Cycling has moved on so much, that we no longer consider a 32km solo victory a particularly long range attack. This is what Pogacar has done to us, and the consequences we must live with.

Yesterday’s men’s road race looked at a certain point rather formulaic. A large early break comprising several semi-professional riders achieved an advantage exceeding eight minutes, then saw their lead almost single-handedly brought back by Bruno Armirail, working for Paul Seixas who clearly wanted a hard race. Mission accomplished.

Then attacks began, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel were at the pointy end, with Briton Oscar Onley doing a sterling ride to follow in the wheels, along with Quinn Simmons, before Primoz Roglic rolled back the years to bridge to the front.

Gradually the numbers in the lead group started to erode as Van der Poel kept pushing on, but the lead group never had a lead exceeding a minute. Ben Healy bridged across on his own, before a dropped Wout van Aert started pulling the group behind to work for Remco Evenepoel, only for the double Olympic champion to lack the punch on the circuit’s key climb. Soon, the front group of favourites came together, and there was a stalemate until Brandon McNulty went clear and never looked back.

Well, he actually looked back a few times. His margin yo-yoed wildly in the final 20km between 1’10” and 10 seconds only for a lack of cooperation behind to enable him to hang on and take a famous victory. At least his UAE paymasters still have Pogacar’s jersey template to use.

Michael Matthews, bouncing back from a rough couple of years including a terrible training crash with a fire engine driver, won the sprint for silver whilst Van der Poel bested Simmons for the final spot on the podium.

> Michael Matthews reveals horror training crash caused by fire engine driver on wrong side of the road

But both Matthews and Tom Pidcock, who repeatedly attacked in vain to reel in McNulty, have noted that trade team connections seem to have influenced the finale, specifically Isaac del Toro’s lack of co-operation with the others in the group behind…

Pidcock, who also crashed earlier in the race and crossed the line with cuts on his leg, told Eurosport, “It was hard to make the difference, to get the gap with the wind the way it was, with the USA team and with Matteo, who was super strong once Brandon attacked, and obviously Isaac is on the same team as well.”

Matthews, in his post-race press conference, said, “There was a little bit of teamwork between certain riders, they were riding a little bit together.”

“If fewer teams had ridden together across national borders, then we would have caught him. It is what it is.”

Of course, riders riding for trade teammates is a long-running debate. In fact two British riders, Tom Southam and Charly Wegelius, were handed an effective lifetime ban from being selected for world championships after working for their Italian trade teammates.

Although that ban may have had more to do with their abandoning their own team leader, Roger Hammond, than choosing as appears to be Del Toro’s case, not chasing their own personal objective.

None of this detracts from McNulty and the USA team, who rode brilliantly all day shadowing and marking moves before the final deadly attack. It also means the USA have their first men’s world champion since Lance Armstrong in 1993. Yes, that win remains formally un-asterisked.

But there’s just enough gossip for a Monday morning, exactly how we like it…

We’ve already heard that it’s coming – and there were previous sightings at the Vuelta – but now it looks like MVDP has given Shimano’s unreleased groupset its biggest seal of approval yet by riding it to third place in a brutal edition of the World Championship road race.

Our photographer didn’t get a look at the sprockets, but the shape of the brake levers and lack of branding on them vs the current generation of 12-speed Shimano Dura-Ace suggests Van Der Poel was riding the new groupset. His team is sponsored by Shimano, and it would be unheard of for a rider of his calibre to switch to a different component manufacturer while racing in his national team kit.

We’re expecting Shimano’s new top-end groupset to launch in the new year.

There was a bit of racing this weekend up north, with the epic Three Peaks cyclocross race. And, at the third time of asking, Lachlan Morton finally got his win though he had to sprint for it at the death…

Meanwhile in the women’s race, Scot Isla Short not only won on debut but also set a new fastest known time over the 61km course, beating a 23-year-old record by finishing in 3:36:30. A stunning performance…

No longer the reigning world champion, Tadej Pogacar has been quick to switch to his European Champions jersey, though he hasn’t worn it for a single day of racing this year!

And he’ll only have a week to enjoy the blue hues before another champion of the continent is crowned. Every ounce of me wants another certain Slovenian to take over the honour, and it’s not Luka Mezgec…

I think it was Alexei Sayle who had a joke that riding a bicycle whilst tipsy was the closest ordinary people will ever get to feeling like we’re in space. Not that we recommend Sayle’s tempting offer, but unfortunately it’s the best segue I can muster for this entry, that a former champion track cyclist is heading up and out of the planet.

