Jan Christen has a lot on his mind as he and UAE Team Emirates - XRG head into the final week of the Giro d'Italia. The team are flying high with four stage wins already confirming a successful race, but Christen is disappointed he hasn't been one of them and is on a mission for a stage win. The 21-...

Cameron Jones won the 2025 Unbound Gravel race in a record-breaking time, and he could be set to go even faster at this years edition. Thats because the New Zealander is set to take to the Flint Hills of Kansas, and the worlds premiere gravel race, onboard a prototype Scott bike with 32in wheels. Jones says the bike makes him feel as if he's levitating over the surface and highlights the advantages of the larger wheel size. The driving traction and cornering grip is revolutionary. I'm genuinely scared how fast I'll be able to corner once on a course with proper descents, he says. The 32in wheels are shod in 50mm tyres. Lukas Schumacher / Scott Bikes Jones will be racing the 200-mile event on the bike from Scotts Racing Concept, which develops products and tests them in competition, alongside Robin Gemperle, winner of the 2025 Tour Divide and Silk Road Mountain Race. The two athletes have been testing the 32in gravel bike since last year. Gemperle says: We started by riding an unfinished bike, with crucial parts still developing. But ever since, Ive known that even if there wouldnt be a single additional test ride, Id immediately take it to racing once granted permission. Scott says Unbound Gravel, which runs from Thursday 28 May to Sunday 31 May, pushes riders and equipment to the limit. Unbound Gravel has proven to be the perfect proving ground to take innovation out of the lab and into real-world racing conditions, it says. Pure prototypes The bike won't be available commercially. Lukas Schumacher / Scott Bikes Scott adds that the bikes ridden by Jones and Gemperle are pure prototypes that will never be released on the market. Maybe predictably, it has shared few details about the project beyond the wheel size. This fits in with other mainstream cycling brands that have said they are developing prototypes but have remained secretive about plans to release 32in bikes to the market. BMC athletes raced a 32in prototype at the Andorran round of the XC World Cup in July 2025 and the Swiss company later told BikeRadar it had no plans to release a bike with the oversized wheels. A few weeks ago, Warren Rossiter tested a steel gravel bike with 32in wheels made by Mercx Bikes but that too is a prototype. However, this doesnt mean bikes with 32in wheels arent coming. Meridas Stephan Seitz said the company is developing gravel bikes and cross-country mountain bikes with the wheel size. Although he didnt say when Merida would release its bikes, he said we can expect the wheel size to be the performance standard around the spring of 2027. But even if larger brands are yet to release 32in bikes, the standard has already become a popular choice for bespoke bicycle builders.

The Giro d'Italia Women is set to feature some of the world's best riders as they compete for the second grand tour of the year. Beginning on May 30th, riders such as Demi Vollering, Elisa Longo Borghini, Lorena Wiebes, Elise Chabbey and more headline a star-studded startlist. Nine stages lie in st...

The Dane was speaking at a Giro d'Italia rest day press conference

With the help of the experts from Favero, the brand behind the class-leading Assioma PRO RS and PRO RL power meter pedals, we explain why training with power is the most reliable tool you can buy if you want to improve on the bike

Tim Merlier may have left Monday's Antwerp Port Epic frustrated after the breakaway had their day and he had to settle for a bunch sprint for minor places, but both he and his team know things are falling into place just in time. The Soudal - Quickstep sprinter now heads to altitude training to fine...

To answer a readers question on the CFR XC prototype aero Reserve gravel wheels story Yes, that is a new prototype inverted Cannondale Lefty fork, that were going to call the Lefty Nueve. Details are officially non-existent at this point. But the Cannondale Factory team clearly has a new suspension fork at their disposal. And everyone is racing on it, suggesting this isnt just some one-off R&D prototype. So what makes it better than the Lefty Ocho?Cannondales prototype Lefty Nueve one-legged XC fork(All photos/Cory Benson)The 8th-generation Lefty Ocho has been around for a long time officially since 2018, so were not too surprised that it was bound for an update. And based on Cannondales previous Spanish naming scheme, were going to dub this one Lefty Nueve because I simply like how that sounds.The Lefty has always been divisive, but love it or hate it from a design (or servicing) perspective, this one-legged fork has delivered top-tier lightweight cross-country performance for decades. Just look at the Ocho. What other XC suspension fork has been raced at the World Cup level for 8 years, effectively unchanged?But it was time for an update. And it looks like Cannondale design engineers have found some tweaks.Whats new?Overall, Cannondales prototype Lefty Nueve looks a lot like the inverted Ocho fork. But there are plenty of subtle differences that hint at improvements.First up, theyve slimmed down the new upper. It is noticeably thinner just above the bulge for the lower bushing & seal. And then it features a smoother tapered transition up to its widest point at the top of the fork leg.There, it also transitions more smoothly through its one-sided crown up to the headtube. Before, there was about a ~2cm thick step where the steerer heads up into the frame, whereas now the crown looks to be as thin as ~5mm on the right side under the headset. There is also a new hole under the steerer tube. Maybe that could allow a high fender mount, or a light thru-bolt to tension the headset?New Chamber Damper controlsThe top of the leg also reveals some damper control updates. A new simplified top cap still allows for a cable-actuated remote lockout which the CFR team used to combine with some variation of a 2- or 3-cable Fox Twin Stick lockout that also operated a dropper post. But now it looks like several racers have opted for different setups to control fork & shock lockout, and CFRs mechanical Fox Transfer dropper posts.What has really changed here, though, is that compression damping adjustment is no longer tool-free on top of the fork. Now, theres a new rubber cover on the front of the fork leg, suggesting internal damping adjustment. Maybe youll get both HSC & LSC controls?More open stanchion guard & new StopLock brake mountThen, the upper brake line guide is slightly tweaked, with a continuous tube for the race team down to the brake line guide on the updated orange lower stanchion guard with a bigger window that the team straps its race transponder to. The new guard also appears to now be mounted only to the front & inside of the fork, not the outside of the fork leg.Cannondale also redesigned the Leftys StopLock brake mount with a new quick-release. Although its hard to know for sure what all has changed or why at this point. We can see they moved the mounting point for the adjustable brake caliper adapter, a bit back from the dropout, while the arm supporting the caliper moves up and closer to the stanchion. The redesign may make it easier to mount different rotor sizes, or it might just simplify disconnecting the caliper to remove the front wheel.Besides all that, the lower red rebound knob on the Cannondale teams Lefty prototypes is also a new smoother round shape vs. the existing ridged knob. That doesnt necessarily confirm any change, but maybe suggests more fine adjustment or greater rebound damping control?Coming soon?Does this Cannondale Lefty prototype suggest a new Lefty Nueve XC fork is just around the corner? Cannondale Factory Racing seem to have settled in on the new fork. And these forks look like production finishes, not working development prototypes. We wouldnt be surprised to see a new Lefty Nueve very soon.Cannondale.comThe post Yes, Thats A New Lefty Nueve. Cannondale Factory Racing is Racing Prototype MTB Fork. appeared first on Bikerumor.

Comfortable, light and reassuringly aero, but pricey

The mountains return to centre stage at the Giro dItalia with a stage 16 that promises fireworks from kilometre zero. The 113-kilometre day between Bellinzona and Cari packs five climbs and an explosive finish that could shake up the general classification. Ahead of the stage, Alberto Contador brok...

The post Customer Story An Iconic Journey Across Spain and Portugal appeared first on Skedaddle Blog.