Innehållsförteckning för May 1, 2025 från Cycling Weekly

Kim Le Court had never ridden Liège-Bastogne-Liège before last Sunday. 153km later, the Mauritian emerged as the winner, becoming the first African to ever win the Belgian Monument. In just her second year on the Women’s WorldTour with AG Insurance-Soudal, the 29-year-old had already finished in the top 10 at Classics four times before breaking through with the biggest win of her career. She won a stage of the Giro d’Italia last year, hinting at her potential, but this is her biggest statement of all, as the woman from the Indian Ocean beat favourites Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) in a sprint for the line. Le Court had been dropped multiple times in the race, but kept fighting to come back. This wasn’t just a historic win, then,…

And just like that the spring Classics are over for another year - cue tears. Personally, my spring was not as I’d hoped for in terms of results, with a few things not being quite 100% and then a bit of bad luck in my favourite race of the year (Paris-Roubaix I’ll be back for you). One of the things I love most about cycling, is that there’s always another race on the horizon and even if one day doesn’t go as expected there’s often another opportunity very soon. And this year I’m very lucky to be heading to my first La Vuelta Femenina which starts this weekend! I’ve always enjoyed watching the aggressive racing the Vuelta provides so can’t wait to see what this year brings. Looking at the…

1 Everyday racer Factor’s newest bike, the Monza, is designed for the everyday racer. It seeks to blend high performance with practicality. The desired outcome is a race bike that’s more accessible than the current WorldTour offerings but doesn’t feel like a compromise for those who still take their racing and training seriously. Pure racing bikes are exclusive by their very nature. Designed for the best riders in the world, they are built without compromise, both with regards to the technologies and materials used, and the geometry and ride quality. The result is a raft of super-stiff bikes with exorbitantly high price tags, suited for the few rather than the masses. The Norfolk-born brand is naturally quick to quash any idea of the Monza being a trade-off between price and…

Well, this is an intriguing proposition: two Italian brands - Sidi and Como-based bike shop, cafe and clothing brand Sartoria Ciclistica - joining forces to create the Laghèe Sprinter, a shoe that’s designed to be stiff, comfortable and stylish. They look undeniably cool. But is it desirable, or even feasible, to produce a super-stiff sole married to a slipper-like upper? Construction The Laghèe Sprinter has a ‘C-boost aerolite’ carbon sole with a stiffness rating of 12/12 on Sidi’s rigidity scale. Embedded into the sole at the toe and heel are two replaceable nylon inserts. Its faux leather upper has a microfibre backing that makes the inner feel very plush. Lightly perforated, it has a clean aesthetic, accentuated by the long, down-to-the-toe lacing channel that promotes a precise, tailored fit. The…

James Fishlock has only owned this stealthy-looking BMC Speedmachine for four months but has already put in some hard yards, riding the recent Buxton Mountain Time Trial. It’s fitted with Shimano Ultegra Di2 and Prime BlackEdition 50 wheels shod with Continental’s Grand Prix 5000s. James has also fitted Profile Design 39ah bars as well as the super-aero XLab Hydrblade cockpitmounted bottle Want us to feature your race bike? Send a pic and information to cycling@futurenet.com…

Grimace and bear it The effort of ascending the Mur de Huy during Flèche Wallonne is clear to see on the faces of Puck Pieterse (left), and Demi Vollering in blue. The former went on to win the Ardennes Classic. Frosted peaks The Alps make a dramatic backdrop to the race with their name – the Tour of the Alps. Although raced in late April, there’s plenty of snow left on the peaks. We might be in for a snowy Giro d’Italia. Targeting Tadej All eyes are on the rainbow jersey of world champion Tadej Pogačar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He is shadowed by four EF Education-EasyPost riders, including eventual third-place Ben Healy. Centre Le Court Kim Le Court has rather more attention than usual to deal with after the Mauritian won…

