This cycling news roundup asks cycling’s current existential question: Are races like Sunday’s Tour of Flanders — won (again) seemingly easily even worth watching? And then it turns to other racing this week — including the women’s RVV version, plus a whole host of races, racers, and racing stories. And to think: we haven’t even reached Paris-Roubaix yet!
TOP STORY
- Reader Poll: Was Flanders a Classic Classic?
RACE NEWS
- Vollering Adds Flanders to her Palmarès — Emphatically
- Ion Izagirre Claims Victory at the 2026 Gran Premio Miguel Indurain
- Tibor Del Grosso After NXT Classic victory: “This really means a lot”
- Tro Bro Leon 2026: A Fresh Course and Star-Studded Start List
TEAM, RIDER AND PRO CYCLING NEWS
- Vos Mourns the Death of her Father, Misses Flanders
- Kristen Faulkner Returns to Racing
- Vos Eyes the One Trophy That’s Eluded Her
- The Cycling School Shaping Spain’s Women’s Peloton
- Riding for Change: GB Cyclists Launch Groundbreaking Social Impact Program
VIDEO
- Tour of Flanders Preview with Chris Horner
Reader Poll: Was Flanders a Classic Classic?
Here at PEZ, we’ve been debating: How good a race was Sunday’s Tour of Flanders? Was it a classic Classic?
Tadej Pogačar thought so, stating, “It was really a crazy race today. It was super hard and then a bit of a waiting game… That was pure madness!”
And then we remembered: This isn’t about us! And it’s not even about Tadej Pogačar. It’s about you — our readers. So we’re hoping you can tell us — via our latest reader poll.
Please consider the question, check your box — and elaborate by emailing me at mike@pezcyclingnews.com. We don’t only want to know what you think — we want to know why you think it!
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
RACE NEWS
Vollering Adds Flanders to her Palmarès — Emphatically
Well, well, well. Turns out all those near-misses and podium consolation prizes were just Demi Vollering’s way of lulling everyone into a false sense of security. Sunday, on the cobbles and bergs of Belgian cycling’s holiest ground, she decided enough was enough — and proceeded to go full Pogi and decimate her competition by riding away early on the cobbled steeps.
Wearing her European champion’s jersey like a cape, the FDJ-United Suez rider blew the doors off Tour de France Femmes winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Puck Pieterse, and the great Lotte Kopecky herself — riding them all off her wheel with the casual brutality of someone who’d simply had enough of finishing second.
The decisive moment came on — wait fot it… — the Oude Kwaremont. Vollering had dreamt of it the night before, knew it was the longest effort, knew that everybody else would be deep in the pain cave by then — and she just pushed, never once looking behind, until she turned off the cobbles and realized she was gloriously, magnificently alone.
Ferrand-Prévot and Pieterse gamely joined forces in the chase, but they simply didn’t have the same oomph. Spoiler: nobody did.
Vollering even had time and energy to smile.
She crossed the line 42 seconds clear in Oudenaarde, claiming her first Flanders victory and her third Monument overall. Kopecky — three-time winner and reigning champion — could only watch and, to her enormous credit, acknowledge that the strongest woman won.
Vollering is off to an extremely strong start this season. We’re already looking forward to seeing whether she can sustain it — all the way to the Tour.
Top Ten at the 23rd Ronde van Vlaanderen Women, courtesy of Pro Cycling Stats
Ion Izagirre Claims Victory at the 2026 Gran Premio Miguel Indurain
The 2026 Gran Premio Miguel Indurain was won by Ion Izagirre, ahead of Quinn Simmons and Alex Baudin.
The Spanish one-day race serves as a key preparation event ahead of the Ardennes Classics, featuring a rolling parcours around Estella that favours punchy climbers. The 2026 edition followed a demanding 203.9 km route around Estella-Lizarra, featuring over 3,400 metres of elevation gain.
An early breakaway was formed by Carlos García Pierna, Sinuhé Fernández, Unai Aznar, Louis Ferreira and Rafael Durães. Dangerous attacks began as soon as riders entered the final 50 kilometres, with Antonio Tiberi and Julien Bernard managing to ride away — though they were caught before the finish.
With 24 kilometres to go, 11 riders were at the front. On the first of the final three consecutive climbs, Ion Izagirre launched a powerful attack that only U.S. national champ Quinn Simmons could follow — until he couldn’t. The final ramp was 500 meter long at 10%, where Izagirre led from the very base, pacing his way to the summit with superior climbing ability to dispatch his companions.
Mustache alert! American Simmons came closest to holding Izagirre’s wheel.
The victory marked Cofidis’ fourth win of the season, with Izagirre — a Basque rider competing near his home region — delivering a performance that recalled his finest days in the sport.
