A lot has happened since my last diary: we’ve got a week more racing in the legs, we’ve crossed to the other side of France, and the team has a stage win thanks to Mauro Schmid! For every team, there’s always so much pressure to get something out of the Tour de France, so having that win has been like a bit of a pressure valve release for the whole team. We still want more, but we can take on each stage now knowing that this year’s race has already been a success and that everything else from here on in is a bonus.

It was an amazing day all around and such a bloody awesome team effort from all of the boys. Mauro was the first of us to get in the big break at the start, but we knew that we needed more of us in there if we wanted to make it work. Bling [Michael Matthews], Ben [O'Connor], and I managed to get into a chase group further into the stage. It was a big group, but the boys at the front were going fast, so it was a proper job to get across the gap.

Once we were there with Mauro, it was a case of getting ourselves over that category-one climb in the best position possible. I thought the way we rode as a team was amazing, and for Mauro to finish it off was impressive. He’s had such an incredible season, so it was great to see him continue that form, especially after losing out on stage 11 in Toulouse last year.

When we got back to the hotel, we had a beautiful dinner with the whole team, staff and riders, with a bit of a toast. It was a really nice gathering, and we were able to reflect on how special it was to win as a team, and how old-school GreenEDGE it was in the way we won the stage. With that victory in the bank now, we’ve been able to race with a bit more freedom and with even more confidence. Not many teams will finish this Tour de France with a win, so to have already done it is pretty sweet. It was a special week.

Now we’re heading into the final week, and it feels like Paris is within touching distance. I really maxed out on the 'rest' part of the second rest day, basically doing as little as possible before we got back to racing. I’m writing this diary after the stage 16 individual time trial. I haven’t been feeling great the last couple of days, but I was still hopeful of what I could do.

Very early on, though, I knew that it wasn’t going to be a day for me, so I parked it up and decided to focus on the days to come. It was a bit of a shame not to have the legs I was hoping for today, but there’s still a week of racing to go and some stages that suit us.

Mauro’s win was a bit early for our team owner Gerry Ryan to see; he arrived at the race the day after, so we’re hoping that we can give him a win while he’s here. He’s done so much for GreenEDGE over the years, so it’s always special when we can pay him back with a victory. Needless to say, the boys are super motivated.

Looking at where my teammates and I can target during this final week, I feel that stage 17 is really good for Bling with that climb at the end. Stage 18 is another good opportunity for the breakaway, hopefully, and obviously Paris is another chance for Pascal [Ackermann].

It will be interesting to see how the final week plays out, especially with Jonas [Vingegaard] out of the race. It was a shame to see him go like that. Hopefully, the breakaways will be given some opportunities to have a go. The weather is cooling down, which is good; the feistiness of the peloton has definitely simmered down too, but everyone is getting tired.

My rest day started on Sunday, as I turned onto the final climb of the day up Plateau de Solaison. The racing on stage 15 of the Tour de France was fast and furious; the speed was incredible, exactly what you’d expect from the best riders in the world battling it out. There was a huge fight to get into the breakaway, and I was also interested because our strategy was to have a rider up the road to get over the steep climb after 130 kilometres and then help Lenny [Martinez] on the approach to the final climb.

I was having a good day and managed to sneak into the breakaway. There weren’t many riders left up ahead by the time the yellow jersey group caught me. Visma-Lease a Bike had set a really high pace on the steep climb, keeping the breakaway within reach to give Jonas [Vingegaard] a chance to fight for the stage. I had just made my way back to the group after collecting fresh bottles and ice from the team car when I saw the chaos at a roundabout. Jonas, Isaac [Del Toro] and a few other riders were on the ground, and it didn’t look good.

These things can happen. We race for 3,500 kilometres, always pushing the limits on roads designed to regulate traffic, not to serve as race tracks. I’d say we’re actually doing pretty well when you consider how few incidents there are at the speeds we travel through these villages. Traffic furniture is designed for vehicles moving at 30 to 50 km/h, not for bike riders travelling at over 60 km/h, riding centimetres apart, sitting in the slipstream with almost no visibility, especially when the road is slightly downhill.

A crash like this shatters your dreams. You do everything you can to prepare. You spend weeks and months away from your family, training and racing while living out of a suitcase, weighing every bite of food and patiently following all the numbers in training, trying to enjoy the process along the way. Then, just when the moment comes to make it all count, it can disappear in a split second because of a momentary lapse in concentration or one small mistake. Sometimes it isn’t even your mistake, and maybe then it’s a little easier because you can blame destiny. I always find it hardest when you make the mistake yourself, and you’re left wondering how you could have avoided it. Cycling is cruel, just as life can sometimes be cruel. But luckily, it’s only cycling. It’s something we’re deeply passionate about, and moments like this hurt, but they probably won’t top the list of the worst things that can happen to you in life.

After the crash, there was a moment of confusion in the group. Nobody really knew what to do. Everyone wanted to wait for Jonas to get back on, but a few moments later we received confirmation on the radio that he wasn’t getting back on the bike. Tom [Pidcock] was still up the road, fighting for his GC position alongside Lenny, so we had to get back to work and keep the gap under control.

A few kilometres later, we reached the bottom of the final climb and my job was done. I had plenty of time to finish within the time limit, so I could really enjoy the crowds. It’s always so good to see the fans, especially all the young families with children, everyone genuinely enjoying the Tour passing through their towns. Whenever I finish a bottle, I always try to hand it to a passionate kid by the roadside. I like to think that maybe, a few years from now, one of them will take my place in the peloton. It’s still a dream come true for me, and if I had the chance, I’d do it all over again.

A lie in, savouring food, and shaving my arms

We actually got to our hotel pretty early on Sunday evening, at around 8 p.m., which is unusual, especially on the night before a rest day. Our chefs prepared another fantastic dinner in the kitchen truck, and I was looking forward to getting to bed a little earlier than usual and, for once, not setting an alarm. I managed to fall asleep before 11pm and slept right through until around 9:30am.

This year I’m doing pretty well with my sleep. I can still fall asleep in under 40 minutes, and I only wake up once or twice during the night or early morning to go to the bathroom. My resting heart rate on Sunday was only eight beats higher than my lowest resting heart rate before the race started, and my HRV was still around 40ms. For comparison, I rarely get much above 100ms even when I’m completely fresh. So my body isn’t completely burned out yet, but a rest day will definitely do me good.

There’s also the added benefit of Tuesday’s time trial, which for me will almost be another rest day. I won’t need to push too hard to finish inside the time limit, and I’ll need every bit of energy I can save for Wednesday. I don’t think there’s much chance that stage 17 will be controlled. There are still plenty of teams without a stage win, and for many of us this could be our only real opportunity to fight for one. It’s going to be an absolute battlefield, and I’m really looking forward to it.

But first, I’m making the most of the relaxed rest day atmosphere. We’ll head out for an easy coffee ride, take our time over meals and actually savour the food instead of simply cramming in the calories and carbs for fuel. I’ll make sure there’s enough time in the afternoon for a proper nap. There should even be time to shave my legs, and I might shave my arms for a change too, so that I have absolutely no regrets if it somehow comes down to the width of a tyre in a sprint on Wednesday. It’s probably very unlikely, but it’s happened to me before. I’d rather be 101% ready and know, with a clear conscience, that I’ve done absolutely everything in my power to be the best I can be.

The Tour de France thrives on a close rivalry, and the removal of the only constant in the challenge to Tadej Pogačar’s dominance – after Jonas Vingegaard crashed out on stage 15 – means a reset not only in the GC group but also in how the race will be conducted during the final week.

But before looking ahead, it's worth reflecting on the last six stages and the conclusions that we can draw from them.

It seems like a long time ago now, but the second week began, in an almost routine manner, with a Pogačar stage win. In his usual style, he kept the break in check and then attacked on the penultimate climb, passing a valiant Richard Carapaz and soloing to the finish. Behind, Vingegaard gave chase but had little help from the others in his group before they all jumped him in sight of the finish line. They were not strong enough to collaborate with the Visma-Lease a Bike leader, but strangely reinvigorated when the line came into sight. It has been, up until his untimely exit, an all-too-familiar tale in pursuit of Pogačar. However, with Vingegaard's abandonment, it's an option for the podium contenders that no longer exists, and that is going to change so many tactics.

Another pair of stage wins for Pogačar is no surprise in the second week, and neither was another sprint victory for Tim Merlier despite Alpecin-Premier Tech having the best leadout train. They still haven’t got their timing right for Philipsen at the stage finishes, which was something that Søren Wærenskjold took advantage of in Nevers.

After holding the race lead in the first week, another Uno-X Mobility celebration on day 12 was a refreshing change to the status quo of the usual names grabbing the limelight.

Then there was the tricky route to Belfort and a Pinarello-Q36.5 plan to put Tom Pidcock fully into the GC fight. Up until then, Pidcock had been hiding just outside the top 10, but a super day and equally super teammates changed things completely. He took a chance, and it paid off, climbing to fourth on GC, which must have been a wake-up call for the guys he leapfrogged in the overall classification.

An even bigger fright came the next day when the Briton sneezed into the escape again, and what could have been a day of relative calm became another stage that increased both stress levels and fatigue. Though it was probably not the best decision to go in the break when a GC race is mainly about patience and choosing when to commit fully, it was a sign that, for Pidcock, this Tour is as much about seeking a stage win as it is about testing where he is in the Grand Tour hierarchy and noting what can be worked on.

Then there’s the satisfaction element to take into consideration because there’s no joy in being dragged around for three weeks with no real influence on proceedings. I don’t think that is something Pidcock would even contemplate, so no surprise he tried again on the first proper mountain top finish heading into the second rest day. This was definitely an effort too far, which was shown by his capitulation on the slopes of Plateau de Solaison, losing nearly four minutes inside the last 4km. He has some decisions to make on the rest day concerning how hard he rides the upcoming time trial and how much energy he should save for the Alpe d’Huez days in the second half of the week.

Now that Visma-Lease a Bike no longer have Vingegaard in the race, their contributions at the head of affairs will end, and they’ll be in the stage-hunting battle along with the likes of EF Education-EasyPost and Jayco-AlUla. The big groups of attackers we have seen in the middle week might have been successful only once, when Mauro Schmid outsprinted Harold Tejada on stage 13, but that’ll change as there’s a reshuffling in the podium game.

I have to admit that I didn’t have Remco Evenepoel on my bingo card for the win on stage 15, given he had been struggling on the longer climbs earlier in the race and I thought the Salève climb was going to hurt him more than his direct rivals, but what a pleasant surprise and what a way to silence his critics in the Belgian media. It was a great ride and a great sprint to beat the UAE duo of Pogačar and Del Toro.

I do wonder just how much the result was affected by Vingegaard's crash because Pogačar looked quite subdued. Although he rode to distance Paul Seixas, moving Del Toro into the lead of the youth classification, he didn’t seem totally concentrated on ensuring another stage win. Evenepoel, in contrasting fashion, was clearly motivated and on a super day, which bodes very well for Tuesday's time trial.

It’ll be interesting to see how Seixas reacts now that he is deep into unknown territory – with no experience of how his body is going to cope in a third consecutive week of racing. So far he’s been solid, but the Vingegaard situation removes one of the reference points for him and Decathlon CMA CGM to manage their efforts.

Looking at the green jersey competition, and while Mads Pedersen might seem a fairly safe bet to have the jersey tied up, it is far from decided. He had an 88-point lead over Jasper Philipsen at the conclusion of stage 10, but six days later, that has been reduced to only 31. That is considerably less comfortable. With Mattias Skjelmose and Juan Ayuso fairly steady in their GC positions, Lidl-Trek could change how they manage their resources in support of Pedersen. They certainly can’t let another panic happen, like the stage 13 fiasco, when they missed Philipsen placing himself in Pidcock's breakaway.

Along with the race tactics and the consequences of the crashes, there’s the question of the 2am drug testing to deal with too. Yes, there’s a need to conduct the controls, and yes, they can be a surprise; however, there needs to be better judgment of when they happen. After midnight seems a really intrusive choice, to the point that it shows a lack of respect for the athlete. When you realise that Tadej Pogačar would have been tested after the stage already, and to go through that again barely eight hours later seems strange.

There are human rights issues involved that the PCA ought to be making clear to the UCI; there’s monitoring, and then there’s intrusion, which I feel is what happened on this occasion. Will Evenepoel and Seixas be getting the same treatment in the coming days is a question that immediately springs to mind.

As the peloton rolls out for the second week of the Tour de France, the question on many riders' and fans' lips will be whether UAE Team Emirates-XRG can sustain their stranglehold over the peloton. As a team, they're riding so well, and thanks to Tadej Pogačar's early exploits in the Pyrenees, there seems to be very little pressure on their shoulders. But is that a good way to race Le Tour?

There are still two weeks to go, and if you happen to lose a rider or two to sickness or crashes, you quickly find yourself with a smaller squad and the remaining riders fatigued from their earlier efforts. There are often times when you could question the team management's decisions when they're out on the road, what are they doing this for, or why are they chasing this? But when Pogačar is as good as he is at the moment, you can maybe make those little mistakes because he can correct everything later on.

From my experience, in a three-week race, you have to be conservative in the first week, and in this Tour, the same applies to the second week, given the mountains awaiting them in the last few days of this year's route. The third week is also when fatigue can really start to set in amongst the riders, especially so considering the hot conditions this year – you just don't know the effect it's going to have come the Alps. UAE Team Emirates-XRG's domestiques are making efforts and controlling stages, riding at the front when they don't really have to do it. But they're by far the stronger team compared to Visma-Lease a Bike, and are riding so well.

Of course, their motives aren't always completely clear. Take Sunday's stage for example, UAE were keeping the breakaway on a really tight leash, and there were a lot of teams, and commentators too, for that matter, asking 'What are you doing here, riding on the front? Are you going for the stage win or just controlling?'

Speaking from experience, when riders who know each other go and ask these kinds of questions, they'll get an answer, but it's never a straight one. UAE probably said they were going to 'control' on Sunday, but what does that really mean? Does it mean you just want to control the time limit for Pogačar's GC rivals, or do you want to control the stage outcome?

Given the way the Slovenian is riding, I expect this next week of medium mountain stages to possess the best opportunities for the breakaway. I say this because, come next weekend and into the third week, UAE will control and target those high mountain days. For the breakaway, those sorts of stages will be difficult to dictate. In years gone by, they would have offered great chances when the GC contenders stayed in the bunch, and those who got up the road would typically do battle for the day's honours. But, with the way UAE are riding, you can make a massive effort to get in the break, alongside some other top climbers, but they might only give you two minutes because Pogačar wants to ride for the win. I think we're going to see a lot of that. So the opportunities lie on those transitional, medium-mountain stages for riders who want to win via the break.

Searing heat, Seixas' steady start, and Netcompany-Ineos' conundrum

Perhaps the only thing more relentless than UAE Team Emirates-XRG so far this Tour de France has been the high temperatures across Spain and France. It's been a challenge for riders, and naturally, the race organisers too. What can they do, though? Suggestions to start stages early in the morning, to avoid the hottest part of the day, will almost certainly face pushback from broadcasters wanting the stages to finish in the evening when the viewership is highest.

It's definitely becoming a problem, and answers aren't clear to see, unless you move the Tour away from July, which again organisers wouldn't want to do because July is Tour de France time, it's holiday season around Europe, and what makes the race so great is the spectators lining the roads day after day, mountains covered with spectators.

Unfortunately, it feels like one of those issues where a rider has to get sunstroke and subsequently crash before change or a solution is found with any urgency.

While riding in hot weather isn't necessarily anything new, I've rarely seen such a prolonged period at the Tour. I remember the 1989 and 1990 Tours, we were riding near Marseille with the temperature at 40°C and essentially just had bidons of water to keep us cool, ice socks hadn't made it into the peloton by this point, and I suspect several riders lost time because of the heat. We didn't have the support from neutral service and team cars as they do now, with fridges full of bottles on the back of a motorbike, so it was just a case of constantly pouring water over our heads.

However, you only got that for one or two days before the weather broke; the spells of hot conditions have certainly got longer over the last couple of years. So teams have to do more to keep riders cool, with more personnel, bottles, and cooling equipment to ensure their guys don't suffer or lose out due to overheating.

In terms of riders and teams that were coming in with expectations, Paul Seixas was one of the biggest talking points coming into this Tour, and I think he's performing well so far. The team were obviously hoping for him to be able to keep pace with Pogačar and Vingegaard, but even though he's slightly off that level at the moment, the third and final week is where his Tour will be determined. He may still struggle to keep up with the top two, but I can see him contending for the podium, and he's very much a part of that conversation at the first rest day.

Meanwhile, Netcompany-Ineos, a team with Tour de France pedigree, have had a complex race so far. Their first objective of the team time trial, a stage they were favourites for alongside winners Visma-Lease a Bike, proved eight seconds out of reach, and I feel that had it turned out differently, it might have calmed the ship and changed how they raced the opening week. Obviously, losing Oscar Onley, and with him their GC hopes, was a big blow, so they've had to adapt their team, but neither Dorian Godon nor Kévin Vauquelin look to be at their best level to compete in the sprints or breakaways at the minute.

Former Tour winner Egan Bernal is the best-placed Netcompany-Ineos rider in the overall standings, currently in 10th spot, but I'm afraid he's going to struggle to stay there as the race progresses, especially considering he's already tackled the Giro this year, too.

Sunday's stage also saw them riding on the front for Filippo Ganna, something I was quite surprised by in the commentary booth. Yes, he managed to grab fifth in the sprint for the minor placings, but had it been for the win, I don't think he'd have ranked as highly.

But such is the case at the Tour, and this doesn't just apply to Netcompany-Ineos. Teams will try everything and anything to do well there, whether it be their solitary moment of success or their seventh stage win, even if you find yourself questioning their tactics.

We made it to the first rest day, yet it feels like the Grand Départ in Barcelona was only yesterday. Even though this is my eighth appearance at the Tour de France, it still feels just as special as the first time.

For me, there’s no better feeling than the excitement of knowing that, for almost a month, you get to live the dream of racing the biggest bike race in the world. The fact that I now know more or less what to expect makes it even better for me.

I love the speed and the adrenaline of this race. I know I’ll remember these moments for the rest of my life, and if I could go back in time and show this experience to my 12-year-old self, when I first started racing bikes, I would have been massively proud.

The race started with a team time trial this time around. It’s probably the most complicated discipline in cycling, especially from the team’s perspective. Everyone really needs to do their part for the riders to even make it to the start ramp on time, and then it takes a complete team effort to perform well all the way to the finish line.

We were going really well on the flat part of the course, and everything went exactly to plan until we hit the roundabout just before the first of the two uphill sections in the final. This was my final pull, and I was completely at my limit. I had been trusted with this part because it was full of corners and normally I’m quite good at taking the right lines, but this time I got it completely wrong and entered the roundabout way too far on the inside. Luckily, I had made the same mistake in the recon, so my Bahrain-Victorious teammates behind me saw it coming and didn’t follow me.

Otherwise, it could have been a disaster. I ended up in the fence but somehow didn’t hurt myself at all. It was really embarrassing, but at least we got some material to joke about for the rest of the race. And I’m sure I’ll be reminded about it any time I come close to Barcelona again.

