Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2024 i Cyclist

Driss Boucif is a man who lives and breathes bikes. When he’s not riding them he’s scouring scrap heaps for his next frame to upcycle. And when he’s not busy tinkering away in his workshop-cum-skatepark, you can probably find him pulling wheelies through the streets of Leuven, Belgium, with his band of merry youths. ‘Ah yes, Wheelie Wednesday! It’s great – we’ve been doing it for about three or four years. Everybody meets up at the workshop, then we eat something and go riding around the city on our back wheels. If any of the youngsters don’t have a bike to ride, they can take one from me. ‘Usually the first stop is the skate shop to say hi to the guys there, then we’ll head to get some drinks…

My signature tune is ‘My Way’. But my biographer, Paul Jones, said, ‘Well, there might be a bit of an issue with having a book with that name, because of the whole Sinatra thing.’ I thought, there’s this cycle route in London, from Colliers Wood to Cannon Street, which the public voted to be named after me – the Maurice Burton way – so that’s where the name for the book came from. My dad didn’t really want me to have a bike. Whether he felt it was dangerous or I was accident prone or something I don’t know, but he decided he didn’t like the idea. I had to take things into my own hands, as I’ve often done over my life. I got this smashed up bike from someone’s…

To download this route go to cyclist.co.uk/152nice or scan the QR code. We started from the port at the Café du Cycliste shop. The route then hugs the coast before jutting out towards the mountains and onto the M19, which becomes magnificent after passing through the village of Levens. Follow the road until Saint-Jean la Rivière, then take the M32 to Utelle and make a left to join the M132 and head up to La Madone d’Utelle. Drop back down to Saint-Jean la Rivière and follow the road for 10km. Once you reach Saint-Martin-du-Var stick to the left and take the next left after a few kilometres to Castagniers and head towards Bellet. After the Domaine de la Source vineyard take the route back to Bellet and roll down to…

Travel Cyclist flew from Bristol to Nice. There are also direct flights from London airports and Edinburgh. You could also get the Eurostar to Paris and the TGV to Nice, which takes about nine hours. The city is a 30-minute tram ride away from the airport or a 1.5 hour walk along the coastline. Accommodation We stayed at Hotel Aston La Scala (hotel-aston.com), a four-star bike-friendly hotel located in the centre of Nice, minutes from the beach and the old town. Thanks Thanks to Café du Cycliste (cafeducycliste.com) for its help with arranging our trip, for the bike rental and to Lucie Denis for riding with us and showing us her favourite places around the city. Many thanks to Caterina from the Nice tourism board (nice-tourism.com) for being an excellent…

…starting a women’s team ‘We’re always looking into the development of women’s cycling and it’s great to see its growth. We’ve had positive conversations with our sponsors about the women’s side but, for now, what with the Red Bull acquisition, there’s no women’s team on the agenda, certainly not for 2025.’ …road cycling in Germany ‘It has been at a similar level for a few years but not to the level when Jan Ullrich was fighting for the Tour de France. Arguably the sport needs greater governmental support in Germany. If we’re looking to build Olympic champions – which is always nice for a country – we need more help.’ …the importance of hosting races ‘It’s so important that your country features a WorldTour race. We didn’t have a high-profile…

›1,219 Distance of Paris-Brest-Paris in kilometres ›71:16 Winning time in hours and minutes of Charles Terront for the Paris-Brest et Retour in 1891, on the world’s first clincher tyre made by Michelin ›10,000 Number of French cyclists who were riding on the same Michelin tyres just two years after Terront’s victory ›1931 Year Audax Club Parisien decided to organise its own event, open to all-comers with a time limit of 96 hours. It’s the version of PBP that continues today (audax-club-parisien.com) ›38:55 Time in hours and minutes of the record for the event, set in 1951 under very different road conditions and possibly drafting a motor vehicle (the fastest rider in 2023 was American Nick DeHaan in 41h 46min) ›2,000 Minimum number of volunteers required to staff control points along…

This was going to be my year! I was feeling good and confident that I could maintain a better level of fitness. Things didn’t quite go to plan. Back in March I had purchased a new hardtail MTB, as part of my comeback season and to get race fit again. Little did I know that this same bike would be my undoing. On Good Friday, I set out on one of my local XC loops. It’s a route I have ridden many times, but thirty-five minutes in, the back wheel slipped on a small off-camber section at a very slow speed. I couldn’t unclip in time and my left knee struck a rock; I knew instantly that I had broken it. After phoning my wife to come fetch me, I…

