Brooks England has revamped its bikepacking bag collection with a fresh set of panniers, a handlebar bag, and a saddle bag. In what the storied brand is calling the Travelling Bags Collection, Brooks is offering a full suite of adventure-ready bags that match their classic aesthetic. Read on for detailsThe post The Brooks Travelling Bags Collection Features Four Unique Options appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

Tadej Pogaar crossed the Col du Tourmalet first on stage six of the 2026 Tour de France to win the Souvenir Jacques Goddet.The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider pushed on alone 4.1km from the top of the hors categorie climb on Thursday, after initially attacking with his teammate Isaac del Toro. Pogaar was chased by his rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) over the top of the Pyrenean climb, but he had an advantage of around 30 seconds by the time the Tourmalet was summited. He also had almost a minute and a half on a group containing Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)The award is given yearly for the rider to reach the top of the Tourmalet first, along with a 5,000 cash prize, and 20 points in the mountains competition. It's the first time Pogaar has won the prize, although the Slovenian has won three stages which have included the climb.Interestingly, the prize has never been won by a rider who has gone on to win the race, showing how remarkable Pogaar's attack on the climb was.On Thursday, with the Tourmalet 38.5km from the finish, Pogaar looked in an excellent position to win stage six, which would be his second of the race. With yellow jersey Torstein Tren (Uno-X Mobility) over seven minutes behind the leader on the road, it also looked like the Slovenian was heading into yellow.This early in the race, it looked like he was putting his stamp on proceedings, with 15 stages still to come. The second-category climb to Gavarnie-Gdre (18.7km at 3.7%) was still to come after the Tourmalet.More to follow...

Tadej Pogacar has revealed UAE Team Emirates XRG went into Stage 6 of the 2026 Tour de France ready to risk everything, after an all-or-nothing assault on the first high-mountain stage left Jonas Vingegaard already 2:42 down overall. Pogacar attacked on the Col du Tourmalet after a huge lead-out f...

Chattanooga, Tennessees own Obed Bikes has launched a bike that they claim defies categorization. The new Obed TTR is the brands most capable, do-it-all off-road machine. Weve seen bikes like this one a lot lately, but lets take a closer look at what its all about.(Photos / Obed Bikes)The Obed TTR is a drop-bar bike designed for riders who want to push beyond the limits of typical gravel riding. Where most bikes in the category seem to fit nicely into the race or adventure gravel categories, the TTR was designed for rougher, more technical terrain. The TTR bridges two worlds: the drop bars give you the familiar riding position and handling that gravel riders are used to. The added suspension and ample tire clearance open up the rider to more trail options.Lets take a look. A Cross Country SoulThe TTR uses a frame design thats been borrowed from the XC mountain biking world. And that shows up in some practical ways. For instance, the Detour Seatstay system. This system disconnects the seat stays from the seat tube. This means the rear end of the bike can flex vertically to absorb rough terrain. That translates to more comfort without sacrificing stiffness for high-torque situations.This isnt just another drop-bar bike that borrows MTB DNA to hodgepodge it together. The TTRs geometry is actually dialed in specifically for drop bars, and the reach and handling reflect that. So youre not fighting an awkward position that was clearly designed for a different kind of riding. The TTR will feel right at home on a gravel road and rocky singletrack.Like many new bikes lately, the TTR also includes a Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH). This keeps it compatible with current Full Mount drivetrain setups.This will be great if you plan on upgrading components down the road (or just want to find readily available derailleur hangers). It features great tire clearance of up to 2.4. This means you can run proper mountain bike tires if thats your jam. Plus, that tire size gives riders more tire options, as well as more traction, cushioning, and confidence on loose or technical surfaces.Frankenbike: The Best of Both Worlds?If youve ever thought about slapping drop bars onto a mountain bike frame, youre not alone. Im pretty sure weve all done it at one point. But, that being said, doing it right does take some tinkering. But with the TTR, Obed takes that DIY spirit and turns it into a refined, ready-to-ride package.Obed made sure that the TTR was built around a deliberate mix of gravel and cross-country components. And they let you choose your drivetrain flavor. The Shimano build pairs an XT Di2 rear derailleur and cassette with GRX