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Louis Meintjes joins the ranks of retirees bowing out at Il Lombardia
Il Lombardia marks the last professional race of a handful of pros this weekend, and joining Salvatore Puccio, Pieter Serry, Simone Petilli and Rafał Majka in the pre-start guard of honour was 33-year-old South African Louis Meintjes.
The South African climber has seven wins to his name including a stage of the 2022 Vuelta a España, GC wins at the Giro dell'Appennino and Settimana Coppi e Bartali, as well as national and continental road titles. Throughout, but especially in the first half of his career, he was often in the Grand Tour GC conversation with five top-10 finishes, including three at the Tour de France, narrowly missing out (to the Yates twins) on the youth classification in 2016 and 2017.
Wiggins sheds light on sexual abuse and drug problems, accuses Sky of throwing him under the bus
As revealed in a story in The Sunday Times, Bradley Wiggins recounts further details of the sexual abuse he suffered as a teenager at the hands of his cycling coach and also expounds on his struggles with drug addiction in his new book "The Chain." In Friday's interview, he also criticized his former team, which is now known as the Ineos Grenadiers.
In the book, set to be released on October 23, Wiggins reportedly describes an incident in which he became sick and then woke up naked with no memory of having taken his clothes off, leading him to believe that his coach Stan Knight had drugged him. The 2012 Tour de France winner says that another member of the cycling club had a similar experience.
Wiggins' new book also describes his more recent struggles with drug addiction. As the headline of The Sunday Times story notes, he admits to having snorted cocaine off of his Olympic gold medal during a particularly troubled stretch.
In the story in The Sunday Times, Wiggins again denied wrongdoing amid doping allegations, which continue to plague his former team, but he also said that "there was something greater going on." He claimed that the organization, then called Team Sky and now known as the Ineos Grenadiers, "chucked [him] under a bus." [The Sunday Times]
Elia Viviani is calling it a career
Elia Viviani (Lotto) announced on Friday that he is retiring at the end of his sixteenth season as a professional bike racer.
The 36-year-old Italian was at one time one of the sport's premier sprinters, enjoying his greatest successes with Sky and then the Quick-Step organization in the later 2010s. He compiled a total of nine Grand Tour stage wins over the course of his career, including a Tour de France stage win in 2019 ahead of Alexander Kristoff, who is also retiring this year. Viviani was a force on the track too, winning two world titles in the elimination race and a gold medal in the omnium at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Viviani will race the upcoming Giro del Veneto as well as Track Worlds before he rides off into the sunset.
"2010-2025 was an amazing 16 years, flew by, but I had fun and accomplished everything I wanted," Viviani wrote on social media.
It's official: Kevin Vauquelin is joining Ineos
After months of rumors and reports, Ineos Grenadiers finally announced today the official signing of Kévin Vauquelin. The 24-year-old French star has signed a three-year deal with the British WorldTeam in what he called "the logical next step in my career" in the press release announcing the deal.
Speaking of announcements, Vauquelin made his first big one at the 2024 Tour de France, when the punchy all-arounder held off Tadej Pogačar for a stunning win on stage 2. Since then, he's developed into a promising stage racer, with wins and podiums at events as varied as the Etoile des Besseges and the Tour de Suisse. He cemented his reputation with a superb Tour de France, where he finished seventh overall and wore the white jersey for best young rider for several days.
"Not only is he a punchy rider who knows how to win, at this year's Tour i was impressed to see him add a new dimension to his racing," said Ineos' principal Dave Brailsford in the news release. Vauquelin signs from the beleaguered Arkéa-B&B Hotels squad, which is losing both of its title sponsors and looks set to close at the end of the season.
Del Toro storms to yet another Italian one-day victory
Isaac del Toro added to his already astounding haul of Italian one-day victories on Thursday at Gran Piemonte. The UAE-Team Emirates XRG rider soloed clear in the final 20 km and held on to take a convincing win in Acqui Terme, his sixth one-day victory on Italian soil since the start of September.
Marc Hirschi (Tudor) and Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek) rounded out the podium of the UCI 1.Pro-rated event, the last of the lower-ranked Italian one-days before Saturday's grand finale of Il Lombardia.
The US-based consumer-direct brand Ari Bikes has overhauled its Shafer carbon gravel bike. The new Shafer 3.0 trims some 200 grams from the previous version, all while upping tyre clearance to 29 x 2.25in (700 x 58 mm) and adding internal frame storage. Other frame details include an English-threaded bottom bracket, a regular round seatpost, and a UDH.
