News

The organisers of the Giro d’Italia have finally released the official startlist for the first Grand Tour of the year, and it is packed with big names, and reveals some interesting team selections. All 18 WorldTour teams are set to participate, and the race wild cards have been granted to Tudor Pro Cycling, Team Polti Kometa, and VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè.

The main favourites for the general classification, are: Tadej Pogačar (Team UAE Emirates), Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), and Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale). However, it is also expected that Geraint Thomas and Thymen Arensman could perform well for their team, INEOS Grenadiers, and there is potential for the young Uijtdebroeks to score a podium place with his new team, Visma Lease-a-Bike.

Additionally, the race will likely feature lots of exciting sprinting action, with the likes of Olav Kooij (Visma Lease-a-Bike), Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), Fabio Jakobsen (DSM-Firmenich Post NL), Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Caleb Ewan (Jayco-AlUla) all competing, alongside others.

Some other big names lining up at the start, are Christophe Laporte (Visma Lease-a-Bike) – replacing Wout Van Aert, following his unfortunate crash in Dwars Door Vlaanderen earlier this year – Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step), Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ), Jan Tratnik and Attila Valter (both Visma Lease-a-Bike).

The Giro d’Italia begins on 04/05/2024 in Venaria Reale, and lasts until the final stage in Rome on 26/05/2024.

To read more, see the Giro d’Italia Starlist Preview in our site's 'Race Reports' section.

25/04/2024

UAE Team Emirates have announced that Isaac Del Toro will ride for them until at least 2029, extending his contract of 3 years.

Isaac Del Toro is maybe one of the best future prospects in cycling. He has been impressive since the start of the season, his first at a professional level. He won his first pro win in January, on the road of the Santos Tour Down Under and has since been extremely important for his leaders.

The Mexican rider already had a contract until 2026 with his team but this length has just been extended for 3 more years, making him one of the riders with the longest contract in the cycling world.

Source: UAE Team Emirates

23/04/2024

SDWorx-Protime have announced that Lorena Wiebes has signed a 3-year contract extension to stay with the team until 2028.

Wiebes, known for being one of the best sprinters on the Women’s WorldTour, joined the team in 2023 and since then, has continued to add to her already impressive palmarès. So far this season, she has already won six races – including Ronde van Drenthe, Gent-Wevelgem, and two stages in the UAE Tour.

When discussing the reason for her decision to stay with the team, Wiebes stated that despite only having been at the team for a year, she feels "completely at home”, and believes that the team can provide the right environment for her to continue improving over the next few years. She also mentioned the World Champion, Lotte Kopecky, revealing that her contract extension encouraged her to extend too, as she believes that the two work well together.

At the same time, the team also revealed that they have extended their contracts with their main sponsors, SDWorx and Protime, until 2028. The team manager, Erwin Janssen stated that “together with SD Worx and Protime, we have already built up something very beautiful in recent years”, and that the two companies support the team’s “ambition to continue to be the number one team in the world in the coming years.”

Janssens also celebrated the growth of women’s cycling as a sport, and the potential for further growth in the future with the support of dedicated sponsors.

Source: SDWorx-Protime Press Release on Lorena Wiebes, SDWorx-Protime Press Release on their title sponsors

23/04/2024

It is one of the biggest revelations of early 2024, Joseph Blackmore, 21 years old, has signed a contract with Israel Premier-Tech for the next two years.

The British rider is riding with the Continental team of Israel-Premier Tech but has already taken part on races with the ProTeam, with great success. Indeed, Blackmore won the general classifications of the Tour of Rwanda and Tour of Taiwan but has also finished fourth of De Brabantse Pijl. With the Conti team Israel-Premier Tech Academy, the young rider also won the Circuit des Ardennes and Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23. In 19 racedays this season, Joseph "Joe" Blackmore finished 15 times in the top 10, showing a great regularity.

With this signing, Israel-Premier Tech shows its ambitions of climbing back into the World Tour level in 2026 and invests in the future with a rider that could be a generational talent.

Source: Israel-Premier Tech post on X

16/04/2024

Visma-Lease a Bike's leader Jonas Vingegaard has left the hospital where he was staying in Basque Country and will now come back home.

The Danish rider, winner of the last two Tour de France, had been kept inside the hospital for 12 days after his crash on the road of the fourth stage of Itzulia Basque Country. He suffered from fractured ribs, fractured collarbone and a pneumothorax, which prevented him from travelling by plane.

