Pro Log: 2025 Vuelta to start in Italy; Amstel Gold under threat by NATO; Steve Cummings joins Jayco-AlUla; UCI Track Champions League

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Pro Log: 2025 Vuelta to start in Italy; Amstel Gold under threat by NATO; Steve Cummings joins Jayco-AlUla; UCI Track Champions League

Welcome back to another edition of Pro Log. Here’s a rundown of the latest cyclocross results before we get started:

• Dublin, Men’s World Cup, Sun 1st Dec: 1st Michael Vanthourenhout, Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal, 57min 26sec; 2nd Toon Aerts, Team Deschacht-Hens-FSP, +1sec; 3rd Felipe Orts, Ridley Racing Team, +1sec. 
• Dublin, Women’s World Cup, Sun 1st Dec: 1st Lucinda Brand, Baloise Trek Lions, 47min 24sec; 2nd Fem van Empel, Visma-Lease a Bike, +24sec; 3rd Zoe Bäckstedt, Canyon-SRAM, +1min 03sec. 

2025 Vuelta a España to start in Italy

The 2025 Vuelta a España will start in Italy for the first time in the race’s 90-year history. Stage 1 on 23rd August 2025 will be a sprinters’ stage from Turin to Novara. The 157km Stage 2 will depart Alba for Limone for the race’s first summit finish on the second category Puerto Limone climb, while Stage 3 will take riders from San Maurizio to Ceres on a medium mountain stage. Stage 4 will start in Susa before the race heads over the border into France.

This will be the sixth time the Vuelta has begun abroad after it started in Lisbon in 1997, Assen in 2009, Nîmes in 2017, Utrecht in 2022 and Lisbon again in 2024. Monaco is set to host the race start in 2026.

NATO Summit to impact 2025 calendar

Races taking place in the Netherlands in 2025 are scrambling for alternatives after a two-day NATO summit will bring ‘no capacity’ for motorcycle police to supervise cycling events for eight months. The summit is scheduled for 24-25th June at the Hague and is set to impact races including the Amstel Gold Race and ZLM Tour.

The Dutch Cycling Union, KNWU, said last Wednesday, ‘The KNWU will do everything in its power together with the organisers to ensure that the planned cycling races in 2025 will go ahead.’

MP Inge van Dijk has submitted an amendment to be discussed on Monday 2nd December during the government’s Legislative Consultation on Sports.

Tour of Flanders organiser Flanders Classics has also said that it will provide support for Amstel Gold if necessary.

There are no men’s British UCI Continental teams

The news that Cornish team Saint Piran have disbanded means there are no British men’s teams left at the UCI Continental level. That comes after Trinity Racing announced last month they wouldn’t be racing on the road from next season either.

However former Saint Piran rider Harry Tanfield is trying to raise funds to start a new team, with British Cycling giving him a two-week deadline for an application. Tanfield has long been a formidable presence on a Continental level, riding for the likes of JLT-Condor, Canyon-Eisberg and Ribble-Weldtite with stints at the WorldTour for Katusha-Alpecin and AG2R La Mondiale.

Steve Cummings joins Jayco-AlUla

After leaving Ineos Grenadiers, Steve Cummings will join Jayco-AlUla as a sports director for 2025. The 43-year-old retired from racing in 2019 and had been working for Ineos since 2021 but was missing from many high-profile races this year.

Cummings said, ‘For me, this is more than just joining a team – it’s an opportunity to be part of a culture that celebrates growth, resilience and meaningful results. Naturally through having a long career within cycling, on and off the bike, I already know a lot of team members and I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get started with them.’

Jayco-AlUla have bolstered their GC prospects for next year with the signing of Ben O’Connor from Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale. O’Connor had a long stint in the leader’s jersey at the Vuelta a España this year and ultimately finished second to Primož Roglič.

Maxim Van Gils leaves Lotto-Dstny

Despite signing a contract extension this spring, Maxim Van Gils has left Lotto-Dstny after seven years with the team. In a joint statement, Lotto-Dstny CEO Stéphane Heulot said, ‘If this change makes him happier and helps him to continue growing, we won’t stand in his way. We will keep on searching for young talents and guiding them, as is one of the values of the team.’

UCI Track Champions League update

After three rounds of the UCI Track Champions League, Harrie Lavreysen leads the way in the sprint rankings on 106 points with Matthew Richardson breathing down his neck on 101. Alina Lysenko has powered ahead of the women’s field, a chasm of 29 points separating herself from second place Martha Bayona in the sprint standings. She is the first rider in TCL history to win five consecutive events following her victory in the women’s keirin in Round 3 in Apeldoorn.

Katie Archibald has been flying since returning to the bike after injury, sitting atop the women’s endurance standings by 27 points. Her win in the latest endurance race means she has been victorious in 13 of the 17 TCL races she has entered. Dylan Bibic is holding off Tobias Hansen for the men.

Riders are awarded points passed on their finishing position in a race, with the winner receiving 20 points for the keirin, sprint, scratch or elimination. Second place gives 17 points, with third place getting 15. All of those who finish in the top 15 are awarded points and overall leaders in the standings wear a blue jersey. Only two rounds of the series remain, and will take place at London’s Lee Valley Park this Friday and Saturday.

See you soon.

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