It’s our roundup of all things spring cycling, including fan fave Strade Bianche — a lock for Pogačar, right? Or…can French messiah Paul Seixas give him a run for his very significant money? Monument candidate or not, the White Roads race kicks off the REAL spring season; after Saturday the races come fast and fun. (And…keep an eye on the women’s race — likely to be far more closely contested.) Meanwhile, stateside we take you to…Oakland, California for a glorious Ride of the Week. Really!
TOP STORY
- Strade Bianche: Spectacular Race, Spectacular Racing
RACE NEWS
- Red Bull’s Meeus Victorious, van Aert Unlucky (Again) at Le Samyn
- Milano–Torino Marks 150 Years With Classic Superga Finish
- British National Champs: A Welsh Affair
- UCI Cyclocross World Cup Returns to Great Britain
TEAM, RIDER AND CYCLING NEWS
- Alpecin-Premier Tech Sticking with Cross-to-Road Formula
MIKE’S RIDE OF THE WEEK: OAKLAND HILLS
Strade Bianche: Spectacular Race, Spectacular Racing
There is no race quite like Strade Bianche — not because it’s the oldest, or the longest, or even the hardest; it’s none of those things, as it’s a recent arrival on the Classics calendar, and its organizers have mercifully gone contra against the wave of ever-more-difficult courses.
Rather because — on a dry day, as this Saturday promises to be — when the peloton rolls out of Siena and into the Tuscan hills, something happens that doesn’t happen anywhere else: the roads turn white. Chalky, dusty, ancient white. The strade bianche — white gravel roads — swallow riders whole, erupt into dust clouds visible from neighboring hillsides, and present a unique challenge to even the mightiest of racers — as when Tadej Pogačar slid out on a white-road curve last year. (Not that it cost him victory.)
The course this year covers 202 kilometers with 3,500 meters of climbing and 64 kilometers of gravel across 14 sectors. No single climb is typically selective; it’s the accumulation — relentless, punchy, unforgiving — that does in most of the field.
On the men’s side, Tadej Pogačar arrives as a three-time winner and, let’s be honest, as the prohibitive favorite. 2023 winner and 2024 runner-up Tom Pidcock will be there, as will former winner Wout van Aert, whose fitness remains questionable after both injury and illness. But the rider who has quietly electrified the preview conversation is Paul Seixas — especially since Isaac del Toro is Pogačar’s teammate, and technically his supporter — the young Frenchman who last weekend matched Pogi’s time on a key climb. By my esteem, he won’t actually give Pogačar a run — he possesses neither the punch nor the panache at this stage of his career. — but it’s nice just to be talking about competition for the G.O.A.T. (My tip: watch for Ben Healy to battle like an Irish Terrier.)
On the women’s side, which gets underway first, defending champ Demi Vollering is the name on everyone’s lips, especially as she’s started the season very strongly, but former winners Elisa Longo Borghini and Lizzy Deignan bring some history and some gravity. 2025 Tour de France winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Vollering’s gadfly Kasia Niewiadoma will add to the action, while Lucinda Brand (Lidl-Trek) and Urška Žigart could make things genuinely uncomfortable for Vollering (and everyone else).
So…set your alarm. Both of them! At least catch the steep climb into Siena, and the plunge into the Palio.
It should all be spectacular.
RACE NEWS
Red Bull’s Meeus Victorious, van Aert Unlucky (Again) at Le Samyn
It was finally supposed to be Wout van Aert’s return to the road — and, many thought, his race to lose. After recovering from a fractured ankle, suffered during a January cyclocross race, and from a recent illness that kept him out of last weekend’s Omloop Nieuwsblad, van Aert was looking to rock the cobbles at lesser Classic Le Samyn.
It wasn’t to be: the perpetually unlucky Belgian punctured with 10 kilometers left, and two bike changes left him far to far in arrears to contest the sprint — or even to support teammate Per Strand Hagenes, whose 30-kilometer solo flyer very nearly paid off.
Alas: the Visma rider was caught after the flamme rouge, having held an excruciatingly slim lead for several kilometers. The result thus came down to a sprint, and it was Jordi Meeus who claimed victory, putting down another strong marker for his Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team, which is off to a glowing start to the season.
Meeus was untouchable in the final meters, crossing the line ahead of Laurenz Rex and Hugo Hofstetter, with Jenthe Biermans and Lukáš Kubiš rounding out the top five.
But the race’s most dramatic storyline belonged to Hagenes, whose name was likely first made known to most viewers when he launched his courageous attack. Could van Aert have somehow played a role in maintaining his lead — or even launched a final-K counterattack, had he not flatted? We’ll never know, of course — but van Aert evidently rues the lost opportunity, suggesting in an interview that glass had been intentionally placed in his path.
