Innehållsförteckning för May 16, 2024 från Cycling Weekly

This week as well as bringing you a full review of the all-new SR AM Red groupset – I got to ride it for about 1.5 miles last week, it’s very nice, but you’ll be glad to know our tester rode it considerably further than that – we take a look at the domestic road racing scenes in both the UK and the US. The two scenes are, unsurprisingly, very different, and while they both continue to produce riders who go on to win at WorldTour level in Europe, this shouldn’t cloud the fact that both are currently facing strong headwinds. The word ‘crisis’ does not seem to be an exaggeration on either side of the pond as in recent years multiple UCI races have been lost and lower-level pro…

Privateer racer Joe Laverick (Ribble Rebellion) spent the first six weeks of his 2024 season racing in the USA. We asked the 23-year-old Brit to outline the differences he observed between the US and UK domestic scenes You could fit 40 of the UK into the USA, in terms of landmass. With that in mind, it’s no surprise there are vast differences between the UK and US cycling scenes. If you ask a US rider, they’ll say that their domestic cycling scene is weak; but from an outside perspective looking in, it’s incredible. There’s no hiding the fact that gravel is rapidly becoming the darling of the US. It’s easy to understand why – the infrastructure is so different. The US doesn’t really have country roads, instead it has gravel…

After months of rumour and speculation, the next generation of SRAM Red AXS is finally here. The new groupset broke cover in full at the Tour de Romandie three weeks ago, among claims of much-needed improved braking performance, front derailleur shifting, and a new aesthetic. At just 2,496g, it also overtakes Dura-Ace as the lightest discbrake road bike groupset. I have been riding the new groupset for the last six weeks, so with hundreds of kilometres on the new cogs, I feel wellplaced to answer two important questions. Has SR AM fixed the issues of old? And has it finally surpassed Shimano? Well, SR AM has drastically improved on key points, but as a package I don’t think it quite usurps Shimano. Let me tell you why. Shifting gear The…

TIME TRIALS SUN, MAY 12 Dukinfield CC 50 (Cranage, Cheshire): 1. David Parkin (Velotik Racing Team) 1:46.23 2. A. Royle (Manchester Bicycle Club) 1:47.01 3. B. Akin (Tri Central UK) 1:49.13 4. L. Eccleston (Manchester Triathlon Club) 1:49.31 5. B. Murphy (Chorlton Velo) 1:51.10 6. M. Dewhurst (Tri Central UK) 1:53.12 Women: 1. Jasmine Holmes (Total Tri Training) 2:05.33 2. L. Astles (Congleton CC–MyWindsock) 2:20.55 3. J. De Winton (Manchester Triathlon Club) 2:21.40 Mid-Shropshire Wheelers 50 (Prees, Shropshire): 1. George Elliott (Liverpool Century RC) 1:51.53 2. A. Whiteley (Team Lifting Gear Products) 1:52.06 3. T. Cullen (Tri Central UK) 1:52.29 4. V. Pickering (St Christopher’s CC) 1:54.29 5. S. Romei (Paramount CRT) 1:54.33 6. A. Broadbent (Graham Weigh Racing-Deeside Olympic) 1:55.56 Women: 1. Hayley Wells (Wrekinsport CC) 2:06.08 2. R.…

A reader got in touch with a story from his childhood. Dan says that in the early 2000s he was a keen but mediocre junior road racer. His father was his mechanic, driver, coach and, alarmingly, pharmacist. “He used to give me EPO tablets,” Dan recalls. “I used to get two every night before bed. He told me under no circumstances to tell anyone.” Years later he challenged his dad about this. “Don’t be stupid,” said his dad. “There’s no such thing as an EPO tablet – you have to take it intravenously. I was just trying to create a placebo effect so you’d think you were doping and you’d go faster.” Well, that’s all right then. Just a perfectly normal example of child-rearing from the early 2000s.…

For a country with such strong roots in the sport, it always surprises me that there’s no British women’s team at WorldTour level. One of the things that stood out in my chat with Lifeplus-Wahoo boss Tom Varney was that he feels the up-and-coming juniors “deserve something to aim for”, a top-level squad riding under the British flag. It reminded me of a conversation I had with Emma Trott, who used to head up the junior women’s pathway within British Cycling. We were discussing role models, and how all the best British riders, like Lizzie Deignan and Pfeiffer Georgi, ride for foreign teams. “We don’t have a, well, I suppose an Ineos Grenadiers,” Trott said. “The junior lads have got something really cool to look up to. They really want…

Some time ago I was riding home through West Wickham when I passed three cyclists, side-by-side, with the outer two holding each other’s arms behind the central rider. As I passed they called, “Hey, mate, do you have a chain tool?” The middle rider had no chain. I had one at home which was just a few hundred yards from where we were. I led them there, got out the workstand, and, while one of them put the bike in place, hunted out the chain tool. “Do you know how to use one?” I asked. “Yes, I’m OK with this,” he replied. The owner of the stricken bike was on the phone to someone, and while the other got on with fixing the chain, the third rider asked me if…

The situation for women’s cycling in the US is similar to that of the men’s: there are few races and just three US-registered teams present in the big races. A handful of riders have excelled at various points in the past decade – notably Evelyn Stevens in 2012, the all-conquering Megan Guarnier in 2016, and former Tour of Flanders winner Coryn Labecki in 2017 and 2018 – but no one has come close this century to consistently matching the feats of time trial supremo and three-time Olympic champion Kristin Armstrong. Chloé Dygert, a 12-time world champion on the track and road, is the poster woman for American cycling right now. “It’s a bummer the way it is because I do feel like America has a lot to offer the cycling…

