Innehållsförteckning för June 5, 2025 från Cycling Weekly

If you had told Isaac del Toro that he would not be dropped by his nearest rival, Richard Carapaz, on the final mountain stage of the Giro d’Italia, you would have likely had your hand bitten off. However, the Mexican UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had not countenanced a move from Simon Yates which would turn the race upside down - which is what happened on the Colle delle Finestre. As Yates pedalled away to glory, Del Toro appeared to be stuck to Carapaz’s wheel, refusing to work to bring the gap back. He lost the Giro as a result. Despite the 21-year-old missing out on glory, his team appeared confusingly satisfied with his effort, with celebrations after stage 20 and stage 21. He did win the white jersey, in the…

The rider with the most wins this year is not Tadej Pogačar or Mads Pedersen but Matthew Brennan, the teenage British sensation, who was victorious again at the weekend, winning the Tour of Norway overall. The 19-year-old Visma-Lease a Bike rider did not finish outside of the top two on any of the race’s four stages, winning stages two and four to take the general classification. It was the first such win of his short career to date - his first race as a pro was the Tour Down Under in January - but it adds to a seriously impressive year. On Sunday, as Alexander Kristoff opened up the sprint Brennan jumped out of compatriot Ethan Vernon’s wheel and used the slipstream of Kristoff’s lead-out man Rasmus Tiller to slingshot…

There was a fear last winter that the Tour of Britain Women, then called the Women’s Tour, would be no more. Money was tight, its previous organiser had collapsed. Would the UK lose its marquee stage race? In stepped British Cycling, and together with lead sponsor Lloyds Bank, the race was revived and renamed. This year it returns to the calendar, again in four-day form, with storylines aplenty. Firstly, there’s a farewell to Lizzie Deignan, the former world champion and two-time winner of the Women’s Tour, who is retiring at the end of the season. She’ll share the peloton in her final edition with the newest crop of British talent. Look out for Movistar’s Cat Ferguson and Visma-Lease a Bike’s Imogen Wolff, both fiercely proud Yorkshirewomen, who are set for…

That Gaza has the world’s largest population of amputees has become a grimly renowned statistic. But nobody is just a statistic – every life, and every limb, has a story. One such story is that of Mohammed Abu Asfour, a Palestinian paracyclist from Gaza, who lost a limb in a tragically familiar way. Taking part in a protest at the border fence between Gaza and Israel on 18 January 2019, Asfour was shot in the right leg by an Israeli sniper. “I spent 18 days in Gaza hospitals,” he tells me via a video call from Belgium, where he now lives. “Without a transfer abroad, the wound got infected, and the leg had to be amputated.” Like most amputees, Asfour faced depression and mental health difficulties as he adapted to…

Pupils belonging to the Roehampton School Cycling Club watch as one of their number, riding a single-speed roadster bike, performs a left-turn signal as part of their cycle training in 1939. Cycling training at this point was unregulated, although many pupils would have experienced it. It wasn’t until 1947 that the RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) Cycling Proficiency Test, that many Cycling Weekly readers will have taken, came into being. For today’s school pupils, testing is run by the Bikeability Trust, which replaced the RoSPA test in 2007. Unlike the old-style cycle training, Bikeability takes pupils out onto the roads, giving them an experience of riding in real-life traffic conditions.…

That’s all ancient history The Colosseum in Rome provides the backdrop for stage 21 of the Giro d’Italia, as the riders roll out for the last time this year. The ancient amphitheatre was completed in AD 80, older even than Cycling Weekly… That moment Richard Carapaz and Isaac del Toro watch on behind as Simon Yates charges ahead on the early slopes of the Colle delle Finestre. Once he was away, the man from Bury was never seen again by his GC rivals. Brothers in arms Twin brothers Adam and Simon Yates, who ride for different teams in UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike, look happy enough at the end of the Giro d’Italia. They’re easy to tell apart here! Papal blessing Pope Leo XIV, who was elected last…

1 Big three return For the first time since last year’s Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard will race each other at this year’s Dauphiné, in a full dress rehearsal for this year’s Tour. With that race just a month away, this week in France will point towards the form we will see in July. While Pogačar has been his usual unbeatable self in 2025, winning seven times, Vingegaard and Evenepoel have had their seasons affected by injury. 2 Farewell, Romain After 13 and a half seasons as a professional cyclist, Romain Bardet will retire after the Critérium du Dauphiné, his eighth time at the race. Fittingly, stage three begins in Brioude, the 34-year-old’s hometown, where there will surely be a carnival atmosphere as Bardet sets…

I had a QOM taken off me by someone who rides 4km every few days compared to my 200+km weeks. And then they gave it back to me when they realised she’d forgotten to stop her Garmin watch while driving. Kelly O’Donnell I lost an off-road KOM to a woman on a horse. If the horse had an account, I consider it fair. Mark Burton Remember when Strava didn’t exist? People used to train and exercise for themselves and to help benefit those around them. Phil Sims I had a flat that I couldn’t fix and took a taxi home with the bike. Forgot to turn off the Garmin. Later that same day I got a call from a serious man who just lost his KOM. Mats Aadde They should…

