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Israel-Premier Tech delayed by protestors in Vuelta TTT
A group of pro-Palestinian protestors standing in the road caused a brief delay for Israel-Premier Tech's team time trial squad on Wednesday's stage 5 of the Vuelta a España. Although police riding ahead of the team stopped to try to move the protestors out of the way, Israel-Premier Tech lost several seconds as riders slowed to navigate the situation.
"Israel-Premier Tech respects everyone's right to freedom of speech, which includes the right to protest peacefully, but we absolutely condemn the dangerous acts of the protestors on stage 5 of the Vuelta a España, which not only compromised the safety of our riders, race personnel, but the protestors themselves," the team said in a statement.
Red Bull bolsters Classics squad with Gianni Vermeersch
Gianni Vermeersch will leave Alpecin-Deceuninck to join Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe next season in a move that will bolster the latter team's Classics lineup. Vermeersch, 32, has landed in the top 10 at both Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders during his career, most of which has been spent at the Alpecin team, where he has been a key support rider for Mathieu van der Poel.
"With Gianni, we want to close the gaps that became apparent last spring,” said Red Bull team boss Ralph Denk in a statement. "Our roster certainly has a lot of Classics quality. But we often lacked routine, depth, and punch to shape the finale with our talents. We are convinced that Gianni can make exactly this difference."
Strava adds new training and routing features
Strava has announced updates to its route planning, training insights, and leaderboard integrity, rolling out in the next two months.
The biggest change for cyclists is the integration of Power Skills, part of Strava’s acquisition of training platform The Breakaway earlier this year. In essence, the tool breaks down a rider’s personal power records across 12 intervals and highlights strengths and weaknesses, with the option to compare recent efforts against lifetime bests. Strava said its new Training Zones feature will also show how much time users spend in heart rate, pace, or power zones over a specific time period to help get a better understanding of their training effects.
On the navigation side, Strava’s mobile Route Builder is getting a redesign for mobile with more detailed route previews (elevation, surface type, grade) and the ability to add or adjust waypoints, such as cafe stops.
In the last year, Strava has been vocal about eliminating "cheating" in its segements, and as part of the recent updates, it's added the detection and removal of e-bike rides uploaded to ride or run segment leaderboards, so they only appear on e-bike leaderboards instead. Strava said its machine learning systems have already removed 4.45 million irregular activities from leaderboards this year, "restoring KOMs and QOMs to reflect true performances of the global community".
Lidl-Trek adds Loes Adegeest to 2026 roster
Following the news of Ricarda Bauernfeind joining Lidl-Trek in 2026, the team announced the addition of Dutchwoman Loes Adegeest on a two-year contract. The former e-sports world champion has represented FDJ-Suez for three seasons, with success on a variety of terrains, including a win at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in 2023 and a stage victory at Volta a Ciclista a Catalunya in 2025.
“I’ve always seen Lidl-Trek as a professional and well-organised team, but with a good family-like atmosphere,” Loes Adegeest said in a statement from Lidl-Trek. “In the races, it’s a team that never goes unnoticed due to the attacking spirit. When I talked with the Team, that image was confirmed. What surprised me in a good way is how the men’s and women’s teams and staff work together. I think it can be really interesting to be able to share knowledge. I’ve never ridden for a team where the men’s and women’s programs are so integrated, so I’m curious to see how that dynamic will be.
“Personally, I was looking for a new challenge, a step out of the comfort zone FDJ-SUEZ had become. I hope to improve myself in the classics, to colour the finals with the Team. Also, the TT is something I want to take another step forward."
Ceratizit Pro Cycling will shut down at the end of the season
Two years after stepping up to the Women's WorldTour, Ceratizit Pro Cycling announced on Tuesday that the 2025 season will be its last. Ceratizit, the Luxembourg-based producer of machine tools that has served as a title sponsor since 2020, announced in May that it would end its sponsorship of the squad at the close of the season, and team management has been unable to find a new backer to keep the organization afloat.
