New Zealand riders Bryony Botha (Fearless Femme pb the Beasley Firm) and George Jackson (Whoosh–NZ Cycling Project) won tight sprints in the Downer Classic on Saturday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Elite riders scored points in Saturday's contest, officially called Café Hollander Otto Wenz Downer Classic p/b ISCorp, the second round of the American Criterium Cup national series and the 11-day Tour of America's Dairyland (ToAD).

Botha surprised current ACC women's leader Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) with a strong final surge to earn the race victory. Another Kiwi, Kyra Marett (1Kflips Racing), the country's national criterium champion, secured third. With her runner-up finish on home Wisconsin turf, Schneider continued as the women's individual leader in the ACC standings.

"I didn't realise it was one lap to go. I saw my teammate Kiera at the front; I told her to just drill it. She did a great job with that. It was a great, spectacular, surprise attack by the New Zealand criterium champ, which set me up well. I don’t think my dad’s gonna believe me when I tell him I won a sprint," Botha told race organisers.

All the attacks in the women's race were controlled by the HigherDOSE RenovaPoints, which went on the hunt for mid-race sprint points. They took all the spoils with Andrea Cyr retaining the women's ACC sprint competition.

Botha also won the women's title across the 11 days of ToAD one-day races in various cities in Wisconsin. She collected 271 points with Claudia Marcks (Pedla Race Division) and Aline Seitz (HigherDOSE-Renova) timed for second with 249 points.

The men's field that started with a robust 145 riders was all together for the final circuit. Jackson came into the ACC matchup with four wins in the nine previous days of ToAD, and he wasn't close to being done. He carried momentum at the front of the field through the last corner and held off a late charge from former USPro crit winner Lucas Bourgouyne (Team Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing) and current USPro crit champion Luke Elphingston (Project Echelon Racing), who went second and third, respectively.

“We thought it would probably come down to a field sprint; we knew there was so much cash on the line, so we knew it was going to be a hard one," Jackson said about the cash prizes at intermediate sprints causing chaos early on.

"The team has been coming here for 18-19 years, and we’re getting better and better each year. New Zealand is a small country, and we’re far away, so we don’t have races like this…We love coming here, the crowds were insane, everyone’s insane…it’s so much fun.”

With his runner-up finish, despite an early crash and cut to his knee from a collision into a chainring, Bourgoyne held his individual lead in the men's ACC standings. All of the significant sprint points were collected by Chaney Windows and Doors Big Shark p/b Pastaria riders, with Owen Gillot holding the ACC lead in that classification.

The five ToAD victories gave Jackson the overall title for the regional series with a total of 248 points, while his teammate James Wilson finished second with 271 points. Bourgoyne took third overall.

The next stop for the ACC will be July 11 in Boise, Idaho, for the Bailey & Glasser LLP Boise Twilight Criterium. That marks the midpoint of the series with three races to complete the schedule.

Results

Sofia Gomez Villafañe and Keegan Swenson (both Specialized Off-road) returned to the top step at SBT GRVL on Sunday in Colorado, both launching solo attacks on the later segments of a refreshed 108-mile 'black' course. It was Swenson's fourth elite men's title while Villafañe won the elite women's race for a second time.

This year's Steamboat Springs long 'black' course featured one single-loop circuit through Routt County, with an out-and-back, washed-out gravel road, Cow Creek, featured as the first climb after the start from Yampa Street and again as a decisive technical descent in the final 12 miles.

Three elite men exited the Cow Creek climb at the front of the race - Nathan Spratt (Ventum + Voler), Adam Roberge (Felt UN1TD) and John Borstelmann (Ventum) - and set a marker of four minutes. Across the next 24 miles, two-thirds of that the longest ascent of the day with uneven pitches reaching 7%-9%, the leaders were caught by six riders - Swenson, Henry Nelson (Lunchbox Racing), Cobe Freeburn (Trek Driftless), Alexey Vermeulen (ENVE), Pete Stetina (Canyon) and John Keller.

By the mid-point of the race, Swenson was part of the new lead group as Freeburn, Roberge and Nelson, with Spratt, Vermeulen, Stetina and Keller giving chase, and Borstelmann dropping off the pace.

A long paved descent led to the second longest climb on the route, approximately nine miles of gravel, passing to the south of Hayden and from the crest leaving 35.5 miles for a return to Steamboat Springs. On the descent from this climb, Swenson launched his attack on a paved section and by the time he hit the return ascent to Cow Creek had a two-and-a-half minute gap.

Swenson completed his ride in 4:36:20, with Vermeulen second and Freeburn third in a four-rider chase who were five minutes back. Nelson finished fourth and Roberge fifth. Stetina had worked with Keller for a second chase group, Keller going one second better than the Canyon veteran at the line, just 47 and 48 seconds behind Vermeulen

Swenson finished second last year, outsprinting Freeburn and Vermeulen. This year Vermeulen's runner-up spot was his third podium at SBT GRVL, having gone third to Swenson in 2024 and 2023.

"The king reigns on here at SBT GRVL," Vermeulen said about his rival Swenson. "Got dropped, but managed to finagle my way back into the sprint for second by the end thanks to a great chase group with John Keller and Peter Stetina."

The elite women started five minutes after the men, with the field staying mainly compact for the opening 15 miles. On the 17-mile dirt ascent known as Wahooligan Pass, Sarah Lange (Velocio-Kenda Bicycle) set the tempo with Cecily Decker (PAS Racing) and 2023 winner Villafañe.

The trio were joined on the descent by Danni Shrosbree (Rapha-Argon 18), Kylee Hanel (Cervélo-Maxxis), Paige Onweller (Trek Driftless), two-time winner Lauren De Crescenzo (The Feed-Argonaut-Castelli-Maxxis) and 2024 winner Lauren Stephens (Aegis x LOE), which created the decisive split of the race.

The riders traded attacks, but none took hold until Lange broke away on a gravel descent south of Hayden at mile 80. She carried her momentum into the technical section at Cow Creek, where Villafañe began to close the gap, and Stephens trailed 30 seconds behind with Onweller another 30 seconds back.

"I tried to attack a few times earlier in the race but nothing stuck and our group of 8 kept coming back together. So when I found myself off the front during a lull with 25-30 miles to go, I went for it," Lange said on Instagram.

"When I exited Cow Creek and had 7 miles of pavement back into town, I was told Sofia was solo 30 seconds back. I kept pushing but knew she was gaining on me. I heard someone yell her name and knew I was caught with about 2 miles to go."

Villafañe caught and passed Lange on the tarmac just outside Steamboat Springs and cranked out a six-second gap to ride across the line uncontested in 5:25:01. Stephens finished 42 seconds behind Lange for third, her fifth time on the podium spot at SBT GRVL.

"The last 45 minutes of the race was spicy as we worked hard to chase down Sarah Lange who was on a ripper of a day. I pushed HARD on cow creek, separated myself from the chasers and made contact in the last two miles of the race," the new two-time winner said on her Instagram account.

Women’s defending champ Melisa Rollins, who has been away from racing for several months due to arm and wrist injuries, finished 20th. 2025 men’s winner Brendan Wertz did not line up as he was still recovering from a crash at Lost & Found gravel in California two weeks ago.

Last year SBT GRVL had separate race days for elites and amateurs, with the elite fields starting and finishing in Hayden. All race routes returned to downtown Steamboat Springs this year, featuring safety enclosures for elite categories and a black course team support and nutrition aid station at mile 63 at the Hayden Gun Range, which also served as a spectator zone.

Results

Gabby Traxler (GURU Energy-Basso Bikes) and Carter Nieuwesteeg (Giant Bicycle Canada) won elite titles at Ghost of the Gravel in Water Valley, Alberta, punching their tickets in the 26th qualifier event for the 2026 UCI Gravel World Championships.

Traxler launched a solo attack from a front group of five riders after the opening 48km to finish in 4:34:42. Hanna Johansson of Sweden was 2:46 back in second and Francesca Seal another 2-plus minutes back for third.

Canadian Sidney McGill, the 2024 Pan-American Cyclo-cross champion, had been part of the lead group but faded to seventh place, just over 36 minutes behind her compatriot.

"I pushed hard and went solo for the last 70km. After third and second the past two years, I was very happy to finally get the win," Traxler wrote on Instagram, the Alberta native scoring her first gravel win of the season on home soil.

The 118 kilometres at Ghost of the Gravel featured 90% dirt roads across the foothills near Calgary, with 2,073 metres of elevation gain found on a large clockwise circuit. Early rain made for a wet surface, and Nieuwesteeg called it "the gnarliest conditions I’ve seen to date" on a course used the past two years for the Canadian Gravel Championships.

Nieuwesteeg, who was third overall at BC Bike Race, held off Oskar Stack-Michasiw in a two-up sprint for the elite men's victory, both riders finishing in 3:49:00. Finn Borstmayer then won the sprint for third against Wyatt Gaulke, 11:21 later, for an all-Canadian men's podium.

The men's race saw 12 riders grouped at the front for the first 35 kilometres, which was mainly climbing. Then on a technical descent, splits formed and the podium quartet set off together. Nieuwesteeg and Stack-Michasiw set off together with 40km to go.

"A full day keeping it throttled with Oskar Stack-Michasiw. Pretty sweet to get the win at a UCI World Series event, definitely did not have that in the cards as mentally I’ve been fully in FGG [Fernie Gravel Grind] planning mode for the last couple weeks," Nieuwesteeg wrote on social media. "I guess Gravel World Champs in Australia is now calling."

Gravelking UCI Gravel World Series was the second stop for the series in Canada, taking place on back-to-back weekends with OG Classique in Quebec. The next round of the series will be July 5 in Germany for Hegau Gravel Festival.

Results

24-year-old Visma-Lease a Bike racer Lieke Nooijen claimed the biggest victory of her career to date as she outpowered Femke Markus (SD Worx-Protime) in an excitingly unpredictable Dutch Nationals elite women's road race.

Third was Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek), with Nooijen's Visma teammate Mischa Bredewold and Femke de Vries (SD Worx-Protime) just off the podium in fourth and fifth.

“I know I am in good form, and to bring that out today… That is really wonderful,” Nooijen told Wielerflits after the finish, before praising her team's collective work.

"Femke de Vries and I were in a good attack a few times, Marianne Vos joined in, and Maud Oudeman rode a super strong race,” she added.

“At one point, there were still five or six of us in the first group. That is really impressive, and in the end, I was the one who got away with Femke Markus . I am very happy that I was able to finish it off.”

How it unfolded

The ultra-difficult Dutch course featured, just like in the remainder of the races, the two main climbs of Van Randwijckweg (1.2 km at 6.5%) and Oude Holleweg (1 km at 7%). Although Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) was not present, other top names like Lorena Wiebes and Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), not to mention all-time great Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), all but ensured a very exciting race.

Perhaps given there was so much firepower in the race, for much of the opening part of the course, none of the multiple attacks managed to stick, with the big favourites content to watch and wait for an opportunity. Coming into the final 50 kilometres of a 117-kilometre course, the high pace and blizzard of little digs failing to succeed ensured that the peloton was far smaller than when it set out from Nijmegen midway through Sunday afternoon.

The first important move to actually get enough of a margin to become a break came when De Vries, Adegeest and Nienke Vinke (SD Worx-Protime) opened up a small gap, with De Vries and Adegeest pushing on when Vinke began to struggle. Eventually, the leading duo were caught but that only sparked yet more efforts, notably by the very active de Vries.

The move that eventually gained real traction for Visma came courtesy of Nooijen, taking off with Markus to push open their advantage to around a minute. Nooijen attempted to shake off her closest rival on the Van Randwijckweg, to no avail, and the two non-sprinters were forced to fight it out for gold on the line.

As Wielerflits reported, the sprint began when Markus opened up hostilities a full 800 metres from the line, only to be caught by Nooijen, who in turn launched a very early acceleration. That long-distance move proved just enough to contain Markus and allow Nooijen to go two better than her already promising bronze medal in Wednesday's time trial - and clinch the win.

Results

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For the seventh time in her career and fourth year in a row, Elisa Longo Borghini secured the Italian National Championships road race, breaking away solo to make a more than convincing defence of her title.

Second, 20 seconds back was Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv AlUla Jayco), with Lidl-Trek's Elisa Balsamo in third. But once again the battle for gold in the Italian Nationals was really only about one person.

Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) seemingly had no difficulty on the hilly 120-kilometre course around Pordenone, comfortably handing the three ascents of the Castello de Caneve (1.2 km at 6.6%, 3.1 km at 4.5%) mid -race before powering away to the finish.

Given sterling support by her teammates, Longo Borghini used the third ascent to the Caneva castle to the finish line in the Bottechia Velodrome.

“It was a very demanding day; the heat certainly had an impact on the race. The final 25 kilometres, in particular, were really tough—I had to push hard, but I managed my effort well. We knew we had to make it a hard race to drop the fast finishers, since the Castello di Caneva climb isn't very selective," Longo Borghini said.

"I want to thank my teammates; they were fantastic, as always—I couldn't have won without them. I dedicate this victory to them: they believed in me and did a great job for me.”

The U23 title went to Eleonora Ciabocco (Picnic PostNL), present in the group of chasers led home by Balsamo, 1:50 back, and making her return to racing after a bad crash and injuries in La Vuelta Femenina when she was leading the BYR competition.

How it unfolded

After an hour's racing and a very fast start, no attacks managed to go clear on the rolling course, even if Noemi Lucrezia Eremita (Born to Win BTC City Ljubljana) and Marta Pavesi (Top Girls-Fassa Bortolo) did their best to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the field. UAE Team ADQ ensured that the move never really gained much of an advantage, as Longo Borghini's position as standout favourite meant her team needed to do all of the spadework, keeping the early breaks under control.

Things began to swing more decisively in the defending champion's favour when a group of some 50 riders, spearheaded by UAE, managed to prise themselves out of the peloton. This was whittled down on the second ascent of the Castello de Caneve, with Longo Borghini in person and her teammate Silvia Persico doing much of the hard work to reduce the group to just 20 units.

27 kilometres from the line, Longo Borghini launched what would prove to be the definitive attack of the race. Led out by Persico, the first attack by Longo Borghini drew a response from Trinca Colonel, then from Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco). But a second attack left Paternoster reeling, and by the summit of the climb, Trinca Colonel was already seven seconds behind.

The next 26 kilometres essentially boiled down to a lengthy time trial effort by Longo Borghini, with Trinca Colonel oscillating between 20 and 40 seconds behind and the group even further distant. As the race returned to Pordenone again for the closing kilometres, Longo Borghini sat up a little to ensure she did not put herself under too much pressure for the finale, but by then, it was clear she was going to be wearing red, white and green yet again for another year.

Results

Shari Bossuyt (AG Insurance-Soudal) took a hardfought but clear triumph in the Belgian Nationals Road Race on Sunday, outpowering leading favourite Lotte Kopecky (SDWorx-Protime) in a small group sprint for her first ever senior title.

The recent winner of a stage of the Vuelta a España, and the GP de Wallonie back in 2025, Bossuyt's victory is the latest chapter of a dream comeback following a two-year suspension for banned substance Letrozole.

The 137-kilometre course starting in Antwerp and finishing in Brasschaat saw multiple options go clear, and it was only in the closing part of the course that it became certain a bunch sprint, of some 30-35 riders, would definitively materialise.

Given the rollercoaster recent past, Bossuyt's win ahead of Kopecky and Lotto-Intermarché's Sandrine Tas carried huge importance for the 25-year-old, who was in tears after the finish.

“There are so many emotions… that I am crying here,” she said, according to Nieuwsblad..

“This surpasses everything. I hope this is the start of something very beautiful. I was already super happy with that stage in the Vuelta and that this… I have no words for it.”

"I had actually already put that difficult period behind me, but on a day like today, it all comes back to the surface. I shouldn't cry… but still. Getting to wear that jersey in the Tour de France is going to be very beautiful."

How it unfolded

Early attacks allowed first Jan Dobbelaere and the veteran Loes Sels (Belco-Van Eyck) to get away, but only with a minimal advantage and they were caught three laps out. The first of the late attacks, made by Bossuyt's teammate Julie Van de Velde (AG Insurance - Soudal) also failed to work out.

However, Van de Velde's move sparked a much more dangerous mass move, containing defending champion Justine Ghekiere (AG Insurance-Soudal) and no less than three Fenix-Premier Tech racers: Lotte Claes, Julie De Wilder and Xaydee Van Sinaey in a group of nine. This break was powerful enough to stay away for nearly 20 kilometres, and even when it was, Ghekiere took advantage of a cobbled sector to try and stay away.

