The first stage races of the 2025 season in Europe kicked off on Wednesday with the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Gran Premi Banc Sabadell and the Etoile de Bessèges – Tour du Gard. We have video, reports, results and the winners words in a packed EUROTRASH Thursday.
TOP STORY:
- UCI changes rules on WorldTour teams race obligations from 2026
Rider news:
- Jhonatan Narváez retains Ecuadorian National championship
- Óscar Freire found after a short disappearance
- Wout van Aert lost his Garmin watch at the World Championships, but two French boys return it
- Giro or Vuelta? Tadej Pogačar has decided
- Ben Wiggins has GC ambitions
- Filippo Ganna takes KOM from Remco Evenepoel
Team news:
- Tom Pidcock and Julian Alaphilippe’s teams invited to the Tour of Flanders
- Soudal Quick-Step Racing in Oman
- Picnic-PostNL to Next Races
- BEAT Cycling Club once again travels by train for training camp
- EF Pro Cycling Races into the Future with Wahoo
Race news:
- Counting down to the Trouée d’Arenberg…
- No Gent-Wevelgem ‘wildcard’ for Unibet Tietema Rockets – Tudor and Q36.5 to ride
- High stands, arena and pontoons over the water: Hulst 2025 cyclocross World championships promise ‘a lot of spectacle’
Plus the sad news of 18 year-old British rider, Aiden Worden, dies after training accident.
TOP STORY: UCI Changes Rules on WorldTour Teams Race Obligations from 2026
The UCI will change the regulations on the starting obligation of WorldTeams in WorldTour races from 2026. From that year, all top-level teams will be required to ride the three Grand Tours and the five Monument Classics. WorldTeams will be allowed to skip one of all other WorldTour races on the calendar each year.
In order to get the best cycling teams to start in the most prestigious cycling races, the UCI management committee has decided to tighten the rules. All WorldTeams will be required to start in the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España and in the five Monuments: Milan-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy.
This has always been the case, but the change applies to the other WorldTour races. From 2026, WorldTeams will be allowed to skip one one-day race or stage race from the WorldTour per year. However, there are additional rules attached to this: no more than four WorldTeams may skip the same race and WorldTeams may only miss a specific race once in the 2026-2028 cycle.
Visma | Lease a Bike can’t miss the Tour of Guangxi two or three times in the years 2026, 2027 and 2028. They can miss the Tour of Guangxi once, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in the other year and the Tour of Poland in the last year. If a WorldTeam decides to remove a specific WorldTour race from its programme, the vacant spot on the start list will be offered to a ProTeam with an extra wildcard.
Cycling teams with a WorldTeam licence are required to participate in WorldTour races until the end of 2025, but with a caveat. Only races that were part of the WorldTour in 2016 are required to participate. “A UCI WorldTeam must participate in UCI WorldTour races with a team. All WorldTeams must participate in races that were part of the UCI WorldTour in 2016. For other UCI WorldTour races, UCI WorldTeams may participate on a voluntary basis,” states article 2.15.127 of the UCI regulations.
The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, the Classic Brugge-De Panne, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Eschborn-Frankfurt and the Tour of Guangxi are not mandatory for WorldTeams until the end of 2025. The UCI will also implement this change for the women’s WorldTour cycle of 2026-2028. All top-level teams are required to start in the Vuelta Femenina, the Giro d’Italia Women and the Tour de France Femmes. For all other WWT races, these teams may only drop one per season; the same rules apply as for the men’s WorldTour.
“By adapting the rules for participation in the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour, organisers, riders and fans can be sure that all races in these leading competition series will feature the best teams in the world,” UCI President David Lappartient responded to the change.
The WorldTour teams can’t avoid the Tour of Guangxi every year:
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Gran Premi Banc Sabadell 2025
Lidl-Trek won the Team Time Trial Stage 1 of the Tour of Valencia on Wednesday. The WorldTour team of Daan Hoole, Jonathan Milan and Simone Consonni finished the 34 kilometres in Orihuela, 46 seconds faster than Jayco AlUla and 50 seconds faster than Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe.
The Tour of Valencia started on Wednesday with a team time trial, which doesn’t happen often these day. The first stage could be very important for the GC riders: Ben O’Connor, Carlos Rodriguez, Joao Almeida, Thymen Arensman and Aleksandr Vlasov. If you lost time in the TTT there are only four stages to try to make up that loss.
Euskaltel-Euskadi was the first team off in the Tour of Valencia, but they were not expected to set the world on fire. Jayco AlUla was expected to perform well. The Australian team was the fifth team to start and finished with a time of 40:6, beating Alpecin-Deceuninck by 1:20, pushing them off the hot seat. They didn’t enjoy the success for very long, as Lidl-Trek were storming towards the finish.
