Innehållsförteckning för June 15, 2023 från Cycling Weekly

I rode my first evening time trial last week. Weather-enforced cancellations and family commitments stopped me from riding any in May, and I feel like it’s a late start to bike racing this year. After two years of chasing faster and faster times and lower and lower CDAs on more and more expensive TT bikes, it was nice to head out from my front door on a road bike, in a jersey and shorts, and ride the event for no other reason than to enjoy it. I still tried to tuck my elbows in and make myself as small as possible. I still rode as fast as my untrained legs would go. And I still rode an aero road bike, (the Trek Madone, our Best Aero Bike in our Race…

Ten days ahead of the British Cycling Time Trial National Championships, Jennifer George honed her form and added another title to her collection at the CTT National Circuit Championship. The HUUB Wattshop rider retained her crown in convincing style, covering the 25.5-mile undulating Devon course in one hour, one minute and 32 seconds. The 40-year-old from London used her technical skills to finish four minutes ahead of Lauren Creamer (Velo Fixers) in second and Laura Pittard (Brother UK-Team OnForm) in third. “It was more about having the bike handling skills which made the difference,” said George. “Power-wise I can hold a constant power for a constant time, but it was about actually having the skill to hold it on some of the descents and into the corners.” George is aiming…

There are a lot of superlatives at the start of Tour de France: Unchained. The Tour de France is “the biggest bike race in the world”, it’s a “massive circus”, it’s the “toughest”, “it’s an event that touches everyone”. It is easy to worry at this point that the new Netflix documentary has built up the bike race too much. Sure, it doesn’t get much bigger than the Tour, but how do you represent this in a way which is not overblown, or makes the race seem ridiculous? Thankfully, Unchained presents the Tour in a way which is not overwhelming for the lay fan, but also not patronising for the committed cycling devotee. More or less, this is a documentary series which appeals to both the casual Netflix browser and also the people…

Planet X saved after sale British bike company Planet X’s future has been secured after it was sold to Winlong Garments Limited. The Sheffield-founded company was reported to be heading towards administration last week, but on Friday evening it was announced that it had been sold. All of the company’s 33 employees have transferred to the purchaser as part of the sale. t Veterans set Guinness World Record Former TT champion Matt Bottrill has added another string to his bow, teaming up with British age group Hour record holder Peter Horton to set a new two-man, sixhour Guinness World Record at Newport Velodrome. The pair rode 168.476 miles, taking 20-minute relay turns and managing to average 28.08mph. They added more than 20 miles to the previous record of 147.077 miles…

Harry Ashman, 26, London: “When I first started cycling, I was looking at distance as a measure of output. But I quickly realised as I started training more seriously that you can hide behind distance quite easily – it can’t take into account other important factors. I now train to time but I also think about how much of that time is actually spent pushing the pedals. It helps using metrics like TSS and being realistic about how hard each ride or each hour felt.” Reece Preston, 31, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex: “I’ve tried training to power and time but I found it dull and boring. These days I tend to go by distance, making it nice and easy to plan a ride. Where I live is so flat that I know 20km takes…

Shahina Chandoo, 19, from north London, is a Level 2 coach who works alongside Tejani to identify and develop Evolve’s most promising young talents. “When I was 14 I did RideLondon, which was when I realised I really enjoyed cycling. Two years later, the Evolve club started and I was originally brought on board to be a coach. Towards the end of 2021, we started Evolve’s Go Ride programme – designed to bring children into the racing system. At that point, I needed to understand what competing involved, so I started cyclo-cross racing – very scary to begin with! “I’ve been awarded the British Cycling coaching scholarship, helping me develop young riders – I’ve been able to see exactly what selectors are looking for. Our first intake of kids have…

The attack is the key to most non-sprint wins, whether it’s in the high mountains, in the last kilometre of a flat race or in the finale of a Classic. Surprise is an important element. The less anyone else expects it, the more likely an attack is to stick. For instance, a full-blooded attack on the local club’s over-60s touring run almost never fails, even if you’ll have some explaining to do at the cafe stop. For reasons that are understood only by pro-team psychologists, the best way to surprise a group of pro riders is to attack exactly where you said you would in the pre-race press conference. There are some basic rules. Attacking into a headwind is very difficult. Attacking down a hill is very difficult unless it’s…

