This social media roundup was rekindled in the heights of silly season. Every week Jonas Abrahamsen supplied us with goofy Instagram laughs, and our social media feeds were awash with Christmas jumper-ed teams. Anyone remember Visma-Lease a Bike‘s beehive knits?
As the new year settles in, January team camps are finishing, and riders are gearing up towards a spring and summer of racing – if they haven’t already headed to Australia for the Tour Down Under.
1. The people’s princes: Yves Lampaert and Soudal Quick-Step teammates helped one stranded driver get back onto the road. But who is this mysterious helmet-wearing driver?
2. WTF is zone two? For time trial world Champion Marlen Reusser, it looks like its a sit down and a frothy coffee.
3. Robyn Clay and her Picnic Post-NL teammates hold Eleanora Ciabocco on a Calpe shoreline in an idyllic end to a January camp full of cats, coastlines and strawberry smoothies. “A couple more weeks of prep before we go racing,” she writes in her Instagram caption.
4. Lidl-Trek are also calling time on their January camp, but not before they quiz their riders on their favourite Christmas gift (we’re still flogging this horse). Felicity Wilson-Haffenden wins hands down, after taking home the Australian National Individual Time Trial title, and the first win for Lidl Trek in 2026. Meanwhile, Anna Henderson has been gifted an entire new set of kitchen utensils to use on her return to the UK – a peak adulthood pressie.
5. Pass through the Swiss town of Schöfflisdorf and you might catch a glimpse of Swiss Olympian, Noemi Rüegg on a training ride turned grocery run, eggs tucked into her EF Education-Oatly jersey – all to the soundtrack of panting breath and tweeting birds.
6. “It’s somewhere that makes sense to me,” says Alice Towers of the Cape Town roads she rode on with her brother, Lucas, under looming clifftops and unravelling seascapes. This is another of EF Pro Cycling’s ‘Beyond Your Universe’ series, available to watch in full on YouTube.
7. Taco van der Hoorn soundtracked this post with Karma Police by Radiohead – we hope that’s not reflective of his mood.
8. Reckon you could cycle underwater? A cyclist’s horror story or a feat of unmatched daring? 12 minutes is impressive regardless.
9. Nothing will shame me out of Christmas day thirds. If you’re recovering from Christmas indulgence, we have tips on how to get back into training and a break down on the science of detraining and retraining.
10. Welsh rider, Stevie Williams, opens up about the struggles he’s had after injuring his knee in 2019, followed by another operation six months ago. As the NSN team heads out to the Tour Down Under, Williams is hoping for a brighter 2026. Poor Stevie won’t be at the Adelaide Oval this year.
11. Who needs a top-of-the-range bike when milliseconds can be shaved off from an aerodynamic head?
