Sommaire pour Summer 2024 de Cycling Plus

WELCOME… To misquote Geri Halliwell’s stubborn 2011 earworm, welcome to the ‘read if you wanna go faster’ edition of Cycling Plus. In our big bike test, senior tech editor Warren hops onboard three gravel rides from Argon 18, Cervélo and Riverside that are built for speed. Next up, the coaches and nutritionists of the Tour’s best riders reveal the secrets behind their charges’ Tour-conquering success that us mere mortals can apply to our riding. There’s also action from Dirty Reiver and the Paris-Roubaix Challenge but, if that’s enough speed speak for one edition, you can head over to the more sedate ultra-cycling masterclass… Your experts John Whitney Deputy editor Ahead of a new biography, John chats to British cycling star Maurice Burton about the challenges he faced in establishing himself…

By 1924, money had begun to disfigure Italian cycling. Bike racing had always been a marriage between sport and commerce, but now the latter was contaminating both methodology and results. The issue, fundamentally, was that the trade teams had become just too powerful. Drafting was commonplace, the term gregario [support riders] had entered the lexicon and, worst of all, races were routinely bought and sold. Team riding was completely out of hand, and the bare-knuckled, man-on-man contests that had popularised the sport were increasingly rare. The tail was wagging the dog, and fans were less than impressed. When the teams demanded appearance fees at the Giro d’Italia, race organiser Armando Cougnet dug his heels in. While it would be preferable to have the champions Girardengo, Bottecchia and Brunero at the…

Weight 8.54kg (L) Frame Carbon Fork Carbon Gears SRAM Force AXS XPLR (10-44, 42) Brakes SRAM Force Hydraulic Wheels Hunt 42 Limitless Gravel Disc XDR Finishing kit Argon 18 TDS seatpost, Prologo Scratch-M5 AGX saddle, FSA OS-99 stem, FSA A-Wing Pro AGX handlebar, Vittoria Terreno Mix TLR G2.0 40c tyres Argon 18 describes the Dark Matter as a performance gravel bike that’s as at home racing as it is being a rough, rugged adventurer. That’s quite a bold claim, though the frame and fork do combine elements of both sub-disciplines of gravel riding. For the racer, the steep seat angle and race-adept head angle will be welcome. For the bikepacking adventurer, the myriad of mounts and taller stack will appeal. The chassis uses Argon’s TCS design method, which combines frame design…

Early last year, Maurice Burton was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame. The 68-year-old Londoner joined just 68 others, who’d made “an outstanding contribution to cycling across all levels and disciplines”. Over the phone from his holiday home in Lanzarote, where he’s often to be found when not in his south-London bike shop De Ver Cycles, Burton tells me he was humbled by the accolade. “They asked me if I wanted to accept it and, of course, I did,” says Burton. “But I did feel when I looked at some of the other people in it, the likes of say, Tom Simpson [Britain’s first road world champion], and… I mean, I did okay as a rider but I didn’t do anything that was on the level of someone…

01 Rapha Core Bib Shorts £110 Sizes XXS-XL Colours Black/White, Dark Navy/White ● The bibs use a high-density weave for the main body panels to help enhance modesty and durability. The wide, white bib straps have a cut-out across the centre of the back, sit flush and in just the right place. Rapha’s women’s-specific Classic chamois features areas of differing density and a soft upper and worked well for everyday rides (big-mile munchers may want more padding). The fairly long legs have a 4.5cm-wide strip of elastic backed with low-profile silicone dots that kept them in place with no skin irritation nor sausage leg effect. While they may not have the level of compression support that the premium performance Pro Team bib range offers, they’re still put together in a…

Just 23 years of age, Britain’s JPfeiffer Georgi has quickly carved out an influential role in her sport, both as a contender in the one-day Spring Classics and as a lynchpin of her team, dsm-firmenich PostNL. Twice a British National Champion on the road, this Gloucestershire native turned around her fortunes in the spring at her beloved Paris-Roubaix with a place on the podium. “I know it’s not the win but for me it means a lot,” she beamed on the finish line. That was followed up by 4th in Amstel Gold, losing out in a sprint to Marianne Vos. “I felt good the whole spring, but it wasn’t going well [with results],” she tells Cycling Plus from her home in Andorra. “It just took that one result in Roubaix.…

Weight 8.60kg (L) Frame Carbon Fork Carbon Gears SRAM Force AXS XPLR (10-44t, 44t) Brakes SRAM Force hydraulic with 160mm rotors Wheels Reynolds ATR carbon Finishing kit Alloy seatpost, Fizik Argo Terra X5 saddle, Ergo alloy stem, Ergo alloy bar, Hutchinson Touareg tubeless 40mm tyres Riverside is Decathlon’s gravel-specific companion to Van Rysel, the pro-tour proven race bike brand. Like Van Rysel, the GCR has UCI certification, making it eligible for gravel racing at the highest level. The carbon frame and fork certainly look the part with the on-trend muted colourway and understated graphics. Under the paint, standard-modulus carbon is blended with high-modulus strains in the bottom bracket shell and head-tube to increase stiffness. With a claimed frame weight of 1,058g (Medium) and fork weight of 442g, it’s competitively light. The…

