcome of the race and whether or not history is made.

Having crashed on the run-in to the Cipressa in the weekend's Milan-San Remo, Tadej Pogačar, admitted he thought his race was over. As we all know now, he made a typically stunning comeback to take his first win in the race on the Via Roma, but had he known the full story, he may well not have even bothered.

It turns out that the Slovenian's victorious ride, which saw him outsprint Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) on the line in San Remo, was done on a cracked frame with, incredibly, a rubbing rear brake, the damage incurred in the earlier crash. All this only transpired after the race, upon inspection of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider's Colnago V5Rs.

Pogačar's mechanic, Boštjan Kavčnik, explained: “Only after the finish did we realise Tadej had ridden the finale on a cracked frame,” he told Slovenian outlet Delo.si. “The rear triangle was damaged, but fortunately it held together. The disc was also rubbing against the braking surface.”

The four-time Tour de France winner had crashed on his left-hand side at the front of the peloton as they raced towards the foot of the Cipressa climb – one of two key ascents in the finale, along with the Poggio that follows. He was using a single ring set-up for light weight and aerodynamics, explained Kavčnik, so there was no left-hand shifter but, all the same, his Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 gears went into crash mode.

“He reset it himself and didn’t notice anything else wrong, so we didn’t change the bike,” the mechanic said.

Despite the crash, and the damage, Pogačar was quickly up and was able to forge a gap with Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) on the Cipressa. They took that advantage to the Poggio where Pogačar attacked again, dropping Van der Poel but taking Pidcock with him. A daredevil run off the hill followed as two of the world's best descenders attempted to draw out an advantage, but, said Kavčnik, “If he had known the true condition, he would never have descended so aggressively."

Having been used to best Pidcock by half a wheel, Pogačar's Colnago has become a luxurious and storied museum piece. No longer useable, "it will go into his special collection," Kavčnik said.

Everything glitters inside the hall of Vienna’s Hotel Sacher – chandeliers overhead, polished marble underfoot, and bouquets festooning every corner. Rooms here start at £550 a night. It is, by any measure, a grand setting – which makes it feel faintly absurd to be discussing the rough, muddy farm tracks of northern France. But that’s exactly what I’m doing, because opposite me is Tadej Pogačar, and I’m asking him about one of the few big races he is yet to win: Paris-Roubaix.

We have slipped into a quiet sideroom, off the main hall, and settled into armchairs. “The biggest point is,” says Pogačar, leaning forwards, “the faster you go on the cobbles, the easier they are.” Moments earlier he was on stage announcing his new ambassadorship with crypto exchange KuCoin, but it’s clear he’s more comfortable talking about bike racing. Dressed in a white shirt and navy check jacket, his hair freshly clipped into a neat short-back-and-sides, he looks disarmingly young, almost like a school-leaver eager to make a good impression at his first job interview. Yet, at 27, there is only one position he is still seeking: that of the greatest cyclist of all time.

In fact, Pogačar’s CV is now so comprehensive that it’s easier to list the races he hasn’t won – the ones that now most motivate him. Already a four-time Tour de France winner and double world champion, the glaring omissions are Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo, the two remaining Monuments missing from his palmarès. Only three riders in history have collected the full set of five – Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia – and they’re all Belgian: Eddy Merckx, Rik van Looy and Roger De Vlaeminck. Could Pogačar become the first rider in nearly half a century to join them? And if so, would it confirm his status as the best cyclist there has ever been?

For Pogačar, racking up all five Monuments is a “challenge” that keeps his career fresh. “I won some races, and it doesn’t feel the same [to win them again] because you’ve already put a tick on them,” he tells me. Of the other three Monuments, he’s won Liège three times, Flanders twice, and Il Lombardia a record five times in a row. When a journalist asked him last year to choose between a hypothetical fifth Tour title or a first Paris-Roubaix, the Slovenian opted for the latter. Now he’s trying to make it a reality. “Well, at least this year I’ve had it in mind since last year,” he smiles.

Pogačar’s Roubaix debut last spring, announced just two weeks before the race, was one of the sport’s most talked-about topics in years. Roubaix director Thierry Gouvenou called it “a huge moment for cycling”. In fact, the world champion’s presence alone made history, when he became the first reigning Tour champion since Greg LeMond in 1991 to start the race. But while LeMond finished a lowly 55th, Pogačar placed second. What did he learn from it? “It’s a f***ing hard race,” Pogačar laughs. “When I did it as a junior [finishing 30th in 2015 and 13th in 2016], I was like, ‘Damn, I don’t want to do this ever again because it’s just so hard’… If I compare my Roubaix power file [from 2025] – I know I changed the bike in the last hour, but still, up to that point, my power numbers were more impressive than in any other race.”

His attacks in last April’s race began with over 100km remaining. By 50km to go, it had come down to a duel between Pogačar and the defending champion Mathieu van der Poel, the script seemingly written for a velodrome shoot-out. The Slovenian appeared to be as assured on the jagged cobbles as he was in the mountains of France. Then came an error – small but decisive. Tracking a camera motorbike into a sharp right-hander, Pogačar misjudged his line, braked too hard too late, and tipped off into the dirt, scrambling as Van der Poel rode away. It was precisely the scenario his team had feared.

Speaking ahead of the race, his UAE boss Mauro Gianetti told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he didn’t want his leader to compete, for fear a crash would “jeopardise” the Tour. Looking back now, Pogačar understands the concern. “Obviously, if I’m the manager of the team, I also don’t want to risk everything in the pre-Tour, because in 2023, I was not ready because of a crash [at Liège-Bastogne-Liège]. As we know, touch wood” – he taps his knuckles against his forehead – “it can happen so quickly in Roubaix, or any other race. The stress is always there, [the risk of being] out for the main goal of the season, but you need to accept it.” That second place, he says, shifted the mood. “When I came second, they saw maybe we have a chance to win another Monument.”

As such, preparations for this spring have been more focused. Rather than tagging on a first recon to his Flanders prep in February as he did in 2025, Pogačar began his visits to northern France two months earlier, riding 160km across the cobbles in December. He plans to go back at least once more before the mid-April race weekend. Course familiarity helps – Magnus Bäckstedt said he did “three, if not four” recons the year he won, 2004 – but Pogačar knows power and tactics will unlock the title.

“For me, it’s really tough to make the difference,” he says. Without any climbs on which to launch one of his trademark attacks, how does he plan to win? “Maybe the best [thing] would be to attack with surprise, but I don’t think I can do that anymore. Everybody’s looking at me,” he says. “I’ll just go with the flow, see where the race takes me, and try to gamble for the final maybe, with a small group sprint. I know after such a tough race I can do, for me, a solid sprint. There’s always a chance.”

It’s hard to believe that, for a rider who has won his last five races with solo attacks averaging 55km, Pogačar’s plan is to rely on his sprint. But the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. After all, he’ll likely have tested his dash three weeks earlier at Milan-San Remo, the race familiarly known as the ‘sprinters’ classic’. If it can work there, why not double down; refine the kick for both? Whatever Van der Poel can do, Pogačar can at least attempt to do better.

At over 300km long, and mostly as flat as a carpenter’s workbench, San Remo is widely regarded as the easiest Monument to finish but the hardest to win. Pogačar has previously said it’s the race that will “send me to the grave”; in five participations, he’s finished 12th, fifth, fourth, and twice third. The trend shows he’s getting closer, but still, he says, finding the podium’s top step is “really tricky – these days, the climbs, I would not call them climbs anymore, because we go so fast on the Cipressa [at 22km to go] and Poggio [at 6km to go] that the draft there is so important.” As at Roubaix, there is no dependable launchpad. There’s a reason why nobody has won from a Cipressa attack since Gabriele Colombo in 1996.

Even when UAE Team Emirates-XRG ramped up the pace on the climb last year, Van der Poel and Ineos Grenadiers’ Filippo Ganna managed to hang on, and both beat Pogačar in the sprint.

“For me, it’s hard to make a difference,” the world champion says, returning to a refrain he used for Roubaix. “But I will keep trying. It’s one challenge that keeps me going. I haven’t succeeded in winning yet, and I’m getting closer. I still have a few years left to try it out.”

Let’s imagine that Pogačar does win both races – picture him sprinting to victory on San Remo’s Via Roma and in Roubaix’s outdoor velodrome. What will it mean for his legacy? He’s the greatest rider of his generation, the Giro-Tour-Worlds treble in 2024 proved as much, but also the greatest of all time? He’ll have won all of cycling’s major crowns (bar the Vuelta a España and Olympics) and in a more competitive, professionalised era than that dominated by Eddy Merckx.

I remind Pogačar of what he said in an interview with L’Équipe two years ago – that he wanted to be “the best in history”. He scrunches his face slightly and claims he never said the line – “maybe they twisted the words a little bit” – but the point seems to stand nonetheless. “I wouldn’t mind going for it,” he says, and pre-empts a Merckx parallel. “There is so much talk about me and comparing [me] to Eddy etc. For me, it’s complete nonsense,” he says. “I like to live in the moment, in the present, not thinking too much about records.” He steers the legacy theme towards his youth team, Pogi Team, and charity, the Tadej Pogačar Foundation. “Maybe the results are not everything that I want people [to remember me for],” he says.

From many riders, a claim they are not hung up on results can sound like protective deflection. From Pogačar, it feels credible. He is driven, and hungry for new titles, intent on improving year after year, but, as he puts it, “will not lose any sleep over it”. At a press day in December he told reporters that, contrary to the narrative they were eager to build, he’s “not obsessed” with winning Roubaix or San Remo. And when a reporter asked when he would win them, he firmly corrected them: “If I win these races…”

What if both races continue to elude him – does it really matter? “I came close, but I’m yet so far,” he says. “If it happens, it happens. If not, I will live my life the same as I do now.” This laconic acceptance may be Pogačar’s greatest advantage. It is what allows him to chase races that do not naturally suit him – Paris-Roubaix chief among them – with curiosity rather than desperation, ambition unclouded by anxiety. As our allotted interview time runs out, he stands up, wanders over to a nearby marble-topped table and helps himself to three unhurried forkfuls of chocolate cake. Five Monuments or not, he seems entirely at ease with the uncertainty. Greatness, for him, is something to be savoured.

This feature first appeared in Cycling Weekly magazine on 12 March 2026. Subscribe now and never miss an issue.

The knee injury that almost saw Tadej Pogačar retire from last year's Tour de France was triggered by a shunt with a Visma-Lease a Bike team car, the Slovenian's agent has said.

The knee injury incurred by UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Pogačar in the final stages of the last year's race – which he went on to win – has been well documented. But the fact it was caused by a collision with the team car of his main rival Jonas Vingegaard had not been revealed before now. Speaking on the Domestique Hotseat podcast, Alex Carera described how the "crazy" incident took place just ahead of stage 18 to Courchevel.

“When he goes against the car of Visma, he’s really unlucky because it’s a crazy situation,” Carera said. “After that of course he’s worried because he doesn’t feel well.”

Beyond getting Pogačar better, the priority became ensuring that other teams did not get wind of his weakness. “It was my job to protect him so this information didn’t go out,” Carera said. “If other teams knew he had an injury, the tactics could change and become more aggressive.”

There was a point, says Carera, when it was not certain that Pogačar would be able to continue. It would appear he remained in the race by a whisker.

In the daily press conference following the Courchevel stage, Pogačar admitted that he could not wait for the race to finish. "I ask myself why I'm still here," he said. "It's so long these three weeks. You count the kilometres to Paris and yes, I can't wait for it to be over so I can do some other nice stuff in my life as well."

These most recent revelations add new context to those comments, which were unusually gloomy for the usually cheerful character.

The story does not end there though. Pogačar's team-mate Tim Wellens puts a different spin on the issue, insisting that the knee problem flared up the day before on a wet stage 17 to Valence.

“It was so bad that he even went down to the race doctor," Wellens said in L'Equipe in November. "After that stage, he went to the hospital for a number of tests. That’s where they discovered the inflammation, but nobody knew! I was certain the news was going to leak out. Withdrawing was seriously considered. It was therefore a huge relief that Tadej didn’t give up in the mountains. After the Tour de France, we were worried about his physical condition.”

Perhaps one incident exacerbated the other, but what seems to be beyond any doubt is that Pogačar was suffering with a problematic knee injury in the final stages of last year's Tour.

If his rivals had known, we may have seen a different finale, but the fact that the Slovenian and his team managed to keep it a secret is indicative of his own professionalism and that of the tight knit group around him.

Amid rumours of UAE Team Emirates-XRG interest in super-talent Paul Seixas, it has emerged that the French teenager has a younger brother… who has already been training with Tadej Pogačar’s team.

Seventeen-year-old Nino Seixas, two years the junior of his brother Paul, joined UAE Team Emirates-XRG for a week-long internship in December.

He posted about the experience on Instagram at the time, a series of photos and videos in full team kit, writing: “End of internship in Benidorm with UAE Team Emirates-XRG where I had a great week full of learning.

“A big thank you to Matxin [Joxean Fernández, UAE sports manager], without whom none of this would have been possible.”

Nino’s brother Paul, who rides for Decathlon CMA CGM, has been the subject of speculation over the last week about a potential move to UAE. According to reports in Belgian outlet HLN, UAE are interested in signing the 19-year-old, who they see as Pogačar’s successor.

The Strade Bianche runner-up is currently under contract with Decathlon until the end of 2027, with discussions ongoing to extend his stay.

In December, Paul was among those who commented on his younger brother’s Instagram post about training with UAE. “Bg,” he wrote – a French slang abbreviation of ‘beau gosse’ meaning handsome boy or man.

Nino is a first-year junior rider this season for French under-19 club VC Villefranche Beaujolais. Though his talent is unknown, he has made a similar start to his cycling career as Paul, competing in cyclo-cross and joining the same club.

Speaking to Ouest-France, an unnamed member of Nino’s entourage said “there is no UAE strategy” for the young rider, stressing that his internship was “just an invitation”.

“Nino doesn’t have a long cycling history yet,” they said. “The pressure on Paul is intense, and Nino could be subjected to completely unnecessary pressure because he is Nino Seixas. We want to avoid that at all costs.

“His career start will be different. We want Nino to work and progress at his own pace, calmly.”

It is common for WorldTour teams to invite junior riders to training camps, where they might carry out tests to learn more about their potential. Just because a rider has trained with a team, there is no guarantee they will sign for them.

In modern pro cycling, the term super-team gets bandied about a lot. The class of squad which dominates, is able to buy more of the best riders than everyone else, is just a rank above, essentially. There have always been dominant teams, from La Vie Claire to HTC Highroad, but in the last decade, there have been Team Sky, Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates. Some would add Lidl-Trek and Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe into that group too.

This week, it was reported that Ineos had acquired new sponsorship worth €20 million a year in order to rejoin the ranks of the ‘super-teams’.

For me, this term should not be plural. There is one super-team: UAE Team Emirates-XRG. In 2024, they won 81 times. In 2025, they won 97 times. So far in 2026, they’ve won on 14 occasions, just under the 15 they’d won by this point last year, but still on target for a gargantuan tally by the end.

It is far from just Tadej Pogačar. The Slovenian, the best bike rider in the world, has raced and tasted victory once this year. He dominated Strade Bianche for the third year in a row, but seven other riders have won races; Isaac del Toro, Tim Wellens, António Morgado, Marc Soler, Jan Christen, Juan Sebastián Molano and Jay Vine have all stood on the top step of the podium.

Despite Jhonatan Narvaéz and Tim Wellens both being out for significant amounts of time with injury, their Classics squad reigned supreme at Strade, with Pogačar dovetailing with Del Toro and Christen perfectly to deliver victory; the latter pair finished third and sixth, after top work by Florian Vermeersch, Felix Großchartner, Kevin Vermaerke and Domen Novak. No other team has this level of strength in depth.

UAE has the backing of a sovereign wealth fund from an oil rich nation behind it, so it is not a surprise that they can afford to stockpile riders like almost no team before. The team are able to dominate throughout the year, not in one type of race or situation, but across many. When HTC were winning all the time, it was mostly in sprints; when Sky ruled, it was only largely at the Tour de France. Jumbo-Visma won the Giro d’Italia, Tour and Vuelta a España in 2023, but they only won 69 times.

This is clearly tilting the balance of competition to the detriment of racing, to the product of cycling. The issue isn’t the generational talent of Pogačar on its own, it's that he has what might be the strongest squad in history behind him.

The most exciting upcoming talent in the world right now is Paul Seixas. The 19-year-old has won more UCI points at his age than Pogačar or Remco Evenepoe did, or a whole host of other phenoms. The Frenchman was the nearest challenger to Pogačar at Strade Bianche on Saturday, and the applause that greeted his arrival in Siena was the loudest all day.

He has a contract with his current team, Decathlon CMA CGM, that runs until 2027, but sharks are already circling to secure his future. One shark in particular, naturally. Yes, it’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG, according to Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.

It is only slightly hyperbolic to say that if Seixas moved to UAE cycling would be ruined for me. I want to see different riders at different teams dueling it out for wins. I do not want to see one nation state-backed outfit winning forever, inexorably, hoovering up all the talent. I sincerely hope Seixas stays at Decathlon, and that he is allowed to grow and flourish there. He’s only 19, after all.

Like how the wealth of nation states or people connected to them have unbalanced football through PSG, Man City, and others, it has come for cycling. There is no Financial Fair Play or draft system in the wild west of the WorldTour, nor does there appear to be any work happening to bridge the gap between rich and poor.

The inequality of cycling’s finances is not a fresh topic, in fact it is a subject that I have returned to repeatedly. Bigger and bigger sponsors are needed just to keep some afloat, while the team at the top continues to stockpile the best riders.

The answer has legislation from the top down, and some kind of system for financial equity, but this might require some turkeys to vote for Christmas, which seems unlikely. A salary cap seems too hard and fast, and damaging to riders, but some kind of budget cap could work, allowing teams to spend money as they see fit. Perhaps the wealthiest team’s spending could be tied to the poorest, with a limit on how much more the top team could spend, meaning that budgets couldn’t spiral out of control. This isn’t just about UAE Team Emirates, as another nation state or billionaire could simply come in and further stretch levels of finance in cycling.

If not, then we will live in a world where Pogačar can be backed by Del Toro and maybe Seixas in the future. The same team will keep winning all the time, and this will be normal. We can’t allow cycling to become too unbalanced.

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.

The world champion Tadej Pogačar is "excited to get stuck in" on his season debut at Strade Bianche in Italy this Saturday.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG confirmed their roster for the race on Monday evening, including Pogačar and the six riders that will ride alongside him: Isaac Del Toro, Jan Christen, Felix Großschartner, Domen Novak, Florian Vermeersch and Kevin Vermaerke.

