Indholdsfortegnelse for February 21, 2019 i Cycling Weekly

I recently visited Ribble HQ in Preston to ride their new e-bike with Sean Yates. If previous reactions are anything to go by, there’ll already be some questioning my suitability as editor of this magazine due to the fact I went near a bike with a motor in. There is still a lot of resistance to them, I think partly because the first thing most people think of is hidden motor = cheating. In truth, e-bikes are going to take a little time to find their way into our world. From a commuting or utilitarian point they make perfect sense. Get one million people out of their cars and on to e-bikes and you can start to make a big difference to congestion and pollution. If cities continue to build…

Next week’s Track World Championships will provide the clearest indication yet of exactly who will be in the frame for a spot on the plane to Tokyo in 2020. With no international road pros returning to ride, the team is a mixture of current Olympic champions and relative newcomers hoping to secure their spot. Among those is John Archibald, making his debut for the British team at this level. The 28-year-old Scot rode the Europeans last summer despite not being a full-time member of the Great Britain Cycling Team and has forced himself back into the squad after a blistering set of individual pursuit rides this winter. In December he posted a new national record of 4.10.584, becoming the first Brit to better Chris Boardman’s 1996 world record done in…

MEN’S TEAMS AG2R LA MONDIALE France No. of riders: 28 Under 26: 9 Over 35: 2 Key stat: Romain Bardet has finished in the top 10 in each of the last five Tours de France The dream of winning the Tour de France remains alive, but it is a distant one. Romain Bardet is an exceptional overachiever, someone who has maximised his talents and used his smart tactics and sturdy mental strength to twice finish on the podium at the Tour, but seems short of what is necessary to actually win the yellow jersey. Elsewhere, a squad that once looked as good a fit for the cobbled Classics as their jersey’s brown and blue colour scheme is now, led by Oliver Naesen, very competitive, while Bardet himself last year proved…

1 MILAN-SAN REMO March 23 TV: Eurosport The first Monument of the season — and the longest at 294km — will have punchy fastmen like Peter Sagan and Julian Alaphilippe dreaming of glory on the Via Roma. To date, neither has won the race, but they are both down on the provisional startlist this year and came very close in 2017. The inevitable solo escape over the Poggio will be a feature, but it’s not a steep climb and the 6km run-in to the line is a long way on your own — a small group of roadman sprinters is likely to finish the job. 2 STRADE BIANCHE March 9 TV: Eurosport Last year’s podium at the modern Monument contained a green Classics specialist in Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal), a certified…

Fuelling Take on sufficient fuel before, during and after rides. Before longer rides, meals containing carbohydrates ensure our energy stores are topped up. During rides, consume 30-60g of carbohydrates every hour. After rides, consuming food or drink rich in protein may reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and aid recovery. Recovery If you have completed a heavy training load and feel tired, have some rest! We only benefit from training if we recover properly, so plenty of sleep and good nutrition is key. Stretching and flexibility Even if your position is perfectly dialled in, hours spent with our backs bent over our handlebars can leave us feeling sore. Spend at least one hour each week working on flexibility, stretching and core exercises. Strength and flexibility means more balance on the…

ROAD RACING SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16 Lee Valley Winter Circuit Series round 16 (Lee Valley VeloPark, London): 2, 3: 1. Kieran Blay (TAAP Cervélo) 47.34; 2. C. Cole (LKY7/SD Racing); 3. S. Cadavid (VC Londres); 4. I. Hope (Rapha CC); 5. C. McLean (Nuun-Sigma Sport); 6. H. Horsman (TBW23); 7. R. Piotrowski (unattached); 8. K. Argent (Sigma Sport); 9. C. Burns (Verulam-Really Moving.com); 10. M. Smith (London Phoenix) all same time. Fourth cat: 1. Jacob Chambers (Southend Wheelers) 48.23; 2. B. Moody (Rapha CC) +0.10; 3. J. Scott (unattached) +0.40; 4. M. Heffernan (Hub Velo) +0.48; 5. D. Jacobs (unattached); 6. J. Scott (Islington CC); 7. G. Jaworski (Harlow CC); 8. E. Bowe (unattached); 9. S. Epstein (Islington CC); 10. N. Papalini (unattached) all same time. Abingdon Racing Team Winter Circuit…

Chris Froome’s Tour de France plans couldn’t be going better, says Team Sky DS Nico Portal, despite his GC chances in last week’s Tour of Colombia being thwarted by a crash on the penultimate stage. The race was won by Miguel Angel López (Astana). “You can really see that everything is looking good for July. He’s really determined — it’s unbelievable,” Portal said. “I don’t know if you’ve seen the pictures but he’s thin already, in great shape.” A win at the race wasn’t as much a priority as completing a solid block of training and racing throughout the three-week period the team were there. “[Froome] had a big block of training in South Africa, and then he came here and he trained really hard. So chapeau, chapeau for him,”…

It’s just outstanding the amount of time you can spend on YouTube. I’ve chosen not to say “time you can waste” because, who knows, it might come in handy to know the full history of the athletics 400m world record, about gender equality in Rwanda, or that joke about turtles. It might. I’m in the habit of falling asleep watching it. I confess this knowing it’s pretty common but also wishing I wasn’t one of the many who do it. We’re so weak. I like to be distracted enough from my own thoughts that I can drift off, yet not so stimulated as to unavoidably retain consciousness. I don’t skip the ads. There’s one, narrated by Stephen Fry, for an app designed to send you to sleep, that’s 23 minutes…

Individual pursuit Over the last 24 months this event has moved on more than any other as times have tumbled. Much of this is down to the constant advances in aerodynamics. Just two years into his cycling career, Britain’s John Archibald will be lining up against former team-mate Ashton Lambie (USA), Filippo Ganna (ITA) and Evo Oliveira (POR). Team pursuit So often the benchmark for the strength of a nation’s squad, the team pursuit is always a highlight. With little more than a year-and-a-half to go to the next Olympics, expect a battle between the defending champs GB and world record holders Australia. The two might not have it all their own way. New Zealand, Canada, Denmark and Italy have all posted national records of 3.53 or better in the…

Chris Froome (Team Sky) Another early-season race for the Brit as he builds his season towards a coveted fifth Tour de France title. Froome tends not to impress this early in the year and is likely to work for team-mates. CW rating ★★★ Elia Viviani (Deceuninck–Quick Step) With two wins under his belt already, Viviani is looking to repeat former glories in the Middle East. The Italian sprinter won the general classification at the Dubai Tour, but has strong competition from Colombian Fernando Gaviria. CW rating ★★★★★ Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) After a brutal crash at last year’s Tour de France, Nibali will be looking to make a statement this season. The Italian returned to racing last autumn and looked very strong in his final races. CW rating ★★★★ Rohan Dennis…

Harry Tanfield (Katusha-Alpecin) He’s already held a jersey as a pro less than two months into the season after he took the young rider’s one at the Tour of Valencia after the opening time trial, which he finished in the same time as Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas (Sky). Having found the going tough on the hills, Tanfield hopes to lose weight in the first half of the year and if he can do that and keep his power he stands a good chance of taking the national time trial title. Pfeiffer Georgi (Sunweb) Georgi spent 2018 tearing up races on the junior and under-23 circuit. Even when she did mix with the seniors she showed herself to be very capable with fourth in the mountains classification at the…

Tour of Colombia (Feb 12-17) Colombian riders dominated their home race, with Miguel Angel López (Astana) winning overall and three of his compatriots victorious in stages. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) won the final stage, a summit finish, while Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) triumphed on stage five. Tour de la Provence (Feb 14-17) Astana’s Spanish rider Gorka Izagirre claimed the leader’s jersey after stage two and successfully held onto it. There were stage wins for Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo). Telenet Superprestige Noordzeecross Middelkerke (Feb 16) Mathieu van der Poel made it eight wins in as many Superprestige rounds, the first rider to complete such a feat since Sven Nys 12 years previously, and with it won the competition. Denise Betsema won the women’s race, but Sanne Cant retained…

News editor While Sky’s racing calendar is now in full swing, behind the scenes things continue to be highly uncertain as the search for a new title sponsor continues. The team’s trip to Colombia gave team principal Dave Brailsford a chance to meet with Colombian president Iván Duque Márquez, who also heads up oil company Ecopetrol, as he continues to tour the boardrooms of the world. If you just read the headlines you could be forgiven for thinking Ecopetrol backing the squad was a done deal. And it makes sense, the hugely impressive Egan Bernal, leading the team at the Giro d’Italia this year, signed a five-year contract last year — that’s a major asset to tout to Colombian backers. And new recruit Ivan Sosa, who finised second on GC…

Tour of Antalya (Feb 21-24) Team Wiggins-Le Col make their season debut in the second running of the Turkish tour, led by Gabriel Cullaigh and current New Zealand champion James Fouché. The field consists mainly of development teams and stage three’s summit finish is likely to determine the overall winner. There are two stages likely to end in sprints. Setmana Valenciana (Feb 21-24) Former British road race champion Hannah Barnes won stages one and four en route to claiming the GC last year. Her Canyon-SRAM team are racing once more, as are Team Drops. There is a mixed parcours, with stages for sprinters and rouleurs. Tour du Haut Var (Feb 22-24) Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) will be looking to improve on his fourth-place finish at the Tour de la Provence and…

What rating between one and 10 would you give your last race? Last race in Majorca I’d rate as a nine because I had two days that were perfect sunshine and I didn’t crash. If you could win one race what would it be? Paris-Roubaix. It was the first bike race I’d ever watched. I saw Nikki Terpstra win in 2014 and it was the first time I’d seen someone come across the line crying, all covered in mud. He won solo, would that be your tactic? Oh no, I’d hope it finishes in a bunch kick! What’s the best bit of advice anyone has ever given you? It’s really easy to be mediocre. Because it’s so easy in cycling to do what everyone does and train like that and…

