Innehållsförteckning för January 5, 2023 från Cycling Weekly

When Alex Morrice graduated from the University of Bath this summer, she could have gone on to do anything she liked, but just a few months later she’d be signing a pro contract, having won the Zwift Academy competition. Morrice excelled in her studies at Bath, achieving top marks in her Natural Sciences degree. Add that to a clean sweep of A*s at A-level, and the 22-year-old was stepping into the world with a rather enviable CV. Her cycling palmarès was more limited, having only discovered the sport at university. “I played a lot of netball throughout school,” she says. “Then after one year doing that at uni, I kind of got a bit bored with getting injured, rolling ankles and everything. “I picked up triathlon because there’s a lot…

ELINOR BAKER A training camp with a difference On the first night of my team’s December training camp, I had a little cry in my room. It was 1am and neither me nor my nine-month-old baby had slept for more than five minutes. I knew the next day would be spent bouncing between training and meetings from the minute I woke up, with the little ‘down time’ planned being taken up by the endless tasks it takes to look after a baby. I wondered where the hell I was going to get the energy from. The thought of getting through the day was overwhelming. What the hell was I thinking, trying to combine two very hard full-time jobs? I checked Skyscanner for an early flight home. Ten days later I’m…

The new Colnago V4RS was tested by Tadej Pogačar and the UAE Emirates team through 2022 in five different carbon layup configurations and was provisionally named ‘Prototipo’. Now the Italian brand has settled on a final version that’s ready for the team’s 2023 campaign and for the market. As the name confirms and as was clear from the Prototipo, it’s an evolution rather than a redesign. You have to look closely to discern the differences – it has the same sharp, angular aesthetic with no surprise new design flourishes. In Colnago’s words, “It’s hard to improve what is already great.” Since the V3RS was the first Colnago-branded bike to win the Tour de France it’s hardly surprising that it’s somewhat venerated. However, the Italian brand set about improving the “five…

If you do a lot of indoor training, a smart bike arguably offers the smoothest, most practical, and best training experience. The Neo Bike Plus is at the higher end of smart bike prices – and with the launch of this latest model, the price has gone up over £1,000. The outgoing Tacx Neo Bike Smart had a RRP of £2,299.99. Construction Packaged up in its (very nice) box, the bike weighs 60kg. But after you and a team of (hopefully) willing volunteers have manoeuvred it into its final location, everything fits together as a one-person job – and all the necessary tools are supplied, along with a towel, bottle, bottle cage and sweat cover. Setting up your position on the bike is also a lot easier now that millimetre…

Sponsorship has been part of bike racing from the very beginning, because cyclists have always been very keen on the idea that someone else should pay for their hobby. They have been astonishingly successful with this strategy. Probably the first sponsorship deal was in the Paris-Rouen race, the first long-distance road race. The first successful bike manufacturers, Michaux & Co, sponsored both the race and a handful of the competitors, including the winner of the women’s event. For many decades sponsorship came almost exclusively from the bike industry. The big breakthrough was when the St Raphaël aperitif company entered the sport, and sponsored a team from 1954 till 1964. Despite the success of the team (it included Jacques Anquetil, who won three Tours de France in their colours) no one…

Cyclo-cross world champion Tom Pidcock claimed a raft of podiums in the mud of Belgium over a busy holiday period but wasn’t able to add another win to his palmarès. Arch rival Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) picked up four wins while Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) claimed a sole win on Boxing Day. The Yorkshireman also confirmed he will not be riding the World Championships in the Netherlands next month. On 23 December in the rain and sand of Zilvermeercross in Mol, Belgium, Wout van Aert put in a dominant performance that saw him win by a full minute. Pidcock rounded out the podium having struggled through the sand – the course type the Leeds-born rider finds most challenging. Then on Boxing Day in Gavere for the World Cup…

Young British rider Nathan Smith caught the attention of the cycling world with bronze at the Cyclo-cross World Championships last January, but has been absent this winter after being forced to leave the sport due to an ongoing battle with illness. Smith’s ride in the junior CX Worlds was one of the most eye-catching stories of the championships in Fayetteville, USA. Informed by the UCI on the eve of the race that his bikes couldn’t be used in the event as they hadn’t gone through the official testing process, the British rider was thrown a lifeline by Belgian cross legend Sven Nys, who loaned Smith his own bikes. That success looked set to launch the Birkenhead North End CC racer on the path taken by the likes of Tom Pidcock…

