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Carapaz undergoes perineal surgery, pledges it won't affect Giro plans
Richard Carapaz's leadup to his planned Giro d'Italia start in a month took an unexpected detour this week after the Ecuadorian posted on social media that he had undergone surgery.
"I had a procedure last night for a perineal condition," the EF Education-EasyPost rider wrote on his Instagram. "Everything went as planned and successfully. From today, fully focussed on recovery and returning to the maximum level in front of the Giro."
Carapaz, who won the 2019 Giro and was third last year, has had a low-key start to the season but was 10th overall at last week's Volta a Catalunya, including a sixth-place finish on stage 6.
Cam Jones sets White Rim FKT on a lark
Cameron Jones has a new title, and it's one he wasn't even eyeing. The defending Unbound 200 champion set a new Fastest Known Time (FKT) on Utah's White Rim Trail, a trek of around 100 miles that takes place in Utah's rugged slickrock country.
Jones apparently wasn't targeting the record for fastest unsupported attempt, which was previously set by Keegan Swenson in 2021. He was on his way to the Sea Otter Classic and diverted as a spontaneous side quest; despite a bit of recon, he was reportedly seeing some 90% of the course for the first time during the attempt. His time of 5:23:27 lops almost five minutes off Swenson's previous record. Jones' fellow Scott-sponsored athlete Hannah Otto holds the women's record of 6:37:44, set not quite a year ago. Jones rode the Scott Spark RC World Cup set up with drop handlebars, a Shimano XTR/Ultegra drivetrain and Fox suspension, Industry Nine wheels and Schwalbe Rick XC 29 x 2.4" tires.
Caja Rural rider Jaume Guardeño in intensive care after training crash
Jaume Guardeño (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) has been hospitalized after a serious training crash. According to Marca, the 23-year-old Spaniard hit a rock while riding, lost control of his bicycle, and collided with an oncoming car, reportedly suffering a severe traumatic brain injury.
According to his team, Guardeño was airlifted the Hospital Taulí de Sabadell, where he remains in intensive care.
Vittoria extends Corsa Pro Control sizing up to 42 mm
Wide road tires are pretty clearly here to stay. Vittoria is the latest to jump in with high-end rubber made in ever larger sizes. Its Corsa Pro Control was already available up to 700 x 34 mm wide, and the brand has now extended that with 38 and 42 mm options.
All the tires use the same 320 tpi cotton casing and the Race Formulation rubber compound. The size range now spans from 26 mm to 42 mm; that 26 mm is the narrowest underscores just how much the optimal size window has shifted for road tires. Just 10 years ago the brand would have stocked 23 and even 21 mm options. The new tires retail for US$107/€96 and are available immediately.
Fränk Schleck will take over for Michael Rogers as Lidl-Trek Women's Team Manager
Pon.Bike 2025 revenue stays stable at €2 billion
Pon Holdings, the Dutch family-owned conglomerate that owns more than 20 bicycle brands, including Cannondale, Cervelo, Santa Cruz, Focus and Gazelle, has reported that its Pon.Bike division revenue was around €2 billion in 2025. The figures, first published by Bike Europe, show that the group stayed profitable through what it described as another turbulent year.
For the last three years, Pon's results have stayed relatively stable; in 2023 the company reported a peak €2.3 billion in revenue, while in 2024, the figure was €2.1 billion. In 2025, over half of Pon.Bike's sales came from e-bikes, and across its portfolio, the company launched more than 20 new models.
Pon does not expect either the automotive – it is the importer for several car brands, including Volkswagen and Audi – or the bike market conditions to improve in 2026, and instead highlighted focus on "programs to improve efficiency".
This was the view of the new Pon Holdings CEO Christian Dahlheim, who took on the role on 1 April 2026 following Janus Smalbraak, who spent 26 years at Pon, and 15 as its CEO.
Decathlon CMA CGM 10-rider women's team in the works
Bipartisan Safe Speeds bill would address e-moto concerns
It's a long way yet from law, but a bipartisan bill introduced in the US House of Representatives focuses on creating federal standards for lightweight electric vehicles, with an eye to creating a regulatory framework for e-bikes and higher-power vehicles like e-mopeds and e-motos. The bill is prompted by rising safety concerns around the use of unregulated e-motos on public rights-of-way, including bike lanes and paths.
