Innehållsförteckning för February 13, 2025 från Cycling Weekly

Egan Bernal back winning Three years on from the horror crash which almost cost him his life, Egan Bernal is back to winning ways. The Colombian was victorious in both the time trial and road race at the Colombian National Championships last week, which might mean there is more to come. Groupama-FDJ on X There are things you expect to see at a bike race, and there are things you do not. Bunting, sunflowers… camels?! 52 The number of riders out of an original 146 who finished the Étoile de Bessèges race last week, after teams pulled out over safety fears. The French stage event had issues with vehicles on the race route. Soudal-Quick Step pull out of Tour du Rwanda The Belgian team were due to field their development…

It may be six years since a British rider won the Tour de France, but 2024 showed that the future is bright and the kids are alright. A crop of seriously talented youngsters continued to make an impression on the pro scene, and younger development riders earned themselves pro contracts. Twenty-one-yearold Joe Blackmore was the pick of the bunch, becoming the first Brit to win the Tour de l’Avenir, the most illustrious under-23 race in the world. Elsewhere, Oscar Onley, who came through the DSM (now Team Picnic PostNL) development team, impressed by winning a stage of the Tour Down Under and finishing second on GC at the Tour of Britain. Some fans are daring to dream that Britain may finally have found its next yellow jersey winner. But behind…

Just days after Russian troops rolled into Ukraine in 2022, the UCI swiftly removed UCI licences from all Russian and Belarusian teams. These teams and their sponsors were banned from UCI events to avoid “damaging the image of the UCI and cycling in general”. Russian and Belarusian riders were allowed to continue competing only if they joined non-Russian, non-Belarusian teams. By 2023, they were permitted to ride at the World Championships under neutral status – provided they could demonstrate they did not support the war. Some riders lost their UCI licences after failing to meet those conditions. But is the UCI’s strong stance being applied evenly across the board? As drone footage on TV news surveys the ruins of Gaza, a thorny question is raised: why is Israel being treated…

After exploring the latest, unreleased, and most interesting tech of this year’s WorldTour, here’s the full breakdown of who’s riding what. While many familiar names remain, there are plenty of new bikes and changes too. Canyon and Specialized lead the way in frame sponsorships, each supplying five teams, while Shimano continues its dominance in groupsets, equipping 23 of the 33 WorldTour bikes. Dive into the details and see how the peloton’s tech choices stack up this season. Women’s 2025 WorldTour tech overview Men’s 2025 WorldTour tech overview…

Jordan Giles (Richardsons Trek-DAS) drew first blood in the new road racing season, winning the Portsdown Classic after working well with two breakaway companions before attacking on the last lap and taking a solo victory. Formerly the Perfs Pedal Race, the Portsdown Classic used the same Hampshire roads and provided early season drama as the cream of the British road scene grabbed their first chance to test their fitness. Giles, from Marlow in Buckinghamshire, said: “From the first time up the main climb it was pretty fullon. Me and three others had a breakaway by the end of the first lap. We managed to build a good advantage, stretching out to about a minute at the most. “I was feeling really strong in the break - that sort of effort…

At some point, all of us will experience a dropped chain. Rough roads, badly adjusted shifters, poorly matched components. When this happens, you have to act quickly. If the chain falls off completely – onto the bottom bracket shell, or the other way onto your foot or the pedal axle – you can try flicking the front shifter back in the opposite direction while turning the crank gently. This might put the chain back on one or other ring, it might flick it all the way over and off the other side; or (most likely) it might do nothing at all apart from make a horrible grinding noise and scraping the finish off your chainset. If none of this works, you’ll need to reach down and put the chain back…

This orange and blue bike was raced professionally from the late 1960s through the 1970s by some of the best British riders of the era. All of which adds to its collectible lustre. This bike was once the mount of 1972 national champion Gary Crewe, and has now been carefully restored with details accurately reflecting the bikes used by the Holdsworth Campagnolo team. The iconic orange and kingfisher blue made the team easy to spot during races and, like the black and yellow of Raleigh Banana, has become ingrained in the memories of fans of the time. The colour scheme was actually ‘borrowed’ from the Hemel Hempstead CC kit, which was the home club of the team’s first rider, Bob Addy. Holdsworth aficionados will notice that the chrome forks and…

Flag drop Riders wait for the official start to be given at the Vuelta CV Feminas, close to Valencia. Before they begin racing, the elite women have to navigate a road tunnel. Two-way street On stage one to Bimmah Sink Hole at the Tour of Oman, the peloton takes up one side of a dual carriageway as traffic carries on as usual on the other. The stage was won by Visma’s Olav Kooij. Tough going Those who remained in the Étoile de Bessèges after many teams withdrew over safety issues, had to contend with some incredibly inclement weather in the south of France. Speeding by Elinor Barker of Uno-X Mobility passes by some local onlookers before stage two of the UAE Tour Women. The race started from Al Dhafra Fort,…

UAE Team ADQ gambled big in the off-season, signing Italian champion Elisa Longo Borghini. The 33-year-old serial winner is vastly more experienced and successful than anyone else on the squad, and brings with her the promise of success along with rising expectations. Those expectations were immediately met in the Middle East last week as the Italian took the overall win at the UAE Tour Women, thanks to a strong ride in the crosswinds followed by a stage victory atop the Jebel Hafeet climb. The victory was built on stages two and three, where first the Italian escaped with two of her team-mates – Lara Gillespie and Karlijn Swinkels – along with two others in the crosswinds to take almost two minutes on her main GC rivals. Stage three sealed the…

