Indholdsfortegnelse for February 7, 2019 i Cycling Weekly

For this week’s magazine we set ourselves the unenviable exercise of compiling a list of the most important cyclists of all time. We limited ourselves to 40 but we could have easily gone up to 100, given the myriad riders who initially spring to mind. It’s not a list of the most successful —that would have been relatively easy — or the most popular, but those who have changed, shaped or influenced the sport, and the only thing we did all agree on was who came in at number one. The most enjoyable part of pulling these lists together is the arguments that we have when deciding on the order. They started weeks ago, and will no doubt carry on long after the magazine is off sale. Seeing as we…

I’m back in Portugal with British Cycling for a pre-Worlds training camp. We’re staying in the same hotel — I’m even in the same room — as on our last camp so it’s got a bit of a Groundhog Day vibe to it, but on a day where all my meals are cooked for me, someone else does my washing, and I get to ride a bike and laugh at funny GIFs on our group chat the whole time. I love it. The one big difference is there’s only four of our (female track endurance) squad here. For the past couple of years we’ve been a team of eight riders, at one point nine, but because of differences in individual training plans or personal logistics, we’ve ended up cut in…

A move back to Manchester and abstinence from alcohol paid off for Owain Doull last week as he celebrated his first pro win. Doull was one of two British riders to win at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Melbourne. EF-Education First sprinter Dan McLay became the first Brit to win a pro race in 2019 by claiming the first stage of the race before Doull doubled the British win count two days later. Doull’s victory came from a stage-long break which he and team-mate Luke Rowe attacked with 5km to go. They rode a time trial to the line before Doull took the win. “I think over the last couple of years I’ve been getting there and this year it’s been starting to come together,” Doull told Cycling Weekly.…

In 1952, Ian Steel became the only British winner of the Peace Race, the Eastern European ‘Tour de France’. It was the first British massed-start racing success since the 19th century. 40 IAN STEEL (1928-2015) Politically, it turbocharged the rebel massed-start racers in the UK by giving them international recognition, and led to the eventual acceptance of in-line road racing in Britain. 39 STEPHEN ROCHE (B.1959) The only rider apart from Eddy Merckx to win the Giro, Tour and world titles in the same season, the twinkly-eyed Irishman may have looked like a soft touch, but had the drive to enable him to extract every little bit of power from his body, allied to incomparable tactical insight. Although he wasn’t a prolific winner, Roche was always in the frame when…

When you have four Grand Tour victories to your name you get a bike for every occasion and, riding for Bahrain-Merida, Vincenzo Nibali has the pick of Merida’s machines. On lumpier days you can expect him to ride the Taiwanese company’s Scultura frame, but here we have the aero Reacto Team Disc, similar to the rim-braked model he rode to victory at last year’s Milan-San Remo. The M/L frame equates to other brands’ medium, with a 54cm seat tube, and while you’d expect the bike to be well specced, it is fairly standard. The standard set-up even extends to the internals, with team staff suggesting there are, as yet, no trick bearings installed. The only exceptions to the Shimano Dura-Ace groupset are the SRM power cranks, which are coupled to…

Usually pro teams ride new equipment before the punters, but last year, while the new 12-speed mechanical Campagnolo Super Record and Record groupsets were making their way into the shops, its sponsored professionals were still on old 11-speed EPS. That’s because they were waiting for the electronic version. Sure enough, brand-new 12-speed Super Record EPS has appeared on the bikes of the Campagnolo-sponsored teams this season. We don’t have any details about it yet, and when we asked Campagnolo’s Joshua Riddle, he said this: “The teams are quite happy with the new groupset. As is customary with any new top-range product we intend to launch, the final part of the development phase involves testing in WorldTour competition to gain the ultimate seal of approval. So far it has passed with…

Bora-Hansgrohe, Deceuninck-Quick-Step, Dimension Data, Katusha-Alpecin and Trek-Segafredo are the five teams who have committed to race exclusively on disc brakes during 2019. Exclusively still doesn’t mean exactly that: Specialized, Trek and Canyon don’t have disc-brake UCI-legal time trial bikes yet, and while there is a BMC Timemachine 01 Disc which could be configured to comply with UCI regs, it remains to be seen whether Dimension Data will use it. That leaves 13 teams still to commit to discs, but expect to see many of them using discs when conditions are favourable.…

