Innehållsförteckning för June 26, 2025 från Cycling Weekly

I spent last Saturday racing a Brompton bike around Coal Drops Yard near King’s Cross in London. Wearing a garish Hawaiian shirt and cut-off denim jeans (don’t ask) I made it through to the final of the Brompton World Champs – my first world title race! – where I came a passable 22nd. Had I not fumbled the bike unfold at the start, I could have done even better. That’s my excuse, anyway. I haven’t had that much fun on a bike in a long time. The Brompton Worlds were part of the three-day Via Criterium cycling festival, which has one of the best crit courses I’ve ever ridden. Less than a kilometre long, its sweeping bends take it through and around a newly developed retail area with cafes, bars…

It seems very easy for people to keep up with professional athletes day to day on social media. What’s often missed is an insight into the day to day grind of training. It’s 17 weeks to go (!) to my main goal of the year, the Track World Championships in October. I have been focusing my training towards this since the start of the year in what is called ‘general prep’ – a steady state of training, both in the gym and on the track, building a consistent base. On three days, I do a gym session plus a track session. The load is very much 50% gym and 50% track. This split may come as a surprise, but really track sprinters are just weightlifters that ride bikes as fast…

Ethan Hayter (Soudal-Quick Step) The defending champion has not had a brilliant 2025, having moved teams to Soudal-Quick Step, but the Londoner won the time trial at the Baloise Belgium Tour last week, and could do the double at the Nationals to kickstart his season. CW rating Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) The 24-year-old won his first ever professional races last month, at the Boucles de l’Aulne and the 4 Jours de Dunkerque, before he finished third on stage two of the Tour de Suisse. He is clearly a man in form, and has the build for a punchy course like the Nationals in Aberystwyth. CW rating Cat Ferguson (Movistar) The precocious Ferguson narrowly missed out on the overall win at the Tour of Britain Women earlier this month, but her talent…

I reached the 5,000-mile goal for the 2025 Big Ride Challenge on 22 June. Last year I was the first to finish on 3 April, but it took me longer this year because on 2 February I was run off the road by a truck. I tore a hamstring and couldn’t ride for three months while I went through physical therapy. I’d also booked a (non-refundable) cycling holiday in northern Italy for late April/early May, and my first ride after the crash was a few days before the tour. Happy to confirm that Emilia-Romagna is a wonderful place to ride! I’m glad to have reached the goal, albeit much later in the year. Lonnie Maddox, email Ed – Sorry to hear about the crash, Lonnie, but good to know you’re…

Paul Double’s late entry into the chaos and stress of professional cycling may ultimately work in his favour, says the former Italian pro who first took a chance on him, Flavio Zappi. “Many boys start cycling around 10, and by the time they’ve developed the engine, at 18 or 19, they have completely burned out mentally,” Zappi says. “Paul, on the other hand, had the engine from the beginning, but had to learn race craft, how to eat, train, and all the rest. “Improving as a cyclist has always been important to him, but he’s never been paranoid about it. I’d love to have 100 boys like him every year to train and coach.” Zappi remembers Double’s victory in an Italian amateur race in 2018 – the first ever for…

Pros ● CFD tested and windtunnelverified aerodynamics ● Excellent Shimano 105 12-speed groupset ● Premium feel to paint and finishing kit ● Great handling Cons ● Neutral feeling from frame ● Non-series chainset Rating The SLR 9.0 from Boardman is a good-looking bike with an exceptional spec sheet for this price point. It has a CFD-tested and wind tunnelverified full carbon frame, fork and steerer, a full 105 groupset (with non-series chainset), and a stunning off-white pearl into metallic black fade. Although it is the most expensive bike in this test, it’s also the only carbon bike. You get a ProLogo Scratch M5 and whilst saddle choice is personal, this is a quality item in a contemporary 145mm width, with a substantial relief channel. The branded goodies continue, with GoodYear…

