Indholdsfortegnelse for November 16, 2023 i Cycling Weekly

There’s no getting away from the fact that cycling is going through one of the most difficult, indeed troubling times I can remember in my two decades working here. Good businesses haven’t survived, races have gone to the wall and sponsors are turning elsewhere. It’s clear that lockdowns created the once-in-a-generation boom that has led to this bust, but Brexit, the cost of living and inflation, increased traffic, poor road conditions and other factors have all come together to create a perfect storm for the industry and the sport. It may seem trite to say ‘don’t worry, it’ll come back’. But it is important to remember these things are always cyclical. Cycling isn’t going anywhere either as a mode of transport or a competitive sport, but when cycling does enter…

In-form Thomas Mein powered to a third victory in the National Trophy Cyclo-Cross Series, winning round four in Devon to strengthen his overall lead. The Hope Factory Racing rider’s win in Saturday’s elite men’s race at Torbay Velopark left him with four rides in the bag and just one more to give him his first overall Series win. Shortly after his victory he headed over the English Channel to Belgium for the following day’s World Cup Series event at Dendermonde, where he finished 22nd. “I’ve never won the National Trophy Series at all at any level, so hopefully I can get one more win and the overall, which would be nice,” said Mein, who crossed the line 24 seconds ahead of Toby Barnes (Ribble-Verge Sport), while Daniel Barnes (Team Spectra-Cannondale)…

As northern hemisphere road cyclists, we are now officially in the ‘off-season’, but each year I ask myself if it is really needed. As a young cyclist I had come from other sports such as running, so this was cross-country season, swimming sessions didn’t stop, nothing really changed. But once I swapped fully to cycling it was basically implied you needed to become as unfit as possible over the next few months (Geraint Thomas recently admitted he’d been drunk 12 out of 14 nights in his offseason). Anyone who did train was labelled a winter warrior, which sounds impressive but basically meant they wouldn’t be any good come race season. For pros who have been travelling around the world, racing 10,000 miles a year, it’s important to have some downtime…

Zoe Bäckstedt claimed her first elite cyclo-cross World Cup podium on Sunday in Dendermonde, Belgium. The Brit finished 1.35 down on winner Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Deceuninck) with Lucinda Brand (Baloise-Trek) between the pair in second. In the men’s race the best placed British rider was Cameron Mason (Cyclocross Reads) a minute down on winner Pim Ronhaar (Baloise-Trek) in 11th after suffering a mechanical at the start. But the action on the day was overshadowed by the baffling comments of UCI president David Lappartient about the World Cup. The Frenchman threatened to introduce new rules meaning riders who miss World Cup cyclo-cross rounds would have to forfeit the following rounds and also the Worlds. “If a rider prefers to ride a national event during World Cup rounds, you will not…

The bike has evolved over the years and I’m on my third frame, which has seen countless wheels come and go. Frame: A 531 Steel Condor, in purple. Chainset: Shimano Dura-Ace 7401, the last good looking chainset Shimano ever made. With a third-party non-branded 1/8in 44-tooth chainring. Chain: Izumi 1/8in track chain. Wheels: Rear is a Miche track hub fitted to an exquisite Campagnolo Omega V rim and cheap 1/8in 20-tooth sprocket. The front is a Mavic Open pro rim on an old Campus Chorus hub that Cycling Weekly’s very own James Shrubshall donated to me in 2003. Pedals: Time Xpresso 2. Tyres: Schwalbe Marathon 28mm. Stem: Cinelli Pinocchio. Bars: Cinelli 65 Criterium, still the most beautifully curved bars of all time. Levers: Tektro. Saddle: Sella Italia titanium railed Flite.…

ONE UP Revolt X Advanced Pro 0 £5,499 Coming with a Rockshox Rudy XPLR fork that provides 40mm of suspension, the X typifies one strand of gravel bike evolution. SRAM takes care of the groupset with the solid-performing Rival eTap AXS. It shares the same great wheels that the rigid Advanced Pro 0 tested here comes with. ONE DOWN Revolt Advanced Pro 1 £4,599 At £900 cheaper than the Shimano GRX version tested, the Advanced Pro 1 swaps top-tier Shimano for SRAM’s second-tier 2x12-speed Rival groupset. This makes it another very good-value alternative with the same frame, wheels and contact point components as the Shimano-equipped bike, plus two bonus gears.…

