With the Tour de France Femmes in the rearview mirror along with many of the other big races of the Women's WorldTour season, it's no surprise that the focus of the women's peloton is now turning towards the UCI Road World Championships.

The Worlds, the last standout racing event of the season, heads back to North America for the first time since Richmond 2015 as Canada hosts the event for the third time, the country's first since Hamilton 2003.

Back then, Swedish racer Susanne Ljungskog defended her road race rainbow jersey, powering to a reduced sprint victory ahead of Dutchwoman Mirjam Melchers and Briton Nicole Cooke. In the time trial, it was Spain's Joane Somarriba who won, 10 seconds up on Judith Arndt.

In September, the Worlds return to Canada, heading to Montréal from September 20-27. The city has hosted once before – in 1974 – and this year, the likes of Demi Vollering (Netherlands), Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy), and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) willl compete on the hilly city-centre circuit.

Meanwhile, the home nation will be hoping to retain the surprise rainbow jersey won by Québecois rider Magdeleine Vallieres Mill – Canada's first-ever Road Worlds triumph – last time out in Kigali, Rwanda.

She's expected to lead the women's squad again, while the men's elites will be led by Derek Gee-West and Michael Woods, who has surprisingly come out of road retirement.

Six Canadian riders took the start of the Tour de France Femmes in Lausanne earlier this month, so Cyclingnews tracked some of them down to get their thoughts and feelings on what will be a momentous event for them and for Canadian cycling.

Vallieres Mill was proud to race in rainbows at the biggest event of the calendar – "The atmosphere has been super good, so it's been nice to have some extra cheers because of the jersey," she said – and she's very much looking forward to a Canadian Worlds.

Canada doesn't host any top-level women's races, aside from September's 1.1 Tour de Gatineau and Chrono de Gatineau, so she and her compatriots rarely have a chance to compete on home roads.

"I'm super excited. I don't get to race home very much. To be racing Worlds to defend my title is going to be something incredible, so I'm really looking forward to it," Vallieres Mill said.

"We already know a bit about the team, but it's not super official. I have an idea because there are a lot of really strong Canadians at the moment, including at this race, so I think we will have a really strong team."

'I think for every Canadian this is the coolest thing to have everyone come to your country'

Canada took five riders to the road race as Vallieres Mill broke away for a last-gasp victory in Rwanda, though they're set for an increased roster of seven this time. Vallieres Mill was joined by Olivia Baril, Emilie Fortin, and Laury Milette in 2025, with 2023 Paris-Roubaix champion Alison Jackson also racing.

Jackson, from Alberta, said she was confident about taking part once more. Fourth place on stage 7 of the Giro d'Italia Women is a standout result which should see her make the cut according to Cycling Canada's selection criteria.

"I mean, the depth of the female racers in Canada right now is super high, but there's a lot of U23s and elites. So, yeah. I think my result at the Giro will put me in there," Jackson told Cyclingnews.

"I think for every Canadian this is the coolest thing to have everyone come to your country. I think this will be a once-in-a-career kind of thing."

Nadia Gontova, hailing from Richmond, B.C., close to Vancouver, flew the Canadian flag as newly crowned national champion in the Tour's Dijon time trial. She was forced to miss what would've been her Worlds debut last year after undergoing iliac artery surgery at the season's end.

She told Cyclingnews earlier this year that making this year's Canada squad is "definitely a big goal" and said in France that she's still got her fingers crossed.

"I was super bummed to miss out last year. I think it was a pretty last-minute decision to skip Worlds, so I think I'm even more motivated to go and have a good race this year, especially with the defending World Champion being Canadian. It's even more motivation behind it," Gontova said.

"I hope to race. We don't have the selection out yet, but I definitely really hope to be there. I'm not sure, but I hope so."

Alongside last year's team and Gontova, riders including Sarah Van Dam (seventh at Amstel Gold Race and the Tour de Suisse) and national road champion Maggie Coles-Lyster are also in the mix for selection for the elite squad.

With such a strong list of riders to choose from, it's no surprise that Canadian women's cycling is on the rise. Three years ago in Glasgow, Ontarian Isabella Holmgren scored their only top result with eighth in the under-23 road race.

A year later in Zürich, her twin sister Ava was fourth in the same race. 2025 saw several other big results alongside Vallieres Mill's rainbow jersey, as Sidney Swierenga raced to fourth in the junior road race and sixth in the junior time trial, while Isabella improved two places on her Glasgow result.

'I would love to be in my best shape to help Isabella, because I think we could win'

Still just 21, Isabella Holmgren led Canada's charge for a medal in the same race this time around, having already won two under-23 rainbow jerseys on the mountain bike.

Holmgren will head to Canada after filling her season with a score of big results at the highest level – including top 10s at La Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Giro d'Italia Women, and the Tour de France Femmes.

She's racing both road and mountain bike this year, heading to Italy for the MTB Worlds, which run from August 26-30 in Val di Sole.

Holmgren will race Elite MTB Worlds this time around, having taken both short track and cross-country under-23 titles last year, beating Carla Hahn of Germany by 20 seconds in the shorter event before putting in a dominant ride to beat US racer Vida Lopez de San Roman by 2:16 in the cross-country race.

A month later on home ground, she'll be back among the under-23s for the 123km race in Montréal.

Ava will be aiming for a spot too, as will Canadian under-23 time trial champion Alexandra Volstad and 19-year-old Swierenga, third at the Volta a Catalunya this year. Kiara Lylyk, like the Holmgren twins, another Ontarian, is feeling confident about making her Worlds debut, too.

The 22-year-old has overcome RED-S this year, and raced the Tour de France Femmes for a second time in what will be her final year racing at under-23 level.

"I've thought about it a lot since like two years ago. It's been marked as my last year under-23. I had to miss Worlds last year because of my last year of university, so it would be really special to do an under-23 Worlds.

"To have a favourite like Isabella, I would love to be in my best shape to help her, because I think we could win. So, it would be so special – it's so close to my home," she told Cyclingnews.

"I feel I'm pretty certain, because the way our criteria works – if you become top five in a UCI .1 or higher, that's a first priority. In Catalunya I did that, so it should be me, Isabella, Sydney for sure, and then the other spots are still to be decided."

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This year’s Tour de France Femmes was arguably the best of the five editions since the race reappeared on the calendar, but what’s next for the women’s peloton?

The women’s sport has seen a huge expansion since the Tour’s return in 2022, and the hallmark race brings in new fans and followers each summer, but sometimes the attention on the sport can fade slightly once the winner has packed away her yellow jersey and headed home.

However, there’s so much going on in the women’s peloton beyond the Tour as the season continues, be it the rest of the WorldTour season, the upcoming World Championships, or the transfer market.

So what have we got to look forward to in the remaining weeks of 2026, and which stories can you expect to see filling the pages here at Cyclingnews? From transfers to big races still to come, here's six compelling storylines to keep an eye on for the rest of this year.

The remaining races of 2026

As the Tour de France Femmes finds its place in our collective memories, thoughts naturally turn to the next races where we can see the top riders competing, and the calendar has not been kind, with only nine days of WorldTour racing left this season. Despite this, we only have to wait until next week to see some of the Tour de France stars in action again.

The Tour of Britain Women starts on Wednesday, August 19, with Tour de France stage winner Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) set to return after winning the opening stage last year. Also listed is green jersey winner Lorena Wiebes and her SD Worx-Protime teammate Lotte Kopecky, and they’re not the only big names. A punchy course with something for everyone is what has attracted such a stellar field, and we’re almost certain to witness five days of entertaining racing.

The final European race on the WorldTour calendar comes at the end of August, on the rolling roads around Plouay with the one-day Classic Lorient Agglomération, which always provides tense, unpredictable racing and a good start list. After that, the WorldTour takes six weeks off before heading to China for the Tour of Chongming Island. With its bridges for climbs and nailed on bunch sprints it can be a bit of a snooze-fest, but new regulations around teams’ attendance at races means we should have better teams and a higher level of competition.

The paucity of top-level racing after August somewhat undermines much of the momentum the Tour de France bestows on the sport. However, there are reasons for it, with the Tour de Romandie Féminin being cancelled due to a lack of funds and the Simac Ladies Tour dropping down the race hierarchy and becoming the Eneco Tour Women.

Luckily, we do have a series of second-tier races coming up with the Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic, La Choralais Fourmies, GP Region Stuttgart, while the Italian pair of Giro dell’Emilia Internazionale and Tre Valli Varesine are always excellent competitive events.

And of course there are the World Championships, this year held in Montréal in September.

Can Demi Vollering finally win a rainbow jersey? 

Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) has won two Tours de France, the Giro d'Italia Women and Vuelta Femenina, and a host of top Classics. She’s the sport’s leading name, arguably its best climber, up there with the leading time trialists, and she even has the punch to mix it in a sprint finish, but she’s never won the rainbow jersey. Could this be her year?

She’s come close more than once, improving each year from 56th place in her 2019 debut. She was seventh in 2021 and has never finished outside the top 10 since. She was second to Lotte Kopecky in Glasgow in 2023, but when Kopecky won again in Switzerland the following year, the Belgian out-witted Vollering in the final before out-muscling her in the sprint.

But Vollering is a far more savvy rider these days. Gone are the moments of poor positioning and she is far less willing to do all the work, but there are still moments when she plays the game and loses.

Last year she was part of a group of favourites that stared each other into the abyss, as Magdeleine Vallieres took the jersey. More recently, on Mont Ventoux during the Tour de France Femmes, she and Marlen Reusser concentrated only on each other, paying the price as Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) rode away to stage victory and into yellow.

At 180km, this year’s Worlds course is the longest in the race’s history, more than 120km further than when Elsy Jacobs became the first woman to win the rainbow jersey in 1958, and three times the length of the last women’s World Championships held in Montréal.

The opening 60km are almost flat, with the vast majority of the 2,400m of vertical ascent coming during eight laps of a lumpy closing circuit, which is sure to make for a tough, attritional final. Whether it’s a pure climber’s course or not is open to conjecture, but Vollering seems to fit the bill any way you look at it.

Kate Courtney hits the road

Kate Courtney has long been a star of the mountain bike world, the American winning a host of the most illustrious off-road races, including multiple US titles, Cape Epic, the overall World Cup and two rainbow jerseys. At last year’s Leadville Trail MTB 100 she smashed the course record en route to taking the title at her first attempt.

However, rather than returning to Leadville to defend that title and take on the amended route, Courtney is beginning a new challenge on the road. She made her debut in UCI-level road racing earlier this year, riding for the US national team at the Tour Feminin in Czechia, finishing 13th overall and winning the final stage in the 2.2 level event.

After adding another stars and stripes jersey to her collection at the US Road Nationals in June, the 30-year-old signed with Demi Vollering’s FDJ team, taking personal sponsor Red Bull with her, on a deal taking her through to the end of 2028, past her home Olympic Games.

While some riders find the switch to the road difficult, that has not been the case for Courtney, whose programme has been greatly helped by the team’s approach. After riding two lumpy, 1.1 races in France, guiding teammate Eva van Agt to victory in one of them, she headed to Belgium, essentially on a mission to learn, riding three kermesses, winning two and finishing second in the other.

A flick through Courtney’s Instagram illustrates that she knows how much she still has to learn, and we will see just how much that is next week when she starts the Tour of Britain Women. Whatever she has to learn, Courtney is clearly born to race bikes and her progress on the road will be fascinating to follow.

Will anyone topple Lorena Wiebes?

We’ve known it for a while now, but if a race finishes in a bunch sprint and Lorena Wiebes is there, the SD Worx-Protime rider is almost certain to win. She is without doubt the best and most consistent sprinter in the peloton. We know it, her team know it, and her rivals certainly know it too.

But, like all things, her dominance is certain to end sometime – the big question is when.

This year does not yet count as a vintage season for Wiebes. Last year she added 25 victories to her burgeoning palmarès; this year there have only been 15 so far. And we’ve even seen her lose a bunch sprint for the first time in almost two years as Carys Lloyd (Movistar) won the Ronde van Brugge. And of course, there was that disqualification from the Giro d’Italia for a bike weight infringement after crossing the line first.

She hardly seems vulnerable, though – just look at her two stage wins at the Tour de France, both of which included more than 1,500m of vertical ascent, and both of which were conquered with relative ease.

Other than her aura of invincibility, another thing working in Wiebes’ favour is the lack of form among her rivals. Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) has struggled this year, Lara Gillespie (UAE Team L’IMAD) hasn’t yet clicked, and after a promising start to 2026, Charlotte Kool (Fenix-Premier Tech) has tailed off drastically, failing to finish the Tour after finishing OTL on Ventoux.

With a couple of Tour of Britain stages likely to finish in a bunch kick, the other sprinters have chances of toppling Wiebes in the coming days, and the Tour of Chongming Island routinely provides three sprints. Away from the top tier, La Choralis Fourmies is one for the fast women and the Eneco Tour Women will have multiple chances. But these are chances for Wiebes too and no one would bet against her adding significantly to her 133 wins.

"There will be a point that I will be beaten in a sprint and probably the media thinks a lot about that," she told us at the UAE Tour, where she won three stages. "But then for me just focus on the good things and keep on improving and keep on being the best version that I can be."

Where will some of the top names land?

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Paula Blasi were two of the biggest stars of the Tour de France Femmes, but could be two of the biggest names on the transfer market this season, too.

After winning Amstel Gold Race and the Vuelta earlier in the year, Blasi finished fifth on her debut at the Tour, one of three riders from UAE Team L'Imad in the top 10. This despite media questioning of not only the squad’s leadership on the road, but also the Spaniard’s continued presence on the team.

There has been speculation over Niewiadoma-Phinney’s future too, with her contract at Canyon-SRAM expiring at the end of this year and a move away apparently on the cards.

She’s been with the German team since 2018, having begun her career at Rabobank-Liv in 2013, and has flourished there, and while she is not a regular winner, when they come, her victories tend to be huge statements. A move away would be a huge loss for the team, but she’s the real deal and will be an excellent addition to whichever team she joins.

On the other hand, the inexperienced Blasi is more of a risk for any team willing to buy her out of her contract at UAE, which officially expires at the end of 2027. After starting her career in triathlon and duathlon, she burst onto the cycling scene last year following a season racing at club level in her native Spain.

Moving to UAE’s development team, she was soon promoted to the WorldTeam, winning the mountain time trial at the Tour de Romandie Féminin. This year her development has continued, with Amstel Gold Race her own statement win, followed by the general classification at the Vuelta.

There have been plenty of other wins since then too, and she’s clearly a huge talent, but whether she can justify the prospect of being the sport’s first million-Euro woman remains to be seen.

After such a brilliant 2026 Tour what will next year's route serve us?    

This year’s Tour was a microcosm of the women’s sport itself. At the start of the week Demi Vollering was the nailed-on favourite to win overall and though she achieved that, wow, was it exciting.

I don’t believe in constantly judging women's cycling against men's cycling, but it's worth noting that five riders wore yellow across the nine stages of the Tour de France Femmes against the three during the 21 stages of the men's Tour. The sprint days were barely that, and other than the Mont Ventoux day, the rest of the stages consisted of punchy days, the route certainly contributing to the spectacle.

So what of next year?

The route for the 2027 race will be revealed, as usual, alongside the men’s in late October. What we do know is that the opening stages will be held in the north of England, which will hopefully provide some lumpy stages through the Peak District before the team time trial in London.

However, we’ll have to wait to see what happens when the race returns to home soil. After such a successful 2026 organisers might be tempted to try a repeat, packing the race with punchy stages of varying degrees, but variety is key. Like last year there need to be editions with more than one visit to the high mountains, some seasons with a time trial and some without.

What they should not do, and what they have already acknowledged, is make the race too hard.

"We can make the race harder, but do we want to? Not necessarily," race director Marion Rousse said at the conclusion of this year’s event. "I don't favour constantly raising the level of difficulty, but that's a personal point of view.

"I've had experience as a TV media analyst and sometimes, when it's too tough, that kills off the suspense because riders just look at each other until the last climb."

We’ll let you know what they decide.

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One of cycling's most legendary sports directors, Giancarlo Ferretti died last week aged 85. He was well known for his strict approach to racing, his very direct way of talking and his long-standing insistence that his charges focus on targets they could actually achieve rather than risk missing out too often.

But that realism and insistence on team discipline didn't just earn Ferretti, born near Rome in 1941, the nickname of Ferròn, the Iron Sergeant; by most accounts, those characteristics were just part of a whole wealth of resources and personal talents that helped Ferretti's riders find their way to spectacular levels of success.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, from his position hunched behind the steering wheel of team cars for squads as famous as Bianchi, Ariostea, MG Maglificio and Fassa Bortolo, over three decades Ferretti oversaw his riders amass around 900 wins in total, from Grand Tours like the Giro d'Italia in 1976 – one of Ferretti's personal favourites – to multiple Monuments and week-long stage races.

Ferretti had a seemingly unlimited knack of getting the best out of his star racers, and he had plenty in his charge at one point or another, from Tour de France and Giro d'Italia winner Felice Gimondi to time trialling great Fabian Cancellara, and from Classics champion Michele Bartoli to sprinting star Alessandro Petacchi.

Such an elevated stable of top names, together with his ability to push the riders to get the best out of themselves, and his deep understanding of the demands pro cycling made on racers, all combined to make Ferròn one of the leading managerial figures in the peloton for decades.

"He was without a doubt the director who had the most influence on me and who inspired me the most," one of his standout racers, Juan Antonio Flecha, tells Cyclingnews. Flecha was a Tour de France stage winner and multiple Paris-Roubaix podium finisher who raced for Ferretti in 2004 and 2005 at Fassa Bortolo.

"It helped that he had a colossal amount of experience, for one thing. I remember him telling us about being in the Bianchi team car in the 1975 Tour de France when [Eddy] Merckx had that bad crash and [Bernard] Thévenet won overall.

"But apart from being around so much and for so long, he also was very wise, and he always had his feet on the ground, too."

Retired since the winter of 2013 and now a cycling TV analyst and brand ambassador for Rapha, Flecha gives one example of that down-to-earth approach when he says: "I always used to be a very enthusiastic type of rider, but Ferretti would tell me, 'that's great, but remember you've got to think about what kind of a rider you want to be when all that enthusiasm has gone as well'.

"And I remember one edition of Paris-Nice, too, I'd got away with [Jan] Kirsipuu and my teammate Fabian Cancellara, Cancellara won the stage, and I was thinking I could do something in the overall. But Ferretti said, politely enough: 'Flecha, I don't want to disappoint you but we've got to go up Mont Faron tomorrow and you're not going to make it, you're not a GC guy.' And he was right."

What was striking, too, was the way Ferretti would not let his own driving ambition to win become too daunting for his riders. Rather, he opted at times to show them what opportunities for greatness were available, Flecha says, and try to inspire them to take them.

"When it came to Paris-Roubaix, he'd tell us that it was hard enough for him to handle in the team car to know that there was no way he should be telling us what to do in the race itself," Flecha, a podium finisher at Roubaix in 2005, 2007 and 2010, recalls.

"It was like he was telling us that whatever we did that day in a race as important as Roubaix, it was going to be something really significant. Which was brilliant, because it made you feel like what you did in Roubaix really mattered, and it made you want to live up to that."

A master strategist

Yet when Ferretti did get involved in race strategy, Flecha recalled, he'd produce tactics that invariably proved to be the right ones, and which often were anything but traditional. The Het Volk winner cites one Giro di Lazio, where there were several Fassa riders ahead in a small group and Ferretti told them to attack each other and counter-attack, "purely to confuse the opposition. It seemed like a crazy tactic but we won."

Or there were more complex situations where in the 2005 Gent-Wevelgem, Flecha bridged across to Nico Mattan in the closing kilometres but then Ferretti then told him "to take one turn and then attack him straightaway" over the radio.

"I couldn't believe what he was saying, because I was having a really hard time just getting off the front. If he hadn't told me to attack, I'd have stayed with Mattan right the way through to the end.

"Instead, I did exactly what he said, attacked, and found myself off the front and in a position to win. Ferretti had that kind of vision and racecraft. He knew what I had to do."

If Ferretti's tactics brought his riders to the place where they could win, time and again and no matter the era, one old-worldly element he also had, Flecha recounts, was his insistence on doing things by the book.

After Flecha agreed to join Fassa Bortolo from Banesto, Ferretti told Flecha he'd have to get permission from Banesto's then director, Jose Miguel Echavarri, to sign with him first.

And to go back to that edition of Gent-Wevelgem again, when Flecha was finally beaten by Mattan after the Belgian allegedly used race vehicles to draft back up to the Spaniard and then outsprinted him, an outraged Ferretti wrote letters of protest about Mattan's 'tactics' to the highest levels of the UCI.

They had no effect, but Ferretti's riders greatly appreciated the depth of loyalty that showed he had for them, all the same.

Humility and humanity

Yet at the centre of it all, there was a great deal of humility in Ferretti – part of it born from knowing how hard it could be to succeed as a pro, and how fragile that success could be.

A moderately promising amateur, Ferretti's biggest breakthrough triumph was set to be an overall victory in the Tour de l'Avenir. But just when he was leading, he had a bad fall on the descent of the Col d'Izoard, and an untimely puncture that left him out for the count. Then during his eight years as a pro alongside Gimondi – with whom he was great friends as well as teammates – Ferretti was witness to plenty of wins by his teammates, but he never took a single triumph. himself

"It was all about the team," he told Gazzetta. The importance of that collective spirit was something he would apply to his own squads when directing, starting with Bianchi in 1971, all the way through to the end of his career.

"He would tell me," Flecha recalls, "that if ever I was a sports director to make sure that if I signed riders that they weren't just winners; that they also knew how to help others. And that came directly from him not being a great rider, as he was the first to recognise. He used that humble start for his team's benefit., both as a racer and as a director."