Vingegaard will now come back home, to his family, to recover among the ones he loves. The duration of his absence from racing is not known yet, his objective for now is to "fully recover again".

Source: Visma-Lease a Bike post on X (formerly Twitter)

16/04/2024

SDWorx-Protime’s Anna Shackley is retiring from professional sports following a diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmia in January.

Shackley joined the team in 2021, and has since proven to be a promising talent, having already achieved impressive results at several prestigious stage races aged just 22 – including 4^th place in the general classification at the UAE Tour. Danny Stam, the sports manager at SDWorx-Protime believes she is “one of the bigger talents in the women's peloton” and had the potential to grow to be the very best.

Following her diagnosis, she had to take a break from training and competing this season, and was working with the SDWorx-Protime medical team to investigate the issue. Unfortunately, after receiving the latest test results, Shackley and the team decided that it would no longer be possible for her to continue with professional sport.

She is now planning to return to ‘normal’ life, and the team have vowed to support her in this transition.

Source: Team SDWorx-Protime post on X (formerly Twitter)

16/04/2024

After much uncertainty surrounding whether or not the Tour of Britain would be able to continue – with the women’s race being cancelled in 2023, due to insufficient funds to hold it, and the men’s race exposing significant financial troubles faced by the race organiser SweetSpot – it has now been officially announced that the race will continue in 2024, with both men’s and women’s races.

In February, British Cycling took over the organisation of the event from the previous organiser and declared their commitment to ensuring that the races could continue, and now, in April, they have officially confirmed that the race will take place.

The women’s race will take place from the 6^th-9^th of June, and will pass through Welshpool, Llandudno, Wrexham, Warrington, and Greater Manchester.

The men’s race will take place from the 3^rd-8^th September, with the routes yet to be announced.

This announcement is an incredibly positive development, all down to the hard work that British Cycling has put in over the past few months. It is expected that more information will follow in due course.

Source: Tour of Britain X (formerly Twitter) posts

15/04/2024

Mikkel Bjerg and Tim Wellens have both extended their contracts with UAE Team Emirates.

Bjerg, who joined the team in 2020, has extended his contract for three more years, until 2027. With the team, he has achieved great results, including a stage win in the Criterium du Dauphiné, and in this season he took fourth place at the Ronde van Vlaanderen – his best Monument result so far. In the team’s press announcement, he named the team “the best squad in the world”, and emphasised the growth and improvements he has been able to make as part of the team. He believes that UAE Team Emirates is “the right place” for him to be long-term.

Wellens has also extended his contract, albeit for just one more year, until the end of the 2025 season. Since joining the team in 2023, he has performed well, and has already started strong this year, coming second at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, third at Brabantse Pijl and fourth at the E3 Saxo Classic. Wellens stated that he really values the opportunity to be surrounded by the best riders and staff, and that within the team he has been able to “find a good balance between personal ambitions and helping [his] teammates”.

Source: UAE Team Emirates Press Release

13/04/2024

Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) will not ride on the Italian roads in May, due to his crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen.

The Belgian rider broke multiples bones during his terrible crash on the 27th of March. In a video posted by his team, Van Aert says that "a lot of injuries are quite good at the moment" but also that he can not train due to his broken ribs and that he will not be able to start the Giro.

It is a painful news for Van Aert because the Giro was the second main objective of his season, after the Flandrian classics. His team suffered another loss for the first Grand Tour of the season a few days ago with the withdrawal of Wilco Keldermann who has not yet recovered from his crash in the last stage of Paris-Nice. The two riders will be replaced by Christophe Laporte and Koen Bouwman.

Source : Visma-Lease a Bike's social media

11/04/2024

It has been a source of many discussions among the fans, Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) may already have signed a contract with Bahrain-Victorious for the 2025 season. The young Frenchman is depicted as one of the future stars of our sport and with his contract coming to an end, he is attractive to several teams.

This year, Lenny Martinez has already showed the extent of his talent by winning the Classic Var, the Trofeo Laigueglia and the youth classification of the Volta Catalunya.

According to RMC Sports, this change of team would lead to a substantial increase in salary for Martinez, with a salary of €2.5 million over 3 years.

This loss is a real blow for Groupama-FDJ, even more after the announced departure of Laurence Pithie for Bora-Hansgrohe. The general manager Marc Madiot will now hope to re-sign Romain Grégoire, who will also be out of contract at the end of the year.

