Innehållsförteckning för February 27, 2025 från Cycling Weekly

After a quiet start to the season at the Tour Down Under, Ineos Grenadiers came out all guns blazing when the racing kicked off in Europe earlier this month. They won two races in two days with Michał Kwiatkowski at the Clásica Jaén and Josh Tarling in the time trial at the UAE Tour. Filippo Ganna almost made it three in three at the Tour of the Algarve, but his hands-in-the-air moment was gifted to him when half the peloton went the wrong way and sprinted through the crowds (I did enjoy the fact that despite them knowing they weren’t on the race route, the riders at the front still thought it was worth racing to the non-existent finish line) resulting in the stage being annulled. Young Ben Turner then…

With hindsight, the UAE Tour was probably a foregone conclusion. Four sprint stages, a time trial, and two summit finishes at his team’s home race were unlikely to challenge Tadej Pogačar, and they didn’t. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider won the two stages he was supposed to, finished high up in the time trial, and therefore won overall by more than a minute. His victories on Jebel Jais and Jebel Hafeet were telegraphed, with stage three finishing in Pogačar outsprinting Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL) and Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale), and stage four seeing the UAE rider dropping everyone 7.4km from the finish, resulting in an inevitable solo win. However, it was not just that simple. Pogačar and his UAE squad were constantly on the front foot through the seven stages, with…

Generally, I don’t think it’s good form, and I definitely don’t think men should draft solo women they don’t know. There are situations where it’s unavoidable though. Neal Padmanabhan If you’re male and you’re behind a lone female, I’d say go past or drop back. Jim Dennison It drives me crazy. The worst case of poor social awareness ever. You wouldn’t walk underneath a stranger’s umbrella uninvited in the rain. Steve Smales Doesn’t bother me. Only time it did was when I couldn’t shift a bloke on an old mtb in work clothes with a ciggy in his mouth! Matthew Sewell Even if I have someone on my wheel who says nothing and never gives their wheel, I feel more energy on the bike and time flies faster. Leonardo Poli…

In February 2023 Safa Brian posted a video of Tom Pidcock flying down Tuna Canyon in Los Angeles – so how did it come about? “Tom was in LA and we ended up on a small group ride together, so I floated the idea of filming a descent. We practised it a few times over two different sessions. It was a stressful day of filming, I won’t lie. I really wanted him to be safe and he’s got so much ahead of him – such a talented rider – I didn’t want anything to go wrong. “He followed me down Tuna three or four times, so it was a really good way to figure out the lines and the speed to take through the corners. And then he got behind…

The range-topping Giant TCR Advanced SL won the Climbing Bike category of our prestigious 2024 Race Bike of the Year test. However, at £11,999, it’s far beyond reach for most of us. Giant is known for offering excellent value for money, so we wanted to test a more affordable option to see if the trickle-down effect extends to the lower tiers of the TCR range. Now in its 10th generation, the TCR is designed to be light, aerodynamic, and stiff – everything you’d expect from an all-round race bike. Visually, this latest version differs from its predecessor, with fully integrated cables and a more aggressive truncation of the tubing, giving it a noticeably beefy front end. Giant claims that the wind-tunnel tested frameset and cockpit improve “overall aero performance compared…

Simon Wilson (HUUB WattShop) proved victorious in a wet and windy edition of the Clayton Spring Classic Handicap in Lancashire on Sunday. The 44-year-old from Manchester, who last won the early-season classic 11 years ago and only entered the race at the 11th hour, thought everyone else was racing for second after an early break by Jake Edwards (360cycling) lasted five laps. But he was caught on the final lap, and Wilson won the sprint for the line. “I haven’t ridden this bike since last year, I’m really surprised to win!” he said. “When Jake escaped I thought we were racing for second but I just kept plugging away and with half a lap to go I saw him and found myself on the front.” Further south there were similar…

