Daily News: UCI will pay for tips to fight tech fraud

Welcome to Daily News, your roundup of news items from across the world of cycling. As of Thursday, Dane is off on a mission to retrace the historical route of Tariq Ibn Zayed’s conquest of Al-Andalus 1,313 years ago so the rest of the staff is filling in to keep you informed on all things bike racing, tech, industry, culture, advocacy, and more.

Here is what has been making the headlines this week …

Friday, September 27, 2024

A bevy of news from the annual UCI Congress meeting

The Road World Championships is always the site of annual meetings of the UCI Congress, and some years are more eventful than others. This is one such year. Among the announcements: confirmation of a women’s Milan-San Remo for 2025 (taking place on March 22, with Trofeo Alfredo Binda moving to March 16); an additional one-day men’s and women’s WorldTour race, the June 22 Copenhagen Sprint, and a new UCI-sanctioned one-day event in Tokyo. Full calendars for the men’s and women’s WorldTour and other disciplines like the Mountain Bike World Series (formerly World Cup) will be announced October 3.

The UCI also announced a bounty, or rewards, program in the fight against technological fraud (that is: mostly use of illegal motors). The new initiative allows any individual or entity – whether a UCI licenseholder or not – to provide what the UCI calls “actionable intelligence” on technological fraud in racing. In return for those leads, the UCI will offer compensation in the form of “financial assistance, [material] support, or rewards,” although the policy document is silent on what material support would look like or amounts of financial assistance or rewards.

After rumors for years that cyclocross could be a Winter Olympics sport, UCI president (and IOC presidential candidate) David Lappartient confirmed that the UCI will petition to include the sport as soon as the 2030 Winter Games.

Finally, the UCI confirmed that the women’s U23 category will have its own World Championship race next year, while on the men’s side, riders who have pro contracts with a WorldTeam or ProTeam will be ineligible for the men’s U23 field at Worlds (riders on Continental development teams affiliated with WorldTeams or ProTeams will still be eligible to race). [UCI]

In much sadder news, junior women’s racer Muriel Furrer passed away Friday after a heavy crash in Thursday’s road race. Jonny Long has the full story here.

Mongoose re-releases classic BMX bikes

For its 50th anniversary, celebrated BMX brand Mongoose is re-releasing some of its iconic classics: the Supergoose race bike, FS-1 freestyle bike, and the wild Motomag wheels. The nostalgia is pretty thick here, down to the period-correct color schemes and accessories like top tube and stem pads. Bikes and wheels go on sale in October and in a refreshing break from five-figure road bike prices, both bikes will sell for $550 each, while the wheels will set you back a cool $300/pair. [Mongoose]

Mathieu van der Poel may have a busy October

On Sunday Mathieu van der Poel will try to defend his World Champion title, but he’s already thinking about what’s after that. According to Het Laatste Nieuws, Van der Poel may ride Il Lombardia, October 12. With wins in Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, a victory in Lombardia would leave only Liège-Bastogne-Liège as the last obstacle to becoming the first rider since Roger de Vlaeminck to win all five of cycling’s one-day Monuments.

Lombardia has more elevation gain, longer climbs, or both compared to any of those races, but a win is not out of the question, especially as Van der Poel is said to have lost some weight in preparation for the also-hilly Zurich World Championships course. The Lombardia course changes direction yearly and this year’s Bergamo-to-Como route is slightly more favorable for him (he finished 10th in 2020 on a similar course). If he does race, Lombardia will feature a bumper field, as three-time winner Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel are also slated to start.

All three will of course meet first in Sunday’s World Championship. Preview? Right here.

Finally, Cyclingnews reports that Dutch gravel racer and national team coach Laurens ten Dam has saved a spot for Van der Poel at next week’s UCI World Gravel Championships. Juuuust in case …

Quick hits

Another year, another Remco Evenepoel announcement that he will, in fact, stay with Soudal-Quick Step next year … Tom Pidcock admits he’s not 100% for Sunday’s Worlds race coming off his crash and concussion at the Tour of Britain but says he could still win because it’s “a lottery” … Strava officially launches its ‘Quick Edit’ function.

Thursday, September 26, 2024

The Pro’s Closet announces it will close down

Earlier this week we reported that online retailer The Pro’s Closet was in financial difficulty and in imminent danger of closing as soon as next week. In a post on LinkedIn on Thursday, the company confirmed that it would close down in October, although it did not name a date. “While this is the end of the road for TPC, as it operates today, we are proud of what we’ve accomplished together,” said CEO Jonathan Czaja in the statement.

