My head, my head After, ahem, indulging in the Tour de Frances annual party in Paris, Ryan Mallons dragged himself out of his hotel bed to keep you entertained with all the post-Grande Boucle action on the Monday live blog

Merida appears to be developing a new downhill bike, with a raw alloy concept appearing on its stand at Ard Rock Enduro.The downhill bike is said to have been born out of necessity for the brand, which sponsors a roster of interesting freerider prospects who have, until now, been riding the One-Sixty FR with 170mm of travel.The design marries two of Merida's existing frames, with the front triangle being taken from the alloy One-Sixty enduro bike and the back end from the eOne-Eighty.This has enabled the brand to use a dual-crown fork on the front and sculpt 200mm of travel out of the rear-suspension linkage.The last time Merida had a 200mm downhill bike was the Duncan DH more than a decade ago, released under the sub-brand UMF.eMTB origins The bike's eMTB heritage can be seen on the frame. Nick Clark / Our Media There are telltale signs of the bike's lineage, with the charge port for the eOne-Eighty being replaced by a blank cap. The raw colourway looks great up-close. Nick Clark / Our Media Merida has brought in Jon Gregory from Misspent Summers for the graphics, with the bike also showing off neat welds, considering it's still in the prototyping stage. The eOne-Eighty's linkage has been added neatly to the alloy One-Sixty's frame and has been tuned to 200mm. Nick Clark / Our Media There's limited geometry adjustment at the moment, with only 6mm of reach adjust sitting in the headset, but there appear to be plans to look at chainstay-length adjustment in future iterations. The Vivid Ultimate is an air shock. Nick Clark / Our Media The bike is finished with a drool-worthy spec, with a 200mm RockShox Boxxer Ultimate supporting the front of the bike and a Vivid Ultimate in the rear. SRAM's XX DH T-Type was only released this year. Nick Clark / Our Media It is a full SRAM affair, with the brand's 7-speed XX DH T-Type changing gears and Maven Ultimate brakes shedding speed.The bike sits on DT Swiss FR1500 wheels booted in Schwalbe rubber and there's accent-matched Burgtec accessories, including the stem, seatpost collar, pedals and spacers.

My head, my head After, ahem, indulging in the Tour de Frances annual party in Paris, Ryan Mallons dragged himself out of his hotel bed to keep you entertained with all the post-Grande Boucle action on the Monday live blog

The 2026 Tour de France had many highlights and one such was the night-time doping tests that were done on several riders. Amongst them were Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. Richard Plugge, CEO of Team Visma | Lease a Bike claims the team's image was damaged by the situation. It was only learnt...

Trek has set self-imposed speed restrictions on its electric bikes in the US, citing the need to control speeds both on-road and off-road.These limits are needed to improve safety, protect access and avoid a backlash against electric bike use, according to Trek.The brand is now calling on other ebike makers to follow suit. Trek is limiting its US eMTBs to Class 1 support, with a 20mph top assisted speed. Steve Behr / Our Media Treks speed restrictions apply most directly to its electric mountain bikes, where it will only sell Class 1 electric bikes. These are speed restricted to 20mph and do not have a throttle-operation option.Explaining the decision, Treks president John Burke says: As an industry, weve worked for decades to earn access to trails and bike paths. Wed rather lead with responsibility today than explain tomorrow why riders lost access to the places they love and to a sport that makes the world a better place.Trek claims faster eMTBs can lead to greater conflicts between trail users and increased pressure for new restrictions. It points out that more than 17,000 additional miles of MTB trails were opened to eMTBs in the US in 2025 and fears that the introduction of ever-more powerful and faster eMTBs could ultimately restrict trail access both for ebike users and riders of conventional MTBs. There are increasing calls for limits on motor peak power. Megamo We've previously suggested a cap should be placed on the trend for ever more powerful ebikes, while respected MTB figure Hans Rey has mooted restricting eMTBs to 20mph throttle-free assistance with a maximum 750 watts peak power. Trek will continue to sell Class 3 pavement-oriented electric bikes speed limited to 28mph in the US. Trek While Trek is limiting its eMTBs to Class 1 support, for on-pavement use (i.e. on metalled roads and bike tracks), alongside Class 1 ebikes speed limited at 20mph, it will continue to sell faster Class 3 ebikes, which are speed limited at 28mph, with throttle assistance up to 20mph.Trek says it believes ebikes that provide throttle assistance beyond 20mph or that can travel faster than 28mph should not be allowed on bike paths and should be placed in a separate regulatory category.Different in Europe Unlike this guy, many gig economy delivery riders are using illegal ebikes. Mike Kemp / Getty Images In the UK and Europe, similar speed limits are already in force, notwithstanding the food delivery riders who whizz past without pedalling.Electric bikes are speed limited in these countries to 25km/h (15.5mph) and can only provide assistance when the rider is pedalling. Anything else is classed as an electric moped, needs to be registered, taxed and insured and the rider needs to hold a licence and be wearing a motorbike-style helmet.The EU has given the cycle industry until 2027 to redefine and tighten up electric bike standards as part of a bloc-wide overhaul of vehicle regulations.UK police forces have been cracking down on illegal electric bikes recently, with several using devices to check ebikes cant travel at over 25km/h. Throttle-controlled ebikes and non-compliant ebikes have been seized and crushed.Back in the US, at the start of 2026, New Jersey passed a law that required all electric bikes to be licensed, registered and insured, regardless of assistance class, a restriction that Trek's new measures may help avoid other US states implementing.

