Your Monday Briefing

Catch up on all the team news from the Tour of Flanders – which saw World Champion Lotte Kopecky take the win – with reactions from Movistar Team and Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto. You can also find out what Elisa Balsamo thinks about her Scheldeprijs victory right here.

Elisa Longo Borghini was involved in a serious crash during the Tour of Flanders. The Italian champion and last year’s race winner initially attempted to continue, but was later withdrawn from the event by her team after exhibiting confusion following a blow to her head. She was quickly transported by ambulance to a hospital in Oudenaarde, where she underwent a CT scan and medical evaluation. The results confirmed a significant concussion, though thankfully no internal bleeding was detected. As a precaution, medical staff decided to keep her under observation. In coordination with her team, she was transferred to the University Hospital in Ghent, but has since been released and is now recovering. We wish Elisa all the very best in her recovery.

Cat Ferguson suffered a heavy crash on her debut at Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift. The British rider commented on her Instagram page that her fall was caused by a spectator stepping onto the course as the race passed a cobbled sector. As a result, she did not reach Roubaix’s iconic velodrome.  The team announced that fortunately she only suffered bumps and bruises, and no serious injuries. Get well soon, Cat!

Lotto Cycling Team’s Mieke Docx fell during Schelderprijs and was taken to hospital. Examinations revealed she had no fractures but severe bruising on her hip and lacerations. We wish Mieke a speedy recovery.

Lizzie Deignan, winner of the inaugural Paris-Roubaix, has reflected in a recent interview about how that victory became a defining moment in her cycling career. She described it as a turning point – not just professionally, but also in terms of how she was perceived beyond the cycling world. She also expressed a sense of peace in no longer needing to constantly advocate for equality in the sport, though she acknowledged that there is still progress to be made. She’s grateful for how far women’s cycling has come since she first began racing. As she looks ahead, she has no concrete plans for life after retirement, but admits she’s ready to discover who she is beyond her identity as a professional rider.

The MTB World Cup has kicked off in Araxá, Brazil. Canadian rider Isabella Holmgren dominated the U23 categories, taking victory in both the XCO and XCC events. In a historic moment for New Zealand cycling, Samara Maxwell made history by becoming the first Kiwi female rider to win an Elite XCO World Cup race. Meanwhile, British Evie Richards, racing for Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli XC, took the win in the XCC race, adding another triumph in the rainbow bands to her impressive palmares.

Abarca Sports, the management company of the Movistar Team, has announced a recent investment by Quantum Pacific Management Ltd. Quantum will become a shareholder (of 43%) in Abarca Sports, alongside founders Eusebio Unzué and Francisco Fernández Maestre. As a result, the Movistar men’s, women’s, gravel, and e-sports teams will be strengthened and in a better position to realise their ambitions. Parallel to Quantum’s entry into Abarca Sports’ shareholding, Eastern Pacific Shipping, a company affiliated with Quantum, has signed a sponsorship agreement with Abarca to provide financial and logistical support to the Movistar Team. As part of this agreement, the EPS logo will appear on the lower part of the jerseys of the men’s and women’s road cycling teams as well as the gravel team.

The International Olympic Committee has announced the official program for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028. The UCI has also confirmed that cycling will be the third biggest sport in terms of the number of participants and titles awarded. In total, 514 athletes will take part in cycling events, vying for 22 Olympic titles across five cycling disciplines (road, track, mountain bike, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle). Just as in the Paris 2024 Olympics, the number of women and men participating in cycling events will be identical, with 257 riders each. Parity will also be respected within each discipline on the program.

Founded on 14 April 1900 in Paris, France, the Union Cycliste Internationale will celebrate the 125th anniversary of its creation by the Belgian, American, French, Italian and Swiss National Cycling Federations. Today, the UCI has 205 affiliated National Federations from five continents, and governs 11 disciplines, including road, mountain bike, BMX Racing, BMX Freestyle, cyclo-cross, trials, indoor cycling, e-sports, gravel and snow bike. With its activities also extending to cycling’s societal-public dimensions (such as sustainable development, solidarity and inclusion), the UCI has become one of the world’s largest sports federations.