The Safe SPEEDS act has four sponsors: California Democrats Dave Min, the lead sponsor, and Jared Huffman, as well as Republicans Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) and Mike Lawler (NY). The bill would direct the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to analyze data about crash incidents involving light electric vehicles, as a step toward creating different classifications and labeling requirements. The bill would also urge the CPSC to formally adopt PeopleforBikes' three-class definitions for e-bikes. That would prevent statistical information on crashes from lumping low-speed Class 1 e-bikes, for instance, in with unregulated, high-power e-motos.
The bill has been referred to the Energy and Commerce Committee for next steps.
Allen adds real-time Bluetooth monitoring to its Go Compact bike rack
Bike rack manufacturer Allen has launched the Smart Suction Go Compact rack, building on its existing Go Compact suction rack with the addition of real-time monitoring through a Bluetooth connection.
Suction-based racks have been around for a while now, but for some, the level of trust placed in mounting their pride and joy to the roof of their vehicle via suction cups rather than something mechanical puts them off the idea.
In a press release issued ahead of the product launch, Alex Allen, CEO of Allen, said, “Suction-based products have already proven their reliability. But drivers want absolute confirmation that the cups are fully secured. Our Smart Suction monitoring delivers that peace of mind.”
The Smart Suction Go Compact is available for $300 USD / £180 (ex. VAT) / €200 (ex. VAT) and is compatible with 9, 12, and 15 mm.
Prosecutors close investigation into Muriel Furrer's death
The Zurich public prosecutor's office announced on Monday that it had finished its investigation into the death of Muriel Furrer, the 18-year-old who died as a result of injuries sustained in a crash in the junior women's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in 2024.
"The accident occurred at approximately 11:04 a.m., out of sight of support vehicles, race officials, spectators, and marshals," said a statement from the prosecutor's office. "The injured cyclist lay hidden in the undergrowth and was not visible from the road. As was customary at previous editions of this World Cycling Championship, live tracking of all athletes was not used at the event. Therefore, the sudden disappearance of an athlete was not automatically reported. Due to these circumstances, the injured cyclist was not discovered until 12:26 p.m."
Emergency personnel arrived soon after Furrer was found, but she later died in the hospital.
Over the course of the investigation into the circumstances of the crash, the prosecutor's office found that "no third-party involvement in the cyclist's fall could be established, nor could any criminally relevant breach of duty be found in connection with course safety or emergency assistance after the accident."
Scott appoints new co-CEO
Scott Sports has named Hsuan Boon Tan as the company's co-CEO, replacing Juwon Kim, who is returning to South Korea to focus on strategy and investment at Scott's parent company, Youngone Corporation.
Tan has been a member of Scott's board for the past two years and will now work alongside existing co-CEO Pascal Ducrot. As part of the wider leadership changes, Ducrot will also sit on the Scott board going forward.
Olympic biathlete Émilien Jacquelin joins Decathlon-CMA CGM devo team
Four-time Olympic biathlon medallist Émilien Jacquelin is set to join Decathlon-CMA CGM's NewGen (development) team this year, starting May 1.
Jacquelin is best known for his swashbuckling style as a biathlete, with results including nine World Championship medals (five as winner), as well as having recently secured his first Olympic gold medal in the team biathlon event in Milano-Cortina. But his love of cycling has never been far away – indeed, throughout the 2026 Winter Olympics he competed wearing an earring that belonged to the revered Italian climber, Marco Pantani.
The combination of Jacquelin's athletic potential and deep love of the sport proved tantalising for Decathlon-CMA CGM, who opted to bring him on board for an initial six-month stint with its development squad. In a press release announcing the signing, Decathlon-CMA CGM's head of performance, Jean-Baptiste Quiclet, said that "cycling is already one of the pillars of [Jacquelin's] biathlon training. In this post-Olympic year, the idea is to offer him the opportunity to try his hand at competitive cycling with the team’s support, so he can develop his potential."
