Innehållsförteckning för August 17, 2023 från Cycling Weekly

Federico Bahamontes, the ‘Eagle of Toledo’, has died aged 95. He was most famed for the climbing ability to which he owed his nickname, and for his 1959 Tour de France win, which saw him become the first Spanish winner of the race. Born in 1928, the young Bahamontes worked as a cycle shop apprentice, but learned the trade that would make him famous by delivering goods by bike for Toledo’s shopkeepers up and down the region’s many and considerable hills. He rode his first race in his late teens, finishing second, but his progress was interrupted by national service. Once discharged Bahamontes wasted no time in picking up where he left off, turning pro in 1953. He rode the Volta a Catalunya that September, finishing top-10 on all five…

Would be amazing for Cav to come back just to finish the job off and ride in the same team as Thomas. What a send-off it would be for both. William Nichols Third at 2022 TDF, and winning the Giro this year bar a time trial; he still has it. Podiums for the Vuelta? Joe Hawkins G is wonderful. He’s still on great form. Brilliant cyclist and such a fun guy, and he’s Welsh too – what’s not to love. Ella J N Ruta The real question is, when will he be allowed his proper sunglasses back? Glen Whittington One guy who never had an ego. Love G. Will be a massive loss when he retires. Diana Wilkinson A great rider, still the best out there, what a loss to…

There was no second-guessing who Simone Velasco was riding for during the men’s World Championship road race on Saturday. The one-day specialist’s Wilier Filante SLR was resplendent in Il Tricolore – signifying his status as the current Italian national champion, but entirely fitting for his participation in Glasgow as well, where he finished 27th in the men’s road race. Velasco’s bike has a pearlescent paintjob with green and red bands representing the colours of the Italian flag, prominent on both frame and fork. The Filante SLR is Wilier’s flagship aero race model and is used by Velasco and his Astana-Qazaqstan team-mates for all but the hilliest of races, where they tend to swap to the lighter 0 SLR. The Italian also modified his 12-speed Shimano Dura-Ace rear derailleur with a…

Will you live to see a Tour de France decided by artificial intelligence? What if I told you that you might have already? Everyone is talking about AI and whether it is threatening to take over the world, but what exactly is it? In the most basic terms, it’s computer software that is able to learn patterns from information and then perform tasks that previously required human intelligence. Already it is outperforming humans in a multitude of tasks. But what about its potential in cycling? Can we trust AI to set our training? In other words, is it able to learn the patterns of your body better than you or your coach? Though still in its infancy, AI is already infiltrating the cycling world. It is used for analysing performance…

The Dayton Roadmaster was a typical 1950s clubman’s bike that did everything: racing, touring, commuting and all those club runs that were the backbone of post-war British cycling. But London company Dayton’s story as a bicycle manufacturer is anything but typical, which is perhaps why it’s not more widely recognised as a classic marque. Whereas Pashley and Falcon just dabbled with motorcycles, in 1913 Dayton started up solely as a motorcycle manufacturer, according to Grace’s Guide. World War One forced a change of direction, and production resumed with a motorised bath chair “in view of the number of men who are [now] permanent invalids”. There was a tricycle-wheelchair as well, and Dayton also made standard bicycles. In 1939 the Dayton factory was commandeered for war work. For this it had…

Lotte Kopecky reaped the rewards of the new Super Worlds format, crowning her time in Scotland with victory in the women’s road race to win her third world title. The Belgian became the first woman from her country in 50 years to win the rainbow jersey on the road, and did so with a trademark attack, breaking away on an uphill drag inside the final six kilometres. The win followed a fruitful week on the track, in which she dominated the elimination and points races to bag her first two gold medals in Glasgow. Asked by Cycling Weekly how she had managed to make the event so successful, Kopecky chuckled and looked around the press room. “Good question,” she smiled. “It’s progress from over the years, I think. I train,…

A tyre’s width separated third from fourth in the under-23 men’s road race, with Great Britain’s Jack Rootkin-Gray unfortunately falling the wrong side of a podium place. The 20-year-old, who rides for British Continental team Saint Piran, was part of a select front group in the race, from which France’s Axel Laurance attacked and soloed to gold. Speaking to Cycling Weekly afterwards, Rootkin-Gray rued the fact he “didn’t have the best legs” on a “brutal” day under the Glasgow rain. “You know when you get random contractions all over your legs, like tiny little cramps?” he said. “I gave it a go, and the guys behind me were just a bit too strong.” The Brit has enjoyed a strong spread of domestic results over the last year, something he pins partly on…

Tom Pidcock powered to an impressive mountain bike gold medal in Glentress Forest at the weekend, adding to the bronze he won in the short-track event a few days before. The current Olympic mtb crosscountry champion rode clear from his rivals in the final laps, then held off a late charge from New Zealand’s Sam Gaze and multiple world champion Nino Schurter despite having technical issues. “My gears were not working on the last lap,” Pidcock explained afterwards. “They were jumping on every climb, and Gaze was coming behind. I thought it could all go in the bin at any moment. “I could see [Gaze] was closing but it was frustrating, because I couldn’t go how I wanted to. I had to pick my gear and stay in it. I…

