Innehållsförteckning för June 2021 från Cyclist

One of the beauties of our sport is the chance for everyday cyclists to perform on the same arenas as the professionals. It’s not like football fans can have a kickabout on the turf at Wembley. Any cyclist can pit themself against the cobbles of Roubaix or the 21 hairpins of Alpe d’Huez. We can tick off all the most famous climbs – the Tourmalet, the Galibier, the Stelvio, Mont Ventoux – and imagine what it must be like to scale those peaks in the midst of a Grand Tour, crowds lining the roads and helicopters buzzing overhead. We may not be able to do it at the same speed as the pros, and no one is scrawling our names in chalk across the road, but it’s still exciting to…

Northwave’s new Extreme GT2 shoes bring the X-Frame 2 construction of the Italian brand’s toptier Extreme Pro shoes to a more accessible price point. The benefits, says Northwave, include the ‘snuggest fit’ to ensure optimum power transfer through to the pedals. The upper is entwined with precisely placed fabric tape, which criss-crosses the shoe like a spider’s web to provide anchor points for the brand’s SLW2 closure system. Notably, the cables are made from Dyneema fibre instead of steel and follow a particularly sinuous routing pattern, which Northwave says helps the shoe better conform to a rider’s foot. While the top part is all about comfort, the bottom is all about stiffness thanks to the Anatomical Arch Support carbon sole, which Northwave says is one of the stiffest it makes.…

If you get a bad case of envy every time you see someone riding an Enve wheelset, the AG25 may be the answer. Part of Enve’s Foundation Collection, the AG25 offers the core features of the American brand’s top-end options for a more accessible price to ‘bring the Enve ride experience to a broader range of riders’. It’s designed to thrive on both bikepacking adventures and gravel classics such as the Dirty Kanza, being lightweight, compliant and comfortable over rougher terrain thanks to the shallow rim depth of 21mm. On top of that, it also features a wide hookless bead design that better absorbs energy on impact and, Enve claims, improves pinch flat resistance by over 60% and impact strength by over 30%. The 700c set is optimised for, but…

Raphaël Géminiani was quite the character. As a pro he was famous for having such a temper he once knocked a spectator’s teeth out with his pump; as an ex-pro he was infamous for calling doping controls ‘a cancer on cycling’. But it’s as a team manager that you will – perhaps inadvertently – know him best. That’s because without Raphaël the racer there would be no Rapha the clothing brand, and without Rapha the clothing brand we wouldn’t be here with its founder, Simon Mottram, and his brand new bike. So how are these things linked? Behind the legend There are multifarious explanations, but one of the most compelling for the birth of professional cycling teams is economics. And pride. From 1903 until 1929 riders competed in the Tour…

The view from inside the peloton It has been a busy month. Alejandro Valverde picked up his first win in 581 days, Elia Viviani his first in 18 months, and Peter Sagan his first of the season. Movistar also tasted victory in a cobbled Classic – not something you hear often – with the Spanish team’s investment in Annemiek van Vleuten paying off after she soloed to glory in the women’s Ronde van Vlaanderen. But in the men’s Ronde – and many other races besides – didn’t the Danes do well? Last year, Slovenia joined Colombia and Great Britain as a new world cycling powerhouse, but they were all partially eclipsed this past month by a Scandinavian country with a population of less than six million. Not that the Slovenians…

If you think about becoming a better cyclist you might have a wish list that includes a featherweight bike, an aero helmet or a power meter. But the humble foam roller is one far less glamorous piece of kit that can help prevent injury and so help you ride further, faster and for longer. Foam rolling is a massage technique that enables a process called myofascial release. ‘It’s a fancy name for improving the quality of movement of the muscles and their connective tissues,’ says coach Will Newton (limitlessfitness.com). ‘It’s not about flexibility – it’s about what you’d expect a massage therapist to do for you in releasing sore spots, or trigger points. Tissue shouldn’t hurt when you apply pressure to it, so if you find a painful spot that’s…

