The time trial at the Tour de France Femmes was known to be a key day for the overall classification contenders. Despite the months of preparation, defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prvot struggled and has lost minutes to her direct rivals over a short distance, raising doubts over her ability to...

Despite being just 21 kilometres long, the Stage 4 individual time trial at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift delivered the first major shake-up in the general classification. As anticipated, world time trial champion Marlen Reusser (Movistar) powered to victory, while the rest of the GC contenders spent the day trying to limit their losses.Riders like Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) and Demi Vollering (FDJ-SUEZ) emerged from the day in strong positions, now sitting fifth and second overall respectively. Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prvot (Visma | Lease a Bike), however, endured a nightmare, conceding more than two minutes and tumbling to 14th in the general classification.For Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM), the day went exactly as planned. The 2024 Tour de France Femmes champion finished 13th on the stage, 1:08 behind Reusser, but successfully limited her losses to the other GC favourites and, crucially, finished ahead of Ferrand-Prvot before the race reaches the high mountains."The goal for today was to minimise losses to riders like Demi Vollering, Elisa Longo Borghini and Marlen Reusser," Niewiadoma-Phinney said after the stage. "Of course it's nice to be in front of Pauline ahead of Mont Ventoux and the other hard stages."Heading into the Tour's first major climbing test, Niewiadoma-Phinney sits sixth overall, with just 1:09 separating the top six riders.The Polish rider revealed she had invested heavily in improving her time trialling, fully aware of how important the stage could be in shaping this year's Tour."I felt that I found my flow. I spent huge amounts of time working on my TT skills, because as everyone knows, I wasn't the best at it," she said. "As you can see, if you believe in something and you put a good amount of work in, anything is possible."Niewiadoma-Phinney was delighted with her performance and admitted she would have gladly accepted the result before rolling down the start ramp."One hundred percent. I'm super grateful for all the people that were with me on the journey to get to this place. The Tour de France is such a big goal for myself and the team. We want to come here to bring the yellow jersey home again. That result puts us closer to that dream."She credited the ride to a collective effort that included technical work on her position, equipment and coaching, while jokingly acknowledging some advice from her husband, former American time trial specialist Taylor Phinney."I'm married to a TT specialist so, for once, I listened to his advice," she laughed. "I'm very lucky to be surrounded by professional people, my team looking for details to improve my position, Canyon taking me to a wind tunnel, my coach working on me physically. I think it was a combination of massive teamwork."With the race now turning towards the mountains, Niewiadoma-Phinney said the Tour would now "properly start." Relieved to have the time trial behind her, she is eager to return to terrain that better suits her strengths."I was looking forward to this particular moment to be done with and focus on the climbs to come. Tomorrow is going to be a super hard stage. We're here to be aggressive, we have a strong team, and we want to do our best. We're in great shape, so what else can you do other than race your bike now?"

Across nine stages from Lausanne to Nice, the Tour de France Femmes can change quickly through crashes, illness and the accumulated strain of a compact route. With little recovery time between sprint finales, hilly stages, the Dijon time trial and the decisive mountain tests, one incident can remove...

Users of the Great Western Greenway have been pushed out onto the N59, a national secondary road with a 100km/h speed limit, for around a 200-metre section of the greenway between Westport and Newport after a farmer closed a shorter section outside of his farm.The section closed by the farmer amounts to around 40 or 50 metres, but because of fences and greenery in the way, detouring around the closed section involves using the main road for 200 metres. The greenway was built using permissive access, a system where landowners such as farmers retain ownership of the land. Over the years since the route was opened, similar closures have happened when landowners have had issues with the council, sometimes totally unrelated to the greenway. In this case, the farmer has reported an increase in conflicts with greenway users where the route crosses his driveway and farm access gate.This increase in conflicts came after the council installed new barrierssee the video below, which was taken by IrishCycle.com at the start of the year, focusing on the barriers being placed in locations where they are not recommended. Cllr Peter Flynn (Fine Gael), a Westport-based councillor, said before this latest closure over the weekend that the landowner contacted him and said that hes sick and tired of it, referring to incidents at the entrances to his house and farm.This is always the risk with permissive access, with the landowner fully entitled to close off his/her land without any need to notify the Council or anyone else, said Cllr Flynn. Ironically, every time this happens is with a stretch of greenway alongside the road where the farmer is trying to get their car, farm machinery or livestock across the greenway; it is a headache, unlike sections which are well away from the main road, he said.IMAGE: Video taken earlier this year before the closure. Cllr Flynn has been making the point about the risks of permissive access in relation to the planned Westport to Murrisk/Louisburgh greenway. This planned greenway on the other side of the bay has been delayed because of objections from some residents to the project. Cllr Flynn supports a route inland, while other councillors and some residents who are objecting to the route want the greenway built along the main road in the area.The new route is planned to be State-owned by agreement of sale with the landowners or via compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) where such is not possible. Issues like the current one and the ongoing resourcing costs of maintaining permission access agreements are why State bodies have said that there must be public ownership of any new regional and national greenways.Would you build a house or shed on someone elses land? That is what happens with permissive access when you are investing in infrastructure that can be shut down legitimately with no recourse, said Cllr Flynn.He added: The other side of permissive access is that the landowner misses out on any compensation, which is a shame when there is very generous compensation under the new TII approach. For farmers over 55, this compensation is generally tax-free. Yet some farming organisations, who are supposed to be represent small farmers, are against this approach; go figure that!

