Innehållsförteckning för October 12, 2023 från Cycling Weekly

To ride, or not to ride. That’s the dilemma facing cyclists with Ultegra and Dura-Ace equipped bikes following the news that Shimano was making faulty chainsets for years. I’m lucky enough to have another bike to ride, but one day I’ll want to get back out on my best, DA equipped bike. If the chainset passes its inspection will I trust what’s beneath my feet? I’m not sure, and that’s speaking as someone who puts out pathetic power. I don’t understand how it got to this. It hasn’t taken long for our readers to point out they had cranks break years ago, so why wasn’t this fault picked up sooner? In 23 years of working in the cycling industry, I can say categorically that cranks are very, very hard to…

Three British women’s racing teams have applied to step up to UCI Continental level for 2024, citing concerns about the racing calendar in the UK. This season, the women’s National Road Series was reduced from seven to five races, while the Tour Series was scrapped entirely due to financial shortcomings. Elite development squads Hutchinson-Brother UK, Alba Road Team and Pro-Noctis-Heidi Kjeldsen -200 Degrees Coffee have now registered for Continental status with British Cycling. The three teams will send a dossier to the UCI this month which, if all are approved, would see the number of British women’s Continental teams double next year. Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Alba manager Bob Lyons said his squad “need to be racing in Europe” if it is to continue developing. “To provide the platform for…

If they’re fortunate enough, regular success at junior and under-23 level could see a rider making their Grand Tour debut quicker than anticipated. But the positives brought by success can turn into negatives if the right preparation isn’t put in place. Dr Victor Thompson explains that psychologists work with the likes of Josh Tarling, Gaia Realini and other young pros on the WorldTour to ensure three-week races don’t become overwhelming and that they have fully prepared for the full range of experiences – both good and bad – beforehand. “Assisted by a psychologist beforehand, you would be thinking, ‘OK, what do I think is going to be challenging, how’s it going to be different?’ Part of that might be lots of people shouting your name, lots of people queuing up…

Introverts and extroverts aren’t fixed in their personality type – each can adapt to changing situations and demands. Sports psychologist Victor Thompson (drvictorthompsonpsychologist.co.uk) explains: “A good team manager should be encouraging introverts to have more opportunities, and to be more extroverted in terms of their interaction with teammates, staff, the public, and to improve on their social ability. If you’re more conscious of the need to constantly develop, and understand that these traits are a necessary and positive part of being a pro cyclist, then they can blossom even more.” For extroverts, it’s about accepting that social interaction isn’t always available. “They don’t become more introverted, but they should learn how to be more independent and how to manage on their own. If they become more successful, they get even…

Former Quick Step team-mates front up Cav’s Astana leadout train for 2024 Davide Ballerini The 29-year-old Italian rider rode for Astana in 2019 before making the move to Deceuninck-Quick Step in 2020 where he then worked with Cavendish and Anastopoulos. Ballerini is also a Classics specialist, and won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2021. Ide Schelling A one-day specialist turned sprinter, Schelling worked with Anastopoulos at the SEG Racing academy between 2017 and 2019 before joining Bora-Hansgrohe one year later. The Dutchman won stage two of this year’s Tour of the Basque Country. Michael Mørkøv The 38-year-old specialist is widely regarded as the best leadout man in the business. The Danish rider is also known for his expertise on the track and was Olympic champion in the Madison in 2021. Cees…

In a few weeks’ time Soudal-Quick Step is due to hold its annual staff get-together. It’ll be easier now they know they’re not all at imminent risk of redundancy. However, the fact that cycling’s winningest team could even find itself in this position is a cause for concern. That concern only doubles when you consider the other half of the deal – Jumbo-Visma just pulled off the near-miracle of winning every Grand Tour in 2023. And yet, neither of these teams has a secure financial future. Dutch supermarket Jumbo is departing at the end of 2024 and Patrick Lefevere’s Soudal-Quick Step doesn’t know what its name will be from that date either. That that’s the case speaks to the fact that attracting sponsorship remains the team’s only avenue of income,…

