Primoz Roglic has had talks and offers from multiple teams over the past few months, but has not come to an agreement with any. Speculation continues to increase on his future and where it may reside. Spencer Martin and Johan Bruyneel discussed the possibility of Netcompany INEOS joining the list....

How was everybodys Halloween?This guy probably had a rough one:[Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Cheater]Mine, however, was quite lovely, and Im pleased to report my Ilhan Omars Alleged Brother-Husband costume went over extremely well:It also works equally well as an Alt Cyclist costume. In fact he looks like hes ready for the Nutmeg Noreaster. In the photo on the left hes posting to the Reddit xbiking forum about how Rivendells are overpriced and how he simply put $3,000 worth of White Industries and Paul components on an 88 RockHopper instead.The Halloweather was ideal, too, and the autumn were having this year is so downright autumnal it almost borders on caricature:Its enough to make you suspect that some other season is masquerading as autumn and trying a little too hard.Once again I had to do the whole Drive A Kid Somewhere and Wait Around thing, so once again I put the Anti-Riv on the roof of THE CAR THAT I OWN and did what we used to call mountain biking while I waited:As the Classic Cycle Old Crap Test Pilot Im ostensibly testing the bikes:But this weekend I had a revelation and and realized Im not testing the bikes at all:Im actually testingmyself.Or, to put it another way:So what is this bike teaching me? Well, basically the same lesson the George Plimptons Wife Oil didwhich is that I can find a bike aesthetically objectionable if not downright grotesque, and it can be the very antithesis of all the velocipedal values I espouse, and yet after spending enough time with it I will eventually grow quite fond of it.What Im still trying to figure out is why this is true. Is it because humans have a remarkable capacity for getting used to horrible things? (Adversity, oppression, eating at Arbys) Is it because theyre not horrible at all, and in fact the cutting-edge (for the time) technology behind them worked well and theyre really good bikes.? Or is it because its actually really hard to make a genuinely bad bike and as hard as both these companies tried they just couldnt quite pull it off? Perhaps its because my own love of cycling is so pure that I enjoy it no matter what monstrosity Im riding. Or maybe its the opposite and Im the cycling equivalent of a porn addict who can only get off on the most depraved and objectionable subject matter, like Y-Foils and vintage suspension mountain bikes.All of the above is probably true to a certain extent, but I do think both the bikes and I deserve the benefit of the doubt. The GT i-Drive bikes were generally well-regarded at the time, and people seem to forget that a mountain bike that was fun to ride in 1999 is just as fun to ride todaymore fun if youre not the original owner and you didnt take that initial depreciation hit. As for the Y-Foil, all Ill say about that is dont knock it til you try it. And cmon, give me a little credit for getting over my personal prejudices regarding suspension and bikes that look like something a Vulcan would use to administer a rectal exam respectively.But sure, frames without shocks are more in line with my own sensibilities:As are road bikes that dont require a crabon beam in order to ride smoothly:And the Roadini is riding very smoothly indeed now that Ive added the Brooks I recently removed from the Jones. But I now find myself faced with a very difficult choice, for after installing the saddle I realized I had this:Do I dare ride a bicycle with a leather saddle and leather bar tape? I fear in so doing I might cross some sort of cowhide Rubicon and become irretrievably twee. Also, the tape thats already on there feels really good, plus I actually managed to wrap it without leaving a visible gap by the levers, which never happens:And yethow do I resist matching my saddle and my sidewalls and my bar tape???HOW MANY OF US MUST DIE FOR YOUR SICK VANITY?, asketh the vexed bovine:Oh, save it, its your fault for being so useful and delicious.Alas, my vanity is exceeded only by my laziness, and why unfurl a solid B bar taping job only to go through the whole thing again?And not only will the leather doubtless be harder to wrap well, but afterwards Ill have to wax it!Who knew foppish retrogrouchery could be so hard?

