Did Ineos just release the worst cycling kit of all time? Fans aghast at “offensively awful” orange and white kit… with ‘off-white’ shorts; Cyclist fumes at “oblivious” driver blocking path; Onley transfer update; Paris-Nice route + more on the live blog

Remco Evenepoel getting the win where it matters most. Even if it is the Belgian edition of Forbes:

Oscar Onley’s much-anticipated move to the Ineos Grenadiers could be sorted by the end of the week, the ever-reliable Daniel Benson has reported on his Substack.

Sources close to the situation have told Benson that negotiations between Ineos and Onley’s Picnic PostNL team are “in the final stages” and could even be wrapped up within 48 hours, though no agreement on a compensation package has been reached just yet.

Benson also reported that Onley, who finished fourth at this year’s Tour de France, has not turned up for Picnic’s December training camp, after the Scottish stage racer was initially given the first two days off to allow him to rest and recover from his jetlag, following a training block in Australia.

Onley at the 2024 Tour Down Under (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

However, even if Onley is confirmed as an Ineos rider this week, he won’t attend the team’s training camp, just down the road from Picnic’s in Calpe. Instead, he will travel with Ineos back down under in a few weeks anyway, ahead of the Tour Down Under, which he was planning to ride in any case.

So, it looks like this winter’s protracted transfer saga involving Ineos and a young British star could be over before Christmas. Though Ineos would be smart to hide today’s kit launch from Onley – if he sees that, he may want to change his mind…

This is a new “walking & cycling corridor” in Wandsworth #BurntwoodLane. Vehicle speeds will have gone up, pedestrian crossing distance have increased, and the only cycle lane along most of its length seem to be a painted white lane. WBC used up so much energy of local advocacy groups for this

[image or embed]

— HumanTravl (@humantravl.bsky.social) December 14, 2025 at 3:26 PM

But, you know, 12mph cyclists and all that. 

> Speed gun deployed to fine cyclists riding faster than 12mph in London park

Christmas? I can take it or leave it, if I’m honest. New Year’s Eve? Loads of overhyped, underwhelming nonsense. Paris-Nice route announcement? Yes, please – now this is what December is really all about.

The Race to the Sun, if you haven’t already guessed, is one of my favourite bike races on the planet. And next year’s edition, the details of which were announced this morning, promises to be extremely Parisy-Nicey.

Apart from one crucial element. Thanks to municipal elections taking place on the race’s final Sunday, on 15 March, Paris-Nice will not conclude on the Promenade des Anglais.

The lengthy promenade has served as the race’s traditional finale for almost the entirety of the last three decades, since replacing the iconic Col d’Èze time trial in the mid-1990s (though the 2012, 2013, and 2015 editions, won by Bradley Wiggins and Richie Porte twice, returned to the TT format on the Col d’Èze to decide the race).

A.S.O./Billy Ceusters

The 2026 race, however, will finish on the western outskirts of the city at the Allianz Riviera, the home of Ineos-owned football club OGC Nice (you know, the club where Dave Brailsford camped outside the training ground during his first ill-conceived foray into football).

That unusual finish means the annual trips to Èze, La Turbie, or more recently the Quatre Chemins are now off the table, with next year’s Paris-Nice set to be decided on the 3.3km, 8.8 per cent Côte de Linguador, which the riders will tackle 19km from the finish.

The Promenade des Anglais will, however, feature at next year’s race, as the setting for the start of the penultimate stage, which will finish on the 7.3km climb to Auron, a potentially decisive day for GC challengers like reigning two-time champion Matteo Jorgenson and potentially Simon Yates.

The rest of the eight stages are classic Paris-Nice fare: a lumpy start just north-west of the French capital, then a chance for the sprinters before the terrain gets increasingly tougher as the peloton races south, with three stages in a row featuring either hill-top finishes or climbs close enough to the line to decide the outcome.

All eyes, however, will be on stage three, a rolling, 23.5km team time trial, which will act as a dress rehearsal for the Tour de France’s opening TTT in Barcelona next year, which takes it lead from Paris-Nice’s innovative lead-out, first across the line format.

So, plenty of opportunities for some pre-Tour practice at the Race to the Sun, promising – as usual – lots of action. The only downside? I have a bloomin’ stag do to attend on the race’s final weekend, meaning I can’t make it. Damn.

Now, this is more like it. Canyon-SRAM (you’ll never catch me typing Zondacrypto… oh, wait) have become known for their colourful, almost psychedelic kit designs over the years.

And their 2026 threads are no exception, with the team this time opting for a bluey/purple theme to replace their outgoing pink-centric jersey:

Very cool.

And what makes it even cooler, the madness of the jersey is paired perfectly with some classic, no frills black shorts. See, that’s how you do it, Ineos.

