It's all happening

Hello out there cycling fans, how is life treating you on this fine Friday? I hope you’re all well, welcome to the penultimate newsletter of 2024 – WHAT?! – I know, right? I even typed ‘2025’ there by accident which I guess shows I’m ready for the new year, even if I’m definitely not ready for Christmas yet (practically speaking – in a holiday sense I am more than ready).

It's been a really busy week in the world of cycling with good and bad news to report, after a relatively quiet week the previous week, so let’s get on with it shall we?

ON THE WEBSITE

The website is full of new content for you to dive into – WBR News Editor Rémi Massart has begun a new series of in-depth team previews, and as I write there are three already up to check out. He’s covering all the men’s and women’s World Tour teams and in each piece he takes a quick look back at the team’s season, before reviewing their activity on the transfer market and considering how the season ahead might shape up for them. Here are your first three:

Additionally, there’s a long read on the Rayner Foundation – for those of you who aren’t aware, this is a UK-based charity that has been going almost 30 years – set up in memory of British cyclist Dave Rayner with the aim of providing financial support to a number of talented young riders each year as they travel to Europe to live and race their bikes with the hope of securing a pro contract.

The piece features a chat with Rayner committee member Joscelin Ryan, along with a flavour of the action from the organisation’s annual fundraising dinner, which was a fantastic night. Have a read to find out more – they are doing really important and great work.

ON THE POD

Sanny and I recorded our most recent pod last week, and it features a really interesting chat with cycling media;s very own Daniel Benson. It features chat about the state of British cycling, INEOS and Tom Pidcock and more, and is really worth a listen as Dan has some amazing insights after working for over 15 years in the sport.

Next episode will be with you midweek next week so listen out for that one!

NEWS! HERE IS SOME NEWS!

TOP STORY: Remco Evenepoel involved in training crash

It’s safe to say we’re all hoping for a more positive 2025 with fewer crashes, but sadly the new season hasn’t even started yet and we have to face yet more news of a rider suffering injuries in a crash. Remco Evenepoel collided with a van door while out on a training ride on Wednesday, resulting in a series of fractures which will obviously take a good deal of time to heal. It’s yet another setback for the Olympic champion, who really seems to have suffered more than his fair share of spills in his relatively short career. Sending him all the best and hopefully he will bounce back in time for his first goals of the season.

Here's the man himself on social media, outlining his injuries.  

TOP STORY: Pidcock parts way with INEOS, drops a division with Q36.5

After a turbulent week (month – year – career?!) with INEOS, Tom Pidcock announced earlier this week that he was leaving the team where he turned pro in 2021. It seemed like a sensible decision on the face of it – there was clearly a clash between the team’s plans for Pidcock and his own goals, but in the end, they parted ways amicably.

Today has seen Pidcock announce that he will join Pro Continental side Q36.5 Pro Cycling for the next three years. It’s a left-field move and one that has many scratching their heads. Doug Ryder’s team, like other Pro teams, will not automatically qualify for many top level World Tour races, including the Grand Tours, but it’s a move which offers Pidcock the freedom to design his own programme, a dedicated team around him, and a chance to start afresh, taking his career in a direction of his choosing – a luxury not afforded him at INEOS.

The team’s press release, below, gives no details at this early stage about his goals, or which disciplines he will ride, and we await further details in the new year.

TOP STORY: Saint Piran fold; Harry Tanfield drives new hope for riders left stranded

Breaking news revealed exclusively on writebikerepeat.com last week that the final British men’s continental team, the Cornwall-based Saint Piran, would close their doors. 2025 then will see a season with no men’s teams besides INEOS Grenadiers - by contrast there were five just three years ago. It came just two weeks after the news that TRINITY Racing would not take to the roads in 2025, either.

In the wake of the team’s demise, a rider-led initiative, spear-headed by former Saint Piran rider Harry Tanfield, is aiming to reach a situation by which riders from both Saint Piran and TRINITY may be able to band together to form a racing unit for 2025. They have been given a 14-day extension to the deadline for registering a team by the governing body British Cycling - we are all behind them and will bring you further updates as we have them.

