Rolling Collective (RollCo) has launched Rolling Tide, a new year-long Zwift race series built around a simple but demanding idea: start small, build big.

Rolling Tide begins with a short, sharp opener and increases in distance by 1 kilometer every week, culminating in a full-distance endurance race at the end of the year. More than just another race on the calendar, Rolling Tide is about commitment, momentum, and shared growth, a collective journey where improvement is earned through consistency.

What Makes Rolling Tide Special

A Race that Evolves

Most events test riders on a single night. Rolling Tide tests them over time. Early weeks reward explosiveness and sharp efforts, while later races demand patience, pacing, and resilience. The format naturally evolves, mirroring the way real fitness is built.

A Reason to Come Back

Rolling Tide is supported by an ongoing ZwiftPower leaderboard, encouraging riders to measure progress, track rivals, and build season-long narratives. It’s not just about today’s result, it’s about where you finish after riding the entire tide.

Fair, Competitive, and Inclusive

Each race is run as a categorised scratch event, ensuring competitive racing at every level while keeping the shared experience intact. Whether riders are chasing podiums, rivalries, or personal milestones, everyone starts the journey together.

A Shared Story

Rolling Tide is designed to create familiarity. The same names. The same time slot. The same rising challenge. Riders will remember where they started and who they rode alongside when they reach the final weeks of the season.

Race Schedule and Details

Events occur weekly in 5 timeslots:

• Wednesdays at
  • 6:50pm UTC/1:50pm ET/10:50am PT
  • 11:50pm UTC/6:50pm ET/3:50pm PT
• Saturdays at
  • 11:05am UTC/6:05am ET/3:05am PT
  • 5:05pm UTC/12:05pm ET/9:05am PT
  • 11:05pm UTC/6:05pm ET/3:05pm PT

The first race kicks off Wednesday in France: a 1km sprint on Macaron. There’s no lead-in, just a hard, straight start through to a harder finish. Can you be quick off the line without the benefit of building up momentum first? Is your pre-race warmup to scratch?

See upcoming Rolling Tide events at zwift.com/events/tag/rollingtide

About Rolling Collective

Rolling Collective (RollCo) is a community-driven cycling club built around shared momentum and riding Forward, Together. Through races, rides, and creative events, RollCo aims to build long-term engagement, meaningful competition, and a culture that celebrates showing up.

The Tour de France has announced the routes for the three opening stages of the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes in 2027.

This will be the first time both races have started in the same country, outside France, in the same year and will provide a spectacular six days of top-tier racing for British cycling fans in July.

We’ll run through the 2027 men’s and women’s UK stages and what to expect. We’ll also report on reactions to the news, both good and bad, and offer a history of the Tour’s previous visits to the UK and British riders’ successes at the Tour.

• Read more: Confirmed – 2027 Tour de France to start in the UK with tri-nation Grand Départ

Men’s 2027 Tour de France Grand Départ stages 

The action starts with the team presentations on Wednesday 30 June, which will take place at Edinburgh Castle, ahead of the Grand Départ on Friday. Expect to see the pros warming up and admiring the sights around the city.

Stage 1: Edinburgh > Carlisle 

• Friday 2 July 2027
• 184km
• Ca 2,000m elevation gain

Stage 1 will head south through the Scottish Borders, taking in towns including Galashiels and Hawick, well-known from the Tour of Britain, before running along Hadrian’s Wall and heading into England. There’s one categorised climb on the route – the 2.2km, 6.7% average gradient Côte de Melrose, contributing to around 2,000m of total ascent.

Stage 2: Keswick > Liverpool 

• Saturday 3 July 2027
• 223km
• Ca 2,800m elevation gain

Stage 2 is a hillier affair, with around 2,800m of climbing and five categorised climbs, predominantly through the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, before a flattish run into Liverpool.

Stage 3: Welshpool > Cardiff 

• Sunday 4 July 2027
• 223km
• Ca 3,000m elevation gain

Things get even hillier through Wales, with a total of 3,000m of climbing and eight categorised climbs – two with average gradients of over 10%. The longest is the 6.6km Côte de Bannau Brycheiniog, a 3.5% climb taking the riders over the Brecon Beacons. There’s a final 12.5km downhill run into Cardiff.

Women’s 2027 Tour de France Grand Départ stages 

The full route of the three Tour de France Femmes 2027 stages has yet to be announced, but we know it will twice traverse the Pennines before a final stage in or around London. 

Stage 1: Leeds > Manchester  

• Friday 30 July 2027
• TBA km
• TBA elevation gain

Stage 3: London > London 

• Sunday 1 August 2027
• TBA km
• TBA elevation gain

What has the reaction been to the 2027 Tour de France Grand Départ? 

Christian Prudhomme, the Tour de France’s director, has said: “The UK has always welcomed the Tour with passion and pride, and the route details we are revealing today reflect the beauty and diversity of Britain’s terrain. Bringing both Grands Départs here is a testament to the strength of our partnership with British Cycling and the enthusiasm of the UK.”

Official reaction to the announcement has been enthusiastic, with UK government minister for sport, Stephanie Peacock, stating: “These routes will reach places few other events can and give people another reason to be proud of where they live.”

Scottish first minister, John Swinney, said: “The Tour de France starting in Edinburgh will be a moment of real national significance and a powerful endorsement of Scotland’s ability to deliver on the biggest international stages.”

Eluned Morgan, first minister for Wales, added: “Wales is proud to host a stage of the Tour de France Grand Depart for the first time in 2027, which will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase our stunning landscapes at one of the world’s biggest sporting events.”

As reported by the local press, reaction in areas the Tours will pass through has been overridingly positive, too. 

As with the 2014 Tour, there are plans to use the Tour’s UK stages as a springboard to tackle inactivity and improve mental wellbeing. Named Joy, this initiative will aim to tackle various social issues.

Not everything in the Tour’s UK garden is rosy, though. As Charlie Allenby pointed out in his March 2025 BikeRadar opinion piece, hosting one Grand Départ, let alone two, is expensive. He cites a reported bill of €5 million for Florence’s 2024 Grand Départ and £4.2m for the three 2014 UK stages.

Total costs for the 2014 UK Tour stages were estimated at almost £30m, although a cost:benefit analysis cited by Allenby suggested that there was a net economic gain of close to £100m. But with the parlous state of UK road racing, he suggests the money could be better spent promoting UK cycling’s grassroots and nurturing a new generation of star riders. 

There have been questions, too, about the state of roads potentially on the routes, specifically Snake Pass in Derbyshire, which could be on Stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes. It’s reported to need millions of pounds spending to stabilise the road surface, which is suffering from severe subsidence, and is reduced in places to a single carriageway.  

The Tour may at least provide a kick to get it sorted, with the UK government potentially helping Derbyshire council to foot the bill. 

Note, too, that Manchester and Sheffield are only 60km apart via Snake Pass. So there’s plenty of scope for the race to bypass the road completely, perhaps going in the opposite direction to tackle the Holme Moss climb, which featured in the 2014 Tour’s Stage 2. The Tour likes its history and frequently makes repeat visits, as highlighted by the Leeds Grand Départ.

The Tour de France and the UK

Although this is the first time the Tour de France Femmes has visited the UK, the men’s Tour de France has been in the country on four occasions.

The first visit, in 1974, saw the peloton, with Joseph Bruyère of Belgium in the yellow jersey, spend a day racing laps of the A38 Plympton bypass in Plymouth before returning to France. It was not judged kindly. Eddy Merckx won the race overall for the fifth time.

The Tour didn’t return until 1994, when the riders travelled through the newly opened Channel Tunnel for two stages: Dover to Brighton and a loop starting and finishing in Portsmouth. The race, overall, was won for the fourth consecutive time by Miguel Induráin.

The Tour’s third visit was in 2007, with a Grand Départ prologue in London and a first road stage from London to Canterbury over 203km, won by Aussie sprinter Robbie McEwen, before the Tour returned to France, with Alberto Contador winning overall. The five British riders starting the 2007 Tour included two future winners and represented the largest number in 20 years.

