Brazilian virtual racer Gabriela Guerra has signed her first professional road contract aged 32. The two-time UCI Cycling Esports World Championships silver medallist will join French womens ProTeam Cofidis for two years from 2027. The move marks the latest twist in a life the Brazilians new team likened to a TV series, a soap opera; Guerra has gone from skateboarder, to honey business owner, to indoor racer and now pro road cyclist. Im very curious and really excited about joining Cofidis, she said in a team press release. I want to find out whether I can transfer my strengths from e-cycling to the road.After moving to Germany when she was 10, Guerra started skateboarding as a teenager, and documented her progress on her YouTube channel. Years later, she began using that same channel to show off her e-racing, having discovered Zwift through a Google search in the winter of 2021, when she was running her own Brazilian honey business. Virtual racing soon became a solid income stream Cycling Weekly reported this January that Guerra was making six figures from competing on the MyWhoosh platform, often starting events in the early hours of the morning. A post shared by Gabriela Guerra (@gabriela9guerra)A photo posted by It was only last year that the Brazilian decided to take her cycling talent onto the road. In September, two months before she won her second Esports Worlds silver medal, she joined the German Continental team Wheel Divas, and committed to racing more lower-level road events in 2026. Her outdoor palmars for the season counts two wins: a German national race and the Mirabelle Classic, a French one-day event where she competed against ProTeams, including her now team-mates at Cofidis. The few races I took part in towards the end of the season gave me confidence and caught Cofidiss attention, Guerra said. Looking forward to her first year as a road pro, she added: Its a challenge Im really keen to take on. I dont have any particular apprehensions, just a huge amount of enthusiasm. I cant wait to start the season, give my very best, help the team and discover the very highest level of road racing. Its going to be a fantastic challenge.Guerra is not the first rider to sign a pro road contract following success on indoor racing platforms. UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Jay Vine and Canyon-SRAM's Neve Bradbury earned their first pro contracts by winning the Zwift Academy in 2020. Both have gone on to win Grand Tour stages.

Tadej Pogacar is beginning to plan a 2027 season that could revolve around three major goals: winning a sixth Tour de France, reclaiming the rainbow jersey and returning to the Vuelta a Espaa. UAE Team Emirates XRG is in Abu Dhabi this week for its planning meetings, where the Slovenian and team of...

SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208837This autumn, Ive been testing bike lights sets from almost every major brand, costing under 100 per set.While every one of these sets will do a job and keep you riding legally at night, there are some significant differences to be aware of that create the winners and losers.Of course, you can read every review we published on BikeRadar to find out which set is best for your needs. However, before you do that, here are five key lessons I learnt during my exhaustive testing that you need to know before parting with your hard-earned cash.You can also read our guide to the best lights for road cycling and the best lights for mountain biking.If you just want my crib-sheet notes the general observations that will help you make the best choice youre in the right place.Youll find links to all the reviews at the bottom of this article.Dont fall for the front-light power trick Maximum output is not everything. Steve Sayers / Our Media Studio It can be very tempting to increase your budget for more lumen power but my suspicions were confirmed that you might not need as much as you think for comprehensive night-riding duties.All the light sets I tested cost under 100, but also had to feature at least 500 lumens of power.For context, we generally recommend a minimum of 600 lumens for riding at night on unlit roads, but much depends on how the lumens are used.In the latest light designs, theres a strong argument that 500 is now enough albeit, some are better than others. Beam pattern and light spread are important considerations when choosing a front light. Steve Sayers / Our Media Studio Our test-winning lights set, the Moon Rigel Lite and Helix Lite combo, featured one of the smallest front lights and on paper the least powerful output on test at 500 lumens. Yet, it had one of the best beam patterns for road cycling, and was adequate for my 25km/h riding tests given it threw the light down the road far enough.The downside is the light isnt being fanned out as widely as rivals such as the Ravemen FR500. Thats an equally powerful front light on paper, but given the light is being distributed differently, the throw isnt as far, meaning riding at pace at night is trickier.On sheer power, you might think the Sigma Buster 800, Magicshine Allty 800 or BBB NanoStrike 700i would be brighter. Technically, youd be correct, and this can lead to a bit more spread without compromising forward throw.However, the differences between them arent so great that its noticeable on the road, which is the pertinent point when you consider all other factors in the Moon package.Easy removal? Yes please Smaller lights mean smaller battery capacities. Steve Sayers / Our Media Studio The practicalities of owning a smaller light set are that you will need to charge it more often than a larger light. Its simple maths smaller bodies have smaller-capacity batteries, and so wont last as long at the same output.This is perhaps the main reason to up your budget and power output you can run those lights at lower settings, mirroring the brightest settings of smaller lights, but get much more burn time.However, smaller lights are, by definition, easier to remove and take with you.Often, they dont need bulky or slide-and-click interfaces with their brackets, which are often trickier to install and use, with simple quarter-turn mounts enough to hold their relatively low weight in place. Being able to get your light off the bar quickly and easily is something you'll appreciate over time. Steve Sayers / Our Media Studio This changes, of course, if you know youll be riding off road the greater shaking and impact forces require an even stronger hold, while these lights need to be more powerful because peripheral spread becomes far more important. This, naturally, increases bulk.But for the vast majority of road riders traditional roadies and commuters alike being able to whip a light on and off for charging easily is a great advantage.I also approve of Moon and Magicshines approaches to this for fans of neat under-computer-mount integration. Both supply GoPro adaptors for out-front mounts, and both simply use a quarter-turn interface so you dont have to buy a special long cable to charge it in situ to save the pain of unscrewing the light from the GoPro adaptor.Simple is most effective here.Dont expect charge cables but its still nice when you get them The Buster 1600 charges via an easy access USB-C port. Scott Windsor / Kelsey Media It has been a bugbear of mine for years that brands have stopped supplying charge cables with their lights.Of course, I can appreciate the desire to reduce plastic waste and many of us already have suitable cables. In the past, that generally meant micro-USB to USB-A cables being supplied, but lights are now mostly charged via USB-C. In fact, only two of the lights I tested deviate from the latest standard.Of the 10 sets Ive been hands-on with this autumn, including the recently updated Exposure Trace & TraceR 4 ReAKT, six were supplied with charge cables. The majority of lights have moved to USB-C charging. Ashley Quinlan With my own money, Id gravitate to these fundamentally, charge cables are useful and inexpensive to produce. In the case of Moons easily spottable, yellow-ended cables and Ravemens rare dog-legged example, clear thought has gone into their day-to-day usability.You may not need them, but it feels paltry to me for brands to omit them, even if the reasons given are laudable.Mounting options are great Ravemen's approach to mounting is to be applauded. Steve Sayers / Our Media Studio Its likely that once youve decided where your lights are going to be fitted, thatll be that. At the very least, you may be happy with a simple handlebar mount and strap-mounted rear light.But, and with credit due, some brands have recognised many people want a setup beyond the norm. For front lights, this amounts to a decision between a handlebar mount and under-computer mount (special note also for Ravemens sandwich-style approach), with adaptors supplied.For rear lights, the options are even wider you can have a light with a seatpost bracket (you may get a single bracket with differing lengths of strap to help fit aero seatposts), a saddle rail bracket, a backpack clip, and even a seatstay mount albeit none of our lights came with the latter. There are numerous options for mounting rear lights. Scott Windsor / Our Media Moon sets the standard here, supplying a raft of mounts for both its lights (even the front lights lens is reversible should you want to fit it under a computer mount).However, pay attention curiously Ravemen doesnt supply an out-front computer mount for the FR500 front light, which is an oversight given thats what the device would ideally attach to.You may have one of course, but not everyone will.Rear lights shouldnt be an afterthought The best lights sets balance front and rear quality. NurPhoto / Getty Images In any lights set, it can be tempting to focus on the power of the front light after all, thats what you use to see by and its especially important if youll be riding without the benefit of street lights.Nevertheless, I maintain that an effective rear light is an even more important inclusion.The reason for this is simple: I can see whats ahead and adapt my riding accordingly. If theres mist, a sudden increase in traffic or it's darker than I expected, I can react.However, I cant see whats going on behind me (short of relying on a not-infallible rearview radar), and so my awareness and capacity to react is limited.A good-quality rear light that gives me confidence to ride as I need to is incredibly valuable, knowing that if everyone is paying attention as they should be, I should be safe. The value of a high-quality rear light cannot be overstated. Steve Sayers / Our Media Studio That, sadly, is never a guarantee, and is the fundamental risk we cyclists take riding in any conditions, let alone at night or in the rain.As a result, while less powerful rear lights can be perfectly adequate in most scenarios, I recommend a minimum of 100 lumens in at least one mode to ensure the light has enough punch.Ambient light sensors (seen on the Giant Recon rear light) and reactive rear brake functions (as on the Sigma Buster RL 150) can be nice to have in fact, even without these features, both of those rear lights are powerful enough. How we tested bike lights sets The lights were given a thorough workout over a lengthy test period. Steve Sayers / Our Media Studio I tested these bike light sets using two local test loops over the course of nearly two months one largely street-lit, criss-crossing through a local urban area, and another almost exclusively un-lit on country back lanes. Both were ridden at night (meaning some late starts and early mornings), while I also used each light set for local rides during the day. I also ran a battery burn-down test discharging the lights from empty on their most powerful setting. This gives a good indication of the minimum battery life you can expect and flags when power-save modes kick in. In my experience of testing over 100 lights, theres usually a small discrepancy in burn times from one unit of the same light to the next, so my figures are intended as indications, rather than guarantees. All front lights featured at least a 500-lumen maximum output and each set costs under 100. Light sets tested Lezyne Fusion Drive 500+ / KTV Drive Pro+ Magicshine Allty 800 v2 / Seemee 50 v2 BBB NanoStrike 700i / Signal 80 Ravemen FR500 / CL01 Pro (LS07) Moon Rigel Lite / Helix Lite Giant Recon HL 600 / Recon TL 200 Cateye AMPP 500S / Viz 150 Sigma Buster 800 / RL 150 Knog Blinder Pro 700 / Plus SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208837

