Innehållsförteckning för February 27, 2020 från Cycling Weekly

Sometimes it feels like barely a year goes by without the British racing scene facing, if not a crisis, then at least some serious, fundamental problems. Sponsorship, races, teams and riders come and go — that is the natural order of things. The issue right now is that many of these factors are coming together at the same time. Combine that with rising costs and ever increasing levels of bureaucracy and paperwork and you have a very serious issue. There are lots of concerned parties we spoke to for our feature (turn to page 28). The British scene has never had it as good as over the previous five or six years, with high-quality national and international races aplenty, and TV coverage and sponsors coming into the sport. Organisation has…

Podium lock-out at Paris-Roubaix, 1996 The story goes that team boss Patrick Lefevere received a call from Mapei CEO Giorgio Squinzi as his three riders approached the Roubaix velodrome, instructing him that Johan Museeuw must win this race ahead of team-mates Gianluca Bortolami and Andrea Tafi. Rominger’s Vuelta victory, 1995 Though mostly a Classics team, Mapei did enjoy some Grand Tour success courtesy of Swiss Tony Rominger. Nowhere was he more dominant than at the Vuelta a España in 1994 where he took the lead on stage one, putting it beyond doubt in the second week and taking six stages on his way to Madrid. Fabian Cancellara’s first pro win, 2001 Tour of Rhodes Spartacus, as he’d later come to be known, had been a product of Mapei’s fierce development…

Zdenĕk Stybar (Deceuninck-Quick Step) A month of hard cyclo-cross under his belt in December looks to have paid off for last year’s Nieuwsblad winner Stybar, who has already shown his hand with a stage win at the Vuelta San Juan. Expect to see him at the sharp end of this race. CW rating ★★★★★ Owain Doull (Team Ineos) This will be the Welshman’s first race back since his win at the Tour de La Provence earlier in the month. This seems to be a good time of year for him and he’s capable of a result here. CW rating ★★★ Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) Three times a podium finisher, including a win in 2016, Deignan knows what is required from this event. In her first full season following the birth of…

Races under threat in Italy Milan-San Remo, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Giro d’Italia could all be cancelled following the coronavirus outbreak in Italy. So far three people have died and the number of cases in the country has passed 150. Schools and universities have closed, Serie A football games have been postponed, and now bike races also look to be under threat. “We are very worried about the spread of the epidemic,” Mauro Vegni, the director of Giro organiser RCS Sport, told Italian news outlet Corriere. 145 kilometres… the total distance of Zwift’s new Haute Route Watopia stage race — the perfect antidote to what has so far been a decidedly inclement 2020. Taking place from April 3-5 across three stages in Zwift’s own ‘Watopia’ cyber world, it is a collaboration…

A fortnight ago I was riding my bike about one-and-a-half to two feet away from the kerb when an e-scooter came up on my inside, catching me by surprise. I was pushed to my right into the path of a car which was just about to overtake. Luckily for me, the motorist had anticipated the actions of the e-scooter rider and hit his brakes. I caught up with the e-scooter rider and asked him why he was on the road. He told me to “f*** off” and then tried to lean into me. I leaned back and pushed him onto the pavement which left him in a heap. I was not prepared to end up under a car. Why are these scooters allowed on the road? Apparently they are illegal…

Eager to experience this emerging technology, I set off on a journey of CdA exploration with the Notio. Unveiled at Eurobike in 2017 it is now on sale for $950 (around £730). The device works alongside an app which is currently iOS-compatible only. Data can also be communicated to a Garmin head unit via Connect IQ. Basic interpretation can be completed in the Notio app, while detailed analysis has to take place in ‘Golden Cheetah Notio’. The first step, before using the device, is running a calibration test. This involves riding 3km out and back, and this test needs to be repeated with each bike switch. Since my only iOS device available was an iPad, I ran my calibration tests with the iPad nestled in a backpack. The test needs…

With the second storm in as many weeks having left the British Isles a dishevelled mess, you’d need to be pretty hard or pretty idiotic to venture out with the likes of Storm Dennis — ‘Rohan’ to his mates — breathing heavily down your neck. Hopping aboard the turbo quite neatly quashes the potential of succumbing to airborne silver birch branch or piece of garden furniture as you hurtle down the road out of control. Cozy up and listen to the howling wind and rain from the comfort of your pain cave while preparing yourself for a season of sun-kissed podiums and PBs.…

TIME TRIALS SAT, 22 FEBRUARY Salt and Sham CC 10 (Rangeworthy, Gloucestershire): 1. Ross Phelps (Bristol RC) 20.55 2. J. Griffths (Bikestrong-KTM) 22.19 3. T. Scorer (Royal Navy & Royal Marines CA) 22.31 4. M. Dickerson (Skoda DSI Cycling Academy) 23.06 5. J. Lawrence (Salt and Sham CC) 23.07 6. R. Borek (Bristol South CC) 23.23 7. T. Cross (Univ of Bristol CC) 23.24 8. W. Hamilton (Bristol South CC) 23.44 9. A. Metherell (Salt and Sham CC) 23.56 10. A. Whittaker (Salt and Sham CC) 24.03 Women: Megan Dickerson (Skoda DSI Cycling Academy) 23.06 Veterans: Jeff Lawrence +3.10 Team: Bristol South CC (Rob Borek, Will Hamilton, Andy Legg) 1:10.34 SUN, 23 FEBRUARY North Road CC hardriders 25 (Brookmans Park, Hertfordshire): 1. Oliver Stockwell (Flamme Rouge CT) 51.33 2. L.…

