Tadej Pogacar is back! The Giro d'Italia and Tour de France champion is heading to Canada, where he will lead UAE Team Emirates as the Slovenian steps up his preparation for the upcoming World Championships.Ive had a good break from racing and am eager to get back to it now starting in Canada,"...

The Ryedale Grasscrete Grand Prix was part of the shrinking National Road Series

Strava warns against eroding "part of the platform's magic" with paid-for activities, following numerous reports of users advertising their services as so-called "mules" or "jockeys" to record on people's behalf

BothHet Laatste Nieuwsand La Gazzetta dello Sport's CiroScognamigliohave reported this Tuesday morning, that Jonas Vingegaard is set to try and emulate Tadej Pogacar next season by taking on the daunting task of a Giro d'Italia - Tour de France double.Is this actually the case though? Well acco...

A dramatic post-thunderstorm sky pays homage to your Strava PR, and the golden light of the evening sun casts long shadows across the asphalt. Youve got a tailwind as you crest the final climb, and there it is; that fleeting, indescribable moment. You feel light; all of your troubles have melted away. Cycling can make you happy, and its addictive. But how do we achieve this drop bar high?Much of what we perceive as individual happiness is nothing but simple biochemistry. Hormones control how we perceive the world. They make us more resistant to stress, more courageous, and happier. If hormones are the ingredients for happiness, bikes are the bartenders. Can I interest you in a shot of self-confidence in the drops? Coming right up. It takes just 30 minutes of monotonous pedalling to regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, lowering your bodys production of stress hormones. Add a shot of dopamine and a pinch of serotonin, and suddenly you have an ego like Pogaar. Or would you prefer a sex-on-the-bike? Exerting your muscles gets your testosterone and oestrogen production revving and so do aero wheels and 3D-printed saddles, of course.But enough with the mundane biology. After all, were not just victims of evolution, but drop bar enthusiasts. A highly evolved species that consciously decides which stressors to expose itself to, and where to seek happiness. A good place to start is our website or app honestly. We try to give you access to the full range of bike related topics. From outlandish components and high-end bikes, to magical places, epic adventures, and pseudo-philosophical essays on the subject of happiness as you have here. So, if you want, you can get started with a dose of inspiration from the slipstream of others enthusiasm. But even the most moving vicarious experience cant replace first-hand reality. The consumption of content is always just for starters, the main course is served in the saddle. Its more rewarding to actually plough through the muddy potato fields for 30 minutes than to spend an hour scrolling through Robins sun-drenched pics in Searching for Paradise.Back from Ibiza? Then its time to get on your bike. But wait! Have you planned the perfect route? Hows the weather looking? And do these socks match your kit? They call it freedom of choice, but more options are often crippling rather than freeing. In search of the perfect choice, we wander through infinite possibilities and eventually lose sight of the goal. Whether its finding yourself in a state of paralysis while staring at meteorological models or while comparing the specs of your hundredth wheel upgrade option, theres a sweet spot for making decisions. If you miss it, youll just procrastinate and be unhappy. The way we make decisions is often more important than the decision itself. So its better to order the mystery cocktail at the endorphin bar, than to wait for the dopamine jockey to have you kicked out.Happiness needs space and an element of surprise to unfold. With a minute by minute weather forecast, route planning, heart rate sensors and power meters, gels and bars, credit cards and mobile phones, you leave nothing to chance; fortuity fettered. Stuck in a heart rate zone marked out with shrill warning tones, you follow a pixelated line with a lowered gaze, and know exactly when to consume your caffeine gel to cope with the 13.7 % gradient at kilometre 61.4. The ride turns into a proxy of predefined expectations. That might make you fit, but does it make you happy?Fortunately, however, you cant plan for everything, and theres no escaping serendipity even in the drops. Riders who stare at the sun icon on their weather app in disbelief while caught in a hailstorm; a construction site that forces you onto beautiful single-track with 30 mm tires; and the kind grandpa who still has a spare tube somewhere in his basement and then makes you a sandwich and drives you to the next train station because you cant get the tight-fitting tubeless tire off the rim. Happiness is almost always the product of despair giving way to the realisation that drama is merely a doorway to special moments or new experiences. Sometimes it takes a thunderstorm to stagger out of a pub two hours later with a new-found friend, only to discover that the sky would have cleared even if you stayed sober fate just couldnt resist mixing your dopamine cocktail with one or three shots of alcohol.But happiness needs more than (un)lucky coincidences. Happiness requires leisure. Its difficult to escape supposed obligations or to-dos that youve been deferring. Even bikes arent a life hack against stress or depression. Cycling isnt a means to an end, cycling is an end in itself. You allow things to happen, with an open-end and no deadlines.If all this doesnt make you happy, the endorphin bartender has got one last secret behind the counter. No matter how unfit you are, no matter how strong the headwind, no matter how dull the route, there is a moment on every ride that feels right. You just cant go looking for it it will find you. It emerges from the mist; rides on a tailwind; grins at you from the bottom of an empty cappuccino cup. Suddenly, it makes sense to be right here, right now. And you cant help but smile.Der Beitrag Chasing Happiness When does cycling bring us joy? erschien zuerst auf GRAN FONDO Cycling Magazine.

