Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, April 30, 2026
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Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems. - Rainer Maria Rilke
Les Woodland's book Tour de France: The Inside Story - Making the World's Greatest Bicycle Race is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- April 26 - May 3: Tour of Turkey
- April 28 - May 3: Tour de Romandie
Upcoming racing:
- May 1: Eschborn-Frankfurt
- May 8 - 31: Giro d'Italia
Latest completed racing:
- April 26: Giro dell'Appennino
- April 23 - 26: Vuelta Asturias
- April 26: Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- April 20 - 24: Tour of the Alps
- April 22: La Flèche Wallonne
- April 19: Amstel Gold Race
- April 15 - 19: Tour of Hainan
- April 14 - 18: O Gran Camiño
- April 17: De Brabantse Pijl
- April 19:
Tour du Doubsrace cancelled - April 12: Paris-Roubaix
- April 6 - 11: Itzulia Basque Country (Tour of the Basque Country)
- April 7 - 10: Région Pays de la Loire Tour
We posted the report from stage winner & new GC leader Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG with the results.
Here's the Tour de Romandie report from third-place Lenny Martinez's Team Bahrain Victorious:
Lenny Martinez delivered an impressive performance on the opening stage of the Tour de Romandie, sprinting to third place and taking the lead in both the KOM and Best Young Rider classifications.
Lenny Martinez leads the climbers' & young riders' categories. Sirotti photo
The 171.2km stage, featuring 2,186 metres of climbing, came to life on the Category 1 climb to Ovronnaz. The 8.9km ascent, averaging 9.6%, quickly separated the main GC contenders, with Martinez one of the few riders able to follow the wheel of the strongest rider, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
Martinez showed his strength near the summit, passing Pogačar at the crest of the climb to claim maximum KOM points. He reached the top alongside Pogačar, Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe), and Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma Lease a Bike), who rejoined on the descent before the four riders pushed on towards the finish.
Despite a chasing group of 12 riders behind, which included Antonio Tiberi, the front quartet held their advantage to the line, finishing 21 seconds clear. Martinez launched his sprint strongly and narrowly missed out on second place in a photo finish with Lipowitz, securing third on the stage. Behind, Tiberi finished seventh from the chasing group to round out a positive day for Bahrain Victorious.
Martinez’s performance marked an encouraging start to the race, underlining his form and climbing ability as he matched the strongest riders on the decisive climb and finished the day in both the KOM and Youth jerseys.
Lenny Martinez:
“Yeah, the feeling wasn’t amazing, but it was okay. In the final I felt completely empty, but it’s the first stage so it’s often like this. It’s still a good start. It was also nice to have Antonio behind in the group, he helped me a lot, and the whole team did a great job positioning me well for the climb. I’m happy to start Romandie like this. Of course, it would have been nice to stay just with Tadej, but Nordhagen came across and contributed as well, so overall it was a solid day.”
Roman Kreuziger:
“As expected, it was a controlled start with the initial laps, and we knew it would come down to the climb. The team did an excellent job positioning Lenny for that moment. We can be very satisfied with third place, especially as it was so close to second with Lipowitz. Of course, every team has its own tactics, and we hoped the front group might work to build a bigger gap, but we also had Antonio in the second group who did a great job to finish seventh. It’s always tough to come close to a stage win, but we know how strong Pogačar is, so we stay grounded and take confidence from how both riders handled the final. It’s a strong position to be in after the first day of Romandie.”
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And here's the Tour de Romandie report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Our best placed rider on the general classification of the Tour de Romandie following Tuesday’s prologue, Louis Vervaeke was keen on not spending in the peloton the first road stage of this edition, and instead decided to with the goal of animating things on the roads around Martigny.
The 32-year-old Belgian was one of the strongest riders in the seven-man breakaway that formed soon after the start, helping the move take their advantage to a maximum of 3:30. The group managed to stay up the road until the early slopes of Ovronnaz, the hardest climb of this edition, where Vervaeke - one of the last four riders still in the front group - was caught following a change of tempo in the bunch.
Louis Vervaeke winning 2025 Tour of Oman stage two.
A handful of riders went clear on the gradients that rarely dipped below 8%, while behind a chasing group began organising. Junior Lecerf was Soudal Quick-Step’s rider there, and the Belgian contributed to the pace-setting, keeping the chasers’ hopes of bridging across until the final kilometer. Eventually, they missed out on catching the quartet for just 15 seconds, but Junior still had enough left to sprint to eighth place for his third top ten in two participations here.
“It was a nice and lively start. I attacked together with other riders with the aim to form a strong breakaway, which we did, and worked well there. In fairness, we were hoping for a bigger advantage at the bottom of the last climb, but it ended up being a general classification day. But we showed how motivated we are to fight for good results, Junior also did a strong stage, and this makes us confident for the week”, Louis explained after the finish.
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Carapaz’s EF Education-EasyPost team posted this:
Richard Carapaz will skip the 2026 Giro d’Italia in order to prepare for the Tour de France.
Richie is back on the bike and fully recovered from the surgery to remove a perineal cyst that he underwent at home in Ecuador after the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. Richie’s wound from his operation took longer to heal than first anticipated, which delayed his return to training and prevented him from competing in this year’s Giro. The Olympic gold medalist and former Maglia Rosa winner is disappointed to miss the Italian grand tour and is now focused on arriving at the start of the Tour de France ready to compete with the best.
