Your Monday Briefing

ADQ has renewed its sponsorship with UAE Team ADQ, with details to be revealed at a special sponsorship event on 4 July ahead of the Giro d’Italia.

Dutch triathlete Maya Kingma will be joining EF Education-Oatly. Kingma brings a wealth of experience, joining the team after eight accomplished years as a professional triathlete. A two-time Olympian, she claimed gold at a World Triathlon Series event and secured three top-ten finishes at the World Championships. She will make her debut with EF Education-Oatly at the Giro d’Italia Women.

Riders have voiced concern over the safety of the Copenhagen Sprint race. Race winner Lorena Wiebes and fourth-place finisher Charlotte Kool criticised the UCI, saying its priorities are misplaced, focusing too heavily on equipment regulations, such as handlebar specifications, instead of addressing the safety of the race course itself.

The second placed rider at the Australian Road championships this year, Ella Simpson, who rode for St Michel – Preference Home – Auber93, has decided to step back from cycling with immediate effect. The 22-year-old rider started this season with great promise but was struggling with physical and mental health.

Arkea and B&B Hotels are set to end the team’s sponsorship at the end of the year. In an internal memo, the French team’s management informed riders and staff of the decision, while affirming their commitment to exploring alternative options to ensure the team’s continuation. The women’s squad currently includes 14 riders, among them Sweden’s Emilia Fahlin, Dutch rider Marjolein van ’t Geloof, and New Zealand’s Michaela Drummond.

Team SD Worx-Protime will start the Giro d’Italia with World Champion Lotte Kopecky, European Champion Lorena Wiebes, Anna van der Breggen, Mikayla Harvey, Steffi Häberlin and the two home riders Elena Cecchini and Barbara Guarischi. The squad announced that they will not be starting with a big ambition to win the overall classification but rather go for stage wins.

Puck Pieterse is gearing up for her second appearance in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Unlike last year, when her primary focus was the Olympic Mountain bike race, she now has the opportunity to specifically prepare for the Tour. In 2024, Pieterse delivered an impressive performance. She claimed victory on the stage to Liège, briefly held second place in the general classification, and narrowly missed a top-10 overall finish, placing 11th. With the Tour now her main objective for the summer, there could be even greater potential in 2025 for the Fenix-Deceuninck rider. She will mainly focus on stage wins again. But her hope remains to one day wear the yellow jersey.

Beginning with the Giro d’Italia, Lidl-Trek’s female riders will debut an updated version of their current jersey, now featuring the logo of Unbroken, a recovery tablet made from salmon, prominently displayed on the back and chest side panels. This marks the official launch of the partnership between Lidl-Trek and Unbroken.

On a different note, Urška Žigart (AG Insurance – Soudal Team) and Tadej Pogačar are set to star in the world of children’s literature with the release of a new book, The Adventures of Pogi and Pika. Far from the competitive circuits of professional cycling, the story, published in Slovenian, unfolds in a whimsical fantasy world filled with elves, giants, and dragons. While it doesn’t take place in the realm of cycling, the book carries a strong message of inspiration. Its goal is to encourage young readers to dream big and believe in themselves, while also subtly promoting the joy and freedom of cycling.