Jonas Vingegaard delivered a devastating long-range attack to win Stage 5 of Paris-Nice, riding clear on the steep slopes of the Cte de Saint-Jean-de-Muzols before extending his advantage across the final climbs to seal a dominant solo victory in the maillot jaune. The Danish rider launched his mov...

For the acclaimed artist, time on the bike is as restorative as it is physical a way to clear their head before returning home to pick up the guitar

CyclistIs the writing on the wall for Picnic-PostNL?Picnic-PostNL feel like a team in freefall. They were staring down the barrel of relegation last season, a year in which they only managed four victories but clung onto WorldTour status by the skin of their teeth. And still, due to undisclosed financial conditions, they were only given an initial one-year licence while everyone else rests easy in the three-year cycle.The standout rider in 2025 was undoubtedly Scotsman Oscar Onley. A shining light in the darkness, he made a big step up in his development into a strong GC rider at just 22 years of age and rode to fourth overall at the Tour de France a huge result for Picnic. Onley didnt stick around though, leaving Picnic for Ineos in a contract buyout that set a new record of just under 6 million, which definitely helped with the teams finances short-term, but it doesnt mean much if the team doesnt perform at all.2026 hasnt got off to a great start. With EF Education-EasyPosts Luke Lamperti winning the opening stage of Paris-Nice, Picnic are now the only team yet to win a this season, and they havent even managed a second place, with Pavel Bittner and Frits Biesterboss thirds at the Volta ao Algarve and AlUla Tour their best results. Things are looking bleak. Related Posts Promotions and relegations update: Which men's teams will move onto the WorldTour in 2026? Vuelta a Espaa 2026 stage-by-stage preview: Six summit finishes, 40km against the clock and a southern focus Giro d'Italia 2026 to have Bulgaria start, Passo Giau Queen Stage and a lot less climbing: Full route breakdown Tour de France 2026 route revealed: Back-to-back Alpe d'Huez summit finishes, Barcelona TTT and Montmartre return AlUla Tour/Tony EsnaultPicnic-PostNL are not a rich team. Far from it, Money in Sport reported the team had almost 20million in losses over the past three years. They cant afford to pay for ready-made Grand Tour winners. Development is key and has been for a while, with a wealth of rising stars having left the team once they proved themselves, but its something of a luxury with a pressing deadline of having to turn the ship around and win now. Theyre stuck between a rock and a hard place.When casting eyes over the current crop of riders on Picnics 2026 roster, there are a few big names well past their heydays in John Degenkolb, Warren Barguil and Fabio Jakobsen and a few young talents who have flirted with a big breakthrough in Max Poole and Pavel Bittner. Theyre one of the most youthful teams in the WorldTour and its the younger riders shouldering a lot of responsibility heading further into 2026. Its hard to see where the next win will come from, is there any hope left?Picking up the slackMax Poole is one of five British riders on the team and is the most ready to fill the gap left by Onley. He enjoyed a fantastic 2024 season finishing seventh overall at the UAE Tour, second at the Vuelta a Burgos, had top three placings on four stages of the Vuelta a Espaa and won the Tour de Langkawi.He started 2025 stronger still, with good results at the Tour of the Alps and an 11th overall finish at the Giro dItalia, but his season was ultimately derailed by the Epstein Barr virus by the summer. Hes back racing in 2026 after six months off, and the 23-year-old is expected to bear the brunt of GC responsibility heading into the Giro dItalia in May. If he can be back to his best, theres no reason that he cant try to crack the top ten.Pavel Bittner is another that shone in 2024, bookending the Vuelta a Burgos with stage wins before winning a dramatic Vuelta sprint against Wout van Aert and coming a close second in another. The Czech rider built on this form in 2025 with top ten finishes at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and Scheldeprijs in the spring, but the only victory he took all year was the Renewi Tour points classification. It wasnt without trying, with fourth and fifth on sprint stages at the Tour de France, but he couldnt quite make that final push. This year Bittner started with third on the opening stage at the Volta ao Algarve, but his next best finish so far is tenth. Hell be hoping to break his duck in the Belgian Classics before taking on Paris-Roubaix and then returning to the Tour in the summer.Sprinter Casper van Uden is another one that could steal a win, having taken a stage at the Giro last year. The issue is having to pick the right races for these riders, and for sprinters not getting it done against the likes of Jonthan Milan, Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen, its best to pick lower level races. So far in 2026 Van Udens best result has been eighth the first stage of the Tour Down Under, and hes barely breached the top 20 apart from that, being deployed as Fabio Jakobsens leadout at the UAE Tour.Dario Belingheri/Getty ImagesThe highlight of Frank van den Broeks career was the breakaway perfection alongside then-teammate Romain Bardet on the opening stage of the 2024 Tour. It was a smash and grab raid by the pair who stunned the field to go 1-2 and get Bardet into the yellow jersey. He managed a more conventional second from the breakaway on last season, but other than that his results list isnt eye-catching. If he can go one better at this years Tour it would help the team massively.They do have a few riders starting to show themselves in big races this season. Frits Biesterbos was signed off the back of a second place at the Gravel World Championships in 2025 and had a couple of top tens already, ex-Swatt Club and Zwift Academy contestant Mattia Gaffuri has had a couple of breakaway outings, and Brit Bjorn Koerdt has had consistent top 20s in non-WorldTour races.Their fruitful development team that the likes of Onley and Poole were promoted from is still plugging away too, with Jurgen Zomermaand getting a win and finishing fifth overall at the recent Tour du Rwanda. But with only one year on the WorldTour secure, the focus must remain on the present.This is looking like the last year before retirement for 37-year-old John Degenkolb, winner of ten Vuelta stages, plus both Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix in 2015. He hasnt won a race since 2020 but still performs at Paris-Roubaix and is an important leader with so many inexperienced riders. Warren Barguil was once tipped to be one of Frances next big hopes, and was the King of the Mountains winner at the 2017 Tour. Its been a while since he was firing on all cylinders, but the 34-year-old is still a vital leader in big races. Sadly he is already sidelined after a crash in February and will be out of action for a while. They cant catch a break.The loss of Oscar Onley could be turned into a positive for Picnic-PostNL if they reinvest the funds correctly, but while tape might stop the boat from leaking, you need wind for it to set sail. With a dire looking financial situation and developing riders still doing exactly that, perhaps a little bit of time and a step down from the WorldTour is whats needed to rejuvenate this once-legendary team.The post Is the writing on the wall for Picnic-PostNL? appeared first on Cyclist.

