FRE E M UC- O F F E S S E N T I A L S KI T WO R T H O V E R £20 S I M O N R I C H A R D S O N Editor [email protected] Red alert! S T A R T L I N E 1 6 . 0 5 Photos SWpix.com, Andy Jones MY HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK 6 Can anyone stop Pogačar? 22 Making America great again 46 Face first comeback S C A N T O SU B S C R I B E ! N EVER MI S S AN I S SUE ! SUB SC R I B E AN D GE T CW DE L I V E R ED T O YO UR D O O R M AG A Z I N E S DI R E C T.C O M/D32D ComebackHolmes This week as well as bringing you a full review of the all-new SRAM Red groupset – I got to ride it for about 1.5 miles last week, it’s very nice, but you’ll be glad to know our tester rode it considerably further than that – we take a look at the domestic road racing scenes in both the UK and the US. The two scenes are, unsurprisingly, very different, and while they both continue to produce riders who go on to win at WorldTour level in Europe, this shouldn’t cloud the fact that both are currently facing strong headwinds. The word ‘crisis’ does not seem to be an exaggeration on either side of the pond as in recent years multiple UCI races have been lost and lower-level pro teams that provide an essential stepping stone to the upper tiers have been losing sponsors and fading away. Throw into the UK mix the difficulties that local organisers face – mounting admin and safety concerns – and you have something of a perfect storm. None of this is new information, but the fact that these factors continue to be in various states of decline means there is a lot of work still to be done. All credit to British Cycling for stepping in and saving both the men’s and women’s Tour of Britain, but the question is, what can they now do to help further down the pecking order? 10 30 Where nextforUKscene?
Monumental racing In the shadow of what was once the tallest building in the world, Lincoln Cathedral, the peloton winds its way up Michaelgate at the Lincoln Grand Prix on Sunday. Turn to page 10 for more. Photo SWpix.com
Only once this century has a rider had a bigger time gap than Tadej Pogačar’s at the end of stage nine of the Giro d’Italia. That was Jens Heppner of Telekom in 2002, who took pink after a breakaway, and so had a lead of 3:33, but was not considered a general classification threat. Pogačar, then, is very different. The UAE Team Emirates rider ended the opening week of the 2024 Giro with a lead of 2:40 over Dani Martínez (BoraHansgrohe) in second, and 2:58 over Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in third. The eye-catching lead after less than half of the race had been completed Pink Pogačar in complete control 6 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly UAE rider has already won three stages at the Giro d’Italia was mainly due to the Slovenian’s performance in stage seven’s time trial, in which Pogačar put two minutes into Thomas, who had been in second overall before the day. “I’m positively surprised at myself because I had a super-good day today and that’s what I was aiming for, so I’m superhappy,” Pogačar said post-time trial last Friday. “But I was expecting especially both Thomas and Martínez to be closer, too. It was a hard day, a hard time trial if you didn’t have super legs, and for sure you’d pay for that on the last climb. “But there’s still a long way to go, we haven’t started the proper climbing stages so nothing is over yet.” There have often been comparisons between the 25-year-old and Eddy Merckx, such is his apparent desire to attempt to win everything he possibly can, and with Pogačar taking a third of the stage wins so far, the Cannibal likeness is reasonably clear. The Slovenian celebrates another day in the pink jersey
“It will be really tough to control the race for the next two weeks” Words Adam Becket Photos Getty Images Geraint Thomas had “one of those days” on stage seven of the Giro d’Italia, as he gave up a full two minutes to Tadej Pogačar in the 37.2km TT. The Ineos Grenadier finished 10th, 11 seconds behind Dani Martínez (BoraHansgrohe), who jumped above him in the GC. “[It was] nothing to do with the wind,” Thomas explained poststage. “I tried to ride within myself. Then when it was time to go I felt OK, but just lacked it a bit. I couldn’t get on top of it over those kickers. It’s just one of those days.” The next day, however, Thomas managed to limit his losses on the summit finish at Prati di Tivo. While he did concede a handful of seconds – mostly in bonuses to Pogačar and Martínez, he could take heart from his ability to bounce back. “For me, it was a lot better than yesterday – night and day,” Thomas said last Saturday. “Confidence-wise, I said I was just going to sit in here, do today and then move on. In the end, I felt really comfy actually. I was quite surprised people were getting dropped, which is always a good sign. Then in the sprint, I got a bit bogged down, but I didn’t have the legs to sprint with those guys.” Australian Ben O’Connor was sitting in fourth place on GC, 43 seconds behind Thomas when the race reached the first rest day, while Visma-Lease a Bike’s Cian Uijtdebroeks was in fifth. Thomas’s form bounces back after TT blow Pogačar used the TT to open up an unprecedented first-week lead Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 7 He followed up his dominant time trial, where he beat former world champion Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) by 17 seconds, by winning stage eight, a summit finish at Prati di Tivo. Despite others attempting to put pressure on Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates squad, his progress has been serene. Asked if he could relax now, he said: “I don’t know. I hope so. “For sure now everybody will try to attack from a distance, go into breaks, look for opportunities,” he said. “It will be really tough to control the race for the next two weeks, but what can I say? We have a super-strong team, everybody is in good shape, so let’s see what happens tomorrow.” The next big test for Pogačar and the other GC contenders will be a flat 31km time trial on Saturday, followed by a summit finish on Sunday to round off the second week, while week three features four big stages in the Dolomites. ‘G’found form after hisjoursans
8 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly Cav’s victory augurswellfor his historic Tourstage record bid Words Tom Thewlis and Adam Becket Photo Vanik Zoltan/Tour de Hongr M ie ark Cavendish is now officially the greatest male sprinter of all time, after taking his 164th career win at the Tour of Hungary last Thursday. The second win of his final season took him to second place in cycling’s male alltime wins ranking behind Eddy Merckx, who won 277 races. Cavendish now sits one win ahead of Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini, who landed 163 victories during his professional career, making him the most successful male sprinter in cycling history. Despite the achievement, the Manxman is still 89 wins behind Marianne Vos, who leads the women’s leaderboard with 253 wins to her name. Vos is continuing next season, meaning Cavendish officially best male sprinter of all time Tour of Hungary stage win gives Manxman a career tally of 164 that she still could come within touching distance of Merckx’s record. Last Thursday, Cavendish beat Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-Alula) to the line to win stage two in Kazincbarcika. The Astana Qazaqstan rider was able to rely on a perfect leadout from his team-mates and launched his sprint in the final 200 metres to snatch the win ahead of Groenewegen and Jon Aberasturi (Euskaltel-Euskadi). “The team was just phenomenal,” Cavendish said. “My team-mates did a great job and I managed to complete the job with a win. The finish was not easy and the final kilometres with a few corners turned out to be technically challenging. But it all worked out in the end, and I am very happy. “This victory will add motivation to all of us before our main goal, the Tour de France.” Cavendish will head to the Tour at the end of June with the Tour stage win record in his sights – he is currently tied on 34 with Merckx. The win in Hungary was just his second of the year, after a couple of illnessaffected months. Eddy Merckx 277 Marianne Vos 253 Mark Cavendish 164 Mario Cipollini 163 Roger De Vlaeminck 161 Rik Van Looy 161 Sean Kelly 159 Jeannie Longo 157 André Greipel 158 Alessandro Petacchi 150 A L L - T I M E W I N S R A N K I N G
10 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly After stepping out of retirement with a goal to reach the 2028 Olympic Games, privateer Matt Holmes showed why he could still have a future in the sport on Sunday. The 30-year-old former Lotto-Soudal professional powered to victory in the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix, leaving the best domestic riders in his wake. Holmes finished the Giro d’Italia in 2022 before deciding to hang up his wheels after becoming dissatisfied with a calendar crammed full of racing. Nevertheless, the temptation to ride his bike was too great and with the Paris Former Lotto-Soudal rider returns from retirement with victory at big domestic fixture Olympic Games looming he wanted to try for the team pursuit. Despite riding for Great Britain at the Track Nations Cup in Hong Kong this year, his bid for an Olympic Games place came too late. However, he already has sights on a team pursuit place in Los Angeles 2028 and in the meantime has an interesting domestic calendar. With a list of private sponsors backing him Holmes is looking to become an influencer and make videos of his training and racing exploits to fund himself. The gravel scene and domestic road races will be the aim for Holmes this season and after charging up Michaelgate ahead of a leading group, he celebrated a first win of his new campaign in Lincoln. The former Madison-Genesis rider said thatriding as a privateer had its advantages against other domestic squads. “I was really suffering with cramp for the second half,” said Holmes. “As I’m on my own I’ve got nobody to answer to. If the breakaway went then it went, if I went with every attack then I would have had to stop. “Luckily the cramp went for that final lap; I knew I was going to win because I am very strong for that two to two-and-ahalf-minute effort. “I could just pin them at 500 watts and they weren’t coming past.” After dominating the podium last season at Lincoln and also winning the Matt Holmes kickstarts comeback with Lincoln win
