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 11, 2025
- Cannondale overhauls the Topstone Carbon
- TotalEnergies in talks to sponsor Ineos
- Race Face launches the Turbine SL Stem
- Ari Bikes introduces the Signal Peak 3.0 XC full suspension
- State Bicycle Co unveils new Carbon All-Road V2
- Winner's Circle: Milan wins in Tirreno, Visma takes Paris-Nice TTT
Cannondale overhauls the Topstone Carbon
Cannondale has given the Topstone Carbon an update for 2025, refining rather than reinventing the more adventure-oriented gravel bike – much like it did with the racier SuperX a month ago. The new models retain the KingPin rear suspension, offering 30 mm of travel to smooth out rough roads, while the Lefty Oliver fork – now marking its 10th anniversary – adds 40 mm of travel and a revised damper tune for the front.
Tire clearance has been widened to 52 mm in the frame and 5 6mm with a rigid fork, while the Lefty-equipped model sticks to 47 mm tires due to height constraints. The geometry has had slight tweaks, with OutFront Steering Geometry still pairing a slack head angle with a 55 mm fork offset. Cannondale says the carbon layup is tweaked for size-specific ride quality across the six sizes, and there’s now an integrated StashPort storage compartment in the frame’s downtube. The frame also comes with a UDH, fender mounts, threaded bottom bracket, internal cable routing, and dropper post compatibility.
The 2025 lineup is as follows: Topstone Carbon LTD Di2 with Shimano GRX 825 Di2 and Reserve carbon wheels (US$7,300 / €7,499); Topstone Carbon 1 Lefty AXS with SRAM Rival/GX Eagle AXS and Lefty Oliver fork (US$6,400 / €6,899); Topstone Carbon 2 AXS – SRAM Apex/GX Eagle AXS (US$4,300 / €4,299); and Topstone Carbon 2 GRX – Shimano GRX 820 mechanical (US$4,000 / €3,999). [Cannondale]
TotalEnergies in talks to sponsor Ineos
Multiple sources tell Escape Collective that French energy giant TotalEnergies is in talks with the Ineos Grenadiers over a possible deal for 2026 that would see TotalEnergies become a co-sponsor of the team. The arrangement in question would probably leave the current TotalEnergies team looking for a new sponsor.
You can read more about it here.
Race Face launches the Turbine SL Stem
The new Race Face Turbine SL stem is designed to add versatility to short travel mountain bikes. At 112 g in 40 mm length, the 6000-series machined aluminum stem can be run with either positive (+6 mm) or negative (-6 mm) offsets to suit a variety of riding styles. And it'll look good in either orientation, along with the top-lock faceplate that ensures clean mounting for cycling computers with over-stem mounts. It is available with a 35 mm clamp only, six colors (Black, Silver, Kashmoney, Orange, Red, Blue) and three lengths (40 mm, 50 mm, 60 mm), the Turbine SL costs US$115. [Race Face]
Ari Bikes introduces the Signal Peak 3.0 XC full suspension
The third generation of Ari Bikes' cross country race platform, the Signal Peak 3.0, has undergone a 14.3% weight reduction with an advertised frame weight of 1,732 g, and complete bikes come in as light as 24 lbs in stock configurations. The updated frame utilizes Ari's new Tetra-Link Race Lite suspension platform, which removes a chainstay pivot and connects the rear triangle into a single monocoque structure. There's room for two bottles inside the front triangle of every size and mounts for a third under the downtube. Max rear tire clearance is 29 x 2.4."
Pricing starts at US$3,000 for frame only and goes all the way up to the complete "Team Edition" for $9,400. [Ari Bikes]
State Bicycle Co unveils new Carbon All-Road V2
State Bicycle Co – a US-based budget-focused and consumer-direct brand – has just announced a new carbon gravel bike with features you don’t expect of such a price-focused bike. The carbon frame offers UDH compatibility, clearance for up to 700 x 2.2" tires (55 mm), integrated frame storage, and a more performance-oriented geometry.
