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More Than the Finish Line
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More Than the Finish Line

Wesam Elhayek didn't start running to become an athlete. She started running to survive a season. What happened next surprised even her.

By ZealZag Team
Race the Giro: Cycling to Andalo in the Brenta Dolomites
cyclinggrand-touritaly

Race the Giro: Cycling to Andalo in the Brenta Dolomites

Andalo's Giro Stage 17 finish sits inside the Brenta Dolomites at 1,039m below the Paganella. Our guide covers the Stage 17 climbs, Trentino travel logistics, best season, and why this Dolomites loop belongs on every cyclist's bucket list.

By ZealZag Team
cyclingitalytrentino

Cycling Andalo and the Paganella: Trentino's Alpine Plateau Above Lake Molveno

A route guide to the plateau finish that closed Stage 17 of the 2026 Giro — the Paganella massif above Lake Molveno, the Brenta Dolomites backdrop, and the road network that connects a mountain resort to the wider Trentino cycling grid.

By ZealZag Team
Giro d'Italia Stage 17: Breakaway Takes Andalo as Vingegaard Conserves
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Giro d'Italia Stage 17: Breakaway Takes Andalo as Vingegaard Conserves

Stage 17's 202km Alpine roller-coaster from Cassano d'Adda delivers a breakaway win at Andalo's Brenta Dolomites resort as Vingegaard's pink jersey remains unchallenged with the final week ahead.

By ZealZag Team
cyclinggrand-touritaly

Andalo or Nothing: Stage 17 Sends the Giro's Last GC Chance Through Trentino

Stage 17 is the longest day of the Giro's final week and, according to the race's own script, the last realistic mountain opportunity before the final time trial. Jonas Vingegaard's 4:03 lead over Felix Gall enters the Andalo finish largely unchanged — and the stage's breakaway runners write a different chapter of the race.

By ZealZag Team
journalclimbingalpinism

From Endurance Athlete to Alpinist: The Skills Gap and How to Bridge It

Trail runners and cyclists who arrive at a glaciated peak with strong aerobic engines and no idea how to put on crampons are a recognizable type in alpine guiding. The cardio is genuine and useful. The technical deficit is a specific, fixable problem — but no amount of fitness substitutes for it.

By ZealZag Team
journaltrail-runningrunning

Chamonix for Trail Runners: The UTMB Corridor and What the Trails Actually Ask

Chamonix sits at 1,035 metres in the Arve Valley, hemmed in by the biggest peaks in the Western Alps. Trail running here operates on three distinct altitude bands, from accessible afternoon runs at 2,000m to technical high-altitude routes that ask for more than aerobic fitness.

By ZealZag Team
Strength Got Her Started. Endurance Took Her Further.
journalathletes-on-the-maprunning

Strength Got Her Started. Endurance Took Her Further.

Gigi Fettuccini didn't become a runner by being good at it. She became one by refusing to stop.

By ZealZag Team
journalcyclingroad-cycling

After the Classics: Europe's Summer Road Cycling Calendar and What Each Race Decides

Spring is done — Roubaix, Liège, the Ardennes monuments. The Giro runs into June. Then comes the part of the calendar that actually determines how a season is remembered: five months of stage racing and one-day racing from Dauphiné to Il Lombardia.

By ZealZag Team
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Korea's Summer Trails: Riding and Training Around YongPyong and PyeongChang

The resort that hosted Alpine skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics has built itself into South Korea's leading MTB destination — a UCI World Cup trail network, a fast rail connection from Seoul, and a Gangwon Province backdrop that most international athletes have never seen.

By ZealZag Team
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Glory in the Mud: Lillo and Frei Win History's First Asian XCO World Cup at YongPyong

Dario Lillo led from first corner to last and Sina Frei doubled her XCC win to claim the first UCI XCO World Cup victories on Asian soil — on a course so destroyed by overnight rain that riders spent more time running than pedalling.

By ZealZag Team
Race the Giro: Cycling Bellinzona to Carì in Swiss Ticino
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Race the Giro: Cycling Bellinzona to Carì in Swiss Ticino

Stage 16's Bellinzona–Carì route climbs 3,000m through the Leventina Valley to a 1,600m Swiss alpine resort. Our guide covers the 11.7km Carì ascent, Ticino logistics, best season, and why this is one of the finest Giro climbs to ride.