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 11 The privateerstill has race-winning clout “I’ve worked hard on the turbo and come back strong” Words Snowdon Sports Photos Andy Jones East Cleveland Classic it was going to take a special performance to beat Saint Piran. However, the Cornish team were on the back foot from the outset with just one rider in an early 12-man move. Once the move was reeled back in, John Archibald and Will Perrett were two of the riders who tried to ride clear of a reducing bunch. On the penultimate time up Michaelgate last year’s winner, Alexandar Richardson, put in a huge attack and thought he had won the race, only to celebrate a lap early. Last-ditch attacks saw the race fragment further on the last lap and Holmes was the strongest, finishing ahead of Adam Lewis, riding for American squad Team Skyline. Matthew King (XSpeed United Continental) completed the podium, while Richardson was left reflecting on what could have been in fifth. Richardson solos to the spoils Carrying out herteam’s plan to perfection, Kate Richardson (Lifeplus-Wahoo) took arguably the biggestroad win of her young careerin the women’s Rapha Lincoln GP. The 21-yearold, who won two national track titles earlier this year, showed that turn of speed to ride away from the bunch on the penultimate climb of Michaelgate and rode the last eight miles alone to victory. Behind, team-mates Eluned King and Madeline Leech disrupted the chase and despite Richardson’s gap coming down to 13 seconds she was not to be caught. Talented juniors Cat Ferguson and Imogen Wolff (Shibden Apex RT) finished second and third respectively, just 13 and 19 seconds behind the victor. “It’s always nice when you have a gameplan and stick to it, said Richardson. “That last lap felt so long, but it worked in my favour today. I’m so glad that the team and I committed to that plan. “You just have to keep going and not look back. It came down to 13 seconds but thankfully I held them off.” Richardson has a dual calendar of European road racing mixed with her track schedule this season. After featuring well at the Tour Down Under, the Scottish star was hoping for a good Classics campaign before breaking her collarbone and scapula in March. “I’ve been really determined to come back strong and I’ve worked really hard on the turbo,” she added. “This is something I’ve had my sights on. It’s really hard to win out in Europe so this was something I could really strive to win.” Richardson (centre)made the decisive break onMichaelgate
I spent 50 days on the road in the US this spring. I raced gravel, road, crits and TTs across nine different states. On average I changed beds every 3.2 days. It was a trip I’ll never forget. There were so many of those “how the heck did I get here?” moments. Just 18 months ago, I’d finished my stint in the U23 category and was classed as one of those guys that had potential, but just hadn’t quite made it. It’s tough at the top – there are only so many spots in the WorldTour. The accidental pivot that I was forced to take is perhaps the best thing that ever happened to me. Last season was my first year of trying this privateer thing. I did a lot, maybe too much. Going at it alone was fun, but it was scary. For 2024, I wanted it to be bigger and better. Over the past winter, alongside setting up my own privateer gravel project and everything that comes with that, I was closely involved with setting up Ribble Rebellion – Ribble’s new crit team. Setting up a cycling team is seriously A happy accident 12 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly stressful. There are a million and one things that you don’t think about, and many a sleepless night. There were times, like any stressful job, that I hated it, but the success we’ve had at the start of the year has made it all worthwhile. I started my US block with a load of gravel races, and then met the Ribble Rebellion boys in California to go road racing. With our bright kit, and even brighter bikes, we got a lot of attention. Immediately, we started performing. Cole Davis, our American signing, won stage two of Redlands, one of the biggest races in the US, and then I backed it up with third on GC. We then headed to Speedweek, Georgia – the premier crit series in the US. The style of racing took a bit of getting used to, but we pulled together one of the proudest team performances of my career to take first and third at Spartanburg. By the end of the week, we’d won four out of the eight days. The team has no egos, everyone is there because they love bike racing. Itreally showed. Joe Laverick rides for Ribble Collective J O E L A V E R I C K R A C I N G R O U N D - U P Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) continued her general classification run of form at Itzulia Women, winning the final stage and thus the overall after soloing to the line from 30km out. Over three editions of the three-stage race, Vollering has won six out of nine stages. Vollering’s team-mate and European champ Mischa Bredewold won the first two stages; the first a bunch sprint, the second a more select affair. She finished second overall, ahead of Juliette Labous (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) in third. Away from Spain, Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek) achieved something that always eluded his father Sven by winning a stage race overall, namely the Tour of Hungary. The 21-yearold won stages three and four to wrap up the general classification, outsprinting Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) and Emmanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) on the former, and Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) on the latter. Stage one was won by Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe), which was his first victory outside Australia this season, two by Mark Cavendish (AstanaQazaqstan) and stage five by Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious). In the French Cup, Axel Zingle (Cofidis) won the Boucles de l’Aulne-Châteaulin ahead of Alexandre Delettre (St MichelMavic-Auber93), with Mads Würtz Schmidt (Israel-Premier Tech) in third. On Saturday, Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) won the Tour du Finistère in a bunch sprint, beating Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), with Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) in third.
14 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly British Continental women’s team Lifeplus-Wahoo are hoping to step up a tier next season and become a ProTeam from 2025. The new tier will be introduced for the first time next year, serving as a second professional division of women’s cycling teams, and bridging the gap from Continental to WorldTour. Coming off the back of the squad not gaining an invite to this year’s Tour de France Femmes, general manager Tom Varney confirmed the ambition. “That’s the aim for us,” he said. “It’ll be our 10th year next year also, and I think we deserve Lifeplus-Wahoo aim for pro ranks Continental squad hopes to mark 10-year anniversary with ProTeam status to be at that level. We have to finalise a few things and see what the regulations say, but the aim is to be there.” To meet the ProTeam criteria, teams will have to register with the UCI, rather than just their national federation, providing a bank guarantee and committing to pay a minimum salary to riders. The UCI originally planned to introduce the new tier in 2026, matching the men’s structure, but brought it forward in view of the “current boom” in women’s cycling. Varney understands Lifeplus-Wahoo are one of four Continental teams worldwide to request more information from the UCI, and the only one of the current six British Continental teams. “We would like to differentiate ourselves from the other UK teams, but also the other 30-odd, 40-odd Conti teams around the world,” the Lifeplus-Wahoo boss said. “We would like to see some progress commercially within the UK. I think we’ve seen a lot of growth in women’s sport: football, rugby, cricket. I think it’s about time that we saw some of that level of commercial success in cycling.” Currently, there are no British women’s WorldTour teams, meaning there are none at professional level. “I think the UK
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 15 Words TomDavidson Photos Getty Images, SWpix.com “We would like to differentiate ourselves from other UK teams” riders, and the juniors that we see coming up, deserve something to aim for,” Varney said. “We don’t have a team on par with those that we see in the WorldTour and the countries that are leading the way, and I think the UK deserves that.” This season, Lifeplus-Wahoo have had to adjust their plans after finding out T O M D AV I D S O N CW news writer For a country with such strong roots in the sport, it always surprises me that there’s no British women’s team at WorldTour level. One of the things that stood out in my chat with Lifeplus-Wahoo boss Tom Varney was that he feels the up-and-coming juniors “deserve something to aim for”, a top-level squad riding under the British flag. It reminded me of a conversation I had with Emma Trott, who used to head up the junior women’s pathway within British Cycling. We were discussing role models, and how all the best British riders, like Lizzie Deignan and Pfeiffer Georgi, ride for foreign teams. “We don’t have a, well, I suppose an Ineos Grenadiers,” Trott said. “The junior lads have got something really cool to look up to. They really want to go and ride for Ineos, you hear it all the time. We don’t have that.” She’s right, of course. Not since WiggleHigh5, which disbanded in 2018, has there been a top-tier British women’s team capable of winning WorldTour races. And yet, the current crop of British female juniors are probably the best in the world. Take 18-year-old Cat Ferguson, for example, who has finished on the podium in all 12 of her race days so far this season. She has already signed up to join Movistar as a trainee this summer. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a British squad that could nurture such talent? I tip my hat to Lifeplus-Wahoo, and their ambition to join the pro ranks. Of course, their aim for now is the ProTour, but if the progress continues, the WorldTour won’t seem so far away. they had not been invited to the Tour de France Femmes, despite having taken part in the opening two editions. Varney received the news from social media. “I think it’s definitely a shame,” he said. “Of course, it was never guaranteed for us to be there. We’ve always had a plan A and a plan B, but it’s been a little bit of a blow.” Maddie Leech (left) congratulates ElunedKing on herCiCLEClassicwin Lifeplus-Wahoo are aiming tostep up to the UCI’s newpro tier
