What to expect of January on CyclingUpToDate - Road season start; Vingegaard's Grand Tour choices; More van der Poel vs Van Aert...
Cycling
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.
Remco Evenepoel's health
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.
Training Camps / Calendar decisions
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.
Cyclocross
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.
Start of the road season
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.
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- The only safety measure that is realistic in this situation is for the rider to realise the danger this represents and stop immediately (and be allowed to change equipment/bike), unlikely to happen though knowing the mental state riders are in during races. A simple flat tire (more front than back) can lead to death and they still haven’t found reliable solutions to that.Mistermaumau05-01-2025
- I’m always amazed at how much people pay attention to such stuff cycling. Unless I’m alone and someone else is too, I pass, say hi and move on. On the rare occasions I get passed, if I’m in shape I’ll try to join or hang but I’ll not try to identify anyone (in any case, far too many amateurs dress in pro outfits). Similarly, when riding in groups, everyone seems to scouring and analysing other people’s equipment and set-ups (i.e. not really paying attention to the group, riding or the road) no wonder so many silly accidents happen. This also seems to be used as a rare excuse for breaking the ice whereas mentioning other more noticeable things like physionomic details a person probably isn’t aware of because they can’t see themselves riding (swinging hips, lateral knee jerks, foot turns, skewed shoulders etc.) doesn’t seem to be appreciated. Strange logic, forever fidgeting and paying in order to optimise your equipment for better performance but ignoring the potential you have for doing the same to yourself, often for free.Mistermaumau05-01-2025
- Nothing is obvious in Belgium, had Wout been from the French speaking regions, Mathieu would have been more popular. Philippe Gilbert is just about the only Walloon who managed to win over the Flemish and though he was adamant about representing the whole country you’d often see whole armies of fans brandishing seperatist unofficial Flemish flags at international races, kidnapping his popularity for their cause, NOT paying their respect to his talent. Belgium is a very complicated country even cycling-wise. As far as I know Wallonia has no known xc, not even an indoor cycling track and most would be hard done by to name any other non-Flemish rider. Mathieu is treated as a Belgian in many conditions, and this is further helped by his team being Belgian..Mistermaumau05-01-2025
- If you consider what Geraint achieved from 34 on and that Primoz is in theory at least as good or slightly better I’d not put 1 maybe 2 podiums past him, all he needs for both is just to do his thing and to have a year when luck is a bit in his side, ir at least one or the other rivals suffers some of his GT experiences. Some guys mature like red wines, especially the ones that didn’t overcook their base.Mistermaumau05-01-2025
- Was Artem Shcherbyna on an an electric bike? If not he is no slouch on a bike!roadman5412105-01-2025
- What a dumb comment! Of course Wout would be more popular in Belgium...he's from Belgium ! Sheesh!frieders305-01-2025
- Depends, the guy is known for it, some let him others clearly tell him where to stick it. You didn’t watch it did you? I’m sure in some cases he kind of asks and why should a rider mind someone riding behind during normal rides, it’s kind of the norm in this sport. On the other hand, if you’re busy concentrating on a specific training session, obviously anything is going to distract you and the guy has to respect that. Yes, he’s kind of tacky but no worse than any paparazzi, and he has made this his “profession” it seems. Like you say, no class at all.Mistermaumau04-01-2025
- And haven’t we kind of forgotten, a certain WVA, no-one is analysing what he could add to the sauce.Mistermaumau04-01-2025
- Yes, you have to respect him for a few things and call him out on others. He obviously didn’t see the need to progress over the years from his comment on “normal” men, had he said an old-fashioned 70y old it would have gone down positively.Mistermaumau04-01-2025
- Everyone on Armstrong's team doped. It was a prerequisite for joining and getting the big money.Sweep04-01-2025