Welcome back to another edition of Pro Log. Here’s a rundown of the latest results before we get started:
UCI World Championships, Men’s Elite Individual Time-Trial, Sun 20th September: 1st Remco Evenepoel, Belgium, 44min 53sec; 2nd Filippo Ganna, Italy, +57sec; 3rd Paul Seixas, France, +1min 13sec.
UCI World Championships, Women’s Elite Individual Time-Trial, Sun 20th September: 1st Marlen Reusser, Switzerland, 50min 24sec; 2nd Zoe Bäckstedt, Great Britain, +40sec; 3rd Franziska Koch, Germany, +45sec.
Tour de Luxembourg, Overall, Sun 20th September: 1st Davide Piganzoli, Visma-Lease a Bike, 16h 22min 17sec; 2nd Mattéo Vercher, Team TotalEnergies, +52sec; 3rd Thomas Gachignard, Team TotalEnergies, +54sec.
Tour de Luxembourg, Stage 5, Sun 20th September: 1st Mathieu van der Poel, Alpecin-Premier Tech, 4h 10min 58sec; 2nd Mikkel Honoré, EF Education-EasyPost, +1min 04sec; 3rd Pepijn Reinderink, Soudal Quick-Step, +1min 09sec.
Marlen Reusser retains rainbows
Dario Belingheri/Getty Images
The World Championships have begun in Montréal, Canada, and the women’s elite time-trial kicked off proceedings over the 39.2km course. All eyes were on Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser to see if she could defend her title, but she was facing a tough challenge from 21-year-old Zoe Bäckstedt, who chose to step up to the elite level instead of defending her U23 crown.
With Reusser the last off the start line, Bäckstedt set the benchmark for her to follow with a fierce pace and it was tight at the first time check. The Brit slowed slightly in the final third, however, while Reusser got stronger and stronger, ultimately finishing 40 seconds ahead of Bäckstedt to win her second rainbow jersey. Germany’s Franzi Koch finished a further five seconds behind Bäckstedt to complete the podium.
Remco Evenepoel makes it four in a row
Yuan Tian/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Back-to-back-to-back-to-back. Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel is practically unbeatable against the clock. The 26-year-old utterly blitzed the field to finish 57 seconds ahead of Hour record holder Filippo Ganna to win his fourth consecutive time-trial title.
Evenepoel might be starting to get nervous about future contests, though, with 19-year-old Frenchman Paul Seixas just 1min 13sec behind in third place on a flat course.
Sweden’s first year pro Jakob Söderqvist was looking incredibly strong on debut and set for a podium spot, setting the fastest time at the first two intermediate checkpoints before the Evenepoel rolled through. However the Lidl-Trek rider slid out in the final few kilometres, taking him down to fifth at the finish just behind the United States’ Brandon McNulty.
Mathieu van der Poel’s record-breaking breakaway in Luxembourg
Luc Claessen/Getty Images
Mathieu van der Poel pulled off the longest successful solo attack this century to win the final stage of the Tour de Luxembourg. The flying Dutchman, who had also won the opening stage of the race, took off just after the flag drop and rode on alone for a whopping 174km in a statement win before the World Championships road race this weekend.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Davide Piganzoli won the five-stage race overall, beating Team TotalEnergies duo Mattéo Vercher and Thomas Gachignard by almost a minute thanks to his time-trial stage win.
Finlay Tarling Talent Development Scholarship launched
NSN Cycling
NSN Cycling has launched the annual ‘Finlay Tarling Talent Development Scholarship’, which the team says will aid the identification and development of young Welsh talent. It is open to Welsh cyclists between the ages of 15 and 20, with one recipient chosen per year for the next five years at least.
The recipient will learn and train alongside riders and staff from NSN’s development squad, boosting their talents through equipment, coaching and attending the their training camps.
Tarling, who raced for the NSN Development Team, died during Stage 8 of the Volta a Portugal in August when a van entered the course and collided with the 19-year-old.
,Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matthew Brennan has been vocal this week after Tarling’s funeral, saying, ‘It’s unbelievable, because you’ve lost a friend and when nothing changes it is really shocking. I think these big organisations and the UCI should have a look at what they need to do to increase the safety.
‘In my personal opinion, there should be an independent organisation that holds the organisations, the UCI and everything accountable to some very strict rules that makes sure the safety of the riders is held as a priority.’
UCI bans Ladislav Demko for ten years
Ladislav Demko, former head of performance at Hess Cycling, has been banned for ten years after breaching the UCI’s Code of Ethics. Specifically, Articles 5 (General principles) and 6.4 (Protection of physical and mental integrity), read together with Article 2.1 (Psychological abuse) of Appendix 1.
Hess Cycling was a British UCI Continental team at the time of folding in 2025, and several complainst surrounding Demko had been submitted to the Ethics Commission – some via the reporting platform UCI SpeakUp – on professional misconduct, and one rider with whom he had a relationship with cited allegations of harassment and psychological abuse.
The UCI’s statement reads: ‘Based on the elements brought to its attention, the Commission concluded that Mr Demko’s conduct towards the riders and staff of the team – in particular the habitual use of aggressive and disrespectful language in the working environment, the unsafe and intimidating driving of team vehicles, and demeaning remarks concerning the physical appearance of staff and riders – had fallen short of the standards of integrity, care and diligence required of persons bound by the UCI Code of Ethics, and had involved an abuse of the position he held within the team.
‘The Commission further concluded that Mr Demko’s conduct towards the athlete he coached had involved acts of isolation – including requests to sever contact with persons she trusted, the dictation of the content of her messages to them, and a threatening message addressed to her psychologist –, humiliation by way of public denigration on social media, intimidation – including threats to disclose personal information and a threat directed against a person she trusted –, and infantilisation. These acts, which persisted after the end of their relationship, had the effect of diminishing her sense of identity, dignity and self-worth.’
In other UCI-related news, the Swiss Federal Tribunal dismissed Miguel Ángel López’s appeal over the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to uphold the ruling of the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal, which found the Colombian guilty of using and possessing a prohibited substance ‘concomitantly with the 2022 Giro d’Italia’.