"The current economic climate has significantly impacted the ability to maintain a WorldTour team," said manager Claude Sun in a statement. "Despite our best efforts to secure new sponsorship, escalating costs and current conditions have made it impossible to continue."
In reversal, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will race Road Worlds
Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot announced that she now plans to race the Road World Championships next month in Rwanda, reversing an earlier decision.
Ferrand-Prévot wrote in a post on Instagram that she had decided at the beginning of the season not to race Worlds after a physically and emotionally draining 2024 (when she won the Olympic mountain bike title), saying she didn't want to ask for extra effort from a body that was already at 80%.
But after recovering from her Tour win, she said she realized that this year had actually been less stressful, and she was "ready to give the best of myself again," joking that she is now "the world champion in changing plans." The post included a selfie of her in French national team kit. The women's road race in Kigali is September 27.
Dorian Godon signing ends Ineos Grenadiers transfer pause
Current French national road champion Dorian Godon will join Ineos Grenadiers in 2026 on a three-year deal, the team announced in a press release on Tuesday. The 29-year-old pro is a one-day and stage specialist with victories in Brabantse Pijl (2023) and two stages of last year's Tour de Romandie. He turned pro in 2017 with Cofidis and has spent most of his career with the Decathlon team.
Godon's signing also breaks a drought of transfer announcements for Ineos. The team has been linked to several riders in the transfer market, most notably Kévin Vauquelin of Arkéa-B&B Hotels, but the team had not announced any new signings amid reports that Dave Brailsford, recently returned to a more active management role, had paused them for review.
Küng signs a three-year deal with Tudor
Tudor has announced a flurry of signings headlined by Stefan Küng as the Swiss rider will join the Swiss second-division team on a three-year agreement.
Küng, 31, has spent the past seven seasons with Groupama-FDJ, emerging as one of the top time trialing talents in the peloton and an able Classics racer and stagehunter in stage races as well. He is currently racing the Vuelta a España, where he won a stage last year. He will be joined at Tudor by fellow newcomer Luca Mozzato, currently with Arkéa-B&B Hotels, and Robin Donzé, who is stepping up from the squad's development team.
Ricarda Bauernfeind adds more climbing power to Lidl-Trek in 2026
Lidl-Trek announced on Tuesday that super climber Ricarda Bauernfeind will join the team in 2026 on a two-year deal. The German rider has ridden for Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto since joining their Generation development team in 2022. In her three years on Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto's WorldTour team, she finished twice in the top 10 of La Vuelta España Femenina - fifth in 2023 and sixth in 2024 - and won the fifth stage of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
"Joining Lidl-Trek opens up an exciting new chapter filled with fresh challenges and opportunities," Bauernfeind said in a press release from her new team. "I’ve always admired the Team’s professional structure, which continues to evolve with Lidl’s growing involvement. The riders, the racing style, and the long-term vision have consistently impressed me."
On Lidl-Trek, Bauernfeind will continue to develop her climbing ability and specifically focus on honing her general classification potential, according to the statement. With Lidl's increased involvement, the addition of a German rider also makes sense for the long-term ambition of the team.
Riese & Müller halts US e-bike imports over steel tariff
German e-bike maker Riese & Müller has temporarily stopped shipping bikes to the US after new import rules placed a 50% tariff on the steel used in e-bikes.
Bicycle Retailer and Industry News reported that in an email sent to retailers on Monday, the company said it is pausing shipments to "carefully evaluate this situation and its implications before proceeding with further steps."
The tariffs, introduced under the Trump administration’s Section 232 rules, impose a 50% duty on steel content in e-bikes imported from most nations (25% from the UK). While this is based only on the steel portion, the overall import is still subject to other existing tariffs.
Riese & Müller asked dealers to hold off on new daily orders until there is an update.
