The 2027 Giro d'Italia and Giro Donne will be presented today in Rome. The route of both events will be revealed today, and you can follow it along with CyclingUpToDate. We will provide written updates on the race, which is set to start in Trieste; and provide to you profiles of the stages as they a...

As soon as October rolls around, it can feel as though the flow of big-ticket bike releases begins to taper off faster than our summer fitness. But, last month, we saw a suite of intriguing launches from a range of big and smaller brands.We saw a change in discipline and wheel size from Van Rysel, and a continued drive towards lighter gravel bikes. There was also the surprise return of all-road', a luxury rim-brake bike and a trail bike thats handmade in the Alps.So keep reading for the seven bike launches that excited us most last month.Look G85 Cezal RS The G85 Cezal RS is lighter, stiffer and built to race. Look Cycles Look launched the new G85 Cezal RS early in October. Its a gravel race bike that takes the French brands standard G85 Cezal and keeps its lively geometry, but lowers the weight and increases the stiffness.Look says the high modulus carbon layup saves 200g compared to the G85 Cezals frame. It also increases bottom bracket stiffness by 19% and head tube stiffness by 20%.New seatstays filter out vibrations by a claimed 15%. It also has room for a 57mm gravel tyre at the rear and a 50mm tyre up front.Colnago G5-X The range-topping Colnago G5-X Red XPLR is priced at 9,999. Warren Rossiter / Kelsey Hot on the heels of the Cezal was another race-ready gravel bike, the Colnago G5-X.Colnagos design team knew the G4-X needed an update, due to developments in gravel bike geometry and the trend for wider tyres.Although the G4-X improved the ride quality over its predecessor, Colnagos Davide Fumagalli told us the G5-X is far superior for comfort and handling.The bike has a new slacker head angle, a longer wheelbase and a lower bracket. The frame is now around 100g lighter with room for 53mm tyres.Ridley Falcn RS 2.0 We got a first glimpse of the Falcn RS 2.0 at the Tour Auvergne-Rhne Alpes. Ashley Quinlan Although we first spotted the Ridley Falcn RS 2.0 at the Tour Auvergne-Rhne Alpes in June, it was only officially launched last month.The previous Falcn embraced the aero all-rounder trend. But Ridley has turned it into an unashamed climbing bike as an alternative to the Noah Fast. As a result, the second-generation Falcn is 12% lighter than its predecessor.Ashley Quinlan tested the RS 2.0 and said the new bike feels more rounded and accessible. However, he misses the previous models point-and-shoot character.Moots County Line The new Moots County Line is designed to be ridden everywhere. Moots The Moots County Line breathes new life into the all-road category. It has clearance for modest 38mm tyres and a geometry thats more suited to switching between tarmac and smooth gravel than taking on Unbound.On the one hand, this could seem out of step with where gravel bikes are going. But, on the other, Moots is up front that this bike is inspired by rides around its headquarters in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.As I wrote in the BikeRadar newsletter (sign up here!), theres something quite refreshing about a bike that has such a pure focus.Firefly All Road The Firefly All Road, and all new rim brake bike in 2026. Firefly Cycles Like the Moots County Line, the Firefly All Road is helping keep all-road bikes alive and doing the same thing for rim brakes.Firefly says its full-custom bike has clearance for 40mm tyres and uses Cane Creeks lightweight eeBrakes to bring you to a stop.Although it has a retro flavour, the bike has 3D-printed dropouts and custom thru-axles rather than quick-release skewers. It is also compatible with electronic groupsets.Selwyn Trail bike If you want a bike from Selwyn, you'll need to collect it in person from the brand's Alpine workshop. Selwyn bikes Another metal bike that caught our attention last month was the Selwyn Trail Bike.The Trail Bike is made from a mix of Reynolds tubing, and it combines 140mm of rear travel with a 160mm suspension fork.But it's the romantic idea of getting one that appeals. Selwyn Bicycles are handmade by one man, Alex Plaisted, and you have to collect your order in person from his workshop in the French Alps.Van Rysel RCR-XC Van Rysel's RCR-XC mountain bike embraces the 32in-wheel trend. Also in the French Alps, but with different intentions, Van Rysel announced it has been building a dedicated mountain bike operation. And its first mountain bike is quite the statement.The Van Rysel RCR-XC is a cross-country mountain bike with 32in wheels. The company skipped 29in wheels after analysing two years of race data. It concluded the new larger size could offer real-world advantages for its new Decathlon Ford race team.Borrowing from its road bike operations, Van Rysel added that it tested the new bike in the wind tunnel and found it is 15.5 watts faster than the Decathlon Ford teams previous bike.