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“Apex shifters are basically the same as on Rival AXS… and the brake units follow the same design as the latest Force AXS brakes” Could SRAM’s expansion of AXS (the wireless integration system that connects electronic bicycle components) all the way down to Apex, the lowest in its groupset hierarchy, bring the advantages of electronic shifting to more price-conscious riders? We find out. My test set-up is the gravel-friendly, 12-speed Apex AXS XPLR groupset (below Rival, Force and Red), with the optional-upgrade power meter and new 11-44-tooth cassette matched to a 40t chainring. The AXS electronic levers control both gears and brakes and the AXS XPLR electronic rear derailleur helps you shift smoothly across the larger cassette. Apex AXS has a claimed complete weight of 2,900g (just 50g less than…

Getting there ● Roubaix is a 90min drive from Calais, making driving the easiest and cheapest option if you’re heading from the UK with your bike. Eurostar runs regular services between London St Pancras and Lille, which is a short metro ride from the centre of Roubaix (bike spaces need to be booked well in advance). Brussels is the closest airport. Where to stay ● The Mercure Lille Roubaix (mercure.accor.com) has double rooms (from £86 per night) and breakfast is £14. The hotel also has on-site storage for bikes and is a short ride from the Roubaix Velodrome. Where to eat ● Brasserie Le Metropolitain on Av. Jean Lebas has good pre- and post-ride food options. It also has a wide selection of Belgian beers that are a perfect way…

It’s the Giro I feel most sorry for. It’s all very well being widely admired and placed on a pedestal by the cognoscenti. But what is the point in all these words of praise if the world’s greatest riders consistently treat you as second best? The self-styled “hardest race in the most beautiful country” has a unique set of problems. Some of these come with its place in the calendar, and are simply logistical, medical and meteorological. I write this column a couple of days after it was announced that the Stelvio pass, one of the hallmark mountains of this edition, was to be scrapped because of the metres of snow that still blocked the passage of the race after a prolonged cold spring. And even in the very pleasant…

AG Insurance-Soudal Team Ashleigh Moolman, 38, has been a perennial fixture at the sharp end of races for over a decade and is showing no signs of slowing down. Sixth last year overall at the Tour, she enjoyed a good spring – high places rather than wins – and headed into Grand Tour season in fine fettle. All being well, she’ll lead the team again in France. Aussie Sarah Gigante, who’d struggled at Movistar, won the Tour Down Under in her first run-out for her new team and is a fantastic climber. Dream Tour Top 5 on GC for Moolman – her best result yet – and a first stage win would be a superb return Arkéa B&B Hotels Women Pro Cycling Like other wildcards picked for the race, it’s…

111 editions into the Tour de France and, despite doping being better policed than ever, the speed of the race continues to go up each year. On p44, Science of the Tour de France author James Witts looks into the influence of nutrition, aerodynamics, money, data and youth development on this trend. Before that, we bring you a thorough preview of this year’s race. On p4 we answer eight of the big talking points posed by this year’s race, then analyse the hopes and dreams of all 22 teams vying for the spoils of the biggest, most prestigious showdown of the season from p10. In the middle of all that is a huge 24-page preview of all 21 stages, as the race proceeds to the new, seemingly one-off finish in…

Alpecin-Deceuninck At time of writing it isn’t certain that star rider Mathieu van der Poel will be in Alpecin’s Tour team. If he decides to ride XC mountain bike at the Paris Olympics he won’t, and if he doesn’t, he will. Regardless, he’s had mixed fortunes at the French race and was thoroughly off-colour and overworked last July, a race in which sprinter Jasper Philipsen won four stages, the green jersey and the status as the world’s fastest rider. Van der Poel operates as the most luxurious lead-out man ever for Philipsen, so his absence will be keenly felt if he’s not there. Dream Tour Another hatful of stage wins for Philipsen and a second green jersey to boot Arkea-B&B Hotels Arkea-B&B Hotels recruited Arnaud Démare in a mid-season switch…

High performance Ned Boulting is taking to the stage once again in the autumn. The 21-date Marginal Mystery Tour brings to life the story of his most recent book, 1923, and opens in Hereford on 22 October. Get tickets at ents24.com Time to shine A new feature-length film, Chasing the Sun, which follows the riders of the Chase the Sun coast-to-coast events and casts a wider net over the climate crisis, is out now in cinemas. chasingthesunfilm.co.uk Isle do it! With no UCI Gran Fondo Series race in the UK in 2024, the nearest thing we have is GF Isle of Man (28 July). The mostly closed road race (137km) has 2,300m of elevation Pepp talk Ed Peppitt has published The Beacon Bike, the story of his 3,500-mile bike ride…

