Italy'stechnical director Roberto Amadio has hit back at Remco Evenepoel's angry reaction to his instructions to Giulio Ciccone in the finale of Sunday's European Championships elite men's road race in Slovenia. The Belgium rider took the spoils in a two-up sprint to the line after both riders dist...

Giulio Ciccone has questioned the verdict of the photo finish in Sundays road race at the European Championships, where he was judged to have lost out to Belgium's Remco Evenepoel by a hairs breadth. The Italian posted on Instagram on Monday afternoon, saying he had doubts about the decision and demanding to see the photo finish image on the actual finish line. The title was awarded by a margin of 0.0028 seconds thats 2.8 thousandths of a second, he wrote.Ive watched the available footage hundreds of times and, in the shots where the finish line is visible, I keep seeing a sequence of events that I cannot reconcile with that verdict.Ciccone added that he had spoken on Monday morning with race officials and technical experts from his federation, who explained to him how the photo finish equipment works. Im not asking for another explanation, he said. Im asking to see the photo finish that corresponds exactly to the actual finish line.I would like to be able to see, beyond any doubt, our two bikes crossing the exact point at which, according to the regulations, the finish is determined. Because if a European title is decided by 2.8 thousandths of a second, I think it is fair to ask that that very moment be shown with the same precision with which the result was determined. A post shared by Giulio Ciccone (@giulio_ciccone_)A photo posted by The Lidl-Trek rider took to the podium to accept his silver medal on Sunday, and told Cycling Pro Net he was really, really disappointed by the result. He has since been clear not to discredit Evenepoel, the declared winner, who he said on Instagram was the strongest rider in the race. I have enormous respect for him, and that has never been in doubt, he said. I am not asking for a television replay to replace the photo finish. I am not questioning Remcos merit or the extraordinary race he rode. I am asking for something very simple: to see the photo-finish at the actual finish line.If that image confirms the verdict, there will be nothing more to say. But until I am shown that evidence, for me it remains a question to which I have not yet received an answer. Cycling Weekly contacted the organiser of this years UEC European Championships for a response to Ciccones comments. A spokesperson for the championships said: "We have two photo-finish systems (left and right of the finish line), so there are two separate images. We showed both images to the Italian team and also explained to them how the photo-finish system works."Cycling Weekly has requested copies of both photo finish images for publication.

Noa Isadore took the biggest win of his career at Monday's Coppa Bernocchi, upsetting the breakaway, attackers and experienced versatile sprinters after the peloton caught the day's early breakaway in the final kilometre to set up a dramatic bunch sprint. The 2026 Coppa Bernochi route offered 178.1...

UK bicycle brand Ridgeback has issued a safety recall for a number of its hybrid bikes sold since 2020. The recall affects the Comet, Motion and Speed bikes with sloping geometry or a step-through frame and with the product code prefix RB21.Theres a detailed list of affected bike models, along with their product codes, accessible via a link on Ridgebacks site.Ridgeback has identified a possible problem with the Vee Zilent tyres fitted to some bikes, due to a manufacturing defect in the tread pattern. It says this could cause the tyre to fail, with the risk of a crash. Defective Vee Zilent tyres could split along a line just off-centre. Its recall notice shows a pair of tyres where the tread has split from the fabric casing below it, just off-centre. Ridgeback asks customers who are potentially affected to inflate their tyres to the recommended pressure and check the straight treads either side of the tyres centre line. Above is an unaffected tyre with straight grooves either side of the centre line. It claims it will be very clear if you have an affected tyre or tyres on your bike and says if the tread and seams are uniform, your bike is not affected and you can keep riding it.What to do if you think your bike is affected The Ridgeback Speed is one of three bike models affected by the recall. Russell Burton / Immediate Media If, on the other hand, theres a potential defect in the tyre, Ridgeback asks that you stop riding and arrange an inspection of your tyres at your nearest Ridgeback dealer. Defective tyres will be replaced.Ridgeback points out that you can expect between 2,000 and 4,000 miles, and around three to five years use from the Vee Zilent tyre before it needs replacing. With affected bikes stretching back to 2020, its possible the tyres on some older bikes may already have been replaced.

