Innehållsförteckning för September 16, 2021 från Cycling Weekly

Hold the bells! We might have another one to add to the ‘incredible young riders set to lead the next generation’ list. Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar were the three twentysomethings seemingly untouchable in that category before Tom Pidcock added his name with his Spring Classics performances. Now Ethan Hayter has made his bid to be added. Coming second at the Tour of Britain doesn’t gain anyone automatic addition, but going mana-a-mano with van Aert and beating Julian Alaphilippe suggests his name could be added soon. And take a look through all Hayter’s 2021 results. In a year when he has focused on the team pursuit, an event just 4,000 metres in length, he has ridden six stage races, won one, come second in two…

The day after the Tour of Britain finished, Hayter was named among the British squad for the upcoming road World Championships in Leuven, Belgium. He will form part of a strong elite men’s road race team and will also ride the time trial. British Cycling performance director Stephen Park said: “It will be interesting to see how the elite men’s road race plays out. We’ve made the decision not to go with one team leader, giving us a number of options as the race plays out. The race really could belong to anyone.” Hayter added: “We’ve got a good team for the road race so it’s going to be fun I think.” The wider squad contains medal prospects in multiple categories including Lizzie Deignan in the women’s road race and…

Canyon-dhb-Sungod rider Jacob Scott compared most of the stages of the Tour of Britain to a team time trial, as he claimed the race’s King of the Mountains jersey and the points jersey in Aberdeen. The Oldham native said: “My jersey collection is getting quite good this year. I’ve had a national jersey in the cross-country marathon championships [mtb], I got the KOM jersey at Lancaster and I’ve currently got the National Road Series jersey, which is a goal for the end of the year – there’s one more round of that.” Speaking ahead of the race’s fifth stage he said: “I feel like I’ve done four team time trials so far. I don’t think we’ve ever been over a group of six either.” He was in the break again…

Colbrelli takes Euros Sonny Colbrelli’s win in the European Championships road race surely put the seal on his transformation from bunch sprinter to all-round talent. An impressive performance from the Italian on a course based in Trento, Italy, saw him keep Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel on a leash in the hilly part of the race before reeling him in and outsprinting him in the final. Benoît Cosnefroy (France) was third. The women’s race was won by Dutchwoman Ellen Van Dijk, who soloed to victory. Georgi takes first pro win British rider Pfeiffer Georgi scored her first professional win when she sprinted from a break to cross the line first at La Choralis Fourmies Féminine on Sunday. She had already been in the day’s break which was ultimately brought back when she…

Dutchwomen Anna van der Breggen (31) and Annemiek van Vleuten (38) are among the dominant riders of this generation, winning three of the last four time trial and road race titles between them and a repeat performance is not out of the question. Van Vleuten has a voracious appetite for success and will doubtless be hungry for more at either event, putting in a stunning performance to win the Challenge by La Vuelta earlier this month. Van der Breggen though, has made zero impact since the Olympics, admitting she is under par, and with retirement just weeks away she may be happy in a support role. It’s perhaps too soon for British rider Anna Henderson (22), but she has been Britain’s form rider, proving she can get over the climbs with…

One of the greatest drivers behind waste in the cycling industry is a lack of standardisation. The march towards the obsolescence of the rim brake, endless cassette spline reinventions, frames shaped for aero seatposts that might save watts but don’t guarantee a replacement part in a decade’s time. “Nowadays planned obsolescence is factored into production and I think it’s pretty disgusting,” says Jenni Gwiazdowski, mechanic at the London Bike Kitchen, a DIY workshop all about teaching people how to maintain their own machines. “When bikes come in that need proprietary tools, we order them and take the hit. But it’s just disappointing. It seems that nothing has changed in the internal gubbins – what’s changed is the diameter or the splines, so I now need a different tool. “I worry…

ONE UP Cervélo Aspero-5 Shimano GRX Di2 Disc – £8,699 As a model range, the Aspero-5 absolutely represents the top end of the gravel market and the Cervélo Aspero-5 SRAM eTap AXS tested here is, incredibly, the entry point of the Aspero-5 range. Above it sits the Shimano GRX Di2 build, which also gets upgraded DT 350 hubs; all the Aspero-5s come with power meters. ONE DOWN Cervélo Aspero Force eTap AXS 1 Disc – £6,049 This is the top-spec standard Aspero model minus the ‘5’ (5 is for the premium range). The Aspero frame is 10% heavier than the Aspero 5’s, according to Cervélo, and doesn’t get the power meter or the paintjob but the groupset and wheels are the same. You get an Easton EC70AX carbon bar and…

A key feature of fatigue is that it soon disappears with rest. However, whether that recovery is complete before the next training session or race stage is difficult to gauge. There are a number of methods that can be used to identify the extent of recovery, for example wearable technology that tracks physiological responses to exercise stress and strain in real time. One example is Whoop, the wearable device that tracks Strain (cardiovascular activity), Sleep and Recovery (daily readiness). By using photoplethysmography (using light to detect the pulse under the skin) and accelerometers to detect movement, it monitors heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration and sleep patterns to provide a recovery score after exercise. Whoop was used by the EF Education-Nippo WorldTour team in this year’s Tour de France to…