Christina Birch, a former national and continental champion on the track, has been selected to launch to the International Space Station next year, and will be piloting the SpaceX rocket in the process.

She was first selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021, and has an academic background in biological engineering. Birch was also long-listed to compete for the USA at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Having previously served as a capsule communicator and crew lead for previous missions, her upcoming mission will be her first spaceflight.

The 39-year old is a former national individual pursuit champion and won gold as part of the team pursuit at the 2018 Pan-American Championships. It would also be fair to say cycling runs in the house, with Birch married to Ashton Lambie, or should we say the Roger Bannister of cycling who broke the 4 minute barrier for the individual pursuit. The couple became parents to twins last year.

> “The Roger Bannister of cycling” – Ashton Lambie breaks four-minute barrier on the track (+ video)

Makes a nice change from the usual roll-call of gravel racing/nutrition ambassador/sports director-ing that so many ex-riders go to…

There’s difficulty in saying much more than what the headline shows, which is that Heidi Alexander declined to mention active travel or announce any policy related to walking or cycling in her address to the Labour Party conference.

As was widely expected, the speech was rail-heavy, after The Times leaked government plans to take over Avanti West Coast from March before Alexander’s speech. Her remarks focused on the impact of the decision, and efforts more broadly to create an integrated transport network that can improve social mobility.

Even when it came to praising her ministerial team, she declined to mention active travel within the portfolio of the responsible minister, Simon Lightwood MP. It’s strange considering there are several active travel policies that could have been mentioned.

> “The equivalent of upgrading a single A-road junction”: National Cycle Network set for £104m investment as transport secretary promises to go “hell for leather on active travel”

Just six days ago, £104 million was announced to be invested in the National Cycle Network. Or if that figure is not big enough, as many people have pointed out. how about the £4.5 billion investment strategy announced in June, with specific targets for encouraging children to cycle to walk or cycle to school? Nowt, despite the Transport Secretary happily signing off and providing quotes for each policy announcement.

> “No war on motorists”: Dividing cyclists and drivers “a complete waste of time”, insists transport chief – as government pushes for 60% of children to cycle or walk to school with new £4.5bn active travel strategy

Incidentally, you can watch Alexander’s remarks in full at the link below, she took to the stage just after 2pm.

For the next fortnight or so, we’re a little bit “all hands on deck” at road.cc towers. Consequently, we welcome Alex back from the world of subbing reviews with this write-up of Spain’s new cycling laws that seem both a step forward and a step back. A running man of cycle regulations if you will…

> Ride in the centre of the lane and always wear a helmet – Spain has new cycling rules coming later this week

As someone who ends up dredging through quite a lot of stats, I can confirm that data like this in principle would be rather useful.

Although I can also detect through the tone of the tweet that this sort of stat could be weaponised against cyclists. “Cyclists responsible for X% of serious injuries” say the Telegraph, because a driver hit a cyclist. Where we might want to focus on how the speed and size of cars cause these collisions to be serious injuries, others might use this data to highlight the rogue cyclists who, as the tweet suggests, “cycle through busy junctions”.

The thoughts of the readership are, as always, welcome…

With the worlds remaining one of the longest and hardest races on the calendar, the post-race celebrations and interviews are always that bit more special.

Michael Matthews’ immediate reaction post-race is just phenomenal. Hug someone tight enough they collapse to the ground…

Primoz Roglic is continuing to warm the cockles in the autumn of his career, and gave this rather genial interview after following Van Aert and Van der Poel before fading in the finale…

Not everyone was too happy with their day however. Paul Seixas was toe-to-toe with the race favourites before cramping on the final lap. The French prodigy only turned 20 last week and Sunday was his longest ever day of racing, so it’s a perfectly reasonable, understandable thing to happen, particularly when the racing was as manic as it was it’s easy to not fuel properly. But Seixas was bitterly upset with himself…

Fingers crossed Thomas Voeckler, the French national coach, and his Decathlon CMA CGM team can provide him with the right support, because that response is no way for a young talent, heck any rider, to be feeling after the hardest race of their career.