Source : RMC Sports

It is believed that Laurence Pithie, who currently rides for Groupama-FDJ, will ride for Bora-Hansgrohe in 2025. So far this year, Pithie has been having a spectacular season, winning the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, and achieving great results at many races – including Paris-Nice, Milano-Sanremo, and Le Samyn. He has therefore attracted the attention of several WorldTour teams, who were all interested in signing him.

Pithie has been at Groupama-FDJ for three years since joining their development team in 2021, and being promoted to the WorldTour team in 2023. However it seems as though the 21-year-old is now looking for something new, as GCN reports that he was successfully approached by Bora-Hansgrohe, just before Milan-Sanremo.

It is expected that Pithie will play a role in bolstering Bora-Hansgrohe’s classics team, alongside the likes of Matteo Sobrero, Jordi Meeus and Nico Denz.

Source: GCN

05/04/2024

This year’s Paris-Roubaix route has been altered, with a sharp hairpin turn added just before the entry to the Trouée d’Arenberg. The official Paris-Roubaix X (formerly Twitter) account issued a statement to this effect yesterday, and revealed that this change was requested by the Cyclistes Professionels Associés (CPA) union. The organisers cite a desire to slow the speed at which the riders enter the cobbled sector and avoid crashes on the cobbles, as the reason for the decision.

The announcement proved to be rather controversial, however. Many fans felt that changing the iconic entrance to the Arenberg would make the race less enjoyable to watch, whilst others felt that the change might even make the race even less safe. Additionally, the defending champion of the race, Mathieu Van der Poel, retweeted a video explaining the planned change, saying “is this a joke?”

Yet despite the many opinions shared on social media, it seems as though this change was voted for by the riders. According to Cycling Weekly, initially, three options were considered. Unfortunately, the favoured option – a route leading the riders through the roads of the Wallers-Arenberg mining museum, before reaching the Arenberg – was not possible to implement this year, and therefore the choice was between the usual route, or an added ‘chicane’. Adam Hansen maintains that after he contacted the riders set to ride this year’s race, the majority of the riders preferred the ‘chicane’ option.

Some riders have even come out publicly in support of the change, with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma Lease-a-Bike) suggesting in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that it is better for the riders to crash on pavement, than on “sharp rocks in a forest”.

It is possible that by next year, the third ‘preferred’ option, will be implemented, but until then, we hope that the addition of the ‘chicane’, does in fact help to make the race safer, and that this year’s race goes as smoothly as possible.

Sources: Cycling Weekly, X (formerly Twitter) posts from Adam Hansen, Paris-Roubaix, Jorgenson and Van der Poel

04/04/2024

Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) has suffered from injuries following a traffic incident while training in Tenerife. The German rider has been taken to the hospital in order to be examined. Let's hope that it's not too serious and that Kämna will be able to come back on the bike very soon, in order to prepare for the Tour de France, in which he is supposed to take part.

Source : Bora-Hansgrohe's post on their social media

03/04/2024

News has just broken that Merijn Zeeman – who has worked for Team Visma Lease a Bike since 2012, and been the Sports Director since 2017 – is leaving the team at the end of the 2024 season. He leaves in order to join the Dutch football club, AZ Alkmaar, as their Sports Director.

After having helped the CEO, Richard Plugge, to build Team Visma Lease a Bike from the ground up to what it is today – a team that has made history and achieved so much in recent years, and now arguably stands as the best in the WorldTour – Zeeman states that he has made the decision to move on because he is looking for “new challenges and stimuli”.

Richard Plugge himself sung Zeeman’s praises in a statement issued by the team this afternoon, saying that Zeeman “has been of inestimable value with his vision and leadership qualities”, and that the team is “enormously grateful to him”, despite their sadness at hearing the news.

It is unclear who will move into Zeeman’s role for 2025. In his statement, Plugge hinted that the decision will be made in the coming months, and that in their search for a replacement, they will start by looking internally.

Source: Statement from Visma Lease a Bike

03/04/2024

Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) had to withdraw from the end of the Classics due to extreme fatigue. The Frenchman was expected on the roads of the Hell of the North, one of his favourite races. Démare's return will be announced later on by his team, his priority his now to rest and recover to come back stronger.

Source : Arkéa-B&B Hotels social media

Unfortunately, a lot of riders were affected by a massive fall during Dwars door Vlaanderen. For some, the dreams of performing in the end of the classics season is over.

