Watching the peloton - Professional Road Racing thread 2026

Jeremy McCreary said:
Just finished AlUla Stage 5/5. Glad to see Pidcock get a GC win. *

The Tour's striking desert mountain scenery reminded me a bit of Death Valley in the US. Now I'm going to have to look up the geology.

As many have noted, getting to ogle beautiful scenery is one of the best things about watching pro cycling. And wanting to show off what they've got, race hosts tend to pick some pretty juicy settings. Win-win.

* Sorry, that was 2025.
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Yes I love the Saudi desert scenery in this race, the Empty Quarter. Very Lawrence of Arabia.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
As many have noted, getting to ogle beautiful scenery is one of the best things about watching pro cycling. And wanting to show off what they've got, race hosts tend to pick some pretty juicy settings. Win-win.
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Just finished watching the last of the Mallorca Challenges. Beautiful scenery there too, though I bet the peloton was tired of looking at Remco's backside by the end.

Early indications are that Red Bull is going to be tough this year. I think their challenge might be trying to spread the wealth to keep everyone happy and healthy. Evenepoel, Lipowitz, Roglic, Pellizzari -

Plus Hindley, Tratnik, Fisher-Black and more to support them.

I wonder if the golden cassette and chain makes Remco faster
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Rás Cnoic said:
That's the point of the Irish Tricolour flag; Green (Nationalists) Orange (Unionist) and White being peace between the two. Designed by Thomas Francis Meager, leader of Young Ireland, the revolutionary group in 1848 (Or apparently gifted to him by a group of French women from the 1848 Paris Commune, sympathetic to Ireland's plight.)

Incidentally Meagher had an extraordinary life. Captured by the British after the failed 1848 insurrection he was sentenced to be executed but all the failed rebellion leaders were instead transported and imprisoned in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in the hellish prison for Irish revolutionaries. He escaped and made it to New York where he later became a Union General in the US Civil War, first with the Irish emigrants in the New York Militia (The Fighting 69th) then forming The Irish Brigade which suffered huge loses at Anietam and Fredricksburg. After the war he was made Governor of Montana territory and then drowned, or was murdered by Montana political rivals while crossing a river, nobody knows for sure which it was.

What a life!

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What a life, indeed! Fit for the big screen — or least a TV miniseries. Have there been any films about or inspired by him?
 
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Really like the solo commentator on the official AlUla Tour extended highlights on YouTube. For example,


Way with words but always crystal clear, relaxed delivery, insightful, very educational. Hope to hear him call more races.

When you think about it, an interesting job requiring a very special skill set on top of a vast knowledge of contemporary cycling.
 
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BlackHand said:
Just finished watching the last of the Mallorca Challenges. Beautiful scenery there too, though I bet the peloton was tired of looking at Remco's backside by the end.

Early indications are that Red Bull is going to be tough this year. I think their challenge might be trying to spread the wealth to keep everyone happy and healthy. Evenepoel, Lipowitz, Roglic, Pellizzari -

Plus Hindley, Tratnik, Fisher-Black and more to support them.

I wonder if the golden cassette and chain makes Remco faster
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Bora/Redbull have not in the past been good at keeping all their highly strung jockeys happy, just look back at the Sam Bennett days. And as you say they now seem to have a number of chiefs maybe not enough Indians. Lipowitz especially has a right to be aggrieved, podium in Tour de France last year and instead of building a support team around him they spend a fortune on Remco. I think Remco is a little bit like Tesla stock right now or AI- his image defies the reality of his biology- he is just not the right physique to win at high altitudes. If he accepted this (and maybe he has) and the aim is the Vuelta again with Lip the TDF star then maybe this can work. Roglic is past it, but the wily old fox will surprise and he is mercurial so don't expect him to humbly play mountain domestique to Remco. If he sees a weakness, one bad Remco day, he'll capitalise in a flash. Still all fun for us throughout season especially if it's another Pog can't be beaten year, these infighting stories can be delicious.
 
It's going to be another Pog can't be beaten year, unless he has a serious injury. I agree about Remco. I've seen him dropped too many times on the Cat 1 and HC climbs. He can hang on one or maybe two of them, but no more. Maybe he will surprise us this year. Visma has a lot to prove. In a way, they've covered their margin call by deciding to send Jonas to the Giro and the Tour. Visma seems to be betting on Wout more than Jonas. I'll pull for both, but Jonas is my #1. I'll be keeping an eye on Lidl-Trek and Ayuso. I think it's put up or shut up time for him. I'll always pull for Simmons as well. I agree about Bora, I think they've got a better team than Visma throughout the season.

One of our local pros signed with a UCI ProSeries team this season. They will be doing ProSeries and World Tour races this year, so I'll be watching for them in the UAE Tour.
 
stompandgo said:
It's going to be another Pog can't be beaten year, unless he has a serious injury. I agree about Remco. I've seen him dropped too many times on the Cat 1 and HC climbs. He can hang on one or maybe two of them, but no more. Maybe he will surprise us this year. Visma has a lot to prove. In a way, they've covered their margin call by deciding to send Jonas to the Giro and the Tour. Visma seems to be betting on Wout more than Jonas. I'll pull for both, but Jonas is my #1. I'll be keeping an eye on Lidl-Trek and Ayuso. I think it's put up or shut up time for him. I'll always pull for Simmons as well. I agree about Bora, I think they've got a better team than Visma throughout the season.