The American WorldTour team smashed Jayco AlUla’s time by 46 seconds and looked good for the stage win, even though there were many teams still to finish, including UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. All the remaining teams couldn’t get near Lidl-Trek’s finishing time. INEOS Grenadiers were 51 seconds short, UAE Emirates-XRG 50 seconds. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe looked to threaten Lidl-Trek as the last team to start, but the team of Jai Hindley and Vlasov was 50 seconds slower at the finish and so Lidl-Trek won the first stage in the Valencian Tour. It will be a hard job for the other team to pull back those 46 (and more) seconds.
Overall leader, Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek): “It’s an incredible feeling. We didn’t expect to win by such a margin; it’s been a crazy stage. This is something very special for us, a great success for the team, and now it’s time to enjoy the victory. It wasn’t decided who would cross first, but now I will wear the leader’s jersey. I want to thank my teammates for their effort. I will try to keep the lead for the rest of the race. We’ll see how I feel, but I will give my all to hold onto the jersey.”
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Gran Premi Banc Sabadell Stage 1 Result:
1. Lidl-Trek in 39:20
2. Jayco AlUla at 0:46
3. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 0:50
4. UAE Emirates XRG
5. INEOS Grenadiers at 0:51
6. Movistar at 1:06
7. Bahrain Victorious at 1:11
8. Israel-Premier Tech at 1:21
9. Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team at 1:50
10. Alpecin-Deceuninck at 2:06.
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Gran Premi Banc Sabadell Overall After Stage 1:
1. Mathias Vacek (CZ) Lidl-Trek in 39:19
2. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek
3. Daan Hoole (Ned) Lidl-Trek
4. Jakob Söderqvist (Swe) Lidl-Trek
5. Edward Theuns (Bel) Lidl-Trek at 0:30
6. Jelte Krijnsen (Ned) Jayco AlUla at 0:47
7. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Jayco AlUla
8. Michael Hepburn (Aus) Jayco AlUla
9. Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Jayco AlUla
10. João Almeida (Por) UAE Emirates XRG at 0:50.
Valenciana’25 stage 1:
Etoile de Bessèges – Tour du Gard 2025
Paul Magnier won the First Stage of the Etoile de Bessèges on Wednesday. The Soudal Quick-Step rider was the strongest in the bunch sprint in Bellegarde and took the first leader’s jersey. Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Marijn van den BergEF Education-EasyPost finished second and third.
The Etoile de Bessèges started on Wednesday with a strong field of riders. Mads Pedersen, Arnaud De Lie, Maxim Van Gils and Richard Carapaz were in the south-east of France to start their season.
In the early part of the stage there was a leading group including Victor Vercouillie, Axandre Van Petegem, Célestin Guillon and Axel Mariault. The four at the front worked well together and built up a lead of more than 6 minutes, but never really had a chance of the win. In the peloton, it was INEOS Grenadiers and Lotto who had men on the front to control the break. With 37 kilometres to go, they were caught.
The wind then hit the peloton and echelons were formed several times, but eventually the groups came together again. It would then happen in the difficult final kilometre on the Côte de la Tour. On the Côte de la Tour, it was the Tietema Unibet Rockets who brutally took control for Lukas Kubis, but the Slovak would come up short in the final metres to compete for the stage win. De Lie also came up short after a beautiful lead-out by Lionel Taminiaux. Who timed his sprint perfectly? Magnier, who passed Meeus in the final meters and came out on top. Van den Berg came from far in the final meters, but ended up in third place.
Stage winner and overall leader, Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step): “It’s important for me that I won my first race of the year, just like last season. It gives a lot of confidence and shows how hard I have worked in the winter. I want to thank everyone who supported me after my crash last September – team, family, friends, manager – because it’s thanks to them that I got to win here in France in front of my fans. The finale was very steep, but I began the climb in a good position thanks to the team’s excellent work. They did a perfect job today and I’m grateful for that. The key was to be patient and I was until I decided to give everything when it mattered the most. I’m proud of my performance and of this success. I will do my best to keep the leader’s jersey on Thursday and maybe try to get another victory this week.”
Etoile de Bessèges – Tour du Gard Stage 1 Result:
1. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal-Quick-Step in 3:33:30
2. Jordi Meeus (Bel) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
3. Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
4. Maxim Van Gils (Bel) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
5. Timo Kielich (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck
6. Sandy Dujardin (Fra) TotalEnergies
7. Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto
8. Jan Tratnik (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
9. Axel Laurance (Fra) INEOS Grenadiers
10. Lukas Kubis (Slov) Unibet Tietema Rockets.
Etoile de Bessèges – Tour du Gard Overall After Stage 1:
1. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step in 3:33:19
2. Jordi Meeus (Bel) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 0:04
3. Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost at 0:06
4. Maxim Van Gils (Bel) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 0:10
5. Timo Kielich (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck
6. Sandy Dujardin (Fra) TotalEnergies
7. Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto at 0:12
8. Jan Tratnik (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
9. Axel Laurance (Fra) INEOS Grenadiers
10. Lukas Kubis (Slov) Unibet Tietema Rockets.
Bessèges’25 stage 1:
Jhonatan Narváez Retains Ecuadorian National Championship
27-year-old wins three-up sprint to take his third career national championship, ensuring another year in the jersey
A week on from his Santos Tour Down Under success for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Jhonatan Narváez won a three-up sprint on Sunday afternoon to retain his Ecuadorian national road race championship. Pipping Jefferson Alexander Cepeda and Mateo Pablo Ramírez to the line in Cotacachi, the 27-year-old managed to take his third career national title.
Racing in UAE Team Emirates-XRG trade kit for the first time, Narváez was keen to leave his mark on the 170km-long course and retain his yellow, blue and red national champion’s jersey. As such, the recently-crowned ‘King of Willunga Hill’ continued in his aggressive style from Australia. Whittling down the day’s field to an elite composition of three, Narváez worked well with fellow WorldTour-pro Cepeda and the young Ramírez as the final kilometres came into sight.
Well over four hours on from the flag drop, the leading trio approached the historic city of the Imbabura Province, aware that a sprint would likely decide the 2025 champion. In turn, Narváez positioned himself smartly approaching the final right-hand bend, at which point the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider unleashed his sprint and would not be passed before the line.
Punching the air as he claimed the win, Narváez knew that the long journey back home to Ecuador had been well worth it. With another fine performance, the rider from El Playón de San Francisco has sealed his third national title and will now return to Europe resplendent in his yellow, blue and red national champion’s jersey.
“It’s very special for me to be here and to win in Ecuador,” Narváez said after the line. “It was a very hot day and a hard fought race. I had to be smart and play my cards carefully. There are no easy victories in cycling and I knew I would be marked. We were racing at altitude and that added to the difficulty . We attacked to form a group of three and we worked well together. I had a strong rival in Cepeda who put up a good fight. In a couple of weeks I’ll head back to Europe for the spring Classics and I’m very excited and motivated for it.”
Ecuador National Road Championships Men Result:
1. Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
2. Jefferson Alexander Cepeda (EF Education-EasyPost)
3. Mateo Pablo Ramírez (High Level-Gsport-Grupo Tormo)
Third National championship for Jhonatan Narváez:
Óscar Freire Found after a Short Disappearance
Óscar Freire had gone missing. The three-time World road champion was reported missing to the Spanish police by his family. The 48-year-old Freire is said to have left his home without keys and wallet. Freire’s car had reportedly been found by the Guardia Civil, but there was no trace of the former rider.
According to El Diario Montañes, the Guardia Civil had been looking for Freire since Wednesday morning, who was last seen on Tuesday. The investigation revealed that the former professional had not taken his keys, wallet, credit cards and other important papers when he left home in Torrelavega, Cantabria.
Freire’s disappearance was short-lived as he was found by the Guardia Civil and is said to be doing well. According to new information from El Diario Montañes, Freire left home voluntarily on Monday. Because he had not been seen by Wednesday and Freire did not have his cell phone with him, his family decided to report him missing on Wednesday.
Óscar Freire missing for nearly three days:
Wout van Aert Lost his Garmin Watch at the World Championships, Two French Boys Returned It
After the interviews in the mixed zone at the 2025 cyclocross World championships in Liévin, Wout van Aert got his Garmin watch back from two young French children. They had found Van Aert’s watch on the course, but the silver medalist of the World championships didn’t even know he had lost it.
“It was only when I went to press the button at the finish that I noticed it was gone,” Van Aert told VTM Nieuws about his watch. It turned out after that Van Aert’s watch had fallen off during the final lap of the World champs in Liévin, without him noticing. When he had the watch back in his hands, he also realised he had crashed earlier. Van Aert noticed that there was a rip in his shorts for almost the entire race. It was clearly visible that there was a large hole in his left hip, he only realised that the tear was there when he changed clothes afterwards.
It was two French boys who returned the watch to Van Aert after the mixed zone. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider was curious where they had found it. As a thank you, Van Aert had his picture taken with the two shy children and with the watch. “There are still honest people, that’s nice to see,” he laughed.
Van Aert still has his Garmin here:
Giro or Vuelta? Tadej Pogačar has Decided
Tadej Pogačar will ride two Grand Tours in 2025, but which ones?. The Tour de France was always on the menu, but the Slovenian hadn’t decided if he would start the Giro d’Italia or Vuelta a España. He has now made a decision, but he won’t announce his choice until the UAE Tour (17-23 February).
