Innehållsförteckning för December 28, 2023 från Cycling Weekly

I can’t say this too loudly or the Cycling Weekly overlords will cut this column completely, but Gravel (capital G) is coming. It’s interesting to look at the British race scene in the winter of 2023. On the women’s side, road racing is thriving. If reports prove to be true, we’re set to have double the amount of women’s Continental teams racing in 2024. On the men’s side, we just have Saint Piran and Trinity, it’s far from the glory days of Madison-Genesis, JLT-Condor and co. We can argue about the how or why until the cows come home, whether it be Brexit, the global economy or who knows what else. The fact of the matter stays the same, the male domestic scene is on its hands and knees. When…

My wife came across this old photo which was taken during the winter of 1969/70, when a handful of us sneaked onto the nearly completed Meadowbank velodrome, built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. It was freezing, hence the woolly hat over the crash helmet and the hooded thermal jacket with thick ski gloves. But surprisingly no overshoes! It was even before they’d had the chance to put down any track lines and markings. We didn’t get caught, but I can’t remember if we managed to get on the boards on other occasions. I wonder if there is anyone else still around who was there and can remember? I’d love to hear from them.…

Sports psychologist Abigail Siu flags up the most common ways resolutions fall short ■ Ditch the fantasy goals: Setting goals that are straight out of the TdF won’t get you anywhere. Keep it achievable. ■ No all-or-nothing nonsense: Life happens and setbacks are as common as Monday morning blues. Don’t bin your goals just because you stumbled a bit. Dust yourself off, get back on the bike and keep riding toward those gains. ■ Get specific: Be clear, set measurable targets and anticipate roadblocks in your planning. ■ Grant rewards: Celebrate each little victory en route to your goals – it will help your motivation and enjoyment. Treat yourself with the occasional ‘cheat’ to give your motivation an extra boost. ■ Ignore Insta: Avoid the social media comparison trap; focus…

90-90 HAMSTRING STRETCH Lying on your back, extend one leg straight out with the other bent at the hip and knee at a 90° angle. Then extend the bent leg into the air and repeat 10 times. Change sides and repeat when done. KNEELING T-SPINE ROTATION Half-kneel with your left hip and leg in front up against a wall. Place your arms together out in front of you, then with the right arm move outward and round until your body is in a ‘T’ position. Bring the arm back around. Once your arms are back together, lift the left arm over your head until your arms make the T position while your body faces the wall, and bring it back around. Repeat around 10 times. Change sides and repeat once…

No beer, cheers Tom Pidcock grimaces after taking a sip of the 6.6% Kwaremont on the podium of the cyclo-cross World Cup round at Namur, Belgium. Despite winning in just his second cross race of the season, Pidcock was not enamoured with the blonde beer, named after the famous cobbled climb, because he is not a drinker. The Ineos Grenadiers rider won at Namur after passing through the whole field, despite two separate mechanicals during the event, to take his first World Cup victory in almost two years.…

“In the last couple of years, the hormone treatment has really tested me,” Allan Peiper says. Prostate cancer’s grip – sometimes loose, other times firm – on him is approaching its decade anniversary. “The radiotherapy has been really hard; chemotherapy has been an absolute nightmare. It has a big effect on your mental and emotional state.” The daily cycle has often gone something like this: “In tears all of the time, not wanting to get out of bed, not enjoying life, struggling with everything because your system is totally shut down. You’re a mess as a human being. No one wants to live like that.” The Australian, a constant figure in the upper echelons of cycling since the 1980s, has on occasion questioned whether he wanted to live at all,…

FONS DE WOLF Born: 1956 Nationality: Belgian First crowned as The Next Merckx: 1979 Five Vuelta stage wins in his debut season as a pro, followed by victories at Milan-San Remo and Il Lombardia the following two years had him set for greatness. But illness thwarted him. FRANK VANDENBROUCKE Born: 1974 Nationality: Belgian First crowned as The Next Merckx: 1996 Mercurial mega-talent Vandenbroucke had it all. Sadly he never fulfilled his potential, a win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège his only Monument success. He tragically died in 2009, aged 34. DANIEL WILLEMS Born: 1956 Nationality: Belgium First crowned as The Next Merckx: 1979 Eleven victories as a neo-pro saw him hailed as Merckx’s successor, and all that before he had won six successive stages of the Tour de Suisse. But health problems cut…

Hailing from one of cycling’s traditional heartlands, Denmark, it didn’t take Lego long to start making tiny toy bikes. The first Lego set to feature them was number 270 in 1958. It was made shortly after the introduction of the Lego system – the studs that allow bricks to connect to each other – which was introduced in 1955, and standardised the size and shape of Lego we know today. But the almost as famous minifigure was two decades away and so the bikes and riders that were part of the set look much like something from a typical toy farm or garage. The bike design that persists to this day, and can be used with the now ubiquitous Lego people, was first seen in 1985 in several sets that…