Read the team’s statement at the website, below.

And here’s the article about Harry Tanfield’s efforts - with just a few days remaining until their deadline, it goes without saying that if you or anyone you know feels they can support this endeavour, to get in touch!

New kit season begins!

It’s finally here, folks. The most wonderful time of the year, where half the population of the cycling fandom remarks on shades, designs and styles and the other half repeatedly answers the question ‘but can it be clearly identified from a helicopter shot?’

Yes it’s new kit season, and yesterday brought us not one but two new kits to feast our eyes on. First to launch were Cofidis, who revealed a move away from their traditional red, with the below effort. I’ll let you be the judge of whether or not it ticks the ‘style’ box, but - visible within the peloton? Definitely.

Second up were Lidl-Trek, who revealed a same-but-different remodel of their 2024 design - personally I think this one ticks all the boxes.

Vuelta a Italia?!

Although the official route presentation doesn’t take place until 19 December, Cycling News brought us confirmation that first three stages of the 2025 Vuelta will take place in Italy. Located in the Piemonte region, there will be an early mountain top finish on stage 2, before a second mountain stage two days later, as the race passes into France to spend stage 4 in the Alps. It will mean that Italy has hosted the opening of all three Grand Tours within the past two years, and that at least four nations will be visited en route (a stage in Andorra has already been confirmed).

CX participation update!

With the cyclocross season well underway, the diehard fans have been enjoying the action for a few weeks already, but as we approach the busy kerstperiode – the peak of the CX season – all eyes are on the biggest names in the sport, with question marks surrounding their participation. Here’s what we know so far…

Mathieu van der Poel – the reigning CX world champion’s programme remains in doubt, despite the suggestion from his team boss Christoph Roodhooft that news on the Dutchman’s programme would be revealed in the final week of November. Now as of today, 6 December, we still have no news, suggesting that the earliest we can expect to see him in action would be deep into December, perhaps even as late as kerstperiode itself.

Wout van Aert – the Belgian’s return to the feel is heavily reliant on his continued recovery from the knee injury which sustained at La Vuelta in August. Initially expected to return in mid-late December, the troubles Van Aert continues to suffer with his running have further delayed any specifics regarding his return, with the possibility that he may not race at all in 2024. More as we have it. (Editor’s note: we have it. See below).

Tom Pidcock – as per the above post, we have no news yet regarding Pidcock’s cyclocross season, but it’s currently looking unlikely that we’ll see the Brit taking on the mud this season as he navigates the transition between teams and all that entails

Puck Pieterse – the current undisputed multi-discipline Queen confirmed her participation via her team Fenix-Deceuninck – thankfully for all of her fans, she will ride a relatively busy programme, beginning on 15 December in Namur. Full programme below:

And for fans of thrilling British prospect Cat Ferguson, her team Movistar confirmed that she too would ride a full cross programme, beginning in Herentals on 14 December. It will be her first year in the elite ranks.

STOP PRESS! Literally as I put together this newsletter with a view to sending it IN ABOUT 20 MINUTES’ TIME, Visma-Lease A Bike announce Wout van Aert’s programme - because of course they do. See link below - he will begin on 23 December in Mol.

BITESIZE CHUNKS OF NEWS – YUM!

All the rest of the headlines!

• Maxim van Gils is reportedly close to signing for Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe – though the team still haven’t made it official.

• Steve Cummings to Team Jayco-AlUla! Former INEOS DS moves to pastures new for 2025.

• The Giro d’Italia and Giro d’Italia Women route presentations will now take place on Monday 13^th January. Delayed from November, they will reveal the routes in full, including details of the disputed Grande Partenza.

• Geraint Thomas confirms he will begin his 2025 season at the Tour Down Under!

• Magnus Backstedt joins Cofidis Women as a Sports Director for 2025!

• Thomas de Gendt joins a gravel team - Classified CC - for 2025!