UAE Emirates-XRG, Tadej Pogacar’s team, has already announced their full team for the Vuelta a España. Team manager José Antonio ‘Matxin’ Fernández told the Spanish newspaper AS during the Challenge Mallorca: “We will compete for victory in all three Grand Tours. The eight for the Vuelta is already known. Tadej will soon announce what else is on his program during the UAE Tour.”
It is already certain that Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso and Isaac Del Toro will start the Giro for UAE Emirates-XRG. Pogačar may also join them, but Matxin also stated that Pogačar and Ayuso can compete for the overall victory in the Giro next season. But if Pogačar does ride the Giro, then the Spaniard would have to take a supporting role.
We will have to wait until the UAE Tour to find out Pogacar’s second Grand Tour. The rest of his program is already known: He will start with the UAE Tour, then go to Italy for the Strade Bianche and Milan-Sanremo, then several Flemish Classics and the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. In the run-up to the Tour de France he will ride the Critérium du Dauphiné and the World Championship in Rwanda at the end of the year.
Giro or Vuelta for Pogačar?
Ben Wiggins has GC Ambitions
Ben Wiggins, the son of Tour de France winner, Bradley Wiggins, currently rides for the American development team, Hagens Berman Jayco, but the 19-year-old has big dreams. Wiggins hopes to become a top road rider, like his father. “I’m very ambitious,” he said in an interview with The Telegraph.
Ben Wiggins has already shown in recent seasons that he can ride well in time trials, Classics and the mountains. He was second in the 2023 World Junior Time Trial Championships, after having previously won the Trophée Centre Morbihan (2.Ncup). However, the young Wiggins dreams of more, as he want’s to be a classification rider in the future.
He follows in the footsteps of his father Bradley, who started as a track rider and time trial specialist, but developed into a GC rider with the Garmin team and then Team Sky. In 2012, Wiggins became the first British rider to win the Tour de France. Ben Wiggins also sees himself as a stage race rider in the World’s top events, but is keeping expectations low for the moment. “I try not to impose any limits on myself. I am very ambitious. That is where I want to be, but that is not for another ten years or so. However, I can see it happening: that I will eventually evolve into a classification cyclist. Look at my father or cyclists like Geraint Thomas: strong track cyclists and time trial specialists who then went on to ride classifications in the Grand Tours. But that is not my focus at the moment.”
Wiggins is focusing on the biggest Classics for the U23s this year: Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège and then making the step up to the pros. “I think that, given my development, I will ride in the WorldTour next year, but if that doesn’t happen right away, that’s okay too.”
It looks very likely that he will go to the Jayco AlUla WorldTour team, as the Hagens Berman Jayco team managed by Axel Merckx is officially the development team of Jayco AlUla from this year. The WorldTeam already had ties with the Continental team, but by formally designating Hagens Berman Jayco as a development team with the UCI, riders can be exchanged between the two teams.
Tour GC for Ben Wiggins?
Filippo Ganna Takes Strava KOM from Remco Evenepoel
Filippo Ganna wants to win a monument like Milan-San Remo or Paris-Roubaix in 2025. His training on Strava is looking promising. Last weekend he took the KOM on the ‘Tarbena climb to Rates’ section from Remco Evenepoel.
The Tarbena climb is the ‘other side’ of the popular Coll de Rates. The climb is 4.97 kilometres at an average of 5.6% is just as well ridden by the pros as the other sections, but not spoken about as much. The KOM was held by Remco Evenepoel. The Belgian previously summited in 10:11. But Ganna took 1 second off that record on Saturday. His average speed was 29.3kph.
In the KOM top-10, there are a few other professionals: Giuli Pellizarri (10:25), Toms Skujiņš (10:34) and Ilan Van Wilder (10:40). Ganna, who will fully focus on road racing next season and put his track ambitions on hold, has two major goals for 2025: Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix. But the INEOS Grenadiers rider also wants to ‘win as much as possible’, he recently told La Gazzetta dello Sport. In 2024 he won two time trials: Stage 14 in the Giro d’Italia and the national time trial championships and the final stage of the Tour of Austria.
Ganna taking Strava sections from Evenepoel:
Tom Pidcock and Julian Alaphilippe’s Teams Invited to the Tour of Flanders
The organisers of the Tour of Flanders has announced the teams for the next edition (Sunday 6 April). Tudor Pro Cycling and Q36.5 Pro Cycling, the teams of Julian Alaphilippe and Tom Pidcock have been invited, but Unibet Tietema Rockets didn’t get a ‘wildcard’.
Lotto, Israel-Premier Tech and Uno-X Mobility were already certain of participation in the Tour of Flanders, based on their performances in 2024. Two of the four other invitations went to Tudor and Q36.5. Julian Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi and Tom Pidcock will start Flanders’ Finest.
