Trying to do it all

Well excuse me but I simply must object to being back in your inboxes again – not because I don’t want to say hello, because I absolutely do – but because I can’t actually believe two full weeks have passed since I last sent out a newsletter? It’s frankly baffling and also a bit scary because who has done their Christmas shopping yet? Obviously not me. And it’s snowing outside as I write this so clearly we have entered PROPER WINTER.

Anyway, let’s talk two-wheeled shenanigans. It’s going to be a shorter one this week YES IT IS I PROMISE and no sneaky teams are going to sneak in at the last minute with sneaky headline news and scupper my plans for a nice, calm, sensibly-sized newsletter. ARE YOU LISTENING, CYCLING TEAMS?

With that out of the way, let’s have a quick look at the latest from the website – just two for you this week but this one’s a goodie: I spoke with British national road race champion Pfeiffer Georgi and we talked about all kinds of things including development, mindset, the state of play in women’s cycling, painting shoes and karaoke specialities. Do have a read, it was a great chat.

And for the cyclocross enthusiasts, I’ve pulled together some of the main takeaways from the month of November in this piece – of course, you’ll get all the details on a race-by-race basis in the results section below, but this broader opinion piece looks at the overall picture, as we speed headlong towards the business end (well, middle) of the ‘cross season.

Another link for you this week, and this one directly relates to Christmas shopping! I received my contributor copy of the Road Book cycling almanack last week and it’s honestly an absolute treasure trove of information, stats, and brilliant writing and I’ve barely scratched the surface. Buy one because it’s brilliant and also because I’m in it writing about last cyclocross season which was an absolute classic – you won’t regret it.

Now on with the news.

OH LOOK, IT’S THE NEWS!!

AG2R win at news!

Yes, the French team have smashed the notion of a regular news cycle this week by publishing enough news items to fill a full magazine in the space of about 5 minutes on Monday morning. I don’t know whether to congratulate them or tell them to chill the heck out. In summary:

NEW TEAM NAME – they’ll become Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, as of 1^st January 2024.

NEW RIDERS – SIX whole shiny new signings including Victor Lafay, Sam Bennett, Bruno Armirail and Dries de Bondt, along with Sander de Pestel, Gianluca Pollefliet.

NEW EQUIPMENT – the Van Rysel brand will now provide bikes, helmets and sunglasses for the team.

NEW DS – former British rider Steve Lampier makes the step up from continental to World Tour, heading from Saint Piran to France.

NEW KIT – I save the most significant news for last. The legendary, iconic, inimitable brown shorts are no more. After 13 beautiful brown seasons, the team’s affiliation with Decathlon sees a move to light blue and – wait for it – BLACK shorts. Always a kit that divided opinion (like marmite, rather fitting given the colour) the crisp white, asymmetric logo and instantly recognisable brown shorts was for me the best kit in the peloton. It will be sadly missed.

That being said, the new kit is pretty nice, it must be said. Pictured below, in an image which delights me on many levels, not least the one in which it kind of looks like some sort of Renaissance painting. Anyway, moving on…

Pidcock announces cyclocross schedule!

Now we have a complete picture for the plans of all three of the so-called ‘big three’ of men’s elite cyclocross racing, and it includes six potential clashes between all three of them (though given the form of some of the other riders, they might not necessarily have it all their own way).

Here’s when to look out for young Pidders.

Ellingworth leaves Grenadiers!

Another departure in the Ineos exodus saw team manager Ellingworth leave the team he has been with since its inception, outside of a short spell with Bahrain Victorious in 2020. It hints at further unrest, or at the very least, uncertainty, within the British team.

Thomas de Gendt announces retirement!

The Belgian breakaway star broke the news himself on Twitter, and revealed he would finish his career in 2024 with his major goals being another stage win at the Volta a Catalunya, and La Vuelta a España.

Tour de France 2025 Grand Départ reveal!