The week: 9-15 October Location: Peak District Training for: British National Hill-Climb Champs Harry Hudson is among the youngest in his year-group – he turned 16 in late August. All the more astonishing, then, that he not only won the junior title at this year’s National Hill-Climb Championships – beating riders more than two years older than him – but finished joint-third overall too. His time of 13.05 up The Struggle, in Cumbria, was 14 seconds faster than second-placed junior, Maxwell Hereward, and less than a minute behind overall runner-up Ed Laverack. The previous weekend, Hudson had won the Mam Nick hill-climb and finished sixth overall at the next day’s Snake Pass race. We caught up with him to find out more about his prodigious talent for going fast uphill. How…

Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel could face each other at just five cyclocross races this season, if reports from Belgium are to be believed. The pair are the two biggest names in the cross world, having shared nine out of the last 10 World Championships between them, and have been head and shoulders above the rest of the field for most of that time. Earlier in December, van der Poel released his calendar for this cyclo-cross season; the Dutchman will not race until 22 December. Now, according to Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, van Aert will also make his cyclo-cross debut for the year at the same race, the Exact Cross Mol. While van der Poel has 15 races down on his schedule, van Aert has just…

Many thanks for the evocative photo of the eventual winner of the 1937 Tour de France, Guy Lapebie (From the Archive, CW 7 Sept). The 1937 edition of the Tour was unique in many ways. It was the first and only edition of the Tour where the organiser, L’Auto, supplied the competitors with their bikes. The riders were permitted to fit their own choice of saddle and shape of handlebars. Secondly it was the first time the riders were permitted to use variable gears. It was also the first time that following team cars were used. Fourth, it was the first time British riders competed. The team was called the British Empire Aces. It comprised two English riders, Bill Burl and Charles Holland, and a Canadian called Pierre Garchon. Burl…

The weather has well and truly turned over the last few weeks as we wave goodbye to summer (sometimes) sun here in the UK, and with that comes our annual rain jacket grouptest. Testing, which is as fun as it sounds, gives us a chance to put multiple jackets to the test in the same conditions, one of which is the Santini Guard Nimbus. “IT’S LIGHTWEIGHT AND PARTICULARLY COMFORTABLE” Santini’s Guard Nimbus is one 100% waterproof thanks to a doublelayer Grimpeur fabric construction complete with thermo-welded seams and retails for £169. The fabric used is 5000mm water column rated and is rated for ‘mild’ temperatures. The Italian clothing brand’s fitted rainjacket offers an aerodynamic cut, waterproof sleeve cuffs and a singular rear zipped pocket which is the perfect size for…

CYCLO-CROSS SATURDAY, 11 NOVEMBER Elite Men: 1. Thomas Mein (Hope Factory Racing) 1:04.20; 2. T. Barnes (Ribble Verge Sport) +0.24; 3. D. Barnes (Team Spectra Cannondale) +1.51; 4. H. Buck Jones (Wales Racing Academy) +2.22; 5. S. Wyllie (Team Spectra Cannondale) +2.59; 6. T. Couzens (Montezuma’s Race Team) +3.02; 7. J. Smith (Wheelbase CabTech) at same time; 8. S. Fisher (Hope Tech Factory Racing) +3.59; 9. J. Coukham (Ribble Verge Sport) +4.35; 10. S. James (Hope Factory Racing) +5.16. Elite Women: 1. Elena Day (Team Spectra Cannondale) 55.30; 2. R. James (Hope Factory Racing) +1.07; 3. H. Inglis (Brother UK-Orientation Marketing) +1.14; 4. A. Baker (Team Empella) +1.49; 5. K. Eedy (Team Empella) +2.12; 6. X. Crees (Team Spectra Cannondale) +2.27; 7. E. McKinnon (Montezuma’s Race Team) +2.40; 8. R.…

