Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Thursday, February 26, 2026
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2025 Tour de France | 2025 Giro d'Italia
A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side. - Aristotle
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.
Current racing:
- February 25 - March 1: Giro di Sardegna
Upcoming racing:
- February 28: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- February 28: Faun Ardèche Classic
- March 1: Faun Drome Classic
- March 1: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
Latest completed racing:
- February 22: Tour des Alpes Maritimes
- February 16 - 22: UAE Tour
- February 18 - 22: Volta ao Algarve
- February 18 - 22: Vuelta a Andalucia - Ruta Ciclista del Sol
- February 21: Classic Var
- February 16: Clásica Jaén
- February 15: Clasica de Almeria
The team sent me this schedule:
Omloop Nieuwsblad - FEB 28
Roy Curvers - Team Picnic PostNL coach
"We’re looking forward to Omloop Nieuwsblad, the traditional opening of the Classics season and always a special moment on the calendar. We bring a mix of experienced riders and young guys who are hungry to make their debut in the Flemish one-day WorldTour races. For us, the key will be to race offensively, to be present in the moves, anticipate the action and really take the race on from the front."
Line-up:
Julius van den Berg (NLD)
Frank van den Broek (NLD)
John Degenkolb (DEU)
Sean Flynn (GBR)
Henri-François Haquin (FRA)
Timo de Jong (NLD)
Timo Roosen (NLD)
John Degenkolb (shown checking out the 2025 Tour of Flanders course) will ride the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Sirotti photo
Omloop Nieuwsblad - FEB 28
Callum Ferguson - Team Picnic PostNL coach
"Omloop Nieuwsblad marks the official opening weekend of the Classics season, and we’re looking to build on what has already been a strong start to the year. Josie showed really good form in Australia, and we’ll aim to protect her and guide her safely through the key points of the race so she can be in position heading into the final. It’s also great to have Mara back in the line-up after her long-term injury. That’s something we’re really excited about as a team."
Line-up:
Lucie Fityus (AUS)
Mia Griffin (IRL)
Daniela Hezinová (CZE)
Audrey De Keersmaeker (BEL)
Josie Nelson (GBR)
Mara Roldan (CAN)
Faun-Ardèche Classic - FEB 28
Christian Guiberteau - Team Picnic PostNL coach:
"Faun-Ardèche Classic is raced on the same course as last year and traditionally marks the opening of the French cycling season. With a strong start list, it’s often a fairly controlled race where the breakaway is brought back before the finale. We’ll need to stay attentive throughout the day and be ready to anticipate moves. We want to race aggressively and see if we can be part of the breakaway. The focus will be on solid teamwork, especially as for several riders this will be their first race of the season."
Line-up:
Matt Dinham (AUS)
Alexy Faure-Prost (FRA)
Chris Hamilton (AUS)
Bjorn Koerdt (GBR)
Oliver Peace (GBR)
Ulrik Tvedt (NOR)
Mees Vlot (NLD)
Kuurne - Brussel – Kuurne - MAR 01
Roy Curvers - Team Picnic PostNL coach:
"For Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, we line up with a slightly different selection compared to Omloop the day before. Pavel will join the team and he’ll be our main card to play if it comes down to a more traditional sprint finish. That said, before any sprint scenario unfolds, we first have to tackle a series of hills where attackers will definitely see their chances. We’ll go in with a clear and smart plan: part of the team will focus on keeping our fast finisher Pavel safe and well-positioned, while others will take responsibility for racing offensively and covering dangerous moves."
Line-up:
Pavel Bittner (CZE)
Frank van den Broek (NLD)
Dillon Corkery (IRL)
John Degenkolb (DEU)
Timo de Jong (NLD)
Niklas Märkl (DEU)
Tim Naberman (NLD)
Faun Drome Classic - MAR 01:
Christian Guiberteau - Team Picnic PostNL coach:
"Faun Drôme Classic is typically less controlled than the Ardèche Classic the day before, often with more wind playing a role. That makes the race harder to manage and more unpredictable. We want to respond to that by racing aggressively and being ready to take opportunities as they come. We’ll keep a close eye on the weather forecast, as it can have a big impact on how the race unfolds. With the group we’re bringing, several riders are capable of playing an important role depending on how the race develops."