As the new year rolls in, many cyclists embark on the quest for a healthier lifestyle, often through adopting new diets. But Dr Ruth Fairchild, reader in oral and public health nutrition at Cardiff Met University, suggests that January might be the wrong time to dive into drastic diet changes. “The ‘new year, new diet’ trend tends to be short-lived and may lead to negative outcomes like weight gain and reduced selfesteem,” warns Dr Fairchild. “Instead of traditional diets, focus on sustainable behaviour changes. Whether it’s reducing food intake, increasing energy expenditure, or a combination. Lasting changes in behaviour are more effective for weight management. “Every individual has unique energy needs and preferences,” adds Fairchild, “Avoid restrictive diet labels and aim for a diverse, balanced diet. “For weight loss, prioritise…

Riders prepare for a 10-mile scratch race at the wooden track at Bilston. Bilston in Wolverhampton we presume, as the advertising hoardings also feature references to nearby Tipton. Perhaps the most obvious feature is the lake in the middle of the track, with railings running along the inside border to stop riders taking an unscheduled dip. There are plenty of cycle tracks around lakes, but velodromes? Far less common. We could only come up with one other – the Mariakerke track in Ghent, where the first ever Tour of Flanders finished in 1913. Racing right next to a body of water does seem to pose an unnecessarily high risk of a soaking, as well as taking up all that valuable trackcentre space. All the same, do let us know if…

Lidl-Trek are looking to new signing Tao Geoghegan Hart to contend for victory at the 2024 Tour de France. The 2020 Giro d’Italia winner ended a seven-year association with Ineos Grenadiers this year, joining the American team to become their new GC poster boy. The team showed their faith in the Londoner as they supported him throughout his rehabilitation this summer and are looking ahead to July with optimism. “I don’t think I had a chance to fully show my form last year” Geoghegan Hart was sitting in third place at this year’s Giro when he crashed out on the 11th stage, breaking his femur. Much of the paddock talk in Italy suggested he was in superb condition, leading many pundits to believe he had the form to win the…

I still use a winter bike, an old carbon one which is nearly 20 years old. To be fair it has a decent spec on it. It was once my best bike. My best bikes do not see any winter as it is so expensive to replace parts these days. Debbie Jones My winter bike was also my work bike. A combination of now working from home and the advent of smart trainers means that I now use it a lot less. It used to be the bike on which I did most of my miles, but now, perhaps only 15%. However, using a ‘best bike’ on filthy, salted roads is the preserve of the rich or the silly. No matter how well the bike is cleaned, it’s going to…

The tag applied to promising British talent in the past decade has mostly been ‘The Next Bradley Wiggins’. As Britain’s first Tour de France winner, Wiggins became a household name in 2012, and he admitted that “I felt like the most famous man in the country.” He secured his legacy with a fifth Olympic gold medal in 2016, and also held the Hour record for almost four years. Though no Brit has emulated Wiggins’s diverse career – which included success on the track, in mountainous stage races and time trials – there is a new Wiggins in the men’s peloton, his 18-year-old son, Ben. Wiggins junior will race for Hagens Berman Axeon-Jayco in 2024, widely regarded as the best U23 development team around. Explaining his decision to GCN earlier this…

Only a few years ago it was de rigueur for a keen cyclist to have a best bike for summer racing and a winter bike for getting the miles in from December onwards. When the weather turned, the typical club rider would store their lightweight carbon bike, then reach into the back of their shed and pull out the winter bike (or winter hack). This ‘Trigger’s broom’ of a bike would typically have a cheaper, heavier frame, hand-medown components, and of course, a set of mudguards. “This sturdy bike would be ridden for the long, slow base miles” This sturdy bike would be ridden for the long, slow base miles that made up winter training without the user having to worry too much about the effects of the water and…

If you want your new year’s resolution to stick this time around, then mark your calendar for Sunday, 21 January 2024. If you make it to that date with your resolution to conquer more kilometres, lose more kilos or become more fluent at swearing in French still intact – then you’re statistically more likely to achieve your resolution’s aim. That third Sunday of the month, precisely three weeks on from the dawn of the new year, is known as ‘Quitter’s Day’ to the number-crunchers at Strava. Analysis from the app’s 1.8 billion uploaded fitness activities shows that 21 January is the day when ‘New Year, New You’ resolve is odds-on to crash and burn. So what can we do to ensure our resolutions don’t fall by the wayside? Which of…

It’s impossible not to look at this bike and visualise Roger De Vlaeminck bent low over the bars, back perfectly flat, sideburns rakishly long, grinning and grimacing as he rides towards another impeccable Paris-Roubaix victory. “Una Gios è blu come una Ferrari è rossa,” was the simple rationale behind the famous and evocative colour, now known as Gios blue. Bicycle brands love to associate themselves with motor racing, but in reality it was sponsorship from Brooklyn chewing gum that gave Gios its signature colour. Tolmino Gios set up a bike shop in Turin in 1948 selling city bikes. Ten years later he brought in his sons, Adriano, Aldo and Alfredo, but it wasn’t until 1971 at the Milan show that the chance meeting with Brooklyn owner Giorgio Perfetti took place.…