With Ryan filing dispatches from a Dijon-bound TGV, Callum's here to keep the live blog ticking over. Fingers crossed his ramblings cut the mustard...

The confirmation that Tadej Pogacar will start the 2026 Vuelta a Espaa has completely rewritten the race script. What looked days ago like a wide-open edition, with numerous contenders for the red jersey, has turned into a contest with a standout favourite. The Slovenian, the current dominant forc...

The governing body warned teams that particular attention will be paid to clothing items that could modify riders morphology after complaints were made about the use of extra bra padding to improve aerodynamics

Visma | Lease a Bike endured some tense moments on stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes as defending championPauline Ferrand-Prvot was put on the backfoot as the favourites jousted for some early bragging rights, but they have insisted that all is well heading into the time trial on Tuesday. With...

Liam goes on an epic adventure to one of the most legendary locations to ride a bike, with the trusty Cadence app leading the way

The week after the Tour de France is usually one of the quietest on the UCI WorldTour calendar, with many of the pelotons big names taking a breather after the French Grand Tour. Even so, the few races held still triggered notable shifts in the UCI Ranking updated on Tuesday, August 4th. The Danmar...

Stage four of the Tour de France Femmes will see the riders undertake a time trial through the vineyards of the Cte d'Or from Gevrey-Chambertin to Dijon.This is only the second time the race, now in its fifth edition, will have an individual time trial outside of the prologue. The 21km course has a 1.8km climb in the middle with a 6.9% average gradient, plus a ramp to Corcelles-les-Monts, before a rolling downhill finish.Although race director Marion Rousse said shes confident the time trial wont be decisive for the overall general classification, it could prove critical ahead of Mont Ventoux and Col d'ze at the tail end of the race later this week.The stage could also prove controversial due to team concerns over riders using padding to create chest fairings and the race jury stating that they will pay particular attention to rider clothing today.The first rider to start today will be Lotto-Intermarchs Romina Hinojosa Cruz at 2.51pm local time. British national individual time trial champion and Tour de France Femmes debutant Zoe Bckstedt will start at 4.29pm. Time trial specialist Marlen Reusser will start at 5.08pm CEST.Then the favourites come out in quick succession. Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prvot will begin at 5.10pm; Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney at 5.14pm; Elisa Longo Borghini at 5.16pm;Marianne Vos at 5.20pm; and Demi Vollering at 5.24pm.After winning stage three to claim the yellow jersey, Uno-X Mobilitys Sigrid Haugset will be the last rider to start at 5.28pm. More on the Tour de France Femmes How much does a Tour de France Femmes bike cost? SpongeBob SquarePants heads to the Tour de France Femmes aboard Factor One road bikes Tour de France Femmes: 8 key questions answered, from race favourites to must-watch stages Tour de France Femmes time trial start times and order Order Time (CEST) Rider Team 1 14:51 HINOJOSA CRUZ Romina LIL 2 14:52 LUDWIG Hannah CWT 3 14:53 GRIFFIN Mia TPP 4 14:54 ABGRALL Nomie MPE 5 14:55 BEEKHUIS Teuntje UXM 6 14:56 CLAY Lene Robyn TPP 7 14:57 GONZALEZ BLANCO Alicia AUB 8 14:58 GUILMAN Victorie CWT 9 14:59 FITYUS Lucie TPP 10 15:00 LE MOUL Clia MPE 11 15:01 JACKSON Alison AUB 12 15:02 WRESZIN Caroline AUB 13 15:03 FIDANZA Arianna