Ghekiere's move was then backed by Tas - later third - and young Belgian sprinter Fleur Moors (Lidl-Trek), and Moors went for it again in the final kilometres. AG Insurance-Soudal were working hard for a sprint by that stage, though, and a few minutes later, Bossuyt paid off all their hard work.

“When Justine Ghekiere was away with Tas and Moors, I told her not to ride along, because that was a dangerous situation," Bossuyt later told Nieuwsblad.

"When everything came back together, it worked out well for me. Moors had already done quite a bit of work at the front, so I just kept an eye on Lotte. With 250 meters to go, I launched my sprint. I felt I was in control.”

Results

Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//SRAM) completed a stunning double in the elite women's road race at the British Road Championships in Aberystwyth on Sunday. After successfully defending her individual time trial title on Thursday, Bäckstedt added the road race to her palmares, her first elite title on the road won on home soil in Wales.

DAS-Hutchinson's Josie Knight finished second, a fantastic reward following a brave solo ride in the breakaway for the track specialist, and last year's champion Millie Couzens (Fenix-Premier Tech) won the sprint from a reduced bunch to round out the podium.

Knight attacked early in the race, ahead of the finishing circuit in Aberystwyth, and led the race alone for over 90 kilometres, enjoying a gap of around 8 minutes at one point.

A chase group of three riders - Bäckstedt, Matilda McKibben (O'Shea Red Chilli Bikes) and Jo Tindley (Smurfit Westrock Cycling Team) - attempted to make an impact on Knight's advantage and cut it down to four minutes with three laps of the local circuit remaining, when Bäckstedt launched an attack to leave the trio and set off in pursuit of Knight.

It was a breathtaking chase, with Bäckstedt taking off half of the deficit in the first lap of her solo pursuit. She continued to chip away steadily at the gap and with Knight visibly tiring, Bäckstedt's power and time trialling acumen saw her make the catch with 14km to go.

Behind the leaders, Picnic-PostNL spearheaded an attack from the peloton to try and split the bunch, and defending champion Couzens was among the group to make the split.

The chase group put pressure on the leaders, closing to within two minutes of Bäckstedt as she took the lead. However, they were no match for the endurance of the Welsh rider, and were unable to make any further impression on Bäckstedt's lead over the remainder of the race.

The 21-year-old proved her mettle, holding on to become the first British woman to complete the time-trial-road race double since Alice Wood in 2019. Speaking after the race, Backstedt said: “It was a really interesting race with the break getting almost seven minutes, I think. I didn't have the best feeling in my legs at the beginning of the day, and then going over the long climb, I felt okay, so I decided to try and follow some stuff, and yeah, 50k-55k solo, then to the finish, so was a really hard day."

On whether or not she enjoyed the race, Bäckstedt had this to say. “Enjoyed is an interesting word. I pushed myself to the limit. I just wanted to control a little bit of my power, so I knew what I could do for such a long period of time, and just needed to keep eating, keep drinking, and stay focused until the end, and keep pushing to try and catch back Josie. That happened, and then still had a lot to go, so one of the hardest laps was that last one. Just also mentally knowing that I was so close to the finish.

"It means a lot, really. I had a good week on the bike last week in Tour de Suisse, and I knew coming into this week that it was going to be a good course for me, and the climbs were super good for me as well. So yeah, I was really hoping for that."

Results

Maggie Coles-Lyster won from a bunch sprint in Saint Georges, Quebec, to score her second national title on Saturday, and seal a special victory for Human Powered Health.

Coles-Lyster's fast finish saw her storm to her first road race win in four years ahead of EF Education-Oatly's Alexandra Volstad and Movistar's Olivia Baril, who rounded out the podium. Volstad took the U23 title in the process.

The victory follows Coles-Lyster's first pro win at the Tour Down Under one-day race at the end of January, in what has been a stand-out season for the 27-year old from Maple Ridge in British Columbia following a comeback from iliac artery surgery.

Defending champion Alison Jackson (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93) just missed out on a podium spot, finishing in fourth.

Speaking after the race to Cycling Canada, Coles-Lyster said: “It’s amazing. It’s been four years since I last won this. After the last year, with my iliac artery surgery, it’s been a really fun comeback. I’m really happy with where I am and to be able to wear the maple leaf this year.”

Results

Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) claimed her second national road title in three days, sprinting to victory in the road race on Saturday after taking the win in the time trial on Friday at the Irish Road Championships in Cong, County Mayo.

In rainy conditions, the track World Champion was the fastest from the breakaway in an uphill sprint to take her third road title, following wins in 2020 and 2023. Emma Jeffers (Liv AlUla Jayco) was second, and defending champion Mia Griffin (Mayenne Monbana) rounded out the podium.

The 2026 edition of the race saw one of the strongest fields ever to take on the women’s title race, including Marine Lenehan (Lidl-Trek), Fiona Mangan (Picnic PostNL), Griffin and Gillespie.

“It feels good [to win twice in three days]. It means a lot to bring the national jersey into the European Peloton. So, I'm excited to wear that for the next year, and I missed it the last two years. It was really good race, and I felt really good again today. So, I knew it was going to be a fun one,” Gillespie told Cycling Ireland.

“It was absolutely bleak weather, but actually kind of like you wouldn't go out in that on training day, but it was quite fun to race in drastically different conditions today compared to Thursday.”

Gillespie was able to use the miserable conditions to whittle the field down.

“The wind was quite good for me, because I attacked over the top of the climb, which kind of split the group up quite well, and then I attacked another time in like a crosswind section, and that also I think tired people out. I think maybe, I don't know, I used it to my advantage.”

The 32-rider field tackled the challenging Loch na Fooey Loop once before transitioning to the 28.7km Cloughbrack loop, twice, for a total of 111.6 kilometres.

The peloton fractured on the first big climb with an elite lead group of nine riders building up a gap of 2 minutes before the final shorter lap. In addition to Gillespie, Jeffers and Griffin, the lead group included Fiona Mangan (Mayenne-Monbana-Mypie), Aliyah Rafferty (DAS-Hutchinson), Marine Lenehan (Lidl-Trek), Greta Lawless (Simpson Nouvelles), Linda Kelly and Lucy Benezet-Minns (Team Féminin Chambéry).

Lenehan was the first to make a move inside of two kilometres before being reeled in by Gillespie with the group in tow, leading to the final sprint.

“Marine actually tacked with like one one and a half to go, and everyone just let her go, so then I attacked over the top, and then I was like ‘I'm not gonna lose it, like now with one K to go’, and then I wanted to kind of try and use her as a lead out in a way, but I kind of caught her too soon. So then everyone else also caught up, and then we like braked, and then we were all side by side, basically a standing start with 250 to go,” Gillespie said.

“I know how fast Mia is. I mean, on the track we're racing and training together a lot, and then I know how fast Emma is from the road, so yeah, I just had to hope for the best.”

Results

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Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez) made it three in a row in the road race at the German Road Championships, after scoring her first women's time trial title yesterday in Bad Liebenstein.

In a similar scenario to her two previous victories, Koch came out on top from a five-rider breakaway, which included Liane Lippert (Movistar), Nele Laing and the Canyon-SRAM duo of Antonia Niedermaier and Justina Czapla.

Three-time champion Lippert (2018, 2022, 2023) launched the sprint first, but Koch powered past her to claim the win, with Lippert settling for second as she did in 2024. Newly crowned German U23 road champion, Czapla, after going on a solo break of almost 65 kilometres before being caught in the final lap, took third.

Runner-up last year, Niedermaier finished fifth. Crossing the line 1:41 later, Linda Riedmann (Lotto-Intermarché Ladies) led the peloton in for sixth place.

“It was a mega hard day. Canyon played his cards well. The race was also very fast, despite the heat. I drank at least two bottles every round," Koch told the German Cycling Federation.

How it unfolded

In hot temperatures, close to 37 °C, the women faced a shortened course, from 136.5km to 109km, after their start was delayed by one hour due to a fall in the men’s junior race held earlier in the day. The women raced the 27.3km circuit with around 550 metres of elevation gain per lap four times.

Justyna Czapla (Canyon SRAM) was the first rider to escape, taking a solo flyer on the second lap. Using her time trialing skills, as demonstrated by winning the U23 TT a few days earlier, she built her lead to almost two minutes by the end of that lap.

A select group, consisting of defending champion Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez), three-time champion Liane Lippert (Movistar), the Giro runner-up Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon SRAM) and Nele Laing came together to give chase, reducing the lead to one minute by the end of the third lap.

Laing fell off the pace, leaving the trio to ultimately reel in Czapla with 15 kilometres to go. The four riders stayed together until the sprint to the finish line where Koch won her second title within 24 hours.

In the end, only 34 riders reached the finish line.

Results

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Faultless teamwork by FDJ United-SUEZ and a devastating late attack on the final has seen ultra-talented young racer Célia Gery conquer her first senior French Nationals road title.

Second was Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), five seconds back, with Emilie Morier (St-Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93) claiming the bronze.

For the bulk of the very hilly course at La-Tour-du-Pin, FDJ United had four riders in a front group of around a dozen, and they made their domination count throughout.

Coming onto the final ascent of the ultra-steep Bejui climb, Gery's teammate Juliette Berthet led the 20-year-old racer out, and then an all-out acceleration close to the top was all it took for Gery to go clear. Following a fast, technical solo to the finish, the gold medal was in the bag.

"It was a great race by all seven of us, we only had two riders ahead at the start so we had to get across, and I jumped across to the front group on the hill," Gery recounted later.

"Marie [Le Net, teammate] brought me across after I'd used up a lot of energy and we tried to manage things as best we could."

"I used the final climb, which is really my strong point, I wasn't at all calm, I think I looked back a lot but it's really mission accomplished. I'm not the best of sprinters particularly after a technical finale and descent like this one, so I knew I had to get away before that, and that's what I did."

How it unfolded

The very punchy 16.3 kilometre circuit round La-Tour-du-Pin featured two classified climbs, the gentler Montée de San Roch (1.7 km at 4.4%) then the much more difficult Montée de Bejui (1km at 8.4%, with a maximum of 13%) and the brace of ascents proved more than enough in the early laps to split an already small field of just 37 starters.

With 80 kilometres left, a 12-rider group was already in command, with no less than four FDJ United-SUEZ racers: Marie Le Net, Juliette Berthet, Léa Curinier, and Célia Gery - the latter two both arriving late to an initial move, and ensuring the lead group had FDJ very much in command. Along with the FDJ quartet at that point were Clémence Latimier (Ma Petite Entreprise), Victoire Berteau (Cofidis), Solène Muller and Emilie Morier (St-Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93), Gladys Verhulst Wild and Amandine Fouquenet (AG Insurance-Soudal Team), as well as Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly).

By the time the front group reached the third ascent of the Montée de San Roch, the leaders had a 1:30 advantage on the remainder of the field. There were some lineup changes - 2025 Tour de France double stage winner Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) made a notably impressive and successful solo effort to get across - but the four FDJ riders remained very much in control.

A typically attritional Championships scenario continued into the final 30 kilometres, although the numbers of around a dozen in the front group stayed roughly the same and FDJ continued to dominate on the baking hot day. A second group was circulating at 40 seconds but by this point, it was increasingly likely that the winner would come from the front break.

Trying to break free of the FDJ United hegemony was always going to be trickier the closer the race got to the finish, so Latimier and Morier both had a try in the second last lap, to no avail. Le Net, the defending champion, had the bulk of the duties keeping the remainder of the rivals under control, and she eventually sat up, leaving her three FDJ teammates to go for their own crack at glory.

On the second-to-last ascent of the Bejui, just six riders remained ahead: Berthet and Gery for FDJ, along with Latimier, Morier, Kerbaol and Squiban. FDJ retained their numerical advantage, then, even in the reduced lead group, and on top of that, Curinier was still shadowing the head of the race as the bell rang to mark the start of the last lap.

Yet again, more attacks tested FDJ's strength, though, with Latimier going for it on the shallower San Roch ascent, only for Berthet, the 2024 National Champion, to bring her back. A brief discussion with Gery then followed, and it was clear from the way Berthet moved to the front to keep the pace high that Gery - already a winner on very similar tough courses like Brabantse Pijl - was going to be the favoured FDJ rider on the day. However, a massive, successful effort by Verhulst Wild to bridge across was a reminder, too, that the gaps were still too small to overthink any plan.

With 11 kilometres to go, Berthet chased down a quick dig by Verhulst Wild, and as she buried herself for Gery and kept the six others lined out on her back wheel, the group settled in to wait for the last, decisive, ascent of the Bejui.

Berthet continued to power up the lower slopes, but Gery was waiting in the wings, finally smashing her way clear with 3.3 kilometres to go. She initially distanced all but Morier, and then by the top, another concerted surge meant Gery had nearly 100 metres' advantage on her closest rival.

That last effort was ultimately all it took to seal the victory, and as she claimed her first senior National title aged just 20, Gery proved yet again that she will likely be a force to reckon with for many years to come.

Results

Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal) has followed up her mid-week Nationals time trial win with victory in the road race on Saturday, blasting away from a six-strong lead group to clinch another triumph.

Four times a time trial champion, the 29-year-old Catalan took off early on the final uphill climb in Sabiñanigo to take her first-ever road race gold ahead of Sara Martín and Paula Ostiz (both Movistar).

The race was dominated by a long-range attack by Maite Urteaga (Eulen-Amenabar), finally caught with just four kilometres to go by a chase group of four containing Benito, the two Movistar riders and five-times Spanish National Champion Mavi García (UAE Team ADQ).

Despite making much of the running late on, García could not stop Benito from going clear in the final 400 metres, and the Movistar duo proved equally powerless to keep the national time trial champion from adding a second title in just three days to her palmares.

"I can't believe it, it's been a really chaotic race," Benito said about her first-ever mass start road race win. "I thought it was all decided because there was no collaboration. It was very hard to understand the race dynamics."

"So I decided simply to go for it and I didn't want to leave anything behind. I just wanted to go home with the feeling that I had fought hard. It's a dream come true."

"When I attacked before, I really didn't feel that it was going anywhere, it was a really odd race. But I wanted to try, and then when I was caught, I thought that I was done for. But then I realised everybody was really suffering by that point so I tried again."

How it unfolded

The 129.7-kilometre race was largely defined by the pursuit of long-distance breakaway Urteaga, who defied the WorldTour teams with a move that began on the first of the five lap circuit and which only definitively ended close to the finish in Sabiñanigo, NE Spain.

On a deceptively difficult course, featuring a never-ending series of undulating climbs across the foothills of the Pyrenees, Urteaga's move effectively saw the chasing peloton shred itself into bits as they tried to chase her down on a blisteringly hot day. And with 40 kilometres left, her advantage of two minutes over a chase group of less than ten riders was still proving tricky to reduce.

With her teammate and top favourite Paula Blasi a DNS because of injury, yet more accelerations by García on a grinding ascent whittled down the chase group to just the UAE Team ADQ rider, defending champion Martín and Ostiz (Movistar) as well as Benito. A fifth rider, Sandra Alonso (Eneicat-Be Call) was sporadically in contact, but visibly struggling to maintain herself in the group and despite the presence of two Movistars, much of the running was made by García, arguably the strongest rider in the race, and Benito.

Benito and García even managed to clip away from the Movistar duo, closing in remorselessly on a by-now flagging Urteaga. But instead Ostiz and Martín managed to reel them in, after which García provided more impetus to catch Urteaga four kilometres from the line.

A holding pattern briefly emerged, and coming into Sabiñanigo, the five leaders even slowed so much Alonso could rejoin them, making a courageous, if futile, attempt to go clear immediately afterwards.

The final uphill 800 metre drag to the line was looming up fast, and when Benito went from distance, it seemed like an overly ambitious move. Instead, neither Blasi nor Martín had enough individual power to bring her back, and García had finally run out of energy as well. That meant Benito had ample margin to celebrate a triumph that owed as much to reading the race correctly and realising her rivals had nothing left to offer as it did to pure strength, raising her arms several bike-lengths ahead of Martín and Blasi, silver and bronze despite their team's advantage in numbers in the winning break.

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Leading Spanish Nationals favourite Paula Blasi will not be taking part in Saturday's road race because of injuries incurred in a training crash earlier this week.

