Remco Evenepoel is one of the many stars that has flown in to Barcelona where this weekend the Tour de France peloton will begin its 2026 edition. On the CyclingUpToDate Podcast, Rben Silva and Kieran Wood have talked about the Olympic Champion's ambitions, the pressure that surrounds him and detai...

Todays stage should put the grand in the grand dpart as a tour of Barcelonas attractions and history with the yellow jersey up for grabs.The Route: a 19.6km team time trial, the first time the Tour has opened with a collective effort since the 1971 prologue.The profile and map above say plenty, its all big boulevards with 90 corners on a persistent but very gentle rise. As the roads are wide, so are the bends.The final 5km sees the course head to the Montjuic hill. Here its still on wide roads, but with two marked climbs, the second is notably steeper. In past versions of these team time trials weve seen team leaders hit out alone to go for the win but this time the slope is more gentle and any solo flourish ought to come right at the end, a strong squad should be able to lead out their boss well into the final climb.The Rules: Paris-Nice rules, the format that has been used since the Dampierre stage of Paris-Nice in 2023. The time for each team is taken on their first rider to cross the line, and each rider gets credited with the time it takes them to complete the course. This means two things:a team is no longer as fast as its fourth or fifth rider, it doesnt have to finish as a group. If one rider sprints solo to the line and sets the fastest time, their team wins the stagea team with a specialist rouleur can let them go off the front to get the stage win but if they have a GC rider as well, then they get the time they cross the line with. Therefore teams with ambitions for the overall have to guide their leaders to the best time possibleThe Contenders: this stage feels like a selection trap. It has lured several teams into picking squads perfect for today in the hope of immediate glory and avoiding potential losses to rivals but its only 20km long.Netcompany-Ineos are a case in point, stacking the team with time trial riders including Josh Tarling who broke his collarbone three weeks ago. If you also have them as your prime pick, then which rider is left to sprint up the the final ramp in Montjuic? On paper Kvin Vauquelin goes for glory as its just the kind of intense effort to suit an ex-pursuit rider, and Frenchman in yellow would be a publicity bonanza but he was touch-and-go for selection after recent illness. But it could equally be a rampant Ganna.Visma-LAB also bring Edoardo Affini after injury last weekend to boost an already strong squad. They won the Aura Tour stage. The course was very different but look at the riders theyve swapped out and they only look stronger for today.Lidl-Trek have a very good squad and Juan Ayuso, born in Barcelona, would make a fitting yellow jersey. Mathias Vacek was ominous in the Tour de Suisse but they dont have the Ganna-like rider to pull them 1-2km/h faster but will rely on cohesion late into the stage.UAE have a poor record in team time trials, often because theyve ridden without Pogaar who is both an engine and a talisman. Pogaar could theoretically take yellow and aim to keep it Paris for then challenge but thats a tall order, the team is obviously strong four riders here were in the top-10 in the Suisse TT stage but can be out-muscled on a short, flat course, plus theyre likely to be a little short on technique. As an anecdote to illustrate, several teams booked the Catalunya motorsport circuit for practice, reserving exclusive 90 minute sessions. But RMC Radio said Lampre UAE showed up without a booking and tried to barter with TotalEnergies to use their slot but the French team said non.Redbull-Bora-Hansgrohe look solid but how much does Remco Evenepoel pull during the stage versus how much does he back off in order to better launch up the final climb?Any surprises? This blog will give you a refund if none of the five teams cited above win. Its notable Mathieu van der Poel went all out in the Tour de Suisse time trial and Alpecin-PremierTech want to do well so he can get in yellow if he can win on Sunday with the time bonus if they wont win here, keeping him in time bonus range is a tall order. Jayco have the TTT in their DNA; EF look cohesive; Movistar are not chaos engine of the past.Because today is under 20km the time gaps will be small anyway and while plenty of focus will go on extrapolating the time gaps, a reminder that UAE gave up a minute in the Aura Tour TTT but Isaac del Toro won well ahead of the rest.While some teams today know they wont win, all have an interest in going flat out. Riders might find themselves in a breakaway in the coming days and being the first on GC in the group could give them the yellow jersey.Netcompany-IneosVisma-LAB, Lidl-Trek, UAE, Red BullWeather: sunny and warm, 33C. A light SE breeze at 12-15km/h means a headwind for much of the course and this could gust to 35km/h at times. Itll drop during the race, a slight advantage for later starters.TV: the first team is Caja Rural starting at 5.05pm and UAE start last at 6.55pm CEST. If you tune in for the final hour youll catch most of the action.The post Tour de France Stage 1 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

