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 …
Sunday, February 9, 2025
- UCI and CPA promise investigation and safety reforms after besieged Bessèges
- Tadej Pogačar does not want to let the rainbow bands go
- Soudal-QuickStep pulls out of the Tour du Rwanda over safety concerns
- Egan Bernal is double Colombian champ
- Winner’s circle: Big season debut for Elisa Longo Borghini
UCI and CPA promise investigation and safety reforms after besieged Bessèges
The Étoile de Bessèges finished today with Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) sealing overall victory via a second-consecutive stage win, and though the sun came out for the final day’s time trial, dark clouds were suspended over the race as it crawled to a close.
After Friday’s mass exodus due to growing safety concerns – read more about the incident here at Escape Collective – Saturday’s stage 4 saw a shortening of the route due to the terrible conditions, and a further withdrawal of Equipo Kern Pharma citing “the absence of complete safety guarantees”.
In response to the continuing drama the UCI put out a statement promising an investigation, and CPA president Adam Hansen, who is part of the UCI’s SafeR project, wrote that they would “push a new deliverable for the top race organisers to help share their knowledge with the smaller organizers … There should not be a difference in the organization of race. There should only be a difference in a race route and format.”
Tadej Pogačar does not want to let the rainbow bands go
The chances of Pogačar retaining the rainbow bands on Kigali’s hilly World Championship course have always been good – pending changes to the location that are reportedly not yet on the cards despite ongoing political tensions in Rwanda and over the border in the DRC – and he’s promised he has no intention of taking the threat lightly.
Speaking during an appearance on 'In the Barbershop’, a Wielerflits video series, Pogačar detailed his major goals for 2025.
“I think the Tour is always the biggest challenge. Defending the World Championship – this is my big wish,” the three-time Tour champion and reigning world champ said while having his hair trimmed. “If you can win one time the rainbow jersey, it’s something incredible. Now I can wear it, I can feel really proud. It’s something amazing and maybe I don’t want to let it go.” [Wierlerflits]
Soudal-QuickStep pulls out of the Tour du Rwanda over safety concerns
Despite reassurances from the race organisers, Soudal-QuickStep has pulled out of the upcoming Tour du Rwanda (February 23rd to March 2nd) citing concerns over the developing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, stage 3 due to finish just 15km from the afflicted Goma region.
Soudal-QuickStep was expected to send their development squad, albeit with a number of WorldTeam riders in the lineup, but CEO Jurgen Foré told Sporza Friday that his team’s safety was foremost in his mind rather than any political statement. [Sporza]
Egan Bernal is double Colombian champ
Three days after winning the second Colombian time trial title of his career, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) soloed to victory in the road race on Sunday, 1,112 days after a horror training crash in January 2022 left him in intensive care with about 20 broken bones and punctured lung.
The now-28-year-old has been on the road to recovery ever since, with positive steps clearly evident from one year to the next. Now with his 20th and 21st professional victories, and a reported return to the Giro d'Italia on the cards – the 2019 race his last victory before this week – 2025 is already demonstrating a continuation of his upward trend.
Read more on this story here at Escape Collective.
Winner’s circle: Big season debut for Elisa Longo Borghini
Elisa Longo Borghini made one of the bigger moves over the winter as the Italian national champion jumped from Lidl-Trek to UAE Team ADQ, and her 2025 could not really have started any better. After Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) confirmed her continuing dominance in the sprints on day one (and two and four), Longo Borghini lit up the race on stage 2 – read more on her bold move here at Escape Collective – laying the foundations for what would be a dominant Queen Stage win and debut overall victory with her new team.
Also on the Arabian Peninsula, Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Louis Vervaeke took the opening stages of the Tour of Oman, the latter snatching his first professional victory into Yitti Hills after holding onto a two-second lead ahead of the chasing bunch, where teammate Valentin Paret-Peintre made it a Soudal-QuickStep one-two.
In Europe, the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana saw a brilliant overall victory for Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) as Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) took the final stage sprint, and Linda Zanetti took a first win in a Uno-X Mobility jersey in the women’s one-day Vuelta CV. In France, Kévin Vauquelin took the last two stages and overall victory at the troubled Étoile de Bessèges (see above).