By its fourth visit in 2014, Britain had caught the cycling bug and the Yorkshire Grand Départ was a spectacular success, with two stages through the Pennines followed by a third UK stage from Cambridge to London, finishing on the Mall. 

British favourite for the 2014 overall win, Chris Froome, crashed three times during the subsequent two stages as the race headed through northern France, and abandoned, opening the way for Vincenzo Nibali to win in Paris.

Britain’s success at the Tour de France

The first Briton to finish the Tour de France, in 1955, and to win a stage, in 1958, was Brian Robinson. The first to wear the Tour de France yellow jersey was Tom Simpson in 1962, although that was only for stage 12. 

Chris Boardman took the yellow jersey in the 1994 Tour prologue time trial in Lille, the second UK rider to wear it, and held it for the subsequent three stages, although he lost it to Johan Museeuw before the race headed through the Channel Tunnel to the UK on Stage 4.

He was followed the same year by Sean Yates, who also wore the jersey for only one stage. Boardman again took the jersey for a single stage in both 1997 and 1998, following wins in the prologue time trial. He was followed in 2000 by David Millar, who took the jersey in the first-stage time trial and held it for stages 2 and 3.

It wasn’t until 2012 that Britain’s run of overall wins started with Bradley Wiggins, followed in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 by Chris Froome. He was succeeded in 2018 by Geraint Thomas.

Starting in 2008, Mark Cavendish was racking up stage wins, as well as donning the yellow jersey in 2016. By 2024, he’d reached a total of 35 stages, the greatest by any rider at the Tour and almost half the UK riders’ total tally of 78 stage wins. He also scooped up the Tour’s green points jersey in 2011 and 2021.

Adam Yates (no relation) is the only other British rider to date to wear yellow, but no British rider has yet won a stage of the Tour de France Femmes or led the race.

Cross-country mountain biking is buzzing with chatter around the arrival of 32in wheels and we’ve heard plenty of rumours about brands considering this largest wheel size for gravel. Now, Australian titanium and steel expert Baum has unveiled the new DBM 32.

The benefits of 32in wheels are said to be improved stability, grip and roll over rougher surfaces. What Baum sees, however, is a solution to the problem of building custom bikes for very tall riders.

“A 32-inch wheel makes a lot of sense for tall and very tall riders,” says Darren Baum, “but a 32er is not going to work for everyone because of the extra standover and reach. A bigger wheel size allows us to build a bigger frame with better proportions, which is something that has really been missing from the market.”

• Read more: 32in wheels are rolling out – what does it mean for your local bike shop?
  

Six months of testing

Baum has been test riding the bike for more than six months and is now confident enough to offer the larger wheel size to its customers.

Until now, it has been reluctant to offer the option because there was limited availability of 32in-specific parts: rims, forks, spokes and especially tyres.

However, with the commitment of major players such as Schwalbe, we’re seeing this burgeoning standard expanding enough for Baum to put the DBM 32 into production.

Baum explains that his decision to add the DBM 32 to the brand’s roster isn’t based on the ‘trend’ – it’s down to his experience of riding his own 32in prototype.

He also invited other riders to try the bike and provide feedback.

“Perhaps the most surprising thing has been how quickly everybody has been able to adapt to the bigger wheels,” Baum says. “They roll really well, offer lots of grip, and they are very stable, which is exactly what we were all saying when we started using 29-inch wheels.

“32-inch wheels aren’t going to replace 29-inch wheels, but they will allow me to make a better bike for tall riders.”

First DBM 32 details

The first production bike, the DBM (Drop Bar Mountain) 32, was built for one of Darren’s customers – a seasoned cyclist who is 6ft 7in (200cm) tall, with a saddle height of 91cm, and has always struggled to get a proportionally correct bike.

The frame is made from seamless 3AL/2.5v titanium tubing, matched to a head tube made from a billet of 6AL/4V titanium. All of the components come via ENVE, including its 32in-compatible rigid carbon mountain fork.

The frame’s 2.6in clearances have been retained from the (standard) DBM gravel design. That gives enough clearance for the 32in Maxxis Aspen tyres. To get this level of clearance, the seat tube is custom-curved, combined with a 3D-printed chainstay yoke, and by using a wide 89.5mm T47 bottom bracket shell.

The bike is finished with a SRAM XX SL groupset, matched with RED AXS levers, RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post, and ENVE bar and stem. The 32in wheels are custom-built for Baum and everything is finished in a Matt Camo custom paintjob.

Pricing is in line with the current DBM gravel bike, with frame-kit prices starting at around AU$13,450 (circa £6,850 / $9,500) and complete bikes from AU$16,192 (circa £8,300 / $11,400).

Orbea has recalled its Avant road bike, with H40, H50 and H45XI models from 2025 and 2026 said to be affected.

According to the European Commission’s Safety Gate, the EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products, the issue with the bike concerns the fork, which could “crack and break”, leading to injuries.

The bike’s fork is made of carbon fibre, while the rest of the frame is aluminium.

The affected models are from MY2025 and MY2026, with the UK’s Office for Product Safety and Standards sharing the following affected barcodes:

• 1180648651
• 1180648283
• 1180649158
• 1180649183
• 1180648321
• 1180665896
• 1180648014
• 1180665909
• 1180666774
• 1180666557
• 1180660308
• 1180666556
• 1180661779
• 1180662819
• 1180664749
• 1180662428
• 1180650249
• 1180650453
• 1180661725
• 1180650056
• 1180653290
• 1180650924
• 1180673668
• 1180678781

You can check whether your bike is affected by visiting Orbea’s recall page.

You will need to input the bike’s identification number, found under the barcode on the bottom bracket.

This will let you know whether your fork is in the batch being recalled, and what to do if it is.

Orange Bikes has updated its long-standing P7 steel hardtail range and added a new mullet-wheeled version.

The P7 MX is made from hand-welded Reynolds 525 tubing, features a revised seatstay bridge and is designed around mixed wheel sizes (29in front, 650b rear) and a 140mm-travel fork. 

UDH dropouts provide compatibility with SRAM’s latest Transmission drivetrains, and you get an accessory mount under the top tube (not found on the other P7 models). Gear cables and brake hoses are externally routed for easier maintenance, while ISCG-05 tabs enable easy chain-guide attachment.

Geometry includes a 64.5-degree head angle, 75.5-degree seat tube angle, 480mm reach (large) and 430mm chainstays. The frame is available in a fetching ‘fizzy orange’ or stealthy ‘charcoal grey’.

Orange has updated the geometry of the P7 29 to bring it in line with the P7 MX, giving it a slacker head angle, steeper seat tube angle and longer reach. It has also added 10mm to the head tube length to increase the stack height. It comes in ‘wasabi green’ or ‘angel delight’.

The P7 still rolls on 650b (27.5in) wheels and runs a 150mm fork. Geometry has been aligned with the rest of the range, and it comes in ‘cyan blue’ only. Interestingly, neither the P7 nor the P7 29 have been given UDH dropouts.

Orange P7 key spec details

• Frame (all): Custom-butted Reynolds 525 chromoly steel, S-XL (P7, P7 MX)/M-XL (P7 29)
• Travel: 140mm (P7 MX, P7 29) or 150mm (P7) fork
• Wheels: 650b (P7), 29in (P7 29) or 29in/650b (P7 MX)
• Geometry (large): 64.5 head angle, 75.5 seat tube angle, 480mm reach, 430mm (P7, P7  MX)/445mm (P7 29) chainstays
• Pricing (all): £650 (frame only)

Having a goal is a great way to stay motivated when training, and picking out a distant event can be enough to power you through the depths of winter.

While events range in size, distance and attendance, boxing off something big in the calendar, alone or with friends, gives you something to look forward to and train for.

In this article, we share the top 10 events in Europe that you should circle on your calendar.

• Read more: 13 best gravel races in the UK: these are the off-road events you need to know about

Ötztaler Radmarathon – Sölden, Austria

Fresh, rarefied air is the order of the day here, with more than 5,000 metres of Tyrolean Alpine climbing packed into 227km. 