Top Ten at the 35th GP Miguel Indurain — courtesy of ProCyclingStats.
Tibor Del Grosso After NXT Classic victory: “This really means a lot”
Tibor Del Grosso added another chapter to his growing palmares on Saturday, claiming victory at the NXT Classic in fine fashion. For the 22-year-old Alpecin-Premier Tech rider, it was his second professional win — and one he had set his sights on from the very start of the season.
“This really means a lot,” Del Grosso told WielerFlits after the race. “I hoped to win in the first block of this season, and I’m happy I can tick that off now.”
A breakaway that surprised even its instigators
The decisive move came 27 kilometers from the finish, when Del Grosso and Mauro Schmid rode clear of the field — a split that even Del Grosso himself hadn’t anticipated.
“It did surprise me, where the two of us managed to ride away,” he admitted. “It must have been a brutal race if everyone was already at their limit at that point. I think Mauro was surprised by it too.”
From there, the two worked together to the line, though the final kilometers were anything but comfortable. “The finale was very tough — we had a headwind for most of it. At the Moerslag, I was genuinely at my limit, and in the sprint there wasn’t much left in the final 100 meters. But apparently I pushed hard enough.”
Schmid’s presence adds prestige to the win
Del Grosso had deliberately targeted a series of smaller races at the start of his program, hoping to get a result before the bigger spring classics arrived. Saturday’s win delivered exactly that — and the identity of his companion in the finale made it all the more meaningful.
“Mauro is a world-class rider in races like this, which makes it more prestigious,” Del Grosso said. “At the Amstel, he competes at the very front with the best riders in the world.”
Eyes turn to the Amstel block
Attention now shifts to a demanding stretch of racing: the Tour of Limburg, the Brabantse Pijl, and ultimately the Amstel Gold Race. Asked what he might realistically expect from those events, Del Grosso was measured in his assessment.
“I have to say that today was already very tough, so those races will be even more demanding. With all the really good climbers in the field, it will be a different story entirely.”
Top Ten at the 51st NXT Classic, courtesy of Pro Cycling Stats
Tro Bro Leon 2026: A Fresh Course and Star-Studded Start List
The Tro Bro Leon returns on May 10 with a brand-new route, staying true to a 42-year tradition: founder Jean-Paul Mellouët has never designed the same course twice. The 2026 edition’s 202.1-kilometer route features 29 ribinou — the rugged dirt-and-stone tracks synonymous with the race — totaling 34 kilometers. Two sections are new this year, including the 1,600-meter Messoudal’ch in Porspoder and a full run of the uphill Le Cosquer ribin in Saint-Pabu.
Riders will cross the finish line in Lannilis twice before the final loop, facing punishing back-to-back ribinou including the four-star Kerdraon, where attacks are expected. The iconic Keradraon section, passing through Château de Kerouartz, could once again prove decisive.
Defending champion Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ United) seeks to become the first back-to-back winner since 2004. He’ll face stiff competition from 2022 winner Hugo Hofstetter, podium finishers Clément Venturini and Pierre Gautherat, and Benoît Cosnefroy. Gravel world champion Florian Vermeersch, who has had a very impressive start to his 2026 season, adds further star power to a race that continues to honor Brittany’s unique cycling heritage.
TEAM AND RIDER NEWS
Vos Mourns the Death of her Father, Misses Flanders
Sad news for Marianne Vos and her family: her father, Henk Vos, passed away last week. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider thus did not start the Tour of Flanders, instead spending the weekend to be with her family.
Vos’s father had been ill for quite some time. Last year, the Dutch rider already decided not to travel to the World Championships in Rwanda to support her sick father. This winter, Vos decided to skip the cyclo-cross season to spend more time with her family.
This spring, Vos did start her season again in the Strade Bianche and Trofeo Alfredo Binda, but after her father’s health deteriorated again, she decided to skip Milan-San Remo, In Flanders Fields, and Dwars door Vlaanderen.
“We wish Marianne and her family much strength and support during this difficult period,” Visma | Lease a Bike wrote in an expression of condolence.
Thanks to Wielerflits for this content.
Kristen Faulkner Returns to Racing
EF Pro Cycling Recently released an interview with Olympic Gold Medalist Kristen Faulkner, who will soon return to racing after recovering from a shoulder injury suffered during last year’s Tour de France. Here are excerpts from that interview:
With such a long offseason [spent recovering], how did you spend it?
I spent my offseason in California. I did two coast rides down California: from San Francisco to Santa Barbara and from San Francisco to LA. Those were amazing, so much fun. I went with a group of friends. Some days we rode for over eight hours, and that was really, really fun.