Canyon-SRAM also announced that its “luminous” 2026 kit will make its debut on 4 January, when Zoe Bäckstedt is expected to be racing at the X2O Trofee Baal–GP Sven Nys, as the British star makes her cyclocross comeback after breaking her hand and wrist in a training crash last month.

I bet that kit will still look great covered in mud. The Ineos one on the other hand…

Turning unused, retro mountain bikes from the 1990s into fully-fledged modern gravel bikes is more than a hobby for some, as off-road.cc’s Rebecca Bland found out this week during a trip to Middlesbrough:

> Old-school MTBs are being given a new lease of life… As gravel bikes 

We’re back in Poole for some more shared path festivities, after local cyclist Paul Draper stumbled across this seemingly unnecessary bit of signage on Broadstone Way:

“Why do I need to dismount?” Paul asked on a local active trave Facebook page. “Shared path, no one working, loads of space, always more cyclists than walkers.

“At least they didn’t block the path with the sign for a change.” Every cloud, and all that.

However, some members of the group weren’t impressed with Paul’s disgruntlement at having to dismount.

“Because the sign says so!” wrote Ray. “Same as saying why do I have to do 30mph on a totally clear road in the middle of the night.”

Hmmm, not quite.

“Firstly my question was ‘Why’, as there is no need for it, as there is plenty of room, it is unnecessary,” Paul replied.

“Secondly, no, it’s not the same as a 30mph sign. That is a legally enforceable speed limit that you can get points for not obeying, whereas this sign, put up randomly by some bloke digging a hole, isn’t. They are almost entirely advisory so don’t need to be followed.

“However, there are a few rare locations where the council will have the appropriate TRO or other order in place, as well as the correct signage to make it legally enforceable. If it had been super narrow or very busy I would have of course got off and walked.”

What is it with shared-use paths in Dorset this week?!

In this mad modern world, you can’t be sure of anything, expect of course for death, taxes, and a Portuguese domestic pro getting busted for doping.

This time, it’s the turn of Antonio Carvalho, a three-time stage winner and double podium finisher at the Volta a Portugal – which essentially serves as cycling’s unofficial version of the Enhanced Games – who this afternoon has been slapped with a four-year ban by the UCI following “unexplained abnormalities” in his biological passport.

After turning pro in 2013 with LA Aluminios-Antarte, Carvalho spent his whole career toiling on the Portuguese domestic scene, riding for third-tier teams such as W52/FC Porto, Efapel, Glassdrive Q8 Anicolor, and most recently Feirense-Beeceler, his only victories coming courtesy of those stages at the Volta a Portugal.

After provisionally suspending him last month, the UCI confirmed today that the 36-year-old “has been sanctioned with a four-year period of ineligibility following an Anti-Doping Rule Violation for use of a prohibited substance and/or a prohibited method due to unexplained abnormalities in his Athlete Biological Passport in 2018, 2023 and 2024.”

Ironically, Carvalho’s Volta stage wins came in 2019, 2020, and 2022, so goodness knows what was going on during those years.

His suspension means he’ll be banned until 3 November 2029, a week after his 40th birthday. That gives him plenty of time to come back and take the biggest win of his career, just ask Chris Horner.

The UCI’s biological passport, which tracks a rider’s biological markers to indirectly identify potential doping, has picked up a few scalps in recent months, including former Unibet Tietema Rockets rider and Giro white jersey wearer Giovanni Carboni, as well as highly-rated Spanish all-rounder Oier Lazkano.

Lazkano, who established himself first as a classics specialist, and then a surprise mountainous stage race contender, while at Movistar, was sacked by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in October after news of his passport abnormalities came to light, though the former Spanish champion denies that he’s ever doped.

The Scottish government has announced £9.25 million in funding for the Edinburgh Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2027 – almost three times the initial “total estimated event cost” of hosting the race – which it says will “help Scotland realise the full potential of the social and economic benefits” cycling’s biggest race can bring.

Read more: > Scottish Tour de France Grand Départ budget trebles to over £10 million

Ouch.

The feedback continues to roll in for the Ineos Grenadiers’ 2026 orange-white-grey kit – and, to be honest, I’m struggling to find anyone who likes it.

“Oh my word, it is truly terrible,” sometime road.cc contributor Tim Bonville-Ginn wrote on BlueSky. “Ineos Grenadiers warned us with the teaser and then the leaked image of the training ride came out and, well, it is poor to say the least. The dirty or off white shorts really are what makes this so poor, for me.”

“It’s a ‘breach of contract’ kit. It is so ugly, riders should be able to unilaterally end their agreements,” added Hannesson.

road.cc reader SecretSam had the same idea, writing in the live blog comments: “That ripping sound you hear is Onley tearing up his contract with Skineos, having seen the new kit.”

“Onley’s move suddenly on ice after he saw what they expect him to wear?” asked Peter on Facebook.

