Visma | Lease a Bike and UAE Emirates-XRG who? Tudor unveils ultra-modern HQ and leaders' schedules

Tudor Pro Cycling shared significant updates at its official 2026 media event on Wednesday afternoon. The Swiss ProTeam confirmed that, thanks to a strong 2025, it has secured guaranteed start rights in all major WorldTour races in 2026, giving its leaders ambitious race calendars. The team also announced a large-scale new headquarters project.

Team principal Fabian Cancellara opened the press conference with a proud look back at 2025 — a season in which Tudor notched up 15 wins and, most importantly, debuted in the Tour de France. “We learned a lot from last year, with our start in the Tour as a milestone. We also won with multiple riders, and almost everyone took a step forward.”

Those results put Tudor among the top ProTeams in the UCI Team Ranking and earned automatic entries into all the big WorldTour races in 2026. “That gives peace of mind,” Cancellara said. With Tudor set to ride all three grand tours and the spring classics, he added: “We’re not going to change everything overnight, but this really helps in achieving the goals we set ourselves."

"2026 is an important start — we begin a new three-year phase in which we aim to earn WorldTour status by 2029. We want to win a stage in a grand tour and look forward to the calendar. If we do things right, I’m confident Tudor will be competitive at the front.”

After the team’s leadership remarks, CEO Raphael Meyer presented an ambitious and ultra-modern new headquarters project. The first pile was driven into the ground in Sursee, Canton Lucerne, on September 1, 2025, and the HQ is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 — provided construction stays on schedule.

Meyer, who comes from outside the cycling world, explained the motivation behind the project: “When I arrived three or four years ago, I found it almost bizarre that we as a team were rarely together and had no central hub. That sparked the idea to build an HQ.” He emphasized that the facility will be open 24/7 for our riders, and will also welcome fans and anyone interested in the project.

While teams like Visma | Lease a Bike and Lidl–Trek already have “High Performance Centers,” Meyer said Tudor is aiming even further. The new HQ will include logistics facilities, space for team vehicles and bikes, a gym, wellness areas, altitude rooms for recovery, and interactive experiences for cycling enthusiasts.

The plans have already drawn questions from other teams curious about what Tudor is building. “It’s nice to see interest from around the sport — we want to be more accessible,” Meyer added.

After the management, Tudor’s three key leaders for 2026 — GC contender Michael Storer, all-rounder Julian Alaphilippe, and classics specialist newcomer Stefan Küng — shared highlights of their race programmes. With Marc Hirschi adding his plans to ride the Giro d'Italia for the first time in his career, later on the day.

Storer’s calendar will also see him in the Giro d’Italia, where he experienced some setbacks last year. In March, he’s set to ride Tirreno-Adriatico instead of Paris-Nice. Because he indicated that many other targets resemble his 2025 schedule, he’s also expected to line up at the UAE Tour, Trofeo Laigueglia, Milano-Torino and Tour of the Alps. Last year he won the overall in Sud-Tirol.

Alaphilippe returns to Italy in 2026, racing Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, and continuing through Milano-Sanremo. He will then focus on the Ardennes triple and the post-classics season. Küng, the new face of Tudor, will target all the major spring one-day classics from the early season opening weekend through Paris-Roubaix. Like Alaphilippe, he plans to build toward the Tour de France — and he added: “I still dream of winning a cobbled classic — why not this year?”

Bram van der Ploeg ( X: @BvdPloegg | email : [email protected])