Blasi has enjoyed a runaway series of breakthrough successes this year, with victories in La Vuelta Feménina, Amstel Gold and most recently the Volta a Catalunya propelling the 23-year-old into second place in the UCI World rankings behind Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ).

However, the UAE Team ADQ co-leader had a bad crash when training on the TT route in Sabiñanigo, north-east Spain on Thursday. She later told AS she had fallen on a gravel sector and that the impact had been so hard she had been unable to breathe well for several seconds.

Blasi spent more than six hours in various medical centres, including a hospital, getting stitches and with severe rib pain from where her race radio had impacted her body. That did not stop her taking part in the time trial, finishing fourth.

Further checkups have seen her opt to pull out of the National road race, and she will soon begin training at altitude in Andorra for her debut in the Tour de France, which starts on August 1. First though, will come recovery from her heavy crash.

"Due to the crash I had in Wednesday's recons, the pain in my ribs has got so bad that I can barely move," she wrote on social media on Friday. "Together with the team, we've decided it's best to to try and rest, have a full medical checkup and recover."

"Good luck to all the riders tomorrow, particularly my teammates [five-times National Champion] Mavi García and Celia Torres."

Blasi has also made the headlines this weekend regarding a possible transfer for 2027, with Wielerflits citing multiple sources as telling them that Blasi will use an opt-out clause with UAE to switch to Spanish WorldTour team Movistar.

Wielerflits have claimed that the yet-to-be-confirmed new contract would see Blasi earning just under a million euros a year.

Lotte Claes (Fenix-Premier Tech) claimed the elite women's individual time trial at the Belgian Road Championships on Friday. It was a strong performance and a surprise unseating Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) from an eighth consecutive victory in the discipline.

Claes covered the 20.7km course with the winning time of 29:05, beating Sandrine Tas (Lotto Intermarché Ladies) by 12 seconds and Margot Vanpachtenbeke (Lidl-Trek) by 28 seconds. Kopecky finished fourth at 31 seconds back.

The Belgian Road Championships kicked off on Friday with the time trials, where the elite women raced across an undulating 20.7km course with about 200 metres of elevation gain in Etikhove, a small section of Maarkedal.

The only two inclines on the course were a 900-metre hill with an average gradient of 6.4% that peaked at the 1km mark, and a 500-metre hill with an average gradient of 5.6% located at the 13.5km mark.

The organisers of the event, in consultation with the riders' union and the teams, made the decision to shorten the elite men's time trial due to the current heatwave in Europe, and temperatures reaching 34°C in the area.

With a few technical sections, riders were asked to exercise caution on their time-trial bikes.

Audrey De Keersmaeker (Picnic-Post NL) was the first rider off the starting ramp at 3:24:30 local time, and Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) was the last rider to start her time trial at 3:50:00, in her attempt to win a remarkable eighth consecutive elite women's time trial title.

Shari Bossuyt (AG Insurance-Soudal Team) set the first benchmark with a fast intermediate time check, but that was short-lived as Tess Moerman (AG-Insurance Soudal) crossed the line six seconds faster. Claes stormed across the intermediate checkpoints and the finish line with the benchmark time of 29:05. Tas and Vanpachtenbeke were the next fastest on course.

By the time Kopecky started and hit the first time check with the fourth fastest time, it was apparent that she would struggle to gain time back in the last sections of the course, ultimately finishing in fourth place.

Results

Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez) scored her first elite women's time trial title at the German Road Championships on Friday, adding TT gold to her two road race victories from 2025 and 2024.

Koch, who won Paris-Roubaix Femmes earlier this year, powered round the 26.2km course in Streufdorf 26 seconds faster than second-placed Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM) to take the victory.

Lisa Klein (REMBE rad-net) finished in third, 1:12 adrift of Koch's fairly dominant ride.

It remains to be seen whether Koch can take home the road race jersey for a third year in a row over the weekend, but she will at least be taking one set of German stripes home from the National Championships in what has already been a highly successful year.

Earlier in the day, Justyna Czapla (Canyon-SRAM) won the under-23 women's TT title with a time that would have put her in the top six of the elite race, whilst Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won a close-fought men's TT.

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Recently-retired Lizzie Deignan will be returning to the sport in a new capacity, taking up a sport director role at the Great Britain Cycling Team to work with the road squad at World Championships and other major events leading towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Deignan, who retired in 2025, has so far spent her time away from the sport welcoming a third child and working as a pundit, but will now make her return to racing in the Great Britain team car.

As well as her successes for her various trade teams, which included winning the inaugural Paris-Roubaix Femmes, Deignan was highly successful in a GB jersey too, delivering the first medal at the London 2012 Olympics and winning a world title in Richmond in 2015.

In her new role with British Cycling, she will be hoping to help the new generation of riders to reach the heights that she did.

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

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

Matt Brammeier, the current road cycling lead at British Cycling, welcomed Deignan's appointment with enthusiasm.

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

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

Deignan will work with the Great Britain Cycling Team at various international events but the main focus for British Cycling right now is the LA Olympics in 2028, where they are hoping to back up the successes of Paris which saw Anna Henderson score a silver medal in the women's time trial.

Though Great Britain is a dominant force on the track, the nation hasn't won a gold medal on the road since 2008 when Nicole Cooke won the road race in Beijing. At the World Championships, riders like Zoe Bäckstedt, Cat Ferguson and Harry Hudson have delivered age-group rainbow jerseys, but a GB rider hasn't won an elite road race or TT since Deignan herself won in Richmond.

With over 20 years of experience as a professional, British Cycling are hoping her return to the fold can also bring back a return to the top of the biggest international road events.

"It’s now incredibly exciting to see her wanting to continue to contribute to the success of the team from the team car, so to speak," GBCT performance director Stephen Park CBE said.

"Having a rider return to the programme beyond their racing career is a true testament to their relationship with the programme and I know that Lizzie’s input will be invaluable as we move ever closer to LA 2028."

Track world champion Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) rocketed through all three time splits and landed a decisive victory in the elite women's time trial at the Irish Road Championships on Thursday evening.

The 25-year-old averaged 47.6 kph in her victory on the 30.7km course across County Mayo, finishing in 38:38. Linda Kelly, another track star who has world titles and a Paralympic gold as a tandem pilot, repeated with the silver medal, 1 minute and 31 seconds back.

The battle for the final medal played out just six seconds behind Kelly, with Marine Lenehan (Lidl-Trek) one second faster than Mia Griffin (Picnic-PostNL), last year's road race champion. Dublin native Lenehan earned her second career bronze at the Irish championships, having gone third in the road race last year.

A total of 14 elite women lined up Thursday evening at 19:15 local time for the 30km ITT in County Mayo. The out-and-back affair included a climb on Charlestown Bypass that took riders to the south of Carracastle, rising 2% across 6.4km, then a loop through the centre of Carracastle to take on more rolling terrain in the final 7.7km back toward Swinford.

Gillespie came into the Irish Road Nationals in solid form, having won Samyn Ladies in March and taking a pair of runner-up finishes in stage races, the UAE Tour Women and the Giro d'Italia Women. She had never competed in the time trial at nationals before, having won Irish titles in the road race three times, once as a junior and twice as an elite.

Her world title came in the Elimination race in 2025, and she became the first Irish woman to become a world champion on the track.

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Nadia Gontova (Liv AlUla Jayco) secured a career-first elite women's individual time trial title at the Canadian Road Championships held in Saint Georges, Québec, on Thursday.

Gontova covered the 27.8km course with a winning time of 38:08, beating runner-up and former three-time champion Paula Findlay by 1:08 and third-placed Emily Driedger (The Cyclery Racing) by 1:38.

Gontova has experienced a rapid rise to the top step of the podium in only her first year racing on the World Tour with Liv AlUla Jayco. She previously raced with local team Red Truck Racing, which led to opportunities with Roxo Racing, DNA Pro Cycling and Winspace.

During that time, she won the longstanding Redlands Bicycle Classic, finished runner-up at the Tour of the Gila, and placed second at the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées.

She performed well in mountainous terrain in the early-season Spanish races in 2025, but it was her success at the Tour de France Femmes, where she finished 10th on the final stage to Chatel and 23rd overall, that led to multiple contract offers from top-tier programmes, which led to her contract with Liv AlUla Jayco.

She was sidelined last fall and through the off-season to recover from iliac artery surgery, but has proven her top form with the victory at the national championships.

“It feels really special to win my first national championship. I wasn’t sure how I’d go after a big block of racing, but I had a good day out and I’m happy with my ride," she said in a team statement after her win. "Today definitely gives me good confidence going into the road race on Saturday.”

She will compete in the national road race in two days before heading back overseas, and then aiming to return to home soil for the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal.

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ProTeam rider Célia Le Mouël (Ma Petite Entreprise) shocked all the big favourites and WorldTour riders to power to victory in the elite women's time trial at the French Road Championships, winning by 11 seconds.

The 25-year-old smashed the 29.7km course in southeast France in 43:57, beating Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) by 11 seconds.

Defending champion Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) was denied a third TT title, finishing 25 seconds down in third.

Riding for the second-tier Ma Petite Entreprise squad, few would have had their eyes on Le Mouël as a potential winner amongst the likes of Squiban, Kerbaol and Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-Suez), but expectations didn't matter as she sped to her first elite national title atop her Factor TT machine.

Taking home an elite title will certainly be a huge boost for Ma Petite Entreprise, who were only founded this year but are set to ride the Tour de France Femmes, where Le Mouël will surely get to show off her tricolour skinsuit in the stage 4 time trial.

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Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM) successfully defended her British elite women's time trial title in Lampeter, Wales, on Thursday.

The 21-year-old won her second elite title on the 25.6km course, beating four-time track world champion Anna Morris by 21 seconds. Bäckstedt's sister, Elynor (UAE Team ADQ), rounded out the podium in third place, finishing 1:05 down.

Last year, Bäckstedt put in a similar ride to win in Aberaeron, triumphing by 20 seconds ahead of Anna Henderson. The Lidl-Trek rider was present again this time around, though she finished her effort in eighth place, 1:54 down on the reigning champion.

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

The win goes down as the 10th of Bäckstedt's road career to date, and her third of the 2026 season, following a triumph at the Vuelta Extremadura Feminas time trial and on stage 3 of the recent Tour de Suisse.

The elite women's race was run shortly after the under-23 men's time trial, which was won by Bradley Wiggins' son, Ben (Hagen Bermans-Jayco). The under-23 women's time trial and elite men's time trial will follow later in the day.

Imogen Wolff (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Carys Lloyd (Movistar) will take part in the under-23 women's race, while Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep) are among the elite men's competitors.

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Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal) defended her title for a fourth time in the elite women's time trial at the Spanish Road Championships on Thursday, riding the 18.6km course 21 seconds faster than her closest rivals.

Benito completed the TT in Sabiñánigo in 25:59 for an average speed of nearly 43kph, earning herself the right to wear the Spanish champion's skinsuit for another year. She is now a four-time consecutive winner in the elite TT, winning every year since 2023.

The rider she beat into second this year was Movistar's Sara Martín, who finished 21 seconds down on the winning time. Sandra Alonso (Eneicat-Be Call) took third at 27 seconds.

After crashing during her recon and needing stitches, podium hopeful Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) missed out on the top three, coming in fourth, 40 seconds down on Benito.

Earlier in the day, Alejandra Neira (Baqué Movistar) took the junior women's TT title, whilst Paula Ostiz (Movistar) won the women's U23 TT, finishing fifth in the elite race.

Racing continues at the Spanish Championships on Thursday afternoon with the elite and U23 men's TTs, before the road races on the weekend, where Benito will be among the favourites again.

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When Demi Vollering invited her FDJ United-SUEZ teammates onto the podium after winning the recent Giro d'Italia Women one face stood out. With neither sunglasses nor helmet, Lauren Dickson's smile shone brightly, but there was also the merest hint of bewilderment.

Dickson had finished 11th overall in her first Grand Tour but her performance was all the more remarkable considering how recently she began road racing. After being a runner, triathlete and duathlete she only started the sport in April 2024, the day after her 24th birthday.

Her contribution in support of Vollering at the Giro was huge. She was the Dutch woman's final mountain domestique and without her efforts there is every chance Vollering would never have overhauled Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) on that dramatic final stage.

"We always had the goal of coming to the Giro to win, and then after the time trial, we realised that it was going to be super hard because Anna was so strong," Dickson told Cyclingnews.

"When you start the ninth stage you feel pretty awful when you know it's going to be such hard work. The girls were fighting so hard to get into the breakaway and it just wasn't going. You're really starting to wonder, 'is it actually going to be possible?'"

However, the day's main climb proved hugely selective, Dickson emerging with a group of GC riders and the stage and overall win still at stake. For the second time in just a handful of days Dickson played a key part, keeping Vollering just about close enough to a leading trio to facilitate the winning move.

"The entire race you're wondering, 'Have we left it too late? Have we done enough?' and the radio gets too far away to hear what's happening so when you cross the line you find out. It's so nice and Demi was so happy."

Where it all started

Dickson's athletic ability was spotted while playing tennis as a young child, and she began running in primary school. After representing Scotland in a multitude of disciplines and Great Britain in trail running at European and World Championships, she eventually gravitated to triathlon, where some friends were competing.

At Leeds University, she trained with both British Athletics and British Tri, but while studying in Barcelona, she focused first on triathlon and then duathlon, even racing against recent Vuelta Femenina winner, Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ). However, after competing at the European Championships, she began to suffer from a foot injury, and a visit to see her boyfriend, Picnic-PostNL rider Sean Flynn, changed everything.

"One of his housemates rides for AG [Insurance-Soudal] and she was asking about my power numbers, because I would just go out to the big climbs and try and get the QOMs, and she saw the data I'd done for a five-minute effort."

As a result, in April 2024, Dickson and Eilidh Shaw, who is now with the UAE Development Team, accidentally entered the Open category at the JG Cycles races close to Glasgow. In a field full of men, Dickson finished 44th.

"That was such a blessing because it meant I went in a huge bunch, really high pace. In the UK it's hard to get 80 women in a domestic race, so here I was with 80 men and Eilidh."

A new bike followed, as did victories, and Dickson finished in the top 10 of every domestic race she completed that season. The standout result was second place at the National Series Lancaster GP and as a result the Scottish Continental team, Handsling-Alba Development, offered her a place. She was soon racing in Belgium. That was late July and by the end of September she'd quit her job.

"I'd used all my holidays up at work, so basically, I either didn't race or I took the plunge and went full-time," Dickson explained. "By this point, I started being trained by [former pro rider] Evan Oliphant from Scottish Cycling and I was trying to do three-hour rides at 5am before work or in the dark at 10pm. Experiences like those you have for life. On the road at 5 am, it's actually quite cool but not practical for a long time. I always wanted to take a gap year and try to become a professional triathlete, so why not do it in cycling?"

That commitment led to outstanding results. There were two UCI stage race podiums, second place at the 1.1 Point du Raz in France behind Blasi then, days later, the win at the Rapha Lincoln GP, arguably the UK's most prestigious domestic race. Her first experience of WorldTour racing came at the 2025 Tour of Britain Women, the anniversary of which came on stage 7 of the Giro.

"Strava tells you what you did a year ago, and I had the recapture from the first stage of the Tour of Britain," she explains. "I had captured it as 'obliterated by the WorldTour', and I just remember at one point the road was gridlocked, I just could not figure how to move up. Now when I'm in the bunch and I'm moving through, that's when you start to think, 'crikey, it's crazy how much can change in a year'."

By then, the path to a professional contract was already starting to take shape after chatting with former British road and TT champion turned rider agent, Hannah Barnes.

"She'd seen my numbers already, and then she started speaking to teams. I'm never too sure when FDJ got in contact, I just remember she asked me, 'How would it feel if you were riding in an FDJ United-SUEZ jersey?' At the time, I just couldn't believe it. I did a race and I just remember looking at the girls in the team but still you don't think it would happen."

After a chat with the team manager, Stephen Delcourt, her future was sealed with a two-year contract.

As she found out at the Tour of Britain last year, you can have all the athletic ability but, if you can't handle your bike and navigate a peloton, success is hard to come by. To ensure she began the learning process as early as possible Dickson made her debut for the French team in January at the Tour Down Under.

"Because the bunch is slightly smaller, it's a perfect place to learn," Dickson says. "Even coming into roundabouts last year I'd have been losing 10 positions with so much energy accelerating up again, whereas now I come into a roundabout and I either hold position or I gain position and that's not pedalling, that's not extra watts."

