Innehållsförteckning för November 21, 2019 från Cycling Weekly

The biggest transfer in cycling this year is without doubt Rod Ellingworth’s move to Bahrain-Merida (look out for a name change in the next few weeks). Brought in to run the team by McLaren, which now co-owns the venture, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are the team making big gains in the next year or so. Based at McLaren’s HQ in Woking, the team now has the best technological back-up in the sport. The advanced tech department features a room full of engineers who over the years have supported multiple Olympic sports. And that’s in addition to the eye-watering innovation that surrounds its F1 team and its fleet of six-figure supercars. But it’s not just clever carbon and new kit that will win them races. Ellingworth was the man…

1961 Milan-San Remo 1962 3rd GC Tour de France, 1 stage 1963 Flèche Wallonne; GP des Nations 1964 2nd GC Tour de France, 1 stage; 1st GC Vuelta España 1965 2nd GC Tour de France, 2 stages 1966 3rd GC Tour de France, 1 stage; 1st GC Critérium du Dauphiné 1967 1 stage, Tour de France 1968-1969 1st GC Critérium du Dauphiné 1970-1971 1st GC Setmana Catalana 1972 3rd GC Tour de France; 1st GC Paris-Nice 1973 1st GC Paris-Nice 1974 2nd GC Tour de France, 1 stage 1975-1976 3rd GC Tour de France 1977 Final year…

If you feel you are missing some key character traits that would help you perform better, consider creating an alter ego. OK, this may sound a little bit ridiculous and like child’s play, but it really can work. ■ Identify the character traits that would improve your performance. ■ Choose a name for your character befitting of those traits. ■ Think about the type of music the character would listen to. ■ Consider which mental skills your character would use. ■ Work out which type of kit the character would wear. ■ Understand what strengths this character will give you. ■ Write down the mindset of the character and how they will behave in different situations. Practise using your new character so that you feel comfortable and efficient in switching…

Rachael Elliott had her best season so far in 2017. With a gold medal in the Closed Circuit Time Trial Championships, a silver in the National 25 and smashing the 30-mile national competition record, she was headed for the very top with the all-conquering Drag2Zero team. Early last year, she had just started training with her new coach Julia Shaw and was feeling on even better form — when, on February 21, the day after she’d been to the wind tunnel and got her CdA down to a “stupid low level”, she had a stroke. “I was Zwifting, just an easy session,” recalls Elliott, “and 15 minutes in, I started feeling dizzy. I reluctantly stopped my Garmin, thought I was going to faint, picked my phone up, lay on the…

Possibly thanks to the rather romantic nature of the climb, and certainly thanks to some of the captivating photographs that were taken that day, many remember the battle between Raymond Poulidor and Jacques Anquetil on the Puy de Dôme in the 1964 Tour as representative not only of their rivalry but also of their careers. Graeme Fife, in his Tour de France: The history, the Legends, the Riders does perfect justice to the memory of that day. “Locked in bitter contest, shoulders bumping as if each was trying to knock the other sprawling, bikes flung sideways, front wheels all but touching at the base and tipped sideways in a vee, like two haunches of a log split by an axe,” Fife wrote. “Both of them in the saddle, at the…

Ambiancecross (November 23) This is only the second edition of the race and the inaugural running saw Denise Betsema narrowly win the women’s race. In a thrilling finale, the Dutchwoman beat Alice Maria Arzuff on the line. She will be aiming for win number two in east Flanders, a target for Mathieu van der Poel, too. National Trophy round 5: Pembrey (November 24) The fifth and penultimate round of the national cyclo-cross series heads to west Wales and the beautifully idyllic village of Pembrey. Less Belgian and Dutch riders are expected to make the trip — like they did for round four — meaning Ian Field is expected to dominate proceedings in the men’s race and take a big step towards another series win. Sophie Thackray has been the model…

De Marchi’s near-miss CCC rider Alessandro De Marchi has issued a heartfelt Insta-plea imploring drivers to take more care, after a near-miss in training. The incident took place on De Marchi’s home roads in Buja, northern Italy. He describes how a car overtook fast and close, causing him to lose his balance, only to stop at a newsstand 200m later. “You almost killed me… just to get to the newsstand first!” he thunders, before making a more general plea: “You can kill with a car! And you will not kill just a cyclist: you will kill a husband, a wife, a father or a mother, a friend…” 14 The number of Tours de France Alejandro Valverde will have started when he takes to the start line in Nice next July.…

Last Friday I went to Glasgow to see the UCI Track World Cup. I have never been to a professional bike ride of any kind before. I went to see my favourite writer, Katie Archibald, riding. I took my daughter, who is doing physiotherapy at Glasgow Caledonia University. What a great experience it was. I was surprised to find the stadium is kept so warm and the banks so steep; pleased by the fast turnaround between races and how close we were to the action. Wowed by the racing… we both loved the whole thing. And Katie was immense! John, email Ed – Glad you enjoyed your first international track race, John. There’s not much to beat it for an hour’s live sporting entertainment. And Katie does OK, doesn’t she?…