As for Jacquelin, this is a chance for him to "live out this childhood dream ... I plan to give 100%, with no half-measures. I am fully aware of how fortunate I am, and I am also eager to share my experience with the younger riders."
'I don’t feel very good on the bike at the moment' – Almeida post-Catalunya
João Almeida headed to the Volta a Catalunya hoping to prove form and build confidence ahead of the Giro d'Italia where he is expected to be sole leader of UAE Team Emirates-XRG for the first time. However, at the end of the seven-day race, the Portuguese rider could only log 38th overall, his best stage finish coming on stage 5 with 16th.
"I don’t feel very good on the bike at the moment," Almeida said ahead of stage 7 on Sunday morning. "Maybe I need to rest, understand what’s going wrong with me, and keep working hard."
Like several others, including Remco Evenepoel, and Tom Pidcock who was forced to abandon before the final weekend, Almeida crashed on stage 5 which dented his GC challenge, but the 27-year-old didn't pin his disappointing performance entirely on his misfortune.
"No, I was already feeling like this before the start," Almeida said of his form. "Maybe I need to do some tests and analyses. I’ll have to check with the medical team.”
Almeida is not expected to race again before the Giro, which kicks of on Friday 8th May for the grande partenza in Bulgaria.
Gilmore wins action-packed stage 7 as Vingegaard wraps up Catalunya GC
NSN's Brady Gilmore took victory in the reduced bunch sprint on stage 7 of the 2026 Volta a Catalunya, closing a dramatic finale on Barcelona's dynamic Montjuïc circuit, which will next be seen on stage 2 of the Tour de France.
For much of the finale, Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe's numerous leaders had committed themselves to an aggressive race, hurling attacks at Jonas Vingegaard and their other GC rivals. Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz successfully isolated the race leader on a few occasions, but the race leader was unfazed, and there were enough who were motivated to ensure a large group made it to the finish together.
Ineos Grenadiers had control of the peloton in the closing kilometres for two-time stage winner Dorian Godon, with Red Bull working for Evenepoel, but a lonely Gilmore surfed the wheels beautifully to snatch the win. Vingegaard finished safely at the back of the group to seal overall victory, with Lenny Martinez and Lipowitz joining him on the podium.
Drunk spectators provoke aggressive incident with Visma team car at Coppi e Bartali
A pair of intoxicated spectators were the perpetrators of a bizarre and dangerous incident during stage 4 of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali on Saturday afternoon. In footage captured by a roadside fan, you can see one man climb on top of the Visma-Lease a Bike team car seemingly attempting to remove a bike from the rack, while the other thumps aggressively on the driver's side window.
"We take this incident very seriously, as it put the safety of our colleagues at risk," Richard Plugge said in a statement posted to the team's website. "Our staff on site immediately went to the police and also reported the incident to the race organization. In the end, no equipment was stolen and no damage was caused. The colleagues in the car are okay, but understandably shaken.”
Unwell Mads Pedersen will miss Gent-Wevelgem
More bad luck has struck at the heart of Lidl-Trek as Mads Pedersen has been forced to withdraw his name from the startlist of 'In Flanders Fields – From Middelkerke to Wevelgem', previously known as Gent-Wevelgem, a race the Dane has won three times including in 2025.
"I have some sad news regarding the race tomorrow, In Flanders Fields: I won't take the start due to sickness," Pedersen said in a video posted on Instagram. "I was dealing with a cold the last few days, and it definitely also affected the race yesterday in E3 [where he finished 9th – ed.], so the team and the medical staff took a decision for me not to race and keep the focus on the coming week.
"So yeah, this has nothing to do with the wrist, the wrist is definitely moving forward and it's a lot better than we expected. My muscles around the wrist and in the arm are sore, of course, due to lack of movement for four or five weeks, but that's completely normal, so no worries about the wrist, it's all due to sickness. So in the end, I wish my teammates all the best tomorrow and I hope Jonny can take the victory with number 1 on the back."
