General News Thread

[Squire]

Surely there must be a some small change from that little Norwegian wealth fund available.

The government has said they don't want to give the sport of cycling preferential treatment. The financial support for organizing cycling races has been a budget post for that specific purpose for roughly ten years now. They also said that the positive impact the race potentially has for local businesses and tourism was not one of the criteria behind the original decision to allocate the money, so that was not taken into consideration when cutting it.

But it's really sad news. I'm pretty sure no other sports have ever complained about cycling getting that support. And it's not like other sports don't get a boatload of government support for stuff like stadiums, swimming pools etc.

 

[Breh]

But there is definitely no problem with the business model of cycling, not for race organisers and not for the teams

Nobody questions the problems with the business model.
There's just no easy fix.

 

[Berniece]

Nobody questions the problems with the business model.
There's just no easy fix.

The people that can fix it aren’t willing to do so, or at least try to fix it

 

[search]

From October already, but I had not seen this yet

Herald Sun Tour cancelled once again after latest comeback attempt

Organisers cite "challenged environment for sponsorship and business" as reason for cancellation

www.cyclingnews.com

 

[ingsve]

Is it today that the world tour teams for 2026 will be officially announced? Any news on that yet?

 

[Samamba]

Is it today that the world tour teams for 2026 will be officially announced? Any news on that yet?

Yes, no surprises. UNO X in the WT, Lotto Intermarché official too. Only thing is PicNic only getting a license for 1 year. Just like in 2023 initially. It's not really a surprise they have some financial problems given the transfers they've been doing.

Allocation of the 14 UCI Women’s WorldTour licences and 18 UCI WorldTour licences for the 2026-2028 period, and registration of the UCI Women’s ProTeams and UCI ProTeams for the 2026 season

www.uci.org

 

[ingsve]

Yes, no surprises. UNO X in the WT, Lotto Intermarché official too. Only thing is PicNic only getting a license for 1 year. Just like in 2023 initially. It's not really a surprise they have some financial problems given the transfers they've been doing.

Allocation of the 14 UCI Women’s WorldTour licences and 18 UCI WorldTour licences for the 2026-2028 period, and registration of the UCI Women’s ProTeams and UCI ProTeams for the 2026 season

www.uci.org

Ah, I had been looking at their news page all morning and didn't realize they had a separate page for press releases.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Why are Cofidis not listed among the top women's teams? They applied for a WWT license which they should have received (provided they met the financial criterion) since VolkerWessels and Laboral Kutxa didn't apply. They will of course get to ride the big races anyway, but I thought the UCI would like to have another paying them a bit more money.

 

[Tim Cahill]

A new series of The Least Expected Day premieres in January;

https://twitter.com/x/status/1999173757269869031

View: https://x.com/Movistar_Team/status/1999173757269869031

 

[Oldman]

The people that can fix it aren’t willing to do so, or at least try to fix it

As bizarre as it sounds to me and probably all other fans: the idea that UAE is building a dedicated climb for a dedicated circuit allows for cost controls that might be a model for road racing. Not that the UAE cares about the cost benefit. Not one I'd like as an observer and former racer but much of what plagues the economies of the sport is the number of venues with different public jurisdictions and the life-ending risks that come with them.
US road cycling is a shell of what it was even a decade ago. Licensed American riders have wholesale abandoned the idea of road events for gravel, mtb and a little cyclocross because there are races. There isn't a public outcry here for lost events but European venues still survive with public help until costs climb too high. Money for participants is bound to track parallel to that situation unless riders accept that they are competitors in Rollerball and embrace the fate of grossly dangerous venues. It's not a simple fix.

 

[Berniece]

As bizarre as it sounds to me and probably all other fans: the idea that UAE is building a dedicated climb for a dedicated circuit allows for cost controls that might be a model for road racing. Not that the UAE cares about the cost benefit. Not one I'd like as an observer and former racer but much of what plagues the economies of the sport is the number of venues with different public jurisdictions and the life-ending risks that come with them.
US road cycling is a shell of what it was even a decade ago. Licensed American riders have wholesale abandoned the idea of road events for gravel, mtb and a little cyclocross because there are races. There isn't a public outcry here for lost events but European venues still survive with public help until costs climb too high. Money for participants is bound to track parallel to that situation unless riders accept that they are competitors in Rollerball and embrace the fate of grossly dangerous venues. It's not a simple fix.

Circuit racing combined with a fee to watch it at some places is the answer to a lot of problems for both teams and race organisers

 

[Devil's Elbow]

The Paris-Nice route was just announced, it looks very good despite the watered-down final stage (should be a one-off, it's because of municipal elections). Stage 5 is particularly great.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2001246775441809461

 

[Ilmaestro99]

The Paris-Nice route was just announced, it looks very good despite the watered-down final stage (should be a one-off, it's because of municipal elections). Stage 5 is particularly great.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2001246775441809461

Ridiculos to include a TTT though, already advantage to uae and almida. A shame because with no pocagar, Roglic or Remco, and i dont expect Jonas after last year , it could be an open race

 

[Squire]

Ridiculos to include a TTT though, already advantage to uae and almida. A shame because with no pocagar, Roglic or Remco, and i dont expect Jonas after last year , it could be an open race

While I would have preferred an ITT, I'm not so sure about UAE advantage. Was none of that in PN last year, and even the one that they won in La Vuelta wasn't particularly dominant. Lidl might well beat them again, for example.

Anyway, my favourite one-week race of the year looks like it will be another banger.

 

[Netserk]

i havent seen a map, but by the profile it seems like the last climb is a short loop?

 

[Netserk]

i havent seen a map, but by the profile it seems like the last climb is a short loop?

indeed

View: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9vtqp8

 

[Netserk]

same finish as planned for 2020, would have expected a more straightforward design as back then

 

[Berniece]

Ridiculos to include a TTT though, already advantage to uae and almida. A shame because with no pocagar, Roglic or Remco, and i dont expect Jonas after last year , it could be an open race

It's included so that teams can test for the TTT in the TDF

 

[Netserk]

It's included so that teams can test for the TTT in the TDF

im fairly sure that it has nothing to do with that and that theyll have a ttt in 2027 too

the ttt in the dauphine on the other hand ...

 

[Samamba]

It's included so that teams can test for the TTT in the TDF

It's been in PN for years now? Nothing to do with that.

 

[Berniece]

It's been in PN for years now? Nothing to do with that.

3 years. Before that it always has been an ITT. Saying it has nothing to do with that is wrong. When creating the route it definitely was a discussion are we going to do a TTT or an ITT. Pretty sure one of the reasons to choose for TTT was that it's part of the TDF this year.

 

[Samamba]

3 years. Before that it always has been an ITT. Saying it has nothing to do with that is wrong. When creating the route it definitely was a discussion are we going to do a TTT or an ITT. Pretty sure one of the reasons to choose for TTT was that it's part of the TDF this year.

So yeah 3 years while there was no TTT in the Tour. And now out of nowhere it would have something to do with it? It's PN that came up with the first rider time counts gimmick, they just like it. TTT in the Tour or not.

 

[YavorD]

Ridiculos to include a TTT though, already advantage to uae and almida. A shame because with no pocagar, Roglic or Remco, and i dont expect Jonas after last year , it could be an open race

I actually think it's rather bad route for Almeida.

 

[OlavEH]

Stage 5 is particularly great.

My thoughts exactly. IMO this is darn close to a perfect PN stage.

 

[Red Rick]

TTT in a 1 week stage race?

I'd rather lick the elephant's foot in Chernobyl