Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, August, 12, 2026
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Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. - Dwight D. Eisenhower
Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 2: 1976 - 2018 is available in print, Kindle eBook & Audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- August 13 - 18: Arctic Race of Norway
- August 16: Cyclassics Hamburg
Latest completed racing:
- August 3 - 9: Tour of Poland
- August 4 - 8: Vuelta a Burgos
- July 29 - August 2: Tour of Denmark
- August 2: Circuito de Getxo
- August 1: Clasica San Sebastian
- July 28 - 30: Tour de l'Ain
- July 4 - 26: Tour de France
- July 26: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
- July 8 - 12: Tour of Austria
- June 24 - 28: National Championshps
- June 17 - 21: Tour de Suisse
- June 17 - 21: Baloise Belgium Tour
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The team sent me this schedule:
Arctic Race of Norway - AUG 13 - 16
Melvin Rulliere - Team Picnic PostNL coach:
"At the Arctic Race of Norway we’re taking on four exciting stages, with two possible sprint chances and two climbing finales. We bring a squad that can compete in a variety of scenarios, and we welcome our new stagiaire Bert who makes his race debut with us. In the sprints we have Casper as our finisher, while for the climbing days we have Bjorn and Robbe who are both riding well at the moment and the punchy finals should suit them. We will look to race aggressively but also smartly too over the four days."
Line-up:
Dillon Corkery (IRL)
Robbe Dhondt (BEL)
Alexy Faure-Prost (FRA)
Bjorn Koerdt (GBR)
Casper van Uden (NLD)
Bert Bolle (BEL)
Casper van Uden wins 2026 Tour of Turkey stage five.
ADAC Cyclassics - AUG 16
Matt Winston - Team Picnic PostNL coach
"One-day racing returns for us this weekend in Hamburg. The race often ends in a reduced sprint, but last year we saw the break hold on and in previous editions the climbs in the final circuit with the steep and punchy Waseberg can allow groups to go clear to fight for the win. If the race comes down to a sprint then we have Pavel as our fast finisher, but we also need to be switched on as a team throughout the race to make sure we are represented in any dangerous moves, so we aren’t behind the facts."
Line-up:
Julius van den Berg (NLD)
Pavel Bittner (CZE)
John Degenkolb (DEU)
Nils Eekhoff (NLD)
Sean Flynn (GBR)
Niklas Märkl (DEU)
Tim Naberman (NLD)
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Here's the team's announcement:
Experienced Italian rider Diego Ulissi, who has just completed the Tour de Pologne, where he played a key supporting role for Christian Scaroni and Alberto Bettiol, will continue racing for XDS Astana Team in the 2027 season.
Diego Ulissi signs in at the 2025 Milano-Torino. Sirotti photo
Ulissi is currently in his second season with XDS Astana Team. Thanks to his experience and exceptional race awareness, he has become one of the team's key road captains, directing the team's tactics from within the race. Alongside his work for his teammates, Diego Ulissi continues to deliver strong individual results. In 2025, he won the Giro dell'Appennino and collected four additional podium finishes. This season, he has already claimed three podiums and ten Top-10 places.
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“I’m very happy to continue with XDS Astana Team because after these past eighteen months I can confidently say that I have found an incredible group of riders and staff who work exceptionally well together. In every race I always try to give my maximum, and I will continue to do so next season, bringing my experience to help the team achieve even greater results. I would like to thank Alexandr Vinokurov, the team management and our sponsors for their trust and for giving me this new opportunity. This season is not over yet, and we still have several important goals ahead of us. Then a new season will begin, and together with the team we will aim even higher”, – said Diego Ulissi.
“Diego is an incredibly experienced and strong rider who has a huge influence on how the team performs, both during races and outside of them. He is a true leader whom the younger riders naturally look up to. I’m delighted that he still has the motivation to compete at the highest level, because everything else is still there – his experience, race vision and ability to make the right decisions quickly, helping his teammates achieve victories. Diego is having a very strong season, and I hope he will continue at the same level next year”, – said Alexandr Vinokurov, General Manager of XDS Astana Team