British Continental squad Hess Cycling shuts down
The Hess Cycling Team, founded in 2023 in Luxembourg and registered in Great Britain since 2024, announced in a statement on Monday that it was closing its doors. The women's Continental team had already been the subject of negative headlines earlier this year. Media reports revealed that owner Rolf Hess was under investigation for alleged fraudulent business dealings in Spain, ProCyclingUK reported that payments to riders and staff were late over the offseason, and the team's early-season campaign was derailed by delays in securing a UCI license.
Now, the squad is shutting down entirely.
"During this year it became clear that a successful future for our team can only be secured by cooperating with a much stronger team and organisation," read a statement attributed to Hess and team manager Norbert Stocker and Pirmin Lang. "Until last week we were sure this could be achieved, unfortunately this is no longer the case and we have concluded to terminate Hess Cycling Team with immediate effect."
Thieves steal Visma's bikes at the Vuelta
Several of Visma-Lease a Bike's Vuelta a España bikes were stolen overnight, leaving the team scrambling to get alternative options ready to ride for Monday's stage 3. Fortunately, the squad had bikes for each of its seven starters – Axel Zingle pulled out of the race before the stage – by the time the race rolled out from San Maurizio Canavese.
The news comes just a day after Zingle's bike was initially thought to have been stolen. As it turned out, the broom wagon had picked up the bike following Zingle's stage 2 crash. The overnight crime, however, appears to be a very real act of theft, and police have opened an investigation into the incident.
Jai Hindley and Neve Bradbury headline Aussie Road Worlds squad
AusCycling has announced its line-ups for the upcoming Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, with Neve Bradbury and Jai Hindley headlining the road race squads.
Bradbury will be joined by Brodie Chapman, Lauretta Hanson, Alexandra Manly, Ruby Roseman-Gannon, and Amanda Spratt on a hilly course with more than 3,300 metres of climbing. Sarah Gigante would have been on the startlist but fractured her femur last week. Chapman will race the individual time trial.
Hindley will race alongside Chris Hamilton, Chris Harper, Michael Matthews, Luke Plapp, Callum Scotson, Michael Storer, and Jay Vine in a men's race that features nearly 5,500 metres of climbing. Plapp and Vine will wear the green and gold in the individual time trial.
The elite women's road race will be held on Saturday September 27, with the elite men's race closing out the carnival on Sunday September 28.
Wahoo releases fix for first-generation Elemnt head units
As previously reported, the issue resulted in these first-generation units thinking it was 2006 and causing all sorts of buggy interactions.
The fix, a firmware update available through Wahoo’s older Elemnt app is now available. YouTuber GP Lama has a full explanation of the update.
[UPDATED] Zingle's bike goes missing while medics re-set his dislocated shoulder after Vuelta crash
[Update, Monday morning: Visma-Lease a Bike revealed post-stage 2 that the bike had been picked up by the broom wagon and was returned to the team at the finish.]
As if crashing and dislocating his shoulder wasn't bad enough, Visma-Lease a Bike's Axel Zingle explained that his bike had gone walkabout in the aftermath of the crash that interrupted stage 2 of the Vuelta a España about 25 km from the line.
"I entrusted my bike to a guy who didn't speak much English while I got into the ambulance to put my shoulder back in place," Zingle told French media metres after crossing the finish line. "When I got out, the bike was gone. I then had to wait five or ten minutes to get a new bike from the following car."
Zingle was the last of 183 riders to finish, 24 minutes five seconds after teammate and stage-winner Jonas Vingegaard who also took the race leader's red jersey despite being caught up in the same crash. The Frenchman is optimistic he'll be at the start of stage 3 pending medical checks.
Brennan powers to stage win number two, as Wærenskjold wraps up Deutschland Tour overall
A frantic final stage of the Lidl Deutschland Tour culminated in a reduced sprint, in which Matthew Brennan launched off Wout van Aert's wheel to his second stage win of the race, beating elite company including the race's overall winner Søren Wærenskjold, Tour de France green jersey Jonathan Milan and recent Copenhagen Sprint winner Jordi Meeus.
