CyclistPro cycling winners and losers in January 2026A new season has officially begun, with WorldTour racing kicking off earlier this month at the Tour Down Under and January coming to a close with the AlUla Tour and Mallorca one-day series. Weve had a look at who has got off to a fast start, who needs to go back to square one and who is still in the starting blocksWinnersEF Education-OatlyCon Chronis/Getty ImagesEF Education-Oatly have started 2026 hot. Noemi Reggdefended her title at the womens Tour Down Under after World Champion Magdeleine Vallieres put in a big pull up Corkscrew Road to get her teammateinto prime position, all the Swiss rider then needed to do was beat ah, just the three UAE Team ADQ riders.It ended up being egg on UAEs face as Ruegg would power away in the sprint for the stage and overall victory. The EF party didnt end there in Australia, with Harry Sweeny finishing third overall at the mens Tour Down Under for his first elite stage race podium. The team have also confirmed a contract extension for Tour de France standout Ben Healy, who is now committed to the team through 2029.Read more: Pinky promise: Why this could be the season of EF Education-OatlyDecathlon-CMA CGMCon Chronis/Getty ImagesIt was an incredible display of teamwork as Decathlon-CMA CGM took on a field including Matthew Brennan, Sam Welsford, Ethan Vernon and Danny van Poppel to stamp their authority on the sprint for Stage 1 of the mens Tour Down Under. A well-formed sprint train delivered Tobias Lund Andresen to victory that day and he would go on to podium in three more stages and win the points jersey.Welsford got one on the board too for Ineos Grenadiers in their new era of actually having a sprinter, while Vernon and Brennan also took sprint victories in the race, but none could challenge Lund Andresen for the jersey. Its a great sign for a Decathlon team who have put a big focus on building a proper sprint train over winter.Read more: One down: 5 talking points from the Tour Down UnderCat Ferguson (Movistar)Sprint CyclingMovistars Cat Ferguson started a new season exactly how she left the old one. Winning. She closed 2025 with two consecutive victories at the Vuelta Ciclista Andalucia Elite and Tour de France Prudential Singapore Critrium, and won her first race of 2026 in Spain at Trofeo Llucmajor.Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)A.S.O./Charly LpezIt was set to be a mouth-watering matchup between Jonathan Milan and Soudal-QuickSteps Tim Merlier at the AlUla Tour, but a lingering knee injury forced Merlier off the start list. Milan meanwhile has been sweeping up the sprints with success on Stage 1 and 2, though narrowly missed out to XDS-Astanas Matteo Malucelli on Stage 4.Read more: Assessing the mens sprinting hierarchy in 2026Red Bull-Bora-HansgroheMaximilian Fries / Red Bull Content PoolRemco Evenepoel made his debut for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in the Trofeo Ses Salines team time-trial alongside teammates including Florian Lipowitz and Lorenzo Finn. The squad set a time just 4 seconds faster than Movistar to take the win, averaging 59.7km/h over 23.8km.Evenepoel then went 2-for-2 with victory at the Trofeo Serra Tramuntana. Just the ol 50km solo breakaway to stretch the legs at the beginning of the season. Related Posts UCI Cyclocross World Championships 2026 preview One down: 5 talking points from the Tour Down Under We predict every men's WorldTour race in 2026 The 9 most anticipated head-to-heads to look forward to in 2026 LosersUAE Team Emirates XRGUAE Team Emirates XRGNo team has had more bad luck this month than UAE Team Emirates XRG. Things were going great for the squad that broke the wins record last season, finishing Stage 2 of the Tour Down Under with a 1-2 through Jay Vine and JhonatanNarvez. Then it began to speed downhill.Narvez was forced to abandon with severalfractures in his spine, Vegard Stake Laengen sustained a rib injury and Mikkel Bjerg fractured his hand and shoulder in a collision with a kangaroo. SebastinMolanoalso pulled out of the race and it later came to light that even winner Vine was unable to escape unscathed, sustaining a fractured wrist on the final day from the kangaroo incident.Sports director Fabrizio Guidi also became the first person to be suspended through the UCIs yellow card system for a breach of regulations or guidelines concerning vehicle movements during the race or failure to comply with the instructions of commissaires and/or the organisation that occurred on both Stage 2 and Stage 5. Tsk tsk.All this before we get to Jan Christen. The 21-year-old crashed twice on Stage 1 of the AlUla Tour and was hit with a 20-second time penalty for drafting. His behaviour left a sour taste when he was seen unceremoniously grabbing his bike from a pile with two riders lying injured on the ground letting their bikes slam down behind him and then hit another rider on the hip behind a team car to let him through. Not a good look.Finally Davide Stella was one of three riders involved in a nasty 100kmh+ crash at the AlUla Tour, but thankfully at those speeds it couldve been much worse.Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike)A.S.O./Billy CeustersJonas Vingegaard crashed this week during a training ride in Malaga. Fortunately he sustained no serious injuries, but it appears he was being trailed by an amateur at the time. A reminder to everyone that if someone doesnt want you on their wheel, you probably shouldnt keep trying to follow them.Germn Drio Gmez (Polti-VisitMalta)Gonzalo Arroyo MorenoPolti-VisitMaltas Germn Drio Gmez has been provisionally suspended by the UCI after testing positive for Boldenone and one of its metabolites in an out-of-competition sample on 28th December. He has the right to request an analysis of his B sample.The 24-year-old said on social media, Today could be the most complicated of my life as a rider. But in the midst of the total surprise and uncertainty created by a result which does not fit with my mindset as a high-performance athlete, I can only assure you that behaviour, both in and outside racing itself, has always been both exemplary and transparent.If his name sounds familiar, he was the Colombian pictured in tears at the side of the road following a mechanical during the junior mens road race at the 2019 World Championships in Yorkshire.Visma-Lease a Bike Dario Belingheri/Getty ImagesIt was a shock to everyone when Simon Yates announced his sudden retirement ahead of the 2026 season. The reigning Giro dItalia champion hung up his cleats at the age of 33, and the squad suddenly has some big shoes to fill. Theyll be looking to Matteo Jorgenson to fill some of his duties, while hoping British rider Ben Tulett can step up again after a strong 2025 and new signing Davide Piganzoli can deliver on his promise displayed with Polti-VisitMalta.Read more: Simon Yates retiring at the top is the perfect send offUnibet-Rose RocketsCorVosIt was all going so well for Bas Tietemas Unibet-Rose Rockets team. Big new signing Dylan Groenewegen landed from Jayco-AlUla and immediately delivered in his first race, winning the Clssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969, beating Soudal-QuickSteps young phenom Paul Magnier. However it was announced today that the team had not received a Tour de France Wild Card, despite Groenewegen being front and centre at the route presentation.UAE Team ADQCon ChronisFor losing the previously mentioned 3 vs 1.The post Pro cycling winners and losers in January 2026 appeared first on Cyclist.