The “End of Season Sale” on TPC’s web site has now been re-branded as a going out of business sale. The Pro’s Closet, which was founded in 2006 as an eBay store, expanded far past that humble beginning as it pioneered the first real “certified pre-owned” online sales model in cycling. But over-expansion and broad industry headwinds after the pandemic-era bike boom helped seal its fate. As Czaja’s statement alluded, it’s possible a buyer will be found and the business revived at some point, but in the immediate term, dozens of employees will lose their jobs in the closure.

World Championships roundup

British phenom Cat Ferguson is making the most of her last season as a junior, doubling up on her women’s time trial World Championship earlier this week by winning the junior women’s road race as well. Ferguson, who will race in the Women’s WorldTour next season on Movistar, outsprinted Spaniard Paula Ostiz and Slovakia’s Viktória Chladoňová on a rainy course in Zurich. Abby Mickey has your preview for Saturday’s elite women’s road race.

The Mixed Relay time trial event is failing to take off, much as did its predecessor, the trade team time trial. UCI President David Lappartient is disappointed the Netherlands and Belgium failed to put forward a squad for the Mixed Team Relay at the Zürich World Championships. “They should also realise that their participation is important for our sport, we are hopeful that this event will receive Olympic status.” Lappartient, who is in the running to become the new IOC president, told De Telegraaf. “And yes, everyone wants to participate, but that has to be earned. All countries are responsible for that and they will each have to contribute to make that happen.”

In Sunday’s men’s road race, all eyes may be on Tadej Pogačar, but Alpecin-Deceuninck boss Christoph Roodhooft says we’ll see the “best Mathieu van der Poel possible” at the Worlds road race on Sunday, telling Wielerflits the team is “confident” the Dutchman can win a second consecutive rainbow jersey and defend his title from Glasgow last year.

BMC adds the Teammachine R Mpc to its Masterpiece collection

Swiss bike brand BMC has released the latest model to join its exclusive and ultra high-end Masterpiece (Mpc) collection. The Teammachine R Mpc has the same silhouette as the standard Teamamchine R however, BMC says that for the Mpc no expense was spared with the frame made by ‘carbon fibre artisans’ to showcase what is possible when typical manufacturing restraints are removed. As with the Teammachine SLR Mpc the Teammachine R Mpc will only be available in limited numbers. At $8,999 for the frameset, the pinnacle of BMC’s engineering certainly comes at a cost. [BMC]

Multiple top US gravel racers to skip UCI Gravel Worlds

The lineup for the US team at next weekend’s Gravel World Championships is out and there are some notable omissions. While national champions Brennan Wertz and Lauren Stephens headline the squad, the team will be without Keegan Swenson, Paige Onweiler, and Lauren de Crescenzo.

There are several factors. First, scheduling: the penultimate race in the Life Time Grand Prix series, the Rad Dirt Fest, is this weekend and with the cancellation of Crusher in the Tushar, the remaining events have outsize importance in the standings. The Belgian course for Worlds, which is only half gravel, is also unappealing to some riders. And finally, USA Cycling doesn’t have the resources to fund travel, so riders must pay their own way to the event, reports Cyclingnews.

Lachlan Morton is almost 3/4 of the way around Australia

Speaking of alternative racing, Lachlan Morton has ticked past the 10,000 km mark on his Ride Around Australia attempt. As of this writing, he’s due east of Norseman and about to tackle the longest stretch of straight road in Australia – a 146 km stretch across the Nullarbor Plain that has zero turns.

Quick hits

It’s officially autumn, and brands like Velocio and 7Mesh are unveiling fall/winter lineups … Austrian bike brand Simplon has applied for restructuring (essentially bankruptcy) … Stan’s No Tubes has a new line of eco-friendly bike care products called Biobased … Radpower bikes will soon be available at US electronics retailer Best Buy.

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Milan-San Remo women’s race coming in 2025

After years of talk suggesting that a women’s Milan-San Remo was imminent, the Italian one-day will have a women’s event in 2025, as RCS CEO Paolo Bellino said in a recent appearance on the TuttoBiciWeb podcast.

According to Bellino, the women’s race will take place on the same day as the men’s event, with an official confirmation set to come later this week. A potential hurdle of calendar overlap with another major women’s race, the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, will reportedly be avoided as that race may take place a week earlier next year.

2025 will thus be the first time in twenty years that Milan-San Remo will have a women’s race after the seven-year stretch in which the Primavera Rosa served as the women’s event of the Italian Monument.

The women’s Milan-San Remo will apparently not be a WorldTour event at first, but Cyclingnews reports that RCS sees an upgrade to the top division as a priority.

Strava now allows users to ‘quick edit’

Activity-sharing platform Strava has rolled out an update allowing all users to quickly update the privacy and settings of an uploaded activity. This update comes after users voiced privacy concerns about Strava’s direct messaging feature, introduced last December. Users can now easily manage who can see their activity and hide specific workout data like start time.