To download this route go to cyclist.co.uk/113italy or scan the QR code. Starting in Comeglians, head out of town through the cobbled tunnel, signed at its entrance Monte Crostis. These are recurring signs for cyclists so follow them for 15km through Mieli and Tualis and on to the panoramic road. At the summit a stop at Refugio Chidinas is recommended for views and fuel. The descent is a single road that after 20km joins with the SS465. Head east on the SS465 to Sutrio and south to Priola, turning right when you see the black and white sign announcing ‘Priola’. Follow the road through town to the playground at the top, then bear right towards the mountains. Around kilometre 49 this old road joins the SP123 to the Zoncolan’s summit…

TRAVEL Venice Marco Polo is the best airport for flying cheaply. From there it’s a two-hour drive to Arta Terme via the faster toll roads – expect to pay around €15 each way – but we’d recommend going cross-country for a more scenic passage. ACCOMMODATION The Grand Hotel Gortani is a classically Italian hotel in Arta Terme, with spacious rooms, spa, swimming pool and wellkept gardens. Double rooms start at around £70pn in June. See gortani.it for more details. THANKS Big thanks to Marco Cantagallo, who planned our route and guided us enthusiastically, his father Emiliano for lending us Marco (he is usually a bike guide) and Mauricio, who drove our photographer and dished up an impromptu picnic. Emiliano and Marco run Pendenze Periclose bike tours (pendenzepericolose.it). Thanks also to…

…the UCI bike weight limit ‘Small riders are at a disadvantage because of the 6.8kg minimum bike weight. If you’re 68kg that’s 10% of your weight, so you’re competing with a penalty compared to a heavy rider - 6.8kg is 8.5% to an 80kg rider. The bike weight limit should be based on the rider’s weight. The smaller riders, like Egan Bernal or Nairo Quintana, would then be on a more level playing field.’ …how to make the Tour more exciting ‘Before last year’s Tour everyone was saying it should never end with a timetrial because you can’t replicate 1989. That’s stupid – it should be that way every five years. The Tour is made for climbers right now. They need to reintroduce timetrials of 50-70km otherwise the race will…

The smell is somewhere between the back seat of a hot car and spilt earth, as if an oil fire has been choked with damp rocks. Apparently the technical word for the smell of rain is ‘petrichor’, from the Greek petros, meaning stone, and īchōr, the substance that was said to pump around the veins of Greek gods. It’s a funny old phrase, ‘I can smell the rain.’ What it should really be is, ‘I can smell the rain is coming.’ I don’t know if petrichor has an opposite, but there’s certainly a summery yin smell to its heavens-bursting yang. The day is early and I can already smell the sun is coming, the air drawing closer like gathering grass clippings. If the fields’ bleached stubble and cracked furrows are…

TRAVEL Kent isn’t exactly darkest Peru, and train stations to make Paddington proud abound. These include Kemsing, the starting point for our ride, which is serviced direct from London Victoria. A return costs £17.20 off-peak and takes little more than 40 minutes each way. AND ALSO… Travelling east from Kemsing towards Yalding swaps the lumpy North Downs for gentler but no less picturesque roads, and also takes you to Teapot Island, perhaps the most British tourist attraction ever: a museum showcasing 6,700 teapots from Sue Blayze’s personal collection. THANKS Riders need bikes and photographers need drivers, so it’s a huge thanks to Joe’s dad, Mr Paul Robinson, for driving our photographer Mike expertly around the confusing Kent lanes. Big thanks also to Joe who expertly put together this ride, then…

I’m prepared to take the risk of the unknown, figuring it can’t be as bad as taking on Snake Pass. Can it? I come to a fork in the road and stop. I’m tired. My kit is still damp from a morning of such rain it made my time in Scotland look sunny, and I want nothing more than a hot shower and to lie down. I have a decision to make. Turn left and keep following the planned route knowing I have another 90km and 1,000m of climbing to go, or turn right and take a short cut to the finish, saving 30km but with little idea about the lie of the land. A battle rages in my head as a steady trickle of cars passes me by, little…

Rotor’s modular chainset is ostensibly the most versatile on the market – different spindles, chainrings, spiders and cranks can all be mixed and matched to suit a rider’s particular needs. Now Rotor customers have an extra crank arm option to choose from, as the Spanish brand has rendered its Aldhu cranks in carbon for the first time. The switch from aluminium to carbon fibre apparently saves 100g, despite being up to 36% stiffer. Outfitted similarly, a Rotor chainset using the new Aldhu carbon cranks is claimed to save 90g over Shimano’s Dura-Ace offering.…

