Week of October 30, 2026

Evening, Muckers! The clocks have gone back, the lights are on by teatime and the turbo is officially back in the living room. But it’s been a cracking week of news to keep you pedalling: the Giro is bringing back its scariest climbs, a 16-year-old was faster than everyone up a British hill, gravel racing kicked off on three continents, a virtual racing star turned pro, and the mountain bikers got their 2027 dates. Oh, and Ineos now have AI that tests helmets for them, which is very much our kind of story.

Here’s your weekly roundup.

1. Giro 2027: The Mortirolo (Twice), the Gavia and the Zoncolan Are Back

After a 2026 Giro that left out most of the famous Alpine and Dolomite climbs, next year’s race looks like a proper old-school brute. The full route isn’t revealed until 3 November in Rome, but Italian papers Tuttosport and Tuttobiciweb have already leaked most of it. The race is expected to start in Trieste on Saturday 8 May, the first Italian Grande Partenza since 2024, with a sprint stage and the first maglia rosa up for grabs.

The headline day is stage 16, from Sondrio to Aprica: the Mortirolo, then the Passo Gavia (2,618m, the Cima Coppi, if the May snow allows it), then the Mortirolo again from the steeper Mazzo side, and finally the climb to Aprica. That’s close to 6,000m of climbing in one day. Then the race heads to Madonna di Campiglio, through the Dolomites and briefly into Austria, before a final mountain showdown on the Monte Zoncolan on stage 20. There’s also likely to be an uphill time trial, possibly on Gran Sasso, plus a TT at the Monza motor racing circuit.

Last week we were all looking at maps of the Trough of Bowland. This week we’re looking at Mortirolo gradients and feeling a bit sick. If you want to test your legs on these climbs before the pros do, there are plenty of legendary Italian ascents to ride on ROUVY this winter.

Source: Cyclingnews – 2027 Giro d’Italia set for classic format with mythical climbs

2. British Hill Climb Champs: A 16-Year-Old Beats the Lot

The British Hill Climb Championships are the most British thing in cycling: one climb, one go, everyone in pain, cowbells and cake. This year’s race was on a 6.6km climb in Somerset, and the fastest rider of the day was 16-year-old Ezra Bateman, a junior with Decathlon CMA CGM’s U19 team. He stopped the clock at 14:31.9, just 0.2 seconds faster than elite champion Ed Laverack (14:32.1), and also beat specialist Andrew Feather. Fellow junior Oliver Swinburn set the fourth-best time of the day.

Bateman doesn’t get the elite jersey, because RTTC rules say you can only win the title in the category you entered, and to be fair the juniors raced in the dry while Laverack and Feather got the rain. Bateman was very sporting about it: “Even if I set the fastest time, the two categories are different.” Fair play to him. We’re more impressed by the attitude than the watts, and the watts are very impressive.

Source: Cyclingnews – 16-year-old goes fastest at British Hill Climb Championships

3. Gravel Goes Global: Mud in Australia, Dust in Portugal and a Comeback in South Africa

The road season might be done, but gravel never stops. Qualifying for the 2027 UCI Gravel World Championships (Châtel, France, 26–27 August) is already under way, and last Sunday there were races on two continents.

At a wet and muddy Gravelista in Victoria, Australia, which was cut from 135km to 97km because of the weather, 19-year-old Ruby Taylor won the elite women’s race by almost nine minutes. In the men’s race, Great Britain’s Harry Leask, an Olympic silver medallist in rowing who then pedalled as a “cyclor” in the America’s Cup, went solo in the last few kilometres to win. From rowing boats to gravel bikes, and still winning. Brilliant.

On the same day in Portugal, Rosa Klöser (Canyon-SRAM-MAAP), silver medallist at this month’s Gravel Worlds, defended her Alentejo Gravel title with an 11-minute solo win, while home rider Filipe Francisco won a three-man sprint in the men’s race. And at the seven-day, 750km Nedbank Gravel Burn in South Africa, former Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson had a battery problem on her rear mech on stage 4, said “I can still win this day”, chased back on and won the sprint. Nele Laing and Matthew Beers led the overall standings going into the final three days. That’s the Muckers spirit: things go wrong, you sort it out and you keep going.

