'Teams are desperate to hit the ground running in 2026' - Why cycling's elites are already pushing hard in December training camps

It is still only early December, but the 2026 cycling season kicked off this week, as riders and teams gathered for their first training camps in Spain to finalise their new goals and intensify their training rides.

Riders' November social media posts were packed with images of their holidays and off-season fun but their training has since become more serious.

Mathieu van der Poel has been training hard for several weeks in Spain as he prepares for his holiday cyclocross campaign, and in recent days, he and regular training partner Freddy Ovett have been joined by Remco Evenepoel for several rides on the 'Calpe Express' group rides.

Ineos Grenadiers kicked off their December camp on Thursday after Filippo Ganna and Josh Tarling spent a day on the Roubaix velodrome for vital time trial testing.

The December camp marks Geraint Thomas' first official moment as Director of Racing, with Elia Viviani and Darryl Impey joining as new sports directors following the departures of Zak Dempster and Olly Cookson to Red Bull.

Other top teams such as UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Lidl-Trek, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, will also soon gather in Spain, while the new US-based Modern Adventure team have gathered in Greenville, South Carolina.

Movistar have set up on the Spanish coast for the month, with their women's team gathering first from December 1-11 and then the men's team, including new signings Cian Uijtdebroeks, Roger Adrià and Juanpe López will have their camp from December 11-22.

Jayco-AlUla have a similar split training camp, with the men gathering this week and the women next week. Many of the team's Australian riders and staff are already back home for the holidays and will begin the season with high ambitions at the Tour Down Under and the AlUla Tour in Saudi Arabia.

The team's sports directors thrashed out the team's racing programme last week, with riders now aware of their schedules and major goals. New Sporting Manager Gene Bates told Cyclingnews in November that the Australian team will focus on scoring UCI ranking points as well as winning major races, imitating the successful strategy of Astana and Lotto.

"Teams are desperate to hit the ground running in 2026, to make sure they're sitting in a safe spot for the three-year sporting criteria and the next WorldTour spots. We have important partners that want to see our jersey on the podium, but at the same time, we need to be taking care of business in the background around the points," Bates told Cyclingnews.

The rebranded and newly owned NSN team have been in Spain since November 24, with new leader Biniam Girmay joining them last week as they switched their bike sponsor from Factor to Scott. Escape Collective reported that former team owner Sylvan Adams also attended the camp as a VIP guest as the Israeli billionaire handed over control of the team.

NSN will hold their official team launch in Barcelona on November 9 to present their 2026 season kit and objectives.

The December camps are about more than compiling blocks of winter training rides. Riders train in the morning, often doing blocks of three days followed by a recovery day. The athletes pre-selected for the Tour Down Under are already training hard to peak earlier. They will travel to Australia in the new year and not attend another European camp in January.

Post-ride slots in the afternoons and evenings are packed with meetings, media obligations, sponsor presentations, bike fittings, talks with nutritionists, work with osteopaths and masseurs.

On December 10, the UCI are expected to finally name the teams awarded WorldTour and ProTeam status for 2026.

Several teams have endured long interview sessions from the UCI Licence Commission this week, being quizzed about their budgets, management, ethics and future resources. It is always a tense moment for the teams that struggled to find sponsorship for 2026 or underwent major changes like NSN and especially Lotto-Intermarché. Their future will only be confirmed on December 10.

Remco Evenepoel's first ride with Red Bull and Tadej Pogačar's 2026 goals expected next week

More teams will gather in Spain next week and reveal their hopes and ambitions for the 2026 season.

Remco Evenepoel will join his new Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammates in Mallorca for their first training rides together. The team is expected to announce Florian Lipowitz's contract extension during their media day on December 10 and confirm that he and Evenepoel will lead the team at the 2026 Tour de France.

Juan Ayuso will soon join his new Lidl-Trek team for their joint men's and women's camp, with the super team announcing their objectives on December 12. Ayuso is expected to target the Tour de France and Lidl-Trek may reveal if Mads Pedersen returns to the Tour and if Jonathan Milan will instead target the sprints at the Giro d'Italia.

Tadej Pogačar began his winter training at home in Monte Carlo and then spent last week in Gran Canaria. He will join his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad in Benidorm on the Spanish coast and is expected to confirm he will target the spring Classics before a record-equalling fifth Tour victory during the team's media day on December 13.

Other teams will also fill the roads of the central Spanish coast very soon, making the Colle des Rates test climb and the roads between Benidorm, Calpe and Denia a cycling mecca.

Due to UCI regulations, riders and teams still have to wear their 2025 clothing but the 2026 season is well and truly underway.