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Friday, December 19, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
There is nothing permanent except change. - Heraclitus
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Giro d'Italia, A Year-by-Year History of the Tour of Italy, Vol 1: 1909 - 1970 is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- December 23: Superprestige Heusden-Zolder
- December 26: World Cup Gavere
- December 29: Trofee Loenhout-Azencross
- December 30: Superprestige Diegem
- January 1: GP Sven Nys
Latest completed racing:
- December 14: World Cup Namur
- November 16: Trofee Hamme-Flandriencross
- November 1: Trofee Oudenaarde-Koppenbergcross
- October 26: Superprestige Overijse-Vlaamse Druivencross
- October 14 - 19: Tour of Guangxi
- October 14 - 19: Tour of Holland
- October 19: Veneto Classic
- October 19: Japan Cup
- October 19: Chrono des Nations
- October 15: Giro del Veneto
- October 12: Paris-Tours
We've posted lots of info here.
2026 Vuelta a España map: 21 stages covering a total of 3,275 kilometers
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Here’s the post from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
A mountain-heavy course with more than 58 000 meters of climbing will be on the menu of the Spanish three-week race.
The full route of next year’s Vuelta a España (22 August-13 September) was unveiled Wednesday evening in Monaco, from where the season’s third and final Grand Tour will get underway. A 9.6km individual time trial followed just two days later by the first summit finish of the race, on Fort Romeu, should make for some early gaps between the general classification contenders. Andorra is also set to return on the course, this time with a short but intense stage, while Aramon Valdelinares and Alto de Aitana will further test the red jersey favourites before the first rest day.
Calar Alto and La Pandera promise to be the highlights of a second week which will see the peloton visit one of Spain’s most beautiful cities, Cordoba, once home to the biggest library in the world and a hub for science, art, architecture and philosophy. Andalusia is set to play a major role at the 81st edition, which schedules a second ITT, this time 32.5 kilometers in length, on the roads to Jerez de la Frontera.
Peñas Blancas and Collado del Alguacil – where the queen stage will culminate after more than 5000 meters of climbing – will be the last two mountain tests of the race before the spectacular finale in Granada. There, a sharp climb not far from the famous Alhambra will be tackled by the bunch four times, thus keeping the GC men alert right until the end.
Mikel Landa racing in 2024 Vuelta a España stage 15. Sirotti photo
Soudal Quick-Step’s Mikel Landa, who has eight participations in the Vuelta, shared his thoughts on the parcours: “There aren’t any surprises. It’s a very hard edition, with the first big mountains coming early and a lot of uphill finishes. Having so many stages in the south means that the heat could also be an important factor. It’s a demanding course that gives plenty of opportunities to the climbers and keeps the GC fight open until the last day, and the fans will love that.”
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Here’s the post from Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Team Visma | Lease a Bike were present in the shape of Steven Kruijswijk at the presentation of the 2026 Vuelta a España route in Monaco today, where a historically hard and potentially burning hot parcours was revealed.
“It looks like a hard but well balanced parcours. It’s a normal Vuelta in the sense that there are a lot hard mountains, but we already know many of them. To win it, you also need to be strong against the clock, as there are more than 40 kilometers of time trialing. I think the most unusual thing is that there are two stages with more than 5,000 meters of climbing spread out over the entire stage, which is not very common in the Vuelta,” Grischa Niermann, Head of Racing, said after the presentation.
“Other than that, I see a lot of opportunities for fast riders who can also survive some climbs. There are not many completely flat stages. The heat will likely play a role next year too, with the entire race taking place in the South. We will now sit down and make a good plan.”
The fight to succeed Jonas Vingegaard as the winner of the red jersey will kick off with a 9 kilometer flat time trial in Monaco, shortly followed by the first summit finish of the race on stage three. Already the day after, three category 1 climbs in the thin air of Andorra will make for an action packed 104 kilometer long stage 4, before the peloton finally enters Spain on stage 5. The rest of the first week consists of hilly stages, that could be too hard for sprinters but not quite hard enough for the true climbers, before a big final on Alto de Aitana awaits on stage 9.
The “Gran Salida” in Monaco marks only the seventh time in history that the Vuelta has started outside of Spain, making it quite a special happening. It certainly will be for Steven Kruijswijk, who lives right next to the time trial course on the very first stage.
Steven Kruijswijk in pink in stage 19 of the 2016 Giro d'Italia. Sirotti photo
“It’s rare to have a Grand Tour starting on your doorstep, so it will be very special for me to race on all these roads I’m familiar with. It’s really a big thing to experience. Overall, the Vuelta is a race I like, it always suited me as a climber, and it’s a bit less stressful than especially the Tour. I hope to be on the start line in August,” Kruijswijk says.
