We’ve reached the home stretch of the off-season. Just a fortnight separates us from the first throws of the WorldTour season, with the Tour Down Under just a few sleeps away. Now that race is finally in our crosshairs, we can start to reach for our crystal ball once again.
No, we’re not going to be forecasting the Tour de France winner (we probably all have the same guess for that one), but we’ll try to pick out some of the big storylines of the 2026 season before a single pedal stroke is made on the WorldTours.
This isn’t our first rodeo. We made some big calls last year, and with some success I might add. We correctly predicted Remco Evenepoel’s Red Bull transfer, Ineos Grenadiers’ TotalEnergies rebrand and Jonathan Milan’s green jersey campaign. Though I should point out that I cursed Primož Roglič’s Giro defence, so take this with a pinch of salt.
Inevitable Remco drama
What happens if a big money transfer who’s a World and Olympic champion and Grand Tour winner isn’t the best rider on the team? Red Bull Content Pool
How do you balance a team of five potential leaders, keeping everyone pleased in some capacity? If you have any clue, send your best ideas to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s team staff in 2026 as they attempt to deliver a Tour de France roster centred on the race’s two most recent white jersey winners: Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz.
If we take 2025 in isolation, Evenepoel and Lipowitz are relatively equal in terms of GC power. The two jostled around the same positions in the overall standings, and at a similar age they seem equally matched in many regards. In that case, it’ll be tough to create a hierarchy until the race enters its decisive mountain stages. There, we could see this strategy backfire as one is forced to wait for the other, or even worse, Lipowitz drops Evenepoel.
This kind of scenario has caused plenty a Grand Tour scandal – think Froome and Wiggins, Quintana and Landa, even Sepp Kuss and Jonas Vingegaard. It’s rare for leaders to happily share duties, especially when you have someone as prominent as a Grand Tour winner and double Olympic champion in your company. If Lipowitz were to drop Evenepoel, I’m sure hell will break loose in the Red Bull team bus.
Evenepoel’s like a moth to a flame when it comes to cycling drama, and I can only imagine the blunt quotes he’d give to the media if he comes under scrutiny for his Tour performance. It wouldn’t take much for the team harmony to break and for trust to be lost between the squad’s countless leaders and its management staff. To make matters worse, we could find ourselves questioning whether the Belgian was worth the money.
Magdeleine Vallières breaks the rainbow curse
Magdeleine Vallières’ World Championship title proves she’s ready to take the next step with EF. Dario Belingheri/Getty Images
The curse of the rainbow jersey has long plagued newly crowned world champions. Even though Tadej Pogačar bucks this trend, Lotte Kopecky’s recent year in the rainbow bands proved to be her poorest since the pandemic. Surprise world champion Magdeleine Vallières, however, will be hoping for a different fate as she beams with a newfound confidence going into her tenure as world champ.
Vallières wasn’t a nobody before her landmark victory in Rwanda. She was a solid and consistent puncheur who had finished inside the top 20 overall at the Tour de France Femmes and several headline Classics. Over the past few years at EF Education-Oatly, the Canadian has often found herself in the shadows of the team’s flotilla of leaders, from Kirsten Faulkner to Cédrine Kerbaol. In the rainbow jersey, however, the team will be less likely to use her as a domestique. In fact, her 2026 schedule was revealed long before the likes of Kerbaol, hinting that Vallières could be more of a frontwoman this summer.
As such, the Giro and Tour are already in the diary for the Quebecker. In such a climb-heavy Corsa Rosa, a top five finish – or podium – is within reach. She enjoyed a strong final week of last year’s Tour, and the Giro’s final two days look well-geared to Vallières’ strengths. Having won the Worlds, I could see her standing out in a major Classic or two. She’s performed well in the Ardennes before, so a two-pronged approach with Kerbaol could offer big returns for EF.
Proving her worth as a leader, Vallières’ will banish the rainbow curse and use her new found credentials as a stepping stone to the sport’s upper echelon.
A race for Jai Hindley’s signature
With even more Grand Tour leaders at Red Bull in 2026, Jai Hindley is likely to look elsewhere when his contract is up. Harry Talbot
Let’s drop in a transfer prediction while we’re at it. Though names like Primož Roglič, Christophe Laporte and Egan Bernal all have contracts expiring this autumn, I think Jai Hindley is the name most likely to change team colours in 2027.
