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The Quiet Pull of the Mountains
At 1,000 meters above sea level, Xenia found more than trails to explore — she found a place to call home.
By ZealZag TeamThe Mountains That Made the Giro: Italy's Greatest Race and Its Altitude Obsession
The Giro d'Italia was founded in 1909 and has spent much of the 115 years since testing riders against Italy's most hostile high-altitude terrain. The Stelvio, the Mortirolo, the Zoncolan — these are not just climbs on a race route. They are the reason the Giro is what it is, and why it occupies a different place in cycling's imagination than any other race.
By ZealZag TeamTwelve Days to Barcelona: Tour de France 2026 Contender Form After Tour de Suisse
Twelve days from the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ in Barcelona, the contender picture has clarified — Pogačar dominant out of Tour de Suisse, Vingegaard's Critérium signals, Roglič's late-season build, and the team selection window opening this week.
By ZealZag TeamCycling the Vaud Alps: Villars-sur-Ollon, the Col de la Croix, and the Routes Above Bex
The Swiss resort that closes the Tour de Suisse sits at 1,300 metres above Bex in the Vaud Alps, below the Col de la Croix and within reach of Les Diablerets. A practical guide to riding the climbs, the passes, and the surrounding Alpes Vaudoises terrain.
By ZealZag TeamTour de Suisse Closes in the Vaud Alps: Stage 5 at Villars-sur-Ollon
Stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse brought the race to Villars-sur-Ollon for a 150.7km queen stage over the Col de la Croix — closing a five-day race that Tadej Pogacar effectively settled on day one with a 72-kilometre solo attack through the Italian Alps.
By ZealZag TeamCycling Aargau: Switzerland's Quiet Heartland and the Roads of the Tour de Suisse ITT
Aargau rarely makes the Swiss cycling shortlist, but Stage 4 of the 2026 Tour de Suisse is a reminder that the canton between Basel, Zürich, and Bern has river towns, Jura foothills, and 23.7 kilometres of roads worth riding on any budget of time.
By ZealZag TeamRace Against the Clock: Tour de Suisse Stage 4 ITT Runs Through Aargau's River Country
The Tour de Suisse's individual time trial cuts 23.7 kilometres through the Aargau lowlands — a rolling course with one categorised climb that puts Pogačar's two-minute-fifty lead under the clock before Sunday's queen stage in the Vaud Alps.
By ZealZag TeamRiding Bad Ragaz: The Rhine Valley, the Schwägalp, and the Appenzell Back Roads
A practical guide to cycling from Bad Ragaz into the Appenzell Alps — the same roads, passes, and Rhine Valley flats that Stage 3 of the 2026 Tour de Suisse used as its 157km canvas today.
By ZealZag TeamŽigart Springs Back at Bad Ragaz: Tour de Suisse Enters Its Race-Defining Final Three Days
Urška Žigart wins the women's sprint at Bad Ragaz the day after a heavy crash — one of the more compelling individual stories Stage 3 produced in a race that now turns toward its ITT and queen stage. Pogačar's men's GC lead stayed intact through the Schwägalp.
By ZealZag TeamMallorca's Tramuntana: What Europe's Premier Winter Cycling Island Actually Offers
Mallorca has been the default winter training base for European road cyclists since the 1990s. Pro teams use it in January and February; thousands of club cyclists follow in March and April. The Serra de Tramuntana in the northwest is the reason — a 90-kilometre limestone ridge with climbs ranging from gradual valley roads to the hairpin descent of Sa Calobra. What the island actually delivers for an athlete planning a trip.
By ZealZag TeamCycling Locarno and Ticino: The Tour de Suisse Stage 2 Roads
A practical guide to riding the roads that Stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de Suisse just raced — Lake Maggiore's northern shore, Monte Ceneri, and the Orselina climb above Locarno, in Switzerland's southernmost and most Italian-feeling canton.
By ZealZag TeamGirmay Takes Locarno: NSN Wins Stage 2 as Pogacar's GC Lead Goes Unchallenged
Biniam Girmay wins Stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse in Locarno, navigating the punchy Orselina climb and a fast run to the finish to take NSN Cycling Team's first victory in Switzerland. Pogacar's massive overall lead, built on yesterday's 72km solo, remained untouched.
