Indholdsfortegnelse for May 17, 2018 i Cycling Weekly

There’s a British rider in pink at the Giro d’Italia, it’s just not the one we were expecting. Simon Yates’s opening week has been as spectacular as Chris Froome’s has been disastrous, and the Bury lad looks impressive as he leads his first Grand Tour. Yates and his twin brother Adam have been placing in the top 10 of Grand Tours for the last two years. But the annals of cycling are littered with talented young riders who promised much in major stage races then failed to deliver a win. There are no guarantees that a rider will step up to leading a three-week race, let alone winning one overall. The result of the Giro is still far from decided, and the final week will be a massive test for…

Local knowledge proved key as Rebecca Durrell (Storey Racing) powered to victory in the Women’s Lincoln Grand Prix, the opening round of the National Women’s Road Series. The 29-year-old, who lives just 15 minutes from the course and the tough cobbled Michaelgate climb, crossed the line just two seconds ahead of Anna Henderson (Cycle Team OnForm), with the remains of a 13-rider break not far behind. “I love this climb!” said Durrell. “It’s short and punchy and I know these roads which is a real benefit. I practise here quite a lot so to win here is really special.” Durrell — who nearly won the Lincoln Grand Prix 12 months earlier with a long solo break — was part of a three-rider break which went clear on the second lap.…

He rode with the aim of securing a good qualifying time for this year’s National 50-Mile Championship, but Paul Hart ended up breaking the national competition record on his way to victory in the Eastern Counties CA 50 in Cambridgeshire on Saturday. The 38-year-old Southend Wheelers rider from Essex sliced just six seconds from Matt Bottrill’s old record from four years ago, clocking 1:34.37 to win the event by almost five minutes on the E2/50c course on the A11 and A14 near Six Mile Bottom. “That was a shock — needless to say I’m chuffed,” said Hart. “To be honest I didn’t even know what the comp record was as it just wasn’t on my radar. I went there hoping for a 1-36 or 1-37 to get a decent start…

Why pursue a cycling career? About five years ago my grandad got me into cycling and since then it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I did well in my A-levels, but on my days off I didn’t have the urge to learn; I just wanted to ride. I love the adrenaline racing gives and I love going fast. Why Belgium? I came out here last year for five weeks and knew I wanted to move here. I’m not too keen on mountains so Spain and Italy were never an option. The flat, rolling roads here, the aggressive racing and the small cycling community were perfect for me. What type of rider are you? Every year I change my opinion. I like racing aggressively and powerfully, I never just sit…

Aero still counts The speeds may be lower but the benefits of good aerodynamics will really stack up. Choose clothing that is comfy but not baggy and use clip-on aero-bars if speed is of the essence. Stick to what you know It might be tempting to stock up on new and exotic energy bars and gels, but your body will be under enough duress without giving it something new and unusual to digest. Warmers and layers Over the course of a day the weather will change and it will probably rain. This is the UK. Bring clothing that won’t leave you caught out under any conditions. charging up Will your GPS, mobile phone and lights last for a whole day in the saddle? Bring chargers and top up their energy…

▪ 330km With my buddy Mannie Melville. It went well… and badly. We headed south in good weather, turned eastwards into a storm and were freezing by halfway. It was July, yet we were hypothermic! Nearly packed it in. The weather finally turned and for the last 75km or so were dry and relatively warm. We rolled home after about 12 hours to a warm house and fish supper. Michael McEwan ▪ 335km Achieved by eating copious amounts, and just because I like riding my bike in the sunshine. Lewis Hutchison ▪ 220 miles From London to York. It was supposed to be 200 miles but we got lost. Did it to test my new Garmin! Maxwyn Harris ▪ 241.5 miles A 12-hour time trial plus warm-up. Never ever again!…

ROAD RACING SUNDAY, MAY 13 Men’s Lincoln Grand Prix (Lincoln): E, 1, 2: 1. Alexandar Richardson (unattached) 103 miles in 3:54.00; 2. A. Tennant (Canyon-Eisberg) +0.16; 3. A. Slater (JLT-Condor) +0.24; 4. M. Downey (Team Wiggins) +0.28; 5. J. Oram (One Pro Cycling) +0.29; 6. C. Swift (Madison-Genesis) +0.30; 7. M. Stedman (Canyon-Eisberg) +0.38; 8. G. Pym (Madison-Genesis) +0.41; 9. I. Bibby (JLT-Condor) +1.16; 10. G. Cullaigh (Team Wiggins) +1.18. Spring Cup Series, final overall: 1. Jonathan McEvoy (Madison-Genesis) 64 pts; 2. K. Domagalski (One Pro Cycling) 52; 3. S. Lampier (Saint Piran) 50. Team: 1. Madison-Genesis 156; 2. One Pro Cycling 122; 3. Team Wiggins 118. Women’s Lincoln Grand Prix (Lincoln): E, 1, 2, 3: 1. Rebecca Durrell (Storey Racing) 63 miles in 2:41.17; 2. A. Henderson (Cycle Team…

