Innehållsförteckning för September 21, 2017 från Cycling Weekly

It’s that time of year when many of us have to face up to reality. A reality that’s going to wipe out a whole morning of our time. If not a whole day. It’s nearly time to put away the best bike and jump back on our winter bikes. Forgive me if I’ve written about this in the past, but it’s something I agonise over for weeks — far more than I should, and it’s been brought on early this year by the somewhat naff September weather. I still love riding my winter hack, an old, steel Brian Rourke, but there’s something sad about putting away the race bike for the winter. It means summer is over, and we know we’re not going to get out in just a pair…

Team Sunweb kicked off the Road World Championships week with a storming performance in the team time trials, becoming the first trade team in the modern era to win both men’s and women’s races. The men finished the 42.5km course from Ravanger to Bergen in 47.50, beating fancied BMC and Team Sky into second and third place respectively. Reigning champions Quick Step Floors were fourth. The Sunweb women rode the course in 55.41, ahead of reigning champions Boels-Dolmans and Cervélo-Bigla. Having never podiumed before in the event, it was an unexpected coup for the German outfit, and rounded off a stellar season that includes victories in the Giro d’Italia with Tom Dumoulin, the green jersey and polka-dot jerseys in the Tour de France courtesy of Michael Matthews and Warren Barguil,…

Former Hour record holder and world champion Graeme Obree is putting a vast range of personal memorabilia from his career up for auction. These items include his National Championship jersey and, notably, his ‘Beastie’ bike — built in his attempt to break the human-powered land speed record. Alongside the Beastie, medals, cups and equipment from the Flying Scotsman’s career are set to be sold off on Friday September 22 at the Great Western Auctions in Glasgow. Obree revealed to Cycling Weekly that the primary reason to sell on the selection of items was to fund future projects. “With the Beastie project, it cost a lot of money to get to America without sponsorship,” he said. “I didn’t make a loss, but you don’t get wealthy doing these type of things.…

Cyclo-cross is the perfect discipline to introduce a bit of fun into your riding at the end of the year. Even if you don’t fancy the intensity of racing (which can get addictive) there’s still lots to be gained from getting off the beaten track. From improving your bike-handling skills to enjoying a bit of exploration, getting into cross is the perfect way to extend your season and stay fit. We’ve teamed up with partners to bring you a selection of this year’s most exciting kit along with some advice for those dipping their toes in the water for the first time. BOARDMAN CXR 9.4 £2,299.99 The CXR is Chris Boardman’s preferred ride, chosen for its go-anwhere versatility as much as its prowess on the cross circuit. Boardman has always…

Giro Savant £104.99 The mid-range Giro Savant helmet brings Giro’s tech to a mid-price design. It’s also available as a non-MIPS version for £84.99. MIPS adds a thin plastic insert inside the helmet that’s loosely coupled to the helmet outer and designed to slide in the event of an oblique impact, helping to protect the brain from rotational forces. Giro has been increasing its range of aero road helmets, but the Giro Savant retains the classic vented road style. The vents are a bit smaller than on some lids, and the front-facing vented area is lower. This means airflow over the head isn’t quite as good and I felt a bit warm on hot days when climbing at lower speeds. The straps are also a bit wider and firmer than…

Carbs may be king when it comes to fuelling, but the ability to burn fat as an energy source has come to the fore in recent years, especially for longer duration rides. Pro teams are encouraging riders to boost their fat-burning capacity to aid performance during mammoth stages and races. However, burning fat only comes into play during longer, lower-intensity cycling, as Trent Stellingwerff explains: “Compared to carbohydrates, all fats are much slower-burning, and for the vast majority of Olympic sports, fat oxidation plays small a part, as nearly all events are carried out at high intensity over a relatively short duration.”…

