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 crash has stirred recriminations within the cycling community (and concern from her partner, Tadej Pogačar). Enjoy all that — plus a tribute to the American cycling staple, the Downtown Criterium — as you rest up for the Tour!
TOP STORY
- PEZ Ranks the Last Decade of Tours de France
RACE NEWS
- Reader Poll: What’s Your Favorite Tour from the Last Ten Years?
- ASO Moves the Goalposts on Green (and We Know Why)
- ADAC Cyclassics Hamburg Announces Strong Team Field
- British National Championships Kick off this Week
- The Tour’s Sixth Sense
TEAM, RIDER AND CYCLING NEWS
- Remco’s Belgian Championship Snub: A Legal Storm In A Coffee Cup
- Žigart’s Crash Sends Ripples Beyond the Race
- Like Father, Like Son: Enzo Hincapie Takes Junior National Road Title
- La Vuelta Presents! Its Official Video! To a Soundtrack by…Miranda!
MIKE’S RIDE OF THE WEEK
- The Downtown Criterium
PEZ Ranks the Last Decade of Tours de France
We’re officially in the lull between the Tour de France warmup races and the Tour itself: National championships, a handful of 2.1 races…Not a lot worth reflecting on. So instead, let’s look back not to the last week, but to the last decade.
Below I — eTrash Mike — rank the last ten Tours. And then I ask you to weigh in by letting PEZ know your favorite.
Rankings are always subjective and controversial — perfect for the pre-Tour phase! Let’s dig in.
10. 2017 — Froome III: The Tedium Deepens
The third of four Sky Tours and arguably the most forgettable. Fabio Aru’s brief yellow jersey cameo in week two was the most interesting thing that happened.
9. 2023 — Vingegaard Wins By a Country Mile
Vingegaard won the 2023 edition by 7 minutes and 29 seconds from Pogačar: the largest winning margin in years. Pogačar’s stage-winning panache kept it watchable, and there were individual stages worth the price of admission, but as a GC battle it was a rout.
8. 2018 — Thomas/Froome Intrigue That Never Quite Ignited
Thomas winning while Froome was his nominal teammate had soap opera potential that mostly went unrealized. Roglič appeared on the scene. Tom Dumoulin was a credible threat before cracking. There was more to watch than the Froome-wins years, but the race never truly caught fire.
7. 2016 — Ventoux and Sagan Make Up for a non-GC Contest
The GC contest wasn’t thrilling, but two events — one weird, one thrilling — moved this one up in my esteem: Weird was Chris Froome running towards the finish on Mt. Ventoux after a police motorbike caused a crash. Thrilling was stage 11, when Peter Sagan (a rider whose presence I sorely miss) guttered the entire peloton — except Froome and Geraint Thomas, who followed close and gained valuable seconds.
6. 2021 — Pogačar Dominates, Cavendish Captivates
Pogačar’s second Tour was, from a GC standpoint, a thorough masterclass without much suspense after week one. But the race earns its place out of the bottom tier because of Cavendish. His four stage wins, tying him with Eddy Merckx for most stages won in total, were a joy to watch, especially after years lost to illness. The Opi-Omi crash in Brittany was also, for better or worse, one of the most talked-about moments in years.
5. 2025 — Pogačar Ascendant Again, But the Margins Were Punishing
Lipowitz’ coming-of-age performance was fun to follow, and Pogačar’s revenge win on Hautacam, where he’d been buried in 2022, was gratifying, but one stage made this otherwise unsuspenseful Tour worth three weeks of watching: Wout’s win on a spiced-up final stage in Paris. So good!
4. 2019 — Alaphilippe’s Glorious Doomed Yellow, Bernal’s Quiet Coronation
This race is essentially two stories. The first is Julian Alaphilippe in yellow for 14 days, attacking on every mountain, the entire peloton unable to decide how seriously to take him, the French public losing its collective mind. The second story is Bernal vs. Thomas within Ineos, which added a layer of intrigue the team tried hard to suppress. Thibaut Pinot’s abandon in the mountains, on a day he might have been taking yellow, was one of the more heartbreaking moments the Tour has produced in recent memory. The landslide-shortened Stage 19 put a bit of a damper on the overall vibe, but it was a memorable one nonetheless.
