A 2026 thread to discuss all things cycling related such as upcoming tours, world championships, debates and news anything to with the world of cycling.

Cycling Calendar:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/calendar

To go through where we are with World Tour teams:

• NSN Cycling (formerly Israel Premier-Tech), Lotto and Uno-X have been 'promoted' to WorldTour Level

• Cofidis have been 'relegated' to ProTour

• Arkea and Intermarché-Wanty no longer exist (the latter has been merged into Lotto)

As far as I can see, Cofidis and Tudor Pro Cycling are the best second-division teams so will get an automatic wildcard into all three Grand Tours if they want it. That just leaves Tom Pidcock's Q36.5 as not being guaranteed anything but I imagine they'll get at least a couple of wildcards after Tom's Vuelta performance.

Also - Simon Yates has retired Don't think I saw that one coming!

@PeteFromLeeds

Channel 5 is the new free to air home of cycling in the UK.

They will broadcast daily 60 minute highlights of the the Tour de France (mens and women's), Vuelta, and the Giro for the next 3 years.

They will be aired in the traditional 7.00pm slot most nights.

The first three stages of the 2027 Tour de France which will be starting in Great Britain will be live on 5.

Interesting - I'll reserve judgement until I give it a watch and see what the quality is like!

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome has brought an end to his illustrious career in professional cycling.

The 41-year-old British rider has not raced since a serious crash in August 2025 when he collided head-on with a road sign at more than 30mph and suffered five broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a lumbar vertebrae fracture.

Froome's wife later said doctors discovered a pericardial rupture - an injury where the sac that surrounds the heart is torn - during surgery and were able to repair it.

"Unfortunately, there was that crash last summer - that was not the way I wanted it to end. But even then, I knew it was over," Froome told Belgian broadcaster Sporza.

Fin Tarling has died at the Volta a Portugal after being hit by a non-race vehicle that got onto the course.

Surely there's more they can do to stop these things happening?

The Vuelta took an interesting turn on Saturday after Pogacar, who was 4 minutes ahead, crashed out. Obviously that's awful but it does mean the winner isn't a forgone conclusion so there's still racing to do over the next week.