RACING

Updates, stories and opinions from inside the world's greatest sport, written and captured by Rouleur journalists

'It was a dream to wear it one day': Bienvenue en France, Baudin

'It was a dream to wear it one day': Bienvenue en France, Baudin

Frenchman Alex Baudin marked the Tour de France's return home with a mammoth effort in the break. The stage win would eventually go to Tadej...

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Heatwave chaos: Wildfires disrupt plans for Tour de France stage three

Heatwave chaos: Wildfires disrupt plans for Tour de France stage three

Riders are keeping cool, but you can't put an ice vest over the Tour de France. As fires rage in the Pyrenees, organisers have asked...

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Isaac del Toro celebrates his Tour de France stage win by hoisting himself onto teammate Tadej Pogačar's shoulders

'If you see a Mexican flag it's for me': Isaac del Toro lands historic Tour de France stage win

Del Toro wins his country's first Tour stage since 1986 to the delight of adoring fans in Barcelona.

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"It'll never go to plan": Ineos forced to settle for second after bad luck on stage one

"It'll never go to plan": Ineos forced to settle for second after bad luck on stage one

Geraint Thomas had a stage one plan built around Kévin Vauquelin, but the Frenchman's back wheel had other ideas.

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Visma-Lease a Bike ride past the Sagrada Família during the Tour de France's opening TTT in Barcelona

'The whole team will enjoy it': Strangely individualistic TTT won by the strongest collective

The opening TTT of the Tour de France delivered the excitement and jeopardy we wanted. Please can we have another?

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Tadej Pogačar in the yellow jersey and Jonas Vingegaard ride through cheering crowds at the start of the 2026 Tour de France in Barcelona

Pogačar, Vingegaard and Seixas: A three, two, or one horse race?

Two men have shared first and second at the Tour for five years. This time, a teenager and a super-domestique are queuing up to break...

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Illustration of a Tour de France crash — riders down in a cloud of dust with a bike, bottle and a spectator's cardboard sign

Over and out: First stage crashes

“Physically you’re at your best, you’ve been away preparing for months, and then it all ends. The Tour is a big beast that eats you...

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Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz side by side at the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe pre-Tour de France press conference in Barcelona, 2026

'Our own thing, in our own way': Can Red Bull leaders Evenepoel and Lipowitz share the Tour?

Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe's dual GC strategy faces its first real test. At the pre-race press conference, only one of its two leaders was talking. But doth...

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Frenchness and fifty years of hurt: Paul Seixas and the nation's next great hope

Frenchness and fifty years of hurt: Paul Seixas and the nation's next great hope

Ned Boulting on the fragile, self-mocking soul of French cycling — and a nation of nearly-men on the precipice of change.

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Tim Merlier and Soudal Quick-Step teammates at the Tour de France team presentation in Barcelona

'I'm a sprinter, I need to survive': How the fastmen are shaping up at kilometre zero of the Tour

The 2026 route wants the sprinters dead by Paris. The points classification, reformed in their favour, might just keep them alive long enough to win...

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Montjuïc: Back in the Game

Montjuïc: Back in the Game

The famous Barcelona climb has a long, storied history in cycling, from Bahamontes to Pogačar. Last featuring in 2009, the Tour returns to Montjuïc for...

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A Linguistic Tour de France: A guide to the languages and dialects along the 2026 route

A Linguistic Tour de France: A guide to the languages and dialects along the 2026 route

The 113th Tour de France starts in Barcelona and finishes in Paris, covering 3,333 kilometres across two countries, five mountain ranges, and – if you...

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Tadej Pogačar in the yellow jersey and Jonas Vingegaard cross the line together at the 2025 Tour de France

Tour de France 2026 preview: the contenders, sprinters and stage-hunters to watch

From four-time champion Tadej Pogačar to 19-year-old debutant Paul Seixas, a 3,333km route from Barcelona to Paris sets the stage. Here's who to watch across...

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Yannick Talabardon portrait set inside a map of France

Yannick Talabardon: Thoroughly Modern Map Man

Former pro Yannick Talabardon is a rising star in the ASO firmament, modernising the Tour while respecting its history. He pores over the 2026 route...

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Tour de France bookies' favourites 2026: Who will win the yellow jersey?