“For me, it's a complete disappointment, because the Giro is a race that I've always had a lot of affection for and looked forward to,” Richie said. “I always want to prepare for it in the best way. Every time I go to the Giro, it is a very special moment. Finding myself in this situation is frustrating because you put a lot of desire and time into it, but in the end I have to prioritize my health now and move forward. These are things you aren't prepared for. I will make the best of it and move forward. We are at the gates of the Tour. The start is less than 70 days away. I want to do super well, prepare for it, and try to get a good result.”
EF Pro Cycling head doctor Jon Greenwell is optimistic about Richie’s buildup to the Tour. Richie has come back from setbacks many times in his storied career and is confident that he will soon be back to his best.
Richard Carapaz finishes 2025 Giro d'Italia stage 17. Sirotti photo
“Because the wound from the surgery was quite big, the recovery was longer than we'd originally predicted, so we decided the timeline to get him ready for the Giro was going to be too short,” Greenwell said. “Rather than have him go there, not 100 percent, and potentially have any complications, we thought it would be more sensible to have a good buildup toward the Tour de France and make sure he gets there in the absolute best shape.”
Richie has EF Education-EasyPost’s full backing, as he returns to form. He is working closely with our performance staff to get ready for the Tour de France.
“The performance team is right there with me,” Richie said. “Even when I couldn't ride my bike, we were working in the gym and the doctors were in contact the whole time. I really appreciate that a lot. Going to the Giro like this wasn't going to be the best, so we reevaluated our goals. If we couldn't go to the Giro, we were going to do a great preparation for the Tour. That shows the character of this team in difficult moments. They have been a true support that has given me peace of mind to recover. Now, onward!”
Richie’s ambitions for the Tour are as high as ever. He has won a stage, worn the yellow jersey, finished on the general classification podium, and won the Super Combatif and King of the Mountains competitions at the Tour in the past. This year, he wants to race with the best in the Pyrenees and the Alps.
“We have to be clear and keep our feet on the ground; there will be great riders at the Tour. I'll try to go with my best form and the best of our team to take them on.”
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Here’s the team’s news:
The INEOS Grenadiers Cycling Team and Netcompany, one of Europe’s most ambitious technology companies, have today announced a new five-year co-title partnership.
The partnership represents one of the most significant technological and commercial partnerships in professional cycling and will see the team renamed to the Netcompany INEOS Cycling Team and race in new kit and colours from the start of the 2026 Giro d’Italia.
The new INEOS-Netcompany jersey.
At the heart of the partnership is PULSE, Netcompany’s European AI-driven digital platform which is already being used in real-time environments like Munich and Heathrow Airports. This will mark the first major deployment of PULSE into elite sport, and the partnership’s opportunity will focus on the co-development of a model designed with the potential to shape the future of performance optimisation.
Sir Dave Brailsford, Team Principal and Director of Sport for INEOS: “This is one of the most significant partnerships in cycling - a real vote of confidence not only in our team, but in the sport itself. It’s a major moment for us and marks the beginning of a new chapter.
“Our sport is a human endeavour, where decisions in training, racing and recovery make the difference every day. We have no shortage of data - the real challenge is turning it into simple, practical actions and delivering them consistently.
“With Netcompany, we can do that better. PULSE allows us to orchestrate our data into clear insights that support faster, better decisions when it matters most.
“This is more than a sponsorship it’s a partnership with purpose. It brings long-term stability, giving us the platform to invest in performance over time - building the foundations to win, and keep winning.
“Ultimately, it’s about creating the conditions to win the Tour de France.”
Amid Netcompany’s accelerated growth in the UK - Europe’s largest IT market - and the recent strategic framework agreements with HMRC, TSS, and Heathrow Airport, partnering with the UK’s premier cycling team is a natural extension of the company’s long-term sovereign European tech growth strategy and the team’s ambition to win an unprecedented eighth Tour de France.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS commented: “I’m really pleased to welcome Netcompany to the cycling team, establishing a new long-term partnership that will help create the right conditions to deliver more success. This collaboration brings additional resource, technology and capability across performance and operations to give the team the ability to compete consistently at the highest level of the sport.”
André Rogaczewski, CEO and Co-founder of Netcompany, said: “As a leading European AI technology company fighting for Europe’s digital sovereignty, joining forces with the most successful cycling team of the modern era and the UK’s only WorldTour team is a unique opportunity.
“This partnership supports our strategic ambition to accelerate growth across Europe by demonstrating the impact of cutting-edge technology and AI at the highest level of sport. Together, we aim to enable smarter decision-making, strengthen competitive advantage, and help the team in winning the Tour de France again.”
PULSE will be embedded across the team, the individual riders and the races enabling real-time collaborative decision-making by distilling multiple inputs into a unified data source to maximise performance impact. As part of the five-year strategic partnership, INEOS has secured PULSE licenses for the entire period.
Geraint Thomas, Director of Racing, added: “I’ve seen first-hand how much the sport has evolved. But what hasn’t changed is the importance of doing all the basics well and paying attention to the tiny details. That’s what ultimately leads to success on the road.
“Netcompany’s PULSE AI platform will help with that across every part of the team. It gives us confidence in the systems and in the quality of the data and information we’re working from in real time, so everyone is aligned and working off the same hymn sheet.
“From my side, it’s about creating an environment where riders can focus fully on racing, while the team around them is connected and making the best possible decisions. If we get that balance right, it will make a real difference when it counts.”