Line-up:
Matt Dinham (AUS)
Alexy Faure-Prost (FRA)
Chris Hamilton (AUS)
Bjorn Koerdt (GBR)
Oliver Peace (GBR)
Ulrik Tvedt (NOR)
Mees Vlot (NLD)
Brussel-Opwijk - MAR 01:
Albert Timmer - Team Picnic PostNL coach:
"Brussel–Opwijk is once again part of the U23 Road Series in Belgium and the Netherlands and typically delivers an open and dynamic race. The course starts with several larger laps that include cobbled sections, technical turns and constant changes of direction, which put the peloton under pressure from early on. That makes positioning from the very beginning absolutely crucial. We line up in combination with riders from the DFV Cycling Team, alongside our own trio of Ko, Xander and Rick. The main focus will be on strong teamwork and clear communication throughout the race. In a competition where splits, crosswinds and breakaways can quickly shape the outcome, it’s important to stay united as a group and be present in the key moments. Our goal is to race attentively from the start and make sure we are part of the action, aiming to play a meaningful role deep into the race as a team."
Line-up:
Ko Molenaar (NLD)
Xander Scheldeman (BEL)
Rick Versloot (NLD)
Beobank Samyn Classic - MAR 02:
Callum Ferguson - Team Picnic PostNL coach:
"For this race, we have cards to play in every direction. With Rachele and Mia, we have strong sprint options, while Audrey and Josie give us the possibility to race more offensively if the situation calls for it. It’s a nice opportunity for us to approach the race in an open way, while still sticking to a clear plan and being ready to adapt to how the race unfolds."
Line-up:
Rachele Barbieri (ITA)
Robyn Clay (GBR)
Mia Griffin (IRL)
Daniela Hezinová (CZE)
Audrey De Keersmaeker (BEL)
Juliana Londoño (COL)
Josie Nelson (GBR)
Ename Samyn Classic - MAR 03
Pim Ligthart - Team Picnic PostNL coach
"With the changes to the parcours, Samyn has become even more demanding, featuring more cobbled sectors back to back. That will make positioning and teamwork even more important throughout the day. We’re lining up with a good mix of experienced and young riders. The goal is to enter the final with riders like Frits and Sean in a strong position. The rest of the team will focus on keeping them safe and well-placed heading into every cobbled sector, so they can be ready when the race really kicks off."
Line-up:
Frits Biesterbos (NLD)
Dillon Corkery (IRL)
Sean Flynn (GBR)
Henri-François Haquin (FRA)
Fabio Jakobsen (NLD)
Timo Roosen (NLD)
Final rider to be confirmed
Content continues below the ads
Here’s the news from Powless’ EF Education-EasyPost team
American out for eight to twelve weeks after successful operation
On Monday, Neilson Powless underwent a successful operation to remove inflamed tissue from his left knee. He will require eight to twelve weeks to recover from the surgery. The American is disappointed to miss the classics, but encouraged that he is now on the road to full health.
“At least now we can say that the problem is solved and I can move forward with a clear path of recovery,” Neilson said.
Neilson Powless racing in stage 8 of the 2025 Tour of Switzerland. Sirotti photo
“It is extremely disappointing to be missing out on the classics. I was excited to try some new races this year. I had a plan of races I wanted to target and do well in, so this is a big disappointment. This spring will be a recovery period for me. I'll be able to watch my teammates on TV and spend extra time with my family, and hopefully bring some extra motivation and energy for the second half of the season. This is not something that's going to take me out for a really long time, but it's something that we will need to be cautious with. It will be a couple of months before I can plan a race, but it's nice to have a clear plan of recovery.”
Knee inflammation hampered Neilson throughout the winter. After delaying the start of his season, he was able to put together a block of pain-free training and make a return to racing at the Tour de la Provence; however, pain returned on the third stage of that race, and Neilson was forced to stop. After consulting our medical team and knee specialists at the AZ Herentals Hospital in Belgium, Neilson opted for surgery.