“Motivation to get a national championship jersey,” said Pete.

“Nothing wrong with the orange but the bibs, WTF happened?” asked a bemused Jan.

“This kit is even worse than I thought. If you’re going with white shorts, why are they a different shade of white than the jersey?” added Tim.

“Well, at least it’ll standout in the peloton,” Cameron replied. “Oh hey, it’s the heinous looking colours, that’ll be utter shithead Jim Ratcliffe’s team.”

However, I will admit that not everyone was aghast at the new design – mostly because it reminded them of something else.

“The Ineos kit reminds me a little of the Repsol branded Escort Cosworth from the mid 90s. I am actually quite fond of it. Have seen worse,” said DS2025 in the comments.

And Mr Blackbird wrote: “The Ineos kit will be popular with fans of Blackpool FC, as long as the top is described as tangerine, not orange.”

“They look like Power Rangers,” said Diane, with another great retro reference.

“Thought Dynorod just turned up to unblock the drains for a minute,” joked Thomas.

And, finally, Lisa did see one upside to the white/grey/off-white/who cares shorts: “The pervy side of me will be enjoying the season a bit more now.”

I think that’s a plus?

At least one positive that’s come out of Ineos’ kit launch is that it gave us the chance to dig into the archives and excavate some proper pro cycling fashion disasters from over the years.

As I mentioned earlier, Ineos’ new shorts may be a weird shade of kitchen cupboard light grey, but at least they aren’t faux denim. Looking at you, Alpecin-Deceuninck and your double denim 2024 kit:

Alpecin’s look was inspired, of course, by the OG of ‘cycling kit but let’s make it look like we’re going to the pub’ design: Marco Pantani’s Carrera look from the mid-1990s:

If Tobias Fünke was a cycling kit… Although, to be fair, my dad did love this kit, so it does have its fans.

And who could forget AG2R’s grey denim shorts look, which was broken out for one day and one day only at the 2023 Strade Bianche?

Speaking of AG2R, no recap of bad cycling kits can skip out the French squad’s iconic brown shorts era. It’s wild to think we actually got used to this:

Around 15 years ago, Footon-Servetto also thought it was a good idea to design a weird beige kit with a massive foot on the front of the jersey (it was supposed to be gold and black, apparently)…

That kit used to be worn at grand tours, believe it or not. I also got a good look at it while riding my bike in Mallorca as a teeanger, when I jumped onto the wheel of a Footon rider during a motor pacing session. It didn’t look any better up close, if I’m honest.

And finally, let’s all shake our heads in exasperation one last time at the pinnacle of bad cycling kits – Bogota Humana’s flesh-coloured horror show from 2014, which prompted a huge backlash and was described by then-UCI president Brian Cookson as “unacceptable by any standard of decency”:

Well, at least Ineos’ kit isn’t that bad, I suppose.

Fancy a game of anti-cycling bingo this cold December Wednesday? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Cards and pens at the ready…

This morning, the cyclist behind the Dorset Safer Roads social media account got in touch, to send us a clip from his commute last night – which has angered more than a few motorists over on Facebook, it’s fair to say.

The clip shows the cyclist, in his words, “carefully proceeding up a shared path” on Wallisdown Road in Poole, only “to come across a driver blocking the path whilst waiting to turn right”.

“The driver, like a rabbit in the headlights, just sat there, seemingly completely oblivious to the obstruction they were causing,” the cyclist told us.

In the clip, the bemused cyclist can be heard asked the waiting driver: “Are you not going to move back? No? Thank you!”. Eventually, the cyclist gives up waiting for the driver to reverse back off the shared path and rides out onto the road to pass them, uttering one final, pertinent question: “What the f***ing hell are you doing?”

“Nope just going to sit there, who cares about pedestrians and cyclists, they can just wait or go round?” the cyclist sacrcastically asked after posting the video.

“And yes, this is a shared path. I predict the comments on this one are going to be LOADS of ‘fun’!”

He was not wrong. Here’s a selection of the “anti-cycling driver apologist bingo” calls – and some sensible comments, depending on your viewpoint – the cyclist has enjoyed last night and this morning:

Craig: “If you need to pull that far out to have a clear view then it is what it is. You can’t stay back indefinitely because a dick on a bike might come past.”

Andy: “Maybe you should have been on the road.”

Brett: “Car has every right to pull out onto the pavement to exit. Cyclist should not have been on the pavement when the cycle path ended.”

Robert: “They’re called FOOTPATHS.”

Evidence of the shared nature of the path, in case you were wondering

Alan: “Cyclist is a knob, can’t he see the car is indicating and waiting to turn right onto the road?”

Brian: “Stop mouthing off you moron, get off your bike and walk around the back of the car or is that too simple for you?”