shifters. This offers electronic precision alongside a wide gear range.But if you spend most of your time in the SRAM Camp, then youll love the mullet setup. Combining a GX Eagle T-Type derailleur with Force shifters gives you mountain bike range with drop-bar control.Customizable & AdaptibleObed made sure the TTR was designed to handle whatever you wanted to throw at it. Everything from a multi-week, loaded bikepacking adventure to a quick lunchtime spin on some of your favorite local trails. With the TTR, you dont need to commit to one type of riding.To back up that kind of versatility, the TTR comes equipped with the options for both a 100mm suspension fork and dropper posts. Together, these features make longer trips more comfortable and technical sections more manageable.If youre a cyclist who likes to customize your setup, then you will enjoy the external cockpit cable routing. Because the cables run on the outside of the frame, swapping handlebars or making adjustments is straightforward. Obed Base Build & RetailThe retail cost for the base build is $4,449, which features Industry Nine 1/1 Sector Alloy wheels, a SRAM Apex Eagle mechanical drivetrain, and RockShox SID SL Select.The new TTR is painted, built to order, and shipped worldwide, ready to ride from its factory in Chattanooga. You can make your build truly your own, choosing from a massive selection of paint, logo designs, and build options through our online bike builder at the link below. ObedBikes.com

The 2026 Tour de France will take place from the 4th to the 26th of July. Throughout the21 stages, the peloton will be racing through the mountains, sprint stages, cobblestones, individual and team time trials, and even. We take a look at all stages, their official profiles, and preview the days -...

Tadej Pogaar has won stage 6 of the Tour de France after a characteristically dominant display that started 4.1km from the summit of the Col du Tourmalet.Isaac del Toro led Pogaar up the hors categorie climb before the defending champion attacked and rode solo for 40km to win the stage from Pau to Gavarnie-Gdre.Its a really incredible victory, one of the sweetest, Pogaar said after the stage, adding that UAE Team Emirates XRG hatched the plan for stage 6 yesterday.Today I woke up at seven in the morning and my mind was going crazy. I was really, really excited for today. All the guys were really hyped so I knew it would be a good day.We just committed. We were going like there was nothing to lose, he said.Pogaar was the first rider to cross the summit of Col du Tourmalet. As a result, he won the Souvenir Jacques Goddet award, which is given to the rider who reaches the top of the climb and comes with a 5,000 prize.The Slovenians ride on the Tourmalet also won him 20 points in the King of the Mountains competition, which he now leads.Jonas Vingegaard chased Pogaar, but he could not catch the Slovenian. He finished second on the stage, 2 minutes and 40 seconds behind Pogaar.A group containing Remco Evenepoel, Florian Lipowitz and Paul Seixas chased the two favourites and tried to limit their losses.Pogaars performance also saw him ride back into the yellow jersey, after Torstein Tren took the leaders jersey from Pogaar on stage 4.Pogaars ride today on the first mountain stage of the race saw the Slovenian take back the 7 minutes 53 seconds lead Tren had at the start of the day.Tren crashed on the descent of the Col du Tourmalet, which left him isolated for the closing section of the stage, where he was attended to by the race doctor.Pogaars first stage win of the 2026 Tour de France saw him move up into fifth on the list of all-time stage winners. His second win takes his total to 23 stage victories, only two away from Andr Leducqs total of 25.Earlier in the stage, race commissaires reprimanded Lotto-Intermarchs Huub Artz for his hand position. This prompted the Dutchman to drop back to the peloton from a three-man breakaway with Mads Pedersen and Victor Campenaerts. More on the 2026 Tour de France I wanted to enjoy myself: Baptiste Veistroffer shares the stats behind his 144km Tour de France solo break "Its outstanding" Norwegian who was treated for cancer now leads the Tour de France Ridley built this custom yellow-jersey Noah Fast for Torstein Traen in less than 30 hours after he took the lead in the Tour de France Who is Isaac del Toro? 4 things you need to know about the Mexican who could be a future Tour de France winner Why are Pogaar and Del Toro riding different bikes? Isaac del Toro's stage-winning Colnago V5Rs may sit exactly on the UCI weight limit A Tour de France breakaway only has a 2% chance of winning, so why join one? Every team bike at the 2026 Tour de France

Isaac del Toro admitted he may have pushed too hard during UAE Team Emirates XRGs brutal Stage 6 assault at the 2026 Tour de France, after helping launch Tadej Pogacar clear on the Col du Tourmalet. The Mexican produced the final acceleration in UAEs mountain train five kilometres from the Tourm...

