Joao Almeida's 2026 Tour de Pologne is over after UAE Team Emirates XRG confirmed that the Portuguese GC contender will not start Friday's fifth stage following his crash on the road to Karpacz. Almeida was one of the biggest names caught in Thursday's mass pile-up, which forced the race to be neu...

Bond Almand might be young, but he is no rookie when it comes to big-distance cycling. On 15 November 2024, when he was a 20-year-old student, he finished a 14,000-mile solo, unsupported bikepacking expedition from the North coast of Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in the very far south of Argentina, setting a new world record for riding the Pan-American Route in 75 days. In September the following year, he bagged another world record, for the fastest NorthSouth cycle crossing of the United States. Currently he is cycling between 170 and 200 miles a day as he attempts to ride between the 30 stadiums of the teams that populate the USAs National Football League (NFL) before the first game of the 202627 season kicks off. When Cycling Weekly first caught up with Almand, by phone on his approach to Dallas, he was enduring a horrendous heatwave. The temperature is around 114F [45C], he said. Im sweating out more liquid than I can possibly take on by drinking. Every day I have to sit down and just rehydrate. Im buying a lot of ice, and shoving it anywhere it can fit. Sometimes I walk into liquor stores and hang out in the walk-in beer fridge. Unfortunately, they usually move me along pretty quickly. During his mission, Almand will ride just over 11,112 miles, and it hasnt been easy to plot a scenic or particularly safe route. Its hard cycling where I am now, around Dallas, he told me. There is just no cycling infrastructure at all. In the Gulf of Mexico there are tons of swamps and lots of highways. It can get a bit dangerous. And Ive had seven punctures so far, mostly from riding on the shoulder of the highway. Before this trip, I cycled over 10,000 miles without a single puncture. I started off using tubeless, but 30 miles in I tore a tyre. I had to make an early unscheduled stop at a bike shop and Ive been on tubes since. (Image credit: Image courtesy of Bond Almand and Extreme)Different ball gameAs with his earlier continent-crossing expeditions, Almand is cycling most of the route on his own. But the 22-year-old does have a companion of sorts: a football, which he is taking to all the stadiums. A lot of people ask me about the football, he says. You dont often see someone biking around with a football. I had a custom-holder made from carbon. It sits behind my saddle, like a bikepacking bag. I think its a one off, completely unique. But people seem more interested in the football than the fact Im cycling to all the stadiums. He is riding a Trek SLR road bike. Its basically the same bike the WorldTour guys ride, says Almand. Except its got a custom paint job purple. It feels like a shame to put bikepacking bags on it.I dont carry too much, though. Extreme wont let me camp, for liability reasons. I have one bag with gear beneath the aero bars. It weights between 5 and 8 pounds [2.253.5kg]. Im carrying a basic change of clothes, some tools and thats it. His current mission seems to be a very different kind of expedition to his previous endeavours, and I ask how it came about. I was approached by Extreme Networks, Almand explains. They had the idea of biking a football between all the stadiums. I was supposed to be riding the Transcontinental Race, but I thought to myself the Transcontinental will still be there next year, this opportunity might not be. He is doing the ride to raise money and awareness for GENYOUth, an organisation that promotes sporting activities and healthy diets and lifestyles for children across America. (Image credit: bondextremejourney.com)HalftimeAt the time of writing, Almand is now fast approaching the halfway mark, with almost 5,300 miles on the clock, and he is enjoying somewhat more comfortable conditions on the East Coast. Im riding in much cooler temperatures, he tells me. The roads are way more enjoyable too. There are tough times ahead, though, as he needs to traverse the country from east to west and cross the Rocky Mountains before the end is in sight. Hes been on his own so far, but will have some support when he gets to the deserts in Utah, Arizona and Nevada. Sometimes you can go for 100 to 110 miles with no access to water out there, he explains. My girlfriend will be with me for that part, for support, morale and to help me get water. The 2026 NFL season is due to kick-off with the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, playing the New England Patriots at Lumen Field in Washington on Wednesday 9 September. Almand was born in Seattle, and supports the Seahawks, so this has a lovely symmetry to it. Its going to be very cool to finish there, he tells me. Hes hoping to get the honour of kicking the ball on the field, but he sounds a bit concerned about the state of it.The football is filthy, he admits. All the dirt gets thrown up against it from the wheels, and on one side it has noticeable discolouration from the sun. Its been bleached already.He sounds quite concerned about it, but refutes any suggestion that he might have started treating it like a companion. So, you havent given it a name yet, or drawn a face on it? Er Noooo, he laughs, sounding somewhat bemused. And youre not talking to it yet, la Tom Hanks and Wilson in The Castaway? Apparently not. Or maybe he just doesnt know what the hell Im talking about, since Im referencing a film that was released four years before he was born.You can track the young adventurers progress via the expedition website.

