Indholdsfortegnelse for October 20, 2022 i Cycling Weekly

How has British Cycling’s greenwashing sponsorship deal with Shell left you feeling? We’ve had varied feedback from readers, most are somewhere between disappointed and disgusted, and lots are saying they will cancel their membership. But we’ve also had emails from those who aren’t angered by the deal and don’t think anyone else has the right to be either. The main argument from those in that camp is along the lines of: ‘if you drive a car, you can’t complain’. This is what’s called a binary argument which is too simple to be of much use to anyone. The fact is decades of infrastructure being built for cars means many, if not all of us, need to use a car at some point. That’s not our fault, it’s just the situation…

Unlucky seven? Women’s WorldTour squads may struggle to fill rosters next season when new seven-rider teams come in, team bosses say. Staff on multiple teams have told Cycling Weekly they will struggle to meet the new requirements, which apply to races of more than six stages, and say it could harm the quality of racing. Cav to B&B Hotels A report in the French news outlet Ouest France suggests that Mark Cavendish has reached agreement on a one-year contract with the B&B Hotels-KTM ProTeam for 2023. The 37-year-old has spent a rather precarious past two years at Quick Step, and his contract went unrenewed for 2023 despite numerous high-profile successes. B&B Hotels has declined to comment. Giro unveils 70.6km of time trialling The Giro d’Italia route for 2023 will feature…

Specialized’s strapline to accompany the launch of the reimagined Diverge STR is “Suspend the rider, suspend belief.” The new full-suspension Diverge STR gets 20mm of adjustable travel at the front via Specialized’s Future Shock 2.0 under-stem system that already features on existing Diverges, but it also gets an all-new 30mm at the back with Rear Future Shock, a clever-looking design that permits and controls travel using a hydraulic damper fitted in the top tube and attached to the ‘framepost’, a sort of sleeve that can flex. A lever on the damper provides three levels of compression damping, while rebound speed can be adjusted with a hex key through a hole in the base of the top tube. The Diverge STR’s other top-line features include a frame that weighs a claimed…

How has your background in running and triathlon helped you as a time triallist? It gave me a really solid endurance base. I was never especially good as a runner but loved it and ended up running a dozen marathons. When I tried triathlon [from 2011], I wasn’t a natural on the bike but loved the racing. I fell pregnant in October 2015 and after having my son Finlay I was suddenly much more pressed for time, so turned my attention to time trialling. How greatly did your training volume change? I went from doing 24 hours a week to between seven and nine hours, which remains my volume now. TT training is primarily about quality. Being able to streamline so much and still see performance gains was really rewarding.…

The oil giant hasn’t enamoured itself with anyone that cares about the planet in recent decades Brent Spar In 1995, when this huge Shell-operated oil storage buoy in the North Sea was no longer useful, rather than disposing of it properly the company wanted to simply sink it. A Greenpeace campaign and public boycott of its petrol stations saw Shell abandon its plans, and much of the buoy was reused. Nigerian Delta Two huge oil spills in the Nigerian delta village of Bodo in 2008-9 were sabotage, Shell said, and it was seven years before they were forced in court to financially compensate villagers. A further court case was required before Shell agreed to take on responsibility for the clean-up. Russian oil Shell came in for heavy criticism and was…

When asked about the team’s training sessions, Greenwood was careful not to give away any of his coaching tricks. What he did share, though, is an anecdote that characterises his riders’ playfulness. “In Derby, we did some joint sessions with the youth squad,” the men’s endurance coach said. “Ethan Hayter likes to do his own thing and stays on the track. Then there was a youth points and scratch race, with Ethan still riding round on his team pursuit bike with disc wheels, and he started joining in. “By the last effort, three or four of the lads decided they fancied a bit, so they used it as a warm-up. “At one point, Ollie [Wood] dragged someone away to take a lap and the youth coaches were just laughing.” Wood…

GETTING THERE Easyjet and RyanAir both fly to Sardinia direct from London with some prices as low as £35, but expect to pay closer to £200. Regional airports such as Edinburgh, Manchester and Bristol can cost over £500 and may require you to change flights. A round trip from London to Cagliari costs 285kg of CO2. WHERE TO STAY We stayed in a succession of luxury, five-star hotels, ranging from the Su Gologone Experience Hotel in Oliena – with its terraces and bars decorated like art galleries – to the beachside Hotel La Bitta in the seaside resort of Arbatax, all of which we’d recommend. There are more affordable options such as Corte San Lussorio from around £60 a night across the island. WHERE TO EAT Cagliari is well served…