Bardiani CSF 7 Saber boss Bruno Reverberi has been at the head of the Italian team for many years, but in 2027 the team is not going to be able to receive a wildcard to the Giro d'Italia due to its position in the UCI rankings. He has launched strong accusations against rival teams for making this h...

The 2027 Giro Donne has been revealed this Tuesday morning in Rome, alongside the men's Giro d'Italia. The route will begin in Viareggio in 2027, and finish on the Valle d'Aosta. On the way are three major mountain stages and a mountain time trial. More updates will follow...

A tough Alpine finale will define the 2027 Giro d'Italia Women, it became clear on Tuesday, as organiser RCS revealed a "demanding route" for the race's 38th edition. Unveiled in a ceremony inside Rome's Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone, the nine-day route will be contained entirely in Italy's north-west, counting 1,132km in total, and 17,450m of elevation a more than 5,000m increase on the 2026 route, won by FDJ United-SUEZ'S Demi Vollering. It will culminate in a mountain time trial and gruelling final stage around Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps. The race will begin on 29 May in Viareggio, a coastal city in Tuscany on Italys Ligurian coast. It will then head north, along the coast, for a stage finish in Genoa on stage two, before turning inland and north into Lombardy. Announcing the route, Luca Guercilena, the new head of cycling at RCS, declared: "The riders will have to fight on the climbs." The first mountains test will come on stage four, which counts four classified climbs and the first of two summit finishes, this time on the Passo della Presolana (11km at 5.4%) at 1,300m altitude.The sprinters will then have their chance in Cassano d'Adda on stage five, before a day ranked five out of five stars for difficulty. Stage six will pass over the Passo San Marco which rises to almost 2,000 altitude, the race's highest point and finish on the Passo dello Spluga.After a flat finish into Rho on stage seven, the race will enter its Alpine finale in the Aosta Valley. Stage eight will be a 11km mountain time trial, climbing from the gun for a total elevation of 650m. This follows the success of an uphill time trial in the Dolomites in the 2026 route, which SD Worx-Protime's Anna van der Breggen won by more than a minute, and shook up the general classification. The race organiser has dubbed the final stage the 'Monte Bianco stage', which, like stage six, is graded five stars for difficulty. Stage nine will climb almost 4,000m of elevation over four classified climbs, including the Colle san Carlo (10.5km at 9.8%). The finale will then tilt downhill, before a closing rise to the line on Mont Blanc, where the pink jersey will be decided. Discover the full route map and stage details below. The route of the 2027 Giro d'Italia Women (Image credit: RCS/Giro d'Italia Women)Giro d'Italia Women 2027 stagesStage DayStartFinish DistanceType1Saturday 29 May ViareggioViareggio124kmHilly2Sunday 30 May Massa Genova139kmHilly3Monday 31 May CogornoViadana171kmFlat4Tuesday 1 JuneCredaroPasso della Presolano131kmMountain5Wednesday 2 JuneCassano d'AddaCassano d'Adda140kmFlat6Thursday 3 JuneBergamoMadesimo-Valle Spluga137kmMountain7Friday 4 JuneCarugateRho147kmHilly8Saturday 5 JuneValdigneValdigne11kmTime Trial9Sunday 6 JuneMonte BiancoMonte Bianco132kmMountain

Wout Poels as extended his career by yet another year. The Dutch rider has spent many years in the peloton already, turning professional in 2006, but is not yet ready to call an end to his career. He is spending one more year at Unibet Rose Rockets. "The most important thing is that I still reall...