After a year of inter-team squabbling at Red Bull towers, triggered by Evenepoel and Lipowitz’s calamitous Tour de France, the Australian will be looking to flee the nest after five seasons at Bora-Hansgrohe. Despite this long-time connection, poor little Jai gets no look-in, even despite his top five finish at the Vuelta last autumn and a Giro title just a few years ago.
Hindley naturally slots into Jayco-AlUla, given the obvious Australian connection. The team has been bolstering its mountain support in recent years, but it lost some important names in Eddie Dunbar and Chris Harper. While Hindley is clearly streets ahead of those names, the Perth native would no doubt spearhead this team’s Grand Tour strategy going forward. Not to mention, Ben O’Connor has been underdelivering since his move to the team at the start of 2025, so Hindley could be a far more reliable leader for Jayco to consider.
Hindley is half English however. If he wants the star-studded ambience of Red Bull without an Olympic ego, he may reach out to Ineos Grenadiers. On the other hand, he may end up in the middle of another argument once Oscar Onley, Carlos Rodríguez and Kévin Vauquelin start a tug of war for a Tour spot. But given his Red Bull background, that bickering may feel like home.
More Monuments for Kim Le Court-Pienaar
While Kim Le Court-Pienaar has a new Mauritius National Champion’s jersey to avoid confusion with the rainbow jersey, she might not need it come the end of the season. A.S.O./Thomas Maheux
In the span of just two years at the WorldTour level, Kim Le Court-Pienaar has gone from an unknown entity to a Grand Tour stage winner, Monument champion and a yellow jersey wearer. If she can do that in the space of two seasons, she’s surely destined for an upgrade again in 2026. With that in mind, I see Le Court-Pienaar rising to the challenge in the Monuments once more – this time in Italy.
As an all-rounder with a strong sprint, the reigning Liège-Bastogne-Liège champ has a good chance of picking up Milan-San Remo if the peloton rides more aggressively than in the inaugural edition. Knowing the threat posed by Marianne Vos and Lorena Wiebes, Le Court-Pienaar could spring an attack over the Poggio, leaving her to rely on her mountain biking background to see her safely down the descent. Otherwise, she could hold on for a sprint and hope for the same outcome as her Tour de France Femmes stage victory and La Doyenne title from last year.
If that wasn’t enough, I fancy the Mauritian’s chances at Trofeo Alfredo Binda. If AG Insurance-Soudal use their firepower to thin out the field and drop the likes of Marianne Vos and Elisa Balsamo, Le Court-Pienaar jumps right into the mix as a favourite for yet another big title.
If these two victories preface a Liège-Bastogne-Liège defence, Le Court-Pienaar will surely be in contention for the Vélo d’Or come this time next year. Who knows? She might even be World Champion by that point too.
Tadej Pogačar wins the Tour de France green jersey
Tadej Pogačar only has one Tour de France jersey left to win. Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images)
Jonathan Milan had to move heaven and earth to win the green jersey in 2025 after Tadej Pogačar – and Mathieu van der Poel – threatened the Italian once the flat opening week was done and dusted. This year, however, gives Pogačar a real chance to secure the maillot vert, the only jersey left for him to win at the race.
As a reminder, next year’s Tour de France offers just six days for the sprinters. On top of that slimmed total, the sprinting field will also be more crowded in 2026 as Decathlon-CMA CGM’s Olav Kooij, Alpecin-Premier Tech’s Jasper Philipsen and Soudal-QuickStep’s Tim Merlier juke it out for stage victories in the race’s opening week. There’s a good chance that this could split the points, allowing a climber like Pogačar to sail up the classification as he earmarks around six or more stages for potential glory. In other words, the more sprinters there are, the better Pogi’s chance for green is.
My only doubt here is Pogačar’s motivation. When he came close in 2025 – just 78 points shy – the Slovenian appeared unbothered by a maillot vert campaign. If he sews up the yellow jersey in week one of this year’s Tour, he might switch his focus to this box-ticking exercise. Would he willingly turn down a green jersey in the same year as a history-equalling fifth yellow? Surely not.
Wout van Aert’s worst season to date
2026 could hardly be off to a worse start for Wout van Aert. Dario Belingheri/Getty Images
It’s never nice to predict injuries, but it has to be done. Sorry, Wout van Aert, you are blessed with our kiss of death for 2026.