3. 2024 — Pogačar’s Giro-Tour Double, Vingegaard Wounded But Fighting
Pogačar became the first Giro/Tour winner since Pantani in 1998. What made this Tour de France compelling was Vingegaard’s condition: the Dane had suffered a serious crash at the Basque Country in April, fractured ribs and a collapsed lung, and was racing on fumes of courage and fitness. He fought, he lost time, he fought again. The GC was never really in doubt after the Alps, but Vingegaard’s refusal to crack made it worth watching in a way that a healthy rival simply rolling over would not have.
2. 2020 — The Planche des Belles Filles Time Trial for the Ages
The pandemic Tour, held in September with empty roadsides and apocalyptic weather, produced one of the most dramatic single-stage reversals in the race’s history. Primož Roglič appeared dominante until the final time trial: 36km, the last six of which were up the steep La Planche des Belles Filles climb. But Pogačar flipped his countryman’s one-minute advantage to become the winner. I remember watching a projection on a sheet in our backyard, the countdown clock tracking Roglič’s margin as it waned; when it was over it was clear that Pogačar would win, and within a year it was clear that Roglič never would.
1. 2022 — The Rivalry Is Born
This one had everything. First it was Jumbo-Visma looking like the meme with the Spidermen pointing at each other, a comedy of errors, abandoned bikes, and running across the road — but before long Vingegaard’s team was taking it to Pogačar, and Jonas became the first rider to take serious time from Pog in years. Later, on the descent of the Col de Spandelles, Pogačar overcooked a bend, ended up in the gravel and low-sided, and Vingegaard sportingly waited. The Col de Granon stage. Multiple attacks on multiple climbs, Pogačar never giving up. Van Aert riding the race of his life across every discipline: sprints, breakaways, mountain domestique work. Wout won the Green Jersey with 480 points, breaking Peter Sagan’s modern-day record. Between genuine team tactics, my favorite (active) rider crushing green and supporting his GC lead, and Jonas and Tadej battling it out, this was one for the ages.
What does 2026 hold in store for us? Most of us fans aren’t feeling too optimistic that we’ll get an edge-of-our-seats GC contest — but as we’ve learned from the last ten years, you never know.
RACE NEWS
Reader Poll: What’s Your Favorite Tour from the Last Ten Years?
Now, using the descriptions as your guide, you weigh in. And as always, be sure to share your “Why” (and your recriminations) by emaling me at mike@pezcyclingnews.com.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.
ASO Moves the Goalposts on Green (and We Know Why)
The green jersey is supposed to be a sprinters’ prize. Sure, we’ve seen several strongmen win it — rouleurs, a la Sagan, van Aert, and Bini, vs. true sprinters — but all of them would also mix it up in a bunch sprint.
But the last July, Tadej Pogačar’s cross-discipline dominance threatened the integrity of the Maillot Vert; the guy damn near ended the Tour in yellow, polka-dots and green. While fast-man Jonathan Milan did end up winning the competition, the brush with frustration motivated ASO to change the rules.
In 2026 (and henceforth, I assume), flat stages will carry 70 points for the winner, up from 50, with second place rising to 50 and third to 40, double what third place earned last year. Intermediate sprint bonuses have also increased, from 20 to 25 points. Seven stages are classified as flat in the 2026 route: stages 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17 and 21.
The message is clear enough. Whether you frame it as pro-sprinter or anti-Pogačar probably depends on your disposition, but the intent is the same either way.
Mads Pedersen, lining up for Lidl-Trek in Jonathan Milan’s place, acknowledged the changes aren’t entirely in his favor. Pure bunch sprinters like Jasper Philipsen who arrives fresh off his Baloise Belgium Tour win and with serious unfinished business after his 2025 crash-and-abandon, stand to benefit most. Girmay, the 2024 green jersey winner, remains a dangerous all-round threat. And Pogačar? Green is the only Tour jersey he has yet to win. ASO appears determined to keep it that way.
