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Race the Route: Stage 8 of the 2026 Tour — Périgueux to Bergerac Through the Dordogne
Today's Stage 8 is a flat 180.4 km run from Périgueux to Bergerac through the Dordogne. Here's how to ride the same terrain the peloton races — and turn it into your own endurance session.
By ZealZag TeamRace the Route: Riding the Col du Tourmalet Like the 2026 Tour
The 2026 Tour's first hors catégorie climb is a bucket-list ascent for any cyclist. Here's how to ride the Col du Tourmalet yourself — the numbers, the two approaches, and why you should do it with a local.
By ZealZag TeamTour 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 TeamGirona for Cyclists: Why the Roads Around a Medieval Catalan City Became Europe's Benchmark Training Base
Girona, 100 kilometres northeast of Barcelona and 40 kilometres from the Costa Brava coast, has become the unofficial capital of professional European road cycling. The roads explain why — varied enough to build fitness across every energy system, accessible enough to ride without a car, and concentrated enough to keep coming back to the same climbs with the same benchmarks.
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 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 TeamThe Dolomites for Road Cyclists: Italy's Greatest Training Ground, Pass by Pass
The Dolomites pack more significant cycling passes into a driveable area than anywhere else in the Alps. Stelvio, Giau, Pordoi, Fedaia, Mortirolo — these are not interchangeable. Here is what each climb actually demands, when to go, and how to build a week in the mountains without wasting days on logistics.
By ZealZag TeamNational Championships Week 2026: Europe Races for the Jersey Before the Tour
The last weekend of June is national championships week — the one race each year where trade teams dissolve and riders race for their country's jersey. It is the final form check before the Tour de France Grand Départ in Barcelona, and the new champions will wear their national colours for the next twelve months.
By ZealZag TeamCycling the Aragonese Pyrenees: Jaca, Somport, and the Quiet Side of the Mountains
The Aragonese Pyrenees run between the Basque cycling heartland to the west and the Catalan mountains to the east — and carry none of their traffic. A practical guide to cycling the Puerto de Somport, Portalet, and the Hecho and Ansó valleys from Sabiñánigo and Jaca.
By ZealZag TeamSpanish Road Nationals TT: Racing for the Stripes in the Pyrenees Foothills
The Spanish road cycling national championships open their time trial day in Sabiñánigo — where the Hoya de Huesca meets the Aragonese Pyrenees, and riders compete for the red-and-yellow national jersey worn for a full season on the WorldTour.
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 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 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 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 TeamGirona, Catalonia: Why Professional Cycling's Favourite Training Hub Works for Every Visiting Athlete
Girona is a medieval Catalan city 100 kilometres from Barcelona where dozens of professional WorldTour cyclists have based themselves for over two decades. The infrastructure built around that community — roads, climbs, service, cafés — is now available to any visiting athlete. Here is how it actually works.
By ZealZag TeamCycling the Loire Roannais: The TTT Circuit and the Roads Beyond Perreux
The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Stage 3 TTT runs a 28.4km circuit through the Loire Roannais — a stretch of rolling farmland and forested foothills between Roanne and Charlieu that rarely appears on any race route. A practical cycling guide to the area, from the TTT circuit itself to the Pilat Massif climbs one valley east.
By ZealZag TeamWhy Footballers Get Faster on a Bike: A Road Cycling Off-Season Guide for Soccer Players
Top clubs use cycling for active recovery between matches because it builds aerobic base without joint load. A road cycling off-season guide for soccer players — the zones to train, the volumes to target, and the cycling destinations that work for a focused two-week trip.
By ZealZag TeamCycling the Matheysine Plateau: Empty Roads, Big Climbs, and the Isère's Quietest Cycling Country
The Matheysine plateau and the Trièves valley south of Grenoble carry some of the most empty, climbing-rich roads in the French Alps. The Col du Festre, the Col du Noyer, and the lakes of Laffrey are a 250-kilometre weekend within ninety minutes of a major airport.
By ZealZag TeamCycling Grenoble: Three Massifs, One City, and the Roads the Tour Auvergne Uses Every June
Grenoble sits at the bottom of the Vercors, the Chartreuse, and the Belledonne — three mountain massifs within 20 minutes of the city centre. This week it's the basecamp for the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. For cyclists, it is the best-positioned Alpine training base in France. A practical guide to where to ride, when to go, and how to get there.
By ZealZag TeamTraining for High-Mountain Cycling: What a Dolomites Granfondo Actually Demands
A Dolomites granfondo asks for 4,000+ metres of climbing over 130–170 km. Most riders who finish strong aren't better cyclists than those who blow up — they trained specifically for sustained high-gradient climbing and managed the race very differently. Here is what that preparation actually involves.
By ZealZag TeamCycling Lake Garda: The Alpine Lake That Trains Champions
Lake Garda sits 15 kilometres from Ala, the starting town for today's Giro Donne sprint stage — a practical guide to the lake that WorldTour teams use as a winter base, built around the climbs, the loops, and the thermal winds that make the northern shore one of Europe's best cycling destinations.
By ZealZag Team