Jakob Omrzel is a major talent in pro cycling, having turned pro this year following a victory at the under-23 Giro d'Italia just over 12 months ago. It did not take long for the Slovenian to make a great impression in the Grand Tours, having taken his first win in one earlier than Tadej Pogacar did...

At the 2026 Vuelta a Espana, the racing does not always end at the finish line. Sprint deviations, dangerous riding, drafting, sticky bottles, illegal feeding and littering can all lead to fines, time penalties, UCI points deductions, yellow cards or relegations once the commissaires have reviewed t...

In 2025, Remco Evenepoel looked to be in the form of his life late in the season following an altitude camp in Livigno. This time around, the Olympic Champion is repeating the same formula, but without Tadej Pogacar in the way of his goals most likely. Evenepoel is a rider who has tremendous talent...

"Being on the podium was a little bit sad, just seeing photographers and a few people," said Tadej Pogaar after stage three of this year's Tour de France. The subdued finish at Les Angles, the race having just crossed from Spain into France, proved that even for the sport's biggest champions, racing just isn't the same without the fans. As a precautionary response to nearby wildfires, French authorities had banned spectators from attending; while many risked prosecution to line the roadside, the Tour's usual thronging crowds were nowhere to be seen.It was a bitter blow for Les Angles. The Pyrenean outpost had spent months preparing to host the finish, with hoardings, posters and infrastructure all in place. Local cafes and restaurants were stocked to the brim for their busiest day ever - only for the spectacle to fizzle out. The empty town recalled the lonely races of the Covid lockdowns, illustrating in stark relief the vital role of crowds. As Pogaar implied, take away the noise, colour and sheer human energy of cycling's roadside devotees, and the sport simply isn't the same.At the same time, bike racing has an often fractious relationship with its followers. Riders are regularly forced to dodge projectiles of various, sometimes unsavoury, kinds. They must breathe in smoke from flares and suffer half-cut, over-eager cosplayers running dangerously close alongside them. They have been knocked off their bikes at high speed in the throes of peak exertion, and punches have been thrown in both directions.Fans are undeniably the sport's lifeblood, but the frequent chaos they bring makes them an ever-present threat. This paradox poses the question: is cycling's greatest asset - unrestricted fan accessibility - also its biggest liability?The cycling fan experience extends far beyond the racing itself. Spectators can mingle with riders and team bosses outside the team buses before and after a stage, and, if they're fit enough, even invade the pros' training arenas to ride alongside them on the open road. That isn't to say barriers don't exist-certain scenarios demand that riders and fans are protected from one another. Usually, though, they share the same space on the road. Unsurprisingly, this unrestricted access doesn't always end well, especially when alcohol is involved.(Image credit: Getty Images)"Most fans are great," says Matej Mohori of Bahrain Victorious. "It's really cool that they take the time to come out and cheer us on. I will do so myself, and show my kids, once I stop cycling. We'll go and see the Tour de France. The roads are our stadium, and it's probably the sport where you can get the closest to the big champions, so it's special in that regard."It's not just at the road side when fans are getting too close to the ridersTHE FAN'S EYE VIEWWe found three spectators at the Tour de France and asked them how important they thought the fans were to the sport-and whether the mountaintop crowds needed regulating.Laia Bertran, from Taragona, Spain "For cycling, fans are very important, because fans support sponsors and sponsors have money. For me, being a fan is about cycling, and seeing the riders suffering under the sun - because I am a cyclist. When I see [fans endangering riders] on television, I think, please don't do that. Give space, let the riders breathe, because it's very important. I understand that people are encouraging them to go faster, but please give them space and don't touch them. That's important - they are suffering."Donato Genovese, from Italy "Fans are essential. If you see how many people are here today in Tarragona under this heat to see their cyclists from many different teams, it's quite telling. You wouldn't see it otherwise. The Tour de France is the third-most-important sporting event after the World Cup and the Olympics. It adds to the importance of the event today."Hughie McCooey, a member of the Ben Healy Fan Club "The importance of the fans is massive. Although the riders get paid a fortune, they still need the fans to cheer them, the madness, everything that goes with cycling. Fans have just got to police themselves and do their best, because if you have too many regulations, it'll kill the sport."Both Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogaar have made headlines this year following clashes with fans. Vingegaard was the first, involved in what was ultimately a rather humiliating incident. The Dane crashed on a descent in southern Spain after attempting to drop an amateur rider who had latched on to his wheel. Though he avoided serious injury, his Visma-Lease a Bike team issued a statement urging fans to be mindful. "In general, as a team we would like to urge fans on bikes to always put safety first," read the missive. "For both your own and others' wellbeing, please allow riders to train and give them as much space and peace as possible."Only two weeks later, Vingegaard's chief rival Tadej Pogaar had his own run-in with a fan, prompting him to take to social media. "If you find me in conversation with someone and you ask me for photo, I ask you to give me two minutes to finish talk," he wrote. "Do you wait two minutes or show me middle finger and take off angry? Long day ended with losing biggest fan."While training incidents are an occupational hazard for world-famous riders, the most volatile flashpoints are usually crowded mountain passes. "You always have those few who take it a step too far and start to be a bit over the line," says Mohori. "Especially with the smoke, or sometimes by running next to the riders, or by just being surprised by the sheer force and speed we travel at. Sometimes they want to take a photo with their smartphone, and they turn their backs to us, and then it can get really dangerous."