Race organiser, Flanders Classics has also given two ‘wildcards’ to the Belgian teams Flanders-Baloise and Wagner Bazin WB. Unibet Tietema Rockets will not be there. The French/Dutch team received invitations to the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, Amstel Gold Race and Paris-Roubaix. All eighteen WorldTeams are obliged to ride.
In the Tour of Flanders for women, which is also on Sunday 6 April, all fifteen WorldTeams will start. The following teams have also been invited: EF Education-Oatly, VolkerWessels, Lotto Ladies, Cofidis, St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93, Cynisca Cycling, Bepink-Imatra-Bongioanni, DD Group Pro Cycling Team and Team Coop-Repsol.
Teams for the Tour of Flanders 2025 (April 6)
WorldTeams:
Alpecin-Deceuninck
Arkéa-B&B Hotels
Bahrain Victorious
Cofidis
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
EF Education-EasyPost
Groupama-FDJ
INEOS Grenadiers
Intermarché-Wanty
Jayco AlUla
Lidl-Trek
Movistar
Picnic PostNL
Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe
Soudal-Quick-Step
UAE Emirates-XRG
Visma | Lease a Bike
XDS Astana
ProTeams:
Israel-Premier Tech
Lotto
Q36.5 Pro Cycling
Team Flanders-Baloise
Tudor Pro Cycling
Uno-X Mobility (guaranteed wildcard for WorldTour classics)
Wagner Bazin WB.
Teams for the Ronde:
Soudal Quick-Step Racing in Oman this Week
Three of the team’s new riders will make their debut for the Wolfpack in just a couple of days
03-Feb-2025: Our week in Oman will begin on Friday at the third edition of the Muscat Classic, a hilly one-day race between Al Mouj and Al Bustan, whose final part contains four hard climbs that the attackers can use as trampoline to victory: Bousher Al Amerat (3.4km, 8.8%), Wadi Al Kadir (2.1km, 7.3%), Al Hamriyah (800m, 9.8%) and Al Jissah (1.4km, 9%).
One day later, the 14th edition of the Tour of Oman will get underway with a flat stage finishing in the east of the Sultanate, at Bimmah Sink Hole, where the wind-exposed roads on the shores of the Sea of Oman could disrupt the sprint trains and ruin the fast men’s shot at victory. The Yitti Hills are sure to bring changes to the general classification, where the gaps between the contenders should widen even more on the gruelling slopes of the Eastern Mountain, featuring at the end of stage 3.
The penultimate day of the race comes with another opportunity for the sprinters, on the 700m uphill finish near the Oman Convention and Exhibition Center, before the traditional mountain stage on Jabal Al Akhdar, also known as the Green Mountain, whose double-digit gradients will be decisive in the fight for the red jersey.
Gianmarco Garofoli, British Champion Ethan Hayter and Valentin Paret-Peintre are all set to make their debut for the team at the two races in Oman, where they will be joined by Pepijn Reinderink, Mauri Vansevenant – who was runner-up on the general classification there in 2023 – Louis Vervaeke and Jordi Warlop.
“We have a good team for Oman, featuring three new guys – Ethan, Gianmarco and Valentin – and we can’t wait to see them in action. Our goal is to take a victory, there will be a couple of opportunities, so we are confident. Concerning the GC, Mauri came close to winning the whole thing a few years ago, when he finished first atop the Green Mountain, and we’ll see if he can be again up there in the fight for a strong result”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Wilfried Peeters.
07.02 Muscat Classic (OMA) 1.1 and 08.02–12.02 Tour of Oman (OMA) 2.Pro:
Riders:
Gianmarco Garofoli (ITA)
Ethan Hayter (GBR)
Valentin Paret-Peintre (FRA)
Pepijn Reinderink (NED)
Mauri Vansevenant (BEL)
Louis Vervaeke (BEL)
Jordi Warlop (BEL).
Sports Director: Wilfried Peeters (BEL).
Ethan Hayter to Muscat and Oman:
Picnic-PostNL to Next Races
UAE Tour Women – FEB 06 – FEB 09
Albert Timmer – Team Picnic PostNL coach: “We are looking forward to racing in the United Arab Emirates with our Women’s program, it’s a race we have fond memories of success at. We have multiple ambitions in this race: in the three flat stages, we aim to strengthen our sprint train and ultimately sprint with Charlotte as our finisher. The riders in the sprint train have been working together for a long time, so the focus will be on fine-tuning the lead-out. Additionally, Nienke will get her chance to shine on the climb to Jebel Hafeet and hopefully aim for a good position in the general classification. Teamwork will be the key to making this week a success.”
Line-up:
Rachele Barbieri (ITA)
Pfeiffer Georgi (GBR)
Megan Jastrab (USA)
Franziska Koch (DEU)
Charlotte Kool (NLD)
Nienke Vinke (NLD)
Muscat Classic – FEB 07
Phil West – Team Picnic PostNL coach: “Returning to Oman is always special, and we’re excited to start with the Muscat Classic. The race offers multiple opportunities, and in an ideal scenario, we aim to create a sprint with Pavel as our finisher. At the same time, we have strong options if the race becomes more selective, with Kevin and Warren ready to cover the climbing moves. With a well-balanced team, we’re prepared for different race scenarios.”