The early half of the stage was defined by a solo move by Brandon McNulty, but the American was caught with 60 km to go. After about an hour of hard and fast racing, the peloton shattered into pieces, a reduced bunch reached the finish together, Visma-Lease a Bike very much in control for their young green jersey-wearer.
With a top-tier leadout and a confidence that exceeds his years, Brennan surged to victory, Wærenskjold sealing the overall win in second, and Milan settling for third, which means he will go home empty-handed from the race with which his team shares a sponsor, and having taken three stage wins in 2024.
De Lie beats Van der Poel to stage and overall win in spectacular Renewi Tour finale
Arnaud De Lie started the final stage of the Renewi Tour with a one-second advantage over stage 3-winner Mathieu van der Poel, and with bonus seconds available intermittently during the stage as well as at the finish, the young Belgian had to stick like glue to the former world champion if he stood any chance of taking it all the way.
And sure enough, the Green KM sprint saw Van der Poel take three bonus seconds to De Lie's one, putting the Dutchman in the virtual lead. It looked like Van der Poel might run away with it as he got into a lead group with Fred Wright, Tim Wellens, Toms Skujiņš and Alberto Bettiol. They were soon caught, though, and the ensuing attacks were also all neutralised – just – bringing the stage down to a frantic sprint for the line.
De Lie took the victory ahead of Van der Poel, his winning bonus enough to take the overall by three seconds. Late attacker Dries De Bondt finished third having been caught just in time.
Lyme disease proves the cause of Steinhauser's struggles with form
Georg Steinhauser was a revelation of the 2024 Giro d'Italia, winning stage 17 on his Grand Tour debut. This year, though, he's struggled with form since completing his second Giro, abandoning his first race back after two stages of the Tour of Austria, and then withdrawing from EF Education-EasyPost's longlist for the Vuelta a España. It now turns out he's been struggling with Lyme disease.
"After bad sensations on the bike, the team and I decided to stop the preparations for the Vuelta a few week ago," Steinhauser wrote on Instagram. "It turned out that the reason for the problems was that I got infected with Lyme disease. Mentally it was tough to be thrown back again. But it helps that we found the cause. I’m grateful for the team to be able to focus on recovery for now. I‘m taking my time but I really hope to still get some racedays in this year."
Isabella Holmgren and Paul Seixas win Prologues at the Tours de l'Avenir
Racing on the same 3 km uphill course (7.9% average) in Tignes, the women's and men's Tours de l'Avenir got underway one after the other on Saturday afternoon. Both races will see a mix of WorldTour and development riders mix it up in the premier under-23 event on the cycling calendar.
Lidl-Trek and Canada's Isabella Holmgren took a commanding lead over second-place Italian Eleanora Ciabocco (trade team Picnic-PostNL) in the women's race, carrying a 17-second lead into day two. Several of the riders she beat also raced the recent Tour de France Femmes, including white jersey-winner Nienke Vinke who finished 43 seconds down on the Canadian.
Of the men, Decathlon-AG2R's Paul Seixas took the narrowest of victories over 2024 junior world champion Lorenzo Finn (Italy; Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe Rookies), a strong start to what the Frenchman declared as one of the major goals of his season after revelatory rides at the Tour of the Alps and Dauphiné, where he finished eighth overall.
Both races follow very similar and concurrent passages through France over the coming week, culminating in an identical double-stage day at La Rosière on Friday, including another mountain time trial.