The Shafer features fully revised geometry that leans toward the progressive side (longer reaches offset with shorter stems), and offers chainstay lengths that scale up through the five available sizes. Additionally, the geometry is suspension-corrected, with the option to upgrade the carbon rigid fork to a suspension fork.
At the top-end sits the Shafer Team (US$8,500), built with a full SRAM Red XPLR AXS groupset and matching Zipp XPLR S wheels. Then there are many other models ranging from US$5,000 down to just US$2,550 for a bike with Shimano Cues shifting. A frameset is available for US$2,000.
Arnaud Démare is retiring after Paris-Tours
Sprinter and Classics veteran Arnaud Démare announced on Thursday that he will retire after Paris-Tours on Sunday. The 34-year-old Frenchman, who has spent the past three seasons with Arkéa-B&B Hotels, will hang up the wheels with nearly a hundred wins on his career palmares, including a Monument victory at Milan-San Remo in 2016 and a total of 10 Grand Tour stage wins too.
"I started cycling at age 6," he wrote on social media. "So blessed to live my dream, to win big races and to proudly represent French cycling at the highest level. I never imagined that I would achieve all this."
Tactic Racing updates TR01 and TR02 hubs with new helical ratchet and lighter construction
Scarab launches “Ready To Paint” programme with stock frame sizes
Scarab Cycles has introduced a Ready To Paint (RTP) programme that offers three of its frames in preset sizes, with rotating seasonal paint options, and a four-week delivery time. Built in El Retiro, Colombia with Columbus tubing, the RTP line covers the Santa Rosa road bike (seven sizes), Páramo gravel bike (six), and Darién hardtail (four). Parallel to the RTP programme, Scarab is introducing a new "Orchids" paint scheme, inspired by Colombia's national flower.
Price-wise, framesets start at US$2,950 including the fork, with two paint upgrade options.
Look expands q-factor and blade options for Keo Blade pedals
Look has added more fit options to its Keo Blade road pedal lineup. New choices include a longer 56mm Q-factor (alongside 53mm) and additional 8 and 12 Nm blade tensions across the Ceramic Ti, Ceramic, and standard models. Look also announced it's introducing serviceable axle kits (CrMo or Ti, 53/56mm) to extend product life.
Pogačar, Vingegaard, Roglič, and Del Toro to compete in teamless Andorra race
Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič, and Isaac Del Toro will go head-to-head in Andorra on October 19 for the first edition of the Andorra Cycling Masters, a new exhibition event that looks to blend spectacle with sport.
The format features two races held on the same day: an eight-kilometre uphill time trial on the Coll de la Gallina, followed by a 32-kilometre city-centre circuit through Andorra la Vella and Escaldes-Engordany. Designed for close-up viewing, the course will let fans see the riders multiple times.
Organiser David Quintana told Sporza the goal was to create “a champion of champions” race with no team support, which is certainly a fun idea. Like the Singapore and Saitama criteriums that close out the men’s WorldTour season, this is as much about showmanship and sponsor visibility as competition.
Still, it’s a rare chance to see three Tour winners and one of the sport’s brightest prospects in the same small-scale race. A behind-the-scenes documentary is planned for later this year, part of a broader effort to reinforce Andorra’s image as cycling’s high-altitude home base.
Shimano adds silver finish option to CUES lineup
Shimano has added a special-edition polished silver finish to its mid-tier CUES lineup. The new finish is available on the RD-U6000 10-speed rear derailleur, a 10-speed cassette, and FC-U6030-1 1x crankset, as well as the 6030 and 3030 series drop bar shifters and hydraulic brake callipers.
There are also polished HB/FH-QC400 hubs to complete the look. The silver parts are compatible with the rest of the flat and newer drop bar CUES components.
Ayuso hopes to prove that he can be a good teammate at Lidl-Trek
Juan Ayuso has shed some light on the circumstances that led to his decision to leave UAE Team Emirates-XRG as well as touching on his outlook for the future with Lidl-Trek in a story posted to Daniel Benson's Substack. The 23-year-old Spaniard noted that issues with team management, rather than any specific teammates, were a driving force in his departure. Those issues included the way that UAE handled his situation over the past few months.
