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Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

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To be is to do - Socrates
To do is to be - Jean-Paul Sartre
Do Be Do Be Do - Frank Sinatra

Bill & Carol McGann’s book The Story of the 2024 Tour de France: The Happy Warrior Triumphs is available print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the link on the right.

Upcoming racing:

• July 4 - 26: Tour de France
• July 8 - 12: Tour of Austria

Latest completed racing:

• June 24 - 28: National Championshps
• June 17 - 21: Tour de Suisse
• June 17 - 21: Baloise Belgium Tour
• June 7 - 14: Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
• June 14: Copenhagen Sprint
• June 14: GP Gippingen/Canton Aargau
• June 10: Circuit Franco-Belge
• June 7: Brussels Cycling Classic
• June 1 - 5: Ethias-Tour de Wallone
• May 8 - 31: Giro d'Italia

Here's the team's news:

Soudal Quick-Step travels this week to Barcelona, which on Saturday will become the 24th different city to host the Tour de France Grand Depart. Taking place from 4 to 26 July, the 113th edition of the season’s second Grand Tour will see the team time trial return for the first time since 2019, with Barcelona set to host the event on the opening day, when the riders will finish on the Montjuic hill. Aside from this, the race schedules just one more stage against the clock, a 26.1km individual one, coming in the last week.

The many sprinters at the start will have at least five opportunities to fight for victory and the many points that these bring in the green jersey classification. There will be a total of five summit finishes this year, including Orcières-Merlette - where Luis Ocaña took a famous victory in 1971 - and Alpe d’Huez, which features in back-to-back stages.

Soudal Quick-Step has won 55 stages at the previous participations, the most recent of which was delivered by Valentin Paret-Peintre on the slopes of Mont Ventoux. The Frenchman, who will make his second appearance at the race, is excited to get things underway in a couple of days: “I’m happy to be back at the start after my successful debut last year and I hope to get another stage victory, but it would be nice to fight also for the polka dot jersey. When possible, I will also try to help the team and give my best so that we can get as many victories as possible.”

Valentin Paret-Peintre wins 2025 Tour stage 16 atop Mont Ventoux. ASO photo

A triple stage winner at the Grande Boucle, Tim Merlier leads our squad on the flat, where the Belgian - one of the best sprinters in the world - will look to add to his impressive palmares, which at the moment counts 72 pro wins. Soudal Quick-Step’s team will also include Pascal Eenkhoorn, Jasper Stuyven, Dylan van Baarle, Bert Van Lerberghe, Ilan Van Wilder, and Louis Vervaeke - an experienced roster capable of fighting for good results regardless of the terrain.

A notable absentee is Mikel Landa, fifth overall at the 2024 edition in his first year with The Wolfpack. The Basque was due to race his eighth Tour de France, but due to a lingering back injury he will not be present at the start: “I am very disappointed because I won’t be there after already missing the Giro d’Italia. It’s been a difficult year so far, and after struggling in the Tour de Suisse, I realized there’s no point in trying to go to Le Tour. It’s important now to rest and recover, and hopefully I will be at the start of the Vuelta in two months.”

“Tim has as main goal to win a stage, and with the changes that were made in the points classification, he could also get involved in the fight for green, especially as he has a strong squad for the bunch sprints. Valentin, who is incredibly motivated and has improved in this past year, will try to be again a protagonist in the mountains, while Ilan will be our guy for the general classification, but the plan is for him to take it day by day. We also have guys capable of going in the breakaways, but our main focus will be of course on the sprint stages”, said sports director Tom Steels.

Here's the team's short post:

XDS Astana Team is ready for the main cycling event in the world – the Tour de France, which will be held from July 4th to 26th.

Rider roster: Davide Ballerini, Aaron Gate, Sergio Higuita, Max Kanter, Harold Tejada, Mike Teunissen, Simone Velasco, Nicolas Vinokurov.

Max Kanter wins 2026 Paris-Nice stage two.

Here’s the team’s news:

In many ways, Héctor Álvarez did not choose cycling, but cycling chose him. It happened, he says, when he was four years old. At that tender age, the young Spaniard – encouraged by a pack of bike racing-mad brothers and cousins – took to two wheels for the first time.

