Innehållsförteckning för May 28, 2020 från Cycling Weekly

Cyclists are a disparate bunch. From roadies to trackies, mountain bikers to time triallists, we all have our own two-wheel tribes. And then there are tribes within tribes, often defined by the tech we choose or the riding we do. But I reckon there’s one thing that unites us all. That’s a long ride in the sunshine. The only thing better than a long ride on a beautiful day is a long ride on a beautiful day when your legs feel fantastic. The kind of feeling you only get once or twice a year when you could ride all day and never tire. But after weeks of lockdown (solidarity to our Welsh and Scottish readers who remain so) and restricted exercise, plus for many an understandable nervousness about going out…

CW news editor As a journalist for over a decade, I’m more than familiar with the bind Strava has found itself in of late. It’s the same one my industry has been grappling with for years. If you’re reading this, the chances are you’re holding the paper magazine in your hand. Every word in here someone had to be paid to write. The photographers had to be paid to take the pictures. The designer had to be paid to make it look stylish. And the sub-editors had to be paid to make the text neat and free of typos. You, or maybe one of your mates, accordingly paid us some money to read it. We appreciate that. A lot. Strava was doing something equivalent to thrusting a magazine into your…

How are you doing? I am the owner of a facilitation company so in March and April all our actual events were cancelled and my financial position went from very healthy to zero income. Fortunately, I have been able to develop interactive virtual events with clients so I have some income and feel less scared. We have got more used to living in isolation. My husband is in the shielding group which effectively means that I have to keep isolated too, although I have gone out for solo rides but only locally and much shorter than usual. How are you keeping yourself motivated to ride right now? At first it was really hard to get motivated to ride. I usually enjoy regular group rides over hilly and remote terrain and…

Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche ride to the start of the stage from Killarney to Tralee with motorbike outriders. I love this photo as it summed up these two superstars in their homeland at a time when Ireland had the number one rider in the world with Kelly, and Roche was fresh from just adding the World Championships to his Tour de France and Giro victories earlier in the year. This was the third Nissan Classic and it had an extraordinary field containing some of the best riders in the world at that time. Everywhere it went the crowds were huge, the circuit finishes were spectacular with every vantage point taken; all I remember of the race was the noise of the crowds and the endless smiling faces. Looking back,…

Seventeen year-old Euan Macleod joined Tekkerz this season. He first met Briggs at a skills session he was running. “This kid just had so much energy and he’s like, cracking me up and he’s really good at riding,” recalls Briggs. “He was telling me a lot about school and how he was struggling and I empathised a lot with what he was saying… I offered him a ride for Tekkerz on the basis he stayed in school, and I helped him manage his studies better.” “I can’t sit still,” says Macleod. “I always have to be doing something. And I think that is why me and Alec got on so well in the first place because we’re just pretty similar.” He says he had just finished his GCSEs and was…

All aspects of fitness training are governed by the law of diminishing returns. Basically, the more you do of one training modality, the less it improves the capacity being trained. In 2013, a group of scientists published an article in the European Journal of Applied Physiology detailing a study that supported this law. They looked at the effects of hard interval training on maximum oxygen consumption, but their findings apply to every aspect of fitness including endurance. They asked two groups of subjects to ride intervals of the same duration but at differing intensities. They found that both groups improved their maximum oxygen consumption by the same amount; the group doing the more intense efforts just did so quicker. This is a demonstration of the fitness plateau. Do the same…

EvoPro’s star rider Wouter Wippert pays homage to his team manager: “Morgan’s understanding of cycling from a rider’s perspective is key. But equally important is his understanding of situations – he is able to take in and process emotions and information quickly. As he lost his hearing, he had to adapt his senses and how he communicated. Now with his implant, he still uses that adaptability, which is so useful in cycling. Understanding the dynamic of racing and adapting quickly is what makes a great DS. “Morgan of course spent years as a pro, so knows how to guide us through a sprint. He has a great ability to read each rider, and understands how to communicate their race role. We’re building a great programme.”…

