TOP STORY: Alpecin Deceuninck Dominate
2025 Tour de France news:
• Alpecin Deceuninck Dominate
• GC Gaps At The Tour de France 2025
• Pogi Is Back !
• Pineapple on pizza?
Race news:
• Reusser Takes First Women’s Pink Jersey At Giro d’Italia
• Israel Premier Tech Victors In Romania
• Bear On Course In The Sibiu Tour!
Rider news:
• Damien Howson Renews With Q36,5
Team news:
• Movistar Invest In Youth
• XDS to Continue Supporting the Astana Project
Top Story: Alpecin Deceuninck Dominate
Alpecin Deceuninck continued their winning ways in France with their Tour de France starting absolutely perfectly this year ; 2 stages, 2 wins and 2 different yellow jersey holders. The last team to win the first two stages of a Tour de France was Quick Step – Alpha Vinyl in 2022 (Yves Lampaert then Fabio Jakobsen).
Fabio Jakobsen taking stage 2 back in ’22
With no GC rider in the ranks of Alpecin Deceuninck the Belgian team had put all their efforts into the opening week of the race and will now be aiming for the trifecta in today’s stage which should be reserved for the sprinters.
More wins for Van der Poel, Philipsen and Alpecin Deceuninck to come?
GC Winners & Losers At Le Tour
Only two stages into the race and there are already some gaps appearing in the race for the final yellow jersey between the favorites and outsiders for the final top 10. Pogacar and Vingegaard are the best placed at just 4 and 6 seconds respectively behind the new yellow jersey of Van der Poel but there are already some big gaps for certain other contenders – or pretenders…
General Classification Of Overall Contenders After Stage 2:
T. Pogacar @ 4s
J. Vingergaard @ 6s
M. Jorgenson @ 10s
E. Mas @ 10s
T. Johannessen @ 41s
B. O’Connor @ 41s
J. Almeida @ 49s
M. Skjelmose @ 49s
O. Onley @ 49s
S. Buitrago @ 49s
R. Evenepoel @ 49s
F. Gall @ 49s
G. Martin @ 49s
P. Roglic @ 49s
F. Lipowitz @ 49s
C. Rodriguez @ 1m20s
G. Thomas @ 1m20s
S. Crass @ 1m20s
S. Kuss @ 1m20s
S. Yates @ 8m10s
T. Arensman @ 10m31s
A. Yates @ 10m31s
Tensions Run High At Intermediate Sprint!
The intermediate sprint during Sunday’s stage for 5th place was highly contested in the bunch with the winner, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) getting very flustered indeed, waving his arms and yelling at 7th placed Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) after the line.
The Belgian team were quick to explain the reason for all this yelling by the big Italian though – it was all about Girmay’s sacrilegious use of pineapple on pizza!
Milan was certainly wound up in the moment but straight after the stage he came over to the Intermarché bus to apologize for his actions.
Pogi Is Back !
Still on all things Le Tour now with Tadej Pogacar seemingly having a great start to the race…but no – In fact this year’s race has been his worst ever start!
Pogi was ranked just 18th in the general classification after Stage 1 which was his worst ever GC placing at any point in his Tour de France career! The Slovenian had never been worse than 17th (stage 1 in 2020) in his 6 participations in the race. He gained 16 positions yesterday to move up to second and back to his usual placings.
Worst start ever for Pogacar this year!
Reusser Takes First Women’s Pink Jersey At Giro d’Italia
Over in Italy now where Marlen Reusser (Movistar Team) won Stage 1 of the Giro d’Italia Women, the 14.2km long Bergamo ITT that marked the start of the race yesterday and decided the first Maglia Rosa.
Reusser charged around the circuit at almost 50kph to take the win with Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Worx – Protime) and Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ) finishing second and third respectively at 12 and 16s behind. In fact the top 4 favorites for the GC in Reusser, Kopecky, Longo Borghini and Van der Breggen all finished in the first 4 places so this should be a tight race and today’s super short but difficult stage of just 92km should be a thriller.
Today’s profile – just 92km and mostly uphill!
Speaking seconds after the stage finish on Sunday the first Maglia Rosa, Marlen Reusser said: “Ever since the route was announced, I was really excited that the Giro would start with a time trial, and now I’m over the moon. I still can’t quite believe I’ll be wearing the Maglia Rosa — it’s truly been an amazing day”.
Giro d’Italia Women’s GC After Stage 1:
01 Reusser Marlen Movistar Team 17:22
02 Kopecky Lotte Team SD Worx-Protime + 12
03 Longo Borghini Elisa UAE Team ADQ + 16
04 van der Breggen Anna Team SD Worx-Protime + 20
05 Nooijen Lieke Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 24
06 Henderson Anna Lidl-Trek + 27
07 Schweinberger Christina Fenix-Deceuninck + 30
08 Vigilia Alessia FDJ-SUEZ + 40
09 Trinca Colonel Monica Liv AlUla Jayco + 41
10 van Anrooij Shirin Lidl-Trek + 41
Israel Premier Tech Dominate In Romania
The best women in the world are racing in Italy and the best men in France but that doesn’t mean that’s the only interesting racing happening at the moment. The 2.1 ranked Sibiu Tour has been taking place in Romania these past four days and it’s the Israel Premier Tech team who have dominated.
Stage one was taken by their Canadian Riley Pickrell in a tough sprint and then their American climber, Matthew Riccitello took control of the race in the hilly 2nd stage with a quality win that set up his overall victory.
Israel just missed the win in stage 3 that was won by BikeAid’s strongman, Anton Schiffer but Riccitello extended his GC lead over most of his rivals and the race was all but sewn up going into the final stage – a 3.3km time trial!