LKF 14 15:04 VALENTIN Constance MMM 15 15:05 FRANZ Heidi AUB 16 15:06 TAS Sandrine LIL 17 15:07 KOOL Charlotte FPC 18 15:08 LYLYK Kiara MMM 19 15:09 LE NET Marie TFS 20 15:10 AMONDARAIN GAZTAAGA Naia LKF 21 15:11 VON BERSWORDT Sophie VWT 22 15:12 RIJNBEEK Maud VWT 23 15:13 GRANGIER India AUB 24 15:14 DIJKSTRA Anneke VWT 25 15:15 VIGILIA Alessia UXM 26 15:16 DIDERIKSEN Amalie CWT 27 15:17 CECCHINI Elena SDW 28 15:18 BIRIUKOVA Yuliia LKF 29 15:19 ERASO LASA Idoia LKF 30 15:20 MAHE Ocane MPE 31 15:21 COSTON Morgane MPE 32 15:22 HENGEVELD Daniek TVL 33 15:23 SIERRA CANADILLA Arlenis MOV 34 15:24 SCHOENS Quinty VWT 35 15:25 ALLIONE Marine MMM 36 15:26 MANGAN Fiona MMM 37 15:27 CIABOCCO Eleonora TPP 38 15:28 MAGALHAES Ana Vitoria MOV 39 15:29 CHRISTIE Henrietta EFO 40 15:30 CIPRESSI Carlotta HPH 41 15:31 QUINN Natalie MMM 42 15:32 MARTIN MARTIN Sara MOV 43 15:33 RAAIJMAKERS Marit HPH 44 15:34 CONSONNI Chiara CSR 45 15:35 OSTIZ Paula MOV 46 15:36 COUTINHO Alice MMM 47 15:37 BARALE Francesca MOV 48 15:38 CLAES Lotte FPC 49 15:39 IGART Urka AGS 50 15:40 COUPLAND Mackenzie LIV 51 15:41 RYO Titia HPH 52 15:42 EISEN Malou VWT 53 15:43 DE SCHEPPER Lore AGS 54 15:44 COUZENS Millie FPC 55 15:45 ROSEMAN-GANNON Ruby LIV 56 15:46 PATERNOSTER Letizia LIV 57 15:47 TOWERS Alice EFO 58 15:48 BERTON Nina EFO 59 15:49 BORGHESI Letizia AGS 60 15:50 WILLIAMS Lily HPH 61 15:51 KOCH Franziska TFS 62 15:52 KOSTER Anouska UXM 63 15:53 MALCOTTI Barbara HPH 64 15:54 RIEDMANN Linda LIL 65 15:55 BEGO Julie CWT 66 15:56 BALSAMO Elisa LTK 67 15:57 JANSEN Eline VWT 68 15:58 SMULDERS Silke LIV 69 15:59 GEORGI Pfeiffer TPP 70 16:00 NOOIJEN Lieke TVL 71 16:01 BOSSUYT Shari AGS 72 16:02 WIEBES Lorena SDW 73 16:03 BREDEWOLD Mischa SDW 74 16:04 NELSON Josie TPP 75 16:05 LIPPERT Liane MOV 76 16:06 EDSETH Marte Berg UXM 77 16:07 PALADIN Soraya CSR 78 16:08 PEREKITKO Karolina MMM 79 16:09 KOREVAAR Jeanne LIV 80 16:10 KRAAK Amber TFS 81 16:11 SKALNIAK-SOJKA Agnieszka CSR 82 16:12 MUZIC Evita TFS 83 16:13 CASASOLA Sara FPC 84 16:14 VAN DAM Sarah TVL 85 16:15 ADEGEEST Loes LTK 86 16:16 BRAND Lucinda LTK 87 16:17 PERSICO Silvia UAD 88 16:18 MASETTI Gaia TPP 89 16:19 BENITO PELLICER Mireia AGS 90 16:20 FAULKNER Kristen EFO 91 16:21 COMTE Ema CWT 92 16:22 CAVALLAR Valentina SDW 93 16:23 BUNEL Marion TVL 94 16:24 GONTOVA Nadia LIV 95 16:25 VALLIERES MILL Magdeleine EFO 96 16:26 SQUIBAN Maeva UAD 97 16:27 PATIO BEDOYA Paula LKF 98 16:28 MULLER Solne AUB 99 16:29 BACKSTEDT Zoe Jane CSR 100 16:30 NOSKOV Nikola CWT 101 16:31 SPRATT Amanda LTK 102 16:32 MARKUS Riejanne LTK 103 16:33 LATIMIER Clmence MPE 104 16:34 KLSER Maria Rosa CSR 105 16:35 GHEKIERE Justine AGS 106 16:36 BUIJSMAN Nina HPH 107 16:37 VINKE Nienke SDW 108 16:38 SILVESTRI Debora LKF 109 16:39 KOPECKY Lotte SDW 110 16:40 AALERUD Katrine UXM 111 16:41 ASENCIO Laura MPE 112 16:42 WLODARCZYK Dominika UAD 113 16:43 DE VRIES Femke TVL 114 16:44 GERY Clia TFS 115 16:45 KASTELIJN Yara FPC 116 16:46 OSTOLAZA ZABALA Usoa LKF 117 16:47 MUL Malwina CWT 118 16:48 MORIER Emilie AUB 119 16:50 TRINCA COLONEL Monica LIV 120 16:52 DE JONG Thalita HPH 121 16:54 VAN DER BREGGEN Anna SDW 122 16:56 BERTHET Juliette TFS 123 16:58 NIEDERMAIER Antonia CSR 124 17:00 HOLMGREN Isabella LTK 125 17:02 GARCIA Mavi UAD 126 17:04 BLASI CAIROL Paula UAD 127 17:06 FISHER-BLACK Niamh LTK 128 17:08 REUSSER Marlen MOV 129 17:10 FERRAND PREVOT Pauline TVL 130 17:12 PIETERSE Puck FPC 131 17:14 NIEWIADOMA-PHINNEY Katarzyna CSR 132 17:16 LONGO BORGHINI Elisa UAD 133 17:18 KERBAOL Cedrine EFO 134 17:20 VOS Marianne TVL 135 17:22 RUEGG Noemi EFO 136 17:24 VOLLERING Demi TFS 137 17:26 LE COURT PIENAAR Kim AGS 138 17:28 HAUGSET Sigrid UXM Edit Table