Tyre widths have quietly become one of the most interesting battlegrounds in professional road racing.A decade ago, a 23mm tyre was still commonplace in the Tour de France, with 25mm considered progressive and 28mm reserved for the roughest cobbled stages. Fast forward to 2025, and the picture has changed dramatically.Looking across a sample of 13 bikes we got hands-on with from this year's Tour de France spanning both road and time trial machines the data suggests the pelotons trend towards the use of wider tyres shows no sign of abating. That said, nominal tyre widths are misleading. While tyre sidewalls still read 28mm or 30mm, the tyres teams are racing on are frequently much larger once mounted to modern rims.Plus, the tyre widths observed on time trial bikes continue to lag behind those for road racing.Heres what we can say about tyre sizes from our sample. Read more: 7 Tour de France 2026 tech trends and why there's "no fastest tyre size" The era of the true 30mm race tyre has arrived Jonas Vingegaard has chosen to run a 30mm nominal front tyre and a 29mm nominal rear tyre the only rider of our sample to do so. Simon von Bromley / Our Media For years, wider tyres have been creeping steadily into the professional peloton.While nominal tyre sizes still range from 25mm to 30mm, the tyres riders are racing on average just over 30mm wide once mounted to their wheels.The data paints a fascinating picture of how modern race bikes are being optimised, and why the number printed on the tyre sidewall no longer tells the full story.Across 26 individual tyres, the mean measured width comes out at 30.29mm, despite the median nominal size being only 28.5mm.In other words, the average WorldTour race tyre, from our sample, measures 1.79mm wider than the size printed on its sidewall.That growth is likely the product of two trends working together. The first is the widespread adoption of wider rims, with internal widths of 22mm to 25.4mm now common among the biggest wheel manufacturers. Remco Evenepoel's setup features 30mm tyres, which inflate narrower than advertised a clear outlier. Simon von Bromley / Our Media Remember, a rim measuring 21mm across internally, bearing a nominally 28mm-wide tyre, should measure 28mm wide, according to the ETRTO.The second factor is tyre construction itself, with modern casings designed to spread wider once installed.The result is a nominal 30mm tyre frequently measures 3133mm in real-world use on these wider rims, while nominally 28mm tyres often end up close to 30mm.Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, is that 30mm has overtaken 28mm as the most common nominal tyre size in this sample, appearing on 12 of the 26 tyres measured. 28mm tyres made up 11 of the 26 sampled, though, so it remains close.Only a single sampled bike still used nominal 25mm tyres for racing: Tadej Pogaar's Colnago TT2 time trial bike, although we also know that the rest of his UAE Emirates-XRG team were sporting the same setup.TT bikes remain more conservative The Colnago TT2 of Tadej Pogaar (and the rest of his UAE Emirates-XRG team) ran 25mm Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR tyres, which inflated over 3mm wider than advertised. Simon von Bromley / Our Media Accordingly, the distinction between road and time trial bikes has become increasingly clear.Road bikes in our sample averaged a measured tyre width of 30.82mm, compared with 29.68mm for TT bikes.1.14mm may sound insignificant, but in elite racing it's a meaningful difference, with multiple potential causes.Another notable trend is front tyres averaged 30.72mm, compared with 29.87mm at the rear. That reflects the increasing prevalence of wider front-tyre setups in the modern peloton. Teams are seemingly placing a greater emphasis on front-end grip, comfort and rolling efficiency, while maintaining slightly narrower rear tyres for aerodynamic integration and frame clearance.Vingegaards use of a 30mm nominal front tyre and a 29mm rear tyre is the clearest example of