Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Saturday, October 24, 2026
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Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build bridges even when there is no river. – Nikita Khrushchev
Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the 2024 Tour de France: The Happy Warrior Triumphs is available print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the link on the right.
Upcoming racing:
Latest completed racing:
- 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
- Oct 11: Paris-Tours
- Oct 10: Il Lombardia
- Oct 8: Gran Piemonte
The rest of the year's completed races are here.
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Here’s the team’s update:
25-year-old Italian rider Davide Toneatti has extended his contract with XDS Astana Team for another two seasons, through 2027 and 2028.
Davide Toneatti has completed his fifth season in the Astana project. After three years with the continental team and a series of strong results – including overall victory at the Turul Romaniei and podium finishes in the General Classifications of the Giro del Friuli Venezia Giulia and Belgrade Banjaluka – Davide moved to the WorldTour team in 2025. Unfortunately, his first year at the professional level was hampered by health problems, but in the season just completed, Toneatti demonstrated strong results: he finished fourth at the Muur Classic Geraardsbergen, seventh on a stage of the Tour de Romandie and 12th overall at the Baloise Belgium Tour.
Davide Toneatti
“I am very happy to continue developing within this project for another two years. Last year was quite difficult because of health problems, but the team was always there for me, we managed to overcome everything, and this year the season went more predictably and according to plan, allowing me to show what I am capable of overall. The new contract gives me great motivation to continue working hard and diligently together with the team in order to achieve our goals. I would like to thank Alexandr Vinokurov and the entire XDS Astana Team management for believing in me and for giving me the opportunity to prove myself and repay that trust with good results, which I am sure will come”, – said Davide Toneatti.
“Davide is a young and very talented rider whose career got off to a different start than expected for reasons beyond his control. That is now behind him. Davide had a solid season this year, his potential is clearly visible, and we have every reason to expect him to make a significant breakthrough soon. Two more years of hard work lie ahead, but I think everything should work out well for him”, – said Alexandr Vinokurov, General Manager of XDS Astana Team.
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The team sent me this:
Nicolas Milesi, one of the most promising U23 talents in cycling, is joining EF Education-EasyPost in 2027.
The Italian rider, who hails from Clusone in Lombardy, has enjoyed a stellar season on the road, winning the U23 category at the Chrono des Nations, the time trial at the Olympia's Tour, claiming silver against the clock at the UCI Road World Championships, again in the U23 category, and winning the Gran Premio Sportivi di Poggiana one-day race in Italy.
Powerful and naturally strong against the clock, the 22-year-old will add depth and quality to next year’s roster, with a multi-season contract signed with EF Education-EasyPost.
Nicolas Milesi
“In the summer, I started talking to EF Education-EasyPost, and what was clear was that this team was an excellent opportunity for my progression and development as a rider. I could immediately see that they believed in my ability, and that had a big impact on my decision to join. I wanted to step up and join the WorldTour, and I’m really happy with my decision for the next few years. The team looks really exciting from the outside, and I've really enjoyed watching how they work and race on the road. The environment looks excellent for me,” Nicolas said from his home in Bergamo.
Nicolas’s passion for cycling began at an early age, when he began mountain biking with his friends near his home. He quickly started racing and rose through the ranks before becoming a U16 off-road national champion. He switched to the road as a junior, and his progression continued; he made an instant impression and became one of Europe's most promising time trialists, winning a U23 national TT title in 2023.
“I started cycling with my friends and began racing as soon as I could, at about eight years old. I had fun with mountain biking to start with, and then when I became a junior, I began to race on the road. Almost immediately, I had an interest in time trialling, and at the moment that’s where my main qualities are. I want to focus more on that in the future, but also improve in other areas too. I really like the classics, and with my mountain-biking background, I also love Paris-Roubaix and the Belgian classics. But when I won in Poggiana, that was also from a long breakaway, so maybe I can focus on that aspect too,” he said.
Winning silver in the U23 time trial at the world championships was another key milestone in Nicolas’s career trajectory, although the initial feelings were mixed in Canada.
“It was a combination of emotions, if I’m honest, as I was feeling both frustration and happiness. I was second, just seven seconds from victory, but after a few days, only the happiness remained, and I’m going to use that performance to help motivate me over the winter,” he said.
Nicolas will meet his new teammates later this year at the team’s first winter training camp, where they'll set goals and outline programs for next season. He’s excited to start that process and see where 2027 takes him.
“I want to discover more races, bigger races, and then aim for a grand tour start in the future. I want to see what I can do at the next level in the WorldTour with EF Education-EasyPost. I’ll keep working on my time trial, and I want to keep progressing and be competitive at the highest level. And I know a few Italians on the team. I know Roberto Capello from the U23 team and, of course, Vincenzo Albanese from our time together at Arkéa,” he said.
