State of the Peloton 2026

[Tim Cahill]

A Limmy reference. How about that!


(You have to reply with "Lollipop Pat", @Tim Cahill )

You know I think I read an article about her a while ago, still apparently lollipop ladying in her 90s!! Some people also saying she died, but I choose to believe the former.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2014047325836968275

View: https://x.com/i/status/2014047325836968275

Tier 2? Looks like Mads Pedersen is back on the menu.

 

[hrotha]

I like how we went from "bigger than Contador" to "tier 2 riders", in the end they'll pop some Masters 50 bum and they'll be like "told ya "

 

[AmRacer]

I like how we went from "bigger than Contador" to "tier 2 riders", in the end they'll pop some Masters 50 bum and they'll be like "told ya "

I think that rider is bigger than Contador.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Germán Gómez has been a naughty boy, but the cycling world is not in shambles yet.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

German Dario gomez (polti visit Malta) provisionally suspended.

UCI statement concerning Germán Darío Gómez Becerra

www.uci.org

Most known for;

View: https://youtu.be/Z0Fo1QXMexM?si=BVQd7Mdpi0VwP8wm

 

[Rob5091]

Germán Gómez has been a naughty boy, but the cycling world is not in shambles yet.

What did I write about horse doping and cyclists?
https://granfondodailynews.com/2026...-tests-positive-for-racehorse-drug-boldenone/

Boldenone, a derivative of Testosterone, is a veterinary injectable used primarily to increase weight, improve coat condition and enhance muscle in horses. It has been used illegally in the sport of horse racing. The United States Food and Drug Administration has not approved it for use in humans for any reason and it is banned for use in horses competing in Olympic and Paralympic events.

Several other Boldenone anti-doping cases have surfaced recently, including Saudi Arabian amateur athlete Abdulrahman Alghamdi and 2025 Italian Masters M60-64 National Road Champion Lido Fogli.

SGF 1000 is another that will likely pop up.

 

[Unchained]

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_vFl7I4DA


Talk about multiple elephants in the room. Hindcappie ultra careful, mentioned podcast but forgot 2 people involved have a lifetime ban. David is very calculated and polite, George's career carefully described as to not to stir up any dirt. As is said predictions for the future are based on the past, Millar and Hindcappie at a table discuss young riders and path forward. Ironic.

 

[Red Rick]

UCI schorst Azerbeidzjaanse renner na positieve test op crystal meth

Artyom Proskuryakov (19) is voor drie jaar geschorst door de UCI. De internationale wielerunie zette de renner uit Azerbeidzjan in november al op non-actief vanwege een positieve dopingtest tijdens het voorbije WK wielrennen in Rwanda. Bij deze test werden sporen aangetroffen van methamfetamine...

www.wielerflits.nl

Azerbedjan junior caught at the WC last year

The PED?

Crystal Meth

Ciclismo is so *** back baby

 

[Tim Cahill]

Tell you what that meth crack is really more-ish

 

[Tim Cahill]

ARRESTATO A NAPOLI ANDREA PICCOLO

È stato trovato con duemila euro di soldi falsi

www.tuttobiciweb.it

NEWS | February 4, 2026 | 9:16 AM
by Guido La Marca

In Naples, he had left behind a memento of a huge birthday party at the 2024 Giro d'Italia in honor of his girlfriend, Valentina. Now, in Naples, the 24-year-old from Magenta has been arrested by the Carabinieri. According to fanpage , officers intercepted him in the heart of the city and found him in possession of counterfeit banknotes. "In this case, a Carabinieri patrol from PMZ Centro, while passing through Piazza Municipio," the website writes, "noticed a parked luxury car, a Porsche Macan, with San Marino license plates. This piqued the Carabinieri's curiosity, and they decided to check the car. The driver was Andrea Piccolo, a resident of San Marino, while in the passenger compartment there was also a 23-year-old and, in the back seat, a 56-year-old who was sleeping. The banknotes were hidden under the steering box."

