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Hello out there and welcome to another edition of the newsletter, hope you have all been enjoying the recent racing as spring classics season ramps up and we’ve even had our first Monument, with the next couple hot on its heels.
The newsletter is later than scheduled, but for my money actually works quite nicely as a short, contained review of the classics thus far, before we head on to Flanders and Roubaix over the next couple of weekends. It also gives me the chance to revert back to posting on a Monday/Tuesday from now on, which I feel is more logical in terms of looking back on previous weeks’ racing and tends to be quieter anyway.
So, here is EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN CYCLING IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS! Let’s get cracking.
ON THE WEBSITE
Two new posts for you to digest this week. The first is long, but it’s one I’m proud of. Hot on the heels of my Q&A for Cyclist Magazine, I’ve published the rest of the long, interesting conversation I had with Stefan Kung over on the website. It’s a great read (if I do say so myself), allowing you to get inside the head of a smart, versatile rider, and to read the thoughts of probably the most enthusiastic man to ever discuss team time trials. Grab a beverage of your choice and take some time to read Stefan’s thoughts, it’s well worth it.
And in today’s post, I share some musings on the successes of some of the young Brits doing great things in cycling right now, in spite of the disarray within the domestic scene. And some thoughts on the future - is it all doom and gloom?
Oh and I’ve also jumped on the Substack bandwagon. Not intended to replace this newsletter, or the website, the Substack is a bit of an in-between place, between my social media output and more long-form opinion pieces, where I’ll be expressing myself a bit more freely and diving into topics that interest me or are a bit more niche, and generally just being myself a bit more - so if you really enjoy my work, and want to hear even more from me, I’d love you to sign up there too.
ON THE POD
We seem to have accidentally recorded weekly since I last wrote to you, so if you are keeping up with the pod, you’ve got two episodes to enjoy. Last week’s focused primarily on analysis of Milano-Sanremo, and there was also a bit about beards – quality listening guaranteed.
This week’s episode, recorded just yesterday, delves into all the action from the Classics, and Volta Catalunya – is Matthew Brennan the next big thing in British cycling?
NEWS! NEWS! HERE IS SOME NEWS!
Top story: Tour de Britain: 2027 Grand Départ confirmed
It was almost a done deal the last time I wrote to you, but now I can bring you the exciting news you’ve all been waiting for (and no doubt will have read already, especially if you live in the UK): the 2027 Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes will begin in Great Britain. For the men, that’s Edinburgh specifically, before the race travels to Wales for stage 2 and England for stage 3 (don’t get me started on the traffic logistics of that little lot). For the women, there’s no concrete information yet other than the first three stages will also take place over here, with Leeds and/or Yorkshire at large being touted for at least one stage.
HOW EXCITING!
Top story: UCI increase Grand Tour teams to 23; reveal TDF wildcards
In a meeting that happened yesterday, the UCI made the exceptional decision to allow 23 teams to compete in men’s Grand Tours as of the 2025 season. It’s a decision that’s been met with mixed reviews - on the one hand, there has been criticisism, owing to the impact of adding another 8 riders to such tense race situations, particularly in the first couple of stages. On the flip side, the strength of the top ProTeams deserves to be rewarded - there is no easy answer here, but the rider’s union, the CPA, are apparently supporting the decision, so we’ll just have to see how it pans out. '
The wildcards for the Tour de France were revealed shortly afterwards and include TotalEnergies, Tudor Pro Cycling and Uno-X Mobility, with Q36.5 Pro Cycling one of the teams overlooked for Le Tour. The Giro d’Italia wildcards were revealed later on, and do include Q36.5, along with Tudor once again, and two Italian teams - Team Polti-VisitMalta and of course, Bardiani (Lotto opt to sit out for the second year in a row, giving one extra wildcard).
TOP STORY: Tadej Pogačar to ride Paris-Roubaix
Yes, after weeks and weeks of speculation and will-he-won’t-he tedium it’s finally been confirmed that the world champion will indeed take to the start of the only Monument he’s never ridden, in a couple of weeks’ time. The cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are an unknown quantity for the Slovenian, other than for the odd recon ride with teammates, but he immediately becomes third-favourite with the bookies to win, because of course he does. Given the form of Mathieu van der Poel, his presence is likely the only thing that will prevent the race becoming another long solo ride for victory.