The second week moves into the heart of Andalusia in the South of Spain, where the temperatures can be high during August and September. A few chances for the fastest men in the bunch look to be on the menu, but in typical Vuelta fashion, no one escapes the brutal mountain finishes for too long, as Calar Alto and the steep Sierra de la Pandera also feature during week two.
The third and final week of the year’s last Grand Tour starts out uncharacteristically flat with two sprint stages and a 32 kilometer time trial along the coast on stage 16, 17 and 18. Peñas Blancas marks the return to the mountain top finishes on stage 19, before what could well be the hardest stage profile of the entire year makes up stage 20. 5.000 meters of climbing might have become normal for a Grand Tour queen stage, but when the majority of those altitude meters are centered on the double ascent of Alto de Hazallanas and Collado del Alguacil (8,3 kilometers with an average gradient of 9,8%), only a rider with very special climbing abilities will be triumphant in Spain. The Vuelta a España 2026 is rounded off by a final stage in the city of Granada with a handful of tough laps to the historical site of Alhambra.
Overall, Kruijswijk agrees with Niermann that it will be another very hard edition of La Vuelta.
“The course looks very challenging. There’s a lot of climbing already in the first week, but then it just continues like that. I’ve done a few Vueltas in my career, and I know how tough it can be when we get to the South in those months,” the former number four in the Vuelta
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
Lidl-Trek is pleased to announce that Andy Schleck has been appointed as Deputy General Manager. In his new role, Schleck will work across both the sporting and business sides of the organisation, supporting riders, staff, and management as the Team continues to build its long-term ambitions.
One of the most accomplished Grand Tour riders of his generation, Schleck claimed overall victory at the 2010 Tour de France and finished on the podium on two further occasions, alongside a runner-up finish at the Giro d’Italia. His palmarès also includes three Tour de France stage wins, three national titles, and a Monument victory at Liège–Bastogne–Liège.
Andy Schleck at stage three of the 2025 Tour de France. Sirotti photo
Following his retirement from professional racing in 2014, Schleck transitioned into the business side of the sport, opening his own bike shops while also remaining deeply connected to cycling. He managed a junior women’s team and served as President of the Tour of Luxembourg, gaining valuable experience in athlete development, event organisation, and team leadership.
Andy and his brother Frank formed one of cycling’s most iconic partnerships during their racing careers, and they are now reunited at Lidl-Trek, the Team where both concluded their time in the peloton. While Frank Schleck supports the women’s programme as part of the sport directors group, Andy’s role as Deputy Manager will focus on guiding Lidl-Trek’s Grand Tour ambitions, mentoring GC riders, and contributing to the Team’s broader strategic development.
“Before accepting the job, I also had to deal with it myself, to see if I can do this and if I wanted to take on this challenge,” said Schleck. “I’m not here by any accident, I’m here because I still know the DNA of the sport. I know what it means to wear the yellow jersey, to have the pressure in the meeting on the bus, the long hours in the heat. With my sporting background, combined with what I did over the last 10 years, learning as a race organiser, running a women’s team of my own, and also having the retail experience of my bike shops, I’ve seen every corner of this sport, and realising that qualifies me to take a step back into the sport and to help the Team perform. It’s a big challenge, but it’s something I really want to do to help realise the Team’s big goals.
“I’m a big believer in teamwork and leadership. Whatever I did over the last years, I was always doing well at building up teams. To win the next seasons, it’s the core of the Team that’s very valuable and I want to protect that. We’re here to set standards for the future and I believe I can help in achieving that.
“The Team has a big history, I was riding here myself when Luca was my Sport Director before he went on to become the General Manager. With the heritage of the Team, and with the resources and riders we are adding, it will only take us in one direction. We cannot guarantee victories or results, but we can guarantee professionalism every day and I think if we keep on doing the right thing, results will follow.”
“Andy knows this Team inside out, and he understands exactly what it takes to succeed at the highest level,” said Luca Guercilena, Lidl-Trek General Manager. “He has lived the pressure of Grand Tours, worn the yellow jersey, and led teams through the biggest moments in the sport. That experience is invaluable for our riders and our staff. Beyond his sporting achievements, Andy brings a broad perspective from the business side of cycling and from developing teams and events. He shares our values, our ambition, and our belief in building success the right way. I’m very proud to welcome him back in this role and excited about what we can achieve together.”
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