Tadej Pogacar has just conquered a record-equaling fifth Tour de France win. For the UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider, it's a goal achieved, and what comes next doesn't have to be decided yet. The World Champion has discussed the upcoming Vuelta a Espaa, his partner Urska Zigart and more following the...

Tadej Pogaar rode the final stage of the 2026 Tour de France aboard a special yellow Colnago Y1Rs that commemorated his latest Tour victory, while giving a hidden nod to the four that came before.Pogaar now holds a record-equalling five Tour de France titles, yet the bike also draws attention to the prowess of his team for this years edition.Every team member that made the finish in Paris rode the yellow bike (and wore a celebratory kit in tribute to the achievement), bar Isaac del Toro, who had a white version of the design and, of course, the Tours official white jersey to commemorate his young riders classification win.Colnago has confirmed Pogaar and del Toros teammate, Brandon McNulty, who was forced to abandon on stage 18, will also receive a yellow tribute bike in recognition of his contribution to the teams achievements.Heres a closer look at the bike. Read more: We weighed Tadej Pogaars 2026 Tour de France bike and its heavier than you might think The special Colnago Y1Rs was in the obligatory yellow paint, matching the Tour de France's yellow jersey pantone. Colnago Pogaar had already been riding custom yellow decals on his ENVE SES 4.5 Pro wheels since he took the yellow jersey for good and these are marked with the Slovenian national flag, rather than the world champion's stripes elsewhere. Colnago Each team rider will be able to keep their limited-edition bike, with special nods to their nationality on the lower seat tube and ENVE wheels. Brandon McNulty will receive his unridden bike, having abandoned on stage 18. Colnago The top tube features each team rider's name for the 2026 race. Pogaar, though, gets the world champion's stripes on his bike. The dots and dashes represent 'Y1Rs' in Morse code. Pogaar has made the outstretched palm five a signature celebration in the past when he's won five stages of a race. This is a hidden detail tucked in behind the head tube, made possible by the bayonet fork design of the Y1Rs. The bike uses a yellow Carbon-Ti hanger and thru-axle. Pogaar and company normally run red Carbon-Ti components. Yellow Carbon-Ti bottle cage bolts were also used. The seatstays are adorned with this graphical representation of the 2026 race parcours. Isaac del Toro's bike is the odd one out, with a white colourway to celebrate his victory in the young rider's classification he finished the race in third overall, behind Remco Evenepoel and Pogaar. Naturally, del Toro couldn't be left out of the yellow party completely, so he ran yellow bar tape as well as the yellow ENVE decals and Carbon-Ti accessories. Colnago

Isaac del Toro might have finished third place and taken the white jersey in his first participation in the Tour de France, but he noted how difficult it's been for him and fellow riders from Latin America to forge a path to cycling's biggest stage. Standing atop the Paris podium, the Mexican champi...

The Netherlands is renowned for its pristine, well-maintained cycling infrastructure, so rugged adventures through remote landscapes likely arent the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the country. []The post Beef with the Border appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

Jonas Vingegaard returns to cycling just over a week after crashing and breaking his collarbone at the Tour de France. However, the Visma Lease a Bike rider won't be in lycra and cleats, but rather as part of the starting ceremony of a stage at Tour of Denmark. The race's second stage, on July 30th,...