Richard Hughes is the drummer in the rock band Keane. He is also a member of Kingston Wheelers — and channels his passion for music into his riding. “I’ve been riding a bike my whole life, but regularly on the road bike for about five years. I am a club rider, not a racer, doing a few sportives or shorter Audax rides each year. “I use songs to keep a cadence in my head, particularly on long climbs. Some choices can get pretty annoying, but they tend to pop into my head rather than being a conscious choice. “Physically, rock drumming is like cardiac and aerobic interval training: a three to four-minute song, then a short break, then go again. If singing backing vocals as well, it can be pretty…

Jonny Bellis Jonny Bellis is an Olympian and Worlds medallist. After a serious accident he turned his attention to coaching. Contact: info@belliscoaching. co.uk HIS COMMENT Tom has a busy schedule, owing to work and family life, so my objective was to be as timeefficient as possible. I have done this by modifying his training to add quality to his commuting rides and also by making the most of the small windows of time he has in the evening by incorporating specific turbo workouts, addressing his weaker areas. This should help him in race situations. Tom’s biggest strength is his sprinting. Although he wants to improve other areas, it’s also important not to completely neglect this quality. More often than not, a good sprint is what wins riders races, and it…

With a roll call of members including artists, architects and lawyers, Ronde CC may not fit the typical image of traditional cycling clubs, but the sense of camaraderie is no less tangible. As we negotiate Edinburgh’s excellent bike path network out of the city centre, newlyqualified lawyer Chloe Watson tells me: “There’s a great sense of community. From students to millionaires, we are all here to ride our bikes and enjoy the social side of it.” To reinforce the point, she and fiancé Paul Hill, an architect, are busy arranging the details of a party later that night with other members of our peloton. One of these is Catriona Munro, who joined the club to make friends after she moved to the city after graduating from Aberdeen University. “The social…

Wednesday, September 13 Lotto-Soudal’s Tim Wellens reminded everyone that he could be a dark horse in the World Championships road race by breaking clear of a 21-rider front group 16km from the finish, to win the GP de Wallonie, 82 seconds adrift of team-mate Tony Gallopin in second. Thursday, September 14 Sonny Colbrelli won the Coppa Bernocchi race in Italy, his first win since the middle of April. The 27-year-old Bahrain-Merida rider was the fastest in a bunch sprint, beating Sacha Modolo (UAE-Team Emirates) and Elia Viviani, who was riding for a composite Italian team. Friday, September 15 Fernando Gaviria of Quick Step Floors got the better of Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) to win the Championship of Flanders. The Colombian edged a bunch sprint after a 192km race. Saturday, September 16…

doctorhutch_cycling@timeinc.com The last serious bike race I rode was the 2014 Commonwealth Games. It’s a bit of a surprise to realise that that’s three years ago now — it feels much longer. I’ve also gone through a certain disappointment when it became clear that cycle sport was able to manage just fine without me. I think I’d more or less assumed that as soon as I stopped it would grind to a halt. Three years on, something else occurred to me. One of the staple features of magazines such as this one is an article that is usually printed under a headline saying along the lines of, “All the way from couch potato to international rider in just three seasons!” I don’t think anyone has ever run a piece on…

The bosses of British Cycling are confident Lizzie Deignan still represents one of Team GB’s best chances of taking home a rainbow jersey at this week’s World Championships despite having surgery to remove her appendix at the end of August. Deignan, who won the GP de Plouay just four days before having her operation, will still likely enter the women’s World Championship road race as team leader, according to BC performance director Stephen Park. Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Park said: “That appendicitis has clearly brought some apprehension about how she will be able to deliver but ultimately we believe she is in good enough form and, more importantly, she believes she is in good enough form. With the tenacious attitude she has you wouldn’t bet against her.” Park added that…

Harrison Jones, 20 Polartec Alberto Contador U23 Team, Pinto, Spain Verdict on Pinto? It’s near Madrid and it’s not your typical cycling place. You have to ride for a bit of time to get out and in the summer you’re riding in a desert, on very flat roads and in 40°C heat. I never spent massively long periods there though, racing all over and doing a summer training camp in Andorra with Orica. How’s the season been? Frustrating. Spanish teams have a mentality that there is one guy who they choose to win and everyone else is on the front. I’m a team player but it stopped me getting results and I was being left out of big races for no reason. So recently I’ve been racing pro kermesses in…