The Northern départments of France introduced the first three stages of the 2025 Tour in a presentation on 29^th November. Lille-Métropole will host the first stage, before the race heads to the coast for two stages. With one sprint stage, a punchy finish and a potential crosswinds day, it’s a relatively traditional opening by recent standards. See full details by clicking the Twitter link, below.

Signing round-up!

In addition to the AG2R signings there have been a few more ins, outs and extensions on the transfer market this past couple of weeks – here is a summary:

Tobias Foss – moves from Jumbo Visma, to INEOS Grenadiers

Michael Woods – extends at Israel-Premier Tech – states his ambition to go for a Grand Tour hat-trick, for which he needs a win at the Giro d’Italia

Riley Sheehan – secures a pro contract with Israel-Premier Tech, following his win at Paris-Tours

Thibau Nys – extends contract with Lidl-Trek

Yuhi Todome – the Japanese climber makes his World Tour debut with EF Education-EasyPost

Sebastian Berwick – drops a level, moving from Israel-Premier Tech to Caja-Rural-Seguros

Albert Philipsen – Danish junior multi-discipline star will decide on his long-term future shortly – apparently he’s between Lidl-Trek, BORA Hansgrohe and UAE Team Emirates, though a leaked Tweet by Lidl-Trek indicates they may be his final destination.

If you want to keep up with news on a more regular basis, I update the site every few days so go and check out the News page, where you can also find more detail about many of the stories noted here, and a few extras too. Bookmark it to keep up to date!

CYCLOCROSS DISPATCH

We begin with just a brief update from the Superprestige Merksplas (18 Nov) in which Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado continued her winning streak ahead of the returning Lucinda Brand, while Joris Nieuwenhuis made good on the promise he showed last week in Dendermonde by taking his first win, ahead of Eli Iserbyt who had a bit of a nightmare, to put it mildly. Another good day out for the Baloise Trek Lions whose strength in numbers is really paying off this season.

The UCI World Cup Troyes (19 Dec) was defined by two head-to-heads, and two riders overturned by determined and resilient performances from the winners. Puck Pieterse returned to the women’s elite field and rode from the front, moving into the lead ahead of Alvarado who was looking to make it two wins in two days, and two World Cup wins in a row. While Pieterse had the better of Alvarado for four laps, her elder compatriot’s strong form and consistency came to bear on lap 4 when Alvarado finally closed the gap and passed Pieterse, who was forced to chase for the rest of the race, her lack of form proving her undoing.

It was a similar story in the men’s race. Lars van der Haar looked strong and assured for 6 of the 8 laps, opening out a sizeable gap on the rest, but Eli Iserbyt doesn’t know when he’s beaten and closed the gap second by second until a bike change on lap 6 gave him his opportunity to strike. He went on to win his first World Cup of the season – I know, I couldn’t believe it either. But here we are.

X2O Badkamers Trofee Kortrijk (25 Nov) First up on the interesting urban circuit in Kortrijk, the women’s field was pretty deep, including Blanka Vas and a rapidly improving Lucinda Brand alongside both Fem van Empel and Puck Pieterse. It provided a tantalising glimpse into what we can hope to look forward to over the winter, as the two went head-to-head once again, and with an uncharacteristic crash early on in the race for van Empel, Pieterse was in pole position for a while, but it didn’t take long for the World Champion to make up the difference and pile on the pressure once again. It was Brand who threw down the gauntlet though, launching an attack on the third lap to distance the dynamic duo slightly. It was down to van Empel to close the gap and with Pieterse unable to hold her wheel, the second half of the race entered more familiar territory, with van Empel riding clear of both her rivals and staying clear to win.

