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, April 1, 2025
- Tom Pidcock and Q36.5 headline Giro wild cards
- Lotto bosses blast De Lie
- Yamaha buys Brose e-bike division
- Stinner debuts Carrizo and Refugio titanium Podium series
- Paul Components brings back square-taper cranks
- Quick Hits
Tom Pidcock and Q36.5 headline Giro wild cards
With just 40 days to the Grande Partenza in Albania, Giro d'Italia promoter RCS announced its four wild card teams for the first Grand Tour of the season (Lotto, guaranteed an invite as a top ProTeam, declined its spot). Tom Pidcock and Q36.5 headline, with Tudor, VF-Bardiani-Faizane and Polti-Visit Malta rounding out the startlist.
The invite marks the first time Q36.5 will race a Grand Tour, which means Pidcock's offseason transfer is already paying dividends for the second-division outfit. The Brit will race the Ardennes Classics before lining up in Durres, Albania for his first Giro. Tudor also received an invite to the Tour de France (its first) and while it hasn't announced rider programs, its press release on the wild card awards indicated that marquee offseason signings Marc Hirschi and Julian Alaphilippe would likely target the French Grand Tour.
Lotto bosses blast De Lie
The Arnaud De Lie saga continues. After the Belgian sprinter and Classics specialist DNF'd out of Sunday's Gent-Wevelgem and was struck from Lotto's startlist for races through the Tour of Flanders, he's come under intense criticism from director Kurt van de Wouwer, who questioned his commitment to racing.
"Arnaud has done everything in terms of training, but cycling is more than just training," Van de Wouwer told Het Nieuwsblad. "It is not enough to only live for your sport at 90 percent. Cycling now requires 110 percent." The team also reportedly cut De Lie's ties with his coach. Lotto, which is said to be struggling financially, saw a significant exodus of talent last offseason, losing Maxim Van Gils, Victor Campanaerts, Florian Vermeersch, and Andreas Kron, among others. Team boss Stephane Heulot also fiercely criticized sprinter Caleb Ewan in 2023, leading to his departure at the end of the season. [Het Nieuwsblad]
Yamaha buys Brose e-bike division
Yamaha Motors has agreed to acquire the e-bike drive division of Brose. The acquisition, which is expected to close in June, would likely mean a re-entry to the US market, which Yamaha exited last year. Brose has a relatively small market share in the e-bike world compared to leaders like Bosch and Shimano. But the acquisition is perhaps most important in terms of the brand's relationship with Specialized; many Specialized e-bikes use custom, Specialized-branded drive systems manufactured by Brose.
Stinner debuts Carrizo and Refugio titanium Podium series
Santa Barbara, CA bikemaker Stinner Frameworks expands its stock frame program with two new models offered in titanium. Each will be made with straight-gauge tubing, available in six stock sizes, and with a bead-blasted finish. Refugio is an adventure/gravel platform with clearance for 700 x 50 mm tires and utilizes Stinner-designed UDH dropouts with 160 mm flat-mount brake rotor compatibility. Carrizo is an all-road model that clears up to 700 x 40 mm tires with the same UDH dropouts as the Refugio, yet retains a more sporty geometry. Both are available as frame+fork for $2,895 or complete builds starting at US$5,695.[Stinner Frameworks]
Paul Components brings back square-taper cranks
No, this is not an April Fool's Day joke. Paul Component Engineering is bringing back the 100% Pure cranks, which are compatible with square-taper bottom brackets. The updated design, which is machined in-house, features a 3-bolt direct mount chainring spline (3-bolt SRAM chainrings) and self-extracting crank bolts. As the brand notes, square-taper allows riders to tune Q-factor, chainstay clearance, and chain line via bottom bracket spindle length, something not available with most modern cranksets. 100% Pure cranks are available in six sizes from 155 mm to 180 mm, four anodized colors, and weigh 516 g (pair of 180 mm including chainring bolts, crankbolts, and extractor caps). Retail is US$308. [Paul Component Engineering]
Quick Hits
Start lists for Wednesday's men's and women's Dwars door Vlaanderen are out ... Congrats to US tool, part and accessory brand Wheels Manufacturing for the only good April Fool's joke we've seen, touting a "Random Derailleur Hanger of the Month Club." From the clearly labelled joke context to some choice lines like "no guarantee it fits anything you own," Wheels was the rare outfit to get the vibe right ... Ekoi's unusual PW8 pedal and shoe system has finally launched ... The CIC Mont Ventoux one-day race has been cancelled for 2025 after promoters ran into financial difficulty ... Geraint Thomas posted on social media that the Vuelta a España will be his final pro race before he retires. We're operating under the assumption that the April 1 post date aside, this is real.