Mont Ventoux will dominate Stage 7 of the Tour de France Femmes, but Alberto Contador has warned Marlen Reusser, Demi Vollering and the rest of the yellow jersey contenders that one of the hardest parts of the day could arrive before the famous climb has even officially begun. Reusser heads into Fri...

Bicycle brands Raleigh and Lapierre have initiated legal steps to secure their own futures, following Accell Groups suspension of payments.Lapierre has filed for judicial reorganisationwith the Dijon Commercial Court, while Raleigh has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.We will fight to preserve as many jobs as possibleIf the authorities approve Lapierres request, which is expected to be examined later this month, it will give the French bicycle company the green light to save itself."The observation period will give Cycles Lapierre the necessary time to continue its operations, consolidate its recovery plan, and bring in an investor capable of providing long-term financing for its future," a press release said.The loss of financial support from Accell Group means Lapierre will have to build its own future, secure funding and protect its workforce.CEO William Perrier said: We will fight to preserve as many jobs as possible and keep this story alive in Dijon.Raleigh's next stepsIn the UK, Accell UK & Ireland, the Nottingham-based owner of Raleigh, has filed a notice of attention to appoint administrators. This will give the company a period of around 10 days of legal protection to restructure or sell the business.On Wednesday 5 August, Accell Group said it was initiating insolvency proceedings just months after the New York investment firm KKR and its backers ceded control of the group to its lenders.The insolvency proceedings appear to end a troubled period for the group, which owns Haibike, Babboe and more cycling brands alongside Raleigh and Lapierre.Accell was taken over by a consortium led by KKR in 2022 for 1.8bn, betting on the continued growth of the electric bike market. But the groups growth was slow and last year it suffered a loss of 390m after posting profits of 27m the previous year.Raleigh also recorded a loss of more than 30m in 2023. In November 2023, the historic British cycling brand announced job cuts and a restructuring plan.In January, Accell sold Van Nicholas as it faced continued financial pressure. Then, a month later, the groups lenders took control from KKR after the company agreed its second debt restructuring within a year. KKR lost the 1.1bn equity it used to buy Accell.By June, the transfer of Accell to its new owner DuTech Group appeared to be nearing competition, but the takeover fell through.

Enric Mas is showing solid form at the Vuelta a Burgos, but his message ahead of the Vuelta a Espana is notably more cautious than in previous years. The Movistar Team leader sits fourth overall in Burgos heading into the decisive final stages, having remained competitive in the mountains without ye...

A round-up of e-bike news, including Swytch's efforts to get things right, recommendations for NYC's mayor and some new hire bikes in Ealing and Stowmarket

Jan Ullrich believes he could have exposed the scale of doping within professional cycling when his own career came crashing to an end, but chose not to implicate others because he loved the sport too much. Almost 20 years after his exclusion from the 2006 Tour de France brought his time at the top...

At the Vuelta a Espaa, landslides caused by Februarys storms force a revision of the penultimate days route. Stage 20 is set to be the queen stage of the race, but its route has been forced to change with the removal of a significant climb. The organisers of the Vuelta a Espaa have announced a...

This weeks Readers Rig comes from Jimmy in Boise, Idaho, founder of the nonprofit Boise Bicycle Project, who shares the 1993 Ross Minotaur he rescued from the recycling pile and lovingly brought back to life, including brazing in a new tube. Meet Jimmy, see his unique bike, and read his inspiring message about making do with what you have hereThe post Readers Rig: Jimmys 1993 Ross Minotaur appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.