Wout Van Aert does not have the best history with Dwars door Vlaanderen, however he can very well change that this Wednesday in Waregem. The final cobbled classic before the riders reach the monuments is an important day of racing and with both Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel absent, the Belg...

Dublin City Council has said today that it will stop building sub-standard cycle routes that include narrow cycle lanes, shared areas with pedestrians, and are often left disjointed, with convoluted junction design, which poorly serves all road users. Council officials have after years of going against national and international best practices has said it will push ahead with cycle lanes but will design them better.They said that designs which they claimed were more pedestrian friendly were not being used how they expected by pedestrians, and increased the crossing distance, and so danger, for pedestrians who did use the designs as expected.Agnes Hathaway, a spokesperson for Dublin City Councils CEO Richard Shakespeare, said: In a change of direction, Dublin City Council is now admitting that it was wrong to say it was all for cycling, but then keep planning routes that would hardly accommodate the current levels of cycling, never mind any growth in cycling. Our engineers years ago admitted in a publicly available online presentation that our preferred junction design dubbed by pesky cycle advocates as Dublin-style junctions do not work the way we expected them to. Years later, we now accept this as a council, she said. She said: We were following our motto that the obedience of the citizens produces a happy city, but our citizens are not that obedient and keep using our lovely designs the wrong way.Hathaway said: We now accept that we dont know better than the Dutch at how to design cycle routes. We will now look to follow best international practices with some rather than using convoluted junction design, which poorly serves all road users.IMAGE: Draft plans for the junction with Islandbridge on the Conyngham Road Active Travel Scheme were given an example of a convoluted junction design.She said that the councils approach to date has been trying to signalise the interaction between cycle track and footpath users at some junctions, while mixing all those users on the same surfaces at other junctions was contradictory.IMAGE: Junctions along the Gracefield Road to Vernon Avenue Active Travel, where everything possible is done at one junction, not to use Dutch-like designs because people walking and cycling could not possibly mix without traffic lights to guide them and then at another junction in the same project, where people cycling are directed onto footpaths to make basic turns.It was wrong for us, collectively as a council, to claim to be all for cycling, but continue to propose active travel projects and cycle routes with narrow, sub-standard cycle tracks and convoluted junction designs, said Hathaway.It is expected that the council will now adjust the design of the Gracefield Road to Vernon Avenue Active Travel project again before it goes to construction this summer, and it will also revise the design of the Chapelizod Road and Conyngham Road Active Travel Scheme.Hathaway said: We now accept that the cycle track on the Clontarf to City Centre route is narrower than it could and should have been. We found that officials were wearing noise-cancelling headphones when members of the public repeatedly tried to tell them that overtaking is an issue on the route. IMAGE: Narrow cycle lanes such as those in the current drawings for the Gracefield Road to Vernon Avenue Active Travel project would be a thing of the past a council spokesperson said with the fingers crossed behind their backs.

The 2025 Dwars door Vlaanderen was one of the most dramatic races of the season and a day that will be memorable in modern cycling. Team Visma | Lease a Bike attacked the race and created a perfect split out front with three riders in a group of four, but wasted the opportunity and lost out to Neils...