Recent and contrasting news about two of my favourite bike riders. On the one hand, Dan Martin is retiring. This makes me a little sad, because I loved watching him race, and always felt that he must be owed a big slice of luck at some point – I hope his luck still arrives even after he’s stopped riding, and he gets the chance to use it for something else. On the other hand, Dame Sarah Storey came back from the Paralympics having become Britain’s most successful Paralympian, with 17 gold medals (and other associated neck-ware) stretching back to… 1992. That same pre-internet summer that Chris Boardman and the Lotus 108 shot to fame, Dame Sarah was in the Barcelona pool winning medals, and 29 years later she looks almost…

This week marked the opening of the track at Crystal Palace, just five years after Herne Hill opened a few miles up the road in Dulwich. Sadly, the grand opening ceremony was delayed “owing to the irritability of Jupiter Pluvius.” And yes, we had to look that one up too. What a shame Jupiter Pluvius wasn’t one of the riders. Once the writer had finally managed to stop talking about the weather, they went on to say the design of the track “was ideal – long straights, sweeping curves and a magnificent surface.” It was expected to be the location for many record attempts. There was one problem, however. The rain had turned the grass inner (that went right up to the track surface) into “simply quagmires”. The writer’s “climate…

ELITE WOMEN’S ROAD RACE Lizzie Deignan, Anna Shackley, Alice Barnes, Anna Henderson, Pfeiffer Georgi, Joss Lowden ELITE WOMEN’S TT Joss Lowden, Pfeiffer Georgi ELITE MEN’S ROAD RACE Tom Pidcock, Luke Rowe, Fred Wright, Jake Stewart, Connor Swift, Ben Swift, Mark Cavendish, Ethan Hayter ELITE MEN’S TIME TRIAL Ethan Hayter, Dan Bigham UNDER-23 MEN’S ROAD RACE Ethan Vernon, Sam Watson, Oliver Stockwell, Robert Donaldson, Lewis Askey UNDER-23 MEN’S TIME TRIAL Ethan Vernon JUNIOR WOMEN’S ROAD RACE Maddie Leech, Millie Couzens, Flora Perkins, Zoe Bäckstedt JUNIOR WOMEN’S TIME TRIAL Zoe Bäckstedt, Maddie Leech JUNIOR MEN’S TIME TRIAL Max Poole, Finlay Pickering, Joshua Tarling, Jack Brough JUNIOR MEN’S TIME TRIAL Finlay Pickering, Joshua Tarling MIXED TEAM TIME TRIAL Dan Bigham (team leader), Alex Dowsett, John Archibald, Joss Lowden, Alice Barnes, Anna Henderson…

British Cycling wants to increase its membership by two thirds as part of a new strategy to lead the organisation into the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. It is aiming for a total of 250,000 members, up from 150,000. That will require it to more than quadruple its rate of growth, which has seen it add 50,000 members over the last seven years. As part of this drive it hopes to boost the number of cycling clubs and groups, and the young people riding in them, by a considerable 20%. BC commercial director Darren Henry said: “We’ve seen incredible growth in our membership over the past two decades, enabling us to reinvest more money back into the sport at all levels, reduce our reliance on grant income and have a…

Newly-crowned national 10-mile champion Hayley Simmonds is now targeting next month’s Women’s Tour. Stage three of the race will see the world’s top riders compete over a traditional 10-mile individual time trial in Atherstone. A similar rural and technical course was used for this year’s National 10-Mile Championships in Dorset, and Simmonds proved a comfortable victor. “I’ve got a couple of weeks of training so no racing and then I’ve got the Women’s Tour,” said the 33-year-old CAMS Racing rider. “I’ll want to put in a pretty dominant performance and make sure I’m up there with the best women in the world because ultimately that’s where I want to be and where I need to be if I’m looking towards good results at major international competitions. “And then the British…

As we went to press there were few details available on who would ride the junior and U23 men’s road races, but we dug out the form book to find a few likely names to look out for. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel, Junior) Any opportunity to compete for the rainbow bands on a hilly course would surely be on this young Belgian hit-list. He won the Classique des Alpes Juniors in May and is also the national time trial champion and an accomplished stage racer too. Ethan Vernon (GBr, U23) Already has some solid results at the Tour de l’Avenir and at the time of writing was honing his form at the Tour of Britain where he had clocked an eighth on stage two. Alessio Martinelli (Ita, U23) The winner of…

Setting targets is another marker of good behaviour, “it says something good about their intentions, transparency is important,” Van Leeuwen notes. Dorset brand Muc-Off sets an example here. In 2020, the bikecleaning leader was pulled up on failing to comply with recycling requirements set out by the Environment Agency, between the years of 2012 and 2016 – and ordered to pay £7,669. However, it subsequently launched ‘Project Green’, initially planning to cut down on over 30 tonnes of plastic by 2023, a goal it’s now boosted to 200 tonnes. Its latest plastic-free product, Punk Powder, should save 61 tonnes a year. TIC CC, a clothing brand that uses sustainable fabrics, isn’t afraid to advise consumers on how to reduce the frequency of replacement, with tips such as laundering less, passing…