The four-time Tour de France champion has won the previous two editions of the race – three in total – crashing into a ditch with 50km to go last year, before attacking to win with an almost minute-and-a-half gap to Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5).

“Strade is a race where I have unforgettable memories,” Pogačar said in quotes attributed to him on the UAE Team Emirates-XRG website.

“My record there is pretty good and I hope that I will be in a good position again come Saturday. We expect there to be some strong rivals, the startlist is always at a high level for these big races and it should make things exciting for the fans.

“It is my first race of the season, and I hope to have a good start. I’ve been cheering on from the couch until now, so I’m excited to get stuck in myself again and finally race. The team has been on a good wave at the moment with many wins already and we hope to continue that over the next few races.”

The last time Pogačar competed was when he won Il Lombardia last October, almost five months ago. It was his last of 20 victories in 2025, which also included a second Tour of Flanders, a third Liège-Bastogne-Liège, four Tour de France stage wins, and both the world and European road titles.

Among the other riders on the start list for Strade Bianche are previous winners Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Pidcock, last year’s runner-up. There is also growing excitement around 19-year-old Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), who is considered in his native France to be the heir to Pogačar’s throne.

This year’s Strade Bianche will be the 20th edition of the one-day race. It takes place in Tuscany, Italy, and counts 14 gravel sectors which cover 64km of the total 201km.

The men’s race will start in Siena at 11:40 local time, 10:40 UK time. It is expected to finish in the same city’s iconic Piazza del Campo around 16:30 local time, 15:30 UK time.

Isaac del Toro climbed to victory on Jebel Hafeet on Saturday, taking over the race lead on the penultimate stage of the UAE Tour with it.

The Mexican UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider attacked with 4km to go, dropping all eventually, including previous race leader Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) on the way to the top of the dam. With one flat stage to go, it seems likely that the Mexican is on course for his first WorldTour general classification victory.

It was Del Toro's relentless riding out of the saddle which allowed him to power away on the iconic UAE finish. It was a reversal of stage three, when Tiberi beat Del Toro to the top of Jebel Morah. Tiberi remained with his rival until 2.7km to go, before finally dropping, and finishing fourth.

Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) finished 12 seconds behind Del Toro in second, to move up to third overall. Tiberi remains second on GC, but Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) finished third on stage six.

"Ot's a mentality game that you have to be confident enough to keep trying and of course if one time it doesn't work you need to still have to have it in your head that you're able to do it," Del Toro said post-stage. "Today we weren't confident that we'd be able to win but we had the mentality that we will work for it.

"With 2.5km to go, I knew I had to keep going to the line and when I saw the gpa I tried to believe and increase the gap as much as I can.

"Today is one of the top three victories of my career. It's so special, when you win with a team like this it's even more special. Now it's time to realise that I'm working for it and I need to believe in myself more day by day."

Previous race leader Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) is now 10th overall. If Del Toro is to win the UAE Tour tomorrow, after a flat sprint stage, he will be the first UAE rider who isn't Tadej Pogačar to win his team's home race.

'There's a thousand faces all shining bright – and those golden faces are under 25', sang Paul Weller in The Jam classic 'In the City'. The song's sentiment was that young people have something to contribute, and they deserve to be seen and heard.

This appears to be manifesting itself in bike racing right now, because while all eyes remain glued to champions like Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel, who not long ago at all were the young generation themselves (and still are hardly old), a new batch is emerging. And, even in the face of cycling's biggest talents, they are refusing to go quietly.

Oscar Onley, Isaac Del Toro, and Matthew Riccitello are all aged 22 or 23 and all notched up high placings in last year's Grand Tours, and wins elsewhere. Now there is another name we're going to be conjuring in cycling's grand theatres: Paul Seixas.

A mere grasshopper even in comparison to his young peers above at 19, the French Decathlon CMA CGM rider this week netted his first professional victory, following a 2025 replete with close-run-things and a win at the prestigious U23 Nations Cup stage race, the Tour de l'Avenir.

His win atop the climb to Foia in the Volta ao Algarve was especially interesting, given that he outgunned two of stage racing's biggest established names: Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) and Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates). Ayuso he outsprinted on the line; Almeida was a second back. But three and five seconds behind this trio, living up to their billing as ones to be closely watched, were none other than Onley and Seixas's team-mate Riccitello. Del Toro, meanwhile, has also been doing his thing this week at the WorldTour-ranked UAE Tour, winning a lumpy first stage and placing second on the stage three summit finish behind Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious).

Underlining his all-round ability, the day after his victory Seixas placed fourth in a flat time trial stage at the Volta ao Algarve, bested by the winner – TT supremo Filippo Ganna of Ineos Grenadiers – to the tune of just 12 seconds, and with Ayuso and U23 world TT champ Jacob Soderqvist nestled in-between just seconds apart. A rider this good on the climbs and in the time trials this young demands attention.

Onley, newly signed to Ineos Grenadiers, has made no secret of his Tour de France aims. Del Toro is also down to ride the French race, while Riccitello's programme says he will be at the Vuelta a España and Seixas is currently keeping his Grand Tour options open.

But we won't have to wait till the summer for this troupe of youthful cycling wizards to show their magic in the big races: Seixas is due to ride Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, while Del Toro will also be at Strade, plus Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo. Onley rides Paris-Nice and Riccitello the Volta Cataluyna, both WorldTour races.

The stage is set for a new new generation. As Weller's lyrics continued, in a parting shot that could be directed at the established stars: "They're gonna tell you about the young idea… you better listen now you've said your bit."

Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG team has taken to shielding him using motorcycle outriders, after a recent string of fan-related incidents.

Fans were looking for social media exposure, UAE team boss Matxin Joxean Fernández told Spanish media outlet AS, but sometimes the consequences could be negative for the pro cyclist involved.

“This is about moments and getting more views, something that's very fashionable these days," Fernández said. "I've seen some very complicated situations where many cyclists, caught up in the excitement, start recording in the middle of the road. If at that moment a cyclist gives you a rude response because you see a car coming towards you when you're encroaching on the opposite lane, the one who probably comes out looking bad is the one who gives that response, when the context is completely different.

"What we see is what we perceive as right or wrong. Sometimes we don't consider the full context of the situation.'

A recent Spanish training camp saw the team post a motorcycle outrider to protect the popular Slovenian and to stop the situation becoming unsafe.

"An example of situations we've had during our training camp in Alicante: we had a motorcycle to protect Tadej, because we ride in small groups," said Fernández. "If you have groups of 20, the cars behind can't overtake them. So we ride in groups of eight, but if cyclists join in, they become too large.

"Now, what we do is put a motorcycle behind Tadej to ensure that the small group is respected and that cars can pass without creating a traffic jam.”

The Tour de France champion posted a ride on his Strava account last week imploring fans to be more respectful, after he was sworn at by a fan who became impatient to have his picture taken with the star. And Pogačar is not the only rider to have fallen foul of fan attention lately – Jonas Vingegaard crashed last month on a training ride while attempting to drop an unwelcome fan on a descent. The Dane then had to miss the UAE Tour.

Finally, Fernández struck what felt like a conciliatory note in an attempt to foster empathy between both sides, saying "we have to put ourselves in each other's shoes".

"If we make a mistake at any point, we apologise," he said. "If, as Tadej said, you're talking and someone asks you for a photo while we're doing this interview, you ask them to wait and they get angry... Who's right? The one who gets angry or the one who asks for two minutes of patience?

"We all have to put ourselves in each other's shoes, as they say in Italian. We have to be willing to apologise and be respectful.”

Throughout 2025, UAE Team Emirates-XRG won almost 100 races including the Tour de France, Tour de Suisse, multiple classics and three Monuments. While Tadej Pogačar was the most prolific winner on the squad, his teammates still won more than 60 races between them, more than any other team in professional cycling.

It was an incredible feat, one they may be bound to repeat in 2026 given the age of many on their roster. Pogačar is only 27, Isaac Del Toro 22, Joao Almeida 27, and Jan Christen 21.

Just a few weeks into the 2026 season and UAE Team Emirates already have six wins, the most of any professional team. When we analyze their success the first thing that comes to mind is money.

With a bigger budget than most if not all their rivals, they can buy in the best riders and offer the biggest contracts. But talent and budget don't always translate to race wins, which is why good coaching is so important.

When Tim Wellens joined UAE Team Emirates in 2023, he was a solid WorldTour rider with multiple Grand Tour stage victories. Now, he is one of the best Classics riders and domestiques in the world; reliable on all sorts of terrain, and still improving at 34 years old.

Jhonatan Narvaez was an above average rider with INEOS Grenadiers, but after one year on UAE Team Emirates, he has become one of the best puncheurs in the world and a key support rider for Pogačar in the biggest races.

So how do they do it? How does UAE Team Emirates transform these riders from above average racers to some of the strongest cyclists in the world? That's what brought me to Calpe, Spain and an analysis of their training data. While they don't post all of their rides on Strava, they share more than a few secrets. Let's take a closer look.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s December Training Camp

Gone are the days of strict Zone 2 training all winter. Now, pros are performing intervals multiple times per week at winter training camps, including VO2 Max and sprint intervals. Here is what an example week looks like at the UAE Team Emirates- December training camp.

• Monday: 4hrs Zone 2
• Tuesday: Gym in the morning + 2hrs Zone 2 in the afternoon
• Wednesday: Aero testing at the velodrome + 4hrs Zone 2
• Thursday: 4.5hrs with 3x10min torque intervals
• Friday: 3hrs Zone 2
• Saturday: 3.5hrs with 3x8min 40/20s Over Unders
• Sunday: 1.5hrs Zone 1 coffee ride

There is a lot of information here, so let’s take it step-by-step. First, we can see that high-intensity intervals are done 2-3 times per week on top of lots of Zone two riding. The intervals are short and sharp, making up only 20-30 minutes out of a four-hour session. There is only one true rest day, with the other “recovery” days being three or four hour endurance rides. So why do they train this way?

While Zone two is a major part of the teams training schedule, it is not their only focus in winter. High intensity intervals help riders stay sharp for the long racing season ahed. Many of them race from February through to October, meaning they need to maintain race shape for almost nine months. Races are also faster, more aggressive, and more meaningful than ever. Riders cannot show up to races at 80% when they are expected to compete for the win in every race.

Year-round intensity can make you fitter and faster purely from a physiological perspective. Of course, you must tread carefully, because high-intensity training can quickly turn into too much of a good thing. It's a lot like the high-carb revolution. Fuel with 40 grams of carbs per hour, and you won't get very far in professional cycling. Start fueling with 120g per hour, and you will be faster and stronger for longer. That means more is better, right?

Try fueling with 400g of carbs per hour and you'll probably end up like Tom Dumoulin pulling down your bibs on the side of the road, or curled up in the fetal position with stomach cramps. That is too much of a good thing, just like high intensity training. If you did 40/20s every day, it would only be a matter of time before you crashed and burned. So what is the perfect balance between high and low intensity training?

Two days of high-intensity interval training per week seems to be the best approach for most cyclists. Highly-trained and experienced riders may be able to handle 3-4 days of intensity per week, depending on the type of intervals and overall training load. But on a regular basis, two days of high-intensity is best.

We must also point out that pros can handle more than amateurs, so we don't recommend copying UAE Team Emirates-XRG workout-for-workout. Their whole lives revolve around cycling – training, nutrition, recovery, massage, physio, sleep, etc. – so they can handle more than us amateurs with jobs and family responsibilities. There is a lot of value in what Pogačar and his teammates do, so let's take a look at their workouts first, and then we can see how we can try it ourselves.

UAE Team Emirates key Workouts

There are two workouts that nearly every UAE Team Emirages rider does on a regular basis: 40/20s and torque work. We’ll dive into the details of those sessions below, but we also have to mention a never-before-seen workout posted by none other than Tadej Pogačar. Here are the workouts:

1. Torque Bursts: 7x (4min @ 70% into 35sec at 130% and 50 rpm into 15sec high cadence sprint)

Pogačar posted this workout only a few weeks ago, and it is one of the toughest torque sessions we have seen. There are seven repeats of high-torque intervals at VO2 Max power immediately followed by a 15-second sprint. You can see Pogačar’s speed and cadence throughout each effort, fluctuating between 20-35 kph on a steep gradient. In between each interval, aim for high Zone 2 power rather than complete recovery.

2. 40/20s Over Unders: 3x8min 40/20s (40sec at 115% into 20sec at 85%) with 30-60min between sets

Every cyclist knows 40/20s, but few do them like UAE Team Emirates. Instead of explosive intervals, the UAE Team riders typically do 40/20s at a hard recovery pace. The 20-second intervals are quite hard, usually around Tempo or Sweetspot pace as opposed to complete recovery. You can see this in Pavel Sivakov’s workout, in the way that his speed doesn’t vary drastically during 8min of 40/20s.

If you want to try this workout at home, aim for high Zone 3 during the 20sec intervals, and VO2 Max power during the 40sec intervals. While the pros have time for 30-60min of Zone 2 between each set, you can just take 5-8min of recovery in between each set of 40/20s.

3. 3x10min Steady Torque: 3x10min Tempo at 50 rpm at 90-95% FTP with 5min recovery

UAE Team Emirates loves torque training, and you should too. In addition to Pogačar’s explosive torque session, the team also has their riders do blocks of steady torque intervals. That means 5-10min blocks at 50 rpm, at a power output just under FTP. Well-trained riders can perform these intervals at 95% FTP, while less experienced riders can aim for more of a Sweetspot pace around 90% FTP. This session includes shorter recoveries of just five minutes between each set.

January is finished with and the scores on the doors are in. We've had a good look at the runners and riders in races across the globe from the Tour Down Under to the Trofeo Mallorca and all points in-between, and they have turned up some interesting – and enticing results.

They won't necessarily enable us to predict the winner of this year's biggest races, but they do at least hint at who has come out of the blocks with momentum, who might be biding their time, and more.

1. Remco Evenepoel means business

Having moved teams from his long-time home at Soudal Quick-Step to Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, the Belgian has wasted no time in getting some first places on the board. He is currently sitting on a 100% record, having won two of the Mallorcan races – the Trofeos Andratx-Pollenca and Serra Tramuntana, as well as the Ses Salines team time trial.

In both individual wins, crossed the line solo, and in the case of Serra Tramuntana after a 50km solo effort. When 2026 is done and dusted, it's unlikely these races will be the ones Evenepoel will be celebrating the most, but they will have given the Belgian and his team a confidence-boosting running start to the year.

2. Matthew Brennan brimming with confidence – and defiance

Having already taken a first and a second at the Tour Down Under – as well as second in the young rider classification, up and coming Britain Matthew Brennan is clearly determined to build on the successes of last season, when he launched himself at the WorldTour with a string of victories.

He also appears to have carried plenty of confidence across the off-season too and, when he finished second again, this time at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race on Sunday behind Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM), he laid the blame at the feet of a confusing 300m to go sign:

"300m sign looks the same as 200," he protested on X, explaining on the team website: "Unfortunately I launched my sprint about a hundred metres too early. That was a misjudgment."

3. Human Powered Health have already beaten their 2025 pro win record

At the beginning of the new season, anything is possible. Every team wants to go one better than the year before, achieve new aims and goals. Leading the way on that front is surely the Human Powered Health team. Thanks to Maggie Coles-Lyster's victory at the Santos Tour Down Under one-dayer have already surpassed last year's achievements, at least in terms of pro wins.

Last year Thalita De Jongh's win in the Trofeo Binissalem-Andratx in Mallorca was the team's only pro victory, and it was rated UCI 1.1 – lower than the Santos TDU's 1.Pro rating. It seems a little soon after the off-season to be opening the Champagne, but we wouldn't be surprised if corks were popping that evening.

4. UAE sitting pretty on top

With seven victories and a couple of handfuls of top-fives under their belts already, both the men's and women's teams at the UAE stable are already sitting pretty at the top of the UCI's team rankings for 2026. It's a defiant counter-response, perhaps, to the success of Remco Evenepoel and a reminder that UAE's Slovenian talisman is waiting menacingly in the wings.

The men's team, UAE Team Emirates-XRG has seen wins at the Tour Down Under, thanks to new Aussie road champion Jay Vine, and at the AlUla Tour, where Jan Christen scored a final-day triumph after grabbing a sticky bottle only the day before.

On the women's side, UAE Team ADQ netted a double victory at the Challenge Mallorca thanks to Karlijn Swinkels and double Tour de France Femmes stage winner Maeva Squiban.

5. Wollaston's best ever start

Rivalling Remco Evenepoel in the 'flying start' stakes is Ally Wollaston of FDJ United-Suez. You could even argue that the 25-year-old Kiwi has outdone Evenepoel, for the three races she has won already are all WorldTour ranked. In fact the stats currently show she has won 75% of all the WWT events so far this season, thanks to a double stage win in the Tour Down Under and victory in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. That only leaves one stage and the overall of the TDU – and she even took the points classification there for good measure. It's the best start to a season she's had yet.

Wollaston looks to be building on the "bit of belief" that last season's achievements gave her, but said: "I'm still feeling my way through the races and working out what works for me and what doesn't."

There was around 100km left of the final stage of the Tour Down Under when two kangaroos jumped into the peloton from the roadside bush.

“Oh, it’s a kangaroo!” Shouted Phil Liggett from the commentary box. “Never seen that before!”

Race leader Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was among those knocked off their bike, along with Menno Huising (Visma–Lease a Bike), Lucas Stevenson (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Alberto Dainese (Soudal Quick-Step). The latter were forced to abandon the race due to injuries, along with several other riders.

"Everything was going according to plan up until that point," Vine told reporters after the stage. "Sebastián [Molano] was doing a great job. The breakaway was well within reach. And then, unfortunately, we lost Mikkel, and he knocked the kangaroo into me. So it was just like pinballing inside the group there. But I didn't fall too hard."

After crashing, Vine swapped bikes with teammate Ivo Oliveira and worked his way to the front of the race as the bunch sat up to wait, ultimately finishing in 26th, with Visma–Lease a Bike’s Matthew Brennan sprinting to finish first in the stage. Vine emerged the overall winner of the 2025 Tour Down Under.

“You can’t really predict two kangaroos jumping across the road - I hope everyone is alright,” Brennan said after the race.

“They were quite big - I wasn’t expecting that. I just looked to the right and I saw this big animal. I thought ‘oh, you’re not meant to be here’.

“All the Aussie boys were like ‘they come in pairs’ and then all of a sudden the second one comes along and decides he’s going to throw himself in front of the peloton. So we had two sacrificial kangaroos today.”

While one kangaroo escaped unharmed, the other was euthanised after breaking its leg, an injury it would be unlikely to recover from in the wild.

