All the info and all our coverage of the pre-season training gatherings
Eritrean road race champion Merhawi Kudus is happy to have joined Astana for 2019 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Although the start of the 2019 WorldTour season is still a month away, many of the big teams are starting to move through the gears as they prepare for the new season.
Training camps are being held by almost every professional team this month, and Cyclingnews is the place to keep abreast with it all. We'll give you details of each team's plans - who's where, what they're doing and when.
At Cyclingnews we cover these training camps extensively, attending many of them for exclusive news and interviews, and we'll include links to all our coverage here, so keep checking back for all the latest news, features, interviews, tech, video, and photos from our reporters across Europe.
AG2R La Mondiale
The AG2R La Mondiale team once again headed to the French Alps at the end of November for the first of their pre-season get-together. With a proper training camp to come in Spain later in December, the team set aside their road bikes and cracked out the cross-country skiis, snow shoes, fat-bikes, and biathlon rifles for team-building fun on the mountain.
A media day was also held with a packed schedule of interviews, the big news being Romain Bardet's decision to ignore the Giro d'Italia for another year and continue to focus exclusively on the Tour de France in 2019.
To come on Cyclingnews: Naesen, Gallopin, Dillier.
Dimension Data
The South African team held its annual pre-season get-together in Cape Town at the end of November. The 2019 roster was confirmed, with all riders and staff present, and bicycles were handed over at the Bulumka Secondary School in the name of the Qhubeka charity.
The American-registered Trek-Segafredo team is again bucking the Spanish trend and opting for an Italian training camp, staying at a golf resort on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily this week. The men's team will be joined by the all-new women's team, who will all be training together for the first time ahead of their first race outings in 2019.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Bahrain-Merida riders spent a day at the IRR Rehabilitations Institute of Turin, undergoing medical tests ahead of the 2019 season. This week they will gather on the Croatian island of Hvar for a first full training camp. The team also announced good news in the UK as McLaren Technologies has signed on as a partner. Following a week of training, the official 2019 team presentation took place Wednesday at the Arsenal Theatre in Hvar. The team recently announced the first official training camp of 2019 will take place in Cambrils, Catalunya from January 10-22.
"January 15 will be press and media day with a press conference at the hotel Cambrils Park Sport Village at 2:30 p.m., while on January 16, Bahrain-Merida ambassador Joaquin Rodriguez, Catalan cycling legend, will lead a bike ride open for all interested.
Team Sunweb are in Calpe, on the coast in south east Spain this week. The team will be training in new kit and on new equipment, but details of that - along with race programmes for Tom Dumoulin and others - will have to wait until the new year.
The newly formulated team run by Jim Ochowicz met over the weekend in Denia, Spain, for their first pre-season training camp. They're there all week, with a media day to be held on Friday.
The Belgian team with the new title sponsor will head to Calpe, Spain, this week for their first training camp. The team recently got together at their logistics warehouse to bid farewell to departing rider Niki Terpstra. The team will meet again in Calpe in early January, where they hold their annual pre-season media events.
Lotto Soudal
The Belgian team are having their first training camp this week in Mallorca, over on the eastern edge of the island. New signing Caleb Ewan will be there trying to assemble his lead-out train.
The Kazakh-based team are currently in Altea, Spain, where they gathered on December 7 for the first time as a 2019 team. A first training ride along the sunny coast followed before riders separated off for medical testing, bike fitting and meetings.
The Dutch team of Primoz Roglic, Dylan Groenewegen, and Steven Kruijswijk are holding a training camp in Girona, north east Spain, next week.
UAE Team Emirates
The work began for UAE Team Emirates at a training camp that ran through December 21 in Spain. All 29 riders from the 2019 roster were on hand and working toward the new season. The team based itself at the Gran Palas Hotel in La Pineda, near Tarragona.
UAE Team Emirates have made a number of changes for next season, including the signing of Fernando Gaviria. The Colombian moves to the team from Quick-Step Floors and won't be seen in his new kit until he makes his debut with the team next month at the Vuelta a San Juan.
Team Sky will gather at their regular base in Mallorca in December and again in January. They will not be having any organised media activity during these camps.
