With two seasons done and one left before the next cut for promotion and relegation, a look at the standings. Things look lively for 2025 with Astana and Arkéa already below the line for relegation but would one or both sign up today for relegation if they could have the guarantee their team stayed afloat for 2026 and beyond? Meanwhile Uno-X are on the up and Cofidis and DSM Firmenich-PostNL have reasons to be nervous.
Happy New Year, or Bonne Année as they say at the UCI HQ in Aigle, Switzerland*. A new year has rung in but don’t worry if you missed the party last night although it’s safe to say a share of the peloton will have sunk some beers after the finish of races in Nanning, Utsunomiya and Bassano del Grappa yesterday.
Officially the 2025 professional road cycling season starts today. It’s anecdotal for the most part but there’s one big fix to be done.
The Tour of Guangxi is on and it’s a parade of sprint finishes on massive boulevards so far. Tomorrow sees the summit finish stage so look out for that to determine the GC.
The inevitable result, achieved through the most probable tactics: Tadej Pogačar wins Il Lombardia with an attack on the Colma di Sormano with 48km to go. The lack of surprise extended to his nearest rivals who did not dare to follow him, as if they’d decided to settle for second place already.
Tadej Pogačar is putting previewers out of business. He’s won the last three editions of this race and his late season form seems so good so he can ride into the history books this Saturday and swap comparisons with Eddy Merckx for one with Fausto Coppi who won this race four times in a row (1946-1949)… but also took a fifth win in 1954.
It’s hard to write about the other contenders because how to get ahead of Pogačar? Still it might be fun to see them try.
Any good at design and engineering? If so then here are some problems you might be able to help solve. There might even be a prize from a team or two if you can make it happen.
Tadej Pogačar attacks with over 100km. The winning moment? Yes, but this time with hindsight as for some time the result was uncertain. It made for a gripping race especially with the chase behind and the battle for the lower steps of the podium.
Wout van Aert has signed a contract with Visma-Lease A Bike “for eternity”. He’s not alone as Chris Froome and Michael Woods are said to have “retirement contracts” meaning they can ride for their team as long as they wish. These are just some examples among several of long term contracts and they’re becoming increasingly common.
As a concept it’s great to see longer deals for the stability and security they can signify. But, and there’s always a but, the longer the contract, the more it it is at risk of being broken. Soon we could see a new transfer market as teams trade talent.
With the Vuelta done plenty of UCI ranking points have been added. To save you a click the story though remains the same with Lotto-Dstny and IPT set for promotion back to the World Tour in 2026, and Astana and Arkéa-B&B Hotels facing the drop.
If you want more details and some speculation and the sound of an alarm bell or two, read on.
The Vuelta is firmly the third grand tour. Few target it at the start of the season, even those that elect to ride rarely do route reconds. In a sport where so much is measured and calculated, the Vuelta is the odd one out among grand tours with its mañana vibe. This is what makes it so good, the grand tour version of Snakes and Ladders after two versions of Monopoly in May and July.
Ben O’Connor took time early in the race but even while five minutes behind Primož Roglič seemed to ride his own race. If there was a defining moment then the Puerto de Ancares saw him drop the field and more than halve O’Connor’s lead but the story was probably more one of gradual pressure with Roglič slowly cracking O’Connor and keeping the rest at bay.