16 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly W Park asks for Strava segment removal Strava has been asked by the Royal Parks to remove segments based in Regent’s Park, after a pedestrian was killed in a collision with a cyclist. Strava was asked to remove the ‘Outer Circle’ from its leaderboards. The collision took place in June 2022 and involved pedestrian Hilda Griffiths, 81, who was hit by cyclist Brian Fitzgerald and later died of her injuries. N E W S Elite British racing on screen Elite-level British road racing is back on screens with the advent of Monument TV, which broadcast its first event – the Lincoln Grand Prix – at the weekend. It has moved from clips of National Road Series races on Instagram, to highlights, to now putting the last hour of the elite races out live through its own streaming service, at a cost of £5.99 to subscribers. Next event in the National Series is the Tour of the Reservoir on 6-7 July. 250kg The British Cycling gym squat record fell last week when GB track cyclist Matt Rotherham lifted this mammoth amount. The 29-year-old, a gold-medal-winning tandem sprint pilot, is preparing for this summer’s Paralympics. He told CW that he’d had an easy week the previous week and the time was ripe to make the attempt. The previous mark – 245kg – was held jointly by Jamie Staff and Ali Fielding. T H E H U B Unbound rocks out This year’s Unbound route heads north into the Flint Hills of Kansas, USA, and promises plenty of rocky action – a far cry from last year’s muddy mayhem. Organisers of the world’s biggest gravel event say it’s the most technical course yet and features the usual 100, 200 and 350-mile ‘XL’ options. The races and accompanying events take place between 29 May and 2 June and celebrated entrants include Classics star Greg Van Avermaet, who retired from pro road racing last year. All the news you might have missed from the last seven days W Zwift hikes prices Zwift subscribers were told last week they would be paying 38.4% more each month from June onwards. UK prices go up from £12.99 per month to £17.99, in what was the virtual cycling platform’s first subscription increase since 2017. Users were told in an email: “We have made this change to allow us to continue making indoor cycling fun with more content experiences and product innovation.” This year’s gravelspectacular will be themosttechnical yet Ride on for £17.99 amonth Words James Shrubsall Photos Andy Jones, Getty Images You’llfind the best ofUK racing onMonument TV
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 19 Some time ago I was riding home through West Wickham when I passed three cyclists, side-by-side, with the outer two holding each other’s arms behind the central rider. As I passed they called, “Hey, mate, do you have a chain tool?” The middle rider had no chain. I had one at home which was just a few hundred yards from where we were. I led them there, got out the workstand, and, while one of them put the bike in place, hunted out the chain tool. “Do you know how to use one?” I asked. “Yes, I’m OK with this,” he replied. The owner of the stricken bike was on the phone to someone, and while the other got on with fixing the chain, the third rider asked me if I knew who the person was working on the bike. I told him I didn’t. “That’s Maurice Burton,” he said. Me and my big mouth! I bet Paul Jones never got that story for his book about Maurice. Andy Bebington, email Ed – A lovely story, Andy. I bet there are lots of riders in south London who have good stories about Maurice. Burton blunder leaves Andy the weakestlink CTTregs and road bike time trials The road bike category is a brilliant innovation and needs a championship. But there’s an obvious problem with rules that are so broad that they cover multiple bikes. This means the limits can be pushed, as George Fox has done. He might be competing inside the rules, but a world away from the spirit of the category. Lee Wood Fox’s bike was basically a TT bike with a set of longer, bespoke handlebars allowing the rider to rest his arms on them and still reach the brake hoods. And two water bottles for 22 miles, clearly used for aero purposes and to attach the rear light. Colin Atkinson We all saw this coming due to the poor rules that were put in place on day one. Wheels need to be 60mm, and hands should always be the point of contact on the bars. George has complied with the rules, so the result should stand, but if the CTT wants to encourage road bikes then the rules need bringing in line with what they wish to see. Neil Mackley That bike in question is notreally in the spirit of the road bike class, it’s a modified TT bike. The idea is to encourage more people to try TTing without the fancy bike and helmets. Tom Wall Rule 29 of the CTT regulations states that the rider cannot lean their forearms on their handlebars to simulate a TT position. Gareth Cheesman I think we might be getting to a point where we stipulate the bike that has to be ridden. Then you either ride that – or you don’t take part. Then it returns the sport to pure athleticism. 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22 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly *But can it last? The US finally has a clutch of star riders again, but is it
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 23 merica’s back, baby! After a lull spanning almost a decade and a half, going back to the era of Lance Armstrong and his misbehaving compatriots, star-spangled riders representing the USA are once again in the ascendant. Whether it’s Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) winning the 2023 Vuelta a España, his team-mate Matteo Jorgensen triumphing in ParisNice and Dwars door Vlaanderen, or Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) winning on average once every six race days this season, the US has a plethora of riders on a number of different teams excelling across all terrains and distances. The question is, can it last? s top-level success built on solid foundations, asks Chris Marshall-Bell
Kuss headed up a spectacular team1-2-3 atlast year’sVuelta 24 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly now better known for, and more invested in, gravel and city-centre criterium racing. Given these conditions at home, if the current collection of US superstars are here despite a failing domestic road racing scene, might they turn out to be the last great American cohort to hit Europe? “You ask me how I’d rate the American road scene right now,” Knickman said. “Easy answer: it’s very unhealthy. The road scene is not good at all.” WorldTour renaissance Let’s not be too gloomy. It would be Following in the wheel tracks of that standout trio, there’s even more talent: Luke Lamperti (Soudal QuickStep), 21, has been tipped to emulate Tom Boonen; Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers), 22, has already claimed three pro victories; national champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), just turned 23, has world-beating potential; Riley Sheehan (Israel-Premier Tech), also 23, won Paris-Tours as a stagiaire; while the baby faces of Sheehan’s team-mate Matthew Riccitello, 22, and AJ August (Ineos Grenadiers), 18, have both been backed to develop into a stage racing superpowers. It’s little surprise, then, that the man credited with nurturing a good chunk of this precocious bunch when they were juniors, Roy Knickman, is enjoying the fruits of his work from his home in Wisconsin, and wondering, like the rest of us, just how successful the Class of 2024 will go on to be. “Watching these Americans and this younger generation getting results is making all of us so excited about bike racing,” the former pro, who was the director of the highly-acclaimed but now defunct Lux Development team, told CW. But scratch beneath the surface and a multitude of problems tarnish the shine, prompting questions about just how long this American wave will last. There is a paucity of US development teams, and only three pro teams above Conti level; US stage races have all but disappeared; and American cycling is Jorgenson is delighted to have made the jump toVisma
“Might they turn out to be the last great American cohort?” “I still have room to grow”, and he will defend his Vuelta title this summer. That determination to win the biggest races is just as present in Visma-Lease a Bike’s new recruit Matteo Jorgensen. Between last January and June, while riding for Movistar, he spent his entire wages on training and equipment to make a step up, including organising his own altitude camps. “I was quite motivated to move to one of the best teams – that was really in my head as a goal. I thought of it as one year to go all-in and just hold nothing back,” the 24-year-old told CW. “For me, [Visma] is the best environment I could be in. It makes me a lot happier and it’s a lot easier to do my job.” But can he replicate Kuss, his new Privateer racer Joe Laverick (Ribble Rebellion) spent the first six weeks of his 2024 season racing in the USA. We asked the 23-year-old Brit to outline the differences he observed between the US and UK domestic scenes You could fit 40 of the UK into the USA, in terms of landmass. With that in mind, it’s no surprise there are vast differences between the UK and US cycling scenes. If you ask a US rider, they’ll say that their domestic cycling scene is weak; but from an outside perspective looking in, it’s incredible. There’s no hiding the fact that gravel is rapidly becoming the darling of the US. It’s easy to understand why – the infrastructure is so different. The US doesn’t really have country roads, instead it has gravel roads. As soon as you get out of major areas, paved roads turn into gravel. The US domestic scene is healthy, because every bike race is an event first and foremost. Most of the big US events have a music festival or other community events happening alongside them. The biggest gravel races have thousands of participants, from pros all the way down to first-time gravel riders. We did a crit in Georgia where it seemed the bike race was just one small part of the town’s party. Looking back to my development years, though, I’d much rather be a Brit coming through than an American. When you’re developing as a junior or U23, you want to be racing in mainland Europe – much easier from the UK. There are so many British teams that offer development trips to France and Belgium, which is priceless to a rider’s progress. I’d say it’s easier for a UK rider to break through. The UK and US scenes are just so different that it’s hard to compare them. While the US may not have as many WorldTour riders as we do right now, riding in the States – the racing, the training, the lifestyle – is much more enjoyable than being in the UK. B R I T A B R O A D ‘Every bike race is a party!’ team-mate and fellow countryman, as a Grand Tour victor? “I think for my size [6ft 3in] it’d be a pretty big challenge to go for three weeks with so much energy demand,” he said. “That’s the biggest limiting factor: I just have a much bigger frame than most of these guys, and it’s really difficult to see how I would maintain that over three weeks. One-week races I can get through pretty well; it’s when it’s chained together over three, four days between 3,000 and 4,000m [of elevation gain per stage] that I don’t think I could recover well enough. But that’s obviously just me theorising because I’ve never tried it.” Israel-Premier Tech’s Riccitello, meanwhile, was set to comfortably win disingenuous to write that, post-Lance, America fell completely out of love with cycling. Sure, sponsors pulled back and armchair fans found new sports, but there were still a smattering of big wins, including Chris Horner’s Vuelta a España triumph in 2010 at the eye-popping age of 41, and the occasional dash of brilliance from Tyler Farrar, Tejay van Garderen, Taylor Phinney and Andrew Talansky. But American cycling, in comparison to its (sometimes artificially-enhanced) highs of previous decades at least, was on a trajectory of long-term decline. It was only in 2019, when Simmons became junior world champion, a year before Kuss’s breakthrough Grand Tour performance as a super-domestique, that American fans finally believed that sustained cycling success was once again attainable. That hope has since transformed into reality, rubber-stamped by Kuss’s enormously popular win at the Vuelta last year. When speaking with this magazine recently, Kuss, 29, said that A M E R I C A Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 25
26 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly venture capitalists came together to invest in the National Cycling League (NCL), with the aim of creating a rotating professional crit circuit around the country with millions of dollars in prize money. The dream, however, sputtered along, and in April the NCL announced that no races will take place in 2024. The NCL’s failure is symbolic of the wider American scene: in the past decade, almost all of the country’s biggest UCI races have ceased to exist, including the Tour of California – a regular fixture on the WorldTour calendar – the Tour of Utah, the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, and latterly, the Joe Martin Stage Race. It means in 2024, the solitary UCI stage race on American soil has already been held – April’s Tour of the Gila – and there’s only one one-day race that’ll have WorldTour representation: September’s Maryland Classic.“It’s become ever harderto put on races because of the difficulties in closing roads, the large costs for policing, and the finance needed forthese events,” Knickman explained.“These races and that level ofracing are disappearing, and all the money has gone to criteriums because they’re easierto put on and more entertaining forthe general public.” Reduced home calendar Lamperti has another string to his bow: he has won the last three National Criterium Championships, denying often much older riders whose entire racing focus is centred on the US crit scene. Indeed, it is a scene that has attracted a lot of attention and big crowds in recent years, making genuine stars out of the likes of Justin Williams and the Legion team. The big bucks looked set to multiply at the turn of the 2023 season when a number of high-profile celebrities and last year’s Tour de l’Avenir until he was ambushed on the final day. “He’s a pure climber,” said his team’s DS Sam Bewley. “He’s focused on doing really fast climbs and getting up mountains fast. He’ll be a GC rider in the future for sure… and he’s going to be a good bike rider very, very soon.” Asked by CW how he takes those compliments, the mild-mannered Riccitello said: “Pressure is a privilege, and you have to embrace it.” Few forecasts of success have been as big and bold as the one Patrick Lefevere placed on the young shoulders of Lamperti shortly after he joined Soudal Quick-Step last winter. “Tom Boonen started as a sprinter and ended as a Classics guy,” the veteran team boss said. “I think with Luke it can be the same thing. Watch out for this American boy.” The 21-year-old’s start to professional life got off to a flyer – three seconds and a third place in his first seven days of racing, before debuting in half-a-dozen Classics. “The comparison with Tom Boonen is… uff, a long shot,” the affable Californian said. “He’s a big rider to live up to ... if I could do a fraction of what he did, I’ll have a successful career. One of the reasons I joined this team is because I believe I can go to the very top and it’s motivating that Patrick is thinking I can be that good.” “I can’t see a lot of riders coming from the US road scene” Could Lamperti be the next Classics king? Levefere thinksso Riccitelllo’s climbing high and could be a future GCcontender
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 27 The situation for women’s cycling in the US is similar to that of the men’s: there are few races and just three US-registered teams present in the big races. A handful of riders have excelled at various points in the past decade – notably Evelyn Stevens in 2012, the all-conquering Megan Guarnier in 2016, and former Tour of Flanders winner Coryn Labecki in 2017 and 2018 – but no one has come close this century to consistently matching the feats of time trial supremo and three-time Olympic champion Kristin Armstrong. Chloé Dygert, a 12-time world champion on the track and road, is the poster woman for American cycling right now. “It’s a bummer the way it is because I do feel like America has a lot to offer the cycling world,” the reigning time trial world champion told CW. “America is great, everyone wants to go to America, so it’s sad to see these races collapsing, but if you’re good enough, you’re in Europe. “It’d be great to have these races come back, but it’s hard to get the funds and resources to be able to run them. It’s hard for European teams to fly over there with all their equipment, and then every race organiser has to provide transfers and team vehicles. It’s complicated but I hope one day things will get better.” U S F E M A L E R A C I N G What about the women? Dying grassroots It’s an outlook that is mirrored in other parts of the world, none more so than the UK. What will be the result of a dwindling road circuit? Knickman: “I can’t see a lot of riders coming from the US road scene and ending up in Europe because they haven’t got the calendar to race here.” Some of the most recent to cross the pond, Riccitello and Lamperti, share Knickman’s concerns. “Not having any stage races is going to have a pretty big effect,” Riccitello said. “Even though we have a lot of good American riders now, we’d have even more if those races were still happening. Having the tours of California, Utah and Colorado would be a huge benefit to the US cycling scene.” Lamperti added: “I’d say that the top guys will still come through, but there won’t be as much depth. The ones who do a year in the US as an U23 and then develop later, they’re going to find it much harder to get spotted by a European team because there are no US stage races to show that talent. You have to race gravel or go to the Dygertwould like to seemore European teamsracing in theUS A M E R I C A
A M E R I C A 28 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly So where does this all leave American cycling? On one hand, in Kuss, Jorgensen, Lamperti, Riccitello and many others, the American flag is poised to continue being raised high above many different race podiums in the ensuing years, including at the Tour de France. But unless new funding and appetite can be found for road racing in town halls across the country – and the stark truth is that cycling is not a mainstream sport in the country of 330 million baseball and American football fans – the long-term future looks rather bleak. The current crop of high-performing Americans might well be the final ones to descend on Europe en masse for generations to come. “The best guys will always make it, and I really think we’ll continue to see US athletes coming through with the combination of Hot Tubes, EF juniors and the national federation sending riders to Europe,” Knickman concluded, “but unfortunately we have a domestic system that is very weak, one that doesn’t compare to European countries, and one that is failing to get enough riders recognised by European U23 teams. This is not an absolute death or absolute demise for the US, but things haven’t been going well and I worry about the future.” T H E W R I T E R Chris Marshall-Bell Episode 6 of Chris’s podcast investigation into motor-doping ‘Ghost in the Machine’ is out now @cmbell310 chrissymbell fortunes of US road cycling is the ever-expanding gravel scene that has its worldwide roots firmly entrenched in American soil. Despite gravel’s explosion in popularity, however, there appears little chance, according to Knickman, that its success will breathe new life into the floundering prospects of its once much bigger sibling, road racing. “The culture of gravel is just so different, and because it’s largely built on extreme distances of 100- and 200-mile races, it goes against the development philosophy, so I just don’t see it becoming a major pathway to the road – unless there was more focus and promotion put into the juniors.” crit scene, which is fun and there is money in it, but it doesn’t translate to the road.” There is another hitch: although both Lidl-Trek and EF Education-EasyPost are registered as US WorldTour teams, the biggest second-tier outfit from the country, Human Powered Health, formerly known as Rally Cycling, folded at the end of the 2023 season, depriving yet more Americans of toplevel European racing. At a junior level, Knickman’s Lux team closed its doors in late 2022 after failing to pull in the necessary sponsorship, leaving Hot Tubes Cycling and the EF EducationOnto set-ups as the only junior teams offering American riders frequent opportunities to race in Europe. “Riders like Matthew, Luke, Magnus and Quinn will always end up on a WorldTour team – they’re too gifted and determined not to – but junior teams like what we had at Lux and Hot Tubes are a necessity because there are other riders who can only make it if they have guidance, development and a fuller program of European racing,” Knickman said. “Bringing them to Europe really is the only pathway.” Against the backdrop of the mixed Leftto right: Lamperti, Quinn, Riccitello, Sheffield Sheffieldwas best young rider atlast year’s Tour of Britain