Some racers optimise their bikes to the hilt for the British National Hill Climb Championships, cutting every surplus gram from the frame and components for courses that generally reward the lowest possible watts per kilo. This year's venue, Porlock Toll Road, was a little different. The Alpine-style Somerset ascent averages 5.5% for 6.6km (4.1mi), so it put less emphasis on weight and more on aerodynamics than usual. A strong headwind in the closing kilometres even encouraged some riders to ride time trial bikes, aero bikes and deep-section wheels, as you can see in our bike tech gallery. But often, the best climbers don't seem to worry much about their bikes. Instead, they let their legs and lungs do the work, just like Ezra Bateman did. The 16-year-old from Scarborough won the junior boys' title and recorded the day's fastest time of 14:31:08, fractions of a second quicker than senior men's champion Ed Laverack and runner-up Andrew Feather. This result followed a season of spectacular hill climbing results for the Decathlon CMA CGM U19 rider. He came within seconds of beating now double national champion Laverack on Snake Pass and matched 2021 champion Tom Bell's course record on Prospect Hill. During his road season, he competed at prestigious races such as Lige-Bastogne-Lige. Cycling Weekly's photographer was on the ground in Porlock to photograph Bateman's team-issue Van Rysel RCR-R Pro. (Image credit: Mark James)The RCR-R Pro is currently Van Rysel's lightweight climbing bike, although we expect it will soon be replaced by the more aerodynamic-looking prototype Paul Seixas raced at the Tour de France. Bateman's dad Jon told us this SRAM Force AXS build weighs 6.9kg. Not bad for a pretty-much stock bike, minus the bottle cages.(Image credit: Mark James)Bateman didn't switch to a single chainring, as many competitors did, to save weight and receive a small aero bonus. Instead, he chose pro-size 54/41T SRAM Force chainrings with an integrated power meter. In a post-race interview with Monument HQ, he refused to disclose his power data, presumably following team orders. (Image credit: Mark James)At the back he's running what is probably a 10-33T cassette, and might have needed that largest sprocket if he stayed in the huge 54T big ring. (Image credit: Mark James)This wheel and tyre combo is also stock. The 50mm-deep Swiss Side Hadron rims would have reduced drag at his 27km/h average speed the wheels were paired with Continental GP5000 S TR rubber. Had the course not been wet and strewn with storm debris, it might have been tempting to ride the GP5000 TT TRs, but Bateman didn't need their lower rolling resistance.