Meanwhile, the Aussie summer of racing has continued with the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic, now part of the ProVelo Super League, with victory going to Blake Agnelotto (Team Brennan p/b TP32) and Oceania continental champ Katelyn Nicholson (Butterfields ZipTrak).
There have also been cyclocross wins for the defiant Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) and Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ridley) at Saturday’s Superprestige finale in Middelkerke, and Lucinda Brand (Baloise Glowi Lions) and Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) in the penultimate round of the X2O Trofee in Lille.
Friday, February 7, 2025
- Egan Bernal is a winner again three years after his life-changing crash
- Chaos at the Étoile de Bèsseges
- Berd Peregrine Carbon Aero Wheels are a collaboration with HED Cycling
- Winner's Circle: Iván Romeo takes his first pro win in Valencia
Egan Bernal is a winner again three years after his life-changing crash
Just over three years after a crash during a training ride left him with numerous fractures and a long road to recovery, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) won the time trial at the Colombian national championships on Thursday in Bucaramanga. Although the former Tour de France winner had some strong showings in 2024, the TT victory was his first time climbing to the top step of a race podium since his crash in January of 2022, and indeed his first win since he won the 2021 Giro d'Italia in May of 2021.
"1,347 days and many things happened since my last victory," he wrote on X of becoming Colombian TT champion for the second time in his career.
"I thought of retiring multiple times but one day I promised that if I won again, the first one would be dedicated to God for giving me a second chance to live. Many people took part in this process and today I only want to say THANKS."
Bernal's also marked the first victory for the Ineos Grenadiers since July of last year, when Filippo Ganna won a stage of the Tour of Austria.
Chaos at the Étoile de Bèsseges
More than half of the WorldTour teams at the Étoile de Bèsseges pulled out of the race after a driver drove a car onto the course in stage 3, just a day after several riders crashed avoiding a car on course in stage 2.
The Ineos Grenadiers, Lidl-Trek, Soudal-Quick Step, EF Education-EasyPost, Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, and second-division teams Uno-X Mobility and Unibet-Tietema Rockets all quit the UCI 2.1-rated event relatively early on in stage 3.
You can read more about the incident here at Escape Collective.
Berd Peregrine Carbon Aero Wheels are a collaboration with HED Cycling
The new Berd Peregrine wheelset is the brand’s first foray into aero. Berd’s Polylight fabric spokes paired with HED’s aerodynamic Vanquish V62 rim reportedly offer a fast yet comfortable ride quality. According to Berd, the Polylight spokes have “natural vibration-damping properties that balance out the stiffness of aerodynamic carbon rims.”
Peregrine Aero wheels can be ordered with Industry Nine Solix hubs (1,505 g/$2,595), Berd Talon hubs (1,534 g/$2,495), or Onyx Vesper hubs (1,700 g/$2,695). All prices are USD. Rims measure 62 mm deep and feature an internal width of 22.4 mm with a hooked bead for tires from 28-55 mm wide, and at pressures of up to 75 psi. [Berd]
Winner's Circle: Iván Romeo takes his first pro win in Valencia
Spanish up-and-comer Iván Romeo (Movistar) won stage 3 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, soloing to victory in Alpuente 10 seconds ahead of Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). Almeida now leads the GC.
At the UAE Tour Women, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) won for the second straight day, this time besting Lily Williams (Human Powered Health) and Lara Gillespie (UAE Team ADQ) in the sprint at the end of stage 2.
The aforementioned stage 3 of the Étoile de Bessèges was won by Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) ahead of Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ), while Rick Pluimers (Tudor) won the Muscat Classic ahead of Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Henok Mulubrhan (XDS Astana).
And in more national championships news, Alan Hatherly (Jayco AlUla) took the South African time trial title while Kim Cadzow (EF Education-Oatly) followed up her TT win at New Zealand nationals with a victory in the road race.