The race went on and very quickly started to reveal itself. UAE Team Emirates-XRG showed that they have the best team in the race, and Tadej Pogačar showed that he’s still the best rider in the world when he rode away from everyone on the Tourmalet. This wasn’t really a surprise to me. I feel that when conditions are this extreme, the differences in level become even more obvious. There’s less room to hide.

Handling the Tour's relentless heat

Heat is almost like altitude in that sense: some riders adapt better and feel less uncomfortable than others, and once the race has started, there’s not much more you can do beyond the heat training and preparation you’ve done beforehand.

To be able to race in these temperatures, with the last 10 days ranging between 35°C and 47°C measured on our cycling computers, we go through incredible quantities of bottles and ice.

I start every day by wearing a cooling vest to the team presentation, then putting two ice socks down my back and sometimes another one on my chest, alongside some extra ice cubes tucked under my arm sleeves.

During the race, I pour cold water over myself every 20 to 30 minutes, allowing it to evaporate and cool my skin.

When the air temperature is higher than body temperature, the breeze we get from the speed literally feels like a warm hairdryer blowing on our skin. You can imagine how quickly the water evaporates and how fast you start to overheat if you run out of fresh, cold water because you missed a bottle in the feed zone. In these conditions, the bottles become more important than almost anything else in the race.

I asked our sports director how many bottles we go through in a stage. For a four-hour stage, we use around 80 bottles of water and 40 bottles of our carbohydrate drink, as well as somewhere between 60 and 80 ice socks, all in an attempt to keep cool.

I’ve definitely raced in similar conditions before, but never for so many days in a row. We’ll see how it affects us during the rest of the race. The doctors constantly monitor our hydration status, and I feel we’re doing everything we can, but I still think we’ll end up more tired than in previous years simply because of all the extra effort required to manage the heat.

I’m now thinking about the second week and the opportunities it might present. Lenny [Martinez] has the goal of going for the polka-dot jersey, so we’re always making sure he has everything he needs and helping him stay cool for as long as we can. There are also a few sprint stages, and I still believe Phil [Bauhaus] can at least get a podium in one of them, so we’ll fight for that.

Personally, on paper, I can only see one real opportunity for myself. Friday’s stage is quite long and comes after two consecutive days of the same riders having to control the breakaway.

I would guess they’ll be a little tired by that point, and with a climb in the final, there might be an opportunity for a strong breakaway to form – either from the start or later in the final – and try to stay away from the sprinters. I think the stages over the weekend are more suited to the pure climbers, and it will be challenging to get involved in the fight for the stage there, especially if the heat persists.

Anyway, I’ll make the most of today, get some extra sleep and make sure I stay focused and ready to race. There are always opportunities at the Tour, but you have to be ready to take them when they come!

'The Tour is Over’ was the headline at the conclusion of Thursday's big Pyrenean stage. On the menu for the sixth day of the 2026 Tour de France was the Col d’Aspin, the Col du Tourmalet, and a long uphill grind to the relatively unknown finish in Gavernie-Gèdre. Tadej Pogačar blasts the favourites group apart, and that’s it; the race has taken a direction of travel with only one outcome. Somehow, everyone is surprised, shocked, or appalled. For many, it’s all three emotions, and the culprit is the pre-race favourite who is also the guy chasing a fifth overall victory.

Oh, ye of little memory. Can it really be a surprise that after the first GC rendezvous, there has been a GC sort-out? I mean, what has Tour de France history taught us about this situation? Well, you don’t have to go back to the days of the 'Club des Cinq' to be reminded of how that select group got their campaigns started almost every time they won. They went all in on the first proper GC test, blasted the competition aside and controlled the situation to their advantage from then on.

They would lay down a dominant physical performance that said quite plainly, 'don’t even think about overturning my lead; otherwise, I’ll do it again, and you’ll be even further behind.' A physical blow and a psychological beating were delivered in that opening encounter. Anquetil and Indurain would do it in a time trial, whereas Merckx and Hinault could do it either in a TT or the first big mountain stage, and that would be their textbook play. Any opportunity afterwards would be icing on the cake that already had their name on it. Even when Team Sky came along with Wiggins and Froome, it was the same thing: hit them hard on the stage where the GC hierarchy would be determined, then control from then on – shock and awe tactics at their finest.

Watching UAE Team Emirates-XRG set the tempo on Aspin and then open up fully on the hardest parts of Tourmalet, I was immediately reminded of the Col de Romme in 2021. Pogačar had won his first Tour the year before in the final time trial, deposing Primož Roglič at the last minute, so he started the following year as favourite. On the first GC day, stage 8 finishing with a Romme-Colombière double before the descent into Le Grand-Bornand. Davide Formolo led out at the beginning of the penultimate climb, Pogačar then attacked, and only Richard Carapaz tried to follow but got blown off the wheel for his troubles. Tadej blasted up the Colombière, down the other side, and though he didn’t win the stage on that occasion, his GC rivals lost three minutes. In the overall standings, Jonas Vingegaard, who went on to be his closest competition, was at five minutes. The Dane only conceded another 20 seconds by the time the race reached Paris, but the damage of stage 8 set the tone. All in, let's see who is where and if you can’t follow, then it’s going to be very difficult to overturn any losses incurred.

After TTT triumph, Visma's frailties have been exposed

The historic lessons are there, and then there were the two road stages in Barcelona as a precursor to what was going to happen on the Tourmalet when La Mongie came into view. Visma-Lease a Bike winning the team time trial was a slight surprise and probably a wake-up call to Pogačar and company. Especially given that their big rivals were sans Wout Van Aert but could still deliver such a performance, yet the reply came the very next day. Issac del Toro led out in the final uphill finish, Tadej let the wheel go and, seeing no one was capable of closing the gap, waited until the right moment and rode across to his protegé. I’m not of the opinion that he let the Mexican win and more in the camp of Del Toro deserved the stage honours, which was an outcome that the world champion didn’t need to challenge.

And then the next day, on a slightly harder finish, Del Toro repaid the favour with Pogačar taking the stage and the yellow jersey off the shoulders of Vingegaard.

We had the perfect start to the Tour: Vingegaard with two days in the race lead, the UAE guys dictating the peloton, and Del Toro and Pogačar the strongest climbers in the first few skirmishes. Everything pointed to the Pyrenees being the opening battle in the GC war, and so when Adam Yates stood on the pedals through the avalanche shelters approaching La Mongie, those riders in the first group knew this was where the real test was happening. Del Toro accelerated out of the last tunnel onto the wide open section where you are hoping for a breather before the passage through La Mongie, and Pogačar took over. As soon as Vingegaard looked around for help, they knew the Dane was in trouble. If he didn’t close the 10-second gap on the ramp out of the village, he wasn’t going to do it in the final 3.5km to the summit.

Turns out he couldn’t, went too deep, and Pogačar never let him recover on the descent. By the time they reached Luz St Sauveur, for Vingegaard it was perfectly clear who was the strongest, and the 20km of rising valley road to the line were where he lost another two minutes to Pogačar. The body language said he was done, but Pogačar wasn’t exactly fresh either; he may have won the stage and reclaimed yellow, but it cost him too. He had to ride at 100 per cent to break the will of everyone, and that’s not something we have seen too often in the last couple of years. There’s hope yet, and he’s not five minutes behind like he was in 2021 when Pogačar blew everyone away in similar circumstances. A 2:42 deficit is one bad moment and a tactical mistake in the Alps. The GC isn’t done, but it’ll be difficult to poke a hole in the UAE armour.

I think what is more worrying is that, so far, Visma's climbers haven’t shown the level they need to take on the UAE armada. Sepp Kuss and Davide Piganzoli were expected to be near their leader in crucial moments, and they’ve been patchy.

The euphoria of having the first yellow jersey has worn off quickly, and the sprint and transition stages that preceded and followed the Pyrenees have shown that Van Aert’s absence could be a factor in the next phase of the race. Victor Campenaerts does his role of protecting Vingegaard well; however, they don’t have a rider who can cover the breakaways and be a really useful asset on a really hard day. If they have to use Matteo Jorgensen on the tough stages between the big mountains, then he’s going to be dropped earlier when the major climbs are the crunch moments. The Dutch squad might be waiting on UAE to falter, but so far that scenario hasn’t looked likely. On the contrary, Pogačar and his teammates are in a good place and probably thinking about getting Isaac Del Toro into the runner-up spot come Paris. All the interactions between the race leader and the Mexican champion seem to be 'this is the how, where and when of the Tour and if you stay close to Tadej then you’ll learn how things work at this level.'

While others falter, could Del Toro and Seixas capitalise?

Del Toro is in a similar position to Paul Seixas, except he has less pressure than the young French star and more freedom to initiate situations without intense scrutiny of his motives. With nine days of racing done, Seixas is in unknown territory as far as his recovery and strength are concerned. He has handled the conditions and stresses at this level remarkably; the Tourmalet didn’t break him, and he was one of the strongest in that test, so how he manages this middle week will be interesting. Decathlon have had their good surprise with Olav Kooij winning the first of the bunch sprint finishes, so the Seixas story can develop at its own pace. However, I imagine the Red Bull duo of Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz will not only be looking at each other but also at the Decathlon leader very closely.

There’s always some intra-team drama on the Tour, and this year it looks like it’s going to be a Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe affair. Remco hasn’t got full control of his emotions yet, so we will probably see more outbursts if he has a difficult moment or two. Compared to Lipowitz, who seems unfazed by most things, Remco hasn’t quite mastered dealing with not meeting his own expectations or those he has placed on others. He’s looked good, sometimes ominously so, but whether that translates into being directly involved in testing Pogačar and Del Toro remains to be seen. There’s plenty of time ahead where frustration is going to be knocking at his door again, and if it’s his co-leader whom he sees riding off into the distance, then there’ll be someone, probably from a Belgian media outfit, who’ll be asking how he felt in that moment.

The only thing for sure for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe going into the first rest day is that their press conference will be well attended.

Pedersen's strategy for green is going to plan

Quoting the general media trend that Tadej Pogačar is going to win the race, the only classification of any contest looks set to be the points jersey. Mads Pedersen came with that in mind, and a Lidl Trek squad with that as the main aim alongside Mattias Skjelmose's GC challenge as an add-on. So far, Mads is doing what he has to do: get in the breaks, hoover up the points from there and make the top-10 in the sprint finishes if that’s how the stage pans out. As the middle part of the race develops, more of the pure sprinters will tire, and Pedersen will hopefully move from being in that 8-10th spot to the top five.

Binian Girmay isn’t letting him have that jersey just yet, though. However, neither are as fast as Tim Merlier, though given that Soudal QuickStep have ridden to make sure a bunch sprint happens, it seems like a fair reward for their efforts. Over at Alpecin-Premier Tech, who have done even more peloton pulling, it hasn’t quite gone as smoothly for Jasper Philipsen, despite the Mathieu van der Poel leadouts. The stage win means pressure is off now for MVDP, winning on a so-called traditional transition day. Those up-and-down days in 40 degrees with melting tarmac and energy-sapping little climbs in most of the descents are horrible, which explains why we see the likes of Tom Pidcock and Van der Poel giving 110 per cent on these occasions. They are basically Classics conducted under a blazing sun in the middle of a three-week race. Only 40 or so riders surviving in the main bunch tells the story that getting from the Pyrenees to the Alps is always going to come at some cost.

Sadly, as can also be a traditional happening, we lost a maillot jaune in the heat of the battle. For Uno-X, having Torstein Træen in the race lead was a dream come true, crashing and breaking bones less so, but they are in every escape, and Tobias Johannessen is involved in the GC battle too, so I would say that everything from now on is a happy bonus. It probably won’t be covered as much as the GC or Red Bull sagas to come, but there have to be good moments to sit alongside the ups and downs of life at the very top.

Grand Tours are a bit of a time black hole. Once you start one, any sense of time gets sucked into the black hole. It’s eat, sleep, race, repeat. At this point in the race, I couldn’t tell you what day of the week it is, but I know that we’re almost at the first rest day of the Tour de France. After over a week of hard racing, I’m looking forward to it. It’s a chance to switch off, get some extra sleep, maybe take a coffee ride with the boys, and catch up with my friends and family.

This is my second Tour de France, and it feels a little more like a formality this time around, like any other race. Last season, when I made my debut, there was so much hype and excitement around it, and I didn’t know so much what to expect. It was a lot to take in. Now that I have my first one done, I wouldn’t say I’m a Tour veteran just yet, but I feel like I’ve got the swing of things and can manage the stresses of the race much more easily.

The first week has gone by quickly, and that team time trial on stage 1 already feels like it was a lifetime ago. We’ve already done over 1,000km since Barcelona. Getting to open the race with a team time trial in the Catalan capital was pretty special.

I’ve always heard from others that the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya is one of the best race days of the year, so it was amazing to experience it for myself. The crowds lining the roadside were incredible, and my ears were definitely ringing afterwards.

I love the TTT (in my opinion, it’s the best discipline; I won’t hear otherwise), and the team is passionate about it and has always done well in the discipline. We’ve been working on our TTT project for quite some time, so we were pretty pumped for the first stage. We came out to Girona for a small camp a few days before the race to do some TTT prep and dial in our set-ups ahead of the big day.

We don’t have a GC rider for this race, so we didn’t need to play it conservatively on the day, and we were willing to risk it all for a result. Obviously, the stage didn’t quite go as we hoped; we definitely wanted more than 10th place, but I’m proud of the boys and how we all went for it. There will be more opportunities for us during this race, and we’ve already shown in the first week that we’re prepared to take on any chance we can.

Pogačar's dominance and thriving in the heat

It’s been tough so far for the breakaway with the GC teams like UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike keeping a tight grip on the race in the opening stages. We saw how they shut down the Tourmalet stage when Ben [O'Connor] had a go off the front, and that they weren’t going to let anything go. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though.

Now that Tadej Pogačar and UAE have marked their dominance with such a big lead, I believe it could open the race up for teams like us who want to try and get out in the breakaway. I think it will open the race up a little more as we get into the second week, and particularly the back half of the race, and we’ll see more opportunities coming to us. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and taking my chances, and so are the rest of our boys.

Of course, the heat is also going to play a factor in how the rest of the race plays out. It’s been hot right from the start, and the high temperatures have been a 'hot' topic in the bunch during the first week, with staying cool being very important. There’s been plenty of ice socks down the jersey and bidons over the head to keep the core temperature down.

I actually enjoy the heat, though, and I’ve been feeling quite good so far. We get these temperatures during the Australian summer, so maybe we Aussies are more used to it than some. For me, the hotter it is, the better when it comes to recovery compared to others, so I’m happy with this weather, and I hope it can last for a few more days. I’m hoping that if this continues into next week and a few more of the boys get tired, then it could help me. When my opportunity comes, I’ll be ready to go.

Hello again everyone!

When my coach informed me, after my performance at the Tour of Romandie, that instead of racing the Tour de Suisse I would go to the Dauphiné… my bad, the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (or TARA, as I will call it for the rest of this piece), I was initially quite apprehensive.

Although I had just earned my first WorldTour top 10 GC result, finishing sixth in Romandie, I felt like it was a potential step too far, due to the fact that the race is widely known amongst the pros for how hard it is, actually harder than a week of a Grand Tour.

My coach brushed it off and said back to me, "Well, you shouldn't have done so well at Romandie!" I couldn't really disagree with that, so I now had three weeks until the Tour de France preparation race, and not in my wildest dreams could I have expected what occurred.

But before I talk about my memorable week in France, I want to bring you back to the weeks prior to the race. My girlfriend is from Denmark, and due to the extremely busy few months prior for both of us, we hadn't seen each other for over two months. I pre-planned going to Denmark to see her many weeks before I knew I was doing TARA, so two weeks out I went and visited her for 10 days.

What struck me was that practically 80% of the peloton that was racing TARA was at altitude during this period, the majority of them in Sierra Nevada. Even my own teammates that were racing as well were up on a mountain breathing thin air, and there I was at sea level, at my girlfriend's house, riding around the rolling Danish hills around Vejle. I should mention the longest hill is about three minutes, so not ideal for mountain training. Yet, the most important factor for me during this period was the mental benefit of being around my loved ones. I still did my training; I still did a few active heat sessions, but the main point was that I wasn't feeling lonely and exhausted on top of a mountain.

My time in Denmark wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, though. While I felt extremely good on the bike doing my long endurance rides, I was really struggling to complete any form of harder VO2 efforts. I felt as if I couldn't push my body to its limit. I felt as if my head would just give up from the pain of the efforts.

I've experienced this a few times this year, especially after the passing of my younger sister in September last year. Some days I can wake up feeling completely 'normal', eat my breakfast, roll out for my ride feeling fine, but as soon as I start my efforts, I have no motivation. I felt emotional and weak. This happened one day while doing a hard VO2 session. I got roughly five minutes into my first set, and my body just gave up. I had a bit of an emotional moment on the side of the road as I felt sorry for myself, questioning why this was happening, and stressed over the fact I was racing TARA in a week's time. I spent the rest of the day feeling miserable on the couch, being comforted by my girlfriend.

Over the next few days, I slowly felt more like myself again, and together with my coach, modified my training depending on how I felt each morning and the mental state I was in.

'I went to the race excited for the week ahead with a smile on my face'

I won't lie to you, I was now feeling even more nervous about TARA after being mentally unable to finish any efforts for the last week, but I said to my coach I still wanted to race because it was something else for my brain to focus on, and my body still felt in good condition post-Romandie.

What is great about the systems that are in place at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe is that information about the athlete is shared with all individuals working with the rider. So even though I only explicitly told my coach about how my head was feeling and the struggles I was going through during this week, that information was shared with my personal directeur sportif, my nutritionist, my doctor, and the wider coaching group.

I spent two days in Girona, my old European home, between travelling back from Denmark and going to TARA. My DS, Shane Archbold, a retired former professional who was in the Bora team for many years prior to the arrival of Red Bull, also happened to be in Girona over the same period. He asked if I'd like to join him for a ride before I left again, and the conversation that we had on this ride completely changed my outlook for the week ahead.

I hadn't seen Shane for a while. The only race we had done together this year was Tour Down Under, and he had just returned from the Giro. On this ride, Shane put it simply to me. I had already exceeded expectations this year, both from a personal standpoint and from a team standpoint. My performances at Catalunya and Basque Country delighted the team, and a sixth place in Romandie was the cherry on top of that that no one was expecting. Already to finish in the top 10 on GC as a neo-pro in a WorldTour stage race was a massive achievement. I could have ended my season there and been more than satisfied with my year.

So, Shane told me to go to TARA with a free mind. There was no pressure from the team; the only pressure I had was the pressure I was putting on myself. He said to go and have fun, race with a smile on my face, find my physical limits. He said to try something crazy, and if something crazy happens, that's amazing, but if you blow up and finish twenty minutes behind the winner, that's also great. He also told me to race with my sister on my shoulder, and use the thoughts of her as motivation to get the most out of myself.

This one-hour conversation I had with Shane completely changed my feelings. I suddenly wasn't nervous anymore; I didn't feel stressed, and the emotional feelings I had floating around for the last few days evaporated. I went to the race excited for the week ahead with a smile on my face, in a clear mental space, and with no pressure. I felt free.