Camel race The breakaway has some interesting companions during stage five of the UAE Tour. It’s not a loose horse, as often happens at the Tour de France, but camels. Intriguingly, one of the members of the breakaway on a flat day was race leader Tadej Pogačar. Rock and roll Tadej Pogačar has the best view of the outcrops on the way to the top of Jebel Hafeet, having escaped to victory a few kilometres previously. The Slovenian’s winning margin was over half a minute. Private viewing Darren Rafferty, the Irish champion, glances into the courtyard of La Citadelle in Villefranche-sur-Mer during the Tour des Alpes Maritimes. It contains the sculpture L’Homme de Pierre by Max Cartier. On reflection A mirror reflects a quartet of riders during stage four of…

He may have an Australian accent, but Matthew Richardson is now also the proud owner of three British titles, winning every event he competed in on his National Championships debut. The 25-year-old was not alone in achieving the feat, matched by Lauren Bell, who also won the team sprint, individual sprint and keirin. The pair performed in front of record crowds in Manchester, with more than 11,000 tickets sold across the weekend. The setting, Richardson said, was starkly different to the low-key Australian championships he was used to, where he still holds two national titles from before his allegiance switch last summer. “There’s pyrotechnics on the podium here. It’s crazy,” he said in awe. “Being part of the racing and being in front of that amazing British crowd makes me…

After a winter filled with discussions over safety improvements — gear restrictions, bans on deep-section wheels, and other marginal tweaks — little seems to have changed so far in 2025. The biggest safety failures have had nothing to do with the riders or their equipment but with race organisation. First, at the Étoile de Bessèges, cars somehow found their way onto the course, forcing entire teams to withdraw from the race. Then, at the Tour de la Provence, a sprint-stage finish was marred by a dangerous crash due to a speed bump in the final straight. And finally, at the Volta ao Algarve, the opening stage ended in farcical fashion as over half the peloton sprinted down the wrong road after a misdirected turn, leading to a stage cancellation. All…

Alberto Dainese is among the latest WorldTour riders experimenting with a single chainring set-up in road racing, along with several of his Tudor Pro Cycling team-mates. The team will once again ride BMC bikes for the 2025 season, but there’s more to the story than just the 1x drivetrain. We caught up with him and his bike at Challenge Mallorca to take a closer look. Tudor Pro Cycling has access to BMC’s full range, but in 2025, the Teammachine R will be the team’s go-to bike for road stages. First spotted at the 2023 Critérium du Dauphiné and officially launched later that year, the Teammachine R is BMC’s wind-cheating frameset, developed in collaboration with Red Bull Advanced Technologies. Up front, a narrow, hourglassshaped head tube works alongside wide, bowed fork…

Vision has recently overhauled its Metron line-up to bring its wheels in line with the competition. It appears to have paid off – Mark Cavendish rode Metron SL 60s to break the Tour de France stage win record last year and they are used by several other WorldTour teams too. Construction The key update is a revised rim profile, which sees the internal width go from 19mm up to 21mm, with an external width of 32mm at the widest point, measured 29.5mm where the tyre sits on the rim. Both the front and rear rims feature the same design profile, with a 60mm depth. They remain hooked, rather than joining the trend towards hookless, and the rim profile has been designed to work most efficiently with 28mm tyres. Now the…

This is one of those images that makes you feel almost as though you’re there in it, soaking up an atmosphere heavy with embrocation and cigarette smoke, those hanging lamps creating a ghostly glow across the arena. That arena, by the way, is the Vélodrome d’Hiver, just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower. It isn’t there anymore – it was gutted by fire and subsequently demolished in 1959, not long after this photograph was taken. Inaugurated in 1902 and owned by Tour de France bosses Henri Desgrange and Jacques Goddet, the track was one of the foremost sports venues in Paris, hosting not just cycling but boxing, ice skating and basketball, among others. However, it suffered a major stain against its name when, during the German occupation of World…

Saturday night’s alright for fighting, according to Elton John. Unless you’re Anna Morris, of course, in which case it’s the perfect time for individual pursuiting. The 29-year-old broke the world record for the third time in a week at the National Track Championships last weekend. In doing so, she added British honours to the world and European titles she already held in the event, one she has firmly made her own since the distance increased from 3km to 4km at the beginning of the year. “I didn’t know how much I had in me,” Morris said. “I’ve done a lot of racing over the last two weeks, and I wasn’t sure how much to give. Doing it on a home track, with a home crowd, and with everyone that’s supported…

