Its Friday, believe it or not, and Ryan Mallons here to help you hurtle headfirst towards the weekend with all the latest news, views, and general silliness on your favourite cycling live blog

Luca Guercilena is one of the key figures at Lidl-Trek, a manger who's been with the team for over a decade and helped it grow substantially into what is today one of the top teams in the sport. He has discussed the leadership of Mads Pedersen and his biggest regret. Although the team can currently...

Gravel hydration packs are de rigueur for gravel racing these days with plenty of advantages over the humble bottle and cage and frame mounted bags, so how did the Rogla 5 fair?

Light weight, and decent value compared to some

After several weeks of altitude work in Sierra Nevada, Juan Ayuso is eager to return to racing at the Tour Auvergne Rhne-Alpes, a key tune-up race before the Tour de France. The Spanish rider believes he has rediscovered his top level after an opening to the season marked by both wins and setbacks....

Newmen's new Streem G.62 wheelset is the latest to adopt the current trend for full-on aerodynamic gravel race wheels. It follows the release of Zipps groundbreaking 303 XPLR, ENVEs huge G SES 6.7 and Hunts Limitless Gravel. The wheels have already been raced at the highest level. Lukas Pstlberger won this years Traka 200 with the Streem G.62s on his Rose gravel bike. Katharina Kruse also used them for the epic 2,700km Final Frontier Patagonia, proving the G.62's quality at both ends of the gravel racing spectrum. The range-topping Streem G.62 wheelset comes with carbon spokes and Newmens own FADE R hubs. It has a claimed weight of 1,530g (our test pair weighed in at 1,539g: 808g rear and 731g front, including aero valves, aero cover and tubeless tape) and 130kg system weight limit. The Streem G.62 is a very deep aero wheelset designed for gravel racing. Newmen The 1,499 / 1,690 price tag undercuts Zipps 303 XPLR SW at 1,600 / $2,100 / 1,800 and is less than half the price of ENVEs flagship G SES 6.7 Pro at 3,499 / $3,100 / 3,899. Read more: Best gravel wheels in 2026: top-rated gravel wheelsets and buying advice Aero design Newmen tested the G.62 wheels at the Immenstaad wind tunnel in Germany. Newmen The 62mm-deep Streem G.62 wheelset certainly pushes the boundaries on aero depth for gravel wheels. It outdoes Zipps 303 XPLR, at 54mm, although it sits between ENVEs mix of 60mm front and 67mm rear. Newmen has been less extreme when it comes to inner rim width. The G.62's 27mm measurement sits below Zipps 32mm and ENVEs huge 35mm. Perhaps Newmen is being conservative or is it simply conforming to the existing ETRTO (European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation) recommendations? According to the ETRTO, a 27mm inner width is compatible with tyres from 35mm to 66mm. Also, unlike Zipp and ENVE, Newmen has used a hooked rim profile. Read more: The benefits of hookless rims are vague so whats the point of them? The external width of 45mm is what Newmen believes brings the biggest aero gains, creating a smoother interface with wider gravel tyres. Its the same message from Zipp with its 40mm-wide external 303s and ENVE's 42.6mm. So, while Newmen may be playing it safe internally, it's pushing boundaries on the outer profile. The Streem G.62 was tested for drag at 40kph with 45mm tyres fitted. Newmen With Newmen stating gravel racing speeds are getting faster, aero comes into play more. The wind-tunnel testing, at 40kph with a Schwalbe G-One RS 45mm tyre, showed the Streem G.62 offered significant drag reductions over Newmen's existing wheels by more than 6 watts, and was 2-3 watts more efficient than Zipps 303 XPLR SW and DT Swiss GRC 1100 50. The crosswind stability shows even more of an advantage at more extreme wind angles. Newmen has tested the G.62 against leading gravel wheelsets. Newmen For more of an aero advantage, the Streem G.62 is compatible with Newmens hidden aero valve system that debuted on the Newmen Streem Vonoa. The aero valve system consists of a short, stubby Presta valve in place of the usual Schrader. Compared to a standard tubeless valve, these weigh only 6g a pair. You use the included valve tool (with a Schrader end) to thread onto the tubeless valve for inflation. When you arent using the valve, the rim has a blanking plug to improve aerodynamics. Tubolito makes aero-valve compatible TPU tubes for Newmen. Newmen Newmen also offers compatible Tubolito TPU inner tubes if you dont want to run tubeless or want a spare tube for emergencies. The Aero Valves require a special tool included with the wheels. Newmen Range details The Streem G.62 is available with carbon or steel spokes. Newmen Newmen is launching the Streem G.62 with two models. The premium carbon-spoked offering weighs in at a claimed 1,530g (actual weight 1,539g). The more modest steel-spoked Sapim CX Ray version has a claimed weight of 1,600g. The steel-spoke G.62 will be priced at 1,390. Newmen Streem G.62 specifications Weight: 1,530g (carbon spokes), 1,600g (steel spokes) Inner width: 27mm Outer width: 45mm Rim height: 62mm Rim material: Carbon Spokes: Vonoa carbon or Sapim CX Ray 24h Hub: Newmen Fade R (CS) Rim profile: Hooked, tubeless-ready Diameter: 622mm Hub dimension: 12x100mm, 12x142mm Brake disc: Center Lock Freewheel: Shimano HG / SRAM XDR / Shimano MD Extras: Aero valves / Milkit sealant

