Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth. - Leo Tolstoy
Les Woodland's book Cycling’s 50 Craziest Stories is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Current racing:
- June 7 - 14: Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- June 10: Circuit Franco-Belge
Upcoming racing:
- June 14: Copenhagen Sprint
- June 14: GP Gippingen/Canton Aargau
- June 17 - 21: Tour de Suisse
- June 17 - 21: Baloise Belgium Tour
Latest completed racing:
- June 7: Brussels Cycling Classic
- June 1 - 5: Ethias-Tour de Wallone
- May 8 - 31: Giro d'Italia
- May 28 - 31:
Tour of Norway - May 20 - 24: 4 Jours de Dunkerque
- May 23: Veenendaal - Veenendaal
- May 19: Classique Dunkerque
- May 17: Rund um Köln
- May 16: Tour du Finistère
- May 10: Tro-Bro Léon
- April 26 - May 3: Tour of Turkey
- April 28 - May 3: Tour de Romandie
- May 1: Eschborn-Frankfurt
Content continues below the ads
We posted the race organizer's report with the results.
Here's the report from stage winner Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Team Visma | Lease a Bike delivered an impressive performance to win the team time trial at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The WorldTour squad finished nine seconds faster than Netcompany INEOS. Thanks to the victory, team leader Matteo Jorgenson moves up to fourth place in the overall standings.
“This feels seven times better than winning on your own,” Jorgenson said afterward. “It’s great to be able to share this emotion with all of your teammates. Winning a team time trial feels incredible. It’s a unique discipline in cycling, so this victory means a lot. Personally, it’s also a huge boost. After the setbacks I experienced this past spring, it feels great to be standing on the top step of the podium again.”
The riders of Team Visma | Lease a Bike started their race against the clock as the third-to-last team. The 28.4-kilometer course featured two climbs, while the final kilometer also rose sharply uphill.
Team Visma | Lease a Bike going faster than any other team in the race. Sirotti photo
At both intermediate checkpoints, the yellow-and-black squad recorded the second-fastest time. After a flawless final section, Jorgenson secured a time of 32:52, which proved enough for the stage win. The 26-year-old American climbs to fourth place in the general classification. Jørgen Nordhagen also secured a spot in the top ten.
“I’m proud of how we approached the final kilometers,” Jorgenson said. “Bruno, Edoardo, and Per gave everything on the flat sections and the descents leading into the final climb. Then Jørgen delivered a perfect lead-out. Ben unfortunately had some bad luck, but we handled it well as a team. We have many staff members who focus on this discipline, so it’s rewarding that we were able to turn all that hard work into a victory today.”
“This win is very important,” Head of Performance Mathieu Heijboer added. “It was a rehearsal for the team time trial in the Tour de France, so it’s fantastic that we were able to take the victory here. These are special days for the team. The team time trial is a discipline that brings the team spirit to the forefront even more. Every rider and every staff member made an important contribution to this performance. We prepared for this months in advance, so this victory means a great deal to us. It’s a win for the entire team, and we’ll enjoy it together.”
Content continues below the ads
Here's the report from GC leader Alex Baudin's Team EF Education-EasyPost:
EF Education-EasyPost delivered a gutsy and determined ride on stage 3 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to retain Alex Baudin’s overall lead in the race.
The decisive team time trial, a dress rehearsal for the Grand Départ at this year’s Tour de France, saw teams compete over a 28.4km course in Perreux.
Teams started at regular intervals, with Alex and his EF Education-EasyPost teammates the last to leave the start house, with the Frenchman still wearing the yellow jersey after his stage 1 win.
EF Education-EasyPost defending Alex Baudin's GC lead. Sirotti photo
The team were third-quickest at the first two time checks, with Alex well protected by his teammates, who limited their losses superbly over the flatter sections of the course.
With times taken on the first rider over the line for each team, Alex was perfectly dropped off on the lower slopes of the final climb by Ben Healy and Georg Steinhauser, and he rounded out an excellent team performance by crossing the line in third place, 29 seconds off the stage-winning time, to retain the yellow jersey by 12 seconds going into stage 4.
