“They don’t care, they already have our money”: Drama hits the Traka amid claims of winners cutting corners, drafting, dodgy GPS tracking, and safety concerns; Seixas Tour reaction; Kopecky slams sprint fine; EF’s alien Giro kit + more on the live blog

The Traka, Europe’s biggest gravel race, took place over the weekend in Girona, and there was no shortage of eye-catching rides across the event’s five distances.

In the event’s flagship Traka 360 (held over 323km, in case you were wondering), former Katusha and Israel-Premier Tech pro Mads Würtz Schmidt, now riding for Specialized Off-Road, became the first ever rider to break the 10-hour barrier for the race. Canyon-Sram’s Rosa Klöser followed up her busy classics campaign on the road with a similarly dominant victory in the women’s race.

The Traka 200 was won by Lukas Pöstlberger and Sofía Gómez Villafañe, while in the mammoth Traka 560 – a brutal 22-hour race – Factor’s Victor Bosoni sealed his second consecutive win and British rider Maddy Nutt secured an impressive debut victory.

However, despite all that, it’s fair to say the online fall-out from the Traka has arguably been spicier and more dramatic than the racing itself.

First up, mountain bike legend Nino Schurter, who finished fifth in the Traka 200, complained on social media about the race’s security protocols, writing: “Retirement is looking a lot like 200km of full-gas racing. Happy with P5 at the Traka in Girona! But in all honesty, this race needs to address rider safety. Too many sketchy moments!”

And yesterday, ultra-cyclist Angus Young – another fifth place finisher, this time in the Highway to Hell (sorry, had to be done) that is the 560 – shared his frustrations with the event’s seemingly GPS tracking system and what he claimed was a spate of rule-bending ignored by the organisers.

 

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Detailing his race on Instagram, Young said: “Coming back into town the GPX track took us through a river bed instead of the bike path 20m to our right so when we got out and saw Chris with Guillaume not far behind it was time to put the power on and then it was full gas all the way to the line to finish fifth.

“I only just realised that I was only nine minutes off fourth. Which brings me to the race overall. The organisation by Klassmark left a lot to be desired.

“The start time was changed multiple times, the timing chips didn’t work so no one actually knew their finishing time or position, the tracking was unworkable but most importantly they didn’t enforce their own rules, when there is proof that the winner cut corners and had small deviations they have to do something about it and instead [their] reply is that it was ‘valid’.

“I’m not saying that it would have made the difference but that’s not the point. Do better Victor Bosoni.”

Young then shared photos which appeared to show race winner Bosoni cutting 400m off the route, writing: “I’m not saying that it made the difference but integrity is important in this game. So cutting 400m matters.”

Later, a clearly irked Young added: “Over the last day or so, stories have surfaced about people throughout the whole field getting resupply from friends, drafting… The organisers don’t seem to care as they already have our money and a result that fits the narrative.”

For everyone struggling to keep up at the back, we’ve so far heard accusations of sketchy safety moments, illegal drafting, illegal help from friends, race winners cutting corners, and terrible GPS signals.

Oh, and according to Tor Divide organiser Valerio Stuart, riders have also been “casting doubts on ex-pros coming back from doping bans”, while he also joked that the organisers were using ‘Dungeons and Dragons rules’ for their live tracking updates.

“Your dot might move, or not, it’s up to the dices,” he wrote, before adding: “It’s unsupported, but if you can afford it, you have your mate/GF/dad checking on you along the course… Winners can’t cut corners. Literally do not cut corners FFS.”

The spirit of gravel, eh?

Cheers Paul.

On Friday, we recorded a segment for this week’s podcast episode which focused on the biggest debate of the pro cycling season so far: Should Paul Seixas ride the Tour de France?

Then, with that obviously extremely illuminating chat in the can, ready for editing, the inevitable happened. We hadn’t even made it through the long weekend when the news was confirmed that Seixas would, in fact, be racing the Tour this July.

Decathlon even announced the news with a cutesy video featuring the teenage sensation’s grandparents. And on a bank holiday, no less.

 

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A post shared by DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM (@decathloncmacgmteam)

Well, despite it ruining our podcast, it appears the confirmation that Seixas will be lining up in Barcelona in two months’ time has gone down well with cycling fans, keen for a new, exciting revolutionary capable of overthrowing the Pogačar dynasty (which judging by the classics and the Tour de Romandie, looks as strong as ever).