30 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly F E A T U R E Photos Andy Jones, SWPix, Getty Cancelled races, folded teams, bankrupt organise to be in tatters. But is the outlook really as dire C R I S I S ? W H
ers, Britain’s domestic road racing scene appears as it seems? Charlie Graham-Dixon investigates HAT C R I S I S ? Given all the doomladen headlines and social media posts over the past couple of years, you would be forgiven for thinking the UK domestic road racing scene is in a state of deep crisis. With teams folding, races cancelled and investment from local authorities reduced, it is clear the scene faces stern challenges. But how bad is the situation really? I decided to speak to race organisers, team directors and riders to find out. Looking back at a seemingly brighter past, there were six British men’s UCI Continental teams in 2019 and 2020. There are now just two in 2024, the fewest in 15 years. Some of the UK’s biggest races have been cancelled or are under threat. The Tour de Yorkshire, a prestigious UCI stage race previously won by WorldTour stars Thomas Voeckler and Greg Van Avermaet, was discontinued in 2019. That race, aside from boosting the Yorkshire region, also served as a shop window for young UK talent, who could flex their muscles alongside WorldTour riders and potentially be scouted to the highest level of the sport. Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 31
32 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly The Tour Series, criterium-style circuit races held in town centres and running since 2009, was cancelled in 2023, with organisers Sweetspot – now fallen into liquidation – citing the worst economic challenges it had faced since the inaugural 2009 edition. Meanwhile, races in the men’s National Road Series (now known as the Open Calendar), including the Tour of the Reservoir stage race and Manx International stage races, were cancelled or disappeared altogether, and in 2023 the series comprised just four fixtures. This year, there will be five open-category races and six women’s races. The UK’s biggest race, The Tour of Britain, had faced an uncertain future after British Cycling terminated its working agreement with race organiser Sweetspot over unpaid right fees amounting to £700,000. The 2023 women’s race was cancelled, while the men’s edition had already faced criticism for its mostly flat parcours, which saw Visma-Lease a Bike sprinter Olav Kooij win the first four sprint stages. To add to Sweetspot’s woes, its founder Hugh Roberts and race organiser Mick Bennett recently retired. However, British Cycling stepped in to assume organisation of the 2024 race. The Tour of Britain Women will take place over four stages between 6-9 June, and the men’s race will comprise six stages over 3-8 September. Women’s racing in the UK appears to be faring better, with six UCI Women’s teams in 2024 (the highest number ever), four elite development teams and six National Road Series races taking place this year. Added to the WorldTeam success of the Bäckstedt sisters at Lidl-Trek and Canyon-SRAM, women’s cycling in the UK seems to be on an upward trajectory. Cycling's new Task Force Responding to the challenges in UK racing, British Cycling recently launched its Elite Road Racing Task Force. Led by former Olympian Ed Clancy, and with a panel of experts including Steve Fry, Monica Greenwood and John Herety, the task force hopes to reinvigorate the ailing UK scene, making 40 recommendations. These include developing event organiser succession plans for all National Series events; a targeted sponsorship agreement for the National Series; increasing the number of UCI 1.2 and 2.2 races; ensuring delivery of the Tour of Britain and a UCI Women’s WorldTour stage race in 2024; reviewing the national road calendar to ensure more races are held outside of the north of England; and prioritising National Circuit Series locations by audience size. Feeling the pinch Those closely involved in the UK scene have high hopes that the task force will make a positive impact. “If it [the task force] does what it’s set up to do, it should rejuvenate the scene,” says Steve Lampier, former DS at Saint Piran and now DS at the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Newgen development “Races are cancelled due to money. Councils can’t afford them and sponsors have fallen away" F E A T U R E Thewomen's domestic race scene isfaringwell FinnCrocketttakesthewin for Saint Piran atlast year's Beaumont Trophy
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 33 team. “They need time, though. If they give themselves two years, they should achieve most of it.” Why does Lampier think so many races have been cancelled, and what has been the effect? “Races are cancelled due to money,” he says. “Councils can’t afford the racing and sponsors have fallen away. When I was with Saint Piran, it was often cheaper for me to take a team to France or Belgium than to Northumbria for a Premier Calendar race, and that can’t be right.” As a successful former pro who raced for the likes of JLT-Condor and Ribble Weldtite, Lampier is a passionate advocate for UK racing. “I came up through the scene so I know how important and prestigious Harry Tanfield, 29, competed in the WorldTour, first with Katusha in 2019, then with AG2R La Mondiale in 2020 and Qhubeka NextHash in 2021. He's now back in Britain riding for Saint Piran. CW: Assessment of the current UK scene? HT: With the lack of teams in this country, prospects aren’t great for UK riders. Riders will need to take a ride from any foreign development team over a UK team if they want to go pro, which is unfortunate. CW: Why is this happening? HT: Cycling is a relatively popular sport here but it’s not easily accessible to watch either on TV or online. Even with sites like GCN/ Discovery, they won’t broadcast UK races. [Some UK races are broadcast on monumentcycling.com, available for £4.49 per month.] CW: So, coverage is a big issue? HT: The UK needs to find a way to offer more coverage. Money talks and cycling can’t go on without it. If there’s no coverage, no one’s going to get into cycling. CW: Is it harder now for young riders to reach the WorldTour? HT: Yes. I was noticed by winning at the Tour de Yorkshire and doing well in the National Road Series. The Tour of Britain is important but that’s in trouble. Unless riders compete in UCI races abroad it's hard for them to get seen. D O M E S T I C R A C E R ’ S V I E W 'Coverage is key' UK races are, and when I was DS at Saint Piran we would still take part, but the costs were astronomical.” The UK needs more pro races, in Lampier’s view. “We’re desperate for some good UCI racing in the UK, we are missing that,” he says. “We had the Tour de Yorkshire, which is sadly gone; Ride London, which became a WorldTour race, that’s now gone; and if the Tour of Britain doesn’t happen that would be a huge blow.” In 2024 there will be just two UCI Open races – the Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic, which was cancelled due to flooding, and the upcoming Tour of Britain. This is in sharp contrast to the six UCI races which took place in 2017.
34 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly There is no shortage of UK talent, according to Lampier, but the current lack of opportunity in the scene means many young riders are heading straight to Europe. “The top junior riders now get taken into WorldTour development squads, so they’re bypassing the UK scene. However, the flipside is, you’ve got some riders who aren’t ready to step up to that level. They might be talented but are still raw and require experience before they can make the step up. Equally, I do believe If you’re talented enough you’ll find a way, but this still doesn’t improve the health of the UK scene.” Decline in volunteering Traditionally most races were organised by clubs, but British Cycling reported a 7% decrease in membership numbers for the year ending March 2023. With most cycling clubs being BC-affiliated, this decline is troubling, and the lack of cluborganised races is a clear consequence. James Hawkins, current race organiser and former rider at elite development team Cycling Sheffield, now runs Yomp Bonk Crew, a Sheffield and Peak Districtbased collective hoping to reinvigorate the UK scene. He explains the challenges his organisation faces: “Running a bike race or team in the current climate is very difficult. If you’re a company sponsoring a team or a race with £5-10k to spend, Race Cat. 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Rutland-Melton Cicle Classic 1.2 Yes No* No Yes Yes No** Ford RideLondon Classique 2.WWT Yes No* No Yes Yes Yes Women’s Tour*** 2.WWT Yes No* Yes Yes No Yes Tour of Britain 2.Pro Yes No* Yes Yes Yes Yes Tour de Yorkshire 2.HC Yes No* No No No No Tour de Yorkshire (WMN) 2.1 Yes No* No No No No Women’s Tour of Scotland 2.1 Yes No* No No No No Total 7 0 2 4 3 3 D R O P - O F F I N U C I F I X T U R E S Britain’s dwindling race scene The UCI road races that went ahead (or were cancelled) over the last five years *All cancellations in 2020 due to Covid. **2024 Men’s Cicle Classic cancelled due to flooding ***Now called Tour of Britain Women when a recession hits, the first thing you do is try to pull that money back.” Hawkins explains that a lack of volunteering, still the lifeblood of domestic racing, along with a lack of cluborganised races, is having a detrimental effect on the British scene. “Clubs used to be more keen on promoting races and having club members racing,” he says. “If you didn’t race for your team, you’d race for a club, but that’s happening less now. Now you’ve got people racing for teams who don’t put races on or who don’t marshal, and it makes it harder for the scene to survive. We need more people getting involved to keep the scene going.” Quality over quantity As mentioned, there are currently just two UCI men’s Continental teams in the UK, Trinity Racing and Saint Piran. Dominating the UK racing scene last season with regular victories, including a one-two-three at the Lincoln Grand Prix, Saint Piran have also been flexing their muscles on the Continent, gaining valuable UCI points and race experience. While performing well domestically does boost career prospects, it is more often success in larger European races that seals signings to WorldTour teams. F E A T U R E
