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Saturday, January 10, 2026
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2025 Tour de France | 2025 Giro d'Italia
We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. - George Orwell
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Upcoming racing:
- January 17 - 25: Tour Down Under
- January 25: Classica Comunitat Valenciana 1969-GP Valencia
- January 28 - February 1: Challenge Ciclista Mallorca
- February 1: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
Latest completed racing:
- January 1: GP Sven Nys
- December 30: Superprestige Diegem
- December 29: Trofee Loenhout-Azencross
- December 26: World Cup Gavere
- December 23: Superprestige Heusden-Zolder
- 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
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
Team Bahrain Victorious is pleased to announce a new multi-year partnership with ELILEE, with the innovative Chinese brand of high-performance cranksets and power meters joining the team from the 2026 season.
Founded in 2021 by Shu Li under Yun Shu Industrial Design, ELILEE is one of the fastest-growing companies in the cycling components sector. Specializing in advanced cranksets and power meters, the brand has quickly established a reputation for technical excellence, lightweight construction and reliability at the highest level of the sport.
The Elilee crankset. Photo: Luca Bettini/Sprint Cycling Agency
As Bahrain Victorious enters a new chapter with Bianchi, the team undertook a comprehensive review of its component set-up to ensure every detail supports elite performance. Following extensive testing across multiple crank and power meter solutions on the market, ELILEE emerged as the standout choice, combining precision data, low weight and proven durability under race conditions.
Filip Tisma, Head Mechanic of Bahrain Victorious, said:
“As we moved on to a new bike this season, we took the opportunity to reassess our full component set-up and tested several crank and power meter solutions available on the market. ELILEE excelled during our testing, delivering an impressive combination of lightweight performance and reliability, which is crucial. We are really happy to be working together and, importantly, to continue developing and improving performance through consistent feedback as we look to the future.”
ELILEE’s commitment to innovation, design and safety aligns closely with Bahrain Victorious’ performance-first ethos and its focus on marginal gains across every area of the team’s operation. Built for riders who demand precision and efficiency, ELILEE’s products reflect the same mindset that drives Bahrain Victorious in competition at the highest level of professional cycling.
Shu Li, Founder and CEO of ELILEE, commented:
“ELILEE is proud to join forces with the WorldTour team Bahrain Victorious in a partnership focused on continuous performance improvement. This collaboration reflects our ambition to perform in a world where every detail counts, alongside a team with whom we share the same vision and drive for the future. At ELILEE, we believe in the power of partnerships to push progress further, and together with Bahrain Victorious we are excited to build a better future for cycling enthusiasts worldwide.”
Through this multi-year partnership, ELILEE and Bahrain Victorious will work closely on product development, performance optimization and innovation, using real-world feedback from the highest level of professional cycling to continually evolve and improve.
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Here’s the team’s news:
With not long to go until the first pedal strokes are made at the opening races of the 2026 season, Team Picnic PostNL gathered in Calpe with all three of their programs – Development, Men and Women – to finalise their preparations for the upcoming year.
From the bone-shaking cobbles in the spring, to the world-attention-grabbing races of the summer, to the beautiful end of season races: an exciting year of racing lies ahead of Team Picnic PostNL. With goals and ambitions spread throughout the calendar, the team will proudly take part in races across the world, while sharing their central Keep Challenging philosophy and development focus, as one of the most productive talent-finding teams in the peloton.
Team Picnic PostNL riders before the start of the 2025 Tour of Switzerland. Sirotti photo
After a big rebrand and change to the team’s look and feel for the 2025 season as they became Team Picnic PostNL, thanks to two strong title partners in Picnic and PostNL, the 2026 campaign will see the team adorn a very similar design and colour scheme. Doing so, they keep that strong identity with their two Keep Challenging stripes which have featured on the kit since 2014, highlighting the team’s continuous development of each individual and their ever-improving innovative environment.
Clear and vibrant amongst the colourful peloton: fans, commentators and pundits alike won’t have to re-adjust for the 2026 campaign as they can expect to see the two orange stripes from those helicopter shots on even the foggiest of days.
Furthermore, we’re delighted to reveal two new exciting partnerships for 2026 as we welcome Raisin and Michelin onboard.
Continuing a GC, sprint and development focus for Men’s program
As in previous years, the team will approach racing with a focus on two different pillars throughout the season, GC and sprints, as they continue to hunt success and push each other to the next level.
Speaking about the Men’s program Team Picnic PostNL head coach Rudi Kemna expressed: “In 2026 we want to continue to be competitive in the biggest races on the calendar and in the events where the parcours suit our strengths. We have an exciting young group of climbing talent that can continue to grow, and has been reinforced with some experience, while we also want to further develop our sprint train that saw us take success at the Giro d’Italia and earn compliments from the peloton at the Tour de France.”
“The Giro d’Italia will follow a similar outlook as to last year, where we will aim to build on the 11th place we achieved on GC with Max, and we will return to the race with stage-winner Casper to go for the sprints once more.”
Kemna continued: “Our summer at the Tour de France will be one where we target stage success and look to further build on our strong sprint core which saw us achieve several top five results last year; with Pavel Bittner returning to the race and hungry to go a few steps higher. Likewise, we will also analyse the parcours well to look for opportunities on the hillier and mountainous stages.”
