Procycling

Zwalm, Belgium 29 FEBRUARY 2020 Two former winners of Omloop have plenty of time to reflect on the circumstances that saw them miss the crucial split in the 2020 race. Defending champion Zdenek Štybar of Deceuninck-Quick Step and CCC’s Greg Van Averm

As we went to press, there were riders from Cofidis, Groupama-FDJ, Gazprom-RusVelo and UAE Emirates still being held in quarantine in an Abu Dhabi hotel after coronavirus hit the UAE Tour. Eight people connected to the race had tested positive for wh

The goal Chloé Dygert Owen has set herself in the individual pursuit. It’s a time that would take three seconds off her own world’s best. The American set two new world records at the Track World Championships in Berlin, lowering the IP from 3.20.060

Where’s home? Freibourg in Germany. I’ve been living in Germany since I was 14. I grew up in Cottbus, at a sports college; in 2007 I moved to Freibourg so I’ve been here for 12, 13 years. What’s your favourite race? Paris-Roubaix, just because it is

This name rings a bell. You will have heard of Sebastian Berwick if you were watching the Herald Sun Tour this February. The 20-year-old finished second behind Sunweb’s Jai Hindley. He impressed on stage 2 by attacking on the climb of Falls Creek, th

Images: Neil Godwin, Olly Curtis, Phil, Barker. ■

When I want to forget cycling, my number one hobby is my family. Failing that, I go fishing, for carp and pike. Around 4pm on a Friday, me, some friends and my uncle will head out to a lake near where I live in Cologne. The biggest carp I’ve caught s

The announcement that OVO Energy wouldn’t be renewing their sponsorship of the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour for 2020 and beyond prompted a common response: ‘Will the races go ahead this year?’ Thankfully, the answer is yes, although it’s undeniab

At the risk this month of sounding like ‘old man Dan Martin’, I’m going to attempt to pass comment on the new generation who emerged last season, and seem to be dominant so far in 2020. Sprinters have often tended to begin getting results early in th

Mads Pedersen is describing the final kilometre of the 2019 World Championships road race, upon Procycling’s request, and he’s back in the moment. The final, frenetic kilometres of a spectacularly wet and gruelling day saw him weighing up the options

The two-week period at the end of 2019 that saw Mads Pedersen win the road world title and Bauke Mollema win Il Lombardia most neatly encompasses the reinvention that’s been ongoing at Trek-Segafredo in recent years. One, a nutured young rider of jus

■Number of riders age 25 and under 21 GIACOMO NIZZOLO 2011-2018 27 FABIAN CANCELLARA 2011-2016 11 MADS PEDERSEN 2017-PRESENT Since the team was formed in 2011, what are Trek’s best results in the three grand tours? BAUKE MOLLEMA 201 9 ANDY SCHLECK 20

Good things come to those who wait. Or so Sep Vanmarcke has to keep telling himself. EF Pro Cycling’s Flandrian is consistent, reliable and for almost a decade now, has always been touted as a favourite for every spring classics campaign. This season

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2012 GP Impanis 2013 Stage, Tour of Norway 2014 Stage, Tour of Alberta 2014 Stage, Ster ZLM Tour 2016 Ster ZLM Tour 2016 Stage, Tour du Haut Var 2019 Bretagne Classic- Ouest France 2019 Gent-Wevelgem 2010, 2016 Circuit Franco-Be

Flemish writer Omer Wattez described the Vlaamse Ardennen, the Flemish Ardennes, as, “My beautiful country, with wide vistas, strong green and long rows of trees.” It’s an almost Tolkienesque corner of the world – gently rolling hills, farms, hilltop

YOU’RE A BELGIAN MANAGER ON A BELGIAN TEAM WHICH IS GOOD AT THE BELGIAN CLASSICS. IS THIS THE BEST PART OF THE YEAR FOR YOU? From ‘Opening Weekend’ to Roubaix it’s always a very exciting period. It’s also the busiest of time the year with the equipme

There was something artistic about that image of Philippe Gilbert, wearing the skin-tight colours of his national flag as literally as a human being can, dismounting his bike and raising it to the heavens as he walked beneath the finish arch of the T

The Tour of Flanders is one of my favourite races. It used to finish in Ninove but I’m happy it’s in Oudenaarde, the town where I was born. The classics are my main goals. The races have the most history and the winners are all big champions. When yo

The Ardèche classics are something of a family affair. Races with the feeling of a Belgian classic but on French soil… big name riders included, lighter on the crowds - which actually makes you feel like you’re in on a well-kept secret. As with all r

How do you know you’ve got what it takes to be an elite athlete? Talent and physical ability are a huge part of what’s needed, but do you have that thing inside you that motivates you to go the extra mile, to train that bit harder and longer, to sacr

How long have you been racing together for? SHANE ARCHBOLD: Six years. What were your first impressions of each other? SAM BENNETT: I didn’t like him! Nah, I’m joking. Actually, the first year in An Post we didn’t talk much. ARCHBOLD: We lived togeth

Back in 2015, Sir Dave Brailsford ventured to San Francisco in search of what many termed Marginal Gains 2.0. The Team Sky principal visited 20 tech companies, testing a wide range of products in search of the next cutting edge. One image stood out i

Perhaps the most impressive exploit in A Sunday in Hell, Jørgen Leth’s celebrated documentary of the 1976 Paris-Roubaix, turns out not to be the winning move in the race. Francesco Moser has missed the decisive attack by Roger de Vlaeminck and Walter

WORTH £28 The Lezyne Mini Drive is a compact and durable multi-purpose LED light. Delivering 300 lumens of LED, it features a ‘Daytime Flash’ mode, enhanced MOR lens with built-in side visibility and a recharging USB stick. It securely mounts to all

£4,000 ||| $5,180 Merida’s Reacto Disc LTD 2020 is the third iteration of the company’s aero model. With graphic design nods to the I Ching and the sleek lines of the CF2 frame, it’s both visually appealing and a high-performance aero bike. Merida’s

RACE OF THE MONTH / OMLOOP HET NIEUWSBLAD / 29.02.2020 The day after his anonymous showing at last year’s E3 Classic, a race he later described as the lowest point of his career, Jasper Stuyven sat for an hour with his sports psychologist, desperatel

PROCYCLING PICK / OMLOOP HET NIEUWSBLAD-VROUWEN / 29.02.20 As soon as the women’s peloton hit the bottom of the Muur van Geraardsbergen at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, onto the cobbles that form the base of the climb, Annemiek van Vleuten moved to the fron

UAE TOUR / 23-27.02.20 This race is so straightforward, unless there is wind, which can eliminate half of the GC guys straight away, but there hasn’t been that. The first couple of days there was not much wind and you see on the start list, apart fro

FAUN-ARDÈCHE CLASSIC / 29.02.20 The suicide break is so much a part of cycling’s structure that it’s hard to imagine a race without one. It suits everybody: the sponsors of the teams in the break get their publicity; the teams with ambition and the s

ROYAL BERNARD DRÔME CLASSIC / 0 1.03.20 What’s your reaction to winning? I’m very happy. Yesterday [at Faun-Ardèche Classic] I suffered a little bit in the cold but our team rode really strong. Unfortunately we couldn’t catch Rémi Cavagna but Tanel K

ALASDAIR FOTHERINGHAM CYCLING WRITER VOLTA A CATALUNYA 23-29 March | Spain | 2.UWT The Volta a Catalunya is cycling’s wacky grandma - cutting a venerable figure as it celebrates its 100th edition this year, but with an off-the-wall personality and ze