When he rolls down the start ramp with his Decathlon teammates, Seixas – the revelation of 2026 so far, with six wins, including Flèche Wallonne and the Tour of the Basque Country – will become the youngest ever post-war Tour de France rider, and the youngest to start the race since 1937.

And therein lies the burning question, the focal point of the debate surrounding his participation at cycling’s biggest race. Seixas is still only 19, and he’s never taken part in a race longer than eight days (last year, at the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he finished eighth).

Is throwing him at the deep end at the Tour, despite his unquestionable ability, at such a young age a risk? Would a grand tour debut at the Giro or Vuelta aided his career development better? For comparison, Pogačar was just about to turn 21 when he made his grand tour debut at the 2019 Vuelta, winning three stages and finishing third. He’d win his first Tour a year later.

For some, an early Tour debut for Seixas constitutes a free hit. Any sane observer knows he’s not expected to beat Pogačar and Vingegaard at the first attempt, so he can approach the race with freedom, lose time if he wants, maybe target a stage win or two, or three.

However, on the other side of that argument, you could say there’s no such thing as a free hit at the Tour – especially under the harsh glare of the French press, and especially when you’re the most exciting French talent for over a generation, tipped to become your country’s first male winner of its home race since 1986. Could this risk of overexposure hinder Seixas in the long term, placing him under too much pressure, too much scrutiny, too soon?

Not according to Seixas’s Decathlon teammate Oliver Naesen. “There is no downside to taking him along,” the veteran Belgian told Sporza.

“The story of burning out is not relevant to him. Those old cycling laws do not apply to that type of rider. Now he can go to the Tour without pure performance pressure.”

The other side of the debate centres on team politics. Are Decathlon taking their star rider to the Tour because he’s leaving anyway (to, as the rumours suggest, UAE, which is a whole other conversation entirely)? Or is taking him to the Tour, contrary to their early-season plans, a bid to coax Seixas to stay, to give him what he wants?

In any case, the news certainly brightened Christian Prudhomme’s bank holiday.

“It’s great news,” the Tour director told French broadcaster RMC. “There is such a big surge of enthusiasm surrounding him after his impressive performances. We were very keen to see him at the start of the Tour de France.”

“Paul Seixas is clearly not the favourite for this year’s Tour, but seeing him at the start by the side of Pogačar, of Vingegaard, and the rest, it’s something very powerful, even more so when he says himself that he’s not coming to make up the numbers, he’s not coming to gain experience, but that he’s coming to achieve the best result possible.

“He will be the youngest rider at the start of the Tour since 1937, and with ambitions too, so it’s something huge.

“I’m convinced he’s going to give us emotions, because he is capable of attacking from afar, he is capable of attacking everywhere. He has the insouciance of youth. There’s terrain made for riders who are strong and who dare. He is strong, and he dares.

“The Tour, the popularity of the Tour ,and the legend of the Tour is constructed not by this or that champion, but by champions, generation after generation, from Maurice Garin through Coppi, Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault… he is going to enter into that legend, and I obviously wish him the best. But he’s going to offer us a lot of emotions.”

Well, he’s already made me emotional by ruining this week’s podcast, anyway…

I told you there’d be attacks.

Today’s self-styled flat stage at the Vuelta, as predicted, was anything but. Instead, the punchy run-in to A Coruña was punctuated by a flurry of attacks which decimated the peloton and scattered the sprint trains all over the road.

Kasia Niewiadoma led the way when it came to attacks, the former Tour de France winner producing a series of jabs every time the road tilted upwards – and a desperate scramble behind among the GC favourites – while a classic solo move from EF’s Kristen Faulkner in the final 10km was also snuffed out quickly.

Kaboom Kerbaol! 💥 Cédrine Kerbaol times her attack to perfection to take Stage 3 of La Vuelta Femenina! pic.twitter.com/5BPErPd386

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) May 5, 2026

It was Faulkner’s teammate Cédrine Kerbaol who timed her attack to perfection, however, the French rider jumping on a cobbled climb with just over 2km to go following a perfect, lung-busting lead-out from her British colleague Alice Towers.

A late chase by SD Worx wasn’t enough to stop the flying Kerbaol, who swooped into A Coruña to take her second win of the season and make it two out of three this week for EF, who’ve enjoyed a roller-coaster of a Vuelta so far.

Lotte Kopecky, her sprint a much more sedate affair this time around, was forced to settle for second, while Franzi Kock held on to the red jersey despite coming under some serious pressure during the run-in.