TOP STORY: Jonas Vingegaard’s injuries more complex than initially reported
Following his crash at Paris-Nice, Visma-Lease A Bike have since confirmed that Jonas Vingegaard actually sustained a concussion and will require longer to recover than first expected. Vingegaard, who complained of dizziness and was apparently unsteady on his bike according to teammate Victor Campanaerts, was apparently checked for concussion on the day but continued to ride having been cleared, despite his symptoms. He looks likely to miss the next race on his calendar, the Criterium du Dauphiné, meaning he will arrive at the Tour de France in uncertain form, assuming he is fully recovered in time to do so.
BITESIZE CHUNKS OF NEWS - YUM!
Caleb Ewan takes first win in 200 days – following a period of uncertainty in terms of his future at Jayco-AlUla, the sprinter joined INEOS and has impressed on debut, winning his first race for 200 days at the Coppi e Bartali, taking victory for his new team at the first time of asking
Brugge-de Panne fiasco – there was carnage at the unofficial ‘sprinter’s world championships’ in Belgium on Wednesday, as multiple crashes marred the final kilometres of the one-day classic, with a number of riders requiring treatment and the expected bunch sprint reduced down to a lottery of whoever had been lucky enough to avoid incident
Track champions league comes to an end after four years – sad news for fans of indoor cycling as the UCI confirms that the track champions league has been scrapped
Fabio Jakobsen to step away from cycling – following a difficult start to the season, the Team Picnic-PostNL rider has confirmed that he will undergo surgery to treat an issue with his iliac artery. Jakobsen is the latest in a long line of riders to undergo this kind of surgery. We wish him well for a swift recovery!
Fem van Empel takes time away from the sport - the cyclocross world champion cites her mental health and wellbeing as she takes some time out, shortly after starting her road season
OH HAPPY DAY!
Celebrating the lighter side of the sport…
CUTE DOG CLAIMS HE HAS FAMOUS CYCLIST OWNER, APPARENTLY!
(From MVDP instagram)
TRAPPED PRO CYCLIST HAS TO BE RESCUED SO HE CAN RACE!
NORWEGIAN TWIN TEAM BUS DANCE-OFF! WHO WINS? YOU DECIDE!
ROAD RACING RESULTS ROUND-UP
When I left you last time, we were approaching the final stages of Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico- so let’s pick up where we left off, and summarise the rest of the action.
In stages 6/7 – both of which were designated ‘Queen’ stages – Juan Ayuso soloed to victory in Tirreno-Adriatico, all but assuring his overall victory in the process, while Filippo Ganna set a strong, manageable pace up the climb to keep himself in the podium spots. In Paris-Nice, the stage was shortened due to snow on the highest peak at Auron. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) made gains on GC, but it was Tudor Pro Cycling’s Michael Storer who recorded his first victory since August 2023, from the breakaway.
And finally, stages 7/8, in which Mathieu van der Poel had a little go at a breakaway, Filippo Ganna won an intermediate sprint to move into 2nd on GC, and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) won his second bunch sprint of the week, while Juan Ayuso sealed the overall victory for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. And in France, Magnus Sheffield sealed a great week all round for the INEOS Grenadiers with a solo victory, while Matteo Jorgenson wrapped up the overall win.
EVERYTHING AFTER…
At the Trofeo Alfredo Binda (16 Mar), Elisa Balsamo recorded her third victory, successfully defending her title, after a strange sort of race which saw plenty of attacking but a whole lot of looking around too by the top favourites, namely Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen. Both tried to break away but it came back together in the end for a reduced bunch sprint, and Lidl-Trek made it five wins in a row at the Italian Classic.
There were a series of one-day classics in the following week, beginning with Nokere Koerse (19 Mar), a one-day classic which saw sprint victories for Nils Eekhoff (Team Picnic PostNL) and Marta Lach (Team SD Worx ProTime).
On the same day, Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) got the better of Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease A Bike) and Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) to win Milano Torino.
Next up was round 2 of the Coupe de France at the GP de Denain (20 Mar), where in-form British youngster Matthew Brennan won his first World Tour level race for Visma-Lease A Bike.
