Since the battle for overall victory at the 2026 Giro d'Italia seems to be a one-sided competition, the sights of cycling fans turn towards the battle for remaining podium spots which is considerably more open with one big test left of this year's edition. Felix Gall seems comfortably in a second po...

CANYON//SRAM brought the breaking news on the Friday evening that their co-sponsor zondacrypto will disappear from the team's structure entirely with an immediate effect. This marks an end of a 20-month parternship which seems to have gone anything but smoothly and resulted in an abrupt termination...

The final mountain stage. If you plan to watch, note the timing is different so that TV coverage can switch to the start of the womens Giro which begins today.Stage 19 Review: a breathtaking stage, and that was just the scenery. The fresh green foliage of early summer, the jagged peaks with their last stripes of snow, and deep blue skies. It was even better because of the racing.Tudor surged on the Passo Duran with Michael Storer and Mathys Rondel on the attack. Derek Gee-West joined them as did others and a group coalesced with Giulio Ciccone, Giulio Pellizzari, Einer Rubio, plus Sepp Kuss as a watchman for Visma. Ben OConnor was briefly there but could not hold on. The group was a clear threat to others with top-10 positions on GC to defend so it had a hard time riding away but slowly took time. Netcompany-Ineos and even Decathlon-CMA CGM had to ride later on to ensure the move was contained.Ciccone was sprinting for the mountains points all day and got into a beef with Einer Rubio when the Colombian started to challenge him for these. When Rubio went for the intermediate sprint he got heckled by Storer and Gee-West, they wanted the time bonuses but perhaps didnt realise Rubio leads the Red Bull classification so had a reason to go here. When Rubio sprinted again on the final pass of the the day, the Falzarego, Ciccone was stung into action and attacked solo. He took a minute on the descent but it was insufficient on the final climb, sapped by the flat valley road he was fading, his pedal stroke was less a tell and more a broadcast.Pellizzari and Kuss attacked with Gee-West trying to follow, only for Pellizzari to blow and wait for his team mate Jai Hindley. Kuss then sprinted past Ciccone to take the stage, with Ciccone unable to help Gee-West much. The Italian now has the mountains jersey but to use an Italian idiom, hes put too much meat on the fire, as in hes been fighting on several fronts and having lost his cool with Rubio might have cost him the stage. Thats conditional given how well Kuss was moving.Two changes on GC with Egan Bernal now 10th overall after OConnor slid to 14th but Netcompany-Ineos wont cheer given the other was Thymen Arensman falling off the provisional podium after he was dropped on the final climb and Jai Hindley is now third. Also Jhonatan Narvaez did not finish the stage, with reports he was sore after colliding with an unmamed team bus after Stage 18.The Route: 200km and 3,750m of vertical gain. A flat dash across the plains after a start to commemorate the 50th anniversary of an earthquake and disaster. The first climb of the day is 7km at under 6%, nothing severe butIts up to Piancavallo on the main road, the ski station access route thats built for traffic. Its 14km at almost 8% and thats comparable to Alpe dHuez but the difference is today is more irregular, the first half is steeper with some 10% and even 800m of 12% along the way. Then its 6-7% with even a flat part in the second half.Its down from Piancavallo via a small backroad amid forests and mid-way theres a brief rise and then a series of tricky, irregular hairpins. At Lake Barcis the route is on a main road that loops back to the Piancavallo climb again.The Finish: the Piancavallo climb again. The slope eases to 4% once in town.The Contenders: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-LAB) is again the easy pick, his team can try to keep the breakaway within range and then hes got a long climb that is perfect for him, steep slopes to shake off his rivals that then ease for him to go into time-trial mode and gain time on others.Itll be hard for other GC rivals to get a look-in but the way the slope eases does leave Vingegaard exposed if he hasnt distanced them.The breakaway has a good chance, more space to build up a lead but ideally contenders for the summit finish go clear with a colleague tasked with towing the group clear. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull) has got some energy back but can he go for the stage or does Jai Hindleys third place the absolute goal? This makes him a harder pick.Can Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) relax now? Hes got the mountains jersey and can secure this with a few points on the first time up Monte Cavallo and with this he ought feel less pressure to take the stage, he doesnt have to go in the breakaway.VingegaardPellizzari, Ciccone, Gall, HindleyRubio, HarperWeather: sunny and 30CTV: KM0 is at 11.00am and the finish is forecast for 4.00pm CEST. The first time up Piancavallo begins at 1.55pm and the second time at 3.20pm.This earlier finish is because the first stage of the Giro Donne is on TV after the mens stage finishes. The stage is by the coast, as flat as a piadina and a Lorena Wiebes win looks likely.Postcard from PiancavalloWant to go skiing on Monte Cavallo today? Then just bring your skis and boots and off you go. Never mind the absence of snow, there is now a synthetic ski run and so can ski here every day of the year. Its not very long so few will travel far for the experience of sliding down a plastic slope.The problem is it the plastic slope could get crowded in winter. The ski resort sits at 1,200m and lifts can take skiers up to 1,805m. Thats low for a ski resort. Its not a car park + ski lift either. This is a purpose-built resort with hotels and inns, nothing vast but one of those places where you climb up a mountain and find incongruous urban architecture. Its selling point had been the first resort in Italy to have artificial snow cannons, almost a guarantee of snow.Only these days it can be too mild for the snow cannons to work. In recent years the local press has headlines of the resort having no snow. What to do? Its a question many similar places are facing, in Italy and beyond. Some are closing, ski lifts rusting in the wind, hotels boarded up.Piancavallo is doubling down. Hosting a Giro stage is part of this, a way to draw people to the resort for day-out but also to remind TV viewers that it exists as a destination for hiking and il biking, Italian for mountain biking.One thing Piancavallo has going for it is that if theres no snow in winter then it can still have better weather than down below. It where the mountains meet the pianura friulana plains and in winter the flat land below can be blanketed in fog formed by cold air stuck below the mountains.All this has an effect on pro cycling. The highest ski resorts can do without the publicity of the Giro and the Tour de France, they dont have to invest as much in alternative activities, even if the summer can be lucrative. But for other places cycling is increasingly a salvation and something to buy into. Literally in the case of today.The post Giro dItalia Stage 20 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

