Watching the peloton - Professional Road Racing thread 2026

The Atlas Mountain Race Podium Is Full!

1,432 km and 25,000 m elevation gain unsupported gravel race in Morocco:

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Winner: Victor Bosoni (France, 24): 4 d 01 h 46 min.

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2nd place: Ole Bjørn Smisethjell (Norway, 26): 4 d 03 h 29 min

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3rd place: Radosław (Radek) Gołębiewski (Poland, 47): 4d 05 h 57 min.

American Chris Mehlman has still 10 miles to go for the 4th place. So far around 180 racers of 250 are still in the race. Those who reached the finish line described the conditions as "extreme" because of a massive headwind (caused by a cyclone) and sandstorm. It was freezing cold at nights and scorching hot during the daytime.

We are very proud of Radek's feat! You see, nobody of you personally knows Tadej or another World Tour top racer but many of us know Radek a.k.a. 'Radzilla' :) Also, think of the age of him!
 
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Very impressive win for your friend, @Stefan Mikes !

And truer words were never spoken. Can't tell you how many things in my life would've ended better with more omelette.
;^}

Seriously, though, was he saying that he didn't nourish himself enough along the way? As pointed out quite clearly in the last GCN video I posted in this thread, that's now seen as a serious limiting factor in high-level cycling performance.
 
Radek is such a biological and mental phenomenon it is even difficult to describe it. He started his serious cycling some 10 years ago. He has no coach and he doesn't do any formal training. He just mounts a gravel or mountain bike and rides for a win. People who know him better say Radek is just happy to get a hot-dog at a service station then he moves on. He is a 6 time winner of Vistula 1200, and it is guaranteed he would win any 1000+ km endurance race in Poland. He also won several 500 km events but he is not very good at shorter distances (the speed is not his asset). When he learned of the last year's Lakeland Gravel (a 1100 km race) he said: "Something for me in north Poland at last!"

Even if he has a massive following in Poland, he is generally unknown abroad. He almost didn't make it to be admitted to MAR 2026! His weakness is the language barrier (he hardly speaks any English). When he filled in the MAR 2026 forms, he didn't complete them properly and got rejected! Only when several riders didn't pay the admission fee, Radek was helped by his last years MAR riding partner to do the forms and got the race admission. Now, after his feat, he would certainly be admitted to any race!

Speaking of GCN, its Conor Dunne DNF the same race and pulled off at 711 km for reasons yet unknown. Conor said he had 10 eggs, 2 loaves of bread and 5 pieces of fig cake during the race. Conor is a big man and needs a lot of fuel. While Maxime Prieure of GCN France is currently 20th with only 37 km to the finish line.

The winner Victor has a strategy of taking long rests followed by a very fast ride. Radek hardly ever rests, he just pedals. The last sentence of the MAR post above reads: "we think we understood that he's going for a recovery ride tomorrow". How true! Usually, Radek rides his bike home after almost any Polish endurance race, having only a night's worth sleep! :)
 
McNulty hammering the snot out of everyone with a teammate in the break, 9km to go in the Figueira. McNulty's teammate Morgado away clear with Cofidis Aranburu. Aranburu doing soft pulls. Morgado yelling at him.

The wheelsucker loses. Morgado wins. Great two-up sprint with the field right behind him.
 
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stompandgo said:
McNulty hammering the snot out of everyone with a teammate in the break, 9km to go in the Figueira. McNulty's teammate Morgado away clear with Cofidis Aranburu. Aranburu doing soft pulls. Morgado yelling at him.

The wheelsucker loses. Morgado wins. Great two-up sprint with the field right behind him.
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Jeez Portugal looking good for mid Feb. That seafront! Big seas but sunny. The Vuelta de something Murca in Spain had the last stage cancelled due to crazy strong winds, so Marc Soler wins by default.
 
It was a gorgeous setting for a bike race finish.

On another note, some ME team needs to sign Jordan Stolz. That kid could be the next Heiden.
 
Biniam Girmay takes his second 2nd win of 2026 at the crash marred Classico Valenciana (1.Pro). 5 crashes in the final 20km. I was nervous just watching it.

Next week starts the UAE Tour (2.UWT, 7 days) and the Vuelta Ruta Del Sol (2.Pro, 5 days). The new US team Modern Adventure will split their squad for both races.
 
Seems like the Unibet Rose Rockets team has been in on a fair amount of the action so far in 2026. All the more admirable given that I'd never heard of them before.

But I have to question their branding choices. What a weird name for a pro cycling team, and how do they expect to be taken seriously in those clown costumes?

Good to see sprinters Girmay and Rose Rocket Groenewegen doing well.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Seems like the Unibet Rose Rockets team has been in on a fair amount of the action so far in 2026. All the more admirable given that I'd never heard of them before.

But I have to question their branding choices. What a weird name for a pro cycling team, and how do they expect to be taken seriously in those clown costumes?

Good to see sprinters Girmay and Rose Rocket Groenewegen doing well.
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I quite like the colours! For the smaller teams they need to stand out in the peloton for sponsors and I think make a statement. EF shocked everyone with the bright pink few years back, but it really gave them an image.

Here's new Irish champion Rory Townsend's Unibet Rockets kit and his German Rose bike. Love it!

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Love the rocket motif!


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Rory is an amazing story- He's 30 now and 3 years ago his career was going nowhere after years of banging on the door, riding for mostly UK based teams on the lower circuits. In 2023 he was on yet another UK pro team (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) and not getting any invites to big continental races. He was one of many good not great riders, a strong one day racer with a decent sprint but his chances had faded away it seemed. Anyway he was very combatitive in the Tour of Britain in 23 and won a minor French race & as a last reprieve got a slot on the new Q36.5 team. And then last year he won a genuine major race the Hamburg Classic. He was in tears on the finish line. Now he's Irish champion for the 2nd time and has joined Unibet Rockets. Hope he has a good year.
 
Del Toro wins the uphill sprint from way out and sticks it. Milan crashes inside 3km, condition unknown. Riley Pickrell from Modern Adventure finished 7th, the highest placed ProTeam rider, as everyone in front of him was WorldTeam. Excellent coverage overall. They had live rider video, live rider power metrics, and a live compass showing the wind direction at the front of the field.
 
Rás Cnoic said:
I quite like the colours! For the smaller teams they need to stand out in the peloton for sponsors and I think make a statement. EF shocked everyone with the bright pink few years back, but it really gave them an image.
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Good point.

Rás Cnoic said:
Here's new Irish champion Rory Townsend's Unibet Rockets kit and his German Rose bike. Love it!

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Now that's classy! Exactly why he worked so hard to be Irish champ — so he wouldn't have to wear this:

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Well, it does stand out!
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
I don't care for the Ineos kit, either — and I generally love orange.
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I don't mind orange or white - and given the hot sun on summer races I often wonder how much a difference light colours make compared to dark outfits like the old black/red Ineos kit. But my issue is the weird dividing line between white and orange, proportionally it's not flattering!
 
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