ADAC Cyclassics Hamburg Announces Strong Team Field
The organizers of ADAC Cyclassics Hamburg 2026 have unveiled the team field for the men’s elite UCI WorldTour one-day race on August 16, and notwithstanding my earlier suggestion that smaller races are struggling to fill fields and fund their organization, it looks promising.
Eighteen UCI WorldTeams and four UCI ProTeams are set to line up for the race in Hamburg and the metropolitan region. Among the high-profile riders slated to line up in Hamburg are Jasper Philipsen and Kaden Groves for Alpecin-Premier Tech, Phil Bauhaus and Matej Mohoric for Bahrain Victorious, Olav Kooij, Tiesj Benoot and Oliver Naesen for Decathlon CMA CGM Team, Jonathan Milan and Max Walscheid for Lidl-Trek, Arnaud De Lie for Lotto Intermarché, Biniam Girmay for NSN Cycling Team, Jordi Meeus and Laurence Pithie for Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, Paul Magnier for Soudal Quick-Step, John Degenkolb for Team Picnic PostNL, Soren Wærenskjold for Uno-X Mobility, Sam Bennett for Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team as well as Matteo Trentin and Marc Hirschi for Tudor Pro Cycling Team.
The riders named already point to an open race in which fast sprinters, resilient classics specialists and attacking breakaway groups could all play a decisive role.
British National Championships Kick off this Week
The 2026 Lloyds National Road Championships — aka British nats — start in earnest Thursday with a high intensity time-trial through the beautiful market town of Lampeter. Riders will compete in front of the Welsh crowd for glory and the national title in the first of the three-event championships.
Starting not far from the University of Wales, Lampeter campus, the new course consists of a circuit that takes in the green fields and picturesque hills of the surrounding area.
Racing starts with the Under-23 Men time-trial kicking off at 9am, before the Elite Women at 10:46, Under-23 Women at 13:50 before the Elite Men close things out at 14:50.
Several WorldTour time trial specialists will contend for their respective national crowns, including all four reigning National Time-Trial Champions: Zoe Backstedt (CANYON // SRAM Zondacrypto), Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step), Millie Couzens (Fenix-Premier Tech) and Callum Thornley (Red Bull – BORA – Hansgrohe), with Couzens and Thornley now competing in the elite field after winning their under-23 crowns last year.
Silver medalist in Paris 2024 Anna Henderson (Lidl – Trek) will return to chase the domestic honors in the Elite Women time-trial, while rising star Erin Boothman (Liv AlUla Jayco) makes her National Road Championship debut and will be one to watch in the under-23 women.
Charlie Tanfield (Private Member) and 2026 breakout star Sam Watson (NetCompany Ineos) will be other ones to watch in the Elite Men time-trial, while 2025 silver medalist Ben Wiggins (Hagens Berman Jayco) — yes, that Wiggins family — will look to do one better this year in the under-23 men, joined by strong riders in Josh Golliker (EF Education – Aevolo) and Henry Hobbs (Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development).
A host of Welsh riders will be set to be some of the crowd favourites in the event, including Finlay Tarling (NSN Development Team and younger brother of Josh Tarling), Rory Gravelle (Tirol KTM Cycling Team), Elynor Backstedt (UAE Team ADQ), Anna Morris (Private Member) and Lowri Richards (Solas Cycling)
Speaking on the upcoming road championships, reigning Elite Women Time-Trial National Champion Zoe Backstedt said:
“I’m really excited for the TT this year. Last year was really fun, but this year, I think the course suits me even more. It’s been super cool to race in the jersey this year, going from the Championships, straight into competition and winning in it – I feel like I’ve done the jersey proud.”
The Tour’s Sixth Sense
As we near the 2026 version of the Tour de France, Le Grand Boucle is reminding us of other years ending in six: In 1926, the race broke new ground when it started in Évian for the first time, far from the Paris headquarters of its organizing newspaper, L’Auto. (Whereas this year’s Barcelona Grand Départ marks the 27th start outside of France entirely.)