According to Visma-Lease a Bike team statement, Wout Van Aert is one of the most injured after the crash that happened 67km from the finish line. “A broken collarbone and several broken ribs were diagnosed in hospital.” Van Aert won’t be able to compete in Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix, his two main objectives of the Classics season. Visma-Lease a bike infirmary is really full at the moment because in addition to Van Aert’s injuries, Jan Tratnik also had to DNF today’s race, because of sickness. Christophe Laporte and Dylan van Baarle also forfeit the Ronde due to illness; the “bees” will face a lack of riders in their Classics team for the end of the spring.

Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) also suffers from a broken collarbone which means he will miss his next big objectives. His teammate Mads Pedersen suffered only from minor abrasions, allowing him to the possibility of starting at Flanders Sunday morning. Biniam Girmay and Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty) could also maybe be part of the Ronde van Vlaanderen in four days, as their team mentions the absence of fractures in a post on their social medias.

Unfortunately, Michele Gazzoli (Astana Qazaqstan) wasn’t as lucky and his team mentions the “fractures of three ribs.”

We wish a good and fast recovery to all the riders involved in the crash today.

27/03/2024

Adam Hansen, former professional cyclist and President of the Cyclistes Professionels Associés (CPA), has revealed on X (formerly Twitter), that they have asked the Giro d'Italia to provide "neutral rain jackets or warmer jackets, for riders that are caught out, due to extreme weather at the Giro on difficult stages".

This suggestion comes as the unpredictable weather in Italy in May (especially in the mountains of northern Italy) can lead to the riders being ‘caught out’ in unpleasant conditions without a jacket. Usually, riders would have to wait until their team car can come to them, but, as pointed out by Hansen, this can be difficult when multiple riders need jackets, and the peloton is split into groups.

Hansen’s idea would therefore allow the riders to have quicker/easier access to a jacket if necessary, and he believes that this would help to reduce the possibility of riders falling ill due to the cold weather, spreading illnesses to other riders/team staff, and having to abandon the race.

Whilst the suggestion was controversial to some, many online have agreed with his proposal, with Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale rider Larry Warbasse calling it "such a good idea", and Lotto Dstny rider Thomas De Gendt responding to Hansen’s post, agreeing that currently it is too difficult for riders to have access to their jackets mid-race.

It remains to be seen whether this suggestion will be adopted by the race organisers, but it appears as though it could be very beneficial for the riders, if they do decide to put this into practice.

Source: Adam Hansen's post on X

27/03/2024

After four seasons with the team, Demi Vollering will leave SD-Worx Protime at the end of the 2024 season.

The sports manager of SD-Worx Protime, Danny Stam, confirmed that Vollering would be leaving the team, in an interview before the start of Dwars Door Vlaanderen, and the team issued the following statement from the team manager, Erwin Janssen on X (formerly Twitter) shortly afterwards:

“We made Demi Vollering a generous offer and indicated that this should be responded to before a certain date. Vollering's management did not respond to this. Therefore, we assume that Vollering will leave the team at the end of the year. The report in the media that we recently sat down with Demi or her management is not true.”

Vollering joined the team in 2021 and has since become one of the team’s star riders, alongside Lotte Kopecky. With the team, she has been incredibly dominant, especially in the World Tour stage races, and has also won Strade Bianche, Dwars Door Vlaanderen, the Ardennes triple – Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (the latter of which, she has won twice) – and the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift, to name a few.

However, it seems that having two superstars on the team has become unsustainable for SD-Worx Protime, with Stam stating that "it’s about budget," and that the team “can’t have two riders from that level”. Therefore, it seems that after Kopecky extended her contract with the team through to 2028, keeping Vollering was no longer an option.

It is not yet known which team Vollering will ride for in 2025.

Source: GCN, Statement from SD-Worx Protime

27/03/2024

Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale have announced in a statement the dismissal of Franck Bonnamour, following his violation of anti-doping rules. The French rider spoke on his social medias and denies the charges against him. "With the help of my lawyers and scientists, we are working on my defence. I've always been an honest, straightforward and clean rider, so I can't be accused of cheating."

Sources : Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and Franck Bonnamour's social medias

Lotto-Dstny has announced the forfeit of Arnaud De Lie for the end of the classics campaign.