As I mentioned, Shane said to try something crazy, and if something crazy happens, that's amazing. And well, we tried something crazy and something crazy did happen.

The day that changed everything

I think by the middle of the race, the majority of people thought they knew how the race was going to pan out. A great victory on the first day by EF's Alex Baudin put a Frenchman into the maillot jaune on day one. The TTT confirmed that the superstar riders were ready to battle it out in the mountains. Everyone was talking about the inevitable Paul Seixas vs Isaac del Toro showdown that was going to happen sooner rather than later, but stage 6 of TARA flipped the script.

As a team, we had highlighted this stage as a seriously good chance for Maxim Van Gils to win the stage from the breakaway, so he deliberately lost time on GC two days earlier in order to go up the road without any other teams panicking. What we didn't expect was a sixty-man breakaway, half of the peloton, to be riding away from the main peloton. What we also as a team didn't expect was for me to be in that group only 1:03 down on GC. But I saw from the front of the peloton a few extra Uno-X riders bridging to the breakaway and remembered what they did on the final day of Basque Country this year.

For those who don't know, here is a brief explanation: Uno-X put their entire team into the breakaway with Tobias Halland Johannessen and rode him into third on GC. I instantly thought this was my chance to make a move for my own GC result.

And so the chaos began. I could probably write an extra two thousand words about how the stage went, but I won't let you suffer through that, so here is the short version. The breakaway instantly started working together, and the time gap kept increasing and increasing. Maxim and I were staying together in the group, and we were both feeling good. We came to the first of two final climbs, and the group immediately shrank in size, and we had a ridiculous 4:55 on the chasing peloton. I knew by this point that, all going well, I would be in yellow at the end of the stage, but in my head the priority was to win the stage. So that's what we set about doing.

On the final ascent to Crest-Voland, Maxim reduced the group to three; I bridged across myself a few minutes later to make it four and immediately started setting a hard tempo to set Maxim up for a sprint. We rounded the final bend with three hundred metres to go, and Maxim and Tobias duked it out for the stage win, and I emptied myself to the line to have as much time as possible on the group of GC riders behind, flying up the mountain.

Firstly, the joy that came over me seeing Maxim with his hands in the air taking the stage win actually made me forget for a moment about what I had achieved, but as I rolled across the line and towards my soigneurs it quickly sunk in that I was in yellow. To be honest, I only thought Seixas and Del Toro were probably only a minute behind us, but one minute became two, and two became three, and 3:15 after I finished they came across the line.

In short, I could not believe it. I was in yellow at the biggest one-week stage race in the world, as a neo-pro, with two days left and a three-minute advantage. This already felt like a win for me. Compared to how I was feeling on the side of the road in Denmark crying because I couldn't understand why I was unable to complete my efforts, to a week later standing on the podium in yellow with my first iconic lion, it was amazing. I genuinely couldn't stop smiling, and together with Maxim, we watched each other up on the podium and enjoyed the success together.

This is where I've been told I announced myself to the cycling world. I went from a relatively unknown rider to suddenly having a real possibility of winning TARA. But I wasn't too concerned about what would happen. The position I was in I could have never imagined. I felt like I had won already. I felt no pressure for the last two stages of the race. All I knew was that I would give my absolute all to try and end with the best result possible, and as long as I did that, I could be proud of myself.

I feel I don't have to give a play-by-play recount of the final two days because I am going to assume most people reading this article also roughly know what happened on those final days. I fought my heart out to keep the jersey on Grand Colombier and only had an advantage of 42 seconds over Matteo Jorgenson, and the following day I suffered like a pig up the Plateau du Solaison and somehow managed to hold onto second on GC.

This was a career-defining result. The result does change my trajectory within professional cycling. It shapes the rider I hope to eventually turn into, and my name is now more widely known. I have the memories of spending two days in the maillot jaune, and they will stay with me for the rest of my life. As I am writing this article two weeks after the race, I've had enough time to reflect on the week and the result I achieved. I am incredibly proud of myself.

But my biggest takeaway upon reflecting was the realisation of how a positive, free, and relaxed mental headspace coming into a race is equally as important as the physical shape you arrive with. A part of me wonders if this side of the sport is often overlooked in pursuit of the smallest possible gains in order to be in better form than our rivals. I wonder if there is some sort of magic in this, enjoying time at home with loved ones, recovering well from racing, not destroying yourself everyday in training, and appreciating the ups and downs of life. It also feels weird for me to comment on this after only being in the WorldTour for six months, and it's something I will continue to think about, but what I can say for sure is that a free mind equals fast legs.

See you soon,

Luke

Can anyone upset the Pogačar show at this year's Tour de France?

Looking through the results of this season so far would suggest that the simple answer is no, they can’t. Outside of the speciality races like Paris-Roubaix, whenever Tadej Pogačar has been on the start line everyone else has been racing for second place.

The stats tell the story more starkly than merely revisiting the performances, thirteen wins from sixteen race days. His worst result is a 12th place but that anomaly is more down to the escapees surviving to dispute the victory than any hint of weakness on the part of the world champion. Domination doesn’t come more clearly than the current 2026 season we have witnessed so far.

Hence, all things considered, Pogačar starts his campaign to join the Tour five-time winners' club as the outright favourite. There isn’t one terrain or stage of this 113th edition that ought to pose a problem.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG are dedicated to ensuring his success, they have no sprinter to complicate the flat stages, the hilly days are covered by Nils Polit, Tim Wellens and Florian Vermeersch and then then there’s the mountain guys who would be leaders in the their own right if on another team: Adam Yates, Brandon McNulty and Isaac Del Toro. The last spot looks like being between Jay Vine and Pavel Sivakov with either bridging the all important role of being strong enough to help Politt and co. on the flatter days but also perfectly capable of being there deep into a mountain stage.

You can moan about all that talent being in one team but that’s how it’s always been: the best team attracts the biggest sponsors with the deepest pockets and the resulting successes attract the best riders. In terms of recruitment, UAE have built the machine that allows Pogačar to function and if plan A doesn’t work out, they have riders like Del Toro waiting to take over. The Mexican might be starting his first Tour but he’s there with an eye on the future and to take some of the pressure off Pogačar if the opportunity presents itself.

Challenging such domination is going to be difficult however one rider is sure to try, and that rider is Jonas Vingegaard. Visma-Lease a Bike losing Wout van Aert to injury will affect their race but the Giro d’Italia confirmed that Vingegaard is back to his climbing best and will push Pogačar to his limit in the highest mountains.

The opening team time trial and the individual TT of stage 16 are where I expect the Visma leader to be most worried. Both occasions look to be days where time is lost rather than gained, perhaps not by much, but psychologically it means that Vingegaard then has to be wondering where he can take those seconds back. With Pogačar’s current form, there won’t be many chances until the final week and the double Alpe d’Huez finishes.

Visma have a great team and it’s perhaps not as great as UAE in every role, however the Tour always comes down to a rivalry between two riders. In this era that’s been Tadej Pogačar versus Jonas Vingegaard and I don't expect that to change here, if anything Vingegaard looks to be climbing on par with his rival so the bonus seconds and the TTs could be the deciding factors. They’ll certainly influence the tactics between the two big names.

The fight between the rest

Now for the riders behind the two big names. Normally I would have said this is where Remco Evenepoel sits, however he’s been very quiet since the Classics and there’s no race form indicating where he sits in the hierarchy.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe had a decent enough Giro d'Italia with Jai Hindley on the podium but the Tour is another level higher again and seeing as Vingegaard cruised through that race doing enough to win but not going too deep, I expect to see the Australian in the service of Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz in France. The latter may have just won the Tour of Slovenia but he hasn’t beaten any of the riders he will be in direct competition with this year for a top-five place and I don’t see that changing.

Del Toro and Paul Seixas will be thinking the same and that’s before you include Juan Ayuso or Mattias Skjelmose. The young German will profit from Evenepoel taking most of the pressure, but this year looks like being a bumper edition where everyone turns up with a defined goal and the candidates for the top 10 are numerous.

The main interest of all the newcomers has to be Paul Seixas of Decathlon CMA CGM, a team who are now back to being a GC squad after a brief period of restructuring around one day racing. The hype around Seixas seems to be justified and though he hasn’t raced Grand Tour or any stage race even remotely close to them in length, the signs are there.

The pressure will certainly be on him and the start in Barcelona is perfect terrain to show just how good he can be. Surviving to the final week is an altogether different matter but until then he will be influential in how that top 10 is raced. The second week's terrain is far from easy and ideal for attacking riders which, given how we’ve seen Seixas race so far, will be ideal for him. I don’t think we will be disappointed with his performances whilst he is in the race, though him withdrawing as the Tour heads towards the Alps may not be a surprise either.

Netcompany Ineos are in a difficult situation with their leaders for the Tour. Oscar Onley has had a bit of a nightmare season after transferring from Picnic PostNL. DNF at Paris-Nice, Romandie and the Dauphiné and he’s not sure to start, which may remove one issue in who is team leader, but it adds another because none of Kevin Vauquelin, Thymen Arensman or Carlos Rodríguez seem likely to be battling with Lipowitz, Seixas and Del Toro. They might finish with them some days but it’ll be the exception to the norm for them.

The opening TTT is the Ineos' big chance to be in the limelight and that middle week struggle through the Massif Central where Vauquelin, if he’s out of the GC squabble, has the perfect terrain for his battling style. One thing is for sure, their press conference will say they have multiple options for the GC, but realistically, they won’t be surrounding any of the big names.

For me, the only British hope for success is Tom Pidcock, who doesn’t have to pretend he’s riding for the overall classification and can concentrate on stage wins instead. That is a goal which he can certainly reach and one which ought to suit his characteristics more than being quiet, careful and staying patient until the last week. In terms of producing a stellar one-day performance Pidcock is up there with the best. The tricky part at the Tour is delivering on the chosen day.

The points classification looks like being the hardest to decipher. Tim Merlier, Jasper Philipsen, Jordi Meeus, Olav Kooij, Binian Girmay, Dorian Godon, and Mads Pedersen will be looking at each of the 7 sprint stages in detail. Three opportunities in the opening segment, then after the first rest day there are two flat stages in the middle week and two more in the final part – though one of them, the Paris finish, has Montmartre to negotiate.

Soudal-QuickStep and Alpecin have the teams to control and set up a big bunch sprints because neither have a proper GC rider to protect. The same for NSN and Girmay but to a much lesser extent, and it’s a similar role for Lotto Intermarché and Arnaud De Lie. Mads Pedersen has Ayuso and Skjelmose riding a GC race at Lidl-Trek but he has the advantage that the lumpy second week opens the possibility of infiltrating the break and accumulating points that way.

All in all it ought to be a fascinating Tour de France. Will Tadej Pogačar make it five wins, will a fully fit Jonas Vingegaard outclimb everyone and will Remco Evenepoel revisit the Paris podium? Then there’s Paul Seixas for whom the whole of France expects a performance that gives them hope that one day they'll see one of theirs on that top step again. Not long until these questions are answered.

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Hello everyone! When Cyclingnews, and more specifically the wonderful human that is Josh Croxton, first approached me roughly a month ago and floated the idea of writing my own column for their website, I was a young and relatively unknown rider within the WorldTour. Fast forward to the middle of June as I've started to write this first piece and that situation is now very different.

Hi, my name is Luke Tuckwell. I am a 21-year-old Australian professional cyclist for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. 2026 is my first year as a rider in the WorldTour and for the past two years I have been studying a communications degree online. So, when Josh initially pitched the idea for my own column, I immediately jumped on it due to my passion for journalism and love for communicating stories and experiences.

In this first piece I will explain my story, where I started, how I got to Europe, and ultimately how I ended up in the position that I am in today. I hope you enjoy the read, there will be plenty more to come!

Where did I start?

I actually don’t remember the day I said I wanted to ride a bike. I was so young that to me it has always been the norm. But I trace it back to a series of moments that my parents have subsequently told me.

For this part the Australian readers will know what I am talking about, but for the rest of you, as a toddler I was obsessed with the Australian kids' show 'The Wiggles’. They were mostly well known for the colour of their shirts. The lead character Greg wore yellow, Murray wore red, and Anthony wore blue. During this stage of my life my dad also began regularly watching the Tour de France, more specifically the morning thirty minute highlight package that SBS ran. Unfortunately for me, these highlights coincided with episodes of The Wiggles. So, in order for dad to stay up to date with the race and for his toddler to be satisfied, he tricked me into thinking that The Wiggles was the Tour. I think you can imagine how that turned out; a young Luke screaming "Go Greg!" at the top of his lungs as Lance Armstrong danced away from his rivals in the Alps.

I attribute this manipulation of a child’s mind by his father as the reason why I am completely obsessed with cycling today. Cycling has been ingrained into my life for the best part of fifteen years now, and I think my love for the sport is the biggest factor to my success and enjoyment of riding my bike.

My transition From Australia to Europe

I was a slow progresser in the Australian junior scene. I was in and around the podium regularly, but I wasn’t a prolific winner and didn’t score any national titles. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the hugely successful domestic team InForm TMX Make for my second junior year, which also happened to be the first year I went to Europe.

Let me take you back to November 2021. I was sitting in the kitchen alone and received an Instagram DM from Simon Clarke, one of the most successful and well respected Australian pros there has been. I was stunned, 17-year-old Luke couldn’t believe the notification on his phone. Anyways, Simon’s message in short entailed the details of a potential opportunity to go and race in Italy the following year for a few months. I immediately said yes before consulting my parents.

Over the next few months, together with Simon and my parents, we fleshed out the details and booked the flights for three months in Italy between April and July. And so 17-year-old Luke, in his final year of high school, waved goodbye to his family at Sydney airport bound for Rome.

The first week in Italy was horrible. I was incredibly homesick, to the point where if a taxi pulled up outside where I was living bound for the airport, I would have jumped into it immediately.

My first race was a week after arriving and it was the last thing I wanted to do. I went anyway without any expectations and saw it as a good first experience in the European peloton. I think during this first race I spent roughly 90% of the race in the last twenty positions on the road questioning my life choices as Italian teenagers pushed each other off the road with 80km still to go until the finish. The 10km lap we raced around consisted of a singular, gradual 3-4km climb to the finish, and the second last time up I somehow made it to the front. The legs felt good, and I launched an attack. Of course no one had any idea who I was so no one followed, and I began my pursuit towards the breakaway a minute ahead of the bunch. I eventually caught the breakaway, continued on riding with them sitting in my wheel, and subsequently dropped them on the final time up the climb to the finish.

I won my first race in Europe. Solo. A pretty good way to start my European racing career if I must say.

I quickly drew interest from a few individuals within the sport, and after another win in late June I decided that Trinity Racing was my destination for the 2023 season, my first year as a U23 rider. The following year I did what every young Australian rider does and moved to Girona in Spain, and got my head kicked in at the limited races I did in the second half of the year. I would be lying if I wasn’t a bit apprehensive to how the 2024 season would go, and so I returned back to Europe in February 2024 for my second year with Trinity.

Things started clicking

I could ramble on here about how I progressed throughout the 2024 season and all the ups and downs I experienced, but in short I had a great year. I was hyper-focused on nailing the first six months of the year, and making sure I was on the start line of the Giro Next Gen in June.

I got my first top 10 GC result in May in Ronde de l’Isard where I finished sixth. That was followed the next week by a fifth in the Belgian one-day race Flèche Ardennaise. At this point I was well and truly on track to be at the start of the Giro in Aosta, and in Aosta I was. I spent two long weeks up at altitude in Tignes solo prior to the race, and was in flying form from the beginning of the race. Coming into the last weekend of the race I was in the top 10 overall, then spilled out of it, and on the final day I pulled the first breakaway stunt of my career and snuck back into GC and finished 10th. The first big result of my career.

During the race John Wakefield from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe approached me expressing their interest in me. They were excited by my style of racing and my development trajectory. John also explained the team’s plans of forming a development team for the 2025 season and, following my performance at the Giro Next Gen, I had a Zoom meeting with the team. Within the week, I was contracted to the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe Rookies for the 2025 season.

The year that changed my life

I was blown away by the entire Red Bull organisation. Coming from a relatively small development team in Trinity Racing and stepping into the first day of the team's October camp in Austria with the likes of Primož Roglič and Jai Hindley sitting in the same room, cycling fanboy Luke couldn’t believe the position he was in.

I started slow last year. I had two great opportunities to race with the WorldTour team in Mallorca as well as Andalucia in the first two months of the year before I shifted my focus to the first big goal of the year, U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège. I put in a solid performance finishing eighth but I felt as if I was far from my best.

Prior to the 2025 edition of the Giro Next Gen I spent three weeks in Andorra on an altitude training camp together with the rest of the Rookies team. I had an exceptional few weeks of training and was feeling the best I had ever felt on the bike, so confidence was high heading into the Giro once again. I was looking for another good GC result in the race, with the minimum expectation of exceeding my 10th place from the year prior.

After the first uphill test of the race on stage 3 I found myself sitting in third overall, with my team mate Lorenzo Finn sitting in second behind the previous year's winner Jarno Widar. Collectively as a team, we saw a golden opportunity to put some pressure on the race leader on the fifth stage to try and launch one of us into the leader's jersey. After a flurry of attacks midway during the stage I found myself in a group of ten other riders that slowly rode away from the maglia. We crossed the line a minute and forty five seconds ahead of Widar, and I had taken the maglia rosa for the first time. This was the second GC break away stunt of my career.

As I crossed the finish line and made my way towards my soigneur, I was overjoyed. My dad had travelled over from Australia for the duration of the race and he couldn’t contain his excitement. I couldn’t quite believe I was in the race lead of such a prestigious event with only three stages remaining, but my focus quickly shifted towards defending the jersey with an eye on winning the race overall. The following day was relatively uneventful and I retained my lead without any problems. I headed into the Queen stage with a slender margin over second place. Stage 7 also happened to be my 21st birthday, so I can’t begin to describe how incredible of an experience it was to race in the maglia rosa on my birthday. I unfortunately lost half of my margin on this day, and I would go into the final day looking to hold on to win the race.

I unfortunately did not win. Slovenian star Jakob Omrzel dropped me on the final climb and won the race by 12 seconds. I was heartbroken. I felt I had come so close to winning the biggest U23 race in the world and the chance slipped through my fingers.

The thing that did help with the disappointment was that in the following two weeks, I was offered a WorldTour contract. This moment was the culmination of years of hard work and a childhood dream of one day becoming a professional cyclist.

Although I would continue to beat myself up about what happened on the final day in the Giro for a long time afterwards, the realisation that I would be pro for the following season allowed me to slowly move on. But the pain of losing a bike race would seem like a drop of water a few months later.

After fighting chronic illness for the prior two and a half years, my younger sister Antonia’s health had taken a turn for the worst. I immediately rushed back to Australia in the first week of September and thankfully made it home in time to be there for her final days. I couldn’t quite comprehend the curveball life had thrown at myself and my family, where all of us only two months earlier were celebrating my first pro contract, to now all of us sitting together in a hospital room.