STRAIGHT GAUGE TI The Vamoots 33 is built using US-sourced, straight gauge, 3/2.5 thin-walled tubing. As with all Moots frames, the tubing used is size specific, so that every frame rides the same. The durability of titanium, together with a legendary build process, ensures that the top quality you expect from Moots forms the heart of the Vamoots 33. CARBON ALL-ROAD FORK Moots has used its carbon all-road fork to give the Vamoots 33 perfect handling, combined with compliance. As with the RCS, the Vamoots 33 fork will take up to 32mm tyres, giving capable handling over changing terrain, from tarmac to dirt roads. TYRE CLEARANCE The Vamoots 33 is designed to be versatile and the frame, just like its all-road fork, will take up to 32mm tyres, making it…

What do you think marks TLD out as a brand that mountain bikers aspire to own? I think all our cool helmets is what people first think of with Troy Lee. We’ve painted helmets for 45 years now and that’s what really put us on the map, then making really cool safety equipment is the next thing. How would you describe its unique style? I think what makes it unique is new styles every couple of years here, just trying to set new trends. Was art/painting something you were drawn to at a young age? At school, was it ever something you dreamed would become your career? I love art and painting. My dad was an artist, my grandfather was a pinstriper, so I never thought too much about it.…

Cyclist: You became French road race champion last season. Is that something you ever believed you could achieve? Valentin Madouas: Yes, it’s a dream that came true. It was a really hard race. Physically I was having the best day of my life – it was a real test and a dream that I’ve had since I became a pro. It’s a race that we won together, the team and I, and it was the collective strength of the team that meant I was able to win. Cyc: After that you won your home race, the Bretagne Classic, in Brittany. What did that mean to you? VM: It was my first WorldTour win, so it was very important for me. My goal at the start of the year was to win a…

There I was, penning my thoughts about how the four main contenders for the Tour de France seem to be running away from everyone else, when three of that classy quartet – Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel – ran off the road in a high-speed crash in the Basque Country that looks to have turned the season on its head. Not one to let such a curveball become a pump in the spokes, I’ve picked myself up and pressed on regardless, noting the irony of such a calamity occurring as couch commentators the world over were ridiculing efforts to make the perilous Arenberg section of cobbles that little bit safer prior to Paris-Roubaix. Before the Itzulia incident left the defence of Vingegaard’s yellow jersey in doubt along with…

At 2.05pm on 21st February 2024, James MacDonald let go of the spectators’ fence and rolled down the banking towards the racing line. With gravity on his side to help spin up his huge 62x17 gear, the 53-year-old Scot made the first pedal rotations towards his target: ride 100 miles around London’s Lee Valley Velodrome in less than 3 hours 46 minutes and 16 seconds. Train. Pedal around in a circle 644 times. Time it. Become world record holder. Simple. Only it isn’t. There’s a whole lot more that goes into a world record attempt, as we found out when we caught up with MacDonald after his latest endeavour. And it doesn’t always go to plan. Proven ability An experienced ultra-cyclist, MacDonald currently holds the world records for the fastest…

Test Team James Spender If deputy editor James had a pound for every review word he’s written he wouldn’t need to keep writing reviews to pay the bills. As it is, he doesn’t, so you’re stuck with him. Sam Challis As tech editor, Sam eats, sleeps and dreams cycling kit. His young family curtails all-day rides, but short, sharp blasts around Dorset still allow him to pick out the best gear. Laurence Kilpatrick Having spent his twenties writing about football, Laurence now reviews cycling gear. When not riding around Regent’s Park, he’s normally pedalling to see Coventry City play. Charlotte Head Former Cyclist tech writer Charlotte gets her passion for tech from her background as a bicycle mechanic. Quirky innovations in road, gravel or track? Sign her up. Mike Kangelos…

R45D HUBS Chris King’s R45D hubs are at the heart of the wheelset and use King’s bearings, made in-house with perfectly matched races and single piece axles. The rear hub has the unmistakable “angry bee” sound of the RingDrive system, which gives 45 points of simultaneous engagement for instant drive. These hubs wear in, not out, over years of service. FUSIONFIBER The rims are built using FusionFiber, a thermoplastic resin from CSS Composites that has damping attributes and builds into a smoother wheel, providing better traction and ride quality whilst staying planted, no matter what the surface. Thermoplastic resin can also be recycled. It is ground down and downcycled into other carbon fibre components, over and over again. RIM PROFILE The aerodynamically profiled, 44mm deep rim is made with road…

