Innehållsförteckning för September 7, 2023 från Cycling Weekly

I’ve never been one to buy into the ‘cycling versus drivers’ nonsense that gets casually published. But even those who do think there are two warring factions on the roads have to admit that there is one thing that unites us. Our hatred of potholes. Now believe me, writing about broken bits of tarmac and council budgets is not why anyone gets into cycling journalism, but it’s actually a really important subject. In fact for those on two wheels bad road surfaces can be life threatening. No matter how experienced you are, some dappled light or a patch of surface water can easily disguise a bike-breaking, crash-inducing pothole. The scale of the problem is huge and it’s getting worse up and down the country. Where I live in Surrey there…

When I first heard the Ineos-Quick Step merger rumour at the Tour de France, I dismissed it as complete nonsense. But as the weeks have passed, and more people within the sport talk about it, I have become more convinced that we could see it happen – just not next season. Presently, the combined teams will have almost 40 riders in 2024 – 10 more than permitted for WorldTour teams. There’s then the issue of both teams employing dozens of staff members and owning a plethora of vehicles. Not everyone would have a place at a hypothetical new team and one staff member told me, “If true, I’m taking them to court.” There are numerous logistical, legal and paperwork hurdles to overcome to merge the teams together, but it has…

The 38-year-old has been rebuilding her form since crashing out while leading the National 50-Mile Championships in July. Returning to national competition last weekend, Allan won the 25-mile National Championships and then finished a 100-mile event the following day in a little over four hours. “I was concerned what my legs would do with that to be honest,” said Allan. “I’m still regaining my form from having come off, it actually quite helped to have that mileage in the legs. “I did last week purely to get around and I didn’t spend myself. I was fairly fresh-legged, it wasn’t a flat-out 100 miles.” Allan was on top form in Saturday’s National 10-Mile Championships in Northumberland, recording a winning time of 19 minutes and 51 seconds on the out and back…

I really enjoyed your issue about the Super Worlds in Glasgow. Great articles and photography. This was a truly special ‘super-event’ and offers a ray of light just when the sustainability of some sporting events is in question. However, on the theme of sustainability, one thing did mar the event for me. The sight of two shells on every GB athlete’s shoulders was a disturbing (and frequent) reminder that the world is still burning fossil fuels at a suicidal rate, aided and abetted by companies like Shell. Cycling needs to find sponsors who are part of the future and not present greenwashing opportunities to the wrong industry. Cycle racing needs to shake itself free of its historical connection with the combustion engine. The alternatives are there so why not use…

We want to get you involved in putting pressure on the authorities to deliver the quality roads we all deserve. Some of that might be by writing to your council or MP, but also just reporting the perilous state of the UK’s roads should help push it up the agenda. HERE ARE OUR THREE GOALS 1. Double the volume of potholes reported through the fillthathole.org.uk website to over 1,000 a month. 2. Get all political parties to put vulnerable road users at the heart of their road strategy and maintenance decisions. 3. Get all political parties to commit to reversing the decline in funding for the repair and maintenance of local roads.…

In response to his non-selection for the Vuelta a España, Pavel Sivakov complained that to the Ineos team, riders were just numbers. To which I say, what did you think you were number 14? It’s worse than that. To a big steamroller of a team, you’re just a number that’s made up of other numbers. “This is number 12. His FTP is 395, his VO2 is 75, his W/kg at FTP is 5.5 and his CdA is 0.193. We think his mum calls him Kevin, but we don’t really care.” Cycling is a data-obsessed sport. The same part of the human psyche that makes a person want to ride a bike also makes them want to count things. What those things might be has changed as the decades have ticked…

A story from long-ago long-distance time trialling. At the Mersey Roads Club 24-hour event in 1937, as was the usual practice for the time, they provided a proper sit-down feed for competitors. Helpers flagged down riders, helped them off their bikes and into the feed and gave them fruit, rice pudding, even steak and mash; almost anything they might want. One rider loomed out of the dark, stopped and was bundled off his bike. Only when they’d got him inside and were already spooning rice pudding into him did they notice he was wearing a suit. And looked very confused. He was an innocent passer-by, riding to an early shift at work.…

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) has not had it easy at the Vuelta a España as he tries to defend his title. The young Belgian suffered a bizarre crash and got the worst of the opening team time trial’s terrible weather in the race’s first few days, then as the week went on has had to withstand considerable pressure from his rivals. Although Jumbo-Visma held the red jersey on the shoulders of Sepp Kuss at the race’s first rest day, Evenepoel is still very much in the hunt for the win. Evenepoel held the red jersey early in the week but lost 32 seconds to main rival Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) on the climb to Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre on stage six. “I didn’t feel like I was going really all out,…