this in action.The demands of modern road racing also generally places increased value on reduced rolling resistance, rider comfort and grip on imperfect road surfaces, with rim and bike frame designs changing to accommodate wider tyres in an aerodynamically optimised package. The recently updated Orbea Orca Aero has 37mm-wide tyre clearance a sign of aero bike design moving towards optimisation around wider tyres. A great example of this is the Orbea Orca Aero, which can sport 37mm tyres (measured), while its been common for a while to see race bikes with capacity for upwards of 32mm.The efficacy of time trial bikes, by contrast, remains defined by aerodynamic priorities to the exclusion of almost everything else. Broadly speaking, designers are still trying to minimise frontal area while carefully managing airflow around the fork, frame and wheels.The regulations governing the design and use of time trial bikes arent a million miles away from those controlling road bikes but there are differences, including the ability to use specific handlebars, while riders can adopt a more aerodynamic tuck position.While many modern TT bikes now accept significantly wider tyres than their predecessors, aerodynamic integration still encourages teams to use slightly narrower tyre packages than on their road bikes. That means narrower tyres continue to have a place against the clock, even as road racing moves decisively towards larger volumes.Of course, narrow remains a relative term when race bikes commonly used nominal 23 or 25mm tyres, it wasnt unheard of to find 19 or 21mm tyres fitted to TT bikes.The biggest tyres are now remarkably big Matej Mohori's rear tyre measured a whopping 33.65mm wide. Simon von Bromley / Our Media If there's one bike that encapsulates the wider-is-better trend for road bikes at the Tour de France, it's Matej Mohori's Bianchi Specialissima.His nominally 30mm tyres measured a startling 33.31mm at the front and 33.65mm at the rear. These were the largest tyres we measured.They're closely followed by the front tyre on Jonas Vingegaard's Cervlo S5, which measured 33.2mm. Vingegaards was the only bike we measured running a nominally wider tyre at the front, which we speculated could be to help his bike make the UCIs 6.8kg weight limit. That said, its fair to say these widths would have looked at home on an endurance bike, rather than a Tour de France race machine.At the other end of the scale sits Pogaar's TT bike, with its 25mm-labelled tyres measuring 28.2mm at the front and 27.94mm at the rear the narrowest tyres we recorded.But even these are substantially wider than what many professionals raced a decade ago.Rim width matters, but it's only part of the story The Reserve wheels used by Visma-Lease a Bike are 25.4mm wide. Simon von Bromley / Our Media The data reinforces the general takeaway that wider internal rims produce wider measured tyres.The widest rims in the sample the 25.4mm internal width of the Reserve wheels on Vingegaards Cervlo S5, and teammate Per Strand Hagenes' Cervlo P5 also unsuprisingly produced some of the widest measured tyres.The relationship between internal rim width and measured tyre width is broadly consistent, though. Rims measuring around 22-23mm internally typically produce tyres (which are most often 28mm or 30mm nominally) around 1-2mm larger than their nominal size, while the widest rims in the sample (25.4mm internal) consistently produce some of the largest measured tyres. Reserve uses the same greater internal width on its TT wheels an anomaly in our data set. Simon von Bromley / Our Media The biggest exception remains Mohori's Specialissima, with tyres measuring more than 33mm on relatively conventional 23mm rims, suggesting tyre construction can be just as influential as rim width.The clearest illustration is Lenny Martinez's Continental Grand Prix 5000 TT TR-equipped Bianchi Aquila RC. Despite using nominally 28mm tyres on 23mm hooked rims, its front tyre measured 31mm wider than the nominally 