In order to shift the balance of points classification battle, ASO has made a change to the points system. Now, there'll be 70 points awarded to winner of "bunch sprint" stages - a change which affects the plans of many participants including Mads Pedersen. The 30-year-old has already won the points...

Christian Prudhomme rounds off his two decades in charge of Tour de France this Friday with a Grand Dpart in Barcelona. And the 2026 edition could be massive for the French cycling fans with the debut of their dauphin Paul Seixas. The edition kicks off with a 20-kilometer team time trial in Barcelo...

Comment & Analysis: In the blink of an eye, a near-130 metre section of Jervis Street was made two-way to appease some car park owners about making Capel Street car-free.There are some exceptions (mainly during Covid and a few recent bus lanes linked to BusConnects changes), but few traffic changes this large are implemented without public consultation and debate. If you Google two-way Jervis Street, youll find details not on the city councils website, but on the websites of car parks and on the business group DublinTown.According to Dublin Towns website, the car park enhancement plan on Jervis Street was apparently a trial.At this stage or from the start, some people reading this might already be thinking: Sure, cycling is allowed on Capel Street, so why bother with allowing it two-way on Jervis Street? Theres a few reasons:Dublin needs a cycle network, not just single routes.Jervis Street is a primary route in the GDA Cycle Network PlanHaving parallel routes means that the volume of people cycling is more split between the two routes, with people who are in more of a rush maybe choosing Jervis Street instead.In the old GDA Cycle Network Plan, Capel Street was the primary cycle route, and Jervis Street was a secondary route its likely that should be switched around, but for the other reasons listed above, its still useful to have Jervis Street as a solid link in the cycle network.This is an outline of the traffic layout currently on the street:The changes allow people driving out of the car parks on the street to get back to the quays without going around and down Church Street, etc. The changes also allow for people using the DublinBikes station or the general bicycle parking on the street to also use this route towards the quays westbound Ive used it while stopping off on the street on the way to Heuston Station:Jervis Street does not go the full way to the quays; the last bit between Great Strand Street and the Quays is Swifts Row:Swifts Row is likely the most difficult section, as far as I can see, there are two options:;Remove/relocate the loads/parking on the east side (left of this photo) and insert a contra-flow cycle track.Remove it and put in a two-way cycle path (it only works well with a two-way path in the mid section, see below).Allow contra-flow without lanes it might seem like a hard call to allow it here with how busy it is, but allowing contra-flow here would be better than having people cycle around a longer way with more risks. Width-wise, it should work, and an exit treatment could be put in place at the quays.The latter option above can be implemented more quickly than the other two. If the council cannot give space to cycling, some action is better than none.For the middle section, the two options are: Leave it as two-way for general access traffic and cycling.Install a two-way cycle path on one side of the road.As shown below, there is not enough space for two-way car access and any kind of cycle path:North of the entrance/exit to Jervis Shopping Centre car park, theres space for a two-way cycle path, and theres little reason not to install such:Theres really no reason for action not to be taken. There might be some difficulty, including how to design the junction with Parnell Street, but theres nothing that cannot be overcome if there is a will to get it done quickly.

Romain Grgoire has been crowned the successor to Dorian Godon as French national champion - one of the most prestigious special jerseys out there. Carrying this momentum, the 23-year-old hopes to find success at the upcoming Tour de France with eyes set on a potential stage win. "I feel incredibly...

Rben Silva and Kieran Wood have discussed Netcompany INEOS' lineup for the 2026 Tour de France on the CyclingUpToDate Podcast, tackling the removal of Carlos Rodrguez, what the team's ambitions must be and if the British team can even hold the yellow jersey at some point in the race. The team's G...