Innehållsförteckning för May 26, 2022 från Cycling Weekly

It may be weeks away, but we’re deep into Tour de France preview mode. The amount of work involved in producing our race guides means we start work on them early in the year. It starts in a relaxed manner, looking at the stages and planning stories, then gets ever more frantic until we reach our press day the Monday before the race and a team changes its line-up! Imagine our stress levels last year when Mark Cavendish was drafted into the Quick Step team with just hours to go before we hit send on the magazine. I’ve just been working through our stage previews, getting them through to our production team, ready to be sent to the printers. Every year I do this I’m struck by how hopelessly obsessed…

Hagens Berman Axeon’s stagiaire programme, which aimed to increase racial diversity in cycling, is unlikely to resume in 2022. Last year the team offered an autumn placement to Hampshirebased Grenada rider Red Walters, but the 22-year-old only rode two one-day races in Belgium due to sickness. It had been hoped that every year a new rider would join the team for the final few months, as per other stagiaire deals, but Axel Merckx said: “There are no plans right now to continue it, although we’ll always be open to it. “The problem is there are not a lot [of eligible riders] out there. It would be better if it started as a junior programme. You can’t all of a sudden ask for a teenager to be thrown into a semi-pro…

Garmin’s new radar-equipped rear light now includes a camera that records high resolution video of what’s happening behind you. And in the event of an incident, the device’s automatic incident detection feature saves footage from before, during and afterwards. By high resolution Garmin means up to 1080p/30 fps – enough frames per second to allow users to see in detail what happened. As with the previous version, the Varia rear-facing radar supplies visual and audio alerts to your compatible head unit or the Varia’s own head unit when a vehicle is approaching from up to 140m. Garmin says the light itself is visible from a mile away. Battery life naturally suffers slightly due to the addition of the camera and there’s no longer the 16 hours of day flash that…

In association with TIME TRIALS SUN, 22 MAY National Team Time Trial Championships (Gunthorpe, Notts): Men: 1. Ward WheelZ (Tom Ward, Will Perrett, Rob Walker) 49.24 2. Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling (S. Wilson, Z. Kyffin, O. Peckover) 50.03 3. Saint Piran (R. Holland, M. Gill, O. Hucks) 50.33 4. Primera TeamJobs (S. Wadsley, J. Giles, G. Skinner) 52.37 5. Cambridge Univ CC (J. Witstok, J. Kellam, T. Weinberger) 53.07 6. WattShop (G. Bigham, J. Lowden, C. Walker) 53.11 Women: Brother UK-Team OnForm (Jess Carridge, Laura Pittard, Daisy Barnes) 1:00.26 Medway Velo 25 (Medway, Kent): Men: 1. Nic Fennell (Thanet RC) 51.36 2. P. Burrows (Thanet RC) 53.53 3. M. Hill (VeloRefined Rule5) 54.57 4. N. Russell (trainSharp) 55.27 5. M. Davidson (Bigfoot CC) 55.29 6. M. Smith (Colour Tech RT)…

A tale from the 1970s, of two riders in a break in a divisional championship road race. One of them ran out of drink. He asked his breakaway companion if there was any chance he’d be prepared to share his. “Yeah, OK, but I’m winning the sprint, all right?” came the answer. The bottle was passed over. Rider one took a big swig. And immediately exploded into several coughing sneezes. Water poured out of his nose, tears flooded his eyes. “It’s bloody fizzy!” he exclaimed. “Yes,” said the other guy. “The gas in it makes it lighter.”…

ELISA BALSAMO (TREK-SEGAFREDO) The world champion could do no wrong in late March, winning the Trofeo Binda, the Classic Brugge-De Panne and Ghent-Wevelgem, although a disqualification from Roubaix wasn’t the way the Italian wanted to end her spring. Her form is somewhat uncertain, as she has not raced since that sticky bottle on the cobbles. CW rating ★★★★★ MARIANNE VOS (JUMBO-VISMA) The greatest cyclist of the modern era possesses the all-round ability for this kind of stage race and is back in form after an untimely bout of Covid-19 took her out of Paris-Roubaix. She will be ably supported by Anna Henderson, who recently won the prologue at the Festival Elsy Jacobs. CW rating ★★★★ LOTTE KOPECKY (SDWORX) The Belgian champion has finished outside the top 10 only twice in…

As a teenager I was a very keen cyclist, riding time trials, track and road races. I was also willing to help in any event that my then club organised, at the time it seemed to be part of club life. In my early twenties work and family responsibilities took precedence over my cycling activities. I hardly rode my bike for the next 30 years or so, but as our offspring became independent the keenness returned. In 1993 I joined my local club and almost immediately got involved in helping out in the events they organised. In succeeding years I organised open track meetings and cyclo-cross as well as becoming a CTT timekeeper, regional track commissaire, accredited marshal and Derny pacer. All this gave me much personal satisfaction, but the…

There are a number of ways to ‘train low’. The most popular protocol and perhaps the easiest to adopt is to train first thing in morning before breakfast following an overnight fast and without consuming carbohydrate during the workout. There’s also the ‘sleep low, train low’ protocol, whereby a high-intensity evening training session is followed by a low-carb meal and overnight fast, so muscle glycogen stores are not replenished. The next morning a low-intensity training session is done on an empty stomach. After this, glycogen stores are replenished by consuming high-carbohydrate meals and snacks for the rest of day. Alternatively, when training twice a day, you can do your first (high-intensity) session with high carbohydrate availability and the second (low-intensity) session with low carbohydrate availability. Cut carbs after the first…