30mm Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed fitted to Luke Plapp's Giant Propel on 22.4mm hookless rims.Hooked, hookless or mini-hook? The bead profile isn't driving tyre width There still isn't compelling evidence that hookless rims result in a tyre inflating wider than it would with a hookless rim in fact, the opposite is indicated by our data. Simon von Bromley / Our Media One of the more interesting questions raised by the data is whether rim design influences measured tyre size.Hookless wheels produced the smallest average increase over nominal tyre size in our sample, at 0.61mm, compared with 1.70mm for conventional hooked rims and 1.90mm for so-called mini-hook designs.However, those figures shouldn't be interpreted as evidence that bead design itself determines tyre width. The hooked and mini-hook rims in our sample also tended to sport wider internal rim profiles and different tyre models, both of which are likely to have a much greater influence on the final measured width than the presence or absence of a bead hook. Measuring 0.54mm wider than advertised here, inflated width is more likely down to tyre construction. Simon von Bromley / Our Media For example, consider Plapps Giant Advanced SL with hookless Cadex wheels and Mohoris Specialissima with hooked Vision wheels. These featured the same nominal tyre sizes (30mm), but the different tyre constructions from Cadex and Continental, respectively, and rim designs from Cadex (hookless) and Vision (hooked) resulted in different measured widths.Mini-hook rims, as their name suggests, retain a very small bead hook to help with tyre retention while, its claimed, enabling the rim to benefit from the traits of what is officially a hookless design (according to the ETRTO).However, the data doesnt clearly suggest that any of these rim design solutions are specifically impacting width.The sidewall number is becoming meaningless Rider Bike Nominal tyre size (front) (mm) Nominal tyre size (rear) (mm) Measured tyre size (front) (mm) Measured tyre size (rear) (mm) Internal rim width (front) (mm) External rim width (rear) (mm) Hooked/Hookless Road / TT Jonas Vingegaard Cervlo S5 30 29 33.2 29.92 25.4 24.8 Mini-hook Road Luke Plapp Giant Propel Advanced SL 30 30 30.54 31.04 22.4 22.4 Hookless Road Matej Mohori Bianchi Specialissima 30 30 33.31 33.65 23 23 Hooked Road Milan Fretin Look 795 Blade RS 3 28 28 29.63 29.32 23 23 Hooked Road Remco Evenepoel Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL9 30 30 29.42 28.89 21 21 Hooked Road Tadej Pogaar Colnago Y1Rs 28 28 31.6 30.84 23.5 23.5 Hooked Road Tobias Halland Johannessen Prototype Ridley 28 28 29.43 29.32 22 22 Hooked Road Lenny Martinez Bianchi Aquila RC 28 28 31 28.5 23 19.5 Hooked TT Mauro Schmid Giant Trinity Advanced SL 28 28 28.78 28.13 22.4 22.4 Hookless TT Per Strand Hagenes Cervlo P5 30 30 32.32 31.17 25.4 24.5 Mini-hook TT Soren Wrenskjold Ridley Dean 30 30 31.32 30.36 20 20 Hooked TT Tadej Pogaar Colnago TT2 25 25 28.2 27.94 22 22 Hooked TT Tom Pidcock Pinarello Bollide 28 28 28.66 28.49 23 23 Hookless TT Edit Table Perhaps the most striking conclusion isn't that Tour riders are using 30mm tyres it's that they're often not.They're using tyres that say 28mm or 30mm on the sidewall but measure anything from around 28mm to nearly 34mm, once mounted.As rims continue to widen and tyre constructions evolve, nominal sizing is becoming less useful as a point of comparison.For consumers, it's a reminder to pay attention not just to the printed size, but also to measured width, rim compatibility and frame clearance. More on the 2026 Tour de France I wanted to enjoy myself: Baptiste Veistroffer shares the stats behind his 144km Tour de France solo break "Its outstanding" Norwegian who was treated for cancer now leads the Tour de France Ridley built this custom yellow-jersey Noah Fast for Torstein Traen in less than 30 hours after he took the lead in the Tour de France Who is Isaac del Toro? 4 things you need to know about the Mexican who could be a future Tour de France winner Why are Pogaar and Del Toro riding different bikes? Isaac del Toro's stage-winning Colnago V5Rs may sit exactly on the UCI weight limit A Tour de France breakaway only has a 2% chance of winning, so why join one? Every team bike at the 2026 Tour de France