“Over the course of the last two months, I had three scans of my knee and the first two showed really promising recovery,” Neilson said. “After the second one, I was able to return to training pain-free, which was promising. I was even feeling strong enough to go to a race and start my preparations for the season, but on the third day of the race, I felt pain again and had to stop. I had another scan done, and it showed that the inflammation had never fully gone away, even though I couldn't feel it. Surgery was going to give me the highest chance of success, so we opted for surgery. It’s my first surgery ever, but I was in good hands with the doctors here. Together, with the medical staff from the team, we were always making decisions together, and everyone's on the same page about recovery and where to go from here.”
EF Pro Cycling Head Doctor Jon Greenwell expects Neilson to make a full recovery and be ready to resume training in eight to twelve weeks.
“Surgery to remove the inflammatory tissue gave us a much better chance of a permanent fix,” Greenwell said. “The operation went well, and after the eight- to twelve-week recovery window, Neilson will be able to return to riding with no long-term impairment from the injury.”
Content continues below the ads
We posted the report from the race organizer with the results.
Here's the report from second-place Filippo Zana's Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Filippo Zana came incredibly close to his maiden victory in the Soudal Quick-Step jersey on stage 1 of the Giro di Sardegna, which travelled from Castelsardo from Bosa, over 189.8 kilometers.
The course was a hilly one and gave no moments of respite in the second part, and that’s precisely where the former Italian Champion made his move, launching an audacious attack with 65 kilometers to go on the long Villanova Monteleone climb. It took him only a couple of minutes to join the original breakaway, while behind the peloton was splintering, leaving groups scattered all over the road for the last hour of the race.
Nicolo Garibbo (left) just beats Filippo Zana for the stage win. Sirotti photo
Sensing there was an opportunity to join those at the front, Gianmarco Garofoli accelerated and caught the small group there, giving Soudal Quick-Step two options for the finale. In the end, Garofoli decided to work for his countryman, pulling hard in the closing kilometers, which helped the quartet finish almost one minute ahead of the chasers. Zana did a strong sprint and took second, behind Nicolo Garribo (Team UKYO), a result that makes him a solid contender for the general classification.
Content continues below the ads
Here’s the team’s post:
The Emirati squad names its line-ups for the Omloop Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, the Faun-Ardèche Classic and the Faun Drome Classic
The UAE Tour has been and gone, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG leaving its home race with two memorable stage wins and the overall victory through Isaac del Toro. As such, all eyes now turn to Europe, with opportunities aplenty for both climbers and the Classics men.
While the sprightly climbers will trade blows in France for a pair of one-day races, the peloton’s burly rouleurs will butt heads in Belgium at one of the must-see moments of the calendar, ‘Opening Weekend.’
Dubbed as such because its two races welcome in a period of one-day races across France and Belgium, the Opening Weekend comprises Omloop Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Buurne. The WorldTour Omloop event takes place on Saturday, 28 February, as history dictates, with Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne following up quickly on Sunday, 1 March.
With cobblestones to contend with, narrow country lanes, and plenty of scope for crosswinds, the one-day Classics are a sight to behold for all cycling fans. And for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the Opening Weekend offers an opportunity to add its name to the long list of storied winners at both races.
In turn, the Emirati squad names an experienced line-up of seven riders for Omloop Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, led by the in-form Belgian national champion, Tim Wellens.
Tim Wellens wins the 2026 Clasica Jaén.
The recent Clasica Jaén winner is a former podium finisher in both races and is looking forward with delight to turning the pedals in his home nation.
Wellens: “For us Belgians, it is where we say that the season really starts, so it is super important. Like every year, I am really looking forward to it. I am always good at the beginning of the season.
“The last race I had, I had a really good feeling, I was really happy to win Jaén, and to continue my 13-year streak of winning at least one race a season. This gives me a lot of motivation to keep aiming for more.