Along with this, the title of the activity can be changed, and any media can be added to the activity. Strava says, “This streamlines the process, further empowering people to be the narrators of their own active stories.”

Masters gravel fraud uncovered

A masters gravel racer who had planned to ride the upcoming UCI Gravel World Championships has reportedly been denied participation in the event after it was discovered that he gave someone else his number and timing chip at a qualifying race. According to Gazet van Antwerpen, Luc Bellings had a teammate ride for him at the Houffa Gravel Fondo, and that teammate ultimately had to slow down at the end of the race so as not to finish on the podium and have the ruse revealed.

This is apparently not the first time that Bellings, a successful chef in Belgium, has flouted the rules of competitive cycling, having tested positive for testosterone a decade ago. [Gazet van Antwerpen]

Lauf Cycles enters mountain bike markets with Elja

Lauf, the Icelandic bike brand known for doing things a little differently has released its first-ever mountain bike: a 120 mm-travel carbon full suspension 29er with wide tyre clearance, two bottom brackets and compatibility with wireless shifting only.

Dave Rome took a closer look at the bike on its home turf, and you can read his in-depth first impressions here.

Winner’s Circle: Australia pips Germany for mixed relay TTT world title

Grace Brown added another world championship gold to her palmares as part of the Australian team for the Mixed Team Relay in Zurich on Wednesday. The team time trial squad of Brown, Brodie Chapman, Ruby Roseman-Gannon, Ben O’Connor, Jay Vine, and Michael Matthews set a time of 1:12:52 on the 53.7 km course to win the title by less than a second over Germany. Italy rounded out the podium.

Quick Hits

Lauretta Hanson, Amanda Spratt (both through 2026) and Ilaria Sanguinetti (2025) have renewed their contracts with Lidl-Trek … Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale’s Valentin Paret-Peintre has signed a two-year deal with Soudal-Quick Step … Matej Mohorič is out of Slovenia’s roster for Sunday’s Road World Championships with a hand injury sustained in a gravel crash.

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Pogačar doesn’t really trust his power meter

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) talked training, racing, career goals, his 1800 VAM, media scrutiny, and more this week in a wide-ranging interview with author Peter Attia. Among the many topics discussed was how well Pogačar is in tune with his heart rate.

“I’ve been training with heart rate monitors since I was 12 years old,” Pogacar said. “I know how my heart rate responds when I’m tired or when I’m good. I could go by heart rate only, but it’s always good to compare heart to power – but power meters are not so reliable these days.”

Pogačar pointed out that he only puts so much stock into his power meter given the various things that could impact the data.

“We have a Shimano power meter but you always need to be careful with the temperatures outside, the calibration, everything,” he said. “Sometimes it can be off. You need to be careful about this.” [The Peter Attia Drive Podcast]

Lefevere says Evenepoel could race the Giro before the Tour in 2025

In an interview with La Dernière Heure, Soudal-Quick Step boss Patrick Lefevere said that Remco Evenepoel could be on the start line at next year’s Giro d’Italia, calling a potential Giro-Tour double attempt a “realistic option.”

Evenepoel has made two career starts at the Italian Grand Tour and won two stages there, though he has never finished the race, dropping out of the 2023 edition while in the leader’s jersey due to COVID-19. [La Dernière Heure]

Live Valve Neo brings wireless suspension control to Fox

Fox has updated its Live Valve Neo electronically controlled suspension platform to be completely wireless, ditching the cables that used to run from the suspension units to a central processor. The new wireless suspension units are claimed to offer the fastest adjustment of any electronically controlled suspension on the market, with a response time of 1/70th of a second.

The system toggles between an open or firm setting by recruiting two separate reservoir circuits. The complete Live Valve Neo system comprises three separate parts, a front sensor that mounts to the front brake caliper, a rear sensor mounted to the rear caliper and then the Live Valve unit itself mounted to the rear shock. It is the combination of the feedback from both the front and rear sensors that dictates which setting the shock sits in based on accelerometer data. Currently, Live Valve Neo is available on Fox’s Float X and DHX rear shocks. [Fox]

SBT GRVL faces uncertainty

As SBT GRVL has grown, so have tensions around the event. Steamboat Springs itself has the ability to accommodate the 3,000 or so racers, but rural Routt County, where the race runs, has seen clashes between riders and residents over safety and rider behavior.

Despite changes to this year’s edition to try to address those concerns, the event is still a point of contention, reports Betsy Welch in Velo. The latest twist is that law enforcement (both the Colorado State Patrol and Routt County Sheriff) wants participation caps as low as 1,000 riders and will enforce a requirement that competitive events with prize money run on closed courses. SBT GRVL promoter Amy Charity will present a plan today to address the concerns, most centrally splitting the event into a non-competitive gravel sportive on Saturday and then a race on Sunday on a different, circuit-style course with a rolling enclosure. [Velo]

LOOK drops two new e-bikes

LOOK has announced that there will be two new e-bikes joining the brand’s stable in the shape of the E-765 Optimum road bike and E-765 Gravel. Both bikes make use of Fazua’s Ride 60 motor platform, which provides up to 60 Nm of torque paired to a 430 Wh internal battery, with the brand confident that the system can provide assistance to riders for up to 120 km and 1500 metres of elevation gain.