Your exertions start in Sölden before rolling onto this area’s most legendary giants, namely the ascents of Kühtai (17.9km at 6.8%), Jaufenpass (15.5km at 7%) and Timmelsjoch (22.1km at 5%). 

To soften the pain, organisers stir up a festival feel, thanks to fireworks, oompah parades, stunt shows, skydiving and even group leg shaving.

Registration opens in February. If you’re lucky (or not), you’ll be one of the 4,000.

• Date: 30 August 2026

UCI Gravel Switzerland – Villars, Switzerland

There are two routes on offer in Villars, which sits on the doorstep of the UCI (international cycling governing body) headquarters in Aigle. 

Go for the 60.2km option, which features nearly 1,900m of climbing, or crank it up to the longer route, which comes in at 101km and nearly 2,500m of climbing. 

Either way, you’ll be entranced by the beauty of the Vaudois Alps that surround Villars. You’ll also be exasperated by a series of stiff, long climbs. 

Just over half the parcours of each distance is gravel, with the remainder a pretty equal split between asphalt and older paved roads. It’s an event not to be missed.

• Date: 10-12 July 2026

Gran Fondo Mont Ventoux – Vaison-la-Romaine, France

Fancy doing battle with the Giant of Provence? If so, you have three routes to the top of the iconic Mont Ventoux: 80, 106 or 135km. 

Before you hit the barren upper slopes of this brutal mountain, you can enjoy pedalling through Provence’s stunning landscapes, from lavender fields and vineyards to the dramatic Gorges de la Nesque and quaint Provencal villages. 

It’s a truly astounding part of the world to ride a bike in – and rather exhausting when you come to Ventoux. 

Sportive Breaks (sportivebreaks.com) offers three-night packages starting at £699, but make sure you factor in that race entry is extra.

• Date: 7 June 2026

Tour of Flanders Cyclo – Antwerp, Belgium

Of all the mass-participation rides associated with pro racing’s Monuments – the five most prestigious races on the calendar – the Tour of Flanders ‘Cyclo’ is by far the most leisurely. 

In Belgium, competitive racing is clearly defined: racing is for races and tours such as the Tour of Flanders Cyclo are all about fun and experiencing the culture of bike riding. 

That said, the extent of the ‘fun’ could be decided by which of the three challenges you sign up for.

• Date: 4 April 2026

Veneto Gravel – Veneto, Italy

If you felt Strade Bianche’s white gravel roads were ominous, that’s nothing compared to Veneto Gravel’s 27% of gravel. 

That’s nearly 189km of the white stuff. Around 3% of the parcours – 20-plus kilometres – is singletrack. 

‘Testing’ is an understatement, whether you pitch for the 720km or 400km version. 

Mind you, you’ll enjoy some glorious countryside and enigmatic Venetian cities on your unsupported bikepacking adventure. 

You’ll also pass vineyards, orchards, pine forests and azure-blue lakes. In short, picture-postcard doesn’t do this race justice. 

There are checkpoints to ensure you’re officially on track, although there’s no official cut-off time. However, the free showers stop on the Wednesday evening!

• Date: 24 April 2026

Maratona dles Dolomites – Trentino-South Tyrol, Italy

The Maratona dles Dolomites is arguably the jewel in the Italian crown. “It’s only 138km,” we hear you lament. 

It is – as well as 106km and 55km options – but it’s the vertical challenge that’ll test your mettle, with 4,230m of elevation including the Giau, a 9.9km ascent that averages 9.3%. 

Incredible rock formations and lush green valleys offer some natural respite, while the road surfaces are silky smooth.

• Date: 5 July 2026

Paris-Roubaix Challenge – Paris, France

Sample the brutal delights of the Hell of the North over 70km, 145km or 170km. 

Do battle with iconic stretches like the Trouée d’Arenberg where jagged cobbles that could consume a small human are flanked by leafless trees. 

There’s often rows of spectators, too, warming up for the women’s and men’s elite races 24 hours later. But concentrate. 

Distraction can lead to a tumble on terrain that shouldn’t be underestimated. 

Our colleagues at BikeRadar completed this event years ago and their palms are still vibrating from the experience. 

Prepare for blisters, exhaustion and a shuddering of fun on a parcours that even includes a ceremonial sojourn around the velodrome.

• Date: 11 April 2026

• Read more: I rode the Paris-Roubaix course and it was pure agony

La Marmotte Granfondo Alpes – Bourg d’Oisans, France

“La Marmotte begins at sunrise in the heart of Bourg d’Oisans. 

“Once the starting shot has sounded, the tension makes way for adrenaline and determined pedalling, all to the soundtrack of loud applause.” 

So say the organisers, and so begins what many believe is the toughest day imaginable in the saddle. 

Who are we to argue when entrants compete against 177 kilometres and more than 5,000 metres of ascending?

The highlight – or low point – of the day is arguably the climb of Alpe d’Huez and its 21 hairpin bends. 

Or is it the Col du Glandon that stretches out to 24.1km at 5%? Or the legendary Col du Galibier? You get the picture.

• Date: 22 June 2026

Vätternrundan – Motala, Sweden

There’s every chance you’ve never heard of the Vätternrundan. 

Unless you’re from Scandinavia, of course, where thousands descend on this event each year – as they have done since its first running in 1966. 

The premise sounds boringly simple: just ride around a lake. And that’s it. 

But before you turn away, this is the fifth largest lake in Europe, Lake Vattern, meaning the entire loop and length of the ride is 315km. 

It’s also one of the most beautiful landscapes in Sweden (south-west of Stockholm), the long, finger-shaped body of water shadowed by spruce, pine and deciduous forest. 

This year is its 61st running, so what better time to enter and crank up those long Sunday morning rides?

• Date: 12-13 June 2026

Mallorca 312 – Mallorca, Spain

Fancy racking up 312km and over 4,500m of climbing in one day? Of course you do, you bona fide sadist. 

For those less inclined towards total self-flagellation, there are shorter but still taxing distances of 225km and 167km. 

Unusually, but appreciatively, you can change distance while you’re riding. 

For many, that’ll be dropping down. For some, whose legs are oozing power, it’ll mean cranking up. 

In times gone by, Mallorca 312 ticked off a lap of the island. Now it’s a closed-road event more focused in the Sierra de Tramuntana mountains to the north of the island. 

Guaranteed sunshine makes this a great season opener.

• Date: 25 April 2026

Two years ago, I found myself sitting on a couch in Eric Min’s living room, talking about where we’d love to see Zwift go next. The single biggest idea I shared was simply this: I want Zwift to give me a brilliant recommendation for each day’s workout.

• As a Zwift fanboy, I know the platform has so much to offer. Routes to explore, community events, engaging races, workouts and training plans… there’s something there to motivate just about anyone, but it’s also easy to get lost!
• As a cyclist, I know it’s easy to get confused about what I should do to get stronger. With training advice coming from all sides, sometimes I end up heading down rabbit trails, chasing the next shiny thing I saw on YouTube, instead of sticking to a consistent plan.

I knew a simple, brilliant recommendation engine could help to solve both of these challenges. But also, it was no easy ask! (Especially back then, when Zwift wasn’t even “seeing” my outdoor rides.) Now, two years later, Zwift can see what we do outside, which is brilliant. But that doesn’t mean the holy grail of workout recommendation engines is easy to build. (Case in point: Strava’s new “Instant Workouts” feature, which hasn’t impressed anyone I know of.)

Zwift is completing a major rollout of their Next Up personalized recommendation engine this week. And while Next Up is still very much a beta in Zwift, and some of the feature requests I make below are already being worked on internally, I’m sharing this post now in hopes of sparking useful conversation and actionable feedback for Zwift’s team. This will, in turn, help to drive the development of what I believe is an important feature. So let’s dive in!