As the years go by, Van Aert’s bad luck seems to multiply. Since his real peak in 2022, the Belgian has been blighted with near misses, untimely crashes and form blips, hindering him from reaching the same Classics success as his great rival Mathieu van der Poel.
Unfavourably, the Belgian has already got off to a rocky start to 2026. At a cyclocross race in Belgium last week, Van Aert suffered a nasty injury, snapping his ankle on a snowy course. With his confidence knocked again, I envision another year of disappointment in 2026. He won’t take any pro wins, and he’ll spend a lot of the season dealing with niggling injuries and physical setbacks.
He may even be sidelined from the Tour de France in favour of one of the team’s younger guns. His natural successor Matty Brennan is waiting in the wings.
Picnic-PostNL shut up shop
With big names fleeing both men’s and women’s teams and only one year solidified in the WorldTour, Picnic-PostNL are in the danger zone. A.S.O./Billy Ceusters
It’s become a bleak tradition for at least one team to fold at the end of each season. Over the past few years for example, we’ve lost Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Ceratizit, the men’s Human Powered Health team, Intermarché-Wanty and B&B Hotels-KTM. Perhaps we can pin this down on financial constraints, the influence of superteams or the ongoing hangover from the pandemic. Learning from these losses, I know of one candidate ready to receive a knock on the door from cycling’s grim reaper. For that, send your condolences to Picnic-PostNL.
The Dutch team are in real danger in 2026. The roster of both the men’s and women’s teams have taken a big hit over the transfer window, as an exodus of stars flees the women’s squad. On the men’s side, it looks more bleak as their top UCI points scorer Oscar Onley parts ways for Ineos Grenadiers, leaving them with just a couple of young sprinters.
More importantly, the team has reportedly been suffering financial difficulties. The UCI have already handed them a warning over their financial statements. The squad have only been granted a year-long WorldTour pass instead of the three-year ones offered to the remainder of cycling’s top flight. The squad may have some extra cash as a result of Onley’s buyout, but without him on their scoresheet, the team looks destined for a relegation spot.
Without cash or UCI points, they’re doomed.
Jonas Vingegaard cracks at the Tour de France
Could the Giro/Tour double be one step too far for Jonas Vingegaard? Does it matter if he comes away with the maglia rosa? A.S.O./Billy Ceusters
After completing the Giro d’Italia just a couple of weeks before the Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard will start the Tour in Barcelona with a fair amount of fatigue in his legs, particularly given the backloaded nature of the Italian race’s parcours. The question now is whether the Dane will be able to replicate Pogačar’s 2024 form and sustain his peak until July to claim a Grand Tour double.
In my eyes, I see this as a very slim possibility. The Visma-Lease a Bike leader will struggle at the Tour de France, battling with jelly legs through the first week’s Pyrenean foray before a mighty implosion during the Alpine final week. The bags under his eyes will be visible as he fails to compete with Pogačar, depriving us of another epic duel.
Instead, he’ll be lingering in the second group of riders, trying his damn hardest not to lose his podium place to the likes of Juan Ayuso, Florian Lipowitz or Remco Evenepoel. He might hang on for another top three finish, but it won’t be the same Vingegaard as previous Tours. In fact, it won’t be the same Visma-Lease a Bike as the team reels from the abrupt retirement of super domestique Simon Yates.
Leaving battered and bruised, Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike will be left to go back to the drawing board (or transfer market) ahead of 2027.
Primož Roglič wins the Vuelta a España
There’s life in the old Rog yet, huh? Dario Belingheri/Getty Images
I know, I know. Primož Roglič looks well past it. I understand that João Almeida’s going to the Vuelta, that neither Vingegaard nor Pogačar will be there, and that Red Bull’s tactics at recent Grand Tours have been questionable at best.
Regardless of that, I’m a firm believer that Uncle Roglič has still got it.
The route’s got over 40km of time-trialling, a nice spread of uphill finishes and a suitable amount of Rogla-friendly finales. He might be in his late 30s now, but Roglič won the Vuelta with ease just two years ago. He’s hardly Chris Froome, is he? Roglič has proven that he can still win WorldTour races.
To boot, Red Bull’s Vuelta team will probably be padded out by its fair share of strong helpers – maybe even a backup leader or two. Even when the squad fields its C-team, it’s likely better than most of his rivals, maybe even the biteless Almeida. All it would take for the Slovenian to drop the Portuguese rider is an attack or two. He’s beaten him before; he knows what to do.