 

[Brullnux]

ARRESTATO A NAPOLI ANDREA PICCOLO

È stato trovato con duemila euro di soldi falsi

www.tuttobiciweb.it

NEWS | February 4, 2026 | 9:16 AM
by Guido La Marca

In Naples, he had left behind a memento of a huge birthday party at the 2024 Giro d'Italia in honor of his girlfriend, Valentina. Now, in Naples, the 24-year-old from Magenta has been arrested by the Carabinieri. According to fanpage , officers intercepted him in the heart of the city and found him in possession of counterfeit banknotes. "In this case, a Carabinieri patrol from PMZ Centro, while passing through Piazza Municipio," the website writes, "noticed a parked luxury car, a Porsche Macan, with San Marino license plates. This piqued the Carabinieri's curiosity, and they decided to check the car. The driver was Andrea Piccolo, a resident of San Marino, while in the passenger compartment there was also a 23-year-old and, in the back seat, a 56-year-old who was sleeping. The banknotes were hidden under the steering box."

Right so Piccolo is an idiot who got addicted to a glam lifestyle.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

ARRESTATO A NAPOLI ANDREA PICCOLO

È stato trovato con duemila euro di soldi falsi

www.tuttobiciweb.it

NEWS | February 4, 2026 | 9:16 AM
by Guido La Marca

In Naples, he had left behind a memento of a huge birthday party at the 2024 Giro d'Italia in honor of his girlfriend, Valentina. Now, in Naples, the 24-year-old from Magenta has been arrested by the Carabinieri. According to fanpage , officers intercepted him in the heart of the city and found him in possession of counterfeit banknotes. "In this case, a Carabinieri patrol from PMZ Centro, while passing through Piazza Municipio," the website writes, "noticed a parked luxury car, a Porsche Macan, with San Marino license plates. This piqued the Carabinieri's curiosity, and they decided to check the car. The driver was Andrea Piccolo, a resident of San Marino, while in the passenger compartment there was also a 23-year-old and, in the back seat, a 56-year-old who was sleeping. The banknotes were hidden under the steering box."

We need someone to make a 'state of Andrea piccolo' thread at the start of each year.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Cipo wishes he was this guy!

 

[Rob5091]

I did not have counterfeit banknotes and the return of Piccolo on my bingo card! I look forward to the court case for the whole messy story.
edit - add - https://velo.outsideonline.com/news...yfans-model-arrested-with-2500-in-fake-bills/

Piccolo later made headlines after his pro career ended when his profile showed up on the adult site OnlyFans, alongside a girlfriend, promising insight into the life of a pro cyclist.

Is Piccolo the new Ricco?

 

[Tim Cahill]

Jose Marti, Marc never was the most subtle of characters, old school!

A notorious doping coach may be back working in cycling

An amateur athlete – who is also the father of a current WorldTour pro – was just sanctioned for working with banned former US Postal Service trainer Jose Martí.

escapecollective.com

 

[Rob5091]

Jose Marti, Marc never was the most subtle of characters, old school!

A notorious doping coach may be back working in cycling

An amateur athlete – who is also the father of a current WorldTour pro – was just sanctioned for working with banned former US Postal Service trainer Jose Martí.

escapecollective.com

Is this the ITA's "other guys" from the Lazkano bust? Would fit with what we know.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Jose Marti, Marc never was the most subtle of characters, old school!

A notorious doping coach may be back working in cycling

An amateur athlete – who is also the father of a current WorldTour pro – was just sanctioned for working with banned former US Postal Service trainer Jose Martí.

escapecollective.com

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013580096326553726

View: https://x.com/i/status/2013580096326553726

https://twitter.com/x/status/2019068202710450187

View: https://x.com/i/status/2019068202710450187

 

[Tim Cahill]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013580096326553726

View: https://x.com/i/status/2013580096326553726

https://twitter.com/x/status/2019068202710450187

View: https://x.com/i/status/2019068202710450187

Yeah apparently this one has been known about for quite a while, you would think Marc would keep a low profile for a few weeks but as I'm typing this he's trying to attack a peloton of 100 in a 2.Pro

 

[Samu Cuenca]

If Bettiol, Caruso and Soler are at 10 nowadays then Scaroni must be at about 20.