Right now I’d imagine that the world of professional bike riders can be divided into two broad camps. On the one hand, the riders who are horrified at what’s happened to the season. The ones that are desperate for competition, for the thrill of racing and the taste of blood at the back of their throats. This group will also include those who slacked their way through the first year of a two-year contract last year and are now terrified of not having a chance to show off before this year’s negotiations. Not to mention those who spent several thousand euros on drugs in the spring build-up, and ended up doing nothing more glorious with the resulting form than getting thrashed on Zwift by amateurs telling inexpensive lies about how…

Cyclists across the world have reacted with disappointment but also sympathy to Strava’s decision to take large chunks of its platform behind its paywall. Last week the fitness-logging app announced a sweeping overhaul of its service. Major improvements were made to the training and route-planning sections but alongside the roll-out, Strava also moved some features, including leaderboards and segment analysis, under the subscription umbrella. The changes began from Monday, 18 May and were accompanied by a letter from the founders, Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath, explaining the decision. They wrote: “Dedicating Strava to the community [subscribers] is… a commitment to longevity. We are not yet a profitable company and need to become one in order to serve you better. And we have to go about it the right way –…

Training insights Strava introduced greater training insights, such as performance tracking – much like the Performance Management Charts in Training Peaks in 2018. However, it’s now gone much deeper, adding much more analysis. The ‘Summit’ tab is now the ‘Training’ tab. This includes four key areas: Weekly Activities, Training Log, Weekly Intensity and Monthly Fitness. Where previously only running, swimming and cycling appeared here, now all 32 sports types uploaded to Strava will feature. Route planning The new routes features work on the web platform, as opposed to the mobile version, as this is where most athletes plan rides. The map includes three layers: a basemap, global heatmap, and segment explore – so you can plan a route which takes in specific segments. The maps now provide advice on surface…

Bontrager gives WaveCel treatment to adult and kids’ helmets Bontrager has added WaveCel technology to a range of its existing helmets, also launching a kids’ range to ensure small heads get boosted protection. WaveCel technology is exclusive to Bontrager and is designed to boost safety, with the brand reporting a 48 per cent drop in the likelihood of concussion – though this has been disputed by testing carried out by competitor MIPS. New additions to the WaveCel family include the Starvos WaveCel (£99.99), which is designed for road, gravel, trail and path use. Jarlinson Pantano banned for four years Retired rider Jarlinson Pantano has been banned from cycling for four years in the wake of a positive doping test. The Colombian pro, who last rode for Trek-Segafredo, was initially suspended…

British team launches are usually a fairly dry, sedate affair. The standard format involves riders parading out awkwardly in their kit, often in the bland conference room of a hotel. A presenter might ask them a few questions over a PA system. If you’re lucky there are some awkward jokes. The difference between a ProTour and a WorldTour outfit is often just the three-star or five-star hotel it takes place in. For Tekkerz, however, a team launch is at a bar under the railway arches in London’s hip Bermondsey, with a live band, DJ and their own beer ‘Post Palace Ale’ – named in honour of the Crystal Palace crit races. In many ways the squad, the brainchild of London racer Alec Briggs, are relative minnows, but the launch is…

Monday: Complete rest. Tuesday: Training session 3 Wednesday: Ride outdoors for one hour in the Z1 fat-burning (conversational) intensity zone. Thursday: Training session 2 Friday: Ride outdoors for one hour in the Z1 fat-burning (conversational) intensity zone. Saturday: Training session 1, but alternate each week with a ride outdoors for one hour in the Z1 fat-burning (conversational) intensity zone. Sunday: Ride outdoors for one hour in the Z1 fat-burning (conversational) intensity zone. Note: Do two weeks as above, then one week riding just how and when you feel, but if it’s outdoors, then just one hour. Repeat this cycle.…

If you can’t resist the urge to ‘go long’, why not set yourself an indoor challenge? Take a leaf from Melanie Wasley’s book and undertake a virtual feat of endurance. With full lockdown measures in place, Wasley, 39, completed a virtual Everesting, clocking in 8,900 meters of gain on Zwift in a moving time of 11:14. The Londoner is no newbie to crazy feats, having already completed the Sufferfest Knighthood, an outdoor everesting of Coll de Sa Gramola, Majorca, the brutal Donegal 555 Audax, and plenty more. When advice was issued to avoid placing strain on the NHS with outdoor sports, Wasley binned her planned long ride for the day and took on the 11-hour slog. She points out the eight ascents of Alpe d’Zwift weren’t as taxing as her…

