Innehållsförteckning för August 31, 2023 från Cycling Weekly

Joe Laverick recently wrote about whether an AI coaching app could take over his training and make him a better rider (CW 17 Aug). AI will no doubt change aspects of our lives in ways we can’t imagine, but coaching? I’m not so sure. I’ll give you two reasons. Firstly, take an old friend of mine who set up a coaching company years ago. A former pro, he was highly competent and very personable. We spent many rides discussing his plans, what to offer, how many people he’d have to coach etc. It then went in a way he hadn’t foreseen, with a few reliable clients paying a higher fee not so much because of his coaching ability but because of the relationship they’d built. One of them ended up…

Congratulations on a great issue (CW 17 August). The Worlds coverage was superb and what a fabulous week and a bit it was. Cycle-ball and Artistic Cycling were both new to me but what incredible skill! Back in the day, Cycle Speedway and Cycle Polo were both quite big, at least in the UK, but perhaps they’ve both faded away and so weren’t included? I often turn straight to the back of the magazine for the archive photo. The one that week should have mentioned that ‘Jempi’ Monsere was killed in spring 1971 in a race he was riding as training for Milan-San Remo, in a head-on collision with a car. As far as I know, Monsere is the only rider to be killed as reigning world champion – not…

ONE UP Vitus Venon Evo RS Ultegra Di2 £4,099 As the name states, the major upgrade here is the groupset. For £500 extra you get the second-tier Ultegra. It’s a tad lighter but the gear range remains the same. The only other change is the choice of bar – here it’s Prime’s updated Primavera Carbon aero model, which is actually a few grams heavier than the alloy bar used on our test bike. ONE DOWN Vitus Venon Evo frameset £1,799 Given the versatility that’s at the heart of the Venon Evo, it makes perfect sense to offer it as a frameset only. From here you can build the bike to meet your own demands; fit it with mudguards and voluminous slicks for a four-season road-orientated mile-muncher or strip it back…

We asked Richard Pascoe, 58, owner of UK Continental team Saint Piran, about the impact of racing accidents CW: How do you support riders in the immediate aftermath of an accident? RP: The crucial thing about an accident or a breakage for an athlete is that it’s a catastrophe. In our world, it’s an absolute catastrophe. Typically, prior to the accident, the rider was in peak condition physically and medically – suddenly that is jeopardised. We know that, if exercise stops, there’s an immediate physical and psychological reaction. CW: So, how do you respond to that within the team? RP: This might surprise you, but the first thing we do is get the athlete mobile, even if it’s on a home trainer. We know what being inactive does to the…

As Christina Mackenzie crossed the finishing line of the UCI World Championship Gran Fondo road race in Scotland earlier this month, her mind flashed back to a fateful day from last September. “It was broad daylight and I was wearing hi-vis,” says the 46-year-old. “They must have seen me, yet they had no regard for my life.” Mackenzie is referring to the SUV driver who collided with her and left her lying in the middle of a dual carriageway near Kippen in Stirlingshire, her pelvis broken in two places. The driver did not stop and has never been traced. At the time of that ill-fated training ride, Mackenzie’s season was winding down after an eventful 14 months during which she had broken two major records: Land’s End to John o’…

Cycling has had an extensive relationship with music for most of its existence. It has not generally been to the betterment of the music. Early clubs usually had a club song. They would sing this at pubs on club runs. Typically they started, “Oh, we’re jolly good fellows at the [insert cycling club name]. We’re jolly good fellows you’ll agree….” No one knows what came after that because the landlord usually intervened about this point to eject them. It’s possible they had the foresight to only write the first two lines. At Victorian track meetings there was usually a band on a bandstand. It generally played ‘Daisy Bell’ (the Bicycle-Built-for-Two song); however, often it was asked not to. At the early six-day races, there was also a band. And in…

Following in the footsteps of his idols, George Peden added his name to the illustrious list of national 25-mile champions. The 23-year-old, originally from Ballymoney in Northern Ireland, smashed his lifetime best over the distance to post a winning time of 45 minutes and 59 seconds to clinch the crown. The youngster showed his calibre earlier this season finishing third in the Irish National Championships – only beaten by WorldTour riders Ryan Mullen and Ben Healey. Growing up in Northern Ireland his idol was six-time 25-mile national champion turned Cycling Weekly columnist Michael Hutchinson. “This is a good event and it’s a good list of winners, it’s nice to have my name amongst them,” said Peden. “I was getting into the sport at the time when Michael Hutchinson was winning…

Ed Clancy to chair BC road task force Olympian Ed Clancy has been unveiled as the chair of a new British Cycling task force looking at how to revitalise domestic racing. The group, first unveiled by BC CEO Jon Dutton in an interview with CW last month, will meet over the next three months to devise a plan to reboot the flagging domestic scene. Joining Clancy will be UK riders Monica Greenwood and Jo Tindley, GB Cycling Team DS John Herety, Brother UK MD Phil Jones, M2 Sports co-owner Steve Fry, race organiser Chris Lawrence and Rapha marketing manager Jess Morgan. Aerts gives UCI the finger Cyclo-cross rider Toon Aerts has expressed his disdain for the UCI, sending the governing body a “big and heartfelt middle finger” after he was…