Tour de France bookies' favourites 2026: Who will win the yellow jersey?

A look at who the bookmakers are backing to win the general classification at this year's Tour

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Miles Baker-Clarke walking through a Catalan old town with his gravel bike

From model to role model: Miles Baker-Clarke and Cycling Culture Club

Miles Baker-Clarke is building Cycling Culture Club, a hub determined to make cycling a place where everyone can see themselves.

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Tour de France peloton

Tour de France 2026 start list: The riders for this year’s race

All the riders who will be in attendance at the Grand Départ in Barcelona

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Illustration of Isaac del Toro in a UAE Team Emirates-XRG cap, set against the green, white and red of the Mexican flag

"People are thinking about their kids being the next Mexican top rider": Del Toro and the New Wave

Mexican cycling's decades in the doldrums look set to end, with 22-year-old superstar Isaac del Toro leading the charge and a reinvigorated federation aiming to...

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Africa Rising: The next young riders chasing the wheels of giants

Africa Rising: The next young riders chasing the wheels of giants

African cycling has already given the sport Biniam Girmay and Kim Le Court. Jeremy Ford picks the Next Ten – ten riders aged 23 or...

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Illustration of Lance Armstrong in cycling kit holding yellow jerseys, standing in a dark archway — by Enric Adell

Lance Armstrong's Hollywood return: inside the Austin Butler biopic

A forthcoming Austin Butler biopic puts Lance Armstrong centre stage once again. The man the Tour de France would rather forget refuses to go quietly....

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Amy and Kyle Hudson sit together on a sofa with their dog, looking at a laptop.

'A few years ago I didn't want to be here, now I'm riding around the world': Amy and Kyle Hudson's record-breaking ride

Amy Hudson got a bike four years ago to lift her depression. And it changed her life. Now she and husband Kyle are attempting to...

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Like, share, subscribe: How social media is reshaping professional cycling

Like, share, subscribe: How social media is reshaping professional cycling

Social media posts from pro riders are part and parcel of the job these days — but not all of them get it right. What...

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Hannah Barnes waving in the British champion's jersey on the Tour de Yorkshire podium, alongside a Canyon-SRAM teammate

'There's a lot more to agency work than contracts' — Hannah Barnes and a fresh approach to rider management

The former professional cyclist now works for major football and cycling talent agency, SEG, and is using her experience to ensure that euros never take...

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Tadej Pogačar at the 2024 Tour de France

Tour de France prize money: How much does the winner receive?

With different jerseys, stage wins, and a GC classification, we look at what is awarded to the riders throughout the Tour de France

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Tadej Pogačar at the 2024 Tour de France

How to watch and live stream the Tour de France 2026

With a star-studded line-up heading to the Grand Départ in Lille, you won’t want to miss any stages of the biggest race of the year 

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Tadej Pogačar and Marlen Reusser on the podium in yellow jerseys at Villars-sur-Ollon, Tour de Suisse 2026

Dominant champions, a broken collarbone, and a calendar experiment worth keeping – the Tour de Suisse debrief

From Pogačar and Reusser's wins to an injury that could reshape the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, five days in Switzerland left plenty to...

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The Tour de France peloton and race convoy winding up hairpin bends of an Alpine mountain road, viewed from above

The eight climbs that will decide the Tour de France

From the Col du Tourmalet to a historic Alpe d'Huez double, these are the eight climbs that will determine the outcome of the 2026 Tour...

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Tadej Pogačar riding solo ahead of the peloton on stage one of the 2026 Tour de Suisse

Pogačar in ominous form ahead of the Tour de France

Tadej Pogačar soloed clear with 70 kilometres to go on stage one, turning his first Tour de Suisse into a procession — and sending an...

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Tour de France 2026 route: Catalan Grand Départ, time trials and two ascents of Alpe d'Huez

Tour de France 2026 route: Catalan Grand Départ, time trials and two ascents of Alpe d'Huez

All you need to know about the route of the 113th edition of the Tour de France

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Illustration of cyclists, a bike and a bidon tumbling in a cloud of dust beside an "Allez Opi-Omi" roadside sign, depicting a Tour de France crash

Over and Out: First stage crashes

Crashing out of any race hurts, but the opening stage of the Tour de France? Four riders who have lived that day-one nightmare on the...

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