Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
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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:
- Oct 3 - 7: Elite European Road Championships
Upcoming racing:
- Oct 8: Gran Piemonte
- Oct 10: Il Lombardia
- Oct 11: Paris-Tours
- Oct 18: Chrono des Nations
Latest completed racing:
- Oct 6: Tre Valli Varesine
- Oct 6: Binche-Chimay-Binche
- Oct 5: Coppa Bernocchi
- Sept 27 - Oct 4: Le Tour de Langkawi
- Oct 4: Coppa Agostoni
- Oct 3: Giro dell'Emilia
- Oct 3: Sparkassen Münsterland Giro
- September 20 - 27: World Road Championships
- September 16 - 20: Tour de Luxembourg
- September 19: Flandrian 0.0 Classic
- September 18: Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
- September 15 - 18: Giro d'Abruzzo
- September 16: GP de Wallonie
- August 22 - Sept 13: Vuelta a España
- September 13: GP de Montréal
- September 13: GP de Fourmies
- September 13: Trofeo Matteotti
- September 12: Memorial Marco Pantani
- September 11: GP de Québec
- September 10: Coppa Sabatini
We posted the report from race winner Jarno Widar's Team Lotto-Intermarché with the results.
Here's the report from third-place Matteo Jorgenson's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:
Matteo Jorgenson finished third in Tre Valli Varesine. After another strong performance from Team Visma | Lease a Bike in an Italian classic, the American joined the decisive attack in the final. In the sprint, Jorgenson was ultimately beaten by Jarno Widar.
Jarno Wider wins the 2026 Tre Valli Varesine. Sirotti photo
In the 105th edition of the Italian one-day race, the peloton faced a challenging course of over 196 kilometers. After the traditional start in Busto Arsizio, the breakaway riders quickly made their move. The five escapees built a lead of more than six minutes on the local circuit, which featured the climbs of Montello and Salita dei Ronchi. When the peloton, with Team Visma | Lease a Bike well positioned at the front, increased the pace, the leaders were quickly reeled in.
About 45 kilometers from the finish in Varese, several new attacks from the peloton kicked off the final stretch. The yellow-and-black team immediately played its part, with Davide Piganzoli joining Quinn Simmons in an attack. When the Italian was caught, Jorgenson, Widar and Tom Pidcock launched the next acceleration shortly afterwards. That proved to be the decisive move of the race. The trio stayed clear of the peloton and sprinted for the victory. Widar claimed his first professional victory, while Jorgenson finished third.
“I’m extremely happy with my third place”, Jorgenson says after the finish. According to the American, that was the best he could do. “I knew I was in a difficult situation. I don’t sprint for victories very often, so it was a little unfamiliar, of course. Unfortunately, attacking earlier wasn’t an option for me because I was already suffering from some cramps. Jarno then rode a very strong sprint. It was another good day for our team, just like at the Giro dell’Emilia. We’re really looking forward to the Il Lombardia next weekend.”
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We posted the report from race winner Paul Magnier's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.
Here's the report from Thibaud Gruel's Team Groupama-FDJ United:
For the final Belgian race of the season, the Groupama-FDJ United cycling team produced a strong performance this Tuesday. Once again highly active, the French squad was involved in the various breakaways, with Axel Huens and Thibaud Gruel playing a prominent role over the final 70 kilometers of Binche-Chimay-Binche. The pair were still away with just five kilometers to go, before the peloton caught them at the very end Thibaud Gruel nevertheless had enough left in the tank to round off the day with a top-10 finish, taking seventh place.
Paul Magnier wins the 2026 Binche-Chimay-Binche.
The course laid out around Binche on Tuesday was nothing unfamiliar to the riders. The traditional, demanding circuit around the Belgian town was once again on the menu for this 39th edition, featuring the short but intense cobbled climb to the finish, followed by a long false flat of almost three kilometers designed to create some fatigue and encourage attacks. Despite all this, the sprinters remained the favorites on paper. “We didn’t have the fastest riders on the start line, so our idea was to anticipate the sprint and make sure we were well represented during the final hour and a half of racing, in order to make the race harder while keeping Clément in the back,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “That’s exactly what we did.”
With the morning breakaway already within striking distance with four laps to go, the real battle began, and Axel Huens was the first to truly get involved, joining a strong group of riders. That chasing group initially caught the breakaway, but was itself brought back by the peloton one lap later. Thibaud Gruel then tried to launch another move, but it was a subsequent attack that managed to get clear for a few minutes. “We were caught out once, but things quickly got back under control,” Frédéric pointed out. “We knew it would be difficult for us to close gaps, so the idea was always to have a rider up the road. Axel and Thibaud managed to do that, also thanks to the help of their teammates. Whenever there was a serious move, we were there.”
With 30 kilometers remaining, the peloton eventually came back together. Although it was repeatedly disrupted by a succession of attacks, the bunch remained intact until the start of the final of the five laps around Binche, 16 kilometers from the finish. Shortly after crossing the finish line for the penultimate time, however, the attacks resumed with even greater intensity. Thibaud Gruel was quick to react when several strong riders broke clear on the false flat. A few kilometers later, Axel Huens joined his teammate thanks to a counter-attack, and the two riders became part of a very strong ten-man breakaway in the closing stages of the race. “It was almost perfect,” said Frédéric Guesdon. “Unfortunately, they weren’t able to build much of a gap over the peloton, partly because some riders in the group weren’t doing much work. The cooperation wasn’t optimal.”