LORENA WIEBES 26 | Ned | SD Worx-ProtimeUCI Ranking: 3 | 2025 wins: 8 Since its inception in 2014 as the Women’s Tour, the Tour of Britain has been a happy hunting ground for sprinters, but none have ever managed to win the general classification; the race is more suited to an all-rounder. This year’s edition, though, could well see unquestionably the world’s best sprinter, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), take overall honours. While the location of this year’s race suggests a harder parcours than ever before, the Dutchwoman has the attributes to compete and even win every stage. Aged only 26, she’s amassed 101 victories, adding eight from 18 race days this year, and one of the keys to such success is her increasing ability to climb. Cast your mind…

The world of clipless pedals hasn’t changed much in decades, which makes Ekoi’s efforts to innovate the space with its new ‘Racing Pack’ PW8 pedal and shoe system refreshing and commendable. Rather than tweaking an existing standard, Ekoi has gone all-in with a new pedal and cleat-specific shoe design. The result is a tidy-looking, low-stack set-up that aims to boost both power transfer and comfort. But for now at least, there’s a catch. The shoes and pedals are only compatible with each other, so you’re locked into a system that’s only as good as its weakest link. Let’s start with the shoes. They’re incredibly stiff thanks to a high-end carbon sole, and there’s a proper race-ready feel underfoot, but comfort is a little more complicated. I’ve got a high instep,…

The Master remains Colnago’s most iconic steel bike, owing its status to those who rode it to success, and perhaps none more so than Beppe Saronni. The Italian won his second Giro d’Italia in 1983, riding a Master, and became synonymous with the model; his favoured frame colour was known simply as ‘Saronni Red’. By the time of Colnago’s 55th anniversary in 2009, the Master’s fame was long secured, making it the ideal model with which to celebrate the occasion. The result, as we see here from one that forms part of retro bike specialist Dave Marsh’s collection, is quite something. The frame, number 1 of the 99 that were made, retains the Columbus Gilco tubes that were said to improve longitudinal rigidity, and the straight Precisa fork that was…

Britain’s domestic teams are looking to “bring their A-game” at the Tour of Britain Women this week as they pit themselves against the big-budget squads of the WorldTour. All five of the country’s Continental teams – CJ O’Shea Racing, DAS-Hutchinson, Handsling Alba Development Road Team, Hess, and Smurfit Westrock – will compete in the four-day race, which starts today in Dalby Forest and finishes in Glasgow on Sunday. For the British squads, none of which are professional, the event is a valuable chance to show off sponsors and gain experience against some of the best riders in the world. “It’s big and it’s stressful and it’s going to be absolutely mad,” says Smurfit rider Lucy Harris, “but it’s an incredible opportunity at the same time. You have to make the…

While the Tour of Britain no longer attracts all the world’s best riders – the Tour de France Femmes is the bigger draw – a host of stars and dark horses will take the start on Thursday. Among them will be Tour de France stage winner Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, one of the peloton’s most energetic characters. After five years with FDJ-SUEZ, the Dane started afresh with Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto this season, but has so far struggled to regain the form that led her to a bronze medal at the World Championships in Glasgow two years ago. Her last victory came in January 2024, but don't rule her out on a tough finish like Saltburn Bank. Liv AlUla Jayco rider Letizia Paternoster earned her first road wins in 2018, but then seemed to…

When Campagnolo launched its 13-speed 1x gravel groupset, Ekar, back in late 2020, it raised the inevitable question of whether the extra sprocket would find its way into the brand’s road groupsets. Now we have the answer in the shape of a 13-speed Super Record groupset. Campagnolo Super Record 13 is the first wireless 2x13-speed groupset designed for road riding. After the initial prototyping phase done in-house in Vicenza, presumably, the set-up has been fine-tuned with the help of the Cofidis WorldTour team and is currently being ridden in the Giro d’Italia by the Frenchbased outfit. To make room for the extra sprocket, Campagnolo has repeated the method it used for its Ekar cassette, reducing the distances between each sprocket, as well as making the each sprocket thinner. With the…

Joanna Brewis successfully defended her title at the RTTC National Circuit Championships, while John Archibald took the open category at the event in Worcestershire on Sunday. Staged by Beacon Roads CC over a 39-mile course near Great Witley, the event saw Brewis (ADDFORM-Vive le Velo) clock 1:45.40 on a TT bike after winning the 2024 event on a road bike. She was 1.36 faster than Kelly Murphy (Gorilla CC) in second, with Laura Davies (FTP Fulfil the Potential Racing) third. Archibald (HUUB WattShop) set an impressive time of 1:26.03 to win by over four minutes from George Peden (Team PB Performance), with Rob Francis (Team Bottrill) third. Elsewhere, Belgian pro rider Jari Verstraeten made the most of a short stay in England with three wins in four days, riding for…

With Alistair Ribbands’s Canyon Speedmax SL dating from 2018, he jokes that it’s a vintage bike now. He usually runs a single 60t ring at the front but had swapped in a 53/39 chainset and front mech for a hilly TT. Groupset is Shimano Ultegra Di2, with Walker Brothers wheels and Vittoria Corsa Speed 25mm tyres. In a real touch of ‘vintage’, he has dremelled his bar extension mounts to remove “as much exposed metal as possible”. Don’t try this at home, kids! Want us to feature your race bike? Send a pic and information to cycling@futurenet.com…