Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. - Susan B. Anthony
Bill McGann’s book Why Your Bike Is Made in Asia: My career in bicycles as I watched two continents squander an industry is available in print, Kindle eBook & Audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
- Nov 7 & 8 European Cyclocross Championships
- Nov 15: Flandriencross
- Dec 6: Superpresitge Ruddervoorde
- Dec 19: Scheldecross
- Dec 23: Azencross-Loenhout
- Dec 25: Heusden Zolder Cross
- Dec 26: Gavere Cyclocross
- Dec 27: Namur Cross
- Dec 30: Diegem Cyclocross
- Jan 1: GP Sven Nys
- Jan 16 - 24: Tour Down Under
Latest completed racing:
- Nov 1: Trofee Oudenaarde - Koppenbergcross
- Oct 25: Superpresitge Overijse - Vlamse Druivencross
- Oct 13 - 18: Tour of Guangxi
- Oct 13 - 18: Tour of Holland
- Oct 18: Chrono des Nations
- Oct 18: Veneto Classic
- Oct 18: Japan Cup road Race
- Oct 14: Giro del Veneto
The rest of the year's completed races are here.
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
28-year-old Spanish rider Urko Berrade will join XDS Astana Team for the next two seasons, 2027 and 2028.
In the 2026 season, Berrade recorded a series of strong results. He finished second on a stage of the Vuelta a España, took third place in the road race of the Spanish National Championships and finished third at the one-day race Clàssica Terres de l’Ebre.
Other notable results included fourth place overall at the Giro di Sardegna, sixth in the general classification of the Baku-Khankendi Azerbaijan Cycling Tour and eighth at the Tour de l’Occitanie.
Urko Berrade wins stage 18 of the 2024 Vuelta a España. Sirotti photo
Among the Spanish rider’s most significant career achievements are a stage victory at the Vuelta a España in 2024 and a win at the one-day race Clàssica Camp de Morvedre in 2025.
“I am very happy to take a step forward and join the WorldTour with a team like XDS Astana Team. This is a huge opportunity for me, and I would like to thank the team management for giving me this chance. I will do my best to repay their trust with my results. Next year, my main goal will be to gain experience and learn from my teammates, coaches and sports directors, so that I can become stronger and more confident step by step. I am 100% ready to help the team wherever needed and do everything I can to achieve our important goals. Of course, I will also try to seize every opportunity to show what I can do”, – said Urko Berrade.
“We followed Urko’s season with great interest. He performed at a high level throughout the year and rode a very strong Vuelta a España, where he came just short of securing the second stage victory of his career. He is a strong climber who can help us fill one of the positions that have become available in the team. We still need to fully assess Berrade’s potential and see how he performs in different roles, but I believe he has everything needed to become a solid WorldTour-level professional”, – said Alexandr Vinokurov, General Manager of XDS Astana Team.
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Here’s the team’s announcement:
After announcing seven contract renewals last week, Team Polti VisitMalta completes the picture with the extensions for the 2027 season of its two Maltese riders: national champion Andrea Mifsud and former three-time national champion Aidan Buttigieg, who this year finished a superb second to complete a one-two with his teammate in both the road race and the time trial. Two riders who have brought Malta to compete in the most prestigious WorldTour races for the first time.
Aidan Buttigieg
27-year-old Mifsud was the first Maltese rider to race the Giro d’Italia and Il Lombardia, achieved a double top-10 at the Mediterranean Games and wore his national team jersey at the World Championships: “I’m beyond proud to be racing my second professional season with this team! I feel truly valued here and I thank the management and technical staff for the way they help me grow, not only as a high-level cyclist, but also and above all as the kind of person that Cycling demands”.
29-year-old Buttigieg joined Team Polti VisitMalta back at the end of 2024. This year he took part in Strade Bianche, and on every occasion he puts his commitment and generosity at the service of his teammates: “I’m satisfied with 2026, honoured by the renewal, excited for next season and happy to keep doing this wonderful job, which also involves Malta and its Tourism Authority. It’s a privilege to keep making my family and friends proud by representing this team and my country in international cycling”.
Team principal Ivan Basso: “By joining our squad, Andrea made a big step up after years in the Continental category and he responded brilliantly. We believe the experience and qualities he has gained this year will allow him to raise the bar even further during his time with us. Aidan was the first Maltese rider to join us and I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him improve markedly. He makes a contribution that is sometimes invisible, but extremely effective in our results”.
