If cycling heaven is winning the Tour de France and hell is climbing the Alpe d’Huez in a torrential downpour, the sport’s limbo must be ending the season without a contract for the coming year.
In 2026, amateur cyclists from around the world will once again have the chance to ride a stage of next year’s Tour de France under the same closed-road conditions as, presumably, Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, who between them have won the last six Tours.
At this time of year, change feels like an appropriate theme for reflection. And as cyclists, we are well aware that change isn’t always easy. When it comes to expanding your two-wheel horizons, it can mean shaking up routines, learning new skills, and sometimes risking…
The disheartening decades-long stretch of futility in Grand Tour racing for French men riders may be nearing an end because of the presence in the peloton of the French sporting goods retail giant Decathlon as a sponsor and because the current crop of under-25 riders…
