Innehållsförteckning för December 1, 2022 från Cycling Weekly

Welcome to CW’s annual awards issue that celebrates the very best riders from the UK and abroad and the heroes of the British cycling scene that selflessly dedicate their time to allow others to ride, race and pursue their dreams. Some of 2022’s winners were a slam dunk. You’ve already seen the two riders on the cover – it’s no surprise that Tom Pidcock and Zoe Bäckstedt took top honours. But other awards were not so easy. Rising Star could realistically have gone to any one of three riders as there was little between them – well done to all of them on a great season. The winner (turn to page 30) is the second time a younger sibling of a previous Rising Star has taken the award, proving that…

French duo achieve Doha goal Two die-hard football fans found a way to combine their enjoyment of cycling and football by riding 7,000km (4,350 miles) from Paris to Doha to watch the World Cup in Qatar. Gabriel Martin and Mehdi Balamissa, both French, spent three months riding through 13 countries on the trip, which began at the Stade de France and finished at the Lusail stadium, which is to host the final. Evenepoel to San Juan Remco Evenepoel will kick off his 2023 season by riding the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina, according to a report in Belgium’s Het Laatse Nieuws. The Soudal-Quick Step star is the reigning champion, having won the GC ahead of Filippo Ganna the last time the race was held in 2020, before the pandemic…

DAN BIGHAM When Ineos Grenadiers brought in Dan Bigham as an aerodynamicist, his duty was clear: knock the Hour record into oblivion. The move made sense. The 31-year-old wouldn’t join as a rider, but instead a member of the backroom staff, in charge of overhauling the record. He was, after all, a master of innovation who had reverse-engineered his way to the British title previously held by Bradley Wiggins. After months of hard work, Bigham himself took to the track in Grenchen, Switzerland, in August. He eased into his effort, before ramping up the pace with a negative split. When the gun sounded on the hour mark, the board read 55.548km and the world record was his. “It’s a bit mind blowing, pretty epic,” Bigham said afterwards. But his job…

It’s commonly – and mistakenly – assumed that using a disc wheel in a strong crosswind is bad idea. Dov Tate explains why the opposite is the case – his stability testing has proven that it is in fact a good idea. “Running a disc makes your bike more stable,” says Tate. “Why? Air can’t travel through a solid disc so there’s a big pressure differential between upwind and downwind. “That pressure differential moves the centre of pressure towards the back of your bike away from the front wheel and that’s analogous to lowering your centre of gravity to make yourself more stable. “By lowering your centre of gravity you can’t be pushed over so easily at the top. In the same way, moving the centre of pressure further back…

“It can be incredibly difficult to distinguish between a professional’s exercise habits and those of someone with exercise addiction,” admits Andy Kirkland. “I’ve gone through the diagnosis with some pros and they’ve ticked most of the boxes.” Though they may appear to be exercise-addicted, most pros have their routines fully under control. An elite athlete tends to have better tolerance, knowing that if they up their training too much, they will over-train and burn out, risking their sporting performance – and hence their career. Moreover, they often make changes to their planned training, further demonstrating an ability to stop or cut down as recommended. Because sport is their job, pros have to find a balance, allowing time for other life activities; they understand that a wholly sport-centric approach would be…

I was out for an autumn ride with my friend Bernard a couple of weeks ago. Despite suffering from a bad back, a sore knee and a total lack of decent training – things I was careful to mention as a bit of groundwork – I dropped him up one of South Cambridgeshire’s notorious hills. I waited for him at the top, gazing down upon the M11 beneath me. “Hardly a gentlemanly way to behave,” he complained when he arrived. “You know you’ve got advantages that aren’t fair, and you still behave like a d**k.” Bernard emits allegations of unfairness whenever he’s beaten on a bike in much the same way that a giant squid emits ink when it glimpses a sperm whale. Over the years, advantages that I’m alleged…