Former British Cycling chief executive Peter King has put himself forward for election to the organisation’s board this year in response to 18 months of controversy at BC. Last week, the South East regional board of British Cycling decided to nominate him as a candidate for the English representative on the board. Under new rules, the regions of England, Scotland and Wales all get to nominate a member to the board. King is hoping to become the English regions’ nomination when the regional councils all meet next month. Speaking to Cycling Weekly, King said: “If I don’t get selected then I will enter the ballot for one of the other four independent director posts.” The independent directors will be appointed by British Cycling. There has been scepticism among some of…

Recently retired after 38 years as Cycling Weekly’s photographer, Graham Watson covered all of Stephen Roche’s major victories, and classes his 1987 Giro triumph as the best Grand Tour victory he ever witnessed. “He had real balls, no fear of anything or anybody,” says Watson. “He was hard on himself and on others. He didn’t piss around when it came to going for what he wanted, he wasn’t interested in second place. The only rider that came close to him in terms of tenacity was Lance Armstrong, but I think Roche had a touch more.” Watson says of the 1987 World Championship, “It wasn’t a pure sprinters’ race, as many had predicted. The final climb was quite a long drag up to the line, a bit like the one in…

he Scott Foil was the first aero bike to win Paris-Roubaix, with Mat Hayman in 2016, and it has taken stage victories in the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. Top of the Foil tree is the Premium, decked out with Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels and Dura-Ace Di2, but the Scott Foil RC runs it a close second, with the only swap-outs being Zipp 30 Course alloy wheels and mechanical Dura-Ace. Frame Scott says it’s worked to add comfort to the latest iteration of the Foil’s frame. To this end, the bike has skinny, lowered seatstays and a sloping top tube, which Scott says has improved vertical compliance in the seat tube by 86 per cent compared to its predecessor. Scott says it has also added more compliance to…

Kuaifit headphones Whether you are looking for some in-ear coaching or just a bit of riding ‘company’, these wireless Kuaifit headphones may be the answer. The sweat-proof headphones allow you to receive feedback and coaching while riding — especially useful during turbo-trainer sessions, where guidance can boost motivation. There is 8GB of memory for songs, workouts and training plans, and a seven-hour battery life will see you through any ride. www.kuai.fi t $209 Cycling Science If you’re a bit of a training geek and enjoy books that cover the ins and outs of cycling fitness in extensive detail, then Cycling Science may well satisfy your cravings. Edited by Stephen Cheung and Movistar coach Mikel Zabala, the hefty tome covers a multitude of areas across training, nutrition and health, with contributions…

Each job offers a package of transferable skills you can use to give yourself an advantage on the bike. tour guide tim Benson not only gets to walk nine miles a day to boost his fitness but also has to quickly and efficiently plan his routes: “it’s become invaluable for cycling in london and quickly assessing travel for potential risks.” Meanwhile, police rehabilitation centre physiotherapist lyndsay fitzgerald uses her work expertise “to understand the body mechanics that affect my position on the bike and prehab/rehab exercises for niggles” — helping her stay injury-free. So, rather than resenting your job because it gets in the way of your riding, think about all the things you can take from it to boost your physical, mental and logistical strengths on the bike. Being…

45 MILES 1 Bathgate Alps These are the fearsome local hills, all short but steep, and this route features three of them — Linlithgow Hill, The Knock and Cairnpapple. The first one is the longest and toughest... 2 Binny Descent This is the reward for all that climbing — a gradual descent that lasts nearly 10 kilometres, offering views as far as Edinburgh airport and the river Forth. 3 Harry Potter’s house The final stretch into Edinburgh takes you through the millionaires’ enclave of Cramond. Quiet, leafy roads and shared-use bike paths thread past mansions, one of which is home to JK Rowling. Favourite cafe The cafe at Ronde Bicycle Outfitters hosts various club functions, including regular cake and coffee nights. Its usual fare consists of soups, cakes and a…

