The start of the 2026 professional cycling season may be a month away, but some teams are already hitting the road in training camps and laying out their battle plans in what could become a stellar clash between the sport’s decorated riders.
Among those that revealed their 2026 schedules early was Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe and Lidl-Trek, who plan to thwart the dominance of UAE Team Emirates – XRG and world number one Tadej Pogačar.
Pogačar returns to Tour de France
Pogačar will be heading back to the Tour de France to try and secure his historic fifth title, according to the team’s press conference on Saturday.
He will start his season at Strade Bianche, bidding to defend his title there, before going on to race Milano-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
He is also set to make his debut in the Tour de Romandie and race the Tour de Suisse.
Asked whether he’d rather win Paris-Roubaix or the Tour de France next year, Pogačar was clear in his choice:
“I think I would choose Roubaix, because I already won the Tour four times. I think there is a bigger difference between zero and one than between four and five.”
A surprising addition to UAE’s Tour de France line-up will be Isaac del Toro, who will serve as Pogačar’s domestique in his tour debut.
Meanwhile, João Almeida has opted to skip the Tour de France to focus on the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España.
Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe turn to co-leadership plan
Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe made waves this year after they signed Remco Evenepoel, and it’s no secret they plan to make the Belgian superstar one of their answers to Pogačar.
Speaking at their recent Media Day, the team unveiled a co-leadership plan between Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz.
Lipowitz finished third at the 2025 edition of the Tour de France just behind Pogačar and Visma-Lease a Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard.
Evenepoel came third as well in 2024, also after rivals Pogačar and Vingegaard.
Speaking to Eurosport, Evenepoel termed the co-leadership plan as the best approach to the race.
“If you have more cards to play, I think it is better. The team have decided that we both go, and I do not think it is the end of the world to go together.”
Despite saying the team has already incorporated this plan in several races, the Belgian rider remains open to adjustments in his calendar.
On the other hand, Lipowitz was rather excited about the upcoming prospect, stressing the advantage of having a combined force in Grand Tours.
For the Giro d’Italia team, Red Bull put forward Giulio Pellizzari, Aleksandr Vlasov and Jai Hindley.
Hindley won the Italian tour in 2022.
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Roglic targets fifth Vuelta a España title
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s other superstar Primoz Roglic will target the Vuelta in a bid to secure a historic fifth title in Spain.
If he wins that race, he will eclipse Roberto Heras, who also holds four Vuelta victories.
Roglic established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the Vuelta early on, winning the Grand Tour for three years straight from 2019 with the Visma team.
He created a dominant narrative with former teammates Sepp Kuss and Vingegaard when they completed the podium in Vuelta 2023, with Kuss winning the red jersey.
Roglic left Visma for Red Bull in 2024 and snatched back the Vuelta title in the same year.
And in a full circle moment, Vingegaard ended up seizing his career-first win in the Vuelta 2025.
Ayuso to debut as sole leader for Lidl-Trek in France
Juan Ayuso, who ended his partnership with the UAE team just this year, will be given a chance to chase his GC ambitions in his debut sole leader role for rising powerhouse Lid-Trek in the Tour de France.
Danish rider Mads Pedersen is set to accompany him in the Grand Tour.
“As a team, Lidl-Trek wants to become more competitive in Grand Tours. They are already very strong in the classics, especially with Mads, and they wanted to broaden the spectrum”, he told reporters.
Sprinter Jonathan Milan will miss out riding the Tour de France after his stellar debut in 2025 with Pedersen now in the line-up, and will instead focus on the Giro, where he won the points category in 2023 and 2024, according to IDL Pro Cycling.
While other teams are expected to sharpen their preparations as the clock ticks down to the start of the new season, eyes will also be on Visma, which have yet to unveil their 2026 line-up – including whether world number two Vingegaard will race the Giro, and reignite his rivalry with Pogačar in the grueling mountains of France.
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