Innehållsförteckning för March 6, 2025 från Cycling Weekly

I’ve been to a lot of National Track Championships over the years, mostly wearing a GB T-shirt as a member of staff. Last week, I experienced it from ‘the other side’ for the first time due to a health-enforced break from racing. In my experience, going into a race, be it as a coach or as a rider, is always more fun as the underdog. I once asked Katie Archibald for some words of wisdom for a young rider and she replied, “low expectations”. She’s right, it’s much more exciting surpassing your goals than failing to meet them. Rather than coaching the pre-race favourites, this year I was working with a mix of young riders or those racing and training alongside a full-time job. Track Nationals provide a unique chance…

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) The Dane won the recent Volta ao Algarve, his first race of the season, and will be aiming for overall victory in Nice to continue his fine form. Stages four, seven and eight look to be where he will launch his bid for the overall, at a race that has so far eluded him. CW rating Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) As his spring targets draw closer, Pedersen will look to use Paris-Nice as an opportunity to build form ahead of a return to Paris-Roubaix and the other major cobbled Classics. The Dane bettered Matthieu van der Poel to win Ghent-Wevelgem in 2024, and a Paris-Nice stage win will put him on track to match that this time out. CW rating Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) Merlier is…

I disagree with Trevor Martin’s criticism of CW’s article on Russia and Israel and sporting bans. I thought the article was thoughtful and well-balanced. The Israel-Palestine conflict did not begin on 7 October 2023, and its origins date back over a century, making it one of the most complex and divisive issues of our time. Israel-Palestine has been a coffee-stop topic of conversation amongst some of my cycling friends. For such a polarising issue, the exchanges were cordial and respectful, even when we disagreed. I learned a lot. Social activism in cycling is as old as the Classics (Clarion clubs are reminder too). Cycling is for everyone, even when opinions, perspectives, and experiences differ. I hope the article encourages others to explore the subject and make up their own minds.…

What can Sophie do that Debbie can’t? Sophie: Lift heavy weights. I can lift a lot more. Debbie: Lift weights. What can Debbie can do that Sophie can’t? S: She’s able to not train if she doesn’t feel like she needs to or wants to. But I’m like, “No, I have to do it.” D: I’ve got patience and she hasn’t. Would Sophie have made a good team pursuiter? S: I think so, yes. But I think I can do anything! D: I think she would have. The team pursuit has become faster over the years. Whose discipline is tougher, Sophie’s sprinting or Debbie’s endurance events? S: I think sprinting is tougher, because the mental side is tougher. If you’re not fully switched on, you’re not going to do well.…

The cycling community urgently needs to increase our awareness of REDs. Coaches and physios ought to be able to recite REDs symptoms by heart. Not all athletes with REDs present the classic symptoms – so it can be hard to spot. Familiarise yourself with these warning signs… • In women, menstrual dysfunction • In men, decreased frequency of morning erections • Fatigue • Decreased libido • Anxiety/depression • Frequent illness • GI dysfunction • Frequent injuries • Reduced performance/training adaptation • Impaired neurocognitive function • Sleep disturbances…

The week: 30 December - 5 January Location: Zurich, Switzerland Training for: Tour Down Under • Monday AM: Threshold efforts PM: Heat training In the morning I had a three-hour ride, interspersed with threshold efforts. These consisted of four blocks of 12 minutes at threshold pace, with 20-second seated or out-of-the-saddle accelerations every two minutes. The purpose of this was to simulate being on a climb in a race, following multiple attacks and being able to handle the changing rhythm. I then did an hour’s heat acclimatisation training in my living room, wearing lots of clothes: a rain jacket, winter bibs, and a hat. Total riding: 4hr • Tuesday: New Year’s Eve AM: Endurance and heat training PM: Gym I had an endurance ride in the morning for three and…