I spent a lot of time in San Francisco. There’s also a technology boom happening in San Francisco, and I love being at the intersection of that with everything that’s going on.
I fell in love with old hobbies again. I studied computer science so I started building apps with AI on my computer. It was so nice to get back into old hobbies that had fallen by the wayside since I started professionally cycling.
You mentioned that the Olympics had been a big goal. What are your goals now?
I would like to win a stage at the Tour de France. My goal over the next two years is to wear the yellow jersey at some point, to win a Tour stage, I’d like to win some more time trials, and I’d like to get on the podium at Worlds in the time trial.
You’re about to start your European racing season with the Tour of Flanders. Was this always the plan?
With my shoulder surgery, the team didn’t know how my shoulder would feel. It can be a long recovery so the team didn’t initially put me in any cobbled classics and the plan was for me to come to Europe and start with the Ardennes. I could tell my fitness was really good from my training and my performance at the Pan-Ams. I told our DS Carmen I was coming back to Europe and she said, “If your fitness is good, why don’t we use it? Do you want to come to Flanders?” My first thought was, “Wow, that’s a fast turnaround!” but I think it will be good to get back into road racing before the Ardennes and just get to spend time with the team.
What other upcoming races are on your calendar?
I’m doing the Ardennes. I’ve done those races almost every year. I really enjoy them. They’re really punchy. It’s a similar group of riders to the grand tours and I’m planning to do all three grand tours this summer so this spring is a good chance to ride with my teammates and get used to them and practice communicating.
What are you most looking forward to about racing this season?
I’ve really missed my teammates. I’ve missed racing but even more than that, I really miss my teammates. They’re some of my best friends. I’m really excited to get back and be with my teammates again.
Vos Eyes the One Trophy That’s Eluded Her
Marianne Vos has won almost everything cycling has to offer — Olympic gold, multiple world titles across road, track, and cyclo-cross, and countless classics. But one trophy remains missing from her cabinet: the cobblestone from Paris-Roubaix.
The Dutch legend has been a fixture at the front of Paris-Roubaix Femmes since its inaugural edition in 2021, when she finished second to a brilliant solo ride by Lizzie Deignan. Her best chance at victory arguably came in 2024, when she was edged into fourth place in a velodrome sprint won by Lotte Kopecky.
Last year, Vos helped teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to victory, controlling the chase group while her colleague rode clear — a role she embraced wholeheartedly, even as her own dream remained unfulfilled.
Now, with the 2026 edition approaching on April 12, Vos is firmly focused on her own result. “Winning such a major race would mean a lot to me,” she said. “I want to win the biggest ones — that’s what we are aiming for.”
She already has a small cobblestone memento for her 2021 runner-up finish. But as she puts it: “The big one is something else.”
Thanks to the organizers of Paris-Roubaix — now known as Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de France — for another bit of historical perspective. Note that this message was released prior to the death of Vos’ father; we at Pez hope that Vos will be able to return to Paris-Roubaix.
The Cycling School Shaping Spain’s Women’s Peloton
Nestled in Viella, a small village in Asturias, the Escuela de Ciclismo Viella has quietly shaped women’s cycling in Spain for 25 years. Founded by Paco Fuentes and Carlos ‘Cali’ González, the school began as a simple after-school activity and has since grown to 55 riders.
Among its most notable alumni are professional rider Alicia González and six-time national cyclo-cross champion Lucía González — ‘Cali’s own daughters. The school also produced Laura Álvarez, now a women’s cycling commentator for Eurosport, and Isabel Martín, who covers the sport for Teledeporte and serves as Spain’s delegate for the CPA.
Beyond racing results, ‘Cali’ always prioritized education, encouraging riders to pursue university degrees. Many alumni became physios, nutritionists, and biotechnologists. The school also created accessible role models, with the González sisters training alongside younger riders on weekends.
“Without the Viella team, my life wouldn’t have been the same,” says Álvarez. “It’s the seed from which I grew, both as a person and as a professional.”
That seed will be on full display when La Vuelta Femenina 26 by Carrefour.es concludes in Asturias, finishing atop the iconic L’Angliru.
The first cohort:
- Lyall Craig – young men’s mental health
- Ross Cullen – men’s mental health
- Jenny Holl – women and girls in cycling in Scotland
- Bethany-Ann Jackson – girls into competitive sport
- Lizzi Jordan – tandem accessibility
- Jos Marnham – men’s mental health
- Matthew Robertson – epilepsy awareness
- Katie Toft – neurodivergent support
This week’s Video was recorded in 2024, but most of what Chris Horner and Pez talk about is a timeless reminder of what makes the Tour of Flanders so great – check it out:
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The post EUROTRASH: Readers — Rate Flanders ’26! appeared first on PezCycling News.
