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...

Mads Pedersen and Lidl-Trek tried to remove the sprinters from the equation altogether on stage 12 of the Tour de France, repeatedly attacking in the closing kilometres as the fight for the green jersey tightened behind them. The moves failed to prevent the expected bunch finish in Chalon-sur-Saone...

For Collective Reward #249, we partnered with Californian component manufacturer White Industries to give one lucky winner an aluminum crankset and chainring of their choice. Find details on our latest giveaway here...The post Collective Reward #249: White Industries Crankset appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

At the Tour de France, the racing does not always end at the finish line. Sprint deviations, sticky bottles, feeding breaches, littering fines, time penalties, yellow cards and relegations can all become part of the daily story, especially in a race where every stage result and jersey position is wa...

It is stage 12 of the Tour de France, of which Tim Merlier has already won three, including today's. The Belgian should be cock-a-hoop, over the moon, jumping for joy, and he is, but that's tempered by the fact there are still nine hard stages of the race to come.In fact, it might already be race over for the Soudal Quick-Step rider, who proved once again on Thursday that he's the fastest sprinter in the race. From now until the end in Paris, there might be no more bunch sprints for Merlier to prove himself again. Five sprints have come and gone, and now it's mountains and breakaway terrain for the rest of the race.Asked what his plan was for the rest of his days in France this year, Merlier was succinct: "Try to survive, maybe."Despite there being five sprint opportunities so far, this has not been an easy Tour for the fast men. There is not even the carrot of a final day sprint in Paris any more, with the traditional procession having been replaced with a hilly circuit around Montmartre instead.Of course, I think everybody wants to go to Paris, Merlier said in his winners press conference. If you have the feeling that you're able to follow a good grupetto it's more easy, but I remember last year that the last week was a fight with myself. Now I see that my recovery is ok day by day, and last year was different.A sprint is plausible next Wednesday, on stage 17 from Chambry to Voiron, but with four categorised climbs in the first 60km, it could be a very tough day for a pure bunch finisher like Merlier.It's difficult, Wednesday, it's possible to have a sprint, but in the third week, it's a hard stage, a hard start, he said For me, it's more a breakaway day definitely. Maybe a sprint, but they're going to try and drop me, for sure after today.As for the green jersey, which usually the winner of three stages would be in contention for, the Soudal Quick-Step rider lies in fourth, behind the leader Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech). With the possibility of no more bunch sprints, Merlier is not confident in his chances to move up.You always have to try, but if you do a lot just before a real mountain you blow up also, he explained, with intermediates often coming mid-stage on climbing days. If you blow up, you can go home. The green jersey is not a goal any more.With no sprints left, and the green jersey seemingly out of the question, where does that leave a sprinter like Merlier on the road to Paris? Suffering through the mountains, and finishing the race for pride? As one colleague in the press room put it, maybe he has nothing better to do. A complete Tour looks better in the record books, too.All this talk of whats next ignores the fact that Merlier has been the fastest man in this years race, a hat-trick at his third Tour de France, and now has six stages on the worlds biggest cycling stage.After the sprint yesterday I got extra motivation to do better, Merlier said. As I said this morning I'm going to learn about my mistakes from yesterday, and I think I did it.The key, according to his directeur sportif Tom Steels, is patience. He said to Jasper [Stuyven] to stay calm and to wait, and that's a sign he's ready. When he has the patience, he has the legs to win.Patience has netted Merlier the victories, but now he will need grit to get through the final 10 days of the Tour, with the Vosges, Jura and Alps to come.

Lotto-Intermarche have lost a second rider from the 2026 Tour de France after Jenno Berckmoes suffered a broken collarbone in the mass crash that disrupted the stage 12 sprint in Chalon-sur-Saone. Berckmoes managed to remount and cross the finish line, but subsequent examinations confirmed the fract...

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 -...

No one ever said the Tour de France was meant to be easy. But Caja Rural-Seguros RGA are really getting a taste of just how cruel and brutal the worlds biggest bike race can be. The Spanish wildcard team enjoyed a positive start to their debut Tour with Alex Molenaar claiming the polka dot jersey on stage two, only for the Dutch-Spaniard to crash out of the race just three days later. A week on, and Caja have been reduced to six riders, with their sprinter Fernando Gaviria breaking his collarbone in the closing metres of stage 12 in Chalon-sur-Sane.Gaviria touched the back wheel of Bahrain Victoriouss Robert Stannard just as the fast-men launched their sprints, bringing down a number of others with him, including stage 11 winner Soren Wrenskjold of Uno-X Mobility, Dorian Godon of Ineos Grenadiers, and Jenno Berckmoes of Lotto-Intermarch. The latter, like Gaviria, fractured his collarbone and has since abandoned the race.Its bad luck, Caja Rural manager Jose Manuel Hernndez told Cycling Weekly. We have lost two of the teams most important riders.Alex was a really strong rider for the breakaways and if he could have arrived in a small group to a finish, he could have been a player [for the stage win].And now to lose our sprinter is really hard. Were the smallest team in the Tour and to lose our two most important pieces its difficult.At the time of speaking, Hernndez didnt know if Gaviria was out of the race, but he admitted that it looks really bad. He added: We think this was the penultimate opportunity for Fernando and we came into it with a lot of desire to do well so its a shame. We had a lot of hopes for him. Hes a rider that everyone thought was lost but who weve helped return, and for him to be here in the Tour and fighting for stages was something really great for us, as was seeing him enjoying riding his bike bike again. Why couldnt he have achieved a victory?The Tour had other ideas, though. Aged 31, and with Caja certainly not assured of a spot in the Tour next year, the Colombian who won two stages back in 2018, might possibly have ridden his last Tour stage.Now Caja, short of their two best riders, have to switch their mentality in the latter half of the race. We have to change our chip a little bit, and look at our other options including the climbers we have, Hernndez said." We know itll be difficult to win a stage but were going to try. Why cant we?As for Wrenskjold, his boss at Uno-X reported that the Norwegian had not broken any bones but was left banged up after being caught up in the crash.Hes hurt everywhere, said Thor Hushovd. Sliding on the road at nearly 80kmh, its painful. Its a shame because he was in good shape, but its part of cycling.Half of the bunch got knocked down in a very fast final. Scary images, but it seems like more or less everybody could finish the race.

Olav Kooij already has the Tour de France stage victory he came to France seeking. Over the past two days, however, a second win has twice remained agonisingly beyond his reach. The Decathlon CMA CGM Team sprinter followed Wednesdays runner-up finish behind Soren Waerenskjold with another second pl...