This cycling news roundup runs the gamut from the Evenepoel-Vingegaard 1-2 punch that almost was to Godon’s emergence, Groenewegen’s re-emergence, and Laurance’s arrival. All that, plus a look back at Paris-Roubaix past, a lap around the gravel roads of Davis, California — and a check on…mustaches?
TOP STORY
- Volta a Catalunya: Evenepoel’s Audacity Foiled by Late Crash
RACE NEWS
- Volta a Catalunya First Three Stages: Godon Rises to the Top
- He’s Back: Groenewegen Completes Hat-Trick at Ronde Van Brugge
Laurance Opens His Account at Coppi e Bartali
- The Race That Got Away: Adrie van der Poel’s Missed Opportunity
- Mike’s Plea: Remco to MSR!
TEAM AND RIDER NEWS
- Van Gils Taking It One Step at a Time After Jaén Horror Crash
- This Week’s Look at…Mustaches in the Peloton
MIKE’S RIDE OF THE WEEK
- The Davis Gravel Loop
Volta a Catalunya: Evenepoel’s Audacity Foiled by Late Crash
It was very nearly a replay of my one of my favorite races of all time: Stage 11 of the 2016 Tour, when Peter Sagan attacked in a crosswind, and only Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas could hang onto his wheel.
This time the stage was smaller — the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya ain’t exactly the Tour de France — but the effort no less audacious: With high mountains looming, favoring rival Jonas Vingegaard, and with echelons already having formed, and with GC contender Joao Almeida chasing in a second group, Remco Evenepoel attacked in steady crosswinds — and only Vingegaard could follow.
From there it was vintage Remco: the unrelenting power, the “Aero Bullet” positioning — and the complaining that Vingegaard wouldn’t pull, the gesticulating, and the stochastic effort: At one point Evenepoel sat entirely up, determining (or perhaps hearing in his earpiece) that the chasing pack would soon swarm him and Vingegaard — but then stomped on the pedals, widened the gap again (with Jonas still following), and would likely have stayed away to the finish, had he not somehow crashed. On his own, while leading.
We assume that in his fierce aero determination, he had his head down and didn’t see the hole in the pavement that he later described.
Showing typical class, Vingegaard soon slowed and allowed the sprinters’ teams to pass, and the stage was won by Ineos’ Dorian Godon.
Vintage Remco indeed, all the way through to the interview. Having wagged his elbow at the following Vingegaard like he was dancing the Funky Chicken through most of 20 kilometers, when asked about Jonas’ “cooperation,” he responded flatly that it was “amazing.” And suppressed a smile.
Heading into the mountains, we can conclude that Evenepoel is likely the same rider that we’ve seen in the past, leveraging the same strengths — but this may be a new version of Vingegaard: Even bigger power riders weren’t able to close the gap to Evenepoel, but the skinny climber was (much like another skinny climber — Froome, back in 2016).
RACE NEWS
Volta a Catalunya First Three Stages: Godon Rises to the Top
The 2026 Volta a Catalunya was delivering drama even before the echelons, the attack and the crash in Stage Three. As the GC picture is still forming, and didn’t clarify today, thanks to Evenepoel’s tumble, the headline story is Dorian Godon’s dominance.
Stage 1 — Sant Feliu de Guíxols (loop), 23 March
The opening stage featured roughly 2,000 metres of climbing, with the peloton tackling the Alt de Romanyà and the Alt de Sant Hilari early in the day. UAE Team Emirates-XRG drove hard in the closing kilometers to thin out the peloton, but a significant portion regrouped before the finish. Tom Pidcock launched his sprint from distance, forcing an early response, before Evenepoel surged past — but it was Godon who timed his effort to perfection, coming alongside in the final meters to take victory in a tight photo finish. A fine way to open the racing.
Stage 2 — Figueres to Banyoles, 24 March
Stage 2 covered 167.4km with 1,900 meters of elevation and a single classified climb, setting up what looked like a straightforward sprint. A five-man break made things lively early on, but were eventually reeled in on the lumpy terrain. When it came down to it, Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) proved the sharpest tool in the box, hitting the front with 150 meters to go and holding on for a well-deserved win. Godon, safely in the bunch, kept his leader’s jersey.
Stage 3 — Mont-roig del Camp to Vila-seca, 25 March
The 159.4km third stage packed action even before the crosswinds blew and the echelons formed — but as I described above, that action ramped up dramatically when the peloton began to split. The Evenepoel escape, the Jonas close, the easing of the pace — followed by another acceleration, and the duo looked like they might actually stay away…when Remco crashed. When the dust settled, it was Godon again who read the finish best, taking his second stage win in a small-group sprint and cementing his grip on the overall lead.