(Image credit: Getty Images)Lotto Intermarch mechanic Rhune Clynen echoed Mohori, even suggesting that smoke bombs and flares should be banned. "It has pros and cons," he said of the fans massing on the mountainsides. "For sure the ambience is a pro, but the risk of having an accident is also a possibility. I think [the smoke] could be forbidden, because of the inhalation... and also the running with the riders." Given the unpredictability of the crowds, he admitted that teams can offer riders very little actionable advice. Ultimately, it comes down to common sense: "Just be careful with the crowds, and look in front of you, though it's not always easy."Balancing actOver the years, teams, riders and race organisers have repeatedly tried to discourage the dangerous behaviours Clynen highlights, though whether these efforts have had any real effect is debatable. While the number of spectators running alongside riders may have dipped, the experiences of Pogaar, Vingegaard and others demonstrate that unruly crowds are far from a thing of the past. Roadside harassment continues to plague the peloton. Just ask Mathieu van der Poel, who has been pelted with beer, urine and water bottles, had a cap thrown into his wheels, and suffered a full lungful of vape smoke blown directly into his face all within the past few seasons.Ultimately, managing fans at bike races is a balancing act between keeping riders safe and preserving the vibe of the occasion. Mohori understands both sides of the equation, having raced to an empty house at the 2023 Tour de France. He finished third on a highly anticipated stage to the Puy de Dme, which fans were barred from attending owing to logistical restrictions. It was an experience he called "pretty miserable". Even watching on TV, the spectacle lacked soul.(Image credit: Getty Images)As Mohori admits, the fan conundrum remains "quite a challenge, and it's become more of a topic in the last few years". "[Race organisers] are doing their best... on Mont Ventoux, they fenced off the top four or five kilometres, but then the fans just move further down the mountain." Despite the hazards fans sometimes cause, he acknowledges their vital role: "They remind you of why you're doing it - it's a crucial part of the race... This is why we do it - to inspire people and to put on a show." His Puy de Dme experience serves as a stark warning. The unparalleled accessibility cycling offers is a precious thing that risks becoming its biggest liability if abused - a golden goose we need to take care of. If the risk from fans endangering riders continues to increase, it may threaten to lock away the spectacle of bike racing for everyone.When riders and fans collide: Five times when fans definitely got too closeThe Eddy Merckx punch (1975) This incident from more than 50 years ago remains one of the most notorious fans-gone-wrong moments. Merckx, gunning for his sixth Tour de France win in 1975, was punched by a roadside wrong'un on the Puy de Dme. He lost the race lead the following day and never regained it.Allez Opi-Omi (2021) So read the sign held out by a roadside fan on stage one of the 2021 Tour de France. "Go Grandpa-Grandma" being the literal translation. So eager was she to have her message caught by the camera bikes, she apparently didn't spot the onrushing bunch, who ran her down. A huge crash ensued that took several riders out of the race. The fan became something of a pariah and was ultimately fined in court.Laurent Jalabert cops it (1994) This crash, which changed the course of a career, was caused by a police officer, no less. Just metres from the line, the gendarme stepped out of an alcove in the barriers with his camera raised, and into the path of a bunch sprint approaching at full speed. French rider Jalabert was the most seriously injured of those that came down, and the incident saw him change tack, becoming more of an all-rounder. He rarely participated in bunch sprints after that.Lance Armstrong on Luz-Ardiden (2003) When the strap of a fan's shoulder bag snared Armstrong's bars and brought him down on Luz-Ardiden, it looked as though it could have been the end of his already faltering challenge against rival Jan Ullrich. But the American only seemed to derive strength from the incident. Catching the front group, which had sportingly slowed, he attacked almost immediately to win the stage and extend his GC lead, which he held to Paris.(Image credit: Getty Images)Chris Froome runs Mont Ventoux (2016) One of the most memorable fan-related incidents in modern Tour history. Froome, wearing yellow, was reduced to running uphill after massing fans brought a race moto to an abrupt stop and Froome plus fellow GC hopes Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema crashed into it. His bike broken, no team car in sight and his yellow jersey disappearing up the road, Froome began running. Eventually, neutral service issued him with an ill-fitting bike, with which he made do until his own Team Sky car appeared with his own spare.

