The women's peloton will have to make do without one of its star climbers in 2026. The third rider of the 2024 Tour de France Femmes, Pauliena Rooijakkers, will step away from racing for a foreseeable future to fully focus on more joyous moments in her life - welcoming her first child - as she annou...

After 15 gruelling days, the Giro d'Italia reached Milano where they can enjoy a second rest day. Some are putting up mental fortress to bear the endless climbing days ahead while others plot ways to turn around their Giro. And for cycling fans, this is a perfect time to quickly look back at the las...

Comment & Analysis: Why every American family should have an e-bike at home was the title of an article published last week by electric vehicle website Electrek.co, but even with a clear disclaimer, everybody and their mother felt like piping in to add their own extra disclaimers.The article has two clear disclaimers: Sure, not every person and not every trip. Maybe not even as a complete replacement for cars. But as a standard household tool? Absolutely! was included at the start of the article, and soon after a second disclaimer: An e-bike wont replace every car trip. Nobody is pretending otherwise. But it can replace a shocking number of them.But even with those disclaimers, some people couldnt help themselves.The excuses rolled in: What about investing in public transport? What about people who live in apartments? What about disabled people? Few these were posed as actual questions; they were more statements. And no, it was not just where people can only see the headline. On Bluesky, even when the disclaimer Sure, not every person and not every trip was the central part of the post, there were people posting about how it wouldnt suit them because they live up a mountain, and others questioning how disabled people who dont have the use of their arms or legs wouldnt survive if you got rid of other forms of transport (Im not joking here and nor was the poster).Of course, nobody suggested that we get rid of all other forms of transport, and the reality is that a wider range of disabled people can cycle than can those who can drive. And thats true even if some cannot cycle and some cannot, some can drive and some cannot, some can do both, and some can do neither.The idea of investing in public transport first seems to attract many well-meaning people, but in most towns and cities, public transport on its own is no more of a solution than cycling on its own. Others said they support cycling, but the infrastructure needs to come first. I get this. I avoid heavily recommending cycling to people in places where the infrastructure is poor, but theres no city which just got all its cycling infrastructure all at once. Its a process, and part of it is more and more people cycling while infrastructure is ramped up. If there isnt some level of use on a growing network, the case for continuing to build is weakened. Getting cycling before the experience on our streets is like Utrecht will suit some people and not others.One comment replying to the article with a photo of more than one child on a bicycle said:And where pray tell are people in apartments supposed to store these? How does one use them for grocery shopping without an attached cart (and where does one store that)? Transporting more than one child?This is not realistic for nearly as many families as white suburban people think they are.Responding to this comment, Doug Gordon, co-host of the War on Cars podcast, said: This person is responding to a post about using e-bikes that includes the qualifier, Sure, not every person and not every trip. There is no amount of carving out exceptions that matters. Theres something about bike discourse that makes a lot of people lose all ability to reason or process nuance.He added: Thats why we push back a little when people say The War on Cars is too aggressive a title or pushes folks away. Had we named the show The Look We Understand That Most People Need Cars but Wouldnt It Be Nice to Change Things Just a Little Podcast wed have received just as much pushback.And this is the thing: nearly any time cycling is suggested, theres somebody who reacts with exceptionalism. Basically: Thats fine for the Dutch, but its not for us, or something like that.Tom Flood, the bicycle advocacy worlds unofficial marketing and advertising manager, regularly re-posts his posters, such as the car-to-cargo bike poster (see below). Today, he jokingly added the following disclaimer *disclaimer, the cargo bike is meant to replace every trip for every person in every situation, in every place for all of time.He might as well be saying unironically, because theres a cluster of people who go around acting as if someone is suggesting that everybody can or will cycle. Some of them really sound as if they think somebody is going to force them to cycle.I recall a comment a few months ago mentioning how cycling was being shoved down peoples throats. And this was just in response to a council (a municipality) posting about cycling on Facebook, as if they couldnt just keep scrolling.Meanwhile, car companies advertise their products to everyone without disclaimers, and their messaging is often saturated across radio, TV, online and billboards.Most of the people who shout about bicycles not suiting disabled people dont seem to mind that theres a range of people who cannot drive, from the young to the old to people with different abilities.Car advertising is not just really pushed on us a lot of it is pure fantasy, such as cars drifting through city streets that are congested at the best of times. Yet these advertisements are rarely questioned by the broad group of people who dissect any article or social media post advocating for cycling.