Snowdon Sports Twelve months after making his first competitive ride in the same event, Calum Brown (B38-Underpin Racing) showed how much he has progressed with victory in the Bolsover and District CC hill-climb in the shadow of Hardwick Hall. The floodlit evening event attracted a good crowd of spectators and riders alike, who were treated to a course-record breaking performance from 26-year-old Brown, who clocked 1.17 for the 615 metre-long climb to beat reigning national champion Adam Kenway (Raleigh-GAC) into second. Drizzle made for a greasy surface and few expected the course record to fall, but Sheffield-based Brown had other ideas and sliced two seconds from Kenway’s old record, set in 2016. “I had lots of grip on the back, I only slipped coming out of the blocks but after…

There are two sorts of injury. There is the type caused by a sudden involuntary departure from the design parameter of your bike. This is technically called ‘falling off’. And there is the overuse injury, which is technically called, ‘ignoring your sore knee until you can’t walk’. In general, doctors cling to a theory that a good way to recover from a cycling injury of either variety is to stop cycling. (There is, in fact, some truth in the notion that when a GP has a patient who doesn’t do any exercise he or she tells them to start, and when faced with someone who already does lots of exercise, tells them to stop.) Feel free to argue about your doctor’s suggested recovery times. You, after all, are a cyclist,…

The favourites The Dutch enter Saturday’s event with a host of options in their seven-woman team. Both Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen have big race temperament, have had stellar seasons, and can also take on the final sprint. However, Marianne Vos is best suited to the final if she can stay in contact. With such talent Dutch infighting could open the door to others, with a strong American team poised to take advantage. Good on many terrains, we could see Coryn Rivera’s devastating sprint if she makes it over the climbs, though Megan Guarnier has proven speed and timing on a tough course. Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand- Prevot was a close second to Lizzie Deignan in Plouay recently and though she is on the comeback trail, won the…

“Now, aged 23, I’m caning entire bars of the stuff like I’m trying to find a golden ticket; my dark chocolate diet needs refining” Children aren’t supposed to like dark chocolate. It’s one of those bitter things that you are meant to acquire a taste for later in life, like olives and self-pity.” The words of Emma Jane Unsworth written in Hungry the Stars and Everything. When I first read them I was still a child, aged 21, who crinkled her nose at dark chocolate. Aged 22 I forced myself to eat it as a healthier indulgence than milk chocolate. Healthier not because of the lower sugar or higher cocoa content but because I couldn’t stomach more than a few chunks. Aged 23 I’m now through the other side and…

Snowdon Sports Former Sleaford Wheelers treasurer Richard Horton was jailed for 10 months for stealing nearly £8,000 from the club after pleading guilty at Lincoln Crown Court last month. Horton, 52 and of Great Hale in Lincolnshire, took £7,923 from the club’s accounts over a 20-month period from March 2015 to November 2016. “When we found out the news was greeted with shock, anger and sadness,” said club chairman Nigel Hurst. “This was a friend; someone we had all ridden with and shared club outings.” Although the judge ordered the money to be paid back, the club had already regrouped, fundraising to pay debts and get their accounts back in the black. An auction at their annual club dinner raised more than £1,000 thanks to gifts from local businesses, with…

STAR LETTER The wonders of cycling I am in my seventies, and have been cycling since the age of 13, and have raced, toured and commuted. Recently, I have ridden sportives and charity rides. This year my wife and I completed the London to Cambridge 60-mile ride on our tandem. Earlier in the year I completed a 100-miler around the Fens of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. A couple of years ago we both rode to Paris from London via Dieppe. The point is that getting out on the bike at any age is to be recommended. The reasons for doing that may vary: to improve performance or just to enjoy being on a bike and seeing the countryside. We must not forget the social side and the benefits that can come…