If Ferretti's reputation for iron discipline was the stuff of urban legend in cycling for the general public, behind closed doors his ability to see the humans beyond the results sheets was considerable, former riders say. That natural empathy manifested in a racing incident when Ferretti was a pro, involving himself and Tom Simpson in the 1967 Tour, shortly before the doomed Briton died on the Mont Ventoux, and which Ferretti said would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Riding through blazing heat and with all the riders desperately thirsty, Ferretti grabbed a flask offered by a roadside spectator, but then was on the point of throwing it away because the liquid inside smelled alcoholic. However, before he could do so, Simpson took it off him and drank it down, only to collapse three kilometres from the summit and die. An autopsy later attributed the Briton's death to a fatal combination of amphetamines, heat exhaustion and alcohol. Ferretti often wondered, he once told Gazzetta, what would have happened if the rules of the time forbidding team cars from giving water to their riders had not been in place – and if Simpson, suffering from terrible thirst like the rest of the peloton, would not have downed the alcohol he'd taken from Ferretti.

Although Ferretti had raced or directed alongside many top names, "he wasn't a name dropper," Flecha recalls. "He once saw me reading a magazine article about Roger De Vlaeminck and jokingly told me faceva schifo [he sucked], before telling me about how De Vlaeminck was simply unstoppable as a rider, one of the fastest he'd ever seen."

Or as Gazzetta reported, from time to time Ferretti and Merckx, when still a pro, would open a bottle of whisky after a race and Merckx "would ask me everything imaginable about [arch-rival] Gimondi and I'd ask him everything imaginable about Merckx. In fact, neither of us would say a single true word the entire evening."

"He had a good sense of humour, too," Flecha adds. "I remember one rider laughing in an after-dinner discussion too, because there was some piece of historical data that he'd got right and Ferretti had made a mistake. And Ferretti said to him, jokingly, 'OK, you're laughing now but I'll be having the last laugh, at the end of the year' – when the rider's contract would be up."

A lowkey exit from cycling

As chance would have it, though, the end of Ferretti's own career as a sports director came about not because cycling was becoming more modern and he could not adapt, but by pure bad luck. In 2006, just as the WorldTour was starting, Ferretti's announcement of a new major sponsor for his squad fell flat on its face when it emerged he had been duped by a conman claiming to represent Sony Ericsson. The result was his new team folded before it began, and Ferretti's career was suddenly over.

"I remember I was with Alex Carera, my agent, when Ferròn rang up and told him the deal was off, that it had been a con, and he had riders like Stuart O'Grady ready to sign," Flecha – by then off to Rabobank, with Ferretti's blessing – recalls.

"Ferretti said, 'Alex, help me, please'. He was absolutely destroyed by the situation that had come up, he felt so responsible, above all for the riders."

Ending his career in such a lowkey way was never going to be the way that Ferretti wanted to bow out, but after so many years when it felt like professional cycling was inconceivable without Ferretti's balding, avuncular figure behind one team car driving wheel or another, that was how it happened.

Ferretti remained involved in the sport through Giro d'Italia organisers RCS for a few further years and other minor sponsors, but 2005 was his last full year. Not that in one sense it mattered, given his real contribution to cycling was already there and too well-established to disappear overnight.

"He created what you might call a school of thought or philosophy, not just amongst riders, but staff, trainers and directors," Flecha says. "I still consider myself to be a 'Ferretti rider'. No other director could have done that.

"He'd even reject certain sponsors if they didn't contribute to what he felt was the right kind of image for the team in terms of their equipment and so on, even if it meant more money. Because the unity of the team and its identity were, to him, what really mattered.

"He created that kind of legacy. And that's still there. In that sense he's still part of the sport."

Giancarlo Ferretti - bike rider and sports director: born 9 August 1941; died 9 August 2026

In the early evening of the 22nd of August, I will hopefully be riding down the start ramp in Monaco for the opening stage of the 81st Vuelta a España. What lies in front of me are 21 days of racing, and a parcours that will take the peloton through four countries; notably one of those being my European home in Andorra.

But what culminates in my first Grand Tour is weeks of preparation before the depart, most of which goes unnoticed by the wider cycling community and is often done solo.

In today's column, I will take you behind the scenes of the last six weeks of my life as a pro cyclist, including the solo rides, training camps with my teammates, the highs, and of course, the lows. I hope you enjoy reading.

This build-up started immediately after the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, where discussions with my team led us to make the decision that La Vuelta would be the focal point for the rest of 2026. This would include a three-week altitude training block within a six-week period of no racing. But before I went off to altitude, I enjoyed the longest period at home that I have had all year. During these three weeks, my parents, aunty and uncle, and my girlfriend came to Andorra, and while it was incredibly special to spend that time with them off the bike, I struggled significantly on the bike.

I think the period of racing between the middle of March at Milano-Torino all the way up to the TARA in mid June finally caught up with me. I was low on energy, unable to complete any serious efforts and in consultation with my coach decided to pull back and rest in order to completely recover before the altitude camp in Livigno.

Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. This period allowed me to spend precious time with my family as well as fully comprehend what I had achieved in the previous races. Next, after two weeks of relatively limited riding, I was on my way to my first altitude camp of the year.

Highs and lows at altitude

Altitude camp is a funny thing. On one hand, at altitude your body adapts to the conditions and produces more red blood cells, which in turn should make you faster on the bike afterwards. On the other, you can feel pretty terrible on the bike while up high and struggle even coming close to the power you can produce at sea level in training.

This is why the adaptation phase in the first days at altitude is so important, so I was trundling around the mountains in Livigno, solo, trying to keep my watts at a minimum.

Thankfully, I think I nailed these few days, because I was able to get in some seriously good sessions during the first 10 days. This was great for the mental headspace after the rough few weeks of training I'd had in Andorra, but in the final few days of camp I struggled again.

I received news from back in Australia that my grandfather was extremely unwell. After hearing this, I mentally struggled to push myself to the limit, and completing efforts became virtually impossible.

I know these all sound like minor setbacks. A few bad days on the bike don’t ruin all the hard work done this year already, but as I was sitting in an isolated hotel at 2,200 metres above sea level, I started to second-guess everything.

Knowing how much of a challenge La Vuelta will be for me, I was stressed about missing key sessions, thinking this was going to set my fitness back and make the race even harder than it was already going to be.

Ever since the passing of my sister, I have found these hard mental days happen more regularly than before, and I find it hard to bring myself ‘out of the hole’ quickly.

The team’s support with this is amazing, and they completely understand how I am feeling and how it affects me. It is also something that I would like to use as a strength in the future; riding for my sister to make her proud, but I’ve only been able to channel this feeling once on that fateful day in France.

These emotions don’t last forever, though, and soon camp was done; I was back home and already thinking about my next race, the Vuelta a Burgos.

A new 20-minute PB and a DNS the next day

I’ve found a lot of joy racing in Spain this year. It began with the Ruta del Sol in Andalucía during February, Catalunya in March, followed by Itzulia Basque Country the following week. Now I was back in the Iberian Peninsula for La Vuelta a Burgos, unsure where my legs were and what they were capable of achieving.

Altitude had gone relatively well; I felt fit and healthy, and the team had put no pressure on me for a result. All they - and I - wanted was a good test before La Vuelta to see where my form was and to get back into the racing rhythm.

I could give you a day-by-day description of how the race went, what happened, who won, and so on, but when I started this column I wanted to convey my personal experiences within my life as a professional, not simply a race recap.

So, the first two days I was feeling much better than expected. The terrain wasn’t perfect for my characteristics, but I did what I could for the team, and I had a smile on my face.

Stage 3 was my first real test. A 20-minute climb up to the finish in Balneario de Corconte meant it was showtime. What I wasn’t expecting was how insanely high the climbing level was. I guess looking back it now makes sense: everyone was on altitude camps preparing for La Vuelta, so of course everyone was producing high watts.

I equalled my best-ever 20-minute power on this climb, doing 6.6w/kg, and Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) still put nearly thirty seconds into me. Just wow. But I was happy; you can’t really do much more than a PB in a race. The team was happy with me and my physical level, and collectively we had a good day with Giulio Pellizzari finishing in third.

The following day was a sprint, but I was really looking forward to the final day and the final climb up the Lagunas de Neila. My body would have other plans for me though. I woke up at midnight with a killer sore throat, and at six in the morning my head was pounding too.

After I woke up, I immediately consulted the team doctor, and after discussing with the directeur sportif and coach, we decided it was best not to start.

That final day test that I was looking forward to would instead be spent driving six hours in the car back to Andorra, but this is part of professional cycling. Riders fall ill all the time, and I am grateful to the team for taking the cautious decision to stop and rest, ultimately thinking of La Vuelta and making sure I will be at 100% fitness on August 22nd.

Looking ahead

So I sit here writing the second half of this piece after Burgos; I’m still a bit sick, but I’m recovering well. The sickness didn’t get worse, which is great, and I hope to get 7-10 days of solid training in before I travel to Monaco.

I'm also getting slightly nervous about what lies ahead. The most days of racing I have done previously is eight, and now I have to make the small jump up to 21. As my teammate Davide Donati said to me on the bus before stage two in Burgos, “Only twenty days to go!”

I politely told him I don’t want to think about that, as I think this ‘lap of Spain’ will be one of the hardest things I have ever done. But I’m also excited. It’s a new challenge, completely unknown territory, and I guess your first Grand Tour is always going to be hard.

I have some exciting things planned during the race, so stay tuned. And for those who will be at the race watching, come and say hi; I’d love to hear from you.

See you soon,

Luke

The Factor One has to be one of the most talked-about bikes to launch in years.

It first broke cover at the Criterium du Dauphiné in 2025, and very quickly broke our small corner of the internet with its wild time-trial-esque design, extremely wide fork and chainstays, and bayonet fork with razor-thin leading edge.

Less than a day later, it looked as though it was going to be banned by the UCI, who announced a rule governing how wide forks and chainstays could be, but I later learned that Factor knew about the impending rule change and designed the bike right up to the legal limit.

It won a stage of the Dauphiné a few days later, and was then raced at the subsequent Tour de France by Israel-Premier Tech. And to cap it off, a pre-production prototype tested extremely well in the Cyclingnews aero bikes wind tunnel test, both with and without a rider, as you'll see in more detail below.

Soon after, it launched officially with an emphasis on its progressive geometry. In fact, the only thing bigger than the fork clearance was head engineer Graham Shrive's presentation on that matter. I'll get into that later, but in simple terms the bike is designed with a modern racing position in mind; further forward, with shorter cranks, narrower bars and bigger tyres.

It also launched with claims of being faster than the Tarmac SL8 – which our own testing data agrees with but Specialized's does not – and at a price that is sure to make most wallets wince.

In the UK, a frameset (with handlebar and seatpost) is £6,920, and full builds start at £11,056 (Shimano Ultegra). 'Standard' builds top out at £13,419.00 with Campagnolo Super Record.

I was sent the model equipped with SRAM Red to review (with power meter), priced at £13,082. However, it also came with the £506 optional extra CeramicSpeed OSPW system, as well as the not-currently-specced Black Inc 62 Hyper wheels, which alone fetch £3,799 (£1000 more than the 'standard' Sixty Two wheels).

To my maths, that makes this build £14,588 (or £1,000 less with the 'standard' Sixty Two wheels).

Design and aesthetics

To begin this section, it's pertinent to revisit the motivations that drove its creation. For years, Head Engineer Graham Shrive had wanted to design a bike that really pushed the envelope, but the brand's founder – then CEO – Rob Gitelis didn't think the Factor brand was ready to put something like this out into the world.

Through its sponsorship of the Australian Olympic Squad, the development of the Hanzo Track saw them unearth plenty of aero gains. Then the UCI's rules changed in 2023 governing how the fork and down tube could be designed together. In 2024, our original round of aero bike testing proved that the Ostro VAM was not only competitive but a leader in the 'superbike' space both in terms of weight and aero. With all those things combined, Gitelis decided it was time.

Concurrently, the brand was a sponsor of the Israel-Premier Tech team, who, like the rest of the pro peloton, were slowly shifting their positions to this modern consensus. Saddles were being slammed forwards to get over the bottom bracket and rotate the body to lower the front end, shorter cranks were fitted to keep the hip angle open, longer stems swapped in to accommodate the newly shortened reach, narrower bars added for aerodynamics, and tyre sizes grew for comfort, grip and rolling resistance improvements.

Shrive says this led to riders running stems that were so long that they were unsafe, and it put their centre of gravity too high and too far forward on the bike, meaning any sudden braking came with an increased risk of an over-the-bars crash.

Therefore, he designed the ONE's geometry with this in mind, and the result is that across all sizes, the reach of the bike has grown by 20mm. In my size 58cm, that means a reach of 421mm, which is 19mm longer than an equivalent Tarmac SL9, which I have also been testing.

To offset the fit implications of the longer reach, the seat tube angle is now steeper. On all but the 47cm frame (where it's 1°), the seat tube is now 2° steeper than the OSTRO, at 75.5°. Some basic trigonometry tells me that at my saddle height (785mm), that puts me 27mm further forward, easily offsetting the extra reach.

At the rear, the chainstay lengths are unchanged, so the distance from the bottom bracket to the rear hub is still 405mm (except the 58cm, where it's 408mm). This is shorter than most of the competition, and lends itself to an agile ride, albeit there's nuance to this in the bigger sizes that I'll get to shortly.

To account for the trend towards bigger tyres (and to a point, shorter cranks), the bottom bracket drop is now 5mm bigger (thus it sits lower) on all sizes.

The rest of the differences against the OSTRO VAM are size dependent. To account for handling goals and toe overlap concerns at the smaller end of the size run, Factor has kept a similar wheelbase to the OSTRO VAM (technically it's 3 - 4mm longer), steepened the head tube angle, and offset this by reducing the fork rake (in the 47cm frame, Factor has changed the fork rake by a quite significant 9mm).

The goal of this is that toe clearance (or the removal of toe overlap) isn't solely achieved by slackening the head tube angle so much that it ruins handling. As such, smaller riders should get a bike that handles as well as bigger riders. I've been riding a 58cm so can't verify it, but the logic holds.

To compare that again to the Tarmac – the Specialized doesn't come in a 47, so I'll compare the 52cm frames – the head tube angle is 73.3° on the ONE, 0.8° steeper than the 72.5° of the Tarmac. However, both have 58mm of trail because the Tarmac's fork has a 4mm greater rake (aka offset).

All that is to say, this should make the handling of the ONE slightly sharper than an equivalent Tarmac, especially combined with 5mm shorter chainstays and a 1mm shorter wheelbase.

At the other end of the size run, though, the increased reach has mostly carried over into the wheelbase. It's now 16mm longer than the Ostro VAM in the 56 and 58cm frames (which I have here). That makes it more stable, but it does lose some of that agility that made the OSTRO VAM frame special.

To continue the Tarmac comparisons, the One is longer and lower (19mm more reach and 4mm lower stack in my size 58cm). The Tarmac's head tube is marginally steeper, with a shorter trail, meaning the front end feels a little more nimble, which is no doubt also aided by the Tarmac's lighter weight.

But added to this, the Tarmac's chainstays are only 2mm longer (again, we're comparing the 58cm frame), and the wheelbase is 16mm shorter. In tight corners, this definitely bears out in the Tarmac's favour, but the ONE makes up the ground in other places.

Rounding off this comparison, since the Tarmac comes specced with a -15mm offset seatpost (you can change it) and the ONE comes with a straight post (you can also change this), I can get 42mm further forward on the ONE, which makes for a big difference in how I feel when I actually ride the bike. I can obviously also slide the saddle back to undo this, and as I'll explain below, I tried a few different positions.

Before I get into that, though, let's just talk about some of the other standout design points, because aside from all these geometry shifts, there's some serious engineering going on here.

Primarily, that's the way the front of the bike is put together. It uses a bayonet-style head tube (where the steerer tube doesn't travel through the head tube, but rather in front of it and clamps top and bottom); a design popularised by the Cervélo S5 and also now found on the Colnago Y1Rs, but the leading edge of the ONE is insanely narrow, even by the aforementioned bikes' standards.

The way the fork mounts into place is a little complicated, to the point that Factor has a 'V2' in its manual that simplifies the original instructions.

Thankfully for the mechanics out there, no specialist tools are needed (unless you count a hollow socket, but a ring spanner works in its place).

There's a rather large 'tension rod' that sits vertically and is tightened from the bottom to first add preload and also hold everything together. In my time with the bike, I experienced a loss of preload on multiple occasions, creating that unnerving feeling of a loose headset.

Loosening and re-tightening to add preload got me through the few months I had with the bike, but not without the final attempt shearing off part of the head of the bolt, meaning I was then unable to disassemble it for a proper fix. I'm well aware a paying customer would just take it back to a shop for a fix here, probably when the headset loosened the first time, and so a proper disassembly-reassembly would likely remove this issue entirely.

Where the ONE really changes the script, however, is where the cockpit clamps into place. Instead of mounting at the point of the steering axis, it clamps into place approximately 4cm further forward, downwards onto the top of the fork using four bolts (which are later hidden by a carbon cover).

The steering axis, and thus the 'lever' you turn when steering the bike, is still normal, so handling feels familiar, but this design means less distance between your hands and where the cockpit meets the bike, which makes it much stiffer. This adds to the directness of the steering, but it has pretty dire implications for comfort, as I'll get into later.

The rear brake hose (and Di2 cables where necessary, but my bike was wireless) routes vertically out of the top of the head tube, and is then directed around a tight corner forwards into a hole at the rear of the one-piece cockpit, before being directed left or right depending on which way round you run your brakes. The front brake hose travels entirely through the fork, and thus exits slightly further forward before being bent around another tight corner to the opposite lever.

Both of these are pretty difficult manoeuvres. That much was already clear from the state of the hoses in my test bike – they'd clearly been ravaged by pliers or mole grips to force them where they needed to go.

I got a taste of doing it myself when I needed to swap the bars from the size 1 (90mm stem / 110mm effective length) the bike was accidentally shipped with, to the size 3 (110mm stem / 130mm effective length) I needed, and pliers really are the only way to get the hoses to bend where they need to go. I'm just glad we're no longer using cable-operated brakes, as this would be on par with the Venge Vias's infamous rim brakes.

The other big design story (both literally and figuratively) is the wide fork, and despite having thousands of words on geometry already, there's actually not a huge amount to say.

Somewhat obviously, they draw from learnings made in the Hanzo Time Trial and Track development. Specifically, learnings about tyre wake and how the disrupted airflow acts downstream, and how the fork leg spacing helps to smooth the airflow before it then goes on to hit the frame and rider's legs.

Factor says it tested multiple fork leg spacing iterations to see which was fastest, and settled on a fork that is 114mm at its widest point; a mere millimetre under the UCI limit of 115mm.

The crown of the fork protrudes forward from the head tube to the point that it creates a little shelf. I could probably sit a small mascot on here like truck drivers who tie toys to their grill, but that would likely upset Shrive and the aero motivations for making it this way.

The depth of the fork blades no doubt aids the bike's ability to 'sail' in crosswinds, but what's less discussed is that Shrive intentionally changed the shape so that the leading edge was more vertical, because that makes it more perpendicular to the airflow. Most forks sit at an angle loosely in line with the head tube angle plus a little bit of offset, but the ONE's fork actually kicks forward at the top before coming down more vertically toward the axle. This really changes the aesthetic of the bike – and I'm still not sure I'm over that – but from an aerodynamics standpoint, it reduces the (horrible phrase alert) 'wetted length', which is the length of material in contact with the air, and improves the effectiveness of what is.

Performance

Clearly, a lot is going on with the design of this bike, and there's a hell of a price tag to boot, but how does it actually feel to ride, as a bicycle, on the road?

Well, the biggest surprise to me when I first hopped onto one is that it felt… normal. Save for a headset issue on my first test bike, which essentially gave it indexed steering, the Factor One rides and handles a lot like any other race bike.

The primary affectors of how the bike rides – its geometry, its material, its touchpoints – are all fairly normal. I've already spent 1000+ words on the geometry so I won't go there again, but aside from a seat tube angle that puts you further forward on the bike, and a wheelbase that's longer, everything else is pretty much the same.

The forward-protruding fork makes the head tube angle look steep, but in this size, it's the same as the OSTRO and 0.2° different from the Tarmac. The trail is similar, the chainstay length is similar, the stack is similar.

So if you came here to learn if riding the Factor One was going to feel foreign compared to your current race bike, there's a good chance that it won't (assuming that race bike isn't from the 1970s).

However, before you rush off to remortgage your house, 'normal' doesn't automatically make it great. In fact, despite the price tag, there are a lot of things the Factor ONE doesn't do very well. Whether that actually matters to you will depend on what you want from it.

If you're considering the Factor One as your only bike, I think you'll grow weary very quickly. To peddle a metaphor, it's akin to having a car designed for track meets as your daily commuter, or to borrow one from my colleague Will, using a fish filleting knife as your general-purpose knife. I will cut up a pizza, but it won't be the best tool for that job.

The primary reason for this is that it's ridiculously stiff. I'd love to put some numbers to this, but Factor chose not to be involved in our road bike stiffness tests earlier this year, so I'm left to infer from feeling. And the main 'feeling' is a lack thereof, because every time I ride it for more than about 40 minutes, my hands go numb. This is probably partly due to my weight being further forward and thus more supported by my hands, but there's no getting around how insanely stiff the bike - and specifically the cockpit - is.

In my entire history of riding other bikes, I can recall one instance of hitting a bump and my hands coming off the bars, causing me to almost crash. It's happened three times on this bike. I don't think that's a lack of attention on my part either; the jolt through the front end of the bike is so much more severe than I'm used to that smaller bumps that I'm otherwise happy to ride over are enough to dislodge my hands.