Crashes, illness and injuries can quickly reduce the Vuelta a Espana peloton, with some riders abandoning during a stage and others only ruled out after further assessment once the racing has finished. This live 2026 Vuelta a Espaa Medical Reports and Withdrawals hub will be updated throughout the...

Stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espana delivered another explosive showdown, with Jakob Omrzel taking victory from the breakaway at Calar Alto. The young Slovenian produced the biggest win of his career and also made a significant move in the general classification. Behind him, Enric Mas strengthened his g...

The2026 Vuelta a Espaawill be the third and final Grand Tour of the men's calendar and will take place from the 22nd of August to the 13th of September. Starting in Monaco, the World Tour peloton will travel through the eastern and southern half of Spain for a mountain-packed edition. We preview...

The return of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic has brought top-level action back into the United States of America, but a dark shadow is currently cast upon the race. 19-year old Ezra Caudell has been placed in an induced coma after suffering a serious crash. An update was provided following the ra...

Ahead of Stage 4 of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes last month, riders encountered an addition to the familiar pre-time-trial ritual of bike measurements and equipment checks: officials were paying particular attention to their chests.Several Women's WorldTour teams had reportedly complained that riders appeared to have greater chest volume in time trials than in road stages. The suspicion was that some competitors were using padding, ice or other material underneath their skinsuits to effectively create a "chest fairing" for an aerodynamic advantage.The UCI regulations, specifically Article 1.3.032, state that clothing and accessories may not modify a rider's morphology and prohibit non-essential elements added to, placed beneath or integrated into clothing. The UCI's technical guidance for Article 1.3.032 also prohibits products or substances applied to the body or clothing to improve aerodynamics.However, neither document establishes how much padding a sports bra may contain. They also do not provide a specific protocol for examining one, and the sudden bra checks drew a lot of critique as well as questions around the exam's invasiveness, bra structure, breast shape and size, and, of course, whether a padded bra can actually make a rider faster. While initial chest fairing studies found drag reductions of up to 3.6 percent, new CFD modelling from AiRO suggests that sports-bra-sized marginal gains may be negligible. At least in AiRO's test, a push-up bra is more likely to lift expectations than speed.What the studies sayWind tunnel testing (Image credit: Andy Jones)Much of the understanding of chest fairings comes from a 2024 peer-reviewed paper by Bert Blocken, Fabio Malizia and Thijs van Druenen in the Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics.The researchers used computational fluid dynamics, or CFD, to examine seven chest fairing configurations on a male cyclist in a time trial position. The simulations were then validated through wind-tunnel testing. Their best-performing configuration reduced drag by 3.6 percent, which is a potentially significant advantage in a race decided by fractions of a second.However, not every fairing was beneficial. Some configurations increased drag, and the researchers concluded that a rider would need dedicated wind-tunnel tests or CFD simulations to determine whether a particular shape would provide an advantage. The study found that a chest fairing can be effective, though it did not conclude that additional chest volume is inherently faster.The size of the fairing matters greatly. The study's largest drag reduction came from a substantial, purpose-built form modelled on the chest fairings used by some triathletes, far from the shape or padding amount of a conventional sports bra.AiRO, a company that provides CFD-based aerodynamic modelling to bike fitters, has now tested a narrower question: whether comparatively small changes in chest volume can produce the same effect. That is, changes small enough to be hidden inside a bra. What AiRO testedAiRO CFD modelling testing various chest volumes using a female rider model wearing a Specialized Evade helmet. (Image credit: AiRO)AiRO created a digital