No Red Hook Crits in 2019 Lack of sponsorship has forced the Red Hook Crit series to cancel all events this year. The track bike series began in 2008 in New York and now includes rounds in London, Milan and Barcelona. “Our efforts will be focused on raising support and developing plans for the continuation of the Red Hook Criterium Championship Series in the years to come,” tweeted organiser David Trimble last week. 5 …the number of times the OVO Energy Women’s Tour will have visited Suffolk, after it was announced that the county will host the first stage in 2019. A new two-year deal means the event will return again in 2020. The race, won last year by Sunweb’s Coryn Rivera, will be six stages long for the first…

I decided to go along to Paul Sherwen’s memorial service in Manchester recently. Although I didn’t know Paul, it felt like I did. His and Phil Liggett’s voices have become part and parcel of my love of cycling. In so many ways they are as much a part of the Tour de France for me as are Team Sky and Christian Prudhomme. It almost feels like they’re my friends. The service was wonderful, and genuinely touching to hear the stories from his friends, family and former colleagues. It’s such a great loss. My deepest sympathies to his family and thank you for having an open service allowing the likes of myself to come along. Susan Gilder, email WIN Letter of the week wins a Lazer O2 helmet worth £99.99…

David “Cycling Mole” Hunter (@cyclingmole) Sure thing: Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) regains the World title. Yorkshire is about as perfect as it gets for the great man. Expect to see a reduced sprint and another rainbow jersey for Sagan. 50:50: Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) defends his Tour de France title. His performance in France was nothing short of outstanding, but Froome was tired after the Giro. Now that both have been confirmed as not doing the Giro, it will take a huge effort from the Welshman to defend his crown. Long shot: Oliver Naesen (Ag2r) wins Flanders. The former Belgian champion has been knocking on the door for a couple of seasons, but bad luck always seems to strike. If he can avoid crashing, he has a chance of taking home…

Lactate burn A burning sensation in the legs when riding at maximum or close to maximum effort. This is often blamed on lactic acid build-up in the muscles, but is only partially true. Lactate is actually recycled and reused as a fuel, and various factors cause the discomfort we feel as oxygen supply struggles to keep pace with demand. DOMS Delayed onset muscle soreness is the painful, aching muscle soreness we experience a day or two following intense exercise. DOMS is due to inflammation caused by micro traumas or tears to muscles and connecting tissues. Lack of motivation An unwillingness, lack of interest or reduced enjoyment when riding. Though this is often due to physical fatigue, a lack of motivation often comes down to a psychological cause such as stress…

With over 20 years’ experience in cycling, coach Ben is a former World Masters road race champion personalbestcycling.co.uk James’s previous results demonstrate that he has good potential. However, he does face a challenge to get back to racing form after six months off. He is right in thinking that his primary objective should be to lose the weight that he has put on and get back into race shape. James has a good sprint, which will be useful in crits, but he needs the form and fitness combined with race-smartness in order to be sprinting at the sharp end of the race rather than launching too late. Being able to make repeated efforts and still have a finishing sprint will be the challenge, and not just in crits but also…

I was out for a ride with my friend Bernard last week. And to my consternation, I made him happy. Not just happy, if truth be told, ecstatic. “That’s the best thing I’ve heard for years,” he said. “I can’t wait. That’s going to be… oh, I’m so excited I don’t know what to say.” He actually whooped with pleasure. It was a strange and troubling noise. The comment that aroused this flood of emotion? I had told him that, since my running career is on hold due to injury, I was contemplating doing some bike races in the coming season, for the first time in three or four years. “It’ll be brilliant,” he continued. “You’re so used to being good that you won’t know how to cope with being…

Completing an Iroman isn’t all that hard. You just complete an Ironman. A bit of patience and a few bananas and the job’s a good one. There is some swimming and a wee bit of running, but essentially it’s a nice bike ride, hopefully somewhere warm. What’s critical is your ability to remind people of your achievement. Never let an opportunity pass. If a friend says, “God, I feel utterly exhausted,” be sure to get in with, “I bet you’re not as tired as I was when I finished my Ironman…” Should anyone venture a, “Goodness me, I’m hungry,” don’t be too shy to pipe up with, “I bet you’re not as hungry as I was during the final stages of my Ironman…” However, you can’t always rely on people…

A friend told me recently of a delightful incident of tolerance and patience. He was passing through a local village, one where there is always a row of parked cars on the narrow high street, effectively reducing it to a single lane. A driver stopped to wait for my friend to get past the cars. When he reached the end of the row, he gave the driver a courteous wave. A couple of miles later the same car appeared at his elbow. “Don’t you bloody dare wave at me,” the driver shouted. “I was waiting for the car behind you, not you.”…