One of cycling's less welcome but most written-about Covid legacies has been the ongoing reluctance among riders to pin on a number and enter competitive events. This phenomenon is not confined to one discipline organisers of road races and time trials alike have watched numbers fall, and the ensuing fight to boost them again has been a tough one.However, there's one racing niche that appears to be bucking that trend: hill-climbing. This year these short, sharp races against the clock have seen their highest numbers of both riders and overall race participations since before the pandemic. These aren't small improvements either. Figures shared with Cycling Weekly by the Spindata platform show that this year's 4,650 participations is a 19.6% increase on last year and 17.8% on 2024.Both significant boosts. But it's the numbers of individual riders that has enjoyed the biggest increase.Those are up more than 30% on last year, from 1,699 to 2,214. It's an even bigger jump from the year before, and comparable to hill-climbing's 10-year high of 2,300 riders, recorded in 2018.So what has caused this? On the face of it, hill-climbing has to be among the least likely niche's to catch the zeitgeist. Involving chilly hillsides and quirky, home-customised bikes, hill-climbing is eccentric and uniquely British, not unlike common-or-garden time trialling, or Audax riding, but turned up to 11.What hill-climbs have in favour over both those disciplines though is accessibility and almost complete safety. They're easy to enter, and even if you're not the biggest fan of hills, the events are very short. You only need to make it to the top, which often takes just a few minutes, and then you're done. What's more, you'll be cheered up all the way by crowds at the side of roads that are either quiet or closed. The close-quarters congregation of riders and supports alike make for a highly social event too.Tim Smith is the chair of Cycling Time Trials the governing body of time trialling and hill-climbing in the UK. He told Cycling Weekly that the increase was "encouraging" and that CTT was keen to identify and build on the growth.Were really encouraged to see such a significant increase in participation in hill-climb events," he said. "Hill-climbing has always been a popular and distinctive part of time trialling, but the recent growth demonstrates that it continues to attract both existing riders and newcomers to the sport.He said the format's "short, challenging and accessible" nature held a "particular appeal" and that closed roads events offered a great opportunity and a "controlled environment" for younger riders to experience competition for the first time. He also praised the enthusiasm and commitment of clubs, promoters and volunteers."The CTT are keen to identify how we can build on this growth," Smith added. "Were looking at ways to sustain this momentum and identify opportunities to replicate that success across other types of time trial events. Its fantastic to see so many more riders getting involved, and we want to make sure we continue to create opportunities for people to take part in our sport.

The latest instalment of our sentencing round-up series, analysing the state of play when it comes to sentencing for driving and cycling offences in the UK