Thursday, February 6, 2025
- Bianchi's new TT bike marks the end of an era
- Shimano introduces new lightweight cycling glasses
- Mips more than doubles profits in 2024
- US bike imports rebound in 2024, price per bike drops
- Zwift and Chris Hoy's Tour de 4 link up to raise money for charity
- Winner's Circle: UAE Tour Women underway, Kiwi TT champs, and more
Bianchi's new TT bike marks the end of an era
Up until now the use of rim brakes has been hanging on by a thread in the WorldTour only one bike remaining, the Bianchi Aquila ridden by Arkéa-B&B Hotels. The brand has now released a new version of the bike equipped with disc brakes, however, closing the chapter of rim brakes in the WorldTour.
Along with the addition of disc brakes, Bianchi has doubled down on integration with a neat single spur cockpit. The brand is claiming that even with disc brakes the new bike is 16 watts faster than the outgoing model. The brand claims that this makes the new bike 37 seconds faster over a 40.7 km course. The Aquila RC will be available as a frameset only, retailing for £4,799 / €5,449 / $TBC. [Bianchi]
Shimano introduces new lightweight cycling glasses
Shimano has launched three new sunglass models – the S-Phyre SL, Equinox, and Pulsar. The S-Phyre SL is a frameless, ultra-light 23.7g (claimed) design for racers, the Equinox has a half-frame fit with a wide field of view, and the Pulsar comes with a more rugged frame and a detachable lower part.
Similar to the Technium glass range launched last year, all the new models work with Shimano’s Ridescape lenses that are tailored for road, gravel, or trail “vision," and the frames are made from bio-based materials. Prices start at US$100/€90. [Shimano]
Mips more than doubles profits in 2024
Swedish helmet safety company Mips AB reported a 121% jump in net profit to SEK 141M (US$13.4M) in 2024, more than doubling from the previous year. The company’s net sales grew 35% to SEK 483M, while the Sports category, which includes bike helmets, saw a 56% increase in Q4, marking its fifth consecutive quarter of growth.
US bike imports rebound in 2024, price per bike drops
The number of non-motorized bicycle imports to the US saw a 16.7% increase in 2024 compared to the previous year, the newest import data revealed. The 11.1 million bikes imported remain well below the pandemic-driven height of 17.2 million in 2020 and 19.4 in 2021. The data also showed the average value of the bikes imported in 2024 dropped to US$93, down from $126 in 2023 and $155 in 2022.
Zwift and Chris Hoy's Tour de 4 link up to raise money for charity
Zwift is partnering with the Tour de 4 project, launched by Chris Hoy after he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, in an effort to raise money for cancer charities.
The virtual cycling platform will host Tour de 4 rides, encouraging donations that it will then match up to £50,000, starting on February 8. The virtual rides will run through September, culminating in an in-person event in Scotland.
Winner's Circle: UAE Tour Women underway, Kiwi TT champs, and more
On a busy day of racing in February, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-ProTime) kicked off the UAE Tour Women with a convincing sprint win over Charlotte Kool (Picnic-PostNL) and Nienke Veenhoven (Visma-Lease a Bike). Over in Spain, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) nabbed a climber-friendly stage 2 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana nine seconds ahead of teammate Pello Bilbao, with João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG) taking third on the day, 13 seconds back. In France at the Étoile de Bessèges, Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) sprinted to the stage 2 win ahead of Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep).
Meanwhile, national championships are underway in New Zealand and South Africa, among other places. Finn-Fisher Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Kim Cadzow (EF Education-Oatly) took the Kiwi time trial titles while Lucy Young won the South African TT title.
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
- Paris-Roubaix organizers add new cobbles and swap out the chicane
- Chaos around Trump administration’s import tax rules
- Neuhaus Metalworks launches Core Collection Hummingbird Hardtail MTB, made in Taiwan
- Winner's circle: Magnier sprints to victory in Étoile de Bessèges opener, Lidl-Trek takes Valencia TTT
Paris-Roubaix organizers add new cobbles and swap out the chicane
Organizers unveiled the routes for this year's Paris-Roubaix on Wednesday, revealing a women's parcours identical to last year's but a men's that features a few new cobbled sectors while ditching the chicane that was added before the Trouée d'Arenberg for 2024.