Frameset prices start from US$1,300, while complete bikes begin at US$2,300 with the company’s own Sensah-made, house-branded 1x12-speed drivetrains, plus added options for customizing the drivetrain, wheels, and more at added expense. We plan to review this one in the near future. [State Bicycle Co]
Winner's Circle: Milan wins in Tirreno, Visma takes Paris-Nice TTT
Jonathan Milan sprinted to victory on stage 2 of Tirreno Adriatico, starting in a strong position thanks to an effective Lidl-Trek lead-out and turning that into a convincing win over Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor) and Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ). Stage 1 winner Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) finished safely in the bunch and retained his overall lead.
Over at Paris-Nice, Visma-Lease a Bike won the stage 3 team time trial ahead of Jayco-AlUla and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in Nevers, where Jonas Vingegaard and Matteo Jorgenson arrived at the line together. Jorgenson, the defending champion, now leads the race.
Monday, March 10, 2025
- Ganna strikes back one year after narrowly losing Tirreno opener to Ayuso
- Vittoria introduces 29 mm tires for wider rims
- Esker Cycles updates lineup of hardtail mountain bikes
- Winner's Circle: Merlier wins again in Paris-Nice
Ganna strikes back one year after narrowly losing Tirreno opener to Ayuso
One year after Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) bested Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) by all of one second in the opening time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico, Ganna flipped the script, besting Ayuso to win Monday's opening stage of the 2025 edition of the race by a massive 23 seconds over just 11.5 km in Lido di Camaiore. Johan Price-Pejtersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took third, a further five seconds behind Ayuso.
The victory is Ganna's first so far this season, and the Italian will hope for more of the same after a sometimes frustrating 2024 campaign that saw him settle for runner-up honors in big TT opportunities on more than one occasion.
Asked whether his win was "revenge" for the first stage of Tirreno-Adriatico last year, Ganna said, "Yes, definitely. It is always better to win by twenty seconds. This is very nice. The key now is to recover well and then we will see what I can do in the coming rides. The legs are good in any case."
Vittoria introduces 29 mm tires for wider rims
Vittoria has launched a “Wide Rim Optimized” tire range, designed for 25 mm internal width rims. The first tires in the range are 700x29c Corsa Pro TLR and Corsa N.EXT TLR, which now meet the current ETRTO and ISO tire width regulations for 25 mm internal width rims. These regulations specify safe hookless tire and rim combinations and became a talking point last year following several hookless wheel and tire failures at pro races.
The new tires are tubeless-ready, hookless-compatible, and available at US$107 (Corsa Pro) and US$92 (Corsa N.EXT), with a Corsa Pro Speed TLR version coming soon.
Esker Cycles updates lineup of hardtail mountain bikes
Esker Cycles announced updates to four of its hardtail models for 2025. The Hayduke and Japhy have revised geometries, while others in the collection including the Lorax Ti and Hayduke LVS get a variety of frame revisions like “Hitching Post” bottle/gear bosses, custom chainstay protectors, increased tire clearance, new finishes, and more. These changes help to further differentiate the Esker catalog, with the Hayduke now an off-road touring platform and the Japhy is positioned as a versatile all-around hardtail.
Eskers are available as framesets or in a variety of complete build kits, in steel or some in titanium. Prices range from US$1,000 steel frames to titanium completes that start at US$4,500. You can see all of the updates and options over at Esker's website. [Esker Cycles]
Winner's Circle: Merlier wins again in Paris-Nice
While Tirreno-Adriatico saw time trial action on Monday, over at Paris-Nice, Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took his second win in as many days in another sprint finish. This time, the race leader outkicked Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) in third after Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty) was relegated.
And in the Zwift Games Elite Championships, reigning UCI esports world champion Kate McCarthy took the Sprint championship in the final round after a two-stage elimination. Neal Fryett took the men’s win. The Zwift Games Elite Championships continues March 15 and March 22.
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