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Here’s the team’s update:
Big attacks. Bold racing. Unforgettable victories. They’re the moments that make us love this sport, and we want more of them.
For 2027, EF Pro Cycling is doubling down on its focus on developing young riders, strengthening our talent pathway, and putting our riders in contention at the races that matter most across our men’s and women’s squads.
We’ll continue to take risks, look for opportunities others might overlook, and race with the ambition that has always defined our team.
“I see us as a team of opportunity,” said Jonathan Vaughters, founder and CEO of EF Pro Cycling. “For young riders, we want to be the team that gives them their first real chance to excel at the WorldTour level. For others, we want to offer a second chance. Tao Geoghegan Hart is a great example of that.
2024 Vuelta a España stage 14: Tao Geoghegan Harts heads to the start. Sirotti photo
“But more than anything, I want every rider on this team to have an opportunity to shine. We're not going to build our entire racing strategy around protecting individual leaders. Of course, there will be times when riders have to work for one another, but we want to race openly and give everyone the freedom to take their chances. We're going to be opportunistic, to see possibilities that other teams might miss. We've always raced that way, but in 2027, we're going to take it even further. I think that's something really unique in the WorldTour.”
A first professional victory. A breakthrough ride in a classic. The moment a rider who was once learning the ropes starts racing against the best in the world and beating them. We want more of those stories to begin here.
That means identifying potential early, supporting riders as they grow, and giving them meaningful opportunities.
“We have a really exciting opportunity to build something special with the young talent coming through our program,” said Vaughters. “EF Education-Aevolo is a big part of that, but it's also about the riders and staff we already have at the WorldTour level. We’ve had the youngest team in the WorldTour for a few years now, and we intend to continue that.
“Every rider develops differently, and our responsibility is to give them the right environment, support, and opportunities to reach their potential. Of course, we want to win races now, but we also want to build a team that's going to be even stronger three, four, or five years down the road.”
That same philosophy is at the heart of our women’s team goals, where general manager Esra Tromp is building a young, ambitious squad around the idea of growing together.
“We're building a team where everyone can learn from each other and discover what they're capable of,” said Tromp. “We have young riders who are still finding their feet in the WorldTour, alongside riders who bring experience from different disciplines and backgrounds. Individually, they're talented, but together they can achieve so much more. That feeling really clicked for us this year, and now we want to build on it.”
To help our riders achieve those ambitions, we've surrounded them with an experienced group of leaders throughout our performance team.
Matt White will join EF Pro Cycling’s sports directing group for 2027, bringing nearly two decades of experience guiding riders through some of cycling’s biggest races. He joins an established group of sports directors, including Juanma Gárate, Carmen Small, Tom Southam, Daniel Foder, Andreas Klier, Michael Creed, Huub Duijn, Ken Vanmarcke, and Sebastian Langeveld, who have led squads to grand tour victories, monument wins, and world championship titles.
Dan McLay will also return to the team in 2027, this time stepping into a new role as sports director, where his experience as a sprinter will be particularly valuable in mentoring our young core of fast riders.
Also joining the team in 2027 will be Michiel Elijzen, who brings a wealth of experience in the WorldTour peloton and a strong track record of developing talent, guiding riders through the sport’s biggest races, and helping them reach their full potential.
“I genuinely believe we have the best group of people working behind the scenes of any team in the WorldTour,” said Vaughters. “From the people identifying the next generation of talent to our coaches, performance staff, and sports directors, we've assembled an incredible amount of knowledge and experience throughout the organization. Our goal is to connect all of those dots, from the moment we first identify a promising young rider to the moment they're competing for victories at the biggest races in the world. That's how we build a team that can win today and continue getting better in the years ahead.”
For Tromp, that means creating an environment where both riders and staff are encouraged to keep learning.
“When you're developing young riders, you have to give them the confidence to make mistakes and learn from them,” she said. “Our performance staff understands that. They're constantly learning themselves, looking beyond cycling to see what we can take from other sports, and sharing knowledge across our men's and women's programs. It's about challenging each other to be better while making sure we never take away that fire and ambition our young riders have.”
As we enter 2027, we have a talented group of riders, an experienced staff, and a clear ambition: develop our own stars, compete at the front of the races that matter most, and give our fans plenty of reasons to believe in what comes next.