All I want for Christmas is… The things we wish would change about professional cycling in 2026 and beyond

As Christmas and the festive season approaches very quickly, we're all thinking about how we're going to celebrate, who we're going to see, how much cycling we're going to do. Oh, and which presents from our wishlist are going to be under the tree.

Now, whilst we've already put together a list of gift ideas for cyclists – if you need some last-minute inspiration – the end of the year got me thinking about a different kind of wishlist, a very hypothetical one.

As cycling fans, we spend all year talking about racing, and with that the things we think could be better or different. So, what if there was a Father Christmas of Cycling – who may be able to grant our wishes UCI president David Lappartient – to whom we could actually put our wishlist of changes this Christmas? And if there was, what would we ask for?

I had visions of this being full of whimsical and silly ideas, but my colleagues – being the intelligent, serious journalists they are – really thought properly about this, and gave some really considered, thoughtful answers. Even in the festive season, all we really want is for the sport we love to be better all round.

So, here is what Cyclingnews wants for Christmas this year. Let's see if any of our wishes are granted in 2026.

A women's Il Lombardia – Matilda (Assistant Features Editor)

I never used to be a subscriber to the idea that the women's calendar should replicate the men's, and I still don't think it should be a carbon copy, but the success and excitement of races like Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Milan-San Remo Donne has convinced me that the women should at least race all the Monuments. Which means I'm hoping for a women's Il Lombardia under the tree this year.

Now, we know already that the race isn't going to happen in 2026, but RCS have been floating the idea, and it could come soon. I think this would be such an exciting addition to the women's calendar, and really round out the season on a bang, which can kind of tail off after the World Championships. With the Grand Tours all out of the way by August in the current schedule, a late-season hit out for the climbers like Demi Vollering and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in a truly iconic race would surely thrill us. I dream of the day we have a women's Lombardia!

A Tour de France with no summit finishes and lots of medium mountain and hilly stages (but only for one year) – Alasdair (Senior Staff Writer)

Stirring as the Tour de France finales are in the Pyrenees and Alps, taking a complete break from the summit finishes could create a very different kind of race dynamic and offer a new sort of Grand Tour winner.

This isn't a call to get rid of summit finishes forever. Far from it. Rather – for example – thinking outside the box about routes is a strategy that has worked very well for the final stage of the Tour, where the sprinters have had to take a back seat for two years in a row. But it's also created a kind of nostalgia in some quarters for the idea that the fastmen should not be deprived forever of their chance on the last day of the race, so even one year without the big summit finishes might actually do more for them long-term.

Overall, then, it might simply be a way of moving Grand Tours in a new direction, even if only to go back to what's tried-and-tested. It would offer the race a chance to showcase more of the countryside and cities to the public. And last but not least, it could have some environmental benefits, too.

Women's Roubaix to stay on Saturday – Will (Senior Tech Writer)

I appreciate that this is a more light hearted round table than others, but the decision to amalgamate the women’s race into the Roubaix Sunday timetable is baffling. Like Lombardy this isn’t going to change in 2026, but nor are many other things I wish for.

Having the race on the Saturday will only dilute the attention the women’s race receives, not only from fans who won’t get to watch the entirety of the event, as the coverage won’t start until the culmination of the men’s race, but also by dint of media outlets like ours having to spread staff much more thinly across quite a large swath of northern France. Roubaix is a sensational race, both editions, and they both deserve their day in the spotlight.

Maybe a more realistic wish is that I wish that the organisation sees sense following this year and reverts back to the old format.

Continued pushback on sportswashing – Dani (Senior News Writer)

Will's idea is a good one. Having reported from Paris-Roubaix in each of the past five years, attending a full weekend of racing, with both races filling separate days, was special. It's a shame that has been lost.

One of my stand-out memories from this year's Paris-Roubaix came during the race recon at the Arenberg forest, stood waiting at a team bus.

That bus was emblazoned with the name of a state which represses the human rights of women, journalists, queer people, and foreign workers, among others, and which has been accused of materially supporting a violent civil war on a different continent.

I was there to report on the people who are paid to promote this nation, which would criminalise me if I were ever to visit. Something about seeing young children, who were hunting autographs, wearing the nation's name on their jerseys felt just as unsettling.

In 2025, we saw protests work (though they should be kept out of the path of speeding cyclists) as a major team was forced to end its overt association with Israel. Can continue to put pressure on other sportswashing projects in 2026?"

Make cyclocross a winter Olympic sport – Laura (Managing Editor)

Cyclocross is the one thing that gets me through the dark winter months. I'll bundle up on the sofa with a cup of coffee watching the elite women first thing, then have bacon and pancakes during the elite men's race. For a few wonderful years, I used to be treated to afternoon coverage of the US races, too!

From Sven Nys to Thibau Nys, from Daphne van den Brand to Fem van Empel, I've watched the riders battling the worst of the winter weather and been amazed at their skills. But cyclocross is under threat as the cycling industry shifts focus and finances into gravel. The teams and riders in the US are especially struggling for sponsorship dollars.

The fact that the UCI has allowed teams to use 'cross points toward their promotion/relegation rankings might be one small step, but making 'cross an Olympic sport is the only real way to get its life back. The money would flow back into the discipline, as would the talent. It wouldn't be Christmas/kerstperiode without 'cross. Santa: Make cyclocross great again! Make cyclocross an Olympic sport!