Tim Torn Teutenberg has been drafted in as a replacement in a Lidl-Trek team that is now fully committed to Jonathan Milan, albeit with a strong team in support that includes in-form Edward Theuns and Mathias Vacek.
'I didn't learn much, except that the pursuers were ridiculous' – Boonen on his DS training at E3
Former pro Tom Boonen spent Friday's E3 Saxo Classic in a Soudal-QuickStep team car to see if he has a future in a team role, with mixed results.
"It was a nice day, I saw a great race. It was fun to be in the car again. Today was a reconnaissance day; I don’t know what the future holds," the former Classics specialist told Sporza. "Van der Poel delivered as expected, but it was quite a tough performance. Otherwise, it was a typical edition of [E3], exciting until the very end. I didn't learn much else today, except that those pursuers were ridiculous at the end.
"I worked myself up about that. You do all that work together to get there, and then those last 10 meters are really not the time to start acting like a fool."
Pidcock withdraws from Volta a Catalunya with injuries sustained in stage 5 crash
Tom Pidcock did not start stage 6 of the Volta a Catalunya on Saturday morning after coming down in a nasty high-speed crash while descending the previous day that resulted in a loss of almost half an hour, dropping from second to 74th overall.
"We did everything to try to make it to the start but it’s not possible," Pidcock said in his team Pinarello-Q36.5's announcement. "I fought to finish the stage yesterday to make sure I had the option to continue. Now the focus is on recovery, and I’ll be back."
Pidcock suffered visible damage to his knee which was very swollen on Saturday morning, with stiffness in his upper body and pain to his wrist.
"“Due to his crash, he suffered injuries, most likely bone and ligament damage, in particular to his right knee and also right wrist," team doctor Lorenz Emmert said in the same statement. "Further clinical evaluation and imaging will follow in the next days, additionally to the already initiated healing process."
Richard Plugge and Axel Zingle receive yellow cards for E3 sticky bottle
While his teammates Per Strand Hagenes and Christophe Laporte were finishing a brilliant second and seventh respectively, Axel Zingle had a rather different day at the E3 Saxo Classic, resulting in a disqualification and fine, with added yellow card, for a sticky bottle captured by a roadside fan.
Visma-Lease a Bike released an apology after the race: "we regret the incident. This does not contribute to the image of cycling. It happened in the background after a flat tyre and it didn't affect the result, but it shouldn't have happened."
It wasn't clear at first who was in the car at the other end of the sticky bottle, but suggestions it might have been team boss Richard Plugge were later confirmed with the announcement that he'd also been handed a fine of €500 and a yellow card.
Little 500 Qualifications on Saturday
Pidcock 'okay' after crashing into ravine in Catalunya
Tom Pidcock started stage 5 of the Volta a Catalunya as a GC contender but finished the day merely grateful to have emerged from a scary crash relatively unscathed.
The Brit went down off-camera on a late descent and was thus conspicuously absent from the lead group on the final climb. He later explained that he had fallen into a ravine.
"I was drinking on the descent and misjudged a corner," he said. "I overshot it and went down the ravine. It was like one of these horror crashes you see, but I am okay. I’ll go for a check, but I think I’m okay. I am lucky I could talk on the radio. I was far from the road and nobody knew I was there. I’m happy I could finish the stage."
Lifetime Grand Prix adds pregnancy policy for athletes
The Life Time Grand Prix has introduced a pregnancy policy aimed at better supporting athletes before, during, and after pregnancy.
The new policy protects an athlete's roster status and offers flexibility for returning athletes to preserve the "competitive balance across the field". In announcing the policy on Instagram, the series said: "Athletes shouldn't have to choose between career and family. The Life Time Grand Prix is committed to building a series where athletes can compete, grow, and thrive, on and off the bike. Because real support doesn't stop at the finish line."
Any rider who withdraws from the series due to pregnancy after being selected for the series can do so without penalty and will receive a protected roster position for the following year.
The policy also states that additional wildcard entries may be allocated in these cases to maintain “competitive opportunity.”