“We have a very strong team. Of course, we will miss Jhony [Narváez] very much after his crash at the Tour Down Under, but for the rest, we have Nils, Florian, and others, so I hope we can continue to do what we do every race. That is using the strength of the team.
“Opening Weekend is always stressful, with the battle for positioning being super important, and sometimes it is an open race. I remember when Dylan Van Baarle won, he went pretty far from the finish. Sometimes, it is a sprint. You just never know with the Flemish Classics, anything can happen!”
Wellens will be joined this coming weekend by fellow Belgians, Rune Herregodts and Florian Vermeersch, with the seven-man squad completed by Julius Johansen, Sebastián Molano, Rui Oliveira and Nils Politt.
Bringing their experience from the team car, Sports Directors Marco Marcato and Simone Pedrazzini will be on hand to lead. For UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the task is clear: to improve upon its best results of second place, through Politt and Wellens in 2024, across both Omloop Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, respectively.
This year’s edition of Omloop Nieuwsblad brings a tougher course than usual for the peloton, with the introduction of two new climbs in the Tenbosse and the Parikeberg. These two join a storied list of climbs which will be included on the route, including the Eikenburg, Holleweg, Wolvenberg, Haaghoek, Leberg and the Berendries.
That is not to mention, of course, the iconic double-act of the Kapelmuur and the Bosberg, which have come to define recent editions of Omloop Nieuwsblad, just as they used to define the Tour of Flanders. It is on these cobblestones and narrow climbs that giants of the sport have been heralded.
Standing at 5.8% for a little under a kilometre, the Bosberg will be the last climb crested, and leave just 11.8km to the finish in Ninove. That finish will likely see riders on their limits after eight cobbled sectors, four cobbled climbs and eight further ascents along the way.
As for Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, the Sunday instalment on Opening Weekend usually lends itself more to the sprinters, with a flat final 60km allowing plenty of time for the fast men to regain connection with the front.
There will be four cobbled sectors, four cobbled climbs and nine more ascents before a fast finish in Kuurne. Many have tried to upset the apple cart in the past, some successfully, but the odds are in favour of a bunch sprint to close out the weekend.
The hills await UAE Team Emirates-XRG in France
Meanwhile, well across the border in France, for those more at home when the road goes uphill, a pair of difficult tests will see whose form is at the necessary level, and whose is not. Those races are, of course, the Faun-Ardèche Classic and the Faun Drome Classic. A pair of relatively young one-day races, perhaps, but events that draw incredibly strong startlists year in, year out.
As with the Opening Weekend in Belgium, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will field the same seven-man squad for both the Faun-Ardèche Classic and the Faun Drome Classic. Racing on their national roads, Pavel Sivakov, Benoît Cosnefroy and Gen Z rider, Ugo Fabries, will all be present for the Emirati squad.
The French trio will be joined by Igor Arrieta, Jan Christen, António Morgado, and Pablo Torres, with Sports Directors Fabrizio Guidi and Marco Marzano directing things from the team car.
These two hilly races have brought UAE Team Emirates-XRG plenty of success in recent years, with two wins apiece in each. Brandon McNulty and Juan Ayuso won the Faun-Ardèche Classic in 2022 and 2024, respectively, whilst Marc Hirschi and Ayuso have taken out the Faun Drome Classic over the past two seasons.
For that reason, there will be much optimism within the Emirati camps, with each rider more than capable of ensuring the team rides on the front foot.
The harder of the two French tests will be the Faun-Ardèche Classic, packing in some 3,350m of climbing in the hills to the west of Guilherand-Granges. Totalling 187.6km, Saturday’s race is tough until the last, with the final climb (1.4km at 10.9%) topping out with less than 10km to go.
Meanwhile, the Faun Drome Classic is regularly at the behest of the riders who decide to take part. Should those on the start line fancy an attritional day in the saddle, racing can often be quick and intense, forcing a further reduction in the field. For this reason, although Sunday’s race is relatively less arduous, with 2,361m of elevation gain across 185.4km, it must not be underestimated.
Recent editions have often been won by solo winners, testifying to the race’s difficulty.
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary