Indholdsfortegnelse for May 25, 2023 i Cycling Weekly

How do you test nine top-end road bikes and come up with a winner? With great difficulty. Luckily, that task fell not to me, but to our team of testers who spend a lot of time riding various bikes and equipment. Lucky things. Our Race Bike of the Year test, returning to our pages for the first time since 2016, is the culmination of almost a year’s riding and testing hundreds of bikes. You can read our criteria for the bikes chosen, and how we tested them, from page 29. And you can of course let us know what bike, or bikes, you think should have been included. Finally, I want to pay my respects to John Barclay who passed away last week. I was lucky enough to go on…

I am sad to report the passing of former British road and hill-climb champion Bernard King of the Coventry CC. Bernard was a real class act, in the 1950s and early 60s; brilliant on the road, track and of course with his climbing. He led a very powerful Coventry CC team along with brother Bill, Albert Wise Derrick Tarburn and Jim Grieves. I learnt so much from riding against Bernard and Bill in my early days with Warwick CC, and later riding alongside them as a member of Coventry CC. Those of us racing with them will remember they rode on Gameson Frames built in Birmingham, used Huret Wing Nuts instead of quickrelease but could change a wheel just as quick. We have lost a real gentleman and a great…

It was a second rest day reconnaissance ride at the 2016 Vuelta a España when Sean Yates accidentally stumbled upon the area he was going to make his new home. “My partner and I wanted to move abroad, and while she was keen on France, I wanted to come to Spain,” Yates narrates. “We’d looked at Catalunya but it was too busy. The Vuelta had a rest day in Benicassim and [fellow Tinkoff DS] Steven De Jongh and I rode to the next day’s finish at Mas de la Costa. We came back through Costur and Useras and I thought that the area was perfect. I told my partner to immediately look for land, and within a few months we’d bought some.” The plan was to build a house, but…

For a brand steeped in so much heritage and tradition, the V4RS was developed in quite an unusual way. Five different prototypes were produced and given to the UAE Emirates team – their favourite being the version which saw final production. The result clearly seems to be working for Tadej Pogačar, given his wins at Paris-Nice, Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold and Flèche Wallonne. And the V4RS is a pure joy to ride. It’s fast off the mark and holds its speed very well on rougher roads and lanes, thanks in no small part to the 50mm-deep wheels wrapped in 28c Pirelli P Zero tyres. Point it skywards and you immediately reap the gains of the stiff frame and low weight. But it’s long, snaking climbs with gradients of around…

The Cannondale SuperSix Evo received a slew of aero updates in its 2019 iteration. The latest update, unveiled in just March of this year, has been more evolution than revolution – but still packs aero tweaks to the tune of 11w saved over the previous version. Again, like the BMC Teammachine, this is a climbing bike which bears a striking similarity to the aero models of Giant, Wilier and Colnago. Personally, I love a lightweight frame matched with deep-section wheels – and that’s exactly what the SuperSix Evo provides. At a claimed 770g in a painted 56cm frame, it comes in as the lightest on test – and those 50mm deep HollowGram wheels, although not the lightest for their depth, match most of the hoops here millilitre for millilitre. The…

yclist John Hewitt describes his relationship with his daughter Kelly as having been “extremely close, best friends.” But in late 2016, Kelly changed jobs, becoming a prison officer, and it seemed to take a heavy toll on her mental health. As Christmas approached and John tried to get to the bottom of what was troubling her, Kelly shut him out of her life. “I was distraught and extremely hurt,” the 53-year-old reflects. His attempts to reconcile with his daughter went unanswered for an entire year – a period of not-knowing brought to an end in the worst possible way. On 21 December 2017, Hewitt received news that Kelly had taken her own life. She was 24. “I hadn’t seen Kelly for 12 months and the next time I did, she…

TIME TRIALS SUNDAY, 21 MAY National TTT Champs 23 (Southam, Warwicks): Men: 1. Team Bottrill (Mark Bottrill, Jake Sargent, Axel Dopfer) 44.30 2. HUUB-WS (Pritchard, Jackson, Lowden) 44.42 3. trainSharp (Peckover, Torrie, Clark) 44.50 4. Drag2Zero (Smith, Doherty, Newbould) 45.21 5. HUUB WattShop (Bigham, Lowden, Brazier) 46.16 6. TAAP Endura (Kinch, Downie, Latimer) 46.56 Women: 1. Bottrill (Alex Clay, Kate Allan, Emily Martin) 50.14 2. AWOL O’Shea (Meakin, Murphy, Simmonds) 50.37 3. Cam. Univ CC (Matthews, Clements, Barker) 53.56 Mid-Shropshire Wheelers 50 (Hodnet, Shropshire): Men: 1. Alex Royle (Manchester BC) 1:48.57 2. T. Williams (Velotik RT) 1:49.28 3. A. Ribbands (Congleton CC) 1:52.07 4. T. Beardsmore (Bridgnorth CC) 1:54.39 5. A. Broadbent (Graham Weigh Racing) 1:55.30 6. M. Ivings (Buxton CC) 1:56.45 Women: 1. Deb Hutson-Lumb (Wrekinsport CC) 2:11.29 2.…

A bike fitter of my acquaintance tells me that recently he had a rider come to see him with a very tender rear end. He’d had a long history of severe chaffing, saddle sores and occasional infection, which had begun to have a significant impact on his riding. The bike fitter did his usual bike fitting thing, paying particular attention to the saddle position and pressure points. “By the way,” he said, “do you use a chamois cream?” “Found something better,” said the rider. He rummaged in his bag and produced an ancient tub of lithium bearing-grease. “Much slipperier, more waterproof and much, much cheaper.” And highly irritating to skin, it turns out.…

“He hasn’t finished yet, he’s still got to get that Tour record” Tributes to Mark Cavendish have poured in from across the cycling world after the legendary British sprinter announced he will retire from the sport at the end of 2023. The 38-year-old confirmed his plans to call time on his 17-year career in a press conference during Monday’s second rest day at the Giro d’Italia. “Cycling’s been my life for over 25 years. I’ve lived an absolute dream,” he said, emotion clear in his eyes. After the Manxman’s announcement, Geraint Thomas – his friend and former team-mate – heaped praise on Cavendish and recalled many fond memories of racing alongside him. “He’s the greatest sprinter of all time really when you look at his record,” Thomas said. “It’s been…

Vollering dominates in Spain Demi Vollering continued her blistering 2023 season with GC victory at the Vuelta Burgos in Spain. The summit finish of the race’s fourth and final stage was where she soloed away to win by 1–35. Her SD Worx team had been unstoppable winning every stage of the race mostly courtesy of top sprinter Lorena Wiebes and even when she was relegated on the second stage for irregular sprinting, Vollering was behind to take the win. Worlds courses unveiled The courses for the World Championships in Glasgow this summer will explore the best of Scotland’s heritage, with lochs, castles and monuments all forming part of what promises to be an impressive backdrop. The elite men’s race on 6 August will start at the old volcano of Arthur’s…

The current Canyon Aeroad is one of the more ‘established’ models on test but despite the advances of its rivals, it still feels palpably fast. The Aeroad packs in a suite of lovely touches. The stack height can be adjusted without cutting the steerer, the seatpost provides a substantial amount of vibrationdampening flex, and the handlebar width can even be adjusted. However, the narrowest the bars can be set is 39cm, which isn’t supernarrow for the middle sizes and is quite wide for the smallest when compared with rival machines. Also, those DT Swiss wheels do come with the narrowest internal rim width out of all bikes on test, making the 25mm GP5000 front tyre visibly thinner than those of the Cannondale SuperSix (also 25mm). The result is a chattery…

The BMC Teammachine has long been the Swiss brand’s lightweight platform but with every refresh, it gets ever more aero – the boxy, angular shapes are almost in line with the latest aero models from Giant, Wilier and Colnago. As a result, it has snappy acceleration and excellent handling – it feels as composed when climbing or descending but also holds its speed admirably well on the flats. The tyres are Vittoria Corsas, like those specced on the Cervélo S5, but the Teammachine plumps for the 25mm option and pairs them with ‘old-school’ rims, with a narrower internal rim width. The result is that the profile isn’t as rounded and the tyres’ shoulders are a little steeper. This leads to a little less confidence in the corners when banked over,…

The Giant Propel has long been one of the best aero bikes on the market, particularly when considering the performance and spec you get for the price – and this latest iteration has brought a whole host of great improvements to the platform. It misses out on the title of ‘grouptest winner’, but is a worthy victor in our ‘best value’ category. The first point to make relates to the scale of the overhaul. Previously, the Propel had a long-established position in the pantheon of deep-tubed aero bikes. The Taiwanese giant has now pivoted to a much slimmer design, one which ascribes a greater priority to both weight and comfort. But aerodynamics haven’t been left by the wayside – Giant claims that even with its slimmer tube shapes, the new…

It can be hard to know what to say to a bereaved friend or club-mate, and ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ can seem forced or clichéd. So what should you say or do? “Just be there for them,” advises Jeremy Daubeny. “Trust me, it really means the world. People squirm at the start, but asking questions helps. Most grieving people actually want the release, to be open, to tell their story and how they’re feeling, but they need to be nudged into it. A ‘sorry’ is good, but being there counts for much more.” DO ▪ Go for a ride together, it’s an act of normality. ▪ Offer the person space to talk. A listening ear is valuable. ▪ Share a memory of the person who’s died. ▪ Reassure them…

I was out for a ride with my friend Bernard a couple of weeks ago. He was ahead of me on a descent when he made an incomprehensible gesture with his right hand and shouted something I couldn’t hear. Then he rode straight off the edge of the road, onto the grassy verge, indulged in a few seconds of ungainly road-bike cyclo-cross, and eventually bounced back onto the road. He’d got himself the wrong side of a large fissure in the tarmac, which gradually eased him from right to left and off the edge of the road. It swept him into the vegetation like a group of journalists in a Tour de France media car. A braver man might have attempted a sideways bunny-hop at 40mph, which is why brave…

Standing on the roadside in Verbier waiting for the shortened stage 13, it was difficult to fathom why the kilometres had been cut from 199km to just under 75km. For once at this Giro d’Italia, there had been no precipitation, the sky was clear, and it appeared that the riders had just made a difficult stage even more difficult. With no warm-up, the race had exploded by the time it had passed me, 7km into the 75km stage, with the break fully formed, with the day’s podium already present – and the sprinters off the back. Ineos Grenadiers seemed to police the day perfectly, allowing the break to go but keeping the pace high enough to ward off any attacks. The ability of Pavel Sivakov and Ben Swift to get…

Spain counts many ‘type-2 fun’ climbs – experiences that are only pleasurable once they’re in the past – and Alto Mas de la Costa is most certainly in that category. Enjoyed not only by sadists but, in our book at least, a must-do ascent for any visitor to the region, it’s quite remarkable how this tiny, narrow, forested 3.9km climb was used as a summit finish at both the 21016 and 2019 Vueltas a España. The gradients are preciptious (it averages 12.2% but has sustained sections far, far steeper), there’s little in the way of breeze and you’ll be in a self-inflicted hole of hell for however long it takes you to crawl up (anything between 20 and 30 minutes is a good time), but we’re absolutely certain it’s a climb…

The dust has now settled, the bell-lap completed, and after many months of testing and hours of discussion, the results are in for Cycling Weekly’s 2023 Race Bike of the Year award – but we won’t be giving them away quite so quickly. This is a test. First, let’s back up to the criteria for entry. Our first stipulation for Race Bike of the Year was that each model must be raced at WorldTour level. Vitus, for instance, produces some excellent bikes – and at particularly keen price points – but none of its models met our first criterion. Second, where a brand produces multiple models that are raced at WorldTour level (Trek has no fewer than three, for example) we’ve chosen the platform we find most notable. This has…

The Trek Madone received a major update last year, addressing the main criticisms of the previous iteration. First, it’s gone on a crash diet, shedding 300g through ditching the Iso-Speed vibration dampening system. Second, that seat-tube hole was added to help preserve the ride quality. And finally, a combination of new tube shapes and handlebar is said to save about 60 seconds over an hour’s ride, whether you’re travelling at 45kph or 25kph. Does the seat-tube hole really make a difference to the comfort? Well, it does ride more smoothly than that wedge of a seatpost would suggest, but not as smoothly as other models that have built in flex to the seatpost itself, such as the Aeroad and the Foil. It’s the handling that offers the greatest surprise. It…

The Scott Foil received a complete overhaul last year and what has been achieved is highly impressive. The frame is significantly lighter than the tube depths would suggest, its straightline speed is blisteringly fast, and the seatpost has been redesigned to allow much greater flex. The wheel and tyre combo adds yet more speed. We’ve tested the Zipp 454 NSW and Schwalbe Pro One tyres independently, and they are both top performers. The Zipps combine aerodynamics with a low weight, helping on the hills as well as the flats. The generous internal rim width really plumps out the tyres, too, getting the most from the Schwalbes. The frame, handlebars and body position similarly combine for a super-fast ride. Were it not for the Trek Madone, the Scott Foil would have…

New generations and iterations have been coming thick and fast over the last 12 months; the Cervélo S5 is yet another model which received an update last year - including a readymade palmarès. The S5 wore both yellow and green during the 2022 Tour de France, under Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert, respectively. It was also piloted to wins in both the women’s and the men’s 2021 Ghent–Wevelgem by Marianne Vos and van Aert. With its combination of straight-line speed, cornering prowess and magic-carpet ride quality, the S5 is also a worthy winner of Cycling Weekly’s 2023 Race Bike of the Year award. Although that’s not to say that the choice was straightforward and obvious… “Speed over coarser sections of tarmac is palpably faster too” In a straight-up battle…

Grief can be triggered by many different things, not only losing a loved one. A decline in sporting performance or inability to partake in your usual activities, for instance, whether through injury, age or other factors, can be accompanied by a painful sense of loss. Trina Parker is a loss and bereavement specialist. “When someone has a sport taken away from them for a period of time or forever, or when they notice that their abilities are waning, the emotions they experience follow a similar pattern to those experienced during a bereavement. It could creep up on them or come out of the blue, but there’ll be denial, anger, depression. It can be a rocky road to acceptance.” For many of us, sport – in particular cycling – is part…

Getting a super-aero set-up is very simple. But it does take some time, so you need to start working at it quite a while before your target event. To begin with, work hard at school. Concentrate on the lessons, don’t skive off to go cycling, and support your studies with a good night’s sleep and a sound nutritional plan. Remember that despite much evidence to the contrary, your teachers want the best for you and are not actually just wasting time that you might otherwise spend streaming bike races on your phone under the desk. If you get into college, work hard there too. Take your careers research seriously, target the job you want, and make sure your applications are unimpeachably well completed. Hint: you probably want to be a…