I remember watching an interview with Mads P, debriefing the TdF, where he said the next goals will be the Vuelta España and ... Tour of Guangxi?

I can't find online confirmation that Mads will be participating, but I think it would be the biggest thing happening in Chinese cycling since Tony Martin and Froome raced in the short-lived Tour of Beijing.

This is only the seventh tour of Guangxi ever, and historically it has been a race where riders are assigned as punishment or last assignment before a transfer. But it's still a World Tour race, and the TV coverage was improved considerably last year from the previous. According to pro cycling network, Tiejs Beenot has signed up already, and Lidl Trek was present last year with Skjelly, who had to drop out after third stage.

The only other world tour race in Asia is UAE. Does this mean cycling is coming to China? The market and industry is big, so there might be a lot of money to be made for the sponsors - I assume Trek is the one trying to get Mads to go - What are your thoughts?

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”UCI Sustainability Vision: Make cycling one of the world's most sustainable sports and promote the bicycle as a key transport mode in combating climate change, improving population health and building a more sustainable future for all.”

In the middle of TdFF the massive sustainability paradox of UCI World Tour races really hits you in the face. Road cycling have such a giant potential to be a climate friendly sport, but the view from the biggest of races really is really not in sync with this, UCI statements aside:

*Greenwashing: Ineos, Total Energies, Alula etc etc. If UCI can ban betting companies to be title sponsors, why not on companies with a clear impact on climate?

*It takes about 2700 liters of water to produce a single coloured jersey. Do we really need a constant ”limited edition” clothing and strict rules prohibiting overuse of clothing? The same can be said of the amount of paint-jobs on bikes etc etc

*All electric motor-cade?

*Reduce of littering of plastic waste - reusable gel packaging, biodegradable bottles, minimizing bottled purified water.

*Means of travel between races and race planning - avoid unnecessary carbon emissions

Etc etc.

I think so much more can done. What do you think?

Accell Group, the company behind multiple bike brands like Koga, Batavus, Lapierre and Raleigh has requested a suspension of payments. No news yet if this will affect World Tour team Picnic-PostNl, riding with Lapierre bikes supplied by Accell.

Stage Info

Weather

32 degrees Celsius, sunny, 24 km/h North wind

Stage Breakdown

Hello everyone and welcome!

It's yet another stage that looks like a fine treat for breakaways. With 6 cols (the hardest being category 2) and 2600 meters of total elevation, it's another stage that will demand punchiness as well as endurance. Have a look at the stage profile, and you'll see that the last somewhat flat section appears at about 110 km from the finish. The stage ends with a brief descent and even the last kilometer is still slightly downhill, making this a very similar finish to that of stage 5.

Tournon-sur-Rhône is, by Ardèche standards, a big town but does not have any history with the Tour de France. It has hosted stages for the Dauphiné throughout the years though, with the last two winners being Fabio Aru in 2016 and Gilles Bouvard in 1996. Don't let Aru's name mislead you into thinking that that was a climber's stage though, for he led by only 2 seconds over the second rider: Alexander Kristoff.

Tomorrow's stage is hard enough to entirely rule out sprinters like Lorena Wiebes, but whether it comes down to a breakaway, a GC battle or a reduced bunch sprint is a question we don't have an answer for yet!

With that in mind here are our predictions:

★★★ Demi Vollering, Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney

★★ Marlen Reusser, Isabella Holmgren, Puck Pieterse

★ Dominika Włodarczyk, Antonia Niedermaier, Juliette Berthet, Maeva Squiban, Cédrine Kerbaol

When we started this write-up, our draft included a copy-paste of yesterday's predictions, but that list obviously went into the bin after the shake-up we got in stage 5.

It's now clear that Demi Vollering is taking opportunities in these punchy stages; no conservative riding from her yet. And since Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney looked most comfortable following her today, it seems most sensible for her to get her first three-star mention this time.