First, a Quick Explainer

If the Next Up feature is enabled for your account, you’ll see it at the top of your homescreen. It’s pretty hard to miss:

If you’re signed up for an event that’s coming soon, it will show that event as your first option. Otherwise, it shows the selected workout as your next option:

Click “Start Ride” to begin the recommended activity, or “Tune” to see and/or modify the recommendations. Next Up currently serves up four types of recommendations:

• Planned: events you’ve signed up for, or today’s scheduled workout if you’re syncing from a third-party training plan provider like TrainerRoad. (You won’t see the “Planned” option if you aren’t signed up for events or syncing from a third-party provider.)
• Workout: a structured workout from Zwift’s library
• Route: a route from Zwift’s library
• RoboPacer: a RoboPacer moving at a pace that works for your current fitness and freshness

Once you’re on the “Tune” screen, you can click the “Shorter” or “Longer” buttons to select a shorter or longer Workout, Route, or RoboPacer ride. You’re given two shorter options and two longer options, plus the default option, for a total of 5 possible Workouts, 5 Routes, and 5 RoboPacer lengths.

(Note: While Workouts have a precise duration, and routes have a precise length, RoboPacer rides go as long as you want them to go. So if you “tune” your RoboPacer ride, it just adds or subtracts 30 minutes from the stated duration. But there’s no timer in game that says you have 24 minutes left in your RoboPacer ride…)

Two more things to call out:

• Next Up has a limited presence in the Companion app as well (more on that below)
• Next Up refreshes its activity recommendation once per day at this time (more on this below as well)

Rollout Plan and Target Audience

As I explained in this week’s post on Zwift’s version 1.106 release, Zwift released Next Up to all English-speaking Zwifters this week. The plan is to roll it out for all other supported languages by the end of February.

In terms of target audience, while the current iteration of Next Up can provide value to every Zwifter, it should prove especially useful to newer Zwifters and less experienced cyclists. More experienced Zwifters don’t necessarily need guidance on the next route to ride or which RoboPacer group to join, and many experienced cyclists already have some sort of training plan they’re following.

While Next Up could someday provide great value for all Zwifters (I discuss this more below), in its current form, it’s most helpful to newer riders. I would say this sort of Next Up’s “unofficial target audience.”

Feature Requests

Option to Turn It Off

I’m seeing more and more riders asking if the Next Up feature can just be toggled on and off, as they don’t have a use for it. While Zwift has never been big on letting people toggle key features, I think there’s some sense in this idea. Turning it off would save AI processing and free up screen space for the features people do want.

The Next Up feature, as it currently stands, isn’t super-useful to everyone. Until Zwift can build it out so it’s really good at knowing what you should do next, it makes good sense for Zwift to add a setting to turn it off.

Refreshing After Each Activity

Currently, the recommendations in Next Up for Workout, Route, and RoboPacer only refresh once a day. This is done to save AI cycles, no doubt, but it makes the feature feel rather “dumb” if you’re a rider who often does multiple activities in one Zwift session, or you’re a rider who does two distinct Zwift sessions in a day.

I would love to see the recommendation refresh after I save my Zwift activity. That means, for example, on Tuesdays I might log in for my ZRL race. It would recommend a race warmup for me (see that feature request below), then recommend the ZRL event to me, then recommend a cooldown.

To save on AI cycles, perhaps they could just add a refresh button to the UI, so I could easily get a new recommendation if I want it?

Remember My Week

Currently, Next Up seems to recommend 1-hour activities every day. Yes, you can click to tune them longer or shorter, but it feels like the engine is a bit blind to my weekly habits.

For example, I’ve led my 100km Pizza Burner ride every Thursday morning for a year, yet it still recommends a 1-hour ride for me on Thursdays. And Saturdays are always a long day for me (2.5-4 hours, typically), but it’s still just recommending 1-hour rides. (And even if I try to tune them, the longest options are sometimes only 2 hours).

Next Up needs some logic to spot day-of-the-week patterns.

Event Recommendations

Zwift has always struggled to surface (or let people discover) events that will leave Zwifters coming back for more. Think about it: there’s still no tool in Zwift that says, “Show me the most popular events happening in the next hour” or “I want to do VO2 work in a group, what events are coming up?”

This is an untapped area with huge potential wins for Zwift.

Imagine if it could find the best event for you that was coming up soon? And you could tune the selection a bit, to choose between a handful of event options?

Currently, the “Planned” section of Next Up will show the next event you’re signed up for, assuming it’s coming up soon. But that’s just the most basic functionality Next Up should have. There’s much more Zwift can do…

Warmup Recommendations

If Zwift knows I’m signed up for a race that starts in 15-60 minutes, it should be recommending race warmups for me. There are several race warmup workouts in Zwift’s library, and there are also routes and RoboPacers I could ride that would do the job.

Route Recommendations

Zwift’s huge library of routes (well over 200 free rideable routes now) can be a bit overwhelming, especially to newer users. Add route badges into the mix, Route of the Week, and the huge variation in length and difficulty of routes, and you can see that a strong route recommendation engine would be a great addition to the game.

To Zwift’s credit, they’ve improved this portion of Next Up since its initial launch. It’s now recommending Tour de Zwift routes for me, for example – even though the explanation text doesn’t explain this (that’s coming soon).

Personally, I’d love it if the feature just brought up routes I haven’t ridden yet, and explained that if I ride the route, I’ll get the achievement badge and XP.

Improved Explanation Text

Speaking of the explanation text (we need a better name for this text that explains why a particular activity is being recommended) – there’s a lot of improvement that could happen here.

First: as a text guy, it’s mildly infuriating that I can’t read the full text from the screen in game. It ends with …, but there’s no way to click and read more. Zwift needs to fix this, as that explanatory text is going to play a key role in convincing Zwifters of the value of Next Up selections far into the future.

(To be fair, that text is fully readable in the Companion app).

Fixing the way the text is displayed is the easy part. Improving the actual text, I imagine, is much more challenging. You’ve got to keep it short, but also informative. Right now, the text feels overly simplified to me. I know there are unmentioned factors (like weekly goal settings) driving Next to recommend a particular activity, and I wish it would mention them.

Companion App Buildout

Currently, the Companion app only shows you the default Next Up activity. That means it shows you your “Planned” activity (an event you’ve signed up for, or a third-party workout), or if you have nothing planned, it will show you the selected workout of the day.

There’s no way to tune the workout in Companion. And no way to see selected routes or RoboPacers.

For Next Up to be useful, it definitely needs a strong presence in Companion, since this is where people go to plan their next activity. But right now, its presence in Companion feels a bit half-baked.

Zwift Training Plan Integration

It’s a bit odd, but if you’re signed up for a Zwift Training Plan, nothing about that plan shows up in Next Up. Ever.

Workouts from third-party providers like XERT will show up, but Zwift’s own Training Plan workouts do not.

My guess is this hasn’t been fixed yet because Training Plans have their own UI in game – a popup window where you select your workout for the day. That would need to be modified/removed, and Next Up may need to be modified somewhat to replace that functionality.

One possible solution: surface the day’s planned workout in Next Up, just like you’d do if I were using TrainerRoad for my plan. Swap the “Longer” and “Shorter” buttons for “next” and “previous”, so I can choose to execute a workout that’s scheduled for tomorrow, if that’s what I want.

Smart Activity Type Selection

Next Up currently defaults to showing me the recommended Workout for the day, and I have to click “Tune” to choose a non-workout activity.

Here’s the problem: I very rarely do workouts! The vast majority of my activities are events, RoboPacer rides, or solo efforts on particular routes.

The feature should be better at choosing which activity type to display based on my habits and goals.

Don’t Forget the Runners

Zwift is nearly ready to enable the addition of our running activities to Fitness Metrics (it’s coming very soon!), so my guess is they plan for Next Up to expand into running recommendations in the future as well.

Final Thoughts

I’m sure there are other great things Zwift could do with Next Up that I didn’t cover above, and conversely, some of what I recommended above won’t prove useful to everyone. But the big thing I’m hoping Zwift and the Zwift Community both understand is that the Next Up concept has huge potential. Like I told Eric Min over 2 years ago, Zwift has the historic data needed to make smart activity recommendations. That engine in turn will:

• Increase engagement among existing users as it helps them discover and participate in the types of activities that suit them best
• Grow the subscriber base, because people are looking for fitness tools that provide simple, accurate, and affordable guidance
• Help people build fitness, as it provides basic coaching guidance

In talking to contacts within Zwift, it’s clear the company knows that Next Up is an important feature, and is planning to continually invest in improvements.