"Everyone asks me what's the most dangerous thing in Australia and I always tell them it's kangaroos,' two-time race-winner, Vine, told ABC Australia.

'They wait and they hide in the bushes until you can't stop and they jump out in front of you. Point proven today."

UAE Team Emirates-XRG finished 2025 with 97 wins, the most a professional cycling team has ever won, but just short of 100. The aim for 2026 then, improbable as it is, is to better their record from last season.

Their year has begun well, then, with a dominant victory on stage two of the Tour Down Under, which saw Jay Vine win after riding away with teammate Jhonatan Narváez. There are still three stages to go, but the pair have a minute on the field.

UAE took until the fifth day of WorldTour racing in 2025 to take a win; this year, it was day three. Add in Vine's win in the time trial at the Australian National Championships, and things feel like they're heading in one direction.

On Thursday, the inevitable happened on the Corkscrew climb, as Adam Yates – an 18-time WorldTour winner – put the peloton under pressure, stretching things out, allowing Vine – a six-time WorldTour winner – to attack alone, only to be joined by Narváez, himself a four-time WorldTour winner, and the defending champion.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that through being the richest team in the world, funded by the UAE and Abu Dhabi-based energy company XRG, they can stockpile talent to hitherto unforeseen levels, and create results like stage two of the Tour Down Under.

"It’s been on my mind since the last time I wore it. I really love this jersey," Vine said post-race. “It’s incredible to win on such a hard stage. We’ve got such a strong position now with me and Jhonny, and being led out by Adam is pretty incredible as well."

"With two guys in the front, it’s pretty simple what’s going to happen,” Yates added. "I just followed the guys that were attacking and we ended up with a group of five or six. They were working quite well together, but we had two super strong guys in the front. So yeah, it was a good day for the team."

A lead of a minute might already be enough to secure the overall for Vine and UAE. Three lumpy stages remain, including three ascents of Willunga Hill on stage four, but in this form, it already appears that the race might be gone for their rivals. UAE are simply a level above.

"Anything can happen," Vine laughed when it was put to him that 'you can't lose it from here', according to Cyclingnews. "But yeah, it's really good to have such a big lead compared to my last tour. It's a lot more secure and we also got Jhonny in second now so we've got a very strong position."

Visma-Lease a Bike sports director Jesper Mørkøv put it succinctly in a statement: "The UAE Team Emirates-XRG block was simply too strong today."

Two wins by the 22 January, with the possibility of more this week to come; it feels like we might be in the era not of super-teams, but one super-team.

Tadej Pogačar returned to break his own Strava KOM on the famous Coll de Rates climb in Spain, setting a time of 11:57.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider claimed the record last December, in a time of 12:21, but has now taken a further 24 seconds off the record ascent, on a Friday spin. The official verified Strava segment is 6.43km at 5.5%, meaning 347m of elevation gain.

Pogačar was in the area for his team's training camp, with Calpe or Benidorm on the Costa Blanca a popular spot for squads this time of year. The Coll de Rates is a regular haunt for pro riders testing themselves.

The world champion set the record time, which meant he averaged 32.3km/h, as part of a 226km ride he titled "Merry Christmas and happy new year". Last year, he set the record on 20 December, this year it was 19 December; it seems like a final flourish before heading home to enjoy the end of 2025.

The whole ride, which took over six hours, was ridden at 36.8km/h, despite taking in over 4,000m of elevation gain. That's some festive ride.

Before Pogačar, the record was held by Jonas Vingegaard’s former ColoQuick team through Peter Øxenberg Hansen, who set a record of 12:38.

Pogačar rode with teammates including Kevin Vermaerke, Florian Vermeersch, Domen Novak, Nils Politt and Pavel Sivakov.

The climb itself was seemingly ridden as a team time trial, in order to give the 27-year-old the best chance of succeeding in his goal.

Pogačar will begin his 2026 season at Strade Bianche in March, before lining up for Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

His season will build to targeting a record-equalling fifth Tour de France in July, but it feels clear that his focus is on Roubaix and San Remo first, the two Monuments he is yet to win.

At his team's media day earlier in December, Pogačar said: "I think if I could choose one [race to win between one extra Tour title or Roubaix] it’d be Roubaix. I’ve already won four [Tours], so if I win four of five… there is a bigger difference between zero and one than four and five."

The Slovenian has already been spotted training for Roubaix, months away from the cobbled race.

The BBC is in the news a lot this week, what with Donald Trump suing it for $10 billion over defamation claims, so it is the perfect time to stick the boot in once more.

This Thursday, the winner of 2025's BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) will be announced. For the uninitiated, which is probably everyone not in the UK, the award is given to the best British sportsperson of the year, after a public vote on a shortlist; it has run every year since 1954. The "Personality" bit of the title is a bit of a misnomer; it doesn't require the winner to be a great raconteur, just to be popular with the public. Five cyclists have won the award: Tom Simpson (1965), Chris Hoy (2008), Mark Cavendish (2011), Bradley Wiggins (2012) and Geraint Thomas (2018).

Since 1960, there has been a separate award, currently called 'World Sports Star of the Year', decided on the same night, also by a popular vote. Only two cyclists have ever won it: Jacques Anquetil (1963) and Lance Armstrong (2003), although the latter's was later stripped, after his doping came to light.

The shortlist for this year's World Sports Star of the Year was published last week, and, to my mind, came with a glaring omission. The lucky six are: footballer Mariona Caldentey, boxer Terence Crawford, pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, runner Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, baseball player Shohei Ohtani and footballer Mohamed Salah.

Tadej Pogačar is missing from that list. The Slovenian, who has won 45 times in the last two seasons, 20 times in just 50 race days in 2025, has never been nominated for the title, in fact. It's hard not to jump to superlatives when describing the 27-year-old, but Pogačar has forced people watching cycling to reframe how good someone can be; he is arguably the best male cyclist of all time, and his snubbing by the BBC SPOTY panel stands out.

"I actually think he should be more famous in mainstream sport," his biographer, Andy McGrath, told me last month. "He's never been on the short list for the BBC World Sports Star of the Year. He probably won't be this year, which would be a travesty, if he isn't. He should be up there with Carlos Alcaraz, and Max Verstappen, the big stars. He is kind of too big for cycling. I wonder if that’s a pro cycling problem, like is the sport still seen as too niche? Or is it still tainted by Lance Armstrong?"

It feels like a bit of a mug's game to moan about the nominations for an award that I have no control over, so I won't do more of it – it just seems weird that in cycling some are bored by Pogačar's dominance, and yet he does not have cut-through outside of our sport.

It can't be that cycling is completely too niche; after all, there have been four cycling overall winners in the last 18 years. However, perhaps it's just British riders that are known by the wider public here, especially if they have done well at an Olympics, other global awards have been bestowed upon Pogačar, after all. He might be doing things like no rider has before, but there is just little name recognition – he shouldn't take it too personally, either, considering Eddy Merckx never won the award, or Marianne Vos, or any other dominant cyclist other than Anquetil and Armstrong.

Perhaps there’s a positive to take here: it shows the potential that cycling has to market Pogačar, to grow its audience, to point out to the world that one of the greatest athletes ever is currently riding his bike, and this level won't go on forever. Duplantis won last year, and could well win two in a row, as he vaults to ever new heights; it's not quite the same as solo attack after solo attack to victory, as Pogačar does, though.

He's my world sports star of the year, anyway. There’s something special about the world champion, who doesn’t just confine himself to Grand Tours and monotonously grinding down the opposition. He’s always on the attack, from Paris-Roubaix to Il Lombardia, and we will miss him when he’s gone, even if it is easy to bemoan his control over cycling.

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.

As we hit January, it is more than the time for pro cycling teams to release their new kits for 2026. For some, this is the best part of the year, before the reality of racing gets involved, when we can just imagine how good the jerseys will look on the road.

Rather than writing up each team individually, we thought it would work better if we collated them together, unless someone does something mad. When all the kits are out, we can do our usual arbitrary evaluation of them too, so do look out for that. In this guide, we will cover all the WorldTour teams, and notable other squads, but not all, otherwise it will get a bit overwhelming, apart from particular exceptions.

If you would rather find out which team riders will be appearing for next year, rather than what they will be wearing, you can find that on our comprehensive transfer guide for 2026 too.

Teams have also changed names – Israel-Premier Tech to NSN Cycling, Alpecin-Deceuninck to Alpecin-Premier Tech, and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale to Decathlon CMA CGM and more – so that will have an impact on the kits too.

While teams will have tried to keep the fresh designs under wraps, a few have leaked into the public domain. However, this list will only have confirmed designs. So far, those who are fans of garish outfits should be pleased.

So far, we are only certain of a few kits for next season, but more will appear in the coming weeks or days. We'll update this as we go!

Picnic PostNL

If I were to play spot the difference, I would be hard pushed with the 2026 Picnic PostNL kit. It remains navy and orange, with the 'Keep Challenging' stripes, and the name is the same too. There are a couple of new sponsors on there, and this is apparently different, but that's it.

As the press release says: "Clear and vibrant amongst the colourful peloton: fans, commentators and pundits alike won’t have to re-adjust for the 2026 campaign as they can expect to see the two orange stripes from those helicopter shots on even the foggiest of days."

Pinarello-Q36.5

It's a continuation of navy for the renamed Pinarello-Q36.5, but no white sleeves this year. Instead, this smart jersey is fully navy, with fancy gold accents. The bikes don't look bad either...

According to Q36.5's founder, Luigi Bergamo: "The new jersey design evolves the visual language we began developing last season to reflect the Italian values of premium, daring, design that we share with Pinarello.

"The result is a kit that allows our riders to feel, from the very first moment they pull on the kit, that they are part of something special and unique: the only team in the professional peloton founded and powered by Italian technical partners. We can’t wait to see this jersey (and our iconic Dottore bib shorts!) racing sharp at the front of the bunch."

Jayco AlUla and Liv AlUla Jayco

MAAP entered WorldTour cycling with their Jayco AlUla and Liv AlUla Jayco kits, and have stuck to their theme from 2025 with this purple – sorry, "Aurora" – jersey, paired with dark grey shorts.

The new addition is the flame motif, which stretches to the socks, which is a bit of fun.

MAAP's creative director, Misha Glisovic, said: "MAAP has always been driven to push the boundaries. It’s core to who we are and how we see our place in the sport. We want to use design to broaden the appeal of pro cycling, nudging the sport towards something more stylish and aspirational. Ultimately, we want to be true to our values at MAAP, and GreenEDGE shares this vision."

Human Powered Health

Women's WorldTour squad Human Powered Health have partnered with Verge Sport for their new kit. The new design keeps the orange/red/purple that we have become used to for the team, but in a new pattern, which is called 'Tailwind'. It's designed "to embody speed, motion, and momentum".

The press release says the jersey has a "rich, sweeping warm-to-cool colour gradient that represents Human Powered Health’s Pillars of Performance". It'll be paired with black shorts.

Lotto-Intermarché

The newly merged Lotto-Intemarché go with the red of Lotto for 2026. The kit is a dark-ish red, paired with black shorts, and there isn't really too much more to say about it. It's smart!

According to the statement: "In terms of colour, both main sponsors, Intermarché and Lotto, were already allies: their brand colours red and black dominate the design. The meaningful, subtle fingerprint pattern further strengthens the bold look."

Bahrain Victorious

Bahrain Victorious have been red, orange, purple, and white, but never blue. That changes in 2026, when the team, now riding Bianchi bikes, will be in navy blue with teal sleeves.

The press release reveals deeper meanings: "At the heart of the kit sits a deep navy, a colour that has been part of the team’s identity since its foundation. Subtly woven into the design is a faint “X” that crosses the jersey, the Roman numeral representing ten years in the sport.

"On the sleeves of the jersey, Bianchi’s iconic Celeste is distinctly featured, perfectly matching the shallow blue waters and teal tones that represent Bahrain’s two seas."

Visma-Lease a Bike

The men and women of Visma-Lease a Bike will continue in yellow for 2026, wearing a kit made by Nimbl, who are more known for their cycling shoes.

According to Francesco Matrone, graphic designer at Nimbl: "In a WorldTour context, design must be essential, intentional, and instantly recognizable. One of our key goals was to create a visual identity that's identifiable at speed and reflects performance and clarity. It must be unmistakably Visma-Lease a Bike. Every graphic element is functional, integrated, and designed to perform under pressure.”

EF Pro Cycling

EF Education–EasyPost and EF Education–Oatly will remain pink next year, but have switched kit suppliers from Rapha to Assos.

Assos says the 2026 kit reflects a "forward-looking mindset" with a "bold colour palette" that evolves EF Pro Cycling’s unmistakable visual identity while introducing "a new, almost other-worldly energy to the peloton."

The silver bits are fun, and pink is always good to me – I just wonder what's going to happen when the Giro d'Italia comes around.

Alpecin-Premier Tech and Fenix-Premier Tech

It's a brand new name for Alpecin-Premier Tech and Fenix-Premier Tech – no more Deceuninck – but not a completely new kit, with similar vibes for the WorldTour and Women's WorldTour teams. The men's team has a kit made by Kalas, which is the same blue as before, more or less, but with a bit more of a light grading across the chest.

The women's team, meanwhile, wear a kit made by Alé, which is pretty similar to the orange of 2025, and there doesn't seem to be the green and blue options from before.

Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto

Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto are usually found in a bold, colourful kit, and next season is no different. This is Luminous, designed by Mckenzie Sampson and made by Canyon. It takes a dark purple base and merges it with turquoise, pink, coral and red.

Sampson said: "I’ve always found Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto to be an aspiring light within the peloton. They’re a team that gives a unique platform to a diverse set of riders across the globe to get their big break in cycling. To visually illustrate that sense of light and hope, we wanted the kit design to be bold yet convey the right balance of contrasting light, unique patterns, and rich saturated moments of colour."

AG Insurance-Soudal

AG Insurance-Soudal have mostly the same kit as their brother team Soudal Quick-Step, just with different sponsors. There is a new logo, too: Datashift, a Belgian leader in data solutions and strategy.

It's a blue base, with green accents across, with a white band across the chest for AG Insurance.

Ineos Grenadiers

There was rumour and speculation that it might happen, but now it is official... Ineos Grenadiers will be wearing WHITE yes WHITE shorts next season. Well, it's technically 'light grey', but come on.

Orange is the main colour on the jersey for the first time, after various blues and reds, but it is the white that stands out. It's as striking, if not more so, as AG2R's famous brown shorts, and we wonder how the riders are feeling about it...

The press release says: "The design was created with a clear purpose: immediate recognition. The exclusive use of this orange ensures a striking presence in the peloton, while the white panels on the lower sections add balance and clarity, allowing the leading colour to shine with harmonious strength. The result is a sophisticated, functional and memorable kit."

Apparently: "Orange is the new uniqueness. Orange is the new icon." Read our opinion on it here.

Soudal Quick-Step

It's evolution not revolution for Soudal Quick-Step in 2026, who have a similar kit to this season, but green rather than white as the accent colour, along with the classic blue.

According to the team: "The new design incorporates a vivid electric-lime element, a deliberate move inspired by the Shine for Safety visibility campaign launched during this year’s Ardennes Classics."

There is a lot more green on the back, which will help them stand out, apparently. It's a nice wavy pattern. The kit is designed and made by Castelli.

FDJ United-SUEZ

If you're thinking "I've seen this kit before", you would be right. FDJ United-SUEZ will be wearing their 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift kit full-time next year. It's largely black, with an explosion of red and blue on the chest.

The press release says about the Gobik kit: "The jersey reflects the unseen hours of the sport: training sessions before dawn, rides in the rain, the fear and doubts of a jour sans. In contrast, a vivid halo of light rises on the chest, symbolising the inner spark that transforms sacrifice into brilliance at the moment of victory.

Demi Vollering won't be in this kit, given the Dutchwoman is European champion.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG

UAE Team Emirates-XRG rarely mix the colour palette up too much, and 2026 will be no different – it's largely white, with black and red trim, but it definitely has changed since last season.

The Pissei kit, handcrafted at the brand's Italian Custom Lab, has some fun geometric patterns on the stormach of the jersey, with black on the arms too. Don't expect to see Tadej Pogačar in this one, however, considering he is world champion.

Movistar

It's a second year in a row in white for Movistar, who have ditched the navy box across the chest for this cleaner offering. There is the classic M on the front, and some accents across the rest of the front.

Apparently: "Gobik sought a futuristic aesthetic, an evolution that projects innovation and performance on a white base. Technological textures, iridescent graphics and subtle transparencies were combined to create a striking design that reflects the identity and avant-garde spirit of the team." Avant-garde. Right.

Lidl-Trek

Lidl-Trek's kit is different. Definitely. There's less red on the front, more blue, and there's a new sponsor on the front, but it is, essentially, the same as last year. There's nothing wrong with that! It's a good kit! "Our favourite colours" is what the team said. Keep it simple. The men and women use the same kit, which is good.

The team say: "With a fresh twist on a fan-favorite design, Santini have delivered again with the 2026 Lidl-Trek kit. Pairing the ultimate fabrics with playful colours, the latest design delivers looks as well as performance."

Decathlon CMA CGM

Sadly, there's no exciting bumf to go with the new Decathlon CMA CGM kit, but with a new name comes a new colour - red. The brown shorts are sadly still in the dustbin of history, with new sponsors CMA CGM bringing the new colour. One sleeve is still teal (?) while the other is a lot darker, rather than the dark blue it was before.

Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe

Now, Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe's kit is yet to be officially announced, but seeing as all the riders in the plane stunt were wearing a new kit, let's assume this is the new one for 2026. It's a lot whiter than before, with royal blue sleeves, and less navy. It is similar to the special kit they used at the Tour de France this season.

SD Worx-Protime

SD Worx-Protime have veered away from the purple and pinks of recent years, and instead will race in this primary colour-heavy jersey which is called "New Dawn"

It's designed by Specialized, and is paired with black shorts. Notably, Lotte Kopecky will be racing in it, no longer being world, European, or Belgian champion, for once.

According to the press release: "The new jersey reflects the team’s and sponsors’ ongoing drive for innovation. Standing still is not an option – continuously reinventing ourselves in every aspect is a core value at SD Worx-Protime. The new design symbolises our rich history through the spark, now multiplied and displayed in various shades. This emphasises the team’s slogan: we spark success."

NSN Cycling

The team formerly known as Israel-Premier Tech have become NSN Cycling, and will be wearing a busy kit next season, with a base of sky blue and orange. The jury is out over whether this will be easy to notice or to lose in the peloton. They're also riding Scott bikes now.

If you want to know why it looks like this, the press release says: "It's designed by Stijn Dossche of stycle.design, is inspired by the Mediterranean city from which the team’s new identity has been forged.

