McEwen on Tour de France cobbles: "It's going to split and some riders are going to lose time"
Cycling
The roads of northern France can be crucial for the Tour de France of many, a day that promises a lot of drama and thrilling racing. There will be many sub-plots in which to focus, however the most important one is sure to be the fight for the general classification as many seek to prevent loosing the race.
“The Roubaix stage, as we'll call it, is going to be pivotal to so many riders with GC hopes. And we see it every time that the race has gone to the cobbles it's counted a number of guys out of contention. For GC, they're losing two, three, five, seven minutes in one day, through crashes, punctures. Just being behind a split and never getting back," McEwen said in Eurosport.
The fifth day of racing at the Tour de France will see the peloton cover 157 kilometers, with almost 20 of them being on cobbled sectors. It will be a nervous stage above all, where gaps can be made specially out of crashes and mechanicals. Of course, it also allows some GC riders to take advantage of their prowess, whilst the stage win and yellow jersey will simultaneously be up for grabs.
McEwen, who has been commenting the Tour so far, has added: “It creates so much tension and nervousness in the bunch. I think it's obvious it's going to split and some riders are going to lose time. Again, I hope people's races aren't decided by crashes. Obviously it's going to be dangerous. And it will end some people's hopes.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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