I've ridden the One with two different wheelsets (the 'normal' Sixty Two and the Hyper Sixty Two), two cockpits (110 and 130mm), with the Black Inc stock bar tape, without bar tape at all (through necessity for one ride) and with Fizik's Comfortfeel 3.5mm tape. The stiffness or numbness hasn't abated in any case.

Of course, I'm framing it as a problem, and it must be said that the One can accept 32mm tyres, but that stiffness has its benefits too. Yanking on the bars in an ugly-face, all-out sprint, the difference is night and day compared to pretty much anything else out there. Have you ever picked up an old smartphone and wondered how the hell you ever lived with it? That's kind of how I feel when I try to sprint on anything else now. The responsiveness in the pedals feels marginally better, but the feeling through the bars is ridiculously good.

It carries over into climbing too. The Factor ONE weighs 8.2kg in this setup (with pedals and computer, no bottles) but has the sprightly feel you get on a 6kg lightweight bike because of how the stiffness translates to the road. I doubt for a second it's actually undoing the 1.5kg deficit it has to the O2 VAM when it comes to a hill climb, but from a pure sensations point of view, it's a nice thing to have on a bike that can also then barrel along a flat road with ease.

And 'barrel along' it can. The ONE is a bike that enables the en vogue modern, progressive aero position, and for that I really like it. Partly because it lets me open up my hip angle and prevent pinching of my hip flexors, which has long caused me discomfort, but also because I get to ride in that racy, forward, purposeful position that has long-ago been shown to be more aero.

I've always been quite quad dominant in my pedalling technique too, and I feel this lets me play to that strength. This is also the first test bike I've had in years where I've not had to slam the saddle as far forward on the rails as it'll go, and I buy into the notion that a longer front-centre reduces the over-the-bar risk, even if it's not something I've ever really worried about before.

The downsides to this position mean I now have more trouble with my neck, because rotating my body forwards means my neck has to compensate in the opposite direction if I'm still to see where I'm going. I had it especially badly on the Ridley Noah Fast 3, but I seem to be in the minority in having this problem, so I'll brush it aside as a me problem for now.

But this all leads to the ONE feeling really at home. I'm loath to say it 'feels' fast, because so many other factors could come into play on any given day and we have the wind tunnel data to prove that it is – keep reading for that – but it 'feels' happy. The longer wheelbase adds high-speed stability, and where I found the Ridley Noah was buffeted by the wind quite easily with its deep wheels and mega head tube, the Factor is stable and surefooted. The switch to the Hyper wheels adds a slight twitchiness to the front end by dint of its reduced weight, but with either wheelset fitted, the bike was quite content ticking along at speed, even when the going got a bit blustery. And once I'd put the longer-reach cockpit on, I could sit in a nice long, low, narrow position and tick at speed nicely.

When the going gets twisty, however, I can't help but shake the feeling that the handling is actually comparatively slow in comparison to the Ostro Vam, Tarmac SL8 and SL9. I'd add the Noah Fast 3.0 to that mix too, but the Noah Fast I've ridden was a smaller frame size, so it's not a perfectly apples-to-apples comparison - not least since the Ridley geo is even longer and lower than this, with a slacker seat tube angle.

The extremely stiff cockpit kind of helps to offset this and give the impression of precision, and it goes extremely well on fast, sweeping descents where the roads are smooth because the front triangle flex that can cause vagueness under high load – like you get on the Y1Rs – isn't an issue here. But on tighter corners and hairpins, I'd often miss the apex. Overall, I just struggled to develop the intuition for how the bike would handle like I could on the OSTRO VAM, or like I can on the SL9. This is exacerbated when the road surface gets a little rougher, as is common here in the UK, as every bump is felt through the hands, making steering inputs more difficult.

Of course, I'm splitting hairs here, but it sort of bears out in the geometry charts in my frame size too. I think riders on smaller frames will probably feel differently, because in that comparison against other race bikes, the ONE's gets a steeper head tube and pairs it with a short wheelbase, but in my size, it's a different proposition with a longer wheelbase and no meaningful change to head tube angle and trail. Thanks to the position change, there's perhaps a little too much weight through my hands too. It's not a dealbreaker though. As I say, I'm splitting hairs and comparing an elite bike against other elite bikes, and it's perhaps something that I could reduce by playing around with more tyre sizes, different cockpits shifting my weight balance around to find a sweet spot.

Aero performance - wind tunnel test data

Cyclingnews subscribers will already be familiar with this, but the ONE can lay claim to the title of being the fastest bike we've ever tested in the wind tunnel, both with and without a rider. That's against a cohort of over 30 high-end road race bikes, and includes pretty much all the big players from Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, Colnago, Cervelo and more.

The graph above shows the CdA (the measurement of how aerodynamic something is) at seven different wind angles, with 0° at the centre being a direct headwind, and a lower measurement being better or more aerodynamic.

The Factor One is highlighted, and it's clear that its aero credentials come to the fore as the wind angle increases.

Using the CdA from each of those wind angles and averaging them out, we then calculate the number of watts needed to overcome the aerodynamic drag of both the Factor One and dozens of other bikes that have been through the same test.

We use an old, basic bike as the comparison, and can see that the Factor One tops the list, saving 40.28 watts. Perhaps more usefully, it's two watts more aerodynamic (at 40km/h) than the next best bike.

With a rider on the bike, things shift a little, but the Factor is still within 0.04w of the top spot, which is well within the error margin of the test. In this test, it was 27.53W more aero than our baseline bike with a rider, and 7.9W more aero than the Tarmac SL8 (we're yet to test the SL9).

And in our third aero test, we swapped out the stock wheels for a 'control' wheel - the Enve SES 6.7.

This allows us to see how each bike compares with the exact same wheel-tyre combo, isolating the aero differences to the frame, fork, handlebar and so on.

In that test, we once again have Factor atop the tree with a sizeable step to the next best on test.

To read the full breakdown, head to our wind tunnel aero bikes shootout or our Factor One wind tunnel deep-dive.

Value

The price of this build is £14,588, or $15,788. Minus £1000 or $1100 for the 'standard' Black Inc Sixty Two wheelset.

That's £90 cheaper (or oddly, $288 more expensive) than a Colnago Y1Rs specced with the same groupset and a similar wheelset upgrade (Enve 4.5 SES wheels). But it's also £2,589 more than an off-the-peg S-Works Tarmac SL9.

To contextualise just how much money the Factor One will cost, here's a look at what else you could buy. You could buy a Tarmac SL8 Expert - Ultegra Di2 (£5,499), a Crux 5 Expert Force XPLR (£5999) and an Epic Hardtail (Comp, S-1000 AXS and Sid SL)

Alternatively, if you wanted a top-tier race product, you could buy a Canyon Aeroad CFR (£8029) and still have enough to buy that aforementioned brand new Crux 5.

Or to put another spin on it, if you're buying it because you want to get better at racing, you could buy that aforementioned Canyon Aeroad CFR, and then spend £300 a month on a support network of various coaches for 21 months to help you find significantly more than the few watts you're saving here.

Verdict

The Factor One is a singularly minded, out-and-out race bike, and for that type of riding it's really good, but it's an incredibly expensive tool for a specific purpose, not a versatile bike. It's the drywall screwdriver in the toolkit; brilliant at its job, and technically capable as an impact driver, but it'd soon get tiresome.

The handling might not feel quite as sharp as the OSTRO did, but it's still really fun to ride when you're trying to go fast. Racing, KOM hunting, or simply chasing your mates on it is a hoot, and the geometry allows that 'modern' position. It's longer, lower, but with a steepness to the seat tube that doesn't just stretch me out, instead letting me really get over the bottom bracket, drop my elbows and ride it hard.

As a result, it's a bike that holds pace on the flat as well as anything else out there, and the stiffness means sprinting is also better than anything else out there.

But the big takeaway is that it's so stiff that riding it every day becomes tiresome. Even after adding plush bar tape and swapping to my favourite saddle, I feel battered if I go for more than a couple of hours, not to mention my numb hands and pothole incidents.

As such, this is more a race tool than an everyday machine. And that throws up another issue in that it has such a divisive aesthetic that plenty of its potential buyers wouldn't actually feel comfortable turning up to their local race on one.

The ability to get into the modern position is really good. But the Noah Fast offers this too.

It's not a bike I'd overall recommend, unless for a very specific purpose.

As a collective, North America took 13 riders to this year's Tour de France Femmes, including six from Canada, five from the US and one each from Mexico and Cuba.

They were spread across nine teams in the peloton, with debutants and veterans among the crowd, along with a world champion and a GC contender.

The 13 North Americans at the Tour is a high watermark for the continent in five editions of the race, up from 11 at the Tours of 2022 and 2023. Three South American racers also took the start, another record. That meant a total of 16 from the 147 starters hailed from the Americas.

We tracked down several of the North American racers at the Tour to find out about their seasons and check in on how their races were going. Here are their stories.

Returning to the Tour after overcoming RED-S

First up was Canadian racer Kiara Lylyk. The 22-year-old raced the Tour, her second, for small French outfit Mayenne Monbana My Pie, alongside US rider Natalie Quinn. However, her campaign came to a premature end ahead of the Mont Ventoux stage after suffering from back pain during the week.

When Cyclingnews spoke to her ahead of stage 2, Lylyk said that she was happy to make the start in Lausanne, having spent much of 2026 recovering from RED-S (relative energy deficiency in sport).

The syndrome occurs when athletes fail to take in enough energy to support what they expend during exercise, disrupting hormone production and causing a range of negative impacts, including fatigue, reduced immunity, early osteoporosis, and menstrual disorders.

"I had very last-minute notice of the race, so I just did the best with what I had. It's been a really rough year for me, coming back from RED-S. Just to be here and start is a big accomplishment. I'm just happy to be here," Lylyk said.

"I got my period back for the first time in three years, so that was the win of the year for me. Just getting better in training. I didn't think that was going to happen this year, so I'm just happy."

Conversations about RED-S took centre stage at last year's Tour, with several riders talking about the importance of menstruating and having open and positive conversations about rider weight and health.

Cédrine Kerbaol, Kim Le Court-Pienaar, and Emma Norsgaard were among those to broach the subject last summer. A host of other riders, including Cat Ferguson, Kaia Schmid, Veronica Ewers and Chloé Dygert, have also discussed their battle with RED-S.

"I think the team is much more aware of it. We've had a couple of cases of girls losing their periods and having RED-S. I think someone like Chloé Dygert talking about it is really important because she said, 'Yeah, you can be doing all the things right, and you don't even realise if it's not intentional'.

"It's important to recognise, and sometimes you can't focus on winning the bike race – it's just about being healthy."

Tour de France Femmes debutant turned GC star

Lylyk was joined at the race by five other Canadians, including 21-year-old Isabella Holmgren, who raced to a very impressive eighth place with Lidl-Trek. Holmgren, now in her third year as a pro, is the reigning Tour de l'Avenir champion and finished as best young rider with a seventh-place finish at the Giro d'Italia.

Highlights of her race included a fifth place in the hills to Belleville-en-Beaujolais and a sixth place in the Nice finale, not bad for someone who treated the Tour as a learning experience.

"The main goal was just to learn. It's my first Tour, and I've never experienced something like this before. We have the best team, and it's so nice to learn from all of the girls and have them there to support," Holmgren said after the race.

"I think stage 5 is probably one of the best stages that I had, but also for the team. We had three girls in the breakaway, and we were racing super aggressively. I was disappointed with Ventoux [she finished 10th – Ed.] but on that day it was everything that I had, so I need to be happy.

"It makes me really hungry. I know that the level is really, really high, but I want to be there in the future, so I'm definitely very motivated."

Other Canadians at the Tour included EF Education-Oatly's Magdeleine Vallieres Mill, the surprise World Champion still looking for her first win in the rainbow stripes. She raced to a solid 18th place overall, with 16th place on the final day her personal highlight.

"I think we've been in the mix every day, and we've had a really good team and strong team every day doing really good work together," she told Cyclingnews ahead of the final stage. "It's been nice to have some extra cheers because of the jersey, super special, and the atmosphere has been super good."

National time trial champion Nadia Gontova, racing for Liv-AlUla-Jayco, was thrilled to show off the Canadian colours in the Dijon time trial, meanwhile.

"It's been super cool and really special getting to ride in the National Champs kit and on my new bike here at the Tour," she told Cyclingnews.

"I don't think I quite had the legs I was hoping for, but it was still super cool, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. It's really nice to get to debut it at the Tour. Super cool."

Elsewhere, Cuba was represented by veteran racer Arlenis Sierra, who was part of Movistar's effort to score overall victory with Marlen Reusser. The team took their first yellow jersey since Annemiek van Vleuten's 2022 win, but the Swiss racer sadly dropped off the podium with a final-day crash on the Col d'Eze.

A self-coded training app already yielding results

Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner came to the Tour equipped with a special black-and-gold Cannondale SuperSix EVO with EF Education-Oatly, and a home-built training plan, too.

The 33-year-old US rider, a Harvard comp-sci graduate, spent a chunk of last off-season designing her own training app with the help of artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, she said that "The research I needed about my body did not exist. So I built it with AI."

The app collected a smorgasbord of biometric data, including heart rate, power numbers, sleep and menstrual cycle tracking, and bloodwork, and she credited it with her trio of triumphant rides, one on the road and two on the track, at the Pan American Championships.

Faulkner's top result in France was a strong sixth place in the mid-race time trial, while she ended the Tour in 26th overall, a career high.

"It was a really fun project for me. I feel like it's helped me a lot to understand my body better, understand how I'm performing and adapting, what works, and what doesn't. It's something that I still tune into a lot and find a lot of value from," she told Cyclingnews, before noting that she hasn't had a lot of time to put into the app since the season began.

"It may be something I return to in the off-season again. At this point, I'm trying to figure out what I do with this because I built something really valuable, but I'm still a full-time athlete. That's kind of an open-ended question for myself."

So far, it's been a personal project, and Faulkner hasn't been able to set aside the time to make the app available to others, including any teammates that may have expressed their interest in it.

"I think there are definitely opportunities to bring it to the team; I have nothing against that at all. I don't want to create something that other people are relying on me for when I can't be available during race season," she said.

Clearly, what Faulkner has created is working well for her so far, and it'll be interesting to see the returns in 2027 after another off-season of coding and tweaking.

Inspiring a nation on a historic Tour debut

The Tour de France Femmes welcomed its first-ever rider from Mexico this year as Romina Hinojosa made history for Lotto-Intermarché.

The 23-year-old, who made her Grand Tour debut at last year's Vuelta, battled to the end of the Tour after her team lost four of their seven riders in the opening three days of the race. Hinojosa herself was almost an OTL on stage 2, only narrowly beating the time cut by 1:41 in Geneva.

She improved as the race went on, though, making the breakaway along with one of her two remaining teammates, Sandrine Tas, on the road to Mont Ventoux. Her Tour drew to a close in Nice with a visit from her boyfriend, a certain Isaac del Toro, who waited in the team bus paddock for her to cross the line.

A day earlier in Sisteron, Hinojosa told Cyclingnews of her pride at representing her nation on cycling's biggest stage.

"I'm definitely very proud of it. I think I could go back and be like, 'Wow, I’m shit'. But no, actually I’m really proud," she said.

"This is the highest level, and seeing my progress, my personal ups and downs that I’ve had in the past years, I think I should be really proud of myself right now. So yeah, definitely going to work harder, but for now I’m really happy."

The Tour had taken its toll on both her and her Lotto teammates, but they kept on battling and smiling, Hinojosa said. Highlights for the team, the Ventoux breakaway aside, included Linda Riedmann's 10th place in Geneva and former speedskater Tas racing to 16th in the time trial.

"It’s definitely been a hard Tour de France. My first one, but it’s been hard. Every day I keep going on with a smile, and I really think it has made a difference in how I approach every day," Hinojosa said.

"I have been getting stronger day by day, so definitely next time I’m here I will be better prepared, but for now I’m really happy with everything."

American riders and teams racing aggressively and scoring GC results

Alongside EF Education-Oatly, Human Powered Health were the second US squad present at the Tour. They brought one US rider with them this time around as Lily Williams headed to France for the fourth time in her career.

This year, the 32-year-old has chased down some big results, including second places on stages of the Giro d'Italia and Tour de Suisse. Last week, she was part of a stage-hunting-turned-GC-focused team as Dutch racers Thalita de Jong and Nina Buijsman excelled in the hills and mountains. Their reward in Nice was 13th and 16th in the final standings, a top result considering that hadn't been their target in Lausanne.

"I think it’s impossible to plan for top results here. It’s just the biggest, hardest race of the year," Williams told Cyclingnews ahead of the penultimate stage.

"So I think we’ve kind of gotten better and better as the week goes. Thalita is 11th in GC, and we’ve had people in the finales on multiple days playing for the stage, so we’re just going to keep trying the last stage."

Williams had a major role to play for De Jong in the finale, too, after the Dutchwoman went over the limit on the opening climb, putting her GC spot at risk.

"Lily did an amazing job in the downhill to bring me back to the first group, but I also knew I gave so much that the climb would be really hard," she said.

"Luckily, we had a nice group; we did not go full because all the leaders were in front. We managed well to get to the finish line, but it was tough."

Elsewhere, a trio of North American battlers could be found aboard French squad St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93. The team has ambitions following Premier Tech's arrival as a sponsor late last year and the team's upcoming decision to go all-in on women's racing.

Former Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson of Canada was joined in the team by American duo Caroline Wreszin and Heidi Franz, the latter making their Tour debut.

Jackson and Franz wouldn't make the finish of the race, but they and the team were frequently seen attacking along the way.

"For us, the breakaways are so important. This year especially, we've really tried to establish a more aggressive tactic in the team, and I think that's gone really well so far this season. Especially here on the world's biggest stage, we need to be present in those moves," Franz said.

"Visibility is super important. We might have a little bit less pressure. We can race a bit more instinctively because we don't have an out-and-out GC favourite. I think that gives us some freedom to race instinctively and aggressively without feeling like we have a lot to lose. We have more to gain by being aggressive and trying things rather than being conservative and holding back just in case. That's our mentality."

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The 2026 Tour de France Femmes is in the rearview mirror and the 21 teams that made up this year's race are all taking stock. But which ones will be basking in the glow of a successful Tour and which will be frustrated at what they managed to take from the race?

Here, we go through the peloton team by team, analysing their performances across the nine days of racing. We'll take a look at the highlights, the areas for improvement, and we'll be giving each team a one-word review.

We haven't ranked the teams ourselves but we have structured this in order of the prize money list – more on that subject here. In the past we've used the teams classification as our order but the prize money feels like a better reflection of the impact each team had upon the race.

FDJ United-SUEZ

• One-word review: Awe-inspiring
• Achievements: Overall victory, three stage wins, six stage podium finishes
• Room to improve: Barring the tactical miscalculation on Mont Ventoux, not much

FDJ United-SUEZ have come a long, long way since the team first began as Vienne-Futuroscope, and even if they hadn't achieved anything in the TdFF, victories in Strade Bianche, Flanders, Liège, Paris-Roubaix and the Giro this season already make it one of their best.

And now? As if becoming the first ever French team to win the Tour de France Femmes outright – and having the first double winner in Demi Vollering – wasn't notable enough, they were the only team to take more than two stage wins, again thanks to Vollering's hat-trick of victories.

It's worth wondering what French champion Célia Géry might have achieved, had she been given her own options. But instead this was a one-card bet – and given Vollering's track record, you can hardly blame them – that paid off enormously.

On Tuesday, their newly reinforced position at the top of the UCI team ranking will be confirmed, but regardless of what happens now in the rest of the season or what preceded it, August alone has made this year a runaway success. (AF)

Canyon-SRAM

• One-word review: Inspirational
• Achievements: Second overall, fourth overall, one stage win, white jersey, one day in yellow, four stage podium finishes
• Room to improve: Overall victory, but they barely put a foot wrong

What more could Canyon-SRAM have achieved in this year's race, beyond winning? "You need brains and legs for the Ventoux," rival Elisa Longo Borghini wisely pointed out, and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney's all-out effort to claim yellow and the stage win fully reflected that.

Firstly, a brilliant strategic combination of attacking from distance to ensure her rivals would hesitate behind her on the tougher upper slopes; secondly, having the legs to pull it all off.

If Niewiadoma-Phinney was the highest-profile individual success, at 23, Antonia Niedermaier's fourth place and best young rider win mark her out as the top future achiever of the race. Twice second overall and twice best young rider in the Giro, Niedermaier's Tour success puts the German in a whole new league.

During the race, FDJ and UAE were the most active squads throughout the mountain stages. But top climbing performances by non-specialists like Zoe Bäckstedt right up to the last day – where the time-trialling star set a new best-ever 20-minute power number on the second climb of the day – were testament to Canyon's collective strength and team spirit no matter the terrain. (AF)

UAE Team L'IMAD

• One-word review: Consistent
• Achievements: Third, fifth, and seventh overall, team classification, two stage podium finishes
• Room to improve: Not much to note here, aside from scoring a stage win or two

After much speculation in the media about their team leadership structure, in many ways, UAE Team L'IMAD's victory in the team prize provides the ideal answer to whether they were operating as a cohesive unit. But arguably an even clearer response came on Mont Ventoux, where Elisa Longo Borghini and Paula Blasi worked perfectly together to limit the gap on early attackers on the climb, then reel in a flagging Marlen Reusser.

Longo Borghini reaching the Tour podium on the final day might have been helped in part by Reusser's crash on stage 9, but by the point she fell, the Movistar rider was already reportedly struggling.