Unlike at Sky, where no one with a history of doping was allowed to join the team, Ellingworth isn’t keen to have a staff or rider recruitment policy that goes above or beyond the WADA rules. “If somebody’s eligible to race, they’re eligible to race,” he summarises. Last month the team fired Slovenian rider Kristijan Koren and his compatriot Borut Božič, a former pro turned DS, after they were banned for offences dating from before they joined the team, uncovered in the Austrian Operation Anderlass blood doping investigation. “We’re not going to mess around with it,” says Ellingworth when we ask him what the procedure would be if in future someone is banned. “When you’ve got a brand like McLaren involved you know you’ve got to hold yourselves to really…

A long line of cyclists rolls gently along the muddy Basingstoke Canal path. The oldest is at the front, his white and blue Holdsworth showing its age, its rider wearing a blue jacket, his ironed trousers tucked into bicycle clips. Constantly pointing out hazards and giving advice to anyone close enough to hear, there is one like him in every club in every town. But there’s no one quite like Russ Mantle. As we near a cafe about five miles into the ride from his Aldershot home he stops, and announces he’s just ridden his one millionth mile. One million. That’s 1,609,344km. Or 14,700 miles a year for 68 years. Cycling UK has organised a reception and applause echoes through the trees as he breaks a ribbon before facing the…

To reflect effectively, you need just one piece of kit: a training diary with lots of space to write. Training Peaks or Strava are great for capturing data, but the benefits of heartfelt reflection come when you get to know yourself, not just your numbers. An old-fashioned paper diary is ideal. After each session, ask yourself three questions and write down the answers: ■ What did I enjoy? ■ Where did I struggle? ■ What unhelpful thoughts did I have? Over time, these answers should show some patterns, help you to make your internal head chatter more positive and guide your efforts.…

Rachael Elliott stresses that her stroke was not caused by cycling: “It was something called a cavernoma, which is a collection of abnormal blood vessels in the head, something that only a very small proportion of people have. An even smaller proportion have them burst, and an even smaller proportion have them burst and cause symptoms like mine. So it was a one in 10 million chance that it would cause what I have now. Parinaud’s syndrome is very rare — no opthamologist or optometrist I’ve seen has ever heard of it.”…

ROAD RACING SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16 Full Gas Winter Circuit Series round five (Lee Valley VeloPark, London): 2, 3, 4: 1. Paul Burton (unattached); 2. G. Castro (Hub Velo); 3. A. Slinolhu (unattached); 4. D. Bennett (Hub Velo); 5. K. Bowerbank-Robinson (Hub Velo); 6. G. Nemilostivijs (Rapha CC); 7. Z. Buttle (Islington CC); 8. G. Well (ActiveEdge Race Team); 9. J. Mokrani (Willesden CC); 10. H. Macfarlane (unattached). Masters: 1. Charles Kennedy-Scott (CC Hackney); 2. W. Kriek (Lea Valley CC); 3. N. Stephens (Team Terminator); 4. A. Batthe (unattached); 5. J. Soler Sarmiento (Handsling Racing); 6. C. Salt (Islington CC); 7. J. Baskerville (Bigfoot CC); 8. S. Noel (unattached); 9. J. Greenwood (Finsbury Park CC); 10. A. Keene (London Phoenix CC). CYCLO-CROSS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17 Central League round nine (Hillingdon circuit,…

A couple of years ago my friend Bernard arrived at our ride meeting place decked out in a very striking bright red winter jacket made by a distinctly premium-priced clothing maker. This was out of character. When I first knew him, Bernard dressed for a winter ride by simply putting on all the random bits of bike kit he owned one on top of the other. For very cold days he incorporated bits of his non-cycling wardrobe as he felt appropriate. He once did a winter club run in a charity-shop Aran sweater with a Sainsbury’s plastic bag stuffed up the front of it. Naturally I commented on the red jacket. “It was a present from my parents,” he said. “Bloody waste of money. What do I want with something…

Word reaches us of two riders who started a sportive with the intention of riding the harder of the two available routes. They set off. Mysteriously, after only a few miles, they found themselves back at the start of the event. Undaunted, they set off again. And not long afterwards, to their confusion, the same thing happened. They decided to ride the shorter route, and just lie about having done the long one to the rest of the club afterwards. This they actually managed to do.…