Once upon a time there were four universally recognised cycle training intensities. There was ‘easy’, which was just casual noodling while chatting to your mates. There was ‘steady’, which was noodling harder, but not so hard you couldn’t keep talking. In an ideal world, if you were the fittest rider in the group, as the pace rose you were able to conduct an uninterrupted monologue because you could remain in ‘steady’ while everyone else tripped into ‘hard’, which was, well, hard. Beyond ‘hard’ there was ‘****ing hard’, which is more or less self-explanatory. The only way to tell the difference between these zones was experience, breathing rate, and how long you could keep it up for. In the 1980s someone invented the heart rate monitor. This allowed a new degree…

Lucy van der Haar (née Garner) made her return to the top step for the first time in nearly five years at the Dubai Women’s Tour. The 25-year-old had been expected to be a big force in the sport after she won the World Championship junior road race in Copenhagen in 2011. But she last won a race at La Route de France in 2015 when she rode for Liv-Plantur. She then spent three win-less years at Wiggle-High5 before joining her current squad Hitec Products last season. Following her victory she tweeted: “Can’t believe we just won the first ever. Can’t thank the girls and team enough for helping me win the GC in today’s stage.” Van der Haar’s victory was built on winning the sprint on the race’s first…

National junior 25-mile time trial champion Ollie Stockwell got his 2020 season off to a great start with victory in the North Road CC Hardriders on Sunday morning. The 17-year-old from Hertfordshire — the reigning national junior road race champion who is heading to Belgium this week to ride Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — proved fastest by 46 seconds over a course shortened because of roadworks. He clocked 51-33 and looked set to be challenged for the win by Josh Crow-Stewart (Arctic Aircon) until a puncture ended his rival’s hopes. Instead, previous winner Lloyd Chapman (Loose Cannon’s Conditioning) took second. “I was quite nervous because I haven’t done a time trial in quite a while and the North Road Hardriders is difficult, but I thought a top-three finish was achievable,” said Stockwell. “I…

When racers of all levels meet on the start line for the early season races of January through to March they’ll often hear the question: “How was your winter?” If that question was asked of Britain’s elite-level races the answer would most likely be rather bad, leaving them in a perilous state. In January, iconic races like the Eddie Soens and Lincoln Grand Prix were in danger of being scrapped (the two have since been saved after an outcry from supporters heralded new investment). In February, the East Cleveland Klondike GP scrapped its women’s race due to monetary concerns, while E/1/2 races the Tour of Sussex and Bourne CiCLE Classics both announced that they would not continue in 2020 due to similar concerns. Cycling Weekly spoke to race organisers of…

There wasn’t a pair of shoes on test that didn’t impress us in one area or another. However, there can only be one winner — and in this case it had to be Shimano. The carbon composite sole provided us with an excellent blend of stiffness and comfort, and aside from the Sidis, which use their own system, Shimano was the only brand offering two retention dials to spread the tension. The oilslick effect on clean, white shoes had us itching to get these kicks out of overshoes as soon as possible. A very close second, Bontrager’s Velocis come with some notable merits — a lower weight despite being tested in a larger size for one. The Velocis shoes also come in a wider range of sizes, with women’s models…

2x 20mins FTP intervals For a classic threshold-booster and fantastic time trial training, you can’t beat this session: ■ Ramped warm-up: 2min @Z1, 2min @Z2, 2min @Z3 ■ The session: 2x 20min @FTP, with 10min recovery between ■ Warm-down: 2min @Z3, 2min @Z2, 2min @Z1 30/30s It’s always satisfying when big numbers appear on your power meter, and this microburst session allows for just that. Pace your efforts, though, as it’s easy to blow up if you go too hard too early. ■ Ramped warm-up: 2min @Z1, 2min @Z2, 2min @Z3 ■ The session: 4x (5min alternating 30sec max effort, 30sec easy); 5min @Z2 recovery between sets ■ Warm-down: 5min @Z1/2…

Tour des Alpes Maritimes (February 21-23) Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) tasted victory for the second time this year with this win on his team’s home soil of France. It was won with a victory atop the Col d’Eze overlooking Nice on the race’s second day. The Colombian triumphed over a strong field that included Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r). The only Brit in the race was neo-pro Mark Donovan, who helped his Sunweb team leader Nicolas Roche to sixth. Setmana Ciclista Valenciana (Feb 20-23) Former world champion Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) soloed to victory on the race’s second stage and then held on in relative comfort, even slightly extending her lead on the race’s mountainous last day to win the GC. British riders Joscelin Lowden (Drops) and Lizzy…