Why Marche could be Italys next great cycling destinationAs Tirreno-Adriatico rolls through the region, Marche is using one of cyclings biggest stages to show why its quiet roads, coastal views and mountain trails deserve a place on every riders wish list.When the peloton races across Marche in the closing stages of Tirreno-Adriatico, television viewers will see more than a battle for the overall win. They will get a sweeping introduction to one of Italys most appealing and still relatively under-the-radar cycling regions. Hills folded into the horizon, stone villages perched above the valleys, and roads that seem made for long days in the saddle all help explain why Marche is pushing hard to become a leading destination for cycle tourism.Stretching from the Adriatic coast to the Apennines, Marche offers the kind of variety that makes a cycling holiday easy to build around. Riders can roll along seaside roads in the morning, head inland through vineyards and olive groves by lunchtime, and finish the day climbing into quieter mountain landscapes. According to the regional tourism agency, that mix of scenery, culture and relatively gentle terrain is helping Marche attract a growing audience of domestic and international visitors looking for a more authentic and sustainable way to travel.That is part of the reason the region is placing such emphasis on cycling right now. Francesco Acquaroli, President of the Marche Region, says the global TV images from Tirreno-Adriatico offer the chance to present Marche as a destination with nature, culture, hospitality and quality of life all wrapped into one. It is not just about elite sport, but about showing how the same roads and landscapes can be experienced at a slower pace by everyday riders.For anyone planning a trip, the appeal lies in the breadth of riding on offer. Marche is not simply a road cycling destination, even if smooth backroads and rolling terrain make it a natural fit for endurance miles. The region also pitches itself as ideal for gravel riders, mountain bikers and more casual touring cyclists, with routes that pass through historic centres, natural parks and small villages where food and wine are very much part of the experience.Among the standout routes is the Ciclovia delle Abbazie, a 69 kilometre ride that follows the Chienti River inland on cycle paths and links a series of important abbeys. It is as much a cultural ride as a sporting one, threading Romanesque heritage through a landscape shaped by spirituality and agriculture. For riders who like their miles with a side of history, it sounds like one of the regions most distinctive options.Then there is the Ciclovia Adriatica, which runs north to south through Marche with the sea on one side and the regions trademark rolling hills on the other. It is an itinerary that captures the contrast that makes this part of Italy so attractive by bike: beaches and coastlines close enough to the uplands that each days route can feel different without requiring a major transfer.For those wanting something longer and more immersive, the Ciclo Appenninica Alte Marche covers roughly 200 kilometres through the northern Apennines and links nine municipalities including Acqualagna, Apecchio, Cagli, Cantiano and Frontone. It promises a deeper ride into the interior, where culture, local traditions and mountain scenery take over from the better-known coastal postcard views.Mountain bikers have their own flagship challenge in the Grande Anello dei Sibillini, a route of around 180 kilometres around the Monti Sibillini National Park. The course mainly uses forest tracks and low-traffic paved roads, with stage options that can be adapted according to fitness and ambition. For riders who prefer their adventures wild, remote and a little more rugged, this looks like one of the jewels in Marches crown.Importantly, the region is not relying on scenery alone. The press material highlights a growing network of bike-friendly accommodation, specialist guides, rental services, mechanical support, sports associations and local authorities working together to make cycling trips easier to organise. That kind of infrastructure matters. Great roads can spark interest, but it is the practical support around them that turns a promising destination into one riders recommend to their friends.Marche is also betting on the marketing power of major races. The region says Tirreno-Adriatico brings significant international exposure, with 170 accredited media outlets, 13,000 online articles published in 69 countries, 2,843 hours of television coverage and an estimated audience of 36 million viewers. It is a substantial shop window, and one that helps explain why tourism boards increasingly see elite racing as a gateway to long-term visitor growth.That spotlight will return in May when the eighth stage of the 2026 Giro dItalia finishes in Fermo on Saturday 16 May. Marina Santucci, Director of ATIM, says the region sees cycling as both a top-level sporting platform and a way of strengthening Marches international profile as a destination for travellers who want to explore by bike. With the Giros worldwide reach and the economic impact associated with the race, it is easy to see why.For riders looking beyond Italys best-known cycling hotspots, Marche makes a compelling case. It has the coast, the climbs, the culture and, crucially, roads that still feel like they belong to the rider rather than the traffic. This week the professionals are racing through it. The bigger story may be how many people decide to come back and ride it for themselves.

Remco Evenepoels Volta a Catalunya was not defined by what he won, but by what he gave up. In a race where expectations naturally sit around his own general classification ambitions, the Belgian instead pivoted into a support role for Florian Lipowitz. It was a shift that caught Jens Voigt off guar...

New explorr Festival to launch in Royal Deeside with one-day gravel stage raceA new gravel-focused endurance festival is set to arrive in Scotland this summer, with organisers unveiling the inaugural explorr Festival in Banchory, Aberdeenshire. Scheduled for 28 to 30 August 2026, the three-day event will be centred around a new one-day gravel stage race in the foothills of the Cairngorms National Park, while also promising a broader celebration of outdoor sport and culture on the banks of the River Dee.At the centre of the programme is the explorr Gravel Stage Race, a 120km challenge made up of four timed stages that will take riders across forest tracks, quiet roads and the wide open terrain of Royal Deeside. Instead of a traditional point-to-point or mass-start gravel race, the event will use a cumulative time format, with riders tackling separate competitive sectors across the day before their overall result is decided by combined stage times.Organisers say the format has been designed to reward more than just endurance. With 76km of timed racing across the four stages, riders will need to balance pacing, positioning and tactical judgement as they move between race sectors on untimed transition sections. That should create a different rhythm from a conventional gravel race and, on paper at least, opens the door to more aggressive racing and shifting fortunes throughout the day.There will also be more than one prize on the line. Alongside the overall General Classification, the event will feature mountain and sprint competitions across selected climbs and fast segments, adding another layer of strategy for riders who may not be targeting the outright win. It is a format that borrows some of the appeal of road stage racing, but places it firmly in a gravel setting that should suit punchy riders as much as diesel-powered endurance specialists.The team behind the event is Red On Sports, the organiser of The Gralloch, which was launched as the UKs first UCI Gravel World Series race and helped establish Scotland as a major destination on the international gravel calendar. With explorr, Red On Sports appears to be broadening its approach, using its experience in high-profile gravel events to create something aimed not only at elite racers but also at ambitious amateurs looking for a more varied and accessible race experience.That wider appeal is a key part of the pitch. Rather than standing alone as a single race day, explorr is being framed as a full outdoor festival, with gravel cycling, running and community activities sharing the same space across the weekend. The event village in Banchory is expected to host live music, athlete talks, film screenings and an outdoor expo, giving the festival a feel that goes beyond numbers, timings and results sheets.The wider programme reflects that ambition. Alongside the gravel stage race, the weekend will include running events over 5km, 10km, half marathon and marathon distances, as well as a charity night hike, childrens races and other community activities. The organisers say the night hike will raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK, Breast Cancer UK and Banchory Outdoor and Active, tying the festival to both national charities and local initiatives.For riders, the location may be one of the strongest selling points. Banchory sits on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park and offers quick access to the kind of mixed terrain that has become central to modern gravel racing: hard-packed forestry roads, rolling backroads, big views and the possibility of punchy climbing. It is exactly the sort of landscape that can make a race memorable even before the stopwatch starts.Early-bird entries for explorr Festival 2026 are now open, with full event details available via the organisers website. If the event can match the atmosphere promised in its launch announcement, it could give the UK gravel scene another significant date in late August and add a fresh format to a calendar that is still evolving at pace.

