Jim Cotton

United States

Reporter and Editor at VeloNews

Reporter / editor for VELO. Writing about bike racing, dreaming about running, listening to obnoxious music. Tattoos, coffee, running, reading.

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Articles

Destroying access to Westerly's wonders a bad thing

2 days ago | thewesterlysun.com | Jim Cotton

I read with interest the letter of June 3 on proposed access to Napatree to build a road to the end ("We don't need a road in Watch Hill, just access," by Philo Willetts). I am a homeowner since 1960 and a visitor since 1945. Westerly offers so many opportunities to enjoy the many different activities around the seashore. Walking to Napatree is one of several activities which makes Westerly magical. Sure it's not easy, the sand is soft, but the surroundings are worth the effort.
Is This the Team to Beat Pogańćar?

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

Did a team chef leak the Visma-Lease a Bike selection for the Tour de France? Images shared this week by staffer Rolf Hoekstra reveal the riders who will head to Tignes later this month for a pre-Tour de France altitude camp. The now-deleted Instagram story suggests Jonas Vingegaard will be backed by a true dream team for his box office brawl this summer with Tadej Pogačar.
Watch: Raging Riders, Sweary Staff, Pogańćar Plotting: Netflix Teases New Series of 'Tour de France

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

Mark Cavendish, Tadej Pogačar, raging riders, and sweary staff. What more could you want from the new series of the hit Netflix show " Tour de France: Unchained?"Luckily, it's all going to be in there. The streaming service unleashed the trailer for the third series of its show on Wednesday, and the one-minute reel is as high-hype as you'd expect. Visma-Lease a Bike and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe directors are getting angry. Jasper Philipsen is kicking things on the Alpecin-Deceuninck team bus.
Can Anyone Beat Pogačar at the Tour? Why the Dauphiné Means Everything and Nothing for Evenepoel, Vingegaard

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

Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Remco Evenepoel will give us a high-thrills trailer for the Tour de France next week at the Critérium du Dauphiné. But don't expect any spoilers. This Dauphiné serves only as a high-speed lab test before the three bigs return to altitude to put the yellow touches on their Tour de France form. But that's not to say the Dauphiné won't be worth paying attention to next week.
The Masterclass, Disaster, and Puzzling Lack of Passion of the Finestre Coup

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

We are all still in shock from what we witnessed on stage 20 of this year's Giro d'Italia. Despite our attempts to break it down and analyze the myriad of circumstances that contributed to one of the most unique, baffling, and inspiring races we've ever seen, we must remember that no amount of anticipation or prediction can prepare us for what truly happens in a race.
Teen Sensation Brennan Bulldozes Tour of Norway

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

The 19-year-old Brit Matthew Brennan has won more in 2025 than Tadej Pogačar, but don't you dare go saying he's the next Wout van Aert. Visma-Lease a Bike's sensational speedster crushed two stage wins and claimed a breakout first GC victory last weekend at the Tour of Norway. And as if that wasn't enough, the bulldozer Brit finished second on the two stages he didn't win, and threw the overall youth and points classifications into the bag too.
The Numbers That Defined the Giro d'Italia

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

Eight hundred fifty watts. 59 minutes. Three GC contenders. They're just some of the numbers that can help us unpick a smash-mouth 2025 Giro d'Italia that still feels hard to understand. Here are the stats that support the key narratives of what was a wild, and at times wacky, corsa rosa:59:22: Simon Yates crushes Finestre climbing recordSimon Yates blew up both the Giro d'Italia and the climbing leaderboards with his redemptive raid over the Colle delle Finestre.
'Sometimes You Win, Sometimes you Lose'

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

Isaac del Toro gambled and lost on the Colle delle Finestre in a wild, historic turnaround at the Giro d'Italia on Saturday. The Mexican sensation - owner of the maglia rosa for 11 days straight - crumbled out of pink on the final day of GC racing after Simon Yates provoked the 21-year-old into a high-stakes game of poker with Richard Carapaz. "Everybody was playing. Visma played really well, we tried to play as well, and that's it," a shell-shocked Del Toro said at the finishline Saturday.
'In a Three-Week Race, Jonas is Better'

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

Visma-Lease a Bike made the first move for Jonas Vingegaard in the inevitable pre- Tour de France mind games. According to Visma team boss Richard Plugge, Vingegaard is better than ever and primed to beat Tadej Pogačar in July at Le Tour. "You could say that Pogačar is better on Tour of Flanders-like courses, but this is about a three-week race. And in our view, Jonas is better at handling that accumulation of fatigue," Plugge told the WielerFlits podcast.
Denz Bullies Breakaway Rivals with 17km Attack, Race for Pink Hits Pause

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

Nico Denz delivered Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe a consolatory stage-win at the Giro d'Italia on Thursday will a bulldozing 17km attack out of the breakaway. Mirco Maestri (Polti VisitMalta) and Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Decenink) went two-three in a small group sprint for the podium positions. After two huge brawls in the mountains, the GC fight went on pause on Thursday's transitional stage 17.