female rider in a fixed cycling position and modelled three chest volumes: small, medium and large. The company tested each version with two helmets, the Specialized Evade and the Ekoi Pureaero, because aerodynamicist Ingmar Jungnickel argues that changes around the chest could affect airflow reaching the rider's head and equipment farther downstream.Jungnickel told Cycling Weekly that the virtual athlete was based on a rider measuring 175cm (5'9") and weighing 60kg (132lbs). With the Ekoi helmet, AiRO reported drag differences of 0.1%, +0.2% and +0.3% percent across the three chest configurations. Plus means more drag; minus means diminished drag. Jungnickel described the differences as "nothing at all," writing that "not one configuration produced a measurable gain."With the Specialized Evade, all three chest configurations were approximately 2.2% slower than its reference, while changing from the smallest to the largest volume barely altered the result."Small chest volume changes, as they could be hidden in a sports bra, do not seem to make riders faster," Jungnickel concluded. AiRO also modelled what it called a "proper fairing," akin to a water bottle stuffed down a jersey as has been seen by some male riders in the past. This model featured a rider with the Giro Aerohead and the Specialized Evade.The drag reductions were 0.7% on the Giro Aerohead, 0.1% on the Specialized Evade. "The best case is a possible small advantage that is within measurement uncertainty. That is with an object under the suit, on a male rider, in a full time trial position," AiRO concluded. "Changing chest volume by the amount a padded sports bra can change it did nothing on either helmet, for either sign, at any of three sizes," AiRO concluded.AiRO acknowledged the limitations to its findings. For one, the company tested only one rider model per sex, and Jungnickel said the effect could vary with "bust volume, torso length, shoulder width and how closed the riders position already is.""A single athlete tells you the mechanism exists and roughly how big it is for that rider, but it doesnt give a universal number," he said.AiRO also used a parametric human model fitted to images rather than a 3D body scan. Jungnickel said that approach allowed the company to preserve the same underlying geometry between tests, avoiding variations caused by scanning artefacts.That consistency may improve comparisons within AiROs test, but the analysis remains a company-authored demonstration rather than a peer-reviewed study. AiRO has not published the full solver settings, mesh-independence analysis or numerical uncertainty calculations that would allow outside researchers to evaluate its results in detail.Even with those limitations, Jungnickel said the central finding was clear: "Bra stuffing is at least not clearly a benefit."So what to believe?(Image credit: Getty Images)Jungnickel argues that AiROs results do not necessarily contradict Blocken and his co-authors. The disagreement, in his view, lies in the interpretation of the data.According to AiRO's reading of the Blocken paper, the three smallest fairings changed drag by +0.54, +0.39 and 0.68 percent. Under that convention, two made the rider marginally slower and one produced a small improvement. The widely reported 3.6-percent reduction came from a much larger, solid fairing measuring 313mm wide and 87mm tall.Jungnickel argued that sub-one-percent effects may fall within the practical uncertainty of CFD, wind-tunnel or velodrome testing and may vary from rider to rider. "At differences that small, most serious fit changes offer a larger benefit," he said.The two analyses therefore point to a more nuanced conclusion: a large, carefully shaped fairing can reduce drag, but small changes in chest volume do not appear to provide a consistent or readily measurable advantage.So, before you start stuffing socks into your sports bra, the evidence calls for restraint. A large, carefully shaped fairing can reduce drag, but modelling suggests that bra-sized changes offer no reliable shortcut to speed. It appears that for most cyclists, a better position and fit remain safer and legal places to find free watts.

Richard Carapaz once again played his cards from range on stage 12 of the Vuelta a Espaa 2026. The Ecuadorian from EF Education-EasyPost launched an attack on the penultimate climb of the day, aiming to catch the other contenders off guard and see who would respond. The move did not yield the resu...