Remco Evenepoel made history in Slovenia on Sunday when he romped to victory in the European Championships road race by the narrowest of margins over breakaway partner Giulio Ciccone (Italy). In doing so he became the first rider ever to have won all the major road and time trial titles. No other rider has previously won the Euros, Worlds, Olympics and National titles in both disciplines.It is a journey for the Belgian that has taken place over five seasons his first elite title, the Belgian national time trial, came in June 2022, although it was only a few months later that he won his first elite World Championships road race.At first, though, it was impossible for either Evenepoel or Ciccone or anyone looking on, for that matter to call his European title win, so evenly matched were the two as they sprinted across the line. It was only a close-up take on the photo finish that ultimately revealed the Belgian had crossed the line around a millimetre ahead of Ciccone, who had attacked in the final run-in and looked for all the world as though he would hold his rival off.It had been an eventful race, with Evenpoel crashing on a corner as he tried to mount an initial attack. He was quickly up and running and attacked again in short order, this time taking Ciccone with him. Once the gap had been established, Evenpoel expressed frustration at times at Ciccone's unwillingness to share turns a strategy, the Italian said, based on having his teammate (and eventual bronze medal-winner) Christian Scaroni chasing behind."I feel really disappointed, but I want to say congrats to Remco," said Ciccone post-race. "He's a super strong rider. I was lucky with the situation in the race with Scaroni behind us, so I played on the situation to stay on the wheel. I understand that for [Evenepoel] it wasn't a nice situation, but this is racing. But another time, congrats to him."For his part, Evenepoel felt he had rectified what he saw as him disappointing the whole country with his 12th place in the previous week's World Championships road race.I'm super happy, super proud of this. So I think [the Worlds] was playing more in my head than I've been showing. So it's a big relief to be back on a good level today and to complete my Championship jerseys it feels amazing.This final chapter in Evenepoel's title quest comes at the end of a season replete with victories at the highest level for the 26-year-old Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe rider. Only 10 days previously he had won his fourth World Championships time trial title, but there were also wins in the Classics and stages in the Tour de France.

Tadej Pogacar may not have been pinning a number at the 2026 European Championships elite men's road race, but the former world champion was part of the show in Slovenia as he made his homecoming. With the race passing through his hometown, the UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider had pushed hard to make a...

