Following professional cycling properly usually means using more than one website or app. Race results and start lists live in one place, official calendars somewhere else, podcasts and video provide context, while route-planning and activity apps are more useful when you want to ride rather than simply watch.
The useful resources are also different depending on what you want from the sport. A fan trying to check the result of a one-day race has very different needs from someone looking for a podcast on the morning commute, planning a weekend route or building a fantasy team for a Grand Tour.
This is a practical guide to the cycling resources worth bookmarking in 2026, covering results, calendars, route planning, activity tracking, podcasts, video, fantasy cycling and games. For daily race coverage, start lists, previews and analysis, ProCyclingUK’s women’s cycling hub remains a useful starting point for the women’s peloton.
The best cycling resources at a glance
| What you need | Resource | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Results and start lists | FirstCycling | Fast race results, start lists, rider histories and calendars |
| Official calendar and regulations | UCI | Authoritative race classifications, calendars and governing documents |
| Ride tracking and social features | Strava | Recording rides, segments, training history and following other riders |
| Route planning | Komoot | Road, gravel and MTB route creation with surface information |
| General pro cycling podcast | Watts Occurring | Race discussion, interviews and an ex-pro perspective |
| Women’s racing podcast | Wheel Talk | Detailed coverage of the Women’s WorldTour |
| Independent video and race commentary | Phil Gaimon | Race analysis, climbing, training and cycling culture |
| Fantasy cycling | Velogames | Season-long fantasy contests across stage races and Classics |
| Cycling management game | Pro Cycling Manager 26 | Running a professional team across a full season |
FirstCycling for race results, start lists and rider data
FirstCycling is one of the most useful bookmarks for anyone following professional racing closely. Its race pages combine start lists, results, stage information, rider histories and team data without requiring you to move between several different services.
It is particularly useful on busy race days. During the spring Classics or a week packed with overlapping stage races, the calendar view makes it much easier to see what is happening across men’s and women’s racing. Individual race pages then give you the start list before the event and finishing order afterwards.
For fans who like following riders beyond the headline races, the database is also valuable for checking previous results, team changes and appearances in smaller events. ProCyclingUK uses FirstCycling embeds on many race pages because the information can sit directly alongside the editorial coverage rather than forcing readers to hunt elsewhere.
The UCI calendar for the official version
FirstCycling is usually the quicker everyday tool, but the UCI road calendar is the place to check when the official classification or status of a race matters. It lists sanctioned events across the different UCI categories and provides the governing body’s version of the international calendar.
The UCI website is also where to go for regulations, ranking rules, disciplinary decisions and formal announcements. It is not always the fastest site for answering a simple fan question, but it is the authoritative source when you need to know whether a race is WorldTour, ProSeries, 1.1, 2.1 or another classification.
For example, the 2026 Women’s WorldTour calendar was confirmed through the UCI before teams and organisers built their season programmes around it. ProCyclingUK covered the 2026 Women’s WorldTour calendar and reforms when those changes were announced.
Strava for tracking your own riding
Strava remains one of the most useful cycling apps because it works as both a training log and a social network. Riders can record speed, distance, elevation and routes, compare efforts on segments and follow friends, club-mates and professional riders.
The free version covers the basics well enough for many riders. Subscription features add deeper analysis, route tools and additional training functions, but you do not need to pay simply to record rides and build a long-term history.
For cycling fans, the social side is often just as interesting as the training data. Professional riders regularly upload training rides, recon sessions and recovery days, giving followers a view of preparation that is very different from polished team media.
Komoot for planning road, gravel and MTB routes
Komoot is stronger when the priority is route planning rather than competition. It can generate routes for road cycling, gravel, mountain biking and touring, with surface information and sport-specific routing helping to avoid inappropriate roads or trails.
The ability to download routes and maps for offline navigation is especially useful when riding abroad or in areas with unreliable mobile coverage. Community highlights can also help identify climbs, viewpoints, cafés and sections of road that are worth building into a route.
For a longer trip, Komoot works particularly well alongside the other tools covered in ProCyclingUK’s guide to apps for a long cycling trip.
Watts Occurring for a current pro cycling podcast
The podcast that began as the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club now continues as Watts Occurring. Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe remain central to the show, with Emma Finucane and Manon Lloyd also part of the current line-up.