Losing my sister has been the most painful experience of my life. It took a very long time for it to actually feel true, but I was determined to continue to give my all in my career in honour of her. It is the only way she would have wanted me to live out my life.

New beginnings

And so 2026 rolled around and so did my first year as a professional cyclist. I moved to Andorra, like the majority of professionals do once they turn pro. I had my first serious December training camp with the entire team in Mallorca, and I started my season in Australia at the Tour Down Under, which is a race that is close to the heart of all Australians. It was the first time my entire family had the opportunity to come and watch me race at the highest level.

Little did I know that after the year that 2025 was, 2026 would find a way to outdo it. In my next piece next week I'll dive into it and the experience that was this year's Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

See you then!

To save you time and so you already have the idea in your head whilst you're reading this article, the main thing I have learnt so far in a year and a half as a professional athlete is that less is more.

In 2024, I completed my final school exams, called A-levels in the UK, at my local sixth form. These exams normally lead you to start a university degree, an apprenticeship, or whatever journey you desire in post-compulsory education, which finishes at 18 in the UK. My schooling and formal education ended there, but of course, learning never stops; we learn new things every day. So what have I learnt over almost one and a half years in the professional cycling peloton, whilst also moving to, and living alone in, a different country at 18?

First of all, I can briefly yet completely summarise that learning another language is extremely difficult. As a typical British person who underwent five years of compulsory language education in secondary school - French in my case - I still can’t even string together a sentence in the language now. Therefore, learning Spanish since moving to Andorra has been a very painful process, but slowly I'm getting there (and I very much love life here in the mountains). Don't get me started on Catalan, though. It is the official language of Andorra, and looks similar to Spanish, yet it is completely incomprehensible to a poor Spanish speaker like myself.

I chose to move to Andorra for many reasons, but mostly because I believe it’s a great place for training: the many high mountain passes and flat valley roads, an endless number of people to train with, and a great support system, from physios to personal trainers, thanks to Movistar. But also, the more practical adult reason was that due to Brexit, it was much easier to gain residency here than to obtain a Spanish visa, for example.

So, fresh from the days of balancing school with cycling, I'm now solely focused on living a life where the everyday goal is to be the best athlete I can be. Time and energy seemed to be in much greater abundance than my previous days, which were filled with full-time education and exam revision, alongside training towards a professional contract and, of course, racing. Naturally, the extra time was an utterly lovely and blissful thing: to wake up at will, fuel the day's training, and leave for it whenever I felt like it. However, after some months of training and racing full-time, that extra energy became problematic.

I write this article in May, which has been a reflective month for me. Last year, just like this year, I focused the early part of the season on the Classics, took a few easy, restful days after that block, and then had a big, long period throughout May to train again for the next big goal. This year, it's the Giro d'Italia at the start of June. Of course, the normal thing to do nowadays when granted a long training period focused on one competition is to go to altitude. However, unlike last year, there is no altitude for me this year.

In 2025, I started my first-ever altitude block in Sierra Nevada, Spain, alone. I'm someone who loves the process – the day-to-day training – just as much or even sometimes more than the outcome, the racing. I'm the annoying athlete who is always pushing the coach's limits to increase the amount of training set on TrainingPeaks. I think this is for two reasons: one, because I love to be busy, years of balancing school work and cycling always meant there wasn’t much time for sitting down on the sofa, and now with all this extra time, sometimes it feels strange not doing something productive with it, such as more training.

And the other thing, as I have alluded to, is that I just really enjoy riding my bike. Therefore, when the concept of simply waking up and focusing on training every day – still a fairly new and idyllic phenomenon to me – was combined with being in an environment such as sleeping at 2,400 metres to reach peak performance, the feeling of reaching that goal of being the best you can be looms as near as it will ever be. It is extremely motivating to do everything possible to better that possibility. Because, of course, we always want more.

My time in Sierra Nevada was amazing. I enjoyed carrying out the smaller extra processes that take place at altitude, the sole focus of waking up and completing that day's training without any distractions and the heightened attention to fueling. However, I had been warned about how easy it was to overcook yourself or underfuel, or both. At altitude, the norm of my training became doing 20 to 30 minutes longer than my carefully planned TrainingPeaks session every day. For many reasons, mostly because I believed it was the appropriate thing to be ‘tough’ on myself to become better. But an additional factor became the boring concept of returning to my accommodation with nothing else to do that day other than eat and sleep.

Time is unimaginably in abundance when staying in the ‘centro de alto rendimiento’. Shortened to and commonly called the CAR, it is a surprisingly well-known building in the world of endurance sports. The translation of the CAR's name into English is 'the high performance centre'. You'd think the goal of a business's name should be to make the product sound a bit more exciting than it is; however, the CAR is truly unique in that the brand name describes the only activities available at Sierra Nevada in May. Not even the lone 90m squared supermarket is open in between the winter and summer seasons, so there is very much nothing to do other than 'high performance'.

On top of pushing the time to the boundaries of turning that session on TrainingPeaks yellow (an indicator on the platform that a training session has been completed to less than or more than 20% of the total time planned), most of the time, my power would be near the absolute highest watts it could be for zone two. Alongside those extra minutes and unnecessarily increased intensity, I continued to strictly follow the nutrition plan uploaded at the start of the week, and based on the week's upcoming training, without thinking about increasing that intake due to the extra calories I was burning.

Therefore, as you can imagine, training up there was going relatively badly, but that was easy to put down to the fact that I was doing altitude for the first time. It's expected to see much lower numbers; it’s normal to be finishing training every day completely wasted and empty, that is how peak performance will come. But, day-by-day, irrational choice by irrational choice, I was unknowingly digging myself into a big hole.

In the short term, there didn’t seem to be a sign of any problem. I had my first-ever WorldTour win in my first race post-altitude training, yet that month's period still hadn’t come. The success post-altitude turned out to be very short-lived. For the rest of the season, I struggled with fatigue, rarely had a good or normal day in training, and found myself ill much more than usual, which impacted my big goals and hopes for the season.

It felt like I was in a constant battle of trying to understand my body and failing. Sometimes fighting with logic, but most of the time, without logic, and in denial that the problem was so clear. I continued without menstruation for 10 months.

That point just made is why I wanted to share my experience of RED-S. Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport is a syndrome of poor health and declining athletic performance caused by an imbalance between food intake and exercise energy expenditure.

Thankfully, I can say my story with RED-S is quite short: after 10 months, in the off-season on holiday last year, I regained my period (the most telling sign for women), then followed more normal feelings in training and, in general, more normal sensations in my mood and overall energy for life.

I wouldn’t say I’m completely back to normal now. I still have an irregular menstrual cycle, still aim to get more healthy fats into my diet, and as I mentioned before, altitude is completely off the charts for me right now. With the general consensus that putting my body under that much stress again will do more harm than good, even if it is done in the opposite way to last year's doings.

But what did I learn, and what do I put it down to? Those careless and unfueled extra 20 to 30 minutes of training I did at altitude every day? I would say no, although they were likely the start of the problem. The real cause was the lack of logic in my brain that allowed me to justify the decisions and actions made at the altitude camp, and seeing immediate short-term results made those decisions a habit after that solo altitude camp. Until, of course, it clicked in my brain that what I was doing was not a recipe for long-term success, which, of course, in my case as a 19-year-old athlete at the time, should always have been the priority.

In some ways, and because I have to look for some positives in this situation, I would argue that experiencing this very steep learning curve in the first year of turning professional may be the best way to hopefully instill healthy attitudes and thinking going forward. Of course, provided that the learning curve provides lessons, which, for me, it definitely did, as I can say that my experience with RED-S is one I truly hope and believe I will never repeat.

So I share this to hope that what I have learnt can be taught vicariously to anyone willing to listen. Going forward, I am prioritising listening to my body and being patient with progress. I have almost gone full circle back to the start, and I am now considering restarting my studies online. Not because I reminisce on the days of school work and training, but because life, and the world also, is not and cannot be all about cycling. I now realise that for me, it is very important not to be solely reliant on one thing, mainly for perspective on that thing, but also to learn to find happiness and fulfilment in other things that aren’t cycling, because there will come a time when I am not allowed to cycle that day or that month. Or maybe I’m just back in Sierra Nevada in May again. But most importantly, I will be remembering that more is not always more. Less is more.

Buongiorno from Switzerland! Yes it’s the Giro d’Italia but our rest day hotel is in Switzerland ahead of the Swiss stage. I’m sitting here writing whilst overlooking the beautiful Lake Maggiore, the impressive mountains and a clear blue sky on my rest day, a peaceful moment before it all begins again for week three.

Week two is behind us and it was another really good week at the Giro for me. It kicked off with the individual time trial, which was amazing to see Filippo Ganna execute as perfectly as he did, beating everyone by almost two minutes.

But the TT was also extra cool for us because we had a special guest on the ground with TNT Sports and Eurosport, Danish racing driver Tom Kristensen, who is universally regarded as the greatest Le Mans driver of all time, and ‘Mr Le Mans’ as he’s nicknamed is a huge cycling fan. He joined us at dinner for two nights in Pisa and even on our morning run club, and it was really special for me, because I went to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with my dad, my granddad and brother back in 2005, which was the 7th time of the nine times that Tom won, so it was like worlds colliding for me. Might I add, aside from his sporting endeavours, what an excellent and humble man.

As I say, he's a big cycling fan and a rider himself, but there's another cycling connection with Le Mans this year, because Sir Mark Cavendish is going to be the official starter of the race this year, joining legends like LeBron James, Zinedine Zidane, Brad Pitt and Roger Federer in starting that iconic race.

So that was a really nice way to start the week for me personally, but the racing really delivered too. Those wins for Jhonatan Narváez and Alec Segaert really stood out as wins for breakaways and opportunistic racing. With Segaert, it actually wasn't a last-minute opportunity, because he'd been planning it, but still, you've got to get the timing right and get in the right move and ultimately have the legs to pull it off. I just love the thrill and excitement of riders racing like that.

And then that stage that Alberto Bettiol won, that was another absolute thrill, and so good to see. I remember doing a sit-down interview with Bettiol before the Tour de France when it started in Florence in 2024, and we were talking about how he's a rider who doesn't win that many bike races, but when he does win, he wins really big. His first pro win was the Tour of Flanders after all! And I remember him telling me that he was one of the last romantic riders, someone who senses the race and rides on instinct more than numbers or data or new technology, and I think his win on Friday was a really beautiful example of that.

We were back into the mountains on Saturday, and the views at the top of that climb were spectacular, I've never seen anything like it in my life. For us media and TV, we had to take the gondola up to the top, and the finish was at about 2,100m, but we went up even further to about 2,700m where there was still snow in the mountains. It was really amazing up there. From the top you could see the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, Gran Paradiso, amongst others.

The stage itself was obviously also a big one, with Jonas Vingegaard going into pink, but actually what stood out for me was Davide Piganzoli, what a brilliant signing for Visma-Lease a Bike and what an incredible ride. I think that also showed how many extra little tactical things go on in a race like this, with Piganzoli's job to sit on Felix Gall and make sure he didn't give him any help. He's already had some great results himself, but he's also now showing what an amazing domestique he's going to be, and well, already is!

Then the week ended in Milan, and wow, what can I say about Milan? That chase on the city circuit was so exciting, and reminded us just how complicated it is to catch a break on a circuit like that. There were also a lot of questions about why certain teams did and didn't chase, and when I spoke to Decathlon's DS Luke Roberts about why they didn't get involved for Tobias Lund, he basically said that he didn't think they'd win, so why contribute? Which I thought was really interesting. Maybe it was a bluff, or maybe it says something about how they're shifting energy to their overall ambitions with Gall, but either way, it's a really good example of how the racing gets complicated and unpredictable this far into a Grand Tour

Obviously the other story that has made as many headlines as the breakaway win is the GC neutralisation. To give you a bit of insight, on the ground we also just have to piece together the info about what's happening, so on that day we just got a WhatsApp message in our Giro group about the five kilometre rule, and then I heard from someone else the times would actually be taken at 16 kilometres, so it wasn't really clear.

Stages like that do definitely leave you thinking 'how could this have been prevented?'. Obviously teams have tools like Veloviewer and can look at the course and the road surface, but you don't actually know what it's going to be like once the barriers are up or when you're going at over 50kph, so I'm not sure if anyone could have made the decision any earlier. It was also clear to me that it was a super stressful and intense day not just for the riders but for the directors too, who were trying to hand out bottles, service mechanicals, and make sure their riders got back to the bunch, all whilst navigating the twisty turny roads in Milan. The pressure must have been incredible.

A race of opportunity and adaptability

In some ways, the Giro is going into the final week as we might have expected, with Jonas Vingegaard in pink, but actually, there have been loads of unexpected winners and stories and things have changed a lot since Bulgaria.

In many ways, week two was the week of the breakaway, and that wasn't by accident. When Fredrik Dversnes took that win in Milan, I spoke to the Uno-X director Michael Blaudzun and he told me that they'd been planning and hoping to try and outsmart the sprinters and win from that break, and that's what they did. The whole breakaway rode it really smart, and in the end I wanted all of them to get the stage win. It was really a day that they all worked for and deserved, not just a fluke or a mess up from the peloton. Everyone loves to back the breakaway and they've really delivered in this Giro.

The other really big thing for me has been how teams whose Giro maybe hasn't gone to plan have managed to turn it around and still find success. UAE Team Emirates-XRG are obviously the main one, losing Marc Soler, Adam Yates and Jay Vine on day two, ending up without a GC rider, but they've turned it around and already won four stages. It's a really good display of how you can make a new plan and still fight for something, and the importance of determination and not giving up even when things go wrong. I think it’s a good lesson and mentality to have in life too.

Similarly has been Movistar, who came in with overall hopes for Enric Mas, which hasn't really worked out for him, but they've been amazing, fighting for so many stage wins and Mas taking second on that day behind Narváez. So many people I've spoken to – and me included – really want to see Movistar win a stage, because they've been racing so boldly and have so many strong riders, not just Mas but also Einer Rubio, Lorenzo Milesi and Orluis Aular.

The final standout team has definitely been Bahrain Victorious and the way they defended pink. I wrote in my column last week that I thought Afonso Eulálio could hold pink until the end of the second week, and he did, which was amazing to see – not just for him but for the whole team too, with Segaert winning, and Giro veteran Damiano Caruso getting to make his mark on the race again. A big hats off to them – and I'm not just saying that because Afonso very kindly gifted me his special pink glasses!

Obviously the riders being strong and motivated is probably the biggest part of winning, but I think another important thing on the mental side is the role of the sports directors. Teams having fresh ideas in the car, like Movistar with Matt White, is really important, but it's also about having DSs who can guide riders and give them the space to believe that they can do it. Maxime Bouet at Lotto Intermarché has been a good example of that, because their team has had a really disastrous Giro with illness so they're down to only four riders, but he's been keeping the morale high and keeping everyone in good spirits. And the result was that even without their leaders, Toon Aerts sprinted to second on that stage to Novi Ligure, because Bouet had told him even before the Giro that that could be a stage for him.

Another one that will be interesting to see this week is Unibet Rose Rockets with Wout Poels, who is the oldest rider in the race and could not only win the Rockets' first ever Grand Tour win, but also complete his set of GT stage wins. I know he works really closely with Jon Mould and they both have a lot of belief and faith in each other, and that is a big part of the reason why he's able to be up there fighting for wins.

The way I see it and from talking to the teams every day, the important thing is having everyone on board with the plan, and everyone buying into it and trusting each other. The whole team have to believe that it can work, and that's how you get your riders to give their full efforts and commitment.

Things are about to hot up

It's been a fantastic race so far, but the best part is, we still have a really exciting third week ahead of us, and I think things are going to keep hotting up. We still have a really hard week of racing, with no easy days, and the gaps really aren't big – especially when you consider that Vingegaard's biggest GC rival, Felix Gall, is a rider who is always good in the third week of a Grand Tour.

So I think we still have a big fight for the maglia rosa on our hands, with stage 20 and its two ascents of Piancavallo a day that could still shake everything up. I mean, Visma-Lease a Bike know more than anyone how things can change on the penultimate day, given they took the pink jersey on stage 20 in both 2023 and 2025, so it will be interesting how they approach this week. They're well aware that things can change dramatically, and it will also be a very different final week for them, coming in to defend the jersey rather than chase it. I think so far they've raced a really smart, calm and conservative Giro, but they're in pink now and all eyes will be on them.

We've already had loads of different and exciting winners in this Giro, but if there's one thing I'd like to see in this final week, it would definitely be a stage win for Movistar. They've tried so many times, and riders like Milesi and Rubio have been so strong. We're used to seeing dominant riders and teams win, and obviously they work hard and deserve that, but it's always so special to see the teams and riders who are also out there grinding every day finally get rewarded with a win, so I'm hoping for that for Movistar this week.

Jonas Vingegaard is obviously starting this week in the driver's seat, but if this Giro has taught us anything so far, it's that there are opportunities there for the taking, and this final week has plenty of chances to throw some real excitement into the mix. I can't wait to see what happens!

I'm writing this whilst doing what many people on the race will be doing on the Giro d'Italia rest day: waiting for my laundry to finish. After a week on the race, I managed to get a lie-in this morning, and a few hours to have a walk and not think about work, but the time 'off' goes quickly and it won't be long until I'm planning logistics and prepping questions for tomorrow. No complaints, though – sitting here in the sun in Pisa is pretty good.

I'll be penning some regular columns whilst I'm out here at the Giro, taking you behind the scenes of the race and my job at TNT Sports and Eurosport, plus plenty of off-bike anecdotes too, because a lot happens in three weeks! Before we get onto this week in Italy, I wanted to give you a little introduction to what my job looks like, and what goes into the stuff you see on TV.

Despite what some people think, it's just me and my cameraman, Bob, in our car, doing all the driving, which can be a lot here in Italy, as well as all the filming, interviews and planning for three weeks. It can be a long time to spend with one person, and some long and busy days, but we've done a few Grand Tours together now, which definitely helps, and we’ve become great friends.

A typical day will always start with a good breakfast – pretty cake and crostata heavy here in Italy, plus a cappuccino and an espresso to set me up for the day – and then I'll spend some time preparing for the day: reading the news, thinking about who I need to speak to at the start, what the storylines and questions of the day will be. Then we'll head to the start, and it's always straight to the buses for me. We have other reporters on the ground talking to the riders at the start, but I'm on team and DS duty.

It's always a nice atmosphere at the start with the caravan, fans, upbeat music, so we'll usually do a bit of a lap, where usually a team will offer us a coffee or a drink, or even a stroopwafel the other day (thank you to Karol at Visma). There's a lot of camaraderie and respect, and it helps just getting to know people too, so it's a really nice vibe. Workwise, our job at the start is for Bob to get some pre-race footage of riders and warm-ups, mechanics preparing the bikes, and I'll do maybe six or seven interviews with DSs, dissecting the stage to come and the racing so far.

We might also do a quick piece to camera with some of the other Eurosport presenters on the ground, chatting about the stage or what we've just heard from the directors or picked up on at the start. It's our job to be the eyes and ears on the ground, taking you guys at home, and the pundits in the studio, inside the race and the storylines.