If you’re anything like me and the thought of riding in 40°C heat sends shivers, or should I say excessive sweat, down your spine, then you may understand my delight at the arrival of autumn. It may be an unpopular opinion, but after weeks of training and racing in the various furnaces of Europe, the first sight of falling leaves brings me nothing but joy, as it’s a small promise of the ceasing of the relentless heat. As a true Brit, I’m accustomed to the pleasant 25°C summers, so seeing a ‘feels like’ of 45°C on the BBC weather app each morning was rather terrifying. I’m someone who finishes a race with enough salt on my kit to put the local chippy to shame, so can certainly say the heat…

Zoe Bäckstedt joins Canyon-SRAM Zoe Bäckstedt has joined Canyon-SRAM in a mid-season transfer. The British 18-year-old joined EF Education-TIBCO-SVB last August following a dominant junior career. It was announced in recent weeks, however, that EF Education-TIBCO-SVB would be folding at the end of the current season. “I will get to race with a strong squad and have the freedom to race in any discipline I want to as well,” Bäckstedt said. Claire Steels signs for Movistar After just one year on the Women’s WorldTour, British rider Claire Steels has earned a move to Movistar. The 36-year-old rider from Lincolnshire has had a breakout year – winning the ReVolta one-day race and top 10s at Itzulia and the Tour de Suisse hinted at her potential – and she will hope to…

Olympic hopeful Josh Charlton boosted his chances of competing at Paris 2024 when he won the men’s National 10-Mile Championship title – but had to rely on a late invite from the event organiser. The 20-year-old showed his potential last month, finishing sixth in the under-23 World Championships time trial in Scotland – just 21 seconds off the podium. Charlton, from Durham, was unaware that the National Championships were happening last weekend in Northumberland until the race organiser offered him a late entry. “Sharon Dyson is a good friend of the family and approached me because she had a few late entries,” said the Saint Piran rider. “She was the one who got me into the event.” Charlton seized the opportunity and took his first senior national title, smashing his…

A Cambridgeshire cycling day, the Strawberry Community Cycle Event, was cancelled in 2023 because of the poor state of the roads. The day, organised by Histon and Impington Bicycle Club, usually takes place in September, but was called off over fears that riders could be injured because of the potholes on the route. The event has been running since 2015 and attracts up to 400 people each year. It offers entrants four routes ranging from seven miles (11km) to 55 miles (88km), and tries to get new people into cycling. Sadly, it won’t happen this year thanks to potholes. “I took the decision in February/March, after we did a reconnaissance of the Strawberry route,” the club’s secretary, Chris Davie, tells Cycling Weekly. “We went out and the roads were so…

The recent addition of rear facing radar units to the Garmin and Bryton product ranges has been an interesting development. Radar is an object locating technology that uses radio waves to determine whether something is moving, how fast it is moving and in which direction – potentially helpful for cyclists looking to be alerted to approaching vehicles. Garmin led the way with its popular Varia range before Bryton stepped in to deliver its own suite of more affordable radar units, the Gardia, that typically undercut Garmin on price. But how do they fare head-to-head? We’ll look at the product ranges, draw out their similarities and differences, as well as looking at how radar works, and how it could benefit you as a rider. Products The Garmin Varia range has three…

ONE UP Cannondale Super Six Evo LAB71 £12,500 The LAB71 frame uses Cannondale’s newest Series 0 carbon construction to help shave off a few grams. You also get Shimano’s Dura-Ace Di2 groupset as well as the one-piece integrated SystemBar R-One cockpit, made in conjunction with Italian company Momodesign. Claimed weight is 375g. ONE DOWN Cannondale SuperSix Evo 1 £6,750 Another SuperSix but with a different carbon layup that adds up to a claimed frame weight of 915g. The other significant difference is the choice of SRAM over Shimano, with the Evo 1 equipped with Force AXS. The combined 48/35 chainset and 10-33t cassette actually gives a little more range, especially at the low end.…

TIME TRIALS SUNDAY, 2-3 SEPTEMBER National 10-Mile Championships (East Hartford, Northumberland): Men: 1. Josh Charlton (Saint Piran) 17.43 2. R. Bussell (AeroCoach) 18.08 3. A. Dowsett (Nopinz) 18.11 4. A. Duggleby (ADDFORM-Vive le Velo) 18.20 5. M. Gill (HUUB-WattShop) 18.26 6. G. Peden (Team PB Performance) 18.39 Women: 1. Kate Allan (Team Bottrill) 19.51 2. L. Byram (Team Sheffield) 20.29 3. A. Clay (Team Bottrill) 20.32 4. E. Martin (Team Bottrill) 20.40 5. L. Davies (Padan Vive le Velo) 20.50 6. M. Jessett (Jadan Vive le Velo) 20.53 Junior Boys: 1. Alex Franks (VC Londres) 19.52 2. M. Peace (Otley CC) 20.06 3. A. Fletcher (360cycling) 20.22 Junior Girls: 1. Maia Howell (Matlock CC) 23.10 2. F. Johnson (Gosforth RC) 24.27 3. J. Townend (Scarborough Paragon CC) 26.04 SUNDAY, 3…