Emily Kerr, one of the Oxfordshire councillors championing the county’s Quiet Lanes scheme, has been out to inspect the new roads for herself…

The county has gone further than Department for Transport guidance suggests by physically preventing drivers from using the roads as cut-throughs and have been criticised by some motorists – as you might expect. The council though are defiant…

> Quiet Lanes being “weaponised” to introduce “anti-car measures”, opponents claim – but cyclists say roads have been weaponised by drivers for decades

Katy Marchant has announced her retirement from track cycling at the age of 33.

The sprinter became World and Olympic champion in the Team Sprint in 2024, alongside Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane. She also became European Champion in the 500m Time Trial the same year.

Marchant first joined the GB team in 2013 after having once trained alongside Jessica Ennis as a heptathlete. After winning four national track titles in 2015, the following year Marchant made her Olympic debut in the sprint, winning bronze, her first elite international medal. The Yorkshire woman subsequently won bronze in the Commonwealth Games in 2018 before crashing out in the keirin at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

After giving birth to her first child, Marchant returned to racing in 2023, winning her first European medals and cementing her place in the team sprint line-up. With Capewell and Finucane, Marchant broke the world record in the event three times in Paris to claim GB’s first Olympic Gold in the team sprint.

She took time off after the birth of her second child in 2025, before once again returning to racing and winning silver in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games earlier this year. Announcing her retirement, British Cycling said Marchant had become, “a leader of the women’s sprint squad, playing a pivotal role in the recent success of the programme and inspiring the talent it now boasts.

> Katie Archibald announces retirement after glittering career marked by triumph and fortitude

“She was also the first women’s sprinter to return to the programme twice after having her two sons and is an impactful voice supporting and encouraging mothers in sport. ”

Marchant has also paid tribute to the organisation, saying “The highs, the lows, and everything in between – British Cycling has been my home. My dreams came true, and I feel incredibly lucky that it has been my life for the last 13 years. I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the most amazing people and have made friends for life.

“While I am closing the door on this incredible era, I am truly excited to embrace what’s next for me.”

Tributes have also been paid by teammates and rivals alike…

“A chapter I’m so glad we got to do together ❤️ my biggest inspiration, brb crying now” Emma Finucane wrote.

“An inspiration to us all❤️what an incredible career????” BMX World Champion Bethany Shriever said.

“Congratulations on an incredible career Katy!! Best of luck with your next chapter ❤️” Jazz Carlin wrote.

And Jessica Ennis-Hill wrote, “What a fantastic career Katy ????”

Faced with mounting injuries, Slovakia realised they needed to field at least one rider in the men’s road race or risk losing vital UCI points that could affect their ability to qualify riders for the Olympics. Their solution? Draft the massage bloke.

Vladimir Kovacik hadn’t raced in nine years and gave an excellent interview to TNT Sports when asked about his shape…

And Kovacik impressively survived the opening 100km in the peloton looping around Montreal before bidding farewell once he reached the pits. An amazing ride, almost as great as his moustache…

Merckx, Roche, Van Vleuten, Pogacar. That’s the company Demi Vollering now keeps in the history books after becoming only the fifth rider to complete cycling’s ‘Triple Crown’, winning the Giro, Tour and World Championships in the same year.

With 38km remaining of the women’s road race, all seemed serene with Vollering solo-ing clear ahead of a small group, with teammate Puck Pieterse ably marking all and any attacks. Then with 15km to go, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney and Elisa Longo Borghini bridged across. Longo Borghini, having twice finished third before in this race, attacked on the Camillien Houde climb but couldn’t follow Vollering’s counter-move.

With Niewiadoma’s cooperation, the pair continued to the finish line and held off Longo Borghini and the impressive diesel engine of Marlen Reusser to sprint for the title, where the Dutchwoman prevailed.

It means, for the first time ever in men’s or women’s racing, the exact composition and order of the world championships road race matched that of the final Tour de France podium. An excellent stat…

It also begs the question, for the Dutch climber, of what is left to tick off? By my count there’s the Olympic Games and a couple of cobbled classics and Milano-Sanremo if we’re applying the Pogacar-esque “completing cycling” lens to her career. Or she could keep trying to pile up the Grand Tours, which she’s podiumed twice a year since the pandemic. Nothing shabby about that…

It’s back… did you miss it?

> Near Miss of the Day 947 and 948: Warning letters issued after two close passes on busy, narrow roads