I’ll wrap up with this: many Zwifters are asking if they can just turn off the Next Up feature. While I think a toggle is a good idea, I also know Zwift can make Next Up compelling enough that everyone will want to keep it turned on. Here’s hoping!

Share Your Thoughts

What do you think of the Next Up feature? Share your thoughts below! I would also recommend sharing your thoughts on this topic in Zwift’s forum.

Over recent years, we’ve seen a resurgence in stunning new titanium bikes, with the likes of Reilly’s Fusion, Bastion’s hybrid creations, Sturdy’s SC-R and SC-G, Moots’ rugged Scrambler and J.Laverack’s Speedform.

Even affordable options such as Ribble’s Allroad Ti, Sonder’s Camino, the Kinesis Tripster ATR and Dolan’s ADX are incorporating new manufacturing techniques and processes.

That’s not to mention new bikes incoming from the likes of Enigma, embracing cutting-edge manufacturing techniques.

Now Milanese titanium expert Passoni has launched the new Omni OT-01 with a lightweight tubeset, machined head tube and enclosed 3D-printed dropouts.

• Read more: Best titanium road bikes in 2026 for smooth and luxurious riding, as reviewed by BikeRadar
  

The titanium frame evolves

Passoni’s current flagship disc road bike, the Titanio Disco, provides the basis for the new Omni OT-01. Passoni has reengineered key elements of the frame, while maintaining their geometry and ride quality.

Up front, a new 1.5-inch head tube is machined in three parts from a solid billet of Grade 5 titanium.

The frame has been completely re-engineered, which has resulted in a claimed 120g weight reduction over the Titanio Disco in a size medium.

The rear triangle has new-shaped chainstays, increasing tyre clearance to 32mm. These are capped with new 3D-printed dropouts. The driveside dropout is now fully enclosed, giving “a visual cleanliness and a more integrated look to the frame”, according to Passoni.

The front triangle’s two main tubes are new. The down tube has reduced in diameter, dropping 90g in weight, and like the top tube, it’s triple-butted for an “optimal-stiffness-to-weight-ratio”.

Up front, a new carbon fork (the FP01) has an oversized 1.5in steerer tube and is optimised to run with 160mm disc rotors.

The OT-01 can be bought fully made-to-measure, custom, or off the peg in standard sizes.

Like all of Passoni’s titanium bikes, the OT-01 is handmade at Passoni’s Milan Atelier. All bikes are made to order, with deliveries scheduled for 16-20 weeks.

Pricing details

As you’d imagine, a custom handmade titanium frameset such as this doesn’t come cheap, with the frameset (frame, fork and headset) priced at €7,020 plus VAT.

A frame kit (frame, fork, headset, CP-01+ cockpit, Selle Italia SLR custom saddle, titanium seatpost and leather bar tape) costs €8,550 plus VAT.

Complete builds with Campagnolo Super Record 13 and Bora Ultra WTO 45 wheels cost €15,230 plus VAT.

This weekend’s picks are a rather eclectic mix. The headliners are two rides for two deserving causes. But we’re also featuring some extra-long rides, beginner-friendly rides, and of course, Tour de Zwift. See details below…

Ride for Alex, Renee and Civil Rights

Doddie Aid Coffee and Cake

Pretzels, Epics and Afterparties p/b Velos

Phoenix Rising Tronathon (Banded)

Tour de Zwift, Stage 4

How We Make Our Picks

We choose each weekend’s Notable Events based on a variety of factors including:

• Is the event unique/innovative in some way?
• Are celebrities (pro riders, etc) attending/leading?
• Are signup counts already high, meaning the event is extra-popular?
• Does the ride include desirable unlocks or prizes?
• Does the event appeal to ladies on Zwift? (We like to support this under-represented group!)
• Is it for a good cause?
• Is it just plain crazy (extra long races, world record attempts, etc)?
• Is it a long-running, popular weekly event with a dedicated leader who deserves a shout out?

In the end, we want to call attention to events that are extra-special and therefore extra-appealing to Zwifters. If you think your event qualifies, comment below with a link/details and we may just include it in an upcoming post!

The Cyclo-cross World Championships return to the Netherlands for 2026, with riders battling for rainbow jerseys in Hulst from today (Friday 30 January) to Sunday 1 February.

The racing takes place over three days, beginning with the Team Relay on Friday, before the junior, under-23 and elite categories over the weekend.

Following his absolute dominance this season, Mathieu van der Poel enters as the favourite to seek a record eighth world title in the men’s elite race.

The 2025 champion, Fem van Empel, will not be lining up to defend her title, so Dutch eyes will be focused on her 12 compatriots, including Lucinda Brand, Puck Pieterse and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, who head up a formidable home line-up in the women’s field.

How to watch the 2026 Cyclo-cross World Championships

The UCI YouTube channel will livestream the 2026 World Championships for free in locations worldwide where broadcasters don’t hold exclusive rights.

Unfortunately, this means no free access for viewers in the UK, US and Canada.

UK ‘cross fans will need to tune in to TNT Sports/Discovery+. Subscriptions cost £25.99 a month when billed annually.

US and Canadian viewers can watch the event on FloBikes, with plans starting at $29.99 or CA$39.99, although annual plans work out significantly cheaper for committed viewers.

How can I watch the Cyclo-cross World Championships 2026 if I’m travelling abroad?

Readers from the UK who have escaped our dreary shores for a spell of sunnier climes, wanting to watch riders slip around a boggy northern European field, may want to use a VPN to access their streaming services.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is software that enables you to change your device’s IP address, making it appear as though you’re accessing the internet from another country.

As long as you adhere to your broadcaster’s terms and conditions, a VPN enables you to unblock your usual streaming services, no matter your location. Additionally, a VPN can improve playback speeds and significantly enhance your overall internet security.

There are many VPN options available, but we recommend NordVPN as the best choice. It offers strong streaming capabilities, robust security features and excellent value for money.

• Subscribe to NordVPN

*At BikeRadar (published by Our Media Limited), we review VPN services to help you access online content and services securely while you’re on the go. This includes activities such as streaming your favourite TV shows, live web content or using apps from different countries (provided it’s okay with the service provider’s terms and conditions). It’s important to note: BikeRadar does not endorse or support the use of VPN services for illegal or malicious activities, such as accessing paid-for pirated content. Please ensure you enjoy online content responsibly.

Shimano has confirmed it will no longer exhibit at Eurobike, marking another significant blow for the world’s largest cycling trade show as it prepares for major restructuring.

In a statement published today, Shimano says the decision reflects its focus on “prioritising our customer- and consumer-focused events” where the brand feels it can better “have personalised conversations and hands-on interactions”.  

“Our goal is to connect with riders and partners in ways that are personal, meaningful, and relevant to how the industry is developing,” says David Greenfield, marketing director, Shimano Europe. 

“We are evolving the way we show up as a brand, while staying fully committed to supporting the global cycling community.”

Shimano also cites shifting visitor patterns, rising exhibition costs, and changes in how brands and riders connect as key factors in its decision. 

Formerly one of Eurobike’s biggest exhibitors, and a long-standing partner of the show, Shimano described Eurobike as having “played an important role in our industry for many years,” but said it would now prioritise smaller-scale, more focused events.

• Read more: Eurobike’s heyday is over, so how can it stay relevant?

‘A fresh breeze for Eurobike’

There have been vocal criticisms of the show for years, and this latest announcement follows months of significant upheaval for the Frankfurt-based event. 

In October, Germany’s two most influential trade associations withdrew their support after talks with the organiser, Fairnamic, failed to reach an agreement on a 10-point plan to reform the show’s format. Soon after, Bosch eBike Systems confirmed it would not exhibit in 2026.