The young Belgian has had a difficult start of the season, in part because of his fall on the roads of Le Samyn, that forced him to withdraw from Paris-Nice before the fourth stage. De Lie will now observe a resting period before focusing on the second part of the season and on his main objective: Le Tour de France.

Source: Lotto-Dstny

26/03/2024

Lotto-Dstny has announced contract extensions for Maxim Van Gils and Lennert Van Eetvelt until 2026.

The Belgian team, which already extended Arnaud De Lie's contract until the same year, is doing a great work in renewing their young stars and is building a very strong team for the future.

Van Eetvelt and Van Gils have already shone this season, the former winning the queen stage and the general classification of the UAE Tour and the latter finishing third at Strade Bianche and seventh in Milan-Sanremo. The two young Belgians could help Lotto-Dstny to return to the World Tour level and continue to shine in big races. As Van Gils said: "Lotto-Dstny feels like a second home" so hopefully for them, the future can be bright under the red and blue colours.

Sources : Lotto-Dstny social media

19/03/2024

The current double World Champion (in road racing and cyclocross), Mathieu Van der Poel, has signed a five-year contract to continue with his team, Alpecin-Deceuninck, through to 2028.

Van der Poel has been racing for the team for his entire professional career since he joined the team in 2011, at the age of 13. He has since become the cyclocross World Champion six times, and became the current road racing World Champion in 2023. Additionally, he has won stages at the Tour de France and Giro D’Italia, and many prestigious one-day races, such as Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix and Milano-Sanremo.

The cycling star believes that Alpecin-Deceuninck is the “perfect team” for him to continue with, and describes re-signing as a “logical choice”, especially due to the team’s investment in multiple cycling disciplines – something particularly important to Van der Poel, as he competes in road racing, cyclocross, and mountain bike racing.

Van der Poel has also signed a 10-year sponsorship deal with the bicycle manufacturer, Canyon, whom he has been sponsored by since 2017. The first five years will be in his capacity as a rider, and the latter five will be as an ambassador, should he retire from professional cycling after his contract with Alpecin-Deceuninck ends in 2028.

Sources: Eurosport, Canyon

19/03/2024

Veteran track cyclist Dame Laura Kenny has announced that following an incredible 16-year career she will retire from the sport that saw her ride to numerous titles and medals across national, European and World Championships, along with Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

Kenny had taken a career break following the birth of her and husband Jason Kenny's first child, but she returned with a bang to take gold in the madison alongside Katie Archibald in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Source: British Cycling

18/03/2024

The former head of cycling at INEOS Grenadiers, Rod Ellingworth, was yesterday appointed by British Cycling as race director for both the men’s and women’s editions of the Tour of Britain in 2024. He was announced alongside a team that would support Ellingworth in delivering the races in 2024. Further details are expected soon.

the 4-time Tour de France champion fractured his scaphoid at Tirreno-Adriatico and was forced to retire – he does not require surgery however and should be able to race by the end of the month.

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL's sprint star Charlotte Kool will miss the UAE Women's Tour and the first of the tantalising early season battles with rival Lorena Wiebes due to illness, the rider reported yesterday.

Kool was not the only rider to report of a delay to starting their season yesterday. FDJ-SUEZ announced that Marta Cavalli had suffered an injury during training, and Lidl-Trek reported a delay to the opening of Giulio Ciccone's 2024 campaign due to a cyst removal operation that will keep him off the bike for an extended period of time.

Sending best wishes to all the riders affected.

Source: Team/rider social media

06/02/2024

Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale rider Franck Bonnamour has been suspended by the UCI following the discovery of anomalies in his biological passport.

The biological passport system was introduced in 2008 and is mandatory for all riders with World Tour and Pro teams. It collates the results of rider blood and urine tests along with a a haematological profile and a steroid profile.

There is no further information available at this time - the UCI's statement reads: 'The UCI will not comment further while the proceedings are ongoing.'

Source: UCI

05/02/2024

Tragedy struck at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana on Saturday, as an amateur cyclist lost their life near the finish of the originally planned route, which began in Teulada and was due to finish in Vall d'Ebo.

Following the incident, the race was shortened by around 15km, with the finish moved forward to the summit of the Alto de Miserat. The podium celebrations and presentations were postponed as a mark of respect. No further information is currently available regarding the victim, but our thoughts go out to their family and friends.

Source: Discovery+ commentary

03/02/2024

British Cycling have this week announced their ambition to ensure that both a men's and a women's Tour of Britain run in 2024.