Sources: Cyclingnews – Gravelista | Cyclingnews – Alentejo Gravel | Cyclingnews – Gravel Burn stage 4

4. From the Living Room to the Pro Peloton: Gabriela Guerra Signs for Cofidis

This is the one for everyone who has ever emptied their legs in an indoor race and wondered, “What if?” Brazilian rider Gabriela Guerra, who won silver at the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships in 2024 and 2025, has signed a two-year deal with French team Cofidis. She’s 32, she used to be a skateboarder with a YouTube following, and she found indoor racing while spending a winter in Germany.

She only started road racing in September with the German Wheel Divas team, and she won two races straight away, including a 43km solo win at the Mirabelle Classic in France. “I want to find out whether I can transfer my strengths from e-cycling to the road,” she said. Indoor racing is now a real way into the pro peloton. So the next time someone at the café says indoor racing “isn’t real cycling”, you know what to tell them.

Sources: Team Cofidis – Gabriela Guerra is joining Cofidis | Cycling Project – Cofidis sign Guerra through 2028

5. MTB: 2027 World Cup Calendar Revealed, and BMC Closes Its XC Team

The UCI and Skydance have revealed the 2027 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series: 10 race weekends in eight countries, with eight rounds each for cross-country and downhill. XC starts at Nové Město na Moravě (21–23 May) and DH starts a week later at Loudenvielle-Peyragudes. Les Gets (18–20 June) gives everyone a preview of the 2027 World Championships venue, Val di Sole is back, and the season finishes at Soldier Hollow in Utah for XC and Whistler for DH (2–3 October). Enduro has gone from the World Cup calendar, so it’s XC and downhill only.

Less happy news: BMC is closing its BMC Factory Racing XC World Cup team, home to Loana Lecomte and Jordan Sarrou. It’s the third XC World Cup team to close this year, after Cannondale and Lapierre. BMC says it will put money into women’s road racing, off-road athletes and gravel instead. So more money for gravel, less for XC. That’s a trend worth watching.

Sources: UCI – 2027 Mountain Bike World Series calendar | Pinkbike – 2027 World Cup calendar | Pinkbike – BMC closes its XC World Cup team

6. Tech Corner: Netcompany Ineos Go Wind Tunnel Testing With AI

Wind tunnels are expensive, so Netcompany Ineos are going digital. From 2027 the British team will work with AiRO, an aero app that launched a new AI-based simulation tool called Vayu this week. Founder Ingmar Jungnickel, who has worked with the German Olympic team and Specialized, says the app will be able to test more than 20 helmets on a rider in dozens of head positions, which is like doing over 400 wind tunnel runs with one click. It can also rank more than 100 small position changes (arms, head, shoulder shrug and more) by how much time they save.

The clever part is that it can test the whole squad, not just the stars, and it’s sold as a consumer app through bike fitters. So the same tech the pros use could reach your local bike fitter soon. That doesn’t help when you’re stuck behind a tractor on the A6, but we’ll take any free watts going.

Source: Cyclingnews – Netcompany Ineos to use AI-based aero testing app from 2027

Coming Up

The cyclo-cross season gets going this weekend with the Koppenbergcross in Belgium on Sunday 1 November, where Thibau Nys starts his ‘cross campaign. Then on Tuesday 3 November the 2027 Giro d’Italia route is officially revealed in Rome, so we’ll find out if the Mortirolo really is in there twice. Back home, our Tuesday Muckers races carry on whatever the weather, so come and have a go.

Whether you’re a 16-year-old hill climb rocket, a muddy gravel adventurer or someone whose main goal this winter is just getting out the door, everyone is welcome to grab a wheel and muck in. Until next week, keep the rubber side down and the pedals turning!

Source: Cyclingnews – Thibau Nys to start his cyclo-cross season at the Koppenbergcross

Ride with us on ROUVY: the Muckers ride and race on ROUVY every week, all winter long, so when it’s grim outside the racing carries on inside. Join the Muckers Worldwide club on ROUVY and grab a wheel.

Join the Muckers newsletter for the weekly roundup, race nights and the next Big Idea, straight to your inbox.

☕ Enjoyed this? Buy the Muckers a coffee