The Racer Pro is an evolution of the well-regarded Racer plug tool from US tubeless repair expert Dynaplug. In exchange for making the CNC’d aluminium housing just a little longer and only 3g heavier, Dynaplug has been able to double the number of plugs the Racer can hold by making each insertion tube double-ended. As a consequence the tool can now deal with up to four tubeless punctures before needing to be restocked. It’s a vital addition to any tubeless rider’s saddlebag.…

Everyone wants more comfort, but adding vertical flex into a rigid frame is a difficult thing to do without compromising other areas like lateral stiffness, weight or aerodynamics. A stiff bike is a fast bike, so when it comes to adding in comfort, manufacturers and riders are obliged to look at areas beyond the frame, such as tyres or special suspension devices. Or seatposts. Being a simple cantilevered tube, a seatpost can bend in a way that potentially improves ride quality without affecting the rest of the frame. What’s more, a seatpost is a simple upgrade to make. Even the most mechanically averse cyclist should be able to fit a new post without requiring a trip to their local bike shop. As such, several brands offer seatposts that are specifically…

Cyclist: So, you’ve spent lockdown in the workshop. What have you been working on? Rob Hayles: Yeah, it’s my happy place. I wouldn’t be allowed in any other workplace because I need loud music all the time. I started doing carbon bike repairs a while ago to slot in with my commentary commitments, and that has now become Carbon Concepts. It’s essentially anything involving the carbon atom, and isn’t just bike parts. I’ve done jewellery, including rings with the Worlds bands on them, and a Campagnolo Super Record wine bottle holder. One of my visions is to go into furniture. Cyc: We love seeing you post your creations on Instagram. When did you start working with carbon? RH: One of the very first things I made was an aero fairing…

Henri Desgrange, the founder of the Tour de France, was not known for sympathising with the travails of those who rode his race. This was a man who famously decried the invention of the derailleur, describing it as something for the elderly and not allowing its unrestricted use in his race until 1937. Desgrange started stages in the dark and cold hours before dawn but levied penalties for anyone who dared discard a jersey as the sun rose. His draconian rules meant 1921 winner Léon Scieur had to strap a broken wheel to his back and carry it 300km to prove to officials it had broken and its replacement was therefore legal. But the conditions the peloton faced during the 326km stage from Bayonne to Luchon in 1926 were so…

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There are three ways up Monte Zoncolan. The ‘classic’ ascent averages 11.5% over 10.5km from Ovaro to the west, and is usually how the climb appears in the Giro d’Italia. However this year’s peloton will approach from Sutrio to the east, a longer 13.5km climb but less steep at 8.9%. Both still feature lengthy stretches in the high teens though. Our Big Ride ascent is the shortest of all – 8.9km from Priola – but it averages 12.8% with multiple spikes up to 22% from the off (the other two routes steepen as they go). But whichever way you approach the Zoncolan, know that it is tough with a capital T. And yet there is an even tougher climb just down the road. A few clicks west of Ovaro lies…

Greg LeMond has possibly the most complete CV in cycling. Three-time Tour de France champion, two-time road race World Champion. The only American to have won the yellow jersey (officially), the first non-European Tour winner and the only man to have won the Tour after having been shot. Winner of the closest and most exciting Tour of all time. He was the first rider to race the Tour on a full carbon fibre bike, the man who introduced Oakley sunglasses into the peloton and the rider who brought Giro helmets into the mainstream. He was the first cyclist to sign a milliondollar contract. He is a bike manufacturer and brand owner who has produced indoor, direct-drive turbo trainers and exercise bikes. He is a vocal opponent of performanceenhancing drugs in…