For Bob and me, the next part of our day will be to drive the course to the finish and again be those on-the-ground eyes, so if we spot anything interesting, like a really hard part of a climb or a dodgy road surface or the excited fans, we'll jump out and do another piece for the broadcast. A good example was the other day when a sudden downfall of rain washed loads of debris onto the climb at the Red Bull KM, and we were there to show it – something riders and teams probably hadn't even seen yet – so that course recon part of the day is really important.

Then, we'll hotfoot it to the finish where again my job is to be at the buses interviewing directors and getting instant reaction to the stage. I'll usually try to speak to the team of the winner, as well as any main protagonists, about any action or drama on the day. Bob and I will literally run around the buses doing this, so we definitely get our steps in on a Grand Tour day. At least I don't have to carry the heavy camera.

Especially with the element of live TV, you might think these finishes are stressful, but to be honest, that's not the word I'd use; I'd more say it's just high adrenaline. There are definitely times you don't get exactly what you hoped for, like on Sunday when Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe weren't ready to talk after Giulio Pellizzari's tough day on the Corno alle Scale, but the truth is, there's always another story and another person to talk to, so it's never a disaster.

I'm a person who always wants to throw myself into everything, and I always want to give my all, but I think that works in this job where you're always running around. I try to give 100% every day to deliver the best thing possible, so as long as I finish the day knowing I've tried my best, then I know I can be satisfied. On a Grand Tour, there's never an easy day or a chance to take your foot off the gas, but that's not really in my nature anyway.

Plus, as I said before, we have a real mutual respect with the teams, we know we're all just doing our jobs, so fortunately everyone is usually very happy to talk to me, and once you've been here for a few weeks, you build a really nice rapport with them too.

I started thinking about who my favourite teams to talk to at the moment are, but honestly, I can't pick one – as soon as I think of a few, I think of ten more that I'm not mentioning. Really we just have a good relationship with all the teams, no one's really difficult, and you get to know who is good to talk to, who will give insightful answers and a good chat.

First week highlights – Hannah-dona and la vita dolce

I only came out to the race on the travel day from Bulgaria this year, so I've only been here a week, but already so much has happened; it's hard to pick highlights, because every day is such a buzz. One thing I'm really enjoying at the moment is doing the live chats with The Breakaway studio, and they've been really good – just asking quick questions, on the move, and getting really authentic reactions.

This means it's often quite small things that end up being highlights for me; I'll remember interviews that were funny or entertaining as much as ones that gave really insightful answers. One good moment this week was when I was talking to Red Bull DS Christian Pömer, and he had his sandwich he'd not managed to eat during the stage, and we just had a little joke about that. I like those moments where you go from being serious and talking about tactics to those moments of just human realness and funny interactions.

There's also obviously the embarrassing but in hindsight quite funny moment you've probably seen, where I was practising my football skills at the start one day with some keepy-uppies, and managed to kick the ball right into a man's face. He's fine, just to confirm, and I got a lot of messages about how I'd had people in stitches, but it was mortifying at the time. The Breakaway team have nicknamed me Hanna-dona because of it, after the Argentinian legend, so I don't think I'm going to live that one down any time soon (though we just bought a football on the rest day, so watch this space for more skills…)

But some of my favourite moments are the ones you'd never see on TV. The other day, we were driving to Blockhaus, and we hadn't managed to get lunch at the start, but there was just nowhere on the way into the mountains; we were getting desperate. We stopped in this tiny village, hoping a cheese shop might be able to make us a sandwich, but no luck, so our last option was a little trattoria a few doors down.

It was a tiny little family-run place, with the mum cooking and the son waiting, but they couldn't have been more welcoming, making us the most simple but delicious spaghetti, which the Nonna put in trays so we could get back on the road, as well as a really good caffe macchiato. It was a small moment and so basic but also so wholesome, and they even sent me a really sweet message on Instagram later. So sometimes it's these just really lovely moments away from the race where people are just being kind and friendly that are the ones you remember. The days can be long, and it's hard work, but when you're eating pasta in Italy in the summer, and this is your job – what could be better?

An open, exciting race

Racing-wise, I've really enjoyed this year's Giro so far, because there have been so many storylines, intrigue and different stage winners. One thing that's been really nice to see is how UAE Team Emirates-XRG have bounced back from a really torrid start to win three stages, two with Jhonatan Narváez and, of course, that crazy stage with Igor Arrieta – I don't think I've ever seen a stage like it.

That day as well was also super poignant because Afonso Eulálio went into pink, exactly five years to the day since Gino Mäder won his first Giro stage for Bahrain Victorious. I interviewed Aart Vierhouten, the Bahrain sports director, afterwards, and, of course, it was a special moment for them to claim pink for the first time, but it was also really emotional and apt to do it on that day in particular.

Of course you never want to ask someone about something like that, but it was also really special to talk about Gino. My voice was breaking asking the question, and the DS was welling up too, and it just shows how Bahrain are still always riding for Gino. I think it's important to remember the human, emotional part, as well as the racing.

Seeing new riders and teams win has also been great, like Paul Magnier coming in and beating the favourite Jonathan Milan in the sprints, and of course Davide Ballerini's hugely deserved victory in Naples; that was just magic. Thomas Silva winning a stage and going into pink as the first Uruguayan to ride the Giro, too, that was amazing, and it's been so cool seeing his family here and seeing the Uruguayan flags every day.

As for the GC, obviously Jonas Vingegaard is still the favourite, but it's been amazing how close Felix Gall has been pushing him. I've been speaking to Decathlon nearly every day, and it's clear they're here to fight and get Gall ahead of the days where he might lose time. Jonas too is really focused and locked in, but staying calm; with Felix often coming good in the final week of the Grand Tour, I think Jonas has a real battle on his hands.

And that's all assuming that Afonso is going to lose the jersey, as he's been riding amazingly. Franco Pellizzoti was telling me how they have to really guide him through the stages and remind him to keep calm and in control, but he's learning really quickly, and with the stages to come, if he can keep the lead in the TT, he could keep pink until the end of the week.

Straight back to it

Once I've figured out how to use this Italian tumble dryer, my day – or few hours – off will be over, and we'll be back to thinking about racing with Tuesday's time trial. Studying the course, preparing some questions, and working out our mission for the day.

For me, I'll be at the start in Viareggio, chatting to directors about the race and pacing strategies, plus scoping out some new tech and the riders' set-ups. That's a fun part of TT days, because teams often like to keep the bikes and equipment under wraps, so it's really cool when Bob and I go out and spot new things.

The only thing I'm hoping for is that it's sunny, because I'll be running around at the start all day, and it can be a long day, which is never fun when it's raining. Although like I said, with the camaraderie on the race, it's never that bad. For last year's TT in Pisa, the weather was awful - my cameraman Marco and I dodging the rain - but Movistar got loads of pizzas in, and they shared them with us and looked after us all day.

Whatever happens, it will be another great day and week on the Giro, and there's nowhere I'd rather be right now. See you on the next rest day!

Today, my normal race column will be replaced by an account of a future race, rather than a past one. Amstel Gold Race was the race intended; however, due to my crash and problems in Roubaix (my story on that is available to read here on Cyclingnews), I had to take some days off the bike, focusing on a lot of physio for a small knee problem. Therefore, there was no Amstel for me. This opened up the opportunity to attend the 2027 Tour de France Femmes presentation event in London last Monday.

The capital city is where the third stage of the 2027 edition will be held, a team time trial passing all of London's iconic landmarks. As well as the announcement of stage 3's TTT sightseeing tour, the full routes for the first two stages through Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield, including the elevation, distance, all the climbs, corners, and challenging Yorkshire roads, were revealed to the public.

A Grand Départ in Leeds means a 40-minute drive to the start of the 2027 Tour de France from my childhood home. Pretty easy work for my travel plan for the logistics team at Movistar, and hopefully an additional reason to help me with selection. The full stage 3 route is still to come; it will be released in October, along with the rest of the route - but I did get a sneak peek at stage 3's course, and it's going to be incredibly exciting.

It was really an honour for me to be there at the event. I've never been to a Grand Tour presentation before, so to get to go to my first (hopefully of many) Grand Tour presentation in London for a home Tour de France was really special. We spent time taking pictures on The Mall (the road leading to Buckingham Palace), where the TTT will be held, and the rest of the day was filled with various press conferences. To be part of a panel at these press conferences with so many leading and influential women in cycling and sport as a whole made it a really memorable day for me.

The women alongside me were Sally Munday (CEO, UK Sport), Zoe Stratford (2025 Rugby World Cup-winning captain of the Red Roses), Tracy Power (Managing Director, British Cycling), Kate Veronneau (Director of Women's Strategy, Zwift), Alice Barnes (former professional cyclist, now commentator), Flora Perkins (professional cyclist for Fenix-Premier Tech), and Marion Rousse (Race Director, Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift). 


Stratford's role in particular stood out to me. Listening to her speak about winning the 2025 rugby World Cup in front of a home crowd in London last year, what it did for her and for women’s rugby across Britain, and what the Tour de France Femmes can hopefully do for cycling in the UK when it comes here next year.

When the Tour de France came to Yorkshire in 2014 - my home county - I was one of the kids on the roadside watching, and I still remember exactly where I watched it from, 15 minutes by bike from my home, where my mum and dad still live. Every time I pass that spot on a training ride when I'm back home, I am still reminded of where I watched the Tour zoom by when it came to Yorkshire in that iconic year. So I guess that says it all to you how much the Tour coming to the UK impacted me as an 8-year-old girl watching the biggest bike race in the world on her home roads.

I'm always grateful to have joined the peloton at this time. It's something I say a lot as I really mean it, but when an opportunity like this comes around as well, it's even more mind-blowing knowing how lucky I am to be here. It's not a given, of course, that I'll be on the start line next year, but whether I am in the peloton or standing on the roadside supporting, I will be part of the amazing event that we have coming our way in some form, and I urge as many people as possible to do the same.

We all need to get behind this once-in-a-lifetime race and make it the most successful and most-watched sporting event in the UK. It's free to watch; therefore, why can't it be the most-watched sporting event in UK history? That is the aim, as mentioned at the event in London.

The Tour de France is the race everyone thinks of when they think of cycling. If we can show more about the team tactics in the overall GC, the real meaning of a stage win in the Tour and the emotions of the iconic yellow jersey, then I can't see why everyone won't fall in love with cycling. I think of the Tour de France like a Netflix TV show. In July, when the Tour's on, I know exactly what time each stage starts and ends every day. It's like a series where, when the day's stage ends, I'm already thinking about the next episode coming out tomorrow. And if it's a rest day for them, it's a bad day for me.

What I'm trying to say is that I want the 2027 Tour, both men’s and women’s, to lead to more people getting on bikes. I want more people to find the same love for cycling that I have every single day I'm on a bike or at a race, and I think this is the biggest and best platform to facilitate this wish. It doesn't matter the number, for me, I just hope more people can see the Tour, believe they can do it too and get out on bikes themselves. It doesn't matter whether you go on to join the WorldTour professional peloton or just become an expert at knowing a good brownie when you see one at a cafe on a weekend bike ride with your local ride group. Sport is an incredible thing. In my opinion, it's a way of teaching all the desirable qualities in life; commitment, communication skills, patience, determination, drive and joy: all in an almost perfect balance.

It seems simple, but of course it's an absolute blessing and a privilege to do sport, and especially cycling. It's not something everybody can do because there are many barriers, but I also hope that this is something that can get easier after the Tour. After all, growth is never linear but exponential.

For now, there is still a whole other Tour de France to tackle before even thinking about 2027's edition. I will manage my excitement by taking a look at the stage 1 and 2 routes the next time I'm at home. They aren't exactly my home training roads, as mentioned previously, I live about an hour away from Leeds. But they are the home roads of my best friend, Imogen Wolff (Visma-Lease a Bike), and we are already planning our recons for the two stages. Potentially a small bikepacking trip across three days (no camping involved, however, strictly hotels only), splitting the second stage into two might even be the best idea, as it is an absolute brute. 3,000 metres of elevation gain over 150km, which doesn’t sound as much as it is due to the nature of the roads. The roads in Yorkshire are rural, ever-changing and momentum-sucking, normally making for an unexpectedly low average speed.

I think stage 2 will significantly impact the GC. It's great to have the Tour in the UK, but it's amazing to have the Tour in Yorkshire, knowing it will be a stage for the GC riders and will impact the race overall. 


Like I said, though, first there is still the 2026 Tour de France to come; this year's race starts in Switzerland, and for me, having Marlen Reusser on our team, who is Swiss, of course, makes it a big goal for the team. I would love, love, love to be there to support her. And even hopefully gain some experience thinking ahead, as always, to the 2027 Tour de France.

That was an amazing win for Wout van Aert at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. It wasn't hard to see what the emotions meant for him, his family and his team, and my heart was with him too.

Van Aert has had such bad luck at Roubaix in the past, at bad times and crucial moments, as well as all the other accidents and setbacks he's had, so to come back and to win it, my God, it was an amazing ride.

He was the one who initiated the attacks with that leading group, and he was on the limit at times when Tadej Pogačar really pushed him, but it just shows that when you're a big champion, you can be really under pressure, but you can still dig so deep and keep on believing. That's exactly what he did – you could see the efforts he had to make on some sections with Pogačar and how close he was riding, but tactically he rode just a perfect race.

That said, when it was just the two of them in that long finale, I really couldn't pick a winner. Pogačar was putting Van Aert in difficulty a lot of times, and he kept trying on every long section until there just wasn't anywhere left to try.

Even when they got to the finish, and I realised Pogačar was going to bank on his sprint – which he can do very well at the end of a long race – I was afraid he might beat Van Aert, because my heart really was for Wout, because of his story and what he's been through.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who felt that, because it's clear that Van Aert is a very liked and respected guy in the peloton. He's a rider who will always do his share of work, maybe too much sometimes, but it's also about the person he is outside of the races, and he's a good guy.

Even when things go bad, he's able to control his feelings and reactions well. Ever since he came from cyclo-cross, we've been saying that he was going to win many Classics, and he has struggled to do that, for various reasons, but he didn't let those things get to him. I think that's why he was such a popular winner yesterday.

I don't think there's anybody in the peloton who doesn't like Wout van Aert – other riders probably wouldn't have as much support from their rivals as he did yesterday.

Take nothing away from Pogačar, but when a rider like that who wins so often is up against a guy who has been fighting for a victory for so long, you do start feeling like Van Aert deserves a win. But it's nothing against Pogačar: he's an unbelievable champion. Look at the last rider who won Paris-Roubaix as a Tour de France champion, you have to go all the way back to Bernard Hinault, so let's not forget that what he's doing in these Monuments is still unbelievable, even if he didn't get the five in a row on Sunday.

I think that record was probably in Pogačar's head in the finale, thinking 'this is my chance to win Roubaix and get the five Monuments' and when you're out there, you can feel that pressure. But you just have to focus on the road ahead of you and stick to the plan, which he did, but it just wasn't enough to get rid of Van Aert this time. There's nothing more he could have done in the sprint, but you could see how disappointed he was when he came across the line.

Pogačar said after the race that he'll be back, but maybe not next year, but I think that could just be the disappointment talking. He had other problems yesterday, with that first mechanical and bike change and then the second puncture when he was in the front, and he probably paid for that in the final. You just hate missing an opportunity when it's so close. So when you ask a guy at the end of a horrible day like that when he'll be back, whilst he's still majorly disappointed, it's not the question you want to hear, and it's easy to say 'yeah, I don't know when I'll be back'.

But to be honest, he has to come back. He knows he's capable of winning it, and failing to beat Van Aert in a sprint doesn't change that.

In the chaos of the cobbles, being calm is important

There were so many incidents and mechanicals yesterday, with every big rider having an issue at some point, and I was trying to think if there was a reason, but to be honest, I couldn't think of one specific factor.

I think what ended up making a difference was how the riders reacted. Van Aert had two key mechanicals, the same as Pogačar, but I don't think he had to burn as much energy to get back on either time. He took a bit longer, maybe, but he stayed calm and didn't panic at all, just kept his cool and took his time to ride back on. That was calculated and confident, and ultimately important.

Whereas with Pogačar, when he had to take the Shimano neutral bike, he did panic. The race was on and he had to make a big effort to get back. But also, when you watch it on the TV, it's easy to say to yourself, 'Why was there not more communication with his teammates? Why didn't someone stop and give him their bike?' But it's so much harder when you're there on the cobbles. With all the noise, the spectators, the shouting, the cars and bikes going over the cobbles, you can't hear each other, you might not even hear your radio, so that communication isn't easy, it all just gets lost.

Mathieu van der Poel's incident in the Trouée d'Arenberg was obviously the worst – the worst problem at the very worst moment. Riding a bike whose pedals he couldn't clip into was obviously impossible, so they probably should have just made the wheel change immediately, but it's a panic situation, so you don't always get it right.

For Van der Poel, it's probably even more frustrating because he was clearly on a very good day. He said he thought his race was over on the Arenberg, and his movements and body language did look that way at first, but he got going again. In those situations, it's important for the directeur sportif to say, 'OK, come on, let's get going. There's groups coming back, and the riders in front are going to have problems, anything could happen.' Van der Poel might have thought it was over, but it's Paris-Roubaix, you have to keep believing and stay motivated.

When he did get going, it was pretty amazing what he did, especially when he and Filippo Ganna got organised. He did the right thing pulling on the front, even though everyone was hanging onto him – he was definitely on a big day. And that's something he will be thinking about. If he hadn't had that issue, you'd think he would have been in the final, and when you have a really good feeling, it's a really big disappointment.

In the moment, you just push on, but once you get to the finish, you do start thinking, 'what a pity that happened to me'. It's something you have to accept, and Van der Poel has had really good luck to win the race the last three years, so in the end you just have to be realistic and think 'well, it's a pain, but it's Roubaix, and there's nothing you can do about it'.

The best of the rest

As much as a lot of the attention was on Van Aert, Pogačar and Van der Poel, there were some really impressive rides in the groups behind them.

Like Van der Poel, Mads Pedersen is one who probably went to bed last night thinking 'what if?' What if he'd not had that crash in Valencia, where would he be in these Classics? When you see where he is, even after coming back from that, with his performances in Roubaix, Flanders and Milan-San Remo, he will definitely be thinking that without that accident, he could have won one of these races. But you can't dwell on it for days or weeks on end, you have to think 'that part of the season is done now, I'm going to move on and think about next year'.

Stefan Bissegger also did an amazing ride in the final, and Jasper Stuyven too, clipping off in the final to get that podium spot. He attacked just at the right moment, which is something he's really good at, and he seemed to know exactly what to do yesterday. He was up against bigger and better riders in that chase group, but he played his cards perfectly and was rewarded with the podium. Soudal-QuickStep needed him this year and they needed that result – it was a big performance and he made sure they got the best possible out of Roubaix.

For all of these riders, Van Aert winning will have meant a lot, because it proves that the Classics aren't just the Van der Poel vs Pogacar show. The result will give confidence to riders like Pedersen and Ganna, too, because it shows that Roubaix is still one for the big and powerful guys. Pogačar might be able to put gaps into everyone in the climbs in Flanders, but Roubaix is different. Riders will know now that if they can hang on with the big guys and dig deep in the wheel, then they can absolutely win this race. I think it will motivate them, and hopefully, they come back fired up next year.