At the risk of overdoing my Old Man of the Long Road routine, I’m going to tell you about the first decent road race bike I bought. It was a Cannondale CAD3, in an offensively bright shade of red. It had a Time carbon fork that would count as a nice bit of kit today, with Mavic wheels and Shimano Ultegra eight-speed. (Yes, eight-speed. Behold my many sprockets, kids.) This was, give or take dropping a notch down on the groupset and the wheels, the same bike that the Saeco team were riding in things like the Tour. Mario Cipollini had one just like it, albeit his had a picture of a naked model on the stem. The first thing I did with this bike was go round to my…

I believe in Simon Yates. That’s why I want to see him quit this Giro d’Italia. The last week of racing at the Giro has confirmed that had he not had the knee injury which scuppered his GC bid on Blockhaus he would probably be current pink jersey wearer Richard Carapaz’s main challenger for the overall – alongside Jai Hindley. That’s why I’d much rather see him try and take the form that won him the stage two time trial to the Tour de France in July and put it up against Tadej Pogačar, than win another stage. Even the man himself didn’t seem to be brimming with excitement at his stage win. Asked if it made up for the disappointment on Blockhaus he said: “Not really. Not to put…

ELINOR BARKER How I’m hunting out serotonin I’ve always rolled my eyes when hearing health experts talk about the benefits of exercise for wellbeing. Improves mood! Reduces stress! Gives you energy! On the hardest days spent chasing power numbers in the Manchester rain, I’m not convinced. Where’s this good mood I’ve been promised? What energy? It wasn’t until I was one month postpartum and climbing the walls that I realised I’d developed such a reliance on exercise that like a caffeine addict drinking espressos before bedtime, I need to reach a certain threshold in order to function. Since my son arrived in March, my world has become much more beautiful, and so much smaller. I’m used to covering a few 100km of changing scenery a week, so the distance I…

McEwen apologises GCN pundit Robbie McEwen has apologised for using “an offensive phrase” during the coverage of stage 10 of the Giro last week. The remark in question, a homophobic slur, arose during a discussion about the commentating team’s lunch. In a tweet during stage 12, McEwen said: “I regret both saying it and not immediately apologising on air. I’m genuinely sorry for the language I used, and for letting the team down, but mostly I want to say sorry to anyone who I offended.” Cav continues Mark Cavendish has said he feels he can continue to be competitive for two more years at least. The Manxman, who has just turned 37, was speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I want to extend my career for at least another two…

ONE DOWN Summon The Blood GRX815/Pearson carbon wheels £6,300 The Classified rear hub and wheelset are swapped out for Pearson’s own Hoopdriver Bump and Grind carbon wheels. The other major change is that the groupset is now a full complement of Shimano GRX815 series components. The same Di2 shifters are there, but now paired with a more recognisable 1x11 drivetrain and featuring a crankset from Shimano’s own range. ENTRY LEVEL Summon The Blood GRX800/alu wheels £4,400 The build with the Di2 GRX groupset and Classified hubset is the most expensive that Pearson offers. To flip round the other way, the cheapest model comes with GRX800 (Ultegra equivalent) and alloy wheels. This comes in at £4,400 – still a significant sum, but considerably less than the Classified build.…

Twenty-one-time national champion of Luxembourg and Classics supremo, Bob Jungels (AG2R Citroën Team) is a steadfast advocate of aligning his nutrition with his training “Matching my fuel intake to my training or racing load has definitely helped me to become better and faster on the bike,” he says. “Cycling is a highly optimised sport and being 100% is essential to be competitive. Matching fuelling to my energy needs has helped me lose weight when I needed to and also compete at a high standard in racing. “Pre-race, I generally stick to plain carbs like rice and pasta and have some eggs for protein,” Jungels adds. “When I’m at home, to fuel my rides it’s normally oatmeal with berries and avocado toast to get some healthy fats, but I’ll also have…

The week: 2-8 May, 2022 Location: Newcastle-upon-Tyne Training for: Tour Series Since breaking through on the Belgian cyclocross circuit as a teenager in 2016, Thomas Mein has consolidated his position as one of the UK’s very best cross riders – comfortably winning this year’s Nationals in Skipton. The 23-year-old Tynesider is no slouch on the road, either, and took top honours at the opening round of this year’s Tour Series in Guisborough at the beginning of May. That win came at the start of the busy week he talks us through in detail below. How did you get started in cycling? Initially a bit of mountain biking with my dad – the easiest way to get into the sport. It progressed from there: I joined a cycling club and did…

Very early cycling was essentially about trying to move half of a wooden horsecart with some pedals. Happily, in the mid 1879s the penny farthing changed all that. And as racing came to be about speed rather than weightlifting, the best riders copied the trend in running, and used pacemakers. Initially these were mainly, as with running, a psychological aid. But as speeds climbed into dizzying double figures, the aerodynamic element started to become apparent. It quickly became apparent that if a star’s pacing was coming from other riders, the pacers needed to be better than the star. And if they were better than the star… you see the difficulty. They solved this with teams of pacers, who would swap in and out of the racing. The pacing team was…