Cycling’s newest marginal gain? “You’d be surprised how many watts disadvantage the seatpost actually is,” claims cyclist riding with no saddle; Tadej Pogačar won’t equal Eddy Merckx, says Sean Kelly; Luke Rowe’s sweary audiobook + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
More Middlesbrough madness, a £115 clip-on power meter, and a storm-bashing, rim brake-sporting, mechanical shifting ultra-race bike: Here’s what you may have missed over the weekend…
> Cyclist injuries dropped by half after “hated” cycle lane installed, but mayor still claims scrapped lane largely used as “bike run” for drug dealers to “get through traffic”
> Rim brakes, mechanical shifting and £10 gear bags: check out the only bike to complete the full London–Edinburgh–London 2025 route
> A £115 clip-on power meter that claims “pro-level” accuracy is set to hit Kickstarter, plus Trek’s “industry-first shift” to low-emission aluminium, a fancy new Chris King headset patent + more
“Being Tadej Pogačar is nice, but it’s not easy”: UAE Team Emirates boss Mauro Gianetti says world champion’s absence from Vuelta a España due to intense first half of season and pressure of “everybody expecting him to win”
While the discourse around Tadej Pogačar and burnout is usually focused on its long-term, career-spanning effects, it can also impact the here and now.
Which is why, according to UAE Team Emirates manager Mauro Gianetti, the world champion has decided to skip the Vuelta a España and instead opt for a lighter second half of the season focused on one-day races.
Pogačar has had yet another staggeringly successful season in 2025 so far. He’s won his fourth Tour de France, the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Strade Bianche, Flèche Wallonne, Critérium du Dauphiné, and the UAE Tour, and finished second at Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race.
His worst result? Third at Milan-Sanremo. Shocker.
ASO/Charly Lopez
And while he’s taken part in 43 race days so far this year, compared to 54 at the same point in 2024, when he secured the first Giro-Tour double since 1998, the physical and mental toll of a full spring classics campaign means that the Vuelta, which the 26-year-old was initially scheduled to target this year, has now been struck off his calendar.
Instead, Pogačar will now focus solely on next month’s Canadian one-day races, the worlds in Rwanda, the European championships (its hilly course offering him a shot at another title), and a crack at a fifth consecutive Il Lombardia.
The decision to drop Pogačar from the Vuelta, where he will be replaced as UAE leader by Juan Ayuso and João Almeida, means the world champion “has enough physical and mental rest to be happy in races, to enjoy himself and to provide entertainment as he has always done”.
Zac Williams/SWpix.com
“Being Tadej Pogačar is nice, but it’s not easy,” Gianetti told Cyclingnews during the Tour of Poland last week, won by UAE’s Brandon McNulty after a dominant performance in yesterday’s final time trial.
“He is under a lot of pressure when he races. Everybody expects him to be strong, to win, to put on a show. So it’s important for us to handle this, because he’s not just a racer.
“He’s done all the classics: Strade, Flanders, Roubaix, Amstel, Liege, and that is a really, really big challenge. Maybe from outside the team, people don’t appreciate that so much, because they think of Paris-Roubaix as being just a one-day race.
“But it has a much more appreciable impact on a rider than a week-long stage race, and doing all the Spring Classics is tougher than doing a Grand Tour. All told, it’s a very big physical and mental challenge, so it really wasn’t at all feasible that he would do the Vuelta.”
ASO/Charly Lopez
Reflecting on his star rider’s jaded demeanour at the end of the Tour, Gianetti said: “He’s been through a very stressful Tour, a very demanding one, above all on a physical level, a lot of transfers and for him, being Tadej, it became difficult. He’s a very straightforward person, and to be the centre of attention every day became tiring.
“He was tired, like everybody, but he won the Tour, he won it with a smile and on the last day in Montmartre, he put on an incredible show with Wout van Aert.
“He could have sat calmly in the middle of the bunch, but he wanted to be in the action, and to honour himself, to honour Tadej Pogačar, and honour the Tour and his rivals. So what he did on the last day of the Tour, smiling all the way – that was the answer to all things that had happened.”
In the most shocking news you’ll hear all week, Tadej Pogačar wins post-Tour criterium held in Tadej Pogačar’s hometown in honour of… Tadej Pogačar
Just in case you were wondering who ‘won’ the crit in Komenda, organised by Tadej Pogačar’s hometown and his old cycling clubs in honour of their local hero…
Yes, that’s right. The world champion ‘beat’ Luka Mezgec and Matteo Trentin in what I’m sure was a thrilling battle to the line.
Although the way Pog’s been riding lately, they probably didn’t even have to rig this one at all…
“He just smashed the bike out of my hands and left the scene of a collision”: It’s all kicking off in CyclingMikey land…
> CyclingMikey’s bike ran over by “selfish and dangerous” driver who ignored road closure as safety campaigner tried to stop motorists running no entry sign
“I’m not sure this was the intended use of the new cycle lane”
A classic of the ‘Why don’t cyclists use the cycle lane?’ genre here, courtesy of Glasgow’s Argyle Street, where the new protected bike lane has seemingly been transformed into a road sign lane instead:
[Credit: David McArthur]
‘Road on Right Closed’ – and so is the cycle lane, apparently.
