Innehållsförteckning för December 11, 2025 från Cycling Weekly

We all have our favourite bike, bikes, or bits of kit: that item that works perfectly well for the riding we do. Even our tech writers, who test hundreds of products a year, have ‘go to’ items they use more than any others. (See their favourite kit in our Gear of the Year article from page 34.) Now, I don’t test as much kit as they do, but I make a point of getting my hands on as much new kit as I possibly can. Even if it’s a quick spin on someone else’s bike, or a press of the buttons on a new GPS unit before it gets tested, I’ve got to at least try and keep up. What strikes me at the moment is the pace of change.…

Swift and Kwiato ride on Five Ineos Grenadiers riders had their contracts extended last week, including Ben Swift (right) and Michał Kwiatkowski. The pair have spent 14 and 10 years at the British squad respectively. Also staying are Lucas Hamilton, Kim Heiduk and Brandon Rivera. Visma-Lease a Bike on Instagram Things are getting festive at the Dutch team $190,500 Amount paid for the Colnago Y1Rs that Tadej Pogačar rode to victory in the Tour and World Championships. The paint-stripped aero machine went for 10 times its asking price at a Sotheby’s auction last week. Bianchi x Bahrain Bahrain-Victorious are to ride Bianchi bikes from 2026, after a “multi-year” agreement was announced last week. Merida has left the squad, while Bianchi were without a team after Arkéa-B&B Hotels collapsed. WBD to…

For cyclists the most dangerous shark in the world isn’t the Great White but a lesser-known, entirely metaphorical species, one that quietly circles us in middle age: the risk of heart problems. Only about 40 people suffered unprovoked shark-attacks in 2024, whereas thousands of riders were “bitten” by this figurative predator. The word unprovoked matters: just as surfers can be taken by surprise, many cyclists feel perfectly fit and calm before a heart incident suddenly strikes. Like an overconfident surfer riding a tube, I was blissfully unaware of the danger encircling me. I had assumed I was better apprised of the risks, as the author of a book, The Midlife Cyclist, all about how to survive and thrive as an older rider. I have cycled for as long as I…

What’s your cycling background? I’ve always been athletic and was part of my local Harriers running club until I had a really bad ankle injury in 2016. During recovery I spent a lot of time on a cyclo-cross bike, and I joined Blaydon Cycle Club in 2019. Watching my boyfriend race inspired me, and I got into local TTs, crits, and then hill-climbing. Now my season runs from early March to late October and I’m in love with the sport. What were your expectations ahead of this year’s National Hill-Climb Championships? I finished fifth at last year’s Nationals, which gave me the belief that I could get a podium this year, but it wasn’t until the day that I felt I could win it. It was a mega day –…

Sunday, 7 December ● National Trophy Series round five (Hunworth Show Ground, Bradford, West Yorkshire): Elite Men: 1. Thomas Mein (Hope Factory Racing) 54.58; 2. T. Barnes (Spectra Racing) +0.06; 3. D. Barnes (Spectra Racing) +2.09; 4. B. Askey (CC Etupes) +2.28; 5. J. Young (Ribble Verge Sport) +2.40; 6. J. Beckingsale (Spectra Racing) +3.20; 7. S. Nisbet (Reflex Racing) +4.12; 8. D. Oldham (Hope Factory Racing) +4.31; 9. J. Swadling (Pedal Power Loughborough) +4.59; 10. J. Hurt (Moonglu Spatzwear) +5.02. Elite Women: 1. Grace Inglis (unattached) 49.07; 2. F. Whiteside (Simpson Nouvelles) +0.18; 3. E. Day (Spectra Racing) +0.46; 4. A. Baker (Team Empella) +0.47; 5. A. Flynn (Spectra Racing) +0.52; 6. E. Wong (Spectra Racing) +1.15; 7. A. Colling (Smurfit Westrock CT) +1.30; 8. S. Thackray (Paceline Cycles…

I was fortunate enough to be invited to last week’s Rotterdam Six Day – my first time experiencing this kind of event, on a 200m track I’d never ridden before. When the opportunity arose, I knew it was something I wanted to do. A Six Day is unlike anything else; the atmosphere is electric, the air feels thicker somehow as the music, heat and anticipation mix into something that livestreams never quite capture. There were six sprinters competing: Harrie Lavreysen, Jeffrey Hoogland, Marcus Hiley, Daan Kool, Loris Leneman and me. Everything starts later than people expect. We arrived at the velodrome long before the crowds appeared, sipping coffee and checking gears. The warm-up then began on the rollers, before the venue transformed into an amazing show: lights flashing, music pumping,…

It wasn’t until 1980, when Colin was idly thumbing through a copy of the Guinness Book of Records in his local library, that he realised they might have achieved something special. “Under the cycling records there wasn’t a tandem ride around the world listed, so I thought I might as well apply and see what they said,” he recalls. He’d kept a meticulous record of their journey on P&O-headed notepaper (from the ship on which they crossed the Pacific), including where they stayed and their daily mileage, which totalled 18,020. The following year, their ride was officially recognised in the 1981 edition of the book. Today, Colin and Veronica are grandparents of six and still riding a tandem at the ages of 84 and 80. Following a crash on a…