You’re full of fat. No offence. We all are. Even a lean athlete has around 100,000 calories of the stuff stored away, predominantly nestled under the skin and within muscles. When we ride, it’s carbohydrates — of which the body can store just 2,000 calories’ worth — we guzzle, in the form of drinks, bars and gels. It’s hardly surprising, then, that cyclists have long been looking for ways to make the body shovel more fat into the fuelling furnace. But despite all the hype around fat-burning, can we really access this near-limitless fuel source to ride further and faster? Let’s have a go at separating the facts from the wishful thinking… Your body’s nutritional requirements can be broadly split into three macronutrients: carbohydrate, fat and protein. Carbohydrate is broken…

Week: January 7-13, 2019 Location: Redditch, Worcestershire Training for: National Cyclo-Cross Championships One of the most prolific cyclo-cross racers in the UK over the past three years, Beth Crumpton recently won the National Trophy series for a second successive year. The former mountain biker won three of the six rounds, but an untimely puncture in the National Championships in mid-January meant that she missed out on a maiden red, white and blue jersey in the discipline. A three-time U23 national cross-country mountain bike champion she competed in the Commonwealth Games in 2014 (mountain bike), and in the cross Worlds in Bogense, Denmark last weekend. How did Saturday’s World Championships go? I finished 26th which I was happy with, though lower than 23rd last year. It was a really hard, fast…

Given the weather over the last couple of weeks, I’ve taken to the virtual world of Zwift. Virtual riding doesn’t sound all that interesting, and it’s not even as interesting as it sounds. Luckily for Zwift and all the other virtual riding apps, what they’re competing with is unadorned turbo training, and unadorned turbo training is the thing that monks who sit on poles for years wish they could do without screaming. In that context, Zwift is the Breaking Bad boxset. The centre of the Zwift world is an island called Watopia. It’s got everything that makes cyclists happy — hills, hairpins, cobbles, bright colours, other cyclists going nice and slowly that you can ride past with a cheery-yet-patronising thumbs up. Watopia is designed to push the buttons of a…

Britain’s new cyclo-cross world champions Tom Pidcock and Ben Tulett will have scant time to enjoy the glory of victory before becoming smaller fish in bigger ponds as they step up to the elite and U23 ranks respectively. They became U23 and junior champion respectively at the weekend, winning in emphatic style at Bogense, Denmark. Pidcock will wear his U23 rainbow jersey in the final few races of the cross season before embarking on a road campaign with Wiggins-Le Col, while junior champ Tulett, 17, won’t even get to wear his new jersey in anger as a big road season geared towards the Yorkshire World Championships beckons. Nineteen-year-old Pidcock is eligible to ride in the U23 category for another three seasons, but having won the U23 World Cup overall, the…

Etoile de Bessèges (Feb 7-10) Stage three’s rolling parcours and the following day’s 10.7km time trial will be pivotal towards the overall GC. Tony Gallopin won in 2018, ending a run of three successive second places. DVV Verzekeringen Trofee Krawatencross Lille (Feb 9) In the final race of the competition, the recently-crowned 2019 world champion Mathieu van der Poel should add the series to his palmarès, barring a 59-second loss to Toon Aerts, currently in second place. Sanne Cant, meanwhile, is 2.34 ahead of Loes Sels, and should top the classification. Telenet Superprestige Hoogstraten (Feb 10) Held in Antwerp in Belgium, British U23 world champion Tom Pidcock has already won his age-group classification courtesy of four race wins, with his compatriot Ben Turner currently in second-place. Mathieu van der Poel…

Luke Rowe has returned to Australia for a racing block he is confident will pay dividends at the Spring Classics following a spate of disruptive injuries. The 28-year-old played a key role in Dylan van Baarle’s overall victory at the Sun Tour last week and a pivotal role in Owain Doull’s maiden victory. Rowe (Team Sky) missed the Australian block last year after smashing his leg while whitewater rafting, which saw him sit out from August 2017 to February 2018 when he returned to competition in the Middle East. He ended last season in August due to a fractured wrist. “It’s something I’ve done the past six years, excluding last year: come out early, race [Tour Down Under], Cadel’s and then do Sun Tour. It really works for me, all…

Before deciding who we felt was the most important cyclist, oddly enough, we first had to define what a cyclist is in this context. As a result, we’ve only included people for whom cycling forms their core, or at least the starting point, of their importance in the world. Secondly, what constitutes importance? To us it’s a mix of sporting achievements, influence, inspiration, technical expertise and the power to inspire people to start cycling. All of those things matter, how much you give each one is up for debate — and believe us there was plenty of debate in putting this together — so our list might be a bit different to yours. That’s half the fun though, so let us know what you think on all the usual channels.…

