Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2023 i Cycling Plus

WELCOME… Peanut butter on toast for breakfast, a Cornish pasty for lunch and spaghetti Bolognese for tea. Job done, right? My food palette hasn’t really shifted since about 1994, much like my cultural references (The Fast Show, anyone?). But, as our big feature on nutrition and periodisation from page 38 shows, being flexible with your fuelling before, during and after riding can have major benefits to your performance as a cyclist. The easy tweaks don’t require living a monastic lifestyle centred on tap water and turnips either. In fact, peanut butter and spag Bol are still on the menu. Brilliant! matthew.baird@ourmedia.co.uk Your experts Nicola Smith Cycling expert Saddle sores. It’s an alltoo-common yet rarely discussed problem that can ruin a ride. Looking at saddles, shorts, sit bones and more is…

Scan the bookshelf of anyone with both (a) a bicycle whose mudguards bear a cycle-campaign sticker, and (b) grey hair. There’ll be a yellowed, much-circulated 1970s paperback. On its cover, a beardy bloke in sweater or check shirt is tinkering with a racing bike. It’s Richard’s Bicycle Book, and that’s the author Richard Ballantine (1940–2013): a US-born, London-resident publisher and writer who just happened to love bikes. First published in 1972, it went through countless new editions and updates well into the 2000s. Half was a maintenance manual, all nuts-and-bolts line drawings, strippeddown prose, brisk clarity (‘If pivot bolts are adjustable, as P is on this Campagnolo unit, undo locknut, back P off one eighth turn, reset locknut.’). But the other half – the half people bought or borrowed it…

Weight 9.42kg (XL/58cm) Frame HMF Carbon Fork HMF Carbon Gears 22-speed Shimano GRX RX600 (46/30, 11-34) Brakes Shimano GRX Hydraulic RX400 Wheels Syncros RP2.0 Disc Finishing kit Schwalbe G-One Bite performance 45c tyres, Syncros Creston 2.0X handlebar, Syncros RR2.0 stem, Syncros Tofino regular 2.0 saddle, Syncros Duncan 1.0 aero seatpost SCOTT’S ADDICT GRAVEL IS THE brand’s first carbon machine built solely for gravel. It brings lots of the thinking behind the speedy Pro Tour Addict RC to off-road design: a long, low ride position plus aero-optimised frame design with integrated frame and fork and internal cable routing. However, there’s also a generous 45mm clearance on the 700c wheels to help it blast across gravel. The geometry isn’t quite as long and low as the Pro Tour RC, but it’s noticeably more…

“Get out of the gas station and make your way to the race start or you’ll be disqualified!” As stirring pre-event calls to action go, it’ll hardly give Michael Sheen sleepless nights, but the race compere has done her job and scores of cyclists are now careering towards the starting pens of the Gran Fondo Il Lombardia. The pro racers were given glorious sunshine at the 116th edition of Il Lombardia the day before, the final monument of the 2022 season and a race alternatively titled the ‘Classic of the Falling Leaves’. The weather gods have turned vengeful for the corresponding amateur event some 14 hours later, however. What starts with an isolated aquatic drop becomes a light coating of the sunglasses before it intensifies to biblical proportions to recall…

EXPERT ARTICLES ON HOW TO BUILD YOUR FITNESS AND STAMINA PACKED WITH TIPS AND TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE YOUR FORM LOADS OF NUTRITIOUS RECIPES TO HELP FUEL AND RECOVER FROM YOUR RIDES ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY www.buysubscriptions.com/ridefit23 or call 03330 162 138 and quote ‘Ride Fit 2023 Print 1’ Lines are open 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-1pm Saturdays Overseas please call +44 (0) 1604 973 746 Subscribers to Cycling Plus magazine receive FREE UK postage on this special edition *Prices including postage are: £9.99 for subscribers, £11.49 for all other UK residents, £12.49 for Europe and £13.49 for the Rest of the World. UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if…

“The innovative Barronium coating provides armour against angle-grinder discs” £149.99 British-made, angle-grinder-killing lock LITELOK IS KNOWN FOR ITS lightweight, flexible, belt-like designs that combine tough locking mechanisms, and the mesh-like main material proved impressively tough in our last big-lock round-up. The new X1, however, has more traditional U-lock looks, but it uses a material that’s anything but traditional, and there are some innovative design details too. The hardened, fine-grain-steel core is much like any other high-end steel shackle, but this is then fused with a coating that provides armour against angle-grinder discs. This material, Barronium, was developed by Litelok founder Neil Barron (see what they did there?) with the input of materials research specialists. The 1.6kg weight is around the same as top-end rivals from the likes of Abus, Kryptonite…

