Week of October 23, 2026

Evening, Muckers! The clocks go back this weekend, which means darker evenings, wetter roads and a turbo that’s about to become your best friend. But this week gave us something to dream about on those long indoor sessions: the 2027 Tour de France is coming right through the north of England. On top of that, Garmin has given its bike computers a voice, Cannondale is moving house, an Olympic mountain bike champion is switching teams, Great Britain finished top of the track world, and our October Championship came to a close in style.

Here’s your weekly roundup.

1. Tour de France 2027: Edinburgh, the Trough of Bowland and a Brutal Day in Wales

On Thursday, Christian Prudhomme unveiled the 2027 route in Paris, and for British fans it’s a cracker. The 114th Tour starts at the foot of Edinburgh Castle on 2 July, the furthest north the race has ever started, and finishes in Paris on 25 July after 3,479km and around 53,450m of climbing.

Stage 1 runs from Edinburgh to Carlisle (185km) and should give the sprinters a shot at the first yellow jersey. Stage 2 is the one we’ve circled: 223km from Keswick to Liverpool, over Lancashire’s Trough of Bowland and finishing on the Liverpool waterfront. Then stage 3 runs 223km from Welshpool to Cardiff, Geraint Thomas’s hometown, with eight climbs on the way, and it could be one of the hardest days of the whole race.

Back in France there are two individual time trials, Blois to Chambord (38km) and Toulouse (33km), adding up to 71km against the clock, the most since 2012. Add summit finishes on the Grand Colombier and the Col du Portet, a stage to Laruns with 4,300m of climbing, and another trip up Montmartre on the final day, and it looks like a Tour that rewards all-rounders. If you live anywhere near the M6, start planning your roadside spot now. Grand Départ GB’s Paul Bush wants to “turn the UK yellow” for two weeks, and we’re happy to help with that.

Sources: Tour de France – The wonder road | Tour de France – Official 2027 route | The Guardian – 2027 routes revealed

2. Tour de France Femmes 2027: Leeds to Manchester, Snake Pass and a Volcano Finish

The women’s race gets a British start too, and it’s a tough one. The Tour de France Femmes starts in Leeds on 30 July, with stage 1 heading across the Pennines to a likely sprint finish on Manchester’s Deansgate. The next day, Manchester to Sheffield, goes over both Winnats Pass and Snake Pass with almost 3,000m of climbing. Race director Marion Rousse called it the cornerstone of “the hardest opening in the history of the women’s race”. Anyone who has ground up Winnats on a Sunday club run knows exactly what she means.

Then comes an 18km team time trial through central London, from Westminster to The Mall via Tower Bridge, St Paul’s and Trafalgar Square. After that the race crosses to France and finishes nine days later on top of the Puy de Dôme after a stage with almost 4,000m of climbing. The UK government has put £65m towards the six British stages, and having the Femmes start just down the road from us is brilliant news for women’s cycling.

Sources: The Guardian – British stages, time trials and a volcano | The Local – Maps of the 2027 routes

3. Gear Corner: “OK Garmin” and the Bike Computer That Talks Back

Garmin launched three new head units on Tuesday with no warning. The headline is the new flagship Edge 1060, which has a built-in microphone and speaker. Say “Okay, Garmin” and you can ask for your heart rate, report a pothole, or ask it to “route me to the closest coffee shop”. It can also send and play voice messages through the Garmin Messenger app, and the speaker works as a digital bell. It adds new routing tools such as road closure alerts and “free flow routing” to avoid stops, and claims 20 hours of battery in demanding use or up to 60 hours in saver mode.

It isn’t cheap at $799.99 / £699.99, which Cyclingnews says makes it the most expensive bike computer on the market. If you mainly use your computer for navigation, the new Edge Explore 3 ($399.99) and Explore 3 Plus ($499.99, with the microphone and speaker) are cheaper options. Garmin also launched a new Tacx Nēra smart trainer alongside them. We just hope “find me a café” doesn’t get confused with “add another interval”.

Sources: Garmin – Edge 1060 announcement | Garmin – Edge Explore 3 | Cyclingnews – ‘OK Garmin’

4. Cannondale Leaves Its Connecticut Home After 55 Years

Last week we were admiring Cannondale’s new aluminium Topstone. This week came sadder news: the brand is closing its headquarters in Wilton, Connecticut, where it was founded in 1971 and named after the local Cannondale train station. Parent company Pon is moving Cannondale’s global headquarters to Woudenberg in the Netherlands, while R&D stays in Freiburg, Germany, and North American operations join sister brands Santa Cruz and Cervélo on the West Coast.

