Innholdsfortegnelse for September 11, 2025 i Cycling Weekly

Barring disaster, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) is set for his first ever top-10 finish in a Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España, and might still end up on the podium. The Brit went into Monday’s rest day in third, almost two minutes adrift of second-placed João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and with a 32-second buffer over Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in fourth. Though his climbing pedigree is not the same as those below him, who are gradually scoring back time, Pidcock said he is “getting better and better” in the high mountains. “I’ve broken numerous power records at this Vuelta, up to 20 minutes, half an hour,” he said after stage 13 on the Angliru, where he placed seventh and held onto his provisional podium spot. “This year…

According to British Cycling’s lead project engineer, Oliver Caddy, Richardson is “typical of a new generation of riders”, who are proactive and hands-on with their equipment choices. When the sprinter decided he was going to attempt the flying 200m record, he contacted bike manufacturer Hope to ask for his own HB.T frame, the same bike Team GB used at the Paris Olympics. Hope obliged, also custom-making him a new wide fork to help smooth the airflow. Engineering firm Renishaw was then brought in to make 3D-printed titanium handlebars – “the new fork wasn’t compatible with our existing handlebars,” explains Caddy – left unpainted for better grip, at Richardson’s request. The cranks and split seatpost were the same as the Olympic set-up, as were the mismatched disc wheels – Princeton Carbonworks…

Former national hill-climb champion Andrew Feather continued his preparations to retake the title, with victory at Buxton CC’s climb of Goyt Lane in Derbyshire on Saturday, beating rival Kieran Wynne-Cattanach in the process. Feather (HuntBikeWheels.com) clocked 4.27.6 for the 1,584-yard climb, leaving Wynne-Cattanach (Team Lifting Gear Products) second by 3.7 seconds, with Ross Howcroft-Jones (Rapha CC) third. In the women’s event, Ellen Reynolds (Elevate RT) proved a comfortable winner in 6.09.6, over 25 seconds faster than runner-up Bethany Brooksbank (Wolfox CAMS Le Col). Reynolds went on to make it three wins over the weekend, taking the women’s prize at both of Solihull CC’s climbs on Saintbury Hill and Dovers Hill in Gloucestershire. Reynolds’s team-mate at Elevate RT, Joshua Hall, also won both legs of the Solihull CC climbs, holding off…

The pointless debate was more or less the first thing anyone invented after the dandy-horse, the precursor to the bicycle. The argument then was whether the dandy-horse frame, made of wood, should or shouldn’t have a horse’s head carved into the front of it. The joy of the pointless debate is that it can never end. Is Eddy Merckx greater than Tadej Pogačar? Is sprinting harder than climbing? Are TTs more interesting than a five-hour flat race? The impossibility of a definitive answer is, obviously, crucial to the certainty with which competing viewpoints are promoted. Is GT85 a superior product to WD40? Should you use both? Should you use neither? There are clubs whose social calendar for the last 50 years has revolved exclusively round this question, and if someone…

If you’re going to break a world record, it seems only fair you get to have a nap in your own special bed afterwards – which is exactly what Belgian rider Jean Aerts is shown doing here in his trackside cabin at the 1936 Six Days of London. He had just broken a record for the mile at Wembley’s Empire Pool, now known as Wembley Arena and located next to the famous stadium. This image was taken on the first occasion that the Six Days of London was held there – and it ran until 1977. Six-day racing returned to London in the wake of the 2012 Olympic Games – witnessing Sir Bradley Wiggins’s final race in 2016 – and more recently has become the more manageable London 3 Day,…

G-igantic send-off The size of the crowd at the Tour of Britain says it all, as Geraint Thomas marks his final race as a pro last Sunday. Thousands turned up in Cardiff to honour and wave farewell to one of the greats of British cycling. Steeped in fog Riders make their way through mist shrouding the legendarily vertiginous climb of Alto de L’Angliru. Sadly for these eight, the day was not for them, with victory going to João Almeida. Flat spinning On a pan-flat course in the Netherlands, stage four of the Simac Ladies Tour passes a Dutch windmill, fitting the stereotype. Hidden in the bunch is Lorena Wiebes, who would go on to win the day. You’ve Goyt this! Ross Howcroft-Jones grits his teeth on his ascent of Goyt…

A way from the racing, the biggest theme of this year’s Vuelta a España has been protest, with direct action heavily disrupting the race. Protests reached a peak last Wednesday during stage 11, which started and finished in Bilbao. It was reported that up to 2,000 protesters lined the finish straight, forcing race organisers to bring the finish line forward by 3km and to annul the results. The previous day, Intermarché-Wanty rider Simone Petilli was injured after protesters blocked the road in front of the peloton. Earlier in the race, protesters blocked Israel-Premier Tech during the team time trial. There were also protests at the foot of the Angliru on stage 13, which forced the breakaway to briefly halt. At the weekend, protesters managed to hack the Vuelta’s race radio…