"Its design blends geometry, colour blocks, and patterns reminiscent of contemporary Barcelona - a city that never stands still, where tradition meets modernity, where Mediterranean light becomes art, and movement becomes identity."

Just in time for the Tour de France Grand Départ in July, then – that's in Barça.

Groupama-FDJ United

Another new name, though less dramatic, is Groupama-FDJ United. The French stalwarts are slow to change their kits, normally, and the same is true next year. It's the fetching number they wore at this year's Tour, although it's now made by Bioracer rather than Alé. Essentially, it's royal blue with a red accent sleeve.

Cofidis

Cofidis are another French team barely changing their kit for 2026. The men's and women's teams, now both ProTeams, will use the same red and yellow jersey as this season, although the shades might have been slightly altered, and the sponsors have moved around a bit.

Tadej Pogačar has been spotted on a recon of the Paris-Roubaix cobbles, four months out from the 2026 race.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider was seen by a French local on Tuesday, according to regional newspaper La Voix du Nord, seemingly training on the famous Carrefour de l'Arbre. The French paper obtained pictures of the event, showing him alongside teammates Nils Politt and Tim Wellens.

It suggests that Pogačar will take a second tilt at 'the Hell of the North' in April; the world champion finished second behind Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) at his debut in the Monument.

He crashed – without harm – in that race after misjudging a corner. With no cobbles in next year's Tour de France, Pogačar racing Roubaix again is a natural conclusion.

"I live nearby, in Sainghin-en-Mélantois, and I cycle a lot," Jean-Luc Gallus told La Voix du Nord. "When I arrived at the Arbre crossroads, I saw UAE cars in the distance and as I got closer, I recognized Tim Wellens’ Belgian champion’s jersey,. Then I saw the rainbow bike and I realized it was Pogacar.

"I asked him if I could take his picture, he said there was no problem at all, and he even posed.

"I heard them talking," Gallus continued. "They were going back down towards Cysoing to take the cobblestones of Bourghelles and return via L'Arbre." He was "quite surprised".

He added: "In the middle of winter, it's rather daring. It's been raining a lot lately. The cobblestones are wet and there are muddy sections."

Following his debut, Pogačar said: "The cobbles, the stress on the body, it’s definitely one of the roughest, toughest, hardest races I’ve done. I think I gained some experience that maybe next time that I come here it will not be so extremely hard as it was today."

It is no secret that the Slovenian would like to win Roubaix, perhaps above all else. "I want to win Paris-Roubaix in particular," he told L'Équipe in July. "This year, for my first participation, I found this race crazy, my second place was already incredible. I want to come back."

Last year, Pogačar and UAE teased his debut with a training clip posted to Instagram in February. This year, it appears harder to keep the news under wraps. Sunday 12 April is the date everyone should circle on their calendars.

Few riders in history have made dominance look as effortless as Tadej Pogačar. The four-time Tour de France winner, back-to-back world champion and 10-time Monument victor is arguably the best rider in the history of the sport. The 27-year-old’s record speaks for itself: 108 wins, 45 of them in the last two seasons.

Despite all this success, there has not been a full-length biography of the Slovenian published in English – until now, with the launch of Tadej Pogačar: Unstoppable by Andy McGrath.

Having already published books on late greats Frank Vandenbroucke and Tom Simpson, journalist and writer McGrath faced a new challenge with his latest project: the subject was still alive. “Me and my friends joked after the Vandenbroucke book that my next subject had to be alive,” says McGrath. “But this is quite different. I was writing about the sport’s big superstar, a moving target.”

There could be no benefit of hindsight with Pogačar – his greatness still unfolding and hard to encapsulate. “Tadej needs to have a calmer, more conservative streak to be a Grand Tour racer,” the biographer reflects, “but he is also a one-day dominator, which makes him really interesting.”

Mindful that he was in pursuit of a “moving target”, McGrath had to proceed with haste. “It was one calendar year, almost to the day, from first meeting with an editor at Bloomsbury to finishing the project,” he says. “It was probably the ultimate challenge for me as a writer because I didn’t want to just collage it. I wanted new insights, new stories, and to talk to people, to do it face-to-face.”

Over that year McGrath was writing, his subject won a fourth Il Lombardia; a third Strade Bianche; a second Tour of Flanders and La Flèche Wallonne; a third Liège-Bastogne-Liège; the Critérium du Dauphiné; a fourth Tour de France; a second World Championships; and the European Championships; and, after the book was published, a fifth Il Lombardia. Enough to take up the whole book.

Instead, McGrath dedicates 25 pages to 2025, and about the same to 2024, the year in which Pogačar took the triple crown of Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Worlds. The biography is no blow-by-blow account, nor can it be, with those blows still being struck.

“The nice thing about this book is that you finally get a big-picture view,” McGrath explains. “From being nobody, this tiny kid in Slovenia riding a unicycle, to being the complete cyclist, the superstar.” The 250-page book seeks to explain and show Pogačar’s rise, which was not as inevitable as it may seem now. As much space is devoted to his early years as to his recent glories.

Given the reams of material published about Pogačar – more than 100 articles on Cycling Weekly’s website this year alone – how did McGrath tackle the mammoth research challenge?

“There was a huge element of sifting, like panning for gold,” he says. “I listened to all the press conferences he’d done, from 2020 to the present day, but picked only a handful of the best quotes.”

McGrath spoke to primary sources too, including team-mates and former team-mates including Mikkel Bjerg and Matteo Trentin, and mentor Andrej Hauptman. “You’re looking for gold there too – nuggets that will add something different.”

Were his interviewees willing to spill the beans? “There’s kind of an inscrutability. The fact he is Tadej Pogačar, the biggest star in modern sport, means that there are things people won’t tell you on the record. They don’t want to betray his trust. They don’t want to get into trouble.”

Unauthorised biography

The book is not an authorised biography and as such contains no new material from the subject himself. “He didn’t give me any one-on-one time, but he doesn’t do many of those [interviews],” McGrath says. “He doesn’t win all these races by being freely available to journalists. I don’t think it affected Unstoppable. His voice runs through it. As for the broader access level, I think it was pretty good, and it speaks to the positive things people have to say about him.”

One notably absent voice is that of Mauro Gianetti, the boss of UAE Team Emirates. “There’s so much riding on Pogačar, financially, competitively, that there’s no point [from the team’s perspective] in him being super open with the media,” adds McGrath.

The author did travel to Slovenia to meet with many figures from Pogačar’s past and present, a trip which gave him more than just quotes.

“I didn’t have an interpreter, so God bless Slovenians for being so good at English,” McGrath says. “It was January, and Hauptman, the UAE DS, was still there, so it turned out to be a really good time to go and talk to people.”

McGrath was also able to get a sense of the landscape and community that made Pogačar. “Going to his hometown gives you a very grounding sense of who he is, the core of him growing up. There’s nothing there to suggest that he would be an outstanding cyclist.”

Pogačar’s winning has come to feel predictable, but the book reminds us of the shock in 2020 when the then 21-year-old stormed to victory at the Tour de France. Just two years earlier, he was on a Slovenian Continental team. “The lack of hype and his nationality worked for him in the long run,” McGrath says. “If Pogačar had been Belgian, there would have been a lot more pressure.”

He recounts the story of a WorldTour team who, initially interested in signing the young rider, changed their mind upon discovering he was Slovenian. “There was definitely snobbery from the heartland nations of Europe,” adds McGrath.

Highs and lows

What gives the book its compelling story isn’t that Pogačar is a serial winner, the unstoppable great of its title, but that he has had to overcome adversity. “With the Tour defeats to [Jonas] Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023, there’s a little bit of revisionism in the book,” McGrath argues.

“You realise just how impressive Visma’s plan and execution was. I think it was probably one of the best days of bike racing since I started watching 22 years ago. We thought Pogačar was invincible, and 2022 showed he wasn’t, and after the 2023 defeat, there was a sense he might not come back from it.”

In light of the past two years, though, the book’s title can only be taken literally. “Unstoppable was decided very early on,” says McGrath, “before the 2025 season. In the back of my mind was, what if he has a terrible year? Would we have a big black mark through the title?”

Thankfully for McGrath, Pogačar’s unstoppability has become undeniable. It has left some arguing that his dominance has become boring – a charge his biographer rejects. “Why is excellence boring? After Pogačar retires, probably in five years’ time, we won’t see someone like that for decades, probably ever.”

The book may soon need an update, given the rate at which the Slovenian wins – a prospect McGrath isn’t ruling out. “I’m not bored by Pogačar. There were always new things to say about him.”

That, ultimately, is the point of Unstoppable: a portrait of an athlete whose story keeps outrunning those who try to capture it. McGrath’s challenge was to fix on the page something still in motion – and in doing so, he’s shown why Pogačar remains the sport’s most compelling moving target.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR POGAČAR?

Having spent more time thinking about Pogačar than most, McGrath is well placed to play Nostradamus with the Slovenian.

“Logically, he’s going to face the biggest hurdle he’s ever faced in the next two years. So far, he has avoided serious crashes. He pushes the limits so much, and that’s another reason why he’s so exciting.

“He said a few times this year that he’s at his peak. How long could he stay there? My hunch is two more years, which would be phenomenal.”

The rider McGrath identifies as Pogačar’s biggest foe might come as a surprise: “I think [Remco] Evenepoel, not Vingegaard, will be the one who could challenge him more in the future, because Red Bull are not in cycling just to finish third in the Tour.”

This feature originally appeared in Cycling Weekly magazine on 27 November 2025. Subscribe now and never miss an issue.

It was raining a lot on the edge of Valence after stage 17 of the Tour de France in July. After days of baking heat, the sky had turned black on the edge of the Ardèche; if real life was a school English essay, the phrase pathetic fallacy would be on everyone’s lips. The world’s biggest bike race has a habit of bringing everyone back down to earth, metaphorically as well as literally, as the majesty of Mont Ventoux the previous day was followed by a sprint on an arterial road, hemmed in by grey offices.

The sense of doom was increased by the chaos at the finish, where a prankster had somehow got onto the course, and a crash in the final kilometre which led to a handful of riders contesting for the win, which went to Jonathan Milan.

In the midst of this heavy precipitation, slightly uninspiring stage, and a man trying to ride on the course to gain a few likes on social media, perhaps it’s not surprising that no-one spotted what Tadej Pogačar, the yellow jersey, was up to. He finished 27th, safely, completed his obligations as the man leading the race, including one of those press conferences where both sides were dissatisfied, and that was the end of the story.

Or so we thought. In an interview this week, his UAE Team Emirates-XRG colleague Tim Wellens revealed that Pogačar visited hospital that evening due to knee pain, and that there were fears that he would have to leave the race. It is remarkable that this didn’t come out before, given the world we live in, but I like the mystery, the intrigue.

Of course, his departure didn’t come to pass – the Slovenian went on, kept his yellow jersey through the Alps, and won by over four minutes in Paris. It was clear in the last days of the Tour that this was a different Pogačar, however, one who didn’t win on Ventoux, on the Col de la Loze, or in La Plagne.

This did not pass unnoticed; in every press conference in that final week, Pogačar was asked some variation of the question ‘what’s up?’ or ‘are you bored?’ from the assembled press. The answer, though, was not “my knee hurts” but instead that he was tired, maybe a bit bored, and done with the rigmarole of racing and leading the Tour de France.

“I ask myself why I'm still here – it's so long these three weeks,” he said after stage 18. “You count the kilometres to Paris and yes, I can't wait for it to be over so I can do some other nice stuff in my life as well."

"I'm obviously tired," Pogačar added the next day in La Plagne. "It's not been an easy Tour. People attacking me from left and right, from day one until the end. Being focused, motivated. The priority is the yellow jersey, so I was counting down the kilometres because I was going with my pace and hoping that nobody would attack from behind, and that's it. Sometimes you just count down the kilometres."

However, this might have been hiding the real issue. As Wellens explained: “It was a relief that he didn’t give up in the mountains. Everyone wondered why he wasn’t attacking, which is understandable… Afterwards we worried about him physically, but mentally I was surprised to read he wanted to go home, because we actually had a great time together.”

Clearly, it was important to keep the knee issue a secret. There were still four minutes between Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard in second place after stage 17, but the news of a weakened Pogačar might have re-energised Visma-Lease a Bike in the final two mountain stages. Perhaps there was a weakness there to be exploited, although a complete reversal seems unlikely, given the lead and how exhausted everyone was.

Maybe Pogačar was bluffing over his mental state, hiding the true problem. It certainly was a convenient, easy excuse, but like the best cover stories, there was more than a ring of truth to it. He did seem exhausted, and done, and who could blame him. Especially if his knee hurt. A few months later, the Slovenian was back in Valence, winning the European Championships – there was a smile this time.

The Tour incident is a useful reminder that we can’t know everything, not even what’s going on with the best, most famous cyclist in the world. That’s no bad thing. It also raises questions for the future: how is the knee? Are you bluffing? It’s something to think about next time we’re on a rainy ringroad in the middle of France.

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, or comment below.

Tadej Pogačar's knee injury at the Tour de France was so bad that a hospital visit was required, his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Tim Wellens has revealed.

In an interview with French sports newspaper L'Équipe, published on Tuesday, the Belgian said that the squad were worried he would be unable to complete the race, such was the pain.

The injury was already public knowledge, but the hospital trip shows how close the yellow jersey came to leaving the race. It also partly explains why the Slovenian throttled back his dominant performance as the race went on. Pogačar still won his fourth Tour by over four minutes, and took four stage wins, but there was a sense he was not at his best in the Alps.

"The day after the stage with the finish on Mont Ventoux, I had problems with my knee and I started to have doubts about whether I would be able to continue at all, whether I would be able to endure the queen stage," Pogačar told Slovenian outlet siol.net last month.

"In the stage to Valence [stage 17] he said to me: 'Tim, we have a problem, my knee hurts.' It was so bad he walked to the doctor’s car to be examined. After the stage, he went to the hospital," Wellens explained, giving more context.

"They found an inflammation or something like that, and nobody knew," he continued. "He was in a lot of pain and we doubted he’d make it to the finish. We even considered stopping. On the team bus, we could see he wasn’t doing well."

Wellens added: "It was a relief that he didn’t give up in the mountains. Everyone wondered why he wasn’t attacking, which is understandable… Afterwards we worried about him physically, but mentally I was surprised to read he wanted to go home, because we actually had a great time together."

Pogačar had intimated he was tired during press conferences towards the end of the race, and at the end of the Tour, he said: "I'm at this point in my career that if I do burnout I would be happy with what I achieved. To be serious, burnouts happen in sport, in a lot of sport, mental and physical burnout. We do train a lot, I think cyclists are a bit too obsessed with training, and we always try our hardest. Everyone wants to train more and more.

"You see some riders have fatigue too early in the season, and the team needs you to race, race, race, and you keep going in this circle and you never recover. Then you get to October and finally a break, then in December you do it all again. Burnouts happen all the time, and it could happen to me as well."

Last month, his mother told French website Le Parisien that she would understand it if he took a break from cycling.

Another weekend, another monster solo victory for Tadej Pogačar. Sunday's European Championships road race in the French Ardèche region saw the Slovenian attack solo with 75km to go and hang on for a 31-second victory over (once again) a dispirited solo chaser Remco Evenepoel.

It's becoming hard to remember a time when UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Pogačar wasn't the imperious winning machine that he has been for much of this season, such is the regularity with which he trounces all comers.

Only a week ago he won the World Championships road race in Kigali with an attack at 100km to go that saw off a host of the world's best riders. The European Championships field was very nearly as strong.

But you need only think back two seasons ago to recall a time when he was very much the underdog – certainly at the Tour de France – and many fans were starting to become deeply concerned that we might be looking at several years of Jonas Vingegaard dominance.

But how the tables have turned. And now it appears the malaise is setting in again – this time directed at Pogačar.

This became apparent at the weekend, with Pogačar suffering all manner of harassment as he rode through fans that crowded the Val d'Enfer climb.

According to a report in Dutch outlet Wielerflits, many fans put stickers on his back as he rode through, with others dropping their trousers or attempting to startle him by pretending to kick out.

Whether or not this is a one-off occurrence remains to be seen. But the smart money suggests that the longer Pogačar's dominance continues, the more frequent this kind of behaviour will become.

There is, of course, no excuse for it. You don't have to like the rider that dominates. Boo them if you like. But physical contact and overtly aggressive behaviour as they pass by inches away isn't on and is the sort of thing that could see climbs closed off for fans.

Expecting a rider to give up the victory simply because they won the week before (and yes, the week before that) is unrealistic given how hard every pro works all year to be able to put themselves in a position to do so.

As history shows though, once a rider has been dominant for long enough, it is also unrealistic to expect cycling fans to remain universally supportive of them.

The bike racing annals are littered with generational talents who suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fandom. Every other decade has one. Jacques Anquetil – inaugurator of the five-time Tour de France-winning 'Club Cinq' – snubbed by home fans in favour of eternal underdog Raymond Poulidor. Eddy Merckx, whose cannibalistic ways eventually led to a fan fatigue that hurt him deeply. Lance Armstrong and US Postal Service, who even when the doping was only a rumour, left huge swathes of cycling fans non-plussed by their machine-like dominance. And then Team Sky and Chris Froome, whose US Postal-like dominance quickly became old for non-British fans.

Pogačar has spent much of the past two seasons riding a wave of goodwill, a lot of which is down to his ability to mix a human charm and humour with seemingly inhuman feats of cycling brilliance.

But the calling card he brandishes with increasing regularity – the swashbuckling long-range solo attack – is apparently starting to leave some fans cold. After all, we can now be reasonably sure that when 'Pogi' gets a gap with 75km to go (or some other equally unlikely distance), that the race is over.

The first few times you see it, it's hard not to be impressed. But it feels inevitable that some fans will be turned off by the ensuing lack of any jeopardy.

Whether Pogačar is aloof to the disapproval of onlookers like Anquetil, who required only "respect not adoration", or sensitive like Eddy Merckx, has yet to be truly tested.

But if the Pogačar juggernaut keeps on rolling, that could soon change.

Juan Ayuso will ride for Lidl-Trek next year, signing a five-year contract with the team, after leaving his UAE Team Emirates-XRG contract early.

The Spanish rider, a two-time stage winner at this year's Vuelta a España, is considered one of the most promising general classification riders in the peloton. He won Tirreno-Adriatico this year, has won a stage of the Giro d'Italia, and also finished on the podium of his first Vuelta in 2022.

However, his contract with UAE, which ran until 2028, was terminated due to "differences in the vision of development plans and in the alignment with the team’s sporting philosophy".