By ZealZag Team
The Price of Wonder
How 170,000 Kilometers on Unconventional Roads Taught Stefano Scapitta What It Means to Have Everything While Possessing Nothing
By ZealZag TeamCycling the Valtellina: Stelvio, Mortirolo, and Gavia from a Sondrio Base
The Italian valley that anchors today's Tour de Suisse Grand Départ is also one of Europe's great cycling destinations — three legendary alpine passes, a 114km lakeside path, and a car-free initiative that closes the major roads to traffic all summer.
By ZealZag TeamTour de Suisse 2026 Opens in Italy: Sondrio Launches the Race's New Era
For the first time in its history, the Tour de Suisse starts on Italian soil — a 144km circuit around Sondrio, in the heart of the Valtellina, with three punishing climbs and the world's best roster since the race was condensed to five days.
By ZealZag Team
Ride the Tour de Suisse Stage 1 Route in Valtellina, Italy
Ride the 144km Adda Valley loop that opened the 2026 Tour de Suisse — Lombard climbing through Sondrio, Buglio in Monte, and the Bordighi ramp where Pogacar made his move.
By ZealZag Team
Tour de Suisse 2026 Stage 1: Pogacar Strikes in Sondrio Finale
Tadej Pogacar wins Stage 1 of the Tour de Suisse 2026 in Sondrio, Italy — the race's first-ever stage outside Switzerland — after a brutal finale over three punchy Lombard climbs.
By ZealZag TeamDel Toro Detonates on Solaison: UAE's Young Climber Steals Yellow on the Final Day
Isaac del Toro attacked solo on the Plateau de Solaison and reversed a 49-second deficit to take both the stage win and the overall title — leaving Tuckwell without yellow and Jorgenson without the podium he held all week.
By ZealZag TeamThe Hour Record: Cycling's Loneliest Benchmark
The Hour Record asks a single question: how far can one rider go on a bicycle in sixty minutes? No drafting, no team, no tactical riding. Since Henri Desgrange set the first recognised mark in 1893, the record has attracted every era's finest cyclists and produced some of the sport's most psychologically revealing moments.
By ZealZag TeamCycling the Beaufortain and Aravis: The French Alps Stage Nobody Markets
The stage-8 route of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes traces one of the best multi-climb cycling loops in the French Alps — from the Beaufort valley over the Col du Pré, the Bisanne, the Aravis, and up to the Plateau de Solaison. Most cyclists drive past this area heading somewhere more famous. That is their loss.
By ZealZag TeamTour Auvergne Stage 8: Four Climbs, 42 Seconds, One Plateau
The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes closes on the Plateau de Solaison today — 120 kilometres, four Alpine climbs, and a 42-second gap between Luke Tuckwell's yellow jersey and Matteo Jorgenson. Isaac del Toro is 49 seconds back after winning Stage 7 on the Grand Colombier. The race ends here.
By ZealZag TeamClimbing the Grand Colombier: The Ain's Hardest Summit and the Bugey's Best Secret
The Grand Colombier sits at 1,501 metres in the Bugey limestone plateau of the Ain department — a summit that has terrorised Tour de France and Critérium du Dauphiné pelotons for decades, and one that visiting cyclists consistently underestimate because the Ain doesn't have the Alps' marketing budget. Here's how to ride it.
By ZealZag TeamTour Auvergne Stage 7: The Grand Colombier and the Race Before the Race
Stage 7 of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes sends the peloton from La Bridoire to the Grand Colombier summit — 8.4 kilometres at 10.2 percent, a finish so steep it forces every rider within striking distance of Luke Tuckwell's yellow jersey to show their cards a day before the finale.
By ZealZag TeamCycling Catalonia: The Coast, the Pyrenees, and the Riding Around the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ
Catalonia hosts the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ on July 4 — the first time the race has opened on Catalan soil. A guide to the cycling terrain the opening three stages will cross, the Girona pro-cyclist hub that anchors the broader Catalan cycling scene, and where to ride if you're visiting the region across the Tour window.
By ZealZag Team