Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia
Men freely believe that which they desire. - Julius Caesar
Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the 2023 Tour de France, 2023: The Viking Again Conquers the Tour is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- December 14: World Cup Namur
- 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:
- 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
Here’s the team’s news:
Davide De Pretto, Felix Engelhardt and Kell O’Brien have each committed to Team Jayco AlUla after signing new two-year deals to stay with the squad.
The GreenEDGE Cycling management see the trio as key components of the team moving forward and are happy to see each rider continue through to the end of 2027.
Australian O’Brien joined the team in 2022 after a stint as stagiaire in 2021 and the 27-year-old has continued to grow in the spring Classics and as a trusty domestique in recent seasons.
German Engelhardt has proved his talents since joining the team in 2023, picking up victories in his first two seasons with the squad. The 25-year-old has developed into a rider for various terrains and the team are excited to see him progress further in the next two years.
Italian De Pretto will also remain with Team Jayco AlUla for the next two seasons, with the 23-year-old set to continue his development with the Australian squad. The punchy youngster showed his ability in his debut year and was given the chance to race his debut Grand Tour on home soil when he lined-up for the Giro d’Italia in 2025.
Felix Engelhardt wins the 2023 Per Sempre Alfredo race.
Kell O’Brien:
“I’m super happy to continue my time with GreenEDGE. The team has big ambitions for the future and so do I, so it’s an exciting time looking towards to the next two years.”
Felix Engelhardt:
“I am very happy to stay with the team for another two years. I really have learnt a lot and grown a lot over the last three years in the team, and I very much feel at home. This is the perfect environment for me to keep on improving.”
Davide De Pretto:
“I’m quite happy with my season. The highlight was my first Grand Tour and I’m sure the Giro d’Italia experience will help me grow even further. I finished my second year as a professional on a high and I have to thank the team for the trust they have given me and will give me in the future.
"I’m very proud to be part of the team, especially because I’ve found the ideal environment to improve. I hope to repay this trust by achieving the best possible results.”
Gene Bates (Team Jayco AlUla Sporting Manager):
“We are happy to have Kell, Davide and Felix all continue with the team for the next two years. We really want to see them all push on in their careers and reach the levels we believe they are capable of.
"Davide has shown a lot of promise in his first two seasons with the team, and we think there is a lot more to come from him. He had his first experience of a Grand Tour this year which should be a big boost for his development as a rider.
"Felix has continued to grow as a rider since he joined us, and we want to see him grow further with us. He’s a fast finisher that can also get over some tough climbs, which is something you need to have to compete in modern cycling.
"We see Kell as a strong Classics rider and a key member of our core classics group. He has shown flashes of what he is capable of in those tough cobbled Classics and the goal is to get the best out of him in these kinds of races. He is also capable of producing impressive time trials, like we saw in the Vuelta this year, as well as helping out in the sprints, so he is a versatile rider which is a big asset to have.”
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Here’s the team’s post:
Sunny Adelaide, which lies around 16000 kilometers from Wevelgem, where our team is based, welcomed the Wolfpack in January for the first race of the season – the Tour Down Under. It was the start of another long, hard, but incredibly rewarding journey that took the team from Australia to Europe, and then from North America to Asia, where we concluded the campaign after almost 300 race days and more than 80 different events, 35 of which came at World Tour level.
Along the way, we got to celebrate the 1000th victory in the history of the squad – a truly remarkable milestone we could have only dreamed about back in 2003, when we embarked on this adventure. Showing the unique Wolfpack spirit and DNA, even when things didn’t go our way, the Soudal Quick-Step boys racked up a staggering 54 victories in 2025, including four on the biggest stage in the world, the Tour de France.