Not only is her positioning now better than others who've been in the bunch far longer, but we saw in the Giro that her descending is also much more than adequate.

"I do descending lessons once or twice a week, and I really think it's worth it. If you want to be the best, you need to make sure every little detail is in place. It's skills more than just descending. I did [learn to] bunny hop last year, and in the Giro two girls crashed in front of me and I bunny hopped over the bike. Had I not been able to jump I would have crashed and not been there to help Demi, so it's all the little things that add up."

It's this kind of dedication, focus, and desire to become a professional athlete that has brought Dickson to the top of the sport but it may never have happened at all given she suffered multiple injuries when hit by a car while training in 2019.

"I broke my neck and all my ribs," she says. "That was a really key moment in my life. It took six months before I could even get out of bed properly and, the first time I rode my bike, the bars dropped. I just remember we were stood at the side of the road with me crying. My dad asked, 'do you want to turn back or do you want to carry on?' The fact we carried on, riding through Edinburgh still crying, but I didn't give up, and I think that is super poignant."

Dickson will need some of that resolve over the coming weeks after breaking her collarbone in a crash at the Tour de Suisse Women. However, that injury comes at the end of a string of results any rider, let alone a first-year pro, would be happy with. Her 13 top 10 finishes include two GC podium places, one of which was the WorldTour level Itzulia Women.

Dickson's journey to the top of the sport might have been short, but her story perfectly illustrates how she makes the most of her physicality. She's quickly become an accomplished climber and stage racer, and it may not be too long before she's also challenging for her own Grand Tour results.

Spanish revelation Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) spent seven hours in hospital and had to have stitches after crashing whilst reconning the National Championships TT course on Wednesday – though she seemed to be back riding as soon as possible.

Blasi posted a photo of herself to her Instagram story showing her ripped skinsuit, bandaged arm and abrasions to her leg after she had been out on her TT bike in Sabiñánigo.

"I guess this is what happens when you take a corner at over 50[kph] per hour," she captioned the photos, with a smiling emoji alongside her thumbs up from the hospital.

Despite her injuries, Blasi appeared to get right back on the bike as soon as she could.

"Finally, after 7 hours in hospital and 4 stitches, we were able to finish the recon (and use the new bike)," read her follow-up post, showing her riding – bandages included – on a red Colnago road bike.

Blasi is still set to compete in Thursday's time trial, where she will be the penultimate rider off, just before defending champion Mireia Benito (AG Insurance-Soudal).

After winning last week's Volta a Catalunya, Blasi said that the National Championships would be her next main goal, where she was a big favourite for both the TT and Sunday's road race.

Her heavy fall may have knocked her chances in the TT, though, as she'll start with abrasions and stitches, but she will be hoping to recover more in time for Sunday's time trial.

Winner of the Vuelta Femenina and Amstel Gold Race this season, Blasi has been Spain's most revelatory rider of 2026, building on her impressive results from 2025, and pulling on her first elite national champion's jersey would cap off a stellar first half of the year for the 23-year-old.

Last year, she finished third in the elite National Championships TT and sixth in the road race, before going on to become U23 European Road Race Champion.

After the National Championships, her next main goal will be the Tour de France Femmes.

Daniek Hengeveld scored her first road national title Wednesday with an aggressive second-half ride and won the elite women's Dutch Time Trial Championship.

It was a podium sweep for trade team Visma-Lease a Bike, with Femke De Vries earning the silver medal, 2 seconds off the best time of 45:12, and Lieke Nooijen taking the bronze, 15 seconds back.

Nooijen edged Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek) by just two-10ths of a second for the final medal.

The last road victory for the 23-year-old Hengeveld came 17 months ago when she won the opening stage of the 2025 Tour Down Under. She was part of the Dutch team that raced to bronze in the Women's Team Pursuit at the UCI Track World Cup in Malaysia last year.

"Winning the title came as a surprise, although I’d secretly hoped to finish on the podium," Hengeveld said.

"I tried to prepare for this time trial as well as I possibly could. I scouted the course several times, spent the whole of last week on my time trial bike and rode as hard as I could today. I couldn’t have done any more. I was confident I could do it, so I’m delighted that I was able to prove it today."

How it unfolded

The start for 42 elite women, divided into two waves, was moved from 15:00 local time to 17:15 to avoid the peak mid-afternoon temperatures, which reached 35°C. The sunny skies made the temperature feel much warmer.

The afternoon U23 men's time trial was moved from an afternoon start to late morning, and that course shortened from 36km to 27km. The elite women's course was unchanged, riders taking on two large laps for 36km in the Achterhoek region of eastern Netherlands.

A flat route took riders through Harfsen for the first time check at km 5.1, then a second time check at km 13.4 on Old Street before passing the finish line on Holterweg in Laren for the first time 4.6km later. The circuit was completed a second time in that order.

In the first wave of starters, Femke Markus (SD Worx-Protime) set the best time at the halfway point of the race against the clock, posting a time of 23:06, 33 seconds faster than her closest competitor, Fee Knaven (UIAE Development).

Once the second wave of competitors had taken the course and punched the clock of the first circuit, eight riders had posted times better than Femke Markus. Seven of them went under the 23-minute mark, with Daniel Hengeveld (Visma-Lease a Bike) the best of the bunch in a time of 22:25.

With under 5km to go and a final time check, Hengeveld's teammate Femke De Vries posted the best time, heading to the finish with one-10th of a second advantage over Hengeveld, and Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek) holding to the third position.

Hengeveld would stop the clock at 45:12, taking the hot seat with eight riders left on the course. De Vries crossed the line four riders later, but her effort was 2 seconds short of overtaking her teammate.

On the final kilometres back into Laren, Lieke Nooijen (Vsima-Lease a Bike) made up a 13-second deficit to third-placed Adegeest, and stopped the clock in 45:27.

There was not enough distance remaining for the favourites and the final two riders on course to make up time. Defending champion Mischa Bredewold (SD Worx-Protime) would finish eighth, 51 seconds off the mark. Two-time winner Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek), who set the best time at the first time check on the day, rode across the line in sixth place, 45 seconds down.

Results

The heatwave enveloping Europe has come at the wrong time for riders participating in Road National Championships around the continent this week, as nations in Western and Central Europe deal with record-breaking temperatures.

Nations across Western Europe, including the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands, are seeing temperatures reach up to 35°C, while in parts of France and Spain, the heat has risen well into the 40s.

Accordingly, cycling federations around Europe are making adjustments to their road races and time trials to protect riders from the heat.

For the Belgian Time Trial Championship on Friday, Belgian Cycling will run a special refreshment zone on the out-and-back course, while the federation is also considering adding sprinklers along a section of the course.

"We will definitely include a refreshment zone for the riders there, which is usually not customary in a time trial," Belgian Cycling director of sport Massimo Van Lancker told WielerFlits.

"Riders can take water or ice there. We are also looking into installing a sprinkler zone, which riders can ride under if they wish. We will also provide even more shaded areas for riders, spectators, and staff in the start and finish zones."

The races will run through the afternoon, with Van Lancker saying it's too late to shift the entire schedule of races to cooler points in the day, given the involvement of police and local authorities.

Changes for Sunday's road races have yet to be finalised, meanwhile. "We are once again providing an extra feed zone. But Sunday is even further away than Friday. We must continue to evaluate everything with the emergency committee over the coming days and then decide," Van Lancker concluded.

In the Netherlands, measures have been taken to shift the time trials away from the middle of the day on Wednesday. The under-23 men's races and all junior events took place in the morning, while the elite races were moved several hours later, starting at 5:15 pm and 7 pm.

"We think it is a real shame that our program, which was fully prepared, now has to be adjusted. And we also feel bad for the riders who are facing major changes. The alternative was to cancel categories, and we found that even less desirable. We are doing everything we can to implement these changes today so that we can all still experience a wonderful race tomorrow," said Jessica Postel on behalf of the Dutch Federation, KNWU.

Over in France, which is contending with some of the highest temperatures in Europe, riders will be competing in the Isère region in the east of the country. It's not one of the regions experiencing temperatures of up to 43°C, but they'll still have to contend with heat in the mid 30s.

The French Road National Championships run from Thursday to Sunday, and French Cycling Federation president Michel Callot told L'Equipe about the measures his organisation will be taking.

"We have tried to ensure that there are as many accessible water points as possible to avoid dehydration. We will also increase communication with spectators, inviting them to take advantage of these cooling facilities," he said.

Riders will benefit from extra tents to shade from the sun, plus misting systems and an air-conditioned truck at the finish, so riders can change in comfort. Extra refreshment zones will also be added along the routes of all races.

"As of today, there is no threat simply because the department is expected to remain on orange alert and not move into the red zone. Therefore, there is less risk of having general measures like those seen in other departments," Callot said, before adding that races won't be rescheduled as "the temperature conditions remain manageable."

In the UK, where races will be held in Aberystwyth in Wales from Thursday to Sunday, similar plans are also in place, even if local temperatures are currently some way lower than the worst-affected areas.

British Cycling told Cyclingnews that the situation will be monitored over the coming days. The federation will aim to provide extra water and medical facilities, and add shaded areas in the start and finish areas of the races.

Cat Ferguson will not make her much-anticipated Tour de France Femmes debut this summer because of injuries, her team said in a press release on Tuesday.

Movistar reported that due to a bad crash in the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia Women, Ferguson had suffered a previously undetected double fracture in one of her ankles.

Initial tests did not reveal the injuries and early reports were optimistic. But despite her recovery over the following weeks, her long-term return to health was not progressing as it should and further checkups revealed the injuries.

"Cat will need various weeks of recovery to ensure the bones heal correctly along with her other injuries," Movistar said in a press release.

"As a result, she will not be able to participate in the upcoming National Championships, nor in the Tour de France."

The setback for the team and rider means Ferguson, 20, will not be able to take part in her first Tour de France Femmes, which runs from August 1 to 9.

So far in Grand Tours, she has ridden La Vuelta Femenina last year, finishing 64th, before heading to the Giro this May.

In the Nationals, Ferguson is both a Junior TT and Road Race Champion, and she also claimed fifth in the U23 time trial last year and seventh in the senior road race.

Despite an uneven series of performances in the Classics, with a fourth place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad followed by illness, a puncture and crashes at Paris-Roubaix Femmes, Ferguson has won three races so far this year.

Her triumphs include a one-day race at the Mallorca Challenge, a stage of the Volta de la Comunitat Valenciana and the Navarra Women's Elite Classic.

In the upcoming Tour de France Femmes, it was thought she would play a key support role for teammate Marlen Reusser, the recent Tour de Suisse winner and one of the key GC contenders.

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Led by 20-year-old Kenyan Ivan Kipruto, the Black Mambas Development Squad swept the men's podium at this year's Migration Gravel Race, while Swedish gravel national champion Nathalie Eklund won the women's division.

The four-day stage race, June 16-19, was the seventh stop of the Gravel Earth Series. Migration Gravel Race covered 650 kilometres of rugged, red clay roads and paths in the Maasai Mara wilderness of Kenya, with more than 8,000 metres of elevation gain.

Kipruto rocketed into the GC hunt on the queen stage, then secured a surprising overall victory on the fourth and final day, jumping past fellow Kenyan teammates Stanley Ngugi and Peterson Kamau, who finished second and third, respectively.

It was a coming-out party for riders on the Team Amani development team, and first major gravel race victory for Kipruto, who earned a podium at the recent Safari Gravel Race.

"Stage 4 brought one final battle across the Maasai Mara, capping off an unforgettable week of racing on home roads. Throughout the race, the Black Mamba Development Squad animated the action," the Black Mambas team wrote on social media.

"The Black Mamba Development Squad completed a remarkable sweep of the men's overall podium—a testament to the talent, hard work, and belief that continues to drive the program forward. This race has always been about more than results. It's about creating opportunities, inspiring the next generation, and showing that East African riders can compete with anyone in the world."

Eklund, who started the year with the overall win at Sahara Desert in February, battled against Team Amani rider Claudette Nyirarukundo all four days on the rugged terrain. Just three days before the stage race, the 23-year-old Rwandan earned a career-defining victory at Safari Gravel Race, earning a berth at the UCI Gravel World Championships.

Theresa Rindler-Bachl of Austria completed the podium for the pro women. On the men's side, Francisco Moreira of Portugal was the first non-African rider in the men’s ranking, finishing seventh.

Axelle Dubau-Prevot (EF Education-Oatly) continues to command the women's GES leaderboard with five top 10s from the first half of the season. Morgan Aguirre (PAS Racing) is second and Sophie Wright (Ribble Outliers) is third.

With a four-race sweep of wins, Mads Würtz Schmidt (Specialized Off-road) holds the men's overall GES lead. Hugo Drechou (Gravel Nation) is second and Petr Vokoč (Factor Racing) sits third.

Results

After revealing her RED-S diagnosis earlier this month, Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) has explained how unusual symptoms and the lack of a weight problem made the diagnosis both difficult to identify and surprising to her and her coach.

RED-S, or relative energy deficiency in sport, is often associated with under-fueling and low body weight, and in women, the loss of a regular period.

But for Dygert, the diagnosis did not come with any problems of being underweight – in fact she explained that she has gained 9kg – which may have contributed to her not looking at RED-S as a possible explanation for the problems she has faced over the last year.

"Most people who know me know that I've always been a good eater. I've never had issues with food, which is why being diagnosed with RED-S came as such a surprise," she said in a lengthy Instagram post on Monday.

"I've never been someone who was 'sickly skinny'. There were certainly times I lost weight while preparing for a specific event, but never to a point that felt unhealthy. My body fat has never dropped below 15%, and outside of my mom occasionally telling me I was getting too thin, nobody has ever expressed concern that I was underweight. When the diagnosis came, my coach was just as surprised as I was.

"I think the weight gain is part of why I struggled to believe RED-S could be the answer. So many people associate it with being extremely lean, but RED-S is ultimately about energy availability. In my case, the issue wasn't necessarily calorie restriction.

Instead, she put the diagnosis down to the sustained stress of these various comeback attempts, after having to start over "four separate times because of injuries and crashes" since last summer alone, let alone the serious injuries she has suffered in the past, not least a career-altering crash at the World Championships in 2020.

"It was the enormous energy demand created by repeated injuries, illness, recovery, stress, and constant attempts to come back," she said.

"When I look at my situation, I don't believe my body was under-fueled because I was restricting food. I believe it was under-fueled because it was living under constant stress and was never given a chance to fully recover."

Despite various comebacks on the road, recovering enough to race at least, Dygert realised she was still struggling mentally, physically and emotionally. She has only raced six days this year, three of them resulting in a DNF.

"After my third comeback attempt in February, I started noticing changes that had nothing to do with cycling. I was losing my drive – not just on the bike, but in everyday life. Even things I normally enjoyed, like cleaning and organizing, felt harder. At the same time, I was still gaining weight, which made RED-S seem unlikely in my mind. Looking back, there were signs everywhere. I just didn't see them."

A team doctor pulled her aside during the spring, Dygert explained, to say that something didn't seem right. Further conversations with the Canyon-SRAM team and management eventually led to the diagnosis that Dygert was suffering from RED-S, and the long-term impacts of several injuries.

'RED-S can look different from person to person'

Whilst RED-S is beginning to be understood and taken seriously more and more in professional cycling, it is still associated with a narrow set of symptoms and causes.

In her post, Dygert was keen to recognise those common causes and cases, but also make clear how for riders like her, other struggles can be behind a RED-S diagnosis.

"I don't share this to take away from those whose RED-S developed through intentional under-fueling. Their experiences are real and deserve to be understood. I share it because RED-S can look different from person to person. Every body is different. Every story is different," she wrote.

"For me, under-fueling wasn't about not eating enough. It was about the gap between what my body was taking in and what it was being asked to handle. The repeated injuries, illness, recovery, stress, and physiological strain created a demand that eventually exceeded what my body could sustain. My body wasn't starving from lack of food. It was starving from lack of recovery.

"After enough setbacks, enough restarts, enough stress, my body finally blew – and it blew in a big way."

Despite saying in a previous post that pushing through and coming back is "the only way I know how", Dygert now has to face up to the impact of a career that spans "11 seasons and not one went uninterrupted". However, she was clear that there is another comeback in her yet.

"For now it’s back to focusing on recovery, getting healthy, goals haven’t changed," she wrote. "Just the path getting there has. I'll be back."

When Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) crossed the line first on the shortened queen stage of the Giro d'Italia Women it was disappointment and not celebration that was written all over her face as the real goal of the day was the maglia rosa, at that point still sitting squarely on the shoulders of Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime).

The stage was, in theory, meant to be the last chance to really make the difference in the GC battle, but there was still 49 seconds and one stage that stood between Vollering and a complete set of Grand Tour victories so, once the initial fog of dismay lifted, the rider and her team started looking at things from a different perspective.

"At this moment it really felt like we had nothing to lose anymore and that was a really good feeling also," Vollering said in an interview on the Going Mental podcast.

The rider who had come in as the clear-cut favourite wasn't going to close the door on a victory that, to most, may have already seemed out of reach.

"Sometimes it seems like the more hard things get, the more fun I find it," said Vollering. "If something seems impossible then something inside me starts boiling and is, like, 'but what if it works out'? 'What if it can happen?'

"So I think this kind of feeling really started to come up after the Saturday [stage 8]. So I think also that morning there was just such a weird calmness over me. I really didn't feel like I was going to lose the Giro, I was more focussed on 'but what if I can make it happen?' That would be a crazy story and I would be so proud of myself to make it happen, so I was more focussed on still what was possible, instead of what was not possible."

'It took some guts'

Still possible, but not without a potential price as to chase first also brought with it the risk of losing second, particularly with a strong Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon/SRAM) just 31 seconds on the overall behind Vollering. In fact it could even mean missing out on the podium entirely, as to make the difference on the stage to and from Saluzzo, moves would have to be made early to isolate Van der Breggen. Vollering's attack came at more than 90km to go, which also meant risking big time losses should things not run to plan.

That became clear when out of the group of favourites that formed following the attack, some flew off the front, including Niedermaier, and all of a sudden as the gap stretched it wasn't just Vollering that found her position at threat, but also Van der Breggen as Niedermaier was in virtual pink on the road. That's because Vollering wasn't prepared to let Van der Breggen sit on while she chased, ready to let second slip rather than a chance at the top step.

"I've had already so many beautiful podium spots, but in the end it's only the win that really counts for me so I wanted to take that risk to be able to win it," Vollering, who has regularly spoken about the importance of the mental side of racing, said on the Going Mental podcast. "It took some guts, of course, but I'm really happy that it went like that."

That's because with Van der Breggen ultimately having to work and expend the energy to try and reel back in the virtual pink from Niedermaier, Vollering now found her chance to clinch it. She dropped Van der Breggen and rode across to the front group, which was just what she needed to do to take the maglia rosa, right when it counted, from the fiercest of rivals.

A familiar foe

The SD Worx-Protime rider not only had strength and experience but also has a unique history with Vollering. In fact, it would be hard to find two riders that know each other so well, with Van der Breggen having once been coach to Vollering.

"I know Anna, of course, very well. I know how she trained, how she used to train me, so it's very interesting and also I learned so much from her," said Vollering.

Though the coach relationship is well in the past, the new relationship of on-road rivals is now pushing her to learn even more.

"It's really strange to be again battling each other but it makes it even more interesting because also she [brings] the best out of me," said Vollering. "I need to keep improving to beat her because otherwise it's not possible because she knows me so well."

The battle is clearly far from over as, while it played out in Vollering's favour when it comes to the Giro d'Italia, there is an even bigger goal ahead where the two are once again high on the favourites list, the Tour de France Femmes starting August 1.

"It is just an amazing event and I just really love the challenge of overcoming every day and to fight every day again for the yellow jersey," said Vollering, "It's something I really enjoy and I just want to win it again."

Hayden Christian (Trek-MAAP Pro.Fwd) carved his way around the two decisive singletrack turns to win Belgian Waffle Ride Montana, proving the fastest among a group of five elite men on the final half mile of the 115-mile (185km) course into Bozeman.

Stella Hobbs (MAAP-ENVE-Tailwind) won her second consecutive elite women's victory at BWR Montana, this year going solo in the elite women's division with a time of 5:07:39.

Cécile Lejeune (Trek Driftless) finished seven minutes behind Hobbs for second, which confirmed her position as overall winner in the Quad-Tripel Crown of Gravel. Lejeune opened her BWR account with a third place in Arizona and then sealed the overall with back-to-back wins at BWR California and BWR Utah. Hannah Shell finished second overall, just 8 points ahead of Holly Breck.

Hobbs got away from Lejeuen with 30 miles to go, and both finished with an average speed of more than 21 mph.

"It's how riding goes here - nothing's that long and nothing's that steep. So if you can capitalise on every little bit that there is, you can really move through this course fast. We were hauling," Hobbs said at the finish to organisers.

The men's Quad-Tripel Crown was decided at Saturday's sprint, Christian earning the title by just eight points over Lance Haidet (Colnago-SRAM-Velocio), who finished third in the final race. Christian progressed up the leaderboard at all four stops of the series, starting with 11th place at Arizona, then fifth at California and third at Utah, which put him two points behind Haidet going into the final race.

Christian and Haidet rode in the decisive lead group with Elliot Thornblade (Forward Endurance Coaching), Matthew Saldana (Cyclesport.com) and Ryker Brand (ALLIED-Formula 369). Thornblade made a late pass of Christian with a shoulder bump on the final dirt section, but Christian swooped inside Thornblade with another body barge 100 yards later to take the lead for the final 50 metres to the line, winning in 4:45:32. Haidet grabbed the final podium ahead of Saldana while Brand was distanced in fifth.

It was the second edition of BWR Montana, which moved to a new start/finish at Glen Lake Park in Bozeman. The long route skirted the Blacktail mountain range in south-west Montana but still amassed 7,500 feet of climbing across 70% of 'unroad' on a new course.

Results

Series standings

While the men's Tour de Suisse told us little we didn't already know for the Tour de France, the result of the women's race held much more weight for what might happen in August, with Marlen Reusser (Movistar) romping to a dominant win at her home race.

On the surface, it shouldn't say much, given that this is the third time Reusser has won her home race, adding to titles from 2023 and 2025, but that is without taking into account the context.

Prior to the start in Sondrio, Reusser was fresh off the back of a decent but not world-beating Giro d'Italia performance, having only just made her return from a spinal fracture she suffered in a crash at the Tour of Flanders. There were signs of the star rider's best throughout the nine stages, but as she lined up for the Tour de Suisse, even Reusser didn't quite know where she was form-wise.

"What happened in the last months makes it really a bit difficult, and the Giro, it's not a boost of confidence, and I came out with quite some struggles in my body, which we tried to fix," said Reusser before the race.

"If it was not the Tour de Suisse, maybe we would wait a bit longer, but I also think if things are better, which we don't really know, I still can be quite good, so we'll see.

"I mean, I used to be quite good," she added, bursting out into laughter at her unknown form, "so of course, I hope to find back in my shape."

"Of course, I couldn't train so much for the last four months, and each race I do, each week I pass with training will make me stronger, so I hope I'll be better and better again."

Five days of tough racing later, Reusser's hopes had turned into reality, as she scorched to overall victory and stage wins in the time trial and on an exhilarating queen stage in the baking heat to Villarus-sur-Ollon.

Those signs from the Giro had turned into confirmations that Reusser was back to her best, as an elite TT specialist, an underrated climber on the longest ascents, and one of the hardest riders in the sport to pry from the top spot once she gets into the race leader's jersey.

Try as top riders Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE ADQ), Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) and Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) did throughout the five difficult stages, none were particularly close to Reusser at the conclusion, the latter coming second overall 1:31 down.

"Elisa and also Kasia actually are really riders that are like the best in these small punchy climbs, [and that's] what we have in the first three days," said Reusser of how the battle unfolded before the final two stages.

"Normally, if it's a longer climb, it's a bit harder for them and better for me. Elisa didn't have the best day [on stage 5]. Kasia had a good day, and she was really strong in the end, [but] usually these kinds of days are actually really in my favour, because when I'm fully in shape, I'm a really good climber for long, hard climbs."

It was Niewiadoma who kept attacking throughout the stage as riders were spread all over the road on the thrilling finale, but even with a full rep and quarter going up the Col de la Croix (19.2km at 7%) in the legs, she couldn't shake Reusser on the final ascent, forced to concede when the Swiss rider made a late sprint for victory.

With the Tour De France Femmes fast approaching at the start of August, Reusser has completed that spinal fracture comeback fully. But satisfied as she was with the originally unplanned five days of extra racing, she still believes there is more to come.

"It was really tough this year. I had two fractures in my back in Flanders, and then I tried to recover as fast as I could to be able to participate in the Giro," said Reusser.

"Everybody could see it was not the easiest. I really had quite some troubles there, especially with my nerves in my left leg, and, actually, the plan was to do a little bit of holiday after the Giro, but we skipped the holiday, and I was really working with therapists, osteopaths, physio, and medical doctors on this problem.

"I think we got a lot further there, but still it was early to compete in the Tour de Suisse, and I think it's not all 100% solved, but when I see what step I could make in this short time, I'm super happy about it."

A warning to Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot

Reusser has enjoyed a very successful career up to this point already. As a time trial expert, Classics star, and top GC rider, she is the latest in a long line of ultra-versatile riders in the women's peloton who seem to have almost no weaknesses.

Even at the Tour de France, she's enjoyed triumphs, winning two stages, but luck hasn't gone her way at cycling's biggest race in recent times. Just 12 months ago, Reusser had her best period of GC racing approaching the big appointment, finishing second at the Giro and Vuelta, but her Tour bid never got off the ground when stomach issues on the opening day forced her to abandon.

It looked as though she was going to head into the 2026 Tour, which starts in her home country, Switzerland, with 13th at the Giro as her in-race build-up, but this display of strength at the Tour de Suisse has steadied the ship and put her right among the top contenders for the yellow jersey.

"When we look to the Tour, it gives me back some confidence. After the Giro, I didn’t feel super optimistic," she said. "I could see why all of this was, but it still doesn’t make you feel great. So the step I could make since then is super nice."

Looking at the Tour route, there is every reason for the big favourites Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) and Pauliné Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) to really consider Reusser as the next best challenger.

Yes, Mont Ventoux's vicious and barren slopes will likely decide the race for yellow, where those two elite climbers should be in a different league than Reusser, but the rest of the eight stages should play mostly into the Swiss rider's favour.

Of course, there is the 21km stage 4 time trial in Dijon, where there is a climb, but World Champion Reusser will still be the heavy favourite to win and take time on all of her rivals. Vollering's ability against the clock should limit her losses to a minimum, but Ferrand-Prévot – if she can return to the form she dominated with last year – has shown few signs that she won't concede major losses to Reusser on this important day.

When the race does go uphill, though, on every day that isn't Ventoux, there are no other mountaintop finishes to be seen. The second hardest uphill run to the line comes on the opening day in Lausanne, where 2.6km at 4,6% will bring the riders to the line.

Stages 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9 are filled with climbs along their routes, but with a series of downhill and flat runs to the finish, anyone trying to really beat Reusser will not only have to distance her uphill, but stay away from her when she gets back onto favoured gradients and terrain.

And she's no slouch on the climbs as a start, anyway, which she showed at the Tour de Suisse, while still improving in form and against top competition in Longo Borghini and former Tour de France Femmes winner Niewiadoma-Phinney.

There's every chance she could be in yellow after the time trial and hold it until the race reaches the storied slopes of Ventoux. From there, defence could be her best attack as the top climbers all scramble to try and gain the time back. But after the 16 kilometres are up, it could well be too late.

Could 2026 be the year of Marlen Reusser? The Tour de France Femmes has thrown up relative surprises in the race for yellow in the past, just as Vollering proved. But from everything she's shown on the comeback road from injury, the Swiss rider is signposting her best performance yet ahead of the August Grand Départ.

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Adam Roberge (Felt-ENVE) and Haley Smith (Factor Racing) claimed victory at the OG Classique on Sunday, a new round of the UCI Gravel World Series in Wakefield, Quebec.

Michael Woods (Ventum) took second in the men's elite race, which ended with a tight four-way sprint. Fiset Guillaume was third while Griffin Easter (OpiCure Foundation Gravel Team) came fourth.

In the elite women's race it was another charged battle to the line, with Dylan Baker coming second to Smith while it was third for Laetitia Bilodeau.

The race came a week after both victors had ridden the cancelled Canadian Gravel Championships. OG Classique was the first of two Canadian qualifiers in the GWS, the next being the Ghost of the Gravel in Alberta next week.

The weekend's 122km Quebec event delivered 1,676m of elevation gain through the rolling terrain of the Outaouais region on a route in the Gatineau Hills that was more than 70% gravel. The start/finish area was located at Centre Vorlage ski and mountain bike resort.

It was one of four qualifiers across three continents held on the weekend, with Italy hosting the Grand Tour 3 Cime Lavaredo and Australia the Devils Cardigan on Saturday while on Sunday there was also Eislek Gravel Luxembourg. The top 25% of competitors in each category qualify for the Gravel World Championships, this year being held in Nannup, Western Australian in October.

Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) and Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Premier Tech) scored wins at Eislek Gravel in Luxembourg on Sunday, with the gravel World Champion winning the elite women's race solo. The Belgian National Champion grabbed his first gravel victory of the year at the UCI Gravel World Series race in a sprint showdown.

Wiebes finished ahead of last week's Wish One winner Sophie Wright (Ribble Outliers) while SD Worx Protime teammate Femke Gerritse was third in the race. It was the second GWS victory of the season for Wiebes.

In the elite men's category, which began in the heart of Vianden and then climbed to the castle, Joris Nieuwenhuis took the runner-up spot while Petr Vakoč (Factor Racing) was third. Five riders went to the line on the cobbled climb to the finish, Hugo Drechou and Magnus Bak Klaris rounding out the top five behind the podium trio.

The 109km race presented tough conditions through the Vianden Forest, with high temperatures that soared to 31°C and 2350m of vertical gain over the three loops of the course.

The second edition of Eislek Gravel was one of four qualifiers across the globe on busy gravel weekend, with Devils Cardigan in Australia, the OG Classique in Canada and Grand Tour 3 Cime Lavaredo in Italy. The top 25% of competitors in each series race qualify for the Gravel World Championships in Nannup, Western Australian on October 10-11.

Until recently, it would have been almost unthinkable to see Kate Courtney eschewing the run of World Cups but the current marathon mountain bike World Champion has been showing up on plenty of new start lines of late, from the more mountain-bike adjacent gravel races to, most recently, a debut at the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships.

And what a debut it was.

The She Sends Racing competitor walked away with the jersey of a US national road race champion, after having taken on her first road race since she was 16 just last month, competing in and winning stage 4 of the 2.2 ranked Tour de Feminin.

"I think for me I really needed to give myself the chance to experiment and put myself in new, uncertain situations where I didn't have expectations and I could really go for it. I did that today, and it worked out," Courtney told broadcaster FloBikes in a post-race interview.

The road newcomer, Courtney, had charged toward the line with the most experienced of players in Lauren Stephens (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment). The latter racer was lining up for her 11th tilt at the elite women's USPro national road title, which she snared in 2021 and was also runner-up last year. Courtney, however, was leaning on the wisdom of her team support to help put herself in a position where victory was a possibility,

"I knew, OK, it's probably going to be a war of attrition and come down to that last lap. I was just trying to save enough and be smart but also keep the pace on, so that we actually had a chance at it," said Courtney.

"And then, of course, trying to figure out how to play that final. I haven't been in that many situations like that, so I'm really proud that I was able to stick the landing."

It was a considerably different scenario than Courtney has been used to facing in more ways than just the tactics. For the 2018 XCO World Champion and 2019 World Cup series winner who started her mountain bike national title collection as a junior in 2010, lining up on the mountain bike had come to mean always heading into a race with expectation.

"My little mantra today was everything to gain," said Courtney. "I think I've come into a lot of Nationals where it felt like I had everything to lose. Either you had the jersey, or you were the top-performing World Cup athlete, and so you really felt like anything less than a win was a disappointment.

"It felt really freeing to be in this race and know that as long as I gave everything, I was going to be really proud, and I was going to learn a lot. So, if I played the tactics wrong and that hadn't worked out in my favour, I would have learned a big lesson, played my cards a little differently next time.

"But I think today I learned to never give up and to keep fighting to the line."

So what does this now mean for the racer who at one time had a regular pattern of mountain bike events mapped out each season? Is her road bike and new national championship jersey likely to get some more outings?

