Cycling Weekly

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Over the years there have been any number of halfwits who have taken it upon themselves to discriminate against cyclists. Usually it’s the newspaper columnist who wearily trots out the same boring rants that, I suspect, even they’re bored of. The latest anti-cyclist drivel is from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, no less. After first threatening cyclists with legal action just for meeting for a ride, claiming they were a nuisance, they last week issued a further letter to clarify the situation around Velolife cafe near Reading (see story on page 10). It included this contender for most stupid sentence of the year: “Cyclists are welcome to use the facilities, but must not arrange organised meets that start, end or stop off at the cafe.” So, according to this letter,…

thomas triumphs at inaugural tour of scotland

Despite losing a day to the weather, the first edition of the Women’s Tour of Scotland proved a showcase for Bigla Pro Cycling, whose Leah Thomas won the third and final stage, as well as the general classification. While they were not the top-ranked team on the start list, in Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig they had the race’s top-ranked rider, and it was the effervescent Dane who set up the win with a late attack on Sunday’s final stage in Edinburgh’s rain-soaked Holyrood Park. By the time she was caught inside the closing three kilometres only nine women remained at the front, with American Thomas able to wrestle the overall lead from Canadian Alison Jackson (Tibco-SVB) on the line. Jackson had started the day leading overall, seven seconds ahead of Thomas, but could…

my view

News writer Despite the adverse weather conditions, which saw the opening stage abandoned, the first edition of the Tour of Scotland appears to have been a resounding success. There are, however, caveats. Organisers rightly bigged-up the teams and riders taking part, but in reality the start list was not as stellar as they would have hoped. But that was never going to happen with the European Championships taking many of the best riders and trade teams wanting their riders fresh for the upcoming WorldTour races. “THE TOUR HAS FILLED A GAP IN THE DOMESTIC RACING SCENE” But does that matter? I say no. The race was hard-fought. Organisers provided a good social media feed and while there was no live TV, highlights were available to watch free of charge each evening. The race was the…

just let me finish…

The best year I’ve ever had on the road was in 2017. After the 2016 Games my plan was to do all the fun bits of cycling all the time, so I raced a bunch that whole winter and did a big road season the following summer. The Track Worlds weren’t until mid-April, which would usually mean my road season wouldn’t start until after that, but since I wasn’t doing team pursuit prep I started racing road in March. I won the omnium at that Worlds, and for a few months afterwards it felt like nothing could go wrong. I had some pretty ace team-mates (that I would name drop but for fear of how long the list would be) and when I daydream about that season it’s all memories of us…

racing ahead

Arctic Race of Norway (August 15-18) There are three stages that will excite both sprinters and rouleurs, and a queen stage that finishes atop Storheia Summit, a short and sharp climb. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) and Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic) will be among the GC contenders. Tour de l’Avenir (August 15-25) The most prestigious U23 race on the calendar, reigning Tour de France winner Egan Bernal won just two years ago. Stage eight is a savage 23.4km climb of the Col de la Loze in Méribel. Chris Lawless and Matt Gibson have won sprint stages for Great Britain in the last two years. Postnord Vårgårda West Sweden (August 16 & 18) The Women’s WorldTour double-header begins with a team time trial that will see Boels-Dolmans attempt to repeat their 2018 success when they edged Sunweb by 16…

hope for cycling cafe after council seeks to restrict use by riders

A cycling cafe in Berkshire that has been threatened with an injunction that could lead to its closure could yet be saved after the intervention of the council’s elected leader. Last month planning officials at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead served a draft injunction on Velolife preventing it hosting any organised cycling groups. The threat of action comes after a planning issue arose when the cafe opened in 2016 and, Cycling Weekly understands, a small number of complaints were received from local residents saying they were disturbed by gathering cyclists. Along with the draft injunction’s draconian conditions, local cycling clubs have been warned off in two letters. The first suggested they could be subject to criminal prosecution for any rides that stop at the cafe this year. In the second letter and…