To download this route go to cyclist.co.uk/113kent. From Kemsing proceed west onto Pilgrim’s Way. Take Shoreham Road, then third right for Fackenden Lane. From here Kent is a warren, so it’s easier to navigate via place names. First, loop under the M20 towards Southdowns via Fawkham, then on towards Farningham. Continue south to Eynsford, past Lullingstone Castle on the Castle Farm Road, which turns northwest to Chelsfield. Loop round and back south, cross the A21 and proceed to Pratts Bottom, then towards Dunton Green. Before Dunton take the B2211/Sundridge exit at the roundabout, skirt the M25 and from there it’s south, ticking off Toys Hill and Chiddingstone before looping back north towards Knole Park, Bitchet Green, Ivy Hatch, Heaverham then Kemsing. Got it? Probably best to just download the GPX.…

When the time comes for a new bicycle, do you go for a mass-produced carbon bike from one of the big corporations, or something handmade for you in metal by an artisan builder? The mass-produced bicycle is likely to be more technologically advanced, with frames created from high-performance materials and designed by computer modelling. By contrast, the handmade frame is likely to be a simpler affair but will be built to your exact needs and specifications, and will be unique to you. Or there’s a third option. Sturdy Cycles’ titanium bikes have the beauty and individuality of a custom-built artisan frame but are so sophisticated that they include technologies out of reach to the global mega-brands because of the restrictions of mass manufacturing. What’s more, the construction method here allows…

They say a generation is about 40 years, so it’s no surprise that every 40 years ideas come along that appear new to some but repeated to others. Take gravel bikes – they’re just early mountain bikes aren’t they? Particularly when they’re painted like the Fugio. The lairy fade is more than reminiscent of a classic mid-90s mountain bike, the Fat Chance ‘Yo Eddy’, made in the States by Chris Chance (who by chance has resurrected his company). But I’m not complaining. I loved the Yo Eddy for its skinny tubes and its paint, and I love the Fugio for just the same reason. Zip, nip, hooray There is substance beneath the eye-piercing style. The Fugio’s tubing is Reynolds 725 steel, which resides as Reynolds’ least-expensive-but-still-heat-treated tubeset. That means tubes…

1 MAAP X 100% GLENDALE GLASSES €220, maap.cc While a £5k fine for holidaying abroad is still probably cheaper than a family Center Parcs break, €220 does seem a fair wedge for shades. But just look at these MAAP-designed, clear-framed Glendales, with an optically tuned lens to help you see more. And just think: wouldn’t these look great when sunbathing in Mallorca? Only joking, because you need to go and remortgage the house so little Tara can ride the log flume. 2 ALTURA HERITAGE BAR BAG £60, altura.co.uk Ventriloquist dummies made out of old carpet are wankly ruggish, but bar bags made out of classic 12oz waxed canvas? Now you’re talking. The Altura Heritage’s five-litre capacity is capacious without being cumbersome, its construction weather-resistant and its fitting and removal a…

The first time many people can remember seeing the ‘super-tuck’ position was at the World Championships in Florence in 2013. The 19-year-old Slovenian, Matej Mohori?, announced himself not only by winning the under-23 road race one year after winning the junior title, but by contorting his body on descents in a way most had never seen. While previous extreme descending positions had seen riders place their hands in the centre of the bars and their nose almost on the stem, or slide off the back of the saddle and hover over the rear wheel – think Marco Pantanti in the 1990s – Mohori? went the other way. Sliding forward to sit on the top tube, and with his hands gripping the tops of the handlebars and his elbows bent like…

The road is the kind of grey a wet school jumper goes, with the lack of central markings indicating how narrow it is Comeglians sits like a button on a Chesterfield sofa, pinned to the valley floor as if tethering the mountains rising biliously at its sides. There are rather a lot of towns like Comeglians in the Carnic Alps, little more than footnotes to the provincial highways yet still somehow containing everything one could need: a restaurant, a supermarket, a post office, a bank, an ironmongers, a hotel. As we ride I check them off in that order. By the time we pass the fountain – renaissance nymph draining into stone trough – we’ve hit the town limits and we’re on our first climb. This is how Italy’s northern…

There’s something about a FiftyOne that always makes me think that, for the right customer, it will prove a brilliant investment. First, because it is fully bespoke it fits like the proverbial glove, but second, because it is round-tubed it won’t date, yet custom paint means it will be forever unique. It looks classily current now; it will look the same in 10 years’ time (and if you spread the cost over 10 years it will only set you back £3.29 a day). And then there’s the ride. I’ve ridden both rim and disc brake FiftyOnes, and both hit that precise sweet-spot of focussed handling paired with exceptional balance, specifically in terms of stiffness, where the frame reacts and flexes as it negotiates turns yet smashes powerfully out of corners,…

