Newsletter The First

What's up bike fans! I'm back and honestly I can't tell you how deeply my heart is warmed by the level of support you've all shown as I launch this new venture - I am quite simply blown away and have had a word with myself, taken a few deep breaths and done a few limbering up exercises before sitting down to write this, THE FIRST EVER EDITION OF THE WRITEBIKEREPEAT NEWSLETTER, to ensure I'm on top of my game, in honour of all you lovely people.

(Sorry, shouting may occur sporadically. I'm excited).

I don't mind telling you that this format suits me down to the ground - as you've all opted to receive these mails, I feel as though I'm simply sitting down to chat virtually to a group of pals about the great sport of bike racing, and we're not short of racing to discuss this week so I'll summarise a few bits of news before diving into the week's hot topics (will they all be about birds attacking Bauke Mollema? We can't be sure).

Results Round-up

During the season I'll post a round-up of some of the week's results, and pick my three favourite moments - feel free to share yours over on Twitter, if you would like to get involved.

It was a week of wins from riders who've been away from the limelight or out of sorts including the inscrutable Marc Hirschi at the Giro della Toscana, the ebullient Dani Martinez at the Coppa Sabatini, the resurgent Arnaud Démare at GP d'Isbergues and the indomitable Mathieu van der Poel at the GP Wallonie.

Over in Wollongong, Ellen van Dijk continued her exceptional year, successfully defending her elite women's individual time trial World title, and in the men's U23 time trial Norwegian Søren Wærenskjold made it two wins for the Scandinavian nation in as many days. The Swiss won the team time trial relay earlier today ahead of the Italians and Australians.

My personal top 3 wins this week were these:

3. FOSS BLOWS OUR MINDS in the elite men's individual time trial. The Norwegian was as surprised to take the rainbow jersey as we were to witness it, although if you've been paying attention you'll have known he has proven himself in the discipline. He's the reigning Norwegian champion, and has had consistently strong results against the clock, and with Ganna on a bad day, Hayter suffering a mechanical and Stefan Küng just being Stefan Küng (love him, I'm sorry), it allowed Foss to deliver the performance of his life to take the rainbows.

2. The COMING OF AGE OF MATTIAS SKJELMOSE JENSEN at the Tour of Luxembourg. The young Dane who rides for Trek-Segafredo has made waves all season but was somehow without a pro win until the Skoda Tour in Luxembourg. He won the individual time trial and was strong enough to take the overall GC too, and it's so well deserved - he's still just 21 years old and has a big career ahead of him.

1. DOUBLE GOLD for Great Britain in the men's and women's junior individual time trials in Wollongong. OK, it's two for the price of one. Zoe Bäckstedt and Joshua Tarling's wins speak to a bright future for British cycling - both are already signed to World Tour teams (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and Ineos Grenadiers respectively) and have the world at their feet. The two Welsh youngsters put a smile on my face very early on a Tuesday morning with their victories. The photo below shows them at 14, destined for big things. What's not to love?

Time zone Trials and Tribulations

It's been quite something getting used to watching racing in another time zone, and no, I'm not talking about Central European time - I'm pretty au fait with subtracting an hour from almost every race start time I come across - no, Aussies live in the ACTUAL FUTURE and while we sleep, the intrepid time trialists of the world have been enjoying the beautiful surroundings of Wollongong, as they battle for beautiful rainbow jerseys.

It's been a strange few days, waking up, making a cup of tea and sitting down to catch the end of the races - I made the decision for my own health, work and family life that I would not adjust my schedule greatly for anything other than the elite road races - but there's no denying the Aussies deserve a turn. The dedication of the #couchpeloton to staying up into the night to follow cycling is on another level, so fair play to them.

So, I've decided to set my alarm for 5.00am at the weekend - enough time to catch at least the last couple of hours of action in both the men's and women's road races. Good luck to those of you powering through!

INEOS, OUT-eos, Shake it all about-eos

(Sorry, I've been dying to use that title)

In a future Long Read post over on my main site, I'm planning on exploring the future of the Ineos Grenadiers, as they continue to make changes to their roster. This week, Adam Yates departed for UAE Team Emirates, following closely behind Richard Carapaz who last month signed on the dotted line for EF Education-EasyPost. Following the loss of Paris-Roubaix victor Dylan Van Baarle to Jumbo-Visma and long-time week-long stage-race smasher Richie Porte to retirement, it might seem to many as though Ineos are letting too many big names depart, leaving a dearth of top GC contenders.

I, on the other hand, am quietly excited for the future of the British team. If you cast your eye down the list of names on the roster - Carlos Rodriguez, Ethan Hayter, Tom Pidcock, Magnus Sheffield to name but a few - and with the addition of the likes of Thymen Arensman and young talents Leo Hayter and Joshua Tarling - you can envision a future of dominance. No, it may not come immediately, but with the likes of Pogačar, Evenepoel and Vingegaard already threatening to monopolise the Tour de France GC for years to come, why not take a step back and focus on rebuilding, and reshaping the team into something new? With the youth and talent they've invested in, they look to be doing things the right way, and I'm here for it. More on that in a later post.

In Other News...

It's been a bumper week of news in the world of bike racing. There was general outrage as the French Cycling Federation revealed it was flying its men's team to Australia business class while the women flew economy. Vague justification was offered along the lines of 'defending champions travel in style' but the lack of response from any of the men has been surprising and disappointing, following an unprecedented year for women's cycling including the inaugural Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

On the subject of France, Benoit Cosnefroy was flown out to Wollongong after initially ruling himself out of the road race. The AG2R-Citroen rider is in great form after a strong season and a win at the GP Quebec. (There has been no confirmation over whether he flew business or economy).

Annemiek van Vleuten has persuaded Mathieu van der Poel to join the mixed team time trial relay team in Wollongong, which puts the Dutch firm favourites - despite vicious attacks from the local crack squad of attack magpies on Bauke Mollema.

STOP PRESS: This turned out to be a bad idea. It was a disaster day for the Dutch, with Mollema dropping his chain and Van Vleuten crashing just seconds after she left the start ramp. Best wishes for her recovery - here's hoping it's in time for Saturday's road race. Oh, and Bauke got attacked by a bird. Again.

Last but by no means least, CYCLOCROSS IS BACK! This may divide the crowd, but with little to talk about beyond new kits and general speculation in the off-season, I'll be covering the top 'cross action as it unfolds. No top level races yet although there have been wins at C2 level for Pim Ronhaar, Inge van der Heijden, Fem van Empel and Michael Vantourenhout, and in the US, Vincent Baestaens and Caroline Mani both took back-to-back victories.

Until next time...

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for topical posts over on my main site. I have one tiny favour to ask of you before you go. If you've enjoyed this newsletter, please consider sharing your positive vibes with a cycling-loving pal or family member, or over on social media, and encourage them to sign up too, using this link.

Cheers,

Katy

PS If you are feeling REALLY generous and would like to support my ongoing journey as a freelance writer, you are invited to buy me a virtual coffee (spoiler alert: I won't use it to buy coffee very often, but I will use it to justify spending my working hours writing about cycling, and if you wanted to be a valued part of that, I would love you forever. That is the end. No really, it really is. BYEEEE!