Its now been a month since I launched the Meh-roica Pageant:Sponsored by Dumonde Tech, the worlds greatest lubricant:**[for your bike. I cannot officially sanction any off-label useespecially for, shall we say, intimate purposes.]Anyway, the deadline passed on October 16th, and since then Ive been doing a lot of soul-searching. Well, Im pleased to report Ive finally come to a decision, and here it is:No, I will not be putting leather bar tape on my Roadini:Not only is it too much work, but someone pointed out it gets funky in the rain, plus what happens if I decide to change the saddle again?No, I will hold onto the leather bar tape and maybe use it when I freshen up the Platypus and get rid of the double-grip situation Ive got going on:Wait, whats that? You say you dont care?You say you want to know who won the goddamn contest?!?Yeah, I know, right? Tell me about it!Anyway, as I previously mentioned, I sold my records not too long ago, which Im still a little sad about, even though it was an extremely shrewd business decision. Well, okay, it wasnt that shrewd, since if back in the 1980s Id put that money in the S&P 500 instead of buying records with it Id now have about 1,200% more than what I ended getting for them at the Greenwich Village record store. This is yet another reminder that instead of hating corporations in my youth I should have been investing in themor just doing both, as you eventually learn to do as an adult.Nevertheless, one thing I used to really enjoy doing as a teenager was blowing off any schoolwork I might have had and instead taking hours-long deep dives into my own record collection. This would often involve choosing a band and listening to all their albums one after another, starting with their early work when they couldnt play their instruments at all, and then moving all the way through their catalog to the present, when they could kind of almost sort of play them a little.So why is this relevant? Well, for one thing, the fact that I spent all my time doing this instead of homework is why Im a former semi-professional bike blogger instead of a successful person. Its also pertinent because as I became an adult my bikes replaced my records, and Im just as unproductive, except now I just take deep dives into my bike collection instead. Currently Im on something of a Rivendell jag, and I always do my best to match my bike to the landscape:Note that I took the bold and controversial step of putting clipless pedals on the Roaduno:I am a Time ATAC user and have been for many years. See, in the old days they were much better at shedding mud than SPDs, so That Was Just What You Used, especially if you raced the cylcocross. However, I had a pair of Shimano pedals sitting around from the Bargain Basement Bike (which is also where that saddle bag came from, notice how I use every part of the buffalo), and I also came across a pair of old SPD cleats, so I figured Id throw em on there and try them out, even though it stresses me out to have bikes using different pedal systems. (As for mud-shedding, I think Shimano has probably caught up in that regard, but my days of riding in mud are well behind me and I really dont care.)I like flat pedals, and the Roaduno was great with them. However, I do think clipless pedals bring out something a little extra in a singlespeed bicycle:Specifically, with the bike geared so that Im not spinning out on flat terrain, climbing requires me to get out of the saddle and really work for it, which is easier to do when Im locked into the pedals. Also, its easier to pick both wheels up, which makes the bike feel a little more playful when Im hopping over roots and other obstacles on the ol hobo trail. So while the clipless pedals may be somewhat at odds with the whole Rivendell ethos, I like how they give the bike a little bit of an edge, like putting a splash of whiskey in your Coca-Cola. Also, if it makes you feel any better, Im not wearing the latest in gravel-specific footwear; instead, Im wearing a pair of cheap shoes I got many years ago on closeout that refuse to die and are about 40% Gorilla Glue:Speaking of the Bargain Basement Bike, and Meh-Roica Bikes (which the Bargain Basement Bike Qualifies as), some time ago (though Ill be darned if I can find the post) I mentioned a New York City-specific bicycle classified site called bikedrawer.com after the person who built it reached out to me:As someone who needs to move a bike along every once in awhile I really liked the idea. For example, lets say I were to get a new Farbman:[No idea where this came from. AI maybe?]Please note I didnt say I was getting a new Farbman. I said IF I GOT IT:[No idea where this came from. AI maybe?]This guy knows what Im talking about:I love you too, Nordberg.By the way, it wouldnt have to be a Farbman. It could be a recumbent or something:[No idea where this came from. AI maybe? Actually Im lying. Grant Petersen took this photo. Its called kompromat. Why do you think Im always espousing the virtues of his bicycles? I really wish I was riding a Factor Otso VAM instead of a Rivendell. Also, someone asked about the Inspector Gadget Jacket recently, which Im wearing in that photo. It needs to be cleaned and it needs a new lining. I should really get that done because it would go great with the PashMo.]The point is, lets say I had to make room for a Farbman or a recumbent. If so, the bike Id move along first would be the Bargain Basement Bikenot because I dont like it, but because I already have several road bikes and would observe a Last one hired, first one fired policy. All of this is to say that I figured I might as well try out the bikedrawer.com site to test the waters, and the Bargain Basement Bike is on there now if anyone is interested:There have been no nibbles as of yet, which doesnt surprise me in the least since not only are we in an unprecedented Meh-roica buyers market, but nobody has heard of a Chris Huber. Also, I thought my bike was priced to sell, but then I saw this:Still has the pie plate and everything!Seems worth it for the Ultegree alone.Not sure why its upside down, but maybe its a metaphor for the state of the world.