Yesterday, Fairnamic released a statement signalling a reset of Eurobike’s long-term direction, describing it as a “fresh breeze for Eurobike”.

Speaking after meetings with industry representatives in Brussels, Fairnamic’s managing director, Philipp Ferger, said there was “a shared interest in a strong, forward-looking Eurobike”, and that Eurobike 2026 would be an “important milestone in jointly laying the foundation for an enhanced trade fair concept from 2027 onwards”.

Alongside the restructuring talks, Eurobike announced a new, more compact hall layout, splitting out OEM producers and “everyday mobility solutions” from more consumer-focused exhibitors.

The changes come after Fairnamic cancelled its planned Mobifuture spin-off event in November – a move seen as a concession to German industry bodies who had criticised Eurobike’s expansion into adjacent mobility categories.

Eurobike 2026 will take place in Frankfurt from 24 to 27 June 2026.

See zwiftinsider.com/route/hudson-hustle/

Cyclist Brennan King has completed an astonishing feat of gastric endurance, eating over 11kg of oats in a single week, suffering innumerable “horrific” bathroom breaks while cycling over 1,000km in a challenge that, by his own admission, offered no insight beyond what not to do.

With almost 4 million views on his Instagram original post, King’s videos have captivated and disgusted a huge audience over the past seven days.

Posting on the final day, King said he “set oat [sic] to answer a question absolutely nobody was asking”. 

Speaking to BikeRadar, King explained his decision to undertake the brutal challenge: “My family buys our oat supply in 25lbs (11kg) bags, and we go through them pretty quickly. So, naturally, I had to wonder how quickly I could make it through one on my own.”

King said he ran the numbers, weighed out the portions, “and it seemed to me like it might (just might) be possible to do it in a week”.

“If I had known how much of a challenge it would be, then I would probably have thought about it a little harder,” he said, admitting he “wouldn’t be able to get the idea out of my head without giving it a go.” 

A keen long-distance rider since 2019, King’s latest two-month 10,000km adventure took him from his home in Vancouver, Canada, to Banff. He then tackled the legendary Tour Divide from Banff to the Mexico/US border, before riding back to Montreal for the start of the school year.

Other challenges of epic proportions include riding for 24 hours straight on Zwift for his 23rd birthday, when he averaged 268W for 960km (he hopes to crack the 1,000km mark for his 25th birthday).

However, all of these challenges pale in comparison to the gastric mountain he has just summited. 

• Learn more: Cycling nutrition: everything you need to know, according to the latest science

20 cups of oats per day

King says he calculated that a cup of dry oats contains about 300 calories, and to complete this challenge, he had to eat 20 cups each day.

This means 1.4kg of oats per day, which equates to 6,000 calories or 42,000 calories for the week.

For context, Tour de France pros burn in the region of 8,000 calories on the toughest stages.

• Read more: How many calories do Tour de France riders consume on the biggest mountain days?

Mixing things up with a range of recipes pushed his overall calorific intake beyond oats alone. He says: “I was also eating other foods that I was adding to the oat-based meals that I was making. My calculations say that I ate 59,931 calories over the course of the week.” 

Though he peppered in a bit of running, hiking and swimming, King rode with a power meter throughout the week, and estimates he burned 52,979 calories. 

He adds that “despite the roughly 7,000 calories in excess, I weighed 0.4lbs lighter at the end of the week”.

“Having the bathroom close by was critical”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brennan King (@brennanking2.0)

His weight loss can probably be attributed to the other obvious physical challenges the monotrophic diet presented.

King is unflinching in his description of the trials he faced: “It was horrific. So much diarrhoea.” 

Falling behind his required schedule towards the end of the challenge forced King to up his intake on the final day: “I had to up my consumption to 2.4kg of oats on the last day to finish the challenge.” 

Waking at 4.30am, King said that to “develop the appetite of a horse, I’d need to exercise like a horse”.

Riding laps around a local park, King explains that he “fell into an easy rhythm of stopping every 4 laps to eat my oats and shit my guts out

“Having the bathroom close by was critical to the mission – I had to stop off at a bathroom nearly once per hour during my 12-hour ride.”

Though his resolve wobbled towards the end, King says there was only one thing for it: “Keep on biking, and keep on eating oats.” 

So, “in a state of delirium and utter gut discomfort”, King finished the challenge having cycled 335km – and eating more oats than he cares to recount. 

King admits the gastric challenge extended beyond the obvious: “It was tricky to come up with tasty recipes because I was trying to use as many oats as possible without too many additives. The trick was to add as little as possible while still making it palatable” 

Highlights included a banana oat loaf, classic oats paired with Greek yoghurt, and oat borscht.

However, not every recipe was a hit: “By far my most horrific creation was after a long day when I was tired and just wanted to get some hydration in, so I put a chicken bouillon cube in a bunch of hot water and added oats to that to make a soup. That was despicable.”

On the last day, he was also forced to pair a simple granola with Red Bull: “This was a dark day for oat lovers everywhere.” 

What did he learn? 

So what did King learn from his monumental challenge? “I can’t say that I gained all that much insight from the challenge – at least not anything valuable about what you should be doing,” he admits. 

“The on-bike nutrition was really the main hurdle. I think oats and their fibre content are great fuel for off the bike, but trying to ride for 12 hours by eating 2.4kg of them was never a good idea.” 

Regardless, he says he “still needed to give it a try”, and that he expected to be in top form having “come off possibly the craziest block of gut training that any cyclist has ever undergone”. 

Looking ahead, although his expectations are modest, King is targeting the Canadian National road championships. While he admits he’s come to racing late in life, his dream is to race on a WorldTour team, or on the American gravel circuit.

And what about his taste for porridge, granola and other oaty delights? “I’ll need some time away from oats for a bit,” he says. “I still love oats, but this past week has put some strain on our relationship, so I don’t want to rush anything.” 

Full-suspension gravel was the mash-up trend of 2025, with Trek’s out-there CheckOUT pushing the limits established by BMC’s URS LT, Cannondale’s Topstone and Lee Cougan’s Super Innova Gravel.

Now, for 2026, Salsa has tested the boundaries again – not only with more suspension travel, but with the added dimension of electric assistance.

Salsa certainly has form when it comes to genre mash-ups, and it will raise eyebrows again with the new Salsa Wanderosa – an electric/mountain/gravel bike with drop bars.

The brand’s back catalogue includes the 2008 Salsa Fargo – a monster drop-bar mountain bike with myriad fixtures that defined bikepacking before it existed.

Then there was the Blackborow, a mix of cargo bike and fat bike from 2016 that paved the way for the likes of the Tern Orox and Momentum PakYak.

Housed within the carbon frame is a mid-mount ebike motor and internal battery from Fazua.

Delve further into the specifications and the Wanderosa looks to be a bike built to take on technical trails, alongside gravel.

All models come with a 120mm-travel fork and a dropper post, not to mention 29er wheelsets shod with 2.2in (55.8mm) tyres.

• Read more: Best electric gravel bikes: 9 gravel ebikes rated and reviewed
  

Full-suspension gravel geometry

Salsa insists the Wanderosa isn’t simply an electric mountain bike with drop bars, though – its progressive geometry is designed around drop bars.

That means a long reach combined with a short stem, a steep (75-degree) seat angle and a slack 65.3-degree head angle for stability. There’s 120mm of travel at the front and 110mm at the rear from its 45mm-stroke shock. You can reduce the rear travel to 100mm by restricting the shock stroke to 40mm.

The back end is supplemented by a flex-stay design in place of pivots. Salsa claims this helps reduce weight without compromising the suspension’s effectiveness.

Full-power mid-motor assistance

The Wanderosa uses Fazua’s latest Ride 60 drive unit. The mid-drive unit, as the name suggests, provides a claimed 60Nm of torque powered by an internal 480Wh battery.

In the US, it’s a Class 3 unit, maxing out at 28mph/45kph, and in Canada it’s Class 1 (20mph/32kph). The Wanderosa isn’t available yet in Europe.