The next time we see Remco Evenepoel, it’ll be in Barcelona for the start of the Tour de France, the Belgian’s Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team confirmed today.

Evenepoel had originally been scheduled to race the Tour Auvergne Rhone-Alpes (that’s the Critérium du Dauphiné to you and me) next month, but will instead focus on altitude training and recons, in a bid to prioritise freshness ahead of the Big One in July.

“Contrary to the original plan, he will skip the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes,” the team said in a statement.

“Instead, in the month of June, he will focus on a balanced mix of recovery, scouting the Tour course, and specific training. Prior to that, he will complete an altitude training camp in May.”

Red Bull’s chief of sports Zak Dempster added: “The goal is to get him completely fresh at the start in Barcelona/ After an analysis of his 25 race days, we see more benefit in a balanced alternative program than in adding extra race load.”

Evenepoel’s first 25 days of racing with Red Bull have been mixed, it’s fair to say. A strong start in Mallorca and Valencia was followed by an impressive debut podium place at the Tour of Flanders, and a brilliant win at Amstel Gold.

However, a crash in Catalunya meant he wasn’t able to properly challenge Jonas Vingegaaed, while at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Belgian was forced to watch Tadej Pogačar and Paul Seixas disappear up the road, settling for third despite putting his rivals under pressure by making the early break.

Meanwhile, Evenepoel’s teammate Florian Lipowitz, fresh from his strong Tour de Romandie, where he was the only rider close to Pogačar, will race the Tour of Slovenia as his final warm-up before the Tour.

Bonus points for plonking one wheel on the painted bike:

As the Vuelta rolls on without her, former race leader Noemi Rüegg is set to undergo surgery, her EF Education-Oatly team confirming that the Swiss rider fractured her shoulder in yesterday’s late, heavy crash, which saw her forced to abandon the Spanish grand tour in the red jersey.

“Noemi suffered a fracture to her right shoulder in the crash that forced her to abandon the Vuelta. The fracture will require surgery. Join us in wishing our champ all the best on her recovery,” the team said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Eleonora Ciabocco, the Picnic Post NL rider also involved in the crash, did not start today’s stage after scans revealed that she had broken some bones. The Italian, who was leading the young rider’s classification after stage one, managed to finish yesterday’s stage despite her injuries, crossing the line in 62^nd, two and a half minutes after stage winner Shari Bossuyt.

 

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“After the stage yesterday, Eleonora went for multiple checks and scans at the hospital, with the final one revealing what our medical team suspected – that she unfortunately suffered some broken bones in the crash,” Picnic said.

“She therefore won’t start today’s Vuelta stage and will head home to rest and recover. Heal up, Ele!”

When bollards, signs, and the fact it’s a footpath just aren’t enough…

Getting lots of love for this rather lovely bench which is actually mostly @rosierawle.bsky.social and @maxmorris.bsky.social – we talked about it and thought it would stop anti-social parking and improve that corner & it seems to be doing so.

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— Cllr Emily Kerr 💚 (@emilykerr36.bsky.social) May 5, 2026 at 2:29 PM

Every cycling fan has heard of the Madonna del Ghisallo and the Kapelmuur, places of worship that underline the historic link between religion (especially Catholicism) and bike racing, while acting as defining emblems of some of the sport’s most cherished places.

But for the non-racing cyclists amongst us, we can now add St. John the Divine in New York City to that list.

On Saturday, the 28^th annual ‘Blessing of the Bicycles’ took place at the New York cathedral, as the Rev. Winnie Varghese doused dozens of bikes (and their riders) with holy water during a non-denominational ceremony that attracts cyclists from all backgrounds, who just want a safe space to get from A to B on their bikes.

 

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A post shared by Noel Y. Calingasan • NYC (@nyclovesnyc)

The blessing was followed the next day by the TD Five Boro Bike Tour, which saw 32,000 cyclists ride 40 car-free miles through all five of the city’s boroughs.

Though from what I’ve seen of New York’s cycling infrastructure, it’ll take more than a few Hail Marys every year to make the Big Apple safe for people on bikes…

Speaking of drama, the opening two stages of the Vuelta Femenina have also had their fair share of chaos.

During Sunday’s first stage to Salvaterra de Miño, Marianne Vos crashed on slick roads in the final 10km, breaking her collarbone, but still managed to chase back on and finish an impressive seventh in the sprint. That act of pure adrenaline was to be Vos’s last at the Vuelta though, the Dutch legend failing to start yesterday’s second stage.