The UCI Track Champions League is about to become the most interactive competition in world cycling. During this weekend’s round in London, event organiser Warner Bros. Discovery Sports will offer fans a preview of the “unique metaverse experience” they’ve been working on with tech partner Infinite Reality. The two companies have promised to deliver the “latest innovations in entertainment”, complete with “cutting-edge fan engagement opportunities”. Speaking exclusively to Cycling Weekly, Infinite Reality co-founder Elliott Jobe revealed exactly what this involves for those watching the racing. “It’s a web browser,” Jobe said. “We’re really interested in making this as easy and accessible as possible.” Clicking on to the website, fans will be invited to create their own 3D avatar, which they’ll use to navigate the virtual realm of the Track Champions…

Tom Pidcock’s second year with Ineos Grenadiers had a touch of ‘second album syndrome’ that many great bands have experienced in their career. Brilliant in its own right, just like the first, although by bike rider and rock band’s own admission, not quite hitting the high notes of that debut masterpiece, or an Olympic gold medal. But that’s a testament to the quality of Tom Pidcock that even his 8/10 years would be many other pros’ chart toppers. “I had some good results this year, but last year was much better. It was my first year as a pro, I won Brabantse and arguably Amstel,” Pidcock says. “Not arguably actually,” he adds with a smile. 2021 did indeed see Pidcock take his debut road season by storm, winning Brabantse Pijl…

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Annemiek van Vleuten’s record-breaking year was her age, turning 40 in her last race. Or perhaps it was the fact that she won a breadth of different races: cobbled, lumpy Classics, sprints, mountainous, and stage races. Or perhaps it was the apparent ease in which she claimed, arguably, the sport’s greatest ever single season result haul; Kasia Niewiadoma remarking that, “Annemiek is beyond our capacity.” Whatever the answer is, no one could refute Niewiadoma’s words, and nor could they argue that van Vleuten didn’t repeatedly prove that age doesn’t stunt progression, but accelerates it. “I’m 39 years old, so for me it’s possible to train so many hours, but that’s not suddenly: that’s a process of many years doing five or 10% more, and…

For someone who has had the best year of his career so far, Jacob Scott seems a bit down on his season. Despite five wins, the National Criterium Series title, and only narrowly missing out on both the National Road Series and the King of the Mountains jersey at the Tour of Britain, he has mixed feelings. Perhaps this is because of the latter two results, both of which came at the end of Scott’s year, his third with the WiV-SunGod team. “I’m proud of some of the results,” Scott tells CW. “I have some slightly mixed feelings about some stuff in a sense – the way the season ended with the Tour of Britain stopping [due to the death of the Queen] and then the Beaumont Trophy, I ended…

Wheels designed for different speeds “With wind sensors we found that as well as a difference in yaw angle, there’s also a difference between the apparent wind speed at the front and the apparent wind speed at the rear. By the time the airflow reaches the rear wheel it has slowed down,” explains Tate. “So not only should you be designing for different wind conditions in terms of your angle at the rear but also for different wind conditions in terms of the airspeed. “That’s why there are different skinsuits designed to perform best on the road, for time trials, pursuits and sprints on the track. That extends beyond the body to the equipment, and will have implications for our future rim designs.” Wider road wheels… but only slightly Will…

Mark Bentley’s sister Jane and mother Sandra kindly consented to this feature’s publication and provided the following statement in memory of Mark: “Without doubt, Mark was exceptional. He was a caring and thoughtful person who was always willing to help others. He was a very sporty person, enjoying tennis at a young age, skiing, golf and in the last few years cycling, which he was so passionate about that it became a massive part of his life. His enjoyment of riding his bike was unsurpassable. We will miss Mark terribly but will always find comfort in our memories, and knowing, as his passing has highlighted, that he had such a positive impact on so many lives.” The family have set up a JustGiving page in memory of Mark, with all…

Eddy Merckx looks rather ungainly on this week’s cover as he sprints in the saddle with his elbows out, head twisted to the side and a painful grimace etched on his face. It’s not the archetypal ‘cool’ pro rider winning while looking good. More like a rider fighting with his bike to get every last ounce of effort out of himself. But here he is, winning Milan-San Remo when just 20 years old. What’s more, the report said he’d had to ride for himself against everyone in a race of 190 starters. Having forced clear the winning group of 11 riders on the Poggio, Merckx then sat at the back on the descent, recovering before launching his sprint with 150 yards to go. In this short distance, he passed sprinters…

Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took her second World Cup victory in a row on Sunday after beating Fem van Empel (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) and Shirin van Anrooij (Baloise Trek Lions) on the undulating and muddy course in Hulst. After winning the first four races of the series, overall leader van Empel is left still waiting for her next win after a crash on the third lap saw Pieterse ride away for the victory. Having won in Overijse last Sunday, Pieterse has not finished off the podium so far this season and is closing in on van Empel’s leader’s jersey. She said: “I started really fast and had a small gap, but Fem closed it in the second or third lap.” Reflecting on her rival’s crash, she added: “I got a lot of…

I write to say how much I enjoyed your ‘100 years of Time Trialling’ feature in last week’s issue. Although necessarily short, it touched on some of the major riders and events which were the background, and often inspiration, to my own time trialling days. I will keep this issue as a tangible reminder of some of the happiest times of my life. Naturally I am saddened by the decline in the number of riders now participating in open TTs – three of the ‘25’s I entered this year were cancelled through lack of entries – and I accept that the Covid restrictions and booming interest in Zwift ‘races’ have been responsible for much of this. However, I welcome your renewed reporting of time trials as I am convinced that…

Leo Hayter was born to race a bike. Brother of Ineos Grenadiers star Ethan Hayter, Leo has had quite the year, ending with him joining his brother in the professional ranks at the Dave Brailsford-managed team in 2023. It’s tempting to see Hayter’s under-23 Giro d’Italia, or ‘Baby Giro’, victory in May in the colours of the Axel Merckxrun Hagens Berman Axeon team, as the catalyst, but he explains that the WorldTour was already coming knocking well before then. “At the end of last year, I had a lot of interest,” he says. “Although it went quiet for a bit as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. It wasn’t until after the Giro that I had real offers on the table.” Hayter dominated the Baby Giro in a…

Within five years of turning up for his first club ride with East Grinstead CC, Sean Yates had become a top-flight pro. From haring around the Ashdown Forest with his brother and his mates to sharing wheelspace with the likes of Bernard Hinault, he’d come a long way in a short time. As a rider he won Grand Tour stages and wore the yellow jersey; as a DS he helped Bradley Wiggins to the first ever British Tour de France win. But there was never any grand plan – Yates always just took it as it came. Still does. “Straight away I was one of the fastest,” he says of those first club 10 time trials he rode in 1977. Still just a junior, before the season was out, he…

CYCLO-CROSS SUNDAY, 27 NOVEMBER Eastern Regional Championship (Trinity Park, Ipswich, Suffolk): Men: 1. Joshua Jones (All In Racing) 1:03.00; 2. J. Madgwick (All In Racing) +0.03; 3. C. Hurst (Velo Schils-Interbike) +1.25; 4. K. Jarvis (Brother UK-Orientation Marketing) +2.54; 5. F. Barker (Hope Factory Racing) +3.01; 6. S. Herrod (Rotor Race Team) +4.22. Women: 1. Katy Simcock (Trek Bicycle Club) 41.15; 2. A. Hogg (unattached) +0.46; 3. B. Jackson (WXC World Racing) +1.34; 4. E. Branch (XRT-Elmy Cycles) +2.24; 5. C. Hime (AWOL O’Shea) +2.56; 6. J. Andrews (Cycle Club Ashwell) +3.18. East Midlands Regional Championships (Ancaster Karting Circuit, Ancaster, Lincs): Men: 1. Matthew Ellis (SRCT Muc-Off) 1:01.13; 2. A. Slater (Clancy Briggs Cycling Academy) +0.35; 3. J. Swadling (NSR-Nigel Smith Racing) +0.58; 4. J. Jackson (Rose Race Team) +1.41; 5.…

A reader calling himself Jeff X gets in touch, to tell me about a friend of his. Recently, the said friend casually mentioned that he’d just replaced his brake cables, and now had nearly enough cut-off ends to make a whole new cable for nothing. “How so?” asked Jeff. “I mean I’ve got enough bits that if I join them all together they’ll be long enough that the next time I need one I can use it instead of buying a new one.” “But how do you join them together?” “You just solder them. You have to be careful to use as little solder as you can, but it’s dead easy.” As Jeff says, when he gets that particular job done, there’ll be no stopping him.…