Line-up: Warren Barguil (FRA)
Pavel Bittner (CZE)
Sean Flynn (GBR)
Robbe Dhondt (BEL)
Tim Naberman (NLD)
Timo Roosen (NLD)
Kevin Vermaerke (USA).
Tour of Oman – FEB 08 – FEB 12
Phil West – Team Picnic PostNL coach: “The Tour of Oman features two sprint stages for Pavel and two key climbing stages where we want to be at our best, with Kevin and Warren targeting the GC. Warren showed strong form here last year with sixth place overall, and we’re eager to build on that. It’s a race that can be unpredictable, with little control in the peloton, so teamwork will be essential. Staying sharp and racing smart will be key, and we’re looking forward to taking on the challenge together.”
Line-up:
Warren Barguil (FRA)
Pavel Bittner (CZE)
Sean Flynn (GBR)
Robbe Dhondt (BEL)
Tim Naberman (NLD)
Timo Roosen (NLD)
Kevin Vermaerke (USA).
Warren Barguil to Oman:
BEAT Cycling Club Travels by Train to Training Camp
The UCI Award-winning project launched by BEAT Cycling Club last year, in which the team became the first professional cycling team to travel to a training camp by train, is getting a follow-up. This year, the team will once again travel by rail with riders from the Benelux to Girona, Catalonia, for a training camp lasting nearly two weeks.
“After our training camp by train last year, followed by the rail journey to the Tour of Austria later in the season, it was a logical choice for us to once again travel to Spain by train this year. Moreover, we want to use the train more frequently for our travel movements this season, especially now that rail transport is continuously improving, and is therefore a very good alternative for sustainable travel,” said Geert Broekhuizen, CEO of BEAT Cycling Club.
Last year, the team already made use of Interrail travel passes, and this year, the decision has been made to further expand the collaboration. The Interrail pass allows travellers to explore Europe by train flexibly. People of all ages have access to an extensive network of train and ferry connections across 33 countries.
“Taking a professional team to a training camp by train is innovative, adventurous, and demonstrates courage. At Eurail B.V., the company behind the Eurail and Interrail passes, we are delighted to support this initiative by BEAT. The train is a sustainable way to discover Europe and create unforgettable memories, such as the BEAT pros’ training camp,” said Dennis Rijntjes on behalf of Eurail.
“Within the BEAT organisation, we are already brainstorming about how the Interrail passes can also be used to travel to other beautiful training destinations for both pros and our club members,” added Twan van Schie, responsible for sustainability at BEAT. “It’s great to see the new possibilities and adventures that train travel offers – and in a sustainable way.”
BEAT going training by train:
EF Pro Cycling Races into the Future with Wahoo
Global sports tech leader celebrates its commitment to the team with “Embrace Every Moment” initiative.
EF Pro Cycling and Wahoo will continue to race into the future together.
Our team is proud to drive innovation and inspire fans alongside the global sports tech leader from Atlanta, GA. To celebrate our continued partnership, Wahoo has just released the latest episode of “Embrace Every Moment,” its video series spotlighting the grit, strategy, and drama of the women’s peloton, as they ride in the premier cycling event of the year: the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
EF Education-Oatly’s ongoing success is instrumental to Wahoo’s support for our team. Founded in 2024, our women’s squad enjoyed a banner debut season, with stage wins at the Giro and the Vuelta, as well as Kristen Faulkner’s two gold medals at the Paris Olympics. The squad started 2025 just as strong with Noemi Rüegg’s WorldTour GC and stage victory at the Tour Down Under and Lotta Henttala’s win at the Trofeo Marratxi-Felanitx.
“At Wahoo, we believe in creating opportunities for everyone to thrive,” says Wahoo CEO Gareth Joyce. “By aligning our sponsorship strategy with our values, we aim to elevate women’s cycling to new heights, inspiring athletes and fans alike. ‘Embrace Every Moment’ captures the spirit of competition and the joy of cycling—a mission we’re proud to lead.”
Together with Wahoo, we are committed to promoting equality and fostering growth in women’s professional cycling in order to level the playing field and empower female athletes on the global stage. Our women’s team is elevated by the infrastructure and expertise that we have established over decades of men’s WorldTour racing. They inspire our entire organisation to break out of old moulds of thought and continue to innovate.