Dhb Windslam Neck Tube £10 THIS SIMPLE, AFFORDABLE AND effective neck tube from dhb has swiftly become an everyday cycling essential for me this winter. The soft polyester and elastane mix sits comfortably on the skin, aided by the chafe-free flatlock seams and tidy finishing. It fits neatly under jacket and jersey collars to prevent chilly air ingress, while the nylon frontal mesh area means it can double as a face mask. I’ve also used it as a cycling skull cap and a running headband. Sadly, there’s just one black colourway though. Matt Baird Q36.5 Adventure Winter Jacket £252.95 Q36.5’S NEW TYPE OF FLEECE in a honeycomb pattern gives great breathability and warmth at a teeny 285g for a size M. Varying thickness and breathable panels help temperature, regulation (and…

01 Vittoria Zaffiro Pro V G2.0 £24.99 Sizes 25c, 28c, 30c, 32c Size tested 28c Weight 341g VITTORIA’S GREAT-VALUE ZAFFIRO Pros have a folding bead (lighter than a non-folding bead) and a tough 26 TPI (threads per inch) nylon carcass for strong puncture protection. The graphene 2.0 rubber compound is also designed for maximum durability. Vittoria says 25-28c tyres should be used on a rim with a 19mm internal width, but they worked well on my 20mm test rims. When inflated, they measured 28.5mm wide and 25mm tall. The shallow, rounded profile and excellent sidewall support gives ample grip for training in all conditions. These tyres have more feel than previous versions and are more supple than you’d expect. They’re not the fastest accelerating, but not overly sluggish either and…

Castelli Emergency 2 £165 Sizes XS-XL Colours Brilliant Yellow; Light Black; Military Green; Brilliant Pink With a looser fit than some and a slightly dropped hem at the back, the Castelli Emergency 2 is a fully taped waterproof shell (10,000mm rating) that’s easily stashed into a jersey pocket. An elasticated hem keeps the jacket snug around the hips and cuffs, while there’s a little stretch in the main fabric too. There are four colourways, some brighter than others, but each adorned with hi-vis detailing that’s been thoughtfully integrated into the design. Pitted against the worst of Dartmoor weather, the Castelli Emergency 2 battled off the rain to keep my layers underneath totally dry, while simultaneously protecting me from the keen wind. The waterproof full zip is easy to pull down…

AND GET YOUR FIRST 3 ISSUES FOR JUST £5! WHY SUBSCRIBE? • Try your first three copies of Mountain Biking UK for just £5* • Continue to save 35%** on the shop price, paying £24.99 every six issues by Direct Debit • Every magazine will be sent hot off the press and delivered straight to your door • Get access to exclusive offers and competitions with our Subs Zone • Never miss an action-packed issue or supplement again! TO SUBSCRIBE… buysubscriptions.com/MBH23 OR call our hotline on 03330 162152, quoting code MBH23 Lines are open 8am to 6pm weekdays, 9am to 1pm Saturdays TERMS & CONDITIONS: *Three issues for £5 offer is only available to UK residents paying by Direct Debit. Your subscription will start with the next available issue. After…

New gear Aero upgrades grouptest Best turbo trainer apparel Also inside… Generational talent The best young Brit racers following Cavendish and Deignan Bake back control Chef Hannah Grant’s healthy root veg cake book for cyclists Overtaken by events How the sportive & holiday business survived the pandemic Mane roads Rob Ainsley rides the eight white horses of Wiltshire On sale 16 March 2023…

Established 2021 Editions 2 Recent Winners Elisa Longo Borghini (2022); Lizzie Deignan (2021) A WOMEN’S PARIS-Roubaix had been long sought after, such is the unique characteristics of the race. A men’s race has been held since 1896, predating the Tour de France by a full seven years and, aside from the vastly superior bike technology used by riders of today, little has changed. The cobblestones are still bonerattling, the mud and dust still clogs up the lungs and grits the eyes. The route remains an anachronism in a world on fastforward and is still one of the toughest on the whole calendar. The women’s race is still in its infancy and won by two bright lights in Lizzie Deignan and, last year, Elisa Longo Borghini. It’s too early to comment…