Remco Evenepoel winning 2025 Il Lombardia (Tour of Lombardy). Sirotti photo
A total of nine riders – Remco Evenepoel, Ethan Hayter, Luke Lamperti, Junior Lecerf, Paul Magnier, Tim Merlier, Valentin-Paret-Peintre, Maximilian Schachmann, Louis Vervaeke – won for the team in 17 different countries, an achievement which wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible support of a dedicated staff and all the other Soudal Quick-Step riders, who every time they pinned on a number did it with just one thing in mind: giving their best for the Wolfpack so that the team remains where it belongs, among the best in the world.
It was another chapter of this story that we’ve been writing over the past 23 years, and which will continue next season, when we'll again aim to do what we know best: win races and create unforgettable moments.
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Here’s the team’s post as Uijtdebroeks moves on to Team Movistar
After two seasons at Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Cian Uijtdebroeks will leave the team at the beginning of the new year. That means it’s time to look back at Cian’s time with us, where he faced and overcame challenges, but also took his first professional win.
Cian Uijtdebroeks after stage three of the 2025 Tour de l'Ain
2024
Cian started his time as a Bee next to Jonas Vingegaard, helping the Dane to overall victories in O Gran Camiño and Tirreno–Adriatico, with Cian himself also placing in the overall top 10 on both occasions. After that, the young Belgian turned his attention to the Giro d’Italia. In Italy, Cian performed strongly in the opening mountain stages and the time trial, putting him fifth in the general classification halfway through the race. Sadly, his race would also end there as wearer of the white jersey, as he had to pull out due to illness. The rest of his season went by with ups and downs for Cian. He shifted focus towards La Vuelta, where he was part of the squad that set up Wout van Aert for three stage wins. Unfortunately, a Covid infection forced him to abandon the race.
2025
After working hard to solve a back injury during winter, Cian started 2025 full of motivation. He took fifth overall in his first stage race of the season, the Tour of Oman. The back problems returned just a month later, however, as he had to abandon Tirreno–Adriatico and later took a break of more than three months to reset. After this break, Cian came back in storming fashion. He finished ninth in Clásica San Sebastián, and a few days later he took his first ever professional victories in dominant style, winning both the queen stage and the overall classification at the Tour de l’Ain. The good results continued for the rest of the year, as Cian ended his time with Team Visma | Lease a Bike by taking tenth in his first monument, Il Lombardia, and sixth overall at the Tour of Guangxi.
Now, we wish him all the best for the future!
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Here’s the post from Widar’s Team Lotto
Jarno Widar has won the Kristallen Fiets for ‘Talent of the Year’ for the second year in a row. Widar (20) receives the trophy after an impressive season in which he became European champion, among other achievements.
Anyone who thought Jarno Widar had already enjoyed a breakthrough year last season will find even more to admire on his palmarès this year. Victories in Liège–Bastogne–Liège U23 and the Flèche Ardennaise. Stage wins in the Circuit des Ardennes, Ronde de l’Isard, Giro NextGen, Giro della Valle d'Aosta–Mont Blanc, and the Tour de l’Avenir. And the crowning glory: European U23 champion.
Jarno Widar
There was no stopping Widar, and so he may call himself- again for the second consecutive year- ‘Belofte van het Jaar' (Young Talent of the Year, ed.) during the Kristallen Fiets week. No gala this year; Widar received the trophy at home. “I realise this was an exceptional season,” he says. “I’ll always look back on it with great pride. It’s an honour to see it recognised with a trophy. As a rider, I’ve grown enormously over the past year. You can see that not only in my results, but also in the way I race, how I feel, and how much I enjoy myself now. I want to build on that feeling next year.”
Widar won no fewer than three stages in the Giro della Valle d’Aosta and claimed the overall victory. In the prestigious Tour de l’Avenir, he won two stages and finished second overall, behind only Paul Seixas. But the most beautiful victory, he says, was that European jersey. “Everything came together that day. All the hard work, my form, and the confidence of the team. Of course, I have new dreams- next season I’ll turn pro and will ride, among others, Strade Bianche, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and the Vuelta as my first Grand Tour. But I’m already very proud of what I’ve achieved so far.”
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