Innehållsförteckning för August 18, 2022 från Cycling Weekly

I’m no technophobe – there’s nothing I like more than trying new kit – but I have managed to survive this long without changing a tubeless tyre. I’ve ridden tubeless tyres on gravel bikes (they’re great), but avoided them on road bikes (not so great). However, a recent puncture on a gravel bike meant I couldn’t avoid it any longer. A hole on the sidewall meant the sealant didn’t work. I needed new tyres, sealant, a sealant injector (?!) and a crash course in changing them. I dug around in my box of bits and found the perfect pair for the current dry conditions, took off the old ones, cleaned out the sealant, and went to put the new ones on. They were 650bs. Not 700s. Damn it. A quick…

Winner of the Baby Giro Leo Hayter will form a two-pronged attack on the GC at the prestigious Tour de l’Avenir alongside new Jumbo-Visma signing Tom Gloag. The pair will spearhead one of the strongest British teams at the U23 race in years. Earlier this year, Hayter won the U23 Giro d’Italia convincingly, winning two stages in the mountains on the way to overall victory. When asked about Hayter’s chances Great Britain coach, Matt Brammeier, told Cycling Weekly: “Once you get into those high mountains you need the legs to win and it’s going to be who’s got it and who hasn’t. We’ve got the added advantage of Tom Gloag being in the squad who’s a favourite himself. “We’ve got a two-pronged attack for the GC, then we’ve got the…

I’m looking forward to seeing Tom Pidcock compete in the mountain biking at the World Championships later this month. However, after his recent stage win at the Tour de France I can’t help but thinking that he’s wasting his time. What does he really get out of riding the knobbly stuff? When he does he’s clearly the class of the field – assuming Mathieu van der Poel isn’t there to challenge him. I’m sure he enjoys mixing disciplines but I feel that if he focused more on the road he’d have an even better palmarès by now. If nothing else the law of averages means that because he’s racing fewer road days there’s less opportunity for him to win on the road. Regardless, he’s destined for great things. I’d just…

ENRIC MAS 27 | Movistar | Esp Mas was out of sorts at the Tour de France, languishing down in 11th before a Covid-19 infection forced him to abandon. At his best he’s capable of matching virtually anyone in the climbs, as shown last year by his runnerup finish behind Roglič, and as Spain’s best hope for a first home overall victory since Alberto Contador in 2014, the pressure is on to get back into top shape for the Vuelta. JACK HAIG 28 | Bahrain Victorious | Aus That’s right, yet another Australian is lining up at this Vuelta with high GC ambitions. Last year, Haig bounced back from crashing out of the Tour de France during the opening week by placing third at the Vuelta, and having been struck by…

We included two Garmin watches here because Garmin is arguably the market leader andthereforea benchmark for the category, offering a watch at almost every price point. But can you take things a bit too far with functionality? The Garmin Fēnix 7 is hugely powerful and can literally do anything, but if you’re easily overwhelmed you could find yourself drowning in data and wondering why you spent so much money on sports profiles or body monitoring that you don’t use. However, we couldn’t fault the execution. If you want the best, can afford it and havetheknowledge/desire to make use of all the features, this is the one. “The Venu 2 Plus has all the sports, fitness and health monitoring you’ll ever need” At the other end of the spectrum, the Coros…

Recovery aids that work on a metabolic level are the most effective and provide the greatest value. Deep-tissue massage, including massage guns, have been shown to promote recovery not just by helping to remove toxins and reducing adhesions in muscle fibres, but also by promoting relaxation and therefore sleep. Retired WorldTour soigneur Dirk Nachtergaele is convinced that deep-tissue massage has physical and psychological benefits: “When I massage, I feel adhesions in muscle fibres go away, and I feel the rider relaxing. I’ve even had riders fall asleep on the message table. But I can also feel a rider’s condition – I can feel muscles full of blood. I can tell them they are in good condition, which is good for morale.” Massage from a qualified practitioner is relatively expensive at…

Liverpool Braveheart CC member Gary English supported the team throughout each of the hiking sectors. Here, he pays tribute to their achievement and gives personal thanks for their fundraising I’ve known Hannah for many years, and I know Jan and Louise through the local cycling community. As a fell runner, I was keen to support the team as soon as I heard about the challenge. It was an honour and a privilege, and even more so when they revealed to me that they were raising money for the Cauda Equina Champions Charity. My wife Robyn has the condition [dysfunction of the nerve roots of the cauda equina at the base of the spine] – she used to cycle and run, but spinal operations left her having to learn to walk…