In the men’s race, Lars van der Haar attacked the race from the front just as he did in Troyes, wasting little time in gapping the rest of the bunch aside from Corné van Kessel who had a season’s best ride on the wheel of his flying compatriot for the first few laps before dropping back. The inevitable Pauwels Sauzen Bingoal pairing of Michael Vantourenhout and Eli Iserbyt closed in, along with Cameron Mason. A four-up battle ensued in which none of the leaders were immune to errors, but it was Iserbyt who proved the most infallible in the wake of his teammate crashing out – a partially dislocated shoulder the prognosis – with van der Haar in second and Mason in third.

UCI World Cup Dublin (26 Nov) The second of three World Cup ties taking place outside of the low countries saw a return to the Republic of Ireland, which hosted its debut race in 2022 in what turned out to be a barnstormer. This year proved to be full of surprises too, not least trying to work out which rider was which as after a lap or two they were all wearing the head-to-toe uniform of Dublin mud.

Lucinda Brand was back to her powerful best, making light work of the claggy conditions and holding in-form Alvarado at bay, with Canyon//SRAM’s Zoe Backstedt riding arguably the best race of her elite career so far, applying much of the early pressure behind Brand. The gaps between the riders opened out as the race wore on robbing it of some suspense, but it was great to see Brand in top form, with Alvarado continuing her strong run in second and Backstedt consolidating her early hard work to finish on the podium for the second time in three World Cup efforts.

The men’s race was far more unpredictable, with the lead changing hands numerous times throughout, including such names as Joran Wyseure of Crelan-Corendon and privateer Jens Adam who formed an unlikely leading duo for a while.

While Iserbyt struggled to stay with the pace, Laurens Sweeck came to the fore, in a season where he’s been quiet so far – the sand section offering him a chance to shine. In the absence of van der Haar, it was Pim Ronhaar who played leading man for Baloise Trek, and he is showing increasing confidence this season, leading the latter half of the race and holding strong in the finishing straight to edge of Sweeck and take his second world cup win – he is the only man with more than one to his name so far this season.`

FINAL THOUGHT

We have passed through the ‘cyclists go on vacation’ section of the off-season and now find ourselves firmly entrenched in the ‘back in the saddle’ zone – if you’re on Instagram no doubt you’ll have seen the countless posts of riders from the point of view of their bike, and it won’t be long before we reach ‘training camp’ o’clock and then before you know it we’ll be heading down under for the first race of 2024.

It’s not long, is it? In reality, while riders all have their own goals each season and plan their peaks accordingly, they don’t get much time to unwind and be away from the bike. Such is the life of an elite athlete, but these athletes in particular never cease to amaze me in their dedication to the cause, especially the multi-discipline riders who must plan around several goals on a variety of surfaces throughout the full year, not just the regular road season.

To complicate matters, everything is thrown into disarray this year with the interjection of the Olympics. Those targeting Olympic gold will have to work out how to find a balance with the Tour de France, and it is already factoring into schedule announcements – Mathieu van der Poel will this year aim to take on the Tour AND the Olympic mountain-biking - and it’s been suggested that this will mean him departing the Tour at the first rest day.

It’s all one big juggling act and I don’t envy them the decision-making process. The men’s elite cyclocross World Championships fall foul of this process this year, with Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock both opting to prioritise their early season goals on the road, and for the women, Puck Pieterse has taken time to get back to form on the cross field after a triumphant mountain biking season.

Can riders do it all? Should they? Ultimately, variety is the spice of life, and though the eternal argument rages on about whether the riders engaging with several modes of the sport are doing so at the detriment of their longevity, if they’re having fun and it’s helping them remain engaged in the sport, then I’m all for it. Plus following your favourite riders from one discipline to another really helps fans build bonds and it’s great for younger fans too, to see just what’s possible on two wheels. Long may it continue.

THE LAST WORD

Thanks to everyone for reading my rambling as always - as promised this one is slightly shorter than usual, though not by much. I’m going to hit send now before any more news hits my social media feed and I’ll see you again in a couple of weeks, when I’ll likely be panicking about Christmas shopping and/or squeaking about the cyclocross.

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Until next time, cheers!

Katy