I’ve loved this bike almost as long as I’ve loved bikes. OK, not quite this bike, because the original Laser came out in 1981 and was steel. But the colour and aesthetic of this carbon reimagining are inherited, so too the proud ‘made in Italy’ label. Geometry is traditional Italian race, with short wheelbase and trail and near-horizontal top tube, the former meaning the bike swivels on a sixpence, the latter lending a bit more lateral flex to the frame due to the larger front triangle it creates (as compared to a compact frame). Given that, it’s fair to say the Laser won’t win any stiffness trophies, but the flipside is that it holds corner lines beautifully – overtly stiff frames just don’t track turns as well. However, as edifying…

When it comes to helmets it’s very easy to get caught up in the weight or the styling and forget the main reason for wearing one: safety. The beauty of the Giro Aether Spherical is that it has some of the most impressive safety technology of any helmet but hasn’t compromised on looks or performance. As most riders will now know, Mips is a ‘slip liner’ used by many brands, which can move inside the helmet, protecting the head from rotational impacts in the event of a crash. The Aether takes this concept one step further by having two separate layers of EPS, one rotating inside the other like a ball and socket joint. Fortunately I never had to test out its efficacy on my JOGLE ride, but I can…

Anyone remember Kirk? No, not the captain of the Enterprise, those wacky road bikes from the late 1980s. The magnesium frames, with their striking, girder-like I-beam construction were the brainchild of one Frank Kirk, an aeronautical engineer from Chelmsford. Magnesium, you will remember from school, is the material that burns like crazy when you stick it in a Bunsen burner. Kirk was convinced it was also the material of the future for bicycles, with a strength-to-weight ratio far higher than both aluminium and steel. His party piece to demonstrate this was to lay one of his frames in the road and drive over it with a Land Rover. If you’ve never heard of Kirk it’s probably because the brand didn’t last, despite being raced at the Tour de France in…

Czech brand Festka has been making beautiful, super-high-end boutique bicycle frames since 2010. Last year, to celebrate its 10th anniversary, Festka produced the ‘X’ series, comprising 10 numbered special editions of its three most popular designs: the gravel-going Rover, the carbon-titanium mix Doppler, and this, the skeletal Scalatore. Going by tradition a 10th anniversary should be celebrated with tin, but Festka opted for a slightly more precious metal, with 24-carat gold leaf used to create the Scalatore’s decals. Seen through a clear lacquer that exposes the frame’s impeccable carbon fibre construction, the appearance it creates – particularly in bright sunshine – is stunning. The deep lustre of the gold counters the grayscale surface finish of the bare carbon perfectly, and happily I found that once I was able to look…

The Secret Road p60 Abus Airbreaker helmet, £229 abus.com Roka GP sunglasses, £190 roka.com Isadore Alternative jersey, £135 isadore.com Sportful Fiandre Light armwarmers, £45 saddleback.co.uk Sportful NoRain gloves, £40 saddleback.co.uk Isadore Alternative bibshorts, £150 isadore.com Sidi Wire 2 Carbon shoes, £340 saddleback.co.uk This Is England p94 Lazer Genesis helmet, £179.99 freewheel.co.uk Oakley Sutro sunglasses, £135 oakley.com VaiVai Esp Misto jersey, £95.94 vaivai.cc VaiVai Scudetto bibshorts, £145.28 vaivai.cc VaiVai VV socks, £9.87 vaivai.cc Suplest Edge+ Road Pro shoes, £320 suplest.ch Northern Exposure p112 Giro Aether Spherical helmet, £269.99 zyrofisher.co.uk SunGod Vulcans TF sunglasses, £125 sungod.co Castelli Idro 2 jacket, £260 saddleback.co.uk Rapha Explore Down jacket, £220 rapha.cc Castelli Perfetto RoS vest, £130 saddleback.co.uk Castelli Milano jersey, £85 saddleback.co.uk Castelli Perfetto RoS gloves, £65 saddleback.co.uk Castelli Free Aero Race 4 bibshorts, £150…