Crankalicious Mud Honey Foaming Bucket Wash It’s nearly that time of year again when it takes more than a single wet wipe to buff up your bike. Part of the Crankalicious Remove range, the Mud Honey is a powerful, pH-neutral wash that is drivetrain and disc-brake friendly. Contact: www.i-ride.co.uk Price £10 (500ml) Review: November Bontrager Velocis helmet First spotted at the Tour de France on the heads of the Trek-Segafredo riders, the Velocis has received a comprehensive overhaul. The new design brings larger vents to an aerodynamic shell, with four colours on offer and MIPS included. Contact: www.trekbikes.com Price: £149 Review: December Sherpa Rinchen base layer Sherpa was founded in Nepal in 2003 and employs local people as well as sponsoring Nepali students. If the Rinchen (meaning ‘precious’) base layer…

The nutrition world is constantly changing; as science advances, advice and guidelines swiftly become outdated and obsolete. Dietary fats are a case in point. Conventional wisdom has it that an endurance athlete’s diet should comprise 60-70 per cent carbohydrate, 15 per cent protein and the remaining 15-25 per cent fat. Optimal nutrition is not quite so simple; it is not only the proportion of fat that matters but also the type, according to Barry Murray of Optimum Nutrition 4 Sport, who has worked with the BMC and Orica-Scott teams. “You need to consider the term ‘healthy fats’. For a long time, healthy fats were deemed to be those that were low in saturated fats — sunflower oils, vegetable oils or spreads,” he says. This principle has now been called into…

It’s a beautiful crisp, clear autumn morning. The call of the road is strong. Your bike stares at you temptingly. Your legs twitch. A couple of hours out, playing on the pedals would be perfect right now. But it is Monday. And that means work: that pesky necessity that gets in the way of cycling but which must be obeyed because it pays for the bikes, gadgets and kit, as well as the home to store them in, and the food that fuels your pedalling. We all know being a cyclist can help us do our day jobs better. Commuting by bike has been shown by research to help us feel more energised and alert while at work. The ride home provides a chance to decompress and process everything that…

A passionate mountain biker as a youth, Tom Kite rediscovered his love of cycling after getting a “grown-up” road bike in 2013. After joining Strava, beginning racing and moving quickly from fourth to third-category, Kite says he’s “addicted to the adrenaline kick of a race, break and placing well in a sprint”. Owner of a lettings agency and dad to three young children, the 33-yearold has his eye on a cat-two licence and needs a schedule to fit his busy lifestyle. We’ve left him in the capable hands of GB Olympian, Jonny Bellis. MAIN GOALS 1. Improve functional threshold power (FTP) 2. Obtain Cat 2 licence 3. Race more often CW: What do you most want to improve in your cycling? TK: I’d like to improve my sustained threshold efforts,…

1 Marwick Lane The first climb of the day, although only 500m long, packs quite a punch: the average gradient is 7.4 per cent and the final 100m is all over 16 per cent. Be thankful for the short distance to the top! 2 Binsted Climb Although the average gradient of this 3.2km climb is two per cent, don’t be fooled: 1.5km in is a 500m section ramping up to 10 per cent. A short descent leads to another 600m segment with a 13 per cent plus incline. 3 Brockham Hill Two kilometres at an average of six per cent. The first 500 metres is false flat, before rising to eight per cent. Just under 1km in is a 400m section peaking at 16 per cent. Pick a low gear…

Snowdon Sports Dan Evans claimed his fifth Welsh national hill-climb title in six years while wife Jessica made it four in a row as both powered to victory on Sunday morning. Dan was beaten to the title in 2016 by Ed Laverack, but secured his fifth crown with a commanding display, his time of 10.12 enough for an impressive 41-second winning margin. “It went really well today,” he said. “It’s a decent course, a three-mile climb with the course record at around 10 minutes, so I was there or thereabouts.” As well as being husband and wife, the Colwyn Bay couple are also team-mates at ASSOS Equipe UK and Jessica made it a double for them, clocking a winning time of 13.38 for her fourth straight title. “It was a…