Salsa says the lightweight 4.1kg system is custom-tuned for gravel riding, and it comes with Fazua’s Road Control ‘blips’ mounted under the bar tape for motor-mode switching without reaching for the top-tube mounted control unit.

Salsa Wanderosa range details

Topping out the range is the $12,999 Wanderosa Force XO AXS Transmission model. This Wanderosa comes with a drivetrain that blends SRAM’s road and mountain bike parts.

Here, it mixes a SRAM XO Transmission mountain bike derailleur, brakes and a carbon ebike-specific Praxis ETOR crankset with SRAM’s Force levers.

Up front is a 120mm RockShox SID Ultimate fork, with a SIDLuxe Ultimate shock at the rear. The high-grade spec is completed with a RockShox Reverb AXS wireless dropper and WTB’s CZR Light i30 carbon wheelset shod with Teravail Camrock 29×2.2in tyres.

Next in line is the Wanderosa Rival GX AXS at $9,999. This mixes a SRAM GX Eagle AXS rear derailleur, alloy Praxis ETOR crankset and SRAM Rival AXS shifters and brakes.

Suspension is provided by a RockShox SID Select+ 3P 120mm-travel fork and SIDLuxe Select+ 3P rear shock. A TranzX dropper and WTB EZR i27 rims on DT Swiss 370 hubs, shod with Teravail Camrock 29×2.2in tyres complete the build.

Entry into the Wanderosa range is via the $7,999 Wanderosa Apex Eagle. The drivetrain all comes from SRAM’s mechanical Apex Eagle group. Praxis provides the ebike-specific alloy ETOR crankset.

Suspension comes from a RockShox SID 2P fork up front and a SIDLuxe SEL+ 2P rear shock. It gets a TranzX dropper post and WTB ST i27 rims on a Shimano TC500 hub wheelset with the same Teravail Camrock 29×2.2in tyres as the pricier models.

Pricing

• Salsa Wanderosa Apex Eagle: $7,999 / CA$10,249
• Salsa Wanderosa Rival GX AXS: $9,999 / CA$12,799
• Salsa Wanderosa Force XO AXS: $12,999 / N/A Canada

See zwiftinsider.com/route/kaze-kicker/

Adam Hansen, head of the professional riders’ union, says riders are “100 per cent against” the use of a “power data passport” to catch dopers.

Speaking on the Domestique Hotseat podcast, Hansen says that while the scheme is being trialled on a voluntary basis, he sees a slew of issues.

These include the potential for power meters and bike computers to malfunction, or to simply run out of battery mid-ride, as well as the fact that riders’ training plans – and therefore the power they produce on a bike – will naturally vary substantially during a season.

Ultimately, Hansen has a bucket load of apparently unanswered questions about the scheme. He says: “This just adds to the extra stress for the athletes. To me, it’s just getting too much.”

A new longitudinal performance-monitoring tool

According to the sport’s governing body, the UCI, the International Testing Agency (ITA) is “developing a new longitudinal performance monitoring tool based on power data from men professional road riders”.

The scheme was announced quietly by cycling’s governing body, the UCI, a few days before the start of the 2025 Tour de France, but has received limited attention until now.

According to Hansen, the new power-based scheme will require athletes to “submit all their power data” for the anti-doping authorities to scrutinise.

Hansen says: “If they [the ITA] see things that are irregular then they’ll do more target testing, or maybe in the future this could also mean a sanction.”

For Hansen, this is where the problems arise because he says unanswered questions remain over what happens if riders don’t submit their power data – whether intentionally or because of technical issues such as a bike computer that is broken, lost or simply runs out of battery mid-ride.

“There’s so many factors where a rider just won’t have his training [data], and if he can’t submit it, is that a missed [doping] control? Because a missed control is very severe.”

“It’s getting too much”

Hansen says the proposed scheme is being trialled with four professional teams during the 2026 season, in addition to existing tools such as post-race anti-doping controls, the Whereabouts system and the athlete biological passport.

“This just adds extra stress to the athletes. To me, it’s just getting too much – and that’s why you see these younger guys are just burning out. They can’t survive.”

Extra stress aside, Hansen also says the proposed scheme is flawed because “there are so many variables” that can affect a rider’s power output from day to day.

These include what training they’ve been prescribed, or have done during previous days, how well they’ve slept, whether they’ve had caffeine before training, and so on.

As for what he’d like to see done to combat doping in professional cycling, Hansen says “they should improve the testing for banned substances” because that would create less stress for the riders.

• Read more: 12 years after Lance Armstrong, how clean is cycling really?

Cycling YouTuber and virtual racing enthusiast J. Dirom has just announced the second round of the Syrup Cup, a community-focused race series on Zwift designed for riders of all levels. The Syrup Cup brings together Zwifters from around the world for structured, regular competition — with a focus on fair racing, community spirit, and progression.

Maple Madness is all about that February energy – that in-between time where winter still grips hard, but the first signs of the maple harvest are starting to stir. The taps are in, the races are harder. It’s raw, cold, and competitive, with riders getting ready before everyone else even realizes the season has started!

J. says, “The Syrup Cup is designed like a local weeknight criterium — competitive, fun, and open to riders who just want to race hard and have a voice in the community.”

What Makes the Syrup Cup Special

• Shared Coverage: Select races will be featured in post-race highlights and analysis across J. Dirom’s YouTube and social channels.
• GC Rankings: Based on ZwiftPower times, with time bonuses (10, 6, and 4 seconds) awarded to the top three riders in each category. These bonuses are subtracted from the rider’s overall time.
• Timeslot: Races happen weekly on Mondays at 6:15pm ET/3:15pm PT, which isn’t a common day or time for Zwift races.

Routes, Schedule, and Registration

Races happen weekly on Mondays at 11:15pm UTC/6:15pm ET/3:15pm PT. Riders are grouped using custom Zwift Racing Score ranges.

• Round 1 – February 2
  • Innsbruckring, 2 laps (17.8km, 154m)
• Round 2 – February 9
  • Downtown Dolphin, 12 laps (23.6km, 204m)
• Round 3 – February 16
  • Rolling Highlands, 2 laps (23km, 182m)
• Round 4 – February 23
  • Outer Scotland, 2 laps (22.5km, 208m)

Sign up at https://www.zwift.com/events/tag/syrupcup >

More Info

To share feedback, ask questions, or just get plugged into the racing community, join J. Dirom’s Discord server (https://discord.gg/2AUgUnw4pA) and Zwift Club (zwift.com/ca/clubs/64787403-869d-40ce-a506-3f6a8eb4d787/join).

Alpkit has officially announced its new financial restructure and investment that secures almost 200 jobs after it was revealed yesterday that the outdoors company had entered administration.

The Nottinghamshire-based company, which also owns Sonder bikes, said the last three years “have been tough” financially. It faced rapid cost inflation, a challenging retail environment and trade barriers while servicing post-pandemic recovery loans. 

“Our Board has worked extensively over recent months to explore options and find a way to secure our future,” Alpkit said in a statement released today.

This has resulted in Alpkit securing new investment via a pre-pack process. This process meant Alpkit “briefly went into administration so that the company could be purchased by our new investor”. 

The investment secures all 194 jobs across Alpkit’s retail, warehouse, manufacturing and central teams.

Alpkit will continue to be led by its existing team with its incoming investor Jeroen van den Berge joining as a non-executive chair to support the company. 

Alpkit CEO and co-founder David Hanney said: “While today is a day of reflection on the challenges that led to this restructure – and we deeply regret the impact on our creditors, partners and shareholders – it is also the start of a vital new chapter. 

“Under new ownership, Alpkit becomes a well-funded, more resilient business. We are keeping our team together and our purpose unchanged: to help people Go Nice Places, Do Good Things.” 

Van den Berge said: “What excites me about Alpkit is the strong heritage and values, leading product credentials, direct-to-consumer model and loyal membership base. 

“I also share the team’s vision of Alpkit becoming a home to other complementary brands, similar to what was achieved with Trakke. I look forward to supporting David and the team during the next phase of their exciting journey.”

