All aboard the hype tram

It’s like a hype train… just slower to get going

Leaping into 2026 Down Under

Happy New Year cycling fans, and with the Aussie nationals already under our belts, and the Tour Down Under hot on its heels, just two days away, it’s time to wish you all a ‘happy new season.’

I don’t know where to begin with talking about 2026 in cycling, and will honestly state that I’m writing this post out of a sense of obligation, to begin the new year as I mean to go on – continuing to create quality pieces of writing about the sport I love. (Note: if you’re new to this Substack, this is the bit you can skip over if you just want to read the bits about cycling - head to the line below to begin).

I’ve suffered something of a blip over the Christmas period. I’ve accidentally stumbled back into the sport I was obsessed with prior to pouring my heart and soul into cycling – ice hockey. As a result, I’ve neglected the cyclocross season to the extent that, if asked to write something about it now, I would have to go back to around mid-December to start watching the races that I’ve missed.

It feels pretty heinous given my evangelism around ‘cross, and it’s the first year since the end of 2020 when I fell in love with the quirky off-road madness, that I’ve missed a race, let alone most of the season. It’s a strange and somewhat disquieting sensation, am I am left feeling nervous for the road season – is this a symptom of a more deep-seated loss of love for the sport? It would be rather inconvenient, seeing as I’ve worked for the past four and a half years to try and build a career out of writing about it. Currently though, I’m elbow deep in fiction writing, and enjoying ice hockey with a lightness and freedom that I haven’t felt when watching sport for a while.

It didn’t take a great deal of soul-searching to figure out what was going on. When I’m watching ice hockey, I’m in fan mode. Cheering for every goal, feeling every hit, debating every dodgy call from the referees. It’s satisfying on a soul-deep level to jump out of your seat punching the air and shouting YES! when your team scores a goal. Anyone reading this knows that feeling, regardless of which sport you apply it to. Hockey is a sport that offers multiple quick dopamine hits per match, and it’s a tonic, honestly – I can’t really remember having that particular sensation at any point during the 2025 cycling season. Plenty of moments of being impressed, of course. Less occurrences than I’d like, of feeling shocked or even surprised. Pure, out-and-out joy at an outcome though - the kind you get when your team scores an overtime winner after a hard-fought game - maybe two or three times? Maybe I’m just a grumpy old sod.

Admittedly, I’ve made life hard for myself with cycling, by embracing underdog teams and riders. In traditional team sports, even when your team is the underdog, they still score from time to time; still win on occasion. There’s always some reason to be cheerful. Cycling is a tough game for a passionate fan, when winning is so desperately rare an occurrence.

Look, I know what you’re thinking. Why be a martyr? Pick a team that wins sometimes, for goodness sake! Sorry, no can do. I’m just stubborn like that. A hopeless romantic and actually a very optimistic person on the whole (or maybe just delusional), I love the guys and girls who I love, and will add a select few year on year as they catch my attention for whatever reason, but glory hunting isn’t for me (hence why I chose to follow the San Jose Sharks in hockey – hopeful future, currently just a bunch of good guys trying their best and occasionally doing something brilliant).

The self-examination prompted me to take action. Even though I am sure that once the season begins, I’ll jump back into the fray with reckless abandon, I need a little insurance policy. Something to see me through, in case all the “UAE winning everything and my favourite races becoming a bit of a procession” burn-out bites early. I concluded that I needed to find the reasons to become a fan again. Not worry about the things I might have to write about that are less than palatable (I may never forgive Pogačar for that golden bike). So without further ado (you have to admit, I do a good line in ‘further ado’), here is a non-exhaustive list of the things I’m excited for about the 2026 season. They are random and disparate, which is an accurate reflection of where I am in my head at the moment – feel free to share yours!

---

The great Decathlon reinvention

I loved AG2R La Mondiale. The brown shorts, the quintessential Frenchness, the rough round the edges stage-hunting peripheral beatnik attitude they seemed to embrace, representing an alternative to the straight-laced GC-driven teams with their boring old money and professionalism.

Decathlon-CGMAGCMSNGNSA (nope, still no idea) present an altogether different proposition. The new guise of the team is young, fresh, outward-looking, and hungry. They’ve had an injection of funds which has enabled them to invest in the most expensive sprinter on the market (apparently), Olav Kooij, and they boast the hottest property in terms of future Tour de France-winning fodder in Paul Seixas that France have had in years. They’ve brought in a variety of other quality signings, including Tiesj Benoot, to both guide and animate in the Classics, and Matthew Riccitello, the missing link between their current GC leader Felix Gall and the Seixas-shaped future that the team is building towards. They’ve added serious chops in the DS department with Heinrich Haussler and Mark Renshaw, along with a serious train for Kooij, backing up their intention to go into this year’s Tour targeting the green jersey as their number 1 goal. They’re a mixed bag, and while they remain a team in transition, there’s an energy and a new wave of professionalism around the organisation that will be interesting to see, in practice.

I’ll still always hold a place in my heart for the team they once were, and it will be interesting to see how the French public and other fans of the collective react in the longer term - but there’s every chance loyal supporters could be richly rewarded as early as this season.

Onley and the French revolution

Sounds like an art rock band from the early 2000s, right? Anyway, INEOS are a team in dire need of reinvention. They’ve been lacking direction for the past few years and the retirement of Geraint Thomas, though he hadn’t been performing at his top level for a couple of seasons, seemed to draw a line under an era that’s been awkwardly dragged out with the likes of Carlos Rodriguez and riders like Tobias Foss trying to fill a hole that it wasn’t really possible to fill (I am reserving comments about Egan Bernal here given his unique circumstances and I will always hope to see him return to his best).