• Matthew Richardson wins the first UCI Champions League sprint round, beating multiple world and Olympic champion Harrie Lavreysen – the newly minted Brit has been banned for competing for Australia following an inquest into his defection to Great Britain

OH HAPPY DAY

Celebrating the lighter side of the sport…

Look, I’m a simple girl. Give me Thibaut Pinot’s intagram updates about his menagerie and I’m happy. Who doesn’t want to see two cute baby cows?!

Or for those of you who like your social media frivolity to be more of a classic British vintage, how about Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish on holiday in Taiwan – the travel show we never knew we needed!

CYCLOCROSS DISPATCH 23 NOV-6 DEC

All the latest results from the world of off-road.

We begin with the Exact Cross Kortrijk (23 Nov) where Eli Iserbyt foreshadowed a strong run of form ahead by taking a convincing victory ahead of in-form Niels Vandeputte, and Iserbyt’s own teammate Michael Vantourenhout. The women’s race saw a relatively weak field missing most of the key names from recent podiums, which allowed Fem van Empel to notch up the win on her return to the field, enjoying a 47-second gap over second placed Marion Norbert Riberolle. Inge van der Heijden was third.

The UCI CX WORLD CUP began in ANTWERP (24 Nov), with round 1 taking place on the sandy course in the Netherlands.

In the women’s race, Team SD Worx-ProTime’s Marie Schreiber took off at breakneck speed as usual, distancing the field, but it didn’t take Fem van Empel long to bridge across to her to form a lead duo. The pair stuck together until the end of lap 2, Schreiber losing lots of time through the sand pit, Lucinda Brand and a chasing pack closing her down as van Empel forged ahead alone. It was down to the former world champion Brand to pursue the current one after that, and pursue she did, but it was not enough in the end, the reigning world champ triumphing with a 31-second gap over her countrywoman.

They don’t call him the Sandman for nothing. Yes, Crelan-Corendon’s Lauren Sweeck led with confidence in the early stages of the men’s race, gapping the chasers on lap 2 as he stormed through the sandpit, but just as they had the previous day in Kortrijk, the wily Pauwels-Sauzen-Bingoal pairing of Iserbyt and Vantourenhout played team tactics with great success. When Iserbyt went clear on lap 5 that would be the last they would see of him, and with his confidence brimming, the diminutive Belgian timed his peak to perfection as the world cup series began.

Sweeck may not have won the race, but he certainly put this spectator in his place – no-one wants to mess with those shoulders…

The following weekend, the majority of the elite field travelled to the Republic of Ireland, and as such there was no event in the low countries on the Saturday. It was all about:

FOCUS ON: UCI WORLD CUP, DUBLIN (1 DEC)

The women’s race went ahead without arguably the top rider of the season so far, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado – her team cited illness brought on by fatigue, and it’s fair to say she didn’t look her best in Antwerp the previous weekend and after all her early season exploits, probably deserves a rest. Sara Casasola was also absent.

The early laps were scintillating stuff, as despite Fem van Empel’s attempts to make an early move, she somehow found herself distanced in 8^th , with a lead group of six powering clear, Lucinda Brand attacking down the start/finish straight to kick off the counter-move.

Brand was clearly on a good day, and she was able to pull clear on lap 2, leaving van Empel at the head of a chase group that included Zoe Backstedt. Van Empel finally bridged to Brand on lap 3 but an error in the sandpit forced her off the bike and running, allowing Backstedt and two more chasers – Annemarie Worst and Inge van der Heijden – to catch her.

Brand built her lead, with van Empel not looking at her best. There were problems for Worst who fell away from the chase for the podium and needed a bike change. Van Empel did eventually begin to close the gap to Brand somewhat but there was no disputing the winner. Brand raised her arms, with van Empel finishing 23 seconds down. Backstedt was finally able to move clear of a dogged van der Heijden to finish on the podium for the second consecutive year in Dublin.

The men’s race began with a huge pile-up the first time over the barriers, with Michael Boros falling and causing a domino effect throughout the field resulting in a crash for Thibau Nys that ended his race in a competitive sense (though he did get back on his bike and work his way back through the field, but sensibly threw in the towel on lap 7).