Mankind's gravitational pull towards mountain ranges for recreation, at least is a relatively recent phenomenon. Before Horace-Bndict de Saussure's expedition to Mont Blanc in 1786, mountains were largely regarded as places of danger. People ventured onto them only when necessity demanded it: to hunt, wage war or keep watch over the land.Nowadays, we positively throw ourselves at them. Every year, hikers, runners, skiers, rock climbers and, of course, cyclists are drawn to the mountains in their thousands. We cyclists, in particular, love nothing more than squaring up to a sky-bound ribbon of tarmac and letting rip.Why? I believe the answer is twofold. Firstly, riding up a mountain pass is arguably the most satisfying experience it's possible to have on two wheels. Climbing a mountain is pain and pleasure in equal measure; purgatory and heaven rolled into one. Secondly and I think this is where the real attraction lies mountains are places of unparalleled beauty. More than that, they have an uncanny ability to remind us where we fit in the grand scheme of things. Stand in the foothills of a great mountain range, watching the Earth's crust buckle into towering peaks, and it doesn't take long to think, "Oh yeah... I'm actually not that important after all." It's good to be humbled. It tends to make you less of an idiot.Which is why Dan Baines, my colleague at Cycling Weekly, and I headed for Corsica the most mountainous island in the Mediterranean in the hope of becoming less idiotic. Summit searching(Image credit: Stephen Shrubsall)It wasn't until we'd landed in Corsica and driven across the island to our accommodation that we realised just how mountainous it really was. This little French island is the very definition of dramatic, so much so I was left lost for words. I turned to Dan and simply offered him a selection of expletives; he concurred.Yes, the landscape in Corsica is otherworldly and the climbs, well, they just didnt know when to stop. Between us we've ridden most of the great passes of the Alps and the Pyrenees, yet there was something different about the roads here.More by luck than design, we discovered the following morning that our accommodation sat at the foot of what Strava's heatmap suggested was one of the island's most popular climbs: the Col de la Vergio. At 32.9 kilometres long, the climb accumulates 1,496 metres of vertical ascent, averaging 4.4%. Naturally, we decided to ride up it, at speed. A two-up time trial was in order. We were very much all the gear; I was rocking a Team UAE issue Colnago V5RS with all the bells, whistles and weight-saving measures that make absolutely no difference to a chap who is partial to a pint and pork pie. Dan was astride an aero Factor Monza, specced for pure speed. I hoped my lightweight climbing machine would close the gap between our power-to-weight ratios; Dans Functional Threshold Power (FTP) was around 4.2 w/kg at the time, whilst mine was 3.9. However, I could hold 350 watts for an hour, to his 320. Regardless of who was stronger or more built to climb, I knew this was going to hurt. The road that just kept going up(Image credit: Stephen Shrubsall)We set off on shallow slopes, with my fresh legs setting a 300-watt pace out of the small town of Porto. Did you see that? Dan asked, looking a little concerned. No, I was too busy looking at my power meter, I unashamedly replied. It said we have 33 kilometres to the summit.You guessed it, we hadn't researched the stats before we set off perhaps our goal of reduced idiocy required more work than the climb could offer. Yet, before Id had the time to compute just how decimated our quads would be at the top, Dan rode through for a turn, maintaining that same high-tempo effort. Death or glory. The race to the top of the Col de la Vergio was on."Perhaps our goal of reduced idiocy required more work than the climb could offer"The early kilometres of the mountain arent without their charm. After 5km