For EF Pro Cycling founder and CEO Jonathan Vaughters, our latest recruit adds a new dimension to our young but eager team.
“Nicolas is going to add some real power to the team,” Vaughters said. “He’s coming off a win at the under-23 Chrono des Nations and finished first in the time trial at the Olympia’s Tour and second in the under-23 time trial world championship. Nicolas is a winner on the road, too, with a fast finishing kick. I think he is going to be one of the most exciting young riders in the WorldTour next year. We’re looking forward to watching him develop.”
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Here’s the team’s retrospect:
Team Jayco AlUla has rounded out a solid 2026 that was capped off by a brilliant Tour de France stage win and several of the team’s young stars taking breakthrough performances.
Successes elsewhere included Mauro Schmid’s dominant Coppi e Bartali overall win, Anders Foldager’s first WorldTour victory at Brabantse Pijl and Alessandro Covi’s sprint to the top spot at the Giro del Veneto. Meanwhile, Michael Matthews showed some incredible perseverance after he returned to high-level racing following a serious injury in the spring.
In total, the team secured 41 podium finishes, including some 10 victories, throughout 2026.
A winning beginning
Matthews got Team Jayco AlUla’s 2026 win tally up and running with an impressive uphill sprint at the Gran Premio de Castellón. It would ensure that 2026 was the 15th season of Matthews’ 16-year career where he added yet another victory to his palmarès – with 2021 the only season he has not claimed a win.
Unfortunately, Matthews’ spring campaign was prematurely ended when a horrific training crash saw him break both of his wrists, amongst a litany of other injuries, that could have ended his career. In the end, the Australian demonstrated his class and resilience to recover from the crash and was back to racing after just three months.
Plapp and Schmid: A winning combo
Having enjoyed his first trip to Australia with the team in 2025, Schmid got his season off to a strong start again at the Tour Down Under, taking a hard-earned second place overall as well as second in the queen stage to Willunga Hill.
There was plenty more to come and the team stopped in Oman to add another two victories to their growing win list. Thanks to a near-perfect set-up from teammate Luke Plapp, the Swiss champion sprinted to victory from a breakaway at the one-day Muscat Classic before adding a stage win at the Tour of Oman a few days later.
Mauro Schmid wins 2026 Tour of Oman stage three.
Plapp carried his strong form into the UAE Tour the following week, storming onto the overall podium after just missing out on the win on the queen stage. The result showed that he has made another step forward and is continuing his development as a general classification rider.
A successful return to Europe
Having hit the ground running in Australia and then Middle East, Team Jayco AlUla kept the good times going back in Europe at the five-day Coppi e Bartali.
The Australian team kept banging on the door of victory throughout the Italian race, notching up three second places, and spending a day in the leader’s jersey, before finally coming up trumps on the last day.
Thanks to a strong overall team performance, with support from the likes of Covi, Davide De Pretto, and Hamish McKenzie, Schmid took victory on the final stage and sealed the overall win. Alan Hatherly played a particularly important role in the team’s success in Italy and made it two Team Jayco AlUla riders on the final podium by taking third in the general classification in one of his strongest performances yet on the road.
Gene Bates – Head of Performance
“I think we had some fantastic results this season and we started the year well by hitting some good targets in the Australian summer. Mauro Schmid’s podium in Australia, his win in Oman and the team’s overall performances throughout February – there were some great ones such as Luke Plapp in the UAE Tour – really put us in a strong position to start with. In Europe, we saw some great performances from some of our newer members, like Andrea Vendrame.
"We did have some bad luck, losing Michael Matthews at a critical moment when he was showing all of the signs of having his best-ever form leading into Milan-Sanremo. We again had some bad luck then at the Giro d’Italia, losing Vendrame with a very significant injury and also Amaury Capiot with another significant injury, it really did cost us, and it was heartbreaking to see those guys suffer such serious injuries. Nevertheless, I think we performed well throughout this period.”
Breakthrough rides and Tour de France success
There was plenty to celebrate in the spring and Foldager had his opportunity when he sprinted his way to his first WorldTour win at Brabantse Pijl. The Danish rider enjoyed a standout season throughout 2026, showing himself to be a burgeoning one-day talent with a string of other top-5 performances – including second in the road race at the Danish nationals.
Later in the season, Felix Engelhardt enjoyed his own “first” at the German national championships. Engelhardt got to show-off his stunning new MAAP jersey and special edition Giant Propel at his debut Tour de France, earning the most combative prize from the breakaway on day one and even stepping on the podium.
