Tour de France
Tour de France stage reports, analysis, and everything from the biggest race in cycling
39 articles
Tour de France
ASSOS and EF have somehow made the Giro’s alien kit even weirder with new ‘Spooky’ collection
The limited-edition capsule includes two aero-fit jerseys and a casual long-sleeve option, priced from £115 to £180, but its extraterrestrial details provide the main talking point.
Tour de France
'He knows what the record is': Armstrong predicts Pogačar will chase seven Tour wins
Five victories would match cycling’s official benchmark, but Armstrong believes the stripped total associated with his own career will keep Pogačar returning to the Tour.
Tour de France
Tour de France Stage 9 cut by 30km after red heatwave alert in Corrèze threatens 41°C spikes
Sunday’s race from Malemort to Ussel will start later and use a revised route as organisers respond to an intense heatwave.
Tour de France
‘There is no reason or evidence’: Tom Dumoulin defends Tadej Pogačar after Tourmalet dominance
The former rider said cycling’s history makes suspicion understandable, but argued that Pogačar’s extraordinary performance cannot itself support claims of wrongdoing.
Tour de France
‘I was not calculating seconds or minutes' – Pogačar blows Tour de France apart on Tourmalet to win stage 6 and retake yellow
Tadej Pogačar attacked with 40km remaining on the Tourmalet, held 30 seconds over Jonas Vingegaard at the summit, then kept growing his advantage all the way to Gavarnie-Gèdre. The top 10 is now split by more than seven minutes.
Racing
Stage 6's Tourmalet test will show whether Vingegaard has a Tour left to fight for
Stages 2 and 3 showed Pogačar calm while Vingegaard looked stretched. Stage 6's passage over the Tourmalet will reveal whether the Tour still has a contest or has already become an exercise in damage limitation.
Tour de France
Stage 4 sees the first rider miss the time cut from the Tour de France, but how is the limit calculated?
The Australian finished outside the 37:37 allowance on the road to Foix after suffering in the days following his stage 2 crash. Here's how the Tour sets its time limit.
Tour de France
'I heard a lot of places that I was done', Mads Pedersen ends drought with Tour de France stage 4 win and takes green jersey lead
Pedersen's first victory since the 2025 Vuelta a España came from a carefully planned breakaway on the road to Foix, giving him a commanding lead over Tadej Pogačar in the points classification.
Tour de France
‘This suffering is nothing’: Arvid De Kleijn on surviving the Tour de France time cut
The Dutch sprinter was dropped early on the first mountain stage and spent the entire day riding alone to beat the limit, his thoughts fixed on his father's suffering from cancer.
Tour de France
Arnaud De Lie abandons Tour de France after illness but the criticism should be aimed elsewhere
Arnaud De Lie abandoned the Tour de France citing a stomach infection, but Sporza analysts José De Cauwer and Sven Nys argue the issue runs deeper than illness alone.
Tour de France
Questions raised over Isaac Del Toro’s roadside assistance after Tour stage win
Isaac Del Toro won stage 2 of the Tour de France after receiving roadside mechanical help from Visma and Ineos staff when UAE's car missed him. UCI rules carry a 2–10 minute time penalty for such assistance.
Tour de France
Visma have yellow but UAE already hold the stronger hand after two stages in Barcelona
A team time trial win and a road stage win apiece, but the balance of power after the Tour's opening weekend points clearly in one direction.
Tour de France
‘Just wait’: Why Luke Rowe refused to send teammates back for Paul Seixas at the Tour de France
Decathlon-CMA CGM sports director Luke Rowe reveals why he chose not to drop teammates back to Paul Seixas after a double bike change on stage 2, and what the disruption likely cost the 19-year-old on Montjuïc.
Tour de France
How to watch the Tour de France 2026 in the UK: Free live stages, TV coverage and streaming from anywhere
The 2026 Tour de France has no full free-to-air live coverage in the UK for the first time in over two decades. Here's every legitimate way to watch, from S4C's seven free live stages to TNT Sports' complete package.
Tour de France
'I haven't seen such potential since Hinault', Prudhomme names Pogačar clear favourite and hails Seixas ahead of 2026 Tour
The Tour de France director used his pre-race L'Équipe interview to declare Pogačar the undisputed No. 1 favourite, explain how the route was built to preserve suspense, and compare 19-year-old Paul Seixas to Bernard Hinault.
Tour de France
'We will try to be in every breakaway that can reach the finish', Vaughters sets out EF's aggressive Tour de France plan
EF Education-EasyPost arrives at the Barcelona Grand Départ targeting stage wins, the mountains jersey and combativity prizes, with Richard Carapaz carrying personal motivation after his mother's recent death.
Tour de France
'We don't want to be passengers', Geraint Thomas reframes Netcompany-INEOS Tour de France after Onley loss
With planned GC leader Oscar Onley ruled out by injury, Netcompany-INEOS arrive in Barcelona with a revised mandate: race aggressively, hunt stages, and let Saturday's opening team time trial set the tone.
Tour de France
Free-to-air live Tour de France coverage survives in the UK as S4C confirms 2026 deal
S4C has sublicensed Welsh-language Tour de France coverage from TNT Sports for the 13th consecutive year, but only stages 1, 2, 3, 18, 19, 20 and 21 will be shown live. Highlights cover the full race.
Tour de France
From Gaudí tributes to neon green flames, the six confirmed Tour de France 2026 kit changes
Barcelona's Grand Départ has inspired multiple teams to rethink their look, while debut celebrations and retro tributes round out the freshest peloton makeovers ahead of the race.
