If anyone was still wondering who controls this Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar delivered a very clear answer on Stage 6. The World Champion launched a devastating attack high on the legendary Col du Tourmalet, rode clear of every one of his rivals and powered solo to victory in Gavarnie-Gèdre. It was a ruthless display […]

Roadside Tour de France 2014: Vincenzo Nibali showed his class today and won his fourth stage on the Hautacam after passing our man in France; Ed Hood on the Tourmalet. Let’s see what he got up to on the mythical Pyrenean climb, the last mountain of this year’s Tour de France. ‘Night Fever’ blasts over […]

After five stages — and two HeroSashes — we already have four teams on the board with stage wins! We’re seeing old friends like Tadej and Mads, and new ones like Olav and Isaac. There’s already much to celebrate; in this EuroTrash we pop champagne corks for Mads Pedersen and Quinn Simmons — but also […]

RACE REPORT: The Tour de France Stage 5 sprinters finally got their chance—and Olav Kooij made absolutely sure he didn’t waste it. After four days of waiting, surviving crosswinds, climbs and GC battles, the Dutch fast man produced a perfectly-timed sprint to claim his first-ever Tour de France stage victory in Pau. While rivals found […]

When I covered my first Tour de France in 2003, it was only the third time I’d visited the country – so I admittedly knew little about the place, and even less about its people.  Digging through the PEZ archives – I uncovered this gem of an article – highlighting some of my initial observations […]

If anyone thought the first mountain days of the 2026 Tour de France would be reserved for the GC stars, Stage 4 had other ideas. The 181.9km journey from Carcassonne to Foix was always destined to belong to the attackers. Two classified climbs in the closing kilometres—the Col de Coudons (10.7km at 5.5%) and the […]

Heat adaptation – the process of repeated heat exposures to improve performance in the heat – is well established as the best overall way to optimize performance in hot conditions, as shown by our own Dr. Cheung in his research. Benefits can be seen as short as 1-2 weeks. Most athletes are familiar with the […]

Tour de France 2026 Stage 3 results from  Granollers  ›  Les Angles (195.9km) at the bottom – Full report is coming soon – stay tuned for pics, video highlights and more. – Pez If anyone thought the Tour might settle down after an explosive opening weekend, they haven’t been paying attention.   Stage 3 took […]

On the same day Mexico’s World Cup run ended in a 3-2 loss to England, 22-year-old Isaac del Toro delivered his home country a different kind of historic result: victory on Stage 2 of the Tour de France atop Barcelona’s Montjuïc, becoming just the second Mexican ever to win a Tour stage, after Raúl Alcalá […]

RACE REPORT: Stage 2 lit the fuse on the 2026 Tour de France. After a controlled opening day, the steep finishing circuits of Barcelona’s Montjuïc produced the first showdown between the General Classification favourites – and it was Isaac Del Toro who emerged as the day’s biggest winner. The young Mexican capped a dominant UAE […]

With last week’s look at the 1923 Tour de France here, time to move ahead three decades.  1953 marked 50 years since the Tour began and we have an enjoyable feature length film about that race courtesy of the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam.  In 2015, to mark the start of the Tour in Utrecht that […]

  Richard — aka Mr. Pez — was unavoidably detained this morning, so Trash Man Mike has taken on Stage 1 coverage. Snark alert! As you Pezzers know, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. I hence awoke — alarmless — at 5:30 here on North America’s West Coast, ready to watch some Tour. […]

After more than two decades of covering the Tour de France, we’ve built an archive filled with unforgettable race reports, interviews and behind-the-scenes stories. But one of our oldest – and most personal – pieces of Tour history predates PEZ itself. Dating back to the 1990 Tour de France, this long-lost home video captures legendary […]

Gear Break is back with less than 24 hours to the 2026 Tour de France Grand Départ in Barcelona, España. This week we’ve got some pretty amazing equipment. First up is the pairing of the Factor ONE and Black Inc Hyper 62 wheelset. Immediately on its heels is the  extremely limited edition Bianchi Specialissima as […]

The road to Paris begins tonight in Barcelona as the 2026 Tour de France officially rolls into view with the Team Presentation. All 23 teams and every rider in the 113th edition of the Tour will be introduced ahead of the Grand Départ, giving fans their first look at the contenders, national champion jerseys, fresh […]

It’s Tour time, baby! Pez prognosticates that the most important stage in this Grand Boucle may well be the very first one, the team time trial in Barcelona — so Mike devotes much of this edition of EuroTrash to its novel format, the backdrop, and of course the contenders. It’s an almost all-Tour Eurotrash, harking back to […]

Welcome to the PEZ 2026 Tour de France Stage by Stage Preview. Main takeaways: first, given Tadej Pogacar’s continued and emphatic dominance of the pro peleton – his 4th Tour victory may seem like a foregone conclusion.  But it’s July – and how can you not get pumped about Le Tour..? Challengers will be two-time […]

Even here in Canada, eventually hot summer weather will come. One strategy popular with athletes for reducing heat stress before or during competitions are ice vests. How effective are they? For endurance sports, the evidence is clear and unequivocal that performance is impaired with higher ambient temperatures. It’s also reduced in cold temperatures or with […]

National Championship Week delivered some compelling storylines ahead of the Tour de France Grand Départ. Quinn Simmons claimed a third straight US road title; Filippo Ganna broke Marco Pinotti’s Italian TT record with his seventh national crown. Paul Seixas became a matter of French national interest as a bidding war erupted around the 19-year-old phenom […]

The story behind a book can originate in many ways but perhaps the most intriguing recent publication dealing with a cycling theme is Ned Boulting’s “1923,” with its somewhat ponderous but wholly accurate subtitle. A brief e-mail from a friend about an auction lot turns the author’s enforced home stay, necessitated by a serious bicycle […]

I’ll be honest: I’ve never been much of a wheel snob. Good enough has always been good enough. Then I spent a couple of weeks on Hunt’s 44_46 Aerodynamicist Carbon Disc wheelset — and now I’m that guy at the group ride who won’t stop talking about his wheels. The evidence came in two acts, […]

With just over a week until the Tour de France 2026 departs from Barcelona, Gear Break has a TdF warmup for you this week. Chuck tested and reviewed Formula 100’s drip wax. MAAP has dropped their TdF swap outs for the Jayco-AlUla squads, men and women. Ritchey has rebranded their top end components into a […]

OK PEZzers: time for some rankings — always certain to produce spirited debates. How would you rank the last ten Tours de France? Mike shares his take, and invites you to share yours. Speaking of controversy, Remco Evenepoel may be barred from starting the Tour de France (but don’t bet on it), while Urška Žigart’s frightening […]

If you’re considering a cycling vacation in Italy, Hotel Dory should be at the top of your list. PEZ Capo Richard has previously reviewed Hotel Dory and there really isn’t much more I can say that he hasn’t already. So this isn’t intended as a review of Hotel Dory per se, but rather more of […]

If you’ve got a small kid in daycare, you already know how this story goes. They come home on Monday afternoon with a runny nose. By Thursday, you’re the one sniffling on the couch with a tissue box, watching your carefully-planned training week fall apart. The Saturday long ride? Cancelled. Sunday’s group ride? Also cancelled. […]