Good morning and welcome to the LiveBlog for the fourth of the five World Tour cobbled classics: Dwars door Vlaanderen. Today will be a tough day on the bike. The peloton faces 11 cobbled sections and 12 climbs. Excitement is building ahead of the Tour of Flanders, which takes place this Sunday, so...

Dwaars door Vlaanderen is today, its name is literally Across Flanders only it covers a tiny portion of Flanders. Similarly this Sundays Ronde van Vlaanderen doesnt tour much of Flanders, instead it loops around a very small part of the region. As do many of the other spring classics.The map above shows Belgium within the thick green national border and the Flanders-Wallonia border running east-west, as well as the circle of Brussels.The red lines are the routes of all the events organised by Flanders Classics (Omloop Nieuwsblad, Ronde van Brugge, In Flanders Fields/Wevelgem, Dwars Door Vlaanderen, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Scheldeprijs, Ronde van Limburg, Brabantse Pijl).The other races are the independently run Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in dark purple, the Nokere Koerse is light purple while pink is the E3 Saxo Classic route, light blue for the Koksijde Classic and dark blue for the GP Monsre.You might prefer to see each race in a different colour. But the point here is not to differentiate each course more to show how many overlap. Its less a map and more a bowl of spaghetti. Trying different colours actually doesnt work well because so many overlap.As you can see a lot of Flanders isnt visited by the major bike races, plenty of Flemish residents dont exactly have a spring classic on their doorstep. The Scheldeprijs might be around Antwerp to the north but has plenty of the course in the Netherlands.Look at the map again and this time theres an added yellow rectangle. This measures 30km by 20km. Inside it sit most of the Omloop, Kuurne, Nokere, E3, Dwaars and Ronde routes. Its here that sit many of the famous climbs, think of the Paterberg, Oude Kwaremont, Taaienberg and Molenberg.The image above zooms in on the same 30km by 20km zone. A lot of races within this area overlap. There can be cobbled sectors taken one direction that are reversed in another race but often theres only one right way. Nobody wants to race down the Paterberg.By themselves most of these climbs are modest, the Taaienberg can often be crucial but it is about 600m long and lasts just over a minute in these races. Its the accumulation and distance thats needed.Geography means some races have few features to break up the peloton unless the wind is blowing. A sprint finish can be thrilling but the ride to get their can feel processional for TV viewers. Since the last decade many race organisers, including plenty outside of Flanders, have sought to add more obstacles and jeopardy in order to make the TV experience more lively.So in Flanders organisers head for the hills and concoct a course designed to tackle as many climbs and cobbles as possible. The twisting and turning to achieve this compounds matters as races zig and zag through corners and junctions.It used to be thought that learning the lie of the land was an advantage in racing, knowing where a road widened and allowed you to overtake before a key climb or cobbled sector could save energy. Now a lot of this lore has been mapped.Theres now familiarity for riders and spectators alike. The current Omloop Nieuwsblad finale has the same route as the old Ronde. Meanwhile the current Ronde has the same Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg-finish in Oudenaarde since 2014 now and feels very much like a known quantityConclusionMany of the Flemish classics take place in a small area and the same roads get criss-crossed? Its no secret and obvious to many. But this post just puts all the Flemish classics onto the same map to visualise this.The post Touring Flanders? first appeared on The Inner Ring.

Mattias Skjelmose arrived at the 2026 Volta a Catalunya expecting more from himself than he ultimately delivered, and his own verdict reflects that frustration. Im not super impressed with myself, he told TV2, reflecting on a race that marked his first stage race appearance of the season. The exp...

Ritchey has launched a new alt-bar that draws on their extensive design history to create an upright alloy handlebar ideal for comfort on rough roads. Explore all the details below...The post The Ritchey El Camino Bar is Made for Rough Roads appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.