The future of the race was in doubt following the split with race organiser SweetSpot and the company's subsequent liquidation; last week the UCI removed the races from their official calendar, which seemed to add to the certainty that they would not be able to proceed. However, British Cycling's report, which states their commitment to multiple cycling disciplines, suggests they are hopeful of being able to secure the necessary sponsorship and broadcast partnerships to be able to run the races in their usual calendar spots.

The report also details the organisation's intention to pursue the possibility of hosting UCI World Cup events in both cross country mountain biking and cyclocross.

Source: British Cycling

02/02/2024

German veteran rider John Degenkolb has announced a contract extension with Team dsm-firmenich PostNL which will see him remain with the team until 'at least' the end of 2025.

The 35-year-old showed that he was back to his best in 2023, featuring in the lead group at Paris-Roubaix before crashing out in the late stages. He opens his season this week at the Alula Tour.

Source: rider Facebook

29/01/2024

The proposed new partnership between Red Bull and the German World Tour team has officially been cleared by the Austrian antitrust authority and can now be implemented as planned.

BORA manager Ralph Denk said: "With today's decision, we have cleared an important hurdle. The foundations of our partnership with Red Bull are now officially in place."

More news as it develops.

Source: BORA hansgrohe social media

29/01/2024

British multi-discipline talent Zoe Backstedt announced her partnership with Red Bull this week. The lucrative sponsorship, which will see the 19-year-old sporting the iconic Red Bull helmet, is one of just a handful in cycling - other sponsored athletes include Wout van Aert and Primoz Roglič.

Backstedt, who rides for Canyon//SRAM, will take on the U23 Cyclocross World Championships on Sunday 3 February, where she will attempt to go one better than her silver medal in 2023.

Source: rider social media

25/01/2024

Veteran Welsh rider and former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas has confirmed that like Tadej Pogačar, he too will target the GC at both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 2024.

The Ineos Grenadiers man will begin his season at the Volta ao Algarve in February on his build up to the Giro, and will attempt to peak twice, before his goal of riding for Team GB at the Paris Olympic Games in the summer. He confirmed that team boss Dave Brailsford made the final call over his double Grand Tour participation.

Source: GCN

24/01/2024

The American rider, who won a stage of the Giro d'Italia in 2021, announced his retirement from the professional sport yesterday. He rode with Astana-Qazaqstan last season but left the team after his contract expired, and he had said earlier this month that he was still looking for a team.

He wrote a lengthy post on social media reflecting on his career, which is well worth a read.

Source: Joe Dombrowski Twitter

23/01/2024

SD Worx' Lotte Kopecky has confirmed that she will ride Liège–Bastogne–Liège for the first time, as part of her spring Classics campaign.

The World Champion discussed her early season plans in an interview with Sporza, before confirming that she was not yet sure which Grand Tours she would ride, as she would not make plans until after Classics season.

Kopecky stated 'these are competitions that used to be too tough for me and are now starting to be within my capabilities.' The versatile rider proved her climbing ability was on the up last summer at the Tour de France Femmes, where she put in a strong performance on the Col du Tourmalet.

It could prove problematic for Team SD Worx to keep the peace between their leaders, as with Demi Vollering in the side, an Ardennes classics specialist who has already won in Liège twice, there may be further cases of leadership battles like that which we saw at Strade Bianche in 2023. The team have since confirmed that Kopecky and Vollering with be co-leaders at three races - Strade Bianche, Gent-Wevelgem and Liège.

Source: Sporza

23/01/2024

Giro d'Italia organisers RCS revealed the names of the teams afforded wildcard entries into the 2024 edition of the race, this morning.

Israel-Premier Tech qualify automatically; Lotto-DSTNY opt out of their automatic place. This leaves three places which have been awarded to: Tudor Pro Cycling, Team Polti Kometa, and VF Group–Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè.

Source: RCS

23/01/2024

Scandinavian pro continental team Uno-X have appointed ten-time Tour de France stage winner and former World Champion Thor Hushovd as a new general manager of the team.

Norwegian Hushovd, now 46, was a powerhouse sprinter in the 2010s and brings a wealth of experience to the team. He steps into the shoes of founder Jens Haugland, who will remain a member of the board.

Source: Uno-X

23/01/2024

The latest team to launch their own women's programme is Astana-Qazaqstan, who yesterday launched the Astana Dewi women's continental team, in partnership with Dewi Cycling. The team is expected to offer opportunities to young and developing cyclists from Asia, and announced a roster of eight riders for 2024.