"The thing that bothers me the most is that the team, instead of trying to help, at least in these last months, they tried to make more blood and make it look good from their side," he said. "I was seen as the bad guy in the movie, so I can’t criticise anyone for their opinions because if that’s the version they have of me, I have no issues. It’s a bit unfair, but we all know about the communication, but from next year I’m sure that in a new team people can really see who I am and how they see me."
On that note, Ayuso is looking forward to the opportunity to prove at Lidl-Trek that he is happy to work for teammates.
"I’m super willing to work for others, too," he said. "I want to show that I’m gonna be the first person out there to help my teammates achieve their goals." [Substack]
Whoops, wrong Pidcock at Tre Valli Varesine
Tom Pidcock’s name was missing from the Tre Valli Varesine start list on Tuesday, replaced by his brother Joseph's. Except Joseph wasn't the one on the bus.
“It was a mistake,” Pidcock laughed. “There was a bit of chaos on the bus when they found out. I texted my brother — he’s in Japan, so it would’ve been difficult for him to make the start.”
Pidcock, second at the Giro dell’Emilia last weekend, rode aggressively but finished 40th, two minutes behind winner Tadej Pogačar. He's on the startlist for Il Lombardia, then a likely start for Gravel Worlds and Gravel Burn.
Roglič philosophical about Evenepoel's arrival
Facing the prospect of sharing the spotlight at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe with new signee Remco Evenepoel, Primož Roglič was philosophical on Tuesday in an interview ahead of Tre Valli Varesine.
"How did the wise man say it? We will see," Roglič told Eurosport of his future. "We will see how it is in the next days, weeks, but yeah normally I'm next year still riding the bike."
He also noted that he hopes to talk more with his future teammate soon: "We haven't spoken to Remco yet, but I want to sit down with him."
It remains to be seen how Red Bull plans to utilize its suddenly full stable of GC hopefuls next season, with Roglič, Evenepoel, and Florian Lipowitz – and Giulio Pellizzari and Jai Hindley too – all likely hoping for their own opportunities for Grand Tour glory.
2025 UCI Esports World Championship field selected
The virtual platform MyWhoosh hosted the semi-finals for the 2025 UCI Cycling Esports World Championship on October 3, where the top 20 male and female elite esports riders punched their tickets to the live final in Abu Dhabi on November 15.
The remote event consisted of a three-race modified omnium points format beginning with the stage one uphill elimination followed by a 12 km (7.5 mile) rolling parcours. The qualification round concluded with eight laps of a 1.5 km (0.93 mile) rolling circuit that's ideal for sprinters.
For the women, the current rainbow jersey-wearing Kiwi Kate McCarthy was the top qualifier, followed by 2024 silver medalist Gabriella Guerra of Brazil. The United States and Sweden led the way with five finalists, behind multi-time USA Cycling Esports National Champion Kristen Kulchinsky and two-time esports and road racing National Champion Mika Söderström of Sweden.
In the men's race, two-time and defending champion Jason Osborne of Germany took the top spot, followed by former UAE Team Emirates road racer Michael Vink of New Zealand. Belgium led the way with a squad of six, including Continental road racer Lennert Teugels. 2023 World Champion Bjørn Andreassen of Denmark will be making the trip to Abu Dhabi for the second time alongside USA Cycling Esports National Champion Hayden Pucker.
Notable names not on the starting line were 2024 men's silver medalist Lionel Vujasin of Belgium and the women's bronze medalist, Kathrin Fuhrer of Switzerland.
Longo Borghini outkicks Vollering at Tre Valle Varesine
Italian national champ and Giro d'Italia winner Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) proved again on Tuesday that she is a force to be reckoned with on Italian soil, winning Tre Valli Varesine for the second time in her career.
Longo Borghini and Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) broke away from the peloton inside the final few kilometers and then the Italian outsprinted the Dutchwoman in Varese to take the win. Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) crossed the line 19 seconds later to round out the podium.
Pogačar takes his second career Tre Valli Varesine win
As he builds towards his final objective of the season at Il Lomardia this coming weekend, Tadej Pogačar took another no-doubt victory on Tuesday, adding a second Tre Valli Varesine title to his career palmares after first winning there back in 2022.
The UAE-Team Emirates XRG star soloed clear of the field inside the last 25 km and held on comfortably to win 45 seconds ahead of Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor).
EF and Rapha confirm split
CeramicSpeed overhauls its entire bottom bracket range
Previously offering two bearing versions for all of its bottom brackets (coated and uncoated), CeramicSpeed has now simplified things with the new BB Alpha range that brings just a single bearing choice.
