Cycling Plus

We recently decamped to Denmark for a weekend spent initiating ourselves in one of the world’s great cycling cultures (and devouring plenty of pickled fish on rye). Deputy ed John spent a discombobulating 16-minute thrill ride in the back of Nairo Quintana’s team car during the Tour de France’s TT in Copenhagen (p62), while I got the more sedate six-hour experience of the Viking Gran Fondo in Jutland (p120). Both highlighted the immense passion for cycling in Scandinavia, both the slick cycling infrastructure, and both what a top-rate cycling holiday destination this would be. Skål! matthew.baird@ourmedia.co.uk Your experts Katherine Moore Tech reviewer Reviewer, writer and presenter Katherine is a gravel bike expert and experienced bikepacker. She gives her judgment on the best sub-£2k gravel bikes in this month's major bike test From p32 Rob Ainsley Cycling travel…

Book of Daniel Newly-retired pro rider Daniel Martin has been busy in his first year off the bike, and has just announced that he’ll be publishing his autobiography (Quercus, L20) on 13 October this year Mountain excitement Later in the issue you will find our report on the seven-stage Tour Transalp road race (p52). It was the 18th year of the mountainheavy event and they’ve just announced the dates for the 19th: 18-24 June 2023. tour-transalp.de Forest commission Southwest Scotland’s Galloway Forest Park is one of the finest places to explore on a gravel bike and now there’s an event for it: Raiders Gravel, three days of riding arriving imminently (25-28 August) Tour de l’Avenir The Tour de l’Avenir, arguably the most prestigious race for male u23 riders, will add a women’s race for 2023. The five-day…

Luke Durbridge, 31, rides for Team BikeExchange-Jayco and is a four-time Australian national time trial champion Things have changed hugely in time trials since I turned professional in 2012. Back then, if you enjoyed time trialling, as I did, even on a bad day you’d hit the top-15 of the stage classification. Now, everyone riding in the men’s WorldTour, at the top of the sport, has their time trial game dialled in. So much work goes into going faster. Most riders undergo CdA (coefficient of drag) work in the windtunnel, which will make a rider go faster without any additional power, and out on the track, many will ride their time trial bike at least once a week all-year-round. A bad day in 2022 and you’ll be down in 60th. You see, everyone’s…

Beryl Burton wasn’t just ahead of the opposition. She was out of sight. Literally. She dominated 1960s British women’s cycling with outlier stats of (Australian cricketer) Don-Bradman-like beyondness. We’re talking 24 national titles and several world titles, in track and road racing. She was also unbeatable in domestic women’s time-trial between 1959 and 1983. Eddy Merckx, tough? Hah! He never toiled on a rhubarb farm then cycled home to make the family tea before a race. Beryl did. She was a West Yorkshire housewife, lifelong amateur – and cycling phenomenon. Among her catalogue of records, her 1967 mark of 277.25 miles in 12 hours is legendary. Unsurpassed by a woman until 2017, it wasn’t bettered by a man for two years. En route to setting it she overtook leader Mike McNamara, famously…

AW Cycles, Reading History • Family-run business that started in 1994 aimed at local cyclists. It sits just north of Reading station, a few minutes from the popular 350km King Alfred’s Way gravel circuit. What makes this shop special? • “Customer service,” says shop manager Dave Llewellyn. “We’re happy to spend time talking bikes, whether with beginners or pro riders. We’re all cyclists ourselves and use the products we sell, so we can give honest advice.” Why is a local bike shop so important? • “Convenience and approachability. We can sort problems big or small right there. We get a lot of minor emergencies at weekends!” What’s in store? • Second-hand town runabouts for £100 to £12k road bikes. Brands include Bianchi, Giant, Orbea, Whyte and Focus. Lots of ebikes too: the market is growing strongly, especially e-MTBs. Special…