British brand Le Col’s new Pro Aero Bib Shorts complete its flagship Pro Aero range that comprises short-sleeve and long-sleeve jerseys, socks and mitts. According to Le Col, the new shorts are “for speed training, racing and the fastest rides possible… engineered to deliver maximum speed and acceleration with minimum weight.” Le Col says the shorts have been developed through time in McLaren wind tunnel tests and pro team insights. We tested some of the Le Col x McLaren Project Aero kit at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub last year and found the long-sleeve jersey and regular non-aero bibshorts were faster than a standard club Bioracer skinsuit. At the time, Le Col’s Yanto Barker told CW that it was difficult to create aero shorts that delivered a real improvement, so…

I once asked Simon Yates what it would take for a young rider to reach the highest level of cycling. “You’ve really got to enjoy the training,” said the 2018 Vuelta winner, then hesitated briefly before adding, “and the sacrifices.” It’s advice that has stuck with me as I’ve raced as an amateur: progress being double-edged, involving enjoyment but also sacrifice. While pursuing the goal of ‘stepping up’ this season, I thought often of Yates’s comment and the relationship between enjoyment and sacrifice at my subelite level. How much sacrifice is worthwhile for an amateur rider? And how much was I willing to commit? For amateur racers, if we’re honest with ourselves, fun is the only real goal – our performance matters only personally. No one else cares. We’re not…

HILL CLIMBS SUNDAY, 16 OCTOBER Lancashire Road Club (The Rake, Ramsbottom, Lancashire, 947 yards): Men: 1. Kieran Wynne-Cattanach (Team Lifting Gear Products) 2:26.0 2. T. Bell (High North Performance) 2:27.1 3. J. Taylor (Team PB Performance) 2:32.7 4. N. Latimer (Team Lifting Gear Products) 2:36.6 5. A. Raynard (Velo Bavarian) 2:39.7 6. M. Mikkelson-Barron (Velo Club Cumbria) 2:43.5 Women: 1. Rebecca Richardson (Team Brother UK) 3:16.8 2. B. Jenkinson (Clwb Beicio Egni) 3:32.5 3. A. Larkin (Glossop Kinder Velo) 4:00.6 4. L. Begg (Chorlton Velo) 4:07.4 5. L. Morley (Velotik Cycling Team) 4:22.1 6. E. Davies-Heywood (Innovation Racing) 4:34.2 Berkhamsted CC (Tom Hill Road, Aldbury, Hertfordshire): Men: 1. Daniel Shoobridge (Nopinz Motip Race Team) 2:00.23 2. D. Kidson (Onyx RT) 2:00.51 3. A. Wylie (Ashmei Musette RT) 2:03.34 4. E.…

It ought not to be necessary to provide a patronising explanation of how to get to a ride meeting point on time. But recent experience suggests I’m wrong about that, so here it is. First, make sure you know when the meeting time actually is. Dismiss all thoughts of ‘-ish’ from your mind. Second, work out how long it takes to get to the meeting place. To do this check the distance, by road (rather than by air), and apply an appropriate average speed. Note that while an average of 500kph might make the maths work better, it’s not realistic. If you don’t want to do the arithmetic, you can go and do the ride and time it. Third, remember to allow sufficient time for checking pre-ride tyre pressures, preparing…

A British Cycling spokesperson said: “This partnership makes a long-term commitment to cycling and will deliver real benefits across our sport. We understand there will be different opinions and we are committed to answering any questions our members have. “We will also share further details on our plans for the Limitless programme, and how we intend to take important steps towards netzero, in the weeks and months ahead.” A Shell spokesperson added: “Shell has a clear target to become a netzero emissions business by 2050. In the UK we are planning to invest up to £25 billion in the energy system over the next decade – more than 75% of this will be in low and zerocarbon products and services. “We look forward to working with British Cycling in areas…

