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Tour de France 2026: The Tourmalet Awaits as Træen Defends Yellow Into the Pyrenees
A surprise leader in yellow, the favourites lying in wait, and the fabled Col du Tourmalet looming as the 2026 Tour's first hors catégorie test — the race for the mountains starts now.
By ZealZag TeamHow to Watch the Tour de France 2026 in Person: Barcelona to Alpe d'Huez
A practical guide for destination-athletes joining the Tour de France roadside — the stages worth travelling for, where to stand on Alpe d'Huez and in the Pyrenees, how to time a trip around the race's three-week geography, and what the experience actually delivers.
By ZealZag TeamClimbing the Tourmalet: Cycling the French Pyrenees from Luz-Saint-Sauveur to Gavarnie-Gèdre
Tour de France Stage 6 crosses the Col d'Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet before a first-ever finish at Gavarnie-Gèdre on July 9. This is a practical guide to riding these roads yourself — what the climbs are, where to base, when to go.
By ZealZag TeamThree Days Out: Tour de France 2026 Opens with First Stage 1 TTT Since 1971 in Barcelona
The 113th Tour de France fires its starting gun on Saturday — an unprecedented team time trial up Montjuïc where individual times apply, the first TTT opener since 1971, and Pogačar versus Vingegaard's Giro-winning form versus Evenepoel's chrono power in one 19.6-kilometre opener.
By ZealZag TeamGrégoire Takes the Tricolore: France's Men's Road Champion Solo at La Tour-du-Pin
Romain Grégoire won the 2026 French elite men's road championship with a solo attack off the Béjui climb in suffocating heat, claiming his first national title and the tricolore jersey he will wear when the Tour de France opens in Barcelona on July 4.
By ZealZag TeamCycling Lyon: Beaujolais Vineyards, Dombes Plateau, and the Rhône Valley Headwaters
Lyon is 45 minutes north of La Tour-du-Pin and one of France's best-kept cycling bases — access to Beaujolais rolling hills, the Dombes bird-lake plateau, and the col roads of the Monts du Lyonnais. Practical guide for destination athletes staging the French nationals or building a week of French road cycling.
By ZealZag TeamCélia Gery Takes the Tricolore: France's 20-Year-Old Superstar Wins Women's Road Nationals
Célia Gery added the French national road champion's jersey to a 2026 palmarès that already includes Brabantse Pijl, a Giro d'Italia Women stage, and the elite cyclocross national title — and she's still 20 years old.
By ZealZag TeamFrom One Finish Line to Two: The Story Behind Ironman's Kona and Nice World Championships
For forty-four years, every Ironman World Championship ended on Ali'i Drive in Kailua-Kona. Then in 2023, Nice hosted the men's professional race for the first time. How the sport's most iconic event ended up with two World Championship venues — and what that means for the athletes trying to get to either one.
By ZealZag TeamIsère and the Dauphiné: Cycling the Range Between Grenoble and the Alps
The Dauphiné is the region that gave the stage race its name — and it earns that association. Practical guide to cycling the Vercors plateau, the Chartreuse massif, and the col roads that lead into the Alps from Grenoble, for athletes arriving around the French nationals or building an Alpine cycling trip.
By ZealZag TeamFrench Nationals TT: Armirail Completes a Hat-Trick in Isère, Road Race Awaits
Bruno Armirail claimed his third French national time trial title in four years on the 29.7-kilometre course in La Tour-du-Pin, while the elite road races — the jerseys that matter for grand tours — run on Saturday and Sunday. This is what the champion's band looks like on a WorldTour peloton.
By ZealZag TeamRace the Route: IRONMAN France Nice — Promenade des Anglais to the Col de Vence
A 3.8km Mediterranean swim, a 180km bike leg into the climbs behind the Côte d'Azur, and a four-lap seafront marathon. The complete guide to IRONMAN France Nice and training on the Riviera: the course, the Alpes-Maritimes cols, the swim conditions, travel, and where to base in Nice.
By ZealZag TeamIRONMAN France Nice 2026: Race Week on the Côte d'Azur
Race week has arrived in Nice. On Sunday, athletes swim 3.8km in the Mediterranean off the Promenade des Anglais, climb 180km into the Alpes-Maritimes backcountry, and run a four-lap marathon along the seafront. The expo is open, the bikes are being built, and the Baie des Anges is doing its job.
By ZealZag TeamRace the Route: Marathon du Mont-Blanc and the Chamonix Trail Festival
The most famous trail valley in the Alps hosts its festival this weekend, but the Chamonix balcony trails are open all summer. Complete guide to the Marathon du Mont-Blanc and running Chamonix: the five festival distances, the balcony routes, the lift system, gear, travel, and where to base beneath Mont Blanc.
By ZealZag TeamMarathon du Mont-Blanc 2026: The 90K Opens Chamonix's Trail Festival
The Marathon du Mont-Blanc festival is underway in Chamonix — five races across four days beneath the highest summit in the Alps. The 90K flagship circles the valley's high balconies, the marathon climbs to Flégère on Sunday, and the whole town has turned over to trail running for the weekend.
By ZealZag TeamRacing UTMB as a Foreign Athlete: The Practical Logistics of Arriving in Chamonix
Thousands of international athletes race the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc every August, and the non-athletic logistics — accommodation, gear registration, jet lag, drop bags, crew access across three countries — are as demanding as the training. A practical guide to getting to the start line organised.
By ZealZag TeamKMV du Mont-Blanc 2026: A Thousand Metres of Brévent in Under 35 Minutes
Two days from the KMV du Mont-Blanc — the vertical kilometer that opens Chamonix's Marathon du Mont-Blanc weekend. 3.8 kilometres, 1,000 metres of climb on the Brévent's north flank, and a startlist that brings the skyrunning world to the alpine north face.
By ZealZag TeamIRONMAN France Nice 2026: Mediterranean Heat, Mountain Bike, Promenade Finish
Five days from IRONMAN France Nice — the 226km Mediterranean triathlon that climbs into the Côte d'Azur backcountry on the bike and finishes on the Promenade des Anglais. A race preview, the contender field, and what the heat means for the run.
By ZealZag Team
Race the Mont-Blanc Marathon Route: Chamonix Trail Running Guide
How to train, run, and experience the trails that host the Marathon du Mont-Blanc — Brévent, Flégère, Posettes, and the high Chamonix balcons that define alpine racing in Europe.
By ZealZag Team
Marathon du Mont-Blanc 2026: Chamonix Welcomes the World's Best Trail Runners
The Marathon du Mont-Blanc returns to Chamonix June 25-28 — 90K, marathon, 23K, KMV and Cross — a UTMB World Series cornerstone that gathers the best of mountain running beneath Europe's highest peak.
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 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 Team