Wout van Aert admitted the sense of a missed opportunity after Mathieu van der Poel edged him in the sprint at the end of a gripping fourth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, but the Belgian was quick to acknowledge that his long-time rival had ultimately been the strongest rider in the decisive finale. Th...

Soudal - Quick-Step might not have a big overall leader or a top sprinter at Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico right now. However, they are still building confidence for the upcoming Spring Classics. After Jasper Stuyven took a third place in the second stage of Paris-Nice, 21-year-old talent Paul Mag...

Giulio Pellizzari continued his impressive week at Tirreno-Adriatico by sprinting to second place on Stage 4 behind Mathieu van der Poel, delivering another unexpected result in a reduced-group finish. The Italian rider, who had already finished second earlier in the race after the decisive gravel m...

For Tom Pidcock, the road to Milano-Sanremo is not following the usual script. While many of the riders targeting the seasons first Monument traditionally arrive via Tirreno-Adriatico or Paris-Nice, the British rider has opted for a different build-up this spring. The decision reflects a wider appr...

The cycling world has been hit with more disciplinary news, as the Colombian Continental squad, Team Medellin - EPM, will be forced to stop racing for a full month. This penalty comes directly from the sport's governing body after two of their athletes had serious issues with their Athlete Biologica...

Everything changed overnight for Groupama - FDJ at Paris-Nice. On Wednesday, David Gaudu rode brilliantly on the difficult roads of Uchon to climb to 5th place in the overall standings. However, by Thursday afternoon, the team leader had stepped off his bike and abandoned the race. With his teammate...