Among the other notable anniversaries in the Tour’s history, years ending in six saw Roger Walkowiak’s unlikely victory in 1956 — depicted in the graphic below — as well as the heroic conclusion of Raymond Poulidor’s 14th and final participation at the age of 40 in 1976, and the passing of the torch from five-time French winner Bernard Hinault to his La Vie Claire teammate Greg LeMond, who became the first American winner in 1986.
TEAM, RIDER AND CYCLING NEWS
Remco’s Belgian Championship Snub: A Legal Storm In A Coffee Cup
The soap opera of the week comes courtesy of Belgian Cycling, who are threatening Remco Evenepoel with a nine-day suspension if he skips Sunday’s national championships in Brasschaat without a valid medical note. With the Tour de France kicking off six days later in Barcelona, the timing is, shall we say, inconvenient.
According to Belgian Cycling’s Director of Sport Massimo Van Lancker, no exceptions will be made for the former world champion. No start, no note, no Tour. Simple as that — in theory.
The legal wrinkle is where it gets interesting. Does a Belgian federation suspension actually bar a rider from a UCI race on foreign soil? Sports lawyer Billy Reynders says it’s possible but untested: no precedents exist. Colleague Ben Leyman agrees the situation is murky, though he notes Evenepoel could theoretically race to a courtroom and seek an emergency injunction. Which would be quite the pre-Tour warm-up.
In reality, everyone expects a doctor’s note to quietly defuse the whole thing. Post-altitude camp fatigue is a perfectly legitimate reason to skip a race, and Belgian Cycling has already said it won’t interrogate any certificate presented.
Legal drama. No actual drama. Very Belgian.
Mike’s editorial note: I stood in a bar in Kigali with hundreds of Belgian fans, some of whom were holding a massive Remco flag. They’re fully committed. There is no way he’d be barred without a storm of protest.
Žigart’s Crash Sends Ripples Beyond the Race
The speed bump that brought down Urška Žigart in the final kilometer of stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse Women didn’t just end her race. It fractured her jaw, rattled the world’s best cyclist in the days before the Tour de France, and reignited a pointed debate about whether cycling’s safety apparatus is doing its job.
On the racing side, the human cost was immediate. UAE Team Emirates-XRG manager Mauro Gianetti revealed that Pogačar received the news of the crash just before the men’s stage start, and was visibly shaken — “it wasn’t like usual,” Gianetti said. “Normally, he manages to block out everything else when he’s racing, but not his girlfriend. As you can imagine, your partner is family — it’s different. I called the sports director during the stage so he could reassure him.” Pogačar skipped post-stage interviews and went straight to the hospital.
The ripple effects extended into his Tour de France preparation. Pogačar had been set to join teammates at Isola 2000 for a final altitude block, but returned home to Monaco instead, with his plans for the week described as “still to be confirmed” by UAE. “Now that Urška has to recover, our plans have been thrown into some disarray. The most important thing is that we can spend a bit of time together over the next few days,” Pogačar told HLN, adding: “The form is there, I think.”
On the structural side, CPA Women, the UCI-affiliated riders’ union whose managing director Alessandra Cappellotto sits on SafeR’s own committee, has called for a thorough review of the safety initiative’s working model. The critique lands with particular weight precisely because it comes from the inside: this isn’t an outside voice lobbing criticism over the fence. “Serious incidents continue to occur,” Cappellotto stated. “Cycling must not be afraid of change.”
The speed bump responsible for Žigart’s crash was exactly the kind of obstacle SafeR exists to identify and eliminate. That it didn’t is the question the review will need to answer.
Like Father, Like Son: Enzo Hincapie Takes Junior National Road Title
Here’s a detail from last weekend’s USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships: In addition to an entirely expected win by Quinn Simmons and a pleasantly surprising one by Kate Courtney, we were witness to a legacy victory by one Enzo Hincapie.
