Cycling Weekly January 13, 2022

Reading through Dr Hutch’s column this week I learned for the first time of his hatred of bike cleaning. I have to say, I find it quite satisfying. I thought all cyclists did. I wouldn’t put it top of my list of things to do on a Sunday afternoon, but it’s strangely therapeutic and as I clean my bike I can feel myself already looking forward to my next ride. And that certainly beats the feeling of rushing out the door and grabbing my bike only to see it’s still covered in muck and there’s rust forming on the chain. A quick spray of GT85 does not, sadly, make for a carefree Sunday ride. At this time of year giving your bike a good clean after a ride is almost as important…

Thomas Mein finally realised his dream of winning the British cyclo-cross champion’s jersey at the South of England Showground near Crawley on Sunday. The 22-year-old from Gateshead thought his season was over after suffering an illness in November but has bounced back in style after a month-long break from racing. With reigning champion Tom Pidcock choosing to attend a training camp in preparation for the CX World Championships instead of defending his title, there was always going to be a new champion last weekend. Riding for the Belgium-based Tormans-Circus Team, Mein charged clear of Cameron Mason on the last lap to take the men’s national crown. “This has been a dream all my cycling career, so it’s special,” said Mein. “It’s been a rough year; I had some health problems in November and didn’t…

Soft ground conditions and lots of racing on the Crawley course over two days made for treacherous conditions and mechanical problems at the National Cyclo-Cross Championships. However, junior riders Joseph Smith and Ella Maclean-Howell thrived in the tough conditions to take the boys’ and girls’ titles respectively. There was early drama in the boys’ event when favourite and early leader Nathan Smith suffered a mechanical, forcing him to run half a lap and ending his bid for the title. That left a three-way battle, with Joseph Smith pushed by the pairing of Ben Askey and Max Greensill throughout the race. Smith had enough in the final lap for the win, with Askey fending off Greensill for second. Meanwhile, a dominant display saw Maclean-Howell win the junior girls’ event by a minute and 32 seconds. Elizabeth McKinnon…

The muddier the better – that’s the view of reigning women’s national cyclo-cross champion Harriet Harnden, who retained her title with an impressive display of strength riding. The Trek Factory Racing rider who specialises in enduro mountain biking powered through the Crawley mud in similar style to her nationals win two years earlier at Shrewsbury. She faced tough competition from experienced cyclo-cross rider Anna Kay (StarCasino) but found her tempo during the opening lap, passing her rival and taking command of the race. “I knew Anna was going to go off fast, and I just had to do my best to go with that,” said Harnden. “I just rode my own race and stuck at my own pace. I knew the conditions suited me. “I knew I could go with Anna on a bad…

Newly appointed Ineos Grenadiers performance engineer Dan Bigham will form a central part of the Grand Tour titans’ efforts to regain their Tour de France crown. Bigham, who rode for Ribble-Weldtite in 2021 alongside his aerodynamicist work with teams including the Danish track squad, will have a role that reaches across the team, optimising equipment and rider positions and performance for both road races and time trials. But he acknowledged the importance of his expertise as a time triallist would be key to the team’s goal to win all the Grand Tours. Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Bigham said: “It’s an absolute no-brainer that we want to win the big Grand Tours. Part of trying to win them is the time trial. So yeah, obviously looking at what those are like, especially in the…

This month, nearly 18 months after the initial proposals were met with a mixture of concern and excitement by the cycling community, the updated Highway Code will come into force. The new rules, which become official on 29 January, include a raft of measures designed to make the roads safer for cyclists and other vulnerable users, as well as more wideranging restrictions – on mobile phone use in cars, for example – that should also boost safety. When the Department for Transport launched the initial consultation in August 2020, bike riders were pleased to see a “hierarchy of road users” and new suggestions around the safe overtaking of cyclists. However, changes to the now notorious rule 66 – which proposed that cyclists riding two-abreast should have to single out whenever a motorist wishes…