Hugo Houle was about to begin his winter training for the next season when he learned at the beginning of December that he would be racing under new colors in 2026.

After four years with the Israel-Premier Tech team, the 35-year-old Quebecer made the jump to Alpecin-Premier Tech, where he will notably find stars Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen.

It was therefore with additional motivation that he began to work harder in training two weeks later with his new bike.

“Training is going well despite the weather being a little colder these days,” Houle said during a recent telephone interview with The Canadian Press from his home in Monaco.

“The bike is going very well, I’m happy,” he continued. It handles well, it is very responsive. This is the biggest difference between this one [Canyon] and my old [Factor]. It’s really pleasant going downhill. »

Since 1^er January, Houle has already covered more than 1,100 kilometers and climbed more than 20,000 meters of elevation gain in 12 days. This hard work will allow him to show off his new jersey with confidence on the 1st^er next February, at the La Marseillaise cycling Grand Prix, in France.

“I knew it was a possibility that I would participate, but I only had confirmation five minutes before our conversation,” Houle said with a certain excitement in his voice. I’m very happy, it’s not far from home and it’s a race that I know well and which suits me. »

Houle started this race six times during his career and finished in the top 20 three times, signing his best result in 2016 with a 13^e place.

He will then participate in the Étoile de Bessèges – Tour du Gard, a five-stage race which will take place from February 4 to 8 in France. He finished eighth overall in 2023.

It is still too early to talk about what awaits Houle in terms of the three major cycling tours (Tour of Italy, Tour of France and Tour of Spain) this year, but he is excited by the opportunities that could present themselves to him.

That said, Houle is also excited about the idea of ​​racing alongside Van der Poel and Philipsen, two riders who start every race, or almost, with victory in their sights.

“It’s definitely stimulating,” he admitted. When you have riders who are important in the race, you ride differently. You take control of the race and stay active. This is another race configuration that could be interesting. »

Eyes fixed on Montreal

Houle is expecting a good season with Alpecin-Premier Tech, but it is also the year of the UCI Road World Championships Montreal 2026, which will take place in September.

And he makes no secret of it, the objective is to appear at the top of his form.

“It’s one of the main objectives of the season, that’s for sure,” he said. The goal will be to be at 110% when the time comes. »

Houle does not yet know whether he will participate in the Quebec and Montreal cycling Grands Prix or the Tour of Spain in the preceding weeks, but with the World Championships in sight, participation in a grand tour would be preferable, according to him.

“The Vuelta starts from Monaco this year, so it’s tempting,” he explained. Normally, I’m always in the best shape after a big tour. I think it would be ideal to prepare for the World Championships. »

A change of team, new teammates, a new bike, new challenges, World Championships at home… 2026 promises to be busy and it’s not the athlete from Sainte-Perpétue who will complain.

“It’s motivating, I can’t wait for it to start,” he concluded.

(La Nucía) Jonas Vingegaard will, like Tadej Pogacar two years ago, race the Tour of Italy and the Tour de France in 2026 with the objective of becoming the eighth rider in history to have won the three major Tours.

The Dane, who unveiled his program on Tuesday during the media day of his Visma-Lease a bike team in Nucia, on the Spanish Costa Blanca, will compete for the first time in the Giro (May 8-31) of which he will be the big favorite in the absence of Pogacar.

He will then continue with the Tour de France (July 4-26) which he won in 2022 and 2023, but where he will this time start like a outsider against “Pogi”, two-time outgoing winner.

“I’ve been thinking about taking part in the Giro for a while, I feel like it’s the perfect time to make my debut. Having won the Vuelta last fall motivates me even more to win in Italy as well. I would like to add the pink jersey to my collection,” explained the Dane who will begin his season on February 16 at the UAE Tour before also racing the Tour of Catalonia (March 23-29).

“For the last five years, my program before the Tour had been more or less the same. I chose to do it differently this time. The Giro route is perhaps less demanding than in recent years, which makes the sequence with the Tour more favorable,” added Vingegaard, who dreams of winning the Tour de France a third time.

At 29 years old, Vingegaard will try to achieve the same feat as Pogacar in 2024 when the Slovenian won the Giro and the Tour hands down. The ogre of world cycling then became the eighth rider in history to achieve such a double in the same year after Marco Pantani, Miguel Indurain, Stephen Roche, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil and Fausto Coppi.

On the Giro, won in 2025 by his ex-teammate Simon Yates who announced his retirement to everyone’s surprise last week, Vingegaard will have another objective: to become the eighth rider to have won the three major Tours in his career, he who already has two Tours de France and a Vuelta to his name.

If he succeeds, he will be ahead of his great rival Pogacar who has won the Tour de France four times, the Giro once, but never the Tour of Spain where he took third place in 2019 during his only participation.

Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Chris Froome are the seven riders to have won all three Grand Tours.

(Paris) The Briton Simon Yates, one of Jonas Vingegaard’s main lieutenants at Visma-Lease a Bike, winner in particular of the Giro and a stage during the 2025 Tour de France, announced on Wednesday that he was ending his career at the age of 33.

“I have made the decision to retire from professional cycling. This may surprise a lot of people, but it’s not a decision I made lightly. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and I think the time is right,” Simon Yates said in a statement.

“Cycling has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. From racing on the Manchester Velodrome track to competing and winning on the biggest stages, to representing my country at the Olympic Games, he has shaped every chapter of my life,” adds the Briton.

Winner of the Tour of Spain in 2018, the Tour of Italy in 2025, the discreet climber also won three stages on the Tour de France, two in 2019 and one last summer, solo on July 14 at Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy. He also has a success at Tirreno-Adriatico in 2020 to his credit.

Twin brother of Adam, also a stage winner on the Grande Boucle, Simon Yates started his career in track cycling before switching to road cycling in 2014.

“It’s a shame that he’s stopping now, but he’s doing it at a time when he’s at the peak of his career,” said Grischa Niermann, the sports director of Visma-Lease a Bike. “Simon was an exceptional climber and overall rider who always delivered when it mattered most. At the Giro he reached his peak at a time when almost no one expected him to win anymore, which really characterizes him as a rider. »

“I am deeply proud of what I have achieved and equally grateful for the lessons it has taught me,” said Simon Yates, 15^e of the Tour de France last summer. “While the victories will always be etched in my memory, the difficult days and setbacks have been just as important. They taught me resilience and patience, and made my successes even more valuable. »