"I mean, I love to represent the jersey, so yeah, I gotta wear it and we'll see," was what Courtney said when asked in the FloBikes interview if she would be on the road more.

"We'll savour this one for a bit, and then try to show up in that jersey, ready to fight."

After all, with the schedule opened up and the disciplines wide open, it seems anything is possible for Courtney in 2026.

"It's my year of radical experimentation," concluded the 30-year-old.

2026 breakout rider Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) has confirmed that she will be taking part in the Tour de France Femmes this August, but has played down expectations of a GC bid in her first-ever participation.

Blasi, 23, has enjoyed runaway success this season, surprising the favourites in the Amstel Gold Race – a race which she was only a last-minute substitute for – and also winning La Vuelta Fémenina, the Tour Féminin des Pyrénées, the Durango-Durango one-day race, and, most recently, her biggest home stage race, the Volta a Catalunya.

Such has been her strike rate, Blasi is now ranked second overall in the UCI rankings behind Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ), and there is rising speculation in the Spanish media about what she could achieve in the Tour de France Femmes.

However, whilst Blasi is set to form part of the UAE Team ADQ squad, the 23-year-old insisted that her role there is for learning and to help her team leaders.

"There's still a month to go and I'll just be there to help the team," Blasi told Spanish news agency EFE.

"The Tour is a very big deal, I've never done anything like that before, so I will help the team leaders."

Blasi's performance in the Tour des Pyrénées, forged with a dramatic victory in a stage over the Tourmalet, only added to the already considerable interest created by her win in La Vuelta Féminina.

As for Catalunya, her standout highlight was a climbing stage victory by nearly 90 seconds over up-and-coming French racer Célia Gery (FDJ United-SUEZ) at La Molina in the Pyrenees. Having rounded off that success with the overall win on Sunday, setbacks such as having her bike stolen after stage 1 were completely forgotten.

Even before this Sunday, Blasi had already put down her remarkable jump in performance levels to a major change in mindset from one year to the next.

"Physically, I'm the same that competed in this race last year I did it as a debutant," Blasi said after the Tour de Pyrénées, in a statement reported by El País. "Mentally, I'm somebody else. My experience is something different.

"I needed to learn how to move in the bunch, how to stay calm when you have to, not waste energy. I think I'm more confident about what I can do."

It remains to be seen what Blasi can achieve in the biggest race of them all when she heads for the Tour start line in Lausanne on August 1st. But right now, the omens are nothing less than very promising.

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For a second week in a row World Champion Jenny Rissveds got to celebrate on the top step of the podium, taking a solo victory in the women's elite Cross-Country Olympic (XCO) race at the Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Lenzerheide.

Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing), on the other hand, converted a run of second places into victory this time. He turned the tables by claiming the top spot in the men's elite race after a long battle with last week's winner in Leogang, Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing).

The lead group was whittled down from six to four and then two, with Boichis pushing on the climbs and launching a last lap attack on asphalt as he chased a second victory on the trot, but then he slipped out on the gravel and crashed. That was all Martin needed to get away and pull out a gap that left him crossing the line with time to celebrate.

“I’m so happy after three second places, I needed to win. It was a crazy race. In the first part, I tried to stay at the back [of the leading group] and feel my shape," said series leader Martin in a media release after taking his first World Cup XCO win of the year and second of his career.

“I knew the last lap would be very dangerous and it was never finished. When Adrien attacked, I felt like I could come back in the downhill. He crashed, it was very slippery, [that was] when I saw that I had to go.”

Behind Martin and Boichis, it was Bjorn Riley (Scott SRAM MTB) in third.

For Rissveds, there was no final lap battle as the World Champion and series leader took off solo early after reeling in an opening surge by home-nation rider Ronja Blöchlinger (Liv Factory Racing). After that, Rissveds forged on alone right to the line, to take the win with a one-minute advantage on the Swiss rider Blöchlinger, who held firm for her first World Cup XCO podium finish and second podium of the weekend.

"I’m really happy about today’s race. In short track on Friday, I was pretty exhausted to be honest," said Rissveds. She also mentioned that it hadn't been an easy week given the controversy surrounding the contact with Savilla Blunk that had resulted in a crash for the Decathlon Ford Racing rider on the first lap in Leogang in the last round.

“I was just trying to be patient today, but then I realised that I was feeling good.”

Blunk, who earlier won the short track in Lenzerheide, claimed third, 12 seconds back from Blöchlinger.

After two weekends in a row of racing, there will now be a couple of weeks until another set of close rounds: La Thuile, Italy from July 3-5 and Pal Arinsal, Andorra from July 10-12.

In a surprising finale, Kate Courtney (She Sends Racing) outsprinted Lauren Stephens (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment) to win the elite women's road race at the USA Pro Road Championships in Charleston, WV on Sunday.

Courtney, the reigning UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Champion, launched her sprint with 700 metres to go, and was able to hold a small gap around the final corner and to the line. Stephens finished runner-up for the second year in a row.

Stephens' teammate Grace Arlandson took the sprint for third out of a four-ride chase group, ahead of Kira Payer (SpeedBlock-Terœn Elite), and Ashley Frye (Competitive Edge Racing).

Though Courtney has only a handful of road races under her belt, she has been racing with the national team in Europe this year.

“This was a really special one. I think I've got like seven or eight silver medals for mountain bike national championships at home. So, to finally pull off a national championship again and pull on that jersey, it's beyond words,” Courtney said in a post-race interview on Flobikes.

Choosing to focus on her skills and not her lack of road racing experience, Courtney planned her final sprint.

“When we were coming through there [finish] the last few laps, I noticed I was really banking those turns well and carrying a lot of momentum out. I saw a few times that I was behind Lauren and I can kind of get a little momentum out of them," she added.

"And so I thought, instead of playing the cat and mouse game, which realistically she's probably better at, she's a really smart bike racer, and I know never to underestimate her wily moves at the end, so I figured going early, baking those turns, and then just holding it and not letting up for one pedal stroke until I was across the line was probably my best shot. And yeah,I got a tiny gap and rode it across the line."

Stephens and Courtney powered away from a select chase group on the final lap to reel in Paige Onweller (Trek-Drifless), who had been off the front, solo, for 77 kilometres.

Using the steepest pitches close to the top of the Bridge climb, Stephens dispatched Onweller, also more well known for her gravel prowess, leaving the pair to battle it out for the victory. Onweller finished sixth.

How it unfolded

In an early morning start, under cloudy skies, and temperatures hovering around 23 °C, the elite women’s field faced a 113.8-kilometre course. The Charleston course began with two laps of the 14.5km junior circuit, featuring the Wertz Avenue climb, before expanding to a 21km loop crossing to the far side of the river, where the Bridge Road climb was added for the remaining four laps.

Missing from the 60-rider field was defending champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) who decided not to race due to travel chaos, which included multiple canceled flights and overnight layovers as she returned home from Giro d’Italia Women.

Attacks from Competitive Edge, Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28 and HigherDOSE-Renova flew in the opening laps, with the Wertz Avenue climb (2.3km at 5.5%) causing some damage.

But it was solo racer, mostly known for her gravel racing prowess, Page Onweller (Trek-Drifless) that manager to escape after 25 kilometres of racing as the sun poked through the clouds.

At the start of the expanded third lap, Onweller had 32-second lead with Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment taking control of the peloton, launching Jamie Chapman (Aegis) on solo chase.

Alarm bells started to ring loudly, as Onweller had 2:02 on Chapman and over three minutes on the field at the end of the third lap. That brought Kate Courtney (She Sends Racing) to the front of the field to put in a massive turn on the climb, creating a selection as the chase intensified.

"Halfway through the race, exactly what I didn't want to happen had happened. Paige was up the road, Jamie Chapman bridge, and I thought, oh man, like I let an Aegis rider up the road, Lauren's gonna sit in, it's probably, you know, we'll see how motivated they are, but as soon as that gap started to come down, and the group started working. I knew, okay, it's probably going to be a war of attrition and come down to that last lap," Courtney said.

But Onweller kept her pace solid, still holding 2:43 on the six-rider chase group as she started the penultimate lap. Another seven-rider group was a further 24 seconds back.

Joining Courtney in the elite chase group were Aegis teammates Lauren Stephens, Grace Arlandson and Chapman, as well as Ashley Frye (Competitive Edge Racing) and Kira Payer (SpeedBlock-Terœn Elite).

But for the first time, Onweller showed the pressure, her shoulders rocking as she climbed up Bridge Road (2.1km at 5.5%). Not long after on the same ascent, Stephen’s attack reduced the chase group with Courtney and Payer matching her pace and Arlandson and Frye catching back on the descent.

Now working well together, the chase group had reduced the gap down to 1:14 to Onweller, who is putting slower laps after being solo off the front for so long, as they heard the bell for the final lap. The rest of the field was a further two minutes back, and out of contention for the victory.

Arlandson launched Stephens the final time up the Bridge climb, and only Courtney was able to match the acceleration. Payer briefly connected but Courtney pushed the pace once again as they could see Onweller up the road.

Onweller’s lead continued to tumble, down to 15 seconds with 17 kilometres to go, as behind Courtney and Stephens continued to test each other with small attacks.

With the gap down to five seconds, Stephens and Courtney started to play games, trying to get the other one to pull through while Onweller, not giving up, continued to push the pace.

Onweller was overtaken with 11 kilometres to go, and then was also caught by the second three-rider chase group of Fraye, Arlandson and Payer, later on.

The chasers closed down the gap down to 15 seconds to Stephens and Courtney with three kilometres, with Arlandson attacking the chase on the hunt for third place.

Results

Marlen Reusser (Movistar) started the Tour de Suisse Women as the defending champion, wearing the bib number 1. Still, after an injury-marred spring, the Swiss star was cautious about her chances: She had just returned to racing at the Giro d’Italia Women but overestimated her form after two months out, losing more than 14 minutes on the final stage. Nevertheless, Reusser wanted to honour her home race.

“We said, like, ‘yeah, let's do it, it's Tour de Suisse and you never know’. And then, on the second day, when Elisa Longo suddenly got so much more time because we went the wrong way, I was thinking, it's almost impossible,” Reusser explained her state of mind.

She turned things around on the stage 4 ITT, taking the yellow jersey off Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) by ten seconds, and the final stage around Villars-sur-Ollon saw Reusser back at her best. This time, it was Longo Borghini who suffered in the heat, losing more than nine minutes while Reusser was in the front group and won the stage, confirming her third Tour de Suisse Women overall victory after 2023 and 2025.

Completing the comeback after fracturing a vertebra in the Tour of Flanders in early April, this victory is extra special for Reusser because it was unexpected.

“The other years, I came here knowing I’m in super good shape. This time, I knew I have quite some problems. We did a lot of work on my physical problems after the Giro, and I think it worked well. I mean, I still felt my back quite a lot in the end today, but my legs were pedalling way better. The same people that could drop me easily in the Giro, now I was dropping them. I’m really, really, really happy about that development,” she said.

Looking ahead to the Tour de France Femmes from 1 to 9 August, Reusser now sees herself on a good trajectory.

“When we look to the Tour, it gives me back some confidence. After the Giro, I didn’t feel super optimistic. I could see why all of this was, but it still doesn’t make you feel great. So the step I could make since then is super nice,” said Reusser before stepping onto the podium to receive the yellow jersey and the race winner’s trophy, with her sport director Kelvin Dekker fulfilling a promise by dressing up as the mascot of the yellow jersey sponsor and joining his rider on the podium.

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WorldTour team Human Powered Health dominated the Lotto Thüringen Women Cycling Challenge, finishing 1-2 from a small group in Gera as Marit Raaijmakers took the win.

Sprinting from a four-rider group that had got away on the late, punchy circuits, Iurani Blanco opened up the sprint for Raaijmakers and held on to finish second herself to fill the top two spots for Human Powered Health.

Malou Eisen (VolkerWessels) finished third, with Kristýna Zemanová (VIF Cycling Team) the only rider in the lead group to miss out on the podium.

After the race split apart in the final 25km, the chasing group finished 30 seconds down on the winner, with the other WorldTour team in the race – Canyon-SRAM – settling for only sixth and seventh through Maike van der Duin and Chiara Consonni.

This year, the one-day Lotto Thüringen Women Cycling Challenge replaced the long-running Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour stage race, which has faced funding issues for the past few seasons, but they managed to still put on a one-day race this year.

The 121km route started and finsihed in Gera, tackling a lumpy first half and then six laps of a finishing circuit, which featured the 1.6km, 6.2% Ferberturm climb for a punchy and challenging finish.

Despite facing the Dörtendorf climb early on, it was hard for a break to get away in the first part of the race – despite many attacks – and the peloton started the finishing circuit all together. Maud Rijnbeek (VolkerWessels) briefly went solo but was caught before the final 25km.

As the challenging laps took their toll, though, the peloton split apart with only the strongest riders in front, and a small group of four led into the final 5km with a good gap on the chasers.

Human Powered Health had two riders in the front four, which gave them the advantage, allowing Blanco to open up the sprint for Raaijmakers and deliver her to the win.

Results

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The enduring Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) secured her first victory of 2026, sprinting to the win on the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya Feminas as Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) sealed the overall title in Barcelona.

It was a sprint finish in the Catalan capital, with Nienke Veenhoven deftly leading out Vos before finishing second herself, reversing the 1-2 victory that Visma achieved on stage 1, won by Veenhoven.

Nicole Steigenga (AG Insurance-Soudal) rounded out the stage top three, sprinting just ahead of Ally Wollaston (FDJ United-Suez).

Blasi, who triumphed solo in the mountains on stage 2, finished safely in the bunch to confirm the overall win, the first title for a Catalan rider in this race since 2014.

"These roads we just rode today, they're next to my mum's place, so I used to train there when I was at my mum's house, so it's even more special. These are the roads I started cycling on, now I'm racing there," Blasi said.

"It's even more special, and I look around and it's just amazing, all the people that are here."

The final podium reflects the top three from stage 2, with Célia Gery (FDJ United-Suez) finishing second overall at 1:20, with Canada's Sidney Swierenga, who is still only on Liv AlUla Jayco's development team, finishing third overall.

The final stage of the women's Volta a Catalunya started with a climb, the 3.1km Coll de Parpers and then had a lumpy run through the Catalonian hills, but dipped back down towards Barcelona for a flatter finish in the city, though there was a rise near the line.

It took a while for a break to get away, but after 40km four riders did strike out in front: Paula Ostiz (Movistar), Ode Aune Gissinger (Hitec Products-Fluid Control), Isabella Bertold (Torelli) and Natalie Revelo (WCC Team). They built a decent gap, but the peloton weren't letting them get too far away, and they went into the final 35km with a minute and a half lead.

Bertold was the first to be dropped, as FDJ United-Suez and UAE Team ADQ controlled the peloton and slowly reeled the leaders in. Ostiz was keen to try and stay away as long as possible, and her and Gissinger did go a long way, but they were caught with 4km to go to give way to the sprint.

The wide city highways on the run-in to the finish made for a tense finale with bridges and tunnels and it was a super fast sprint. Cofidis led it out early for Valentine Fortin, but then Visma-Lease a Bike took over and delivered Vos to the win with ease, as Veenhoven finished second to repeat – in reverse – their 1-2 on the opening day.

Sunday was only Vos' eighth race day of 2026, and her first win, after a tumultuous start to the year, but she is finally back to winning ways.

For Blasi, this marks her third GC victory in what has been a revelatory season, adding to her titles at the Vuelta Femenina and Tour des Pyrénées, plus her big Classics victory at Amstel Gold Race.

"Now I'm focusing on Nationals in a couple of days," Blasi said of her next plans. "Then hopefully I can have some easy days, and then full focus on Tour [de France Femmes] in one month, and from there we will see."

Results

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Marlen Reusser (Movistar) won the Tour de Suisse Women, taking her second consecutive overall victory and the third of her career by soloing to victory on stage 5.

A day after her ITT victory, Reusser also won the brutal mountain around Villars-sur-Ollon, dropping Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) in the final kilometre to win alone.

Seven seconds behind, Kerbaol outsprinted Niewiadoma-Phinney for second place on the stage, and they also finish on the GC podium in that order.

Reusser and Niewiadoma-Phinney had been part of a front group of five that formed halfway through the stage when Femke de Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike) attacked and was followed by Megan Arens (Picnic PostNL) and the two GC contenders. Kerbaol bridged to them after a brief chase, and Arens was left behind on the descent from the Col de la Croix.