Its biggest strength is access. Thomas and Rowe can talk about race situations from the perspective of riders who spent years inside the WorldTour, while the broader cast allows the show to move beyond a single part of the sport. During Grand Tours it becomes particularly useful because episodes react to what is happening rather than simply previewing races weeks in advance.
The old article on this page referred to the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club as if it were still the current name and described Tom Fordyce as the regular co-host. That format has moved on considerably, which is exactly why a resource guide like this needs regular updating.
Wheel Talk for women’s professional cycling
Wheel Talk is one of the strongest dedicated podcasts for the women’s professional peloton. Hosted around Abby Mickey with contributors including former professional riders, it focuses on the Women’s WorldTour, race tactics, riders and the stories developing through the season.
It works especially well as a companion to race coverage because the discussion has enough space to explain why something happened rather than simply repeating the result. During the Giro and Tour de France Femmes, the frequency also increases as the racing produces new storylines every day.
If you want more options in the same area, ProCyclingUK has a separate guide to the best women’s cycling podcasts and YouTube channels.
Phil Gaimon for independent race analysis and cycling video
Former professional Phil Gaimon’s YouTube channel, often known as Worst Retirement Ever, has developed well beyond the climbing and KOM attempts that initially made it popular. In 2026 it combines race reaction, analysis, interviews, training, equipment and the occasional return to Gaimon’s attempts at riding uphill very quickly.
His Tour de France and Vuelta videos are particularly useful for fans who want a relatively short explanation after a stage rather than another full broadcast recap. The perspective is personal and opinionated, but it comes from someone who raced at WorldTour level and is comfortable explaining what teams and riders are trying to achieve.
Velogames for fantasy cycling
Velogames is still one of the best ways to turn following professional cycling into a season-long competition with friends. Its games cover Grand Tours, other stage races and Classics, with riders earning points for much more than simply winning.
The scoring rewards stage results, overall classifications, mountains, sprints, breakaways and team support, so a good fantasy team needs more balance than simply selecting the biggest names. Mini-leagues make it particularly good for groups who follow the same races.
The official Tour de France Fantasy by Tissot is another option during the Tour, but Velogames has the advantage of extending across much more of the season. ProCyclingUK also publishes event-specific fantasy pieces, including the 2026 Tour de France Femmes fantasy guide.
Pro Cycling Manager 26 for the full directeur sportif experience
The original version of this article described Pro Cycling Manager as a mobile game with 20 tracks. That is not what the current series is. Pro Cycling Manager 26 is a PC management simulation released in June 2026 in which you run a professional cycling team through recruitment, contracts, season planning, race selection and tactics.
It is at its best if you already understand the structure of professional cycling because the appeal comes from balancing a full squad rather than simply controlling one rider. A Grand Tour leader needs support, sprinters need suitable programmes and young riders need development time, while the race engine lets you make tactical decisions once the team reaches the start line.
The series has been part of cycling gaming for decades, and ProCyclingUK has a separate feature on the history of Pro Cycling Manager for anyone interested in how it developed.
What happened to CyclingTips and MapMyRide?
Two recommendations from the previous version of this page no longer belong in the main list. CyclingTips was once one of the biggest English-language cycling sites and had a well-known podcast, but the original publication was closed after Outside’s acquisition and many of its former journalists later became part of Escape Collective. Referring readers to the CyclingTips Podcast as a current show is therefore outdated.
MapMyRide still operates, but its place in the market has changed. Under Armour sold the MapMyFitness apps to Outside in 2024, and support for the old Under Armour Connected Footwear integration is being removed by the end of 2026. It remains capable of recording rides, but Strava and Komoot now provide clearer recommendations for the two main jobs this guide needs to cover: activity tracking and route planning.
Building a simple cycling fan toolkit
You do not need all of these services. For following professional racing, a simple combination of FirstCycling for start lists and results, the UCI calendar for official information and a trusted editorial source for context covers most needs. Add Watts Occurring or Wheel Talk if podcasts fit your routine, then Velogames if you enjoy having a reason to care about the battle for eighth place on a sprint stage.
For your own riding, Strava and Komoot cover different jobs well enough to justify using both: one records and organises what you have done, while the other is primarily about deciding where to go next. That separation is more useful than looking for one app that tries to do everything.
The important thing is that a cycling resource should save time or add context. The best ones make it easier to understand a race, find reliable information, discover a route or enjoy the sport in a different way. Anything that simply adds another feed to scroll through is much less essential.