UAE's one real gap was a stage win: Maëva Squiban's nasty crash late on stage 8 arguably did away with their biggest opportunity, while Longo Borghini chasing down the late breaks on stage 6 possibly tired her out too much for the finale.

Yet for the Italian national champion, claiming third overall after so much bad luck in the Tour constituted the best result possible, given Niewiadoma and Vollering's superiority. And getting three riders in the top ten with Longo Borghini, Blasi, and Polish national champion Dominika Włodarczyk is another testament to their strength in depth. (AF)

SD Worx-Protime

• One-word review: Contrasting
• Achievements: Two stage wins, green jersey, three stage podium finishes, two days in yellow
• Room to improve: Lotte Kopecky was quiet aside from one day in the break, while Anna van der Breggen was unfortunate to fall ill

Lorena Wiebes delivered exactly as was expected of the number one sprinter in the world on not one but two occasions, with stunning victories on the opening two days also allowing her to wear yellow for 48 hours. As a result, it feels harsh to criticise SD Worx-Protime. After all, in a race where just six teams of the 21 actually won stages (and only three more than one), dominating the opening weekend was an impressive result.

That said, that incredibly positive-looking scenario came rather unstuck as soon as the GC stages and hilly days kicked in. Anna van der Breggen's low-key performance due to not feeling well from the start, according to the squad, finally saw the Dutch veteran abandon. And if Lotte Kopecky had succeeded in bridging across to Haugset on stage 3, rather than falling short by 10 seconds, there's no knowing what would have happened given her natural speed.

The presence of Wiebes on the final podium as points winner was another major triumph, particularly after such a difficult last stage for sprinters through the mountains of Nice. But whilst it's hard not to fall into the dangerous habit of taking Wiebes' sprint wins for granted, such is her strike rate, compared to that near-certainty, the more unpredictable elements of the race for SD Worx left more than a few question marks.

It was a Tour of marked contrasts, then, even if the final balance was positive. (AF)

Lidl-Trek

• One-word review: Potential
• Achievements: Eighth and 10th overall, one stage podium
• Room to improve: They were never far from the thick of the action, but didn't quite convert that into a big win

Teams will often resort to the "it's not just about the results" line when they fail to achieve much concrete, but in the case of Lidl-Trek, the bare numbers – two places in the lower half of the top ten on GC and one top-three podium finish – certainly don't do justice to what they achieved.

Riding her first Tour de France and making it to eighth overall at the age of just 21, for Canadian Isabella Holmgren, for example, feels very much like the starting point of something much bigger, particularly after taking two top-ten finishes in the Giro d'Italia despite her comparatively young age. A 39-kilometre break for Riejanne Markus on stage 2, only caught almost within sight of the finish, and a 100-kilometre break for Loes Adegeest on stage 8, reeled in well inside the host city of Nice, were equally promising.

Niamh Fisher-Black's fourth place in Nice was another good reminder of Lidl-Trek's determined bids for success, as was Elisa Balsamo's runner-up spot on stage 1. Three combativity awards for Lidl-Trek also spoke volumes about their collective commitment, of which getting three riders in the break of the day on stage 5 (one of them Holmgren) was another prime example. If the results didn't come, it wasn't for lack of effort – or for lack of signs that in the future, things could well work out differently. (AF)

EF Education-Oatly

• One-word review: Tenacious
• Achievements: One stage podium, sixth overall.
• Room to improve: All-round consistency. They needed a stage win to give their race that extra shine

As Pauline Ferrand-Prévot's GC bid withered and died, French interest inevitably moved to the next best-placed overall racer from the home country. And while EF's GC leader Cédrine Kerbaol left no room for doubt that she was in fine form, capturing sixth overall in Nice, the absence of fireworks on a scale with Ferrand-Prévot's lone Alpine raid perhaps made the Breton's race seem a little underwhelming from the outside.

Yet at the same time, while Kerbaol did turn in a fine attack on Ventoux midway up at one point – and Noemi Rüegg's work for Kerbaol on the same climb was testament to their strong cohesiveness as a squad – probably the most impressive ride by Kerbaol came in terms of her bounce-back before that.

After she lost time on the anarchic stage through the Beaujolais, Kerbaol then went on the rampage on stage 6 and came within a whisker of challenging Kim Le Court-Pienaar for the stage.

It was France's best result for an individual day in the race. And even if it didn't succeed, it certainly pushed her back into the top positions overall: indeed, with seven top-ten finishes throughout the week, that kind of resilience was what most characterised her performance in the Tour – and her team's. (AF)

AG Insurance-Soudal

• One-word review: Singular
• Achievements: Ninth overall and a stage win
• Room to improve: The success was rather one-dimensional

With a stage win and a spot in the top 10 of the general classification, AG Insurance-Soudal got what they came to the Tour de France Femmes for. Kim Le Court-Pienaar was responsible for both and was very much the star of the show for the Belgian team. Shari Bossuyt was fourth on stage 2, but otherwise the rest of the squad, including Urška Žigart and Lore De Schepper, were quiet.

But Le Court was not, and in fairness to the others, much of the workload revolved around guiding the Mauritian into position on most days. After placing second on the opening day and fifth two days later, Le Court-Pienaar bagged her win in thrilling style on stage 6, making a late charge across to the breakaway, negotiating a tricky tactical finale, and sprinting it out in fierce fashion. It was a storming win on a thrilling day.

That wasn’t the end of it, though. The win put her into ninth overall, and that’s where she remained after a final three days of aggressive GC action that included a top 10 on Mont Ventoux. The rest of the team might have been quiet enough, but after her breakthrough 2025 – which featured a stage win and 16th overall at the Tour – Le Court-Pienaar is still very much a rider on the rise. (PF)

Movistar

• One-word review: Sad
• Achievements: A stage win plus three days in yellow
• Room to improve: Finishing the job

Movistar’s Tour de France ended on a downer, as team leader Marlen Reusser crashed on the final day, finished outside the top 100, and slipped from third to 14th overall. Reusser had already been dropped on the second ascent of the Col d’Eze, so her podium position was already in doubt, and that would still have counted as a disappointing end, but as she trailed home, she no longer had the chance to truly fight for it.

Reusser had enjoyed a great Tour, winning the time trial and spending three days in yellow, even if it came to an end in frustrating fashion amid a tactical duel with Demi Vollering on Mont Ventoux. But Vollering was so strong on the final two days that the podium was realistically the ceiling. For a rider who has podiumed the other two Grand Tours but still seems to face doubts over her GC credentials, a Tour podium would have been a fine achievement, but she can still take plenty of heart after what has been a disrupted season.

As for the rest of her team, Liane Lippert might have hoped to sprint a little better than sixth place from a break on stage 6, but otherwise the squad was mostly rallying around Reusser, with all the talk of a very positive spirit in the team, which only heightened the sense of sadness at the end. (PF)

Visma-Lease a Bike

• One-word review: Dire
• Achievements: Three stage podium finishes, 12th overall
• Room to improve: A proper GC bid

When you have the defending champion, who won with such staggering superiority 12 months ago, it’s hard to describe this as anything other than a shocker for Visma-Lease a Bike. Off the pace in the time trial and three minutes down on the following stage, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s yellow jersey defence was over even before Mont Ventoux, and her race was over the following morning.

The Frenchwoman made suggestions that her level was just as good as last year – and that of her rivals had simply risen – but it didn’t explain the gaping gulf, and there were further question marks after she pulled out with an unspecified illness. Elsewhere, there wasn’t quite enough to make a success of it all. Marianne Vos could only manage a couple of podium placings in the early stages, while Femke De Vries tried to step into the GC shoes but eventually placed 12th after struggling on Ventoux.

The ride of Visma’s race came from Lieke Nooijen, who was second – and only four seconds off the win – in the time trial. Marion Bunel was 11th on Ventoux and still very much a climber for the future, but in the here and now, Visma’s Tour was always going to be judged against the defending champion, and she fell completely flat. (PF)

Fenix-Premier Tech

• One-word review: Single-minded
• Achievements: Polka dot jersey, one stage podium
• Room to improve: After a convincing mountain classification win, the team may well be thinking about upping the stakes across the board in future

After losing the overall in the mountains competition to Justine Ghekiere two years ago on the last day possible, it's fair to say that Puck Pieterse had a mission to accomplish in the Tour this year. And even if there was no stage win like in 2024 to make her triumph even more special, wearing the polka-dot jersey from stage 3 right the way through to the finale on the Tour with the most elevation gain is no mean achievement.

She also took her team's only stage podium finish, placing third on stage 6 behind Kim Le Court-Pienaar and Cédrine Kerbaol. Having made a point of getting in her first break on the very hilly stage 5, Pieterse confirmed afterwards that it was her main goal of the race, and indeed, her final total of 55 points was the highest for any Queen of the Mountains winner, and well clear even of the all-conquering Demi Vollering. (AF)

Uno-X Mobility

• One-word review: Exemplary
• Achievements: One stage win, one day in yellow, one stage podium finish
• Room to improve: Beyond moving into GC contention, nothing

When it comes to Grand Tour participation for anything other than a major GC team, how do you improve on an 89km solo breakaway that ends with a rider, Sigrid Haugset, both clinching the stage win and taking the yellow jersey? The answer is simple: you can't.

The Norwegian national champion's lone blast for glory wasn't just the longest successful break in the Tour de France Femmes to date; it instantly converted Uno-X's participation into a major collective triumph. In a year when smaller teams were finding it exceptionally difficult to break into the big time across all the Grand Tours, this was proof that it was still possible.

It was hard not to feel sorry for Lotte Kopecky, coming so close to Haugset before suffering so badly from cramps that she had to give up. But at the same time, Haugset's persistence – a plan nine months in the making – was a triumph for the underdogs in an era where it's increasingly hard for nonconformists to hit the jackpot. There were plenty of memorable wins in this year's Tour de France Femmes, but this one was right up there at the top of the class. (AF)

Human Powered Health

• One-word review: Focussed
• Achievements: Thalita de Jong and Nina Buijsman racing to 13th and 16th overall
• Room to improve: De Jong admitted to going over her limit on the final stage, dropping two places on GC

The American squad headed to France with ambitions of stage results, but they pivoted to a GC focus after strong rides from Thalita de Jong and Nina Buijsman, who improved as the race went on.

De Jong had four top-13 places on stages, including ninth to Belleville-en-Beaujolais after time spent in the breakaway, and 12th on Mont Ventoux. Buijsman, meanwhile, was 13th on Ventoux and 12th on the finale in Nice.

"I came in as a helper, trying to go for some stage results, and quickly turned into a GC rider. I had some really good days and raced focused. Everything I did, I tried my best. I am proud of that," said De Jong after the race. (DO)

Cofidis

• One-word review: Solid
• Achievements: Two top 10s for Malwina Mul, while Nikola Nosková won the combativity prize on stage 1
• Room to improve: Mul aside, the team were less visible when the race headed into the harder hills in the latter half of the race

French squad Cofidis weren't a standout force throughout the race, but they did put together some solid results and days out in the breakaway early on.

Polish neo-pro Malwina Mul finished ninth on both stages 2 and 3 to Geneva and Poligny, plus an 18th place on the arduous finale over the Col d'Eze.

Nikola Nosková was their other top performer, the Czech rider getting out in the breakaway on the opening day and on the road to Tournon-sur-Rhône on stage 6. 21-year-old Ema Comte, another neo-pro, made the break on stage 2.

"We were a little frustrated that we didn’t take the polka-dot jersey on the very first day. We could have held onto it for several days, but oh well… We knew the rest of the race would be a bit more complicated. We were really competitive, and Malwina finished this Tour de France strong. I think we were on a positive roll all week long," said directeur sportif Mélanie Briot. (DO)

St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93

• One-word review: Battling
• Achievements: Three top 20s and 19th overall by Emilie Morier, plus a day in the break for Alison Jackson
• Room to improve: A stage top 10 and more breakaway action

The upwardly mobile team were this year replete with a new Premier Tech sponsorship on their jerseys and former Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson among their strengthened squad.

Last time out, they were among the minnows of the race, making headlines for their riders battling the time cut. This time they came with their ambitions set higher, as Jackson told Cyclingnews before the race.

Things didn’t work quite as they had hoped, with the French squad eventually limping to Nice with just three riders remaining. Unlike Lotto (see below), however, three of their withdrawals came on the final day rather than early on, meaning they had plenty of opportunities to leave their mark.

In the end, it was Emilie Morier who scored their top result with a 14th place on the final day, while she also finished 15th on Mont Ventoux and 19th overall. Jackson’s best outing came on stage 1, where she raced in the breakaway. (DO)

Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi

• One-word review: Attacking
• Achievements: Fourth on stage 3
• Room to improve: Ostolaza is a strong rider who is capable of a good GC result if she can avoid crashes and the resulting time loss in future

The Basque squad were hard to miss at the Tour as they raced around France in one of the more attractive kits in the peloton – a patchwork pink and green number. They were visible out in the breakaways, too, with Ukrainian champion Yuliia Biriukova, homegrown rider Idoia Eraso, and Paula Patino all getting in moves during the race.

Eraso wore green on the second day of the race, a nice bonus for the team, after picking up points in the break on stage 1, though she didn't lead the classification.

Their best result of the nine days came in Poligny on stage 3. Out front, Haugset stole the day with a massive solo move. Laboral Kutxa had reason to celebrate too, as Usoa Ostolaza – another rider developed in-house – powered to fourth place from the peloton behind Marianne Vos. After finishing fourth at La Vuelta Femenina, she had harboured hopes of a GC top-10 here, but a crash and 24-minute time loss on stage 5 put paid to that.

Directeur sportif Ion Lazkano said that "achieving a result like that [fourth place] in the Tour doesn't happen every day" but admitted that "Usoa’s crash on the fifth stage really disrupted our plans." (DO)

Ma Petite Enterprise

• One-word review: Polkas
• Achievements: Two days in polka dots for Océane Mahé plus four top-20 results
• Room to improve: Try to aim for top 10s and get more riders involved in the breakaway performances

Ma Petite Enterprise were among the smallest teams in the race, supported by small businesses across France and fan donations, but they did have more luck than other similar squads in getting results this August, and the Tour was a job well done for the French squad on their Tour debut during their first year of operation.

24-year-old Océane Mahé did well on the opening day to make the break and lead the way over two of the day’s four climbs. That resulted in her wearing the polka dot jersey for two stages, resulting in time on TV, podium ceremonies, and more interviews – all wins for the team. Being the only non-Women’s WorldTour squad to wear a jersey deserves praise, too.

Elsewhere, Clémence Latimier, Laura Asencio, and Célia Le Mouël put in some solid performances to take four top-20 finishes across several stages. (DO)

Liv-AlUla-Jayco

• One-word review: Muted
• Achievements: Sixth on stage 2 with Letizia Paternoster
• Room to improve: More attacks and maybe a more targeted calendar for their GC leader

It's fair to say that the Australian team were among the least visible Women's WorldTour squads in the race. Liv-AlUla- Jayco struggled through the Tour and didn't make a huge impact.

Results-wise, their best effort came courtesy of Letizia Paternoster, who sped to fifth place in Geneva. Ruby Roseman-Gannon was in the breakaway on Ventoux day, but apart from that the team were rather quiet.

That may have something to do with the form of their GC leader, Monica Trinca Colonel, who didn't finish the race. The Italian finished seventh at La Vuelta Femenina and then went on to race the Giro d'Italia later in May. She was second at her National Championships leading into the Tour, and finished 10th on stage 3, but racing all three Grand Tours in one season may have been a mistake with the toughest coming last. (DO)

Picnic-PostNL

• One word review: Embattled
• Achievements: Sixth on stage 2 with Josie Nelson
• Room to improve: Both men’s and women’s squads seem to have lost their way, so something surely has to change behind the scenes

It was a challenging Tour for the Dutch squad, who are enduring a tough year just as the men’s team are. Picnic-PostNL can look back on four Tour stage wins in their history via the now-departed Lorena Wiebes and Charlotte Kool, but those days are well behind them now. Still winless in 2026, that triumph never really looked like coming to fruition here.

Josie Nelson’s sixth place was their top result, the British rider up there in the Geneva sprint. Beyond that, there wasn’t much else to highlight as their GC hopeful, 22-year-old Eleonora Ciabocco, struggled. Pfeiffer Georgi’s best result was 19th place on the penultimate day. (DO)

Lotto-Intermarché Ladies

• One-word review: Depleted
• Achievements: 10th on stage 2, 16th on stage 4, and a battling performance
• Room to improve: Try and avoid such a devastating early spell of bad luck, not that you can really plan for that

Bad luck hit Lotto almost immediately at this year’s Tour de France Femmes, their first since 2024. Stage 2 saw Sterre Vervloet, Marieke Meert, and Elisabeth Ebras all leave the race via a combination of crashes and the heat.

On the same day, two more of their number, Romina Hinojosa and Dina Boels, barely made the time cut, crossing the line just 1:41 before their team would’ve been down to two women. The same stage also brought their best result, too, as Linda Riedmann claimed 10th place.

Sandrine Tas, the former speed skater making her Tour debut, had a nice result with 16th in the time trial, while another debutant, Hinojosa, flew the flag for Mexico as their first-ever Tour de France Femmes racer.

"We’ve tried to bounce back and keep showing up every day and trying our best. I think yesterday we showed that we’re not just here to finish, but we also want to show ourselves, and we’re happy we managed to," Tas told Cyclingnews the day after Ventoux. (DO)

VolkerWessels

• One-word review: Replaceable
• Achievements: Eline Jansen’s 11th place in Geneva
• Room to improve: More breakaway rides from others on the team, especially early on where a jersey might be up for grabs

Like many teams at this end of the list, Dutch squad Volkerwessels struggled to make an impact at this Tour de France. With eight chances to make a breakaway, and even fewer to realistically contest for a stage win or a jersey, the least well-off teams in the race can go largely unnoticed by TV viewers.

Their standout performance came early in the race as Eline Jansen infiltrated the breakaway on day two in Geneva. She spent over 50km out front on the road from Geneva, eventually racing to 11th place as super sprinter Lorena Wiebes sped to victory. Compared to some other teams this low down the rankings, that’s not a bad achievement.

Apart from Jansen, the all-Dutch team struggled to make much headway. Quinty Schoens was quiet, with 22nd on Ventoux her standout result, while Laura Molenaar left the race on stage 2. (DO)

Mayenne Monbana My Pie

• One word review: Penniless
• Achievements: Fiona Mangan made the break on stage 7
• Room to improve: Just get the team sponsors out on TV in more breakaways

Well, one team has to come bottom of the prize money list, and this time it was one of the smallest squads in the race, May enne Monbana My Pie. It was a challenging Tour for the team formerly known as Winspace – they ended their nine days of racing with €0 in prize money.

The team’s best stage finish came on stages 2 and 5 as Natalie Quinn and Karolina Perekitko raced to 28th place. There wasn’t much else to shout about for the ProTeam, either, though Irish racer Fiona Mangan did make the breakaway on stage to Mont Ventoux.

In a race dominated by the strongest teams and riders in the peloton, it’s perhaps unsurprising that a team such as Mayenne didn’t leave a real mark, but for any team in the race to come away with no prize money at all is a surprise.

"If I had to pick one moment from this Tour, it would be the second I decided to follow the breakaway on the Ventoux stage. I think I gave absolutely everything I had," Mangan said after the race. (DO)

Support our unrivalled coverage of the Tour de France Femmes and women's cycling by subscribing to Cyclingnews. In return, you get unlimited access to high-quality journalism, with breaking news, race analysis, and expert insight from inside the women's peloton. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

The fifth edition of the Tour de France Femmes is over in what proved to be a nail-biting race that all came down to the very last stage to see Demi Vollering become the first multiple winner of the event since its inception.

It was, however, a close fought battle with the yellow jersey changing hands multiple times throughout the race.

As well as a close fought battle for yellow, the polka dot, green, and white jerseys were up for grabs too, and we were treated to some long range breakaways, thanks in no small part to Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset's exploits for Uno-X Mobility on stage 3.

The green jersey was a more forgone conclusion, as Lorena Wiebes absolutely dominated the sprints with her usual display of force. Meanwhile, Puck Pieterse added to her young rider win in 2024 by taking home the mountains jersey.

Antonia Niedermaier took home the white jersey as the highest placed rider this year under 24 years of age, ahead of breakout star Paula Blasi.

Despite tensions within the squad, Blasi's Team UAE L’Imad was the team classification winner, with Elisa Longo Borghini claiming third overall, Blasi 5th, and Dominika Wlodarczyk in 7th, although the UAE squad didn’t take home a single stage win.

In total, six riders took home stage honors across the nine days of racing. Those victories were spread out among just three bike brands, three wheel brands, three tyre brands, and two groupset brands.

Stage-by-stage breakdown: Who won with what?

Bike brands: Who came out on top?

Specialized was the absolute dominant force here, with two thirds of the stages won by its bikes. Of course, the brand sponsors three WorldTour teams, with each one taking at least one stage win, alongside other Pro Teams too. This meant each of these wins was a point for the all-rounder bikes too, as the S-Works Tarmac range - now up to SL9 - has been ‘one bike to rule them all’ since the SL7 launched and Specialized removed the aero-focused Venge from its line-up.

Canyon took home two stages thanks to two of its three sponsored teams; Canyon-SRAM and Movistar. Wins were spread across the Speedmax TT bike and Aeroad aero road bike, with the Ultimate climbing bike seldom being used.

Ridley was the only other brand to take home any spoils with the epic solo breakaway of Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset aboard the very aero focused Noah Fast 3.0 frame.

Every other bike brand in the race failed to win a single stage, or jersey for that matter.