The signings the team made over the winter already excited me, but with Oscar Onley a very promising cherry on top, it feels like the puzzle is finally complete at the British team. They were already showing flashes of brilliance at times – the machines of Filippo Ganna and Josh Tarling and the likes of Magnus Sheffield and Ben Turner were all riders who were breathing life into INEOS and suggesting the possibility of a different kind of future. One with stage-hunting, Classics challenging, and a more well-rounded personality at its heart. With Onley they have a real shot at Grand Tour GC podiums, maybe more depending on the composition of the bunch, but I hope that this doesn’t signal a return to the Tour de France-focused single-minded approach of the Sky days. And I don’t think it will. With French champion Dorian Godon bolstering the one-day race squad and Kévin Vauquelin joining his countrymen Godon and Axel Laurance to provide another exciting all-round option for the team, it could be a really fun time to be an INEOS fan.

Gee whizz, Lidl-Trek!

January has been defined by last-gasp headline signings, and as significant as Onley will be to INEOS’ plans for the season, Derek Gee-West’s confirmation as a Lidl-Trek rider will create almost as many ripples heading into the new season. The Canadian champion steps into the team as a natural leader, and is ready to continue his love affair with the Giro d’Italia as the team’s GC hope at the first Grand Tour of the year, following a winter of preparation for a year in which the German outfit hopes to become competitive at every Grand Tour. They were already a proven superpower in sprints and points jersey competitions, and are there or thereabouts in the cobbled Classics, but with the acquisition of Juan Ayuso and with their already exciting crop of talent, they could dominate everywhere this season.

Unibet Rockets – just all of that

I’ve talked plenty about the Rockets and everything I love about their quirky, refreshing approach to everything from their social media presence to their transfer activity, and I’m ready to take the next step this season and become a fully-fledged fan. I love an underdog and these guys have the plucky, feisty spirit that you want to see from ‘the little guys’ – with new signings like Victor Lafay, Rory Townsend and Clément Venturini, not to mention the experience of Wout Poels and Dylan Groenewegen, this team should definitely be taken seriously on the road, even if we’re still having fun with them outside of the racing.

Wright about now

Can Fred Wright please win a bike race? Well, now he’s moved on from Bahrain-Victorious, a team where he never quite seemed like the right fit, maybe this most desired of outcomes (for many British fans at least) could become a reality. Joining the Pidcock-inspired revolution at the Swiss-based team, Wright is joined by a host of other exciting talent, along with a Pinarello machine, all of which combines to make them another one of the ProTeams who should really be punching above their weight again this season. The likes of Brent van Moer, Quinten Hermans and Eddie Dunbar can all make a difference when it comes to shaping race outcomes, and I’m also excited to see if Thomas Gloag can rediscover a bit of form and consistency now he’s moved on from Visma.

Women’s cycling – will the French revolution continue?

Two mentions of the French revolution in one Substack about cycling, and not a guillotine in sight.

2025 was a stellar year for France on the women’s side of the sport, with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot bursting back onto the scene to win her home nation’s two most iconic races, and Maeva Squiban joining her countrywoman in making a huge impact at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. FDJ SUEZ’s swoop for Demi Vollering brought them to a new level, and in the off-season, just as on the men’s side, some women’s ProTeams made big moves to try and ensure they would be able to arrive at races with the firepower to take on the WorldTour teams. St Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93 announced perhaps the most surprising signing of the women’s transfer season when they snagged Canadian champion Alison Jackson – a big personality and a great influence, Jackson should light a fire under that team. They will hope to compete with the newest team on the Pro Conti block, Ma Petite Enterprise, a French team almost entirely composed of French riders, many of them rescued from the demise of Arkéa-B&B Hotels.

Oh, and I really hope for a continued improvement, hopefully including more wins, for Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), who I have long been a huge fan of and who now shares a team bus with THE WORLD CHAMPION no less! It will also be fascinating to see how the surprise of the season, Magdeleine Vallieres, rises to meet the challenge of having a massive rainbow target painted on her back in 2026.

Any other business?

Without going into too much depth, a few more things I’m looking out for in 2026 (that probably won’t match everyone else’s list because I’m painfully un-mainstream):

• Can Cian Uijtdebroeks find his feet at Movistar?

• Can Groupama-FDJ win anything meaningful, and how will they fare without Marc Madiot at the helm?

• Will Sarah van Dam manage to stand out at Visma-Lease a Bike?

• Can Sarah Gigante finally have a decent run of luck?

• Who will prevail as the women’s peloton tackles Mont Ventoux for the first time?

• Exactly how early will Pogačar attack at this year’s Milano-Sanremo?

• Can someone, ANYONE, challenge MVDP and Pog at the cobbled Monuments?

• Will Paul Seixas be able to resist riding his first Tour de France, and if he does, will I spontaneously combust with excitement before the entire French population, or will they beat me to it?

• Will UAE just calm the heck down and let some other teams win some stuff?

• Will I ever forgive Benoit Cosnefroy for going there?

• Can I get over the fact that I have quite negative feelings towards Team SD Worx-ProTime in order to enjoy the continued progress of Valentina Cavellar?

• Can someone, ANYONE, please beat Lorena Wiebes in a sprint?

Answers to these and more, coming soon to a cycling race near you. Or quite far away. Depending on where you live.

---

Thanks for reading, and thanks to the influx of new followers and subscribers for choosing to give me a shot – hopefully I’ll get my mojo back soon and be back to posting weekly – it’s certainly my plan, silly icy stick sport be damned! If you’d like to support my work there are reasonably priced payment plans available and it would be incredibly appreciated. If you are feeling generous but don’t want a long-term commitment, I feel you – I have a Ko-Fi too, if you fancy just buying me a coffee.

Until next time, ciao!