In its road-going guise, the E-765 tips the scales at a respectable 12.9 kg in a size medium with clearance for up to a 45 mm tyre.

Bob Parlee passes away at age 70

Framebuilding legend Bob Parlee has died at age 70 after a four-year battle with cancer. Parlee, a veteran of the boating industry, was a pioneer of custom carbon framebuilding whose bikes were ridden by top pros and who helped shape the bike industry’s understanding and approach to carbon frames.

Winner’s circle: Ferguson takes junior women’s TT title in Zurich

Cat Ferguson (Great Britain), who has emerged as one of the most promising youngsters in the peloton this season, powered to the women’s Junior world title in the individual time trial on Tuesday in Zurich. She rode the 18.8 km course in 23:49 to take gold ahead of Slovakia’s Viktória Chladoñová, with Imogen Wolff giving Great Britain another rider on the podium in third.

Monday, September 23, 2024

De Gendt calls it a career

Breakaway artist Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Dstny) is hanging up the wheels. The 37-year-old Belgian, who has ridden for WorldTour and ProTeams since 2009, completed the final race of his pro road career on Sunday at Paris-Chauny.

“And just like that a career of 16 years has finished,” he said on X. “All I have worked for since I was 10 is now just a memory.”

De Gendt heads into retirement as a five-time Grand Tour stage winner, with wins across all three Grand Tours, and as a Grand Tour podium finisher too, having claimed third overall at the 2012 Giro d’Italia. Along the way he compiled some eye-catching numbers: He rode 25 Grand Tours and over 220,000 race kilometers over the course of a career that saw him start every WorldTour race except for Tirreno-Adriatico. As ProCyclingStats reveals, just since 2020 he spent 3,615 km in breakaways.

“Paris-Chauny was my last race as a Pro. But like always, the end of one thing is the beginning of something new,” he said. “Looking forward to discover new challenges.”

BH unveils all-new Lynx SLS

Spanish brand BH has finally revealed the latest generation of its XC race bike the Lynx SLS. The bike had been spotted throughout the World Cup season with a cover over the seat stay, and top tube junction, and this led to speculation around a Trek Supercalibre-style soft tail. In fact, the new Lynx SLS uses a single pivot design with a rocker link tucked inside the top tube to supply 80mm of travel courtesy of a Fox Float SL rear shock.

Instead of heading down the flex stay route that many other XC bikes have taken in recent years, the Lynx features concentric pivots at the rear axle which should create a more plush rear end. [BH Bikes]

Josh Tarling is ‘sick of learning’

Another solid showing that was nevertheless not a win left Josh Tarling (Great Britain) frustrated over the weekend. The 20-year-old, who rides in Ineos Grenadiers kit most of the year, finished fourth in the elite men’s time trial at Zurich Worlds.

“To be honest, I’m sick of learning, I just want to be good,” he said, according to Cyclingnews. “Hopefully next year.” [Cyclingnews]

Grant Petersen and Rivendell get some love

Longtime bike designer Grant Petersen and his Rivendell Bicycle Works business are easily (and often wrongly) pigeonholed by cyclists with labels like retro-grouch, Luddite, or similar pejoratives. So leave it to mostly non-cyclist Anna Wiener, writing a long profile of Petersen in The New Yorker, to deliver a broadly accurate portrait of the man and his gentle, inclusive philosophy of riding.

There are obvious parallels to other industries like outdoor sports (Yvon Chouinard makes a couple of cameos) and while Weiner doesn’t outright say it, Rivendell is, in many ways, what Patagonia might be if it had always remained Chouinard Equipment (there are pros and cons to each path). Petersen’s approach isn’t for everyone, but it is an important counterpoint to the tech-forward ethos that pervades much of the bike industry, which could probably stand to listen more to what Petersen has to say. [The New Yorker]

Winner’s circle: Seixas takes men’s junior TT world title, Romeo wins U23 race

Paul Seixas (France) won the men’s junior individual time trial at Zurich Worlds, beating Belgium’s Jasper Schoofs and Matisse Van Kerckhove to the title. The 17-year-old, who will head to the AG2R La Mondiale WorldTour team next year, expressed his disbelief after the victory with some choice words. Iván Romeo of Spain (already on Movistar) claimed the men’s under-23 TT title, topping Jakob Söderqvist of Sweden and Jan Christen of Switzerland.

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