Spanish rider Hctor lvarez faces one of the most important stages of his young career. Embedded in the Lidl-Trek development structure, he will make the definitive step up to the WorldTour in 2027 with a clear goal: keep learning and discover what kind of rider he can become. The Alicante native,...

The 2026 Tour de France victory is expected to be settled in a duel between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. Not much has changed in this regard over the past years. But according to Michael Boogerd, this does not take away from the spectacle in the slightest. Especially as the Slovenian appears...

Tadej Pogacar arrives at the Tour de France this weekend as the red-hot favourite. He's won four of the last six tours and knows more than most just how much can go wrong in the battle for yellow every day. As does Miguel Indurain, winner of the Tour five years in a row. The Slovenian is aiming to m...

Netcompany-Ineos will "race aggressively" over the three weeks of the Tour de France, Geraint Thomas promised, as the team announced their lineup on Wednesday.In the absence of GC-hopeful Oscar Onley, the team is packed with stage-hunting talent, although there is the possibility of general classification success too.The eight riders are: Thymen Arensman, Egan Bernal, Tobias Foss, Filippo Ganna, Dorian Godon, Micha Kwiatkowski, Josh Tarling and Kvin Vauquelin."This team has some great racers who people love to watch," Thomas, the team's director of racing, said. "Theyll have the freedom to go for it and race aggressively across the three weeks. Fortune favours the brave. We didn't come to this Tour to follow the race - we came to shape it.Barcelonas team time trial presents a great opportunity to start strongly. This year weve performed well in this discipline so will give it everything weve got. From there, its going to be full-on and were ready to take on the challenge."More to follow...

Happy July! And safe travels to Ryan as he heads to Catalonia for a rather big bike race. Callum is here to tide things over whilst glancing at the profiles of Congolese defenders

Netcompany INEOS has confirmed the lineup for the 2026 Tour de France, which starts this Saturday in Barcelona. The British squad brings a roster packed with experience, quality, and riders able to shine on all terrain, with a clear plan: race on the offensive across the three weeks. From the open...

You know its July when you see the polka dot jersey. Hes a look at the riders who might be sporting it soon.The mathsPoints are awarded as follows:hors catgorie (6 in total): 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-2 pointsCategory 1 climbs (13): 10-8-6-4-2-1 pointsCategory 2 (11) 5-3-2-1 pointsCategory 3 (21): 2-1 pointsCategory 4 (18): 1 pointThis is different to recent years where the highest climb of the race got double points, eg the Galibier or Loze saw 40-30-24 points etc to the first over. Before that the final HC climb of the day got double points. None of this happens in 2026, all HC climbs are equal.The routeThe competition should be lively from the start as the first week is a high-scoring one compared to the norm as there are plenty of climbs, including the Category 1 climb of the Collada de Toses on Stage 3 and the HC-rated Tourmalet on Stage 6 and this way whoever has the jersey at the end of the first week wont have it accidentally because of a breakaway.Stage 20 will settle things and is illustrative of several stages where the breakaway can go clear and score points even if they face being reeled in before the finish.How to win?There are two routes to the polka dot jersey. One is accidental where the GC contenders pick it up by virtue of being on the attack in the mountains for stage wins and time without really making it a priority, weve seen Tadej Pogaar (2020, 2021, 2025) and Jonas Vingegaard win the competition this way (2022), typically winning a mountain stage late in the third week to take over the lead.The other is the deliberate mountain raid from a climber who will go in the breakaway in the mountains and score on the first climbs and hope the move sticks to contest the stage but if not they can try a raid again and rack up points. Weve seen Giulio Ciccone (2023) and Richard Carapaz (2024) win the competition this way.The points system for 2026 tilts things more towards the latter scenario, including as many HC-rated climbs en route as there are at the stage finish. So score big on HC climbs early in a stage and here and there elsewhere in the race and a rider could have a cushion on Pogaar. Note tilt and the conditional tense, if Pogaar wakes up wanting to win a stage and mow down the breakaway itll happen.ContendersLenny Martinez (Bahrain) wore the jersey last year and has improved since. This year the goal has been to try riding for GC in week-long stage races but more in dull terms of process, of steadiness and practicing the logistics required. But now at the Tour hes got more freedom to ride for himself, he wants a stage win or the polka dots and can probably manage both. Hes been an erratic rider in the past but hes still a few days short of turning 23 but is now rounding out.Richard Carapaz (EF Education-Easypost) won in 2024 and says he is in great shape now. His pre-Tour quote adds the general classification will depend heavily on how the race circumstances unfold. I want to go after stage wins and could try to repeat winning the mountains jersey which is probably code for saying he knows he cant match Pogaar and Vingegaard so unless he infiltrates a move and takes time, itll be stage wins and polka dots like in 2024. Hell like the third week especially. Carapaz is illustrative because a rider of his stature still has to pick goals.You never know what youll get with Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) and hed probably like a stage win and some good finish on GC but these goals risk being in opposition. Hes well-suited to the task of fetching the polka dots, punchy atop a mountain and crafty but does he want it?Imagine Mikel Landa in the drops as he crests a high mountain pass. Only the cult of landismo is banished for July as hes not been selected by Soudal-Quickstep. Instead his apprentice can try. One reason Valentin Paret-Peintre left Decathlon was he was getting tired of the teams focus on sports science and he wanted more freedom to train as he wants and also to learn from Landa. VPP is a contender for the jersey and a canny rider but his ultralight build makes sprinting for points harder against beefier rivals.Netcompany-Ineos dont come with any obvious GC leaders. If theyre after other forms of success then this competition ought to interest them. Thymen Arensman won two stages last and was fourth in the competition but how to improve, as we saw at the Giro he can climb well but not make darting accelerations. Kvin Vauquelin is faster and suited to this competition but will he try for GC first and so not score on some of the earlier days in the mountains?If the Aura Tour was practice for the Tour then Clment Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ) gets a mention for winning the mountains competition there but makes his Tour debut and this time winning means scaling higher mountains more often, its hard to see him getting the better of Martinez and Carapaz. Tenth in the Tour last year, Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) has missed out on a lot with a knee injury at times unable to pedal on one leg, once reduced to walking uphill to his home because he could not pedal but now looks fully recovered and beginning to look consistent too. Hell have space to move but winning the jersey is a tough ask. Einer Rubio (Movistar) is in the pure climber bracket and has a Lenny Martinez-like craftiness. Michael Storer (Tudor) can climb well at the best of times and maybe needs some stars to align but if they do on the right day hes a contender too. Harald Tejada (XDS-Astana) is having a good season.Tadej Pogaar (UAE) especially, and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-LAB) get mentions. The central case is that as GC contenders they stand collect the jersey on the way to something bigger; but theres also the consolation angle where if one is sapped from the Giro or the other is short of form then stage wins and the mountains competition can compensate although its hard to see Pogaar folding and settling for polka dots.Richard Carapaz, Lenny MartinezTadej PogaarVP-P, Pidcock, Storer, VingegaardFinally as much we can identify contenders, the thing to hope for is a contest that comes alive in the mountains and is sustained to the end.The post Tour de France Mountains Competition Contenders first appeared on The Inner Ring.

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The month of July has begun and with it, the Tour de France comes alive. In Barcelona, the teams are quickly gathering its staff and riders. Tudor Pro Cycling Team have hosted their media session, and amongst the riders eager for the race who have made the selection is an ambitious Julian Alaphilipp...