I’m sure everyone has noticed the roads getting busier and drivers becoming less patient. The lack of responsibility the drivers of near tank-sized vehicles show for their actions is just astonishing. Remember when people used to think Grand Theft Auto was responsible for increased violence? That belief seems to have disappeared, but you could easily be mistaken for thinking it’s had an effect on driving standards. These narcissists appear to live in a world where they’re the only one or only thing that’s important and view us cyclists simply as NPCs (non-player characters) who are merely an inconvenience. Typically cycling abroad is better, it’s still busier than it once was, but riding in France or Spain is often a lot safer and more enjoyable and not just due to the…

As the reigning French ITT national champion, Cédrine Kerbaol’s Orbea Ordu OMX has custom paint to celebrate. But the patriotic design is far from the only noteworthy detail. Fresh off 12th place at the Tour de France Femmes, which also netted her the best young rider classification, Kerbaol’s TT set-up is interesting. The front end is relatively high, while her Prologo Dimension Tri saddle is slammed back on the seatpost. It’s a radical bike-fit that seeks to be long and narrow for maximum aerodynamic efficiency. As for the bars, Kerbaol opts for a single extension mast, which is stock but relatively uncommon. Combined with the Ordu’s aggressive front end it results in a bike that looks fast standing still. For the Glasgow ITT course, Kerbaol used 56/42t Vision chainrings, fitted…

Sarah Storey added her 11th and 12th para-cycling road world titles to her career haul last week, triumphing in the C5 individual TT and road race. The Brit won the former, a 28.2km race against the clock, by over a minute in Dumfries and Galloway on Thursday. Two days later, she pipped her two fellow breakaway companions to the line on the road. “I feel amazing,” said the 45-year-old, who is Britain’s most decorated Paralympian, with 17 gold medals at the Games. “I can’t ever take for granted how a race will go.” Around the road race’s halfway point, Storey attacked up a narrow lane and “stayed on the gas as long as I could” to whittle down the group. She then buried herself in the final to claim her…

Bethany Shriever powered to her second BMX world title with a flawless performance on the final day of the championships. Having qualified first in both her quarter and semi-finals, the Briton led the final from the off, powering out of the gate to secure her spot on the front ahead of the first jump. No one came close to the current Olympic champion, who crossed the line screaming for joy with a solid gap to land the rainbow bands once more and take Britain’s 23rd gold medal of the event, putting them well clear at the top of the medal table. “Everything went well – it was the perfect lap,” Shriever said. “I just kept pushing all the way, and when I saw that finish line coming, I was over…

1 KT Tunstall opens proceedings “Wouldn’t it be better if we all had a bike right now?” yells KT Tunstall into her microphone. The Scots rocker scored the biggest, and only, gig of the Championships, performing a free set to a packed George Square on the eve of the first event. As riders rested in their hotels dotted around southern Scotland the locals sang along as international spectators nodded gleefully. Come the end of the night, though, and the repetitive nature of ‘Suddenly I See’ had everyone belting in unison. As Tunstall strummed the song’s outro, cannons blasted paper ribbons over the crowds, coating them in the colours of the UCI before everyone made a beeline for the bar. The first ‘Superworlds’ had arrived. 2 Friends, not rivals Five hundredths…

The aerodynamic arms race in the cycling world is nothing new, especially in the velodrome. This year’s Worlds however, yielded some particularly arresting designs, like the Look P24, which appears to have two seatposts. The reason behind it is rather cunning. Working in collaboration with the French national track team, Look’s new bike follows a similar design philosophy to the Hope x Lotus Team GB bike, with super-wide seatstays and fork legs. It’s understood that wide fork legs at the front of the bike are designed to sit in line with a rider’s legs which create a significant amount of the overall drag. By aligning the fork blades in this way, airflow at the front of the bike can be redirected around the rider’s legs, which can improve their aerodynamic…

Who better to interview about the potential impact of AI than ChatGPT itself? We sat down with the chatbot to grill it on the pros and cons of AI-led training CW: What are your thoughts about using AI as a cycling training tool? ChatGPT: As an AI language model, I don’t have personal thoughts or opinions, but I can provide you with an analysis of the potential for artificial intelligence in cycling, training for both amateur and professional riders. The potential for artificial intelligence in cycling training is truly remarkable, and it holds great promise for both amateur and professional riders. For amateur riders, AI can offer affordable coaching solutions. Many cycling enthusiasts may not have access to professional coaches or extensive training resources. AI-based systems can bridge this gap…

Riders in the 1970 World Championship road race ride on the Mallory Park motor racing circuit, Leicestershire. Eddy Merckx (21) is clearly visible near the head of proceedings, as is the big crowd on the banking behind. While it wasn’t quite a ‘Super-Worlds’ like last week in Glasgow, the track and the road Worlds came as one in those days, and in 1970 the track titles were competed for at Leicester’s Saffron Lane track. The road race looped from Mallory Park and into the Leicester countryside on a 15km lap that was tackled 18 times. It was won by Jean-Pierre Monseré of Belgium, with an impressive fourth place by local lad Les West. Merckx finished down in 29th.…