Stage two was also marred by a late crash, the previous day’s winner and race leader Noemi Rüegg clipping the wheel of an EF teammate and careening hard into both Picnic PostNL rider Eleonora Ciabocco and the grass banking at the side of the road with 12km to go, forcing her to abandon the Vuelta in the red jersey.

More drama was to come in the sprint, as Lotte Kopecky – bursting off her SD-Worx teammate Anna van der Breggen’s wheel following a perfect lead-out – slammed into Shari Bossuyt, unclipping in the process.

Bossuyt, somewhat miraculously, still managed to continue with her sprint and win the stage, the biggest win of her career and only her second since her return from a two-year doping suspension.

Kopecky, meanwhile, felt the full force of the commissaires following her rapid fire change of direction in the sprint, the race jury deciding to relegate her from 15^th to 36^th, dock her 18 points in the points classification (and with it, the green jersey she had been wearing), hand her a yellow card, and fine her 500 Swiss Francs.

And Kopecky wasn’t too happy about it.

A huge win for Bossuyt! 🔥 Shari Bossuyt capitalises after Lotte Kopecky clips out in a hectic sprint on Stage 2 of La Vuelta Femenina! pic.twitter.com/owbMvZd0l8

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) May 4, 2026

“If I start a sprint tomorrow. I would do exactly the same,” she wrote on Instagram after the stage.

“I got a great lead-out from Anna VDB, start my sprint so I take my line, not Anna’s. So YES, I have to go off my original line. At that moment no one was next to me yet.

“After watching the video I really want to say Shari did not do anything wrong. So absolutely congrats to her!

“I don’t agree with the decision of the jury. But that’s another discussion all together. No further comment. I hope Noemi Rüegg and the ones involved are OK after their crash.”

> “Structurally weak”: The Cyclists’ Alliance joins Rapha in condemning UCI for lack of progress on women’s pro cycling, suggesting “festival-style events” built around races to grow sport

The Rapha era may be over, but that won’t stop EF from keep dialling the wackiness factor up to 11 when the Giro rolls around.

In fact, this year’s Giro switch-out kit, courtesy of Assos, may be EF’s most ‘out-there’ design since the Palace days of the early 2020s. So, crop circle conspiracies at the ready, because there appears to be quite a bit of paranormal activity going on at the American team:

Nice to see they’ve gone for a retro ‘80s alien too. The cow abduction on the back is a nice touch, and will give anyone struggling on the wheel a nice laugh:

Thoughts? Where do you reckon this bright green alien sits in the hierarchy of zany EF Giro jerseys? Also, I wonder how long it will take for someone to bring up cycling’s traditional, more sinister definition of ‘alien’…

Following the chaos of the opening few stages, stage three of the Vuelta Femenina – a 121km rolling route from Galicia Padrón to A Coruña – once again offers the potential for some late drama.

It may be officially classified as a ‘flat’ stage by the organisers (the only one of the week, interestingly enough), but a series of uncategorised kickers along the coastal run-in could be enough to encourage attacks and split things up.

So don’t be counting on a mass bunch kick outside the Estadio Riazor, the home of Deportivo La Coruña, the football club English fans will remember for their La Liga triumph and decent Champions League runs in the early 2000s (they’re now currently battling for promotion back to the Spanish top flight after a rough few years).

There’s also an intermediate sprint with just 16km remaining, which could shake things up too. Could be an open, interesting affair before the real hills kick off in earnest tomorrow.

An absolute classic of the ‘bike lane as car park’ genre, this one:

Why don’t cyclist use the cycle lane? #405.

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— David Gregory-Kumar (@drdavidgk.bsky.social) April 28, 2026 at 8:59 AM

Seriously, what’s the thinking there?

[10 road.cc points to everyone who pointed out that this particular photo featured on the blog – twice – last week. Probably should pay more attention when I’m not live blogging, eh?]

This is the kind of thing ASO would have suggested to liven up the Tour in the late 2010s…

 

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A post shared by Elise Blad (@elise_unicycle)

We may have just entered grand tour season, but there’s still plenty of time for a classics-related long read before today’s finish at the Vuelta, courtesy of the few days I spent following Picnic PostNL in the lead-up to Paris-Roubaix.

And unlike most of our podcast episodes, this one has a few valuable life lessons encased in it: never give up, keep fighting, and always make sure to carefully time your trips to the McDonald’s drive-through…

> Big Mac recons, broken radios, and never giving up: Inside Picnic PostNL’s classics campaign