Established 1903 Editions 109 Recent Winners Jonas Vingegaard (2022); Tadej Pogačar (2021, 2020) IN 2022, THE BIGGEST bike race on the planet was also the best bike race of the year, which certainly isn’t always the case. With the stakes so high, racing can get bogged down in defensive tactics. Last year’s race was different. The team of twotime defending champion Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates, had a clanger, while the seven riders behind 2021’s runner-up Jonas Vingegaard were inspired, particularly Wout van Aert, who ran riot on all terrains. For 2023, we can expect a burned Pogačar to come roaring back. There’s a stronger team behind him too, with Brit Adam Yates signed from Ineos Grenadiers. There could also be stronger competition behind last year’s top two, with Egan Bernal…

Established 1935 Editions 77 Recent Winners Remco Evenepoel (2022); Primož Roglič (2021, 2020) THIS CENTURY, LA VUELTA, Spain’s biggest race, has cultivated a deserved reputation as the steepest of the three Grand Tours. Summit finishes are its MO, particularly the sort of goat tracks that neither the Tour de France nor Giro d’Italia – races with bigger footprints than the Vuelta – would dare go up. Most famously of all, it’s Alto de l’Angliru, the mountain climb in Asturias of rare steepness, that has come to define the race in the 21st century. For 12.6km at almost 10%, it’s one of the most feared in the world and was introduced in 1999 by organisers in an attempt to give the race the sort of showpiece climb that the Tour had…

Doc’s order Soudal-Quick Step have become the latest men’s WorldTour team to get their own documentary series. Streaming on Amazon Prime at some point in 2023, it will follow the team through their brilliant 2022 season Show business The Cycle Show is back for 2023 at London’s Alexandra Palace (21-23 April). Special guests include Nicholas Roche, Zoe Bäckstedt, Philippa York, Matt Stephens and Pete Kennaugh. cycleshow.co.uk Rock hard Hotchillee has announced a new one-day gravel event in Wiltshire (24 June). The 215km/135km Ekoi Stone Circle features Stonehenge and is run close to the summer solstice. See p119 for more info hotchillee.com Spanning Jenny Jenny Graham, who in 2018, broke the round-the-world cycling record, has announced the publication of a book about her ride. Coffee First, Then the World is out…

Weight 11.1kg (XL) Frame 4130 Steel triple butted Fork Full carbon Gears Shimano GRX600 (40/11-42) Brakes Shimano GRX400 hydraulic disc Wheels Fulcrum Rapid Red 900 DB Finishing kit Continental Terra Trail 40c tyres, Deda Gravel alloy bar, Deda Zero stem, Orro Bostal saddle, Orro Alloy Setback seatpost, FSA Adventure Compact bar, FSA Omega ST stem ORRO BIKES ARE DESIGNED IN THE shadow of the legendary Ditchling Beacon and on the doorstep of some great gravel in the South Downs. The Terra range consists of carbon, aluminium, e-versions, plus this S model where the S stands for steel. It’s a custom 4130 chromoly that’s triple butted to Orro’s design. Up front, a full-carbon fork completes the heart of the bike. It’s great value: for a penny under £2,000 you get Shimano’s GRX600…

Cyclists love nothing more than to geek out with each other about anything to do with their sport. Well, almost anything. Saddle discomfort – and its associated problems – might give even the most evangelical rider pause in sharing. As Tammy Corney, owner of Cognition Bike Fit and a British Cycling coach, says: “Asking a retail assistant for saddle suggestions because you have big blisters on your labia, are recovering from recent prostate surgery or experiencing erectile disfunction is embarrassing.” Despite appearances, saddles are a very complex and important bike component and should not be overlooked. And while a bike saddle will never feel like sitting on an armchair, you shouldn’t experience pain. As Matt Hallam, sports scientist and owner of bike fit specialist Crimson Performance says: “If cyclists are…

The Testers Russell Burton Cycle photographer Photographer and rider Russell is used to testing kit to the max on long, tough days Robin Wilmott Tech writer Long-time contributor and former staffer Robin is an ultra-experienced tester Katherine Moore Cycling journalist Gravel and bikepacking expert Katherine is a freelance journalist and guide Simon von Bromley Senior tech writer Simon has a keen interest in technology that can help him ride faster…