I imagine the guys at Vittoria UK who very kindly sent me these tyres to review are wondering when the heck the review is going to be published! The thing is though I really wanted to try these Vittoria T60 in the conditions that Vittoria claim they excel in, namely mixed conditions. As anyone who lives in the UK will know we have had basically no rain from the end of April to just a few weeks ago in September. Its been wall to wall drought, hoepipe bans, dry resevoirs and people who really shouldnt be, wearing next to no clothing! So thats my excuse, I was waiting for the conditions to become anything but loose and dusty to really try out these tyres. Finally we are back to relative normality and there is actually mud on the trails so heres the review.Lets talk about the colour first. if you hate tan wall tyres you are not going to enjoy these, the reason they are this colour and have the Pro designation is that these tyres are built with 92% renewable and recycled materials! Vittoria even warn on their website that the colour of any two tyres might not match as the recycled materials making up the tyre may differ. How cool is that! For those who like a black tyre or just a black tread and tan sidewall dont fret, the T60 is there for you but you will be missing out on, and Im going to quote hereSo, a lot to take on board there, theres the feel good factor of using a product that uses recycled materials and that is great, Im all for it but are they actually any good as a tyre? Ill admit i was sceptical. I went through the 1980-90s MTB phase of biscuit coloured tyres that looked awesome (look it was 40 years ago!) but fell into one of two camps when it came to performance. they, depending on the manufacturor were either super soft and grippy compound that were fantastic off road but literally sucked on tarmac and almost wore out on one ride or were such a hard compound they lasted forever but were as grippy as a week old dead mackeral on a bar of wet imperial leather soap. So you can see I didnt have a lot of confidence and was probably biased against them from the start. As i fitted them (easy to tubeless up and pop on the bead as it happens) I was telling myself to keep an open mind.Vittoria Pro T60 Gravel tyrehanging with the Vittoria Pro T60 Gravel tyreSpoiler alert, 3 months on the nightmare of biscuit coloured tyres has faded into the backround with leg warmers, ra-ra skirts and the ill-advised curly perm back mullet I thought was fab. These tyres are great!Vittoria say that these T60 pro tyres are 7% faster, 9% grippier, and 34% more puncture resistant than their competitors. Sounds all a bit to racy for me. im sure you like me dont really care how they handle a typical gravel race course, we are more interested in how they deal with off camber singletrack, roots, bricks someone has thrown down so they can stepping stone over a large puddle and whether they drag on tarmac so much that you get to the cafe after all the best cake has been taken by your mates.Vittoria Pro T60 Gravel tyre gurningVittoria Pro T60 Gravel tyre tread carefully!So lets go over that, on tarmac, yes they do offer more drag than a semi or slick tyre, you wont want to be running these if you join your local road bike club run. However they are not that bad at all, theres a tiny rumble on the blacktop as they zip along but its nothing to stress about loss of watts over. Flick off that tarmac onto a section of off road, be it hardpack, loose stones (actual gravel then), grass or mud and they really come into their own.The Vittoria Pro T60s are grippy when climbing and confidence inspiring when leaning the bike over in turns. Ive got the 45mm versions and they feel comfortable on washboard terrain. im running them around 30psi front 35psi rear to make the most of the grip. The side knobs dig in when you lean the bike and bite then turning adding to the confident feel. Vittoria Pro T60 have a recycled nylon anti-puncture belt and sidewall protection but Ive never felt that they lack suppleness. Ive not had one puncture throughout the test period and that includes not topping up the sealant after the 30+ degree heat weve had (i finally dipped the valve and the tool came out dryoops) I did have to top up the air a couple of times though, but thats probably because of the lack of sealant*coughs*Vittoria Pro T60 Gravel tyre no coffee seen Vittoria Pro T60 Gravel tyre brown is the real colour of gravelFinally in the last few weeks Ive been able to ride in wet conditions and all the above can be cut an paste here too. The tread will fill with really sticky mud but short sections of slightly drier ground in between and they do clear quickly. How they will behave in really deep muck remains to be seen but only a few of us are as daft as me and ride though that stuff rather than avoid it.Since gravel biking became a thing (dont message me with your proof of inventing it in the 1800s) tyres have been pretty specialised for certain tyres of riding. There are very few all-rounders that will happily do a bit of everything and do it to the point where you can leave them on all year round. The Vittoria Pro T60 has joined that exclusive club, non of the others though come with the eco-friendly credits that the Pro T60 does.you can find more info on the tyres and the recycled nature of them here*I think the fact that Vittoria call these a race tyre will put off more riders than itll attract, which is a shame as they are a great tyre, so ignore that name if it does.

In today's Weekend Snapshot, we round up a smattering of reader-submitted scenes from rides around the globe. Get a peek at recent fall getaways in New York, Italy, and the UK, and contribute to this longstanding series by sharing something from one of your trips here...The post Weekend Snapshot appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

If anyone was still in any doubt as to who is the Queen of the women's peloton, Demi Vollering used the European Championships road race in Slovenia on Saturday to remind them that it is, indeed, her. Having won the World Championships road race only a week previously, Vollering flew back from Montral to debut her new rainbow bands jersey in Slovenia, and successfully defend the European title she first won in France last year.The Dutchwoman won solo after attacking from a group of three that comprised her Dutch teammate Puck Pieterse and Poland's Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney on the final climb. Despite the chase group growing bigger, Vollering held them off to take the win, with Pieterse claiming silver for a memorable Dutch one-two. Vollering has won from start to finish this year with her FDJ United-Suez team, taking her first victories in some of cycling's biggest races the Tour of Flanders, Giro d'Italia Women and the World Championships road race, for example. Then there was, of course, her second Tour de Frances Femmes avec Zwift win in August, in which she took three stage victories.In comments to journalists following her European Championships triumph, Vollering made clear that crossing the line first is not something that is about to get old for her."I just really love winning, and it never gets boring for me," she said afterwards. "So I think also it's not only the winning for me, but just improving yourself and getting better every day, working on yourself every day, and see what's still possible for the future. I think that's what I love most about this job."Vollering paid tribute to the rest of the Dutch team, calling it "a beautiful second place for Puck today".Vollering will represent the Netherlands again on Wednesday 7 October in the European Championships time trial. It's a race she has yet to win, although this could be one of her best chances yet to do so. However, that would involve bettering Swiss rider Marlen Reusser, who took bronze in the road race and has won four out of the past five editions of the race.

The 2026 European Championships officially continue on Tuesday with theTeam Time Trial Mixed Relay event seeing six nations compete for a European title before the individual time trial events conclude the championships. It's already been a week to remember at the European Championships as memorabl...