Alpkit’s statement today confirmed existing shareholders have lost the value of their shares, and that they will be offered a stake in the new company.

Strava has completed one of its largest data clean-ups yet and removed 2.3m electric bike activities from its leaderboards. 

The cycling and fitness app used three machine-learning tools to address anomalous activities showing up in its results. 

James, a Strava engineer, explained on Reddit that these include: enhanced ebike detection to catch activities recorded on ebikes but uploaded as regular rides; processing the top 100 activities on every global ride-segment leaderboard; and a model to better identify when a bike ride is uploaded as a run. 

The result is 2.3m ebike activities have been removed, alongside 1.6m vehicle activities, and 293,000 athletes have had spots in top 10s restored. 

This is the second data clean-up Strava has completed in the last year. In May 2025, Strava revealed it had removed 4.45m activities after it introduced its ‘auto-flagging’ tool Themis in February. 

The tool catches activities recorded in vehicles before they appeared on KOM/QOM leaderboards by analysing 57 factors, such as speed and acceleration.

Strava said at the time that the tool had led to users flagging 72 per cent fewer activities as “in a vehicle” due to the system catching them first. 

The latest crackdown fulfils Strava’s promise in February last year to investigate ebike rides on rider leaderboards. 

But as James the Strava engineer wrote in his Reddit post: “Data integrity work is never really ‘done,’ and we know there’s still more to improve when it comes to removing anomalous activities.”

You may like

• Strava moves one step closer to going public, Reuters reports
• Strava will now recommend personalised workouts and GPS routes based on your goals
• Strava’s 2025 Year in Sport report has us wondering, is cycling out of fashion?

The fifth race of Zwift Racing League 2025/26 Round 3 happens Tuesday, February 3, and we’re in Richmond for a punchy points race.

Don’t understand how ZRL points races work? Read our explainer >

There’s much to discuss, including crucial course segments, powerup usage, bike decisions, and strategic options. Let’s go!

Looking at the Route

Each lap of Cobbled Climbs is 9.2 km (5.7 miles) long. A/B teams will race 4 laps (37km), while C/D will race 3 (27.8km).

The route is essentially Richmond’s 2015 UCI Worlds Course without the flat first half. What you’re left with are the pitchy parts: KOM intermediates for curvy, cobbled Libby Hill and short, steep 23rd Street, plus the third climb (Governor Street) which isn’t isn’t a points intermediate, but is draggy and painful nonetheless. Plus, it leads into the false-flat finish!

Here’s the lap profile, including the two KOM intermediates we’ll be contesting for points on each lap:

We begin at the standard Richmond start/finish banner, but make a quick left turn, and another left, onto the descent of E Main St. (This is the longest descent on the route, so enjoy it while it lasts.)

After some flats and rollers along the river the road tilts up and you know what’s coming: our first KOM of the day. Twisty, bumpy Libby Hill!

Hammer your way up this climb (most riders will finish it in 60-110s), then recover for a few seconds as you descend to the start of our next KOM: the short, straight 23rd Street KOM. This is essentially a “sprint-climb” (25-30s), which is why Peter Sagan was able to drop everyone in his famous attack here in the 2015 UCI Worlds race.

If you’re struggling, do everything you can to hold onto the wheels over the 23rd Street KOM, knowing you’ve got a bit of recovery just up the road on the Broad Street descent and the flat that follows. You can even supertuck the descent like Sagan did (but can’t anymore – thanks for ruining the fun, UCI!)

Less than a minute after the Broad Street descent, we begin the final climb of the lap: Governor Street! This is not a timed KOM, but it’s where the race-winning final moves are often made, and it feels so long in the final minutes of a race. (Expect riders to ride this conservatively until the final lap. Better to save your climbing efforts for the KOMs handing out points!)

Finish this climb as the road turns a hard left, then it’s ~600 meters of a false flat straightaway to the finish (or the start of the next lap).

Read more about the Cobbled Climbs route >

Powerups

For this race, four types of powerups are being handed out with equal probability at each arch. There are three arches per lap:

• Lap Arch
• Libby Hill KOM Arch
• 23rd St. KOM Arch

Cloaking (ghost): makes you invisible to other riders for 15 seconds. Disabled within 400m of the finish line.
Use when you want to get away from one or more riders. Deploy then hammer, in hopes that you will create enough of a gap that your opponents can’t grab your wheel once it’s visible again. Since most riders won’t be looking to attack solo, this will be the most trashed powerup in the race by far.

Burrito: turns off the draft effect for riders in a cone-shaped window behind you for 20 seconds.
Use when attacking off the front so opponents have to work harder to follow you, or in the peloton to make others work harder. A real heartbreaker, getting hit with this on a KOM segment!

Draft Boost (van): increases the draft effect you are experiencing for 40 seconds.
Use at higher speeds (flats and descents) when you are already drafting off another rider (since this powerup only helps when you are drafting.) This will be quite handy in the long finish, if you’re with other riders.

Aero Boost (helmet): makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds.
Use at higher speeds (flats and descents), especially when no draft is available (although it is still useful when drafting.) This will give you a nice edge on the 23rd St KOM, and on the finishing straight.

Bike Recommendations

The fact that 85% of this race’s points will be earned at the top of the two KOM segments makes us steer away from pure aero setups and look at climbing bikes and all-arounders instead. Because while a more aero setup has a pure time advantage on laps of the full course, it’s the KOM times that really matter.

Here are our test times, set with our standard bot (75kg, 183cm rider) at 6 W/kg (450W) on Libby Hill and 8 W/kg (600W) on 23rd St:

Notice how the lighter setup does better on Libby (a longer, slower climb) while the more aero setup is best on 23rd St (because it’s a higher-speed climb). Which setup do you choose? That may depend on which of the two KOMs you want to be set up for.

Our recommendation, then, is to use the newish DT Swiss 65 paired with one of these bikes:

• S-Works Tarmac SL8
• Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71
• Pinarello Dogma F 2024
• Canyon Aeroad 2024
• Specialized Aethos

Of course, your frame’s upgrade status should impact your decision. A fully upgraded Aethos will outclimb the other four frames, but that’s not the case when comparing un-upgraded versions.

Related: All About Zwift’s New “Bike Upgrades” Functionality >

See Speed Tests: Tron Bike vs Top Performers for more nerd-level detail on frame and wheel performance.

More Route Recons

Lots of recon events are scheduled on upcoming ZRL routes, led by various teams. See upcoming ZRL recons for this race at zwift.com/events/tag/zrlrecon.

Additionally, riders in the Zwift community do a great job every week creating recon videos that preview the courses and offer tips to help you perform your best on the day. Here are the recons I’ve found (comment if you find another!)

J Dirom

Strategic Options

Points Distributions, Cobbled Climbs

4 Laps

3 Laps

These charts show the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in a race with 60 participants. To learn how ZRL points races work, see this post.

How will these races unfold? What strategies will teams employ? Here’s what I predict:

• Honey, I Shrunk the Peloton: The front group will get smaller on each lap, with a small pack of only 5-10 duking it out across the finish line. Some races will even see breakaway wins by just 1-3 riders.
• First Lap FTS: Fastest Through Segment top 10 times will all be set on the first lap. Why? Because the pack draft will be largest then, plus riders will simply be too tired to better their times on subsequent laps.
• Not Lonely for Long: Chase groups will catch some lone riders up the road at the start of each lap (through the flat/descent portion), but those same riders will attack again on the climbs and get away. Which begs the question: is it even worth chasing? On the other hand…
• Never Gonna Give You Up: This is a longish race with lots of punchy climbing, and riders may have a hard time pacing their efforts properly. Some will push hard to make the front selection, but blow up on subsequent laps. Chase groups shouldn’t give up hope, because that front group will keep shrinking, and there may be opportunities late in the race for intermediate and high finish points if you’re in the first chase groups.
• Spirit of Sagan: This course lends itself to breakaways, particularly on one of the final lap’s climbs. Riders who don’t fancy a pack sprint will try to get away on one of the final hills, grabbing max intermediate points in the process.

Your Thoughts

Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!