The revamped 203.8-kilometer course, run entirely on circuits around the Walloon region, featured five cobbled sections on each finishing lap, adding a punishing edge to what nonetheless ultimately became a sprinters’ showdown.
Milano–Torino Marks 150 Years With Classic Superga Finish
One hundred and fifty years after Paolo Magretti rode the inaugural edition in 1876, the Milano–Torino presented by Crédit Agricole returns on 18 March for its 107th edition — cementing its place as the oldest Classic in world cycling.
The race starts in Rho and heads east across the flat Po Valley, passing through Magenta, Novara and Vercelli before the terrain begins to rise toward Turin. The decisive action unfolds on the iconic climb to the Basilica of Superga, tackled twice in the final circuit. The ascent averages 9.1% with peaks of around 14%, and riders face it twice — with the final 600 metres peeling off onto a short ramp before a last corner just 50 metres from the line.
The startlist features nine UCI WorldTeams, including UAE Team Emirates XRG, Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe and Lidl–Trek, alongside 11 UCI ProTeams and two Continental squads. As former winner Davide Cassani put it, the Superga finish is perfectly suited to punch-climbing specialists — and promises a compelling finale.
British National Champs: A Welsh Affair
The British national cycling championships — formally known as the Lloyds National Road Championships — will return to Ceredigion, Wales in 2026.
This year’s version is part of an agreement between British Cycling and the Welsh Government to host three consecutive Championships (2025 through to 2027). The event will include the Time Trial, Circuit and Road Race Championships.
The time trial will take place June 25, the circuit race on the 26th, with the road race concluding the action June 28.
Ceredigion hosted a successful Championships in 2025, with Zoe Backstedt, Ethan Hayter, Cameron Mason, Kate Richardson, Mille Couzens and Samuel Watson crowned as elite champions across the entertaining days of racing.
The Circuit Championships and Road Race Championships will once again start in Aberystwyth, while the Time Trial Championships course heads to Lampeter. Full routes will be announced at a later date.
The agreement to host the Championships aligns with Wales’ wider ambition to stage world-class cycling in the years ahead, including stage three of the 2027 Tour de France Grand Départ taking place between Welshpool and Cardiff.
UCI Cyclocross World Cup Returns to Great Britain
International cyclocross is coming back to Great Britain, with Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Park set to host a round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup on Sunday, December 13, 2026.
The event marks only the second time the prestigious series — run by the UCI and Flanders Classics — has visited British shores, and represents a major milestone in British Cycling Ventures’ strategy to grow its major events portfolio.
Delivered in partnership with Glasgow Life and EventScotland, the festival will bring the world’s best riders to one of the UK’s most iconic parks, promising fast-paced racing through mud and over obstacles for thousands of spectators.
The sport has drawn multi-discipline stars including Tom Pidcock, Mathieu van der Poel, and Lucinda Brand, while British talents Zoe Backstedt and Cameron Mason have claimed UCI world medals in recent seasons.
Glasgow — the UK’s first UCI Bike City — previously hosted the inaugural UCI Cycling World Championships in 2023, cementing its reputation as a world-class cycling destination.
Tickets are available exclusively to British Cycling members from March 3, with general sale opening on Ticketmaster at 10am on Monday, March 9.
Alpecin-Premier Tech Sticking with Cross-to-Road Formula
Wondering where Alpecin-Premier Tech rides not named Mathieu or Jasper are headed this spring?
Here’s a look at the calendars for three of their next-tier squad members, including next-up sprinter Kaden Groves, as well as crossers-turned-roadies Tibor Del Grosso and Emiel Verstrynge.
While we don’t expect that Del Grosso or Verstrynge will ever quite reach the level of van der Poel, at this point its a tried-and-true approach. Look for these guys to shake things up this spring!
MIKE’S RIDE OF THE WEEK: THE OAKLAND HILLS
Oakland, California, gets a bad rap — often fairly, based on my 13-years’ residence perspective.
But it’s also a place of tremendous vitality and diversity; concoct those elements and you can produce an electrifying outcome — like a breath-of-fresh-air gold medalist.
Oakland also offers unexpectedly fresh air — and stunning views and killer climbs — in its surrounding hillscape. I returned to ride there recently and loved taking in the vistas, not to mention the constant up-and-down.
The pavement can be pretty awful — hence my ride’s title — and it helps to know where the shoulder gets tight, but on a day like last Thursday, riding in the Oakland Hills is more than worth the effort.
Winter temps got you down? Check out this video review of Hotel Dory, a premier bike hotels located in Riccione on the Adriatic Coast, and start dreaming of a warm cycling vacation in Italy!
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