Jim Cotton

4 days ago | velo.outsideonline.com | Jim Cotton

The Giro d'Italia, it's the "most brutal race in the most beautiful place."It's three weeks of snowcapped Alps, glittering seas, and the iconic maglia rosa, right? Well this year, the Giro brings more. Iuman, purveyor of male underwear and a line of "indestructible" boxer shorts, has moved front and center of the corsa rosa. The Italian brand replaced Enel as lead sponsor of the pink jersey for 2025, and its logo has been slapped onto the chests of GC leaders Mads Pedersen and Primoz Roglič.

1 week ago | velo.outsideonline.com | Jim Cotton

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) unleashed a monster sprint and narrowly held off a charging Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) for stage victory and the first pink jersey of the Giro d'Italia. Lidl-Trek blew the peloton's legs off in the hilly finale in Albanian capital Tirana to drop the pure sprinters and stun a handful of GC hopefuls. Derek Gee (Israel Premier Tech) and Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) both suffered damaging early time losses in the fearsome finale..

1 week ago | velo.outsideonline.com | Jim Cotton

"Comeback Queen" Pauline Ferrand-Prévot abandoned La Vuelta Femenina ahead of Thursday's fifth stage. Visma-Lease a Bike posted to Instagram on Thursday morning to reveal the Frenchwoman was "not fit.""Unfortunately, Pauline won't start today's fifth stage of La Vuelta Feminina. She is not feeling fit enough to continue the race," read the note. Ferrand-Prévot started the Spanish tour with the big ambition of taking down Demi Vollering in the race for GC.

1 week ago | velo.outsideonline.com | Jim Cotton

Just when things were looking good for Belgium's most unlucky bike racer, Wout van Aert is facing more heartache. Van Aert revealed Wednesday a viral infection torpedoed his Giro d'Italia training program and is threatening his pink jersey ambition. "Pink has become more of a dream than reality. Unfortunately, I got sick last week," Van Aert told . "I didn't have the ideal preparation.

1 week ago | velo.outsideonline.com | Jim Cotton

Miguel Ángel López – aka “Superman” – saw more turbulence Wednesday when officials dismissed his appeal against a doping ban. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) formally upheld the four-year period of ineligibility that was slapped onto López by the UCI in July 2023. The controversial Colombian was charged with possession and use of banned substance Menotropin while riding the 2022 Giro d’Italia with Astana-Qazaqstan.