CW’s in-house TT specialist Michael Hutchinson, AKA Dr Hutch – a multiple national champion across a range of distances – offered a refreshing take on the idea of suffering when we spoke to him for the ‘Going Long’ podcast. The The physiological changes that take place over the course of a TT – as outlined in this feature – no doubt cause considerable discomfort. But Hutchinson takes issue with the term “suffering” in this context. Rather than interpreting the predicament – the aches and anguish that set in during a race or training effort – as an ordeal to be feared or endured, he believes that these sensations should be viewed as a privilege. They are the signs of a healthy, capable body operating near its limit in a situation…

An old team-mate recently reminded me of a junior event in the 1990s, involving a very popular 10-mile time trial course in Yorkshire. There was a very long, protracted argument about whether the course was short, and if times set on it should be allowed to stand. Eventually someone arranged to have the course re-measured. To everyone’s horror it was 100 yards short of being 10-miles long. The mystery of how this happened was eventually resolved. The course description said the finish was beside lamp post 41449 (or something). And that is where the finish was. The problem was that a year or two earlier, in the dark of night and dead of winter, the council had moved the lamp post.…

The new WorldTour and Women’s WorldTour event, the Copenhagen Sprint, was won by Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) respectively. The men’s and women’s races both finished in a mass bunch sprint. Meeus beat Alexis Renard (Cofidis) and Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) in the former, while Wiebes sped to victory ahead of Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Chiara Consonni (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) in the latter. In Belgium, the fivestage Baloise Belgium Tour was won overall by Filippo Baroncini (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), despite the Italian not winning a stage of the largely flat race. Britain’s Ethan Hayter (Soudal-Quick Step) won stage three’s time trial and finished second overall by just four seconds. The Giro d’Italia Next Gen – aka the Baby Giro – was won by Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious Development),…

Pogačar stars in children’s book Cycling power couple Tadej Pogačar and Urška Žigart are set to star in an upcoming children’s picture book, available in their home nation of Slovenia next week. The pair appear as central characters in Pogi pa Pika, a fantasy adventure. CW on Instagram Tom Pidcock reached almost 100kph on a descent in Germany in a Red Bull promotional video – worth watching if you haven’t seen it. 8.2 million The calories burned on Brompton bikes last year according to the British firm, which celebrated its 50th birthday last week. The Brompton community is said to be 500,000 strong globally, with approximately 27,500 hours spent on the bikes in 2024 alone. Belgian rider referred to ethics committee Dries De Bondt was referred to the UCI’s ethics…

Whether you’re lucky enough to be starting out with a £2,000 budget, or you’re upgrading, the choice of road bikes at this price point is bewildering. Contrary to received wisdom, you now get far more for your money at this price point than 10 years ago. Carbon steerers have reduced weight and improved responsiveness, while hydraulic discs are now the norm. One of our test bikes has even had its aero profile honed by wind-tunnel testing. This test was also a reminder of how much more you can get for your money by sticking with aluminium. Worries about the material’s harsh ride characteristics are essentially a thing of the past, as every bike here proved ably. We still find manufacturers struggling to meet everyone’s needs with one tyre, but the…

Pros Easy-going road bike No-fuss handling Decent ride quality Stacks of practicality Lovely details Bombproof Cons Baffling cable routing The least-inspiring ride here Rating Trek talks up the Domane AL4 as being both speedy and versatile, and it certainly is the latter. With a Shimano 10-speed Tiagra groupset, and bosses for everything you might need, including racks and mudguards, this would be a great bike on which to ride a big sportive or go on an adventure, where reliability, practicality and comfort are needed. Handling is self-assured and straightforward rather than exciting – exactly as it’s designed to be. Such predictability is actually confidence-inspiring, especially when you’re in the market for a bike that’s going to expand your road cycling experience, which is who this bike is ideal for. When…

Time trials are the purest form of bicycle racing. There are no team tactics, no draughting, no lead-out trains, and no wondering if the rider behind is about to launch a surprise attack. The TT is known as the race of truth for good reason. It’s just you – your body, mind and soul – against the clock. No grey areas. You pedal as hard as you possibly can for the allotted distance and hopefully emerge on the other side with a PB, or at least without having thrown up a kidney. Riding a time trial is a unique physical and mental challenge – a sustained effort that pushes riders to the edge of their limits. But what exactly happens in the body and mind during one of these solo…