Source: Astana-Qazaqstan team

22/01/2024

The bleak state of the British domestic racing scene took a further turn for the worse this week as race organiser Sweetspot, previously responsible for delivering both the Women's Tour and the Tour of Britain along with a number of other races, went into voluntary liquidation, with unpaid debt likely totalling over £1million.

It's a grim blow for the UK racing scene which is already struggling due to the loss of teams and races, and despite British Cycling's commitment to ensure the men's Tour of Britain does take place in 2024, it appears there is no way back for the Women's Tour, which did not run in 2023 either due to a lack of funding.

Source: Jeremy Whittle, The Guardian

18/01/2024

Tour de France organisers ASO have today announced the wildcards for this year's edition of the race, alongside those selected for their other flagship stages races, Paris-Nice and the Critérium du Dauphiné.

While Lotto-DSTY and Israel-Premier Tech take the first two wildcards automatically for all three, given their positions as the top two UCI Pro Teams in 2023, the remaining two spots for each race have been divided between four teams.

Uno-X and TotalEnergies get the nod for the Tour de France. Uno-X will ride there for the second consecutive year following their debut in 2023, and TotalEnergies receive the other spot as the most successful of the French Pro Teams. They also take a space at Paris-Nice, with the final wildcard slot in the spring race going to Tudor Pro Cycling. The Dauphiné sees Uno-X and Q36.5 Pro Cycling take up the two available spots.

Source: race social media

18/01/2023

Veteran Norwegian rider Edvald Boassen Hagen, who was without a contract for 2024, has just signed for Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale for 2024. It's a relief for fans of the seasoned pro who rides his 16th season as part of the World Tour peloton for the French side.

The 36-year-old has won three stages of the Tour de France, a race he has ridden 13 times, and was a long-time member of Team Sky.

Source: Team social media

15/01/2024

Belgian track and road cycling Shari Bossuyt has confirmed that she will not appeal the decision of the AFLD’s proposal to suspend her for two years following a doping allegation. Bossuyt denies the allegation but will not appeal as she does not have the ‘strength or money’ to fight what she describes as a ‘losing battle.’ She will subsequently be unable to pursue her goal to ride in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Bossuyt rode the madison with Lotte Kopecky up until the point of her suspension.

Source: Rider social media

11/01/24

Soudal-QuickStep's Remco Evenepoel will ride the 2024 edition of the Tour de France, the rider himself confirmed today. It sets up the much-anticipated four-way battle between arguably the world's four top GC riders - defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, two-time champion Tadej Pogačar, three-time Vuelta winner Primož Roglič, and the Belgian national road champion, World ITT champion and 2022 Vuelta winner Evenepoel.

Evenepoel rode two Grand Tours in 2022, the Giro and the Vuelta. He was forced to withdraw from the Giro after contracting covid, and finished 12 on the Vuelta GC after a bad day saw him lose a raft of time on the Tourmalet. He won three stages and the KOM jersey, however.

Source: Remco Evenepoel social media

09/01/2023

After a couple of weeks away, there's plenty of headlines from the world of bike racing to bring you up to date with. Here are just a few of the main stories.

• Road racing is back - Australia has kicked off the cycling season with their national championships in Ballarat and Buyingong, crowning Lucas Plapp and Ruby Roseman-Gannon the new road race champions, with Plapp also taking the individual time trial honours a few days earlier along with Grace Brown for the women. The Santos Tour Down Under begins this Friday for the women, and next Tuesday (16th) for the men.
• Cian Uijtdebroeks chaos concludes - after a couple of weeks of drama and uncertainty, the Belgian 21-year-old was confirmed as a Visma-Lease A Bike rider for 2024.
• New kits revealed - we have pretty much a full complement of new kits for the 2024 season to review following a few late additions, including the show-stopping EF kit which is eye-catching as always, and in particular the national champions jerseys - every one a fantastic kit - check them out.
• Red Bull set to take over BORA hansgrohe - the energy drink company, who already have stakes in a number of sports teams not mention being a key sponsor to many elite athletes across sports - have put in a bid to buy out 51% of the German team, thus becoming the majority shareholder and lead sponsor of the team. It is yet to be confirmed but looks like to go ahead.
• STAY TUNED FOR MORE... this news page is back up and running and will be updated regularly with the top stories from across the world of bike racing, so bookmark it, add it to your home screen, and check in for all the latest updates.