The new transgender policy announced by Cycling Time Trials yesterday (Wednesday) will preclude male-to-female trans riders from competing in the female category in time trials. Instead, in a move that follow’s British Cycling’s announcement last month, the male category will become ‘open’, with riders who have undergone male-to-female gender reassignment able to compete in that. “Following extensive internal work and insight from other sports governing bodies, CTT has made this decision as it is certain that transgender women can retain the physical advantages gained by a male when going through male puberty, and this does not support a level and fair playing field for competition,” it said in a statement. CTT’s previous policy enabled male-to-female trans riders over 16 to compete in the female category subject to meeting lowered testosterone…

Few bike riders have got as close to Tadej Pogačar as his trusted team-mate Rafał Majka. Chosen several years ago as Pogačar’s roomie for his experience and older age – the Pole is nine years the Slovenian’s senior – in that time they have developed a deep personal bond. “Tadej is a pretty easy boy, and I’ve never had any problems with him, although sometimes I have to tell him to go to bed,” laughs Majka, a previous winner of the Tour’s mountains classification. “After a race he tends to stay on his phone until around 10pm, usually speaking with his girlfriend Urška [Žigart, Jayco-AlUla rider], but often he’ll read a book on his Kindle until he goes to sleep.” A serial winner, Pogačar is often jumping around in the…

Growing up in Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania, Iffat Tejani would notice other children riding bikes but could only dream of joining in. “None of us girls ever got on a bike,” she says, speaking to me by video call from her Hertfordshire home. “We were sporty and would play rounders, but girls were not allowed to cycle – it would have been frowned upon.” Aged 16 Tejani relocated to the UK with her family; at 20 she married and set about raising a family of her own. Only with the onset of a health crisis, 17 years later, did her long-dormant dream of cycling reassert itself in her mind. “At the end of 2009, I was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer,” says Tejani. “I was only…

TIME TRIALS SUNDAY, 11 JUNE National Circuit Championships/Merlin Classic Series round six 25.5 (Modbury, Devon): Men: 1. Will Lowden (HUUB-WattShop) 53.09 2. J. Sargent (Team Bottrill) 53.35 3. R. Walker (Ward Performance UK.com) 53.57 4. G. Fox (George Fox Cycling Solutions) 55.21 5. T. Scorer (RNRMCA) 56.50 6. T. McEvoy (Fulfil the Potential Racing) 57.30 Women: 1. Jennifer George (HUUB-WattShop) 1:01.32 2. L. Creamer (Velo Fixers) 1:05.34 3. L. Pittard (Brother UK-Team OnForm) 1:06.40 4. H. Worth (Tavistock Wheelers) 1:07.45 5. A. Lake (Cranbrook CC) 1:10.37 6. R. Cornwell (North Devon Velo) 1:14.20 Juniors: Zak Machin (Cero Cycle Division) 56.46 Girls: Abbey Thompson (Stonham Barns Park-SYRT) 1:20.59 Paracyclists: Ben Hetherington (Ferryhill Wheelers) 58.13 Bynea CC 50 (Llandovery, Carmarthenshire): Men: 1. Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) (course record) 1:35.26 2. P. Turner (Fulfil the…

If anyone is going to give Jonas Vingegaard a run for his money at the Tour de France, it’s unlikely they’ll be wearing an Ineos Grenadiers jersey. The British squad, which has won half the 14 editions that have been run since the team’s inception in 2010, were largely absent from the sharp end of the Dauphiné’s GC battle last week. Carlos Rodriguez’s white jersey win and top 10 saved the worst of their blushes but a still-recovering Egan Bernal was repeatedly off the pace set by Jumbo-Visma’s and UAE Emirates’ domestiques; and firecracker Dani Martinez (who won this race in 2020) fizzled to 23rd place. It’s an even less favourable picture when you consider second-place Adam Yates, the only person to meaningfully try to take the race to Vingegaard,…