I read with interest your recent obituary for Jim Hendry. I can maybe add a little story which shows how forward-thinking the man was. In the early 1980s when I was living in France, Jim was BCF Director of Racing. I am disabled and was racing regularly with my disabled French colleagues. In 1983, the French wanted to choose their team for the European Disabled RR Championships, and as a Brit, I was not eligible. National jerseys had to be worn, so I wrote to Jim asking if I could ride for GB and borrow a GB jersey. Jim agreed and promptly sent me a jersey. I rode the event proudly, if not too successfully. Subsequently, after further correspondence with GB officials, I became the first GB rider to ride…

Trickle-down technology is a beautiful thing, and it may have taken SRAM eight years to get here, but this season the American component manufacturer (finally) introduced a wireless electronic groupset at the entry level. For those unfamiliar with SR AM’s product hierarchy, ‘Red’ identifies the top-tier products, followed by ‘Force’. Then there’s ‘Rival’ and ‘Apex’ as the entry-level groupsets. When SR AM first introduced its wireless, electronic shifting back in late 2015, it only did so at the top-tier level, Red eTap. A hydraulic disc brake version soon followed, as did a so-called WiFLi rear derailleur, which was compatible with a wider range of gears. The eTap A XS (pronounced ‘access’) ecosystem in use today was introduced in 2019 with again, the Red and Force level first, followed by a…

Frank Vandenbroucke: the late Belgian’s life was characterised by sporadic phenomenal performances, excessive drinking, doping and recreational drugs, and plenty of disagreements. He died aged 34 as a result of a double pulmonary embolism. Jack Bobridge: a two-time Olympic medallist, the Australian got a large tattoo of a clock on his chest in the build-up to his unsuccessful Hour record attempt in 2015. Renowned for his partying and excessive behaviour, he was jailed in 2019 for dealing drugs. Mario Cipollini: The sprinter who invented the leadout train also introduced yellow shorts to match the yellow jersey (and got fined by the UCI). Known for his flamboyant lifestyle, he was jailed in 2022 for three years for domestic violence and stalking. Cecile Uttrup Ludwig: renowned for her interviews that spiral off on…

CYCLO-CROSS SAT, 7 OCT National Trophy Series round one (Gypsies Green, South Shields, Tyne and Wear): Elite Men: 1. Thomas Mein (Hope Factory Racing) 56.52; 2. T. Barnes (Ribble-Verge Sport) +0.19; 3. D. Barnes (Team Spectra Cannondale) +0.45; 4. T. Couzens (Montezuma’s Race Team) +0.59; 5. C. Laborde (Wheelbase CabTech) +1.06; 6. J. Beckingsale (Montezuma’s Race Team) +1.09. Elite Women: 1. Elena Day (Team Spectra Cannondale) 48.32; 2. A. Baker (Team Empella) +0.37; 3. R. James (Hope Factory Racing) +0.47; 4. K. Bond (Alba Development RT) +1.07; 5. H. Inglis (Brother UK-Orientation Marketing) at same time; 6. C. Styler (Backstedt Bike Performance) +1.17. Under-23 Men: 1. Daniel Barnes (Team Spectra Cannondale) 57.37; 2. C. Laborde (Wheelbase CabTech) +0.21; 3. S. Wyllie (Team Spectra Cannondale) +0.46. Under-23 Women: 1. Elena Day…

Bad weather, combined with a lack of investment from central government, is behind the rise in potholes, according to Hampshire County Council’s lead cabinet member for roads. Councillor Nick Adams-King, speaking to CW last week, said: “Last winter was the worst combination we could have had, of rain and freezing, repeatedly. That really hammered the roads in Hampshire. We have been playing catch-up ever since, and I think we’re just about there now.” Adams-King was speaking to CW as part of our War on Potholes campaign. “The County Council has stuff that it has to do statutorily,” he explained. “One of those things is to maintain a road network, but actually, the level at which those roads need to be maintained isn’t as good as we would like, so we…