Mark: “I’m a cyclist (and have no car) and as irritated as I get by some motorists, you can hardly expect this guy to station his car in the car park and have no view of oncoming traffic. You can clearly see there is a wall that is obstructing his view, so basically he will have to constantly move forward and reverse back the whole time multiple times just to check for oncoming cars. Alternatively he would have to get out of his car to watch oncoming traffic and then run quickly back to his car.”

Andrew: “It was clearly positioned at the best place to view traffic as you say. Perhaps the cam rider needs to take the issue up with the local council regarding a poor design of cycle path approaching the car park exit rather than the motorist?”

Lewis: “All a bit pointless, people make mistakes drivers and riders but give people a break and work round each other rather than make it a huge drama. Life’s hard enough so let people off once in a while.”

Darren: “Lots of options here. Go through the car park on bike. That car should go out the exit not entrance don’t know how she did that because there are one way metal plates. Bike could just go around back of car.”

Darren’s suggestion prompted the cyclist to reply: “We shouldn’t have to though, should we? The driver should not have blocked the path. It is that simple. The Highway Code is clear, do not proceed unless it is clear. That counts for the road AND the paths.”

> The Highway Code for cyclists — all the rules you need to know for riding on the road explained

Keith: “To be honest I would have reversed to not block your path. But the speed you are doing on a shared path is excessive, you should have been on the road. and you would have no problem going in front of the car. Plus your aggressive swearing should get you arrested.”

Malcolm: “Going a bit fast on the bike aren’t we with all those pedestrians?” Danger to everybody, typical entitled cyclist.”

Kay: “Literally go around you menace. As a cyclist this is the reason we are hated. I don’t mess with cars. The tonnes of metal vs a thin frame and human flesh, nah.”

Meanwhile, Eddie responded to the clip by going all Ian Duncan Smith on cyclists: “Local councils and the government need to put this debate to bed and actually give laws on cyclists and stop beating about the bush.

“I personally believe unless you’re a child, i.e. under 16, then you should be using the road with your bike (and using it properly with hand signals, hi vis etc).”

> Motorists’ group brands council “snowflakes” as cycle lane meeting cancelled, despite police advising councillors not to attend over safety fears

And finally, Ryan (not me, I should add) concluded: “Typical cyclist wants to own the road and the pavement in exceptional ignorance.”

“I said the comments would be fun didn’t I?” the cyclist asked, after sifting through over 200 complaints.

“So many of you have no clue what you are supposed to do. STOP BLOCKING PATHS.”

We were baffled by the teaser and horrified by the leaks. But the moment we’ve been waiting for all December has finally arrived – the Ineos Grenadiers’ new kit for 2026 was officially revealed this morning.

And boy, is it… interesting. According to kit manufacturer Gobik, the British squad’s new threads mark “a clear evolution of the team’s visual identity”. Which, I imagine, simply means a bright, traffic cone-themed orange chest and shoulders… and white shorts.

I’ll say it again, white shorts. And a weird off-white too, like something a Gen Zer would paint their kitchen. At least Adam Blythe will be happy. Though, judging by the publicity photos, it looks like Josh Tarling and the rest of the lads aren’t too pleased with the out-there design:

Smile lads, just think of how good the kit will look during the classics when it’s been raining non-stop…

“Built around a brighter palette, the design places orange at its core for the first time, chosen to maximise visibility and stand out in the WorldTour peloton. Set against a light base, it delivers contrast, energy, and a bold look,” Gobik CEO Alberto Garcia said in a statement.

Bold – that’s one way of putting it.

But apparently the new kit isn’t just about the cutting-edge design (thank goodness).

“The design is not only aesthetic, but also functional,” Gobik added, stretching the definition of aesthetic to breaking point.

“The new kit features the Reactive 2.0 jersey and the Lancer Diamond bib shorts, developed within Gobik’s most advanced competition collection, ensuring precision, performance, and comfort in every stage.

“With this launch, Ineos Grenadiers reaffirms its commitment to innovation and design, offering a sophisticated, functional, and memorable kit designed to ensure the team stands out within the WorldTour peloton.”

Yep, they’ll be standing out alright. I imagine Egan Bernal, Dorian Godon, and Sam Watson will be happy to hide in the crowd in their national champs jerseys this spring.

No, it doesn’t look any better from the back…

The early reviews are in, and let’s just say they’re not overwhelmingly favourable.

“Oh my dear f***ing God, that’s offensively awful,” wrote Dan Deakins. So, three out of five stars then, Dan?

And to think this is the same team who, back in 2010, were the epitome of style and sophistication in the peloton, thanks to their uber-cool, Adidas-manufactured OG black and blue kit (all that clichéd, ultimately prophetic silliness about the ‘thin blue line’ at the back notwithstanding).

But hey, I know how we can save this kit launch – by getting the whole team to pose alongside one of this Ineos 4x4s…

Classy, very classy.