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 Arka-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.Promotion-relegation? A reminder teams are ranked on the basis of their points haul from 2023, 2024 and 2025 and the top-18 teams make the cut for the World Tour in 2026 and beyond, at least in sporting terms as they have to prove theyve got their finances and admin in order too.You can see Cofidis in 18th place but note the gap as theyre 1,723 points ahead of rivals Arka. Thats no guarantee for Cofidis though as theyre having a terrible season this year and will lose two of their top-three points scorers in Axel Zingle and Guillaume Martin, the pair have scored almost a third of the teams points this season. Still theyve made new signings like Alex Aranburu, Emanuel Buchmann and Simon Carr but theyll be required to score from the spring onwards. To reprise the old joke about the two hikers worried about encountering a bear, one turns to the other and says I dont have to outrun the bear, I just have to out run you. For now Cofidis just need to keep clear of Arka who so far havent announced any signings.DSM Firmenich-Post NL have had a good Vuelta and Tour of Britain to get 726 points clear of Cofidis. Intermarch-Wanty though are having a bad season and having recently highlighted their financial woes, it is only speculation but these might have persisted as the team is still not making any big signings. Now theyve got a star in Girmay and got it all right at the Tour de France but thats the point, hes scored a third of their points and injury or illness at the wrong time year could be costly. Bahrain are the surprise flop of the season Uno-X have scored more than them this year but insulated from relegation worries thanks to a strong 2023 score.Meanwhile Astana are so behind that relegation looks like a formality but theyve responded by going on a shopping spree. The big question is whether the likes of Wout Poels, Sergio Higuita, Aaron Gate and Diego Ulissi can pull it off next year. In crude terms Astana are over 4,000 points behind Cofidis today so they need these new signings to deliver 1,000 points each just pull level. Itll be a story to watch next year. All this assumes the new sponsor and investor XDS is on board and the licence renewal goes smoothlyTalking of which its mid-September and has anyone heard any news about a replacement sponsor for Dstny? As well as the three year promotion and relegation cycle, all teams are vetted annually for their finances and admin and the short version is that Lotto-Your Name Here need to supply the UCIs Licence Commission with their 2025 budget plans in the coming weeks, normally something youd work once a new sponsor is on board. Only theres no news, Belgian state lottery Lotto has said it cant afford to carry the whole team. Theres a soft October deadline for tidy admin but things can go to December, as weve seen with other teams before. The problem here is that riders on the team dont want to wait until December to find out theyre free to sign elsewhere. Hopefully everythings in place as this is a decent team with good prospects but weve all seen this story before.Not to push the Lotto worries too far, but to pre-empt the inevitable question: if the team did vanish then only IPT would be promoted and Arka go from 19th place to 18th and safety, but just based on todays numbers as the French team is 334 points above Uno-X and the Norwegian team seem to keep improving.Back to things as they look today and Uno-X might not make the World Tour by 2025 but look good for regular invitations to the grand tours. Likewise Tudor Pro Cycling which has been big in the transfer market signing Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi. Both are great signings but will require clever management not to tread on each others toes as theyre both very similar riders. With Tudor scoring more and more points its increasingly looking likely that Total Energies are in a bind when it comes to invitations, especially for the Tour de France and if theyre not visible at the Tour then dont expect the sponsor to stay for long.Finally its worth putting away the magnifying glass and calculator just to look at the haul of UAE so far this season as theyve already beaten their tally from last year and Tadej Pogaar is about to resume racing. Hes their top scorer with 9105 points, more than several teams have managed but this kind of thing happens in a winner-takes-all domain like sport. The teams next best scorer is Marc Hirschi.The post UCI WorldTour Promotion and Relegation first appeared on The Inner Ring.

Grippy and durable with a competitive weight expensive, yes, but an excellent all-season tyre 9/10

In recent years, Slovenia have emerged as one of the powerhouses in world cycling. As of yet however, a road race Rainbow Jersey has remained elusive. According to latest reports, in 2025, Slovenian cycling is set to pull out all the stops to win the World Championship road race in Zurich.According...

Mattias Skjelmose rode for general classification for the first time in his career at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana and it's fair to say the Lidl-Trek talent was successful, taking home a top 5 placing and the White Jersey for Best Young Rider.Could things have been even better for the 23-year-old Dane...