No update from Pinarello Q36.5 on Briton's Tour de France plans

The Tour de France is just 18 days away (I know, wheres the year gone?), and to pass the time, Ryan Mallons back with all the latest cycling news, views, and reaction on the Tuesday live blog

Mathieu van der Poel has been cycling's face ever since his transition to road cycling, but his long list of achievements can be accredited to more than just his talent and professional approach. One of the Dutchman's secret weapons is his long-time partnerRoxanne Bertels who's been by Van der Poel...

Takes a different approach, but won't quite hit the mark for most people

Tom Pidcock is out of the 2026 Tour de Suisse as an illness has forced him to retink his preparations for the Tour de France. The British rider was forced to take a number of days off training and has opted not to ride, and instead change his build-up to the grand tour. The Pinarello - Q36.5 Pro Cyc...

The most versatile gravel tyre out there

Tadej Pogacars impact in the peloton is indisputable. At 27, he is already seen as a sporting legend. Only Eddy Merckx surpasses him for historical dominance in cycling. And it is precisely because of the Cannibal that he lines up at the Tour de Suisse: to narrow the gaps in his palmars and match...

A major safety innovation will make its debut at the 2026 Baloise Belgium Tour (June 17-21), with race organizers introducing digital warning systems for mobile marshals. The new technology combines high-visibility flashing LED signals with a powerful audible alarm, designed to alert riders and supp...

Funding north-south greenways is an important step towards an island-wide network of greenways across the island of Ireland, the Taoiseach has said.Taoiseach Michel Martin said: I am very pleased to announce funding to advance development of four greenway schemes in the border region through the Shared Island Greenways Development Fund. This funding will help progress four schemes Sligo to Enniskillen, Lifford to Derry, Derry to Buncrana and Warrenpoint to Newcastle through design and planning phases.Building on the success of the Carlingford Lough Greenway and the North West Greenway Network, the development of these new routes will improve connectivity, generate sustainable tourism and recreation, and boost the local economy in each region, he said.The Taoiseach added: This is also an important step towards creating an island-wide greenway network to link the Atlantic coast with the Eastern seaboard across the border region a key objective under the revised National Development Plan.The comments were made in statment issued as the Government approved Department of Transport Shared Island Funding of 25,000/21,581 for the preliminary design development work on the Warrenpoint and Newcastle route in County Down; Shared Island Funding of around 350,000/ 302,125 for the Sligo to Enniskillen greenway, 260,000/ 224,463 for the Derry to Buncrana route, and 137,500/118,706 for the Lifford to Derry scheme.There is also Department for Infrastructure funding of 20,000/23,200 confirmed for the Warrenpoint and Newcastle greenway, with further Northern Ireland funding to be approved.The Republics Minister for Transport, Darragh OBrien said: Greenways have represented a tremendous success for rural Ireland showcasing our beautiful landscape, bringing visitors to overlooked areas and helping small local businesses to thrive as well as providing an outdoor recreational facility that all members of the community can enjoy.I welcome todays funding announcement for Greenways in the border region which reflects the Governments commitment to balanced regional development and all-island collaboration through the Shared Island initiative. This fund will support local authorities in delivering these projects, he said.Northern Irelands Minister for Infrastructure, Liz Kimmins, said: Through collaborative working with our counterparts in the Government of Ireland, Im delighted that funding has been identified to further expand our cross-border greenway network and to build on the success achieved to date.She added: Cross-border greenways provide a transformative opportunity to enhance sustainable transport, tourism and regional connectivity. This funding demonstrates commitment to further develop sustainable transport on a cross-border basis. This all enhances the island of Ireland as a place where people want to live and work, to visit and invest.The Irish Government said that the Shared Island Greenways Development Fund will support the implementation of the National Development Plan objective to continue development of an island-wide greenway network to link the Atlantic coast with the Eastern seaboard across the border region.All four greenways are in the pre-planning stages, with funding allocated to planning, environmental screening, and design work. All of the greenways will require millions to reach completion. The Department of Transport outlined the current funding use for greenways as follows: Sligo to EnniskillenFunding will be provided to support project costs associated with closing out Phase 3: Design and Environmental Evaluation for this cross-border route.Derry to BuncranaFunding will be provided to support project costs associated with closing out Phase 3: Design and Environmental Evaluation for section in County Donegal. Funding is available to progress the scheme in County Derry to enabling works (prior to construction)Warrenpoint to NewcastleFunding will be provided to support project costs associated with completing a feasibility study for this proposed route in County Down.Lifford-DerryFunding will be provided to support project costs associated with close out Phase 3: Design and Environmental Evaluation for section in County Donegal. Funding is available to ensure a connection with the Foyle Valley Greenway is progressed in County Derry.IMAGE: File image of a greenway.