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...

The week after the Tour de France brought few changes to the UCI WorldTour team ranking, but there were notable moves thanks to the races held in Europe. The Tour of Denmark, Tour de l'Ain, the Clsica de San Sebastin and the Circuito de Getxo distributed points that slightly reshaped the table as...

The self-proclaimed leader in marginal gains, Silca just added the brand-new Mattone Ultimate to its collection of seat packs. Based on the same general design as the standard Mattone, the Ultimate takes things up a notch with its BOA Li2 closure system, weatherproof materials, and a 50% weight reduction. It has a 0.4-liter storage capacity, weighs just 44 grams, and has been designed as a light, low-profile, and minimalist option for road riders to carry their essentials.Mattone Ultimate DetailsSilcas Mattone seat packs have been a popular choice for years. With an eye always toward marginal gains, Silca designed the Mattone Ultimate to be its lightest and most advanced seat pack yet. It slots in as a premium option alongside the existing Mattone, Mattone Grande, and recently added Mattone Web models. Silca says the Mattone Ultimates TPU composite fabric, RF-welded exterior panels, and water-resistant YKK zipper make it more weatherproof than the standard Mattone. It attaches to the saddle rails with a Hypalon-reinforced strap tightened by a BOA Li2 closure system with a low-profile metal dial and a TX4 textile lace. This allows for micro-adjustable compression as pack contents change.The clamshell-style lid folds wide-open to reveal a simple 0.4-liter compartment, along with a flat pocket on the underside of the lid. According to Silca, it fits a gear wipe, Elettrico Ultimate inflator, TPU tube, tire lever, and an Italian Army Knife Venti multi-tool. With its compact size, lightweight materials, and construction, the Mattone Ultimate weighs in at a claimed 44 grams (1.55 oz.). Thats less than half the 90-gram weight of the 0.5-liter Mattone.The Mattone Ultimate has a rectangular shape with dimensions of 128 x 60 x 91 mm (5.04 x 2.36 x 3.58 in). It has clean lines and tasteful logos that should work well with virtually any bike. It also has a mounting strap for a rear light or other accessory.TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTSCapacity: 0.4L (13.5 US fl oz)Dimensions: 128 x 60 x 91 mm (5.04 x 2.36 x 3.58 in)Weight: 44 g (1.55 oz)Materials: TPU composite fabric with RF welded constructionClosure System: BOA Li2 metal dial with TX4 soft lace cable systemStrap: Hypalon reinforced strapZipper: Water-resistant YKK zipperPricing and AvailabilityThe Mattone Ultimate is Silcas most premium seat pack, and it has a premium price tag to match. It retails for $98 and is available now. Learn more or pick one up on the Silca website.silca.cc

The 2026 Tour de France Femmes classifications will shift across nine stages of racing, from the Grand Depart in Lausanne on 1 August to the final stage in Nice on 9 August. Across sprint stages, hilly terrain, an individual time trial and major mountain tests, each day can alter the shape of the ra...

Stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes was its decisive time trial, and the differences created have the potential to completely change the race. Marlen Reusser stormed to the stage win and the yellow jersey after a tremendous performance on a day where Pauline Ferrand-Prvot has lost around two minut...

Team Visma | Lease a Bike could hardly have asked for a better start to the Vuelta a Burgos. Matthew Brennan sprinted to victory on the opening stage after a textbook team performance, with Ben Tulett completing a one-two finish as the Dutch squad stamped its authority on the race from day one. Stag...