A good day for a breakaway and the most accessible stage of the week.Stage 5 Wrap: a fast stage with a solid breakaway but Visma-LAB chased hard and last helper Victor Campenaerts led out Jonas Vingegaard on the hardest climb of the day so the Dane could attack with 21km to go. Nobody could follow him, Lenny Martinez was close but as soon as the climbing was done Martinez and others floundered and the Dane was away for a second stage win and after yesterdays wardrobe malfunction he looked good in the yellow jersey and now leads the mountains competition and sits in second place on the points competition behind Luke Lamperti. Its pleasing to see Vingegaard being this audacious but lets hope the Giro has more suspense.The chase behind was amusing if only because there was little pursuit and instead the riders were taking turns to attack. Kvin Vauquelin was keen to make up for lost time but it showed, he was making a lot of moves and almost paid for this as he struggled to follow others.The Route: 179km and 2,100m of vertical gain. Its similar to 2020 when the race came and toured the Luberon mountains before a finish in Apt but a different route altogether. None of the climbs are tricky by themselves.The Finish: the climb to Saignon with two difficult kilometres. Its almost the finish line as 20 seconds for a lone rider over the top could be sufficient to win.The Contenders: the archetypal winner today is a fast-finisher who can handle some climbs and the final climb . Whether they infiltrate the break or use their teams to control the race depends on their squads.Luke Lamperti (EF) fits the bill here but will be challenged by the climbs. Biniam Girmay (NSN) likewise and while hes not had a result so far he might find todays course less chaotic. Dorian Godon (Ineos) and Orluis Aular (Movistar) could be better on the climbs, likewise Max Kanter (XDS-Astana). Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) is a contender but a rare winner.The Van Dijcke brothers impressed on the stage to Uchon and Tim was the better but theres not much in it. Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X) finds roads to suit. Victor Campenaerts (Visma-LAB) looks in great form. UAE dont have many options left but it could be Ivo Oliveiras time.Leknessund, Godon, Aular, KanterCampenaerts, Vacek, Oliveira, LampertiWeather: sunshine and 16C, with a gentle breeze of 10km/h from the SW.TV: two hours of live coverage with the finish at 5.00pm CET.Postcard from AptParis-Nice returns to Apt for the third time, completing the superstitious French phrase of jamais deux sans trois or never two without three. Thats fitting for today, Friday 13th. Often associated with bad luck, in France it can go both ways. Lottery operator FDJ gets a boost in sales today. While the probability of a Friday 13th is 1.72 times per year, 2026 has three: last month, today and one in November too.Superstition has its place in pro cycling. As irrational as it might be, it makes sense in a domain where random events occur. You might crash because you went into a corner too fast; but often its because someone swerves, someone else brakes, and theres a pile-up 40 places down the line. Theres been a lot of work to minimise random events and master the details once upon a time team manager Antonin Magne would use a pendulum to dowse rider ability, today we have power meters but it remains a fundamentally risky sport. Many a rider has their pre-race rituals.Embed from Getty ImagesThe number 13 is often pinned on upside down in a race. In the 2023 Tour de France it didnt exist with UAE having numbers 11-12 and 14-19. But only the 13 gets this, other unlucky numbers like 17 in Italy or 4 in Japan dont seem to get the same treatment.Coincidental or not the last time Paris-Nice came to Apt it was in 2020 and on Friday 13 too. Tiesj Benoot won that day but if there was luck involved it did not show. His team Sren Kragh Andersen had been up road with Romain Bardet when Benoot blasted across in the finale and then rode away for the win. It was the kind of tactical coup Sunweb would deploy in the Tour de France later that year to take three stage wins. The team is branded Picnic-PostNL and need some luck as theyre the only team without a win this season, theyre last among their peers on the UCI rankings by some way and they were the slowest in the team time trial earlier this week. Maybe today?The post Paris-Nice Stage 6 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.