Could Visma have played it differently for Vos?

When I finally finished commentary and the studio recording and got to tune in to the women's Paris-Roubaix, there was only 40km to go, so when I saw those four in the lead, I thought 'Marianne Vos is going to get her Paris-Roubaix'.

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was doing all the riding, just pulling, pulling, pulling, and it looked good, but when Franziska Koch started putting in little attacks, I thought 'my God, she must be feeling good'. Because otherwise you'd just let Pauline finish it off and go for the sprint, but instead she was able to try and attack quite a few times and from quite a long way out. So it was clear she was a threat.

Even then, though, I still felt like Marianne could take it in the sprint, and that's clearly what the two Visma-Lease a Bike riders had decided to do. Marianne obviously has a lot of experience, and she knows what she's doing, but I do wonder if when Koch started attacking, they could have changed the tactic a bit and started some one-two attacks to try and work her over a bit in the last few kilometres.

It was a complicated one because the chase group could have come back too, so they couldn't fully knock off the pace and force Koch to work, so they decided to stick to the plan and keep working. Maybe Pauline could have attacked, but she wanted to work for Marianne after last year, and they made that decision.

Marianne must have been confident in her sprint, but obviously, it didn't go her way in the velodrome. What a disappointment that must have been for her, but at the end of such a demanding race like Roubaix, you never know what will happen in the sprint.

But Visma aside, what an excellent day for Franziska Koch, what a ride from her. You could see in the recent races that she's just in excellent shape, and she made it count yesterday. With FDJ, we always talk about Demi Vollering, but the way they've been winning these Classics with all different riders, it's just an amazing start to the year and a really amazing Classics campaign.

I'm 19 years old, starting my second year as a professional, and just raced my second Tour of Flanders, a race that, for me, is 100% the hardest race that I've ever done and that there is on the calendar because of its history in cycling, how the women's race has evolved into the level it is today, and the fact that it has been like an unknown World Championships to my team, Movistar, and to our directors - it is the most important one-day race on the calendar.

For that reason, everyone wants to be their best, and for me, it was a brutal, brutal race. It was hard in the moments when people watching on TV don't realize how hard it is, that places that aren't as obvious: the flat roads with corners, the approach to climbs, and the positioning in the peloton. It's out of this world, and it is difficult to describe how much concentration and physical energy are involved. In a race like Flanders, it's constantly positioning followed by a climb. The climbs are short, but that only makes it so much harder because you get over the climb, and if the positioning was good, that's great, you're in the front group, but then the next climb's coming. So you can never, ever rest.

Compared to last year's edition, this year was a lot harder for me. The race split up after the Koppenberg, and last year, I got dropped there, like I did this year, but the race came back together last year, whereas this year it didn't. For my team, anyway, it was a complete disaster on the approach to the Koppenberg; Marlen Reusser crashed, and we were out of position going up the climb, one by one, not with each other at all. Over the top, I fought to try to come back with my teammate, Liane Lippert. We were in the second group, but it was just not possible, and the race was over for us after the Koppenberg, which is still very far from the finish, about 40km to go. It was still difficult, and compared to last year, there were some power records.

Flanders Classics doing it right

Beyond my personal performance, Movistar has a strong history with the race, with Annemiek van Vleuten, who has spoken a lot about the Monuments and the Tour of Flanders and has commented on the progression of women's cycling over the years. And now I'm on the same team as her, much younger and with much less on my palmares, but also talking about the same topics, which are really highlighted at Flanders; everyone is performing at their best, but it's also the time where we are more conscious of how women's cycling has progressed.

The level of the race and the strength of the field have improved, even compared to last year. I don't know if we broke a statistical record, but the level was mind-blowingly high yesterday. It plays a part in the increasing viewership of the women's Tour of Flanders. In my eyes, the level is continually improving, and more people are paying attention to us. Both things go hand in hand; they help and assist each other. It's nowhere near perfect; there are still many things we want to improve, but for example, we now have equal prize money at the Tour of Flanders. It's not the most important thing in terms of equality and sport, but it certainly is something great, and something that we can talk about and be super proud about; that it's now a thing in one of the biggest races in women's cycling.

'Going up Kwaremont, I honestly couldn't even think about how painful my legs felt because it's so noisy'

Having the races on the same day is a really interesting talking point, too, and many people have different opinions. Some people think that it's great for our race, the women's race, because the fans will stay and keep watching our race, but some people also think that it's better to have them on separate days, so that the women's race doesn't feel like an afterthought.

When Paris-Roubaix was held over two days, most people made a weekend of it, rather than leaving after the men's race. But, as someone who raced Flanders yesterday, I noticed that not many people left after the men's race. Many people were on the roads supporting us. Flanders Classics' system of having both races on the same day works because of the design of the course and the fact that the people on the Kwaremont, if they come and stay there, are actually not allowed to leave until the races are over because there's no way of getting out other than the road the cyclists are using.

In that sense, as someone who hasn't done the Tour de France, the crowds at Flanders were the biggest I've ever seen. Going up Kwaremont, I honestly couldn't even think about how painful my legs felt because it's so noisy. There's too much to concentrate on when you are riding up, and fans were even leaning over the barriers holding out beers - like it was a feed zone - apparently thinking that was exactly what we needed at that moment.

It was quite a powerful race. As I was in heart rate zone 5, I was also subconsciously appreciating the support, and it felt really powerful. I'm a young rider, so someone a bit older could compare it to Flanders five years ago; fewer crowds, more crowds, but for me, as a 19-year-old, I don't know anything different. I'm still very aware that this is not the sort of normal in the women's peloton, and that I'm the lucky one because I'm racing this race, and it's the best version of this race they've ever experienced.

So Flanders Classics' strategy to improve the visibility of its women's races by running them on the same day and having the women's races finish after the men's races has been a big success. As women, we have to use the men's races to grow. The men's cycling world is already so developed, and what Flanders Classics has done by attaching us to that, at least in the beginning, to speed up the growth of women's racing initially, in my eyes, is the best way that a race organizer can help.

Eventually, though, the women's races will outgrow that approach - I think that will happen - and then Flanders Classics might come back and say they actually have to separate the two races because they could potentially make double the revenue by putting the women's race on the Saturday and the men's race on the Sunday.

What they've done so far is great, and it's appropriate for the point we're at right now. Still, I hope in the future it can grow and that they'll have to reassess their strategy because it's worked and we've got the growth we needed, the boost from the men's races, and built our own unique, and of course, crossover fan base as well. Thanks to Flanders Classics.

You can also see how modern their race organisation is through their social media. I follow them on Instagram because their content is exciting, different, and modern. You get to see more riders' personalities, which is contributing to increased followers and engagement. Showing a more personal side of riders and making cycling more fun and interesting on and off the bike are great ways to make the sport more engaging.

'There's something to gain by televising more of the women's race'

And that leads me to talk about another part of the race: the coverage. This year, about 100km of the women's race was filmed. The men had around 280km of the race filmed, and I remember watching the men's race before we even started racing yesterday on the bus travelling there. That's almost all of their race filmed on television, and obviously, that's 280km compared to the 160km that we do. I would argue that our race, from start to finish, is a bit more engaging and exciting because it's shorter: we get to the climbs faster, and there's less downtime before racing starts. So, there's something to gain there by televising more of the women's race. We have to keep pushing for that, but the viewers and the general cycling community need to do the same.

I think it would benefit women's cycling as a whole; the sponsors and all the partners who put the money in, but it would benefit the race, and make the race more exciting for the early breakaways to know that if they put themselves in a break from kilometre zero, then they're getting much more television time. Ultimately, that's where the biggest gap in women's cycling lies: smaller teams need more partners and sponsors to close the gap with the top tier, whereas in men's cycling, there is much less disparity.

Gratitude

After my second experience racing at the Tour of Flanders, I'd like to say thank you to all the people associated with the race; the riders for making the level so high and making everyone want to be the best versions of themselves; the race oranisers, teams and sponsors that support the teams and the race; all the people that came to watch, to be in the VIP tent, or just stood on the roadside and cheered us on.

It's a thank you for every race, because this sport is a privilege no matter the day of the week, the place, or whether you're racing the Tour of Flanders or not. These things add up to make it the most special race on the calendar and shape how women's cycling is seen at the highest level. It's the most important race to have everything at 100%.

So, although my race, personally, and from Movistar, was a disappointment, and we were not satisfied at all, I still rode the last 40km in the group, thinking about how lucky I am to be 19 in this race, riding with girls around me who I believe have contributed so much to the sport to the point where I wouldn't be next to them in the peloton at my age and riding for Movistar team without their contribution to women's cycling. Which is quite a concept to wrap your head around as a competitor when you're both grateful for the level of women's cycling while also in that very moment, at the Tour of Flanders, wishing your legs weren't quite having to be ripped off to the same level that they are.

I'm very grateful to all the women in that race who ultimately led me there and also contributed to how women's cycling has grown into what it is today.

The Tour of Flanders is a tough race at the best of times, but yesterday's edition was frankly brutal. What a day of racing we had at De Ronde.

I was commentating on the men's race, and even early on, the difficulty caused by the pace of UAE Team Emirates-XRG was clear to see. After that big break had got away down the road and built up a healthy advantage, Mikkel Bjerg and Nils Politt were set to work.

The way they were riding, you could see riders clinging to the back of the bunch saying 'My God, what's this about?' and then we had big downpours of showers, too. Even when the peloton was momentarily split in two by a level-crossing and the break were able to eke out an extra two minutes, it didn't hamper their efforts.

If you weren't feeling good, this wasn't a race for you. If it was your first Tour of Flanders, you were probably saying 'What the f*** is this all about?' because in the first 50 kilometres you could see the riders feeling it already and the bunch lined out.

Yep, it was a horrible, torture-fest of a race for some, but a great race for others who thrive on that difficulty. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) wanted it to be hard all day, and he ensured that was the case in the final stages.

Pogačar's power proved too much

I suspect a lot of riders were thinking that the race would only ignite when the Oude Kwaremont was hit for a second time, but my God, the men's race came to life before we even hit the Molenberg. There was a side wind to contend with too, so UAE ramped the pace up to the limit there, putting rivals into the gutter before the climb and that certainly caught a few people out, Wout van Aert included.

The Belgian managed to get back into a good position, but there were others who missed the train for good, and they didn't see the front of the race again.

Naturally, Pogačar was riding a lot, but I think Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) contributed too much for my liking, considering that he had teammates like Gianni Vermeersch and the Van Dijke brothers still within the group.

It was always going to be a race that came down to who could push that little bit more than others in the key moments, and of course, Pogačar lived up to the billing on the second ascent of the Kwaremont, as he forced a selection. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) was momentarily out of position when the move was made, and perhaps he was playing cute there, not having his nose in the wind, but he did have to make an effort to move up. While he did it very well, every little effort can add up, come the decisive moments.

When the five-rider group of Pogačar, Van der Poel, Evenepoel, Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) went clear, it was one of those iconic Classics moments, but that high pace meant it didn't last long.

Van der Poel and Evenepoel were doing their fair share of the work until the Belgian was dropped. Van der Poel still came through afterwards, but he wasn't pushing on in the same way. He was thinking 'Okay, I have to just conserve here. conserve energy and leave Pogačar to do the brunt of the work.'

The Dutchman knew what was coming, and when Evenepoel tried to come back, and got within 100m at one point, Pogačar just turned up the gas again, which is telling of the really good form he is in.

It was the same case on the final time up the Kwaremont. On TV, Pogačar's attacks don't look that difficult, but when you're out there and think about the way the entire race was ridden, my God. Everybody was on the limit in that final, even with 50km to go for some, but Tadej, he had a lot more in the tank than anyone else.

Pogačar's victory means that he could feasibly be the first rider to hold all five Monument titles at the same time if fortune favours him next weekend at Paris-Roubaix. That's a big 'if' given the mechanicals and type of race that Roubaix is. Nonetheless, if someone had said to me four or five years ago that a rider would be able to win all five Monuments within 12 months, I'd say you're totally crazy.

It's very likely that we'll see a Pogačar-Van der Poel battle once again, especially with how the Slovenian fared in his Roubaix debut last year, but the lack of climbs will swing the odds away from Pogačar and towards the larger, more powerful riders like Van Aert, Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and Van der Poel.

Evenepoel puts doubts to bed on debut

I was actually a bit afraid for Evenepoel coming into Sunday's race, should he get into difficulty fighting for position ahead of the key points of the route, but the Olympic champion impressed me on his Flanders debut.

Even if he'd announced his debut six months earlier, there would be huge pressure on him given his status in Flemish cycling, but to do it like he did, keeping it secret until days before the race, there was always going to be more pressure. If he didn't perform yesterday, the Belgian press would knock him for the way he played it, but fortunately, he put those thoughts to bed.

And okay, he rode a bit too much for my liking, but that's because he wanted the race to be difficult and a thinner field, where fighting for position was less important. It turned into the perfect scenario for him, but ultimately, he paid for those earlier efforts where he tried to force the pace.

The ride he did afterwards, though, when he was alone, and almost regaining contact, was impressive. He clearly had a lot to give, but maybe just lacked that experience.

Will he be back next year? That will be interesting to see. After his performance today, it's certainly possible for him to win this race, and it could well change how he looks at the calendar, especially with riders like Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) also coming through. Either way, he will have gained a lot of confidence from the way he performed yesterday.

Vollering wins battle of position and power

In a similar vein to Pogačar, when Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) is on good form, and her teammates, notably Franzi Koch who was up there right until the decisive point, are able to put the rest of the bunch in difficulty and inflict damage, it can almost make the victory look effortless.

Yet Vollering was in a dominant mood and when she attacked, chasing her down was always going to be very difficult for Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-ProTime) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech).

Across the two races, there weren't many crashes, but those that did occur, were quite influential, especially for the women's field. Both Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) were forced out of the race before the action started after a nasty crash, so that certainly made Vollering's task slightly easier.

Then, when it came to the Kwaremont, she pushed her rivals into the red, and that makes it incredibly hard to come back from. Only 15 or so male riders tackled the final ascent of the Kwaremont faster than Vollering, which shows just how powerful she is when she's on her day and delivered into the position where she needs to be.

For the chase groups behind, even when they started to work together, Vollering was always in control, right up to the line.

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We're into the thick of things as far as the spring Classics are concerned, and Flemish Holy Week is already delivering. Over the last few days, E3 Saxo Classic and the newly renamed In Flanders Field – what used to be Gent-Wevelgem – both proved that Mathieu van der Poel isn't untouchable; you just have to play your cards right.

In a different vein, Lorena Wiebes reminded many, if it was even necessary, that even without a leadout or teammate in sight, she can dominate a sprint finish.

Before we get into Sunday's action, let's rewind to Friday and an almighty finale in E3. It was very nice to see that Van der Poel was catchable, not least because it made what would've otherwise been a textbook solo breakaway victory far more interesting. It's hard to say whether he was racing at his best or whether his Milan-San Remo crash was still affecting him.

The chase group of Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and Stan Dewulf (Decathlon CMA CGM), who was the last survivor of the day's early break, worked incredibly well together, up to a point.

All their hard work was undone with 1500m remaining, and it's always the case. Who's going to close the final few metres? Because the rider who closes the gap is going to throw their own chance of winning by doing the work to bridge across.

It would be interesting to understand what Van der Poel was thinking at this point because he went to sit up and throw in the towel, only for the guys behind to start playing the game and looking at each other. I reckon he got a shout from the team car: 'OK, they're looking at each other, just go all out for it now and see what happens.'

Or perhaps when he looked around, he could see them spread across the road, all four of them waiting for the other to do a final pull. It's tricky in those situations because, regardless of how well the group works together to bring the time down, they will inevitably start to spare their own energy when they see that the catch is about to be made. The closer the group get, the less work each rider wants to do.

When you're in that situation, you have to play the game, as Vermeersch did, by throwing your hands in the air and shouting at the others, in the hope that someone will panic and ride through, but nobody did on this occasion, and Van der Poel was able to sneak away again.

Get your cards right, and the big hitters are beatable

Of course, 48 hours can change a lot when it comes to a minor injury like Van der Poel's, and from questioning his strength at E3, to watching him do what he does best at In Flanders Fields, full-on efforts for short periods on the bergs, like he's so used to doing through the winter cyclo-cross season.

Thankfully, though, someone else was able to follow his fiercest of attacks in the form of Wout van Aert. The Belgian is definitely coming good at the right time, which is pleasing because the Classics need riders of his calibre. If he's on a good day at the upcoming Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, he can be up there challenging against the top guys.

The last man this duo dropped on the final ascent of the Kemmelberg was Vermeersch, and as I also touched on in my earlier spring Classics column after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, he was, once again, far too generous with his turns. He was riding strongly before the Kemmelberg, but in this situation, with Van Aert and Van der Poel, he has to expect an explosive attack at any moment, and save his legs as much as possible in anticipation. He has to say to himself, 'Can I just stay with them over the last climb, then I'm with them in the final kilometres'.

OK, when you're in a group with the likes of Van Aert and Van der Poel, there is an element of respect, but when you're in the running for a one-day win in Flanders, you can throw that respect out of the window for a little while. He needs to skip turns or just go through very lightly; as we say in cycling terms, you have to just 'fall through'.

Once the duo were on their own, Van der Poel was taking his turns at first, but with 20km or so to go, he eased off. There was a little discussion there, and perhaps Van der Poel may have felt the fatigue coming on.

On the one hand, he wants to preserve his energy if they stay away, but on the other, he also has the luxury of Jasper Philipsen in the group behind; team-wise, it was the perfect scenario.

For Van Aert, it would have been disappointing to realise his hands were tied. However, Visma-Lease a Bike will take positives from this going into the second portion of the cobbled Classics, with Christophe Laporte also looking sharp in the sprint.

The Frenchman earned a nice podium spot, but Philipsen proved the fastest in the end, even if there was a moment where he looked boxed in. That's where the race situation will have benefited Alpecin-Premier Tech's sprinter. With Van der Poel up front for much of the day, it will have given him confidence and eased his workload, as it's not up to their team to bring the race back together.

Looking ahead, even though the favourites still came out on top at both E3 and In Flanders Fields, the races have shown rival teams that there's an alternative way to beat the big hitters. If the bunch or a chase group get organised behind, that catch is possible as the race enters its final stages. Of course, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are another step up, and you have the added complication of Tadej Pogačar thrown into the mix, too.

Wiebes can do it all

Lorena Wiebes is a master and put on another magnificent display yesterday.

The SD Worx-Protime sprinter found herself in a five-rider break after attacking on the Kemmelberg and put in several big efforts to close down counter-attacks.

She was fortunate that the gap back to the peloton was dwindling as the lead group reached the final kilometres, because it prevented any games from her breakaway companions. They had to ride, or risk missing out on a top-five finish altogether. If the pace had gone out of the chase altogether, it would have been fascinating to see the finale play out.

Even when UAE Team ADQ used their numerical advantage, Wiebes looked so in control and bridged across smartly. She didn't just immediately jump onto their wheel; instead, she rolled across at a steady pace. That's the perfect way to play it for someone like Wiebes, who is in such great shape and looked totally in control.