The day’s early aggressors were Felipe Orts, Toon Aerts and Pim Ronhaar. The trio were able to take advantage of the traffic and pull clear, with Ronhaar looking good through the beginning, but there’s always a Pauwels-Sauzen rider to scupper the best-laid plans it seems, and Michael Vantourenhout took the lead on lap 2 – until he suffered from a broken shoe – yet he chose not to head to the pits. Crelan-Corendon’s Joran Wyseure took advantage of Vantourenhout’s temporary discombobulation, moving to the front.

The broken shoe didn’t seem to bother Vantourenhout too much though, and he finally changed it on lap 4 in an incredibly smooth turn through the pits, and made his way back to the front again – a sterling effort from the Belgian. Ronhaar was on his tail though, and it was so good to see him back to his best following a late and difficult start to the season for the Baloise Trek rider, following illness.

Where one goes, the other inevitably follows – after Vantourenhout’s sustained pressure, Eli Iserbyt moved to the front – a strong showing yet again from Pauwels-Sauzen-Bingoal, despite the continued pressure from Ronhaar and Wyseure, the latter looking really good – stepping up a level in 2024, for sure.

And what of Laurens Sweeck? Following a bad start, the rider who had finished second twice before in Dublin was slowly picking his way back towards the front – would he make it? Ultimately, no. On a day where a whole host of riders were enjoying good legs, the next to shoot his shot was Toon Aerts, on lap 6. He led group of six, which was becoming gradually more spread out as the pressure increased lap by lap. After a long stint from Aerts, Iserbyt took over on lap 7 and the pace increased instantly – Sweeck, van der Haar and Kuipers who had been closing the gap dropping back again. Iserbyt was throwing it down and only Aerts was able to hang on – he was clearly hoping to drop them all as he had the previous weekend in Antwerp.

So to the final lap and absolute DRAMA as despite hanging onto the lead and having the rest rinsing themselves to stay with him, Iserbyt struggled up a short kicker, getting his front wheel stuck, causing a concertina effect coming into the heavy, technical section which following. The six riders came together once again, all of them chopping their way around the tight 90-degree turns, and it looked set to come down to a sprint. That was until a late attack from Michael Vantourenhout. He threw everything at it, and was able to find space over the exhausted chasers to raise his arms and make it two in two for Pauwels at the World Cup. Aerts, Orts and Iserbyt raced for second, with Aerts winning that battle and Iserbyt ultimately missing out on the podium.

It was a bad day for Baloise-Trek though, with Nys out, Ronhaar in 6^th and van der Haar 7^th , and they will need to regroup ahead of next weekend’s round in Cabras.

FINAL THOUGHT – With or without two

Initially I was going to discuss the idea of early season hype in today’s Final Thought, but the idea grabbed me so I covered it in my most recent Monday Musings blog – check it out for an extended consideration of why position on the schedule matters so much for fan engagement.

Next Monday, I’ll be discussing the prospect of a cyclocross season without the so-called ‘Big Three’. While there’s every reason to believe we will see at least van der Poel and Van Aert make an appearance at some point this winter, the fact we still don’t know when they might begin their racing block, and the fact that both have reduced their participation in recent years, leaves cyclocross race organisers with a problem – their biggest draw from a crowd perspective may be coming closer to the end of their cyclocross careers. What does this mean for the future of cyclocross? Are exciting young talents like Thibau Nys and Puck Pieterse enough to engage crowds in a post-Vans world? I’ll consider this in more depth next week.

(Apologies for not expanding here but have you SEEN the news this week, it’s been tough enough to keep up with the Pidcock saga let alone try and write anything else!)

(Yes I know this is a bit outdated now given the late announcement of Van Aert’s programme, I’m trying my best!)

THE LAST WORD

WE MADE IT! That was a lot. Thanks for sticking with me, if you made it this far. If you’re enjoying the newsletter and would like to support my quest to provide free, informative and entertaining cycling content, why not buy me a coffee – it means the world to have you on my team. Or if you’re looking for a Christmas present that also supports independent cycling websites, check out my shop to pick up a casquette or bidon?

Until next time, which will be our final visit together in 2024, thanks as always for subscribing, I really appreciate you all!

Cheers,

Katy