On the finishing climb, Niewiadoma-Phinney attacked with 8.8km to go, and only Reusser could stay on her wheel. Kerbaol was over 30 seconds behind at one point but fought her way back, coming back on the final kilometre and immediately attacking for the stage victory. When Niewiadoma-Phinney closed the gap, Reusser attacked from behind and went clear to win the stage.

"I'm super happy with how everything went. It's not that I came into this race with the biggest confidence, so I’m super happy that it worked out," Reusser said at the finish.

"Today, I really could profit from the situation we had in the GC. I could look at the others. Kasia did a lot of work on this [finishing] climb, and that helped me a lot. So, thank you, Kasia."

How it unfolded

The 101.1km stage consisted of two laps around Villars-sur-Ollon, a resort town halfway up the mountain between the Rhône valley and the Col de la Croix. This made for three ascents on the stage: the initial 7.9km climb to the Col de la Croix was classified as a second-category climb, the 19.7km climb from the valley floor to the top was hors catégorie, and finally there was the unclassified 11km climb to the finish.

Megan Arens (Picnic PostNL) went clear to win the first mountain sprint but was caught again on the descent where a strong front group of eleven riders including all the GC contenders got away.

Franziska Koch (FDJ United-Suez) went solo from that group and built an advantage of up to three minutes on the peloton, with a chase group consisting of Nina Buijsman (Human Powered Health), Nienke Vinke (SD Worx-Protime), Jasmin Liechti (Switzerland), Alice Towers (EF Education-Oatly), Léa Curinier (FDJ United-Suez), and Célia Le Mouël (Ma Petite Entreprise) in between.

Beginning the monster climb from the valley floor to the Col de la Croix, Koch was 1:24 minutes ahead of the six chasers, with the peloton following at 2:34 minutes.

The chase group fell apart on the first part of the climb, and the peloton was quickly reduced in size as the Movistar duo of Sara Martín and Liane Lippert set a hard pace. Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) then took over from them, working in support of her leader Elisa Longo Borghini and reeling what remained of the chase group with 52km to go.

There were only 14 riders left in the group of favourites now, some of which had been part of the earlier chase group, and Koch was less than a minute ahead. Longo Borghini, hoping to overcome her ten-second deficit in GC and win the race overall, took over from Squiban, reducing the group further as only Niewiadoma-Phinney, Reusser, De Vries, Arens, Steffi Häberlin (SD Worx-Protime), Kerbaol, Juliette Berthet (FDJ United-Suez), Liechti, Buijsman, and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) could follow the pace.

Another acceleration by the Italian champion reduced the group even further to Longo Borghini, Reusser, Arens, De Vries, Kerbaol, and Häberlin, and when they could see Koch up ahead, De Vries launched her attack.

Arens, Niewiadoma-Phinney, and Reusser followed the move, and Reusser took charge, setting the pace and quickly passing Koch while Kerbaol went on a solo chase from behind. With one lap to go, the front group of four was four seconds ahead of Kerbaol while a group of Longo Borghini, Häberlin, Berthet, Buijsman, and Le Court-Pienaar was 14 seconds behind.

Kerbaol soon made it to the front. On the last 3km of the climb, De Vries’ attack briefly saw Kerbaol and Arens dropped, but they made their way back again. Arens then attacked herself in a bid for the mountain jersey but was caught again before the top and dropped on the last bit of the climb. Although Reusser beat her to first place at the mountain sprint, De Vries had collected enough points throughout the race to win the green mountain jersey.

The group with Longo Borghini was 1:28 minutes behind at the QOM, making Reusser’s GC victory all but certain. Arens never made it back and was instead picked up by the chasers, leaving four riders at the front of the race who started the 11km finishing climb 1:15 minutes ahead of Berthet, Longo Borghini, Le Court-Pienaar, Sarah Van Dam (Visma-Lease a Bike), Liechti, Häberlin, and Buijsman.

Le Court-Pienaar soon attacked from this chase group, with only Häberlin chasing after her. Longo Borghini dropped back through the group, having to let gaps open in front of her, and eventually imploded completely, losing more than nine minutes to Le Court-Pienaar.

Up ahead, Niewiadoma-Phinney’s attack split the front group, and the Polish champion did most of the work on the way to the finish, trying to both leapfrog Kerbaol in GC and keep Le Court-Pienaar from reaching the group from behind and contest the stage in a sprint.

Le Court-Pienaar never did make it to the front, but Kerbaol came back on the final kilometre where Reusser then left the two others behind to win the stage.

In addition to the yellow jersey, her two stage victories also won Reusser the blue points jersey while GC runner-up Kerbaol won the white U25 jersey. AG Insurance-Soudal won the team classification.

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Tour de Suisse Women - Everything you need to know

Wide open Tour de Suisse Women - Analysing the contenders

Tour de Suisse Women - Route

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Results

Tour de Suisse Women: Marlen Reusser fends off dramatic chase to win stage 5 on Col de la Croix and secure third home GC victory

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the fifth and final stage of the Tour de Suisse Women 2026.

The neutral roll out will be at 9am CEST, with the official flag drop at 9:02am CEST. The stage today starts halfway up the Col de la Croix, so there should be action right from the start.

A reminder of who our classification leaders are going into the final stage:

GC: Marlen Reusser

Points: Zoe Bäckstedt

QoM: Femke de Vries

Youth: Cédrine Kerbaol

The stage is underway in Villars-sur-Ollon.

Before the action begins, check out our report from yesterday's TT if you need a quick refresher.

Tour de Suisse Women: World champion Marlen Reusser rides sensational time trial to win stage 4 and power into race lead

The peloton is approaching the top of Col de la Croix for the first time, where there will be a fight for the mountain classifaction points. Femke de Vries (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) currently leads on 13 points, with Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) and Megan Arens (Team Picnic PostNL) close behind on 7.

The peloton seems to be breaking up now. Megan Arens (Team Picnic PostNL) has broken free of the peloton and has a gap of 30 seconds.

Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) has attacked from the peloton too and is 20 seconds behind Arens (Team Picnic PostNL).

Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) and Arens (Team Picnic PostNL) have both been caught by a reduced peloton. Arens did cross the top of the Col de la Croix first though, bringing her up to 13 points in the mountain classification, only 3 points behind Femke de Vries (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) on 16 points.

There is a group of ten riders currently leading. It includes Marlen Reusser (Movistar), Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM).

Franziska Koch (FDJ United - SUEZ) is in the lead with a gap of 12 seconds.

Nina Buijsman (Human Powered Health), Nienke Vinke (Team SD Worx - Protime) and Jasmin Liechti (NEXETIS) are chasing Koch and are at 11 seconds. Another group of three is at 25 seconds, and the remains of the peloton are at 30.

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The two groups of three have merged and are 12 seconds behind Koch. The yellow jersey group are now at +1:35.

70km to go

The peloton is 2:10 back as they approach they prepare for their second climb up the Col de la Croix.

Koch has a 40 second gap to the group of six going into the second ascent of Col de la Croix.

Franziska Koch must be feeling amazing because the gap to the chase group is now 1:25, and the gap to the yellow jersey group is two and a half minutes. There are some attacks coming out of the yellow jersey so we'll have to wait and see if they can close the gap.

The GC riders are still mostly together, but I would be surprised if we got to the top of this climb without somebody trying to change that.

Marlen Reusser (Movistar) looks like she is struggling in the heat.

"I think Elisa should try something because she is only 10 seconds behind, and then I think there should be a fight also for the other podium spots because it's quite tight and I also think The GC order we have now is not representing a stage like today. We didn't have this big climbing stage so I think here you make bigger differences, it's different people that can be even faster, so I guess they will atack each other also." Marlen Reusser said to CyclingProNet

The yellow jersey group have caught the chase group and closed the gap to just 1:02. Liane Lippert (Movistar) has been dropped, leaving Reusser without any teammates.

Sarah Van Dam (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) has been dropped.

Femke De Vries (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) attacks! Marlen Reusser (Movistar), Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) and Megan Arens (Team Picnic PostNL). A gap has opened up to Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) and Koch has been caught and dropped.

50km to go

At just 19 years old, this is an incredible ride from Megan Arens.

Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) has bridged her way to the lead group.

Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) is on the front of a chasing group of five, trying to pull it back into contention, but the gap to the lead group has gone out to 52 seconds.

Femke De Vries attacks again and a gap opened up to Megan Arens and Cédrine Kerbaol. They have managed to fight back on to the back of the group, but this could be a sign of this to come for Kerbaol and Arens if more attacks keep coming from this lead group.

Megan Arens attacked in search of QoM points but was chased down by Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney. Niewiadoma-Phinney started the stage 1:49 down in the GC and will need to press on in this descent if she wants to drop Reusser and improve her GC standing.

Megan Arens has been dropped by the lead group as they begin the second descent of Col de la Croix.

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Femke De Vries has won the Queen of the Mountains jersey.

30km to go

Megan Arens has been caught by the Longo Borghini group. The gap is currently 55 seconds.

20km to go

The gap between the lead group and the chase group is remaining steady now at around a minute. The lead group seem to be working well together and won't want the chase group to make up any more time before they reach the bottom of the climb.

Good to see the fans are enjoying themselves.

10km to go

The front group have reached the bottom of the final climb.

The riders are cooling themselves down as much as possible before the attacks start.

Kim Le Court (AG Insurance - Soudal Team) attacks from the chase group and is now only 35 seconds behind the yellow jersey group.

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney is putting in incremental attacks that are distancing Femke De Vries and Cédrine Kerbaol, but Marlen Reusser is still right on her wheel.

Elisa Longo Borghini is really struggling now and is 3 minutes back. We'll have to wait and see exactly how many GC spots this costs her, but she will be off the podium at the end of today.

5km to go

At this point it feels safe to say that Marlen Reusser will win the Tour de Suisse Women 2026 today, but the battle for the stage could still go either way between Reusser and Niewiadoma-Phinney. Cédrine Kerbaol is still trying to close the gap but it seems unlikely given how comfortable our two leaders look. The gap is currently 22 seconds.

Reusser attacks but Niewiadoma-Phinney managed to respond and stick with her, albeit slightly slowly.

Our leading duo are slowing slightly and looking at each other, whcih could be exactly what Kerbaol needs to close the gap. Kim Le Court also has the lead riders in her sights now.

The gap to Kerbaol is now 12 seconds and only 23 seconds to Kim Le Court. Such an impressive comeback for Le Court.

1km to go

Cédrine Kerbaol is just fighting back on to the back of the lead group as we pass 1km to go.

Cédrine Kerbaol attacks but is followed. Reusser counterattacks and has opened up a gap and is now solo.

Marlen Reusser crosses the line to take her second stage win of the Tour de Suisse Women 2026, and her third GC win at this race.

Cédrine Kerbaol outsprints Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney to take second in the stage and moves up into second in the GC.

Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney has climbed her way onto the GC podium.

Here are the top 10 from today.

Great to see Marlen Reusser, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Kim Le Court congratulating each other after that incredible stage.

Marlen Reusser and Movistar DS Kelvin Dekker. It's a team sport.

Okay, that's us done for the day. Thank you for joining us for our live coverage of stage 5 and for the entire Tour de Suisse Women 2026.

Katherine Sarkisov (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group) claimed the under-23 women's road race title at the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships in Charleston on Saturday.

Sarkisov jumped from a six-rider chase on the final lap to catch and drop the two-rider breakaway to claim the victory, crossing the line 37 seconds ahead of her teammate Jorja Bond. Chloe Fraser (Winston Salem-Flow) took third, a further four seconds later.

The 2025 U23 road champion, Ella Sabo (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28) led the chase group across the line, 2:37 after the winner to take fourth place ahead of Katherine's younger sister, Alyssa Sarkisov (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group).

"The race plan went super well, we really followed our team plan. We got two girls up super early, within 3k I think, they went up the road with Chloe, and that move stayed away until pretty much the last lap," Sarkisov said.

"I went on the Bridge climb last lap, and I was able to catch one of my teammates, E.B. [Ella Brenneman], who is up the road, and she gave me the pull of her life just over the crest of the climb to really get the gap extended. And then it was just solo until the Wertz climb and there I caught the last two girls and was able to get a gap. My teammate Jorja, who was in the move all day, she finished second, and so it was really an amazing day for the team."

How it unfolded

Under cloudy skies, and temperatures hovering around 23 °C, the 20-rider under-23 women’s field faced a 92.6-kilometre course, covering two laps of the 14.5km junior course, including the Wertz Avenue climb, before crossing to the other side of the river to add on the Bridge Road climb across three laps of the 21km elite course.

Three riders, Chloe Fraser and CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group teammates Jorja Bond and Ella Brenneman, pulled away early in the first lap, increasing their lead the first time up Wertz Avenue (2.3km at 5.5%) to push the gap to over three minutes at the end of the two opening short laps.

At the end of the first big loop, the trio had a lead of 2:16 on the peloton down to 12 riders, with CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group using their numbers to put four riders at the front of the group.

The next time around, Brenneman fell off the pace, leaving Fraser and Bond together at the front, with a 1:57 gap on a six-rider chase group with one lap to go. The chasers included Mia Aseltine (Competitive Edge Racing), Lauren Aggeler (SpeedBlock-Terœn Elite), Kylee Hanel (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment), defending champion Ella Sabo and the CCB Kenetik duo of 2025 junior road champion Alyssa Sarkisov and Katherine Sarkisov.

Then when Katherine Sarkisov made her powerful move on the final lap and caught Bond and Fraser, there was little they could do but try and hold on for the lower steps of the podium.

Results

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Karolina Migoń (PAS Racing) and Fabian Rabensteiner (Torpado Kenda FSA Factory) won the elite Grand Tour 3 Cime Lavaredo on Saturday, both winning solo at the Italian event which is one of four UCI Gravel World Series races playing out over the weekend.

Migoń came over the line over four and a half minutes ahead of UAE Team ADQ road pro Erica Magnaldi in the elite women's race on the challenging course, where the climbing hits hard and early. Italian MTB Marathon champion Debora Piana was third.

"I managed the race from the front from start to finish," Migoń said. "It was a demanding course, true gravel. Today it was important to know how to manage your energy well. I'm very satisfied with my performance."

The men's race finish was a lot closer, with Leonardo Paez taking second in the men's elite race in, just 26 seconds back on Rabensteiner, whilst Norway's Eskil Evensen-Lie was third, a further two minutes down.

"Today I felt very good and my skills as a climbing biker helped me a lot on this type of course. When I ride in my Dolomites I'm always happy," Rabensteiner said. I didn't think I would win, because it was a very competitive race."

Though it was a gravel race, most of the podium finishers came from a mountain bike background, with Rabensteiner and Piana both national XCM champions, testament to the mountainous course in the Dolomites.

The 133km race with 3,200m of elevation gain started and finished in ski village of Auronzo di Cadore, with the first peak of the Danta di Cadore just 10km in and another where the ascending starts at 30km, the Klammbach peak, marking the high point of the race at 1,929m. After that the course flattened out a little but there was still another challenge at around the 100km mark, the Passo Tre Crocci.

Migoń led over all three 'cime' climbs to take a dominant victory, whilst in the men's race, Paez crested the Passo Monte Croce first, but Rabensteiner came from behind – not even in the top three over the first 'cima' – to go over the Carbonin and Passo Tre Croci in the lead and hold on to the line.

The four qualifiers across three continents this weekend also included Australia's Devils Cardigan, Eislek Gravel Luxembourg and OG Classique in Canada. Across all rounds, the top 25% of competitors in each category qualify for the Gravel World Championships, this year taking place in Nannup, Western Australian from October 10-11.

Results

UAE Team ADQ's Elisa Longo Borghini admitted weaknesses as she ceded the lead of the Tour de Suisse Women during Saturday's TT, finishing fifth behind stage winner Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and dropping to second overall.

Wearing the yellow jersey of the race leader, Longo Borghini was the last rider on the course of the Tour de Suisse TT, and though she limited her losses, she was critical of her ride at the finish.

"This year I think I can't really do TTs. I don't know why. My power is OK. I just don't feel satisfied about my performance. I don’t know. I just can’t push the power I would like to and the one that I usually push on the road bike," she said.

Longo Borghini finished in fifth place, 1:05 behind Reusser, but the stage placing wasn’t her primary concern.

