“There needed to be a cycle map for London that made safety its focus”: Homemade cycle map racks up a million views; Fans plea for free-to-air coverage of the Grands Départs; Blogger calls out lack of segregated cycle lanes in city + more on the live blog

After a surprising podium place at last year’s Vuelta a España, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Pidcock might be tempted to focus less on the classics. After all, the Pinarello Q36.5 rider has already skipped the cyclocross season for the second year running and a return to mountain biking looks quite remote. Plus, Pidcock’s team have invitations to all three Grand Tours this year, with Pidcock surely tempted to focus on leading his team at the Tour de France. Not so…

Pinarello have this morning announced that Pidcock will begin his season a fortnight before the traditional ‘Opening Weekend’, starting his season with a series of Spanish one day and short stage races before lining up at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on the 28th February.

Then comes the Italian bloc, comprising Strade Bianchi, which the Brit won in 2023 and was second to Tadej Pogacar last year, Milano-Torino and Milan-Sanremo where he’ll be aiming for a first victory in a Monument.

If that’s not enough, the Brit is then scheduled to race the week-long Volta a Catalunya two days after Sanremo in preparation for the Ardennes classics. Liège–Bastogne–Liège is the big objective on the 26th April, and puts to bed any notion of the Yorkshireman sacrificing the classics to become a pure GC rider, for now at least. We even have a quote from Pidcock on the lack of a change in focus:

“My schedule stays quite similar to previous years. But adding in some new races to keep things fresh. But also to give time to training blocks and periodisation to make sure I am ready for the races that matter most!”

Tom Pidcock’s full spring schedule:

• Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia (13–14 February)
• Clásica Jaén (16 February)
• Vuelta a Andalucía (18–22 February)  
• Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (28 February)
• Strade Bianche (7 March) 
• Milano–Torino (18 March)
• Milano–Sanremo (21 March)
• Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (23–29 March)
• De Brabantse Pijl (17 April)
• Amstel Gold Race (19 April)
• La Flèche Wallonne (22 April)
• Liège–Bastogne–Liège (26 April)

Bike Worcester appearances in the road.cc live blog are like buses. You wait so long… blah blah blah.

After yesterday’s appearance in the live blog for unveiling a cycling flood app which advises riders when shared-use riverside paths are under water (a common issue in Worcestershire) they’re making an appearance today for their work in tracking road traffic collisions.

Having first caught the attention of the Malvern Gazette, Dan Brothwell has been uploading RTC data to Bike Worcester’s blog, in an effort “to increase awareness of antisocial, dangerous, and illegal driving in Worcester and its surroundings.” And, in his latest post, Brothwell has kept at it, highlighting the (approximate) 474.5 metres of segregated cycle lanes in the city, including one stretch that runs to just 9 metres in length! I suppose you have to start somewhere…

And any Worcester story is a perfect excuse to reshare this splendid photo of their former mayor.

> “I don’t see why the next 12 months should be any different”: New mayor pledges to cycle to all events

In the wake of last weekend’s national championships, won by Cam Mason and Anna Flynn respectively, we now have the schedule for next year’s National Trophy Series as well as the National Cyclocross Championships which will be held at Clanfield in the South Downs.

Here’s the full National Trophy Series calendar:  

Round 1: Derby, East Midlands – 17/18 October 2026 

Round 2: Pontypool, Wales – 7/8 November 2026 

Round 3: Cyclopark, South East – 28/29 November 2026 

Round 4: Shrewsbury, West Midlands – 19/20 December 2026.  

Round 5 & 6: Peel Park, Bradford – 23/24 January 2027 

National Cyclo-cross Championships: Clanfield, South – 9/10 January 2027 

Bold of you to presume we could go a week without a doping story of some sort…

> The Gran Fondo doping curse strikes again: 41-year-old amateur cyclist tests positive for steroids after Masters world championship win

We’ve been short of silly stories, particularly unacceptable for a friday, so here’s something suitably odd and mildly amusing…

Passing time waiting on those lights to change… ??#TourDownUnder?? pic.twitter.com/FJ5D8fRv2h

— Team Picnic PostNL (@picnicpostnl) January 16, 2026

I’m reliably informed by someone older than me (whose modesty I’ll spare for now) that there is a reference to be drawn here to Joop Zoetemelk on Superstars. This person can count themself lucky that I even know what Superstars is…

I’ll be honest, yesterday was really rather exciting. The Tour de France Hommes and Femmes are coming to these shores, and now we can start planning our routes. It’s also a perfect excuse for civil architecture to pay tribute with a certain colour scheme.

My colleague Ryan attended yesterday’s press conference and has an excellently detailed write-up of the whole shebang. But with the dust settling a little bit, we can start to look at other details, beyond the banal but adorable trend of applying French names to Lancashire’s finest climbs…

Côte de Jubilee Tower, Côte de Waddington Fell… I cannot.. it is too precious #TDF2027

[image or embed]

— Anna Mac ?? ?? (@annamacb.bsky.social) 15 January 2026 at 22:59

For example, we reported last month that the Scottish leg of the men’s Grand Depart had trebled its budget. With the route confirming, as suspected, that the route would immediately leave Edinburgh southwards, crossing the border before the opening stage is even done, is that a good return on investment for the Scottish Government? 