Godon is not only the story of this race, but is also one of the revelations of this young season. His days in the leader’s jersey are almost certainly over, with a brutal finishing climb closing tomorrow’s stage, but we’ll surely see him with his arms raised again.
Top Ten in GC Standings After Three Stages — thanks to Pro Cycling Stats.
He’s Back: Groenewegen Completes Hat-Trick at Ronde Van Brugge
If you had any doubts about whether Dylan Groenewegen was back to his very best, Wednesday’s Ronde Van Brugge put them firmly to rest. The 32-year-old Dutchman made it three wins from three race days in Belgium, taking the rebranded classic — formerly the Classic Brugge-De Panne — in a reduced bunch sprint over Jasper Philipsen, with Max Kanter (XDS Astana) completing the podium. The only people not happy to see the result — besides his sprint rivals, as well as Fabio Jakobsen, we assume — may be the organizers of the Tour de France, which left Groenewegen’s Unibet Rose Rockets team off of its 2026 start list.
After crashing hard on stage 5 of last year’s UAE Tour and abandoning with a concussion, Groenewegen had a difficult 2025 to put behind him. He seems to have done exactly that, having signed with the Rockets on a two-year deal and then hitting the ground running in 2026. Wednesday’s win was his fourth of the season, having already taken the Bredene Koksijde Classic, the Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana and the GP Jean-Pierre Monseré. The man looks seriously dangerous right now.
The race itself was a brutal affair. With strong winds and the constant threat of echelons, there was no proper breakaway — just a day of attrition as the peloton was repeatedly torn apart from around 80 kilometres to go. Groenewegen punctured with 63km remaining but stayed on a flat tyre until the bunch came through for the final circuit, a potentially race-ending moment that his team handled with cool heads. In the end it came down to a straight fight between the two fastest men left standing. Philipsen was boxed in until Gerben Thijssen ushered him to the front with 300 metres to go — but it was too early, and Groenewegen came over the top to seal it.
For Unibet Rose Rockets, it was the biggest victory in the team’s history and their first at WorldTour level. With the cobbled classics on the horizon, the rest of the sprint peloton had better be watching.
Top Ten – 50th Ronde van Brugge – thanks to Pro Cycling Stats.
Laurance Opens His Account at Coppi e Bartali
While his teammate Dorian Godon was winning yet another race, Axel Laurance announced himself in style on Wednesday, taking a dominant stage win on the opening day of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali and pulling on the first leader’s jersey of the race.
The INEOS Grenadiers man had the full backing of his team from the gun. The 161.1km stage from Barbaresco to Barolo was no pushover — four categorized climbs, culminating in La Morra (6.5km at 4.6%), followed by a further ten uphill kilometers to the finish in Barolo. Eight riders went early, with Visma development rider Patryk Goszczurny animating proceedings and banking enough mountain points to take the first KOM jersey. But the break never got more than three minutes, with INEOS and EF Education-EasyPost keeping the elastic tight before snapping it altogether at the foot of La Morra.
From there, it was a controlled operation. INEOS drove hard on the final run-in, setting Laurance up perfectly — and the Frenchman delivered, outsprinting Mauro Schmid and Diego Ulissi with authority. Milan Vader was a respectable seventh. A polished team performance, and a confident start for Laurance.
Top Ten – 41st Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali – thanks to Cycling Stats
The Race That Got Away: Adrie van der Poel’s Missed Opportunity
Thanks to the organizers of Paris-Roubaix — now known as Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de France for this very timely historical perspective.
For every cyclist who has loved Paris-Roubaix, winning it is the ultimate dream. Yet the Hell of the North’s legend is shaped as much by its near-misses as its champions. Among those who came closest without ever lifting a cobble, Adrie van der Poel stands out — father of three-time winner Mathieu, and a world-class rider in his own right.
Van der Poel won the 1996 cyclo-cross world championship, the 1986 Ronde van Vlaanderen, and the 1988 Liège–Bastogne–Liège. But Roubaix, his favourite race, eluded him across 14 participations. His best chance came in 1986, a week after dominating the Ronde. Conditions were perfect — dry after a week of rain, exactly as he liked it. He rode flawlessly into the finale, only to lose the sprint to Sean Kelly, with Belgian Rudy Dhaenens also pipping him. “I probably didn’t ride the smartest sprint of my career,” he admits. “I was almost certain of a podium. So I wasn’t 100% focused on winning.”