This overhauled range features new, hardened stainless steel races that are claimed to be more corrosion-resistant, harder-wearing, and with shaping that offers additional bearing support (to better handle preload). New custom seals claim a 500% improvement in sealing, while new plastic dust covers (which went through 28 iterations) are said to add further protection, too.
The company claims all of that was achieved without any loss (or gain) in efficiency. Meanwhile, improvements to the aluminium cups save approximately 10% weight. All BB Alpha bottom brackets are covered by CeramicSpeed’s lifetime warranty and retail for US$429 / €389.
Godon wins the Coppa Bernocchi
Dorian Godon won't be wearing Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale kit for much longer, but the team is still getting its money's worth from the French national champion, who is bound for the Ineos Grenadiers next season. Godon won the Coppa Bernocchi-GP Banco BPM on Monday.
The Italian one-day came down to a sprint in Legnano, although only after a breakaway group was caught inside the last few kilometers and then further attacks were reeled in with less than a thousand meters to go. The sprinters took over from there, and Godon bested Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic-PostNL) and Giovanni Lonardi (Polti-VisitMalta) in the end.
After Mattias Skjelmose expressed uncertainty over his role with Lidl-Trek given Juan Ayuso's impending arrival, Ayuso himself said on Sunday that he can see where his future teammate is coming from.
"I can understand some parts of it," Ayuso said before the road race at the European Continental Championships, as Feltet.dk reports. "If the team has said, 'You are the leader,' I can understand a certain kind of frustration."
On the other hand, Ayuso pointed out that cycling's top teams all feature multiple star riders. Ayuso's current squad UAE Team Emirates-XRG, of course, counts on an abundance of GC riders surrounding leader Tadej Pogačar, a fact that helped spur Ayuso's decision to head elsewhere.
"It's normal if you want to be a super team that you keep signing good riders," Ayuso said. "UAE, Visma and now Red Bull have a lot of riders who are racing for the general classification. You can't be a super team and only have one rider." [Feltet.dk]
Vingegaard looking for answers after being dropped early at the Euro Champs
Jonas Vingegaard's presence at the European Championship road race was cause for much excitement in the build-up to the event, where he'd face off with Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel in a rare one-day appearance. However, it was certainly not his day; the Vuelta a España champion was dropped as Belgium began attacking on the second long climb of the day, abandoning with about 80 km remaining.
"I had hoped for more, of course, but sometimes you just don't have a good day," Vingegaard told Feltet. "Maybe it's because of my busy schedule or maybe I'm just not in good shape. I was already struggling on the first climb. I thought it would get better, but when the pace picked up again, I realised it was too much."
He's not lost all hope, though, and said that, with the right preparation, he believes he can compete in this sort of race (again) in future.
Del Toro and UAE Team reportedly discussing extension of contract that already runs to 2029
Isaac Del Toro has been one of the riders of the season with no less than 14 wins to his name, pretty much positioning him just beneath Tadej Pogačar in the UAE Team Emirates-XRG pecking order. And despite already having a contract until 2029, Dan Benson reports that Del Toro and the Emirati team are discussing an extension.
UAE Team Emirates like to lock in their generational talents, including Pogačar whose contract runs through 2030. An extension for Del Toro would serve as a commitment between rider and team, and would likely rewrite the terms in an era in which contracts appear to be less fixed than they used to be, as demonstrated by the recent Juan Ayuso transfer to Lidl-Trek.
Vollering wins European road race, her first major international title
Demi Vollering won the elite women's European Championship road race on Saturday after 36 km solo in France's hilly Ardèche region.
After the Dutchwoman attacked the small selection, Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland) set off in pursuit with Vollering's compatriot Anna van der Breggen for company. Despite the Pole's best efforts, Vollering was unstoppable, ultimately riding away to victory by a margin of a minute 18 seconds.
Niewiadoma snatched silver on the run-in, with Van der Breggen rounding out the podium. Elise Chabbey (Switzerland) then led the rest of the peloton home in dribs and drabs, French contenders Juliette Labous and Cédrine Kerbaol finishing sixth and ninth, and pre-race favourite Elisa Longo Borghini settling for tenth.