One of our local pros signed with a UCI ProSeries team this season. They will be doing ProSeries and World Tour races this year, so I'll be watching for them in the UAE Tour.
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Yes to all this. Also going to be an interesting year seeing how the new boys, not so new boys and revamped teams do. They are all hungry; Tudor, Q36, NSN and Decathlon in particular. Astana since they became an Italian team in disguise have been suddenly dangerous, there's the new (and awkward) merger of Intermarche & Lotto, is that doomed already? Or will the Spring see them fly? Then is this the year that Movistar, maybe with Cian Uijdtebroeks, finally surprise us all? That would be funny. And the perennial underfunded, clinging on for French pride; Groupama, Cofidis, TotalEnergies... And will a young new star emerge from nowhere? Onley going to Ineos for a massive fee is intriguing. Loads of potential interesting stories as we watch Pog whistling as he wins.
 
Mathieu Van Der Poel has just won his 8th Cyclocross world championship making him the most successful cyclocross rider in history. Beating Roger De Vlaeminck's long standing record of 7 wins from the late 1960s/early 70s. Extraordinary talent.
 
Rás Cnoic said:
The five stage Volta Comunit Valencia starts on Wednesday. First chance to see Uijdebroeks for Movistar and Girmay in NSN kit. Not all teams announced yet.

Startlist for Volta Comunitat Valenciana 2026

Competing teams and riders for Volta Comunitat Valenciana 2026. Top competitors are João Almeida, Mads Pedersen and Remco Evenepoel.
www.procyclingstats.com www.procyclingstats.com
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Looks like a great line-up, and I love Valencia, so the scenery should be nice. Wonder if we'll be allowed to see the scars from the huge storm and flood on 10 Oct 2024.
 
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Yikes, full coverage of the Volta only on FloBikes in the US, $30/month!!

No way! YouTube highlights will have to do.
 
It's also a ProSeries race, so no more than 70% of the teams (riders) can be World Tour teams (riders).

This US coverage thing is a royal pain. Most ASO races are on Peacock. The RCS races, previously on HBO Max, are not yet committed by anyone. That means no UAE Tour (World Tour) coverage in the US as of today. Finally, Flo picks up a lot of the lesser known races. Add it all up, and it's over $500/year to see all of what is being broadcast. The only other option is an illegal VPN, which can be unreliable.
 
stompandgo said:
It's also a ProSeries race, so no more than 70% of the teams (riders) can be World Tour teams (riders).

This US coverage thing is a royal pain. Most ASO races are on Peacock. The RCS races, previously on HBO Max, are not yet committed by anyone. That means no UAE Tour (World Tour) coverage in the US as of today. Finally, Flo picks up a lot of the lesser known races. Add it all up, and it's over $500/year to see all of what is being broadcast. The only other option is an illegal VPN, which can be unreliable.
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It's a sign I think of cycling's international weakness and maybe the Continental priorities of UCI or whoever gets to sell cycling viewing rights. It's definitely not helping the enjoyment or spread of road racing in U.K. that's for sure. And no free to air TdF this summer for first time in 40 years. That's terrible. The ITV coverage was excellent and well liked. End of an era. I guess if you live in France, Spain Italy etc where it's a nationally popular sport there are well established ways to watch racing.
 
The UCI does not sell the broadcast rights. The race organizers (ASO, RCS, etc.) get to make those deals, and they use media agents to do the negotiations. ASO is in a multi-year contract with NBC/Peacock. RCS used Bleacher Report last year, but switched this year to Iris Sports Media. I believe that this is the reason that this situation has changed, it's all on them. The UAE Tour is in two weeks and they have no US coverage. Flo is covering it outside of the US.
 
Rás Cnoic said:
The five stage Volta Comunit Valencia starts on Wednesday. First chance to see Uijdebroeks for Movistar and Girmay in NSN kit. Not all teams announced yet.

Startlist for Volta Comunitat Valenciana 2026

Competing teams and riders for Volta Comunitat Valenciana 2026. Top competitors are João Almeida, Mads Pedersen and Remco Evenepoel.
www.procyclingstats.com www.procyclingstats.com
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So the race is on. Pretty good field in addition to to those already mentioned, a chance to see Remco (who has been very busy & impressive already this season for Bora) and Almeida.

Do any of you (Americans in particular) follow Chris Horner's YT channel? I find him interesting in small doses, but his rapid fire delivery can grate a bit. Anyway he has an interesting take on Remco and his move to Bora/Redbull. Saying that at Quick Step under Patrick Lefevere, Remco was not trained properly in race tactics. This is in response to Lefervere's recent rant in his weekly Belgian newspaper column. Lefervere is one of the last of the big voice team owners going all the way back to the legendary Jean De Gribaldy, sort of a 'they don't make them like this anymore' character. I love his rants and it's refreshing to hear someone nowadays giving both barrels at whoever he wants, even if as Horner says, he is wrong half the time!

Anyway, given that Remco in this pre season stage has won 3 from 3 at a canter it will be interesting to see if his new coaches, new philosophy at Bora will get him any gains on the road. Could be fascinating to watch this develop. I agree with Horner that Quickstep & the famous Wolfpack were never fully set up for Grand Tours, no matter how much Lefavere wanted to keep Remco. Here's the Chris Horner video:

 
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