You couldn't fault UAE either; they played it almost perfectly, too, tactically speaking. Their only problem was that, when you're in a group with a top sprinter, you're not just thinking about winning, but also the podium, so they kept on riding, which played into Wiebes' hands.

They were forced to continue riding until they were absolutely certain that they wouldn't be caught, and by that point, it's too late to make your numbers count.

Lidl-Trek's youngster Fleur Moors nearly frightened Wiebes right on the line with a really fast finish, but when you're winning sprints like the Dutch woman is winning them, you know when you've done enough. She got a little surprise, but personally, I think the TV cameras and commentators made it look closer than it actually was.

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What a finale to Milan-San Remo. It's a race that's always about the finale, as we know, but in this year's races, both men's and women's, they were something special. In many ways, the unfortunate crash for Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel and others just before the Cipressa, and the way they immediately bounced back from that and attacked on the climb, only added to how special this year's edition of the men's race was.

After the crash, you'd say to most normal riders, 'Take a moment to recover for a little while here,' but Pogačar was immediately flying up the outside of everybody and back to the front. To go from hitting the deck to what occurred next in such a short space of time, you have to give it to him; he just keeps on putting in these mind-boggling performances.

Okay, Pogačar was fortunate that neither he nor his bike were too badly damaged by the crash, unlike both Van der Poel and Wout van Aert, because it allowed him to get back to the front of the pack sooner. However, his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates, Brandon McNulty and Isaac del Toro, with the odds already stacked against them due to Jan Christen's earlier crash, did a great job returning him to the front and ramping up the speed.

You could say after the crash that he had nothing to lose, but in reality, being able to actually put a plan like that – attacking on the Cipressa – into action is completely different. Considering he had absolutely no time to recover, you'd forgive UAE for falling back to an attack on the Poggio. But instead, they decide to make the race explode right there and then. It's mind-blowing racing from Pogačar. But that's the kind of rider he is. Tactics? He doesn't need any tactics.

When the three of them, Pogačar, Van der Poel, and Tom Pidcock, got away, you could quickly see that the Dutchman was feeling the effects of his crash. Pidcock started to share the load, which makes sense when there's a podium spot essentially in the bag. But as soon as the Briton did, Pogačar attacked over the top, so he didn't ride after that, and I can understand that approach because if you're starting to feel it in the legs, and Pogačar's trying to hit you with those efforts, you say, 'I'm not riding anymore.'

'Pogačar descended like a demon'

On the Poggio, Pogačar continued with that killer mentality in the way he rode that climb, and it did indeed kill off Van der Poel's hopes of a third win. Pidcock really had to dig deep because there was no sign of Pogačar starting to tire or feel the effects of his crash. By the time they reached the top, he would have gained confidence, and that's where you start believing that victory is possible. What was most surprising on the descent, though, and surely for Pidcock too, was the way Pogačar, despite his crash, went down the Poggio like a demon, almost making it too difficult for the Pinarello-Q36.5 man to follow him.

By the time they reached the Via Roma, Pidcock looked to be really digging deep when riding on the front – of course, that could well have been a bluff. But ultimately, in the sprint, there's nothing more he could've done against Pogačar. There must have been wind coming from the left, as Pogačar positioned himself well on the right side of the road and just mastered the sprint magnificently. He didn't hesitate, even when Pidcock tried to start the sprint early; he just closed the door fractionally on the right, forcing Pidcock to knock off his effort and come around the outside.

Would there have been a different outcome had Pidcock played a different tactic in the sprint? We'll never know, but what's certain is how impressive their power was in the closing stages of a 300km race – Pogačar just had that extra amount to stay ahead.

It shouldn't diminish Pidcock's ride, though; it was a super day for him. He was able to stick with the Slovenian, who shaved another 10 seconds of his Cipressa time; the Briton put in a monster ride, but unfortunately, he came up against a bigger monster. Nonetheless, he shouldn't have any regrets. He'll take great confidence into the Ardennes and potentially this race again next year.

I know Pogačar hinted that he won't be at Milan-San Remo next year, but I think he's said those comments in the heat of the moment, after a hectic finale. If he means what he said, though, it will certainly change how the men's race plays out. I don't see another team controlling the race, in the finale, as UAE do, so it may be a more open race, for the likes of Van Aert – who put in a great performance to claim the final podium spot despite a bike change – Filippo Ganna, and others already mentioned to tackle.

A tactical masterclass helped Kopecky win with ease

In the women's race, Lotte Kopecky looked really strong on the Poggio, and SD Worx-Protime benefited from having two cards to play. Lorena Wiebes might have won last year, but as I said in the build-up, you might get over the Poggio in the lead group one year, but the next it's a different story, depending on how the race is ridden.

They just went full gas on the Poggio, so for the sprinters, the real true sprinters, it was a difficult task.

Kopecky followed and did what she had to do. She's able to get over challenging climbs. If we think back to the Tour de France Femmes in recent years, she showed amazing climbing form for someone who is really fast in a sprint as well. She showed that once again on Saturday, manoeuvring the race situation, and played her tactics well.

The sprint on the Via Roma suits her perfectly, and then when you offer her a leadout as if you're one of her own teammates, as UAE Team ADQ's Dominika Włodarczyk did, then she's bound to win with ease, as Kopecky did.

Of course, the race was also impacted by a nasty crash coming off the Cipressa. It's always a dangerous portion of the route, after so many kilometres in the legs and with tension reaching its peak; in the women's race, they were really pushing the pace to the limit here. Yet it's not the first time this descent has caught the peloton out over the years; it's a real danger. Nonetheless, going onto the Poggio and for the final stages of the race, it changed the dynamic in the women's bunch.

As Monuments go, Milan-San Remo is unique. It's a long, drawn-out route, and yet it's all about the final. Take the Tour of Flanders, for example, there’s possibly 10 sections of the course where you can blow the race apart and tee up victory – whereas here, you’ve got one, possibly two, in the closing stages. Some riders would like to try something earlier to get the win, or even just a podium spot, but unfortunately, you have to wait until the very end to see what you can do.

Having won La Classicissima twice during my career, and finished inside the top 10 in seven other editions, I know better than most that it all comes down to who you are and how good you are at that moment.

Of course, for the men's race this year, Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel are the two big favourites. I expect the Slovenian to throw everything he's got at Saturday's race, because it's both the race he wants to win the most right now, but also the hardest race for him to win, too, given his current competition.

Van der Poel, having seen him in action at Opening Weekend and Tirreno-Adriatico, you can tell he's in excellent shape. So, he's going to be right there on Pogačar's wheel and hard to shake off. If the pair come to the finish together, I find it highly unlikely that Pogačar can beat the two-time winner.

His only option is on the Poggio. Say a few riders get a gap, and you're able to play some games in the final kilometres, things will start to get complicated. But for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, while they can win it on the Poggio, the work of his team – which are fractionally weaker than last year’s, given the absence of Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narváez – has to start on the Cipressa with an infernal pace that puts everybody in difficulty, not least Van der Poel and Filippo Ganna. If that works out for them, then on the Poggio, you try to finish off the riders who are still left clinging to their talisman's wheel.

Of course, as I mentioned earlier, much of winning Milan-San Remo is how you feel in your mind and legs in the moment, and there could be a touch of hesitation and nerves with Pogačar. Van der Poel isn’t as desperate to win this race, nor is he necessarily in a position where he needs to attack on the final climb, because he knows the odds favour him in a reduced sprint situation. It's the same reason why I wouldn't be worried to see the Dutchman heavily outnumbered by UAE riders after the Cipressa has been tackled, because the pair's tactics are completely different.

If you look back to last year, Pogačar thought he had Van der Poel on the limit, only for him to put in an attack just before the crest of the Poggio. It was probably a pretty heavy blow to Pogačar, who must've said to himself, 'Oh, my God, this fella is going to attack me.'

Similarly, on the descent, I don't think Pogačar would be bold enough to try too much because he knows he can't distance Van der Poel there; he's made that mistake before. Besides, I doubt he'll take crazy risks to get a gap, because it puts himself in danger.

For all my focus on the likely Pogačar-Van der Poel duel – and I do believe the latter to be the favourite – there's always a couple of riders that you say 'My God, he's on a good day,' and I think we can't completely discount the likes of Ganna, Tom Pidcock, Wout van Aert and even Jasper Stuyven. But, if I were going to the bookmakers, I would put some money on Isaac del Toro.

Why? Well, I think he could be the danger man who could benefit from the two favourites marking each other's every move up and over the Poggio. If Del Toro goes, and Van der Poel reacts to close down the move, it offers Pogačar an opportunity to counter. Similarly, should the Mexican attack and get a 15-second gap, there could be a stand-off that ultimately leaves Del Toro clear on the Via Roma.

Amidst the chaos, a plan and self-confidence are equally valuable

While the women's race is shorter and only in its second year back on the race calendar, I suspect the tactics will be similar to those in the men's edition, finishing a few hours later. The Cipressa will thin down the field, before a final selection on the Poggio. However, I could see somebody riding away alone, or maybe a group of four or five riders.

A reduced bunch sprint saw Lorena Wiebes claim victory last year, but if the race splinters further, I feel it could be a tough ask for her to repeat her 2025 heroics. She will have to really dig deep to stay in there, especially with the climbing prowess elsewhere on the startlist. Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney showed strong form at Strade Bianche, as did Puck Pieterse, and there's also Lotte Kopecky and Elisa Longo Borghini to add into the mix.

Longo Borghini's climbing ability is stronger than that of the pure sprinters, which provides her with an advantage, in my opinion. As for SD Worx-Protime, going into a race with multiple options – in Wiebes and Kopecky – can work better at Milan-San Remo than in other Classics. In cobbled Classics, like the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix, the plan can go out of the window very early, after 60 or 70 kilometres, because of the parcours, how other teams tackle the race, and the higher chance of suffering a mechanical.

Whereas at Milan-San Remo, the element of surprise, which could swiftly rip your team's well-laid plan to pieces, is far lower. So it is a race in which a plan can actually work out quite well.

However, for what the first Monument of the season might lack in potential tactical surprises, the 300km route creates a psychological element unlike any other one-day race. It's a slow, slow build-up before the Capi, where it starts to wind up. That's where keeping position becomes a priority, and it can be difficult because there are another 100 riders all trying to do the same ahead of the Cipressa. If you get caught up in a crash, then it could well be game over.

I can recall from my own racing days, everybody shouting as they fight for position, and plenty of bad language being thrown about. If you even touched an Italian rider, they'd go crazy!

So that constant tension is difficult. I don't think physically it's too challenging for the pelotons nowadays, considering the distances that they can do in training or at other Monuments. But, mentally, it's a different story.

Should you overcome this early tension and avoid any potential crashes, finding yourself in the top 15-20 riders on the Cipressa, then that's the place to be. It's then all about how good you feel and your choice of tactic, depending on whether you want a sprint or to attack over the Poggio. Either way, it's all about having the confidence within yourself to execute the plan.

There is an expression in fishing whereby each time the fisherman tells the story of the fish he caught, it gets bigger and bigger. The same holds for former professional athletes. Over time, the wins are greater, the stories are wilder, and the tough times are tougher. Back in my day, and all that…

The problem is, I am now in a position where that distortion matters. Whether it is working with the riders at XDS Astana or the coaching I do privately, I find myself making a conscious effort to put myself back in the athlete's mind. To ask myself what I would be thinking right now if I were being set this session, asked to go out in this weather, or told to hold this power.

Bad weather is a simple example. There is this misconception that British cyclists are happy to train in the rain. In the age of Zwift, I would not have tolerated it; I would have just got on the indoor trainer. Yet if someone from the team says to me, "You will be used to this, you are from the UK," I will casually agree, and one day I will have convinced myself it was always the case. That is the drift I am trying to avoid.

So whether it is setting a training session, asking a rider to maintain a certain pacing strategy in a time trial or deciding that they should brave the weather to get the work done, I have to put myself back in their shoes. My FTP certainly isn't what it once was, so for training sessions, I'll adjust them to my old numbers. If I base the session at 400 watts, I then figure out whether it's manageable before rolling it out to anyone else.

Ahead of a Tour de France individual time trial in 2019, I was advised that the quickest way around the course was to produce 500 watts for five minutes, twice inside a 30-minute effort. I fed back from experience and said simply, "We need to adjust this. I can do that once, but I do not believe I can repeat it, so we need to find a strategy that maximises what I have on the day."

Unfortunately, to win the TT that day, 500 watts were indeed required twice. I just didn't have that power in the locker. But the point stands. The rider in front of you knows things about themselves that no amount of data fully captures, and the best thing I could have done in that moment was to be heard.

I have been on the receiving end of advice from ex-pros who have forgotten what it feels like, or advisors who are experts in the field but have never truly been there. I would stand looking at them, thinking "You have no idea of the reality of what you are asking."

The difference between a good advisor and a mediocre one is the ability to listen in that moment, respect the feedback, and decide whether the conversation is there to challenge or to accept. More often than not, the response will require more questions.

As the years grow between me and my racing career, I can see how fast the peloton changes. Long-range attacks are commonplace. Racing kicks off earlier and is less predictable than before. There are aspects I can still relate to, but certain elements are now beyond my grasp.

It's in these moments that I have to trust the rider's feedback and judgement; then I try to understand it better myself and become an up-to-date expert as best I can while no longer in the peloton.

The drift is constant, and I must keep checking myself against it.

When a rider tells me they need something, I will always ask why if it isn't immediately obvious. Then I consider the feasibility or escalate if I don't know. In this role, I have told myself that I should say yes whenever possible for two reasons. The first is that the rider is probably right. The second is the confidence it instils in them when their needs are met.

If the answer is no, I need to be armed with a good explanation as to why not, and I need to have earned the right to give it. I have mentioned in these columns before how surprised I was by the sheer effort involved in simply getting a rider to a start line. Had I known that as a pro, I think I would have been less demanding and probably slightly easier to work with.

But we are all in the business of winning, and winning requires excellence, which is easy to say and difficult to do. That is intrinsically why winning is hard, and why the questions and demands should never stop coming. So, on reflection, I hope no XDS Astana riders have read this portion of my column.

The last thing I need is for them to suddenly develop some sympathy for the people trying to support them and ease off. We have races to win. Keep asking for stuff. Just don't tell them I said that.

Tadej Pogačar moved clear as the outright most successful rider in Strade Bianche history with his fourth victory on Saturday, and to be honest, I think he did so with some energy still left in the tank.

While on commentary duty, we discussed what his rivals could actually do to prevent him from winning one-day races, as when you look at UAE Team Emirates-XRG's team and the Slovenian himself, there's no way you can beat Pogačar with the way he's riding at the moment.

His team knows how to control the race and the breakaway; they just let them go and then slowly ramp up the pace until they need to blow it into pieces, which is when the likes of Florian Vermeersch, Jan Christen, and Isaac del Toro – all riders individually capable of winning a race like this – set a pace so high, that when Pogačar attacks, there's nobody that looks capable of following him.

Only perhaps, my man of the day, Paul Seixas. The way the Frenchman rode, while clearly on the limit and perhaps lacking experience in these race situations, was promising. He almost made it back across to the UAE leader after losing a few bike lengths, but it's easier said than done on those gravel roads, and Pogačar showed his might by being able to accelerate again when he saw the 19-year-old closing in.

If Seixas was able to make contact with Pogačar's back wheel and momentarily recover, it could have been a totally different race.

Nonetheless, for his first outing at Strade Bianche, while I was expecting a good ride from him, I didn't predict anything as strong as that. It was a really, really impressive ride, especially when you consider he was able to ride Del Toro off his wheel on the Via Santa Catarina at the end, after the Mexican sat on and didn't offer a turn, which really emphasises how big a ride it was from the Frenchman.

If I were to pick fault with Seixas and Decathlon's approach to this year's race, though, I'd question why, after Pogačar had escaped up the road, Seixas was the man pulling on the front of the chase group. There were approximately a dozen riders in the group, and he had two teammates spitting at the rear end of it. It's hard to understand that tactic. Seixas was the other guy potentially able to win that race, especially when you think about it being Pogačar's first race back; he may have hit fatigue with 25km to go, or even suffered a puncture. Keep the gap below a minute, and you just never know, but the team is sitting at the rear while their leader is riding at the front.

At that point, the team should get to the front and try to hold a high tempo. If they can keep the gap steady, then Seixas could attack from the group and attempt to bridge over. It was surprising that they didn't use up his teammates at that point.

The first of many Seixas vs Pogačar battles?

Of course, even if a rider attacked from the chase group, contending with Pogačar, who didn't even look to be struggling, is a completely different question. He just rides at his own rhythm, and he knows what's happening behind, because the team car is there providing him with updates. He's got so much experience attacking at 50, 60 or 80km to go, he's worked it out to a fine art.

What also worked in Pogačar's favour this year was the additional elevation added to the route. The organisers have gone totally crazy with that alteration because it's clear that the harder you make the route, the fewer riders there will be vying for the win.

I think Pogačar proved on Saturday that he was untouchable again, except for Seixas, who stepped up big time. With Tadej, you always say, 'Well, it's his first race back, will he be good enough?' But when you look at what he's doing in December, riding up Coll de Rates at crazy speeds with a team and knocking so much time off his previous record, the guy's level just doesn't drop, regardless of whether it's March or December.

Watching this race unfold, and looking ahead to the Ardennes Classics, I was thinking, 'Thank God Paul Seixas is coming through the ranks' because unless someone else rides into great form next month – the Cobbled Classics are a different story – Seixas looks like the rider that can get very close, or maybe even match Pogačar in those hillier Classics.

That's something I'd really like to see this season from Seixas. I'm also aware that his strong early-season form immediately raises the question of whether he should be racing at the Tour de France this summer. Is there much foundation in that rumour? I don't know. But it's interesting to think about, because the French press and the cycling fanbase will naturally put pressure on him given his current trajectory.

I'm firmly against the idea, though. It would be the wrong thing to do to send Seixas to the Tour this year, and I hope that Decathlon CMA CGM have patience. When you put a guy like that into the Tour, with his character of racing, he's going to get into the action. You can't send a rider into a race for a week to gain experience, which, years ago, they sometimes did with talented youngsters. The races that Seixas is competing in at the moment are where his focus should remain.

A wrong turn and a blockbuster finale

It's not controversial to say that for all of the talking points in the men's race, Strade Bianche Donne proved the more entertaining of the two editions; from mechanicals and the chase group being led off course, to an almighty final kilometre that saw Elise Chabbey of FDJ-United-SUEZ come out on top.

I can understand both sides of the argument, with the chase group taking the wrong turn. I could see the state of the road, with stones sticking up and thought it didn't look quite right as they kept going. I was surprised that someone didn't immediately think, 'this is not the way, this is not the reconnaissance we've done', but again, when you're in the heat of the moment, the race is on, and you're maybe on the limit a bit, it's understandable to take your eye off the route.