The two new sectors (at Artres and Famars) to Paris-Roubaix will come shortly after the midway point of the day, some 30 km before the Arenberg. Accounting for other changes in that same section of the course, the men's race will have a total of 31 cobbled sectors this year.
It will also feature a different approach to the Arenberg sector itself. Organizers added a chicane to the course in 2024 with the intention of reducing the speed of the peloton, but for 2025, race director Thierry Gouvenou has opted for a different solution.
"This year, we have found an alternative that allows us to slow down the riders in a more fluid manner, via a small detour that runs alongside the mining site in Arenberg," he said in a statement. "With this introduction, there will be four right angle corners in the kilometer before the Trouée d’Arenberg."
Chaos around Trump administration’s import tax rules
If you’re an American who is buying cycling gear on sites like AliExpress and Amazon, be sure to check where it’s shipping from. The Trump administration’s tariff actions on China this week include closing an import loophole called the de minimis exception that has for years allowed consumers to buy products shipped direct from China without paying import duties if the total value is under US$800. (De minimis exceptions currently remain for shipments from other countries, but there is bipartisan support for ending the practice entirely.)
The new rule briefly prompted the United States Postal Service to suspend all parcel deliveries from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong starting Tuesday, before the agency reversed the decision less than 24 hours later. But buyers will – theoretically – still be responsible for paying import duties for items shipped from China, which include not only the blanket 10% tariff imposed under the new rules, but any original import duties found in the voluminous Harmonized Tariff Schedule database, which vary by product. This situation is extremely fluid, as the USPS announcement and immediate reversal underline. That detailed process of applying HTS duties – which likely is what caused USPS to initially pause all shipments – may well result in delays and uncertainty around product and shipping costs.
Neuhaus Metalworks launches Core Collection Hummingbird Hardtail MTB, made in Taiwan
Novato, CA-based Neuhaus Metalworks has taken its experience building hundreds of custom frames and linked up with Taiwanese manufacturing partners ORA Engineering to launch the Core Collection of production models. The Core Collection lineup will be fabricated in small batches with stock size runs and select colors.
First up in the Core Collection is the 120mm travel Hummingbird hardtail MTB. One of Neuhaus’s best sellers over the years, the brand describes it as simply “a mountain bike" rather than specifically XC, trail, or enduro. With 66° HTA, 74.5° STA, sliding dropouts, 29x2.6” tire clearance, short chain stays, room for two water bottles and full dropper insertion across sizes, the Hummingbird checks a lot of boxes. Neuhaus has also carried over size-specific elements from its custom builds, including stack height that grows with each frame, optimized tubing profiles and butt lengths, and five frame sizes (small-XL) with small steps between each. Core Collection Hummingbirds are priced at $1199 and are available to purchase now, with shipping commencing in early March. [Neuhaus Metalworks]
Winner's circle: Magnier sprints to victory in Étoile de Bessèges opener, Lidl-Trek takes Valencia TTT
Paul Magnier (Soudal-Quick Step) proved fastest in an uphill sprint to take stage 1 of the Étoile de Bessèges. The 20-year-old Frenchman to the win and the race lead ahead of Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) in Bellegarde.
Meanwhile, Lidl-Trek bossed the opening team time trial of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. Mathias Vacek is the new race leader after his team covered the 34.3 km course in and around Orihuela in 39:19. That mark was a full 47 seconds faster than second-placed Jayco-AlUla, with UAE Team Emirates in third on the day, 50 seconds down.
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
- Froome is not yet set on retirement
- Ganna smashing KOMs as Milan-San Remo looms
- Hansen warns of 'rising number of deaths' in pro cycling
- Pivot introduces the Trailcat with a split range
Froome is not yet set on retirement
Chris Froome seems likely to call it a career when his contract with Israel-Premier Tech is up at the end of this season, but the four-time Tour de France winner said recently on the Never Strays Far podcast that he isn't actually certain of his plan.
"I haven't one hundred percent decided that I'll be retiring at the end of this year," Froome said. "Chances are, yes, I’ll be calling it a day, but I’m just keeping the door open."