Three in three days, it was on to the tough, attritional Bredene Koksijde Classic (21 Mar) was hectic and aggressive from the moment it was on our screens with around 120km remaining, with multiple attacks and crosswinds splitting the bunch into groups and Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek) took his first victory since May 2021. And it was an emotional one, with his family there to be with him - watch the video, and be prepared for some onion-chopping to occur…
Milano-Sanremo (22 Mar) is traditionally the first Monument of the season, and it was amazing to have the women’s race back on the calendar, timed to perfection so that both women’s and men’s could be viewed at the crucial points (though as always, the women could have done with full coverage too).
We discuss both races in depth on the podcast, but in short, the women’s race was exciting, but a little too short to be tough enough for it to come down to anything but a win for Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-ProTime). It was close-run, with Elisa Longo Borghini almost making it after launching a long-range effort from 3km out, but Lotte Kopecky did a monster turn to pull Wiebes back and from there, it was straightforward for the European champion, who sprinted past Marianne Vos to become the first women’s winner of the race for 20 years. Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly) finished impressively in third.
The men’s race was its usual long, gradually building self, but it played out quite differently in the end to the past few years. With a couple of crashes holding up various pre-race favourites, UAE launched a ragged effort to catapult Tadej Pogacar up the road, following through on the promise of what they’ve tried to do in recent years, but this time Pogi actually took on the Cipressa himself – but he didn’t have things all his own way. He took Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna with him, and though he tried to drop them (and did drop Ganna for a time on the Poggio), he was unable to distance van der Poel, and Ganna time-trialled his way back to the lead duo in the ride of the day, before it came down to a three-up sprint, which was won by Mathieu van der Poel. It was a fabulous race, which kept us guessing until the very last moment – and it continues to be a thorn in the side of the world champion.
The Volta Catalunya (24-30 Mar) began in thrilling fashion with a last-gasp battle for the line between Tibor Del Grosso (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and the in-form Matty Brennan. Brennan reeled in the fading Del Grosso just metres from the line, while simultaneously holding off his teammate Kaden Groves who was sitting on his wheel ready to pounce. Stage 2 saw a full bunch sprint, with the honours going to another Brit, Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech), with Groves going one better in second.
The first of the GC days was stage 3’s 200km+ climbing stage. Heading up into the snowy Pyrenees, the battle came down to two riders, Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), who sprinted it out for the line ahead of the rest, with Ayuso edging ahead to take the stage. The following day the tables turned, with Primož Roglič victorious on stage 4. This told the story of the week’s general classification, as the two tussled for bonus seconds, barely separated by more than a second at any point. Stage 5 was the final opportunity for the sprinters, and it was a second stage victory for the unstoppable Matty Brennan, before he left the race the following day, amid rumours that he may go and join the classics squad.
Stage 6 was supposed to be the Queen stage of the race but due to high winds at the top of the day’s main climb, the race was not only shortened but also neutralised in the early stages, as organisers sought to establish the safety of the newly planned circuit. It led to frustration among the riders and eventually the commissaire relented and allowed the peloton to race the final 28km of the circuit. It led to a short, sharp, frenetic stage, almost all taking place downhill, and as such, completed in just half an hour. The stage was won from a late breakaway by Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek).
The final stage was the traditional Barcelona circuit with its six ascents of the Montjuïc climb, and it was a final head-to-head between the two GC protagonists, Ayuso and Roglič, who traded early blows in the two intermediate sprints, the jersey changing hands twice on the road, before the Red Bull man took his leave 30km from home, with Ayuso unable to hold his wheel. Roglič soloed to victory, an unusual look for him but one which proved his condition heading into the Giro - he will be the man to beat, at La Corsa Rosa.
Alongside the Spanish race and the Classics, an Italian stage race was also on the go. The Coppi e Bartali (25-29 Mar) began with the aforementioned victory of Caleb Ewan on stage 1, before a first pro victory for Team Jayco-AlUla’s Paul Double on stage 2, as the GC contest kicked off in earnest. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) soloed to victory on both stages 3 and 5, with Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease A Bike) backing up his great start to the season with a win on stage 4, and wrapping up the overall classification.
E3 Saxo Classic (28 Mar) marked the beginning of the cobbled classics PROPER in Belgium and it’s always a bit of a barnstormer. There was a big crash early on that split the race so by the time the broadcast began so much had already happened, with a split in the bunch and loads of the key plays caught behind including MVDP, Van Aert and Ganna.