What do you call a prologue that is actually the last stage of a race? I’m not sure but I am sure that the result was close with British rider Callum Thornley from the Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe rookies taking the win by less than a second over BEAT’s Frits Biesterbos and Slovakian champion Lukasz Kubis (Unibet-Tietma Rockets). Israel’s Pickrell came 4th and Riccitello was well down in 73rd spot but all he had to do was finish safely as his GC lead was never in doubt.
Final GC Sibiu Tour 2025
1 Riccitello Matthew, Israel – Premier Tech 13:58:26
2 de la Cruz David, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team @ 1:06
3 Eiking Odd Christian, Unibet Tietema Rockets @ 1:25
4 Schiffer Anton, BIKE AID @ 2:58
5 Vanhoucke Harm, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team @ 3:15
6 Sagrado Alvaro, Illes Balears Arabay @ 3:20
7 Pringle Nate, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe Rookies @ 3:21
8 Dunham Ethan, Team Skyline @ 3:22
9 García José María, Illes Balears Arabay @ 3:23
10 Borremans Kasper, Bahrain Vic Development @ 3:48
Bear On Course In The Sibiu Tour!
In France every man, woman and child seems to be out on the road to support the riders at Le Tour but in Romania at the Sibiu Tour things are a little bit different as cycling journo, Mihai Simion captured from a team car – a bear on the side of the road !
Here’s the bear who came to watch the race today in @SibiuTourEN ! The skinny cyclists didn’t interest him/her much LOL.
Caught on tape by yours truly.#SibiuTour pic.twitter.com/juXi0zMv6H— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) July 4, 2025
Experienced Aussie Damien Howson Renews With Q36,5
The silver streak, Damien ‘Damo’ Howson has extended his contract with team Q36,5 this past week.
Howson has been a part of the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team since its inception in 2023. The 32-year-old from Adelaide, Australia is one of the most experienced riders and we are happy to announce he will be part of the team in 2026.
“I have seen the project take off in 2023 and it has changed dramatically in the past three years. It was a simple choice to stay for another year because this team is an evolving project. That’s what attracted me in the first place, and I look forward to being part of its continued development. We are doing two Grand Tours this year and that confirms we are heading in a great direction.”
Howson started his career with a time trial world title in the U23 ranks but has evolved into an allround climber and versatile rider. He has done eleven Grand Tours including the Tour de France twice. That experience is valuable to the team.
“My personal ambitions stay the same,” Howson explains. “I like to take my own opportunities in races that suit me like Oman, or other short stage races. I am not a prolific winner but that stage win in Asturias in my first year with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team is a wonderful memory. It was a nice way to show the team they believed in the right person. I hope an opportunity like that arises this year or next year again.
But I also know my place in the biggest races in support of a team leader. This year we did our first Grand Tour as a team, and it confirmed to me again that it’s my terrain. I have expressed my hopes to Doug to be back at the Tour de France one day. We are a team on the way up and I am confident that’s our next step together.”
General manager Doug Ryder added: “By keeping Damo on the team, we continue to build on our foundations. Howson has such a wealth of experience with eleven Grand Tours under his belt that he is an important pillar in the group around Tom. His experience also helps our younger riders further. Damo also showed with a fourth place in Tour of Oman and a tenth place in Abruzzo this year he can do well for himself too. Damo has been with us since the start of the project in 2023 and I am happy we can keep relying on his strength and experience for another year to come.”
Movistar Invest In Youth
Movistar Team takes a key step toward the future with the creation of the Movistar Team Academy, a new team established with the goal of strengthening the development of young talents and easing their transition from amateur cycling to the highest level of the UCI WorldTour.
With this initiative, the Navarre-based team expands its sports structure by offering a development platform for both Spanish and international riders, committed to a benchmark training model in grassroots cycling. Movistar Team Academy aims to become an international reference in the development of future professionals, providing riders with the tools they need to reach their full potential.
More young talent like Ivan Romeo for the Movistar World Tour team in the future? The current Spanish champion is the youngest rider in the Tour de France this year.
The project gains even more strength through a recent collaboration agreement with the junior team Baqué, allowing Movistar Team to complete its development pyramid: from introductory cycling schools, through junior and U23 categories, all the way to elite competition.
The new team will be led by Sebastián Unzué, who will bring his experience and vision to build a competitive and professional environment—one that is also human and supportive—where young riders can grow not only as cyclists but also as individuals.
With the launch of the academy, Movistar Team reaffirms its commitment to the future of cycling, betting on a solid structure that supports and elevates emerging talent on their path to the global elite. This will now be the fifth team in the Movistar ranks !
In 2011, Movistar Team.
In 2018, Movistar Women Team.
In 2020, Movistar eTeam.
In 2023, Movistar Gravel Squad.
In 2025, Movistar Team Academy.
XDS to Continue Supporting the Astana Project
Chinese company XDS, which debuted in the World Tour in 2025 with XDS Astana Team, has extended its partnership with the Astana project for another three years.
XDS’s flagship X-LAB bikes have quickly established themselves among the world’s elite. XDS Astana Team is enjoying an outstanding season, with 21 victories, 42 podium finishes, and currently holding fourth place in the World Team Ranking for 2025. The X-LAB bikes have proven their performance across sprints, mountain stages, and cobbled classics.
“The first half of the season has shown the team’s high level and the success of our partnership. We are pleased with the results and are happy to announce our continued support for the next three years. The team has ambitious goals, and we are confident we will achieve them together”, – said Mr. Tan Yancong, CEO of Shenzhen Xidesheng Bicycle Co., Ltd.
“We are very happy to extend our collaboration with XDS. In just a few months, we have already achieved impressive results, and this is only the beginning. XDS’s support has given the team strong momentum, which we will continue to build on. I thank the company’s leadership for their trust and belief in our project”, – said Alexandr Vinokurov, General Manager of XDS Astana Team.
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