CW news editor Ever since his debut junior season when he demolished all in front of him and ripped the World Championship road race field to pieces, Remco Evenepoel has been tagged as the next big thing. Some will even tell you that he may be a once-in-a-generation rider that’ll win almost at will. And when you win 32 races (including classification jerseys) in a season with only 27 race days that’s probably a logical conclusion. At that time there was good reason to be sceptical. Cycling history is littered with ‘next big things’ that never blossomed into what we all expected them to be. Even the great Peter Sagan hasn’t proven to be the steamroller of the Classics that many thought he’d be. Evenepoel’s debut pro season did, however,…

■ Leberg (37km to ride, men) With 45km to ride, the race enters its endgame, where riders encounter a total of seven bergs (four of which are cobbled), plus three further sectors of pavé. Right in the middle of this last 45km the riders are hit with a machine-gun barrage of berg-pavé-berg-berg, all within the space of less than 10km. At the end of this test is the Leberg — 700m long with a gradient peaking at 14 per cent, this would be the perfect time for anyone ‘on a ride’ to launch a move. ■ Eikenmolen (28km to ride, women) At 700m, with gradients of up to 12 per cent, the Eikenmolen is steep and long enough to create meaningful gaps. With only the Muur-Kappelmuur and Bosberg left in…

In spite of concerns about the direction of elite road racing in the country, many of the scene’s best riders are passionate about defending the quality of racing. After denying Richie Porte his annual win on Willunga Hill at the Tour Down Under in January, Lotto-Soudal’s new WorldTour pro Matt Holmes said: “Teams need to really look at the National Series in Britain. They are not UCI races, but they should count [towards attracting WorldTour teams]. There are no easy races to win.” Speaking to CW last spring, Tom Stewart of Canyon-Soreen anticipated the current debate, but launched a defence of the racing. “The scene is healthy but it will always struggle because of the financial model. We can’t get much money from TV rights, there aren’t as many TV…

No one needs tools that arrive in a fancy presentation box and cost more than is perhaps absolutely necessary — but sometimes it’s nice to treat yourself, and your bike. The Y-wrench is a handy workshop tool in any guise, but this version from Italian-born and now US-based tool the merchant offers something a little different. At the centre of this Ypsilon (say it ip-si-lon) travel kit is a high strength CrV steel spine, with fairly standard fixed 4mm and 5mm hex keys. In place of the customary 6mm key is a quarter-inch bit collet with a magnetic attachment — and in the box you’ll find a selection of steel hex bits (in 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 and 6), Torx bits (in T8, T10, T15, T20, T25 and T30), and…

Turbo training is getting better and better. The features and perks provided by indoor cycling platforms are multiplying all the time as indoor training becomes ever more enticing. Who knows, perhaps it won’t be long before our status as cyclists depends wholly upon our virtual badges of honour. Back in the real world, the turbo is a powerful tool for improving your fitness and preparing to ride outside. Pro riders are becoming just as partial to indoor sessions as we time-crunched amateurs. They know that a targeted session can effectively home in on a particular aspect of fitness. Whether you’re a cyclo-crosser, time triallist, crit specialist or stage racer, choosing the right workouts will help you build a power profile that best suits your racing. To that end, we have…

You’ve just made a stunning break-through, beating the king of Willunga Hill Richie Porte on his home tarmac to win the final stage of the Tour Down Under. Quite simply: how? It’s difficult to know because I hadn’t been feeling that great for the rest of the race — a mix of good days and bad days. Over the winter, I’d been unsure whether the training set by my new coach was working for me, and sure enough, in Australia I felt not half as good as I normally would. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time for that last climb. OK, let’s rephrase: what sort of training usually works for you? Well, for the last four years, I’ve had a coach [Bob Tobin]…

I have a racing weight. It is a figure that has not changed for a very long time. It is still, after all this time, recorded in various ‘official’ sources — old team bios, results. I think it’s even diligently noted on the ProCyclingStats website along with my height, and some computer-generated scores for sprinting and climbing ability (‘zero’ and ‘zero’, since you ask). I’ll admit that my racing weight actually started out as more of an aspiration than an accomplished fact. Then, like a political party’s manifesto pledge, it matured from a mere aspiration into more of a straight-up lie. People say age is just a number. In my case my racing weight is much the same: a number carefully calculated to make people jealous while staying just this…

Not long ago I was chatting to a very scientifically orientated rider. Someone who keeps a detailed training log so that he can base his training on the best available evidence, rather than relying on guesswork and the last random magazine article that happened to catch his eye. He mentioned that his best ever 10-mile time trial effort had come at the very end of a season following two weeks of total idleness, a 3kg weight gain, and was accomplished with a monster hangover from a stag do the previous day. Despite his enthusiasm for evidence-based training, when I asked him what happened when he replicated this preparation for another TT, he looked baffled and said he’d never repeated it, “Because that would be stupid.”…