Due to those differences, the 23-year-old will ride for Lidl-Trek next season, it was announced on Thursday morning, although he will race in UAE colours for the rest of the year.

"I’m really excited," Ayuso said in a press release. "Joining Lidl-Trek is the start of an important new chapter in my career, and I’m motivated to keep growing as a rider. Change always brings new energy and ambitions, so I can’t wait to get started.

"From the outside you can see the team has built a strong identity, with a lot of unity and ambition. The long-term project they’re putting together is something quite unique and special. It feels like a place where I can take the next step in my development, surrounded by riders and staff who share the same goals. I want to keep improving in the biggest races; the Team has the ambition to become the best team in the world, so I’m really looking forward to contributing to that success.

"I feel super grateful towards the team for giving me this opportunity and their confidence. I can’t wait to wear the Lidl-Trek jersey."

For their part, Lidl-Trek's Luca Guercilena, said: "Juan is one of the brightest young talents in cycling. He is already one of the best climbers and time trialists in the world, which makes for a very exciting package.

"At only 23 years old, he still has room to grow, and we are committed to giving him all the support he needs to reach his full potential. Bringing Juan on board is an important step in our long-term vision, and we are excited to see what we can achieve together in the years ahead."

Ayuso is set to race the elite men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, this weekend, before heading to the European Championships and then Il Lombardia.

If you've been following bike racing this season with any consistency, the chances are you have at some stage thought to yourself: 'This UAE Team Emirates-XRG lot, they're quite good, aren't they?'

Well, that has just become even more of an understatement than it was last week, because as of Brandon McNulty's overall victory at the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg on Sunday, UAE Team Emirates-XRG have now won more races in a single season than any other team, ever.

The tally, as it stands, is 86 victories, surpassing the 85 recorded by the Columbia-HTC team back in 2009.

You'd be forgiven if your knee-jerk response to this goes something along the lines of 'well, Tadej Pogačar... duh'. But that is not the reality. Of course, the Slovenian played a significant role, notching up 16 of the 86 wins – including of course his imperious fourth Tour de France victory in July.

Any team setting this record is likely going to have a star like Pogačar. Back in 2009 Columbia had Mark Cavendish, who with 23 took a far greater share of the wins than Pogačar has.

But no less than 20 UAE riders have crossed the line first this season, so far. That represents huge strength in depth that has turned UAE Team Emirates into a winning machine.

They began winning from the word go, with Jhonatan Narvaez taking a stage and GC at the Tour Down Under. Among the honours that followed were major Classics wins (Strade Bianche, Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, thanks to Pogačar), stage race GC victories (Juan Ayuso, Tirreno-Adriatico; Pogačar, Critérium du Daupine and Isaac Del Toro, Tour of Austria) and of course the Tour de France. The list is very, very long.

Impressive, of course, but not everyone is convinced this is a good thing. My colleague Adam Becket wrote a piece earlier this month questioning whether we ought not introduce a budget cap for teams, after UAE won a third of the stages in the Vuelta a España.

And with UAE Team Emirates still to take part in the Il Lombardia and the Tour of Guangxi WorldTour races, as well as the Trofeo Tessile & Moda and the Coppa Agostoni .1 events – all next month – this number could rise further.

Unsurprisingly, the achievement was not lost on the team and its riders, with McNulty quoted on the team's website as saying: "It's very special to be part of the team to break the record and even more special to be the one to do it."

Team CEO and principal Mauro Gianetti added: “Reaching 86 victories in one season is an extraordinary milestone, and it reflects the incredible commitment and unity of everyone in this organisation – from our leaders in the UAE to our riders, staff, sponsors, and supporters.

"This record is not just about numbers, but about the consistency, the sacrifices, and the belief that have carried us through every race. I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together, and this moment will stand as a reference point in the history of our team and of cycling. We will enjoy it, but also remain motivated to keep pushing for more.”

Jay Vine mastered the breakaway on stage 10 of the Vuelta a España to climb to his second victory of this race, as Jonas Vingegaard took over the red jersey.

After a 100km-long fight to get into the day's escape, UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Vine attacked from it on El Ferial Larra Belagua to take his fourth Vuelta stage, and UAE's fourth of this race. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) finished second, with his teammate Javier Romo in third.

Meanwhile, Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious) ended his three-day stint in the race lead, losing enough to mean Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike claimed back the top spot on general classification.

Vine's victory for UAE followed a 24 hours dominated by more mixed stories about the team, after the announcement that Juan Ayuso would leave at the end of 2025.

The Australian navigated the 26-rider break expertly, waiting until almost 5km to go to power on alone, and was never seen again.

His teammate João Almeida, third overall, attempted to force splits on the final climb in the group of general classification contenders, but gaps weren't coming. In the end, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) led the men aiming for the red jersey in, including Vingegaard and Almeida.

"Winning is so, so hard, and it’s such an incredible feeling when it happens," Vine said post-stage on TV. "I don’t think I’ll ever get used to winning, because it’s just unbelievably hard.

"I think I made my move for two and a half hours at the start of the race, trying to follow the big moves. The guys would help me where they could. At the two hour mark I just said it wasn’t happening, then there was a crash and I got stuck behind that, and we were jumping for another 45 minutes. Mikkel [Bjerg] helped me get across, and I thought that was the hardest part of the race until the final climb turned into that.

"I didn’t want to drag everyone up the climb, so I tried playing a bit of possum at the bottom, and was able to attack my way across to the other riders. Then I got rid of Archie, and then got to Pablo and was able to drop him through the last s-bend, and then it was just gritting my teeth to the end."

How it happened

The Vuelta a España resumed after the first rest day in much the same way as before, with a mountain stage, another summit finish.

The flat start to stage 10, however, meant that it was very difficult for a breakaway to establish itself. In fact, despite the efforts of many, including the man in the lead of the mountains competition, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), the day’s escape wasn’t set until well over 100km into the day. The average speed after two hours of racing was 49.9km/h, which shows how full-on everyone was.

Finally, with around 68km to go, a group established itself in front of the peloton. The 26 were: Mikkel Bjerg and Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), Orluis Aular, Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo (Movistar), Matteo Sobrero and Ben Zwiehoff (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) Louis Vervaeke and Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step), Michał Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), Bruno Armirail and Johannes Staune-Mittet (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Xabier Mikel Azparren and David González (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Harold Tejada, Nicola Conci and Fausto Masnada (XDS Astana), Rudy Molard (Groupama FDJ), Abel Balderstone, Joel Nicolau, and Jakub Ortuba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Paul Thierry (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Gijs Leemreize and Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL), Lars Craps and Alec Segaert (Lotto), Sean Quinn and Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) and Pier-André Côté (Israel-Premier Tech).

This big group was allowed some leeway from the peloton, taking three minutes into the closing section of the day.

On the Alto de Las Coronas, the first classified climb of the day, Romo took the points ahead of Vine, ostensibly in an attempt to escape the break, not take points. Romo kicked off the move, and was joined by Vine, Bernard, Castrillo, Ryan, Azparren, Conci, Balderstone and Segaert.

Behind, Bahrain Victorious continued to pull on the front of the peloton, for red jersey Torstein Træen.

Bernard won the intermediate sprint in Isaba, with 21km to go, before Segaert launched an attack from the front group through the 20km-to-go marker.

The classified final climb to El Ferial Larra Belagua began with 9.9km to go, with an average of 6.3%, but with ramps above this.

Lotto’s Segaert built up a lead of 43 seconds with 13km to go, making him believe a first Grand Tour stage victory might be in sight, while the rest of the break were another 30 seconds back. The peloton was 3:14 behind Segaert.

As the climb began, Bernard, Conci, Vine, Ryan Castrillo and Romo were left chasing Segaert, with the win seeming likely to come from these riders.

With 7.6km to go, Castrillo caught Segaert, with Vine, Bernard, Romo and Ryan following. The attackers had just over two minutes on the red jersey group, what was left of the peloton. Here, Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) pulled for João Almeida, shadowed by Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).

As the group of favourites made it onto the climb, Træen was dropped, leaving around 11 riders. Almeida put the pace on the front, followed by Vingegaard and others.

Vine caught Castrillo with 5.5km to go, pulling in the blue polka-dot jersey, before going alone.

Lower down the mountain, seven riders were left in the GC group: Almeida, Vingegaard, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe).

Almeida attacked again with 5km to go, followed by Vingegaard, Pidcock and Jorgenson, and Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), they were 1:17 behind Vine. The group swelled again, with Hindley and Pellizzari joining.

Vine flew to victory, having comfortably distanced Castrillo, while most of the GC contenders finished together, with Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) among those losing time.

Results

Vuelta a España 2025 stage 10: Parque de la Naturaleza Sendaviva > El Ferial Larra Belagua (175.3km)

1. Jay Vine (Aus) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:56:24
2. Pablo Castrillo (Esp) Movistar, +35s:
3. Javier Romo (Esp) Movistar, +1:04
4. Archie Ryan (Ire) EF Education-EasyPost, +1:05
5. Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Q36.5 Pro Cycling
6. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek
7. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
8. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike
9. Junior Lecerf (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step
10. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, all at same time

General classification after stage 10

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 37:33:52
2. Torstein Træen (Nor) Bahrain Victorious, +26s
3. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 38s
4. Tom Pidcock (GBr) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, +58s
5. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +2:03
6. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:05
7. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:23
8. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +2:16
9. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time
10. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Israel-Premier Tech, +2:43

Sometimes, a rest day at a Grand Tour is reasonably quiet. It’s a time for everyone to recharge their batteries, to get some washing done, to go for a spin, just get your mind off cycling, really. But then, other times, a rest day is where all the action happens. This was true on the first rest day of this year’s Vuelta a España, when the evening was interrupted by a Juan Ayuso-shaped bombshell.

Another week, another contract row. After the Remco Evenepoel epic, and then the Derek Gee saga, which still hasn’t been resolved, we have the Ayuso rigmarole, which has actually been brought to a conclusion. After months of rumour of things not quite working, Ayuso has been released from his contract with UAE Team Emirates-XRG three years early, and is therefore on the market for any available suitors.

The warning signs were there, with the 22-year-old having a tumultuous year since the 2024 Tour de France. At that race, there were doubts over his work in service of his team leader, Tadej Pogačar, doubts that continued to dog him through other races. At this year’s Giro d’Italia, he came in as a favourite, but left in the shadow of his younger teammate Isaac del Toro, who finished second overall as he abandoned. And then at this Vuelta, his performance has been strange, with a stunning stage win coming in the middle of mountain days where he lost buckets of time, while his teammate João Almeida seemed isolated.

Still, to release Ayuso from his contract seems like an extreme step, evidence of a relationship that is unrepairable. This is not just any other bike rider, but one of the most promising talents in Grand Tour riding, a man who has won stages at both the Vuelta and Giro, and finished on the podium of the Vuelta at 19. He is a winner of Tirreno-Adriatico and Itzulia Basque Country, and looks as likely as any other to be the first Spanish GT winner since Alberto Contador.

UAE didn’t have to let Ayuso go; they are supremely wealthy and the contract ran until 2028, but clearly they feel it’s better to not have him on the team. Just writing that seems quite powerful. Of course, there is a hierarchy at UAE with Pogačar at the top, then Almeida and Del Toro, followed by the other general classification talents stacked up at that team. There are only three Grand Tours a year, but leadership opportunities are there to be taken, if you play the game of being a good teammate at other times. It appeared Ayuso didn’t want to play the game enough.

Team and rider statements are normally bland affairs, interesting for what they don’t say rather than for what they do. However, UAE’s press release saying “a decision was made following differences in the vision of development plans and in the alignment with the team’s sporting philosophy” says a lot. Ayuso said something similar in his own message: “I feel it's time to find an environment that better aligns with who I am and with my values, a place where I can continue to develop with complete confidence and peace of mind.”

Speaking before stage 10 of the Vuelta, Ayuso went further, alleging that UAE's management was trying to harm his image by announcing the move mid-race.

"I'd have liked for things to have ended well with the team, and during all the negotiations before the Vuelta, that's what we tried to do," he said.

"But at times, you can't do that when it's more like a dictatorship and an exercise of power over me."

This all leaves Ayuso without a team for 2026. He undoubtedly has suitors – Lidl-Trek, Ineos Grenadiers and Movistar are rumoured – as he might, as one of the few GC talents on the rung below Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. His exit, though, might give few pause for thought. If Ayuso didn’t fit in at UAE, would he fit in elsewhere? Other teams can give him undivided leadership opportunities, but there might always be times when he has to ride in the service of someone else. The same tensions and doubts might appear again, then.

As for now, with this public break-up taking place in the middle of the three-week Vuelta, things are odd. Speaking to Spanish newspaper AS before the news was confirmed, UAE manager Joxean Fernández Matxin said that Ayuso’s role would be to support Almeida "as much as possible."

"That's his role, and every rider's role. When Juan's job is to be in the break, we'll make sure he's there, and when it's his turn to work for the team, he'll do that, just as they have done for him," he said. "That's beyond any doubt, for him and for everybody."

That’s easy to say, but in practice, things might be a bit more complicated. There could be drama to come, on the roads of northern Spain. It’s worth watching.

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, or comment below.

Juan Ayuso is to leave UAE Team Emirates-XRG at the end of 2025 after "differences in the vision of development plans and in the alignment with the team’s sporting philosophy", it was announced on Monday evening.

The Spanish GC rider, who is currently riding the Vuelta a España, had a contract with the team until 2028, which will be terminated early. His next squad remains unclear.

The decision was made public by his team on Monday, the Vuelta's first rest day. The team said: "Ayuso will now remain on the roster until the end of 2025 after a decision was made following differences in the vision of development plans and in the alignment with the team’s sporting philosophy."

"Juan has been a valuable talent and we are grateful for what we have built together," UAE's CEO, Mauro Gianetti, said in a statement. "At the same time, our sporting project has always been focused on continuity, group harmony, and building a winning team. We believe that, in the best interests of both parties, this decision is the most consistent with the values that define our organization. UAE Team Emirates – XRG will continue on its path of growth and development, confident that the team’s identity and strength remain our foundation. We wish Juan every success in the future."

"I would like to thank the team for the support and opportunities they have given me over these years," Ayuso said. "I have had the chance to grow and to compete alongside the very best, and I know that what I have learned will always remain part of my professional background. I now feel it is time for me to take a different path, with the same enthusiasm and I wish UAE Team Emirates – XRG success for the future."

Ayuso joined the team in 2021, and has established himself as one of the best general classification talents in world cycling. This year, he has won stages of both the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta, as well as winning Tirenno-Adriatico overall.

The 22-year-old finished third at the Vuelta on debut in 2022, before finishing fourth in 2023. However, being in a team as stacked with talent as UAE has not always been easy, with Ayuso having to share leadership duties across the year with Tadej Pogačar, João Almeida and Isaac del Toro among others.

His departure is just the latest mid-contract move, following Remco Evenepoel in leaving a team early, as the Belgian did when switching Soudal Quick-Step for Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe for 2026.

Juan Ayuso bounced back from a disappointing stage six to win stage seven of the Vuelta a España, escaping his breakaway companions on the final climb.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider made it three stage wins in a row for the team at this race, the day after he lost more than 11 minutes to the winner, seven to the other GC favourites. Ayuso attacked from the beginning of the stage to the end to ensure his first win at his home Grand Tour.

Meanwhile, Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious) finished with the group of favourites to maintain his lead in the red jersey going in to the weekend. There was change to the top 10, with Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) moving into second, and the breakaway riders from stage six dropping out, apart from Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) and Træen.

How it happened

Stage seven of the Vuelta a España began in Andorra, before heading back to Spain, where the rest of this race will take place.

Attacks came thick and fast in the opening kilometres, with attempts to establish a break coming from Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) among others.

With 175km to go there was a surprising attacker in Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), with the whole break shut down, before the Spaniard forged on again.

With the racing hitting the Port del Cantó (24.9km at 4.4%) early, riders were dropping from the peloton early, and the main bunch reducing.

The next attacks came from stage six winner Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and then Damien Howson (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).

Ayuso claimed the maximum points atop the Cantó, before the day’s break established itself with 141km to go. Alongside Pedersen, Ayuso, Vine and Howson, there was: Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Raúl García Pierna (Arkéa B&B Hotels), Jardi van der Lee and Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL), Eduardo Sepúlveda (Lotto), Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ) and Harold Tejada (XDS Astana).

A second group briefly forged off the front of the peloton, but these nine were not to have an impact on the stage.

Atop the Puerto de la Creu de Perves, Vine won maximum points. The gap at points between the peloton and the break moved towards five minutes.

The next climb was the second category Coll de l'Espina. Before the summit, Vine attacked, followed by Quinn, with the former taking the points. It looked like the duo might escape the break, along with Frigo, but they were pegged back. Vine, however, now had a lead in the king of the mountains classification.

The rider pushing the break forwards, towards the intermediate sprint, was Pedersen. With 24km to go, their advantage was still above four minutes. Pedersen successfully took all the points at the sprint in Bensque before being distanced by his escape companions.

With 11km to go, the gap still stood above three minutes, but the race was still very much in the balance. Ayuso attacked out of the break with just under 11km to go, followed by Frigo.

Ayuso eked out an advantage over Frigo, who was followed in turn by García Pierna, The other remains of the break were Quinn, Tejada, Rolland, Vermaerke and Sepúlveda, at this point.

However, it was Ayuso looked strong as the race continued up the mountain, building an advantage of almost a minute with 5km to go. His compatriot Mikel Landa, meanwhile, dropped from the peloton lower down the climb, likely losing time.

Also in the peloton, UAE Team Emirates-XRG came to the front through Marc Soler and João Almeida with 6km to go. At this point, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and the other GC contenders remained, as did red jersey Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious).

Almeida surged forward from the peloton again, taking Vingegaard and his teammate Kuss, Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), but they were caught by the small group of favourites.

Ayuso stormed to victory, with Frigo following in behind, over a minute down, and then García Pierna and the rest of the break. Meanwhile, Soler attacked out of the group of favourites, but only ended up gaining seconds.

The main GC contenders finished together.

Results

Vuelta a España 2025 stage seven: Andorra la Vella > Celer, Huesca La Magia (188km)

1. Juan Ayuso (Esp) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 4:49:41
2. Marco Frigo (Ita) Israel-Premier Tech, +1:15
3. Raúl García Pierna (Esp) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +1:21
4. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS Astana, +1:28
5. Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost
6. Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Picnic PostNL
7. Eduardo Sepúlveda (Arg) Lotto, all at same time
8. Brieuc Rolland (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +2:17
9. Marc Soler (Esp) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +2:30
10. Tom Pidcock (GBr) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, +2:35

General classification after stage seven

1. Torstein Træen (Nor) Bahrain Victorious, in 25:18:02
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:33
3. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +2:41
4. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:42
5. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) XDS Astana, +2:47
6. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:49
7. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +2:53
8. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time
9. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +2:55
10. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +2:58

UAE Team Emirates-XRG powered to team time trial victory on stage five of the Vuelta a España, while Jonas Vingegaard moved back into the red jersey.