How many of us drive around the country, appalled at what other motorists and their passengers have decided to throw out of their windows? Watching the Tour de France and other televised races over the last few years, it is really positive to see that the habit of riders discarding empty bottles/musettes or gel wrappers has mostly stopped – now that the UCI has introduced litter zones and introduced time penalties or disqualification for riders dropping litter outside of these. Sadly there still seems to be a belief among club riders that it’s someone else’s job to clear up the countryside after us. Occasionally things get dropped accidentally when we’re fumbling with gloves and jackets – but most cycling related litter seems to be dropped deliberately by many of us…

On a 20 per cent section of the short, sharp climb of Trška Gora, four riders were leading on the last day of the 2022 Tour of Slovenia: Tadej Pogačar (no surprises there), Matej Mohorič, Rafał Majka, and Paul Double. Spot the odd one out: modern cycling’s race-gobbling one-off, a Milan-San Remo champion, a Tour de France King of the Mountains winner… and a 25-year-old from Winchester on a third-rung Italian team who had waited tables to make ends meet. On his way to seventh overall, this was the ride which finally sealed Double a professional contract with US squad Human Powered Health for 2023. The journey to cycling’s big leagues has been a drama-laden lesson in not giving up. While chasing his dream, Double has been hit from behind…

ONE ACROSS Liv EnviLiv Advanced Pro £6,669 With the Advanced Pro being the flagship model, there’s no option for an ‘off-the-peg’ upgrade. However, with the SRAM Force equipped bike unavailable in the UK until possibly August, the readily available Ultegra Di2 option is worthy of consideration, especially for those who prefer a Shimano groupset. It’s a few hundred pounds cheaper too, and comes with a power meter fitted. ONE DOWN Liv EnviLiv Advanced 1 £4,449 The Advanced 1 shares the same frame as the more expensive Pro bike but uses an Advanced fork rather than the one-piece, higher grade carbon model. Similarly the wheelset is the Giant SLR 2 50, as opposed to the SLR 1, and the tyres are the 25mm Giant Gavia Course. As for the groupset? That’s…

Polarised training: Splitting your riding roughly 80/20 between low and high intensity is a popular rule of thumb. But should those proportions be based on the number of high-and low-intensity sessions or the time spent in high and low zones? “I’ve always focused on programming the high-intensity intervals, not precisely accounting for time in zone,” says coach Mark Walker. “If you try to determine your 80/20 split according to heart rates or power output, it gets too complicated – it may look like you hit 80/20 on one measure but not on another.” Rather than adding up the time spent in particular zones, Walker prefers the simpler ‘session goal’ approach whereby every hard session is classified as high-intensity. The aim is to complete two of these for every 10 sessions…

Islamic traditions dictate that followers must fast from dawn till dusk during the holy month of Ramadan, partake in daily prayers, and women must dress modestly. Tejani explains how cycling fits in around these obligations Training while fasting: “During Ramadan, you have to adapt your training time. You go out closer to sunset, and you ride more in Zone 2 rather than pushing into higher zones. For the first time this year, I did fasted training on the turbo. It is usually best to train after you have broken your fast [after sunset]. The longest I have ridden without food or water is two hours, but you have to judge your effort accordingly.” Cultural barriers: “There has always been certain resistance, on faith grounds, to women cycling. It’s why many…

More or less since it started, this column has included a box called ‘Acts of Cycling Stupidity’. Examples are easy to come by, but its scope is limited – it really deals only with stupidity that manifests during actual cycling. For instance, it fails entirely to capture the work of a friend who got home from a long, hard ride – just under 170km with 3,000m of climbing – and decided that he was too tired to go back to work immediately. Instead, he did some life admin and renewed his car insurance. Only later did he remember that he didn’t have a car. He’d sold it two weeks earlier, but as he’d scrolled through his recent emails he’d found the renewal notice and simply obeyed it. He didn’t even…

A long-distance racer I met recently told me about one of his big training rides. It was, he told me, around 200 miles. To simplify the logistics, he decided he’d get his partner to use her commute to park their car at the far end of the planned route, complete with food, water, some spares and so on, before she caught the train the rest of the way to work. The first hundred miles was fine. He finished his food and drink after around 90 miles, ready for a refill from the car. Only when he arrived at the station car park the car had been left in did it occur to him that a really handy thing to have brought with him would have been the car key. The…