No matter the hours of precise training and effort put into the pre-season, you never truly know how the shape will turn out once the racing kicks off. Numbers can be better, you could have done more hours or more gym sessions than before, but let’s face it, every pro cyclist has a power meter. Everyone’s pushing to do more and improve each year. Yes, maybe, I know I’m better, but how does my better compare to everyone else? I started the season this year with a couple of one-day races in Spain. It’s nice to race in the Valencia region because most of the pre-season is spent training there; it’s like racing on home roads for most of the peloton. The first 2km climb straight after neutral on day…

‘Car up’ and ‘car down’ is the standard, often with ‘file out’, ‘tidy up’, or ‘get tight’ to let others know what’s expected of them. And lastly ‘coming through’. Though it really doesn’t matter at all what people say as long as the communication is clear and safe. Rog Davis I always hear and use ‘car back’ If the car is behind and ‘car passing’ when they are overtaking. At driveways and intersections we use ‘car left’ or ‘car right’. Norman Harris Car behind is ‘Car up’ (up your bum). Car from front is ‘Car down’ (down your throat). Car overtaking is ‘Car passing’ which is often preceded with a “Tuck in” call to tidy up the line. Martyn Kimberley ‘Nose’; car coming from the front. ‘Tail’; car coming from…

No Vlad Loginov, Ukrainian turned Israeli cyclist and former Israeli national champion “Every trip for us [Israeli riders, since 7 October 2023] has been emotionally super hard: you need to be attentive to everything around you. We can’t wear Israeli teamwear because of security regulations and personal safety, but other countries proudly can. And at home in Israel, we’re occasionally waking up at midnight to run to the bomb shelter, which affects training. My team-mates and I are not guilty of the situation around us. People ask why Israel is not banned from sport like Russia and Belarus, but it’s not the same. Ukraine is defending its country: it came under attack on 24 February [2022]. Israel came under attack on 7 October and is doing the same – defending…

VO2 max – your body’s ability to transport and use oxygen during intense exercise – is more than just a measure of athletic performance. Long regarded as the gold standard for cardiovascular fitness, this key metric, measured in millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min), is now linked to something even more important: longevity. New research reveals that those with a higher VO2 max not only perform better in endurance sports but also have a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type-2 diabetes, and even premature death. In short, boosting your VO2 max could be one of the most powerful ways to extend your life. Health and human performance specialist Dr David Lipman explains why VO2 max is such a reliable indicator of cardiovascular fitness:…

After six years away, Katie Archibald will return to the National Track Championships next weekend, “ready to rebuild” towards the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. The 30-year-old will ride the points and scratch races at the event inside the Manchester Velodrome, scheduled for 21-23 February. Her last national title came in 2019, when she won the individual pursuit on her last appearance at the championships. “I really don’t know how this has happened,” Archibald told Cycling Weekly of her six-year absence. “The way things have conspired, there’s always been something else to prioritise, and so perhaps it’s a reflection of a good reset that I’m finally back for the Nationals, ready to rebuild.” Back to the future Archibald will go into the Nationals fresh from a lengthy five-week break over…

1 Tadej Pogačar’s return After skipping the UAE Tour for the previous two seasons, the best rider in the world returns to the Emirates for his team’s home race – which he has won overall on two of his three previous visits. It will be the first time we see the world champion in action in 2025. 2 Sprinters battle it out With the likelihood of four sprint stages in the UAE, unless crosswinds cause chaos, the race has become a battle of the best sprinters in the world, as they try to stake their authority on the new season. Sam Welsford is currently top of the sprinting tree, with three wins at the Tour Down Under, but he did not win in the UAE last season, with Tim Merlier…

The actual consequence of a lack of men’s UCI teams in the UK is that it deprives riders who can’t gain a contract in Europe a fallback option. For riders who make it to the top but then lose their contract, returning to race on the domestic scene, at least temporarily, used to be a valuable safety net. EF Education-EasyPost’s James Shaw did just that after being dropped by Lotto in 2018. After a stint at Ribble Weldtite, the Nottinghamborn rider clawed his way back to the top tier, and has ridden for EF since 2022. He says the loss of the safety net is a major concern. “There’s no plan-B anymore, and nothing to catch people. This is why, when riders try to make a comeback now, it doesn’t…

With the racing calendar now under way there’s plenty of opportunities to see just what the pros are riding in 2025. There are several new models and sponsorship changes for racing fans to pour over. We headed to the Mallorca Challenge in January, attended by both WorldTour and ProTour teams, to bring you a sneak peek at some of the most intriguing tech innovations set to dominate the peloton this year. New Colnago Y1RS As if Tadej Pogačar needed any further assistance, he’ll have an additional race bike at his disposal in 2025. Colnago’s Y1Rs is a dedicated aero machine that will be used alongside the V4Rs that the UAE Team have used to great effect over the past couple of seasons. The Italian marque says the team were involved…

The technology may have changed a great deal over the years, but one thing remains constant – racing bikes are always breaking down. Whether it’s a mechanical, crash damage or a puncture, these finely tuned machines will often require attention, whether on the road or between stages. Step forward the mechanics. This image, from the 1951 Tour de France, shows a mobile repair unit. The number of wheels on display reflects the inevitability of punctures on technology that would be very nearly three-quarters of a century old. In the modern Tour, we’re still used to seeing racks of spare wheels, though these are often mounted on neutral service motorbikes. These are far more of a recent innovation, though – neutral service on the Tour wasn’t introduced until 1972. It was…