"I don't really look at the results, I look at my own performance. For sure, to lose a minute and five to Marlen is OK, she's the world champion. I would have liked to keep the jersey, but it is what it is," she said.

Longo Borghini will probably reflect seriously on her ride and any possible improvements, with two very important time trials coming soon: at the Italian National Championships next weekend, which she has won seven times, and at the Tour de France Femmes.

Heat makes for hard day in Switzerland

The heat added an extra layer of difficulty to the TT, with temperatures in Aarburg reaching 30° C even before noon. The combination with the sun and the almost-total lack of wind made it a challenging effort, with most riders wearing cooling vests until right before their start time.

"I was suffering, it was really hot. I tried not to go full gas from the start, because with this heat it’s so easy to get into the red zone and then just say goodbye. But it’s a TT, so it’s not like you can take your time and ride into it. I still tried to do my best, but I can’t compare myself to Zoe [Bäckstedt, second on the stage] or Marlen," said Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM) about the conditions.

The Polish all-rounder had started the day three seconds behind Reusser but lost a further 1:46, putting her on the back foot ahead of Sunday’s final stage, a 100.4km mountain stage with two ascents of the Col de la Croix.

If she wants to win the race overall, Niewiadoma-Phinney will have to go for a long-range attack. She may take motivation from the fact that Reusser lost time on the two last climbing stages of the Giro d’Italia Women.

By contrast, Longo Borghini’s deficit on Reusser is only ten seconds, leaving the GC battle wide open between the two, and the Italian seemed to consider all available options for the final stage.

"I think I'm in a good position ahead of tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it. It looks really exciting, to be honest," she said.

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Home rider Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) stamped her authority on stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya Feminas, winning solo in La Molina after conquering the 21.2km Coll de la Creueta.

The Catalan rider, who won La Vuelta Femenina and Amstel Gold Race earlier this spring, bided her time on the final climb, but once she put in her decisive attack, no one could match her, and she soloed to the victory and into the race lead.

Célia Gery (FDJ United-Suez) fought her way into second, 1:20 down on Blasi, whilst Canada's Sidney Swierenga (Liv AlUla Jayco Women's Continental Team) impressed to finish third.

Blasi now leads the GC with only one easier stage to Barcelona between her and a win at her home tour.

"It's my hometown almost, I'm training here every day, so I pretty much knew this climb and these last kilometres," Blasi said. "So it was quite emotional and special for me, and I really wanted to fight for it.

"I knew it would not be easy because it was not that steep in the climbs, and with the wind it was quite open, and people were quite tight to my wheel. So I had to fight quite a lot mentally, because even when there were four girls left, and I was just with Gery, I was even scared because I knew if I went with her to the finish line, probably she would beat me in the sprint, so I gave it all in the climb."

The second stage in Catalunya offered a big climbing day, with the stage finishing just over the top of the HC Coll de la Creueta, with the 11.6km Coll de la Batallola preceding that for a really challenging day.

A two-rider break went early in the day, comprising Sheyla Gutiérrez (Movistar) and Victoire Joncheray (Team Abadie Magnan), but they were kept close and caught early before the top of the Batallola with 46km to go.

With 35km to go, there was a brief neutralisation due to an unsafe section of road. The riders continued riding, just slow with no attacks, and the situation was resolved quickly and the neutralisation lifted.

Soon the final climb quickly began to string the peloton out. With 25km to go, fewer than 30 riders remained in the front of the race. The base of the climb saw attack after attack, with many riders putting in little accelerations but not actually wanting to show their cards and go all-out too soon.

Julie Van de Velde (AG Insurance-Soudal) was the first to get a decent gap in the final 20km, with less than 15 riders remaining in the group of favourites, where Paula Blasi was the rider to watch.

Blasi slowly started ramping up her efforts, building off the help of her teammates early on the climb, and once Van de Velde was caught, the Catalonian rider set off alone with just under 14km to go.

Expectedly, Blasi quickly built up a really solid lead as the race split apart behind her. Swierenga was in pursuit but soon already a minute down, with Géry chasing even further back as Blasi soloed over the top of the climb.

From there, there was just the run to the line in La Molina left, and Blasi's lead was untouchable as she powered to the win.

Results

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World champion Marlen Reusser (Movistar) won the stage 4 individual time trial at the Tour de Suisse Women, covering the 23.7km course around Aarburg in 29:36, beating Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM) by 11 seconds.

Loes Adegeest (Lidl-Trek) took third place on the stage, 54 seconds down, as the two world champions dominated the flat TT

Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) finished in fifth place, 1:05 slower than Reusser, and had to relinquish the yellow jersey to the ITT world champion who goes into the final stage with a 10-second lead over the Italian.

"It was very hard, really very, very hard. I went really hard from the start and I was suffering a lot. You go fast, but you don’t really know if the others go faster. And this course feels fast anyway, even if you don’t go fast. I didn’t know anything until I arrived at the finish line," said Reusser about her effort.

With one day to go, Reusser is now in the yellow jersey, but she maintained that anything could happen on Sunday’s tough mountain stage.

"It’s a day that is exceptionally hard, it really is a special course. I think one weak moment can change the whole GC, not only getting me out of the yellow, but for everybody. Tomorrow is going to be super tough."

How it unfolded

The 23.7km test against the clock started and finished in Aarburg. The first and last 4km were out-and-back on the same road, with the rest on an anit-clockwise loop that included a couple of short climbs.

Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ) was one of the first starters and already set a real benchmark with 30:45. When her compatriot Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) finished three seconds slower, the Australian could get comfortable in the hot seat as nobody else came close to threatening her time for the next half-hour.

However, Bäckstedt then beat Chapman's intermediate time by 25 seconds and kept that pace to the finish. Crossing the line in 29:47, she took almost a minute off Chapman's time, and a second consecutive stage win for stage 3 winner Bäckstedt was a very real possibility as only Marlen Reusser seemed capable of beating such a strong time.

Adegeest finished 15 seconds faster than Chapman, a time that would be enough for third place in the end. Maëva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) was also on a very good ride but missed the turn onto the finishing straight. She lost several seconds but still managed to stop the clock after 30:47, finishing seventh in the end. Jasmin Liechti (Switzerland), Femke de Vries (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) also stayed below 31 minutes.

Marlen Reusser was five seconds faster than Bäckstedt at the intermediate time, putting the stage victory up in the air, and in front of a home crowd, the world ITT champion finished 11 seconds faster than Bäckstedt to win the stage.

Longo Borghini had lost 32 seconds to Reusser on the first 10.3km to the intermediate timing point, and when she finished in 30:41 minutes, it was clear that Reusser would take the yellow jersey in addition to the stage victory.

The race concludes with stage 5 on Sunday, which will be the toughest stage yet as the peloton take on mountainous loops and two ascents of the Col de la Croix.

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Rider union the CPA Women has called for a "substantial review" of the UCI's road race safety initiative, SafeR, after an incident in the final kilometres of stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse Women that saw Urška Žigart (AG Insurance-Soudal) break her jaw.

Several riders crashed going over a bump in the road within the final kilometre of Thursday's stage, facing the uneven road surface at high speed. Žigart went down the hardest, suffering a fractured jaw and an overnight stay in hospital.

SafeR, a multi-stakeholder project set up in 2023, is dedicated to making road cycling safer through various initiatives, one of which includes SafeR representatives working with race organisers to review courses for safety and analyse any race incidents.

Potentially dangerous course features, such as road furniture or uneven surfaces near finishes, especially those where riders are travelling at high speed, are the types of things SafeR try to work with organiers to identify and avoid.

The CPA is UCI-affiliated – unlike other women's union, The Cyclists' Alliance – which means its men's and women's managing directors, Adam Hansen and Alessandra Cappellotto, sit on SafeR's various committees.

However, the project has been under fire recently after the controversial UCI vs SRAM legal case – which the UCI used SafeR funds to pay for – and this week, CPA Women managing director Cappellotto was the latest figure to raise criticisms over SafeR.

"Following the serious accident that occurred yesterday in the final kilometre of Stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse Women, CPA Women, representing the riders, calls for a substantial review of the current SafeR operating model," she said in a statement

Currently, SafeR operates three main committees which all feature representatives from race organisers, teams, riders and the UCI.

The Supervisory Board meets quarterly to "take strategic and budgetary decisions", the Commission meets monthly to "advise on matters such as regulations, equipment and education" and the weekly Case Management Committee "review[s] race incidents, anticipate issues on upcoming races and conduct safety audits of teams and races", according to the UCI website.

However, Cappellotto questions whether this process is working in light of recent incidents.

"From the very beginning, CPA and CPA Women have strongly believed in the SafeR project. We have invested time, energy and resources in its development, participating actively and constructively in its work. We have always considered SafeR an essential tool to address the challenges of modern professional cycling and to respond to the expectations of riders, teams, organisers, governing bodies, sponsors and fans," she said.

"The progress achieved in recent years should be recognised. However, serious incidents continue to occur, and it is our responsibility to ask whether the current system is providing all the answers that our sport requires."

Whilst the UCI has regularly updated on SafeR's work with statistics about incidents and their causes, and new – not always well-received – recommendations for rule changes and regulations, they are yet to publish any data demonstrating a reduction in crashes or accidents since the project's beginning.

SafeR has recommended a host of regulations, some of which have worked or been received better than others, from the yellow card system to handlebar width restrictions and the contentious gear ratio limit test, which was ultimately blocked and led to a court case between the UCI and SRAM.

Three years into the project, the CPA Women is calling for a shake-up of the system and processes to improve their work, and avoid incidents like the crash in Switzerland this week.

"Cycling must not be afraid of change. Together with the UCI, AIOCC, AIGCP and all stakeholders involved in professional cycling, we have developed considerable knowledge and expertise. We believe the time has come to review and strengthen the way SafeR operates, ensuring that it has the tools, structure and authority necessary to identify risks more effectively and to prevent incidents before they happen," Cappolleto said.

"The riders remain fully committed to contributing constructively to this process. Safety is a shared responsibility, and continuous improvement must remain at the heart of our collective efforts. Our common objective is clear: to make professional cycling safer while preserving the integrity, credibility and future of our sport."

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Tour de Suisse Women - Everything you need to know

Wide open Tour de Suisse Women - Analysing the contenders

Tour de Suisse Women - Route

Tour de Suisse Women - Stage 4 TT start times

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Results

Tour de Suisse Women: World champion Marlen Reusser rides sensational time trial to win stage 4 and power into race lead

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of stage 4 of the Tour de Suisse Women.

Today's time trial will feature both the elite TT world champion Marlen Reusser (Movistar), and the U23 TT world champion Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//SRAM).

If you missed yesterday's sprint finish, have a look back at our report to get up to speed.

Tour de Suisse Women: Zoe Bäckstedt stuns the field with scorching long-range sprint to win stage 3

Racing is now underway in Aarburg. If you want to know everyone's start times we have that for you below.

Tour de Suisse: Stage 4 women's and men's time trial start times

Australian ITT champion Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ) is now on course.

Annika Liehner (NEXETIS) is the current fastest rider through the first timepoint with a time of 15:26.28.

Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) is currently leading the GC by 35s and will be hoping still be in yellow at the end of the day. Lauren Dickson (FDJ United - SUEZ) would have been her closestest rival but she is unable to start today after breaking her collarbone in a crash yesterday.

Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ) has started strong, setting a current fastest time of 14:26.80 at the intermediate split. Lauretta Hanson (Lidl - Trek) is currently in second.

Becky Storrie (Team Picnic PostNL) just finished and set a benchmark time of 32:51.24.

New fastest time

Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ) has set a new fastest time of 30:45 at the finish. This is a time that could stand for a long time.

Yesterday's winner Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//SRAM) has just started her TT.

Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) is now on course.

Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//SRAM) just passed through the intermediate time point and set a new fastest time of 14:01, 25 seconds faster than the time set by Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ).

Junior ITT world champion Megan Arens (Team Picnic PostNL) is now on course. At just 19 years old, it will be interesting to see how she performs in this field.

It's a beautiful day in Aarburg with temperatures currently in the high twenties.

New fastest time

Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//SRAM) has set a very impressive time of 29:47. She'll be hoping that's enough to take her second stage win in a row.

World champion Marlen Reusser (Movistar) has just started her TT. While she will be hunting for the stage win, she will also be looking to climb the GC standings.

Crash

Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) crashed with 200m to go, but managed to get back up and finished 59 seconds down in 5th place. Without the crash, this could have been a really strong TT for Squiban.

Race leader Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) has just started her TT. All riders are now on course.

Marlen Reusser (Movistar) is 5 seconds up at the intermediate split, with a time of 13:56.

Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) passes through the intermediate split 31 seconds down on the time of Marlen Reusser (Movistar). Longo Borghini started the day 55 seconds up on Reusser in the GC, so the gaps could be very close when Longo Borghini crosses the finish line.

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New fastest time

Marlen Reusser (Movistar) sets a new fastest time of 29:36, 11 seconds faster than Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//SRAM). This should be enough to take the win today and potentially the yellow jersey.

Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM) finished 1:46 slower than Reusser (Movistar). This is a blow for Niewiadoma's GC standing and leaves her with a lot of work to do tomorrow if she wants to be in competitive.

Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) crosses the finish line with a time of 30:41, 1:04 slower than Marlen Reusser (Movistar).

Marlen Reusser (Movistar) is today's stage winner and also goes in to the yellow jersey ahead of tomorrow's final stage.

Here is today's top 10.

Tomorrow is the final stage of the Tour de Suisse Women 2026, and while it is fairly short at 100.4km, it includes over 3,000m of elevation with the peloton climing the Col de la Croix three times. The heat expected tomorrow will make this already tough stage even tougher.

Reusser (Movistar) will start the day with a 10 second buffer to Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) and then over a minute to anyone else. The GC battle will still be raging tomorrow and it should be a very exciting race.

Thanks for joining us today. We'll be back tomorrow for live coverage of stage 5.

Brendan Johnston (Giant) won his third edition in a row of The Devil's Cardigan on Saturday, while Holly Harris stepped up from fourth last year to this time claim the top step at the Tasmanian UCI Gravel World Series event.

The third and final Australian qualifier for UCI Gravel World Championships in Nannup, Western Australia in October played out in crisp but fine conditions, over a 106km course with 2,300m of vertical ascent, including the 'un-named climb of hell'.

Johnston, as usual, had put on the pressure to try and take off solo early, but British rider Harry Leask wasn't going to let him have it all his way, catching the Life Time Grand Prix racer on the plateau.

"I've only been there by myself before so I wanted to kind of keep it like that," said Johnston in a Devil's Cardigan finish line interview posted on Instagram. "But to my surprise Harry quite easily seemed to ride back to me and then I just had to kind of wait 'til Ruby Flats Road there where it turns in my direction a little more, sort of rougher and a bit more gradient."

Johnston managed to shake off the former rower, now cyclor – an athlete that uses a stationary bike for adjustments like trimming sails and replaces the grinders who manually operated hand cranks. The Australian crossed the line solo in 3:22:49. Leask, who was taking on just his second gravel race, was second less than a minute back while Harry Bebbington (Maxxis Flanders) took third.

For Johnston, the victory at the race where a bag of local spuds and a wooly jumper serves as the trophy, made it a clean sweep of the Australian UCI Gravel World Series races for the 2026 qualifying season, starting with Gravelista in Seymour back in October, continuing on with SEVEN in May before finally wrapping up at Devil's Cardigan in Derby, a town rejuvenated after the development of a popular mountain bike trial network.

In the elite women's race the event, which started out in 2021, continued its tradition of delivering a new winner each year. The battle for victory came down to a duo that lasted right to the line between Harris and New Zealander Michaela Rogan (Specialized NZ).

"We've been together the whole race. Michaela has just been pushing all the climbs and I was like 'Girl, if you want to do that, I'm coming'," said Harris in an interview with Devils Cardigan commentator Jethro Gammie-Nagle.

The 2022 Australian gravel champion, who also has a list of mountain bike national titles to her name, took the lead in the sprint and from then wasn't going to give up that top spot. Harris crossed the line first in 4:15:44 with Rogan, who recently set the fastest known time for the Otago Central Rail Trail, just one second behind.

In third, less than three minutes back, it was Flora Johnson who came second to Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM) at the Australian Gravel Championships race at Ponderosa Pines last month.

The event is one of four qualifiers across three continents this weekend, with Italy hosting the Grand Tour 3 Cime Lavaredo on Saturday as well and on Sunday it is Eislek Gravel Luxembourg plus the OG Classique will be held in Wakefield, Canada.

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