Innehållsförteckning för April 10, 2025 från Cycling Weekly

The cobbles did not end in Oudenaarde for Tadej Pogačar. After a few days at home in Monaco, the Slovenian will return to northern Europe for his Paris-Roubaix debut this coming weekend (see page 16 for preview). He is aiming to become just the eighth man to win both Flanders and Roubaix in the same year and claim his fourth out of the five one-day Monuments. “Today is totally different to [next] Sunday,” he said during the press conference. “But for sure today gives me confidence for Roubaix. I can see I have good shape, good legs, and I’m looking forward to Sunday.” Four days before Flanders, he rode 212km of the Roubaix route and posted Strava KOMs on three of the cobbled sectors. While many riders’ race-day data won’t…

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) It seems silly to even have Pogačar in this list, but the Slovenian is a favourite in every race he takes part in. It will be his first attempt, and the novel demands the Hell of the North makes should never be underestimated. However, if anyone can shine on a debut Roubaix, it’s Pogačar. CW rating ★★★★ Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) The defending champion has the power and the sprint to win Paris-Roubaix Femmes again. With the threat of her team-mate Lorena Wiebes behind, we might see a solo attack from the world champion, but the Belgian also has the means if it comes down to a sprint in the velodrome. CW rating ★★★★★ Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) No rider has won three years…

In May 2021, I wrote a feature for this magazine questioning why, among the more than 900 male cyclists employed on UCI professional teams, not a single one was openly gay or bisexual. Just weeks earlier, pro BMX rider Corey Walsh had come out as gay, and by October, Australian footballer Josh Cavallo had become the world’s first openly gay male professional footballer. The following year, Britain saw its own breakthrough when Blackpool FC’s Jake Daniels came out. If even football could open up and accept gay players, surely it was only a matter of time for cycling. Yet here we are four years later and, in male professional road cycling, representation remains stuck at zero. It is statistically almost impossible that there are no gay pros. The latest sexual…

The Specialized’s S-Works Tarmac SL8, is supplied to a whopping four teams across both the men’s and women’s WorldTour. And, thanks to Specalized’s new colourways launch, you can now ride your own with replicas from Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe, Soudal-Quick Step, SD Worx-Protime and FDJ-Suez squads. Each design is said to reflect the team’s ethos: FDJ-Suez’s ‘Convergence’ graphics nod to their French roots and the belief that “they are stronger together”, while Soudal-Quick Step’s ‘Make the Break,’ colours feature a pearlnavy base with white brush strokes and the team’s ‘Wolfpack’ logo on the top tube. The meanings may be a little abstract but that won’t matter if you’re after the ultimate full-kit package. ‘Sticker Slap’ (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team replica) is our favourite in a crop of eye-catching designs and pricing is set…

This is Rowan Baker’s Raptor RL1 in what looks to be factory-fitted guise. Premium Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 provides the drivetrain, while wheels are the 50mm Round One wearing Continental Grand Prix 5000. Cockpit is Farsports while the saddle is the standard Fizik Argo 3D printed item. The whole shebang weighs in at a trifling 7.02kg. Want us to feature your race bike? Send a pic and information to cycling@futurenet.com…

Smoke gets in your eyes Imagine the scene. You fight for a prime vantage point on the Oude Kwaremont, wait all day for the riders, crane your neck to see the action, then someone right in front of you lets off a smoke flair. Lost in the greenery Riders cut through the lush green hills of northwestern Spain at the GP Miguel Indurain. Young Thibau Nys took his first road win of 2025, weeks out from his debut at the Ardennes Classics. Flat out The 52nd edition of the Danum Trophy Elite Road Race winds through the flatter parts of South Yorkshire. Under-23 rider Alex Beldon won with a 1-2 for his Muc Off SRCT Storck team. Cheers! Kopecky takes the obligatory swig of the winner’s champagne filmed by the…

It was hard to escape the aura of Lotte Kopecky in Belgium on Sunday. The world champion was followed everywhere by one chant - “ohhhh Lotte Kopecky” - there were hats handed out with her name on them, she was tracked by adoring fans, and she was on national news, still in her kit, two hours after her victory. “It was enormous,” she said post-race. “Sometimes I think the other riders can’t hear my name anymore. But it’s fantastic.” The world champion delivered what the people wanted on Sunday, winning her third Tour of Flanders, a record for the women’s event, and proving once again that she’s the woman to beat in the Classics. She stuck with the attacks on the Oude Kwaremont, forming a group of four with Pauline…

Pearson, the oldest bike shop in the world that is still owned and run by the Pearson family, has gone through some major changes in recent years. First it moved from its original base in Sutton to a new one in East Sheen (on the edge of cycling mecca Richmond Park), then began selling its own bikes rather than those of the big brands, and this year changed the shop’s name to Forge 1860. Pearson’s range includes one gravel bike, the On and On, which I tested in 2023, and two road bikes; the aero, race-focused Shift, and the endurancefocused Forge. The name is another nod to their history – the shop first opened as a blacksmith’s Forge in 1860. Even with this kind of backstory, it’s not easy for…

