What to expect of January on CyclingUpToDate - Road season start; Vingegaard's Grand Tour choices; More van der Poel vs Van Aert...

The 2025 season has officially begun. New jerseys, new sponsor names, riders showing off their new colours... The peloton changes quite a lot and in the space of a few weeks we will have both men's and women's peloton kick off the action in Australia with the national championships and Tour Down Under. But that's only one topic that is to come later this month.

One important topic is that of Remco Evenepoel, who crashed in early December and suffered a fractured ribs, a scapula and a hand besides a bruised lung. Serious injuries for a rider who has unfortunately suffered other falls with similar consequences in the past. We know that Evenepoel will have a medical appointment on the 9th of January where it will be decided whether he can get back on the bike or not to begin his preparation for the 2025 season.

The crash has already virtually confirmed his absence from the Giro d'Italia, something that hadn't been officially decided. He hopes to return to competition at the Brabantse Pijl in April and compete in the Ardennes classics already at a high level, and then have a full preparation for the Tour de France. He will face Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard there, but we still do not know whether the Dane will tackle the Corsa Rosa as well.

That is another one of the big questions that we should have answered this month. After ending his season in August and beginning his training in late October, Vingegaard has begun a long-term preparation to try and take back the Tour title. Over the past few months it has been widely rumoured that the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider could race the Italian Grand Tour for the first time, but this is all but confirmed.

Tadej Pogacar's prowess this year, combining the Giro, a training camp and the Tour de France in one go seemed to have no effect on his fatigue, and it has made it a much more plausible option for other Grand Tour contenders to follow. Visma will have their training camp media day on the 14th January where we should learn about Vingegaard's decision.

Many World Tour and ProTeams have decided to host the media on their second training camps which will now take place in January, where we should learn about the main goals and ambitions of many other riders. Amongst others, we should expect news from Team Picnic PostNL on the 6th January; Tudor Pro Cycling Team on the 7th; Groupama - FDJ on the 8th; Soudal - Quick-Step on the 9th; Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team on the 12th; Intermarché - Wanty on the 17th and Lidl-Trek on the 21st.

Although many eyes are already pointed towards the road and the riders that have been off competition already for a few months, there is still a whole lot of competition remaining in the cyclocross world. This month alone we will still have three consecutive crosses now in Koksijde, Gullegem and Dendermonde this weekend. The following week the national championships and the Cyclocross Otegem, on the 19th of January the Benidorm World Cup, and on the weekend of the 25th and 26th the final World Cup rounds in Maasmechelen and Hoogerheide.

This will be the entire build-up for the World Championships in Lièvin which will take place the week after. Over the next few weeks we will learn about Mathieu van der Poel's health after a crash in Loenhout that left him with an injury on the ribs; if Wout van Aert's form will rise and give way to a real battle with the World Champion; and if other riders such as Thibau Nys, Eli Iserbyt and Michael Vanthourenhout will recover from their recent health struggles to then have the form to battle for the rainbow jersey. In addition, we've got the possibility of having Mathieu van der Poel as the World Cup winner if he continues his winning streak, which could add an extra bit of drama to the final weekend of January.

Yes it's finally here! You do not have to wait long to see the riders back on their road bikes and competing once again. From the 8th to the 12th of January we will have the Australian national championships, crowning the first winners of the 2025 season. Women's cycling fans will be treated with their first top competition at the Women's Tour Down Under from the 17th to 19th whilst men's cycling enthusiasts will see riders such as Geraint Thomas and Jay Vine at the men's Tour Down Under from the 21st to 26th.

However the first races in Europe won't take long either. On the 24th the official European opener takes place in Spain with the Classica Camp de Morvedre. The Gran Premio Castellon, Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana and the start of the Mallorcan classics will be quite the interesting first test for many riders coming out of the off-season. On the 28th January we've also got the start of the AlUla Tour with riders such as Eddie Dunbar, MTB World Champion Alan Hatherly and Isaac Del Toro at the startline, told us directly by the riders themselves.