By ZealZag Team
Giro d'Italia Stage 16: Vingegaard Detonates the Carì Climb in Pink
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Giro d'Italia Stage 16: Vingegaard Detonates the Carì Climb in Pink

Jonas Vingegaard wins his fourth Giro stage and first in the pink jersey, soloing away from Gall and Hindley on the 11.7km Carì summit to cement a commanding GC lead.

By ZealZag Team
Mari Souza Never Meant to Become a Runner.
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Mari Souza Never Meant to Become a Runner.

She started because she needed somewhere else to put her mind.

By ZealZag Team
journalopen-water-swimmingswimming

From Pool to Ocean: Building Open Water Swimming Skills That Actually Transfer

Pool fitness and ocean racing share a stroke and very little else. The navigation, cold water, pack dynamics, and variable conditions of open water events require specific preparation that lap-swimming alone cannot provide.

By ZealZag Team
journalroad-runningrunning

The Non-Glamorous Side of Running a Destination Marathon

Registration lotteries, race expos the size of convention centres, time zones, and the surprising physical cost of race weekend on foot. What no training plan tells you about running a major marathon in a city you've never been to.

By ZealZag Team
Switzerland Bouldering: Cresciano, Chironico, and Bern's Rock
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Switzerland Bouldering: Cresciano, Chironico, and Bern's Rock

From Ticino's world-class granite erratics at Cresciano and Chironico to the sandstone boulders of the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland is one of Europe's great bouldering destinations. The complete guide for the visiting climber.

By ZealZag Team
Bern Bouldering 2026: Anraku and Mackenzie Make History
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Bern Bouldering 2026: Anraku and Mackenzie Make History

Sorato Anraku wins his second consecutive World Cup gold of 2026 as the only climber to top all four finals problems in Bern. Oceania Mackenzie delivers Australia's first-ever World Climbing gold in a perfect Festhalle final.

By ZealZag Team
journalsurfingfrance

Hossegor: Europe's Most Consequential Beach Break

The beach breaks at La Gravière shaped professional surfing for three decades. What remains after the WSL contest moved on is one of the Atlantic coast's most powerful stretches of surf — accessible, practical, and honest about the skill level it requires.

By ZealZag Team
Pamplona for Destination Athletes: Navarra's Medieval Training Grounds
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Pamplona for Destination Athletes: Navarra's Medieval Training Grounds

The T100 Spain's new Pamplona venue reveals a training region that most destination athletes have overlooked — rolling Navarra farmland for the bike, mountain Pyrenean cols an hour away, and the Camino de Santiago through the city for long runs. The practical guide.

By ZealZag Team
Taylor-Brown Ends the Wait in Pamplona: First T100 Win After Years at the Threshold
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Taylor-Brown Ends the Wait in Pamplona: First T100 Win After Years at the Threshold

Georgia Taylor-Brown ran down Julie Derron on the streets of Pamplona on May 23 for her first career T100 victory — breaking through after a 2025 season of near-misses to win Race 2 of the 2026 T100 World Tour in front of a packed Plaza del Castillo finish.

By ZealZag Team
Cycling Ticino: Bellinzona's Castles, the Leventina, and the Carì Climb
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Cycling Ticino: Bellinzona's Castles, the Leventina, and the Carì Climb

Stage 16 of the 2026 Giro d'Italia runs 113km through the Canton of Ticino from Bellinzona to the Carì summit — a brutal short mountain stage on some of the most scenically dense cycling roads in the Alps. The practical guide to riding this terrain yourself.

By ZealZag Team
Third Rest Day: Vingegaard Commands the Giro with One Final Week to Win It
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Third Rest Day: Vingegaard Commands the Giro with One Final Week to Win It

Jonas Vingegaard heads into the Giro d'Italia's third rest day in the maglia rosa, 2:26 ahead of Afonso Eulálio, after a solo summit win at Pila on Stage 14 flipped the race. One final week — Switzerland tomorrow, then the Dolomites — separates him from a Grand Tour title.

By ZealZag Team
Shipwreck Bay and the Far North: The Northland Surf Extension After Raglan
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Shipwreck Bay and the Far North: The Northland Surf Extension After Raglan

Four and a half hours north of Raglan, Shipwreck Bay at Ahipara wraps southwest groundswells into a left-hand point that delivers three-minute rides when it fires. The practical guide to extending your WSL trip into New Zealand's Far North.

By ZealZag Team