A message arrives, from an anonymous member of a Yorkshire club: “The son of a mate in the club has been doing a lot of Zwift racing, and doing pretty well. This is not surprising since he’s manually changed the calibration of the power meter he’s using to give himself about 30% more wattage. “He’s entered his first real race, a cyclo-cross race against quite a few local lads he’s been beating online. His dad pointed out he was going to take a thrashing and experience a major episode of getting rumbled. “‘That’s OK,' said the son. ‘I’ll hack the calibration of the power meter on my cross bike as well so that it matches.’”…

Twenty-three-year-old Will Tidball put himself in the shop window for Olympic selection at the UCI Track Champions League, winning an elimination race and finishing second in the men’s endurance category. “Obviously it’s on my mind,” the Brit told Cycling Weekly when asked about the Olympics. “But at the same time, I’m a bike racer, I like winning races, and winning races gets you selected.” Next summer, GB men’s endurance coach Ben Greenwood will choose five riders to compete in Paris, four of whom will make up the team pursuit squad. Competition for places is fierce, and will only intensify as the Games draw closer. “I’ve been out there, I’ve consistently performed and I don’t think anyone can argue with that,” Tidball said. “They can look at the numbers, but look…

When news broke last week that BC had terminated the Tour of Britain contract it held with SweetSpot it would have been easy to have been very sceptical indeed. Despite the Women’s Tour’s prestigious WorldTour status the men’s race is arguably Britain’s biggest cycle race, why would BC seemingly be looking to make it impossible for it to happen next year? Although that isn’t the case at all. Multiple conversations that I had last week with various parties revealed to me that this had been on the cards for a while. In hindsight, the warning signs were there in public in SweetSpot’s financial difficulties, which got in the way of running its other two marquee races, the Women’s Tour and the Tour Series. It’s all too easy for onlookers to…

Zwift hits back with its own esports event Zwift has come out swinging after losing the tender for the next three years’ Esports World Championships to rival virtual racing platform MyWhoosh, promising to launch what it calls “the largest cycling esports event ever held.” The ‘Zwift Games’ will be open to all, and feature Sprint, Epic and Hill races. Qualification races will be held in February 2024, with the finals in March. Met to tackle bike robbers The Metropolitan Police has promised to make tackling a spate of bike muggings one of its priorities, saying in a statement: “Violent crime, including robbery, has a devastating and lasting impact on victims, and the wider community.” Last month, CW reported that members of Regent’s Park Rouleurs in North London had been targeted…

Phil Southerland is the cycling team owner and tech developer you’ve probably never heard of, but really should have. For more than 20 years he has used cycling to first keep himself alive and to then empower millions of others. But, remarkably, he might never have had the opportunity to ride a bike at all. Aged just seven months old, he lost 40% of his body weight in one week, and every breath sounded like his last. “My mum thought she had a frail, dying baby in her arms,” the Florida-born American says. Doctors were stumped as to what the problem was and it was only when a nurse smelled his fruity breath and urged fellow medics to check his blood glucose levels that they got an answer – Southerland…

Cyclo-cross coach Ian Field and veteran racer Scott Heyhoe on how strength training has worked for them: “I have coached a number of riders back from injury using strength programmes to aid their recovery,” says champion cyclo-cross rider turned coach Ian Field. “A stroke, broken legs, knee injuries, have all been catered for. Getting the power balance back has been key for most, and preventing injury on the return to training. “Muscle wastage is a problem when an athlete has been sidelined for a while, so building both limbs back up to a similar functional strength was important. Getting athletes ready for road cycling is one thing but the rigours of CX and mtb is another level. We have to get riders strong in multiple planes for very dynamic movements.”…

November is the flattest, dullest month to be a road rider in the UK. It is cold, but not yet cold enough that it feels brave going out. It is wet and windy. The days are short, the lovely warm evenings no more than a memory. And as the summer recedes, the perspective of time helps you realise that what felt like an achievement in August was in reality only a slightly-less-embarrassing-than-usual kick back against the long slow slide to the grave. Personally I struggle with the lack of targets to motivate me at this time of year. Next season is far away. Once upon a time I’d have been hard at work doing the winter miles. But at least a decade ago I realised that winter miles only count…