09/01/2024

Some very sad breaking news this morning: former World Champion track cyclist Melissa Dennis née Hoskins passed away following an incident with a truck driven by her husband Rohan Dennis yesterday. Dennis has been arrested in connection with the incident. The couple have two young children.

Source: cyclingnews.com

31/12/2023

Ukrainian climber Mark Padun was today confirmed as a new rider for Italian Pro continental team, Team Corratec-Selle Italia. Padun had mixed fortunes in his two years with EF Education-EasyPost, following his breakout performance at the 2021 Criterium du Dauphine where he won two stages.

Source: Team corratec social media

11/12/2023

It's been a social media storm this past weekend, as a series of Twitter posts unfolded a dramatic contract wrangle between young Belgian talent Cian Uijtdebroeks, his current team BORA hansgrohe, to whom he is contracted until the end of 2024, and Team Jumbo Visma.

The Dutch team began the show with a post announcing that Uijtdebroeks had signed for them, on the afternoon on Saturday 9th December. This was followed shortly after by a post from BORA stating that Uijtdebroeks remained a rider for the German team, as he was still under contract with them.

Following this, a number of World Tour managers weighed in, debate raged over the legal ins and outs of the situation, and Cian himself posted the Jumbo Visma signing news on his instagram, along with an update from his agency regarding the legal implications.

On Sunday, it was revealed that BORA would seek a buyout of one million Euros for the contract, which is more than the total of Uijtdebroeks' remaining salary and may slow the proceedings, which need to be concluded prior to the end of the year in order for the move to go through in time for the beginning of the 2024 season.

Sources have been many and varied for this story, but if you'd like to follow along with the timeline of what's happened and when, look no further than this helpful thread, collated by writebikerepeat contributor Emma Bianchi, which brings together all the disparate threads of the narrative (joke posts from Chris Froome included!).

10/12/2023

17-year-old Dane Albert Withen Philipsen was officially announced as a Lidl-Trek rider today. The signing had been strongly rumoured following a social media leak a couple of weeks previously.

Philipsen shows huge potential both on and off-road, and is the current junior World Champion both on the road and in mountain biking. He's also European time trial champion, proving his versatility and potential for the future.

He will begin his professional career with the American side in 2025, and his contract will see him stay with the team until 2028.

Source: Lidl-Trek

08/12/2023

INEOS Grenadiers have announced the successor to Rod Ellingworth following his departure from the team last week will be John Allert. Allert, formerly managing director, is now CEO. There is a new performance director, Scott Drawer, while Steve Cummings is promoted to director of racing, with Movistar's Imanol Erviti coming on board as a new sports director for 2024. (Source: GCN)

06/12/2023

Groupama-FDJ announced today they would end their partnership with Lapierre in favour of Wilier Triestina bikes from 2024 onwards (Source: Groupama-FDJ instagram).

38-year-old Maciej Bodnar today announced his retirement from professional road racing. The Polish rider has been a part of the World Tour peloton for 15 seasons, riding mostly in support of others, including most recently a long stint in service of Peter Sagan. (Source: Cycling News).

06/12/2023

Just a few transfers to report on today.

Dutch rider Anouska Koster extends with Uno-X until 2026. Koster, 30, was been a key part of the Jumbo-Visma women's team for two seasons. before switching to the Scandinavian team in 2023.

Davide Cimolai leaves Cofidis for Movistar - the 34-year-old Italian sprinter heads from France to Spain for the 2024 season.

Toon Aerts will return from his suspension with Deschacht-Hens-Maes. Aerts has signed a two-year contract with the team and will make his debut for them on 17 February, one day after his suspension period ends (source: Het Nieuwsblad).

Cyclocrosser Pim Ronhaar will ride as a stagiare with Lidl-Trek on the road next summer. A two-time elite World Cup winner in 2023, Ronhaar will debut for the road branch of his Baloise Trek team in August.

All sources: team social media unless otherwise stated.

04/12/2023

Arkéa–Samsic, soon to be Arkéa–B&B Hotels, revealed their new kit yesterday on social media.

The presentation was done via a video celebrating the history of the Bretagne region, where the team is based, and featured Arnaud Démare brandishing a sword. The kit is named 'Excalibur' and certainly sets a high standard for the team going into 2024. Images below.

Source: Arkéa–Samsic social media

03/12/2023