Innehållsförteckning för January 18, 2024 från Cycling Weekly

Toby Atkins sipped his morning coffee outside a large countryside villa overlooking the mountains in Sicily. “It was at the end of a gravel track, completely off-grid, no Wi-Fi, poor phone coverage. If you didn’t know where to go, you’d never find it,” he recalls. It was a fine winter’s day in 2015, and having agreed to race for Italian amateur team T-Vb, the Briton had been driven to their training camp eight days earlier in a soigneur’s two-door Alfa Romeo. “He turned up an hour late,” says Atkins, “and I had to empty my two suitcases into this tiny sports car, ditch the cases at the airport, and wedge my bike in." Those eight days of training went well, and now he was taking a well-earned break. “The team…

Like a difficult second album, Biniam Girmay’s 2023 season failed to live up to the highs of 2022 when he won Ghent-Wevelgem and a stage at the Giro. A high-speed crash early in the season left him concussed and he wasn’t back to form until the Tour de Suisse, where he won a stage. Then followed a quiet Tour de France debut. But the Eritrean’s team say it was still a season of progression for the 23-year-old. Regardless of results, he’s already a national hero back home in Eritrea and so his Cube Litening C:68X Aero bike will get a lot of attention, starting at the Tour Down Under. “The wheels are supplied by Cube’s in-house brand Newmen” Shot here during a 2024 winter training camp, as the name states,…

FITNESS At the time of writing, it’s nearly dark at 3pm and has rained every day for at least a week. We are in the depths of winter and don’t we know it! Only one thing for it: buckle down, zip up, and build the foundations for a great year. This is the toughest time of year to be a cyclist – at least if you live in the northern hemisphere – with the idea of wearing shorts and jersey cruising along under the sun being a distant memory. This week, the third week of January, is said to be the most depressing on the calendar. Motivation is likely to be low – and there is no point making it harder for yourself by making mistakes in how you approach…

Cycling is as subject to the vicissitudes of fashion as actual fashion. In some respects we, in cycling, are in an even more ridiculous position since not only do we have to work out the next fashion move, we have to think of a plausible justification for it. Anna Wintour never had to write an article defending parachute pants on the basis they tested well in a wind tunnel. In general, don’t waste your time thinking of something new. Something old is a lot easier to explain. Take a wander back through history till you find something that sounds like it might actually have been quite nice. Then change the name. Would bikepacking have had anything like the pull it’s had if you called it “touring”? Of course not. Change…

Regarded as the holy grail of Scottish bicycles, the ‘Glasgow Ferrari’ was famously ridden by Billy Connolly and is a marque so revered that a 15-sonnet redoublé and a jazz suite have been written about it. The Flying Scot company between 1900 and 1983 built around 15,000 frames. Initially made for local racing cyclists, the post-war boom years saw the brand’s reputation spread; its high-quality bikes were made in large quantities and exported worldwide. Scottish poet Rab Wilson, as well as his 1957 Flying Scot jazz-accompanied opus, has also made a short YouTube film called For the Love of the Flying Scot. Opening with atmospheric drone footage from high above an empty glen, and zooming in on a rider’s eye view of the front wheel, Wilson’s Scottish brogue curls around…

It’s showtime It’s amazing what a bike race can do for local amenities and infrastructure. As the women’s TDU peloton passes the Echunga Memorial Institute in the hills a few miles south-east of Adelaide, the race bestows a kind of film-set pizzazz to it, like something out of a western. But without the riders flashing past, this local hall for hire (‘dances every 2nd Sat’) looks very ordinary indeed. The 2024 season has started, so thousands of towns around the world, like Echunga, can look forward to their moment of fame.…

The Rayner Foundation has announced the full list of riders who will be supported by the charity as the young competitors get ready to head to their European bases for 2024. In total, 35 riders will join a variety of Continentallevel teams across Europe. “You’ve got this huge group of friends that develops” Since it was founded in 1995 after the death of pro rider Dave Rayner, the foundation has provided help and financial support to multiple young British cyclists including David Millar, Adam Yates, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Hannah Barnes, James Shaw and Josie Nelson. Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Mattie Dodd – a London-born rider in his second year of funding – said that the charity does so much more than provide financial backing to him and his peers. Dodd,…

Right thing to do. I’ve seen some extreme positions in local races, and riders can’t brake as quickly or as hard as they might need to. Tom Langley After decades of cycling I usually try anything new and mostly it’s an improvement be it kit or equipment. In this case I really cannot see any benefit with altering brake lever positions, the safest and most comfortable is 90 degs, in my opinion. Roy Beeley Next up: UCI clamp down on max number of metal particles in metallic paint finishes. Martin Tang Adam Hansen is the riders’ representative on the technical commission. He explained that the angle limitations are being brought in as a result of several handlebar failures. I think there is an existing rule that equipment should be used…

Following his ordeal, Toby Atkins came to the opinion that “the whistleblowing system is terrible. The theory goes that speaking out is going to ruin a career and you’d be a hated figure. I wanted to change that.” He took up a role with the UCI’s #IRideClean programme in late 2015, and since 2019 has worked for the International Testing Agency (ITA) as an education ambassador and expert. He travels around the world giving talks, seminars and delivering anti-doping education to sportspeople from a variety of sports, as well providing an athlete’s perspective to anti-doping officers. “A big part of what I do is speaking with juniors and U23 age groups, the points where people are most mouldable and influenced. I tell them that it’s OK to have thought about cheating,…