BMC says it will make a long overdue move into womens professional road cycling, while announcing a greater presence in professional gravel cycling. It also says it will pull back from its investment in cross-country mountain biking.The Swiss brand says, in a somewhat teasing press release, that professional womens cycling is on a march that wont be stopped or slowed down. Its exciting, it commands attention and its faster than ever before, BMC says.But it claims one thing needs urgent ratification: the lack of BMC bikes in the womens peloton.It's about time we saw BMC bikes in both the Men's and Women's Grand Tours, the press release says.BMC says it has taken steps to correct the situation, but its not revealing anything else about its move into womens cycling at this time. Well have to wait for an official announcement, which it says will follow soon.What BMC does say, however, is that this move into womens pro cycling means it is closing its BMC Factory Racing cross-country mountain biking team. BMC says the team's athletes and staff have been aware of the closure since spring this year.BMCs head of sports marketing, Amal Moinard, says running the factory team has been an incredible journey.We have been fortunate to work alongside world-class athletes and trusted partners whose commitment made this success possible, Moinard says.This strategic shift in focus opens the door to new opportunities and collaborations for 2027, which we look forward to announcing in the coming weeks.BMC will continue to sponsor Bike Team Solothurn, a Swiss cross-country mountain bike team.As well as moving into professional womens cycling, BMC says it has strengthened its investment in off-road athletes with a new programme that includes gravel racing.This is all part of what BMC calls a shifted marketing focus that presents incredibly exciting opportunities for the brand.BMC will continue to sponsor Tudor Pro Cycling and the brand says the new focus will enable it to pay greater attention to the mens team.

A fairytale return for Primoz Roglic to Team Visma | Lease a Bike appears to be off the table, with the Dutch squad reportedly deciding against re-signing their former leader just a week after exploring a potential reunion for 2027. The Slovenian, who turns 37 on Thursday, spent eight hugely success...

CyclistCompetition: Win a pair of Vittoria Corsa Pro Control tyres worth 190Tyres are arguably the most underrated upgrade you can make to your bike, and just in time for Christmas, were giving one lucky reader a chance to win a pair of Vittoria Corsa Pro Control tyres, which together would put you back 190.Supple and fast, yet tough enough to deal with British roads, Vittorias Corsa Pro Controls provide an instant upgrade to any bike and weve got a pair in size 28mm to give away to one lucky reader.Just answer this simple question in the form below and sign up to the Cyclist newsletter before 2nd December 2026. And hint: well have more competitions on the way as soon as this one closes.Where is Vittoria based?A. SpainB. FranceC. ItalyCompetition answer* Cyclist NewsletterMusings, insight, opinions, teasers, offers, competitions and events. Cyclist PartnersOccasional emails from selected third-party sponsors and advertisers. Marketing CommunicationsOccasional emails from Cyclist about new issues, offers, and competitions. Cyclist Track DaysGet the latest news from our Track Days and Gravel Track Days, plus access to exclusive promotions. UK only, T&Cs apply. If youre already signed up you can still enter, you wont get two newsletters if you keep the box ticked but feel free to untick just in case. The winner will be selected at random from the correct answers, then well check to make sure theyre signed up to the newsletter.The post Competition: Win a pair of Vittoria Corsa Pro Control tyres worth 190 appeared first on Cyclist.

Paul Components has teamed up with SimWorks to create a sunset-inspired component collection. With fall-themed colors in deep orange and soft red, this new collaboration could be the perfect complement to a new build. See details hereThe post Dont Miss the Paul x SimWorks Sunset Collection appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

American cycling may be enjoying its greatest generation in history, but USA Cycling Road Director Tanner Putt believes one crucial ingredient is still missing. Despite Brandon McNulty's World Championship triumph and an increasingly impressive collection of American stars competing at the highest...