Cycling Weekly 12/16/2021 - Xmas issue

Ah, where would we be without nostalgia? I’m not the sort of person to pine over years gone by, but I like nothing more than looking back over the last year of riding and racing. The news cycle moves on so quickly that it’s easy to forget just how impressive Tom Pidcock was back in April, who won the National 10, or how incredible that picture of Charlotte Worthington was as she flew to her groundbreaking BMX gold medal in Tokyo. I also enjoy reliving those races all over again, and then feeling slightly embarrassed that, yet again, I got to mid-June and started fretting about a lack of British success. Maybe it’s my impatient nature, but with only a handful of wins in the first half of the year, and a question…

Seventeen-year-old Zoe Bäckstedt took her first elitelevel victory at Robotland Cyclocross Essen on Saturday. The Welshwoman started on the front row and sprinted into the lead at the start. After duelling with Laura Verdonschot (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) and compatriot Anna Kay (Starcasino) for the first muddy set of hairpins she powered away and had over a minute in hand at the final finish line. “It gives me a lot of confidence after a hard couple of weeks getting ready for the Christmas period,” Bäckstedt said. But the junior, who is focused on winning both the junior World Cup series and the CX World Championships this winter, said she wasn’t getting carried away with her first elite win, pointing to the absence of many top-drawer riders who were in Italy for the World Cup…

The Cyclopark mud shook up the battle for the National Trophy CX Series, with some surprise results at the penultimate round in Kent. Any one of the top four riders in the men’s and women’s categories could take overall glory when the series heads to Skipton in North Yorkshire on 15-16 January. Last weekend’s fifth round saw Trinity Racing’s Cameron Mason take the win in the elite men’s race, recovering from a slow start to take the win by a healthy margin from overall leader Corran Carrick-Anderson (T-Mo Racing). Mason said: “I had a good initial start but as soon as I went onto the grass the rider in front of me slid out and I had to brake too so I was well back in the field. But I knew that an…

One of British Cycling’s most long-standing and decorated coaches’ future at the team is in doubt after he abruptly stopped working for the organisation, Cycling Weekly can reveal. Multiple sources have told Cycling Weekly that men’s endurance coach Iain Dyer has stopped working with the riders on the Podium Programme and looks set to leave the organisation. One source said academy coaches Ben Greenwood and Matt Brammeier were coaching in the interim. Dyer is one of British Cycling’s longest-serving coaches. He has been part of the BC set-up since before the Athens Games. Initially he was coach to the sprinters and oversaw many of Britain’s best cyclists including Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Victoria Pendleton. He later took on a senior role and was coach coordinator in the run-up to the Rio Olympics…

Dylan Groenewegen is to leave Jumbo-Visma and move to Team BikeExchange for 2022, in a surprise late-season transfer. The Dutch sprinter leaves the team he’s been with since 2016 to ensure he’s on the start line at the biggest bike races in the world next year. Jumbo-Visma’s roster includes a plethora of GC talent and the all-conquering Wout van Aert, meaning Groenewegen continues to face stiff competition to be at any top-level race, let alone as the squad’s protected sprinter. Jumbo-Visma team boss Richard Plugge said: “We have always had a very good relationship. That is why we decided to cooperate with his departure wish. “As unfortunate as I think it is, because Dylan is a great rider and a nice man.” He added he didn’t want to “hinder” Groenewegen’s career. The Dutchman, who earlier this…

Movistar rider Gabriel Cullaigh has vowed to get himself back into the top flight of the sport after he announced he will step down to the domestic Continental level with Saint Piran in 2022 having been unable to find a new WorldTour contract. Cullaigh barely raced at Movistar, which he joined in 2020, and told CW in an open and expansive interview that he “felt very lost at points” in his two years there. Now he’ll return to domestic racing with the hope of resurrecting his pro career. “I owe it to myself to give it another year. Working with Gary [Sadler, his coach], I can make it work. The main thing is focusing and enjoying my racing and competing. Hopefully the results will come, and with that I can continue this…