Stuart Stanton, who died last month aged 75, was involved in cycling throughout his life, contributing to Cycling Weekly in the 1980s, and commentating on Eurosport in its early days. Born in Tredegar, Wales, Stanton joined Blaenau Gwent CC at a young age, and went on to ride in the Milk Race in the 1970s, although a series of bad crashes brought his racing career to an end. In the 1990s he was involved with the Junior Tour of Wales and was a passionate advocate for women in cycling. At the age of 60, he became Blaenau Gwent 12-hour champ in 2010, proving that he was still riding well in his latter years. He is survived by his daughter, Rachel.…

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a rider who credited his zeal for cycling and for racking up some major training mileage to his impending divorce. This week I received a message. It says, “Dear Doc – I thought it might be worth mentioning that the direction of causality between a divorce and an obsession with cycling does not flow in only one direction. Trust me, too much cycling can lead to relationship difficulties.” The message is anonymous. It arrived via a piece of paper that appeared mysteriously one morning, just stuck to the fridge. I have no idea how it got there. It’s very puzzling.…

Teams lamented a perfect storm of poor communication and an unwillingness to take up the chase, which allowed the early break gain a huge gap and ultimately last the distance to triumph at the women’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. Almost from the drop of the flag in Ghent, five riders went clear, including eventual victor Lotte Claes of the Arkéa-B&B Hotels team and Aurela Nerlo (Winspace Orange Seal), who would turn out to be Claes’s duelling partner in the finale at Ninove. The gap steadily grew, eventually passing the point of no return, with 14 minutes separating the escapees from the bunch with 50km to go. After an elated Claes won a very long and drawn-out sprint against Nerlo over the final 500m of the race, the next riders…

Omloop van het Hageland, the second part of Opening Weekend for elite women, was won by Femke Gerritse of SD Worx-Protime from a reduced sprint, with the Dutchwoman outsprinting Irish rider Lara Gillespie of UAE Team ADQ in Tielt-Winge. Meanwhile, in the Auvergne, Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) soloed to victory from 40km out to win the Faun Drome Classic. He was followed, 23 seconds later, by Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl-Trek, while Britain’s Ben Tulett won the sprint from the first chasing group for third. Its counterpart, the Faun-Ardèche Classic, was won by Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) after most of the small group that had escaped up the road went the wrong way at the final bend. Marco Brenner (Tudor) and Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) finished second and third, respectively. In northern Spain,…

TTT at Tour de France The 2026 Tour de France will begin with a team time trial in Barcelona, it was revealed last week. It’ll be the first time a TTT opens the race, and will be run on new rules, with times taken individually. UCI_WWT on Instagram The future queen of the Kapelmuur already exists, apparently, with this nine-year-old flying up the climb before Het Nieuwsblad £2,553 The amount that an X-LAB AD9 frameset can be bought for in the UK, as ridden by XDS Astana. The frameset is available from CycleGears, and might just be the cheapest WorldTour frame available. Road bike TT rules tweaked The CTT has updated its rules on road bike time trials. The stipulation that no part of the wrists and forearms should touch…

Women’s cycling is evolving – not just on the road, track and trails, but in the structures that govern and support the sport. While progress has been made, women working across cycling still face institutional challenges, unequal opportunities and a lack of recognition. Change is happening, but often through the determination and persistence of individuals pushing for better conditions, representation and access – women who deserve recognition. This feature highlights precisely these figures, the changemakers, whose impact is tangible and invaluable: the athletes, advocates, policymakers, industry leaders and community organisers who are driving real change. Whether by securing fairer contracts, improving grassroots accessibility, designing better equipment, or challenging outdated norms, they are reshaping the sport for future generations. Their work ensures that women’s cycling can’t ever again be dismissed or…

There seems to be a move towards ‘unisex’ within the bike industry, with fewer ‘women’s-specific’ options compared to a few years ago. Does this open up more choices for women because the range of available products becomes wider, or is it just an opportunity for brands to reduce the number of units they would otherwise have to produce? Is ‘women’s-specific’ in cycling even a requirement? Women and men are anatomically and physiologically different. Women, on average, are shorter and smaller. They also tend to be lighter, with less lean muscle mass. They have narrower shoulders and wider pelvises and hips, a lower waist-to-hip ratio, and breasts. The aforementioned wider pelvis led to the creation of the women’sspecific chamois. It remains perhaps the most obvious example of the genuine need, at…