Tour de France
The 2026 Tour de France stage guide: 21 stages, two Alpe d'Huez finishes, and exactly when to watch
From the Barcelona team time trial to back-to-back finishes on Alpe d'Huez, our stage-by-stage guide identifies when each day's racing becomes essential viewing. Use the interactive tool below to convert every key window to your timezone.
Tour de France
UCI heat protocol could be activated for opening week as France braces for heatwave
With France forecast to face another heatwave during the Tour's first week, the UCI's WBGT-based strong-heat protocol may trigger measures from extended feeding to stage neutralisation, but organisers say major start-time shifts are not feasible.
Feature
From the peloton to the people: Iris Slappendel's mission to build cycling's most welcoming brand
The former Dutch national champion launched IRIS in 2017 to make women's cycling kit she actually wanted to wear. Nine years later, the clothing may be the least important thing she sells.
Tour de France
Tour de France 2026 favourites ranked: Pogačar and Vingegaard set the ceiling, but third place is wide open
With the Tour starting on 4 July, the build-up races have sorted the contenders into distinct groups. The top two look settled. Everything else is up for debate.
Tour de France
‘I'm not planning the Tour de France’ - Roglič returns to Slovenian nationals for first time since 2020 as Tour de France drops off his calendar
The 36-year-old will contest both the time trial and road race this weekend near Novo Mesto, with Tadej Pogačar absent from the start list. Roglič's focus has shifted firmly toward a fifth Vuelta a España title.
Tour de Suisse
Everything we know about Specialized's unreleased Tarmac SL9 after close-up video at the Tour de Suisse
Video captured at the Tour de Suisse reveals a revised fork, a more tightly wrapped rear end and a bike that blends the SL8's all-rounder shape with aero cues from Specialized's Venge era, ahead of an expected pre-Tour launch.
Tour de France
The UK’s free-to-air Tour de France blackout is over, but only partly
Daily highlights of all three Grand Tours will air on Channel 5 from this summer, with the 2027 UK Grand Départs for the men's and women's Tours broadcast live on terrestrial television.
Tour de France
'This is of course a big disappointment' – Why Van Aert was ruled out of Tour de France and what it means for his season
A training crash wound that worsened across five days has ended Van Aert's Tour de France hopes, derailing Visma–Lease a Bike's plans for July.
Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes
'I think it's still not my best', Del Toro deflects Tour de France talk after sealing overall victory
Isaac Del Toro, Luke Tuckwell and Juan Ayuso delivered a podium aged 22, 21 and 23 respectively, then each framed the race as preparation rather than prediction for July.
News
Romain Bardet set to return to Decathlon-CMA CGM in staff role to guide Paul Seixas
A year after retiring from professional road cycling, the former Tour de France podium finisher is expected to take a transversal leadership position inside the French team's sporting structure as it builds around its 19-year-old GC prospect.
Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes
Analysis: If Seixas can’t distance Del Toro now, what hope does he have against Pogačar and Vingegaard at the Tour?
Paul Seixas animated the first summit finish of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, but Isaac del Toro matched him to the line and the wider GC damage stayed modest. For a rider heading to his first Tour de France, the margins were tighter than the hype suggested.
Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes
'Too dangerous to race': Geraint Thomas explains team debates ahead of Dauphiné TTT descent
A 2.5-kilometre descent on the 28.4km team time trial course in Perreux has divided teams, with some calling it unsafe on TT bikes and organisers reportedly considering last-minute format changes.
Tour de France
The UK has lost the free Tour de France, and I don't think highlights will fill the hole
With ITV gone and WBD's promised free-to-air product still undefined, a proposal for live companion audio coverage offers the clearest picture yet of the gap left by the Tour's move behind a paywall.
Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes
Seixas starts as clear favourite at Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, but July will ask a very different question
The 19-year-old arrives as the headline name at the renamed Dauphiné with a 2026 palmarès that justifies top billing. Without Pogačar, Vingegaard or Evenepoel on the start list, the race offers a realistic path to victory before a radically harder Tour de France debut.
Tour de France
German Cycling gets behind Berlin-centred 2029 Tour de France Grand Départ bid
Germany's national cycling federation has assumed official responsibility for the country's bid to host the 2029 Tour de France start, giving the Berlin and eastern Germany campaign institutional weight as route planning, political support and a €25 million budget take shape.
Tech
New Specialized Tarmac SL9 spotted on video as leak speculation grows
A new Instagram post explicitly identifies the leaked bike as the Specialized Tarmac SL9, adding to a leak cycle that began on 12 May and points toward a possible unveiling around the Tour de France.
News
Tour de France record-holder Sir Mark Cavendish to wave start flag at 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 40-year-old Manxman joins a line of global sporting icons chosen to start the world's most famous endurance race, following Roger Federer in 2025.
Tour de France
Images purporting to show leaked Specialized Tarmac SL9 spread online - but are they real?
Side-profile shots of what appears to be the next-generation Specialized Tarmac surfaced online on 12 May, revealing an evolutionary update that retains the SL8's nose cone while reshaping the seat tube and seatpost.
Racing
'I would advise my children not to become cyclists' – Jonas Vingegaard does not see a safer future for cycling
The double Tour de France winner says professional cycling is 'extremely dangerous' and questions whether current safety measures are making the sport any safer for the next generation.
Feature
2027 Tour de France Femmes UK route analysis: Why Stage 2 is a masterpiece, but Stage 1 misses the mark
ASO has confirmed the opening three stages of the 2027 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in Britain, with a historic team time trial finishing on The Mall and two road stages crossing Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and the Peak District.