No change at the top of the men’s leaderboard this week, as 23-year-old Nick Cooper holds on to his lead for a second week. There was, however, a surprise entry by Vitus Pro Cycling’s Tom Mazzone – the 26-year-old went straight into third place with 22.35w/kg (1,676 watts). The women’s contest was shaken up by the entry of 19-year-old Kim Baptista, a Rayner-funded rider from Wigan, who went straight into the lead with 15.88w/kg (905 watts). We asked Baptista to tell us a bit more about her riding… WOMEN’S LEADER: KIM BAPTISTA What’s your cycling background? I started racing cyclo-cross and crits at age six, before starting BMX aged eight, doing European and world championships. I then rode MTB, from age 13, spending two years on the Great Britain Cycling…

A colleague was on a train, back in the halcyon days before the lockdown. He fell into conversation with the man in the seat next to him. When he told him what he did for a living, the man said, “Really? I rode the Tour de France a few years back.” My colleague thought about this claim for a moment. “You’re British, yes?” he asked. “Yes,” said the man. “In that case you didn’t ride the Tour de France. I would recognise you.” “Don’t be an idiot. You can’t possibly think you can recognise every British rider who’s ridden the Tour de France in the last few years?” “I can recognise every British rider who has ever ridden the Tour de France in the last 100 years.”…

Mark Jenkins It’s a great app that needs a large team to run and improve it. It costs money to run. So you can’t blame them for reorganising their platform to encourage more to go premium. It’s cheap for what you get. Some people should stop moaning. Dave Pettitt £3.99 is less than three SIS gels. It’s hardly daylight robbery, is it? Why do people these days expect everything to be free? Aemon Atkinson They’re getting too big for their own boots, greed breeds greed. Duncan Fairwood My concern is that by adopting this they drive away so many free users that the community dies and the segment leaderboards become worthless. No point paying if I’m the only person (relatively) logging activities in my area. Not due to renew until…

On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your last session? Six or seven. It was a 10 in terms of route and scenery.  If you could win any race what would it be? World Championships. It’s probably one of the more spectacular one-day races. Just because it brings all the nations together. And it’s just you win it, and you get to wear a completely different, colourful, unique kit that shows you were the best in the world on that day, which I think is pretty cool. How are you staying motivated with no racing on? I think, like a lot of guys, I had a bit of a down patch, but then once that expires, you kind of realise why you ride a bike in the first…

1 Alberto Contador tested positive for clenbuterol. How did he claim it got into his system? 2 Who won the European Time Trial Championship? 3 Which Italian rider got his sanction for biological passport anomalies overturned, by arguing the variation in his blood levels could have been caused by spending time at altitude? 4 Who won Scotland’s first ever road gold medal at the Commonwealth Games? 5 Which member of Saxo Bank team staff raided the roster for his new team? 6 What type of business does that manager run now? 7 Mark Cavendish became the second Brit to win the Vuelta a España green jersey. Who was the first, 21 years earlier? 8 Which nation topped the medal table at the Track World Championships? 9 Contador’s clenbuterol positive may…

THE RACE SRAM SEND IT SERIES A women’s race series featuring Australian National Road Series teams, this is open to all women and is sure to be a tough 22.9km test. Tues 2 June, 9:30 THE WORKOUT STRENGTH WITH A KICKER British Cycling’s Team Breeze lead this low-cadence, high-resistance workout that focuses on building your strength. Mon 1 June, 12:00 THE CAFE RIDE JENSIE RIDE FOR CHALLENGED ATHLETES The legendary Jens Voigt leads this social spin in support of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which helps athletes with disabilities. Sun 30 May, 16:00…