1 Can Pidcock keep winning? Tom Pidcock has won four races already in 2025, more than he did in 2023 and 2024 combined. However, he hasn’t tackled a WorldTour race yet, and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad will be a step up for the 25-year-old and his Q36.5 team. The opening Cobbled Classic isn’t perfect for the Yorkshireman, but with form and confidence in his pocket, you shouldn’t count him out, especially when the chaos of Belgian racing gets thrown in. 2 Visma-Lease aim for four in a Bike a row 2022’s winner was Wout van Aert, 2023’s was Dylan van Baarle, while 2024’s was Jan Tratnik. Tratnik now rides for Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe, but the Dutch squad will still be the team to beat. It hasn’t always spelled success further down…

British cycling fans were left stunned by the recent announcement that, from the end of this month, the cost of live racing coverage will more than quadruple. From 28 February, Eurosport in the UK – a staple for cycling coverage since 1989 – will be merged with TNT Sports, hiking the monthly subscription fee from £6.99 to £30.99. That’s a 343% increase, with the annual cost soaring to £371.88. Adding to the pain, 2025 marks the final year of freeto-air Tour de France coverage after more than 25 years. The decision by Warner Bros Discovery, TNT’s parent company, impacts viewers in both the UK and Ireland, including those with Sky and Virgin Media packages. Viewers have reacted to the move with frustration, disbelief and outright fury as they have begun…

Go back a few generations and it was rare to see middle-aged and older people participating in highlevel competition. Nowadays it’s completely normal to want to retain a high level of fitness and remain competitive into our 50s, 60s and beyond. Even so, it’s an inescapable fact that we experience a gradual decline in our performance as we age. Muscle mass and strength decrease, affecting our power output and endurance. Maximum heart rate declines, as does our heart’s ability to pump blood efficiently. This results in a lower maximum oxygen uptake – VO2 max – which is crucial for endurance cycling. While some of these changes are a normal part of ageing, they can be influenced by diet and training too. Here, we delve into some core nutritional and training…

1 How can strength training improve cycling performance? Strength training offers numerous benefits for cycling performance that go beyond just improving muscle strength. One of the primary advantages is the enhancement of power output. By targeting muscle groups involved in pedalling – the quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes – strength training increases the force a cyclist can apply to the pedals, which directly contributes to higher peak and sustained power. This is especially valuable for sprinting, climbing and time-trial efforts. 2 Does it have other benefits too? Yes, strength training also improves neuromuscular efficiency, allowing cyclists to recruit muscle motor units more effectively. This means better coordination and smoother transitions between muscle groups, which can reduce fatigue over long rides. Another critical benefit is injury prevention. Cycling is a repetitive-motion sport,…

You don’t want to own a bike shop. They are fine in principle, of course. But they have two problems, which are the customers and the bicycles. The bicycles are expensive to stock, and come in a vast number of sizes. You’ll need to have dozens of them stacked up in a storeroom somewhere to represent all of your cashflow in a non-liquid form. Bikes also have a habit of changing colour every year. Or rather, the new season’s bikes will change colour. Your problem is actually that all the ones you bought for stock will stubbornly stay the old colour and suddenly be worth half as much. Customers are cheap from the get-go. They are mean with their money and like nothing better than to tell you where else…

When it comes to classic road bikes from the Netherlands, collectors have typically been drawn to the three storied marques of Batavus, Gazelle and RIH. But for a brief period in the 1970s, they were rivalled by the generally less heralded brand Union, and this 1978 Race model is a good example of why. Discovered in poor condition, it’s been faithfully restored, resprayed in the original Union Fietsen team colours and built with period-correct decals and a metal head badge. After the original Union factory burnt down in 1976, the team was introduced to support the brand’s new direction, producing high-end race bikes. It hired Rini Wagtmans to project manage the range; note his signature and surname on the frame’s top tube here. The Dutchman was an ideal choice to…