The team of Juan Ayuso and João Almeida were the third-last to finish, and took Lidl-Trek out of the hot seat, after they had been there for a long time. UAE averaged 56.8km/h over the 24.1km course.

Visma-Lease a Bike looked to be losing a significant amount of time, but managed to pull it back to within seven seconds of UAE.

It means Vingegaard takes back control of the race lead, taking over from David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), who finished 25 seconds behind UAE.

Just 16 seconds separated first from the fifth place team on Wednesday, Ineos Grenadiers, with Lotto in 10th a further 10 seconds back. After stage five, it means just nine seconds separate the top five on GC, three of whom are UAE riders, while 10th-placed Egan Bernal is 22 seconds behind Vingegaard.

"We knew we would be fighting for the win, but there are a lot of good teams here and we needed to be realistic," Almeida said post stage on TNT Sports. "I think we did a really perfect job and we deserve this as well.

"For the team atmosphere to get even better it’s good, to give us confidence as well. The gaps are small, it’s not really anything, but it’s a good start."

"We had a plan, we did it perfectly, the team with everybody was super strong," he continued. "We had some surprises in a good way, it was an amazing team effort, congrats to everybody.

"Everyone was a bit tired, we were going all in. I was looking behind to see my teammates because the time counted with four guys. I just smashed the pedals to get every second, so I’m happy.

"I’d like to have the red jersey, it’s beautiful, I’ve never worn it before. It would be nice to wear it for the first time, but it doesn't matter when. I’m closer to it."

How it happened

Lotto were the first team down the start ramp in Figueres, outside the Teatre-Museu Dalí, designed by Salvador Dalí himself.

The first stage in Spain of this Vuelta a España took place on twisting flat Catalunyan roads, with Lotto averaging 55.8km/h over the first 7km. The second time check, after 15.4km, saw Lotto clock in faster, at an average of 56.2km/h. The Belgian ProTeam set an early benchmark of 25:53.28, at an average speed of 55.97km/h.

The first team to go faster than Lotto at the first timecheck was Jayco AlUla, a whole eight seconds quicker. Lidl-Trek then went eight seconds faster again. At the second time check, Lidl-Trek were almost 12 seconds up on Lotto. Just past the second time check, Carlos Verona innocuously crashed into a barrier, such was the pace the American team were putting in.

Lidl-Trek finished with four riders left, 18 seconds quicker than Lotto, averaging 56.6km/h across the 24.1km.

Interestingly, Q3.65 Pro Cycling, the team of Tom Pidcock, finished second, 13 seconds behind Lidl-Trek. Meanwhile, Orluis Aular of Movistar missed a corner, and went cross-country.

Ineos Grenadiers set a new fastest time at the first intermediate check, going nine seconds faster than Lidl-Trek. They could not keep up with their rivals by the time of the next timing check, or the finish, coming in seven seconds behind.

Israel-Premier Tech were slowed by protestors early on in their effort, which took them out of contention.

Matteo Sobrero of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe crashed, and was seen being attended to by medics. Despite this mishap, the German team finished with three seconds of Lidl-Trek, finishing with six riders.

Quicker at the first timecheck than Lidl-Trek, but slower at the second, UAE Team Emirates-XRG managed to turn their effort around in the closing kilometres, while also being down to four men.

The team of Juan Ayuso and João Almeida finished quicker than Lidl-Trek by nine seconds, averaging 56.8km/h in the end.

Visma-Lease a Bike had a mixed TTT, going close to UAE at the first timecheck, then 13 seconds slower at timing point two, but then seven seconds behind at the finish, securing Jonas Vingegaard the red jersey once again.

Results

Vuelta a España 2025 stage five: Figueres > Figueres TTT (24.1km)

1. UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 25:26
2. Visma-Lease a Bike, +8s
3. Lidl-Trek, +9s
4. Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +12s
5. Ineos Grenadiers, +16s
6. Movistar, +17s
7. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +17s
8. Q36.5 Pro Cycling, +22s
9. Groupama-FDJ, +24s
10. Lotto, +27s

General classification after stage five

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 16:11:24
2. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +8s
3. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
4. Marc Soler (Esp) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, all at same time
5. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +9s
6. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +16s
7. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, at same time
8. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +20s
9. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, +22s

Early celebration cost Riley Sheehan the win on stage two of the Deutschland Tour as Jhonatan Narvaéz pipped him to the line at the last moment.

The American, who rides for Israel-Premier Tech, looked to have what would have been just his second professional victory in the bag, but sat up before the line, allowing his Ecuadorian rival to win instead.

The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider and Sheehan escaped with Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) after the latter attacked with 7.8km to go. They held off the chasing peloton after collaborating well together.

Sheehan launched first from the back of the group, attempting to catch the others by surprise inside the final 300m, but just as it looked like he might have the win, Narvaéz rounded him. Wærenskjold finished third.

Wærenskjold had the consolation of stepping into the race lead after Friday, however, taking over from Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). The prologue to the race was won by Wærenskjold by just half a second over Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers), before Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) took his 10th pro win of his debut season on stage one.

It is far from the first time that riders have made the mistake of celebrating too early, with others affected in the past including Lorena Wiebes, Tobias Halland Johannessen, and Wout van Aert.

Celebrating early, especially with the line in sight, and losing is the cycling equivalent of dropping the ball once over the the goal line in rugby, or taking a wicket on a no-ball in cricket. It feels so avoidable, should never have happened, but it does. Sheehan will likely never take his hands of his handlebars next time he is in a position to win.

Watch Sheehan's mistake below.

Brandon McNulty dedicated his overall win at the Tour of Poland to his seriously injured UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Filippo Baroncini.

The mood might have been high at UAE after their 25th GC win of the season, and McNulty's first WorldTour victory, but thoughts were elsewhere, after Baroncini's crash on stage three.

"For sure, we've been riding with him [in mind] all week and today it was really nice to get a win for him," McNulty said. "We've all been thinking of him a lot since he left."

The Italian was among a number of riders who crashed last Wednesday, late on in stage three, including race leader Paul Lapeira (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), which led to the race temporarily being neutralised. It wasn't until later in the race that the true extent of his injuries became clear, however.

Baroncini was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Wrocław, with the 24-year-old later put into an induced coma in order to support him. It is understood he has now been flown home to Italy to continue his recovery there.

A UAE Team Emirates-XRG spokesperson said last week: “He sustained multiple facial injuries, including a fractured cervical vertebra (no neurological fallout), and facial and clavicular fractures. He is currently being taken care of in hospital and is under the supervision of our medical team.”

UAE team boss Mauro Gianetti flew to Poland to support his rider, and later told Cyclingnews that they were awaiting news of special transport to take him back to Italy

"It was really a bad incident, a heavy fall," Gianetti said on Saturday.

"Obviously at the start, the situation was quite critical. Fortunately, he’s stable and he's being kept in an induced coma as a precaution.

"The principal issues are the fractured vertebrae. But for the moment he’s resting, and no new concerns have arisen."

A former under-23 world champion, Baroncini won the Baloise Belgium Tour in June this year, and the Super 8 Classic, also in Belgium, last September.

Cycling Weekly's thoughts are with Baroncini, and his friends and family, at this time.

Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG will appear at the Tour of Britain Men for the first time this September as part of a 19-team field that will contest the race.

However, the Slovenian is unlikely to be part of the UAE squad for the six-day competition. Pogačar was initially due to race the Vuelta a España after claiming a fourth Tour de France title, although he withdrew from the race earlier this week due to fatigue; he will return to competition at the GPs de Québec and Montréal in Canada before the World Championships.

As well as UAE, eight other WorldTour squads will be on the start line in Suffolk on 2 September: Visma-Lease a Bike, Groupama-FDJ, Bahrain Victorious, Ineos Grenadiers, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, Soudal Quick-Step, Lidl-Trek, and Picnic PostNL. Similarly to UAE, Groupama-FDJ will also debut at the event.

Soudal Quick-Step, Ineos Grenadiers and Visma-Lease a Bike are the three most successful teams in the history of the modern Tour of Britain, having won a total of 64 individual stages between them.

Apart from the presence of Geraint Thomas, no other riders have been confirmed as part of the start list yet. The Welshman is due to retire at the end of the race in his hometown of Cardiff. Ahead of the World Championships, it's possible for riders to attend the Tour of Britain as a warm up race, as Wout van Aert did when he triumphed in 2021 and 2023 and could be part of the Visma team selection once more.

Elsewhere, eight ProTeam level squads are set to take part. Israel-Premier Tech - the team of last year's winner, Stevie Williams - are set to return, as are Uno-X Mobility, Unibet Tietema-Rockets, Kern Pharma, Flanders-Baloise, and Tom Pidcock's Q36.5 Pro Cycling. The third squad making its Tour of Britain debut is Tudor Pro Cycling, the team of the two-time road World Champion Julian Alaphilippe.

After impressing with aggressive riding in last year's event, the Anicolour-Tien 21 squad will return to the race next month. The Portuguese registered team will be the only UCI Continental team included. Great Britain will also field a six-rider strong team as usual.

"This year's line-up of teams for the Lloyds Tour of Britain Men is one of the best that we have ever seen assembled for the race, and shows the status with which the event is held by UCI WorldTour and Pro Teams," said the race's managing director, Jonathan Day. "Excitement is building for September, and what will be a highly competitive Lloyds Tour of Britain Men. We cannot wait to see these teams in action."

The Lloyds Tour of Britain Men gets underway in Woodbridge, Suffolk on 2 September.

Happy new year! All transfers should be more or less done, but there are still a few trickling through...

From 1 August teams and riders can officially announce transfers. It means rumours can finally be proved or dispelled, and you can start to think about what it might mean for next year.

Rather than announcing each transfer individually, we will collect together all the transfers in the men's and women's WorldTour pelotons here, as and when they are officially revealed.

Officially, August 1 is the opening of the first registration period – 1 to 15 August – in which riders can switch teams, with another registration period from October to the end of the year, but in practice, it is the start of announcements for 2026.

The news does not need to be confirmed until 31 December, unless they're a free agent, but those canny marketing departments at teams know when to let things be made public. This page will be updated throughout the rest of the year, as more is confirmed. We will write more about the bigger moves, and list the rest down below.

Now the WorldTour teams for 2026-2028 have been confirmed, and names made official, we will put them in our list too.

Big moves

Louis Barré finds a spot at Visma

One of the victims of the Lotto-Intermarché merger, Louis Barré, has found a lifeboat in Visma-Lease a Bike. The 25-year-old finished sixth at both the Amstel Gold Race and the GP de Montréal in 2025.

"Louis caught our eye during the tougher one-day races," Grischa Niermann, Visma's head of racing, said. "He achieved some great results there, and he also showed himself in the Dauphiné. He is still relatively young and has good potential for growth. We believe he can continue to develop within our team and see him as a strong addition to our lineup for the demanding hilly classics."

Oscar Onley joins Ineos Grenadiers

Oscar Onley was the subject of fierce transfer speculation in recent months, with the 23-year-old himself revealing that "probably 15" teams had reached out.

Picnic PostNL confirmed that a deal had been agreed for Onley to leave the team. Ineos Grenadiers then revealed they had signed the Scot following his "standout" fourth place at this year's Tour de France.

Lotto-Intermarché merger results

Eight former Intermarché-Wanty riders have moved to Lotto-Intermarché after the merger with Lotto; effectively, Intermarché has ceased to exist. Those lucky to get in the lifeboat are: Huub Artz, Vito Braet, Lorenza Rota, Jonas Rutsch, Luca Van Boven, Taco van der Hoorn, and Roel van Sintmaartensijk.

Jack Haig joins Ineos Grenadiers

After five years with Bahrain-Victorious, which included a third place at the Vuelta a España in 2021, Jack Haig is to ride for Ineos Grenadiers.

"I raced wheel to wheel against Jack for many years and he’s always impressed me," Ineos' director of racing, Geraint Thomas, said of the Australian. "He’s a fighter and a grafter, and he knows what it takes to stand on the podium at a Grand Tour. I’m sure he’ll be a big part of what we’re going after in the next few years."

Michael Leonard joins EF Education-EasyPost

After three years with Ineos Grenadiers, Canadian time trial champion Michael Leonard has joined EF Education-EasyPost.

"This team has a unique identity," the 21-year-old said in a team press release. "Even growing up, watching the sport, it seemed like a team with an exciting culture. It is a team that you always see on the attack, being opportunistic, and giving riders the space to express themselves and race in ways that suit them, so they can take the best advantage of situations on the road. It's a team that definitely gets the best out of its riders. You see riders who might not fit in other places perform really strongly on this team."

Leonard has signed a three-year deal with EF that is expected keep him with the team until the end of 2028.

Pascal Ackermann swaps Israel-Premier Tech for Jayco AlUla

Three-time Giro d'Italia stage winner Pascal Ackermann will join Jayco AlUla on a two-year deal from January 2026.

The 31-year-old sprinter spent the last two seasons with Israel-Premier Tech, and previously rode for UAE Team Emirates and Bora-Hansgrohe.

Commenting on his latest transfer, Ackermann said: "Team Jayco AlUla is a team with a great history, and one that I was already looking up to when I was younger.

"It has always been a dream to join the team, so I am excited for this opportunity! For me, it’s definitely the best team to continue to chase my dream of winning races! Let’s get into 2026 and get back to the top.”

Luke Lamperti joins EF Education-EasyPost

Young American star Luke Lamperti will ride for EF Education-EasyPost next year, after leaving Soudal Quick-Step.

"I am really excited to join the team," he said. "I already know quite a lot of the guys and am looking forward to joining a nice group and seeing what the next years bring. It feels like I am coming home. It’s an American team.

"Obviously, cycling isn't massive in the US, so it is pretty special to be able to join an American WorldTour team as an American rider."

Sam Bennett moves to Q36.5 Pro Cycling

Irish sprinter Sam Bennett is to ride for Q36.5 Pro Cycling next season, leaving Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale after two seasons.

The 35-year-old, who has won stages at all three Grand Tours, will be linking up with Kurt Bogaerts, who helped launch his career.

"As a sprinter, my career has been shaped by hunting for wins and I've been really fortunate to have been given lots of great opportunities to perform, and win, at all 3 Grand Tours," Bennett said. "By joining this team, not only do I sense an immense opportunity to perform at my best level but equally to guide younger riders to achieve great things within our sport"

Alison Jackson leaves EF for St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93

Canadian national champion Alison Jackson will leave EF Education-Oatly for St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93 in a surprising move.

It means the 2023 Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift winner will not be a Women's WorldTour rider next year, remaining on a ProTeam.

"I am really looking forward to contributing to the building of a strong and respected team, competitive at the highest level of the peloton," Jackson said in an Instagram post.

"My ambition is to continue excelling in the major races and, in particular, to aim once again for victory in prestigious Classics like Paris-Roubaix. I also want to specifically prepare for races such as the Tour of Flanders and other important Classics in order to play a key role in the finales."

Embret Svestad-Bårdseng joins Ineos Grenadiers

Ineos Grenadiers have made their third move of the transfer window official, with Embret Svestad-Bårdseng joining from Arkéa-B&B Hotels.

The 23-year-old Norwegian is a climber by trade, who has spent just one year at WorldTour level. With Arkéa folding, Ineos offered him a spot for next year; he has signed a three-year contract.

Picnic PostNL sign Robyn Clay

Robyn Clay, the winner of the British National Road and Circuit Series in 2025, will ride for Picnic PostNL next year.

The 21-year-old said: "I’m excited to learn from the riders and staff around me, to find my place in the WorldTour peloton, and to keep growing, not just as a rider, but also as a teammate and a person.

"Having some fun along the way would be pretty cool too! I’d describe myself as determined and not afraid of tough days or rough conditions. I like to keep the team spirit high, even when the going gets hard.

"My aim is simple: to get the best out of myself and help those around me do the same. On and off the bike, I bring resilience and a sense of humour when the time is right."

Kévin Vauquelin to ride for Ineos Grenadiers

French rider Kévin Vauquelin is to join Ineos Grenadiers from next season on a three-year deal. The 24-year-old finished seventh at this year's Tour de France, and he won a stage at the race in 2024. He's also twice runner-up at La Flèche Wallonne.

"I’m really excited to discover a new environment, new teammates, new equipment and a new way of working with the staff group," he said. "For me, it’s the logical next step in my career to continue my progression and explore new horizons."

Sir Dave Brailsford said: "We believe his best years are ahead of him and we’re excited to help him realise his potential."

Owain Doull signs for Visma-Lease a Bike

Visma-Lease a Bike have bolstered their Classics squad with the signing of Owain Doull from EF Education-EasyPost.

The 32-year Welshman, who began his pro career with Team Sky, has ridden 17 Monuments, and said he's "highly motivated" to be joining "one of the best teams in the world".

"I’m looking forward to supporting Matthew Brennan in the flat sprints, playing a role in his lead-out and in the classics," Doull said.

"At the same time, I also want to discover how much room for growth I still have myself. Physically, I’m still getting stronger, even after nine years in the WorldTour. Last season was my best so far, and I expect that I can take another step forward with this team."

Juan Ayuso to ride for Lidl-Trek in 2026

After leaving his UAE Team Emirates-XRG contract early, Juan Ayuso is to ride for Lidl-Trek from next year. The Spanish 23-year-old has signed a five-year deal with his new team after creative differences caused him to leave his former employers.

Tom Gloag leaves Visma-Lease a Bike for Q36.5 Pro Cycling

After Tom Pidcock, Fred Wright, Eddie Dunbar and more, Tom Gloag has become the latest WorldTour rider to join Q36.5 Pro Cycling. After three and a bit years with Visma-Lease a Bike, 24-year-old Gloag will ride for the ProTeam next season.

"Fred grew up a mile from me in London so it’s nice to be on the same team again," Gloag said in a team press release. "The last time was at VC Londres when we were kids. I also look forward to working with Kurt [Bogaerts] again. He has been a great influence in my first U23 year and we always stayed in touch. In that first U23 year with Trinity I also raced with Tom so it will be a reunion for all of us."

There will now be five Brits on the Swiss team next year, with Mark Donovan and Joey Pidcock added, as well as at least one Irishman in Dunbar.

Matthew Riccitello leaves Israel-Premier Tech for Decathlon

The winner of the Vuelta a España's best young rider classification, Matthew Riccitello, will join Decathlon CMA CGM in 2026.