Flawborough Road Race Date: Sunday 26 Sept This 140km race is held on a rolling and technical circuit south in Newark, Nottinghamshire. It’s a Nat B event, open to E/1/2/3 men, 1/2/3 juniors and 1/2 women. Closing date: Sunday 19 Sept SCRL Milland Hill Date: Sunday 3 Oct Test yourself on the challenging Milland Hill circuit in what will be Surrey League’s last road race of the year. There are two events: a 2/3 and a thirds only, and entry is available online at RiderHQ.com. Closing date: Saturday 2 Oct Roy Hillman Memorial RR Date: Sunday 3 Oct This 120km Nat B event is run on the picturesque Beachy Head circuit by the South East Road Race League. Held in memory of south-east cycling stalwart Roy Hillman, it is open…

British Cycling lists seven priority areas within the new strategy, which it says benefit each other. They include areas such as growing the cycling community, supporting elite level performances and flagship events, and engaging young riders. BC lists five key targets within these: ▪ Growing the organisation’s membership to 250,000. ▪ Increasing by 20% the number of cycling clubs and groups and the young people riding in them. ▪ Creation of a new development plan to support non-Olympic and Paralympic disciplines. ▪ Broaden the range of commercial partners working with BC. ▪ More representation of disabled, LGBTQI and minority ethnic people and people from lower income households.…

Thanks once again for the wonderful image from the 1954 Tour of Britain (CW, Sept9). Thosetwopagesof the magazine are the highlight of the week for me. Eugene Tamburlini, the French rider (not Italian), who won the race, was one of the top independent riders in France, and Tony Hewson, Jock Andrews and Vic Sutton rode against him many times. The third rider on the road in that picture is Ken Joy of the Hercules team. Ken had been the winner of the R.T.T.C. British Best All Rounder competition prior to becoming a pro for Hercules to set place-to-place records and gain publicity for the Hercules Co. H. Derek Browne. Via email Ed – Apologies for the mistake, many thanks for putting us right. Glad to hear you’re still enjoying those…

Mads Pedersen (Den) 25 Pedersen became the unscripted winner in Yorkshire 2019 when Mathieu Van der Poel was the favourite. The young Dane will be something of a marked man this time around but he has had a solid year and having finished second on GC at the recent Tour of Norway and achieved two top-six finishes at Benelux, he clearly has good legs. Filippo Ganna (Ita) 25 Ganna swept the time trialling boards at this year’s Giro d’Italia, and drove the Italian team pursuiters home to gold on the track in Tokyo. He had clearly placed a lot of eggs in the track basket though, with an unaccustomed fifth place in the time trial. Can he adjust his form to meet the challenge at Flanders? You wouldn’t bet against…

Belgian Classics specialist Sep Vanmarcke, 33, gives Chris Marshall-Bell his advice on how to develop fatigue resistance How do you stave off fatigue? It’s difficult. When I was younger, I made more mistakes, but now I am older I have learned how the body works, to listen to my body, and, of course, my coach has had to learn how my body works, too. It’s trial and error. Mainly, at least for me, if I have a few bad days, I know what’s going on. I think fighting fatigue is more for the climbers – it’s more dangerous for them to go over the limit. How do you build fatigue resistance? You need to build up the endurance and everything below your FTP, and then you can start to work…

In association with TIME TRIALS SUNDAY, 12 SEPTEMBER National Women and Juniors 10-Mile Championships (Wool, Dorset): Women: 1. Hayley Simmonds (CAMS Racing) 22.35 2. J. Patterson (The Independent Pedaler – Nopinz) 23.15 3. A. Clay (The Independent Pedaler – Nopinz) 23.34 4. A. Morris (AeroLab Ward WheelZ) 23.40 5. V. Smith (AeroCoach) 23.43 6. A. Lethbridge (DRAG2ZERO) 23.54 Juniors: Boys: 1. Jamie Whitcher (Bournemouth Cycleworks – Vitec Fire) 21.14 2. M. Dodd (Team Backstedt Bike Performance) 21.50 3. H. Forsyth (trainSharp Development Team) 22.09 Girls: 1. Amber Junker Brameld (VC de Londres) 26.13 2. S. Heighton (Ferryhill Whs) 29.14 3. Maia Howell (Matlock CC) 29.43 Pendle Forest CC Circuit of Ingleborough 26.2 (Ingleton, N Yorks): Men: 1. Ben Stead (3 RT) 1:00.59 2. R. Bideau (Pendle Forest CC) 1:03.38 3.…

A friend of mine who works as a coach confessed that a few weeks ago, writing a client’s training programme late one night with a few glasses of wine, he got a bit confused. He intended an over-threshold session, to involve three six-minute efforts at 320 watts – the client’s threshold power was around 300. “I wanted to stretch him a little,” said the drunken coach, “and I told him this was going to be tough. Unfortunately I mis-typed. I told him to do three sixty-minute 320-watt efforts.” That’s considerably more than he’d be able to sustain for a full-on 25-mile time trial. What happened next surprised our coaching hero. “On the day of the session I got a very polite WhatsApp message saying that he’d tried really hard, but…