Of the group of riders without contract after 2025, former Milan-San Remo and Tour de France stage winner Matej Mohorič was among the most prominent, and his future remained uncertain until late in the season. But the 31-year-old Slovenian is not done in the WorldTour yet. Wielerflits reports that Mohorič has inked a one-year extension with Bahrain Victorious, keeping him with the team he's called home since the 2018 season. [Wielerflits]
A strong Australian contingent took a nail-biter of a win in Wednesday's World Championship Mixed Relay Time Trial event. The six-rider team of Brodie Chapman, Luke Plapp, Amanda Spratt, Michael Matthews, Felicity Wilson-Haffenden, and ITT silver medalist Jay Vine rode a time of 54:30 on the 41.8 km course in Kigali, Rwanda to take a narrow five-second win over France. The Swiss team was third, :10 back of Australia; the gap to Italy in fourth was, comparatively, a yawning 1:24 to the winning Aussie squad.
The win was Australia's second in a row in the event, albeit with a slightly different lineup. Chapman, Vine and Matthews were all holdovers from the victorious 2024 team, but the Aussies had to overcome a major switch: the departure of retired Olympic and World ITT champion Grace Brown.
Adding to its lineup of in-house machined bottom brackets, which currently include BSA and T47 internal standards, today Wolf Tooth has announced an external T47 model. These new bottom brackets fit a variety of crankset spindles (24mm, 29mm DUB, and 30mm), feature adjustable-width sleeves, and can be installed with standard tools.
Wolf Tooth claims its "ground-up" bottom bracket design has best in class sealing and won't ever creak. Reportedly thanks to multiple seals and O-rings, the components are protected from the elements while custom spindle bushings eliminate metal-on-metal contact between the bearing inner race and crank spindle (which can lead to creaking).
Available in four anodized colors, the T47 bottom brackets cost $US140.
The 2026 men's Tour de France could get an early start on the climbing, reports radio network France Bleu. The official route presentation is October 23, one month from today, but France Bleu affiliate ICI Occitanie quoted a local official as saying that it is "99% certain" that the third stage will finish at the Pla de Mir ski resort.
That would mark the earliest ever summit finish for the Tour, and it would likely be a consequential one as the resort is at 1,800 meters above sea level. The 2026 men's Tour is due to start in Barcelona, Spain, but recently the UCI and the Spanish government have been at odds over pro-Palestinian protests that disrupted the recent Vuelta a España. The Spanish government has voiced support for the protests, while the UCI has strongly condemned the government's stance and said it "calls into question Spain's ability to host major international sporting events," which could affect the Grand Depart. [France Bleu]
Justine Ghekiere is out of the Road World Championships in Rwanda after a high-speed crash at a race last week left her with more serious injuries than initially anticipated. A formidable climber, Ghekiere is the current Belgian national champion and was expected to play a key role on the hilly Kigali course. But a 60 km/h crash at the Grand Prix Stuttgart and Region race left her with severe road rash from which she has not yet recovered.
Her DNS, along with two-time World Champion Lotte Kopecky's decision not to defend her title, leaves the Belgian team with just three confirmed riders for Saturday's road race: Marieke Meert, Julie Van De Velde, and Margot Vanpachtenbeke.
Lezyne has launched the Radar React System: a rear-facing radar light that can ping alerts to a compatible Lezyne front light, so you don't need a head unit to receive alerts of vehicles approaching. The Radar Drive rear can also run on its own via Lezyne's Radar Ally app or paired with a compatible cycling computer.
Lezyne says the radar spots vehicles up to 150 m away, and has seven light modes, including a quick-flash alert when a car approaches, with a claimed 300-lumen max and up to 20 hours of runtime.
The pieces are sold separately or as a bundle. The Radar Drive rear is priced at £170 / US$180 / €170 and the React Drive front goes for £100 / US$125 / €120, or you can get the "system" for £250 / US$280 / €260.