National circuit stars Kate Allan and Oliver Peckover are the new circuit time trial national champions. This weekend’s events at the Croft motor racing circuit in North Yorkshire saw a Nationals hat-trick for Allan, who has already bagged the 10 and 25-mile titles. Her Team Bottrill team-mate Emily Martin was second, with Miriam Jessett (Jadan-Vive le Velo) third. Peckover (TrainSharp) beat Adam Duggleby (Add-Form-Vive le Velo) into second place with Alex Pickering (Elysium-Kalas) third. Glasgow goes £8m over The Glasgow World Championships ran an estimated £8 million over budget, according to the Scottish government, which had pledged £36 million to put the event on. The overspend has sparked anger, as the announcement comes only days after a £6.6 million cut to the Scottish arts and culture budget was announced. Scottish…

Concern over safety is an issue that comes up frequently among female riders on the ultraendurance events circuit, and the idea of wild camping alone can be a major concern. Gail Brown is keen to dispel some of these concerns; however, all riders need to make their own decisions based on their perception of safety and their past experiences. “I guess I might have a different appreciation of the safety risks for women, because so much of my childhood was wild camping,” she explained. “The further from civilisation I am, the safer I feel. I sleep better in the woods. “I don’t know if the risk is higher. A great example is the Atlas Mountain Race, where culturally, for a woman to be cycling on her own is unusual, let…

It’s difficult to gauge the personality profile of the modern-day cycling prodigy. In one corner, you have the happy-go-lucky, chatty and cheery persona of Tadej Pogačar; in the other, you have the more withdrawn, shy and socially awkward Jonas Vingegaard. Never mind polarised training, character types at the top level seem to have become polarised too. It poses an interesting question: introvert or extrovert – who’s more likely to achieve success as a cyclist? Should we aspire to be japing and jovial like Pogi, or pensive and poker-faced like Jonas? OK, so it’s the legs that do the talking when the going gets tough, but personality is a crucial factor in life, and particularly in career success, for all of us. Introversion and extroversion were concepts introduced by Swiss psychoanalyst…

Which best describes you? Joining a group ride where you don’t know anyone, you: a) Feel excited and look forward to some decent chatting. b) Feel OK about the ride. c) Feel anxious and wonder if you’d prefer going out for a solo ride. When it is time for your turbo session, you: a) Message your buddies to make sure they’re joining you on Zwift. b) Wonder if anyone else will be on the platform at the same time. c) Get on with it solo without considering anyone else. There’s an evening of cycling talk with a pro or top coach, you: a) Call around to see who else is going and suggest pub afterwards. b) Wonder who else might be there but don’t mind if they’re not. c) Think…

It’s that time of year when one’s thoughts turn towards winter training, and, with a small shudder, towards indoor training. As you know, I don’t like to overplay my Old Man of the Long Road routine. But for once I’m going to, just to say this: if you think bikes have changed over the last couple of decades, or that clothing, helmets, racing, doping or TV coverage have changed, none of it compares to how turbo training has changed. Let me tell you about my first turbo trainer. It was a wheel-on trainer, because that was all there was, and cost about £40. That was where the “reasons to buy” ended. It was flimsy, had a ride feel that could be described as, “Has my back wheel turned square?”, made…

One day in about 2005, in the middle of a long session on my old fan-resistance turbo trainer in our old South London flat, the woman who lived downstairs asked Mrs. Doc what the terrible noise was. “The washing machine,” said Mrs. Doc. “But it’s on for hours every day,” said the neighbour. “Well,” improvised Mrs. Doc, “I’m a hairdresser, so I have to wash all the towels from the salon.” That this was a lie became obvious a few months later when the same neighbour knocked on the door to say she was about to be a bridesmaid and her regular hairdresser had the flu, could Mrs. Doc help? We moved out a few weeks later.…