The 23-year-old American has ridden for Israel-Premier Tech for the last three seasons, and will now make the step up to WorldTour level.

"I'm really excited to join DECATHLON CMA CGM in 2026," said Riccitello, who placed fifth at September's Vuelta.

"I admire the team's ambition and progression in the last few years. I'm looking to continue progressing as a rider in stage races and Grand Tours, and I believe this team will push me to reach my potential. I'm motivated to make the most of this new chapter and confident this is the right environment for me to keep growing as both a rider and a person."

Decathlon's sports director Sébastien Joly described Riccitello as an "excellent climber" who will be a "real asset" for the team.

>>>> The Friday Cycling Quiz: Test your knowledge of cycling's transfer season

Alice Towers pens deal with EF Education-Oatly

Former British national champion Alice Towers will join EF Education-Oatly next season, after three years with Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto.

The 22-year-old won the National Championships at only 19, but is yet to win a race since.

“I want to be a rider who competes in the final for a win,” Towers said in a press release shared by EF Eduaction-Oatly.

“I’ve been missing the opportunity to go for the win. I’d like to win a race next year, that’s my goal. I don’t mind what level, if it’s WorldTour or if it’s a .1, I’d just like to be competing for the win. And looking beyond 2026, I’d love to win a stage at a grand tour, like the Giro or the Tour or the Vuelta. If not one of those, then an Ardennes classic is the absolute dream.”

Olav Kooij and Tiesj Benoot sign for Decathlon CMA GGM

After four seasons with Visma-Lease a Bike, Classics and Tour de France mainstay Tiesj Benoot is to ride for the rebranded Decathlon CMA CGM from next year.

The 31-year-old Belgian has signed a three year contract.

"This marks a new chapter in my career, within an ambitious team where I can continue to progress," Benoot said. "The vision of the project and the trust placed in me give me great motivation to achieve strong results and play an important role in the Classics and in supporting the team."

Also following him from Visma to Decathlon will be sprinter Olav Kooij. The 23-year-old has won 46 races in yellow over the past few years, including three stages at the recent Tour of Britain Men.

The pair are joined with a sprint train: Cees Bol, Daan Hoole, Tobias Lund Andresen and Robbe Ghys.

Lauren Dickson to join FDJ United-SUEZ from Handsling Alba Development

Standout domestic star Lauren Dickson is to ride for the team of Demi Vollering, FDJ United-SUEZ, next year. The 25-year-old only started her semi-professional career in July 2024 after joining Handsling Alba Development, but will now step up to the Women's WorldTour next year.

The Scot won the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix this season before mixing it with WorldTour riders at the Tour of Norway and placing third overall.

"When I signed for Alba, Bob [Lyons, the team's manager] said the team focuses on developing riders," Dickson said. "I’m very excited and honoured to confirm that I’ve signed a two-year contract with the world’s number one team FDJ-Suez, a dream becomes reality. Stepping up from club level and progressing to WorldTour in 18 months is, I believe, a testament to Alba’s development pathway.

"Looking forwards, I endeavour to give my all and continue learning and progressing with FDJ-Suez. My long-term ambitions are to race the Grand Tours, but next year I want to focus on perfecting race craft and doing my best for our leaders."

"Her future is very bright indeed and we will be hearing her name a lot in the coming years," Lyons said. "The team was set up to create a platform for development, with the team’s major focus being the rider and getting the best out of them. It is pleasing to see that the implementation of a somewhat different strategy is bearing fruit."

Noah Hobbs moves up to EF's senior team

After a year with EF's development team, EF Education-Aevolo, 21-year-old Noah Hobbs will join WorldTour team EF Education-EasyPost in 2026.

The British sprinter has had a successful season, most recently winning a stage of the Tour de l'Avenir. EF Pro Cycling CEO Jonathan Vaughters called him the "best U23 sprinter in the world right now".

Stefan Küng leaves WorldTour for Tudor

Stefan Küng will ride for Swiss team Tudor Pro Cycling from 2026, departing Groupama-FDJ after seven years.

The Swiss rouleur is an ever-present in the Classics, but is also a WorldTour winner, and will add experience to the ProTeam Tudor.

Dorian Godon signs for Ineos Grenadiers

French national road race champion Dorian Godon will ride for Ineos Grenadiers next season, in the team's first announced move of the summer.

The 29-year-old joins from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, whom he raced for since 2019. The man from the Paris suburbs won Brabantse Pijl and the Giro del Veneto in 2023.

"This feels like the start of an exciting new chapter in my career, and I’m ready to make the most of it," Godon said in a statement. "I want to make the French champion’s jersey - and the moustache - shine. The past few months I’ve watched the team racing with strength and unity in the bunch, and that’s really inspired me. I can’t wait to be a part of that."

Ricarda Bauernfeind to join Lidl-Trek

Former Tour de France Femmes stage winner Ricarda Bauernfeind is to join Lidl-Trek next season from Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, where she started her pro career.

The 25-year-old has finished in the top ten in three Grand Tours, but has had a disappointing 2025 by her standards, but said she hopes to be back to her best at the new team.

Chris Harper, Xandro Meurisse and Fred Wright to move to Q36.5 Pro Cycling

Q36.5 Pro Cycling have continued their activity in the transfer market. signing Giro d'Italia stage winner Chris Harper and Belgian Classics rider Xandro Meurisse. The pair follow Fred Wright in the door.

After six seasons with Bahrain Victorious, Wright is to join Q36.5 for at least three years. The ProTeam has brought the Londoner onboard to strengthen its Classics squad, and help him achieve his first non-National Championships victory.

Full story here.

Lewis Askey to depart Groupama-FDJ for NSN Cycling

After a season in which he won his first professional bike races, Lewis Askey is to leave Groupama-FDJ for NSN Cycling from 2026.

The Englishman, 24, won Boucles de l'Aulne and a stage of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque in May, and later took part in his first Tour de France.

"I need some new motivation, new faces, new style, fresh air, and new ways of thinking," Askey explained. "I’m at a point in my career where I should be coming into my best years, and I feel like moving somewhere else will give me the extra gear, the motivation to step up and try new things."

Visma-Lease a Bike sign former triathlete Anton Schiffer

Triathlete-turned-cyclist Anton Schiffer has joined Visma-Lease a Bike, being part of the team from 1 October, and is expected to ride for the squad this season.

The 25-year-old German has ridden for Continental Team Bike Aid since 2023, but will now move to the WorldTour for Visma. This season, he finished second overall at the Tour of Hellas and won a stage at the Sibiu Tour, as well as finishing third in the road race at the German National Championships.

"This step may come as a surprise to the outside world, but given how this season has progressed, it doesn’t surprise me as much," Schiffer said.

Eddie Dunbar departs Jayco AlUla for Q36.5

Eddie Dunbar has left the WorldTour to join ProTeam Q36.5 Pro Cycling, as the squad broadens its horizons from Tom Pidcock.

The 28-year-old Irishman won two Vuelta a España stages last year, and will aim to spearhead the team's climbing ambitions.

"They are really competitive in the races, take it on even if they don’t win and create a good racing atmosphere riding as one," Dunbar said. "When Kurt Bogaerts - who I know well from my time at Ineos -joined, my interest was sparked even more. I know how he works. I also spoke to Doug Ryder on how the team is going and what they expect.

"In Tom they have a clear leader which is always good for any team so it seems like a good moment now to join with my knowledge and experience."

Charlotte Kool makes mid-season switch

Charlotte Kool has changed Women's WorldTour teams mid-season, departing Picnic PostNL for Fenix-Deceuninck. The 26-year-old, a two-time Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift stage winner, can race for her new team immediately.

The Dutchwoman will ride for the Belgian team until at least 2028.

"I am ready for a new chapter in my career," Kool said. "From the very first conversation with the team I had an immediate and genuinely good feeling about their mentality, and the trust they placed in me. Of course, making a move halfway the season comes with its challenges, but it feels right.

"I've been welcomed with open arms and I can't wait to race in my new colours. This new environment gives me a lot of extra motivation."

Mid-season transfers are rare, and require an agreement to be ratified by the UCI after the rider and both teams reach a deal.

Fenix-Deceuninck's management said: "We would like to thank Charlotte's management as well as her former team Picnic PostNL for the smooth and constructive cooperation that made this transfer possible."

Soudal Quick-Step sign Belgian duo

Steff Cras and Fabio Van den Bossche are the fifth and sixth riders to sign for Soudal Quick-Step for 2026, as the Belgian team continues its signing spree. They join Alberto Dainese in being announced this week.

Cras is a climber, who has joined the team to boost their Grand Tour output, and Van den Bossche is more of a man for the Classics.

Filippo Conca rides for Jayco AlUla immediately

After winning the Italian National Championships for a club team, Filippo Conca has been swept up by Jayco AlUla. The 26-year-old is no stranger to the professional peloton, having ridden for Lotto Soudal and Q36.5 Pro Cycling in the past, but was left without a contract for 2025, meaning he has been riding for Swatt Club.

Conca's first race for Jayco will be the Circuit Franco-Belge on Friday.

Dylan van Baarle heads to Soudal Quick-Step

Remco Evenepoel might be leaving Quick-Step, but the team have signed two Monument winners for 2026. The first was Jasper Stuyven, and now Dylan van Baarle has been revealed as a member of the Belgian team.

The 33-year-old won Paris-Roubaix when riding for Ineos Grenadiers in 2022, before he moved to Visma-Lease a Bike, with whom he won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2023. The Dutchman is therefore a man for the Classics, but has also emerged as a key domestique for Grand Tours, too.

Remco Evenepoel leaves Soudal Quick-Step, bound for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe

In potentially the biggest move of the summer, Remco Evenepoel is to leave Soudal Quick-Step after mutual agreement, breaking his contract early, and will join Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe for 2026.

The move, announced by Soudal Quick-Step at the beginning of August, came after weeks of speculation regarding the 25-year-old's future, which dogged him throughout the recent Tour de France.

Dylan Groenewegen and Elmar Reinders leave Jayco AlUla

ProTeam Unibet Tietema Rockets have landed a coup by signing Dylan Groenewegen and Elmar Reinders from Jayco AlUla. The Dutch pair will seek to put the second-division team on the map.

Groenewegen has 77 career victories, including 16 at WorldTour level, with five Tour de France stage wins. Reinders, meanwhile, has never won at a professional level, but adds WorldTour experience to the squad.

Unibet Tietema Rockets emerged out of Dutch former pro cyclist Bas Tietema's YouTube channel, Tour de Tietema, and became a ProTeam in 2024.

Attila Valter signs for Bahrain Victorious

After three years at Visma-Lease a Bike, Attila Valter will switch to Bahrain Victorious for the next three years, with the Hungarian adding to the team's stage racing pool.

The 27-year-old is a three time Hungarian champion, and spent time in pink at the 2021 Giro d'Italia.

"The team’s goals are perfectly matching with my personal ones," he said. "This gives me a lot of confidence and I’m excited to start this journey together with them!"

Jasper Stuyven joins Soudal Quick-Step

Milan-San Remo winner and chocolatier Jasper Stuyven has signed a three-year deal with Soudal Quick-Step, after spending his whole professional career at Lidl-Trek to date.

In 12 years at Trek, the 33-year-old won San Remo, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, and proved himself as one to watch in the Classics, as well as being a useful foil for Mads Pedersen.

Men's WorldTour transfers

Alpecin-Premier Tech

In: Florian Sénéchal (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Gerben Thijssen and Francesco Busatto (Intermarché-Wanty), Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech), Maurice Ballerstedt, Lindsay De Vylder and Jonas Geens (Flanders-Baloise), Tim Marsman (VolkerWessels Cycling), Sente Sentjens, Senna Remijn, Aaron Dockx, Lennert Belmans (Alpecin-Deceuninck Development)

Out: Fabio Van den Bossche (Soudal Quick-Step), Xandro Meurisse (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Quinten Hermans (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Gianni Vermeersch (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Robbe Ghys (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Timo Kielich (Visma-Lease a Bike), Stan Van Trickt (Soudal Quick-Step Devo)

Bahrain Victorious

In: Attila Valter (Visma-Lease a Bike), Alec Segaert (Lotto), Pau Miquel (Equipo Kern Pharma), Jakob Ormrzel (Bahrain Victorious Development), Alessandro Borgo (Bahrain Victorious Development)

Out: Fred Wright (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Jack Haig (Ineos Grenadiers), Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility), Finlay Pickering (Jayco AlUla), Nicolò Buratti (MBH Bank CSB Ballan), Sergio Tu (Astemo Utsunomiya Blitzen)

Decathlon CMA CGM

In: Antoine L'Hote (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development), Tiesj Benoot (Visma-Lease a Bike), Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike), Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek), Cees Bol (XDS Astana), Robbe Ghys (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), Gregor Mühlberger (Movistar), Tobias Lund Andersen (Picnic PostNL)

Out: Dries De Bondt (Jayco AlUla), Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ United), Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers), Andrea Vendrame (Jayco AlUla), Bruno Armirail (Visma-Lease a Bike), Sam Bennett (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Victor Lafay (Unibet Rose Rockets), Clément Berthet (Groupama-FDJ United), Geoffrey Bouchard (TotalEnergies)

EF Education-EasyPost

In: Noah Hobbs (EF Education-Aevolo), Mattia Agostinacchio (Ciclistica Trevigliese), Luke Lamperti (Soudal Quick-Step), Michael Leonard (Ineos Grenadiers), Matthias Schwarzbacher (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z)

Out: Owain Doull (Visma-Lease a Bike), Yuhi Todome (Aisan Racing)

Groupama-FDJ United

In: Matteo Milan (Lidl-Trek Future Racing), Bastien Tronchon and Clément Berthet (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Macime Decomble and Titouan Fontaine (Groupama-FDJ Continentale), Josh Kench (Li Ning Star), Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Axel Huens (Unibet Tietema Rockets)

Out: Sven Erik Bystrøm (Uno-X Mobility), Lewis Askey (NSN Cycling), Stefan Küng (Tudor Pro Cycling)

Ineos Grenadiers

In: Dorian Godon (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Kévin Vaquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Embret Svestad-Bårdseng (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious), Sam Welsford (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL)

Out: Michael Leonard (EF Education-EasyPost)

Jayco AlUla

In: Filippo Conca (Swatt Club), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Amaury Capiot (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Pascal Ackermann (NSN Cycling), Dries De Pooter (Intermarché-Wanty), Rudy Porter, Finlay Pickering (Bahrain-Victorious)

Out: Dylan Groenewegen and Elmar Reinders (both Unibet Tietema Rockets), Eddie Dunbar and Chris Harper (both Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Filippo Zana (Soudal Quick-Step), Max Walscheid (Lidl-Trek)

Lotto-Intermarché

In: Huub Artz, Vito Braet, Lorenza Rota, Jonas Rutsch, Luca Van Boven, Taco van der Hoorn, and Roel van Sintmaartensijk (all Intermarché-Wanty), Jarno Widar, Matys Grisel and Mathieu Kockelmann (Lotto Development), Simone Gualdi and Felix Ørn-Kristoff (Wanty-Nippo-ReUz), Matthew Fox (Veloce Club Rouen 76)

Out: Eduardo Sepúlveda (Li Ning Star), Brent Van Moer (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious), Arjen Livyns (XDS Astana), Henri Vandenabeele (Flanders-Baloise), Jarrad Drizners (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Lorenz Van De Wynkele (Lotto-Groupe Wanty)

Lidl-Trek

In: Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Max Walscheid (Jayco AlUla), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Jakob Söderqvist (Lidl-Trek Future Racing)

Out: Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step), Alex Kirsch (Cofidis), Daan Hoole (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Juan Pedro López (Movistar)

Movistar

In: Juan Pedro López (Lidl-Trek), Roger Adrià (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Raúl García Pierna (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Pavel Novák (MBH Bank Ballan CSB), Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike)

Out: Mathias Norsgaard (Lidl-Trek), Will Barta (Tudor Pro Cycling), Gregor Mühlberger (Decathlon CMA CGM), Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA)

NSN Cycling

In: Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Ryan Mullen (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Brady Gilmore and Pau Martí (Israel Premier Tech Academy), Alessandro Pinarello (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè)

Out: Pascal Ackermann (Jayco AlUla), Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Matthew Ricitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), Riley Pickrell (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling)

Picnic PostNL

In: Dillon Corkery (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93), Oliver Peace (Picnic PostNL Development), James Knox (Soudal Quick-Step), Milan De Ceuster (Picnic PostNL Development), Timo de Jong (VolkerWessels Cycling), Mattia Gaffuri (Swatt Club), Frits Biesterbos (BEAT Cycling Club), Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Wagner Bazin WB), Alexy Faure Prost (Intermarché-Wanty), Mees Vlot (Picnic PostNL Development)

Out: Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Tobias Lund Andersen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Enzo Leijnse (Anicolor-Tien 21), Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers)

Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe

In: Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step), Callum Thornley, Adrien Boichis and Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies), Jarrad Drizners (Lotto), Arne Marit (Intermarché-Wanty), Haimar Etxeberria (Kern Pharma), Lorenzo Finn (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies)

Out: Roger Adrià (Movistar), Ryan Mullen (NSN Cycling), Matteo Sobrero (Lidl-Trek), Sam Welsford (Ineos Grenadiers)

Soudal Quick-Step

In: Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), Dylan van Baarle (Visma-Lease a Bike), Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cyling), Steff Cras (TotalEnergies), Fabio Van den Bossche (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Ceriel Desal (Soudal Quick-Step Devo), Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla), Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty), Jonathan Vervenne (Soudal Quick-Step Devo)

Out: Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Mattia Cattaneo (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), James Knox (Picnic PostNL), Luke Lamperti (EF Education-EasyPost), Josef Černý (Elkov-Kasper)

UAE Team Emirates-XRG

In: Adrià Pericas (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z), Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL), Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)

Out: Alessandro Covi (Jayco AlUla), Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek)

Uno-X Mobility

In: Sven Erik Bystrøm (Groupama-FDJ), Alexander Kamp (Intermarché-Wanty), Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious), Anthon Charmig (XDS Astana), Martin Tjøtta (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Storm Ingebrigtsen (Coop-Repsol), Tobias Svarre (ColoQuick)

Out: Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Cranks/PAS)

Visma-Lease a Bike

In: Tim Rex (Visma-Lease a Bike Development), Anton Schiffer (Bike Aid), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Davide Piganzoli (Polti VisitMalta), Owain Doull (EF Education-EasyPost), Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè). Pietro Mattio and Tim Rex (Visma-Lease a Bike Devlopment), Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty)