In-form Alex Beldon (MUC-OFF SRCT STORCK) claimed his second road race victory in as many weeks as he powered to victory in the 73-mile Danum Trophy Elite Road Race in South Yorkshire on Sunday, following up his win in the PB Performance Road Race the previous weekend. The young first-category racer held off team-mate Edward Morgan for the win, while Muc-Off-SRCT enjoyed a good day with four riders in the top seven of the popular event. Meanwhile in Lincolnshire Max Hinds (FH MAS CAMS) took overall victory by just five seconds from team-mate Leon Atkins at the Witham Hall Two-Day, while in the women’s race Abi Miller (Tofauti Everyone Active) was 14 seconds clear of Arabella Blackburn (Shibden Alex RT). Just like Alex Beldon, Team Bottrill’s Emily Martin enjoyed two…

Paris-Roubaix delights inhabitants of the small town of Clermont in 1952 – a flurry of colour and activity that is gone as quickly as it arrived. While it began in Paris itself back in those days, it also passed within a whisker of the modern start place at Compiègne, 85km north of the capital. Despite this extra distance, the race remained around the same length as it is today, with this edition hitting the finish line at 245km. And the rider to do that first this time round was Belgium’s Rik van Steenbergen for what was his second win in the event, pipping his breakaway partner – a certain Fausto Coppi – on the line.…

The question wasn’t if Tadej Pogačar would attack at the Tour of Flanders, but when. The world champion has made riding solo to famous wins his trademark, and so it proved on Sunday, as he crossed the line over a minute clear of Mads Pedersen and Mathieu van der Poel. Just as in 2023, it was the third and final time up the Oude Kwaremont with 17km to go that proved decisive. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had softened up his rivals with repeated attacks on previous climbs before he escaped to victory with a final, decisive attack. His first attack came the second time up the long cobbled climb of the Kwaremont that has now become the race’s decisive point. His aim was to break up the race, which…

With the silver ring on his necklace glinting in the Middle Eastern sun, a sweating Bob Donaldson reflected on a whirlwind first few weeks of WorldTour life as he warmed down after the UAE Tour time trial. The Jayco-Alula rookie spent his first top-tier race in the bunch alongside the likes of Jasper Philipsen and Tadej Pogačar. “It’s surreal,” he told CW. “We dream of reaching this level our whole youth careers. To ride with these guys was special but at the end of the day, it’s my job and I’ve got to try to get as close to their standard as possible.” Going from childhood fantasy to first place is easier said than done. After making his debut at the Vuelta a Valenciana in early February, the fast-finishing Donaldson…

1 A small detour Last year, a chicane was added to the run-in to the Trouée d’Arenberg, but this will be replaced this year by a “small detour”, in order to reduce the bunch’s speed into the sector. Now, there will be four right-angle corners before the five-star sector in order to keep the speed down, without the need for a full stop that was required by the tight chicane. With the detour running through the former mining town of Wallers-Arenberg, any riders with the energy to take in their surroundings can immerse themselves in the industrial heritage of the region. 2 Denain and Compiègne, not Paris Neither the men’s or women’s races go anywhere near Paris, so the name is a little misleading. The men’s race has started in…

BC was an intrinsic part of the Brixton Community, and passionate about all cyclists, from racers to commuters to little old men/women pootling about on shopping bikes. They supported numerous events, including Beastway MTB races for 19 seasons. They were always happy to lend tools to kids (no manners, no spanners). Their primary ethos was to get people cycling and keep them cycling. We’ll miss them - thanks for everything! Bill Wright Very sad to see Brixton Cycles close. The cycle trade has always been a very tough environment - apart from the pandemic, when we were selling bikes like no tomorrow. Although my shop and theirs was close by, I never saw them as ‘the enemy’. We were good friends. I wish the staff all the best for the…

When it comes to marginal gains, aero-tech remains a key WorldTour battleground. But the quest for watt-saving is pushing cycling’s wellestablished aesthetic proclivities to their limits. Road racing is no stranger to aero-helmet development of course. When Mark Cavendish won the 2011 Worlds in Copenhagen, he did so with a fairing attached to cover the vents on his helmet. Homemade additions to kit were later banned, so that idea didn’t catch on, but the principle was sound and road racing helmets have been more slippery ever since. Many road racing helmet designs of late such as the Van Rysel FCR, or the Specialized Evade 3, use far fewer vents, sacrificing some of the cooling and practicality of a fully vented helmet for greater aero efficiency, but they achieve those aims…

Ironically, you calm motor traffic by annoying it. And you annoy it with a selection of road features, almost all of which are designed to annoy us too. One of the most common is the pinch point, where the road narrows and traffic from one direction has to give way. If you’re on a bike there is no way of knowing whether oncoming traffic that is supposed to let you through will do so. If you slow down cautiously, the driver behind will generally burst a blood vessel in rage and drive straight over you, so you’re almost certainly going to die one way or the other. Pinch points sometimes have a little near-side bike lane past the traffic island. These are where council highway departments keep their spare gravel…

The north of England has long been fertile ground for framebuilders. Yorkshire’s Woodrup Cycles is a case in point – it’s been making beautiful steel bikes for well over half a century from its home in Leeds. The Kirkstall Road shop remains a stalwart of the Yorkshire cycling scene, with custom builds still an integral part of the business that was started by Maurice Woodrup and wife Jean after Woodrup and his then partner Bob Jackson parted ways. It remains family-owned and run today. This Woodrup frameset is a fine example of the understated elegance that the marque does so well. It’s likely made from Reynolds tubing, with stylish yet unpretentious lugs. And, of course, there’s a generous dose of Yorkshire practicality, demonstrated by the light mount on the fork…