Around the same time that Alessandro Petacchi was winning Stage 12 of the 2004 Giro d’Italia in Treviso, I was registering a new business with Companies House in Cardiff. Not quite as glamourous, and certainly there were no crowds cheering me on. In fact, many people in the industry were full of doubt, but thankfully I am not easily deterred. On that day, May 21st, Saddleback Ltd. was born. The ensuing years have been anything but straightforward, often feeling like a long mountain climb. A global financial crisis early on, Brexit a few years later and the subsequent currency crash, then a pandemic, closely followed by a cost-of-living crisis that has affected the industry like no event in living history. One constant over the past 20 years, though, has been…

“I DO SEE SO MANY PEOPLE GETTING INJURED AROUND THIS TIME OF YEAR, SO SPEND SOME TIME CHECKING IN ON YOURSELF, AS IT WILL HELP YOU TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR SUMMER.” Did you embrace the winter and get stuck into the mud and cold, to keep your bike skills going? I personally enjoy riding in the winter – yes, it can be tough when it’s cold, but a nice, slick tech trail is what the UK is renowned for. Plus, they say that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing, and the MTB clothing that is coming through at the moment, especially from TLD, is making life a hell of a lot easier out there. Despite these advances, many people turn hermit in the…

Campagnolo Bora Ultra WTO 45 wheels £3,300, chickencyclekit.co.uk The build quality of Campagnolo’s wheels has long been beyond reproach but, much like fellow groupset maker Shimano, the brand has often lagged behind specialist competitors when it comes to the cutting edge of wheel tech. Campagnolo’s latest wheel launch brings its entire Bora line up to date. In all there are six new Bora wheelsets, which all get a bump in internal rim width from 19mm to 23mm. Campagnolo says this profile pairs best with 28mm tyres, creating a smoother rim-tyre transition that helps make these latest Boras 13% more aerodynamic than their forebears. Yet despite the wider shape, a revised carbon layup means each wheelset is around 100g lighter than the model they replace. These are heady claims, made more…

In the early hours of Saturday 10th May 1924, 90 riders assembled at the Porta Ticinese in Milan for the start of the 12th Giro d’Italia. Ahead lay 300km to Genoa, the first of 12 stages that would ultimately lead back to Milan after 3,613km of racing. The race was being filmed for broadcast in cinemas and as the apprehensive riders waited for the call to start, the camera settled on one in particular. Some 80 years later, author Paolo Facchinetti would describe the scene as that rider smoothed their short hair over their forehead. ‘In a face contorted by tension, two determined eyes stood out above all else,’ Facchinetti writes. Those eyes belonged to the rider who was about to become the first woman to ride the Giro: Alfonsina…

With this year’s Tour de France finishing in Nice, it is important to know the culinary delights offered by this city and what to get for your picnic on the beach. A personal favourite is socca, a chickpea pancake, which is a delicious calorific snack and perfect if you’re feeling peckish post-ride. It’s made from chickpea flour, yeast and water. Pan bagnat is another local speciality that in the local dialect means wet bread. It is essentially all the ingredients of the Niçoise salad (tuna, egg, raw vegetables, olive oil) in a sandwich and each family has their own way of doing it. There is also pissaladière, an onion tart topped with black olives and anchovies and baked on pizza-style dough. The name comes from pissalat, a Provençal condiment of…

2005 Former Bavarian mountain bike champion Ralph Denk starts a mountain bike team. Giant Racing enjoy a couple of seasons of success. 2007 Founds project for young road talent. Previously called Quest-Ralph-Denk-Team, the under-19 team continues to this day as Team Grenke-Auto Eder. 2010 Creates senior squad, Team NetApp, that enters at Continental level. Austrian Daniel Schorn records their first victory, winning Stage 3 of the Tour de Normandie. 2013 Team NetApp and British-based Endura Racing merge to form NetApp-Endura. 2014 NetApp-Endura debut at Tour de France. They’ll have to wait three years for their first Tour stage victory, taken by Peter Sagan. Kitchen appliance specialist Bora announces on the eve of the Tour it will take over headline sponsorship from 2015. 2017 Shower manufacturer Hansgrohe takes on joint headline…