It all came back together on the Kanarieberg, with 111km still to go, and after a period of togetherness INEOS kicked things off again, with Ben Turner attacking at 84km to go –Lidl-Trek quickly took them up on the gauntlet thrown down on the Taaienberg – Mads Pedersen launched, followed by van der Poel, and Ganna managed to bridge to them too. It looked set to be another three-way battle of the titans but van der Poel must have decided he preferred his own company once again, as on the Oude Kwaremomt, he attacked, dropping Pedersen and soloing to victory. There’s not a lot else to be said other than that the cobbled Monuments look set to be a two-horse race between van der Poel and Pogačar… it seems we have ourselves a new rivalry for the ages.
Gent-Wevelgem (30 Mar) saw a mad battle in the early stages of the race, featuring echelons and chaos and a long-range attack from Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), from whence he was able to solo away with 40km remaining to take his third victory at the race. Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-ProTime) won the women’s race following ano
And finally, the Cholet Agglo Tour (23 Mar) and La Roue Tourangelle (30 Mar) were the latest legs in the Coupe de France. At the former, Unibet Tietema Rockets’ break-out star of the season so far, Lukáš Kubiš, took his first pro victory, while at the latter, on a sunny day in the Loire Valley, Uno-X Mobility policed a late breakaway and engineered a victory for their sprinter Erlend Blikra.
FINAL THOUGHT – Life after Demi: Team SD Worx domination continues
It was supposed to be the great re-distribution of power in the women’s peloton. Demi Vollering’s transfer to FDJ SUEZ completed an off-season of big moves, with team leaders switching around and from an exterior perspective at least, bringing a bit more balance to the bunch. Eliso Longo Borghini moved to UAE Team AQG, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig to Canyon//SRAM, and Niamh Fisher-Black – understudy to Vollering at SD Worx – would theoretically be able to fly free at Lidl-Trek. Marlen Reusser headed to Movistar and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot would finally offer a viable GC leader for the Tour de France Femmes at Visma-Lease A Bike.
Since then, we’ve watched just a few of the season’s significant races unfold, but it’s arguably enough to draw some early conclusions, though the bulk of the stage racing is yet to come.
One thing is glaringly apparent, if you cast your eye down the list of the WWT-level races thus far – SD Worx haven’t weakened at all. If anything, they’re stronger than they were previously, at least in one-day races. Of her 10 race days so far this season, Lorena Wiebes has won 7 (the others were 20th in a mountain stage at UAE Tour – not exactly bad for a sprinter – 5th at Omloop and a DNF at Strade Bianche). Anna van der Breggen has come into the season at a far higher level than anybody expected and will offer a real GC option to challenge Vollering along with at the Ardennes Classics, while Lotte Kopecky hasn’t even ridden for herself yet, but will scare the rest of the field coming into the cobbled Monuments in the next two weekend. And let’s not forget that in races where Wiebes wasn’t present, other riders have been able to step up and claim victory - Marta Lach at Nokere Koerse, Femke Gerritse at Omloop van het Hageland and Mischa Bredewold in a stage of Setmana Ciclista Valenciana.
Of course, things can change and situations develop as seasons go on, but currently, as far as one-day races go, SD Worx look pretty unbeatable. As for the stage races, whether anyone will realistically be able to challenge Demi Vollering this season, with the elite mountain train she inherits at FDJ SUEZ, has yet to be seen – but’s it difficult to see her not winning the majority of the races she starts. So have we spread the balance of power, or merely shifted the key players so as to allow them to operate at their full capacity, free of internal politics and fights for supremacy? Could this actually backfire on us, as we see World Tour level races (and a few more besides) shared between just three or four riders? There’s plenty of the season to go and I still believe that there’s enough depth in the women’s peloton to provide a few upsets along the way – but I’m not suer I’d stake my house on it.
THE LAST WORD
Thanks as always for reading – somehow I’ve actually managed to keep this edition a bit more manageable in terms of size, despite the amount of racing we’ve had. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. If you fancy supporting my endeavours to provide free, unique and informative cycling content, you can buy me a coffee – I really appreciate all and any support that you might be able to send my way.
Onto De Ronde and Paris-Roubaix! The cobbles await!
Cheers,
Katy