Tour de l'Avenir Femmes Prologue top 5
Isabella Holmgren (Canada) 8:43.57
Eleanora Ciabocco (Italy) +0:17.64
Talia Appleton (Australia) +0:17.1
Paula Blasi (Spain) +0:20.19
Mijtnje Geurts (Netherlands) +0:27.75
Tour de l'Avenir Prologue top 5
Paul Seixas (France) 7:19.14
Lorenzo Finn (Italy) +0:00.7
Marco Schrettl (Austria) +0:07.64
Mateo Ramírez (Ecuador) +0:08.21
Jørgen Nordhagen (Norway) +0:08.58
Van Poppel stripped of Deutschland Tour stage 3 win after irregular sprint, Wærenskjold takes the victory
Update: Van Poppel was subsequently handed his fourth yellow card for this infraction, in addition to relegation.
Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe's Danny van Poppel raised his arms in celebration at the end of stage 3 of the Lidl Deutschland Tour in Kassel, but his triumph was short-lived. Moments after he crossed the line, the Dutch national champion was relegated to last in his group (33rd) after a dangerous swerve in the closing metres forced Matthew Brennan and Søren Wærenskjold to take evasive action.
As the Norwegian crossed the line behind Van Poppel, stage 2-winner Brennan finished 8th, gesticulating wildly. Both were ultimately upgraded, Wærenskjold winning his second stage of the race ahead of Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) and Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers), also extending his lead in the GC.
Since the inception of the UCI's yellow card system, the Dutchman was already the leading recipient with a total of three since January of this year (one each at the Tour Down Under, UAE Tour and Tour de France). They have however been spread out enough that he's yet to earn a suspension, the only rider to reach that point has been Oscar Riesebeek.
Tim Merlier took his second stage win of the Renewi Tour on Saturday, beating points classification leader Pavel Bittner and stage 2-winner Olav Kooij to the line in Bilzen-Hoeselt.
The fourth of five stages at the Belgian-Dutch WorldTour race saw a strong six-rider group break clear early on a day that looked ideal for the pure sprinters. After Friday's Classics-style showdown featuring the Muur van Geraardsbergen, the sprint teams were determined in the chase, but it was a close run thing, the gap still 50 seconds with 10km to go.
The last of the attackers was caught just inside 2km to go, and Jayco-AlUla put on a show of force, but there was no stopping Merlier who reacted to Kooij's acceleration, the young Dutchman fading a little as Bittner surged into second. After finishing safely in the group, Arnaud De Lie remains in the overall lead after finishing a brilliant second to Mathieu van der Poel on stage 3.
Jorgenson relishing Pogačar's absence at the Vuelta
For the first time in his career, Matteo Jorgenson is racing a second Grand Tour in one season after also supporting Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France, where the whole Visma-Lease a Bike team was once again faced with the challenge that is Tadej Pogačar. The world champion is not at the Vuelta a España, however, a fact that has Jorgenson and his teammates relishing the opportunity before them.
"The race will be very different without him ... If Pogačar is in, he forces everyone to race differently, whether you’re going for a stage win or the GC," Jorgenson told media in the days before the Vuelta. "I’m looking forward to it, it’s not often that I get the chance to race without him in the race. I’m going to enjoy it."
Pieterse shifts focus to MTB title defence, withdraws for road World Champs
Two weeks ago, Puck Pieterse was named on the seven-rider Dutch team roster for the elite women's road race at the World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, but the reigning under-23 road world champion has now withdrawn her name from the list as she turns her focus back to the mountain bike.
Pieterse has set her sights on the defence of her MTB world title, this year's event taking place in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on 13th September. In the run-up, the 23-year-old is expected to resume her off-road season at Les Gets at the end of August.
She's raced four World Cup rounds so far this year, winning short-track events at Nové Mesto, Leogang and Val di Sole, also winning the XCO races at the latter two.
Taking Pieterse's place on the Dutch Worlds squad is Riejanne Markus.
Jakobsen suffers another setback as he breaks collarbone at Renewi Tour
Fabio Jakobsen was on the road back to himself following iliac artery surgery in the spring, but his comeback has been interrupted by a broken collarbone inflicted during stage 3 of the Renewi Tour.