THE KIT For his fastest 100-mile indoor record attempt, James MacDonald rode a BMC Trackmachine TR01 with Mavic Comète disc wheels fitted with CeramicSpeed bearings and Vittoria Pista Oro tubular tyres, 19mm run at 190psi (‘which was like riding concrete’, says MacDonald). Other components included Drag2Zero aero bars; Rotor 2InPower track chainset (160mm); CeramicSpeed bottom bracket; 17t Digirit carbon sprocket and 62t carbon chainring. MacDonald wore a custom Endura skinsuit with silicone surface treatment to reduce drag further, and an Endura Drag2Zero aero helmet with custom 3D printed tail designed specifically for his riding position. TRAINING A typical training week saw around 15 hours of riding plus gym and physio time, all fitted around MacDonald’s day job working for Google: Monday rest, with 1h physio; Tue pm 90min interval session…

The Devote Advanced Pro is the highesttier gravel bike offering from Liv, the women-specific sister brand of Giant. While the Devote model has existed in many forms over the years, the Advanced Pro, launched in 2023, takes a racing edict to heart with an impressively light weight, full carbon finishing kit and aggressive geometry. Liv’s claim that the Devote Advanced Pro is for out-and-out racing is echoed in its spritely build, with tubeless carbon wheels and relatively aggressive rider position, although I believe narrowing it down in this way does the bike a disservice. With wide gearing, light 8.3kg build weight and flip-chip geometry options, the Devote Advanced Pro is, in short, a hugely competent bike for both racing or general riding, and fares impressively across all terrain. Robust construction…

Our success, in part, has come through not deviating from a passion to be “the home of performance cycling” and a quest to bring together the world’s leading brands, to equip riders and enable them to reach their maximum potential. As we embark on the next stage of our business, Saddleback will continue to focus on being a sporting, passionate, loyal and pioneering company. We are driven to share what we do by building long term relationships and seeking to establish excellence in all aspects of our business. Thank you for the last 20 years.…

Flow is a state of being. Bars pushing into your palms, elbows bent into the strain, head locked to the corner’s end and, as the front wheel tracks its undulating path, weight shifting, arms pushing, eyes and body moving to the next bend. Mind, body and bike are all linked in the pursuit of flow. It’s a perfect mentality where all else fades, sloughing off the mind until the trail ahead is everything. There is no greater feeling on two wheels. It takes the right bike to mesh with the rider, though, and finding that match requires time and testing. Demo bikes are the key to finding that perfect ride, the first step towards finding your flow. Yes, you can spin around a car park, tap the frame for that…

TRAVEL Pro and Team builds use a Fox Factory Float X rear shock, providing 142mm of rear travel, and a Fox Factory 36mm Grip 2 fork with 160mm of travel up front. Ride level builds feature a Fox Performance Float X rear shock, with 142mm of rear travel, and a Fox Performance 36mm Grip fork with 160mm of travel up front. DW-LINK The dw-link™ suspension seamlessly integrates the pedalling response and agility that the Switchblade is renowned for. Pivot has transformed the linkages and kinematics to elevate the performance of the suspension system. VERTICAL SHOCK LAYOUT The continued use of a vertical shock layout allows for a more compact frame design that is both stiffer and lighter, along with increased tunability of the Switchblade’s kinematics. It also allows for full…

ABBEY BIKE TOOLS CASTELLI CHRIS KING ENVE FEEDBACK SPORTS HJC MOOTS CYCLES PIVOT CYCLES SIDI SILCA SPORTFUL STAGES CYCLING TROY LEE DESIGNS WOLF TOOTH WTB…

REMOTE PRO 8-BIT KIT 2 OTHER SKUs: SHIMANO I-SPEC EV SRAM MATCHMAKER X SHIMANO I-SPEC II SHIMANO I-SPEC B MAGURA BRAKES HOPE TECH 4 HAYES…

I consider myself lucky to have ridden the wave of the MTB craze in the early 90s. It has been pivotal in shaping my life and career, and has remained an integral part of it. Originally I was caught up in the BMX boom, but just as my interest in BMX racing began to wane, these new, bigger wheeled off-road bikes came on the scene with their mix of intoxicating, ever-wilder colours, progressive designs and riders with serious style and attitude, backed up by accessible magazine media coverage. I was hooked! A poster of John Tomac proudly adorned my teenage bedroom wall for many years, with that iconic photo of him in his Troy Lee Designs American Eagle airbrushed Bell helmet and black, skintight all-in-one aero suit, aboard a Tioga…