 

[houtdffan]

If the early season is saying anything, we are in for a full on explosion of the unknown at the TDF this year

Looking for a sub 30 minute ADH on stage 19

 

[Cookster15]

If the early season is saying anything, we are in for a full on explosion of the unknown at the TDF this year

Looking for a sub 30 minute ADH on stage 19

Which races specifically? Nothing crazy at Volta Comunitat Valenciana ?

BTW, as for the 2nd statement, obviously exaggeration but out of interest sake I punched some numbers using an online calculator - linked below. Not sure what is Pogacar's true weight but using 66Kg (7kg bike), a 30 minute ascent for AdH would require 564 watts or 8.5 watts / kg

Climbing Power Calculation

 

[houtdffan]

Which races specifically? Nothing crazy at Volta Comunitat Valenciana ?

BTW, as for the 2nd statement, obviously exaggeration but out of interest sake I punched some numbers using an on online calculator - linked below. Not sure what is Pogacar's true weight but using 66Kg (7kg bike), a 30 minute ascent for AdH would require 564 watts or 8.5 watts / kg

Climbing Power Calculation

Remco seems to have taken it up a notch compared to past years. I don't expect Pog to stand pat

8.5 W/kg. Very short unipuerto stage. Riders will be leaving the nukes at home and probably the anti matter as well. The big guns are coming out that day

 

[AlpRaid]

Remco seems to have taken it up a notch compared to past years. I don't expect Pog to stand pat

hmm.

first time not "recovering" from some crash or illness. this uptick, if that's what it is, is likely a result simply of that.

nothing to do with pog's jump between 23 and 24 after the shock of Combloux ITT.

 

[Cookster15]

8.5 W/kg. Very short unipuerto stage. Riders will be leaving the nukes at home and probably the anti matter as well. The big guns are coming out that day

Just to put this into context and in case you were not joking, a 30 minute AdH at 8.5W/Kg for Pogi works out to 564 watts using the calculator I linked (27km/h). Pantani only averaged 22km/h.

As a benchmark, I think 79kg Indurain was said to be doing circa 500 watts when he did his legendary Luxemburg "extraterrestrial" TT in the 1992 Tour? Sure that was a 65km / 70 minute effort but also in the middle of the unfettered EPO era.

So short unipuerto stage or not I think we should temper the hype on what we might see on stage 19. After 2024 PdB I would be surprised if Marco's 37 minute record doesn't fall. But 30 minutes? Not possible.

And while Remco had a good win at Volta Comunitat Valenciana with no major HC climbs there was nothing to suggest the peloton has taken any quantum leaps - yet.

 

[houtdffan]

Just to put this into context and in case you were not joking, a 30 minute AdH at 8.5W/Kg for Pogi works out to 564 watts using the calculator I linked (27km/h). Pantani only averaged 22km/h.

As a benchmark, I think 79kg Indurain was said to be doing circa 500 watts when he did his legendary Luxemburg "extraterrestrial" TT in the 1992 Tour? Sure that was a 65km / 70 minute effort but also in the middle of the unfettered EPO era.

So short unipuerto stage or not I think we should temper the hype on what we might see on stage 19. After 2024 PdB I would be surprised if Marco's 37 minute record doesn't fall. But 30 minutes? Not possible.

And while Remco had a good win at Volta Comunitat Valenciana with no major HC climbs there was nothing to suggest the peloton has taken any quantum leaps - yet.

you know what, I had Pog's time off. I thought he did PDB in 36 mins. I now see it was 39:41. That threw off my calculations.

Now, given the speed he was going, and the fact PDB is 1.7km shorter than ADH and about the same steepness, ADH likely is done 4:30 shorter. So Pod's pace likely would have been around ~35:10 ish. I could see another 1:30 knocked off that due to the fact the stage is a joke before ADH. So maybe 33:40 is more realistic.

I simply had a wrong value of Pog's time