When you get back after a hard winter’s ride, you want something tasty, quick and healthy. One-pot dishes are an ideal solution to postride winter fuelling, providing quick sustenance with minimal effort. It’s a simple formula: add your protein source, whole grains and vegetables to one pot, pan or dish, give it a stir (or two) and you’ve all the nutrients needed for training and recovery. And as you consume everything in the pot, you don’t lose any nutrients that leach out during cooking. As an added benefit, using only one pan, pot or dish means there’s less washing up afterwards. These six plant-based recipes take 30 minutes or less to prepare and just require the occasional stir. Knowing you have a delicious, nutritious one-meal waiting when you get back…

CYCLO-CROSS SAT-SUN, JAN 13-14 British National Championships (Callendar Park, Falkirk, Scotland): Elite Men: 1. Cameron Mason (Cyclocross Reds) 59.26; 2. T. Mein (Hope Factory Racing) +1.16; 3. L. Askey (Groupama FDJ) +2.07; 4. C. Carrick-Anderson (T-Mo Racing) +2.17; 5. T. Barnes (Ribble-Verge Sport) +3.18; 6. S. Wyllie (Team Spectra Cannondale) +3.29; 7. D. Barnes (Team Spectra Cannondale) +3.48; 8. M. Greensill (Hope Factory Racing) +3.53; 9. L. Martin (Studio Velo) +4.16; 10. C. Laborde (Wheelbase CabTech) +4.41. Under-23 Men: 1. Corran Carrick Anderson (T-Mo Racing) 1:01.43; 2. S. Wyllie (Team Spectra Cannondale) +1.12; 3. D. Barnes (Team Spectra Cannondale) +1.31; 4. M. Greensill (Hope Factory Racing) +1.36; 5. C. Laborde (Wheelbase CabTech) +2.24; 6. J. Smith (Wheelbase CabTech) +3.32. Elite Women: 1. Anna Kay (Cyclocross Reds) 48.34; 2. E. Maclean-Howell (Hope…

All the talk in the build-up to the first WorldTour race of 2024 was about the battle that would occur between defending champion Grace Brown (FDJ Suez) and three-time champion Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek), on the roads of South Australia at the Tour Down Under. The pair had joked about the upcoming battle that would take place up Willunga Hill on the final stage, in their pre-race press conference. Yet, in the end, it was neither of the established Australian heroes who triumphed, but Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal), who is not just a precocious talent, but at just 23, something of a comeback queen. Brown’s defence of the title had come apart midway through the three-stage race, with the 31-year-old losing time on stage two, but everything seemed in hand, with…

Cycling Weekly 4 January featured a classic bike from Southampton builder Rotrax, so here’s my recently restored Rotrax track bike. The frame was built in 1957 and, I believe, was ridden in the 1958 Empire and Common wealth Games. I built up the bike much as it is in the photo, with Cinelli steel bars and stem, Mafac rims on Airlight hubs, Stronglight chainset, Chater-Lea pedals and Ideale leather saddle. I used the bike for track and time trials through to ’67, then started riding again in 1977. In the mid 80s the bike was raced on the track by my daughter as a schoolgirl and junior for a few years, and then left to the mercy of various cellars, sheds and garages. I always promised myself that one day I’d…

Fizik Terra Argo X3 saddle £140 Weight 258g I deally gravel saddles combine comfort and support with enough flex to dampen the vibrations from rough terrain. The Fizik Terra Argo X3 is designed to do all of this with added ‘stability’. It achieves this through a combination of shape and outer material. The front/back wave shape gives a natural centre point to the saddle, which cradles your sit bones. On top of this, the surface of the saddle has a grippy finish, which holds you in place and prevents any sliding around. In line with current trends, the stubby 270mm-long saddle allows plenty of forward movement. There’s a slight drop at the nose to allow you to sit forward without undue pressure on soft tissues. Pressure relief is enhanced by the…

Firstly, what do we mean by ‘immune health’? We would typically talk about resistance to infections – how likely you are to pick up common colds and flu. What underpins this is immune defence, the barriers your body puts up, from your skin, to antibodies in your saliva and tears, which provide the first line of defence. The second line of defence are immune cells; and the third line of defence is the acquired immune system, which produces antibodies, responding to infectious organisms you’ve contracted before. Does training hard compromise your immune system? Interestingly, if you’d asked me that question 10 years ago, I’d have given you a different answer. We used to think that heavy exercise zapped the immune system and that the few hours after exercise were an…

Felice Gimondi strikes a pose and strikes up the band as he celebrates his yellow jersey (yes, we would be seeing yellow if this was a colour photo) at the 1965 Tour de France. The Italian would go on to become a five-time Grand Tour winner, this being the first of those victories. It would also remain the one and only time he wore yellow in Paris. The race was notable as much for the fact that Jacques Anquetil didn’t win as it was for the fact that Gimondi did. The Frenchman had won the past four Tours on the trot, but Gimondi had broken the spell. The fact that Anquetil didn’t even ride didn’t hurt either – perhaps shaken after being dropped by arch-rival Raymond Poulidor on the Port…