The 2026 Tour de Pologne takes place between the 3rd and 9th of August and gives continuation to the World Tour calendar. Between the Tour de France and theVuelta a Espaa, it often sees a few riders that participate in both; whilst providing opportunities for many different kinds of riders. We tak...

Somebody must have forgotten to show Riejanne Markus the script for stage two of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Destiny had written it as follows: Lorena Wiebes wins a routine bunch sprint and takes her first victory in the yellow jersey. That, in the end, was the closing scene, but not without Markuss best efforts to foil it. Peeling off the front of the breakaway with 39km to go, the Lidl-Trek rider charged solo to the finish, skirting around the shore of Lake Geneva and into the Swiss city. Her gap stayed steady at around a minute. Until, closing in towards the line, it began to fall, the seconds trickling away rather than tumbling. Along the finishing straight, fans in their thousands tilted onto their tiptoes to see if shed hold off the pack. It would have been, they thought, the perfect antidote to a foregone conclusion. But with 400m to go, Wiebes and the sprint trains barrelled over the top, and Markus was absorbed into the swell of the bunch.The Dutchwoman's result on the day read 76th, but it didnt tell the story of how narrow the finale was. I came pretty close, and I honestly didnt expect that, Markus said afterwards. Of course, we wanted to be part of the game, but I knew that the sprinters really wanted to get a chance today because this was the most suitable stage for a sprint. But then I came actually pretty close, so it was actually pretty disappointing in the end. Stage two was, as many correctly tipped, a day made for Wiebes. She is the most dominant sprinter of her generation perhaps of all time who has collected 133 career wins at the age of 27. Seven of those have now come at the Tour de France Femmes a tally bettered by no one. Did Markus think she could have starved her of her latest one? In the last kilometres, I was not thinking about the win really, the Lidl-Trek rider said. I was just trying to go all-out, and be as quick as possible. Actually, 1km before the finish, I thought, Theyre still not here. When are they coming? Then with 500m to go, I felt like, Ooo. Then at 400m, they came. It was really disappointing, actually, but Im really proud of the effort. It was a credit to the Dutchwoman's strength that Wiebes's SD Worx-Protime chose to chase her down with their GC leader Anna van der Breggen and former world champion Lotte Kopecky. It was a gap I couldnt close really easily, Kopecky told the TV cameras. We rode full gas, and we didnt come any closer.We know Riejanne and we know that we cannot give her two minutes. But she had a really good moment where she attacked. It always takes some time to organise ourselves. In the end it was quite close, but I think the girls did an amazing job today to close the gap. By way of consolation, Markus was awarded the combativity prize as the days most daring rider. As she stood on the podium, she smiled out to the fans gathered road, and was greeted with the loudest cheer of the day. It was really nice to be on the podium, she said, but I really hope Ill come closer than I did today on some of the next stages. The script, next time, may have Markus in a starring role.

Geraint Thomas has refused to hide behind Netcompany INEOS disrupted preparation after the team left the 2026 Tour de France without a stage victory, an individual podium or a rider inside the top 19 overall. The failure arrived in the middle of an otherwise encouraging season for the British team....

The 2026 Tour de Pologne takes place between the 3rd and 9th of August and gives continuation to the World Tour calendar. Between the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espaa, it often sees a few riders that participate in both; whilst providing opportunities for many different kinds of riders. We tak...

The route of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes has been announced this morning in Paris, and it features a very difficult route that differs quite a lot from this year's. Taking place from Saturday, 1 August to Sunday, 9 August 2026, the time trials are back at this year's edition, and we will have a m...

With only nine stages at the Tour de France Femmes, a relegation, time penalty or yellow card can carry consequences far beyond the immediate result. Sprint deviations, sticky bottles, feeding breaches and littering offences can all affect stage placings, jersey battles and the shape of a riders ra...

Riejanne Markus admitted she briefly believed a remarkable Tour de France Femmes stage victory was within reach before her 39-kilometre solo attack was caught just 500 metres from the finish in Geneva. The Lidl-Trek rider attacked with around 40 kilometres remaining and carried a lead of approximate...

No excuses not to ride in the winter with this bike. Unless it's icy...

Jonas Vingegaard may already have ridden his final race of 2026 after a season that delivered Grand Tour history but ended with another operation and an uncertain rehabilitation. His wife Trine would have no issue with the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader drawing a line under the campaign. Vingegaar...

Valtteri Bottas made the most of Formula 1's summer break by securing qualification for the UCI Gravel World Championships. The Finnish Cadillac driver impressed with a top-five finish in his age category in the Czech Republic, although a calendar clash with Formula 1 is expected to prevent him from...