Usually, one of the best things about being a cyclist is that you know all about the weather. You spend time outdoors. You experience the passing of the seasons at a level more visceral than noticing that Strictly Come Dancing has given way to The Voice. Unfortunately this means that riding this summer, especially in the South East of the UK, has been a bit disturbing. It has been so hot, and so dry, for so long. The landscape is brown and dead. It’s easy to get some heat-conditioning sessions done, so I’ll be all set for the winter turbo season if my fan breaks, but that’s about it. I’ve done my best to fix the climate, honestly I have. I washed my summer bike, which is normally a sure…

Word reaches us of a rider who was attempting to assess his riding position. In order to do this under realistic conditions he decided he’d film himself in a club time trial, by putting his phone on a wall a mile or so from the start/finish and leaving it to video the race. When he went back to get it, it had vanished. On his cloud account, there was excellent HD footage of someone in a baseball cap nicking it. Sadly they nicked it before he’d ridden past, so he still doesn’t know what he looks like.…

Tiesj Benoot breaks neck Tiesj Benoot broke his neck in a crash reported to involve a car in the Italian Alps last week, which may have brought his season to a premature end. The Jumbo-Visma rider was reported by various Belgian media outlets to have been in a crash near Livigno while training alone and sustained various fractures. The incident was later confirmed by the team and Benoot himself, who said that he is “stable”. Vine slams Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Jeremy Vine has slammed the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council (RKBC), accusing it of being “anti cyclist”. He criticised the borough’s lack of segregated cycling infrastructure in a video on social media. Viewers see Vine, his wife and other cyclists struggling to turn onto a…

There aren’t many sprint opportunities once the race reaches mainland Spain this year, and perhaps as a result many of the world’s top sprinters haven’t committed to ride. One man who could benefit from their absence is Pascal Ackermann (UAE Emirates). The German’s career has tailed off since he won two stages at his Vuelta debut in 2020, but could return to winning ways in a less experienced field. The stage is set for emerging young talents to enjoy a breakthrough Grand Tour, too. Belgian Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) showed great promise in the bunch sprints of last year’s race, registering three top-seven finishes. And 22-year-old Brit Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ) is set to make his Grand Tour bow having impressed at both the Classics and in the bunch sprints over the…

In June 2021 three British women set a new Guinness World Record for the UK National Three Peaks Challenge by bicycle as a female team. They successively climbed, descended and cycled between the highest mountains in Wales, England and Scotland – Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis – in 67 hours, 30 minutes. Impressive, you might think. But when Liverpool Phoenix CC’s Colin McCallum heard about it, his first thought was something else: I know some women who could beat that. “Colin read an article about the three women and sent it to me in February,” remembers Janet Fairclough. “It was accompanied by a note that said: Thought this might be up your street, Jan – how about a Phoenix team?” Fairclough is 62 and for the past decade has…

TIME TRIALS SUNDAY, 14 AUGUST San Fairy Ann CC 25 (Hamstreet, Kent): Men: 1. Chris Fennell (The Independent Pedaler-Nopinz) 47.10 2. N. Fennell (Thanet RC) 51.31 3. J. Clark (RNRMCA) 53.31 4. H. Vardal (Gemini BC) 54.16 5. N. Wilson (Rye and District Wheelers) 55.12 6. S. Gooch (Rye and District Wheelers) 55.48 Women: 1. Rebecca Wilson (Rye and Dist Wheelers) 1:04.57 2. N. Jarman (Southborough and Dist Wheelers) 1:10.45 Diss and District CC 25 (Bressingham, Norfolk): Men: 1. Matt O’Brien (Loose Cannon’s Conditioning) 53.19 2. L. Chapman (Loose Cannon’s Conditioning) 53.20 3. D. Blackburn (Epic Orange Race Team) 54.47 4. D. Bloy (Team Velovelocity) 56.26 5. O. Cozens (Norwich ABC) 56.37 6. N. Partridge (VC Baracchi) 56.41 Women: 1. Hannah O’Brien (Loose Cannon’s Conditioning) 59.26 2. V. Smith (Loose…

Mike Burrows, the man behind the Lotus 108 and the original Giant TCR, passed away on Monday. The bicycle designer from Norwich was at the forefront of aerodynamic progress in the 1980s which led to the carbon monocoque 108, which was ridden to victory by Chris Boardman at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona in the individual pursuit. The aerodynamic testing for this groundbreaking bike fed into British Cycling’s lottery-funded equipment development in later years, a legacy which continues. “Very sad to hear Mike Burrows, the designer of the Lotus bike, passed away today,” Boardman posted on social media. “He was the godfather of modern bicycle design and my life would not have been the same without his influence.” Burrows was also influential on the shape of road bikes, designing the…

