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Hello and welcome back to Global Peloton’s free bi-weekly newsletter!
Cycling is juxtaposed in so many ways. I’m sure you can think of examples. Here’s one: it’s a sport that is deeply entrenched in its western European cultural heritage, but it also a global sport. With such deep roots in Europe, cycling globalisation is not happening quickly. It’s step by step, milestone by milestone. And a few more have been reached already this year.
The latest was achieved by Thomas Silva, a Uruguayan rider for XDS-Astana, who became the first from his country to compete in the Giro d’Italia. On day two, he took another, become Uruguay’s first Grand Tour stage winner and overall classification leader, as his father and brother watched on by the side of the road with pride.
Also in the newsletter this week, interviews with Alan Hatherly as he takes on his first Grand Tour and Gosia Jasinska, sports director for Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto Generation, as well as a race round up from around the world.
Enjoy the newsletter,
Dan
Recent posts:
- Q&A: Alan Hatherly plans to ‘find the limits’ at his debut Giro d’Italia
- How will the Giro d’Italia’s Bulgarian start measure up?
- How Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto Generation is guiding Africa’s biggest talent
Before last Friday, no Uruguayan had ever even ridden the Giro d’Italia. Now, one is wearing its famous pink jersey.
XDS-Astana’s Thomas Silva carved out a new piece of history on Saturday in Veliko Tarnovo, becoming the first Uruguayan to win a Grand Tour stage, and the first rider from the country to wear the maglia rosa. After a breakaway containing Jonas Vingegaard was caught within metres of the line, Silva was set up by his team-mate Christian Scaroni and launched a powerful uphill sprint to take a landmark win.
“I’m delighted. This is only the second stage of my first Giro d’Italia, and I’m the winner. It was a bit unexpected. I’m speechless,” Silva told media after the stage. “I knew I came with a good shape, but I also knew that it’s very hard to win a stage of a Grand Tour.”
Silva grew up in Maldonado on Uruguay’s south eastern coast. He began competing for his local club, CC Maldonado, as a teenager before securing a move to Spain with amateur squad Team Arte en Transfer-LPS in 2019. He joined the pro ranks in 2023 with Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and stepped up to the WorldTour and XDS-Astana this season after a string of impressive results, particularly in Asia.
The 24-year-old has already shown his talent this year, recording top stage placings at the Volta a Catalunya in March before winning the Tour of Hainan. He holds onto the lead of the race as the Giro moves to Italy this week, and has every chance of remaining in pink until the Blockhaus stage on Friday.
“This is something fantastic, and right now I’m overwhelmed with emotions, it’s hard to describe. My family is here with me these days, travelling along with the race, and it means so much to have them nearby and supporting me on a day like this,” Silva added on the team’s website.
“Today the whole team was outstanding, so this success belongs to all of XDS Astana Team. I honestly have no words — yes, I really wanted to fight for a stage win, but now I’m also wearing the pink jersey, and that’s completely unexpected. There’s not much more I can say right now, the emotions are overwhelming.”
Alan Hatherly has only ridden 70 race days on the road in his entire career ahead of the Giro d’Italia. He’s hoping that three weeks in (Bulgaria and) Italy can slingshot him to bigger performances as he looks to further his road ambitions and takes aim at ann Olympic gold medal in Los Angeles in 2028.
Halfway into his second year with Jayco-AlUla as he makes a mid-career multi-discipline switch, Hatherly is now South Africa’s only rider in the men’s WorldTour. Progress has been quick for the 30-year-old, who now feels in a place to secure results on the tarmac.
“I've been really happy with the progress from last year to this season. The Giro was always kind of a plan from December,” Hatherly told me for Escape last week.
“The long-term plan is gearing towards going for gold at the Olympic mountain bike in ‘28 and I think that this is just an opportunity to explore the capabilities on the road. I think that this is going to be a very important stepping stone in the road career and if what everyone says is true, how it changes you, I’m just looking forward to that and to take advantage of that”
Read my full interview with Hatherly here
19-year-old Tsige Kahsay Kiros is viewed as Africa’s brightest young talent. After glistening to 7th place at the junior women’s world championships road race last year in Kigali, the Ethiopian signed a three-year deal with Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto Generation - a feeder team to the German WorldTour squad of the same name.
‘You know, in three years I will have this jersey and this bike,' Kiros said while looking at Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney’s 2024 Tour de France gear as she was given a tour of the team’s service course in Leipzig over the winter.
“I think I never saw in another rider this kind of spirit and this kind of fight,” the team’s sports director, Gosia Jasinska, told me for Escape. “You feel this hunger to become a big cyclist. The numbers, they are exceptional, but I think in her case, the mental side is the big [advantage over] the others.”
Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto Generation have secured a rider with immense potential, and according to Jasinska, the mental fortitude required for greatness. So how is Jasinska approaching Kiros’ development?
“Everything is new for her. The peloton is bigger and we work with positioning because it's very important for her. I know already in her mindset she wants to win the races. But I say always step by step,” Jasinska said.
Read the full article over on Escape Collective
The 2026 Tour du Benin was won by Latvian Kristians Belohvosciks, who also took two stages. Mauritian Alexandre Mayer was second, with Moroccan Yousef Bdadou third. There were also stage wins for Algerian Nadjib Assal and Moroccan rider Salah Eddine Mraouni. The one-day GP de Cotonou, held the day after, was won by Bike Aid’s Oscar Schempp ahead of Yafiet Mulugeta and Belohvosciks.
Also in Benin, the GP des Amazones took place as the only women’s one-day UCI race in Africa this year. It was won by Awa Bamogo in a 1-2-3 for Burkina Faso, with Adéle Guissou and Lamoussa Zoungrana also on the podium.
In Greece, at the Tour of Hellas, there was a first appearance in Europe for Nahom Efriem, the Eritrean youngster who finished 11th in the junior men’s road race at the Worlds last year. Efriem settled straight into European race, with a 5th place on the opening day and 6th on stage 2.
The Tour de Kumano, one of Japan’s biggest races, was won by Aussie Luke Burns, riding for Japanese continental team Victoire Hiroshima.
In Brazil, Colombian rider Wilmar Paredes won the Volta Ciclística de Sao Paulo stage race - which is on the UCI schedule for the first time this year. A 1.2 race followed it. The Desafio das Américas de Ciclismo was won by Chilean Tomas Quiroz.
A Colombian was victorious in a Guatemalan UCI stage race too. The Vuelta Bantrab was won by Cesar David Guavita.
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