A notice filed with Connecticut’s Department of Labor lists 143 affected positions, with the first job losses on 21 December 2026 and more in phases until the end of 2027. It follows the earlier news that Cannondale’s Dutch factory will close and that its Cannondale Factory Racing mountain bike team will end this year. Cannondale says its bikes and brand identity carry on, but it’s a hard time for the people affected, and our thoughts are with them.

Sources: Cyclingnews – Cannondale’s HQ to close | Bicycle Retailer – Cannondale closing Connecticut offices | Wilton Patch – 143 positions affected

5. MTB Star Jolanda Neff Signs for Fenix-Premier Tech

The end of Cannondale Factory Racing had a knock-on effect this week. Jolanda Neff, the Tokyo Olympic cross-country champion and 2017 world champion, has signed a two-year deal with Fenix-Premier Tech from 2027. The team races mountain bike, cyclocross and Women’s WorldTour road, so she gets to do a bit of everything. “I will pour my heart and soul into becoming a better rider in every aspect, as well as sharing all my experience with other riders,” she said. Her road schedule hasn’t been announced yet, but a proven off-road racer giving the road a proper go is always worth watching.

Sources: Fenix-Premier Tech – Jolanda Neff joins in 2027 | Cyclingnews – Neff’s surprise move

6. Track Worlds Wrap: Great Britain Finish Top of the World

Last week we left GB collecting medals in Shanghai, and they kept it up to the end. Great Britain topped the medal table with six golds, three silvers and three bronzes, ahead of the Netherlands. Highlights included Anna Morris winning the omnium and then the Madison with Erin Bootham, Millie Couzens beating Josie Knight in an all-British individual pursuit final, and Lara Gillespie winning the points race on the last day. In the men’s Madison, Denmark’s Lasse Norman Leth and Carl-Frederik Bévort won clearly, and Harrie Lavreysen took the sprint again. A great week for British track cycling, and good news for the build-up to LA 2028.

Sources: CyclingFlash – Track Worlds 2026 results and medal table | BBC Sport – World Track Championships results

7. The Final Word on 2026: Pogačar and Vollering Top the Rankings

The 2026 UCI rankings are final, and there were no surprises at the top. Tadej Pogačar is men’s world number one for the sixth year in a row, with 9,331.75 points to Remco Evenepoel’s 7,191.61, even after a season disrupted by his Vuelta crash. Demi Vollering leads the women’s ranking for the second straight year with 9,330 points, a huge 3,670 more than Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, after a season that included wins at the Giro, the Tour and the Worlds. They’re in a league of their own. For the rest of us, there’s always a Thursday night race to aim for.

Sources: UCI – Men Elite 2026 World Ranking | UCI – Vollering flies all colours | Cyclingnews – Pogačar and Vollering dominant

8. Muckers Corner: October Championship Race 4 Done in Montreal

Our October Championship finished on Thursday on Rouvy’s Montreal Worlds Time Trial course, 17.4 miles past the St Lawrence and around the Formula 1 circuit. A massive 140 riders made the final results, and it was close at the front: BareRemi won in 34:38.8, just 0.6 seconds ahead of ErlendSundstrom, with danrocky only another 1.4 seconds back in third. Thank you to everyone who turned up and pushed hard, and to everyone who sent in their heart rate data. Full results are in the Race 4 post.

Coming Up

ROUVY FEST ends this Sunday, 25 October, so there’s one last weekend of group rides and challenges if you haven’t joined in yet. Off-road, the second Gravel Burn starts in South Africa on 25 October, a seven-day stage race that adds a teams classification for the first time at a gravel stage race. And don’t forget the clocks go back on Sunday morning: that’s an extra hour in bed, or an extra hour on the bike. Your choice.

Whether you’re planning a day out on the Trough of Bowland next July or just spinning your legs with a cracking bunch of people, everyone is welcome to grab a wheel and muck in. Until next week, keep the rubber side down and the pedals turning!

Sources: ROUVY – ROUVY FEST 2026 | Cyclingnews – Gravel Burn adds a teams classification