Monday, March 31, 2025
- Grand Tours get an additional wild card team
- Tour de France wild cards announced
- De Lie is out of Flanders
- Patrick Lefevere is not a fan of gear restrictions
- 32" mountain bike wheels are coming
Grand Tours get an additional wild card team
The UCI management committee voted Monday to approve the addition of a 23rd team for each of the three men's Grand Tours. Previously, Grand Tour startlists included the 18 WorldTeams, the two highest-ranked ProTeams in the previous season's standings, and two wild cards awarded at the promoters' discretion. The expansion gives promoters an additional spot to award.
Competition for those spots is typically fierce for ProTeams with strong regional identities; there are four Spanish ProTeams and three Italian ones, meaning that under the old rules at least two and one, respectively, would miss out on their home country's tour.
The management committee kept team sizes at eight riders, meaning fields at the Grand Tours will increase to 184. The provision – which was advanced to the management committee by the Pro Cycling Council – was reportedly contentious. Race organizers and ProTeams were said to be in favor, with WorldTeams almost uniformly opposed, largely on safety grounds. [UCI]
Tour de France wild cards announced
Straight on the heels of the UCI announcement, Tour de France promoters ASO announced wild card entries for the biggest race in the world. Tudor, TotalEnergies, and Uno-X Mobility will join the 18 WorldTeams and top ProTeams Lotto and Israel-Premier Tech on the start line on July 5 in Lille. [TdF]
De Lie is out of Flanders
Lotto announced that Arnaud De Lie will not race Dwars door Vlaanderen this week or Sunday's Tour of Flanders. The Belgian sprinter and classics specialist started the season with promising form and a stage win at Etoile des Besseges, but has gone the wrong direction recently, with a back-of-the-field finish at Brugge-De Panne and a DNF in Sunday's Gent-Wevelgem.
"He will take time for a reset in the coming days and will therefore also miss Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders," the team said in a statement. His next scheduled race is Paris-Roubaix, April 13.
Patrick Lefevere is not a fan of gear restrictions
Soudal-Quick Step team founder Patrick Lefevere has come out in opposition to the UCI's emerging plan to test gear-ratio restrictions at a race later this season. Writing in his Het Nieuwsblad column, Lefevere said many in the sport – including his own chosen successor as Soudal CEO, Jurgen Foré – are lobbying for the change, but "I do not agree. Why should we go back to my time of a 53x12?" he wrote.
The sport today is different, he noted, with fitter athletes and better equipment. Lefevere – who stepped back from the CEO role in December but remains on the team's board of directors – does think the sport's dangerousness is a problem and even wrote that a sponsor told him that large companies didn't want to be involved in a sport with so many injuries. So how to fix it? There is no "magic formula," Lefevere wrote, "But let's start with the courses," calling out the recent Brugge-De Panne, which had a final that went from three lanes to one, as a particularly egregious example. [Het Nieuwsblad]
32-inch mountain bike wheels are coming
The recently wrapped Taipei Cycle Show is always a place to get an advance view of trends in the sport. And there's a big one, literally: Maxxis was among the companies showing 32" mountain bike tires, and had what looked to be finished final prototype or even production models on display. Small builders have experimented with the size for years, but Maxxis' entry suggests growing interest from the industry. Several World Cup XC teams are reportedly testing the larger wheel size.
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