“We really thought we could do it,” Alex said after the stage.
“We have a really good team for the TTT, and the guys did a really good job for me. They put me in a perfect position for the final kilometer. I just had to empty myself on the final climb. So it’s thanks to the team today,” he said.
“The goal is to keep the yellow jersey for as long as we can. Everything is a bonus; we won a stage, have the yellow jersey, and we don’t have any pressure. The pressure is on the others to catch us now. We’ll enjoy this and try our best,” he added.
Following one of the team’s best collective efforts against the clock in years, attention turns to stage 4, and Alex is looking forward to the challenge of keeping the jersey for as long as possible.
“It’s not going to be easy, but it’s definitely doable. We did it for today, so why not for two or three more days? We’re going to try our best," Alex said.
Content continues below the ads
Here's the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes stage three report from Team Netcompany INEOS:
Kevin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley moved up to second and third overall after a after a strong team time trial that saw Netcompany INEOS finish second on stage three of Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.
The Grenadiers finished second on the 28.4km course, nine seconds behind stage winners Visma Lease-a-Bike as Matteo Jorgensen crossed the line first to move up to fourth overall.
Netcompany INEOS was second in the stage. Sirotti photo
Vauquelin and Onley now both sit 12 seconds behind race leader Alex Baudin (EF Education Easypost) with Carlos Rodriguez 10th overall, 57 seconds behind.
Earlier, Netcompany INEOS had made as strong start to the TTT, quickly establishing the fastest provisional time at the first intermediate check before Sam Watson had a chain issue that forced him out of contention.
The team then set the fastest time at the next intermediate check, before an ill-timed dropped chain for Onley, who quickly corrected the issue, saw the team wait for him to ensure both GC riders were in contention ahead of the weekend's mountain tests.
Netcompany INEOS set the fastest provisional time at the finish, before Visma Lease-a-Bike were able to edge past them and take the stage win.
Geraint Thomas
“It was really positive from a performance point of view. The result is disappointing because it was taken away through mechanicals really.
“The ways the boys reacted to the different incidents on the road and the legs they had - that was really good.
“A super positive day and it’s good these go wrong now and you’ve got to be able to put things right quickly and react well together, think about these things and have confidence in each other and be honest each other.
“This group is a new group together which is going on this journey to try and win the Tour de France eventually and get the best performance they can.
“It’s never plain sailing is it? There’s always ups and downs and that brings the guys together as well. I’m happy as the boys were strong today.
“The call the DS’ made on the road was to wait for Oscar, luckily he got his chain on pretty quickly but it means the stage win and the leader’s jersey for Kevin went.
“If you look bigger picture, we’re second and third on GC and this race is going to be won in the mountains by more than a couple of seconds, but it’s tough as everyone wants to win.
“Kevin is still on the way up and I don’t think he’s in top shape yet, so we expect him to make a step after this race. Oscar has had really good training blocks but in the races he’s had one thing or another to deal with like illness or crash and he’s not really got to show that
“We have two GC cards now and still all to play for."
And here's the report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:
For the first time in eight years, the Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes held a team time trial, shorter than the one of 2018, but demanding nevertheless. On the menu, 28.4 kilometers over a hilly course starting and finishing in Perreux, a route that promised to open some significant gaps between the general classification contenders, who were more or less on the same time after the first two days of the race.
Soudal Quick-Step was in the first half of the startlist, and our squad - featuring British ITT Champion Ethan Hayter - put in a strong effort that helped us conclude with a time of 34:28 thanks to an average speed of 49.42km/h. Following this stage, Valentin Paret-Peintre remains the squad’s highest-ranked rider in the overall standings.
Traveling from Le Puy-en-Velay to Montrond-les-Bains, stage four comprises six climbs before a long flat section taking to the finish in the town located in the Loire department, and can go both ways: a breakaway has a chance of holding off the peloton, but things can also come back for a reduced bunch sprint.