THE BIA IS A LEFT-ONLY POWER meter, with the pod sandwiching between your left pedal and crank, while a spacer balances things out on the other side. It’s compatible with almost every bike and pedal system out there and, at just £229, it’s pretty cheap. However, I feel it’s a false economy. The whole thing weighs a relatively heavy 92g (without batteries). The plastic covers are already showing wear after making battery changes, and the meter’s IP54 waterproof rating means it’s resistant to water splashes only. There’s also just a one-year warranty. The Bia is ANT+ and Bluetooth compatible, but the company tries to limit you to using one at a time to help battery life. Using your bike computer for one of these systems may get round this though.…

POC Motion Wind Jacket £125 POC Poise Crew Neck £75 POC Motion Rain Pants £160 VERSATILITY IS AT THE HEART of this collection from POC. It’s designed to be stylish enough in the city, but to also have the technical features to cope with the rigours of off-road riding. The Poise Crew Neck could easily pass for an upmarket sweatshirt. The subtly dropped back hem and roomy fit that allows for body armour make it very comfortable to ride in too. The cotton/polyester mix material, however, makes it neither a performance baselayer nor cosy insulation, so I generally ride around town in it. Despite being just sleek enough to pass as everyday casual, the Motion Rain Pants perform well too. Sealed seams and burly ripstop waterproof fabric keep you dry…

There’s no escaping the fact that we’ve experienced plenty of the wet stuff this winter. Yet that’s no reason to stop pedalling, with rain jackets in 2023 offering better protection from the elements than ever before. While indoor riding has a host of structured training benefits, riding in the rain remains a good time to work on dialling in your skills and becoming a better cyclist, both physically and mentally. It can also be a whole heap of fun. Not all waterproof rain jackets are created equally. Some of the 12 on test here (six men’s, six women’s) are designed to keep you dry regardless of the ferocity of downpour, while others are lighter and will aim to see you through a shower. We took them all out for rides…

Rapha Core Rain Jacket II £110 Sizes XS-XXL Colours Gold; Dark Red; Black; Navy; Ultramarine The price of the Core Rain has risen by just a tenner since 2017, making it one of the less pricey options in this test. The cut is more generous than usual, with the dropped tail offering rear protection from the elements. Precipitation protection is excellent, with the taped seams, AquaGuard zip and an adjustable hem keeping the rain at bay. The offset zip with zipper garage prevents neck chafing, while the elastane inner cuffs block chilly breezes. Breathability is adequate, aided by perforations under the armpits, but I struggled to undo the zip on the move. The sharp, pared-back design including a lack of any pockets means it can’t be stashed into its own…

Your Experts James Witts Reach your peak The Science of the Tour de France author looks at the latest cycling research Kate Percy Fuel your riding Kate is the author of Go Faster Food and the founder of Go Bites energy balls Norman Lazarus Performance wisdom Norman, 87, is a physiology professor, author and former audax champion Heidi Blunden Masterclass maestro The Parallel Cycle Coaching founder shows you how to plan your season’s goals…

Over two decades ago, the topography of where I lived was of little concern when I got on my bike. Of course, it took me about a year to comfortably ride up the North Downs hills around my home, but from then on, hills were about the challenge and summits about their views. In the last five years, however, my attitude towards them has taken a turn, and the way I ride them – or don’t ride them, more to the point – is testimony to my physiological decline. There is one hill in particular, on my most direct route home at the end of most rides, where I have been loath to admit to myself that it might be time to change my approach. Recently, getting off to walk…

I’ve been thinking about Peter Sagan over the last few days. This is not infrequent, though I have to confess that I’ve thought about him less and less often over the last couple of years. The way that his winning streak peaked out, and then fell off has been bewildering in its alacrity. Such is his diminished status these days in those rather insipid TotalEnergies team colours, that I sometimes find myself surprised to see him still in the peloton at all. He has, of late, become something of an invisible man, which is a shame. And it is also an observation that could become a hostage to fortune, though I doubt it. None of this is meant to be unkind to Sagan, though it could be read like that.…