Kieran Wynne-Cattanach threw his hat into the ring for the Hill-Climb National Championships when he beat defending national champion Tom Bell at Lancashire Road Club’s hill-climb on The Rake on Sunday. Welsh champion Wynne-Cattanach set a time of 2:26.0 for the 947-yard climb with Bell finishing a second down in 2:27.1. Third went to Jude Taylor (Team PB Performance). After sealing victory on The Rake, 25-year-old Wynne-Cattanach admitted he was surprised to win on such a prestigious course. “I wasn’t expecting that,” he said. “I’ve had some decent results such as last week winning the Welsh Championship and I try not to compare myself against other riders but when you see the likes of Tom Bell and Jude Taylor show up at The Rake, I was quite surprised to take…

Of Great Britain’s six debutants at the Track World Championships, four went home with a medal, helping propel the British squad to its best medal haul since 2016. The team won 10 medals in total, three of which were gold, the best result since 2016 when it raked in nine medals including five golds. The newer members of the squad were a key part of the success. Day one saw Lauren Bell and Emma Finucane, the squad’s youngest rider at 19 years old, win bronze in the women’s team sprint. Former British road champion Jess Roberts claimed the same honours in the women’s scratch, before Anna Morris, a former trainee doctor, powered to silver as part of the team pursuit. “It feels like I’m in a different life,” said Morris,…

I’m very disappointed and angry about the [BC Shell sponsorship] news. Anybody who uses Britain’s roads to travel by bike, either to get around or for sport, knows that it is a hostile environment, completely dominated by a huge volume of cars. Training on Britain’s roads is stressful and the next angry close-pass from a driver is never far away. Taking children onto Britain’s roads, even for a short school run, is a frightening business and looked upon by most parents as insane. All of this is because Shell and their like have lobbied for decades to promote car use above all other modes in the UK. As a consequence public transport is very poor and travel by bike or on foot is dangerous and unpleasant. If it were not…

Last year I set out on a project to get aero on a budget. With an old frame, some borrowed equipment and a couple of items of test kit, I built a TT bike and adjusted my position to get as aerodynamic as possible. The whole set-up cost less than £200 and led to a significant improvement over previous TT times set on a drop-barred road bike. This year the natural progression was to see if and how I could take it to the next level. To find even more speed. With a better position and better kit would the improvements continue in a linear fashion and see me post ever faster times? That was the hope. But little did I know things were about to get complicated. First up,…

Stepping-up tips from sport scientist and coach Andy Turner KEEP IT FUN: During the Zone 1 and 2 endurance rides, it helps to make an adventure out of it, setting off onto new routes and roads, mixing it up with some trails. Doing some group rides where it’s not flat-out and just social fun. Enjoying cafe stops. These are ways to have fun. SCHEDULE A CAFE RIDE: A group ride with a cafe stop isn’t the ideal training, as it’s better to be uninterrupted, but every now and then the mental gain is worth it. Similarly, riding in a group often results in fartlek [‘speedplay’ – informal intervals] type pacing, so bear in mind your objectives. EVALUATE YOUR PERFORMANCE: It’s difficult to be objective sometimes. Many different factors can affect…

Every so often in life your instinctive reaction to a situation is wrong. I remember, early in my cycling career, going out on a very moderately paced club run. We pootled along at 15mph for about an hour, and it was thunderously dull. I honestly believed everyone would appreciate my attacking on a hill to liven things up. And I was wrong. In a similar vein, my instinctive reaction to the current cost of living crisis is that what I need to do is buy a new bike. The best and only justification I can think of for this (and this is very dodgy, so if you also have a similar shopping instinct don’t get your hopes up) is that with inflation running where it is and only getting higher,…

A rider gets in touch to confess to getting back from a training session a few weeks ago and realising after he got home that his phone was missing. Clearly he’d dropped it mid-ride – he even thought he knew where, on the bumps of a level crossing. He got his tablet out to track the phone’s whereabouts, hoping it was still there. It wasn’t. It was at a local shopping centre. Complete, he realised, with his credit card details. He set out to intercept it. A 20-minute threshold effort got him there, prepared to do whatever it took to retrieve it. He found his own car in the car park. And his wife. Who’d picked up his phone by mistake after he’d forgotten to take it out on the…