ROBERT SCOTT WIV-SUNGOD The man currently topping the National Road Series standings must go into Ryedale as the outstanding favourite, along with a couple of his team-mates possibly. The 24-year-old has had a year to remember, winning at Lancaster and on the Isle of Man, as well as in France at Paris-Troyes and overall at the Tour de la Mirabelle. CW rating ★★★★★ MATTHEW BOSTOCK WIV-SUNGOD The Manxman probably pips his teammate Jacob Scott to the position of second-favourite thanks to his overall win on the Isle of Man in July. He crashed heavily on the track at the Commonwealth Games, but was able to recover in time to take part in the road race, so should be alright for Sunday. CW rating ★★★★ THOMAS GLOAG TRINITY RACING Fresh from…

RICHARD CARAPAZ 29 | Ineos Grenadiers | Ecu Vuelta starts: 4 Best GC result: 2nd (2020) Best stage result: Twice 2nd (2020) When Richard Carapaz won the 2019 Giro d’Italia, none of Primož Roglič, Tadej Pogačar, Jai Hindley or Jonas Vingegaard had yet claimed a Grand Tour title. There was a power vacuum in cycling, as Chris Froome’s status as the peloton’s patron was beginning to dwindle, and it appeared the very talented 26-year-old was all set to fill it. However, in the years since all four of those aforementioned riders have surpassed the Ecuadorian in the stage race hierarchy, each denying him from adding more Grand Tour titles. He couldn’t take enough time out of Roglič in the mountains during the 2020 Vuelta and finished second to him; both…

Most likely to sacrifice himself for his team: SEPP KUSS | JUMBO - VISMA | USA Having helped guide Jonas Vingegaard to the yellow jersey in the mountains, after doing the same for Primož Roglič during his run of Vuelta titles, Sepp Kuss is unquestionably the best climbing super-domestique in the world. Most likely to compete in all terrain: ETHAN HAYTER | INEOS GRENADIERS | GREAT BRITAIN Having won time trials, sprints, punchy stages and overall stage race titles over the past two years, no type of stage is off limits for Hayter to target. As a Grand Tour debutant, this will be a steep learning curve for the 23-year-old, but he has the raw talent to make an immediate impression. Most likely to put on a show: JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE |…

The latest GPS smartwatches can do everything the top bike computers can do and quite a bit more. They will pair with peripheral sensors such as power meters and almost all, from entry level upwards, have built-in wrist-based optical heart-rate monitors But their main advantage over bike computers is that because they’re on your wrist 24/7 they can be smarter, tracking your body when you’re off the bike as well as on it, giving you a better picture of your fitness. You get an overall status that Garmin calls Body Battery, which tells you when you need to recover and when you’re ready to train again. Depending on the model there’s mapping and navigation too. Another advantage of a watch is that it can track pretty much any sport you…

Janet Fairclough, 62: “I started cycling seriously after doing a cycling holiday LEJOG in 2010. I did my first 12-hour TT in August 2013, recording 194.18 miles. In 2017 I raced the National 12-hour and won my age group with 239.82 miles.” Louise Johnson, 50: “I came to cycling from a running background. Once I’d joined Liverpool Phoenix CC in 2014, I started racing TTs, and my best performance (so far) was in the 2015 National 12-hour champs, where I rode 233.47 miles – beating Hannah and Janet!” Hannah Fawcett, 41: “I’ve cycled since childhood, initially with long-distance Audax events and touring in Europe and Asia. In 2014 I started the Liverpool Braveheart Bicycle Club with my husband Duff Fawcett, stepson Sean and friend Paul Trueman.” The team would like to…

John Holman memorial race Date: Sun 4 Sept This Regional A race for second to fourth-cat riders takes place not far from Shaftsbury Cricket Club on a lumpy 12.5-mile circuit. You’ll do six laps in total but save something for the uphill finish. Closing date: Sunday 28 August Charlotteville 10 Date: Sat 3 Sept Held on the popular Bentley course in Hampshire, this Saturday morning ‘10’ is an ideal place to head to if you’re not quite up to the National Championships the week before, or if you fancy carrying your form from that event through to something else. Closing date: Tuesday 23 August…

Being a popular cyclist is very, very difficult, so before you read this you might just decide it’s not worth even trying. Most cyclists are loathed by everyone they know, and to be quite honest with you, they get through life just fine. However, if you still want to be popular there are some measures you can take. On group rides, do your turn on the front. Do it at the right speed – this will be impossible to judge so really this is luck. Don’t spend too long on the front either. What constitutes “too long” depends on the road, the weather, the time of year and for all I’ve ever been able to make sense of it, the phases of the moon and the share price of Wiggle.…