Jonas Vingegaard can only be disappointed. Visma-Lease a Bike had a plan for stage six of the Tour de France that would, if successful, have given Vingegaard the advantage over Tadej Pogaar after the first proper mountain day.The Dutch teams strategy centred on getting a team-mate(s) in particular Victor Campenaerts in the breakaway to act as a satellite rider for later on in the day once Vingegaard was still climbing or had crested the Col du Tourmalet. No such thing materialised. UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with the help of other teams, shut everything down. This was to be their day. It was to be another exhibition by Pogaar. Vingegaard put up a respectable fight on the Tourmalet, reaching the summit 31 seconds adrift of the defending champion, but on the descent he lost 41 seconds to Pogaar. Then, on the long, shallow 18.7km climb to Gavarnie-Gdre, he shipped a further 80 seconds, to eventually cross the line in second a whopping 2:38 adrift of Pogaar. It was his biggest single day loss to his rival since stage 8 of the 2021 Tour. This years race, in all probability, is already lost.I'm disappointed, I have to be, but sometimes that's life and I cannot change it, Vingegaard said at the finish, just moments after being consoled by Pogaars team manager, Mauro Gianetti.There dejection and frustration was felt throughout Visma-Lease a Bike. The game plan was to put one or two guys in the break, said Vingegaard's team-mate Matteo Jorgenson. I was surprised to see sprinter teams chasing Victor for the intermediate sprint."That changed a lot of the stage because then the first 50km they did the work for UAE. From there we entered the hilly zone and it was much easier to control. I think thats where our plan went a little bit wrong in that we just didnt get a guy in the break.Plan B had to be enacted: stick with Pogaars inevitable attack on the Tourmalet. But teed up by Isaac del Toro, once Pogaar went, Vingegaard was distanced. He kept the gap at around 10 seconds for a few kilometres but then the Slovenian powered away and Vingegaard laboured.They put a big attack in on the Tourmalet and I couldnt follow, the Dane said. I had to settle into my own pace. Over the top I was not that far away, but on a downhill like this, its not suited to me.Vismas head of racing, Marc Reef, was similarly downbeat. On the Tourmalet, when Pogaar attacked, Jonas rode at his own pace and managed to keep the gap within around 10 seconds for quite some time. However, with about 2km to the summit, he had to ease his pace slightly. From there, he fought all the way to the finish line, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to keep the gap any smaller.Today's result is indeed disappointing, but we saw a Jonas who fought all the way to the finish line and did everything he could to limit the gap to Pogaar while also holding off the group chasing behind him, which he managed to do well.That is the one consolation for Vingegaard, though it is a minor one: he was the best of the rest. The other podium candidates all finished between 20 and 30 seconds in arrears of him. The reigning Giro dItalia champion, however, was determined he is still here to win, not come second. It was a very tough day, not the day I wanted but thats how it is sometimes, he said, and added: I still believe in myself, I still believe my legs will get better throughout the race, so the fight is not over,

The Tour de France is often shaped as much by survival as by strength. Across three weeks of racing from the Grand Dpart in Barcelona on 4 July to the final stage in Paris on 26 July, crashes, illness, heat, fatigue and withdrawals can quickly reshape the peloton, from nervous sprint stages and exp...