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 35 Charlie Graham-Dixon is a freelance journalist and keen road rider based in London. @CharlesGD charlesgrahamdixon Saint Piran team director Richard Pascoe challenges the negative view on the UK scene. “Is it actually in poor health?” he asks. “OK, there are fewer teams, but let’s say there were four UK UCI teams with 16 riders each – how many of those riders are actually of a UCI standard? I’m not sure there are 64 riders of that quality to choose from in the UK. I think for the resources and the talent pool that we have at our disposal, three teams would be the ideal number.” Pascoe is clear that it’s the quality, rather than quantity, of a rider’s race programme that counts. “If you want to turn pro from the Conti scene, you have to have a very good programme,” he tells me. “That means certain races in the UK and certain races in Europe. WorldTour teams are looking for UCI points, it’s as simple as that.” Pascoe takes aim at the cycling media for being overly critical, homing in on the 2023 edition of the Tour of Britain as a race he believes was unduly criticised. “I don’t think it was a failure,” he argues. “The crowds were big, [and] it was fast, aggressive racing throughout. It provided a platform for our riders to get noticed by WorldTour and Pro teams. I think overall we need the cycling media to be less negative. We’re all part of the same ecosystem and it’s in all our interests to showcase UK cycling in its best light.” Following the summer of 2012, which saw British Olympic success on both the road and track, along with Bradley Wiggins’s Tour de France victory, there was a UK cycling boom. However, this feels like a distant memory, with cycling once more relegated to niche sport status. However, the UK has a knack of producing top-level talent. British WorldTour debutantes this yearinclude Finlay Pickering (Bahrain-Victorious), Lukas Nerurkar and Jack RootkinGray (both EF Education-EasyPost). Meanwhile, 21-year-old Joe Blackmore, recently promoted to Israel-Premier Tech’s WorldTourteam, has already won three stage races this season, as well as the U23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Even so, it should not be taken for granted that the UK will continue producing such talent. There needs to be a healthy UK racing scene in orderfor young riders to show their skills and hopefully reach the top of the sport. The challenges ahead Some of the challenges facing the domestic racing scene include a relative lack of public interest in cycling, with a 29% drop-off in participation between March 2021 and December 2023, according to the Cycling Traffic Index. The UK is also a densely populated country with increasingly heavy traffic, which makes holding road races difficult. Negative attitudes towards cycling and unfavourable headlines in the rightleaning press add further headwinds. From speaking to race organisers, riders, team directors and sports directors, the consensus is that the most talented riders will always find a pathway to the top. But more work is required, both at a grassroots level and from British Cycling, to ensure more races take place, more people volunteer, and that races are safe, numerous and accessible, so as to boost public interest and provide a greater and more visible incentive to would-be sponsors. All eyes are on the Elite Road Racing Task Force, which certainly has its work cut out. “If you want to turn pro from the Conti scene, you have to have a very good programme” The 2023 Tour of Britainwas panned by the pundits but not by the public
36 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly Elise Uijen’s Scott FoilRC T E C H P R O B I K E Elise Uijen’s Scott Foil RC is, for the most part, the archetypal WorldTour aero bike. It features the familiar deep-section tubing and the slimline integrated cockpit – slammed of course – that are commonplace on race bikes designed to cheat the wind. Born from an approach that considers bike, components and rider as one aerodynamic system rather than an assemblage of parts, the engineers managed to shave off the watts, with the new Foil said to be one minute, 18 seconds faster over 40km than the previous model. However, despite the shape of the tubes, Scott was able to drop the frame’s weight by a claimed 9%, due in part to a new carbon layup and fewer carbon parts that led to a 30% reduction in the number of joints. As well as prioritising aero gains and low weight, Scott’s engineers worked hard to ensure this latest Foil is more comfortable than ever. Its Syncros Creston iC SL Aero bars, dropped seatstays and Syncros Duncan SL Aero CFT seatpost were developed with compliance in mind. There’s now clearance for 30mm tyres too. Elsewhere, the bike features a 12-speed Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, with Uijen opting for a 54/40 chainset for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where this bike was photographed, and the Japanese brand’s C50 wheels, which unsurprisingly feature 50mm-deep rims. The Savone saddle is another Syncros component, a brand Scott acquired in 2012. The Team DSMFirmenich PostNL rider’s aero machine SY N C R O S C R E STO N I C S L A E R O B A R S The integrated bars and stem are a slimmed-down aero version of the model of the same name that features on Scott’s Addict RC road bike. Scott says they also incorporate adaptive compliance – stiffer when in the drops but more compliant when riding on the hoods DR O P P ED S E AT STAYS Who says aero bikes can’t be comfortable? By dropping the seatstays on the Foil RC, Scott’s built in additional compliance while still being able to make some aero gains too. It says the 10° angle of the stays forces passing air into the spokes, while their position hides the disc brake caliper for more drag reduction
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 37 Slipstream-creating forks offer clearance for 30mmtyres Words Luke Friend Photos Andy Jones H O T K I T Fed up with loading a filthy bike into the back of your vehicle? Tired of tripping over power cables? Then Muc-Off’s new mobile pressure washer could be a blessing. It features an integrated 20-litre water tank and is powered by a 500W motor that runs off a detachable 40V lithium-ion battery. The battery can be charged in three to four hours and has a claimed run time of 24 minutes in eco mode, and 15 minutes in boost mode. The difference in pressure between the two modes is 507psi and 652psi respectively. This can be increased to 942psi when using the adjustable lance. The washer is self-priming too, a feature which Muc-Off says delivers instant pressure as soon as you press the trigger. The aforementioned lance is one of four supplied, with two designed for bicycles and motorcycles, plus a third for ‘snow foam’ for when a deep clean is required. To aid portability, the washer comes with wheels and a detachable towing handle. The unit is 39cm tall, 32cm wide and 42cm deep and has a claimed weight of 7.66kg. A dry bag holdall and an additional battery are available as aftermarket accessories. V I T TO R I A T Y R E S The Italian brand’s Corsa Pro remains one of the most popular tyres in the professional ranks. For Omloop, Uijen used the 28mm width set up tubeless by her team mechanics. The Foil frameset has clearance for 30mm should the Dutch rider need to go wider MUC- OFF MOBILE PRESSURE WASHER Q Price: £250 Q Contact: muc-off.com H E A D TUB E P R O F I L E Scott’s engineers deepened the head tube for two reasons. It enabled fully integrated cabling for both mechanical and electronic groupsets, but vitally, the shape also performs as a fairing, reducing drag and helping to save a few watts
it finally surpassed Shimano?Well, SRAM has drastically improved on key points, but as a package I don’tthink it quite usurps Shimano. Let me tell you why. Shifting gear The most striking part of the new SRAM Red AXS groupset is the total aesthetic and ergonomic redesign of the shifters, down, in no small part, to the repositioning of the hydraulic brake master cylinder. After months ofrumour and speculation, the next generation of SRAM Red AXS is finally here. The new groupset broke coverin full at the Tour de Romandie three weeks ago, among claims of much-needed improved braking performance, front derailleur shifting, and a new aesthetic. At just 2,496g, it also overtakes Dura-Ace as the lightest discbrake road bike groupset. I have been riding the new groupsetfor the last six weeks, so with hundreds of kilometres on the new cogs,Ifeel wellplaced to answertwo important questions. Has SRAM fixed the issues of old?And has SRAM improves shift quality and tackles braking woes of old in its latest road bike groupset, reports Joe Baker SRAM Red AXS £4,248 | 2,496g 38 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly SRAM’s outgoing groupset featured a bulbous hood design that was, well, polarising to say the least, with many pros even opting for custom shifters that were smallerin diameter. This was because the master cylinder sat vertically in the top of the lever hood. Now, this has been moved down within the body of the shifter, making a massive difference to both comfort and ergonomics. The shifters also now feature auxiliary buttons just “It overtakes Dura-Ace as the lightest disc-brake groupset” S H I F T E R S SRAM has completely redesigned its shifter design, which now features flared brake levers, and auxiliary shift buttons on the hoods DI SC R OTO R S The brake rotors have received a slight redesign. The stylistic change is said to both reduce weight and improve cooling
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 39 S P E C S Cassette (10-28) 180g Bottom bracket 76g Power meter (172.5, 48/35) 580g Rear derailleur 262g Front derailleur 145g Shift brake system (shifters + calipers) 689g Rotors (160mm) 280g Chain (114 links) 236g Batteries (x2) 48g C H A I N S E T The chainset looks relatively unchanged but has lost 100 grams and is now available in shorter crank length options