Specialized riders took home yellow and green. Canyon left with polkadot and white. Colnago, the dominant brand in the men’s race, took home the Team Classification, but no individual wins or jerseys.

All-round takes the crown

While the men’s race was a win for the aero frames, the women’s race showed that the all-rounders were the main bike of choice for riders who won stages.

This is biased due to Specialized only having an all-rounder, while Canyon and Ridley both took home honors with full aero bikes. Indeed many teams with the choice of aero and lightweight still opted for aero frames, likely due to it being easier to make aero bikes closer to 6.8kg with the smaller sizes often used across the women’s field than men’s.

Time trial bikes took home one stage win at the TT, but interestingly some road bikes were used for this, or rather road frames converted into time trial bikes.

But the main story was all-rounders winning across hilly stages and sprint stages proving the versatility. Interestingly though the Queen Stage up Mont Ventoux was won aboard an aero bike.

Groupset wars: SRAM keeps the crown

SRAM was the leading groupset brand in the Tour de France Femmes, usurping Shimano from the top-spot, but it was close.

Shimano counted its wins from Demi Vollering and Kimberley Le Court-Pienaar, while SRAM saw wins across a broader spread of riders and teams.

Campagnolo was again notable by its absence, although a reinvigorated groupset line-up could see changes in the future, as the brand is still the only 2x13 speed option available.

Roval steals the show, Zipp and DT Swiss share the scraps

Specialized’s in-house wheel brand, Roval, took the top spot as the wheels are used by the three Specialized-sponsored teams who took home most of the spoils. Winning wheels were a mix of the Rapide CLX III and Sprint CLX wheels.

Zipp took home stage wins with Movistar in the time trial, and Canyon-SRAM on Mont Ventoux, showing some versatility across high speed aero demands and long climbing efforts.

DT Swiss was part of the epic solo breakaway on Stage 3 where aero was pretty much everything to help secure that amazing win.

Triumphant tyres, with a tubeless takeover

A theme has developed, where Specialized and the in-house wheels and tyres were present across all the brand’s bike wins. The latest Turbo Cotton tubeless tyres were used across the entirety of the riders using those bikes to take home most of the stage wins.

Continental remained present with Movistar and Uno-X Mobility using its GP5000 tyres to take home stage wins. Meanwhile Schwalbe muscled in there to get a win with Canyon-SRAM.

Pirelli and Vittoria were absent, despite the strong presence both brands held in the men’s event.

Inner tubes and glued-on tubular tyres have again been missing from the biggest races. Brands have tended towards tubeless across the board now thanks to lower weight and rolling resistance. Additionally, with more lightweight race tyres, tubeless affords micro-punctures to fix mid-ride with limited pressure loss.

Two-by, or not two-by

1x groupsets only took home a single win in this race, and that was just the time trial. Even then, many riders were still using 2x, due to the presence of some hillier sections in that stage. For the rest of the event, 2x was used by most riders.

Part of this may be due to 1x being particularly useful for races where the speeds are significantly higher often across flatter terrain. Looking at the men’s event with stages in excess of 45kph most days, those stages present a perfect opportunity for 1x gearing. Plus there were fewer ‘transitional stages’ in the women’s race so fewer truly flat affairs.

Instead, 2x and the versatility it offers was preferred for the majority of riders at the Tour de France Femmes. It doesn’t look like that is set to change any time soon with the great gear ranges, smaller jumps in gears, and superb shifting afforded across groupset brands.

After a fantastically entertaining final weekend in Nice, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is over for another year, and the latest winner has been crowned after a thrilling finale on the Côte d'Azur.

Following a hard-fought battle that saw her win three stages but only take yellow on the penultimate day, Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) became the first rider to win this race twice in the modern era, and brought the yellow jersey home to a French team for the first time.

In its fifth year of existence, the Tour de France Femmes somehow just keeps getting better, and this year was no exception, with a decisive and challenging time trial, a historic ascent of Mont Ventoux, and a perfectly-designed finale that kept the battle alive up until the very last hour of racing.

We've covered the whole event in depth with news, analysis and exclusive interviews, but as the dust settles on this year's edition, it's time to look back on a truly fantastic nine days of racing, and what it means for its protagonists, the sport and the races still to come this year.

After 10 days on the ground in Switzerland and France, here are eight key things we learnt from the 2026 Tour de France Femmes

The Vollering - Niewiadoma-Phinney rivalry continues, but it’s far from predictable

Cycling, as we've seen proven time and again through the years, is a sport of generations. The Classics and the Grand Tours always bear witness to extended spells of dominance by a handful of riders before they naturally age out of contention and the next generation comes along.

In recent years, the men's Tour de France has been dominated by the Pogačar - Vingegaard rivalry, the two men duking it over the yellow jersey year after year at a level well above their GC rivals.

With the conclusion of the 2026 edition, the Tour de France Femmes can say that it's firmly in the Vollering - Niewiadoma-Phinney era. The final three stages of this year's race played host to a thrilling back-and-forth battle between the pair, with more contention than past years, too, after the events of stage 8. As things stand, they’re the only riders to have stood on the podium of every edition of the Tour.

Both came into the race among the very top favourites for the yellow jersey, but with the likes of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Marlen Reusser, Elisa Longo Borghini, and more also racing, their success was far from a foregone conclusion.

Without wishing to constantly compare women's and men's racing, that simply isn't the case at the men's Tour, where few others beyond the 'big two' stand a realistic shot at yellow. There are no such foregone conclusions at the Femmes, and we should be grateful for that. (DO)

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is not untouchable – in fact she still has a lot to learn

A year ago, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was an unstoppable force as she sailed to her first Tour de France Femmes title, and I think we were all expecting a similar show of strength in this year's edition. Vollering had had the more impressive season beforehand, sure, but PFP's singular focus and unrivalled commitment to training and form was expected to bring her back to the Tour in fantastic shape.

But instead, her race was pretty much a flop, rarely matching the level of the best riders, neither on the punchier stages, the time trial nor the long climb of Mont Ventoux before dropping out with a vague illness.

The Frenchwoman was in good spirits and not frustrated by her performance, but this week has dispelled the idea that perhaps we had last year that if she puts her mind to something, she can do it at will. Clearly, the TT is still a major weakness that you have only been able to improve so much, and even her dialled training approach can fail her and bring her to the Tour without the level to compete.

Ferrand-Prévot has already achieved her major goal of winning the Tour and she's still a legendary and decorated rider. However, after thinking last year that she could just pick an aim and achieve it straightforwardly, this year has reminded us that she is human and fallible, and even she still have areas to improve and learn. (MP)

Route design is everything

It's not controversial to say that this Tour de France Femmes was one of the best, if not the best, editions of the race in terms of excitement, intrigue and competition. But that wasn't just down to the talented riders, most of whom have been here every year. It was also down to the route design.

When the route was unveiled last autumn, it was clear that the route designers had gone big on difficulty, eschewing the flat sprint stages in favour of multiple one-day-style punchy routes and, crucially, a time trial. They opted for just one mountaintop finish on Ventoux, and a circuit race finale that could keep things alive to the final day.

It was a little bit of a gamble, I think, because the race could have been signed, sealed and delivered on Ventoux on Friday and the final weekend could have been a bit anti-climactic, but actually, I think the organisers got it just right. They know the dynamics of cycling and they designed the route to reach a high point in its final few days.

And that's exactly what we got. The GC riders tested their legs as early as the first day in Lausanne, and took every single opportunity to race, be it on stage 5, Ventoux, or the Col d'Eze finale. The time trial also offered fantastic intrigue, bringing Marlen Reusser into the fight and ensuring the winner was a true all-rounder.

By including punchy stages but only one big climb, the route ensured that there were time gaps and an extended GC fight, but the gaps were never once big enough to be considered done, not until Vollering crossed the line on Sunday.

Grand Tours will always have mountaintop finishes and sprint stages, but it's what the route includes between those extremes which really makes the race, and this Tour got that utterly spot on. (MP)

The level is high enough to add more stages

The topic of race expansion seems to be brought up year after year in women's cycling, from the length of Classics and stages to the number of days featuring in a Grand Tour.

This summer, after five years of the race, it seems barely believable that the Tour de France Femmes didn't even exist before 2022, with the one-day La Course running as its predecessor since 2014.

Since its inception, the Tour has grown from eight stages in its first three years to nine stages in 2025 and 2026. This year's was, by the numbers, the toughest edition yet, featuring 18,795 metres of elevation gain as three hours covered first to last places.

Is it time to add another stage? The final stages certainly left us wanting more, with exciting racing all the way to the finish line, and another mountain stage – not necessarily another summit finish – wouldn’t have gone amiss.

Women riders are often asked if they'd like to race three weeks, and Cédrine Kerbaol, who finished sixth overall, told L'Equipe after the race that she'd be "very happy" if the Tour were expanded to that length, even if "my teammates don't share that opinion."

Three weeks might be too far of a leap right now, but the level of competition at the Tour means that it could certainly expand to 10 or 11 days, or maybe even 12 with the addition of a rest day. The gradual expansion has worked so far, after all.

Meanwhile, in her closing press conference, Elisa Longo Borghini reminded us of the importance of supporting women's racing at lower levels and the youth ranks, too.

"We are reaching a great level in general in cycling. What I would like to see is the base to be a little bit more wide, let's say, and to not see small teams disappearing. Because otherwise we will not have a change of generation. Young girls will not have a chance to have experience," she said. (DO)

Célia Gery was the MVP of the Tour

Célia Gery's debut Tour ended in a bit of a cloud as the 20-year-old found herself at the centre of drama and online nastiness after a racing clash with Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney. But we shouldn't forget that she was one of the most influential, important and strong riders of the entire race.

Juliette Berthet may have won the official, fan-voted teammate of the race prize, but honestly, I'd have given it to Gery. Only 20 this year, U23 World Champion Gery has already won the elite French National Championships and been entrusted to join Demi Vollering at two Grand Tours, and this week it was clear to see why. The Frenchwoman is so strong, often the last rider left with Vollering on the punchy stages, and really brave with her riding despite being one of the youngest riders in the bunch.

You could argue that riders like Berthet and Évita Muzic had a slightly lacklustre race compared to previous years, though I'm sure they did important work that we didn't always see. But Gery was always there, always making the race, and I don't think Vollering could have won this race without her.

The other point of strength is that Gery did not get overexcited or drawn into her own ambitions, and every attack was smart and to the benefit of the team. And to be honest, that move on Niewiadoma-Phinney, whether she liked it or not, was a really bold one from Gery, a rider who is willing to fight tooth and nail for the win.

As long as it's legal, we shouldn't punish that tenacity. She wasn't rewarded with a stage win like she was at the Giro d'Italia, but she got to be part of the first French team to win the yellow jersey, and surely carved out her place in Tour teams for years to come. (MP)

The next generation is waiting in the wings

The main storyline of the Tour saw a host of established GC stars battle it out at the top of the standings. However, there were several standout performances from the next generation of riders who will inevitably be in a similar position in the years to come.

In Nice, the final top 10 featured three riders aged 23 or under in Antonia Niedermaier, Paula Blasi, and Isabella Holmgren, with the former pair spending much of their race working for more experienced GC leaders in Niewiadoma-Phinney and Longo Borghini.

This time next year, both may be leading their own teams, if rumoured transfers are to be believed, with Niewiadoma-Phinney rumoured to be joining Holmgren at Lidl-Trek, and Blasi seemingly set for a Movistar switch.

All three are already Grand Tour forces in their own right, and they’re all still growing and improving as riders, too. Niedermaier took the white jersey home, while Blasi – second on the final stage – and Holmgren – launching a solo attack on the Col d’Eze – both went out with a bang.

You can also add 20-year-old Gery, immaculate in her service for Vollering at both Giro and Tour, and 25-year-old Niamh Fisher-Black, still on the rise as a GC racer, after her switch to Lidl-Trek last year, to the list. (DO)

From feast to famine for French riders

Last summer saw the home nation experience its most successful Tour de France Femmes yet as Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won France’s first yellow jersey in decades while she and breakout star Maëva Squiban shared four of the race’s nine stages between them.

This year, the end results for home riders made far bleaker reading, even if home team FDJ United-SUEZ took home the yellow jersey with Demi Vollering’s second triumph.

Beyond the French squad’s success, there was little to shout about for the masses of French fans at the roadside. EF Education-Oatly’s Cedrine Kerbaol was the sole shining light as far as the general classification goes, improving on her eighth place last year to sixth this time around. She also took the home nation’s only stage podium finish with a second place behind Kim Le Court-Pienaar in Tournon-sur-Rhone.

Ferrand-Prévot, meanwhile, was well below the astonishing level she showed last year. The Visma-Lease a Bike leader lost two minutes in the time trial and two more in the hills the next stage before cracking altogether on Mont Ventoux and withdrawing with a reported illness the next morning.

It’s not all bad news for France, however – young guns Célia Gery and Ferrand-Prévot’s teammate, 21-year-old Marion Bunel who took third at La Vuelta, look certain to contest Grand Tours in the near future.

Then there’s Maëva Squiban, who switched from swashbuckling freelance attacker to domestique this year, though won’t always be consigned to that role, and Ferrand-Prévot, who will surely be back to battle for another yellow jersey. (DO)

The appetite and viewership for full TV coverage is there

Those of us who have been involved in women's cycling for years have been banging on about TV coverage for ages, when we had to ask and fight for there to be any coverage at all of even the biggest races. Thanks to a combination of fan interest, investment and UCI rules, coverage of the Women's WorldTour is now better than ever. But the Tour de France showed that viewers still want more – and that asking for more coverage is now a mainstream opinion, not the reserve of a select few women's cycling obsessives.

The coverage this year was more extensive than ever, with three stages shown in full, but the racing convinced most of us that full coverage of every stage would be completely justified. Stage 3 seemed to be the most galvanising, with the two hours of live coverage meaning that we never got to see the winning attack from Sigrid Haugset (Uno-X Mobility), and reminding us that just showing the second half of a race is no longer enough.

Of course, there are financial considerations, and the broadcasters and organisers have to see the economics of such a move, but TV viewership this year is surely on the way to justifying such a move. Full figures aren't out yet, but France TV said that over 2 million people watched the opening stage last Saturday, only 20% less than the figures for the opening men's stage, and Dutch broadcaster NOS reported that viewing figures for the Ventoux stage exceeded viewership for all but two stages of the men's race.

"I've discussed this at length with France Télévisions and we’re giving serious consideration to broadcasting all the stages in full in the future because the women deserve it, and because it works well in terms of audience figures," race director Marion Rousse said on the topic. "We’re currently giving it real consideration, which is a step forward. Things are moving in the right direction.”

Whether it's full coverage next year or expanded coverage and flag-to-finish images in the future, Rousse is right that things are definitely going in the right direction. Coverage that matches the men's race is already wanted, and is surely not far from being achievable. (MP)

Support our unrivalled coverage of the Tour de France Femmes and women's cycling by subscribing to Cyclingnews. In return, you get unlimited access to high-quality journalism, with breaking news, race analysis, and expert insight from inside the women's peloton. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Australian pro Brodie Chapman rides for UAE Team L'IMAD and had built up to race the Tour de France Femmes for a second time. Unfortunately it was an edition that ended early for her, with a DNS on stage 2 as illness intervened. It hadn't been the easiest of runs to make it there in the first place either, as she went down hard in the Tour of Flanders in April, fracturing her pelvis and facing a tough recovery to get back for the Tour, which Chapman detailed in her pre-race column.

In her second of three columns, Chapman joins us while recuperating, rather than racing, to cast light on the pivotal stages. She takes us inside some of the plans and mindsets behind the unfolding action and also delivers some home truths about the simmering speculation on the dynamics within her own team.

I was sitting on my couch watching one of the greatest-ever cycling performances unfold before my eyes. Between pangs of envy for those riders experiencing the familiar slopes of Mont Ventoux first-hand, I was also brimming with joy and anticipation for what would follow. Friend and fan favourite Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney left no room for doubt as she flawlessly executed her ascent toward the stage win and yellow jersey. Teammate and good friend Elisa Longo-Borghini managed her own race to perfection, closing in to take third on the stage in the last few hundred meters thanks to measured teamwork with Paula Blasi.

Besides the time trial, an individual event that shook up the GC, Mont Ventoux was undoubtedly a stage that was always going to be an important battle. It was the stage that lingered amongst the minds of the riders, those trying to win it, and those trying to survive it. I had discussed this stage in length with riders on my team, with people outside the peloton and in depth with Kasia.

As mentioned in my previous column, entirely on the initiative of Kasia, a handful of us made a trip to Ventoux over a few days to learn the climb and understand its hefty list of demands. We did two ascents on the first day, and on the second day we did another ascent (much to my surprise). Kasia was feeling out the climb in real time. The heat was one thing, the steep corners another and the windy exposed sections something that could be volatile. What we couldn’t know was how the riders themselves would approach the climb. We had to speculate.

Personally, I had felt that based on my experience on these climbs, the peloton would approach the climb with an absolutely all-out furious pace, leaving only a handful of favourites isolated from the first left-hand corner onwards. A few teams were left with a slight numerical advantage but, with such a trying gradient ahead, it would come down to who applied their strengths in the right moment, who really had the legs and heart to get to the top first. Despite what appeared to be a gamble between Demi Vollering and Marlen Reusser, on a climb this long, I believe if you could win this race, you would.

Demi and Marlen are two of the best in the world. Cycling is a game, a tactical game that takes superhuman power to execute the right moves and a mixture of planning and instinct to know when to move. Kasia was simply better that day. Her heart was deeply embedded in this climb and she increased her lead with each stroke of the pedal; no amount of hesitation behind allows a gap this big to form accidentally. Kasia was in a flow state, she knew exactly where to go and when.

Behind the yellow jersey and previous winner Demi, another race was quietly unfolding. My teammates, two-time Giro d'Italia winner Elisa Longo Borghini and Vuelta Feminina winner Paula Blasi, were managing their own race. They didn’t even try to respond to Demi's first attack because they had a plan. The plan – conjured up by the performance team at UAE Team L'IMAD – had both riders following a pacing strategy. Strong and steady, Paula and Elisa didn't flinch when the attacks kicked off. Instead, they continued to ride just shy of their limit for 11km.

They didn't waste any energy on the lower slopes trying to respond. Their response would be collective and calculated. As the trees faded into the background, Paula and Elisa slowly reeled in the pursuers. According to Elisa, Paula's final pull as they approached the closing kilometres was paramount in launching Elisa into action to narrowly grasp third on the stage. She used that big acceleration at the perfect moment. Paula Blasi, in her maiden Tour de France Femmes, finished in fifth on the stage. Polish national champion Dominika Wlodarczyk rode into a commendable eighth, keeping the team high up in the GC and affirming that Polish cycling is in a very good place.

I hope this puts an end to the speculation around teamwork on UAE Team L'IMAD. Journalists also forget that riders eat together for every meal, for two weeks. We sit around the dinner table after the meal is done, laughing, discussing, and speculating. We sleep within centimetres of each other in pokey hotel rooms, share long transfers and hours at training camps together. To think there is room for scathing tension is ignorant.

I also want to mention the teams behind the wins, the ones who get the riders to this point. I sometimes squirm when I hear commentators question the absence of a particular rider, that they expected more from them …. They don't see the work it entails and the energy these riders spend in order to spare their leaders. You come to a race with clear roles, even if on a good day you could gamble in a breakaway or win from a small group. If we all just raced to our hearts' desire you wouldn’t see successful teamwork, where each ion of energy is purposeful and precious.

From kilometre one the domestiques are taking wind, going back to the very back of the peloton, dropping into the convoy, riding back through the fast, hectic peloton carrying a bag full of bidons and ice, with bidons in their jersey and carrying up to six kilograms or more.

hey position the team through the towns and the technical sections, to keep them safe and stay away from the back of the peloton where crashes are more likely to happen. They maintain a relentless pace heading into climbs like Ventoux, and then still have to ride up it themselves, very often after doing a maximal effort. If you have worked all day, the team also encourages you to take it easy after your job is done, in order to preserve energy to do it all again the next day.

As the race situation changes throughout the stages, those roles can definitely change too. While I wrote this, I was watching Canyon-SRAM's Zoe Bäckstedt take Kasia first wheel into a cat. 4 climb ahead of a finish line that, on another day, also suited her characteristics. Silvia Pérsico has taken on the tasks of two riders in my absence, along with Mavi Garcia, who herself won a stage last year. It pains me that I feel the need to explain this, but unfortunately sometimes I still get questioned over whether women's cycling has domestiques. I guess those people don't really watch women’s cycling.

The other thing to mention is that working for the team also doesn’t always mean taking wind and collecting bidons. Working for the team can also mean being a part of the overall strategy, using a rider's specific strengths to play the game, make the race hard or go deep into a final alongside the leaders.

The next day of racing will see the GC battle continue, with a strong bid for bonus seconds is my guess. For every single rider getting to Nice in one piece will be an achievement in itself. Some will have expected more than they got and others will leave satisfied or surprised. As athletes, we do not dwell long on the disappointments or the setbacks because otherwise it would consume us and take us out of the present – a present that is always demanding more work, better rest and adjusted goal setting.

On its Tour de France Femmes debut, Mont Ventoux more than lived up to its brutal reputation, even if the Giant of Provence didn't deliver a knockout blow in the fight for the yellow jersey.

In four previous editions of the race, the showpiece mountain has decided the fate of the maillot jaune, but this week all is still to play for as the Tour heads towards a thrilling finale in Nice.

In 2022, Annemiek van Vleuten rubber-stamped her dominance with victory atop La Planche des Belles Filles, while the next year Demi Vollering's Col du Tourmalet triumph put the race out of reach for Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney.