“And I loved it,” Álvarez remembers with a grin. “I then went to all the races to watch, and one day I said to my dad that I wanted to try. I started racing three years before you’re even supposed to start, competing in the same category as my older brother.”

From there, the journey of one of Spain’s brightest sporting talents began.

Álvarez spent his formative years watching Alberto Contador storm to Tour de France wins on television and was part of the cycling club run by his father in their hometown near Benidorm, Spain. As a teenager, he trained every day to fulfil his dreams of eventually making it to the big leagues. His father was a key part of the puzzle, keeping Álvarez realistic and grounded, as well as supporting his ambitions.

Héctor Álvarez

“My dad was always advising me that I was winning a lot because I was a big guy for my age. I was always more developed than the other riders so my dad just told me that I had an advantage because of that,” he explains.

“So I just kept enjoying cycling and trying not to think about the long term plan. It was when I was a first year junior and I had contact with Markel [Irizar, Lidl-Trek Future Racing team manager] that I started thinking about pro cycling. It was quite a shocking moment because before I just thought it was due to my early development. When the other teams started to look at me, I knew that maybe I could really be a cyclist.”

While he was inspired by his compatriots racing in the mountains and yellow jerseys of the Tour, Álvarez had a slightly different future in mind for himself. His bigger build meant that he excelled in flatter races and had the engine for long breakaway missions, as well as being well-suited to the speed of the velodrome. He has both Junior and Under-23 European Omnium titles and has won numerous prestigious Nations Cups races, as well as finishing in the top-10 of the junior and under-23 versions of Paris-Roubaix.

“I really love the weather, the way the race is on for the whole day and I’m also physically well-suited to them. But I’m also learning that I am able to be a good helper on the climbs so I need to see where I’ll go, maybe races like Flanders or the Ardennes will suit me.”

As he crucially highlights, Álvarez is still learning exactly what type of rider he wants to be. The 19-year-old has already impressed while working in support of GC leaders such as Juan Ayuso at Volta a Algarve, and is eager to learn from those on the team with more experience than him. As he signs a contract to become part of Lidl-Trek’s WorldTour outfit until the end of 2028, the Spanish rider is expecting to find out a bit more about where his strengths lie.

“I always said from the start that I wanted to learn how to ride for a big general classification leader and it’s really lucky that I’ve been able to get this experience so far. Working for a rider like Juan is amazing, and it also teaches me how to be a good leader,” Álvarez reflects.

“I feel super good in this team and super calm, we really trust each other. It’s more like a family and they look at what kind of people we are, more than just performance. They put the person first and I felt like this from the first day they invited me to a training camp. The way Lidl-Trek works fits me well.”

Despite his excitement at stepping up to the professional ranks, Álvarez is also adamant he wants to keep his feet on the ground in a cycling landscape where riders are performing at a younger age than ever before: “It’s true that the expectations [on young riders] are really high, but I’m a really calm guy. I have my steps. I know that I’m not developed enough yet so I want to go slowly. We have a super clear idea of my development and we will not stress. I did these first years without going straight to WorldTour because I know how much I have to learn and the team also knows this. We’re not looking at what other guys are doing.”

While expectations of Álvarez might be high after his performances in the junior and under-23 ranks, this doesn’t seem to have any impact on the young rider. In fact, he explains that his life away from cycling is an equally important part of his existence, and that maintaining balance is key to his success.

“I think it’s one of the most important things. When I’m off the bike I like to speak about cycling, but I have a really good balance. I’m a freak about all sports, I watch basketball and football. In my off time I like to go to the mountains and hike on the trails. I spend time with my family and am super chilled. We’re used to being quite busy and stressed, so away from the races I just enjoy my time,” he explains.

As he embarks on the next chapter of his cycling career, there is no doubt that Hector Álvarez will have more learning and changing to do. He’s not sure exactly what rider he’ll become, or where his path will take him, but he’s certain that no matter what, he will always have fun along the way.

“I’ll always be myself and I’ll never change who I am as a person just because people are looking at me,” he smiles. “If people don’t like it then they can talk about it, but I just like to do my own thing, which I think is good. I’m not afraid to be myself.”