We've got a set on the way and will stack it up against the rear radars from our recent group test.
Some of the world's most indomitable climbers descended on Sicily's Mount Etna on Sunday for the inaugural Everesting World Championship. Competitors contending for the first-time title would have to be the fastest to climb 8,848 meters up the active volcano – that's seven trips up the 23 km-long ascent, totaling almost 300 km of distance (161 km of climbing and 138 km of descent).
Illi Gardner, who holds the top two fastest women's Everesting times in the world – 8:03:29 and 8:33:47, added the coveted climbing title to her impressive list of crowns. The UK-based grimpeur completed the challenge in 8:28:40, almost 90 minutes ahead of her closest rival, Germany's Annette Griner (9:57:15), while claiming the highly contested Mount Etna QOM in the process.
Canada's Jack Burke, who currently holds the Alpe d'Huez and Mortirolo KOMs, claimed the inaugural men's title in a time of 7:30:52 over Australian ultra-cyclist Jack Thompson (8:23:24). Escape Collective's Ronan Mc Laughlin's World Record time of 6:40:54 set in 2021 on Ireland's Mamore Gap is safe for another day.
Lauren Stephens has never lost a national gravel championship. In two prior editions, the Aegis Cycling rider powered to the win, and kept her streak alive over the weekend when she rode away from Sarah Lange to take a third straight victory on a hilly course in La Crescent, Minnesota. Lauren De Crescenzo rounded out the podium.
In the elite men's race, an early and dangerous breakaway was out front when Bradyn Lange (Pinarello-Orange Seal) joined a chase with reigning national champion Brennan Wertz (Scott/Skipstone), catching on after a crash in the lead group disrupted momentum. Several other chasers including Alexey Vermeulen (Enve) made contact before Lange slipped away late in a flurry of attacks and counters to take the win. Michael Garrison and Cole Davis (Project Echelon) took second and third, respectively.
Remco Evenepoel already has one World Championship in the books after his dominant ride in Sunday's elite time trial race. But his bid for a double rainbow jersey with a win in next Sunday's road race took a slight hit Monday with news that teammate Tiesj Benoot is out with illness.
Benoot, one of the most experienced support riders in the sport and a veteran of seven World Championship events, is fighting an undisclosed illness but has already been ruled out of Sunday's race. Belgian national team coach Serge Pauwels has called up Louis Vervaeke as a replacement. Even without Benoot, Belgium has one the largest and deepest squads in Rwanda, with Evenepoel supported by Victor Campenaerts, Quentin Hermans, Florian Vermeersch, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Xandro Meurisse and time trial bronze medalist Ilan Van Wilder, now joined by Vervaeke.
While final stage honours at the Tour de Luxembourg went to Romain Grégoire after a late attacking move with Ben Healy, the big win of the day went to Brandon McNulty who secured the overall title off the back of second in the stage 4 ITT.
As McNulty takes his fourth win of the season, he's also secured UAE Team Emirates-XRG's 86th victory of 2025, helping the squad to break the record his GP Montréal triumph equalled. Until one week ago, the record for wins in one season was held by Team Colombia-HTC in 2009 (featuring André Greipel, Mark Cavendish, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Tony Martin and Mick Rogers, all at or near the peak of their powers).
Until 2024, the closest anyone had come to Colombia-HTC's total was Quick-Step in 2018 with 73, but then UAE Team Emirates came along and blitzed the calendar two years in a row. Last season, Pogačar's 25 wins led the team to a total of 81, which many thought might be the closest they'd come, but the whole squad came roaring back in 2025 to rack up the wins – Pogačar has only taken 16 of their 86 (so far).
Jayco-AlUla's Paul Double won stage 5 of the Tour of Slovakia, out-climbing Visma-Lease a Bike duo Bart Lemmen and Thomas Gloag by 30 seconds after a gritty finale.