The WorldTour stage race that visits Belgium and the Netherlands was the sprinter's second appearance after almost five months out of competition, his first being the PostNord Tour of Denmark where he completed two stages before withdrawing on the morning of the time trial.
It's been a tough few years for Jakobsen with results few and far between, and while his goals are "to regain competition hardness and race rhythm" for the time being, the Dutchman has reported significantly better feeling in his body since the surgery. [Picnic PostNL]
Caruso unable to start Vuelta after fracturing his hand
Bahrain Victorious veteran Damiano Caruso is unable to start the Vuelta a España after fracturing his hand in a fall a couple of days before stage 1 from Turin.
The 37-year-old road captain will be replaced by 22-year-old British climber Finlay Pickering, who lines up at his debut Grand Tour in support of team leader Antonio Tiberi who is targeting a high GC finish.
Also making a late change to their lineup is Ineos Grenadiers, with recent Tour of Poland stage winner Ben Turner subbing in for an unwell Lucas Hamilton.
Narváez pips Sheehan after early celebration
On Friday's stage 2 of the Deutschland Tour, Riley Sheehan (Israel-Premier Tech) joined a long list of notables with the ignominious distinction of being beaten at the line after celebrating too early.
The lumpy stage in the UCI 2.Pro-rated event saw Sheehan, Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) leave the field behind in the final 10 km, leading to a three-rider sprint for the win. Sheehan launched first and led into the closing meters, where he began to raise his arms in celebration – only to watch Narváez surge past in the final moment.
Van der Poel outkicks De Lie in Geraardsbergen to win stage 3 of the Renewi Tour
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) bested Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) to win stage 3 of the Renewi Tour in the heart of Classics country. The pair had gotten clear with Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) going over the iconic Muur van Geraardsbergen, and Wellens was left behind inside the final kilometer to set up a two-rider sprint.
Despite De Lie's sprint prowess, Van der Poel took the win in a cobbled finale. As a consolation prize, De Lie now leads the GC standings with Van der Poel in second overall, one second back. Four-time Renewi Tour winner Wellens took third on the day and also moved into third overall.
Matthew Brennan is youngest ever to 10 pro wins
British WorldTour rookie Matthew Brennan has been turning heads in the pro peloton since his first victory at the Grand Prix Denain Porte du Hainaut in March, but the Visma-Lease a Bike rider hasn't stopped. On Thursday he notched his 10th victory as a pro at the Lidl Deutschland Tour, taking a bunch kick over the likes of Lidl-Trek's Jonathan Milan.
In the process, Brennan set a record of sorts as the youngest professional to reach the 10-win mark. Brennan only just turned 20 on August 6, making him 200 days younger than Giuseppe Saronni, the previous record holder. Saronni, of course, would twice win the Giro d'Italia and also the 1982 Road World Championships. Other riders notably fast to 10 wins are his Visma teammate Olav Kooij – who won his 43rd career pro race today on stage 2 of the Renewi Tour – Peter Sagan, and a couple of guys named Bartali and Merckx.
Kooij sprints to victory on stage 2 of the Renewi Tour
Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) won stage 2 of the Renewi Tour, which came down to a sprint in Ardooie. The Dutchman had previously been caught behind a split in crosswinds, but he came back to the front and ultimately triumphed in a bunch kick ahead of Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL). Arvid De Kleijn (Tudor) took third after Milan Fretin (Cofidis) was relegated.
That relegation altered the standings just enough to keep stage 1 winner Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step), who was not particularly close in the stage 2 sprint, in the race lead with Kooij in second on the same time.
Vingegaard knows what caused off-days at the Tour de France but he won't tell us
Ahead of the Vuelta a España, Jonas Vingegaard has said that he and his Visma-Lease a Bike team think they have discovered what was behind his off-days at the Tour de France – but he won't be divulging that information to the rest of the world.
"We think we've figured it out. But we're keeping it a secret," he said, as Wielerflits reports. "Will I never have an off-day again? It can always happen, although we certainly hope not." [Wielerflits]