They do follow the route on their bike computers, but at the speed they're going on a very fast section of the course, is a rider going to question the motorbike? Similarly, a rider further back in the group will follow the wheels in front of them. The organisers could have had better signage there; however, UCI rules place responsibility for following the race route on the rider, regardless of whether a race vehicle takes a wrong turn. It's a difficult one, but it's always been that you should know the route yourself.

As for the final kilometres of the women's race, what a battle.

Small groups have hit the final climb together before, but the Santa Catarina ramp typically separates the wheat from the chaff ahead of the final few corners. Here they were all fighting for the win still, so getting the right run-in to the corners became key, and shoulders were touching as the tension rose.

Chabbey was half a wheel back, and it worked in her favour, providing a good line and run of speed, as others lost momentum. They were all fighting to be well-placed in those corners, but the Swiss rider was able to choose the better line and held on really well.

It's another tough pill to swallow for Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, who picked up her fourth runner-up spot in Siena. When you're so close on so many occasions, and you want to win, it's only natural to be more nervous there in the finale. But unfortunately, positioning cost her and others in the final corners. A clean run, and it could have been a different result.

For Niewadoma-Phinney, if she was able to sacrifice slightly more on the final climb, to come into the final few corners with perhaps just one other rider, then I think she could've had a better shot at the win.

That being said, it shouldn't detract from an amazing turnaround by FDJ-United-SUEZ. After Vollering's puncture and wrong turn, her teammates were able to pick up the pieces and finish it off – it was a dream final for the team, with Chabbey claiming her first-ever one-day win, and Franzisca Koch clinching the final podium spot.

I was looking forward to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad until Mathieu van der Poel announced he was riding. It's always an interesting one, the first of the Classics, with a lot of question marks, and I was looking forward to a good race, an exciting race, and probably a race with a bit more suspense than the one we got. But unfortunately, when he announced he was riding on Thursday, I could not help but feel – like many of the riders no doubt – a little disappointed.

As it turned out, he made it look so, so easy. But don’t get me wrong, Van der Poel is still impressive to watch. He is phenomenal, not only physically but also technically. He’s just able to read the race so well, and his bike handling is excellent.

He showed that on the Molenberg, when the Tudor rider [Rick Pluimers] crashed in front of him, which was a crucial moment. What struck me was that he seemed so cool when it happened. A lot of riders would have reacted with a sudden movement. He just moved calmly, got his foot out, nipped around, and got moving again. That is just class bike handling. When you’re in a moment like that, and you’re fighting on the climb, and the adrenaline is flowing, to be able to have that cool head is a huge thing.

When you put that together with his physical gifts, it makes him untouchable.

That said, one of the big question marks was whether his rivals could have done more. It was interesting to see the scenes beyond the finish line with Van der Poel’s two breakaway companions. Florian Vermeersch and Van der Poel give each other a big hug, but Tim van Dijke didn’t get anything – he was basically ignored after the finish line.

That might have something to do with the difference in how they rode. You could maybe call Van Dijke a bit of a wheel-sucker, because he did sit on the rear for a while, skipping turns. He was, as we say, glass-cranking quite a long way out from the Muur van Geraardsbergen. But in my eyes, that was the smart thing to do.

'His market value would be a good bit higher'

Vemeersch, on the other hand, didn’t skip a turn. I was watching it, wondering, ‘Why is he riding that strongly with him?’ He was too generous, in my eyes.

There has been all this talk ahead of the Classics of the only way to put pressure on Van der Poel and Pogačar being to refuse to collaborate with them at the front – Tiesj Benoot said as much. But on Saturday, it was the same story.

When you’re with Van der Poel, and you're going into the final 25km, and the Muur is coming up, you say, 'I better conserve energy here and see what I can do on the Muur.' Yes, it’s a Classic, it’s Belgium, these guys are so up for it, but that’s when you need a good Directeur Sportif. They can see everything that’s happening, and they can give you that word in your ear to say ‘okay, here’s the situation, just take it easy, if you’re doing turns just do a very short turn, leave Mathieu to do the bulk of the work, maybe skip a turn here and there, and see if you can get over the Muur with him’.

If you do manage to get over the Muur with Van der Poel, you go into the final with him, and then you never know what might happen. You can play your cards, maybe put the pressure on him to keep the gap, and then you just never know what you can do in a sprint. If you look at Van Dijke, he was struggling, but the way he survived with Vermeersch on the Muur showed how well he played his own card. If he had been contributing beforehand, he may well not have been able to get up the Muur as well as he did – and he goes on to finish second.

I don’t know what Vermeersch and his directors were thinking, really. I was asking myself if it was because of the situation with the UCI points, but this is UAE Team Emirates-XRG, and the points cycle has only just begun. I’ve heard it argued that Vermeersch is out of contract at the end of the year, so was happy not to gamble with a podium result. Well, what I say to that is, imagine if he had played it a bit more tactically and just managed to hold onto Van der Poel and get into the final.

We don't remember the guys who did a lot of riding up until the crucial point of the race – that will be forgotten quickly. But if you get into a final with Mathieu van der Poel, and you put him under pressure, and he has to ride, and it’s suspense right to the very end… then we’re all talking about how Florian Vermeersch took it to Mathieu van der Poel in Nieuwsblad, and I’d say his market value would be a good bit higher than it is right now.

I was left with similar questions after the finish of the women’s race.

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney kept on riding full-on, when it was always going to be difficult to see her beating Demi Vollering in a sprint. After the Muur and the Bosberg, the workload was pretty much 50-50, from what I could see.

There’s not a lot Niewiadoma can do in that situation, but she could have started to play that game a little bit. I was expecting her to stop contributing quite so much and to put the pressure on Vollering a bit more, but no, she just continued all the way.

Then, when she got into that final kilometre, she could have just sat on the wheel, but Vollering flicked her elbow, and Niewiadoma simply came through, keeping the pace high.

There was not a lot she could do, but I do think she should have played it a bit more tactically in the final number of kilometres, and certainly in the final kilometre.

Maybe I’m guilty of the ‘back in my day’ mindset, but to me, sometimes that’s the only chance you have at winning, so why not take it?

Crashes

One theme of the Opening Weekend was riders on the deck. It didn’t used to be quite so intense at this point in the season, but that’s the way racing has gone these days. My goodness, it was just crazy stuff.

Going back to the one that Van der Poel was able to avoid on the Molenberg, the way the rider charged in that corner – he was on the wrong side of the crown, going around the slight bend, and he was going full gas. The bike is just going to go from under you, and that’s what happened. Many riders were caught behind, and for many of them, it meant they’d never get to the front of the race. I’m sure if you’re a rider up there in the front end of the race, feeling good, and you get caught up behind, you’d be pretty annoyed about that.

We saw so many other crashes across the weekend, and it was uncomfortable to watch. It’s just so dangerous now, and it’s getting worse and worse, with the speed of the racing and the aggressive way they’re racing. Ok, there’s always the risk of crashes, and they do happen. But everybody seems to be fighting for every centimetre of road, and nobody is backing off at all. So you get all these crashes and all these broken bones. When you look at the amount of work these guys put in from December, and you get a bad one and your Classics season is over, it must be horrendous.

The UCI have to start doing something. They have introduced some equipment rules and have some things they want to do, including the idea of gear restrictions, but the issue has to be looked at immediately, because the way things are going, the Spring might just be a big crash-fest.

The peloton is an amazing thing. It has a chaotic predictability to it, the fact that you're in control of your own bike, yet also absolutely not at the same time. It controls 80% of your movements, and leaves you to play with the other 20%. A sports director's race briefing is centred around being in the right part of the peloton at the right time, and that is almost always the difference between winning and losing.

A rider can be physiologically capable of winning Milan-San Remo, but if they can't enter the bottleneck - the entrance to the Cipressa - placed amongst the top-30 riders without expending too much energy, then I'm going to say that it is an impossible task to actually win that race.

I have a theory that you need to fall into one of three categories to be able to stretch that 20% mobility in the peloton to 30 or 40%. Oh, and you can't simply just be one of these either, you need to work at it, curate your peloton personality around it to the extreme, on or off the bike, as sitting in the middle will do you no favours at all.

The riders that are loved

Key features of this first category of rider include you being chatty, friendly, generous and gracious with your movements in the bunch. You point out potholes and warn other riders and teams during racing; you let riders into or across your team's line when they ask or need, and you basically go out of your way to help competitors and congratulate them if they do well, even if it's to the detriment of your own team.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that this creates a perception of you not actually being competitive in a fundamentally competitive environment, but there is a good reason for this, which I'll get to. You do need to be a reliable wheel to follow, you don't crash, and you don't get dropped in an echelon, a steady and reliable Eddie.

You're almost worthy of captain of the peloton status. If there's a new rider in the bunch, even those not in your team, you may offer some words of wisdom or say hello. It's completely unnecessary friendliness, and you'll be lulled into a false sense of security, thinking this category one rider is just a harmless and nice guy. Almost too nice.

But don't be fooled by all these niceties; it's a ploy, a mask. You're emotionally unable to be a feared category two rider, so you're using your friendliness to do your dirty work for you. All the niceness is basically owed favours being banked at all times. You let someone in the line when they need it - that is a favour owed. You're going to get that back at some point when your team is up front, and you need to get there. You've spent years crafting this reputation, and it pays you back every single race.

The riders that are feared, disliked or just a liability

There are three sub-categories here, but they amount to the same thing. Key features of a category two rider are that you don't give an inch to anyone - racing is no time to make friends - and that there's no pleasant small talk unless it's with your teammates. Everyone knows you don't give a damn what happens behind your bottom bracket. This could be because you're intentionally being a bit of an arse or blissfully unaware of your surroundings; ultimately, it doesn't matter, as the outcome remains the same.

Everyone else stays as far away from you as possible in the bunch, and that's the exact outcome you want. If you are fighting for a gap with another rider, they concede immediately as they know you won't. You're the kind of guy that takes your own bottle from your bike, puts it in your back pocket and rides up the side of the bunch screaming 'service!' Everyone follows peloton rules and gets out your way, and then when you arrive at the front of the bunch, you pop that bottle back in your bike because the only thing you were servicing were your own interests.

Everything is an opportunity to fight, and if an argument starts, you will fight loudly. You are often severely disliked until a rider becomes your teammate, then somehow you become the best, most loyal and loved colleague. They realise their preconception about you wasn't wrong, but they feel bad for the hatred towards you now that you're one of the best teammates they've ever had.

A liability is also a way to enter this category. Bike handling isn't your strong point, and the peloton knows it. You may be a nice person, but if a crash happens, then you're either in it or have caused it because you definitely won't have avoided it. Your team knows this, but knows the potential in you is there if you'd just stay on your bike. Either way, the peloton gives you space because they also enjoy staying on their bikes.

The riders that are respected

You might be looking at this title, thinking what the difference is between this and riders in category one? Well, this is the halo rider category. You can be in this category and category one or two.

Pogačar, Sagan, Evenepoel, Van der Poel, Vingegaard, Van Aert, Cavendish, you get the jist. Riders who you feel like, even though you're on the same line as them, you're not in the same race, or barely the same sport.

The only reason you don't ask for a selfie is that you have too much pride pretending you're competitors. Technically, on paper - that thin piece of paper being the start list - you are, but after the flag drops, the similarities end abruptly.

There's also a place here for the peloton captains, who have served for over a decade as category one riders and earned themselves the right to shift into category three, too. Erviti, Eisel, Lastras, Durbridge, and Hansen are some examples that spring to mind.

They're not offered the same freedoms as the halo riders, though. What you can't do is be in category two, a rider that is feared, disliked or a liability, and transition into category three; you're only allowed to start in category three and also be in category two.

With the feared and halo rider types, generally, you're more predisposed to be unaware of your surroundings than intentionally reckless, and given you're here as a halo rider, you'll have a team helping manage that aspect of your racing to deliver you to a point of winning.

But as with all of these categories, there are exceptions, and Peter Sagan was a prime example. His superior bike handling skills meant he did not need a team to get him to the right place at the right time; he developed a bit of a reputation for doing that at a cost to others who would usually come out worse if they took him on. So from experience, you just didn't, you let him do what he needed to do.

Category three is an interesting group, especially with the recent comments of Tiesj Benoot around how Van der Poel and Pogačar's movements influence everyone else in the bunch. There's another layer here that is racing actually gets easier for them, and they've fully earned it, they're halo riders.

Put yourself in the shoes of a neo pro, you've got your team behind so conceding the gap isn’t an option. They are relying on you to move them up the peloton, and you're faced with a choice of two riders to squeeze; one to the left and one to the right, and you have to pick one, or someone's going to crash. To your left is Evenepoel, to your right is another neo pro. I promise you that they're going to pick the neo pro because you don't ever want to be the guy responsible for wiping out one of the hitters.

The reason you must be an extreme in this category is, as I said earlier, due to peloton mobility. The ease with which you can manoeuvre yourself around the peloton to get to the right place at the right time and stay there. If you’re not any of these, then you may well have a higher chance of being pushed around in what is a dog-eat-dog world, friendly or not.

I’d put these reputational groupings above a marginal gain; this is racing, and how a rider is viewed by their peers can be tough to see within the data we get, but if you look for it, you can find it.

The riders that are a loved liability (a bonus, unicorn category)

I'm not in the business of naming names in this column, and I really can only think of one rider who fits this bill from my time in the bunch. A race-winning machine, fiercely friendly but an utter liability you needed to steer clear of in the bunch. Who? I'll leave you guys to wonder.

P.S. I have secretly enjoyed referring to Pogačar as a category three rider, with myself residing in category one (or I liked to think so anyway). It's the only time that'll happen!

I’m writing this sat on a 'Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday' plane – try saying that not to the tune of the viral advert! I'm en route to Calpe, or Altea specifically, a coastal town on Spain's Mediterranean coast, for XDS Astana's January training camp.

I’ve been told to have a great holiday on multiple occasions by their friendly staff. I laughed internally at the reality; a holiday it is not, but it doesn't quite feel like work either. I’ll land at a similar time to some riders, such is the logistical masterpiece put together by my colleague Francesca and the rest of the team's staff who organise the camp.

As a rider, there is an old pro team habit whereby the moment a staff member greets you at the airport, they take your suitcase and roll it to the car, the semi-rockstar lifestyle that it is.

This time last year, I found myself hesitating when I realised it was now me who should be taking Harold Tejada’s case for him. I’m pretty sure I did, and that was a real line in the sand at the start of this chapter with XDS Astana. Winter training camps can vary across different teams, and, surprisingly, Calpe is not a destination I ever found myself training as a pro.

When I rode for Team Sky, now Ineos Grenadiers, the team would book an entire hotel in Alcudia for the winter and rotate us so that training groups were always small. It was eight or nine days on, then a week at home throughout December and January. Katusha-Alpecin also used Mallorca and NSN Cycling (formerly Israel-Premier Tech) went to Girona in a similar style to XDS Astana with two full team camps in December and January, aside from the Tour Down Under squad and some South American riders staying home at altitude.

And then there was Movistar. Zero winter team training camps during the five years I was there – not a single one. Movistar would have a four-day get-together in October or November to rattle through bikes and kit, team meetings and photos and then say, 'see you at the races'.

This is laughed at by many until I remind people of Movistar’s brilliant successes over those years and explain the logic I thought was behind it.

Firstly, the December camp is the single most expensive team endeavour of the year. Depending on a team's size, between 60 and 150 employees require flights, food and accommodation, so the costs are eye-watering. Movistar did away with that, so that’s either less funding required from sponsors, or it can be invested into gains elsewhere, such as riders, research and development, extra races, or altitude camps in the season.

'But what about the riders and team bonding, the training they’ll do?'

Well, I think the logic was that no WorldTour pro made it into the ranks by chance; there’s a certain work ethic that exists across the board, that’s how and why they turned pro, and they don’t need a camp to get the work done. They’re coached by the team, but ultimately they and they alone have to ride the bike and do the hours, so they are trusted to turn up fit and ready, and they usually deliver. If they don’t, then contracts don’t get renewed; it’s as simple as that.

Thirdly, a lot of pros already live somewhere suitable to train, and if they don’t, then they’ll likely get themselves there. I was the latter and spent weeks in Lanzarote and even spent Christmas in Mallorca once. Heck, in the Zwift era, modern-day cyclists are perfectly happy indoors as well.

My fourth and final point is around team bonding and rider happiness. Movistar had a very high retention rate in riders, so there was always a familiar face, but here’s where the non-camp magic occurred. Movistar usually shone between August and October, and OK, they would naturally be expected to perform well at their home Grand Tour of La Vuelta, but the Tour of Guangxi or Tour of Beijing were also often a success too.

It comes down to rider happiness. It’s a long season with a lot of time sacrificed being away from home and family. I think Movistar valued that highly and felt that the riders spent so much time away once the season was underway that more wasn’t perhaps beneficial. Happy riders win bike races, and I think that was Movistar’s logic, or at least part of it.

January camp sees an intensity lift

So after waxing lyrically about the 'Movistar Methodology', let’s get back to how we're doing things at this camp, why it’s important and why it works. Never has the saying ‘there's more than one way to skin a cat’ been so true. We are always trying to find single-digit percentage gains, and these camps are part of that.

There are so many different aspects that both the riders and we as staff value from these weeks. Whether it be the training quality, the direct feedback we can receive from riders while on the road and the ability to act upon it quickly to accelerate development or the togetherness, friendships, and team cohesion that can develop.

Refining time trial positions, education sessions, and season planning, whilst face-to-face, are other examples. Any new faces in the team become ingrained quickly.

Calpe is the epicentre of it now for most teams, and I can see why. It’s not on an island, so the team’s infrastructure can travel easily there. The weather is good – not good enough to wear shorts and a jersey like on the Canary Islands, but still very pleasant. Terrain, road quality and route options are perfect, and honestly, it’s much like Mallorca, where the quantity of cyclists means that drivers really do take care around them.

We will split the team into three or four groups for training; usually, climbers, non-climbers and the Tour Down Under team. The coaches carefully craft the routes and efforts that’ll be taken on each day, and everything else slots in around that: massage schedules, bike fitting, meetings about every aspect of racing and the season ahead. It’s hugely productive.

My job here is to personally deal with aero testing, bike fitting, team time trial and time trial simulation days, and one-to-one work with riders who need it. I also head out on a moped to take video footage and get feedback from riders in the moment, so it’s not forgotten by the time they return to the hotel.

The December camp usually includes a bit of a social outing for staff and riders to encourage team bonding, while in January, you will find riders are keener to head to bed than to stay on after dinner for more chats, such is the intensity lift in training. It’s an intense 12 days for all. I personally come away from it as shattered as if I were a rider, but fulfilled. Seeing the smiles on riders' faces as equipment is dialled in and they’re hitting good numbers is a lot of fun to see.

So too are the wide-eyed realisations of the neo pros as they’re given support and tools they’ve never had before to take their dream to the top level of the sport. Marco Schrettl is one of XDS Astana's new recruits and is visibly buzzing over the opportunity he has, and we’re all excited to see what he makes of it.

The captain has just signalled that there are 10 minutes to go until we land, so I need to tuck the laptop away and get ready to take a rider’s suitcase at the airport before starting January camp once again.

Nothing beats an XDS Astana Training Camp – I hope you sang that in your head to the Jet2 soundtrack.