The 26-year-old carried his Tour de France form into the Arctic Race of Norway in August, taking fourth overall and just missing out on the podium by a few seconds.
The Tour de France only got better from there with the ever-aggressive Schmid taking a tension-filled stage victory during the second week. The team would come close two more times in the final week, taking second on a sprint stage before doing the same the following day on a mountainous parcours.
Matthews gets some bling and Covi closes season with a bang
Despite enduring a horrific crash in the spring, Matthews showed some real resilience and grit to get back into shape to race at the Tour de France. He played a big role in the team’s performance and notched up several top-10 finishes along the way.
It was heading into the autumn where he really hit his stride, particularly in his happy hunting ground of Canada. ‘Bling’ continued his impressive results at the Grand Prix Cycliste Québec, where he has never finished outside the top 10, by taking sixth in a stacked field.
Two weeks later, he stormed to a thrilling silver medal in the road race at the World Championships in Montréal – his fourth road race worlds medal and sixth top-10 finish.
North America also proved to be a happy hunting ground for Bob Donaldson, who helped to create the race-winning move at the Philadelphia Classic. The young British rider was part of a three-man move that made it to the line and sprinted for a strong second place, adding to a season that had already seen him claim a breakthrough top-five finish at In Flanders Fields (formerly Gent-Wevelgem).
Meanwhile, Covi enjoyed some good autumn form on home soil in Italy, ensuring that the team closed out the season in style. The 28-year-old darted out of a small group for a long-range sprint at the Giro del Veneto for his first win in Team Jayco AlUla colours.
Gene Bates – Head of Performance
“It was great to see Mauro deliver the team’s victory at the Tour de France, which was probably the highlight of the year. Going into the backend of the season, we did pay the price with multiple guys out with illness and injury. In spite of that, we still saw some great performances and Alessandro Covi’s victory at the Giro del Veneto and Michael Matthews performance at the World Championships.
"Overall, I think we can be happy with our 2026 campaign. When we look back and look at some of the injuries and illnesses it does leave a feeling of ‘what if’ and what could have happened if we’d had all of those guys fit and healthy for racing. Something we’ll strive for going into next season is being ambitious, bold and having clear racing strategies. We’re confident as a team that we can take a step forward from 2026 and have a great season in 2027.”
Team Jayco AlUla 2026 podiums
1st Gran Premio Castellón – Michael Matthews
1st Muscat Classic – Mauro Schmid
1st Tour of Oman, stage 3 – Mauro Schmid
1st Coppi e Bartali, stage 5 – Mauro Schmid
1st Coppi e Bartali, overall classification – Mauro Schmid
1st Brabantse Pijl – Anders Foldager
1st Hungerburg Classic – Felix Engelhardt
1st German Road Race Championships – Felix Engelhardt
1st Tour de France, stage 13 – Mauro Schmid
1st Giro del Veneto – Alessandro Covi
2nd Australian National Road Race – Luke Plapp
2nd Tour Down Under, overall classification – Mauro Schmid
2nd UAE Tour, stage 6 – Luke Plapp
2nd Bredene Koksijde Classic – Pascal Ackermann
2nd Coppi e Bartali, stage 1 – Mauro Schmid
2nd Coppi e Bartali, stage 3 – Mauro Schmid
2nd Coppi e Bartali, stage 4 – Mauro Schmi
2nd NXT Classic – Mauro Schmid
2nd Flèche Wallonne – Mauro Schmid
2nd Tour de Wallonne, stage 1 – Anders Foldager
2nd Circuit Franco Belge – Anders Foldager
2nd Danish National Road Race – Anders Foldager
2nd Tour de France, stage 17 – Mauro Schmid
2nd Tour de France, stage 18 – Mauro Schmid
2nd Philadelphia Classic – Bob Donaldson
2nd World Road Race Championships – Michael Matthews
3rd Australian National Time Trial – Kelland O’Brien
3rd Tour Down Under, stage 2 – Mauro Schmid
3rd AlUla Tour, stage 2 – Pascal Ackermann
3rd Trofeo Ses Salines (TTT)
3rd South African National Time Trial – Alan Hatherly
3rd Muscat Classic – Luke Plapp
3rd Tour of Oman, stage 5 – Luke Plapp
3rd UAE Tour, overall classification – Luke Plapp
3rd Coppi e Bartali, stage 5 – Alan Hatherly
3rd Coppi e Bartali, overall classification – Alan Hatherly
3rd Tour de Hongrie, stage 4 – Luke Plapp
3rd Tour de Hongrie, overall classification – Luke Plapp
3rd Antwerp Port Epic – Dries De Bondt
3rd German National Time Trial – Jasha Sütterlin
3rd Giro del Lazio – Andrea Vendrame