Out: Attila Valter (Bahrain Victorious), Dylan van Baarle (Soudal Quick-Step), Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon CMA CGM), Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM), Tom Gloag (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar)

XDS Astana

In: Marco Schrettl (Tirol KTM Cycling), Arjen Livyns (Lotto), Cristián Rodríguez (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Guillermo Thomas Silva (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Gleb Syritsa (XDS Astana Development), Lev Gonov (XDS Astana Development)

Out: Fausto Masnada (MBH Bank Ballan CSB), Cees Bol (Decathlon CMA CGM), Wout Poels (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Mobility), Michele Gazzoli (Team Solution Tech-Vini Fantini)

Women's WorldTour transfers

AG Insurance-Soudal

In: Letizia Borghesi (EF Education-Oatly)

Out: Gaia Masetti (Picnic PostNL)

Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto

Out: Ricarda Bauernfeind (Lidl-Trek), Alice Towers (EF Education-Oatly)

EF Education-Oatly

In: Alexis Magner (Cynisca Cycling), Alice Towers (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), Solbjørk Minke Anderson (Uno-X Mobility), Stina Kagevi (Coop-Repsol), Caoimhe O'Brien (Cynisca Cycling), Auke De Buysser (NXTG Racing U19 Development)

FDJ United-SUEZ

In: Lauren Dickson (Handsling Alba Development), Franziska Koch (Picnic PostNL), Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ), Eva van Agt (Visma-Lease a Bike)

Out: Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek), Alessia Vigilia (Uno-X Mobility), Nina Buijsman (Human Powered Health)

Fenix-Premier Tech

In: Lotte Claes (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Mylène de Zoete (CERATIZIT), Fien Van Eynde (Fenix-Deceuninck Development), Xaydee Van Sinaey (Fenix-Deceuninck Development)

Out: Pauliena Rooijakers (UAE Team ADQ), Cecilia van Zuthem (Smurfit Westrock Cycling)

Human Powered Health

In: Marta Jaskulska (CERATIZIT Pro Cycling), Petra Stiasny (Roland Le Dévoluy), Titia Ryo (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Nina Buijsman (FDJ-SUEZ), Jente Koops (NXTG Racing U19 Development Team)

Lidl-Trek

In: Ricarda Bauernfeind (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto), Loes Adegeest (FDJ-SUEZ), Margot Vanpachtenbeke (VolkerWessels Cycling), Marine Lenehan (Dan Morissey Primor by Pissei)

Out: Izzy Sharp (Handsling Alba Development)

Liv AlUla Jayco

In: Erin Boothman (Liv AlUla Jayco Continental), Noä Janesen, Mackzenie Coupland and Matilde Vitillo (all Liv AlUla Jayco Continental), Nadia Gontova (Winspace Orange Seal)

Out: Amber van der Hulst (VolkerWessels), Mavi García (UAE Team ADQ)

Movistar

In: Francesca Barale (Picnic PostNL)

Out: Jelena Erić (Uno-X Mobility), Paula Patiño (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi)

Picnic PostNL

In: Megan Arens (Grouwels-Watersley R&D Road Team), Daniela Hezinová (Grouwels-Watersley R&D Road Team), Robyn Clay (DAS-Hutchinson), Lucie Fityus (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93), Mia Griffin (Roland Le Dévoluy), Dilyxine Miermont (CERATIZIT), Gaia Masetti (AG Insurance-Soudal), Audrey De Keersmaeker (Lotto)

Out: Franziska Koch (FDJ United-SUEZ), Esmée Peperkamp (VolkerWessels), Megan Jastrab (UAE Team ADQ), Nienke Vinke (SD Worx-Protime)

SD Worx-Protime

In: Nienke Vinke (Picnic PostNL), Valentina Cavallar (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)

UAE Team ADQ

In: Megan Jastrab (Picnic PostNL), Pauliena Rooijakers (Fenix-Deceuninck), Federica Venturelli (UAE Development), Mavi García (Liv Jayco AlUla), Febe Jooris (UAE Development)

Out: Sofia Bertizzolo (FDJ United-SUEZ), Safia Alsayegh (UAE Development)

Uno-X Mobility

In: Alessia Vigilia (FDJ-SUEZ), Laura Tomasi (Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi), Francesca Pellegrini (UAE Development), Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Coop-Repsol)

Out: Simone Boilard (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93), Solbjørk Minke Anderson (EF Education-Oatly)

Visma-Lease a Bike

In: Daniek Hengeveld (CERATIZIT Pro Cycling), Sarah Van Dam (CERATIZIT Pro Cycling), Sophie von Berswordt (VolkerWessels), Katharina Sadnik (unattached)

Out: Eva van Agt (FDJ United-SUEZ), Mijntje Geurts (Cofidis), Linda Ridemann (Lotto-Intermarché)

Since joining the ranks of UAE Team Emirates in 2019, Tadej Pogačar has been wearing a Met helmet in various guises. His favourite lid in the range is the Met Trenta – currently one of the best road bike helmets and known for its impressive ventilation properties and rotational impact safety. Met even created a special Tadej Pogačar-edition Trenta 3K Carbon last year, complete with several special graphics and wording cues that nod to his hair sticking out from the ventilation ports.

We spotted what appears to be a completely new Met Trenta Carbon Mips on the head of Pogačar, which we believe he has been wearing since at least stage 6. We put it to Met that we'd spotted it, and they were happy to confirm that whilst it shares a lot of its DNA and design blueprint with the current/outgoing Trenta, there are several changes that are more significant than meets the eye.

While the current Trenta is built around ventilation, utilising 19 vents for cooling, it's never been touted for its aerodynamic properties. The new Trenta appears to retain the same ventilation profiling, particularly around the front, but there's more solid surfacing around the flanks to aid in aerodynamics.

The most notable change is just above the brow/crown area, where a new inlet structure forms part of an all-new carbon-fibre helmet cage, acting as a scoop to distribute air more evenly across the head before being sucked out the back by two pronounced exhaust ports on the upper rear section.

A significant factor for Met is rider safety and protection, and the company has made notable strides in developing some of the safest cycling helmets currently available. Both the Met Rivale Mips and current Trenta Mips boast 5-star ratings from Virginia Tech and presumably, the new Trenta Mips will aim to build on this with rider safety being high on their list of priorities.

According to Ulysse Daessle, Met Media & PR manager, the focus in developing the new Trenta hinged around improving its ventilation and making it even safer than before, while optimising aerodynamics to complement these two attributes.

"The new Met Trenta Mips weighs a bit more than the current Trenta, but weight wasn't the goal with the new helmet. We wanted to create a helmet that was more ventilated with a new carbon-fibre cage and also a helmet that could withstand greater energy during impacts."

"The main attribute is ventilation – it's really amazing and everything was tested and developed in our wind tunnel with feedback from Tadej [Pogačar]."

Asked about when we can expect it, Met couldn't confirm an exact launch date just yet, but hinted that we might see the new Trenta Mips in the last quarter of 2025.

Despite suffering a crash on stage 11, Tadej Pogačar tore up the script to win the first mountain stage of the Tour de France with a brutal attack on the Hautacam – showing no mercy to Jonas Vingegaard. Nobody could follow. For the first mountain stage of this year's Tour, Pogačar used his Colnago Y1Rs aero bike as opposed to his 400g lighter V5Rs, which proved the correct choice in the end given the 44km/h average speed and relatively flat 122km lead-up to the Col du Soulor.

The Colnago Y1Rs is one of the most outlandish bikes in the pro peloton, with only the new Factor prototype and Cervelo S5 running it close in terms of visual clout. Its design, however, eschews traditional tube shaping with a form-follows-function approach – something Colnago claimed at the time of launch was the fastest bike among its peers.

It certainly looks divisive, but the World Championship rainbow graphics that adorn its tube design do add some allure to the package. The Y1Rs is claimed to be just as stiff as the old V4Rs race bike but 20 watts faster at speeds of 50km/h – again, validating the Slovenians' reasoning behind opting to use it on all twelve stages so far.

Designed using the UCI’s latest 8:1 depth-to-width rule, the bike features a somewhat deep head tube, with a seatpost placement that also meets the new regulations. These tube profiles are said to enhance the sailing effect, and the forward-heavy geometry allows Pogačar to ride in his preferred position, just in front of the bottom bracket.

The Colnago Y1Rs features a bayonet fork design, which, combined with the Colnago CC.Y1 handlebar, has reduced the bike's frontal area by a claimed 19% compared to the Colnago V4Rs. The bayonet fork enables a narrower head tube and improved airflow around the front end of the bike, thereby enhancing aerodynamics. Pogačar's bike gets the added rainbow band decals on the fork legs.

The CC.Y1 handlebar arrangement may divide opinion, but it does have significant presence, further enhanced by the 145mm stem, trademark Incredible Hulk sticker and custom 3D-printed Wahoo computer holder. The holder is unique in that it eschews the regular clip-in procedure for a dial on the underside that twists and locks it in place. It's all very clever, adding extra security and minimising vibration and rattling over rougher surfaces. The handlebar layout also features custom 3D-printed 'Tadej' bolt covers to ensure everything is flush.

Even the wheels are special rolling stock options that came about because Tadej asked for them – Enve SES 4.5 Pro, which are lighter, stiffer, more aero and stronger than the regular SES 4.5 wheels. Not only do these wheels utilise a high-modulus carbon fibre layup, but they also feature a 23.5mm wide internal rim width. The wheels also use a new hubset, dubbed 'Innerdrive Pro', and ceramic bearings. As expected, the decal set has a rainbow theme to further accentuate the Slovenian's achievements.

While it doesn't have the widest fork and chainstays, tyre clearance is rated at a generous 32mm, allowing for the use of wide tyres, something Tadej uses extensively. For the Tour de France, the UAE Team Emirates XRG riders have been using 30mm tyres from Continental – GP5000 S TR/TT and the new Archetype, the choice of which is mainly dependent on the stage and parcours.

The drivetrain comes courtesy of Shimano, here in the form of 54/40T Dura-Ace FC-9200P and 165mm cranks. While we've seen Pogačar pair this crankset with the stock alloy chainring setup, we've also seen him employ CarbonTi chainrings, which are known for their crisper shifting properties as well as being marginally lighter than their alloy counterparts.

Another special component is the new Continental Archetype tyres, designed in collaboration with UAE Team Emirates XRG. The Archetype is available in a 30mm width only and meets the Colnago Y1Rs' maximum tyre clearance with room to spare. The tyres are tubeless-ready options and designed to pair with Tadej's hookless Enve SES 4.5 Pro wheels. While the tread pattern appears unchanged over the GP5000, the big win here is the 275g claimed weight, 35g less than the GP5000 S TR in the same width.

For a stage that features long, steep climbs, Pogačar will typically use an 11-34T Dura-Ace cassette. Paired with 55/40T chainrings, this gear range is well-suited for tackling steep climbs and faster sections – ideal for a profile like the Hautacam. A neat yet blingy touch is the direct-mount rear derailleur hanger from Danish brand Framesandgear, which reportedly improves shifting performance and speed.

After cutting ties with Prologo in 2024, UAE Team Emirates XRG has been using Fizik saddles. For Tadej, this is naturally a top-of-the-line 3D-printed Fizik Argo Adaptive saddle. Owing to the Slovenian's aggressive, forward-bias riding position, a bespoke 'One to One' 3D-printed lattice was created based on his biometric data and pressure mapping to enhance comfort and reduce pressure points.

Like the Trek Madone, due to its unique, highly angled seat tube design and limited adjustability, the Colnago Y1Rs requires the seatpost to be carefully cut to achieve the desired saddle height. Thankfully, Tadej has some of the best mechanics in the world taking care of his bike.

Things couldn’t possibly be going any better for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. The team's star man - Tadej Pogačar - decimated almost every race he lined up at during the spring and is set to challenge for yet another Tour de France victory in July.

Beyond Pogačar, however, the team now possesses two of cycling's brightest young talents: Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro. The latter currently is in pink and staking a claim for all-out team leadership at the ongoing Giro d’Italia.

Watching on from home as Wout van Aert outsprinted Del Toro in Siena’s Piazza del Campo to take stage nine victory, you would have been forgiven for thinking: who is this? An understandable question, given that the 21-year-old is in his second year as a professional. But Del Toro hasn't just sprung from nowhere; he became the first Mexican to win the Tour de l'Avenir in 2023 and finished sixth in the under-23 road race at the World Championships last September.

UAE came into the Italian Grand Tour with Ayuso as the team's designated leader, but an impeccable display on the gravel of Tuscany - while Ayuso was left with stitches in his knee after a fall - could mean that the man from Baja California could be set to take a far more prominent role in his team's Giro ambitions.

Del Toro, the winner of this year's Milano-Torino, put on a display on the gravel that left Pogačar purring as he watched on from a team training camp in Sierra Nevada. The young Mexican had evidently watched Pogačar's performance at Strade Bianche in great detail earlier this year; making notes on his technique and point of attack as he put in a punishing seated acceleration on the inclines of the Colle Pinzuto. Only Van Aert could follow, almost replicating the move that saw Pogačar ride Tom Pidcock off his wheel in March.

Ayuso, meanwhile, was not at the front of the race after coming down on a gravel sector mid way through. "I think for the team it went really well, but I would have preferred not to crash," the elder statesman, at 22, said as he recapped the hectic stage in his team's rest day press conference. "The problem for me was that I fell on top of my knee; it opened up a bruise and I’ve now had three stitches. So that definitely hurts a lot, I’m lucky that today is a rest day for sure."

With their Spanish starlet slightly injured, UAE face an early moment of reckoning as the Giro begins to shape up and become interesting. Does the team stick with Ayuso and hope he can replicate the form he showed on the slopes of the Tagliacozzo climb? Or do they now twist and reshape their strategy around the new race leader, Del Toro, with the team's challengers well over a minute behind?

Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) is looming ominously in third, 1:30 down on Del Toro, but Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) is the greater threat in my mind, given he has won the Giro before. Either way, it is an incredible position for UAE to be in with Del Toro appearing to be the latest GC gem that they’ve uncovered.

Despite the excitement building outside, Del Toro was a picture of serenity as he discussed his mindset and approach on Monday afternoon: "It's my first Giro, I'm so excited to be here with the team. I'm so proud to be in this position, it's my dream."

There are purer climbers in the race than the 21-year-old, a discipline in which any potential Giro winner must thrive, but Del Toro has already proven his adeptness at going uphill during this race, leading the chase group home behind Ayuso on stage seven as the Spaniard took the win.

But how does he now approach the race in the coming days? Will his technical proficiency continue to keep him in the driving seat in the stages to come? Stage 10 is a 28.6km time trial, which could change the GC order once again, although Del Toro conceded just 17 seconds to Primož Roglič on stage two's 13.7km TT. Wednesday's stage 11 is in the mountains, but is unlikely to see anyone ship too much time. The second week is more about playing a waiting game until the proper climbing kicks off next Tuesday - that will be when Del Toro is really tested.

The man himself gave little away, presumably keeping in mind that racing alongside Adam Yates and Rafał Majka, two Grand Tour stalwarts, means that he already holds the upper hand as the race continues. "My strategy now is just to give the best for myself, but also to the team," he said. "It's incredible to be in this position, I couldn't be happier."

The first Mexican Tour de l’Avenir winner, now a first Mexican Grand Tour winner? It's still early days, but Isaac del Toro might be even happier by the time the race reaches Rome.

It wasn't if Tadej Pogačar would attack on his own at the Tour of Flanders, but when. The world champion has a habit of going solo to famous wins, and so it proved on Sunday at the Tour of Flanders, his second, but it was not simple.

Just as in 2023, it was the third and final time at the Oude Kwaremont with 17km to go that proved decisive, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider escaping to victory after a brutal attack, and he ended up winning by a minute.

Pogačar was tested by his rivals, however, despite that decisive gap in the end. He first attacked on the second time on the Kwaremont, aiming to break up the race, which he did, but it took 30km for the Slovenian to shake Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike. This was not an easy win for the 26-year-old.

"The guys were so strong, the first time I attacked, and many climbs after as well," he said post-race. "It was a tough one to figure out as well, if I can do it. I had to try on every climb to do my best, to make this race hard, and I tried to give it all the last time and it worked.

"I was not certain [in his final attack] because I could also have run out of energy at that moment, but I didn't give up. I knew what I had to do and I did it my best."

That does not make it any less impressive. Pogačar has raced the Tour of Flanders three times, and finished fourth, first, and first. It is difficult for his rivals to countenance how to beat him, when he can just fly away like that.

"The plan was to make it a hard race, to attack on the second time on the Kwaremont, and we executed that plan," he explained.

That first attack on the Kwaremont, Pogačar essentially swept up all before him, blasting past the day's break, including Ineos Grenadiers' Connor Swift, who appeared to smile - it may have been a grimace. Teams had tried to place riders up the road to help their efforts, but it wasn't enough to contend with the eventual winner.

"I think it's quite crazy to see," Lidl-Trek's Daan Hoole, a member of one of those moves, said post-race. "If you see how easy Pogačar came across, it's quite impressive. You cannot do more than we did, and in the end he's just so much better that it's hard to beat him. It's scary to see how much better he is. With the headwind in the end, he stayed in front of four world class riders who worked together and tried to close it, it's quite crazy."

His team leader, Pedersen, echoed this: "Tadej, the way he rides... he's just on a completely different level than the rest. We didn't get any closer to him today. As a team, we just have to be happy with the way we rode at the moment, we got to the final with two riders. We had to wait a few years for that."

UAE had tried to set up Pogačar, which was no clearer than when Mikkel Bjerg asked his team leader whether the pace was right 100km out - a nod was the reply - but in the end it came down to one man, and his power on the climbs and on the flat.

"In this kind of race not everything goes perfectly," the Slovenian said. "I'm really happy with the team, to be in this team is a dream come true, and I enjoy racing with them so much. They gave more than 100% to today's plan. Sadly we lost Jonny [Narváez] and Tim [Wellens] in the crash, and Florian [Vermeersch] was chasing back the whole race. It didn't go perfectly, but in the end, because everyone gave so much, it worked. I have to thank everybody, because they did a phenomenal job today."

Pogačar, resplendent in the rainbow bands, was proffered a microphone on the podium, and even he seemed speechless - "what do I say?"

"Thank you everybody for coming, it was an amazing day," he said of his exhibition. "It was a beautiful atmosphere throughout the whole day, on all the climbs."

It is surely easier to enjoy the atmosphere when you're the fastest man at the Tour of Flanders, again. It's good that the best cyclist in the world is having fun.

"I think we have a really nice generation of cyclists," he said. "The bunch, the top competitors, I like to race against them, they are big champions, good guys. Today was amazing because of them, because of the fans, and because of my team. It was a perfect day."