1 TTT ahoy For the fourth year in a row, the Vuelta Femenina begins with a team time trial, this time an 8km effort around Barcelona. It is unlikely to cause massive splits overall, but it will be interesting to see which teams put a lot of effort into the opening stage. The previous winners are Trek-Segafredo, Jumbo-Visma, and Lidl-Trek, so Trek will certainly be the ones to watch. 2 Northern Spain only The seven-stage race cannot cover the entirety of Spain, so instead it is restricted very much to the north of the country - the furthest south the Vuelta goes is Sant Boi de Llobregat, just to the south of Barcelona in Catalunya. It then passes through Aragon and Castile and León before finishing in Asturias in the…

Elinor Barker isn’t someone you’d necessarily expect to see racing much on British roads these days, but on the weekend of 18 April, she shared first place at the Buxton Mountain TT. The Classic Series is now road bike only, so Barker rolled out her Uno-X Mobility team issue Ridley and clocked a time six minutes faster than all but one of the women’s field. This is the newly released Noah Fast, aggressively styled and fully aero-optimised. The latest iteration features an updated front end, including a significantly deeper head tube and fork blades, along with a dropped steerer tube - all designed to reduce aerodynamic drag for both rider and bike. Her bike, like those of the rest of the Uno-X team, rolls on DT Swiss ARC 1100 wheels…

“This is rare for me – usually I can only get out at weekends.” Sound familiar? It came from a rider on my regular Tuesday night ride. As always with a group of cyclists, we were busy getting our excuses in early: too much work, childcare, bad weather, a broken bottom bracket – they all came out. It was a wonder any of us had made it to the start. That said, my first reaction was to empathise. Lately I’d lost my appetite for cycling, conscious that I’d been failing to string together enough consistent rides to make progress, and it was becoming disheartening. My ‘Fitness and Freshness’ graph told the story – brief upward blips followed by a steady slide back to the bottom. What was the point? Cycling,…

In-form John Archibald (HUUB-WattShop) set a new national competition record over 15 miles with a comfortable victory at the Cambridge CC event near Cambourne on Sunday. His time of 26-32 was just three seconds faster than the previous mark set in 2019 by Marcin Białobłocki, and gave him the win on the day by over two and a half minutes from John Wingfield (Elysium Kalas). “I hadn’t predicted it would be that fast,” said Archibald. “We were lucky with warm weather, low wind and an afternoon start. Although the course had over half a dozen roundabouts, I got through them cleanly. “Only in the final two kilometres did I notice that the time was quick, and then I really dug in for the finish. It’s not often you get to…

Abrother and sister admire the treasures on offer in the 1970s Aladdin’s Cave that was Youngs lightweight cycle shop in Lewisham, South London. Seventies cycling’s ubiquitous UK brands – Dawes and Raleigh – are both present on the advertisements around the shop, as well as the Youngs and related brands such as Grandini. Set up by Ernie Young in 1946, the shop has a long history which continues today – Ernie’s brother Ray ran a branch in West Wickham, Kent, that is still in existence and continues to trade as Youngs Cycles, with current owner Martyn Green specialising in Raleigh Chopper restoration.…

As Ben Healy, third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, greeted the winner, Tadej Pogačar, in the area behind the podium on Sunday, he had one thing on his mind. “When do you retire?” the EF Education-EasyPost rider joked to the UAE Team Emirates-XRG superstar. The Slovenian had just done his thing, again, soloing to victory from 34km out at the final Monument of the spring, winning the race for a third time, and continuing a run of form that has put him on the podium of every one-day race he has entered in 2025 – winning four of them. Pogačar didn’t quite play along, pointing out that he has a contract until 2030, with a smile on his face. However, in the face of continuing dominance from the 26-year-old, it is the kind…

Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) The Dutchwoman comes as the defending champion, but with a new team - FDJ-Suez - to support her. She has already won a Spanish stage race this season, Valenciana, and has a history of dominating them - she also won the Vuelta a Burgos and Itzulia last season in a golden May. CW rating ★★★★★ Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) The Paris-Roubaix Femmes winner comes into her first big test, her first women’s Grand Tour since she rode the Giro d’Italia in 2015, when she finished sixth overall and second on youth classification. Now 33, Ferrand-Prévot will be using the Vuelta as another step on the road to Tour de France Femmes glory. CW rating ★★★★ Kristin Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) A stage winner at last year’s race,…

Ben Granger took his first UCI race win with a late solo move at the Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic on Sunday. Riding for Italian squad MG.K Vis Costruzioni e Ambiente, the 24-year-old burst clear of a small group a handful of kilometres from the line in Oakham’s Market Square. Some 23 seconds behind him, Belgian Mathis Avondts (Parkhotel Valkenburg) took second place, outsprinting Raptor Factory Racing’s Dylan Hicks. “We didn’t really want to leave it to a sprint, so I took a flyer from the back about eight kilometres to go and it worked perfectly,” Granger told CW, explaining that he ad lost his Garmin before his attack. “There’s that steep little kicker at four kilometres to go, so I knew I wanted a nice gap. When I got to about…

Another Brit competing in February’s Sahyadri Classic race was Nigel Smith, who moved to India in 2015 after racing for Southborough Wheelers in Kent since 2008. Smith, who lives in Mumbai with his wife, has raced all over the subcontinent. At the Sahyadri Classic, he won 5,000 rupees (£50) for being the first in the over-50s category up the first ghat, a 19km climb to Pratapgarh Fort, but faded by the end of the race. “A four-hour event with 2,000-plus metres of elevation can’t be ridden off the back of 60-minute indoor rides,” he says. “I’ve raced in 30°C-plus and had to swerve to avoid traffic so many times – mainly cars, motorbikes, rickshaws and dogs,” Smith continues. “For most races, any road closures, police attendance or traffic management costs…

Prologo has released a 3D-printed version of its popular Scratch M5 PAS saddle, trusted by WorldTour riders including Jonas Vingegaard. The new 3DMSS model retains the same T-shape (250 x 140mm) but introduces a 3D-printed cover to optimise comfort and performance. The saddle features Prologo’s Multi-Sector System (MSS), which divides the cover into three distinct zones - front, central and rear - each with a double-layer construction. These sections incorporate varying densities and geometric structures to suit different pressure areas. The medium-density front uses Voronoi and Kagome patterns for tip support, while the high-density rear combines Voronoi and rhomboid shapes to better support the sit bones and enhance the pedal stroke. The central section is lower in density, using Voronoi and tetrahedral structures to maximise comfort for soft tissue. Two…

For the first 80 years of cycling, at least in the UK, riders were protected from the risk of skin cancer. In the early years, it was by social convention; in the later years by the racing regulations. These required that riders in sanctioned events wore full-length leg and arm coverings. These were usually made of wool. Riders might never have developed a deep and sexy tan, but most of them had a red, itchy rash that did a lot of the same work. After World War Two, short sleeves and shorts were permitted. This allowed cyclists to get the deep mahogany tan that was so desirable for most of the 20th century. Cycling kit, especially the long shorts, allowed riders to develop tan lines in weird places. Most of…

Laurent Fignon’s nickname, Le Professeur, was both a reference to the Parisian’s bespectacled appearance and his brief stint at the University of Villetaneuse, where he studied Structural and Material Science. So it’s fitting that his most famous bike, the Raleigh he rode at the Castorama-Raleigh team, is full of technical wizardry that pushed the boundaries of bicycle frame construction. This bike, part of Dave Marsh’s collection, was one of Fignon’s, proven by his initials stamped under the bottom bracket shell. The fork steerer is stamped with ‘L. Fignon’. The frameset was built under the leadership of Gerald O’Donovan, who led the Special Development Unit of the Lightweight Division at Raleigh HQ in Nottingham. Made using Reynolds 753 tubing, it eschewed brazing, instead relying on adhesives, with the tubes bonded together…