Double's Queen Stage win also brings the young Brit his first GC win, Lemmen and Gloag joining him on the final podium. Such was the steady gradient of the finishing climb that further down the finishing order, rouleurs and classics specialists can be found, including Unibet Tietema Rockets' Lukáš Kubiš in 10th, making the Slovakian national champion the most consistent rider of the week after four runner-up finishes in a row to Paul Magnier, ultimately finishing sixth overall.
Stage 5 top 5
Final GC top 5
Arnaud De Lie has surged back to winning ways in the past month, including at the WorldTour one-day Bretagne Classic, and this week's GP Wallonie and Super 8 Classic on home soil. But behind the scenes, he and his teammates are waiting to hear any news on the potential merger between Lotto, currently a ProTeam, and WorldTeam Intermarché-Wanty, for which talks have been ongoing since early summer.
"It's hard to say anything about it, but if we get the best of both worlds from the two teams coming together, then that's something super good,” De Lie told WielerFlits. “But we'll see. I'm a cyclist, I only ride my bike.”
Reports during the Tour indicated that "an agreement in principle" had been reached for the teams to merge, with Lotto the 'paying agent', which, put very simply, means that while Lotto's rider contracts will hold, all those at Intermarché-Wanty may have a late-season scramble for a new team on their hands.
Whatever happens, Lotto is destined for the WorldTour in 2026. And should the merger happen, space will also be made for the 19th-ranked team at the end of 2025, a position that's being fought over tooth and nail by Cofidis and Uno-X Mobility.
Marlen Reusser is among the favourites for this weekend's challenging ITT at the UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda. However, the Movistar leader has not raced since she dropped out of the Tour de France avec Zwift during stage 1 while still struggling with symptoms of food poisoning.
"As soon as I was on the bike, I saw stars. That's why I went home," Reusser said of her withdrawal from the Tour, which came just weeks after diarrhoea impacted her Giro. "It was the right decision; otherwise, I would have been completely destroyed. It was just bad luck."
The Swiss star is historically a magnificent time trialist, she's won both the TTs raced this season, but yet another illness has interfered with her preparation for the Rwanda Worlds.
"As soon as I'd recovered and started training again, Hendrik [her partner, ed.] caught the flu, which also affected me," Reusser continued, describing her post-Tour experience. "I probably hadn't even fully recovered yet. That's why I was back in bed in August. Anyway, even at 95 per cent, I'm a very good cyclist. I'd prefer it to be different, but I'm not throwing in the towel just yet."
Arnaud De Lie's late season surge is still trending in the right direction, thoroughly putting his unhappy spring behind him, with victory from a reduced bunch at the 1.Pro Super 8 Classic.
De Lie formed part of an elite selection late in the 201-kilometre mini-classic in the Flemish Brabant, a group that also included Jordi Meeus and formidable Visma-Lease a Bike duo Wout van Aert and Matthew Brennan. However, De Lie joined forces with teammate Jenno Berckmoes to help ensure the group would stay clear of the peloton powered by the teams of Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay, setting up a fast and furious finale.
Visma's young sprinter Brenna, the revelation of 2025, proved a tough adversary, pushing De Lie all the way to a photo finish, but the Belgian came out on top. This marks De Lie's sixth win of the season, five of them concentrated in the past month alone.
Brief results
Lotte Kopecky has not had a great year. It's not been a complete drought for the reigning Tour of Flanders champ, but lingering injuries have curtailed her results all season. Now, after crashing out on stage 3 of the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche, Kopecky has been forced to end her season before her next big target of the track World Championships in Chile next month.
"It’s more than a week since my crash in Ardèche. A stupid one with some **** consequenses," Kopecky wrote on Instagram, describing the vertebral fracture picked in France. "I had to give it some time to see how quick it may go into the right direction. Unfortunately not as fast a I wanted. It is the most wise decision to definitively end my season, so no more Track Worlds for me."