A mid-summer look at the team standings now the Tour de France looms large.UAE lead the rankings but the surprise is theyre not that far ahead. Its easily explained by Tadej Pogaar not racing as much this season as before and their Giro being reduced to stage hunting but the result is theyre less than two thousand points clear when this time last year they were ahead by over six thousand.A year ago too Lidl-Trek were in second place but now sit in sixth place, the result of their modest start to the season which has seen a management shake-up take place. Lidl now owns the team and so is able to directly hold managers accountable. But just as in football its easy but expensive to rotate management but this rarely guarantees change as a successful manager on a team is often the product of a system rather than a lone genius.Visma-LAB sit third and a reminder that theres still no replacement sponsor for the Norwegian IT firm. Ahead of the Giro Jonas Vingegaard said he was relaxed as if theres no title sponsorship deal then the team will still be underwritten by Dutch billionaire Robert van der Wallen something the team was quick to tackle as the we dont really need a sponsor message was not helpful and presupposes the generosity of Van der Wallen. As rich as he might be and with Visma keen to remain a smaller sponsor, there are millions to backfill quickly so its a concern theres no news. Fingers crossed for a Tour rest day press conference with some good news.Relegation candidates last time, Jayco are clear this time so something to cheer but their best scorer Mauro Schmid is off to Q36.5 next year and theres no visibility for the team in terms of ongoing sponsorship. Having points is necessary to avoid relegation but not sufficient if the funding has dried up.The grey line on the chart represents the border between 18th and 19th place. Notionally this is the relegation point at the end of the 2026-2027-2028 cycle. Its far away, and also conditional on there being 18 teams in the World Tour. Still we can see a cluster of teams around this point. With Q36.5 and Tudor expanding and hiring more riders points machine Arnaud De Lie is set to join Tudor and Cofidis just doing alright its putting pressure on other teams. Romain Grgoire has extended his deal with Groupama-FDJ, something the team really needed as hes been their best points scorer but as they unload other riders well see who they sign.20th placed EF have twin problems of few points and a sponsor search with no news. Officially the idea is to find a new sponsor to pour more money on top to expand the team budget but its also signalling EF is stepping off the team budget inflation train and in the absence of a new title sponsor budgets will be tight. All this goes together as the results so far may not be enticing new backers given as things stand they face relegation, although the Dauphin helped for publicity and so will a good Tour de Suisse and Tour de France for points if Richard Carapaz thrives and the quality of the roster should help them score once injured riders find form. For now Alex Baudin is their top scorer on 933 points. A regular reminder that for this team and all others new sponsorship contracts needs to filed for the UCIs soft deadline of October and so a deal ought to be signed already.Poor Picnic-PostNL sit in 28th place. The lack of results is obvious, just one win this season but its so much worse than that with few placings thanks to a series of injuries, all on a squad with few stars beyond Fabio Jakobsen who alas seems to be heading for retirement. Beyond the results, doing daily previews here means downloading the official results sheets every evening and this technical document lists the results, standings in all the points competitions, any commissaire decisions for fines and yellow cards and more, including the order of team vehicles for the following day which is ordered by the position of the first rider from each team on the overall classification. Often the Dutch team is last pictured and it must weigh on staff as they sit so far from the action each day. Theres no end in sight with their best scorer Pavel Bittner nursing an ankle injury and uncertain for the Tour; their most talented rider Max Poole is still struck by post-viral fatigue and hoping to ride the Vuelta.Theres the three year promotion and relegation cycle far away on the horizon but also the one year rankings. Bardiani-CSF now sit in 30th place and so are eligible, just, for an invite to the Giro next year because of the rule that says only teams in the top-30 can ride a grand tour. Note Modern Adventure Cycling have impressed by winning the Tour de Wallonie against World Tour opposition but the US team only has 906 points and 32nd place so far.Kern Pharma are due to stop at the end of the season; plus theres no news on a replacement sponsor for TotalEnergies but note if these teams vanish it does not advantage the remaining squads for next year. The rule is written such that the top-30 is based on the end of year rankings rather than the start of next season among ongoing teams; it ought to be revised.ConclusionCount the points today but watch the sponsors. Picnic-PostNL are into the relegation battle already thanks to a dire score but while they and several other teams aim to score, their survival is conditional on financial backing. Will Picnic renew, would another company be interested in taking over?Its early in the three year cycle to assess the other teams for the relegation contest due in 2028 but any crystal ball is clouded further by question of which teams are still around by then. The upcoming Tour de France will play its outsized role here, both in terms of results and VIP moments with potential backers.The post UCI Team Rankings first appeared on The Inner Ring.