2024's grand finale on L'Alpe d'Huez saw the Polish racer hold off a Vollering charge to seal yellow, while last year, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) rather dampened any final weekend tension with a remarkable solo up the Col de la Madeleine.

Certainly, there was no doubt about who was the strongest on Mont Ventoux, as Niewiadoma-Phinney sailed clear 9.7km from the line. She surged away from FDJ United-SUEZ leader Vollering and race leader Marlen Reusser (Movistar) before racing out of the forest, beating back the raging headwind, and placing her name alongside Gaul, Merckx, and Cooke on the climb's historic honour roll.

There's also no doubt that the race is far from over. The Tour's new leader raced across the line and past that famous communications tower a full 1:16 ahead of Vollering, but the podium trio – established in the Jura on stage 5 – are separated by fewer than 40 seconds.

The gaps could've been even greater but for the Dutchwoman's final kilometre charge. At 2km from the top, Niewiadoma-Phinney was almost 1:50 clear, but of course, there's nothing to regret for her after such a ride.

Instead, she and her support squad at Canyon-SRAM – including lieutenant Antonia Niedermaier and directeur sportif Rolf Aldag – will now look ahead and devise a strategy to withstand the inevitable assault on her new jersey.

To borrow a phrase coined by Reusser earlier in the week with her time trial focussed 'Project Dijon', they'll now need a 'Project Nice' as FDJ United-SUEZ will be set to marshal their considerable forces against Niewiadoma-Phinney, perhaps even on today's stage, though more likely in Sunday's far tougher finale over the Col d'Eze.

"I definitely expect a massive fight for basically everything – bonus seconds, sprints, everything – because the gap is so small," Niewiadoma-Phinney said after winning atop Ventoux, her attention already turning towards the upcoming challenge.

After four consecutive GC-focussed days, Canyon-SRAM will be thankful for a stage 8 that provides some respite, or at least a chance to take a breath as opposed to a day packed with hills. At least the opening 150km of the race's longest day should be fairly straightforward, before two fourth-category climbs – plus a potential banana skin in the form of the 450-metre wall, the Chemin de l'Arieta – in the final.

"Tomorrow we just see what's going to happen, ride in the front, stay in the front, make sure nobody from the top 10 goes anywhere," said team directeur sportif Rolf Aldag.

"Then, of course, Nice is going to be a big, big battle."

Another German, Niedermaier, will be key in winning that battle. In a head-to-head against FDJ, Canyon is outgunned in terms of full team strength, but the 23-year-old white jersey holder has been among the strongest riders in the race in her own right.

If Niewiadoma-Phinney is the team's present, then Niedermaier is the future – although given her recent second place at the Giro d'Italia it could also be fair to argue the she is their present as well. On Ventoux, she was by her team leader's side until Vollering's attack, and will be the single vital support figure in Canyon's yellow jersey defence, especially on Sunday.

Disappointment for Vollering, but opportunities remain

Any debate over whether Vollering might have made her move earlier, or whether she might have reacted to Niewiadoma-Phinney's initial acceleration – with her reflecting that "I really should have closed the gap straight away" – is now beside the point.

Vollering was clearly disappointed after the stage, which many expected to be her coronation and another of cycling's crown jewels added to her collection alongside the Tourmalet and L'Alpe d'Huez. But, looking on the bright side, there's 'only' 15 seconds to take back, half as much as she gained on Niewiadoma-Phinney with that final-kilometre jump on Ventoux.

That kind of acceleration may well be where this race is won and lost. Vollering has already made 14 bonus seconds compared with Niewiadoma-Phinney's four in the hills, even if no real-time seconds separated the pair in Lausanne and Belleville-en-Beaujolais.

Canyon-SRAM are well aware of this, with Aldag saying, "Theoretically, anything could happen. Even with bonus sprints, Demi would get there."

Of course, Niewiadoma-Phinney is an Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne champion, and so this terrain is hardly a weakness for her. Vollering, a three-time Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner, has shown her own punchiness several times this week, and to date looks the stronger of the two in the hills. That is what the race may well hinge on as it turns away from its headline mountain south towards the Côte d'Azur.

Stage 8 – categorised as 'flat' in the roadbook – features a potential launchpad late on in the Côte de la Ginestière, 7.7km from the finish later on Saturday. The climb is far from the most challenging of the Tour, though, at 2.5km long and a relatively shallow 4.4% average gradient.

Instead, it may serve as a softener for the Chemin de l'Arieta. The 450-metre stretch of road, unmentioned in the race roadbook, is a wall, averaging 13%. Could Vollering and FDJ try something there?

If they decide against it, then they'll have just 99km to play with on Sunday – either that, or face a year-long wait for another go at yellow.

The final stage, with four ascents of the Col d'Eze – the first starting at kilometre zero – and an intermediate sprint after just 23.5km, will offer plenty of opportunities to make time. It's worth noting, however, that Vollering hasn't managed to fully drop Niewiadoma-Phinney this week.

Either way, the GC contenders have come together to realise race organiser ASO's dream scenario, with a game of seconds – that familiar tension of a Paris-Nice finale – playing out with three of the best riders on the planet.

Reusser clear of the rest and still in the fight for yellow

Behind the two champions duking it out for a second title lies Reusser, now relieved of the race lead after three days in yellow following her time trial triumph.

The Movistar leader's plan to turn 'Project Dijon' into 'Project Nice' hasn't worked out as she hoped, and the blow Niewiadoma-Phinney dealt on Ventoux looks likely to prove fatal to her chances of winning this Tour. She's still very much in the game, however, lying 39 seconds off the lead and 24 behind Vollering.

Reusser can afford to take a risk or two, as well. Between the time trial, the hills of stage 5, and Ventoux, a chasm lies beyond the final podium spot, and, barring a final weekend catastrophe, her 2:20 advantage over fourth-placed Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L'IMAD) shouldn't be overturned.

Whether Reusser can make time on Niewiadoma-Phinney and Vollering in the hills around Nice is another matter. She is undoubtedly the best time triallist in the world, and many of her biggest road race successes have been built on that strength – from two of her Tour de Suisse victories to her 40km solo ride to glory at Gent-Wevelgem three years ago.

She's certainly a capable puncheur, but a 39-second turnaround will require a longer effort. At this point, a Marlen Reusser Tour de France Femmes victory would surely involve her going clear in Nice and using her time trial power to hold off her rivals.

At the risk of underestimating Reusser – something that happens far too often, she pointed out before the race – she is now clearly the race's third-favourite. A stage win and a final podium in Nice would be a fantastic outcome to her first 'real' Tour campaign, but, having had a taste of yellow, she will be dreaming of the jersey once more.

"I am a bit disappointed about today, because I still somehow believed it would have been possible," she told Cyclingnews after Ventoux.

"But it's always 'Would, would, would', so you need to do it, and Kasia did it."

Behind Reusser, there are plenty more battles to be fought, even if the podium places look to be well out of reach. Fourth place is certainly up for grabs, with Longo Borghini putting another 10 seconds between her and Niedermaier with a late burst to the finish line.

"I'm really looking forward to Nice. I mean, I hope to get to Nice, first of all!" Longo Borghini said afterwards, before noting that she'll be going on the attack once more.

Only 22 seconds separate her and Niedermaier ahead of the final weekend, though the German's priorities lie with her team leader and the yellow jersey.

Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), 40 seconds further back, is on course for her third top-10 finish in a row. She moved up two places to sixth – equal with her career-best two years ago – with her Ventoux ride and will hope to jump up another in Nice.

"I quite like being more aggressive than that. I didn’t get the chance to be, as the pace was very high from start to finish," the Frenchwoman said atop Ventoux.

"Every day is a battle, and unexpected things happen. We’ll keep fighting right to the end."

Just over two minutes separate her and the 10th-place stage 6 winner Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal). UAE Team L'IMAD pairing Paula Blasi and Dominika Włodarzyk and Lidl-Trek's talented Canadian Isabella Holmgren lie in between them.

All will be looking to consolidate their position, especially Holmgren, the 21-year-old Tour de l'Avenir champion racing her first Tour. Last summer, UAE scored two stage wins, so they'll surely have ambitions here, while Le Court-Pienaar will be a favourite today if a reduced group comes to the line.

Beyond the yellow jersey changing hands, the biggest stage of the race has thrown up a host of side stories, but much of the focus will be on the 'big three' of the 2026 race as the denouement of another thrilling edition of the Tour de France Femmes looms.

Support our unrivalled coverage of the Tour de France Femmes and women's cycling by subscribing to Cyclingnews. In return, you get unlimited access to high-quality journalism, with breaking news, race analysis, and expert insight from inside the women's peloton. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Imagine for a moment if Tadej Pogačar had rolled up to the starting line at the 2026 Tour de France sporting a bike fitted with rim brakes. It would become headline news worldwide and likely cause every cycling forum on the internet to go into meltdown.

Yet, just a few short years ago, the debate over disc brakes still raged on. The headlines in 2006 made note when a rider was riding with disc brakes, and inevitably, when riders blamed cuts and gashes on the fast-spinning rotors.

Notably, Pogačar was among the last holdouts in the pro peloton, still using rim brakes long after most other teams had transitioned to discs. Ineos Grenadiers also resisted the change well after other teams succumbed to the inevitable. That provides us with a prominent benchmark against which to measure the dying breaths of the rim brake.

In the 10 years since the UCI allowed a trial period of disc brake use in the pro peloton, these powerful stoppers have become standard equipment. Yet the path to this moment was a rocky one. And the eventual acceptance of disc brakes paved the way for other technologies that were initially met with resistance.

So, to mark a decade since they broke onto the road scene, Cyclingnews asked me to delve deep into the story of how we got here, speaking to riders, mechanics, and product managers who witnessed the shift in real time, and how disc brakes have affected racing since their arrival among the pro ranks.

Carbon Wheels Roll Into a Problem

In the lead-up to the UCI's decision to allow a trial period for disc brakes in the pro peloton, another innovation was causing celebration and headaches. Carbon rims offered weight savings and stiffness benefits. They also presented a new difficulty: how to counteract braking forces on the rim itself and the delamination caused by heat from brake pad contact at high speeds. No one was specifically asking for disc brakes. But almost everyone was looking for a solution.

"Everyone was looking for lighter, more aero rims, but that meant you had to get into carbon," says Dave Lawrence, Road and Gravel Product Manager for Shimano. "That complicated braking surfaces and brake pad compounds. Hearing stories about rainy stages at the Tour, brand new brake pads weren't making it through the stage. So people started thinking about how to make rim brakes more durable, but then you get into noise and vibration. And from the product side, you think, disc brakes will solve that."

Keep in mind this was all happening while tubular tyres were the peloton standard. As brake pads heated the brake track on carbon rims, the tubular glue could soften, which could increase the likelihood of a tyre separating from the rim. It was a sea of potential benefits littered with icebergs of problems.

Carbon wheel manufacturers spent lots of engineering capital to explore potential solutions, from different types of carbon to less brittle and more heat-resistant resins. While progress was quick by engineering standards, the peloton needed faster solutions.

"Frame design, materials, capabilities, wheel technology, and expanding market and ride style evolved exponentially 10 to 15 years ago," says SRAM Road Product Manager Dan Stefiuk. "Yet braking was still archaic and relying – better yet, hoping – that if you squeeze a piece of rubber or cork against aluminium or carbon, it would slow you down predictably."

Behind the scenes, both SRAM and Shimano knew the solution already existed, and had proven itself for years in the cycling world already. "It was across all of the mountain bike world," says Lawrence. "People would come in from other cycling disciplines and say, why don't you use disc brakes here? Gravel was just getting started, and that was the heyday of cyclocross, too. A few renegade brands put disc brakes on their bikes early on, and there was a lot of conversation around that. That's how a lot of trends happen: it wasn't one big moment, but instead a lot of little things that started to build momentum."

Knives, Machetes, Spinning Blades of Death

But momentum can crash hard if the end user isn't on board. The dichotomy of cycling has always been the path brands must navigate to satisfy both hobbyists and pros. While everyday cyclists were quicker to note the advantages of disc brakes, the pro peloton was more skittish about adoption. It didn't take long after the UCI allowed disc brakes in the peloton for the first controversy to arrive.

During Paris-Roubaix in 2016, Fran Ventoso got caught up in a crash and wound up with a deep gash on his leg. He contended that he made contact with a disc brake while still upright and attempting to avoid going down. While it's still unclear all these years later what did or did not cause the gash, Ventoso's reaction stole the headlines.

"Disc brakes should have NEVER arrived into the peloton, not at least as we know them right now," Ventoso wrote in an open letter after the incident. "I haven't met any rider who has run out of braking power with traditional brakes; I haven't known anyone who didn't see his wheels skidding when you brake with all [the] power you've got, no matter traditional or disc brakes. Then: why use them?"

Ventoso's worries were, of course, warranted. No rider wants to be put in any more danger than our inherently dangerous sport already presents. The incident did encourage manufacturers to consider ways to ensure disc brakes and rotors were completely safe to use at high speeds. Ventoso's language was perhaps more flippant than necessary – he calls disc brakes giant knives and machetes later in his letter – but it revealed deep hesitancy among the pro ranks who felt new tech was being foisted upon them without buy-in or rationale. Ventoso's crash led to the UCI suspending its disc brake trial period.

Controversy struck once more in the following year at the 2017 Abu Dhabi Tour. Team Sky's Owain Doull got caught up in a crash with just a kilometre left in the race, and in amongst the wreckage, Doull said he made contact with Marcel Kittel's disc brake. Kittel was the only rider in the race using disc brakes. Like Ventoso, Doull called for disc brakes to be banned or otherwise modified for rider safety. Though Doull's call for rider safety was, once again, very much warranted, video later cast serious doubt on the notion that Doull's injury was caused by a disc brake.

The 'Mixed Brake' Era

It was perhaps the 'not knowing' part that kept the peloton's heels dug in on the matter. Safety is rightly top of mind for both riders and organisers, and adding a technology to the mix that had such huge potential to affect race speeds, braking distances, and even the chaos of crashes was enough to make all parties skittish.

"From inside the peloton, I think there was a bit of scepticism at first along with a worry about safety," says Ruth Edwards (nee Winder), Olympian and staple in the women's peloton during the disc brake era. "People didn't know if you could literally get hurt from the rotor in a crash, and also the difference in braking speeds that could cause crashes."

American cyclist Peter Stetina agrees with his compatriot's view. "There were suddenly two braking speeds in the peloton between teams whose bike sponsors pushed discs or rim brakes.

"That became the blame for some crashes in that first 'mixed brake' season. I remember one crash where a rider had a deep laceration, and everyone blamed the 'hot burning knife blades on our wheels', which were not fit for the mass pile-ups."

Indeed, disc brakes not only changed a rider's ability to stop more effectively, but also the way the peloton moved. Some riders on rim brakes might need more distance to slow down to the same pace as a rider on disc brakes. And riders on the new technology could brake much later before a corner, leading to a change in race dynamics.

From a production side, bike brands had to adapt to new braking forces, new production cycles, and even entirely new frame designs. "Some manufacturers had spent a lot of time developing calliper-based frames," explains Lawrence, "and depending on where you were with your product cycle, if you just came out with a rim brake frame, you may not have had the time or money to make a disc brake frame in that timeline."

Complicating matters further were the many variations in calliper attachment points. Changing those points often meant redesigning a frame and fork entirely, not only to accommodate which calliper the frame could accept, but also the braking forces that came along with it. "Some frames were flat vs post mount, QR vs Thru Axle, 130 vs 142, which all made for inconsistencies," adds Stefiuk.

"Ergonomics were new, and levers were larger than today. But there is no question that disc brakes performed better, more consistently, and were safer than rim brakes, and that benefited experienced pro-riders and brand-new cyclists alike."

And those spinning blades of death? Stefiuk says the industry took a proactive approach to the problem after the early days of disc brake trials in racing and began to mitigate the risk of laceration by rounding the rotor edges.

Stetina recalls another unique disc brake problem: rotor rubbing. In the early days of road disc brakes, the distance between the brake pads and the rotors could vary depending on a lot of factors, including rotor warpage, disc brake fluid heating, poor calliper adjustment, and a myriad of other reasons. It was an audible reminder to riders that this controversial tech didn't feel quite polished to them.

It wasn't just driving the riders crazy. Manufacturers knew they needed to solve niggling problems like these to encourage widespread acceptance. "There was more pad rub than you would have liked in first generations," says Lawrence. "We learned a lot, and we improved the product. We have about 10% more pad clearance compared to the early generations. Our early rotors had more deformation under heavy braking, so you'd get that ticking noise on long descents. And that's gone now."

Frames themselves evolved too. While changes like wider axle widths were downright necessary, a lot of the compromises and design changes manufacturers made to accommodate the braking forces of disc brakes turned out to be a bit of overkill. "At the time, most carbon frame production had transitioned to Taiwan, and frame designers needed to learn how to accommodate disc brakes," Stefiuk says. "To be transparent, some early disc frames relaxed their geometry too much to account for 142mm over-locknut-dimension (OLD), and one way to do so was to make the chainstays noticeably longer. In the mind of an athlete, not only are you giving me disc brakes and a heavier frame, but now I have a frame that does not feel as responsive and doesn't allow me to race the way I want."

Ride any road bike today, and you'll find that responsiveness is back in spades. The learning curve didn't just apply to riders, in other words. Manufacturers found ways to leave most compromises behind.

Unsung Heroes Rolling Their Eyes At Night

It wasn't just riders who bristled against this new tech. Behind every pro rider is a pro mechanic staying up late at night to clean, adjust, repair, and prepare bikes for the next day of racing. Disc brakes presented not only a shift in the way riders attacked races, but also the processes mechanics had to now adjust to keep bikes safe and running perfectly.

"Just like veteran riders, there were mechanics who preceded Indurain at the time that disc brakes were being introduced," says Stefiuk. "Some mechanics welcomed the new technology and saw the benefit of hydraulics and not having to swap cables overnight as they became contaminated from the stage before, while some mechanics still smoked cigarettes with a can of diesel fuel and a paintbrush to clean the drivetrain."

Guys who cut their teeth wrenching bikes when Merckx was a young buck were now being told to adjust – very often in real-time – to tech they were being told could also be dangerous for their riders if they screwed it up.

Lawrence remembers the initial training sessions for those mechanics. "It's funny, depending on the teams, for the older, more traditional mechanics it was one thing after another," says Lawrence. "Electronic shifting, then disc brakes. You had to go in and teach these traditional mechanics how to bleed brakes. I was there in the early days. You talk to the technical directors who are on the cutting edge, and they were the ones who were like, 'oh god, here we go, I have to explain this to my five Belgian mechanics!'"

Both Stefiuk and Lawrence agree that mechanics are the unsung heroes of the peloton, and while they may have met disc brakes with gruff and grumbles, they also met the moment. In the long run, it becomes old hat, and a benefit for those wrenches up late at night preparing for the next day's stage.

Forgetting It Was Ever Controversial

Perhaps it was just succumbing to the inevitable, or maybe it was real improvement and real results that got everyone on board. Either way, disc brakes rule the peloton and rim brakes are now a chapter in cycling history.

"Acceptance from my point of view was just mandatory," says Edwards. "It's what the new bikes at camp had on them. Off you went to go training, and you got used to it. Disc brakes are great. I have a lot of confidence in my stopping power now – not that I remember not having that confidence before. But I wouldn't want to be on rim brakes in a peloton of disc-equipped bikes. Descending definitely feels different; it's just all about learning your speed and what your equipment can do."

From a logistical standpoint, there's no doubt significant improvements in bike changes and setup made a huge impact. Stetina notes that "tech got better, thru-axle design improved, rubbing rotors became less frequent, and it all happened relatively quickly. But in many riders' minds, it wasn't ever fully adopted until a big mountain finish was won on a disc brake bike. After that, there was no valid excuse for the riders anymore. I want to say it was Pogi or [Egan] Bernal winning a five-star stage somewhere, and then we were all like, 'okay, it's here to stay now.'"

Maybe that was all it ever really took: a stunning showcase of superior performance. Feats of man carrying feats of engineering. Isn't that so often how it goes?

The Tour de France Femmes tackles another legendary mountain on Friday afternoon as Mont Ventoux follows the Col du Tourmalet, L'Alpe d'Huez, and the Col de la Madeleine in hosting a queen stage of the modern race.

It's been 68 years since the men's Tour first visited the Giant of Provence when Charly Gaul won a mountain time trial from Bédoin en route to the yellow jersey. Since then, the climb has hosted 17 further stages, the latest coming last summer when Valentin Paret-Peintre scored a breakaway victory.

In contrast, appearances at the top level of women's racing have been few and far between, with Nicole Cooke's four-minute solo win in the yellow jersey at the Grand Boucle Féminine Internationale in 2006 among them.

Since then, the women's peloton has faced the Giant of Provence on two further occasions, a decade ago at the Tour de l'Ardèche, when Anna Kiesenhofer won by four minutes, and four years ago at the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge, won by Marta Cavalli.

Neither rider is present at this year's Tour de France Femmes, however. In fact, only a handful of those who raced Ventoux in 2016 or 2022 are here. So, Cyclingnews spent some time at the stage 6 start in Montbrison tracking down some of them to get that key rider's-eye perspective of the 15.7km, 8.8% climb.

'You can see a long way in front of you, so mentally that's quite challenging'

"I don't exactly have fond memories of that day!" said New Zealander Ella Harris, now working as a press officer at Canyon-SRAM. She raced the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge in 2022, finishing in 36th place, 13 minutes down on Cavalli.

"That wasn't a particularly... let's just say I wasn't really going there to ride it hard or actually feel like I barely made it up the mountain, actually, because I had surgery on my hip socket three months before. It was my first race back."

