Welcome to Daily News, your roundup of news items from across the world of cycling. We keep this post updated throughout the week so that you can stay informed on all things bike racing, tech, industry, culture, advocacy, and more.
Here is what is making the headlines this week …
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
- Ewan wins in his first race day with Ineos
- Police raid houses in Herentals
- Geoghegan Hart pulls out of the Volta a Catalunya due to illness
- Winner's Circle: Vernon wins stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya
Ewan wins in his first race day with Ineos
Caleb Ewan got his 2025 season underway in style on Tuesday, winning his first race in Ineos Grenadiers kit on the opening stage of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali. The 30-year-old Australian was starting his season a bit later than usual after an offseason complicated by his departure from Jayco-AlUla, but he left little doubt about his form in the Italian stage race.
Stage 1 from Ferrara to Bondeno came down to a bunch kick, and Ewan stormed to a dominant victory by multiple bike lengths. Israel-Premier Tech's Oded Kogut took second with Jason Tesson (TotalEnergies) in third.
Police raid houses in Herentals
Belgian police raided three houses in Herentals earlier this month in connection with a medical malpractice investigation with a possible doping element as well.
Wielerflits reports that one of the houses searched belongs to a doctor formerly tied to a professional cycling team. At present, neither the identity of that team or the doctor have been made public. [Wielerflits]
Geoghegan Hart pulls out of the Volta a Catalunya due to illness
After injuries derailed his 2024 campaign, health woes continue to plague Tao Geoghegan Hart, who did not start stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya "following digestive troubles during stage 1," as Lidl-Trek announced on X.
"Gutted to be out of Volta Catalunya before it had even really begun," Geoghegan Hart wrote on social media. "I spent much of the stage yesterday throwing up anything I tried to eat and after not being able to get any fuel in the tank since the finish yesterday, I won’t be lining up at the start today. It was a week I was super looking forward to and had trained all through the winter toward."
Winner's Circle: Vernon wins stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya
Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) pipped fellow Brit Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) to win stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya.
The stage was decided in a fast finish in Figueres, where Vernon took a clear lead into the closing meters of the sprint but with a hard-charging Brennan surging up on his right. Vernon held on to win with Brennan settling for second and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in third. Brennan, who took stage 1, continues to lead the general classification.
Monday, March 24, 2025
- Track Champions League cancelled, WBD refocuses on rebranded Track World Cup
- Vingegaard suffered a concussion at Paris-Nice
- David Lappartient to stand down from the French Olympic Committee
- Winner's Circle: Brennan bests Alpecin duo to win Volta a Catalunya opener
Track Champions League cancelled, WBD refocuses on rebranded Track World Cup in 2026
The Track Champions League is no more. Four years after it was launched in conjunction with the UCI with a plan to run for at least eight years, Warner Bros. Discovery has called time on the series.
In a press release, the UCI said that WBD has decided to "redefine its involvement in the promotion of track cycling" and will be closely involved in updating the Track Nations Cup, which will now (again) be known as the Track World Cup.
Since 2021, the Track Champions League had given track racers a series of events to compete in across Europe, with season-long standings in men's and women's sprint and endurance categories. The series slowly grew, but troubles appeared this past season when it was scaled back to three venues and the series director announced his departure last month.
Starting in 2026, the revamped Track World Cup will feature three rounds of Olympic track cycling events and an elimination race. In the meantime, track fans will have to settle for far fewer international racing events: The round of the Track Nations Cup that took place in Konya, Turkey, earlier this month was the only event scheduled in the series this year.
Vingegaard suffered a concussion at Paris-Nice
Jonas Vingegaard has told Danish outlet BT that he suffered a concussion in his crash on stage 5 of Paris-Nice and thus spent a week off the bike.
"After the crash I was dizzy, and after the stage I got very nauseous and was incredibly tired, which continued for the next several days," he said.
"I'm happy to be back on the bike, even though it took a little longer than hoped, due to my concussion, which has required a lot of rest."
You can read more about it here at Escape Collective.
David Lappartient to stand down from the French Olympic Committee
In the wake of his failed campaign for IOC President, David Lappartient has revealed that he will not be seeking another term as president of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF).
Lappartient was elected to the CNOSF in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, and saw France awarded hosting rights for the 2030 Winter Olympics. But Lappartient has now acknowledged that the commitment required by the role – which he held simultaneously to his position as UCI President, among others – is no longer sustainable. “While it has been possible to combine these commitments over these two years at the cost of a very substantial personal investment, I do not believe that it is desirable, apart from the exceptional circumstances of the last two years,” he wrote in a letter to the leadership of the CNOSF.
Lappartient is eligible for a third term as UCI president from 2025-29, with an election due in September. Although he has not yet disclosed whether he will seek re-election, the fact that he's stepping back from CNOSF would appear to point in that direction.
Winner's Circle: Brennan bests Alpecin duo to win Volta a Catalunya opener
Despite the best efforts of an attacking Tibor Del Grosso and a lurking Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) powered to victory on stage 1 of the Volta a Catalunya.
Del Grosso launched a solo attack inside the final 2 km of the lumpy, wet, and cold stage, and he held a few seconds' advantage into the final 500 meters. Brennan chased with Groves tucked into his wheel, ready for a sprint should the catch be made. As it turned out, Brennan closed down Del Grosso moments before the line, and despite Groves's best efforts, the Australian was unable to come around the 19-year-old Brit in the finale. Brennan took the victory – and the race lead – with Groves settling for second and Del Grosso in third.
Cycling Esports World Champion Kate McCarthy made the most of her wildcard entry, delivering a dominant performance to win two events and finish runner-up in the third stage to claim the overall Zwift Games 2025 Championship convincingly. On the men’s side, World Champion Jason Osborne powered to victory in the Epic Championship third stage, but it wasn’t enough to secure the overall title. That honor went to USA’s Neal Fryett, whose wins in the first two stages and successful tactics in the finale earned him the top spot by a narrow two-point margin.
Did we do a good job with this story?