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

Then there’s the elephant in the room, the matter of who can actually watch this? The Grand Depart organising committee were keen to emphasise in their materials that around 10 million people will come within an hour’s drive of both races, but for the other 60 odd million people in the country, what are their options?

With the (beloved) ITV Cycling production being put out of business by TNT from next year, there are no arrangements in place for free-to-air coverage to be broadcast of either the men’s or women’s event. The comments section of social media posts announcing the route (past all the bots) were very much of the same opinion: 

Pity the majority of Brits won’t be able to watch as it’s no longer on free-to-air channel.

— Jo-Anne Burrow (@lalaburrow) January 15, 2026

“​But where can you watch it live on TV without paying huge amounts?”

“Shame it’s another great British sporting event which will be behind a pay wall and many sports fans will not be able to watch”

“Pity the majority of Brits won’t be able to watch as it’s no longer on free-to-air channel.”

You get the idea. Thankfully Ryan had the foresight to ask about this at yesterday’s presser and was told “As you’ve probably seen, the contract sits with TNT,” but that there was “a commitment to work with Christian [Prudhomme] and the team at ASO to bring the six stages to free-to-air TV and work on that is ongoing.”

A commitment to work with people to achieve an outcome isn’t yet the sort of ironclad commitment to an outcome that you might be hoping for by the time of this sort of announcement. We’ll be watching closely over the next year to see what we can do about this, short of writing letters begging for an Imlach comeback…

Stage 1

Gary hit the race hard on the first day with this magnificent black number.

Just check out the details.

The collar is superb.

Everything about it screams class, style and impeccable judgement.

Surely a race winning performance on day one. pic.twitter.com/9HLhfrN665

— Gary Imlach’s Peloton of Joy (@ImlachHair) July 26, 2024

Build it and they will come…

> Dublin cycle lane “like Amsterdam” due to “amazing” number of cyclists, politician says – on same route where council was accused of hiring actors on bikes for ‘staged’ video

Here’s a strange story that tests my talent for inserting relevant cultural references to the limit. 

USA Cycling have announced that they will receive a portion of revenue raised from  heavy metal outfit Five Finger Death Punch‘s latest tour.

The Vegas-based five-piece have a track record of supporting charitable causes, having previously donated ticket proceeds to veterans charities. How on earth they made the leap to cycling I’m not quite sure.

In the Instagram post announcing the generosity, rather than acting Paranoid, USA Cycling say “$1 from every ticket sold [will support] USA Judo and USA Cycling’s BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle teams.” 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by USA Cycling (@usacycling)

They add that the band, not wanting to appear on the Wrong Side of Heaven, are “expanding [their] mission with the launch of its campaign to support Team USA and align with the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games being held on American soil in Los Angeles in 2028.” 

Maybe USA Cycling will be saying, to these masters of Hard Rock, “Hallelujah” after such an act of philanthropy.

Something about USA Cycling blog stories being like buses…

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Rapha (@rapha)

Reminds me of the Gran Fondo world champions jersey, or the leaders jerseys of the Volta a Catalunya for that matter. 

Remember this reveal comes exactly a week after Rapha shut half of its American clubhouses…

> Rapha to shut Manchester clubhouse and half of its American branches – week before unveiling new USA Cycling team kit

I was (gently) critiqued a few weeks ago for calling Pascal Ackermann a B-tier sprinter. I happen to think it depends on how many riders you think can exist on a top tier at any one time.

Well regardless, hopefully my application of the same moniker to Niccolo Bonifazio won’t be as debatable. Since retiring at the end of 2024 you must have been wondering what the former Lampre and Bahrain fast-man has been up to. Turns out he can be found motorpacing Tadej Pogacar…

? Almost the only way Tadej Pogacar can train uphill riding with pacing for a longer period of time. Hire moto rider. Niccolo Bonifazio riding moto uphill as fast as he descended Cipressa in Milano-Sanremo some years ago.pic.twitter.com/xh8zglgVSP

— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) January 16, 2026

Ryan chatted to Rory Hitchens about the state of the bicycle industry, and an array of other topics, some of which we even mentioned on this page today!

Listen (or read) below:

> “The cycling industry needed a good shake-up”: Can bike brands finally breathe again in 2026? Why the industry is back on track and “wiser” after years of turmoil + Tour de France UK Grands Départs reaction

We’re not used to such a feel-good write up of bicycles from much of print media, though we should have probably known that Metro would be more public transport/active travel friendly than most…

They’ve got a nice story in today’s print edition about 34-year-old Aydin Crouch who, after realising he couldn’t find a good cycling map for his bike-averse flatmates, set about making his own. 

3000 hours later, the map is finished, with colour coordination according to the type of infrastructure, low traffic neighbourhoods and planned future infrastructure. It’s a hell of an effort that we can only commend. And it’s been viewed one million times in the last year.

You can view Aydin’s map below, and see the full-write up here.