WOUT VAN AERT JUMBO-VISMA, 28 NATIONALITY: BEL TOB STARTS: 1 BEST TOB RESULT: 1 ST GC, 4 STAG ES (ALL 2021) The first, and indeed the last, time he rode the Tour of Britain Wout van Aert steamrollered the race from start to finish. Using a combination of fast finishing and climbing ability, he picked up four stage wins and won the GC. He broke the hearts of the many British fans rooting for Ethan Hayter, who was so close to winning despite van Aert’s dominance. If anything, the Belgian has only got better since then. Last year he could barely stop winning; this season he has still been great, but often left frustrated, hanging just off the edge of glory. Podium finishes at Milan-San Remo and fourth at the…

There will be plenty of British interest within the Tour of Britain peloton, both from the WorldTour and domestic teams. From cycling’s upper echelons, aside from the obvious inclusion of Tom Pidcock, Josh Tarlin and Ethan Vernon there’s a slew of British talent. As usual British Cycling will be fielding a Great Britain cycling team, which is set to include Israel-Premier Tech’s Stevie Williams who just took a stage win and the GC at the fourday Arctic Race of Norway. The team also includes Lotto-Dstny Development rider Josh Giddings, experiencing his second Tour of Britain after his debut last year; former Junior Tour of Wales winner Noah Hobbs, who is now gaining experience at the Groupama-FDJ development team and was fifth at the U23 Ghent-Wevelgem in March. Also lining up…

‘Trauma’ might sound like a scary term, but it can be more easily understood as an event from the past that, rather than lying low or fading away, creeps into the present. This can take the form of intrusive thoughts, confusion, low mood, increased anxiety, tearfulness and a susceptibility to being startled. Riders sometimes feel shame or embarrassment about their accident, worrying that it wasn’t ‘big enough’ to validate their emotional response. Be assured, it’s not the severity of an accident or injury that best predicts the trauma response. A rider’s response is determined by a complex interplay of thoughts, memories, past experience and sense of peril. If you are concerned you are struggling with trauma, reach out to your GP, local Improving Access to Psychological Services (IAPT) team or…

TIME TRIALS SUNDAY, 27 AUGUST National 25-mile Championship (Angus, Scotland): Men: 1. George Peden (Team PB Performance) 45.59 2. A. Duggleby (ADDFORM Vive Le Velo) 46.12 3. M. Gill (HUUB WattShop) 47.09 4. A. Pritchard (HUUB WattShop) 47.28 5. A. Dopfer (Team Bottrill) 47.55 6. D. Watson (GTR - Return To Life p/b Streamline) 47.59 Tyneside Vagabonds CC 25 (Pegswood, Northumberland): Men: 1. Christopher Isats (Berwick Wheelers Cycling Club) 53.52 2. Z. Haigh (Team Kirkley Cycles) 54.32 3. J. Routledge (GTR – Return To Life p/b Streamline) 54.43 4. P. Hall (Velo Culture) 54.32 5. J. Cairns (Muckle Cycle Club) 55.56 6. P. Stokoe (Reifen Racing) 56.17 Women: 1. Alexandra Noonan (Velo Culture) 1:02.01 2. A. McAleer (Velo Culture) 1:04.05 3. L. Jarvis (Muckle Cycle Club) 1:04.58 4. S. Wann (EMC…

A message arrives from a parent who decided to introduce their child to time trialling and understandably wishes to remain anonymous in order to head off any state intervention. “I decided it was time to take my 12-year-old daughter to her first time trial,” reads the message. “So I got out our old tandem, and we went to a local club evening 10, her on the back, me on the front. The race was going very happily until about two miles before the finish, when she decided to see what might happen if she started tickling me. “I was laughing so hard I had to stop the bike to recover from it. After we got going again, we got beaten by three seconds. “My daughter thinks this is hilarious. I…

GC LEADER 2022: GONZALO SERRANO The best overall rider in the race calculated by the cumulative time they take on each stage. COTTAGES.COM SPRINTS JERSEY 2022: TOM PIDCOCK The first 10 riders each day get points as follows: 25, 18, 12, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Intermediate sprint points are awarded to the first five riders on a 10, 7, 5, 3, 1 basis. PINARELLO KOM JERSEY 2022: MATHIJS PAASSCHENS First-category climbs give the first 10 riders points in descending order from 10. Second-cat climbs work the same for the first six riders, the first getting six points, while third-cat climbs see the first rider get four points. YOUNG RIDERS JERSEY 2022: TOM PIDCOCK Awarded to the best placed GC rider who is also under-23.…

Write it down: Though it’s tempting to try to avoid thoughts of the incident, this may prolong difficulties. Instead, write or draw in detail everything you can remember from the ‘before, during and after’ phases. Look at these notes or drawings a few times a week while doing some slow, rhythmic breathing. Prioritise sleep: Resist the urge to delay bedtime, as trauma needs sleep to heal. Let it out: Spend time with family, friends and people you trust – and stay honest about your feelings. Eat well: Even if you don’t feel like it, try to keep to your regular meal-time routine. Meal kit boxes or asking friends and family to help out with cooking or dropping meals around can be really helpful. Keep moving: If injuries allow, maintaining some…

I had slightly mixed feelings about the Super Worlds earlier this month. The scale was brilliant. It felt like a cycling Olympics, there was always something going on. Para-cycling was on the same footing exposure-wise as able-bodied cycling, something it normally only approaches at the Paralympics. If I’d been an athlete I’d have loved being in the middle of an event that size. As a fan, though, it was hard to keep up. If you wanted to wallow in all five qualifying rounds of the men’s keirin AND watch the H3 handcycling, well, things got tough. Ultimately what got me on board was the chance to watch stuff I never, ever see. Like the cycle-ball and the artistic cycling. If you missed it, well, you missed a lot. Cycle-ball is…