Their advantage still came close to 20 seconds with five kilometers remaining. But with two kilometers to go, the breakaway was caught, setting up a special sprint over the final 500 meters of cobbles at 4%. “They were caught just before the foot of the climb, but Thibaud managed to catch his breath and stay well positioned,” Frédéric added. “Unfortunately, he got boxed in a little, Brennan made the split on the first three riders, and he wasn’t able to fight for the top places.”
The Frenchman was nevertheless able to cap a strong day with seventh place at the finish. “It shows that he’s in good form,” Frédéric insisted. “Obviously, we were aiming for more, but we wanted to race aggressively and we came within a whisker of achieving our goal. I don’t think we can have any regrets. It’s better to try than to simply wait for the sprint. It will pay off eventually. Fortunately, we still have a result to show for it today, because the team has been very aggressive for some time now without always getting the results it deserves. By being involved in the action once again, we still managed to put two riders in the top 12 (Clément Russo 12th, ed.). At least that’s a small reward for the guys’ efforts today.”
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This is from Raccagni’s Team Soudal Quick-Step:
Following his crash in today’s Coppa Bernocchi, Andrea Raccagni was taken to hospital for assessment, including a CT scan.
The examinations confirmed that Andrea has sustained a fracture of the third cervical vertebra.
Andrea Raccagni after stage five of the 2026 Tour Down Under. He won the Best Young Rider category. Sirotti photo
He will be assessed by surgeons tomorrow to determine the most appropriate course of treatment and recovery.
Everybody at Soudal Quick-Step and the wider Wolfpack family wishes Andrea a fully and speedy recovery
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Mosca’s Team Lidl-Trek posted this:
Jacopo Mosca’s story with Lidl-Trek really begins over a decade ago in 2016. Back then, he was a keen and hopeful 20-year-old searching, dreaming, for that golden ticket to the WorldTour. An opportunity came to be a stagiaire Trek-Segafredo, and Mosca grabbed it with both hands. The Tour of Utah and the Tour of Britain were the young Italian’s first taste of races as a pro, and he enjoyed every minute of them.
Jacopo Mosca having a good day at the seventh stage of the 2017 Tour of Hainan
When that season came to an end, however, the offer of a full-time contract did not materialise. Mosca will never forget the wise words of Luca Guercilena when he got the disappointing news: “Ah, keep believing because you never know what happens in cycling.”
That was the start of a career built on self-belief and perseverance. In the years that followed, Mosca kept training and racing in the Italian domestic scene, always remembering the advice he’d been given.
“In 2019, I joined a very small team, but a very good one, D’Amico-UM Tools. I need to thank them, because they gave me the possibility to believe I could still be a rider and gave me a very good calendar,” he remembers.
It was one special day in June 2019 when Mosca got the call he had always had faith would eventually come: “I was away racing and I got a message from Josu [Larrazabal] and Adriano Baffi. They said ‘we’re looking for a guy like you for next year.’”
And so it was, Mosca joined Trek-Segafredo full-time and began to steadily establish himself as one of the most reliable and valued riders in the squad. His selflessness and tactical prowess were noted by all – this was a rider with talent and motivation in abundance. Whether it was doing a lead-out, spending hours on the front of the peloton, collecting bottles from the car from, or getting in breakaways, Mosca would always work for the collective success of the team – never just for his own ambitions.
“I grew a lot with the team and I showed that as a rider I was always there to help others,” Mosca says. “I think 2020 was my best year as a rider, I had good numbers and got good results. A bad crash the following year made things difficult, but I came back at a high level. From that moment, I was always a helper and I tried to be the best helper possible.
Eight years since he initially signed a contract with the team, Mosca has been crucial to countless victories in Lidl-Trek colours. With race craft, experience and a big engine, the 33-year-old has excelled helping to fight for both general classification and one-day wins across a multitude of terrains. Now, it is time for the next chapter.
“I was given the option of being a sports director for next year and I’m really happy to step in the car next season, even if it is going to be a big change. I’m really looking forward to it,” Mosca explains.
Having lived and raced through multiple developments in the sport over the last decade, the Italian rider is excited to pass his knowledge on to the next generation.
“I’ve seen how much cycling has evolved and I think they can trust me because I have come straight from being a rider and I was one of the guys who probably suffered the most in the bunch. I think, in the end, most of the time it is your head that makes a difference and gives you motivation so you can do more with your legs” Mosca says.
When he finishes the final race of his cycling career at Gran Piemonte on Thursday, on home roads, Mosca will soak in every moment of his final lap. His years as part of the professional peloton have been fuelled by a simple, pure love for the sport which has shaped his life. It is this which he will take with him as he embarks on his next challenge.
“I want to teach younger riders, above all, to enjoy cycling as much as possible. It’s a beautiful privilege that we have to be able to do this.”