As a 68-year-old who has non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myelofibrosis, I read about CW’s Max Watts Challenge with some interest, but thought it had no relevance to me because of my health. I am regarded as extremely vulnerable and have been confined to the house since 22 March. As soon as I got the letter from the NHS, my wife and daughter started encouraging me to buy an indoor trainer so I could get some exercise. I didn’t take much persuading! Only trouble was, there didn’t seem to be any in Europe, let alone the UK. In the end, I found an Elite Direto 2 at my local Halfords, so my wife went to buy some ‘urgent medical goods’. I’ve fallen in love with it, and, through the ‘my e-training’ app,…

“I raced with Alec when I was 14,” recalls Felix English. He was on the British Cycling talent team and would race alongside Briggs regularly, but they lost touch as he went off in pursuit of his Olympic goals. Now racing for Ireland, he says he had an offer from another fixed-gear racing team and contacted Briggs to ask about the scene. In the course of that conversation, he ended up racing for Tekkerz. “He told me that they do a bit of everything and the riders kind of dictate what they want to do. And I’ve never heard that from someone who has a team before,” he says. “My first priority at the moment is the track, which was a big turn-off for road teams, but then he was…

A custom paint job is an easy way to transform your frame into a personalised machine. We spoke to Sam Weeks at Gun Control Custom Paint – where options start from £550, plus VAT. “Factory paint is applied thick and fast. We strip that back and put time into creating a finish that does the frame underneath justice. Bike companies just don’t have the time or skill to finish bikes to our paint standards. Going for a custom paint scheme is also a great way of personalising kit or expressing yourself creatively. “Understanding how paint sits on a frame and what works technically is an important part of making bikes look great. Creativity is the really fun bit. We hold the customer’s hand throughout both aspects of that process. “Some…

Two-time Transcontinental winner James Hayden explains what to consider when building up a gravel bike. The British rider won the adventure race in 2017 and 2018, and is supported by Canyon, Endura and Ride with GPS. “Gravel is a wide term, so identify the expected terrain, topography and weather. With this knowledge you will be able to select suitable tyres, gearing and add-ons such as dropper post and flared bars. Rougher terrain or bad weather and you’ll want more durable and bigger tread tyres. Smooth Tuscan strade bianche and you can almost run road tyres. Shoes are important too, if you expect to hike-a-bike, then something comfy enough to walk in. There is no one-fits-all bike; however, with tyres around 40mm wide, and a wider ratio cassette you will be…

SESSION 1: FASTED AND FAST Do this ride in a carb-depleted start – ideally pre-breakfast. After warming up, by slowly increasing your effort, ride hard for 10 minutes to burn through some of your glycogen stores, then drop down to your normal conversational fat-burning intensity for the middle part of the ride. The final 10 minutes should be ridden at high intensity, but pedalling at least 100 to 110rpm, more if you can. You can switch to a lower gear to do this. Fast-pedalling a low gear creates a high oxygen demand without loading your muscles. It tricks the body into thinking it’s working hard, and because by this stage of the training session there is very little glucose left to use, the sudden oxygen demand forces the body to…

“I woke up and thought, ‘Shit, I’ve overslept’ – I could see the alarm was flashing but there was no sound coming from it.” Former Irish national road race champion Morgan Fox is reliving the moment in late 2008 when a bike crash came back to haunt him. “I picked it up, played around with the volume, then suddenly realised it was me, not the alarm.” Overnight his world had fallen silent. There had been no warning – “no symptoms, no headaches, no sniffes” – but immediately Fox suspected a link to the crash from which he was still in recovery. Four months earlier, racing at the Tour of Qinghai Lake in China: “I’d had a flat and was chasing back on, doing about 60kph. Just as I was getting…

I had suspected Covid-19 symptoms four weeks ago. I’m feeling fine now, except perhaps slightly more tired than usual. Am I OK to return to my usual training (six hours per week, including two hard sessions)? The amount of time it takes to recover fully from Covid-19 varies widely. In some cases, even once recovered from the main acute symptoms of pyrexia (raised body temperature) and coughing, there are more prolonged effects such as episodes of raised heart rate. This is something I personally experienced – even several weeks after acute symptoms, I remained unusually short of breath. Fatigue is another well-recognised post-viral symptom. So my advice would be a phased return to training over several weeks; do not rush back to your pre-illness training schedule. In particular, high-intensity sessions…