Cycling fans question Tadej Pogačar riding TT bike in rainbow bands… months on from claiming he always carries spare jersey “out of respect for Remco” (but does anyone actually care?); DT Swiss recall update + more on the live blog

Magdeleine Vallieres’ journey from relative obscurity to underdog victory at the World Championships in Rwanda this year was one of the great stories of the cycling season, the Canadian landing one of the longest-odds wins in professional cycling’s history.

Speaking with L’Équipe, Vallieres recalled her time pre-EF Education-Oatly, back when she raced for the continental WCC Team, part of the UCI’s World Cycling Centre project for supporting ambitions of riders from around the world.

Unfortunately during that spell, a coach’s actions saw Vallieres endure an eating disorder, something she now told the French newspaper she wants to raise awareness about in women’s cycling.

The world champion explained it all happened in her younger days when “I didn’t know the basics, and I didn’t realise how important it is to eat enough when you train a lot”.

“He [an unnamed former coach] told us we were fat, that we would be better off if we were lighter,” Vallieres explained. “He blackmailed us with food, saying that if we ate certain things, we’d have to run behind the team car.

“When someone grabs your stomach every morning to show you that you’re fat, it eventually gets into your head. I restricted myself; he said we weren’t allowed to eat sugar, even though we actually needed it. I ate more salad than anything else; it didn’t do me any good, it only made me feel worse.”

Fortunately for Vallieres, joining EF meant new coaches, but it still “took a year before I had a healthy mindset around nutrition again”.

“Anna, the team’s nutritionist, told me that getting my period back was becoming a priority — and that was also what I wanted, because I knew it wasn’t normal,” Vallieres recalled. “Being thin to win is not a good example for the next generation. It’s not right. My experience has taught me that being healthy is the best way to perform.”

There was no suggestion Vallieres was talking about anything other than her own personal experience. However, weight has been a hot topic in women’s cycling this year, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot winning the Tour de France after several months of rigorous preparation and strict dieting. Some accused the French rider of setting a bad example and forcing her colleagues to do the same if they want to compete, however, it’s also true that some of the criticism aimed at Ferrand-Prévot has not been levelled at male riders losing weight for big races (something that’s been part of men’s racing for decades).

Reflecting on this criticism in her post-race press conference earlier in the summer, Ferrand-Prévot said: “I have quite a lot of complaints on Instagram about it, that I am not a good example for young people. But I also think parents should educate their kids and say to them, ‘Ok, Pauline is like this because she’s preparing for the Tour de France, and it’s not forever’.

“Everyone prepares the way they want. For Roubaix, I was much heavier because I knew that I needed to be heavier to have some power on the flat. And for this race, I knew that I had to climb one and a half hours, so I tried to make the most of it.

> “I just hope young girls now don’t think they need to be super skinny”: Weight debate ignites at Tour de France Femmes after Pauline Ferrand-Prévot admits she “can’t stay like this forever” and Demi Vollering says “health is most important”

“You need to adapt to the terrain you have, and I also know that this shape I have now, I will not keep it forever. It’s just for the Tour de France. It’s also my job to be the best as possible, and we know that it’s an endurance sport, so if you need to climb, you have to have a good w/kg. So, yes, I made the choice, and I work hard for it.

“I don’t want to stay like this because I know it’s not 100 per cent healthy, but we also had a good plan with the nutritionist in the team and everything is in control. I didn’t do extreme, and I still had power left after nine days of racing. It’s a tricky subject, because you have to find the limit. I also know that I can’t stay like this forever. It’s the choice I made.”

Ferrand-Prévot’s GC rival Demi Vollering has said her “biggest priority is to be healthy” and that she hopes “that young girls now don’t think that they need to be super skinny to ride in the mountains”.

> Lorry driver “blinded by sun” when he killed cyclist cleared of careless driving

The BBC documentary we flagged on yesterday’s blog is now available to watch on the iPlayer. It has received plenty of love from those who caught it on BBC One last night after SPOTY.

In an update to its recall of certain carbon wheelsets, DT Swiss has said 80.3 per cent of potentially affected wheelsets registered have now been tested. In a statement published by Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, the brand admitted “not everything went smoothly” with the recall, DT Swiss accepting that some customers have been upset by the time it took for testing and returning wheelsets.