This year Shimano equips 12 WorldTour teams compared to 14 last year — but since there are 18 WorldTour teams in total, the Japanese giant doesn’t need to start worrying just yet. We asked Shimano’s UK distributor for some data on equipment supplied to WorldTour teams but they were unable to give us precise details. Shimano’s PR officer Ben Hillsdon told us: “Since the WorldTour debut of Dura-Ace with the Belgian Flandria squad in 1973, working in partnership with the best teams and riders has been a major part of our product development strategy. “At the WorldTour level in 2019 riders from Team Jumbo-Visma, Team Sunweb, Groupama-FDJ, Michelton-Scott, Deceuninck-Quick Step, Team Sky and Bora Hansgrohe use full Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 drivetrains (shifters, derailleurs, chain, cassette and cranksets), brakes (rim or…

This is the bike Peter Sagan rode in the Down Under Classic last month, a one-hour criterium around a city centre circuit in Adelaide. That’s right — Specialized’s long-running Allez bikes are made from aluminium. Sprayed up in Bora-Hansgrohe’s livery with a green back end and silver front and lower elements, the new disc-equipped Allez Sprint, which is the race-orientated top model in the range, has with an aero profile seat tube and an aero carbon seatpost but isn’t what you’d class as an aero bike. The Allez Sprint’s alloy frame uses D’Aluisio Smartweld Sprint technology, which allows more material to be placed strategically for increased stiffness and compliance where it’s most needed. The frame is coupled to the brand’s Tarmac Disc FACT carbon-fibre fork, for extra stiffness and sharp…

Endurance cyclist Mike Stead, 45, decided to test out a ketogenic diet (75 per cent fat, 10 per cent carbs and 15 per cent protein) while training for and taking part in the 300km Mighty Corinthian ride in the Lake District. “I’d done a lot of day-long endurance racing before entering the Mighty Corinthian. I’d find I just couldn’t eat any more after around 4pm; I’d feel ill and start to slow down. I wanted to go faster, but just didn’t have the energy anymore, as I’d not been able to fuel enough. “I was looking for a better fuelling strategy. So, I went on a ketogenic diet. At first, it was awful, much like a two-week hangover. I stuck with it, and about a week and a half in,…

ROAD RACING SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2 East London Velo Series round five (Redbridge, Essex): 2, 3: 1. Timothy Torrie (Vitus Pro Cycling); 2. C. Peck (Chelmer CC); 3. B. Beynon (Strada-Sport); 4. A. Herd (Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club); 5. F. Afewerki (Cycling Club Hackney); 6. S. Asker (Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club); 7. A. Robertson (University of Bath Cycling Club); 8. S. Brown (Spartans Velo Club); 9. D. Maffey (Cycling Club London); 10. M. Bolton (Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club). Fourth Cat: 1. Chris Courtney (East London Velo); 2. T. Tadros (TrainSharp Club); 3. G. McDougall (Velo Schils-Interbike RT); 4. A. Davis (Lea Valley Cycling Club); 5. D. Newbiggin (Cycling Club Hackney); 6. T. Perren (Paceline RT); 7. J. Teutsch (unattached); 8. G. Corner (Clapham Chasers Run & Tri Club);…

Bike lanes have a huge variety of uses, just some of which are outlined here. There are literally thousands more. You could even invent your own! Parking a car. Bike lanes are excellent for car parking. They are usually right beside the road, and if you park with care you’ll be easily able to occupy the full width of it. If you struggle to do this, try parking at right angles. Or buy a Range Rover. Walking. Bike lanes are excellent for walking in. Try doing it with half a dozen friends — if you keep in neat line abreast you’ll be able to occupy the bike lane and any adjacent footpath with ease and style. Dog facility. Encourage your dog to relieve itself in a bike lane. That way,…

Anna Kay (5th, U23) A battling performance from the Gateshead rider, who took silver at the recent National Championships. Having embedded herself near the front at the start in Bogense, she hung in there during the inevitable war of attrition and was still there at the end, securing the top-five place she was hoping for. Nikki Brammeier (8th, elite women) Bad luck in the form of a mechanical at a particularly inopportune moment — and after a very good start too — put paid to Brammeier’s Worlds ambitions. But once back in the race she continued to fight hard to eventually finish in a respectable eighth place, but nevertheless wondering what could have been. Helen Wyman (15th, elite women) A poor start saw Wyman well down and having to fight…

How would you rate your last race out of 10? I’d give it a seven, it was OK. I’ll have to get it up to an eight or nine tonight [in the sprint finals of the Track National Championships], Joe Truman is going well. If you could only win any race what would it be? I’d have to say the Tokyo Olympics because it’s our biggest opportunity. Did you ever dream of winning big road races when you were younger? Not really, I was a bit unusual. I suppose because I’m from Bolton, which was quite close to the velodrome, I started racing on the velodrome straight away. When did you first know you wanted to be a pro? I was really lucky — when I first started they had…