The 2026 season had lacked one of the world's for a long time, but Olav Kooij is finally back from his persistent health issues. And whilst he makes a racing debut for his new employer, Decathlon CMA CGM Team, the Dutchman has decided to spice things up with an immediate sprint victory on first oppo...

The race's new date frees it from a clash with the men's Tour de France and allows riders the chance to go for the double

Factor says riders are warming up to the fork and the brand is doubling down on its radical aero philosophy

UPDATED May 30, 2026 BY Guest Author IN The Odyssey no comments Biking the Balkans: An Exploration On 2 WheelsSara Frenning is the Content Creator on the 2026 The Odyssey Cycling Tour.Over 1400 km, 20 days, 4 countries, 4 languages, 3 currencies, winter, spring, summer, mountains, sea, and flatlands the Balkans really covered it all.In the small town of Danilovgrad, Montenegro, on a busy pedestrian street among cafs and restaurants, I asked the young guy at the tourism office what the best thing about Montenegro was. That you get everything you need, from views to food to culture, condensed in such a small country, he answered. Unbeknownst to him, his words not only perfectly described our time in Montenegro but also our whole experience biking the Balkans for the last 20 days.Between Athens and Sarajevo, we have had most of the weather known to man, but also an incredibly rich diversity of cultures, food, fauna, and landscapes, all squeezed into what felt like an impossibly short amount of time and distance.Before this trip, when I heard someone mention the Balkans, I had a homogeneous idea of what that meant. For me, I (naively) expected Eastern European architecture, grey buildings, green valleys, and one or two rice-stuffed vegetables across all these countries, but more or less the same. The reality, though, was very different. Even though there is a common thread that ties the Balkans together, each country has its own unique character and energy. The subtle shifts and changes in culture and energy are felt distinctly, especially on a bicycle.In Greece, the weather was anything but stereotypical. Hail, rain, sleet, and cold temperatures all paid us a visit, but the warmth of the people and good food made up for it. If I were to tell you about the olives, I would need another thousand words, so I will refrain.From Greece, we entered Albania, a country we all had high expectations for, and it was also the first time we saw the coast on this trip. The coastline along the Ionian Sea created a wonderful contrast to the breathtaking mountain views and farmlands, and, perhaps more importantly, offered the chance to soak our tired bodies in its comforting waves at the end of the day.Albania is developing fast, and infrastructure and cities are growing, but time still moves differently there. Shepherds in the fields we biked by reminded us to take a breath and move with the phases of nature, and sometimes to move by the pace of the very slow coffee service in the mornings. Albania teaches you patience and acceptance in the best of ways.Before we knew it, we were in Montenegro, and the asphalt was instantly smoother, the valleys steeper, and the water, if possible, even bluer. We were only in Montenegro for two days, but I sure wished it were longer. On the first day, we were invited by the tourism office in Danilovgrad for coffee, and they made sure all the riders were well caffeinated before the climb up to the Ostrog Monastery, a 17th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery founded by Saint Basil of Ostrog. It is one of the Balkans most visited pilgrimage sites. Just one of many examples of Montenegros hospitality and rich culture.Bosnia gave us beautiful scenery and cultural richness. This is where we had the biggest shift in food, and you could see a strong Serbian influence in the dishes. Meat and potatoes seem to be the fuel that gets much of this region through the day, but there is plenty of regional variety in vegetables and seasoning (although my early prediction about stuffed vegetables did come true, there is no shortage of that dish anywhere in these countries).Stari Most, Mostar, BosniaThe Bosnian capital Sarajevo, which was under heavy military siege in the 90s, marked the end of the Balkan section of the Odyssey and was a harrowing reminder that, behind the warmth of the people we met and the ease with which we crossed its boarders, there is a complicated social history that draws deep lines between these areas.As that young man in Danilovgrad told me, the wonder of these countries lies in how much you can experience in such a short distance and time. From Greeces olive groves and rich history to Albanias blue coastline, to Montenegros smiling people, to Bosnias big mountains it truly has been everything we need.RELATEDTOURThe Odyssey The original Odyssey by Homer followed Ulysses, King of Ithaca, on his grueling ten year trip home from the Trojan War during which he faced and... Related Posts:Leave a Comment for "Biking the Balkans: An Exploration On 2 Wheels" Cancel reply