above where yourthumb sits, which can be programmed to shift or otherwise through the SRAM AXS app. Riding on the hoods is now brilliantly comfortable, as the new design provides a well-sized handhold that offers plenty of control. The new calipers are a two-piece, bolted-together alloy affair, which has enabled SRAM to save 90 grams from the brake system. Clearly, this makes up a large proportion of the total 154g saving over the old SRAM Red. From ride one, improved braking performance was instantly noticeable. These brakes have an abundance of modulation and power – a stark contrast over the outgoing Red. In part, this is down to the repositioning of the brake piston in the caliper, which has been moved out in order to artificially increase the size of the rotor. Additionally, the pivot point for the brake lever is now much higher up, making one-finger braking more accessible and effective. These enhancements make a huge difference to usability and, in my opinion, safety. The ability to apply maximum pressure with such little force at the lever end allows you to stay relaxed in the upper body, avoiding the tensing up that can cause crashes when the going gets sketchy. On prolonged descents, the brakes hold up far better than the old Red too. I have experienced zero brake fade with this groupset, even at the press launch where I hooned down a 6km technical Italian descent. Regarding shift quality, SRAM has played it safe by making few significant changes. The internals and batteries, front and rear, remain the same, with the only real change evident on the rear mech, where the cage is now carbon-fibre, bringing a 12g saving. The front mech has Joe Baker CW tech writer You’ll be thrilled to know that I have used and abused the new Red on all terrains. Testing started in the steep hills of Veneto, where I dived straight into twisting Italian descents and short steep ramps. Since then, I have continued to ride the groupset on my home Cotswolds roads, hardly the Dollies but hilly nonetheless. In short, I’ve put long hours into the new groupset. It’s at this point I should apologise to the people of Horton (near Oxford) for the repeated creaking and pinging noises while stress testing the groupset – it was, of course, all in the name of science. M Y R I D I N G 40 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly been revised slightly, and the cage travel has been reduced for speedier shifting. Watt bombs Much to the dismay of the SRAM engineers at the launch event, I shifted repeatedly up and down the rear cassette, under a constant 600-watt load up a steep climb, and the rear mech did not miss a beat. I haven’t dropped a chain over the test period, but I have experienced a few momentary delays in shifting onto the big chainring. This only occurred at “Integration with the excellent AXS app is stellar” F R O N T DE R A I L L EUR The front mech has also received a minor redesign, with a shorter mech cage throw which is said to make for quicker shifting R E A R C A S S E T T E SRAM Red features cassette sizes all the way up to 10-36. This wide-range cassette was first used by Jonas Vingegaard in the 2023 Tour de France
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 41 S R A M R E D V S S H I M A N O D U R A - A C E The big question on everybody’s lips is how does the new SRAM Red stack up against the bulletproof Dura-Ace Di2? Having put many hours into each groupset, I can tell you the answer is nuanced. What was, in my opinion, a onehorse race, has now become a tight battle between Shimano and SRAM. Braking performance on the new Red groupset has now overtaken that of Dura-Ace. SRAM’s braking is lighter to the touch and offers more modulation than Dura-Ace. Where Shimano still reigns, however, is shift quality. Hyperglide on the latest Dura-Ace provides smoother gear changes under high load, and thanks to separate shifters for each derailleur, it responds quicker too. Additionally, the front mech is slightly more predictable. While both groupsets do an excellent job of shifting gears, Dura-Ace provides a crisper, more seamless experience. Ergonomics is a mixed bag. On the hoods I found the SRAM levers to be very comfortable, and the flared brake levers allow for easy control on the drops. However, tuck into an aero race position and you’ll find Shimano’s smaller levers remain more comfortable. So if I had to choose one, which would it be? For my riding applications, it would still be Shimano Dura-Ace, but if my riding was more endurance-focused, it would be SRAM on my shopping list. the tops of climbs, at more extreme chain angles. SRAM does have a systemic issue with shift speed. Because there isn’t a designated shifter for the front derailleur, the system has a shift delay of around 50-70ms before committing to either a front or rear derailleur shift. Small, but noticeable. Integration with the excellent AXS app, on the other hand, is stellar. Setting up a new groupset is easier than ever, with the pairing process taking me about five minutes, despite being surrounded by other users pairing their bikes. The app enables you to check the battery life of components, make micro-adjustments to shift indexing, set up the brand new auxiliary buttons for shifting and control a Hammerhead cycle computer. So, it’s a combination of giant technological leaps, and small tentative steps, all in the right direction – but is it enough?Well, almost.The braking performance is now genuinely best in class, which is truly impressive, and shift quality is slightly betterthan the outgoingRed. Yet it’s not quite market-leading. SRAM has certainly raised the bar with the new Red AXS, but it’s not quite on an equal footing with Shimano’s superb Dura-Ace. C H A I N Yet again in the quest for shaving grams off the groupset, SRAM has removed some material from the chain links, saving 13 grams R E A R DE R A I L L EUR SRAM has kept the rear derailleur design fairly similar, but has added a carbon lower cage which saves 11 grams over the outgoing model R A T I N G
The one-piece construction addresses a few of those priorities, minimising the number of components while making them lighter, stiffer and more aerodynamic. To create the single unit, the rim’s carbonfibre is laid up by hand, a latticework of carbon spokes is sandwiched in between and a bearing tube, which carries the DT Swiss hub internals, is bonded into place. The spokes lack nipples, or any kind of adjustability, which is fine because they’re set precisely during manufacture. During product development, Syncros worked closely with German tyre maker Schwalbe, which created the Pro One Aero to bring out the best performance qualities of these wheels. The Capital SLs are both tubeless and hookless, with 28mm said to be the optimum tyre size for both comfort and aerodynamic efficiency. Talking of aero, Syncros claims the Capitals wheels are 7% fasterthan any of the fastest competition: DT Swiss ARC 1100 62mm, Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO 60 and Zipp’s 454 NSW and 404 Firecrest. Of that collection, the DT Swiss wheels are the lightest at 1,381g – still no match for the 1,290g Syncros. The Capitals are sold as suitable for gravel too, able to handle tyres up to 50mm wide, though I’d hesitate to take such an expensive set of hoops onto anything remotely rocky. The ride I used the wheels on a Giant Defy Advanced SL0 I was testing, transferring the huge 10-36 cassette from the original 30mm-deep Cadex wheels. So, are they faster than the stock wheels on my bike? Yes, without reservation. Every comparable ride on the Syncros wheels was faster than on the stock Cadex wheels. One ride used eight watts less and was 2.4kph faster than another with the stock wheels on a similar route in almost identical conditions. All rides on the Capitals used less power than rides on the stock wheels at comparable speeds. On faster rides where the aerodynamics could really make a difference, the power saving was even greater. So, racers travelling at race speeds stand to get the most out of these wheels. Accelerating out of corners wasn’t quite like opening the throttle on a motorbike, but they spin up so quickly that I couldn’t help but smile. And do it The Syncros Capital SL Aero wheels, with their curious carbon monocoque design, are at the cutting edge of wheel development, a superlight solution for riders prepared to invest heavily in their quest for speed. They’re a distant descendant of Syncros’s Silverton mtb wheels, the Scott-owned brand’s first one-piece carbon-fibre wheelset launched back in 2018. Those off-road hoops were ridden to victory by Tom Pidcock at the Tokyo Olympics, and carried Nino Schurter to multiple World Cup victories, so the Capitals come with a fine pedigree. Essentially, each wheel – rims, hubs, spokes and all – is cleverly constructed as a single unit, a technique Syncros says produces a “one-piece carbon wheel system that is lighter, stronger and more responsive”. We’ll see. Construction Syncros’s designers’ priorities began with low weight and inertia, moving on to aerodynamics before concentrating on handling, feel and rolling resistance. Owen Rogers reviews bling carbon wheels with a price tag to match P R O S & C O N S S TAT E - O F -T H E -A R T M O N O CO Q U E D E S I G N U N D E N I A B LY FA S T R E A S S U R I N G LY S TA B L E G E N U I N E LY S U P E R L I G H T AT J U S T 1, 2 9 0 G P R I C Y 42 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly Syncros Capital SL Aero wheels | £3,830 | 1.29kg Spokesforman integrated bonded lattice 60mm-deep rims are tubeless and hookless
S P E C S Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 43 Tyre compatibility: Tubeless and hookless Depth: 60mm Internal width: Front 23mm, Rear 25mm Claimed weight: 1,290g Maximum rider weight: 120kg Min tyre width: 28mm Maximum tyre width: 50mm Hubs: DT Swiss 240 custom internals One-piece construction adds stiffness and savesweight +++++ R A T I N G again. And again. Up hills and on the flat, once up to speed it’s easy to stay there – it feels like you’re being sucked along, all the time making a delicious whooshing sound. It’s not just the noise and speed that make these wheels a delight – the handling is sublime. They slice beautifully through every curve, they’re truly confidence-inspiring, they’re stiff, but not unforgiving, none of that rigidity compromises comfort. And, while the bane of all deep-section wheels used to be crosswind performance, the Capitals maintain stability well. Despite deliberately heading out on windy days, the only time I was caught out was when a lorry passed too close. Are they faster than the competition? Well, we tested these wheels in realworld conditions, rather than against their rivals in a wind tunnel, so it’s hard to say whether they really are the world’s fastest, as claimed. V E R D I C T The Syncros Capital SL Aero wheels don’t just look great, they’re light, fast and stable. In short, they’re the best-handling wheels I have ever used. If we put the price aside, these unique wheels are exceptional. However, for most of us, £3,830 is a prohibitive amount of money to spend, even when considering the crash replacement scheme that brings peace of mind should the worst happen.