Enzo is, of course, the son of George Hincapie, the big man from Queens who spent 17 Tours de France mostly riding in service of others. As Lance Armstrong’s chief lieutenant, George’s reputation remains in question, though — judging by my riding buddies’ esteem — Hincapie seems broadly well-liked and, perhaps…forgiven. By some, but surely not all.
In his son’s race, as in all of the US Pro Road Championship races, the Wertz Avenue climb was the race’s sorting mechanism. It was there with three laps to go that Enzo made his move, a probing attack that bridged him to the lead group of four. He assessed his companions, worked with them briefly, then dropped them on the penultimate lap and never looked back.
“I did a little tester attack on the climb with three laps to go, saw that I kind of split up the group, and then I knew that I had the legs to really do something,” Enzo said afterward. Classic racer’s instinct.
Kaison Smith chased in for second, 50 seconds back, with Diego Duran taking the sprint for third.
Enzo races for Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe’s development program, a serious outfit for a serious young talent (and notably not his father’s Modern Adventure team). He seems to have inherited his dad’s toughness and savvy. Hopefully the next Hincapie chapter will be as successful — and devoid of any concern or doubt.
La Vuelta Presents! Its Official Video! To a Soundtrack by…Miranda!
Because no self-respecting Grand Tour launches without one, Unipublic and RTVE have dropped the official La Vuelta 26 promotional video — timed, naturally, to the Spain vs. Saudi Arabia World Cup match. Captive audience? Don’t mind if we do.
The audiovisual centerpiece features Argentine pop duo Miranda!, whose Benidorm Fest 2026 finalist entry ‘Despierto Amándote’ will soundtrack your entire Spanish summer whether you asked for it or not. The video leans hard into Mediterranean aesthetics: sun, sea, light…and virtually no cycling at all. It all tracks, given that the race departs Monaco on August 22nd. The Monte Carlo Casino features prominently, because subtlety is for other tours. Fernando Alonso also shows up, apparently to remind everyone Spain has more than one sport going on.
The video goes live July 4th, cleverly piggybacking on Tour de France launch day in Barcelona, and will air 300 times on RTVE. Three hundred. Someone’s getting their money’s worth.
La Vuelta’s official song tradition stretches back to 1977, when Sheila & B. Devotion set the template. Forty-five years later, the formula holds: catchy tune, gorgeous landscapes, maximum emotion. The race wraps September 13th in Granada.
MIKE’S RIDE OF THE WEEK:
THE DOWNTOWN CRITERIUM
This ROTW isn’t about one of my rides, or even a specific ride; it’s about a classic, the Downtown Criterium.
These haven’t disappeared from American cycling entirely; in fact, I’d love to know about the Twilight, 4th of July, or other traditional criterium that still happens in your hometown, the kind that draws spectators who don’t know a peloton from a prime, but who thrill at the speeds of dozens of racers buzzing by their favorite cafes and boutiques.
Prompting this was volunteering at Bend’s Cascade Cycling Classic Criterium, the annual remnant of the Cascade Classic stage race, which would draw near-WorldTour-level pros until, like just about every other U.S.-based race, its numbers waned.
Even the criterium’s fields are smaller, but it was still a blast to watch: The masters’ intensity…
The kids’ race adorability…
The pros’ speed. And not a crash all day!
Which brings me to: For my part, the last criterium I did was probably ten years ago — the third stage of the old Cascade Classic. A guy went down in front of me, I tumbled over him, my insurance rates flashed before my eyes and…that was it. But I’m glad some riders still get out for downtown criteriums.
My hometown of Davis, CA, still hosts a downtown criterium every Fourth of July. If you’ll be in Northern California on the 4th, give it a shot! Registration is at https://www.bikereg.com/helen-pool-4th-of-july-criterium.
PEZ VIDEO
Richard (Mr. PEZ) is in Italy now, and he’ll soon share video, photos and posts about his travels. For now, check out how he spent his last day before heading to Europe…From what I can tell, he could have just stayed home and enjoyed some lovely riding!
Gotta Comment, thought or suggestion? Drop us a line at Content@PezCyclingNews.com
The post EUROTRASH: PEZ Ranks the Last 10 Tours! appeared first on PezCycling News.