youre high enough that Porto is a sea-bordered speck enveloped by skyscraping granite crags. But the real beauty of this climb reveals itself after around 10 kilometres. Wed been riding through-and-off for around 40 minutes, keeping the chain tight and the concentration levels high. But rounding a tight corner through a corridor of red granite walls, we seemingly rode through a portal and onto another planet. A naturally formed colosseum of a biblical scale presented itself: the road which was now a kind of mantel piece, built into the side of the sheer granite mountain face provided a sweeping arc, and looking across its unending forested expanse made me feel, well irrelevant. Who cares about time trialling to the top? Who cares about 300 pathetic watts? Evidently we did. A glance back from Dan confirmed that hed acknowledged what we were riding through. I replied with a fresh selection of rasped expletives. The race to the top continued. Cyclists often talk about purgatorial ascents the ones on which you seem to live an entire lifetime. Just when you think you're about to crest the summit, bam, the road kicks up again and you're back at the coal face, asking your legs to deliver more than could ever be reasonably expected of a pair of limbs. The Col de Vergio is one of those climbs.The road surface smoothed out as we approached the small village of Evisa. Glass-like tarmac means speed and we sliced through the little settlement replete with quaint cafes spilling out onto the pavements. I was pacing us a rare turn on the front and I looked back at Dan as we rode studiously past a glacerie. The temperature was still in the mid-20s despite the fact wed reached and breached 1,200 metres an ice cream wouldve hit the spot.(Image credit: Stephen Shrubsall)But no, wed come this far at pace, to stop now would be a brazen act of surrender. Pralines and pistachio would have to wait. Leaving Eviso, the road which up to now had been open and exposed disappeared under dense canopy cover. We rode through pine and fir: families of wildboar snurgled, rock lizards sprinted along drainage gulleys, a whip snake skimmed across the tarmac, cow bells rung deep within the wood. We barely looked up for our work.It had been an hour and 45 minutes since we left Porto and the big push to the summit was on. Sensing the end was in sight, Dan added a few watts. I clung to his back wheel like a limpet, determined that wed reach the top in unison, determined to share the glory of dispatching this mammoth ascent. Three hundred watts; three-twenty; three-thirty; must hold on. And then, there it was: the summit of the Col de Vergio. We rolled over the crest and brought our bikes to a standstill.That was a bit long, wasnt it?, I saidI think its the longest climb Ive ever ridden, he replied. As it turned out, what wed ridden was the longest continuous climb in France, if you discount the 36.3km Val Thorens, which cheats with a descent between kilometres 11 and 14.(Image credit: Stephen Shrubsall)What was left was the rather splendid task of riding back down.The outing amounted to little more than 45 miles, yet it was a very strong contender for the finest day's riding I've ever experienced. The Col de Vergio isnt the steepest climb, and its certainly not the highest. But its unrelenting nature and ethereal scenery provided a unique kind of dreamy discomfort.Corsica had been sitting patiently in the Mediterranean waiting for our wheels. And now its been discovered Im going to struggle to see a cycling destination beyond it. Im not sure its made me any less of an idiot but it reminded me exactly why I ride bicycles.

FDJ-SUEZ have provided a short update on Demi Vollering's condition after she suffered a crash during stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes. The Dutch leader, and one of the general classification favourites, hit the deck before TV cameras started rolling on Monday. Vollering was involved in the cras...