Some common sense on the UCI's equipment rules – Josh (Associate Editor, Tech)

With the explicit goal of slowing the peloton down for safety reasons, the UCI recently announced a gear restriction trial and an accompanying rule amendment proposal, despite basic physics proving it would make no difference. It also announced a fork width and rim depth rule that will make some bikes and wheels illegal before they've even been launched, wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds in tooling costs. This all comes just a few years after the UCI changed the rules on cockpit design that meant bikes could be designed more aerodynamically (and thus, sped the peloton up).

When making these decisions, I'd like the UCI to be obligated to consult teams' Heads of Performance – people like Dan Bigham and Alex Dowsett – and brands' engineers or designers, to understand how the goal can be achieved without unfairly compromising one brand (or team) over another.

More than a roundtable discussion with the WFSGI in which one guy from the UCI shows up, but a formal sign-off process, a vote, or something that forces the UCI to check its workings. Road cycling as a sport is built on sponsorships, so if the UCI's shortsightedness repeatedly puts those very sponsors at a disadvantage, it won't be long before they turn their attentions to gravel, triathlon, or simply go out of business.

A challenger for Pogačar... from within his own team? – Pete (Engagement Editor)

In 2025, I found myself wrapped up in Formula 1 and this season's captivating Championship battle that contained two drivers from one team. It was fascinating to watch play out, not least because of the race tactics, internal politics and coded comments to the media all adding fuel to the title race fire.

Cycling is no stranger to these scenarios, Hinault-LeMond, Froome-Wiggins, Vollering-Kopecky – even a three-way battle between Vingegaard, Roglič and Kuss – are just some examples that quickly spring to mind. But this is one challenge that Tadej Pogačar, such is his untouchable status at UAE Team Emirates-XRG, has yet to face.

The only other rider at the top-ranked WorldTour squad to have risen through the ranks so quickly is Isaac del Toro, a 22-year-old coming off the back of a Giro d'Italia podium and with a Tour de France debut in service of the Slovenian awaiting him next summer. I'm well aware that team orders will likely sterilise any chance of a role reversal, but stranger things have happened in cycling. Could Pogačar's toughest challenge actually come from within, and from Del Toro? It would certainly make for box office viewing.

A breakthrough in cycling kit safety technology – Tom (Tech Writer)

Imagine if a super-light, protective airbag had deployed inside Alexander Kristoff’s abrasion-resistant skinsuit the moment he hit the ground whilst crashing during stage 7 of the Tour de Langkawi, his final professional race. It could have protected him and given him the career-ending he deserved; instead, he abandoned, bleeding at the side of the road, the same as a great many of his male and female WorldTour colleagues this year.

Professional cycling means crashing, and the question of how to make cycling safer for racers is a deeply complex one with no easy answer. However, indulge me as I imagine a time when there is cycling kit available to pro riders (and all cyclists ultimately) that provides far greater protection in the event of a crash.

Helmet safety technology is constantly evolving, but compare WorldTour cycling kit protection to MotoGP or F1, for instance, and the difference in safety gear is stark, for a range of reasons.

Protective, lightweight, stylish and easy-to-wear cycling kit is a very tricky one, but my wish for next year would be for a minimum safety standard or protection rating for at least riders' skinsuits. And ultimately, for overnight advancements in kit technology that see injuries from crashes greatly reduced.

Women's racing live coverage from start to finish! – Kirsten (Editor)

There is no disputing that the UCI's implementation of 45 minutes of live television/streaming coverage of women's top-tier racing – as a requirement to be among the Women's WorldTour – has been a game-changer for increasing visibility, building a consistently growing audience and giving the riders, teams and races a platform to showcase a dynamic sport and its sponsors.

Now that we've seen a little, we want to see a whole lot more!

It's no longer acceptable to show the last 30 minutes of a women's race, followed by 15 minutes of the post-race podium ceremony. Some race organisers, even at lower-level events, have brought full live television and streaming coverage to their women's races, which is great to see, but when it comes to the Women's WorldTour, it's time to deliver start-to-finish coverage to the sport's ever-growing fan base.

Shorten the men's Strade Bianche back to its old distance – James (Staff Writer)

In pursuit of Monument status, Strade Bianche Men has continued to extend in length and difficulty since its 2007 introduction to the calendar, and I can't help but feel that all it's done is diminish the number of riders who can actually win the race.

More gravel sectors, more climbing and an extra loop of racing in the Tuscan vineyards sound great on paper, but when Tadej Pogačar exists, this just benefits him and rules out the heavier Classics specialists who used to fight for victory on the sterrato.

Yes, the Slovenian did solo to victory on the old 184km course in 2022, but his winning gap was only 37 seconds, not 2:44 and 1:24 as it's been on the lengthened course. A Pogačar crash made 2025 more exciting, but victory still seemed an inevitability, with even a full-strength former winner in Tom Pidcock no match.

Shortening the route back to its old form prevents it from becoming a gravel Liège-Bastogne-Liège and removes some of the world champion's advantage, while also bringing the Van der Poels and Van Aerts of the world back into play – neither of them have raced Strade the past two years, and the route change could well be part of that.

If it isn't changed back, we can just add another Slovenian flag to the winner's list, as it's been tailor-made for Pogačar to dominate. Check back in three months when he opens his 2026 season with another 80-kilometre solo victory, and maybe you'll agree.