46 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly F I T N E S S When a crash left CW’s Tom Davidson with a titanium plate in his cheek, his perspective on cycling started to change. Here’s what he took away from the saga 7 THINGS I LEARNED FROM arlier this year, I lived out one of my mum’s worst nightmares. It happened in an instant. I had cycled to the cinema to meet a friend, and while we were watching the film, the weather outside turned stormy. The wind gusts, I thought, would blow me home effortlessly. The ride lasted less than two minutes. At the first corner – a sharp, wet lefthander – my front wheel slid violently, jackknifing my bike into the tarmac. I don’t remember the impact. All I remember is being scraped off the floor by three men with panicked expressions, who kept asking me if I was OK. Proudly, I shooed them away, but the throbbing in my face, the pain in my wrist, and the general dizziness I felt made it clear to me that I was not, in fact, OK. The nurse in A&E helped me piece together the crash. My left cheek had hit the road, hard, and was now as flat as the tarmac it had bounced off. A CT scan confirmed three fractures in my face, plus a broken wrist, and I was booked in for emergency surgery 48 hours later. This would stop my “eye material” from “sagging” through the broken cheekbone, which sounded like a good idea. Today, a small titanium plate holds it all in place, and will do so for the rest of my life. Photos Richard Butcher/Future, Tom Davidson
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 47
48 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly Crashes in cycling can be life-altering. They can drastically change our relationship with the bike, knock back our confidence, and leave us with lasting scars, a constant reminder of our own fragility. Mine, fortunately, aren’t visible. The surgeons did the whole procedure through the inside of my mouth, making the incision in my gum line. They never told me how many stitches they put in, but I counted seven or eight with my tongue. In the months that followed, as the stitches dissolved and I eased back into riding, my perspective on cycling started to shift. I felt an anxiety I had not experienced on my bike before. Here’s what I learned, and how I rebuilt my confidence. 1You can’t control how you crash I had never had a serious crash before I broke my face. For years, I had ridden under the illusion that, should I ever go down, I would be able to style out the way I fell, manoeuvring my body to roll onto my shoulder and certainly avoid hitting my head. I saw Mark Cavendish do it at the Giro d’Italia last year; on wet roads in Salerno, the former world champion held onto his handlebars as he slid on his side across the finish line. He suffered no breaks, and went on to win on the final day in Rome. I, however, am not Mark Cavendish. Perhaps the scariest thing I learned from my crash is that you can hit the floor in a blink, falling before you can react. I never had a chance to touch my brakes or adjust my line through the corner. One F I T N E S S second I was upright, the next I was in a heap on the floor. Now I’m acutely aware of how quickly my fortunes can turn, and I’m a more cautious rider because of it – something that has taken the sting out of my average speed but has got me all the way home every ride. 2Concussion is no laughing matter Though I was ultimately not diagnosed with a concussion, the doctors took the prospect very seriously – more seriously, in fact, than they took my broken bones. Immediately after the impact to my head, my memory blanked. I staggered, dazed, back to my friend’s house, where he asked me two questions. “Do you know what day it is?” I didn’t. “Do you know what we did this afternoon?” Again, I didn’t. I couldn’t recall the cinema. Concussions generally take a few weeks to pass, but can have much longer-term effects. Taco van der Hoorn, who rides for IntermarchéWanty and won a stage of the Giro d’Italia in 2021, suffered a “severe concussion” when he crashed at last year’s Tour of Flanders and still today, over a year on, is yet to return to racing. If you bump your head in a crash, look out for symptoms such as confusion, dizziness and nausea, but also more subtle changes like forgetfulness and heightened “I never had the chance to touch my brakes. One second I was upright, the next I was in a heap” Tomsuffered left-cheek fractures and a brokenwrist
Cycling Weekly | 16 May, 2024 | 49 irritability. These typically show up immediately, but can take up to three weeks to appear. If you’re in any doubt, go to hospital, or call 111. 3After any impact, get a new helmet Among the first questions the nurse asked me in the hospital was: “Were you wearing a helmet?” Had I said no, I’m sure I would have been met with an eye roll and a telling off. On this occasion I was able to say ‘yes’. “Good,” she said. “Throw that one away. You’ll need to buy a new one.” For all the broken bones in my body, that thought pained me the most. I had grown attached to my POC helmet, it only had a few small dents and scuffs, and, crucially, I didn’t want to shell out another £100-odd for a new one. Here I have to admit that I had not read the advice that is often printed on a sticker inside a helmet, or at least in the accompanying literature. I checked in with Kask for more info. It said that it recommends replacing a helmet after any impact, “regardless of visible damage, as its ability to absorb future impacts may be compromised”. The brand also said people should “regularly inspect their helmet for signs of deterioration such as cracks, detached parts, warping, flaking or changes in colour, and consider replacing it every three years from the original purchase date to ensure continued protection.” Now, I ride with a new helmet, the same model as before. I’ve kept the old one, too, which hangs in my bedroom as a keepsake, and a warning of what could have been. 4I now wear a helmet on every ride There has always been a prickly debate around wearing helmets. Some people say it’s futile, and only gives motorists confidence to drive recklessly around you. They’ll often cite the Netherlands, where people typically ride uncovered, their hair blowing in the wind. Whether I’m out on my road bike or riding my single-speed runaround, as I was when I crashed, I always wear a helmet. For me, the case is simple. If there’s even the slightest risk of me falling and hitting my head – as there is every Helmets divide opinion butsince the crash Tomwon’t be parted fromhis
50 | 16 May, 2024 | Cycling Weekly time I swing my leg over my bike – I want a helmet to protect me. A positive thing that has come out of my crash is the reflection it has provoked in my cycling friends. One messaged me afterwards to say he was previously someone who “wears a helmet for ‘proper’ rides, but not for commuting or town riding”. My crash, however, “made him think”. The text made me smile. 5Don’t mess with the weather Human foolishness is no match for Mother Nature. On the afternoon of my crash, storm Isha tore across London. I senselessly underestimated her. Gusts of up to 50mph were forecast in the capital. With them at my back, I figured I’d have an easy journey home, practically sailing back to my front door without a push on the pedals. How wrong I was. Of course, rarely does a ride follow one straight road. With each slight bend, the wind’s impact on me changed, bringing with it a new turbulence. At the moment I turned left, my tailwind became a crosswind, which I’m sure scooped my front wheel from underneath me. I should have left my bike at my friend’s house and taken the train. We can’t control the weather, but we can control whether we ride in it. 6Mental recovery takes longer than physical The surgery only took an hour, and for a week or so afterwards, my left cheek ballooned with the swelling. I looked like I had lasted six rounds with Mike Tyson – provided the boxer was only allowed to deliver right hooks – with bruising to match as my skin coloured like turmericstained Tupperware. My wrist cast came off three weeks later and, in theory, I was ready to hit the road again. Except, I didn’t feel like it. I was experiencing a new feeling of vulnerability, a fear that I might cause myself damage again. This is a normal phenomenon, psychologist Dr Marianne Trent told me. “Your body is physically ready, but your mind is going to perhaps need some additional kid gloves. That isn’t a negative thing, it’s just what we know about healing,” she said. “If we do things that are too much of a stretch for us, we’ll become hyper-aroused, which is when you might be anxious, you might have a panic attack, you might feel overwhelmed.” To cope with this, the trick is to ease back into cycling, and be compassionate with yourself. Like me, Dr Trent had also crashed her bike and suffered a broken arm. Now, a year on, she had only recently been able to “mindfully” enjoy her first ride back. “There were big stretches of time where I wasn’t thinking at all about the accident, which is a clear indicator of healing,” she said. “I had this moment where I was like, ‘Ah, I think I’m better now. I think I’m recovered.’” F I T N E S S “We can’t control the weather, but we can control whether we ride in it” Smooth,safe cornering is a skillwellworth cultivating