Matthew Richardson was the last person in the velodrome to realise he had broken the world record. Barrelling at 80kph (50mph), dizzy-eyed, and with his legs still spinning wildly, the small timing board at the top of the banking was a haze of red and blue. The roars from his skeleton support crew, had he been able to hear them, might have given him a hint of his triumph. But Richardson had gone deep, and his bike wasn’t slowing down. “The wind was travelling past my head so fast it blurred a lot of the cheering out,” he remembers. “It wasn’t until probably half a lap later that I actually saw the number 8.9 and I realised I’d done it.” Never before had a person clocked below the nine-second barrier…

Wahoo has updated its ecosystem starting with Kickr Bike Pro which gets new shifter controls allowing easy access to in-app features on Zwift, improving what was already a very immersive experience. It also receives a slew of premium component upgrades, including Fizik Aliante R5 saddle and its excellent Solocush Handlebar tape and an all new ergonomic handlebar. The new hardware also features enhanced incline simulation, utilising motordriven downhill simulation technology for improved realism. Racemode is also said to be improved for more responsiveness. Kickr Core 2, a more affordable indoor training solution, receives a raft of updates for the first time in seven years, featuring new cadence capability and new sensors. The popular Kickr Roller system also gets a new power system, so customers who enjoy the roller experience can…

When, in 1982, Gerald O’Donovan, then head of Raleigh’s elite Specialist Bicycle Development Unit (SBDU), discovered that Tommy Godwin was riding time trials at the ripe old age of 61, he didn’t hesitate to build the veteran Olympian a bike. “As well as being a remarkable engineer with a natural gift for marketing, Gerald was one of the most generous people I have ever known,” explains current owner, Dave Marsh, of the Universal Cycle Centre, Rotherham. Godwin was a cycling icon for decades. He won two bronze medals at Herne Hill during the London 1948 Olympics, managed the British team at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics, and was, at 91, an official ambassador and torch bearer for the London 2012 Olympics. Marsh first met him trackside after winning the Masters category…

It is unusual when the winner of a race isn’t the most talked about rider of the day, but as the Tour of Britain Men pulled into Cardiff on Sunday, an eclipse was under way. Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) had cemented his overall victory, but was met at the finish by a sea of Geraint Thomas face masks and placards honouring the 39-year-old in a race designed to mark the end of the Welshman’s two decade-long career (see next page). It had been a truly Welsh affair from start to finish. Red dragon flags beat against the finish line as the weather turned from downpour to dry, thick, expectant clouds lining the sky as the race drum-rolled into the Welsh capital in view of record crowds. The day, for Grégoire, was…

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is expecting a “big fight for the red jersey” against João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) as the Vuelta a España heads into its finale this weekend. On the race’s second rest day in Galicia, the Dane led by just 48 seconds, having worn the leader’s jersey for eight of the opening 15 stages. Questions were beginning to be asked, however, of the two riders’ freshness; Vingegaard came to the race after finishing runner-up at a taxing Tour de France, the fastest edition in history, a race that Almeida left on stage nine. As such, it is the Portuguese rider who appears in the ascendancy in Spain. “That’s the thing about Almeida, he never gets worse and he’s always good in the third week,” Vingegaard said.…

Recent weeks have been spent on a Picnic-PostNL road trip across France – heading to Lorient for the Bretagne Classic, before driving on to Leuven for the start of the Simac Ladies Tour. Our first stop was Plouay, which was raced in typical British (and typical Breton) conditions, with four hours of non-stop rain and high winds, all on small farm tracks and rolling roads, making for some really tough, attritional racing. It’s the kind of racing I love, and its unpredictability always provides opportunities for different types of riders. The race came down to a reduced-group sprint of around 20 riders after splitting on the final climb, and was won by Mischa Bredewold for the third consecutive year. I managed to pick up seventh after a slightly miscalculated sprint.…

Like basketball and football, the tide is slowly turning in the way people view women’s professional sports teams. There are disparities in the number and length of events, the number of viable sponsors, and television/media coverage. I firmly believe that as recognition increases, so will salaries and sponsorships. Chris Charlton Cycling, at its beginnings, used to be a way off the farms and out of mines and factories, with maybe a bit more freedom and glory. I’m thinking it hasn’t changed much. Richard Benoit Croteau They’re [financially] better off playing tennis. Stefan Tulloch I think the whole sport is sinking. Compared to the ’80s and early ’90s it’s an utter shambles. Corporate greed, with many youngsters completely priced out of the sport. The state of roads, aggressive driving by other…

How did you get into cycling? Through my dad. He raced when he was my age and did a lot of track and CX. When I was young, the first thing I wanted to do was ride a bike, then I started racing and progressed from there. How have you found stepping up to pro level this year? It’s been very different to what I was used to before. Last year I was still, let’s say, an amateur rider, so the races were completely different; you don’t have radios, the strategy is completely different. I did a few pro races last year which helped make the next step a bit easier. What’s the best training advice you’ve ever received? Less is more. Another thing is quality over quantity, which links…

Handsling-Alba rider Eluned King describes her Handsling A1R0evo as a “great all-round bike… a comfortable ride that handles rougher surfaces while also being lightweight for the climbs.” It’s fitted out with Shimano Ultegra a 12-speed groupset, including 165mm cranks, and Parcours wheels. Want us to feature your race bike? Send a pic and information to cycling@futurenet.com…