ATHLETES SHOULD l Understand their daily calorie and macronutrient needs l Follow best practice for pre-, intra- and postexercise fuelling. l Re-evaluate fuelling needs with increases or decreases in training. l Attempt weight loss only under the supervision of a qualified nutritionist l Avoid fasted training l Track their menstrual cycle if not on hormonal birth control. Look for changes in cycle length. l Consider using basal body temperature tracking to confirm ovulation. COACHES SHOULD l Watch for disordered eating behaviours. Athletes should be comfortable eating all foods in moderation, dining out and eating with others. l Look out for REDs symptoms. FEDERATIONS SHOULD l Provide REDs and eating disorder education for coaches and athletes. l Publish screening tools as detailed in the IOC REDs Clinical Assessment Tool.…

I was looking over some images from this year’s National Track Championships, mainly for the pleasure of seeing Katie Archibald winning national titles again, when I started looking at the crowd behind her. All those happy faces. It reminded me of my own track career when, in contrast, you’d look up at the empty, empty stands and feel confident that the plastic seats would compost before they wore out. You might think racing in the UK is on a downward trajectory at the moment, but we can still fill a velodrome. We’re not back to 2005 just yet. All the same, there are things I miss about the small scale of the old days. I once won the individual pursuit title (and before you ask, yes, it was a soft…

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Deceuninck) opened his 2025 account in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne at the weekend, outsprinting Visma-Lease a bike’s Olav Kooij and Hugo Hofstetter (Israel-Premier Tech) at the end of the lumpy, 196.9km race in Flanders. ‘KBK’ is the second of the two Opening Weekend races, and the Belgian had looked strong on both days, finishing third in the previous day’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (see separate story). Afterwards, Philipsen joked, “It’s a little bit unbelievable to win today on my 27th birthday, for sure it gives me some extra power!” While Visma-Lease a bike team bosses said Kooij’s second place was a good result “for him, and for us”, it left the team in yellow wondering what else they could have done to take home a trophy from a weekend in which they…

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) There were races last year where it felt like Tadej Pogačar was the only rider to watch, and Strade Bianche was one of them. It remains to be seen if the Slovenian is going to go for solo attacks from ridiculous distances this season too, and this race is the first real test of that – he could win it in so many different ways. CW rating Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) A winner in 2023, by an almost-as-impressive solo attack of 50km, the Brit is almost perfectly suited to the course of Strade Bianche. His bike-handling skills are up there with the best, so a bit of gravel isn’t an obstacle, and the climbing is his kind of thing too. In fact, the only likely obstacle…

What’s your cycling background? My father is a cyclist, and my older brother by five years [Timon] was also a pro cyclist. I raced my first cyclo-cross race aged 13 and fell in love with it. How did cyclo-cross help you? I learned so many technical and bikehandling skills, but I think the explosivity and punch was the biggest thing I took from it. How has your training changed in recent years? Since joining EF [in 2024] I’ve changed my coach and increased my volume and intensity. There’s a better plan now, with more focused goals during the season and build-up and rest periods. I’ve also added motor-pacing and heat training. Tell us about your winning start at the Tour Down Under I had a good feeling going into it…

Full Gas Spring Rumble Series 2025 - Round 1 Where: London When: Saturday, 15 March The spring circuit series returns to Lee Valley VeloPark, with two rounds on consecutive weekends. There are Regional C+ and National B races, with different ages and genders catered for. Sign up before Thursday, 13 March. Evesham Vale Road Race Where: Worcestershire When: Sunday, 16 March This classic Nat B race is just shy of 100km long, with four and a half laps of the 22km Inkberrow circuit. Free parking at the HQ, and plenty of drinks and snacks on offer too. Entry is £35, in advance or on the day.…