Rybnik > Cieszyn 200km What an embarrassment. It was the right decision to stop the race to let the ambulances get back behind the peloton, but it’s not that hard to stop dropped riders coming back into the group. All it needed was one commissionaire to stand 100m behind the peloton and stop the dropped riders there, it’s not fucking rocket science. To then see dropped riders chase down the break was very poor, but it was made even worse by a dropped rider “winning” the stage. Zero sporting integrity. Onwards…

Wałbrzych > Wałbrzych 159km This stage has the potential to be an absolute beauty, just look at all the red. In terms of numbers, 159km and just over 3500m of climbing, which is a lot. Virtually zero flat roads increase the chances of attacking racing and the climbs are all short, the longest one is only 4.4km. Controlling is going to be very hard; I’m interested in seeing when the main GC action kicks off.

Hotel Gołębiewski Karpacz > Karpacz 148km Day 2 in Poland and it’s the start of the GC battle. This is a tricky uphill finish; gaps are almost certain to appear and anyone losing time in this stage won’t have a chance of winning the title on Sunday. If you watched last year’s race, this is the same finish used in the opening stage, where Thibau Nys took the win. Matej Mohorič took the win in 2023, but the run into the final kilometre was different that year.

Wrocław > Legnica 199km The opening stage of the Tour de Pologne is one for the sprinters.

Tour de Pologne is a race that I usually enjoy watching on Polish TV with a VPN, but this year it’s back on mainstream coverage and the whole stage is on too. The route looks decent this year, it should hopefully encourage attacking racing.

Donostia – San Sebastian > Donostia – San Sebastian 212km The Tour de France is over, I can now focus my attention on the rest of the season. I’ll admit, I loved the first 10 stages of the Tour, but the last week left me feeling rather empty. Maybe it was the dominance of Pogačar, the gap between him and Vingegaard is huge and rather deflating for those dreaming of a proper fight. I mentioned previously about the relatively low standard further down the top 10 and I stand by that, I think that also played a part in my...

You can now buy my previews for the rest of 2025 for just £10. I’ll be covering the following world tour races: San Sebastian, Tour de Pologne, Cyclassics, Renewi Tour, Vuelta España, GP Plouay, GP Québec and GP Montréal. Aside from all those previews, I’ll also look to preview several “smaller” races like Tour of Denmark and the Italian autumn classics. 

Mantes-la-Ville > Paris (Champs-Élysées) 133km The final stage in Paris, but not as you know it. After watching last year’s Olympic road race, the organisers decided to include the Montmartre climb, ditching the usual processional finish to the race. Some people have not responded well to this, and that includes a lot of the peloton, most of them would prefer an easy day in the saddle and a sprint finish. The ASO would love to have the yellow jersey winning on the Champs-Élysées, that would be an iconic photo and one that would help to sell the sport. There’s a...

Nantua > Pontarlier 185km This is the first time since 2001 the penultimate day of the race isn’t a mountain stage or an ITT, instead it’s one for the breakaway riders. I’m not sure how I feel about this, but the profile looks good for attacking racing, so the organisers could well have made the right call.

Albertville > La Plagne 130km Well then, what happened today? From where I was watching, it looked like both Visma and Red Bull – Bora were involved in an almighty fuck up. Visma seemed to be in a great position, but on the final climb it was clear that Vingegaard didn’t have the legs to beat Pogačar, but what the hell were Red Bull – Bora doing? The Lipowitz attack was brave, but he needed someone from the car telling him it was suicide. This mistake almost cost him the white jersey and podium, it certainly hands Oscar Onley the...