I was out for a ride recently with my friend Bernard. The conversation turned to Sir Bradley Wiggins, a rider whom Bernard has always admired, all the way back to his junior pursuit world title in 1998. Sadly, he’s a bit less of a fan these days. “He says he hates cycling now,” said Bernard grumpily. “Can you imagine, hating cycling? You look at him riding a bike, the grace, the power. How could he hate that? He says he hated winning the Tour.” My first thought was that Wiggins has had quite a lot to go through and process in recent years and I’d be first in line to let him do that. I think there’s a lot of pressure on pro riders that it’s easy to overlook in…

Geraint Thomas had “one of those days” on stage seven of the Giro d’Italia, as he gave up a full two minutes to Tadej Pogačar in the 37.2km TT. The Ineos Grenadier finished 10th, 11 seconds behind Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe), who jumped above him in the GC. “[It was] nothing to do with the wind,” Thomas explained poststage. “I tried to ride within myself. Then when it was time to go I felt OK, but just lacked it a bit. I couldn’t get on top of it over those kickers. It’s just one of those days.” The next day, however, Thomas managed to limit his losses on the summit finish at Prati di Tivo. While he did concede a handful of seconds – mostly in bonuses to Pogačar and Martínez,…

I spent 50 days on the road in the US this spring. I raced gravel, road, crits and TTs across nine different states. On average I changed beds every 3.2 days. It was a trip I’ll never forget. There were so many of those “how the heck did I get here?” moments. Just 18 months ago, I’d finished my stint in the U23 category and was classed as one of those guys that had potential, but just hadn’t quite made it. It’s tough at the top – there are only so many spots in the WorldTour. The accidental pivot that I was forced to take is perhaps the best thing that ever happened to me. Last season was my first year of trying this privateer thing. I did a lot,…

Unbound rocks out This year’s Unbound route heads north into the Flint Hills of Kansas, USA, and promises plenty of rocky action – a far cry from last year’s muddy mayhem. Organisers of the world’s biggest gravel event say it’s the most technical course yet and features the usual 100, 200 and 350-mile ‘XL’ options. The races and accompanying events take place between 29 May and 2 June and celebrated entrants include Classics star Greg Van Avermaet, who retired from pro road racing last year. Zwift hikes prices Zwift subscribers were told last week they would be paying 38.4% more each month from June onwards. UK prices go up from £12.99 per month to £17.99, in what was the virtual cycling platform’s first subscription increase since 2017. Users were told…

America’s back, baby! After a lull spanning almost a decade and a half, going back to the era of Lance Armstrong and his misbehaving compatriots, star-spangled riders representing the USA are once again in the ascendant. Whether it’s Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) winning the 2023 Vuelta a España, his team-mate Matteo Jorgensen triumphing in Paris-Nice and Dwars door Vlaanderen, or Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) winning on average once every six race days this season, the US has a plethora of riders on a number of different teams excelling across all terrains and distances. The question is, can it last? Following in the wheel tracks of that standout trio, there’s even more talent: Luke Lamperti (Soudal Quick-Step), 21, has been tipped to emulate Tom Boonen; Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers),…

The Syncros Capital SL Aero wheels, with their curious carbon monocoque design, are at the cutting edge of wheel development, a superlight solution for riders prepared to invest heavily in their quest for speed. They’re a distant descendant of Syncros’s Silverton mtb wheels, the Scott-owned brand’s first one-piece carbon-fibre wheelset launched back in 2018. Those off-road hoops were ridden to victory by Tom Pidcock at the Tokyo Olympics, and carried Nino Schurter to multiple World Cup victories, so the Capitals come with a fine pedigree. Essentially, each wheel – rims, hubs, spokes and all – is cleverly constructed as a single unit, a technique Syncros says produces a “one-piece carbon wheel system that is lighter, stronger and more responsive”. We’ll see. Construction Syncros’s designers’ priorities began with low weight and…

Late last year, I started experiencing some bothersome gut symptoms, writes David Bradford. Nothing alarming, but a level of gassiness, gurgling and discomfort that just wasn’t normal for me. My GP ran blood and stool tests, which found nought untoward. So when I noticed that gut health brand Chuckling Goat was offering a microbiome test (£295), I decided to post off some poo, hoping for helpful insight. About four weeks later, my results were in. Overall, my microbiome wellness was rated 8/10, with good microbial diversity and no nasty pathogens detected, but my pro-, pre-and post-biotics were rated only 6/10. So what now? Chuckling Goat’s “action plan” recommended that I start eating fermented foods alongside taking their Complete Prebiotic, as well as their Tummy Tea to help settle my stomach.…

If you are fond of setting yourself significant cycling challenges, it is essential you master forgetting. If you attempt a gold-standard ride at a big sportive, or try to ride 200 miles in a day, you will not want to remember the bad bits because if you do you’ll probably never ride again. It helps that you tend to forget anyway. Even the most horrific experiences on a bike tend to fade within a few days into something you can deal with. The easiest way to help this process along is to turn the bad bits into entertaining little anecdotes. “I was such a wreck! I couldn’t keep food down! I kept vomiting on my Garmin, my left knee swelled up so my leg looked like a snake that had…