Harris, who will be rooting for her team leaders Kasia Niewadoma-Phinney and Antonia Niedermaier on Friday afternoon, said that the race to the top is "long and unrelenting", also noting that the exposed roads through the lunar landscape after Chalet Reynard are about more than just the usual cross/headwind that blows.

"I just remember it being really long and unrelenting. It's one of those climbs where the road is really wide, and you can see a long way in front of you, so mentally that's quite challenging," she said.

"I think especially in the exposed section at the top, the final 5km, it might be quite negative and quite passive if it's a headwind. When the road is wide, and the landscape is so vast and expansive, and you can see for miles, mentally I think that's a lot more challenging."

In addition to temperatures reaching the mid-30s once again on Friday afternoon, the wind is set to blow from the northeast, meaning riders will be racing into a headwind from Chalet Reynard onwards.

Among those hitting that headwind will be Volkerwessels rider Eline Jansen, who was in the same peloton as Harris in 2022. At this year's Tour, Jansen made the break on stage 2, racing to 11th in Geneva. However, four years ago she had yet to turn pro and, dauntingly, Ventoux was among her first-ever major races.

"I think it's really hard because first you don't feel the wind at all, but you have some shadow," Jansen said of the climb's changing nature. "Then you come into the sun, and there's a lot of wind. So, yeah, I think it's hard to race alone there, so I think for the GC, yeah, there will be a big battle."

She'll be hoping to avoid a similar experience this time around, when she was among 24 riders to miss the time cut, having started the climb already at a disadvantage after getting caught in a crash earlier in the day.

"There was a crash in the first feed zone area. So, then I already was behind," she said.

"But I could enjoy the view! It was actually really nice. It was one of my first races, but yeah, it's a lovely climb.

"I think we did it from the other side and not from this side, so it will be different tomorrow before the top."

'The wind makes it a little bit different'

While Jansen came to a different conclusion from Harris about the mental challenge of the exposed section, saying "I think that makes it easier because you see when it stops," Uno-X Mobility rider Katrine Aalerud, who raced to 29th place on the 2016 Tour de l'Ardèche stage, had a nuanced view.

"I think it depends where you are. If you have good legs, then when you see the finish line, of course, it's not that hard," said the Norwegian racer, who made the breakaway on Thursday's stage to Montbrison.

"But if you are on the limit, then it will take forever. I think it's just a mind trip. It just depends. If you have good legs, then it's OK, but if you don't, then it takes forever."

Aalerud said that the final slopes of the climb may play into the hands of Tour leader Marlen Reusser, who will be hoping to defend yellow from the likes of Demi Vollering and Niewiadoma-Phinney, with the wind possibly aiding her.

"Ventoux is steep at the beginning, like 8km. You have to do your own effort with what you can in the first part. In the forest, it's covered, but [later] it's more beneficial to be on the wheel because of the headwind. It’s quite strong, and I think tomorrow will be a strong headwind as well," she said.

"The wind makes it a little bit different. I think Marlen Reusser, being the favourite there, could be on the wheel after that, so it will be quite interesting. It will be really beneficial to be on the wheel and then maybe go for the attack on the 2km there for the favourites."

Harris hinted that any winning moves might have to go before the final stretch towards the top, though that is, of course, a huge undertaking on such brutal slopes.

Regardless of what unfolds on Friday afternoon, she said she's happy not to be among those racing up, even if "It's pretty amazing to be up there. It's one of a kind," she said.

"I think it's a lot more challenging to be able to get away in those final 5km, because the gradients are a lot steadier and, as I said, it's more mentally challenging as well, which can work both ways.

"If you're attacking, then you might feel not so inclined to do so, but if you're being attacked, then it might be tougher to feel like you can respond to it.

"There's only so much you can know, and perhaps it's better not to know too much – to go in naive rather than having a really clear idea of what to expect at the top! Better not knowing!"

Support our unrivalled coverage of the Tour de France Femmes and women's cycling by subscribing to Cyclingnews. In return, you get unlimited access to high-quality journalism, with breaking news, race analysis, and expert insight from inside the women's peloton. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Despite what Sports Director Cherie Pridham dubbed "all the pressure and all the noise" around some of their riders, UAE Team L'IMAD's much-discussed multi-leader approach at the Tour de France Femmes is working so far.

The team completed stage 6 with three riders in the overall top 10 – Elisa Longo Borghini (fourth), Dominika Włodarczyk (sixth) and Paula Blasi (10th) – after Longo Borghini climbed two spots with her attacking efforts into Tournon-sur-Rhône.

Only one other team has more than one rider in the top 10 - Canyon-SRAM with Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Antonia Niedermaier – which means that, despite plenty of dissection in the media, things are going well for the team.

Longo Borghini may not have won the stage on Thursday, but she gained 28 seconds and two spots on GC after an active ride, with the team succeeding in executing the plan they've had all week.

"We knew it was going to be another hard day. We know we need to keep tapping away at every opportunity we can see," Pridham told Cyclingnews at the finish.

"Of course the result didn't play out the way we wanted. There was a little bit of strange tactics from the riders that maybe were not helping as much, or could benefit more from the time, but Elisa has gained some seconds. The podium is still a long way away, but tomorrow is a different kettle of fish."

With Longo Borghini now in fourth overall, and three tough stages still to go – including that very different 'kettle of fish', Mont Ventoux on Friday – a spot on the podium is certainly within reach, and Pridham seemed confident that fourth or higher could be a goal for the team.

"I mean we've got to be realistic. Kasia and Demi are just super strong this year, as is the yellow jersey Reusser. We'll do all we can as far as the team is concerned. The team is strong. Considering all the pressure and all the noise around our young rider Paula Blasi, I think the girls are managing really well," she said.

On the bike, the results spoke for themselves and the riders certainly were managing well, and they hadn't shied away from standing up for themselves in the media, either, forthrightly fending off speculations of tension between the riders.

Speculation around Vuelta winner Blasi's future – she is widely understood to be leaving the team – had only fuelled the fire, with it perfectly likely that UAE did not give leadership to a rider who is leaving, but plenty of fans and commentators excited about the up-and-coming rider's future.

Longo Borghini spoke openly to Cyclingnews after the time trial on stage 4, saying that the media were "making it up so big, bigger than it is. We are fine".

"Sometimes you should also think that we are persons. It is not nice to scroll through Instagram and see all those stupid articles saying that we do not have a good atmosphere and portraying us as though we are not a team. It hurts us. Personally, I’m hurt," she said.

Włordarczyk echoed Longo Borghini's feelings, batting away any assertions that there was a lack of teamwork or unity in the squad.

"We are riding like this since the beginning of the Tour. It's the journalists who are really trying to make a drama around us," she said to SBS Sport. "It's really not helping at all. It's just hurting."

Why having multiple leaders is working

The frustration with how the narrative and speculation have spread in the media was definitely worsened by the fact that, so far, things have gone well on the road.

Well, one clear reason was that outside of the three spotlighted riders, the teammates they have working for them are also extremely strong. It was perhaps the strongest team line-up in the race with past stage winners Mavi Garcia and Maeva Squiban as well as the ever-consistent Silvia Persico.

It's the work that these riders do, often in the parts of the stage that we can't see, that means the team can still have three main riders left in the finale.

Whereas other teams may have to burn through more of their line-up to set up their leader for the final, UAE seemed to be able to rely on only two or three riders to do that work early, leaving more ammunition in the favourites group for the finale.

Pridham explained a little bit about what that work was looking like, with the key points and protections perhaps not being where we would expect.

"It's about keeping the girls well positioned. Mavi – and to a degree Paula – is also keeping Dominika and Elisa safe in the wheels, and particularly on the descents," she said.

"On climbs like this [on stage 6] you can see that there can be massive splits [on the downhills]. It's very important to give them that information so that they can be in good positions on the descents, because they can all climb."

How to get to the podium?

The question, though, is what UAE Team L'IMAD will chase in the days to come. Longo Borghini, Włodarczyk and Blasi would each surely love to preserve their place in the top 10, but is that compatible with trying to put one of them on the podium? And is one rider on the podium more valuable than three riders in fourth to 10th?

To a team – especially one that doesn't need to worry about UCI points – surely third would be preferable, but it may not always be easy to convince other riders to give up their top 10 spot in pursuit of that goal.

Perhaps the fortunate thing for UAE is that Friday's stage to Mont Ventoux seems certain to shake things up on its own, without the team necessarily having to make a call. Whoever emerges strongest on the Bald Mountain will be able to take the GC benefits that come with it.

"You've got to look at the heat, and the start of the stage is not easy either, so we've got to make sure that we are in a good position as normal from the start, and the approach to Chalet Reynard is going to be really important," Pridham said about the team's approach to stage 7.

"Maybe we have to use some guns before there with Mavi maybe, if Persico is still there, and Maëva. I think we need to look tonight, maybe we send a satellite rider out front."

Asked if the climb is likely to be one where teammates can make a difference or an ascent where it's every rider for themselves, Pridham agreed with the latter.

"It kind of is. I think there's going to be 10 riders maybe by the time we come to the shoot-out," she said. "From the bottom to Chalet Reynard is vicious in itself, and then you get to the open moonscape of the Mont Ventoux. We need to see the wind as well, I think the wind is going to play a huge aspect tomorrow.

Those hoping that UAE may come out with a statement of leadership or announce their strategy and aim before the weekend will be disappointed. Their plan is, and always has been, to 'let the road speak', to use their refrain, and indeed to take things step by step, rather than dictating a plan prematurely. And that reactive approach may last until the very end.

"We don't stop until Nice. There's a lot to gain. Stage 8 may look flat, and it is flat, but the final 20k's is tasty," Pridham said, pointing to the fact that the GC riders have been getting involved practically every day anyway.

"We go step by step, we've always said kilometre by kilometre, metre by metre, and we keep that philosophy."

Support our unrivalled coverage of the Tour de France Femmes and women's cycling by subscribing to Cyclingnews. In return, you get unlimited access to high-quality journalism, with breaking news, race analysis, and expert insight from inside the women's peloton. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

On a time trial day, you can't analyse the full results and consequences until every rider is finished, but you can usually get an idea of who is winning and who is losing quite early on, and stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes was no different.

The first sign of trouble was when Pauline Ferrand-Prévot went through the first time check well down on not only the best TT riders, but plenty of her less savvy rivals in the discipline too. The answer to the long-held question of how good her TT was unfolded in front of our eyes, and the answer was - well, not very good.

The Visma-Lease a Bike leader seemed to have a relatively upright position on the bike, ostensibly down to some old injuries that made a more aero tuck uncomfortable, and combined with her small stature and lack of TT practice, that didn't make for a terribly impressive performance.

It was also a tough day for Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), who was nowhere near the TT level she showed at World Championships and then the Giro d'Italia, really just struggling round the course. More so than the time she lost, the fact that she is clearly not feeling good is probably the biggest blow to any overall ambitions she may have had, because this compressed race really gives you no time to feel bad and then recover.

On the flip side, the rider who quite quickly showed that they were on a very good day was Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney. The Canyon-SRAM rider and Ferrand-Prévot featured in a lot of headlines pre-TT, mentioned as two GC riders who didn't have the strongest history in the discipline. Yet whilst Ferrand-Prévot faltered, Niewiadoma-Phinney seemed to pull out a level she's never had before in the TT, beating a lot of the riders she hoped to just minimise her losses to. In many ways, I'd call the Polish rider the biggest winner of the day – because she hardly lost anything.

Whilst not in the GC conversation, Lieke Nooijen also hugely impressed with a time that looked like it could even challenge for the win, beaten only by the World Champion Marlen Reusser (Movistar), as she delivered an effort that shows the serious strength and depth in the Visma-Lease a Bike squad.

And some riders performed pretty much exactly as we expected. Sigrid Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) lost the yellow jersey, but will keep memories of her win and day (or in this case half an hour) in yellow forever. Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) finished third, which was at once good and unremarkable – she gained time on many rivals, but it felt so expected that she would do that that it hardly even felt like a big story. She sits only behind Reusser now, who also did exactly what we were all expecting: smoked the competition to storm to the stage win and take yellow.

Reusser in the driving seat

Reusser said before this race began that she was always underrated as a GC rider, and the fact that she was immediately asked about whether she could try to hold yellow is evidence that the phenomenon is still ongoing. Because really, the answer is quite obviously yes, and if Vollering had gone into yellow, that's probably not the question she would have faced.

But, for one reason or another, Reusser is still underrated, though I'm here to tell you that I think she's in the driving seat of the Tour right now. A lot of teams and riders probably think that they can take time off her in the mountains, but I really wouldn't be so sure.

This is a rider who has finished second overall in both of the other Grand Tours, climbed to seventh on the Colle delle Finestre on a bad day, and has one of the strongest – and most committed – teams around her. As a team Movistar are more than ready to help her through the hard stages, and her climbing ability is immense – anyone counting on her to simply get dropped on Mont Ventoux may be in for a shock.

When my colleagues and I were throwing in our pre-race predictions in Lausanne a few days ago, I gave Marlen Reusser as my winner. I feel only more certain that she's on the right path to win now.

Who suffered?

Lidl-Trek are one of the teams that seem to have put the most resources into this TT, bringing in extra staff just for this day, but their two potential GC riders, Isabella Holmgren and Niamh Fisher-Black, lost two and three minutes respectively.

The German team have said they're not necessarily aiming for GC, preferring to race every stage aggressively in search of a stage win, but today's results likely put a dent in any hopes Holmgren and Fisher-Black had of perhaps still surfing into the top 10.

Elisa Longo Borghini had a good result, but the UAE Team L'IMAD rider probably ended the day thinking that it could have been even better, had she not had to stop for a bike change in the final two kilometres. She certainly didn't suffer in the grand scheme of things, and probably had the third-best ride of the GC contenders, but annoyingly it could have been even better.

Fortunately for her, it's a good sign that she's feeling fit, and she's one of the best-placed riders to take advantage of the punchy, Classics-style stages still to come that could actually end up as the key to this GC race.

Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) really struggled, seemingly unable to push the power that she wanted, and she's the biggest mover on GC, slipping from second overall down to 15th at 2:15. Can she ride her way back into the top 10? Probably, but she is now racing from behind.

The Ferrand-Prévot question

A lot of people will probably put Ferrand-Prévot in their list of who suffered today, but I'm not sure it is as simple as that.

Yes, she had a pretty poor TT compared to pretty much all of her rivals but a colleague made the point to me in the press room that maybe we are comparing Ferrand-Prévot to unfair standards. We're contrasting her efforts to the likes of the TT World Champion in what is, literally, her first ITT since returning to the road after a long absence.

Of course, as a GC rider, it was important to look at how she would perform against her main rivals, but to say that she fell shy of any expectations doesn't hold much water because, really, how could we have had any educated expectations?

The other thing is that a deficit of 2:13 actually feels pretty inconsequential when we think about the stages and challenges still to come. Her time loss was, probably, fairly expected in a discipline she hasn't raced properly for years, in a far-from-ideal position as she struggled to get into a more aero set-up, but we actually haven't seen anything to suggest she's not feeling good in general.

We do have evidence that Ferrand-Prévot is missing a little bit of punch and acceleration; she's been saying that since the Classics and it's evident at the Tour too. Still, whilst punch might make the difference in the opening stages, it's not what's going to be important on Ventoux.

That will be about threshold power and sustained efforts, and given Ferrand-Prévot's prowess on the climbs last year, where she gained over three minutes by the end of the race, it doesn't seem unreasonable to think that she could take back 2:13 on that day alone.

This TT was always an unknown for Ferrand-Prévot, her team and us. It's now a known, but that doesn't mean she's done, far from it. The stages the Frenchwoman is able to capitalise on really are still to come, and her time gap to yellow is close enough that it might not be a barrier, but a source of fuel that adds to her fire.

Support our unrivalled coverage of the Tour de France Femmes and women's cycling by subscribing to Cyclingnews. In return, you get unlimited access to high-quality journalism, with breaking news, race analysis, and expert insight from inside the women's peloton. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.

Just a year ago, while still a teenager, Kylee Hanel was learning the ropes for road racing at kermesses in Belgium and stage races in the US. She proved to be a fast learner.

She competed in competitions at the Tucson Bicycle Classic and the Redlands Bicycle Classic with a club team based near her home in Oregon, showing consistent top-20 results. Then she moved to Aegis Cycling, founded by former USPro road champion Lauren Stephens, for her first UCI races at the Tour of the Gila and the Tour de Bloom, with consistent results on climbing stages and in time trials.

At the one-day Zottegem-Strijpen, Hanel finished in the lead group of six, which was won by Sandrine Tas, who is now with Lotto-Intermarché. She may have been sixth out of the six, but it showed she belonged.

It was in one-day races on home soil, be it dirt or tarmac, that summer where Hanel's name became more familiar to her competitors, as well as future sponsors and racing fans. She finished 10th in the U23 women's road race at USPro Road Nationals, her first appearance at a championships event. Her next championship event was four months later, and she went eighth on the elite stage at US Gravel Nationals.

Now 20 years old, Hanel earned a roster spot with Stephen's road team for 2026, Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment, and jumped into a gravel privateer path with Cervélo. How's her breakout year going, you ask? Perhaps better than planned.

Hanel is leading the women's U23 standings in the Life Time Grand Prix, taking top points at both the Sea Otter Classic Gravel and Unbound Gravel 100. On the road, she was the best rider on the Gila Monster queen stage and finished fourth on GC at Tour of the Gila, with Stephens winning the overall. She capped her first half of the season with the gold medal at the USPro U23 time trial, and took seventh at the U23 road race for good measure.

It's a fast upward trajectory on multiple surfaces for Hanel, but she still speaks with a bit of caution in her voice. She told Cyclingnews ahead of her debut at Leadville Trail 100 MTB about her interest in cycling, what she has learned so far and where she would like her career on a bike to lead.

Cyclingnews: Tell us about growing up in Portland, Oregon. How did you get involved in cycling?

Kylee Hanel: Growing up in Portland honestly gave me a lot of opportunities. There's a huge cycling culture here, and even though it's more commuter-style riding, it's still a cycling culture. I grew up going on short rides with my mom Shelley, dad Chris, and sister Caelyn, but when I was 13 I started riding with just my dad. We would do really short rides, like a three-mile ride that would take 25 minutes. But I loved it because I wanted to spend time with him.

For high school, I went to Central Catholic in Northeast Portland, and now I go to Oregon State University, and I'm part of their eCampus program. I am majoring in business with a minor in sports management. I actually decided to do online school because of cycling.

CN: Road racing and some cyclocross in the Pacific Northwest is where you raced the most, but in the past three years you've added gravel racing, so which is your favourite discipline?

KH: If you asked me to choose between gravel and road, I honestly could not tell you which one I prefer more. They are both very different, yet similar. I really like the team aspect of road, but I like the long, gruelling races of gravel.

CN: On the road, you ride now for AEGIS x LOE. How did you connect with her and what have you learned from this experience so far?

KH: I race for Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment right now, and I race under Lauren Stephens. She's definitely a leader, but she's also a teammate. I have learned so much from her. I've not only learned positioning, bike handling skills, and teamwork from her, but the most important thing I learned from her is humility. She knows it's a blessing to be racing and is appreciative of the fact that she gets to go out and race. She doesn't look at the world like it owes her something, which I admire a lot about her.

CN: For gravel, you have a different setup for equipment and your team. Tell us about that.

KH: On the gravel side, I am a privateer. I ride for Cervélo. I got introduced to them through Michael Engleman, who is one of my greatest mentors and my current coach and friend. I didn't have a whole lot of results last year, so Cervélo just saw my power numbers and decided to take a chance on me, which I could not be more grateful for.

Pretty much this year I have just been supported by equipment, which makes sense considering that I really didn't have much of a name for myself until this year. But next year I'm learning about signing contracts where I'll get bonuses and be salaried.

This year Cervélo have provided me with bikes, while PEARL iZUMi is sponsoring me with clothing and shoes, Giro is sponsoring me with helmets, Oakley with glasses, LOOK gave me pedals, Prologo gave me saddles, Reserves and Maxxis are supporting me with tires/wheels.

CN: In 2025 you finished 12th among elite women at SBT GRVL and in the top 10 at US Gravel Nationals, won a third time by Stephens. Did you feel these races proved you were an 'elite' rider off-road?

KH: No, I really didn't feel like an elite road or off-road rider last year. My dad is always telling me that I need to have more confidence in myself, and I am learning that when I line up and race, I have to know that I deserve to be there and that I can win because a lot of cycling is mental. While it was super cool to be racing with what I like to call the "big kids", I would usually assume that if I beat them, it was just because they had a bad race. Now that I'm actually racing with them and performing well alongside them, I still think I view it differently than they view each other, just because I am 10 years younger than most of them. I admire them and look up to them in a way that a middle schooler would look up to somebody in college.

CN: So far in 2026 you've won some big races, including Unbound Gravel 100 and USPro U23 ITT national championship. Tell us what made each of those events special and challenging.

KH: Unbound Gravel 100 and the ITT National Championships were surprisingly similar in terms of mindset. Unbound was such a hard year because of the mud. It was my first year doing it, so I really didn't have any expectations, but from what I've heard from people who have been doing it for two decades, it was a very difficult year. I had to be mentally strong for both. The only difference was that the TT was shorter, and obviously they were on different bikes.

CN: You are at the top of the leaderboard in the women's U23 competition of the Life Time Grand Prix. Which event remaining on the schedule in the LTGP suits you best?

KH: Going into this year, I had no idea and no expectations of what the Life Time Grand Prix U23 was going to be. I have been pleasantly surprised by these events and the amazing people who run them. It is an awesome culture, and I really love being able to race with people who care about racing as much as I do.