1.UWT - Men’s WorldTour one-day 2.UWT - Men’s WorldTour stage race 1.WWT – Women’s WorldTour one-day race 2.WWT – Women’s WorldTour stage race 1.Pro - Men’s/women’s ProSeries one-day 2.Pro - Men’s/women’s ProSeries stage race 1.1/1.2 - Men’s UCI Tour one-day race 2.1/2.2 - Men’s UCI Tour stage race JANUARY FEBRUARY 20-26 FEBRUARY UAE TOUR 2022 Podium 1 Tadej Pogačar 2 Adam Yates 3 Pello Bilbao Currently the only men’s WorldTour race in the Middle East, the UAE Tour was born out of the communion of the Dubai Tour and the Abu Dhabi Tour in 2019. The race has become a popular early season hit for the world’s climbers, thanks to tests such as Jebel Hafeet and Jebel Jais, the latter a spectacular 21.5km climb to almost 1,500m in the Hajar…

Established 1892 Editions 106 Recent Winners Remco Evenepoel (2022); Tadej Pogačar (2021); Primož Roglič (2020) THE RECENT ROLL CALL of winners at Liège– Bastogne–Liège is filled with all sorts of types of riders: general classification winners of Grand Tours, dynamic climbers, big diesel engines who can go the distance and even canny puncheurs with a nose for a winning move. It’s the oldest of the five ‘Monuments’ of men’s professional cycling, the five biggest one-day races. At over 250km and with more than 4,000m of climbing, it’s a truly arduous route, with climbs peppering it throughout. With longer and more gradual climbs at the start, the race heads south through the lush rolling hills of the Belgian Ardennes until Bastogne, where it turns back north for a steeper second half.…

Established 2022 Editions 1 AFTER YEARS OF pressure and passion, Tour de France organisers ASO finally got a proper women’s race off the ground in 2022. The Tour de France Femmes – eight stages beginning in Paris and ending on the sharp slopes of Super Planche des Belles Filles – proved wildly successful, with fans turning out both on the tarmac and their televisions (in France, almost half the French TV audience tuned in for the race finale in the Vosges). For the second edition, organisers have listened to some of the minor niggles of the first race. For starters, stage 1, which last year was bolted onto the end of the men’s race in Paris, has moved to Clermont-Ferrand, a city in central France that allows the race to travel…

Established 1905 Editions 116 Recent Winners Tadej Pogačar (2022 & 2021); Jakob Fuglsang (2020) ASIDE FROM PARIS-Roubaix, all of the Monuments are packed with climbs, yet only Il Lombardia could be defined as a climber’s race. Last year’s 253km race packed in almost 5,000m of elevation, with long, searing climbs, and was won by twotime Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar, for the second time running. The most prolific winners of the Monuments are dominant riders of an historic nature; of a more recent vintage, only Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara at Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders have come close to eclipsing the old guard. But Il Lombardia appears to have met its match in Pogačar, whose front foot nature and fast finish are perfectly suited to its profile.…

The 18 best-performing teams have been given WorldTour licences for 2023 and are based on ranking points accumulated between 2020 and 2022, not just the previous year. Two ProTeams – the licence level below WorldTour – finished inside the top 18 through this period: Alpecin-Deceuninck and Team Arkéa–Samsic. This allowed them to successfully qualify for a WorldTour licence, which gains them automatic entry to every WorldTour race. Their success meant the relegation of two teams: Lotto-Soudal (now Lotto-Dstny) and Israel-Premier Tech. Ranking points are awarded not just in WorldTour races but all UCI races, including World and National Championships and under-23 racing. The number of points awarded depends on the prestige of the race. For example, the Tour de France winner nets the biggest haul, 1,000 points, weeklong WorldTour stage…

‘Godwin’s Law’ states tongue-in-cheek that as an online comments thread gets longer, the probability of a comparison to Nazis or Adolf Hitler approaches 100%. For debates about cycling, a similar trend applies, but about references to the Dutch (although without any of the negative connotations, of course). The celestial quality of their bike facilities is well-nown. Too well-known, in fact: a trope so familiar it can hijack a cycling debate as surely as Edinburgh’s tramlines capture your front wheel. So a Twitter thread or council discussion about some terrible bike lane, for instance, can end up trapped in the classic circular argument of cyclophobes. We don’t have the infrastructure because we don’t have a Dutch cycling culture. And we don’t have a Dutch cycling culture because we don’t have the…

