It may be autumn, the time of falling leaves and drifting woodsmoke, the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, but there's still plenty of news and talking points in the pro peloton. These are RadioCycling's latest headlines...
Intermarché-Wanty-Circus plunged into racism scandal – The Belgian team has pulled two of its riders from the Tour of Guangxi, the final WorldTour race of the season, after they posted a racist image on social media. We detail how the team and the UCI have responded to this furore and examine what it says about the riders involved and the state of the sport.
Post-merger meltdown sends transfer market into a frenzy – The Jumbo-Visma/Soudal-QuickStep fusion is off, and, like the floodgates opening a dam, the transfer market is suddenly in full flow. We detail the main moves in recent days and explain why the merger blocked the transfer market and what it's meant for the many riders who are still out of contract for next season.
The Tour de France heads for the white roads – Following a weekend dominated by racing on gravel at captivating editions of Paris-Tours and the UCI World Gravel Championships, the French press is reporting that the 2024 Tour de France will also be heading off-road, following the trail blazed by the Tour de France Femmes' peloton through Champagne's vineyards in 2022. We reveal the latest...
It's big, it's bad, it's the Babadag – This is the climb unearthed by the organisers of the Tour of Turkey. The stats say is 50% tougher than the Angliru, while the riders who tackled it were unanimous in it being the hardest climb they'd ever raced up. We hear from Bora-Hansgrohe's Florian Lipowitz, who took 75 minutes to complete this monster 18km ascent that averages 10.5%, and was fourth to the top.
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