His rivalry with Kelly was one of cycling’s great duels. They shared four Monument podiums; Van der Poel won one, Kelly the other three. “He’s perhaps the best rider of the 1980s–90s,” Van der Poel says with genuine admiration.
The regret lingered. “Roubaix would have really counted. It was my favourite race.” The Hell of the North waited for his son to deliver what the father never could.
Mike’s Plea: Remco to MSR!
Five days later, we’re still basking in the glow of an electric Milan-Sanremo.
But as particularly greedy bike racing fans, after watching almost all of the Galacticos go head-to-head(-to-head-to-head-to-head…), we’re exclaiming: We want more!
More riders to contend over the Cipressa and the Poggio and onto the via Roma.
In particular, we ask: Where’s Remco?
The Belgian clearly hasn’t given up on his dream of winning the Tour, but our skepticism grows every time he falls off on a steep climb, or when Pogačar wins yet another Tour — or when del Toro or Seixas stake their heir-apparent claim.
Meanwhile, what other rider is better positioned (literally) to fly up the Cipressa — basically a nine-minute time trial — tucked in behind Pogi? Who else could better relay the Cipressa-Poggio stretch — while offering minimal draft to his breakmates/rivals?
Meanwhile, he’s got the right team around him to stay protected…Who can get a message from Pez into the Red Bull folks?
We have about 360 days to convince them.
Mike’s note: I wrote this before Evenepoel’s romp in Stage 3 of Catalunya!
TEAM AND RIDER NEWS
Van Gils Taking It One Step at a Time After Jaén Horror Crash
Just over a month on from his terrifying crash in the Clásica Jaén — where a collision with Jan Christen in the sprint left him with a broken pelvis and shoulder — Maxim Van Gils is making steady progress at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre in Austria.
It has been a long road even to get this far. The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider spent the early weeks of his recovery in a wheelchair, then on crutches, but has now reached the milestone of walking unaided. Better still, he has completed his first sessions on the rollers — no small thing when a broken pelvis is involved. His first ride brought some anxiety, but the 26-year-old was soon standing on the pedals, feeling the legs come back to life.
The target is a return to racing in June, though outdoor riding will have to wait until his body is ready. Given how far he has come in four weeks, that deadline looks eminently achievable.
Thanks to Wielerflits for this content.
This Week In…Mustaches in the Peloton
While following racing over the last week — a screen in the background while I chipped away at my day job — I was pretty sure I kept noticing…mustaches.
Sure enough: While in the past Pez reported on the abundance of beards in the pro ranks, and while you can’t swing a blown tire without hitting a mustache at a gravel race — their handlebars even have a ‘stache shape — upper-lip hirsuteness has recently found its place in the World Tour.
Over the last week, mustering a mustache seems correlated with success. After all, we’ve seen Magnus Cort win a stage…
…and Dorian Godon emerge as a top sprinter.
Brandon McNulty was Man of the Match in leading Pogačar up the Cipressa during Milan-Sanremo.
I was thinking Pidcock might also be fueled by the ‘stache, but I guess that’s a goatee — technically a beard. It’s so light, you can hardly blame me…
…but on Campenaerts, who dragged van Aert back to the chasing pack at MSR? That’s definitely a mustache.
Alas: a mustache is no guarantee of success — or safety: Jay Vine, owner of one of the best mustaches out there, and just recovered from his kangaroo collision in January, went down in the Catalunya stage Wednesday.
We’ll continue to monitor the peloton’s mustaches for you, and will make special note when Quinn Simmons begins racing again.
MIKE’S RIDE OF THE WEEK:
THE DAVIS GRAVEL LOOP
While our extended group ride reaches our nearest hills, 15 miles away, Davis itself is farm-flat — and for good reason: the University of California Davis was originally Berkeley’s agriculture extension, and we’re surrounded by pasture and fields.
In fact, a levee rings the town, just in case nearby Putah Creek or the Sacramento River ever severely floods, and that levee is topped by a gravel road.
This isn’t serious gravel; our farm roads won’t ever be part of the Lifetime Grand Prix. But they make for a pleasant, safe off-road ride — and last November, a local rider actually did turn our levee loop into a very low-key race.
I recently took my new Batch bike on a spin around that loop, hoping to steal back a KOM or two.
Once again, if you’re ever near Sacramento, message me; I’d love to go for a spin on the levee gravel!
Like I said: We’re still glowing from Milan – San Remo, so if you haven’t checked out Richard’s San Remo-themed interview with Chris Horner…do so!
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