“As we start the 2025 season, it’s an ideal time to celebrate how far women’s cycling has come with ‘Embrace Every Moment’—and the important work still ahead,” says EF Education-Oatly racer and double Olympic gold medalist Kristen Faulkner. “Some of my happiest moments are when I’m riding, and I want to share that joy with others. From the fans who show up at our races to the young girls who are just getting started on a bike, I hope my teammates and I can inspire more women and girls to embrace the sport of cycling. Together, we truly can achieve our dreams!”
With its full suite of cycling tech, Wahoo is the ideal partner for our athletes to pursue their racing ambitions. Our men’s, women’s, and development squads depend on Wahoo’s latest technology – ELEMNT cycling computers, TRACKR heart-rate monitors, KICKR trainers, SPEEDPLAY pedals, and Wahoo X software – every time they roll out on their bikes.
“We’re excited to renew our partnership with Wahoo, a brand that’s been instrumental in our team’s journey and success,” says EF Pro Cycling founder and CEO Jonathan Vaughters. “At our core, we’re innovators – always challenging limits and redefining what it takes to win – a philosophy we deeply share with Wahoo. Their ecosystem of cutting-edge cycling technology provides seamless integration between indoor and outdoor training, delivering the data we need to evolve and perform at the highest level. With the product innovation Wahoo has in store for 2025 and beyond, we’re confident this partnership will help us continue to raise the bar and achieve even greater results.”
EF Pro Cycling is racing into the future with Wahoo. With the global sports technology leader on our side, the future of bike racing is bright.
EF stay with wahoo:
Counting Down to the Trouée d’Arenberg…
The women’s 2025 Paris-Roubaix
Key points:
- The riders on the 122nd edition of Paris-Roubaix, which will take place on Sunday 13th April, will be taking starter’s orders in Compiègne to cover a 259.2-km route to the Velodrome in Roubaix. The changes made to the route include a sequence that will see an increase in intensity just before tackling the Trouée d’Arenberg cobbles. The immediate approach to this key section has also been modified.
- The 5th edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift will take place the day before, on Saturday 12th April, on a route strictly identical to the one in 2024, with a total distance over the cobbles of 29.2 km, spread over the 17 sectors corresponding with the finale of the men’s race.
- For cobble lovers, there will be five courses on the menu during the weekend, starting on Saturday, when thousands of amateur cyclists swing into action, as they get to grips with one of the three distances to choose from on the Paris-Roubaix Challenge. As a curtain raiser for the men’s race, the under-18s will set off for the velodrome from Lécelles, with 111 km to cover and 17 cobbled sections to tackle, while the under-23s will do battle over 163 kilometres (and 26 sections) between Le Cateau-Cambrésis and Roubaix.
Each cobble potentially holds a surprise in store, or even an opportunity. On Paris-Roubaix, vigilance is the watchword throughout the 259.2 kilometres between Compiègne and Roubaix, all the more so on the 30 cobbled sections on the programme. The first will loom into view after around one hundred kilometres, on exiting the village of Troisvilles (after 95.8 km). It often plays host to a lively struggle but the tension will mount as hands and legs start to ache, with the mind already focused on the prospect of the Trouée d’Arenberg. It is indeed in the build-up to this section of cobbles that Thierry Gouvenou has unearthed a gem, in the form of a small loop that adds two sections to the route around the municipality of Quérénaing: the section at Artres (#24, after 130.9 km, 1,300-m long) and the one at Famars (#23, after 133.8 km, 1,200-m long), which will also be on the route of the Denain Grand Prix and will host a stage finish on the Four Days of Dunkirk this year.
“They are not especially difficult portions,” explained the race director, “but by introducing them here, it provides us with a sequence of five sectors without virtually any tarmac”. After this series of jolts, there will be approximately thirty kilometres to the Trouée d’Arenberg (#19, after 163.9 km, 2,300-m long), where a chicane was installed last year in response to the riders’ concerns about the pack’s speed on entering this frightening forest track: “This year, we have found an alternative that allows us to slow down the riders in a more fluid manner, via a small detour that runs alongside the mining site in Arenberg. With this introduction, there will be four right angle corners in the kilometre before the Trouée d’Arenberg”. Following this section that will sort out the pretenders for victory from the also-rans, the riders will still have to deal with two sections of the highest difficulty: Mons-en-Pévèle (#11, after 210.6 km, 3,000-m long) and the Carrefour de l’Arbre (#4, after 242,1 km, 2,100-m long).
The route on the Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift has not been modified for the 5th edition, the start of which will again take place in Denain, for 148.5 kilometres of roads and cobbles until the finish in the velodrome. The first four editions witnessed very different scenarios, with a long-haul solo triumph by Lizzie Deignan (in 2021), an attack from halfway by Elisa Longo-Borghini (in 2022), a small breakaway from which Alison Jackson took victory (in 2023) and a modest group sprint won by World Champion Lotte Kopecky (in 2024). The race is therefore wide open for a battle in which the women riders will tackle the last 17 sections of the men’s race, totalling 29.2 km of cobbles, including the sections of Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l’Arbre.