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Shimano says the new version of its flagship race shoe, as worn by Mathieu van der Poel in 2022, has “even greater comfort, less weight and sleeker lines” compared with the RC902, launched two years earlier. We really liked the outgoing shoe and gave it four out of five in 2020 – so what differences can we expect for the new one? They’re made from what looks like the same microfibre synthetic leather upper, but the perforations continue further towards the midfoot, suggesting more breathability. The Boa Li2 dials and upper strap placement look similar, but the lacing below the lower dial has been revised so that the Boa cables cross over twice through four guides instead of once through two. We’re expecting this will refine the fit over the…

Riders and team staff ready their machines in Roubaix ahead of stage four of the 1959 Tour. On today’s menu was a 230km route to Rouen. In the days when the route of the race remained true to the idea of riding a lap around the country these cities were on the parcours on a regular basis, and there would often be a stage between the two. This picture is one of many from the 1959 Tour de France from our archive that were rediscovered following an office move. Filed in brown envelopes with little information, it took a bit of internet detective work to find the location. Eventually a Google search for the two shop names landed us in Roubaix, where a series of pictures over the years clearly…

The organisers behind a bid to bring the Tour de France to the island of Ireland in the coming years insist that their proposal will not hamper a similar one from England, Scotland and Wales. A joint British bid to host the Grand Départ in 2026 was submitted in the autumn of 2021, and this October both the Republic and Northern Ireland declared their intention to also bring the race’s start to both countries in either 2026 or 2027. But speaking to Cycling Weekly, the head of the Irish bid, Minister Catherine Martin, confirmed that there is flexibility to welcome the race at a later date and that they would not stand in the way of Great Britain’s hopes. “We understand that England, Scotland and Wales are amongst the bidders…

Has there ever been a bridge that Lefevere hasn’t been willing to set on fire? Claude-Etienne Borduas Just perhaps it’s Julian’s willingness to take a risk that makes him a winner and marketable as well as more likely to suffer an accident? Rog Davis Lefevere has always been an abrasive guy, but he also has a winning history worthy of respect. He does have a point though. Despite his raw talent, Julian Alaphilippe makes a lot of mistakes and is very accident prone. If you are constantly crashing, your chances of success are going to be limited. The same can be said for Rogli?. Chris Ho Obviously on the move next season. Just another asset that’s given his sponsors mass exposure and is now being abused. Giles Mockford It’s within…

Taking your riding to the next level works in different ways for different people. For some it’s all about finding the biggest hills; others like to ride as fast as possible; but sometimes it’s all about going the distance and packing in as many miles as possible. Or indeed kilometres – we’re not prejudiced here. For many riders, their first century ride is an important rite of passage, whether metric or imperial. And even for experienced club cyclists, riding 100 miles remains a significant endeavour, and a distance they might only ride once or twice a year, if at all. For some riders though, the only real limit on distance is the number of hours in a day and the need to sleep. If you have a thing for distance,…

Going from years of a rigorous sporting training schedule, the LBS schedule was initially an eye-opener for Owens. “I had a plan before going in and when you get here, you have to learn how the new routine works,” Owens says. Sometimes, gym plans have been waylaid by late-running networking or extensive academic sessions. The first several months of the timetable are especially intense before settling down, so Owens hopes he can ramp up his training later into 2023 accordingly. In terms of training, he is being time-efficient, aiming for hard, high-quality turbo sessions to ensure he stays in shape. MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY…

Although they’re convenient to use and glitzily marketed, manufactured energy products tend to be expensive as well as, in my experience, artificial-tasting and much too sweet. Most of these pre-packed bars and gels come in gaudy packets printed with long lists of unpronounceable ingredients – the chemicals that ensure a long shelf life – and I never feel fully comfortable about putting such things into my body. My solution? Following an intensive few weeks of experimentation in the kitchen during lockdown, I now make all my own bars from scratch – and in this feature I’m going to show you how. It’s much easier than you might think. If the bars you’re carrying in your jersey pockets are unappetising, you’re less likely to reach in and grab one. This increases…