Brief results
Demi Vollering (Netherlands) 2:57:53
Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland) +1:18
Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) +1:24
Elise Chabbey (Switzerland) +2:31
Franziska Koch (Germany) "
Del Toro takes UAE Team's 88th win of the season at Giro dell'Emilia
A week after his memorable ride at the Kigali World Champs, Isaac Del Toro returned to Europe with a bang, following through on his promise to win the Giro dell'Emilia, his fifth Italian one-day victory in a month and UAE Team Emirates-XRG's 88th of 2025.
After an attritional last couple of laps, which included a daring but ill-fated attack from Cian Uijtdebroeks, Tom Pidcock accelerated hard at the base of the last time up the iconic San Luca climb, and put some distance between himself and the chase group. But just inside the last kilometre, Del Toro leapt across the gap with alarming ease, then sprinted into the last few hundred metres to ensure his 14th win of the season.
Brief results
Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) +0:01
Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Martinez) +0:05
Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) "
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) "
Le Court-Pienaar wins Giro dell'Emilia Donne
Though many of the sport's top European athletes are in France this weekend for the European Championship road races, there has been no shortage of talent on the startlists for the Giri dell'Emilia and its attritional laps of the steep San Luca climb.
The Giro dell'Emilia Donne was hotly contested, newly minted world champion Magdeleine Vallieres one of the many to get in on the action in the closing laps, but Mauritian national champion Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) emerged victorious after a dominant final climb.
Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) raced to second place, just as she did in Kigali, with Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) claiming the last step of the podium and denying Isabella Holmgren a Lidl-Trek two-three.
Brief results
Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal)
Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek) +0:24
Yara Kastelijn (Fenix-Deceuninck) +0:33
Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek) +0:34
Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) "
Jarno Widar puts Worlds disappointment behind him with U23 European title
Belgian teen Jarno Widar had big ambitions for the late-season international championships starting at the U23 Worlds last weekend, but the 19-year-old finished a disappointing 34th in Kigali. However, a week later in the French Ardèche region, a vengeful Widar fought back on Saturday to take the Under-23 European title.
Widar is the sort of rider who is a favourite whenever he turns up, and that was no different on the climber-friendly European champs course, where he proved strongest on the final climb of the Val d'Enfer, launching to a solo victory ahead of lone chaser Maxime Decomble (France), with Héctor Álvarez (Spain) leading home a small chase group in third.
After two years on the Lotto development team, the young Belgian is stepping up to the elite squad this winter, which itself is primed for promotion to the WorldTour.
Brief results
Jarno Widar (Belgium) 3:11:58
Maxime Decomble (France) +0:14
Héctor Álvarez (Spain) +0:46
Simone Gualdi (Italy) "
Senna Remijn (Netherlands) "
Kristoff's retirement moves up after crashing out of Langkawi, win tally remains 98
Alexander Kristoff has raced his last race as a professional cyclist. The 38-year-old Norwegian was due to bow out at the close of the ongoing Tour de Langkawi, but a crash during the penultimate stage forced him to call time a day early.
"The hand is quite badly bloody and full of holes, and the arm also is bad, so it was more or less impossible to hold the handlebars," Kristoff said in a reel posted by his team. "So it's over. It was not the way I want to end the race or the career, but cycling is a brutal sport and it changes fast, so ... that's life. I will not dwell too much about it, life goes on."
Many were optimistic that Kristoff might find the two wins needed to make it to 100 at the sprinter-friendly Tour de Langkawi, but despite finishing top five on three of the week's seven flat finales, the 'Stavanger Stallion' was unable to rack up another victory, leaving his tally at a still-remarkable 98. The list includes four Tour stages, Milan-Sanremo 2014, Tour of Flanders 2015, and medals at the Olympics and World Champs in 2012 and 2017 respectively.
SRM Origin Aero cranks let you swap crank lengths – at a cost
SRM has unveiled its new Origin Aero Aluminium cranks, giving riders a way to experiment with crank length without buying multiple cranksets. The arms use bolt-on anodised tips available in seven lengths, allowing adjustments in 2.5 mm increments from 160 mm to 175 mm.
SRM says the Origin Aero is its narrowest road crank to date, with a 144 mm Q-factor – narrower than Shimano’s road (148 mm) and gravel (151 mm) cranks, edging closer to track bike territory. The wide, flat arms are also pitched as an aero upgrade, aiming to reduce drag while maintaining stiffness.
There’s a catch, of course: price. The arms alone are €2,015, throw in the SRM power meter spider (€1,210), and you are over €3,000 before you've put a chainring on.