The men’s 2025 Paris-Roubaix:
No Gent-Wevelgem ‘Wildcard’ for Unibet Tietema Rockets – Tudor and Q36.5 to Ride
Gent-Wevelgem has sent out seven ‘wildcards’ for the 2025 edition, but not one for the French registered Dutch team of Unibet Tietema Rockets. They did receive an invitation for the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Tudor and Q36.5 Pro Cycling were amongst the team to start the 2025 Gent-Wevelgem.
Three teams were already assured of an invitation for the spring Classic ‘In Flanders Fields’. Based on their 2024 results: Lotto, Israel-Premier Tech and Uno-X Mobility have an automatic ‘wildcard’. With the signing of Julian Alaphilippe by Tudor and Tom Pidcock going to Q36.5, those teams have been strengthened for the spring Classic. Team Flanders-Baloise and TotalEnergies will also be on the start line of Gent-Wevelgem 2025. They have received the other two ‘wildcards’ from organiser Flanders Classics. In addition to Unibet Tietema Rockets, the Wagner Bazin WB team is also not welcome in the WorldTour Classic on Sunday 30 March. All eighteen WorldTeams have to participate.
In the women race, eight smaller teams have received an invitation for Gent-Wevelgem. EF Education-Oatly, VolkerWessels and the Lotto Ladies, along with others, will be at the start of the spring race, together with all Women’s WorldTeams.
No Unibet in Gent-Wevelgem:
High stands, Arena and Pontoons Over the Water: Hulst Cyclocross World Championships Promise ‘A Lot of Spectacle’
The organisers of the next World cross championships in Hulst were presented at the 2025 cross Worlds in the north of France. They are preparing for an event like never before. “These World Championships will go down in history as an unparalleled celebration,” the wrote in a press release.
The course for the cyclocross World championships in Hulst (30 January-1 February 2026) promises to have a lot of spectacle. The technical circuit in the fortified town of Zeeland is inspired by the annual Vestingcross, but the organisers have come up with “a large number of spectacular additions”, they revealed.
In the 2026 World cross championships, the riders will race over the Fortifications, but will also cross the water several times via pontoons. The technically challenging course has a lot of climbing and spectacular descents. A new piece of terrain will also be added to the course, partly to be able to welcome the tens of thousands of supporters. The World championships course will include a new section on the west side of Hulst, according to Omroep Zeeland. The passages at the mill will remain. However, next year the cross racers will no longer ride under the mill, but along it. The dangerous steep descent from the fortress will be retained, but will be in a different place. The cyclo-cross riders will also have to climb the ramparts twice on foot.
The stands that will be built along the course are new. Supporters will also be standing on raised areas at other locations along the World championship circuit. An arena will also be built, where Dutch supporters can take a seat on one side and Belgians on the other, much like a football match, where home and away supporters sit opposite each other. The riders will ride through this arena and the organisers can offer the spectators a perfect view of the race. Various bridges will allow the public to move around.
The organisers will announce more plans later this year, which will make the cyclo-cross World championships ‘an event like never before’. There will be a Celebrity Cross between famous Flemish and Dutch people. “These World championships will go down in history as an unparalleled party for die-hard cyclo-cross fans, new supporters, families, business relations and, last but not least, the people of Hulst and Zeeland.” Ticket sales for the 2026 cyclo-cross World championships in Hulst started on Monday at www.hulst2026.com. A day ticket for the cyclo-cross races on Saturday (junior women, U23 men and elite women) costs 20 euros. Anyone who wants to be there on Sunday will have to pay 35 euros for a day ticket. Then it’s the turn of the junior men, U23 women and elite men. Special tickets are available for the stands, which cost €50 for Sunday and €60 for the weekend.
The fans will be out again for the cross Worlds in 2026:
18 Year-Old British Rider, Aiden Worden, Dies after Training Accident
British cycling is in mourning after the death of the talented Aiden Worden at the age of 18. The young cyclist was involved in a training accident on Saturday, in which he collided with a car in Darwen in his home county of Lancashire.
“Everyone at British Cycling is shocked by the tragic loss of Aiden Worden. He was a promising young rider and an incredibly valued friend and teammate. The entire cycling community will undoubtedly be deeply affected by this loss,” the British Cycling Federation wrote on social media. “Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.”
The European Cycling Union UEC also shares its condolences. “The British junior time trial champion tragically died in a collision with a car during a training session. Another young life lost too soon…”, the UEC mourns.
Worden came from BMX and switched to the road. Last year he became the British time trial champion in the 25 miles as a junior. The training accident happened on Saturday morning at around 10.30am UK time. “Emergency services attended the scene but unfortunately the cyclist died at the scene despite their efforts,” local police said.
Taken far too young – Aiden Worden RIP:
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