Oxfordshire County Council say the move "enhances" Department for Transport policy and ensures country lanes are not "undermined by inappropriate traffic"

The Critrium du Dauphin is now the Tour Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes. The change was announced last year but will need time to feel right.The new name is like a mouthful to say and a handful to type but the real problem is not the name change, more that it should have happened long ago.HistoryGeorges Cazeneuve was one of the founders of Le Dauphin Libr newspaper which was launched in 1945, its name evoked the Dauphin area in the Alps and the newly-liberated France. The first edition appeared on 7 September 1945, the front page mentions Hiroshima.The newspaper had local competition and Cazeneuve hit on the idea of a bike race to promote his paper. In 1947 the Critrium du Dauphin Libr was launched. Critrium gets used today to mean an urban bike race lapping a short circuit but the original meaning was a selective race. The stunt worked, the paper and race thrived.Dauphin?The Dauphin was an old kingdom and principality that has long since vanished. Its capital was the city of Grenoble. It lives on as a vague name and local identity. Theres the newspaper with its HQ in Grenoble and a few old street names, plus its also used for some regional branding, for example the local crops of walnuts can be branded Noix du Dauphin.It roughly overlaps the Isre department.Over the years the race went beyond the Dauphin region and further beyond where the Dauphin Libr paper was sold. But Grenoble has hosted the race more than anywhere else with 45 stage starts and 60 stage finishes, double that of any other location. Later run by Thierry Cazeneuve, nephew of Georges and also a journalist, he would organise the race in June and by July revert back to covering cycling at the Tour de France from the press room.TakeoverIn 2010 Tour de France organisers ASO took over the race from the newspaper and renamed it the Critrium du Dauphin. Chopping libr made sense as the newspaper has nothing to do with the race, it was probably a condition of the deal.Regional changeIn 2016 as part of a regional government reorganisation the Rhne-Alpes region merged with the Auvergne region to form a mega region, the Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes. The enlarged region is vast, comparable in size to Ireland, the UAE or Sri Lanka; more than 1.5 times the size of Switzerland; bigger than two Belgiums. The enlarged region took to sponsoring the race. It makes sense as the route can help knit together these two areas and with this sponsorship the race has ranged wide. The map below shows the whole region with the yellow outline for the Isre being a proxy for the ancient Dauphin area.Indeed lately the race has spent so much time in the Auvergne its barely visited the Dauphin. In recent years there have been editions where its probably spent thirty minutes in the Isre department. All those visits to Grenoble over the years? Only twice in the past 10 years. Today the races wide remit means a loss of identity, it ranges so wide that there a changes in architecture, geology, vegetation, it feels rootless.The result is the Dauphin-race long stopped racing in the Dauphin-area. This is a pity as its a great place for cycling. You could hold a week long stage race in this area and have everything from sprint stages to high mountain passes, tiny backroad climbs and ski resorts like, all in a scenic spot, with a defined identity and enough variety with plenty of mountain passes; plus fewer transfers.If there was a campaign to relocate the race back to this region, this blog would be posting about it, raving about the roads in the Vercors and Champsaur, and linking to the petition. But thats not happening. So if the race is not in the Dauphin thats a good reason to bin the Dauphin label.Also the Dauphin is an old region that few know. Maybe you know it thanks to the cycling race? But its not easy to find out what it means; for the anecdote Wikipedia doesnt have an English-language page about the Dauphin, its only available in French, Ukrainian, Arpetan and Norman with the last two being near-extinct ancient dialects. If the whole point of the race at the start was to promote a newspaper, having a name today that only evokes a Ye Olde Kingdom is defunct.ConclusionThe race doesnt take place in the Dauphin any more but itll be hard to stop reflexively calling it the Dauphin. In an ideal world the race would still be the Dauphin, and it would race exclusively in the Dauphin region. Since it doesnt, better to reflect where it does visit. The surprise is that after a decade of roaming the Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes under the regions patronage is that its taken so long to change the name.The Tour Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes is a mouthful to say and a handful to type, and if thats just for one week of the year for cycling fans, imagine it for locals? Instead many have solved it by calling their region Au-RA. If you wanted a better name than the Dauphin, how about the Aura Tour?The post Adieu Dauphin, Bonjour Aura first appeared on The Inner Ring.

Pro Cycling Manager 2026 has revealed the ratings of four standout names in the international peloton ahead of the 2026 Tour de France. Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, and Paul Seixas appear among the riders with the best stats in Cyanides game, which recreates each cyclists attr...