How did you get into cycling? I started at Welwyn Wheelers, my local club, and while there I saw other guys on the track and it looked cool, so I started doing stuff with them. I began racing aged 12 and ended up on the Great Britain Academy programme. sooner. Fred Wright and Matej Mohorič have been helping me. I’ve learned a lot from Matej because, though we’re a similar weight, he uses less energy when sitting in the bunch. Riding more efficiently only comes with experience, but I can watch and try to copy him. What’s your speciality as a rider? As an U23 rider, teams always told me that I was a climber, but since I’ve been in the WorldTour, I’m reassessing that because the top guys are…

The UCI’s new rules on handlebar width in road and cyclocross events have left riders up in arms. Published by UCI safety body ‘SafeR’ earlier this month, a minimum measurement of 400mm outside-to-outside and 320mm between the brake levers, will take effect from 1 January 2026. The current rules require riders to adhere to a minimum handlebar width of 350mm (outside-tooutside), measured at the widest point in the drops. The shifters could be angled inwards at no greater than 10 degrees from the plane of the handlebar drops, with no minimum hood-to-hood or centre-to-centre value. This created a loophole, allowing handlebars with much wider, more aggressive flares with narrower widths at the top, allowing riders to adopt a more aerodynamic position. The new ruling aims to curb these workarounds, citing…

Pros ● Solid build and a clean aesthetic ● Engaging ride quality ● Comfortable for an alloy frame Cons ● Front end transmits vibrations ● Stock tyres could be improved Rating In a market increasingly dominated by carbon and direct-to-consumer brands, it’s easy to overlook the value of a well-executed alloy road bike. But the Giant Contend SL 1 shows there’s still plenty of life left in aluminium - if it’s done right. Retailing for £1,649 and weighing in at 9.5kg, this is a bike that offers a thoughtful spec, solid performance, and realworld versatility without trying too hard to be something it’s not. Built around Giant’s ALUXX SL-grade alloy frame and matched with a full carbon fork, the Contend SL 1 has a balanced geometry that straddles the line…

Pros Light and lively frame Great handling Nice paint Plug and play mudguards and accessories Cons 10-speed Warrants a wheel upgrade Poor feel from tyre Rating The Allez retails at £1,600, £100 cheaper than the Domane. However, they both share a Tiagra 10-speed mechanical groupset with a 50/34 2x chainset and 11-32t cassette. Most of the parts are in-house brands. On paper, then, they’re very similar. However, this bike brings the Allez name that’s become synonymous with entry-level road bikes. More than a pretender to the Tarmac, the Allez was the bike of choice for many crit riders not wanting to risk riding a carbon frame. With this version Specialized started out with the geometry of its Roubaix models and tweaked it. It’s a move that has paid off. It’s…

4mmol/L The blood lactate volume that marks the tipping point, or LT2, where lactate production outpaces clearance. >1 At TT pace, your respiratory exchange ratio (RER) rises above 1.0, indicating that you’re burning almost exclusively carbohydrates. 80-85% For a 10-mile effort, most riders operate at 80-85% of their VO2max, or 90-105% of FTP – skating just above sustainable aerobic output. 70-90ml/kg/min This is the VO2max for an elite male cyclist – over 70ml of oxygen for every kilo of bodyweight per minute. >6mmol/L Highly trained sprinters are able to push their blood lactate up to 15mmol/L, but for TT specialists, the suffering gets serious at above 6.0mmol/L. 10-15 bpm Over a 10-mile TT, even if power holds steady, heart rate tends to rise by 10-15bpm owing to cardiovascular fatigue and…

If you preferred the way cycling looked about five years ago, great news. The Union Cycliste Internationale has your back. They have announced some forthcoming rule changes that are designed to take us all back in time just a little. As the world’s foremost slightly-sarcastic appraiser of UCI rule initiatives, naturally it falls to me to run the measuring tape over the un-innovations. (Unnovations?) The new rules have a simple purpose. They are designed to make road bikes and riders a bit less aerodynamic, and hence a little more old-fashioned. First, wheel rims can be no deeper than 65 mm, although few currently are. They’re going to do something about time trial helmets being used in road stages but haven’t really worked out what. Most interestingly, handlebars will have to…