I also really like the structure. It's nice because if you have a bad race, you still have other chances to prove that you can perform and be the best. It was an honour to be chosen to be part of the Life Time U23 field, and I hope to race in the elite field next year. The next race that I think will suit me best is probably the last gravel race of the series, Big Sugar. I haven't mountain biked a whole lot, but I started out mountain biking, so I have some high hopes for doing well there, too.

CN: Speaking of mountain biking, next on the calendar in the LTGP series is Leadville Trail 100 MTB. What do you see as most challenging for this event, and what part of the race are you eager to take on?

KH: No, I have not done Leadville yet. This will be my first year. I think the most challenging part of it will be the elevation. I live at sea level, so I'm going two and a half weeks early to train and get used to the elevation, so hopefully there are no major problems while racing. I think I'm most eager to take on this long, seven-plus-hour course because one thing I know about myself is that I persevere.

CN: Living in Oregon, are you able to train with any of the other U23 riders, or elite riders? Who do you tend to train with, or do you just ride solo?

KH: I have become friends with some of the U23 riders in the LTGP series. If I lived in Colorado, I'd probably train with Lauren Aggeler, but we are hours and hours apart. So I train with my friends in Portland, and I train a lot with my dad, who is the one who got me into cycling. I am just now finally able to beat him, haha. However, I do really like to train solo and listen to podcasts and music.

CN: In the next few years, what are the top races you look forward to racing the most? And where would you just like to travel?

KH: I think the race I'm most looking forward to next year is Road Nationals again because I'm always wanting to do better than I did the previous year, and the course stays the same [in Charleston, West Virginia], so it's a good chance for me to see my progress. I also really want to travel to Switzerland and Italy just because of how pretty I've heard the riding is.

CN: Name a few racing goals you would like to achieve this year, and in the coming years.

KH: This year I would really like to do well at the TT and Road World Championships and win the Life Time Grand Prix U23 series. I also really want to place well among the elite LTGP field in the coming years. By the time I am 25, I hope to be living in Europe.

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Tuesday marks the first full day in France for this year's Tour de France Femmes, after a very Swiss start marked the race's second-ever foreign Grand Départ in five editions.

In many ways, the part of Switzerland we were in – Lausanne, Aigle and Geneva – doesn't feel particularly different from France, as we're only just over the border, but there was a distinct Swiss flavour to the first three stages.

Aside from the Swiss flags lining the roads, the opening stage took place on Swiss National Day, meaning the arrival of the Tour coincided with a festival of celebrations in Lausanne and fireworks in the evening. We paid for everything in CHF, a currency I only ever associate with UCI fines, we saw the United Nations, we did like the locals do and swam in Lake Geneva. A lot of the experience couldn't have felt more Swiss.

The reception of the race in Switzerland felt perhaps mixed, with lots of fans out in Lausanne and Aigle, cheering loudest for Marlen Reusser, and in Geneva the finish was fairly well attended, but for the start the next day, it felt like no one even knew there was a race on, the women's Tour an afterthought to the city that does, admittedly, have bigger things like world peace to worry about.

Switzerland is a country that has put a lot into supporting women's sports – the nation hosted the women's European Championships in football last summer – and indeed women's cycling, with two WorldTour races here in the Tour de Suisse and Tour de Romandie.

But what is going on beyond that? What state of health is women's cycling in Switzerland in? Why host the Tour de France Femmes? Whilst we were here, I dug into some of those questions, speaking to the Swiss riders in the race and race director Marion Rousse to go a bit deeper into the Tour's Swiss excursion.

The Swiss contingent

Within the peloton, there was perhaps the feeling that the Swiss contingent was not quite as big as it could have been, with only two Swiss riders, Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly), taking the start at home.

There are six Swiss riders in the WorldTour, and one at ProTeam level, but factors like Elise Chabbey's pregnancy and Petra Stiasny's injury after her Vuelta Femenina stage win meant that there weren't as many home riders on the start line as we may have hoped. Compare and contrast with the Rotterdam Grand Départ, when there were 32 Dutch riders in action in 2024.

However, those riders that were here arguably had enough excitement and passion to make up for their lack of numbers.

The biggest star of the pre-race media day, Reusser couldn't stop smiling the whole day, underlining repeatedly how special it was not just to be racing the Tour in Switzerland, but doing it in an edition where she was going for the overall win for the first time.

"I really saw this coming since a long time, and actually my goal was to win the Swiss Championships and stand here with a nice cross. Things didn't go as I wanted, but still, it's super nice," she beamed.

"I've already spent two days in Lausanne, and it feels like there's so much excitement already. Everyone's talking about us, you see bikes everywhere, people have knitted bikes, cycling is alive here.

"I have the feeling that Romandie is more excited about cycling than the rest of Switzerland right now, so I hope that this fever can spread to the rest of Switzerland."

For Reusser's compatriot Noemi Rüegg, it was a race against time to get to the start in Switzerland. She fractured her humerus in a crash at the Vuelta Femenina in May, and the end of the expected 12-week recovery coincided exactly with the start of the Tour de France Femmes in Lausanne.

"It's super special to have the start of the tour here in Switzerland," Rüegg said. "It's been marked in my calendar for a while now. We have really big ambitions, but I think I just want to enjoy it as well, to have family and friends alongside the road, and yeah, enjoy the Swiss crowds."

Racing at home is hardly a novelty for Swiss riders, given they have the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse every year, plus the World Championships in Zurich were less than two years ago, but the Tour de France Femmes, and all the fanfare and international attention that comes with it, is clearly on another level.

Why Switzerland?

When the Tour de France Femmes announced that its first foreign Grand Départ would be in the Netherlands, it felt like the obvious choice, given that perhaps no other nation has contributed so many great stars to the women's peloton.

Whilst Switzerland doesn't have quite the rich women's cycling history of the Netherlands, it also made perfect sense as the place to hold the next Grand Départ on foreign soil. Its proximity to the French border and the Alps makes for straightforward logistics and no air transfers, it's a common stop on the men's WorldTour, and of course Aigle is the home of the UCI, who have been working to build the profile of women's cycling for the past decade.

Marion Rousse explained a bit more about the decision to come to Switzerland when she spoke to the press pre-race.

"For me, starting in Switzerland is a wonderful story," she said. "A foreign start means a lot to us. It shows that, as the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, there is a desire in other countries to share the Tour's prestige, which is what makes it the greatest race in the world and creates that special magic.

"A nice detail in this Swiss connection is that back in 2022, when Wout van Aert won at the top of the Côte de Saint-François, where we’ll be [on stage 1], the first edition of the women's Tour de France was just days away. Switzerland had already put itself forward to host the women's Grand Départ, without even knowing if it would work out. It really demonstrated their commitment to supporting women's sports. That really appealed to us.

"Plus, the route connects Lausanne, the Olympic capital, with Aigle, the home of the UCI, and Geneva, the capital of diplomacy. It’s a really coherent story that I feel reflects the values ​​of our sport perfectly. And going from the Swiss Riviera to the French Riviera [in Nice], it all came together beautifully."

The second stage, starting from Aigle, saw female riders from the World Cycling Centre and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team welcomed to the race for a ceremonial ride before the race, a special moment celebrating the inclusivity and growth of the women's sport, and another special aspect of starting here in Switzerland.

Women's cycling beyond the WorldTour

With two WorldTour races in Switzerland and now the Grand Départ, it would be easy to assume that women's cycling in Switzerland is in rude health, but the story beyond the WorldTour is a little bit more complicated.

It is true that the nation boasts some incredibly strong riders, both on the men's and women's side, and when it comes to World Championships and international events, the top riders do get good support from the Swiss federation. At the World Championships in Rwanda, they fielded five women in the elite road events, two in the U23 races, and two in the junior road race, coming away with a rainbow jersey for Reusser in the TT and third in the junior road race for Anja Grossman.

But if you look a little further down the pyramid, things maybe don't look as well-supported. Since the demise of the Roland Le Dévoluy team, there are no Swiss-registered WorldTour or ProTeams – Swiss men's outfits Pinarello-36.5 and Tudor both support female athletes off-road, but not in the road peloton – and there are just two Continental teams based in Switzerland, the UCI's World Cycling Centre team (WCC) and Nexetis.

As of 2026, there are no lower-level UCI races in Switzerland for women, only the two WorldTour races, which are officially not open to Continental teams or clubs, and the National Championships.

"I think it's getting more and more popular. I think we've, yeah, made really big steps the past few years, thanks to the women's Tour de Suisse and the Tour de Romandie, and now also with this with these two stages here, I think we can hopefully inspire a lot of young girls and boys to start cycling as well," Rüegg said about the state of women's cycling in Switzerland.

"I think we still have a long way to go. If you see that also now we are only two Swiss women in the peloton [at the Tour], so I think we can improve that definitely. But we are already on a really good way compared to a few years ago."

The WCC team is ostensibly there to create a pathway for riders from around the world, mainly outside of western Europe and nations that have little to no professional cycling scene, but several Swiss riders have also turned to the team to get their start in cycling, including Reusser.

Rüegg, meanwhile, found her way through the Akros-Renfer development club, which also kickstarted the careers of Mauro Schmid, Stefan Bissegger and Yannis Voisard, but no longer exists

The next generation seem to only have a few pathways into the WorldTour. Going via mountain biking is one avenue, as mountain biking is arguably even more popular than road racing in Switzerland, and that's worked for riders like Steffi Häberlin.

Many talented riders are also coming up through the Nexetis squad. They have the super-talented Jasmin Liechti (who also started her career with WCC before joining Nexetis in 2025) signing for Canyon-SRAM for 2027, and Ginia Caluori is on her way to Movistar. They do a great job of finding Swiss talent and showing them to the European peloton, but they are only a small outfit, and the funding only goes so far.

"I think there is still some work to do in the younger categories, like under-23 and juniors, because it's pretty hard to find a team that you can race international races with in that age," Rüegg said. "I think Nexetis do an amazing job with that team to help young riders making that step, but I think it's also financially a big challenge to have such a team running and to build on it."

Of course, the impact of an event like the Tour de France Femmes coming to Switzerland, or the expansion of the Tour de Suisse, is hard to quantify in the immediate term. The same is true for the impact and legacy of the football Euros in Switzerland – the women's national team is actually lower in the FIFA rankings right now than before the tournament, but the real impact will likely be some years down the line.

In the short-term, though, Switzerland can count themselves as a growing force in women's cycling. The contingent may be small in this year's Tour, but both riders here are more than capable of winning a stage, one is a World Champion, and though there is work to be done on development pathways, there will be at least two new talented Swiss riders in the WorldTour peloton next year. And if the Tour in Switzerland has inspired young women in the way the riders hope, there should be more on the way.

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With the men's Tour de France (and with it, the Tadej Pogačar procession) out of the way, now it's time for the real bike race of the summer, the Tour de France Femmes.

Lorena Wiebes might be storming the early stages, but Demi Vollering and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot are gearing up for a mega duel in the GC, while Kim Le Court, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Marlen Reusser, and Elisa Longo Borghini are all vying to upset the applecart, which has already been somewhat upset already by a barnstorming ride from Norwegian national champion Sigrid Haugset.

As ever, Cyclingnews is on the ground covering the racing in all the exciting detail, and here we're going to focus on the tech. In this gallery we've got the usual cohort of nerdy tricks and tidbits, as well as a host of stunning custom paint schemes, and even an appearance from SpongeBob SquarePants (of course!) - you'll have to read on to see what that's all about.

Monday's announcement that Tadej Pogačar will be racing the Vuelta a España this August for the first time in seven years surprised virtually nobody.

For one thing, there were the rumours that the UAE Team Emirates-XRG racer had been spotted doing recons of the Vuelta's ultra-hard final week whilst at altitude camp in Granada and for another, the certainty that his 2026 race program was deliberately designed to have a much less demanding first half of the season.

What mattered the most, though, was that Pogačar's form and, crucially, morale were seemingly much better in week 3 of the 2026 Tour de France than they were in 2025, making it ever more likely that psychologically speaking he would be motivated to race two Grand Tours in a single year. And as the team has pointed out on many occasions, at this point in his career where he's conquered so much already, as important as race condition is, keeping Pogačar's motivation high is where a large part of the battle to keep him keen and competitive is lost and won.

On top of that, a race start in his adopted European residence of Monaco and a route which – at least in the first half – suits him down to the ground all made completing his Grand Tour 'set' in 2026 an ideal option. You could also argue that from a historical perspective, winning all three Grand Tours in the same year that he already equalled the all-time record for victories in the Tour de France and very likely will do the same in the World Championships underlines that whatever he achieves in cycling in 2027 and beyond is Pogačar's and Pogačar's alone.

Yet is it really a done deal that Pogačar will win the Vuelta a España? By this point in his career and given his Grand Tour track record, anything but the Slovenian clinching the final victory in Granada on September 13 feels hard to conceive. However, it's worth remembering Jonas Vingegaard's seemingly certain victory in the 2025 Vuelta was a closer-run affair than he'd have liked after falling ill in the second week, and on the toughest climb of all, the Angliru, arch-rival João Almeida was able to beat the Dane.

Pogačar's fans will point out, rightly, that the Slovenian has operated at a level above Vingegaard throughout the 2024 and 2025 Tours, their last two direct duels. And before Vingegaard crashed out of the 2026 race, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader was already all but out of reach on GC again. However, the Vuelta's reputation for surprises and ambushes, not to mention last-minute plot twists, is just as justified as the Giro d'Italia's. Pogačar's race to the only Grand Tour title still missing in his palmares could well have plenty of obstacles – and here are five of them.

1. Andorra

There are plenty of reasons for thinking that Andorra on stage 4 of the Vuelta will likely be the crunch point of the whole race. One of the five hardest mountain stages of the 2026 race and the first major challenge of the race, nearly 3,000 metres of vertical climbing are packed into just over 100 kilometres. And it just so happens, too, that the final ascent of the Cornellá was the same one where Chris Froome, the last rider to do the Tour-Vuelta double, was able to distance all his rivals and make a healthy down payment on overall victory.

Just like the Tourmalet in the 2026 Tour's stage 6, Andorra is where Pogačar could or should make his first major move towards victory. Delivering a knock-out blow as soon as the mountains come into view in a Grand Tour has been his winning strategy ever since Pogačar began his bounce-back from the 2023 Tour de France defeat. And on top of that, Andorra was where he won his first stage in the Vuelta (and any Grand Tour) back in 2019. More than enough reasons for Pogačar to try to bring things full circle here in 2026.

2. Primož Roglič

Even if Tadej Pogačar does claim the outright Vuelta victory in seven weeks time in Granada, there's one title and record that won't fall his way.

Together with Spanish climber Roberto Heras, Primož Roglič currently holds the joint record for Vuelta a España victories and could take a historic fifth title this year. But in terms of the Vuelta, Roglič is already in a league of his own.

No disrespect intended to Heras, but if stage wins, time in the race lead and his third place in the 2023 Vuelta a España are also taken into account, for all he has fewer top five finishes than Heras, the Slovenian veteran can easily be considered the greatest ever Vuelta rider in history.

At 36, he may be in the twilight years of his career, but that depth of experience already makes him a formidable rival for Pogačar. Other elements, like Roglič's only Grand Tour of 2026 being the Vuelta, making him much fresher, could also come into play, particularly in the third week where Pogačar might – might – be feeling the length of the season in his legs.

The opposition doesn't stop at Roglič, of course. Four-times podium finisher Enric Mas (Movistar), backed by 2016 Vuelta winner Nairo Quintana, could well be a factor, as could Giro runner-up Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), who is clearly yet to find an upper limit to his Grand Tour climbing. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Netcompany Ineos duo Carlos Rodríguez and Oscar Onley also all have the potential to make a GC bid. But in terms of race history, if Pogačar starts as the man to beat – and where doesn't he? – it's Roglič who'll be riding down the Monaco start ramp on the evening of August 22 as the Vuelta's initial reference point.

3. The ultra-tough second half

One of the questions we'll never know is – would Pogačar have opted to race the Vuelta in 2026 if it had finished in the Canary Islands, as was originally planned for this year's race? Either way, the organisation's switching to a full-blown final ten days in the sierras of Andalucia as an alternative will represent a major challenge for Pogačar.

Four very varied major challenges are on offer here: the grinding, sunbaked ascent to the remote lunar landscapes of Calar Alto on stage 12 and its equally formidable penultimate, parched ascent of the Velefique, the brutally narrow, steep climb to La Pandera on stage 15, the devastatingly long rise through the southern sierras to Peñas Blancas on stage 19 and the knock-out grand finale at Collado del Alguacil on stage 20. Add in a major time trial at the beginning of the third week, and no wonder race director Javier Guillén describes the Vuelta 2026 as the hardest he's ever overseen.

4. The extreme heat

Remember when it seemed like Tadej Pogačar's Achilles heel could be high temperatures? His latest performances through the Pyrenees during the heat wave of the Tour's first week are just the latest proof that's not the case. But on the other hand, this time round, even the sun-parched roads of France could pale into comparison with the unbearably hot, humid weather likely to afflict the Vuelta in the eastern regions of Spain in the second week, and the drier but equally harsh temperatures in the third.

Only once since it began in 1935 has the Vuelta finished so far south, and this is the first time since it moved into its late summer slot. In a year where record-breaking hot summer temperatures and four heat waves have already hit southern Spain – last week it was in the low-to-mid forties – this could take a brutal toll on the peloton. And if Pogačar is able to handle the high temperatures much better than before, nobody will be immune to the consequences of racing through the hottest part of the day for three weeks, much of it through what is historically Spain's warmest region.

5. The second Grand Tour

As one of the greatest racers of all time – we'll get into that debate on another occasion – Tadej Pogačar's sole venture into Grand Tour doubles back in 2024 hardly went badly. So why should 2026, with the Vuelta a España on paper much easier than the Tour, be any different than when the UAE leader conquered the Giro d'Italia and Tour in one fell swoop back in 2024.

Most likely it won't be hugely different this time round. But at the same time, the final week of the Vuelta has so many challenges and the hardest of all comes just 24 hours before the grand finale. So it will be critical for Pogačar to graduate his effort as carefully as possible, and the same goes for his teammates.

Even if the World Championships and Il Lombardia, not to mention the Europeans on home soil, are all yet to come, no leader of the Vuelta can be 100% sure their strength will hold up on such a tough final major mountain stage at the end of their second Grand Tour. Maybe not even Pogačar.

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Pro cycling's transfer season for 2027 is officially underway, and though the strict August 1 rule no longer exists, the first day of the month still marked a flurry of transfer announcements and the start of what will be a busy few weeks of moves.

Prior to August 1, plenty of contracts have already been extended, and some transfers have been announced or confirmed. Some moves have already taken place mid-season, too, as there are different rules for signing riders who don't currently have a professional contract. Plenty have teams have already confirmed signings of neo-pros from their development squads too.

Teams are allowed to have transfer discussions and ink deals with riders whose contracts are ending before August 1, and often do - especially during the Tour de France, the height of transfer negotiations. Which means plenty of agreements will have been made long before August 1, but may only become public in the coming weeks.

Cyclingnews is tracking all movements during the transfer season – everything from contract renewals to extensions to retirements – with our dedicated transfer index across the men's and women's WorldTeams and ProTeams.

We'll update this page through the rest of the year with every confirmed signing for 2027, building a team-by-team list of ins and outs, while also tracking the latest transfer news from the professional cycling peloton.

Latest transfer news

The week after the Tour de France Femmes saw a flurry of transfer news, including Megan Arens' surprising immediate exit from the troubled Picnic PostNL squad, Femke Markus' move from SD Worx-Protime to Visma-Lease a Bike and Marta Lach signing for Human Powered Health.

On the men's side, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have bolstered their squad with EF's Georg Steinhauser, and Aussie climber Sebastian Berwick has earnt himself a spot on a big and ambitious team as he swaps Caja Rural for Pinarello-Q36.5, with the Swiss team making lots of canny signings this year.

Transfer speculation and rumours

Whilst we will only report on the moves we know to be confirmed here, there are plenty of rumours and whispers of moves that will be important this transfer season.

One of the most high-profile riders on the move this season is likely to be breakthrough star Paula Blasi, who is reportedly leaving UAE Team L'IMAD early for another squad – who will have to pay a hefty buy-out fee to release her from her current contract. The only question is who that new team is.

We also understand that Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney is exiting Canyon-SRAM, but again her destination is unknown. There's also a brand new team in the women's peloton, with Decathlon CMA CGM launching a women's ProTeam for 2027, and Cyclingnews understands that they have already filled a 10-rider roster.

Primož Roglič could be on the move from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe as he looks to extend his career, with Lotto-Intermarché a surprising contender for his signature. And there's still debate over the long-term future of Paul Seixas, though Isaac del Toro extending with UAE Team Emirates-XRG may be a sign he's not heading there.

We'll keep this section updated with some of the most interesting speculation, rumours and riders who are still out of contract as the window progresses.

Retirements and riders out of contract

As well as those on the move for 2027, there are plenty of riders who could be on their way out of the peloton – either by choice as they retire or those that are still searching for a contract.

A whole host of names have already announced their plans to retire, including Damiano Caruso, Magnus Cort, Pello Bilbao, Steven Kruijswijk, Amanda Spratt, Bauke Mollema and more. Kim Cadzow also ended her career with immediate effect recently.

There is speculation over the future of other riders, including Giro d'Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart who is out of contract with Lidl-Trek and seems to have been winding down this year, though it won't become clear until later in the year who is really scrambling for a contract.

Confirmed transfers - team by team

This is our index to all transfers that have been officially confirmed by teams.

Men's WorldTour

Alpecin-Deceuninck

Bahrain Victorious

Decathlon CMA CGM

EF Education-EasyPost