“We may be seeing the first glimmers of a new dawn for cycling in Scotland.” This is according to Cycling UK’s Jim Densham, on Scotland’s latest budget, in particular a record-breaking £189.2m coming this financial year for active travel (cycling, walking and wheeling) and sustainable transport. That equates to £36 per head – it’s European levels of funding. The following year active travel spending should skyrocket to £300m – double this year’s outlay, and 10% of Scotland’s overall transport budget. The 10% figure was an SNP and Green party pledge as part of transport decarbonisation plans, and it’s bold. It’s a move that other countries would do well to follow: road transport is the biggest carbon-emitting sector, and remains stubbornly high. The growth in SUVs has wiped out the gains…

Weight 13.77kg (L) Frame Chromoly steel Fork Chromoly steel Gears Microshift M6205 rear mech, AdventX dual control levers (32t, 11-48t) Brakes Tektro Mira MD-C400 Wheels WTB STi40 TCS rims on Novatec Boost hubs Finishing kit Teravail Ehline 27.5 x 2.5” tyres, Salsa Cowchipper handlebar, Surly 80mm stem, WTB Volt 142 saddle, TransX YSP15 100mm travel dropper post SURLY BIKES OF MINNESOTA certainly does things differently, making long-wheelbase haulage bikes, single-speed cyclo-cross machines, fat-tyred tourers and this tall, chunky gravel monster, all in steel and all using tubesets of its own design. At the front, the Grappler is noticeably taller than most gravel bikes. My Large test bike frame has a stack of 641mm, around 30mm taller than the Scott and the Orro. The 458mm reach is also more than 50mm longer…

1 Be flexible Cyclists regularly adapt their training rides, goals and bike kit. But when choosing what to eat before, during or after training, we often stick to the same routines. In many ways, this is sensible. Knowing which fuel works for your body is crucial. And it’d be unwise to try a new plan on event day. But following the same nutritional strategy for every training session could be hampering your physiological adaptations and throttling your gains. Most athletes are familiar with the concept of ‘periodised training’ – the strategic adjustment of training variables over time to optimise performance. But among professional cyclists, ‘periodised nutrition’ – the time-specific use of nutritional interventions to trigger targeted training adaptations – is of growing importance. While some riders follow habitual fuelling plans, it’s…

THIS LATEST REVISION OF Fulcrum’s Racing 5 DB (disc brake) wheelset has some useful improvements. Increased external and internal rim widths (to 25mm and 20mm respectively), help cope with wider tyres, while rim depth has decreased to 24mm and stiffness is toned down. Hand assembled and finished in-house in its Italian factory, these wheels are now compatible with up to 700 x 28c tyres (they could only take 25mm-wide tyres before). This all helps boost ride ease and comfort for newer riders looking for a first upgrade of their wheelset, or those needing an all-day, all-weather training option. Rim tape comes pre-installed, so the wheels are tubeless-ready out of the box and these are listed at 1,660g for the pair. Mine were 1,736g, including the rim tape and lockrings. When…

01 Seam success Key to construction is waterproofing where each piece of fabric meets, namely the seams and zipper. Simon Hodder, senior lecturer in ergonomics at Loughborough University, is a man in the know. “Most jackets will be stitched, which clearly means you end up with little holes where the needle’s punctured the material to sew the thread. To remedy the situation, manufacturers will bond a stretch of waterproof tape to the inside. That said, some jackets dispense with stitched seams and simply bond the pieces of material together. “The zipper’s another area of water ingress,” Hodder adds. “That’s why many zips will have a rubber encapsulation around the zip teeth like you might have on a dry bag.” 02 Durability demands “All our garments undergo both lab testing (abrasion…

Getting there You can get to Gatehouse of Fleet by train via Lockerbie and Dumfries. By car, the start is five minutes from the junction off the main road, the A75. From Ireland, the Scottish ferry port of Cairnryan is an hour’s drive to the race village. Where to stay All entries to Raiders Gravel include a camping pitch or motorhome parking within the event campsite at Garries Park. 2023 dates The second Raiders Gravel will take place between 31 August and 3 September 2023. How to enter Visit the website, raidersgravel.com, to enter. Find, plan and share adventures with komoot Komoot is an app that lets you find, plan, and share adventures with the easy route planner. Driven by a desire to explore, and powered by the outdoor community’s…