A stage in Switzerland or Svizzera to locals, and also a share of the pro peloton and more.The Route: just 113km but 3,000m of vertical gain amid a strange route. Its up the valley, then a turning to the right into a side valley for two laps with the steep but regular climb of Leontica. Then back down to the main valley again where theres a drag up to the intermediate sprint.The Finish: this south-facing finish is steep with lots of 10% sections and has featured in the Tour de Suisse, Adam Yates won here in 2024 alongside Joo Almeida. The first 8km are the hardest and then comesa small descent through the village of Campello but itll on a straight road, not easy for outsider to float away. Then once out of the village its onto the main ski station access road, wider and steadier; that 13% max on the graphic above is only from taking the inside line through a hairpin.The Contenders: if Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-LAB) wants to win then he can. He and his team can copyi tactics from Saturdays Alpine stage by putting his team to work. Theres even less time for the breakaway to form, then build up a lead. The big question is whether he wants to freewheel to Rome instead and spare his team mates today. The small question is if he could try to get Davide Piganzoli into a winning position, easier said than done as Felix Gall is out-climbing him.If not theres space for some riders to win. There might be a looming energy crisis but this is not bothering Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and his darting attacks are lively but perhaps today he needs to get in the breakaway and hide while a couple of team mates like Sobrero and Ghebreigzabhier pull on the front of the group to tow him clear. He seems the best pick, Enric Mas (Movistar) is short of form and his team management have said this out loud, Einer Rubio is not looking decisive either.Jan Christen (UAE) winning in Switzerland should be more than appropriate but hes looking less and less sizzling.VingegaardCiccone, PiganzoliMas, Rubio, VlasovWeather: 33C in the valley, 24C at the finish.TV: KM0 is at 2.00pm and the finish is forecast for 5.15pm CEST.Postcard from BellinzonaTodays stage is 100% Swiss but the Giro ought to feel at home as the canton of Ticino is home to many. Literally, for example Filippo Ganna lives in Ascona just near the start and the area has long been home for Italian cyclists looking to save on tax and also live somewhere more private.Leave Bellinzona in another direction and a few minutes away is Lamone which is home to the UAE team. Its where the team is legally based even if it has a servizio corse near Bergamo in Italy. It inherited both from its past as the Lampre team but has stayed here. For all the promotion of the UAE as a country it says something that the team opts not to have their legal base there.Similarly Aussie team Jayco is based here. Riders who sign with the team have a contract with GreenEDGE Cycling SAGL, a Swiss company in nearby Lugano.Teams are free to shop around for the jurisdiction to suit. Unibet Rose Rockets ride under a French flag but only because Dutch teams are forbidden from promoting gambling companies like Unibet and so the squad has a postal/legal address in French, stones through from the Belgian border and nothing more French; team cars have Dutch plates etc. Belgian team Soudal-Quickstep is legally run out of Luxembourg but elects for a Belgian flag when it registers with the UCI.As suggested here before Decathlon-CMA CGM could finance Paul Seixass new contract by switching to a Swiss jurisdiction, all while keeping a French flag and licence but no longer paying French payroll taxes; former Groupama-FDJ boss Marc Madiot used to quip his highest paid rider was the tax office as it took more of the wage bill than anyone else. But Decathlon is also backed by two of the richest families in France and so it may not be bothered either.Todays stage though is not about taxes, but the fun of it which is what matters. This Swiss stage is the work of several locals including Rocco Cattaneo, an ex-pro whos been senior at the UCI, president of the European Cycling Union, and has been a Swiss parliamentarian too. They hosted the Tour de Suisse here in 2024 and had such a great time they approached the Giro and were awarded the stage. The only hiccup is they had other plans for the route but ended up with todays 110km micro-stage but they get their finish in Car and another day to party.The post Giro dItalia Stage 16 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

The absence of Joe Blackmore is not about to end any time soon, however a ray of hope to end the young Brit's problems has emerged. The 23-year-old had undergone a surgery to treat his knee injury, aiming to not postpone his racing return with NSN Cycling Team any further than necessary. Blackmore i...