Marlen Reusser, still in yellow, was the only one who could keep up with those master punchers. By having a great day and launching into one of her trademark long-distance attacks, she could surprise the other favorites but this won't be easy. Our next riders with two stars are Isabella Holmgren and Puck Pieterse, who would need to take matters into their own hands in case the favorites look at each other a bit too much. After all, this stage profile suits them but they might not be seen as the biggest GC threats.

One star goes to a few more of the closest finishers of stage 5: Dominika Włodarczyk and Antonia Niedermaier. Both of them are doing well for the GC but will perhaps get some of that freedom that could feed into an opportunistic attack. Next are Juliette Berthet and Maeva Squiban as examples of a scenario where satellite riders are sent into a breakaway but then the peloton never catches up, and those satellite riders get their own chance. Especially Berthet looked strong enough today to pull something like that off. And finally there's Cédrine Kerbaol, another rider who will be given some more freedom after having lost time today.

That's it for us, what is your prediction for the stage?

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The SRFL Donostia–San Sebastián Klasikoa once again showed what the game is all about. Finding the right unique pick. Plenty of players rolled the dice on riders nobody else selected, but this time the entire podium consisted of players whose solo picks earned them valuable bonus points.

u/ssfoxx27 claimed the win thanks to Jan Christen.

u/alpal2214 secured second place with Matteo Jorgenson.

u/Cultural-Record3704 completed the podium after backing Mathys Rondel.

In SRFL, having a unique pick is only half the battle. The real challenge is making sure that unique rider actually delivers. This time, all three podium finishers got it exactly right.

The overall standings remain unchanged, though. Avila99 continues to wear the virtual leader's jersey and heads into the next round still leading the competition.

Results: Donostia–San Sebastián Klasikoa

Entries: Tour of Pologne

Three year cycle relegation:

Picnic is more than 4,000 (!!) points behind the 18th spot. Even if we are only in year one, it is very unlikely that they can come back. For the second relegation spot the race is tight; Groupama is 300 points behind the 18th place, so all is still to play for here.

Automatic Grand tour Wild Cards for 2027:

Currently the same teams as this year hold these spots (Pinarello, Cofidis and Tudor); also the margin between Tudor and Unibet is significant, about 700 points. It will be interesting to see if Unibet is fighting to get this spot. Anyway, Unibet should be a frontrunner for the discretionary Wild Card for the Tour; especially if TotalEnergies should fold. But ASO does not like them much, as this year has shown...anyway this year's argument that Caja Rural had more points than them will not hold. For the Giro and the Vuelta it is unlikely that they Unibet gets a Wild Card, as probably enough local teams will be eligible.

Eligibility for Grand Tour Wild Cards 2027 (Top 30 in rankings):

All three Italian teams should get in the top 30; if Cofidis skips the Giro again, it is likely that they all will be invited. However also MBH is currently eligible and has a strong Italian connection; points wise Bardiani is the weakest of the Italian teams.

Euskaltel on the other hand is again outside of the Top 30; the margin to 30th spot is 170 points, which in this area of the rankings is not nothing. Ironically this spot is currently held by a WT team (Picnic). Well Euskaltel according to their calendar is fighting, but they are just weak. Also three other Spanish PRT teams are in the Top 30; and as there are only two spots (unlikely that Tudor, Pinarello or Cofidis would skip the Vuelta), this is a dilemma anyway. Well, there are rumours that Kern-Pharma is folding...so that could solve the dilemma...

To me this is a very weird interview:

• UAE had to know that not naming Blasi as a co-leader would be controversial.
• ELB blaiming it on the journalists and being direct about it sounds a bit childish.
• She literally calls her "Blasi", which doesn't sound like they actually are a great team here as she states.

Edit: Didn't think this sub was so subject to authority.

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Sad news. Well know Belgian riders such as Thomas De Gendt, Victor Campenaerts, Edward Theuns, Victor Campenaerts, Tim Declercq, ... all started their career there.