Catalunya stage 5 summit finish brought down 2.2 km due to high winds
A day after the decapitation of stage 4, the Volta a Catalunya has succumbed to strong weather once again, only this time the route is only shortened by 2.2 km due to strong winds atop La Molina.
The summit finish stages the finale of a major mountain stage comprising five classified climbs, and despite the amendment, the riders still have a 16.9-kilometre hors-catégorie challenge – average over 7% but with irregular steep ramps – before they reach the line.
'It was a shocking fall' – Silvestri reflects on that Milan-San Remo crash
Vernon tops Godon in shortened Catalunya stage 4
With high winds leading to the shortening of stage 4 at the Volta a Catalunya, what was initially planned to be a GC day instead came down to a sprint. Ethan Vernon proved fastest in Camprodón, taking his and NSN's second WorldTour win of the season.
Race leader Dorian Godon settled for second on the day with Tom Pidcock delivering a solid sprint to nab third, earning bonus seconds that moved him into second overall ahead of Remco Evenepoel. Friday's stage 5 should see the GC contenders battling in earnest as the race tackles several hard climbs in the Pyrenees.
DT Swiss's gravel suspension fork is now available in North America
DT Swiss has partnered with Obed Bikes and Litespeed to bring its F 132 ONE gravel suspension fork to North America. While the fork has been available on select models of Canyon's Grizl gravel bike, these models were not available in the US market.
Both Obed and Litespeed already offer frames designed around suspension-corrected geometry, with riders now able to spec the fork directly through each brand’s custom configurator.
The fork itself offers 40 mm of travel, with a bar mount lockout switch that can be actuated from both the drops and the hoods. The F 132 One also has additional mounting points on the lower legs, with a load capacity of 3 kg per leg.
The fork will be available globally from April 26, offered exclusively on complete builds via Obed and Litespeed.
Wolf Tooth goes upmarket with Mark Zero range
Wolf Tooth has a new range of top-tier products for those who count grams and appreciate finer details. The new Mark Zero range applies advanced machining, more labour-intensive techniques, and premium materials to a number of Wolf Tooth’s existing product lines.
For example, the new Wolf Tooth DEL and ALT pedals are available within the Mark Zero range, where they get an exclusive Shadow Grey colour, titanium spindles with Diamond-Like Coating (DLC), titanium hardware, and further machining on the made-in-house aluminium bodies. This all brings the dual-sided ALT XC pedal down to a claimed 246 g (regular version is 294 g).
Other products in the range include centerlock lockrings (35% lighter), seat post clamps, IS headsets, and BSA bottom brackets (77 grams with ceramic bearings) – all in that Shadow Grey colour. Wolf Tooth has teased that other components may be added to the range in future. More at WolfToothComponents.com.
Canyon adds Aeroad CF SLX to MyCanyon personalization program
After launching the MyCanyon semi-customization program around the flagship Aeroad CFR road bike, Canyon has expanded it to the CF SLX tier of the Aeroad platform, for certain markets.
MyCanyon allows buyers to select personalized touchpoints and paint finishes at the time of purchase. Riders can pick crankarm lengths from 160-175 mm, stem lengths from 70-140 mm for the CP0048 PACE bar/stem (the bar itself is already adjustable), and personalized name stickers applied at the factory.
The CFR tier also allows the buyer to select from a variety of paint schemes, but that will not be available at the lower-price CF SLX tier, which starts at €4,500. The other catch is the expansion is, for now, only available for the European market.
Light Bicycle’s AeroRevo one-piece bar
Best known for its carbon rims, the Chinese manufacturer has turned its attention to a premium one-piece integrated carbon aero road handlebar.
The new AeroRevo, priced from US$410, is available in bar widths of 340/380, 360/400, 375/415 and 395/435 mm. Additionally, most of those widths are available with stem lengths ranging between 90-130 mm. According to the company, the smallest size option weighs just 250 grams.
The finish is customisable, as is the choice between the provided alloy computer mount and an upgrade to a 3D-printed titanium version. The bar comes with its headset topcap and spacers, but custom 3D printed transition spacers are also available (Light Bicycle has not published what bike models are available). It's backed by a three-year warranty and a crash replacement policy.