INSIDE THIS SPECIAL-EDITION MAGAZINE YOU’LL FIND: Easy-to-follow explainers on ebikes, from the controls and frame design to the battery, motor and parts How to choose the right ebike for you and your cycling needs Tips on getting the most from an e-powered bike, riding smart and adjusting your technique from a non-powered bike to electric ONLY £10.99 INCLUDING FREE DELIVERY! Whether you plan to ride in an urban environment, on gravel or on the road, there are plenty of ebike reviews and the best ebike-specific gear and kit to get the right setup for you ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY www.buysubscriptions.com/electricbikeguide2022 or call 03330 162 138 and quote ‘Electric Bike Guide 2022 Print1’ Lines are open 9am-5pm weekdays. Overseas please call +44 (0) 1604 973 746 UK price is £10.99 with…

EXCLUSIVE OFFER SAVE 25% ON THE CYCLE SHOW ENTRY From the editor… Welcome to our Cycling Plus Subscriber Club. This is the place where we bring you exclusive content, competitions and special offers to say thank you for subscribing to Britain’s best-selling cycling magazine. Every issue will feature something different, but what won’t change is that the competitions, offers and additional content will only ever be available to those of you who subscribe. SAVE 25% THE CYCLE SHOW CELEBRATES its 20th anniversary this year in what is its second visit to the iconic Alexandra Palace, London, after it proved a fantastic venue last year. Running from 21–23 April 2023, the event is set to be bigger and better than ever. We’re offering all Cycling Plus subscribers an exclusive code to save…

Established 1913 Editions 106 Recent Winners Mathieu van der Poel (2022 & 2020); Kasper Asgreen (2021) POUND FOR POUND THE most exciting race of the year? Many make a strong case for it. It has all the ingredients for the ultimate bike race: the best riders at the peak of their powers, explosive climbs, jarring cobbles, exceptional distances and ultrapassionate fans. The Tour of Flanders has oodles of history, yet has been smart to move with the times to create a route that satisfies the modern sporting audience, with a finishing circuit and repeated climbs for multiple dopamine hits. Since 2017 the race has begun in Antwerp, a port city in north Belgium; before that Bruges from 1998. The starts, finishes and route in between, like other one-day Classics, often…

Established 1909 Editions 105 Recent Winners Jai Hindley (2022); Egan Bernal (2021); Tao Geoghegan Hart (2020) THE 2023 GIRO ROUTE is a throwback, with mammoth mountain stages, high volumes of solo time trialling – and even a proper mountain time trial to end the race. The sporting success of recent Giros has often been dependent on the big-name riders that have shown up, such as the thrilling 2018 edition won by Chris Froome. For 2023, race director Mauro Vegni has helped his search for star power by distinguishing his route with that of the Tour de France; the 70.6km of solo TTs, and its high mountains, has attracted the admiring glances of riders like Primož Roglič, Geraint Thomas and Remco Evenepoel. The latter, confirmed for the race, has unfinished business with…

Established 1927 Editions 87 FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2023, the road cycling World Championships will come together alongside all disciplines of cycle sport in a combined UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow. There are a total of 13 championships, including road, track, cross-country mountain biking and para-cycling road, across 11 days of competition, with 200 rainbow jerseys – the ultimate award of winning a world championship – up for grabs. There’s even indoor cycling, which isn’t another name for track cycling or sitting on your turbo, but ‘artistic cycling’, with people performing handstands on their handlebars. We’re sure Tom Pidcock could give it a good go. The only sport missing is cyclo-cross, which keeps its winter spot. For amateurs, the Gran Fondo Worlds will also take place here, with…

2023 marks the final year of the UCI’s first ‘licensing cycle’ for the Women’s WorldTour (WWT), which progressed from an initial eight teams in 2020 to nine in 2021 and 14 in 2022, as the carrot of the inaugural Tour de France Femmes proved irresistible. For 2023, 15 licences have been awarded. With three teams vying for the final 15th licence, the UCI said that “for the first time since the creation of the division, the teams were evaluated on the basis of the sporting criterion,” meaning that the final spot came down to the team’s position on the UCI Women’s WorldTour ranking. As the highest-ranked Continental squad, and after meeting other necessary requirements, Fenix-Deceuninck were awarded the final licence. WWT licences are also contingent on teams proving their commitment…