SRAM AXS XPLR ● SRAM’s wireless AXS groupsets combine hydraulic disc brakes with fully wireless gear shifting. In the XPLR iterations, the gearing is designed specifically for gravel, offering wider gear ranges and lower gearing to keep you pedalling on the roughest and steepest of terrain. Tubeless-ready wheels ● These allow you to use tubeless tyres, rim tape, valves and a tyre sealant so you don’t need inner tubes. Tubeless tyres can be run at lower pressures for comfort on rough terrain, and virtually eliminate pinch punctures. Dropper post ● You can lower this seatpost to allow you to manoeuvre the bike more easily in technical downhill sections. It often comes with a handlebar-mounted remote control so you can it lower automatically. Flared bar ● Measuring wider on the drops…

Weight 8.53kg (56cm) Frame Carbon Fork Carbon Gears SRAM Rival AXS XPLR, 12-speed (10-44t, 40t) Brakes SRAM Rival hydraulic Wheels Reserve 40/44 carbon Finishing kit Cervélo SP19 Carbon 27.2 seatpost, Prologo Dimension STN saddle, Cervélo ST36 Alloy stem, Cervélo AB09 Carbon bar, WTB Vulpine TCS tyres 40c, Smartpak 400A Top Tube Storage Bag Cervélo’s original Áspero, and high-end Áspero 5 (still available), were designed as races bike for off-road, and the new Áspero has the same goals, with geometry only slightly tweaked from the brand’s R-Series road bike. Updates often boost stiffness and lower weight, but due to rider feedback on the previous version, the new Àspero has ended up a touch heavier and softer. This is still ‘a bike to haul ass, not luggage’, though, so you just get triple…

Trusted content Here at Cycling Plus, we take our testing seriously, sending highly experienced cyclists onto the roads and trails to see how each and every item stands up to their scrutiny. The result is independent and honest reviews to help make your next purchases easier. Your Experts Warren Rossiter Senior technical editor Warren’s been testing bikes for 20 years, and has the scoop on Giant’s latest TCR release Katherine Moore Cycling journalist Gravel and bikepacking expert Katherine tests six women’s bib shorts for all-day comfort Oscar Huckle Technical writer Oscar turns his gaze to summer chain lube this month, testing six on his ultra rides…

Peaty’s LinkLube Dry £8.99 for 60ml Peaty’s says this “readily biodegradable” lube is designed for “long rides in dry, dusty conditions”, and claims it will last up to 300km. The lube uses a blend of waxes suspended in a water-based emulsion and can, thankfully for changeable UK conditions, also be used in “mildly moist conditions”. The rounded applicator tip plus the light-blue dye makes it easy to ensure full coverage on the chain. It performs well and runs more quietly than the Muc Off option on test, but not as quietly as the Fenwicks and Silca lubes. It lasted for 250km on a dry road ride for me. If the weather turns foul while you’re out, reapply before your next ride. Verdict Environmentally friendly but durability claims a touch optimistic…

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Three editions into the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and it gets its first foreign start in Rotterdam (it took the men 51 years to manage it). The Netherlands is the powerhouse of women’s professional cycling and is the natural choice. It’s a race with a bit of everything: a time trial, lumpy Classics terrain and a couple of mountain summit finishes. 2023 British National Champion Pfeiffer Georgi (DSM–firmenich PostNL) explains from p30 how she coaxes her team around the route in her crucial role of road captain, after our jam-packed rundown of all the stages and teams of this year’s race.…

Stages key Départ/Start Intermediate sprint Categorised climb Uncategorised climb Chrono/time check Finish 01 12 August/123km Rotterdam › The Hague The Paris Olympics, which takes place this summer during the dates that the Tour de France Femmes has taken place since its 2022 launch, has pushed the race back in the calendar by three weeks. With a Grand Départ in the Netherlands city of Rotterdam, this will be its first start outside France, and is a joint project with both The Hague and Dordrecht, which hosts the start of tomorrow’s stage. The winners of both editions of the race so far, Annemiek van Vleuten and Demi Vollering, are Dutch – the country is the dominant powerhouse of the women’s peloton, which made Netherlands the obvious choice. Coincidentally, it was Amsterdam, the…

Stages key Départ/Start Intermediate sprint Categorised climb Uncategorised climb Chrono/time check Finish 01 29 June/206km Florence › Rimini This is not a misprint. The 2024 Tour de France really is starting in Italy. After 25 starts outside France in the Tour’s 121-year history, this is the first for Italy, home of the second biggest Grand Tour of the season, the Giro d’Italia. Florence, the capital of Tuscany, and the neighbouring region of Emilia-Romagna, play host before the race works its way northwest, via Turin and Pinerolo, across the border into France. Opening stages of the Tour are notoriously fast and twitchy, especially on flat stages where the sprinters’ teams are vying for yellow. The abundance of climbing on the menu today, however, is good news for the yellow jersey contenders,…