Froome, who is set to start his 2025 campaign at the UAE Tour later this month, will turn 40 in May. [Never Strays Far]
Ganna smashing KOMs as Milan-San Remo looms
As his first major season target of Milan-San Remo looms, Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) is training hard enough to knock Remco Evenepoel off his perch atop the Strava standings on the backside of the Coll de Rates, a popular training ground for pros in Spain's Valencia region.
While Tadej Pogačar remains the KOM holder on the best-known route up the Coll de Rates, Ganna stormed up the side from the town of Tàrbena (5 km at 5.6%) in 10:10 in a training ride on Saturday, one second faster than the previous best set by Evenepoel in January of 2024. [Strava]
Hansen warns of 'rising number of deaths' in pro cycling
In a post on X, CPA President Adam Hansen has warned of the dire consequences of not taking rider safety seriously enough. Hansen's comments came in response to a post by Spanish journalist Jorge Matesanz, who had expressed support for organizers of the Trofeo Andratx after riders decided en masse to quit the Challenge Mallorca race due to dangerous weather conditions.
"Recently, watching pro cycling, I would not let my child to race bikes, it has become too dangerous," Hansen wrote. "I hear the same from x-pros & fans alike. The rising number of deaths will kill the sport in the long run." [X]
Pivot introduces new Trailcat line with a split range
Pivot has announced a new platform joining its existing trail bike range in the shape of the Trailcat, which replaces the Trail 429. The Trailcat is positioned at the shorter travel end of the trail bike spectrum. It splits the long-running Trail 429 into two models: the lighter weight SL and the longer travel LT to address the needs of different kinds of trail riders. Both the SL and LT use Pivot's DW suspension platform and incorporate internal down tube storage.
The SL makes use of 120 mm of rear suspension, paired to a 140 mm fork whilst the LT ups the rear travel to 135 mm and increases the front wheel travel to 150 mm. Pivot is offering both the SL and LT builds with Fox's Live Valve Neo electronic shock. Builds start from US$6,000 with Live Valve Neo equipped models starting at US$9,500. [Pivot Cycles]
Monday, February 3, 2025
- With CX Worlds in the books, Van der Poel looks ahead to Flanders
- Young French fans return Van Aert's lost watch
- British up-and-comer Aiden Worden dies in collision with car
- Assos unveils new Equipe R and Dyora R bib shorts
With Worlds in the books, Van der Poel looks ahead to Flanders
After securing his seventh career cyclocross world championship title on Sunday in Liévin, France, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is looking ahead to defending his Tour of Flanders title.
"But this year a certain Tadej Pogacar is participating," he noted in an interview with Sporza. "I will have to be in top form to be able to follow him."
Van der Poel confirmed that his spring road schedule will be similar to his 2024 program, with the addition of either Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico. Before that, he will take a bit of time off.
"I heard that Thibau Nys is also going skiing," Van der Poel said. "Maybe I should join him!" [Sporza]
Young French fans return Van Aert's lost watch
In other news from Cyclocross Worlds, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) apparently lost his Garmin watch out on the course en route to runner-up honors in the race. Fortunately for the Belgian pro, two young fans picked up the watch and brought it to the mixed zone, where Van Aert was conducting post-race interviews.
"There are still honest people," Van Aert said, as Het Laatste Nieuws reports. [HLN]
British up-and-comer Aiden Worden dies in collision with car
18-year-old Aiden Worden, the British junior national champion in the 25-mile time trial, died on Saturday after a collision with a car during a training ride in Lancashire. At present, further details about the incident have not been made public.
"A promising young talent and incredibly valued friend and teammate, there is no doubt this loss will be felt deeply by the whole cycling community," British Cycling said in a statement.
Assos unveils new Equipe R and Dyora R bib shorts
Assos has launched new bib shorts – with color – as part of its new Equipe R and Dyora R collections. Though not quite the first time the Swiss brand offers options beyond the classic black, the new shorts come in more earthy shades of blue and green.
Inspired by its top-tier Equipe RS shorts, the bibs feature raw-cut cuffs and lightweight materials, and the collections also include lightweight short-sleeve jerseys. [Assos]
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