Such is Froome’s dominance in Grand Tours in recent years that it seems almost unnatural to see him being spat out of the group of favourites in Italy. The warning signs were, in retrospect, there at the Tour of the Alps. Thibaut Pinot is a class rider, and improving, but the last time Froome finished behind him on GC was in the 2016 Tour de Romandie when his bid for victory was scuppered by a puncture. Yet at the Tour of the Alps he was not able to follow when Pinot attacked. Even if Britain’s most successful GC rider did come into the Giro undercooked, with the intention of building form through the race, he will have to pull off an almighty turnaround to overcome the time he’s already lost.…

I broke my collarbone a fortnight ago (well, 13 days when this goes to print), clean in two. One end was visibly trying to poke through the skin, though thankfully it didn’t succeed, and the other less attention-seeking half was buried in my shoulder. This was unpleasant. Eight days following this a trained professional got in there and put it back together. Which, though far more helpful than the original alteration, was also unpleasant. I write this a day out of surgery and very drowsy. I was of course given all the warnings about not driving or operating heavy machinery, but none of the pain medication packets say I’m not to write in national cycling publications so, whether it’s safe or not, we are proceeding. I also write this from…

How would you rate your last race? I didn’t really expect anything from the Tour de Yorkshire because, racing for GB, we were supporting Ben Swift. But he didn’t feel up to scratch on the two sprint stages so I got opportunities. The break stayed away on stage one and I panicked and opened up my sprint too early. On stage three, Ben said in the last five kilometres to commit to me but we misheard him on the radio so there was confusion. Did growing up in Yorkshire help you? The roads have definitely shaped the rider I am. Even if I don’t know the road I am on, I can half expect what is coming. I have a harder time on the steeper bits but there’s nothing I fear…

Gaviria wins at Long Beach Fernando Gaviria (Quick Step Floors) took victory on the opening stage of the Tour of California as he outsprinted Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) in Long Beach. The Colombian took victory at the head of a stellar sprinting field on a pan-flat opening day on the Pacfic coast, moving into the race lead. Women’s team resorts to crowdfunding The Hitec Products-Birk Sport women’s team has been forced to resort to crowdfunding in order to find the necessary money to ensure the team’s survival. The team has enjoyed a strong start to the year with Charlotte Becker winning the Tour of Chongming Island, but a major sponsor pulled out in April. In a statement, the team revealed that it had suffered frequent financial troubles…

Reading Doctor Hutch’s assessment of the veteran rider certainly brought a smile to my face (Cycling Weekly, May 3), but it was the accompanying photo of the rider wearing Dossche Sport shorts that took me back 60 years. Returning to Manchester after a summer racing in Belgium (living on a diet of beer, chips and horse meat) my mate and I arrived at our first home race resplendent in our Cafe den Engel tracksuits, not to mention my Plume Vainqueur and his Dossche Sport shorts. Shock horror, we were told that we could not ride as we were advertising and were putting our whole amateur status, if not our immortal souls, at risk. A strip of insulating tape across the offending words was seen as an acceptable compromise and justice…

1. RALPH DADSWELL Holder of 32 RRA road records, men’s solo tricycle (including London to Birmingham) My method of getting myself tough enough was to find 50 or 100-mile time trials to do, and I used to do the Eastern Counties CA 100. That was my way of imposing the discipline on myself… The difference between 50 miles and 100 miles is refuelling. It’s more important to get your fuelling right than to get your pacing right. 2. INGEBORG DYBDAL OIE 2017 Transcontinental Race runner-up, women’s single When I want to do more distance, I make it an adventure. Recently I thought I’d try to see Dartmoor and Exmoor in one go. I took a train to Plymouth and cycled to Bristol and ended up doing 250km. It was beautiful,…

FUEL SENSIBLY Before the ride, eat normally — you don’t need huge meals. Aim to eat little and often during the ride, savoury as well as sweet foods. Don’t rely on gels and energy drink only. Normal foods are perfectly acceptable: even some pros are content with ham and cheese in a bread roll. A pint of cold milk from a garage is a great hydrator and refresher, not to be underestimated on a warm day. A good rule of thumb is to eat something solid every 45 minutes, and drink little and often. On a tour or long day, have a proper lunch and give your legs a break — allowing you time to tell social media what you’ve been doing since dawn! STAY COMFORTABLE Take care of your…

How long have you been with the Rutland and riding the Teacake? I joined the Rutland in the late 80s and after riding on the Sunday run for a while someone said if I wanted a faster ride I needed to “get myself on the Teacake” and I never looked back. Some time after I took a break of 13 years from cycling but when I came back, I turned up at the same place, the junction of Bents Road and Ecclesall Road South, at the same time, 9.15am Saturday morning, and the Rutland were there. I’ve been riding it ever since and now I’m club secretary. I see it as part of my task to get more people out on the ride. We noticed there was little variety in…

My personal highlight of the Giro d’Italia’s visit to Israel was the bunch riding tempo along one side of a dual carriageway, while on the other side two men in full-length pink leotards rode a tandem alongside. The tandem was modified so that the stoker faced backwards, and it was a nice touch that while one of them ground away on a big gear, the other twiddled for all he was worth. It was comic, yet fast enough to keep up so it had athleticism and absurdity in equal measure, and I liked it very much. I’m well aware that it wasn’t what I was supposed to remember as a highlight of the Giro d’Italia’s visit to Israel. But that’s the thing I’m going to look back on. The spectators…

