The new cycling season begins as usual in Australia, with the Tour Down Under. Last year's winner Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) will not start. Other top riders such as Simon Yates will be there instead. Australia's most famous cycling mountain, Willunga Hill, will give the former Vuelta winner a good opportunity to use his strength. There will be no major changes to the race calendar. The long-distance races Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico continue to overlap and thus compete for attention.
2024 Olympics in Paris
In summer, the Olympic cycling race in Paris - the time trials on 27 July, the road races on 3 and 4 August - a longer gap. Because the Games in Paris begin on 26 July, the 2024 Tour de France winner will be crowned a week earlier in Nice. After a real competition, by the way, a time trial over 34 kilometres. "For us classification riders, the Tour de France 2024 now one competition day longer. That's new. But I'm already looking forward to it," says the 2023 winner, Jonas Vingegaardahead to the summer.
Tour de France 2024 promises excitement
In France, he is likely to be up against his long-term rival Tadej Pogacarformer team-mate Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel will have to deal with. Without Roglic, the two-time Tour winner will lack some support. "But we will also have fewer internal discussions without Primoz," says sports director Merijn Zeeman. Two time trials, seven mountain stages (including the Galibier, Tourmalet and Plateau de Beille) and 14 gravel segments on stage 9 are on the programme.
Giro d'Italia 2024: Who can take on Tadej Pogacar?
At the Giro d'Italia 2024 Tadej Pogacar wants to lay the foundation for a Possible historical double place. The Colombian Nairo Quintana is working on a comeback there, and Wout van Aert also wants to come, albeit with a focus on stage wins. In terms of the classification, Visma | Lease a Bike is likely to rely on Cian Uijtdebroeks, who is moving from Bora-Hansgrohe to the Dutch team after a transfer hiccup.
Pogacar, however, promises to be the absolute driving force behind the Giro. The course is not quite to his liking; the mythical peaks and passes such as Mortirolo, Gavia, Zoncolan or the Three Peaks are missing. The capricious weather conditions in recent years and the shortening of routes in the mountains also played a role in the planning. However, there are plenty of small, tough climbs, such as the Superga near Turin on the first day. In 2024, the capital of Piedmont even has the privilege of not only being the start of the Giro, but also the finish of the third stage of the Tour de France. It starts in Florence this year. What were once proud national tours are becoming increasingly bloated European tours.
Vuelta a Espana 2024: Will Sepp Kuss defend his title?
The Vuelta a Espana 2024 is taking part, with the next event starting in Portugal. There, Sepp Kuss in particular wants to prove that his success in 2023 was no fluke. However, the American - like the entire peloton - may have to adapt to a different annual schedule from 2026 onwards.
Changes to the cycling race calendar from 2026?
UCI President David Lappartient is toying with a number of ideas that could shake up the still very traditional sport of cycling. These include the plan to move the Vuelta a Espana to a different date due to the increasing August heat in Spain, possibly back to the spring, as was customary until 1994. Instead Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders into the autumn. The Cycling League, which Richard Plugge, boss of Visma | Lease a Bike, is working on, could cause even greater upheaval.
It is to be financed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF. This is very reminiscent of the controversial LIV Tour in golf. The old merger partner Zdenek Bakala from Soudal - Quick Step and Ineos Grenadiers are also to be on board. Organisers such as the ASO are still holding back. The core of the model should be that the TV income, which until now has mainly gone to the organisers, also benefits the teams. This would allow them to build up a second source of income alongside sponsorship revenue. That doesn't sound bad. However, this alone would not require a new league, especially not with the controversial financial backer Saudi Arabia.