When I wrote my book The Midlife Cyclist, helped by cardiologist Dr Nigel Stephens, I explored an unsettling truth: we are the first humans in 12,000 generations to push our bodies intensely into ages when most of our ancestors were already dead. Modern endurance athletes are, in effect, a live epidemiological study. Crash-test dummies in lycra. Exercise is without doubt the greatest health-protecting ‘medicine’ the pharmaceutical industry never invented, but its dose-response relationship is not linear. We train to provoke a biological and neurobiological reaction: apply acute stress now to stimulate long-term adaptation. But you can’t compress eight hours of sleep into two, nor can you fast-track recovery. When recovery is ignored, we accumulate allostatic load – the combined wear and tear from training, poor sleep, alcohol, pollution, arguments, work…

The week: 20-26 October Training for: National Hill-Climb Championships (26 October) Monday Rest day I work from home as an ecologist, which allows me to keep off my feet. I’ve learned that resting is as important as training. Total riding time: 0hr Tuesday Race simulation I rode for two hours at endurance pace, before doing five reps of 40-20 seconds up a steep hill close to home, the one that best replicated the Nationals course. For the 40-second effort, I rode at my race target power of 330W, and then backed off for 20 seconds. I also alternated between riding seated and out of the saddle. Total riding time: 2hr Wednesday AM: Physio; PM: Gentle spin Every two weeks, I have a physio session to prevent injuries and flush out…

Join us every Wednesday at 6pm for a 10-mile TT on Zwift Sign up here: bit.ly/CWclubten Last week’s results Event #281 Course: Loch Loop Date Thursday, 4 December* Next week’s event Event #283 Course: Jurassic Coast Date Wednesday, 17 December Results taken from zwiftpower.com – riders must be registered to be included in results printed here. *Apologies to regular Club 10 racers – owing to an administrative error, the above race took place on Thursday instead of Wednesday.…

One of my favourite ancient anecdotes concerns a group of country women in County Galway on Ireland’s west coast in the 1870s. They were making their way home shortly after dusk one evening with baskets of produce, when coming towards them they saw half-a-dozen glowing lights, hovering mysteriously above the bogland. The lights came closer, in eerie silence. It was clearly the devil and five of his helpers. Terrified, the women took refuge in a ditch full of brackish water. When the lights finally came upon them, they turned out to be attached to the penny-farthings of the Galway CC club run. Like something out of Father Ted, the women rose from the ditch and pelted the riders with potatoes. I sometimes wonder to myself what would be the best…

The popular London Nocturne criterium event will return in 2026 with UCI registration, after eight years off the British racing calendar. Formerly known as the Smithfield Nocturne, with a list of winners that includes Geraint Thomas, Ed Clancy, Katie Archibald and Hannah Barnes, the event will return as the City of London Nocturne and will be held over two days, on 12-13 June 2026. Its organiser, James Pope, who also managed the event when it ran from 2007 to 2018, hopes to bring a world-class field to the English capital, with television broadcasting to help “boost” the UK scene. Speaking to CW, Pope explained the idea to revive the Nocturne initially came from the City of London, who approached him last year. “They had good memories of the Nocturne and…

Climbing Sheffield’s hills Simon Warren’s article about the Sheffield hills (CW Nov 27) has to be one of the best yet. Almost all of the climbs Simon comments on are still familiar to me, especially Lodge Lane and the first of his eight Ridge climbs, Dykes Hall Road. I’ve fond memories of reaching the bottom of this climb at 8.25am, just in time to hold onto the pole of the No.18 bus. I have to take issue with you though, suggesting in your editorial that Sheffield hills are as steep as the North Downs - do you really have hills in’t South? Tim, email…

The Italian rode against Deignan until the two joined forces at Trek-Segafredo in 2019. A close friend, Longo Borghini has a unique insight into Deignan as a rider and woman. “I’ve always admired her style and her composure inside and outside the races. She was always classy, and for me she was someone to look up to. Lizzie is a punchy, Classics rider, but she’s extremely good as a championship rider, somebody who can peak and perform well at important events such as the World Championships or Olympics. “I’ve learnt a lot by racing alongside her and my years in Trek were a big learning curve, mostly because of her. “As a team-mate, Lizzie was somebody you would trust with your eyes closed, both when she was the leader and…

A slow heart rate is often a badge of honour for cyclists, indicating great cardiovascular fitness. But a BPM too low can augur serious problems, as Dr Nigel Stephens (nigelstephens.co.uk) explains. There are no absolutes, but less than 50bpm at rest is slow and defined as ‘bradycardia’. Less than 40bpm is very slow and usually requires some medical evaluation. A low heart rate may be of no concern – natural genetic variation or an adaptation indicating increased fitness. It is often easy to distinguish by doing an exercise test. If the heart rate rises to match the demands of exercise, generally all is well. A quite common cause is vasovagal syndrome. Here, the vagus nerve may inappropriately slow the heart. It is generally benign and managed with lifestyle measures rather…