An understandably anonymous email: Dear Doc, a confession. I decided that in order to watch the Etna stage of the Giro d’Italia, I wasn’t going to book time off work, which would have been refused anyway, I was just going to phone in sick. So using my best at-death’s-door voice, I made the call, before settling down to a morning of pottering about and an afternoon of gripping racing. Unfortunately, however, I got the days confused and pulled my sickie 24 hours early, on the Wednesday. So instead I got to watch a very dull stage across Sicily, won by someone I’ve never heard of. Even worse, when I went to work the next morning, my manager said, “Glad you’ve improved. You sounded so bad yesterday that I just assumed…

Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), at 27 years old, felt he was running out of time to sprint to a Grand Tour victory. After finishing second or third on six separate occasions, he erased the doubts when he beat Elia Viviani along Italy’s coast in Praia a Mare. The Irishman placed third three times and second once in 2017. He finished third on both the flat stages in Israel, but as soon as he had his chance back in the Giro’s home country, he took it. “I’m not old in general, but I just thought about how old how I am. I thought about if I had to wait another year, when I was 28, it would be late for a sprinter,” Bennett told CW. “I couldn’t sleep at all after my…

Victoria Pendleton once explained the draft title for her autobiography to me. She wanted to call it Going Nowhere, Fast. The idea, she said, was to highlight the absurdity of her career riding around the velodrome time after time and to sum up how dissatisfactory it was both physically and emotionally. The publishers felt it was too downbeat and went with Between the Lines instead. But Pendleton had a point. Even as road cyclists, that’s all we ever do. We leave home, we head out into the lanes (that we probably know pretty well already), we make a few more turns in a certain direction than we do in another, and sooner or later we come back to where we started. We go nowhere, fast. It doesn’t have to be…

It’s got a GPS SOS system, LED lights, built-in Bluetooth speakers and a microphone; it’s similar in design to the Giro Aeon and the Kask Mojito and only weighs 79g more than the former and 52g more than the latter at 278g. “IT REALLY DRAWS ATTENTION TO YOUR PRESENCE” You can’t see from the photo, but when the LEDs are off you wouldn’t even know they’re there. When you switch them on, controlled by a handlebar remote, you get constant, flashing and an amber indicator, really drawing attention to your presence. Once paired with your smartphone and the Livall app, you can take calls or listen to music/podcasts etc, all via the simple push of a button on either the helmet or the handlebar remote. There’s also a walkie-talkie ability,…

■ What was the longest ride you’d done prior to the lap of Majorca? If you mean ever, then probably in the Tour de France, a stage of 260km. ■ When did you decide to do the Majorca ride? Three days before I did it, after doing a solo 200km ride in the Majorcan mountains. I’d always liked the idea of doing the full lap of the island. ■ In the short preparation time, what did you focus on? In three days, all I could do was check what time sunrise and sunset would be, and especially the weather, making sure it would be a south-westerly for a tailwind home. I double-checked the route and took snapshots on my phone of the bits that I wasn’t sure of. We were…

1 I heard that, in the later stages of training before your circumnavigation, you trained quality over quantity. What type of quality, and how much volume?Darryl Tait, Gala CC Yes, I tapered, but only in the final few weeks. Many people training for endurance just go out and ride big miles, which is definitely a mistake. When you start to tire and your technique deteriorates you need really good all-round conditioning, especially around the knees, ankles and lower back. Unlike most roadies, I build a long fell run into each week’s training. For the 12-month lead-up, I followed a pattern of three-weeks build, one-week recovery, allowing proper adaptation and recovery. In the final four months, I did less high intensity and instead focused on adapting to long hours. 2 What amazed…

1 Burbage Moor The open space and sheer grandeur of the moor that greets all riders heading west out of Sheffield is one of the most beautiful spots in the Peak District. 2 Cressbrook climb At the opposite end of Monsal Dale to the famous Monsal Head hill-climb venue, this is a longer and tougher ascent with a fantastic switchback bend before the steep ramp into the village. 3 Edale The ride takes in the full length of Edale, the quiet undulating valley road from Hope to the car park in Barber Booth and back again. This is where your legs are traditionally given a good hammering. ■ Favourite cafe The Pool Cafe 48 MILES Based at the outdoor swimming pool in Hathersage, this has long been the favoured venue…

In many cases, simply being on a bike will be sufficient to get you shouted at. However, here my main aim is to help you with the matter of getting shouted at by other cyclists with whom you are riding. It’s not difficult. Really, really, not difficult. You will get shouted at for: weaving from side to side unexpectedly; going through at the front and accelerating; going through at the front and slowing down; not going through at all; sitting on the back of the bunch and refusing to do a turn; sitting at the front of the bunch and not getting off; sitting at the back of the bunch all day and winning a sprint — even if this is the most respected tactic in the whole world of…