I was at the dinner table on a race trip with a group that were talking about the track, about the weather, about the hotel food: small talk. There was a lull in conversation and someone turned to me and asked (I hadn’t said a word until now), “So, Katie, what are your thoughts on transgender athletes?” I was walking through a hotel lobby and I stopped to watch a team-mate play their shot on the pool table. My pause gave space for someone to approach me and ask, “Katie, yeah, I was wondering, do you think they should scrap the use of podium girls?” I was in the car headed to a race with a mixed group of riders. The radio was on, occasionally the sat-nav would speak, we…

1972 – Born in Burnley, Lancashire 1995-97 – Rides as a pro on the Ambrosia/Dyna-Tech and UV Aube teams 1999 – Rejected for a job as a fire fighter 2002 – Joins British Cycling as a Talent Team coach, swiftly promoted to assistant national coach 2004 – Established the British Cycling U23 Academy 2008 – As senior endurance coach at BC, starts Project Rainbow Jersey, the BC plan to win the Worlds road race 2010 – Helps establish Team Sky under Dave Brailsford 2011 – Cavendish wins the Worlds RR 2012 - Wiggins wins Tour de France 2013 – Promoted to Sky performance manager 2019 – Joins Bahrain-Merida…

“We are not mile-eaters for the sake of figures, charts, statistics or what have you,” read a feature in this very magazine announcing the formation of the 300,000 Mile Cycling Club. “The miles have brought pleasure and, in every case, the feeling of well-being that derives from good health, an excellent appetite and sound sleep.” The club was formed in 1962 after Frank Fischer wrote to Cycling suggesting the idea. The magazine would then publish completed mileage charts riders would send in each new year and Fischer had used these to identify 11 riders who had the requisite mileage, though only seven were still alive. With one of their number abroad, in September 1962 the remaining six met for the club’s inauguration at a Buckinghamshire guesthouse. Between them they had…

Choose your big goal. It could be a PB, a race position, or a ranking but it could also be an ‘experience’ goal (compete in a new place), a fulfilment goal (using cycling to help others) or a development goal (focusing on long-term skill mastery). Whatever you pick, it needs to be: ■ Stretching — compelling you to focus and work hard. ■ Realistic — so you don’t feel out of your depth. ■ Exciting — something you feel is worth the investment. ■ Controllable — not dependent on unknown factors. ■ Positive — something you actually desire to do. Choose the performance goals you need to achieve in order to make your outcome happen. These may be specific times, distances or skills you will need to be hitting, acting…

Understanding where your potential sources of support come from can help you feel physically and mentally safe, making you a better and healthier rider. Look through the list below and identify who would be your go-to person in each area. ■ Sporting strategy advice: e.g. mentor ■ Fitness advice: e.g. club coach ■ Training advice: e.g. personal coach ■ Competition preparation advice: e.g. experienced club-mate ■ Nutrition advice: e.g. nutritionist ■ Injury advice: e.g. physio ■ Health advice: e.g. sport-aware GP ■ Mental approaches to cycling: e.g. wise club-mate ■ Personal and emotional support: e.g. spouse or close friend ■ When you need cheering up: e.g. good friends ■ When you need career or development advice: e.g. trusted colleague ■ When you want to have fun: e.g. high-spirited friend…

As a partially sighted national record-breaking tandem stoker, Rachael Elliott decided to test for Paralympic selection, but was turned down. “I couldn’t actually complete the test because I couldn’t look where they wanted me to look. And because my retina wasn’t damaged, they couldn’t classify me. “It’s very upsetting because the Paralympics are there if people can’t ride bikes and I can only ride a tandem. British Cycling have been really good but there’s nothing more they can do. Sarah Storey has also tried to help but it will need a rule change. It would have been the icing on the cake if I’d been able to go to Tokyo.”…

Jaarmarktcross (November 11) In his first race since winning the European Championships for a third time, Mathieu van der Poel (Correndon-Circus) yet again made light work of his pre-race favourite tag, winning by 41 seconds from Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal). Victory was van der Poel’s 28th in a row. Lucinda Brand won the women’s race. Telenet cyclo-cross World Cup round 4: Tabor (November 16) Van der Poel’s winning record threatened to come undone in Tabor, when he started from the third row and didn’t reach the front until after 40 minutes. The 24-year-old eventually beat Eli Iserbyt by a few metres. Annemarie Worst (777) won her second successive World Cup race, beating Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado by 10 seconds. Britain’s Anna Kay was seventh. Flandriencross (November 17) It was win…

One of the pleasures of modern cycling is the availability of a wide range of performance metrics. Until the late 20th century the only way to demonstrate cycling ability was to ride a bike quickly in the form of a race. This was inconvenient, tiring, and for most riders required the invention of a wide range of excuses to explain their mediocre results. With the arrival of the power meter, a rider had the option of using a power number to explain their greatness — a metric that favoured the large and strong over the small and wiry. You might beat some big gorilla of a rider in an actual race, but they’d always be able to tell you about their 400W threshold afterwards. The small riders countered with the…