Tadej Pogaar has said that he is "happy to be alive or standing" after his serious crash at the Vuelta a Espaa resulted in three broken verterbrae.The five-time Tour de France winner revealed in an interview with Jacob Whitehead for The Athletic that it wasn't until returning to Slovenia and going to hospital that the full extent of his injuries was revealed. Separately, over the weekend, the former world champion said there was a "big chance" that his season would be structured around the UAE Tour, then the Classics, and then the Tour de France.Pogaar crashed during stage eight of this year's Vuelta, which left him with multiple serious injuries, including a fractured collarbone, a vertebra injury and concussion.Theres actually a funny story, told The Athletic, in an interview published on Saturday. "Two weeks ago, I was in Slovenia and I went to do another CT scan. I knew I had a C7 fracture, but then we saw I had two more broken vertebrae, the T1 and T2."At that moment, I was happy I didnt do the European Championships, which had been my initial goal. When I saw I had three broken vertebrae? Im just happy to be alive, actually, or just to be standing."The 28-year-old has since returned to the bike, after a careful rehabilitation. "I dont have discomfort anymore," Pogaar said. "I have to be careful not to crash on the bike, or do some heavy lifting with my left arm or with my neck. But I can do basically everything normal now."However, it was a tough time coming back. "For the first two weeks, I was really mentally not OK," he explained. "I was really down. I was not a fun person to be around. I dont think Urka [igart, his fiance and fellow pro cyclist] was happy to see me around the house, because I was just, like, depressed. You know, just not feeling anything."When I started to get on the home trainer, to go to physio every day, then I started to feel better also in the head. But it was a day-to-day fight."In a separate interview, during a virtual community ride on MyWhoosh at the weekend, Pogaar further detailed his plans for 2027, which he had already said would be focused around the Tour, World Championships and Vuelta. He said: "There's a big chance I come back to Classics for sure, and also UAE Tour, and obviously Tour de France. There's no hiding in this, I think, so we will see."

Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert have been warned that one Cyclocross rider could be set to rival their dominance on the discipline when either rider returns to the mud this winter. Both van der Poel and van Aert have become accustomed to either decimating the competition or battling each othe...

Northwestern Portugal remains one of Europes most unknown bikepacking gems. Of Mountains and Horses is a 312-kilometer (194-mile) route linking the Atlantic coast to the rugged granitic highlands of Peneda-Gers []The post Of Mountains and Horses appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

We look at German cycle engineering at its finest with SKSs exciting new electric mini-pump, plus two ready-for-anything multi-tools

Paul Seixas is a generational talent at, at the time being, already one of the world's very best in several aspects of professional cycling. The Frenchman has spoken about Tadej Pogacar as a role model for his performance; and a potential Giro d'Italia debut next May instead of the Tour de France....

Litespeed has launched four titanium electric bikes two gravel and two road the brands first foray into the ebike market.According to Litspeed CEO, Chris Pascarella: I initially resisted the concept of a Litespeed E-bike. I had bought into the stigma that riding an E-bike was a sign of surrender."As it turns out, the reality is that we can take exceptionally high-performance bicycles and amplify the experience. Litespeed says even some industry insiders failed to notice the Mahle motor system. All four Litespeed ebikes are powered by the flagship Mahle X20 rear hub motor system, which is a popular motor on lighter electric bikes and fitted by a number of other brands.Litespeed points to the small motor and low-profile battery as major advantages of the X20 system, which weighs a claimed 3.2kg. It delivers 275W of peak power and 65Nm peak torque and, in Litespeeds ebikes, is paired with a 250Wh battery. You can add a range extender too.Litespeed has worked with HED to lace the hub motor into HEDs road and gravel wheelsets, offering both carbon and alloy rim options.Litespeed Overdrive and Distortion gravel ebikes Litespeed has worked with HED to build the wheels for its ebikes, including the Overdrive. The Overdrive is Litespeeds top electric gravel bike offering, and has 50mm tyre clearance and a geometry that Litespeed describes as race-inspired. Fitted with a Shimano GRX Di2 827 1x groupset and carbon HED wheels, prices start at 9,541 / $12,495. The Litespeed Distortion offers 54mm tyre clearance. The Distortion is more adventure-oriented and pushes the tyre clearance up to 54mm, with a more relaxed geometry that Litespeed says is aimed at rougher gravel terrain. Fitted with SRAM Rival XPLR AXS and HED carbon wheels, its priced from 7,572 / $9,995.Litespeed Sustain and Harmonizer road ebikes The Sustain is Litespeed's performance-oriented road ebike. The road-going Sustain is based around a frame with racing geometry, but still offers 35mm tyre clearance. Prices start at 9,541 / $12,495 equipped with Shimano Ultegra and HED V45 carbon wheels. The Harmonizer is more endurance-focused. The Harmonizer ebike, meanwhile, is endurance-focused and offers 35mm tyre clearance. Its priced from 7,572 / $9,995 equipped with Shimano 105 Di2 and the same HED V45 carbon wheels.All Litespeeds ebikes are built to order in Chattanooga, Tennessee and it quotes a two- to four-week lead time. It claims complete bike weights from around 12kg, depending on model and spec.

The mighty Angliru is among the pantheon of cycling's greatest climbs. After its 1999 introduction at the Vuelta a Espana, it has garnered a fearsome reputation for its brutal length and eye-watering gradients - with sections at over 23 percent making it one of the sport's great spectacles. Accordi...

Simon Richardson was speeding and boasting about being a professional driver when he struck headteacher Michael Mullins, causing his foot to be trapped in the vehicles suspension, before leaving him for dead in a shocking hit-and-run incident