> Van Rysel recalls two RCR Pro road bike models, in response to Swiss Side and DT Swiss issues

“In individual cases, there were problems with logistical processes, or the products were damaged during transport,” according to DT Swiss. “Despite these circumstances, we received positive feedback from affected customers regarding the clarity of communication and the speed and professionalism with which their own cases were handled.”

All recall info is on DT Swiss’s website.

> Demi Vollering slams motorists who “didn’t even ask if I was okay” after “kissing tarmac” in training crash

After Mathieu van der Poel’s winning return to cyclocross last weekend at Namur, his great rival Wout van Aert is making his return this weekend, the pair set to race against each other in the mud for the first time since the World Championships back in February.

Thibau Nys, nine seconds behind Van der Poel last weekend, will be on the startline too, the organisers expecting bumper crowds. Van der Poel and Van Aert’s Christmas schedule will see them clash again on Monday, as well as on 29 December and the 2nd and 4th of January.

First up is Antwerp tomorrow, organisers from Flanders Classics suggesting they expect a bigger crowd than usual amid headlines of 1,000 tickets sold every day this week in anticipation of the latest chapter in the MvdP vs WVA story. If you’re local you can pay 21 euros (about £18) to be there in person or, if you’re stuck here in the UK, that’s £31 just for the privilege of watching it on TV via TNT Sports (although you will get the rest of the Christmas ‘cross action too). Wonderful…

> Triple world cyclocross champion Fem van Empel puts cycling career “on hold” and leaves Visma-Lease a Bike, admitting “the enjoyment and motivation are missing”

With Israel-Premier Tech rebranded as a non-Israeli team, and now racing under the NSN Cycling banner, former team boss Sylvan Adams’ presence at the first major training camp for the new squad might have seemed a strange development. After all, Premier Tech and Factor stopped supporting the team due to the controversy and protests around its Israeli identity. The NSN Cycling sponsorship, with Scott coming onboard as bike sponsor, was meant to be a new chapter. So why was Adams at the training camp?

Well, according to directeur sportif Óscar Guerrero it was just “a way of saying goodbye” and NSN Cycling is “a new team”. Guerrero did accept “the structure is very similar” but said “we have to look forward”.

“It is a new stage, with new illusions, and there is no point in looking back,” he told Marca. “It was a way of saying goodbye, of transmitting peace of mind and of making the transfer to the new members, leaving everything in good hands.”

It is infuriating that not only is this tone & quality of debate Lords make but also is entirely predictable from a former head of Met police. We have huge numbers of drivers on our streets driving illegally, without any enforcement, and millions nationwide without licence, insurance &/or MOT etc.

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— Simon Munk (@psimonk.bsky.social) 19 December 2025 at 09:21

Not even in the top 10 worst we’ve seen, but still…

Should I replace this chainring?
byu/Available-Invite3700 inbikewrench

> “Most drivers don’t know the rules”: Cyclist left with broken jaw as close passing motorist forces her into pothole before fleeing scene

In the latest episode of cycling coverage moving to TNT Sports, the broadcaster has outbid the BBC for the rights to the Commonwealth Games. The BBC has said it was “unable to match” TNT’s bid for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games which will take place from 23 July to 2 August next summer.

Ah, the bizarre situations that social media and everyone having a camera in their pocket produces. Eddy Merckx never had to deal with this…

So, to get you up to speed, Tadej Pogačar was the other day spotted training on his TT bike while wearing his road race rainbow jersey. A fashion error of which footage was shared on Instagram and then more widely on other platforms, the UAE Team Emirates star’s world champ’s jersey the topic of discussion as fans questioned whether he should be wearing such prized colours when he’s not the TT world champ.

In this case, he appears to have been caught out. Maybe the spare jersey was forgotten? In the wash? The team car with it not nearby? Who knows? Anyway, footage was captured, posted on social media, and now people are discussing it and pulling up Pogačar’s ‘respect for Remco’ comments and questioning what’s going on.

The bromance between Remco and Pogi is dead ???

— FuntasticMe (@IamFuntasticMe) December 17, 2025

We’d suggest it’s almost certainly a whole lot of nothing and question if anyone (let alone Remco) actually cares. But, it’s what people like to talk about online apparently.

Anyway, more recent footage of UAE Team Emirates’ team camp emerged yesterday and Pogačar was back on his TT bike… and in UAE team kit… drama over (until someone spotted Tim Wellens still wearing his Belgian road race champ’s jersey, and it all started over again).

pic.twitter.com/ARDVYt3Qsh

— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) December 18, 2025