Bennett claims first win of 2019 Irish sprinter Sam Bennett claimed his first win of 2019 in the final stage of the Vuelta a San Juan after being ably led out by former world champion Peter Sagan. Bennett said the early season results was “good for morale”. He added: “I probably went a little too late, but I had enough power and managed to get the win. Still, the last 300m were definitely the most difficult part for me.” W Careless driver who killed Chris Boardman’s mum jailed for 30 weeks The man who killed Chris Boardman’s mum through careless driving has been jailed. Liam Rosney ran over Carol Boardman in his Mitsubishi pick-up truck after she had fallen off her bike in July 2016. He appeared before Mold Crown…

I’m writing from Berlin having watched the final night of what has been about the most exciting six-day race I’ve ever seen: and I can go back to Peter Post in Skol six-days at Wembley. My point in writing is that though the UK must have more great tracks than anyone, the British presence on the track — and in the crowd — was negligible. This is so disappointing and perplexing as this must be the pinnacle of any track cyclist’s career. In Berlin there is such tremendous excitement and an appreciative crowd. So come on everyone, make the effort. Dave Patten, email It would be great to see more British riders on the track at the six-day races, but the likes of Mark Cavendish et al are now back…

Often cited as the rider closest to challenging Eddy Merckx for the honorific title of the best rider in road racing’s history, Fausto Coppi undoubtedly had more influence on the sport than not only the Belgian but any other racer. Transformative in his approach to every aspect of cycling, including diet, training, drug taking, equipment, tactics and team organisation, Coppi established a method that his peers and rivals were quick to follow and that remained in place for decades after his premature death in 1960. “There is someone avant-garde in every field, and Coppi was the avant-garde of cycling,” his team-mate Raphaël Geminiani told journalist William Fotheringham in Fallen Angel, the author’s biography of the Italian. “First he got to know himself, how far he could go physically, then everything…

With 42 women’s teams registered with the UCI, there are plenty of brands and components that don’t feature in the men’s WorldTour. The CCC-Liv team rides the low-slung, lightweight Liv Langma, which clearly shares its DNA with the Giant TCR ridden by the men’s CCC team. Interestingly, however, despite sharing a bike sponsor (Liv is Giant’s sister brand) the two teams have different groupset sponsors. The men’s team are on Shimano but the women’s team, which includes three-time road world champion Marianne Vos, rides the new SRAM Red eTap 12-speed rim brake groupset, which nicely complements the minimalist Langma frame. The aero chainset with integrated Quarq power meter looks particularly neat. The American Rally UHC Cycling team ride Felt bikes — formerly the bike sponsor of the Garmin team—with fellow…

Fat has endured a bad reputation since the Eighties, when first the US and then the UK governments introduced dietary advice recommending people cut down on saturated fats and cholesterol in order to avoid the evils of obesity and heart disease. Consumers swapped many fatty foods (steak, eggs, butter and cream) and increased their intake of pasta, rice and cereals, an approach supported by the majority of nutritional scientists at the time. A smaller, quieter and arguably marginalised minority sat in another corner. In 1972, British professor John Yudkin had published Pure, White, Deadly, in which he argued that the cause of ill health was sugar, not fat. Yudkin’s approach drew criticism, which ultimately curtailed his career — but more recent studies have cast doubt on the link between fat…

Herald Sun Tour (Jan 30-Feb 3) It was a successful week for Team Sky in the five-day Australian race, with Dutch rider Dylan van Baarle winning overall and Owain Doull and Kristoffer Halvorsen winning stage three and five respectively. Brit Dan McLay (EF-Education First) won stage one. Challenge Majorca (Jan 31-Feb 3) Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) won the Trofeo Palma race, the fourth and final in the Majorca series. It was the German’s first win in 11 months. Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), meanwhile, won one race and finished second in another. GP Cycliste la Marseillaise (Feb 3) Frenchman Anthony Turgis won his first race since 2016, beating fellow breakaway rider Romain Combaud (Delko-Marseille Provence) on the line. The peloton were 23 seconds back after a gruelling race on an undulating course.…

Word reaches us of a winter club run in a northern county last week. The group came upon a patch of ice that completely covered the width of the road. Their self-appointed ‘most experienced rider’ explained that the way to cope with this was to ride over it smoothly, in a straight line and, crucially, as quickly as possible. He suggested someone else go first. A volunteer rode briskly towards the ice. He held it straight, he pedalled smoothly. He made it to the far side. So did the rest of the group. The most experienced rider came last. He made it over too. He flung his hands in the air in mock celebration, lost his balance, and fell over. He broke his wrist in the process.…