Rounding out the Men’s program Kemna said: “Ending the Grand Tour season at the Vuelta, we will see how Max has dealt with the load from the Giro d’Italia and decide whether we go for another GC bid or focus solely on-stage results. Nonetheless, it’s a good opportunity for some of our young talents to get the taste of three-week racing, or for others to further make the next steps, where we will also look for our chances each day to hunt for the best result possible.”
“Alongside the three-week races, we believe that the group we have can take wins throughout the season in a variety of different races, whether that be day-results in stage-races or showing ourselves in the one-day races too.”
Looking to the future with our Women’s program
Speaking about the Women’s program Kemna continued: “2025 was a somewhat transitional year for our Women’s program but we’re excited at the new opportunities that lay ahead of us in 2026.
“We have a re-structured sprint group where Rachele will get more chances as our fast finisher this season, alongside Mia, who brings a lot of speed and talent from her time on the track.”
“With some better luck than last year, then in the spring classics we also have a group that can be towards the fore in the events that suit us, with Pfeiffer bringing a lot of experience and ability, that belies her 25-years-of-age as she continues to develop as a rider.
“Looking to our GC group, we saw Eleonora take big steps last season to perform at a consistent level throughout the year with some impressive rides. For 2026, we want to continue that trajectory with her and make steps alongside Eleonora to compete for top ten overall in climbing-focused stage races. We also of course have Mara, who in her first year with us showed real talent and potential, before her crash at the Tour of Britain. Still on the road to recovery, we believe that with her spirit and determination she too can get back to that high level in the future.
"We have recruited Dilyxine to the squad as well, who is an exciting punchy climber, that we think has a lot of untapped potential so are excited to work with her on the next steps; while other new recruit Megan, who joins the elite level straight from the juniors, will be given the time and space to grow and develop at her own rate, without any pressure or expectations on results in her first years with us.”
A conveyer belt of talent; Team Picnic PostNL Development program’s success story
Starting with humble beginnings back in 2017, the Development program has continued to produce and develop world-class athletes every year since its inception – with a total of 23 riders making the step-up to the Men’s program directly. If you also include the two future promotions of Milan De Ceuster and Mees Vlot in 2027, then it takes it up to 25 riders that have made the step directly to World Tour with the team. Looking even further afield, in its time the team has also provided the base for riders to turn pro with other World Tour or Pro Tour teams, with a total of eight riders doing that just that thus far.
Team Picnic PostNL head coach Rudi Kemna proudly reflected: “Our Development program is one of the pillars of our success as a team over the years; helping our young talents grow and flourish. For us, it is about getting to know the riders as people and we like to give them the opportunity to make mistakes without any pressure. So far, we’ve now delivered 23 talents to our Men’s program, something we are exceptionally proud of, and we would like to build further on this after more successful seasons in the future. This year we’ve brought in some new faces, but we believe that we have a nice mix of not only riders, but also personalities, so we can continue their broader development on and off the bike as they make the step from teenage boys into young men”
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Here’s the post from their Team Liv AlUla Jayco:
Ruby Roseman-Gannon proved to be the strongest in an attacking Australian Criterium Championship, while Lucinda Stewart claimed the U23 title in Perth.
Former champion Roseman-Gannon came out on top in a relentless race, attacking with two laps to go and soloing to victory, while Stewart sprinted for her win from the chasing bunch. Teammate Josie Talbot rounded out the elite podium spots as she sprinted to third place.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon wins the Australian Criterium Championships. Photo: Chris Auld
With a strong presence in the race, Liv AlUla Jayco made their numbers count as they launched a string of stinging attacks in the early laps. Eventually Roseman-Gannon escaped in a strong group of three, before Talbot and one more rider made it a leading break of five WorldTour riders.
As the laps ticked by, the attacks came and went, with both Talbot and Roseman-Gannon launching and countering moves. Then with two laps to go, Roseman-Gannon made her decisive move, taking advantage of her fatigued rivals, she clipped off the front and opened up a gap.
A delayed chase behind was all the opportunity the former champion needed, and she held on to cross the line with her arms in the air. Meanwhile, Talbot took bronze and Stewart sprinted to the U23 title, to make it a dream day in Perth for Liv AlUla Jayco.
Ruby Roseman-Gannon:
“I think we had a little bit of an advantage today, with nine riders starting, but it was great to pull it off, there was a lot of pressure on the shoulders when you have such good riders and Georgia Baker back in the peloton, so I had a few nervous moments there. But I heard Gene, my DS, say find a way and I did.
I haven’t been feeling as confident as normal recently, I’ve had a bit of a rough patch, so to get my hands up in the air again, it’s the best way to start the year and I want to do this beautiful jersey proud, because it’s the most beautiful jersey I’ve ever worn.”
Lucinda Stewart:
“It was a hard race. We were aggressive from the start, just as we intended. We wanted to use our numbers to take advantage. We had Ruby and Josie up the road, in the breakaway. In the group behind, we focused on the bunch sprint to secure the U23 title. The girls did a great job for me, so I’m really happy that I was able to cross the line first. It feels great to win. It’s a good start to the new year and a confirmation that the form is there. Hopefully we can achieve another success in the road race on Sunday.”
2026 Australian Criterium Championships
1. Ruby Roseman-Gannon (Liv AlUla Jayco)
2. Alex Manly
3. Josie Talbot (Liv AlUla Jayco)
6. Lucinda Stewart (Liv AlUla Jayco Continental) – 1st U23
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