2025 was meant to be the season when the multiple world champion (track and road) might take yet another step forward, especially in her return to the Tour where she'd finished runner-up to teammate Demi Vollering in 2023, but injuries persistently got in the way.
"Last year, I injured my knee. Back then I just wanted to train ASAP. Which led to setback after setback and in the end running even more behind. So let’s approach this one right. I’ll give myself the time to let my body and the fracture heal properly."
Paul Magnier has continued his reign of dominance at the 2.1-ranked Tour of Slovakia with stage 4 victory ahead of Lukáš Kubiš – the Unibet Tietema Rockets sprinter also maintaining a four-day streak of finishing second best.
This most recent stage win brings the young Frenchman's 2025 tally up to 10, and his entire palmarès to 15. It also means he's responsible for 25% of Soudal-QuickStep's combined total this season, only Tim Merlier bettering his young teammate with 14 (at time of writing).
Unfortunately for the 21-year-old, Magnier's tally is sure to be broken on Sunday's stage 5 finale which takes the peloton through three hilly circuits before culminating on the 5.5-kilometre Cat.1 climb to the line.
Belgium's Remco Evenepoel is one of the top favourites for the elite men's ITT at the Rwanda World Championships that start this weekend. The twice reigning champ has been previewing the route in Kigali and is feeling optimistic.
"It's the kind of course I like: wide, lots of straight, not technical, a lot of position work," Evenepoel told media in Kigali. "There will also be many tempo changes because it's constantly up and down, which doesn't make it any easier, but in itself I like something like that. You should definitely not exceed the limit in the first part. The most difficult climbs are at the end, where you have to be able to go 'all out' twice more. The last ten minutes will be very intense."
The double Olympic champion is going after a third-straight world title on the challenging 40.6-kilometre course, adding to the wins achieved in Scotland and Switzerland.
"Once you have such a jersey, you don't want to give it away, especially when you know that the course suits you. How many riders have won three times in a row? Two [Michael Rogers and Tony Martin, ed.]. That's a nice challenge: I want to add my name to that list, and put myself above it. It is 'and' and 'and' and 'and'... It would be nice to put down a historic achievement in this place, that would be special."
The organiser of O Gran Camiño has said the race does not intend to invite Israel-Premier Tech to its 2026 edition, making the Galician stage race the first to openly distance itself from the squad as Spanish opposition to the team grows.
Race director Ezequiel Mosquera told Spanish news agency EFE that “any organisation where they competed last year will be asking themselves the same questions we are,” after watching protests derail multiple stages of the Vuelta a España and draw public backing from Spain’s prime minister. Mosquera described the atmosphere at the Vuelta as “extremely tense” and said his own event, which was already targeted by demonstrators earlier this year, must act with “rigour” and “maximum objectivity.”
The move comes despite Israel-Premier Tech’s Derek Gee having won the 2025 edition of O Gran Camiño, held each February in Galicia. The Canadian has since terminated his contract with the team, while Israel-Premier Tech is expected to rejoin the WorldTour in 2026, granting it automatic entry to cycling’s biggest races but leaving its participation in smaller events, including O Gran Camiño, up to organisers. Mosquera added that O Gran Camiño may seek a calendar upgrade to ProSeries level as the UCI finalises its 2026 schedule at the World Championships in Rwanda.
Movistar has confirmed the signing of Czech climber Pavel Novák, with the 20-year-old joining the Spanish squad from 2026 through the end of 2028.
Novák is regarded as one of the most promising young talents in European cycling, with strong results in under-23 stage races, including a stage win at the Giro NextGen this year.
The UCI has confirmed it will roll out GPS safety tracking across all races at next week’s Road World Championships in Rwanda (September 21–28), marking the first full implementation of the technology. Every rider in every category will wear a device, with the system designed to alert organisers and medical staff immediately if a rider crashes or stops unexpectedly.
The push comes a year after the death of Swiss rider Muriel Furrer, who went unseen after a crash at the 2024 Worlds. Trials were conducted last month at the Tour de Romandie Féminin, though they ended in controversy when five WorldTour teams – including Visma-Lease a Bike and Canyon-Sram Zondacrypto – were disqualified in a dispute over safety and liability concerns. With national teams replacing trade squads in Rwanda, the UCI expects the rollout to proceed without conflict.
“This initiative is important and necessary progress,” UCI president David Lappartient said. “Thanks to this system, any incident or accident that might have gone unnoticed can be quickly identified, and it will be possible to assist the rider as fast as possible.” The GPS tracking will be monitored in real time from the UCI’s control centre in Kigali, covering road races, time trials, and team events across the week of racing.
Rotor has unveiled a new generation of its Uno groupset; however, this time it is wireless and aimed at mountain and gravel bikes. The brand claims that Uno will offer fast shifting, low weight, and maximum modularity—all with SRAM and Shimano tightly in its crosshairs
At the heart of the new groupset is electronic shifting technology from Wheeltop’s EDS groupsets, following last year’s acquisition of a majority stake by the Chinese manufacturer. The brand has doubled down on versatility with the derailleur and shifter being compatible with 10–13-speed cassettes, programmable via the Rotor Uno app.
For mountain biking, the Uno offers an IP67 waterproof-rated rear derailleur, with 150ms shift speeds and 15,000 shifts per charge. Unlike the gravel alternative, there are no brake options to pair with the mountain bike groupset. The brakes for the gravel model use carbon levers and Shimano-compatible hoses.
Although there is currently no firm pricing, the MTB upgrade kit is said to retail for under €700, while the gravel kit, including brakes, is expected to cost around €800.
Factor has launched the Aluto, a new gravel bike designed to sit alongside the race-oriented Ostro Gravel as a more endurance-focused option. Where the Ostro is aimed squarely at racing, the Aluto is aimed more at adventurous endurance rides.
The frame is optimised for 45 mm tyres, with clearance up to 47 mm at the rear and 52 mm at the front. Compared to the Ostro Gravel, the Aluto runs a steeper head tube angle and shorter chainstays, while a lower bottom bracket and slightly higher stack are intended to add stability and broaden fit options. The result, Factor claims, is handling that stays sharp but with more comfort for all-day efforts.
Practical features include downtube storage and compatibility with both 1x and 2x drivetrains. The bike comes stock with Black Inc.’s HB05 integrated barstem, which uses a shorter reach and flared drops.
Available in “Raptor Blue” and “Quattro Grey,” the Aluto is Factor’s attempt to broaden its gravel range alongside the OSTRO Gravel for those not necessarily looking to race.
Complete builds start from $7,000 / €8,400 / £7,000 with framesets costing $4,000 / €4,700 / £4,000.
For more information, head over to the Factor website.
Last spring, Arnaud De Lie was adrift. The Lotto sprinter had DNF'd from Gent-Wevelgem and benched by his team ahead of the Tour of Flanders before it was announced he was taking a break from racing.
[race_result id=93 stage_id=0 count=5 gc=0 year=2025]That return – a DNF at May's Rund um Köln – was inauspicious but things of late are looking up. De Lie factored in several sprint finishes at the Tour de France and has been on a tear since mid-August, with a stage and the overall at the Renewi Tour, a victory in the Bretagne Classic – both WorldTour events – and now a win at the 1.Pro Grand Prix de Wallonie, where he took a bunch sprint against a field including Biniam Girmay, among other riders. De Lie's fall campaign will conclude with several more lower-tier races, but his return to top form is a welcome sign for him and his embattled Lotto team, which is still in discussions to potentially merge with Girmay's Intermarché-Wanty squad.
Bianchi is celebrating its 140th anniversary with a nod to cycling legend Marco Pantani. The Italian brand has unveiled the Specialissima RC Pantani, a modern reimagining of the Mega Pro XL, the bike Pantani rode to his iconic 1998 Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double victory.
215 units of this limited edition tribute will be made available, with each bike numbered to commemorate the 215 km of Stage 17 in the 1998 Giro d’Italia, where Pantani seized the pink jersey.
The Specialissima is Bianchi’s purpose-built climbing bike, echoing its 90s ancestor in the iconic celeste and yellow colours with classic graphics. [Bianchi]
Fresh off his podium finish at the Vuelta a España, Tom Pidcock will co-lead the British elite men's contingent at the upcoming World Road Championships. The Q36.5 rider will have strong company as Oscar Onley, fourth-place finisher at the Tour de France, will also be on the start line.
None of the rest of the men's team has been announced and the team is not official. On the women's side, Olympic silver medalist Anna Henderson will reportedly race the time trial but Team GB may not be sending a full team for the women's road race. More startlists as we get them.
Three-time defending World Cyclocross Champion Fem van Empel announced this week that she is returning from her hiatus from racing, but with a twist: she's going back to the sport she loves the most and leaving road racing behind.
Van Empel joined Visma-Lease a Bike in 2023 at 21 years old and raced road and CX for the team, finding immediate success on the road with an 11th-place finish overall at the Giro d'Italia Women that year and a stage win of the Tour de l'Avenir Femmes. But even as she continued to rack up wins in elite cyclocross, her road progress plateaued and in March she announced a break from the sport.
"I didn't really know who I was outside of racing anymore," she said in the press release announcing her return. During her time off, she focused on where she found joy on and off the bike and came to the considered conclusion that it mostly wasn't on the road. “My motivation and enjoyment on the road were less strong than for cyclocross," she said. "Once I made the choice, it immediately felt right." Her first race back was a road event, La Choralis Fourmies Feminine, but Van Empel plans to race primarily cyclocross from now on. She's under contract with Visma through 2027
According to both Ciro Scognamiglio of La Gazzetta dello Sport and Daniel Benson on his Substack, the rumored transfer of Juan Ayuso to Lidl-Trek is all but complete.
Scognamiglio wrote on X that it "can be considered a deal done, only official confirmation missing," while Benson reports that the contract will keep the Spaniard at Lidl-Trek through 2030.
31-year-old Belgian Ludovic Robeet (Cofidis) reportedly suffered a stroke and was thus hospitalized last week shortly before he was slated to race the Canadian GPs.
Although Cofidis posted a video of teammates sending a message of support, the team has not shared many other details around the health scare, but Cofidis sports director Thierry Marichal told the Belga News Agency that "the news about his health is now positive and encouraging." [La Dernière Heure]
Fresh off a breakout ride at the Vuelta a España, where he finished fifth overall and won the best young rider’s jersey, Matthew Riccitello has signed a long-term deal with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. The 22-year-old American will join the French WorldTour squad in 2026 on a contract running through 2028, moving from Israel-Premier Tech.
Riccitello has quickly marked himself as one of the sport’s most promising GC prospects, and his arrival adds depth alongside team leader Felix Gall as Decathlon AG2R reshape their stage racing ambitions following Ben O’Connor’s departure.
“I’m really excited to join DECATHLON CMA CGM in 2026,” Riccitello said in the announcement. “I admire the team’s ambition and progression in the last few years. I’m looking to continue progressing as a rider in stage races and grand tours, and I believe this team will push me to reach my potential. I’m motivated to make the most of this new chapter and confident this is the right environment for me to keep growing as both a rider and a person.”
Can't stop, won't stop; Isaac Del Toro has won the Trofeo Matteotti in Pescara, Italy, his fourth one-day win in seven days, of five participations.
Del Toro bridged up to form part of a small lead group in the closing kilometres, the peloton just 15 seconds behind. When the flat finish came after 13 hilly laps of Pescara, the 21-year-old out-punched Rui Costa (EF Education-EasyPost) and Pau Miquel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) to take his 13th victory of the season.
[race_result id=205 stage_id=0 count=5 gc=0 year=2025]