“I’m not sure this was the intended use of the new cycle lane on Argyle Street,” David McArthur, a reader in transport studies at the University of Glasgow, who took the photo of Argyle Street’s blocked bike lane, wrote on BlueSky.
“I have been known to kick signs in bike lanes into the road,” Duncan Watson replied.
Tempting, very tempting…
What’s the only bike race more brutal than a hill climb? A hill climb on a penny-farthing, of course…
There were plenty of big bike races going on across Europe at the weekend – but none (no, not even the Arctic Race of Norway) were as important as the race that took place at Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, yesterday morning.
The eight edition of the Penny Farthing Hill Climb World Championships attracted 40 ordinary enthusiasts and their high wheelers from all over the world to a chalk headland in East Sussex, where they took on a 4.69km course starting at the seafront and featuring an elevation gain of 150m.
Which would be a tough enough prospect – even if you weren’t riding a penny-farthing.
Cheered on by thousands of spectators, only a handful of which thought the Tour of Britain was rolling through, Alexandre Voisine took the spoils, blasting his way to the finish in just under 12 minutes to claim the event’s prestigious ‘Block of Wood’ trophy.
Voisine’s winning time – 1.05 clear of his nearest rival and just seven seconds shy of Charlie Burrell’s record from last year – meant he covered the course at an average of just under 15mph.
On a penny-farthing. I feel wobbly just thinking about it.
“Our new Coca-Cola man… but with clip-in shoes and way more Lycra”: Jarrad Drizners and Lotto aiming to appeal to the over-40s cycling demographic with decades-old Coca Cola reference
Who says cycling team press officers and social media managers are behind the times?
Over at Lotto, their Australian rider Jarrad Drizners was coaxed (get it?) into filming this cutting-edge piece of Coca-Cola-related social media content… referencing an advert that was first aired in the mid-1990s.
Classic pro cycling, doing its best to limit its appeal to anyone under the age of 40.
However, it must be pointed out that the ‘gardener’ version of the Diet Coke Break ad Lotto ripped off actually dates from 2013. Which in cycling PR terms is right on trend, to be fair. Can’t wait for all the social media teams to discover the Inbetweeners…
Bike industry challenges continue as Giant and Canyon profits down 66% and 30%, while Shimano downgrades 2025 outlook
The challenges continuing to face the bike industry have once again been demonstrated by the financial results of some of the market’s biggest players, Shimano having downgraded its outlook for 2025 and Giant and Canyon reporting profits down 66 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.
Read more: > Bike industry challenges continue as Giant and Canyon profits down 66% and 30%, while Shimano downgrades 2025 outlook
Fancy winning a personalised Tadej Pogačar coffee machine (oh, and a Colnago V4Rs and a signed yellow jersey)? Well, it’s time to get bidding…
We’ve got even more Pogi news for you this afternoon, as the world champion’s foundation today announced a new charity auction which will see a range of items from Pogačar’s career up for grabs.
The auction will form part of a one-day cycling festival organised by the Tadej Pogačar Foundation, which will take place on 12 October and give amateurs the opportunity to ride with the four-time Tour winner, alongside a day of music and entertainment, while the winners of the charity auction will be announced.
The big prizes on offer for those with deep pockets include a personalised bright yellow Pogi E1 Prima coffee machine, a yellow lion from the 2024 Tour de France, and a personalised watch.
And if those luxury items end up exceeding your budget, there’s always a Colnago V4Rs, signed yellow, pink, and rainbow jerseys, signed shoes, and signed helmet up for grabs.
Hold on a second, maybe I’ve got all that the wrong way around…
Anyway, bidding is now open until 30 September at pogichallenge.com/auctions, with all proceeds from the auction going to the Tadej Pogačar Foundation, which supports children battling illness and those affected by disasters.
“We lack the political will or leadership to make active travel a reality,” say fed-up cycling campaigners in Plymouth, where cycle paths “just disappear and leave you stranded in the middle of the road”
Plymouth, the home of the infamous ‘Danny MacAskill’ staircase cycle path, has become the latest British city to have its approach to active travel questioned by local cycling campaigners, who claim the Devon port city lacks the political will to make getting about by bike more easily a reality.
In February, Plymouth City Council received £1.3m from Active Travel England, which the local authority said would be spent on a high-quality traffic-free route between Colesdown Hill and Saltram Meadow.
However, the Plymouth Cycling Campaign’s Mark Swarbrick told the BBC today that the lack of connection between the council’s disparate cycle route schemes means that riding a bike in Plymouth remains “hazardous”.
“The problem with the infrastructure in Plymouth is that it’s fragmented,” Swarbrick said. “You’ve got cycle paths which just disappear and leave you stranded in the middle of the road.
“Most of the cycle paths in Plymouth that are on road are not segregated, so you’re next to 40mph, 30mph traffic.
“We’re well short of the sort of network that’s required to encourage active travel in Plymouth, and the trouble, I think, is that we lack the political will or leadership to make it a reality.”
Responding to the complaints, Plymouth City Council have said: “While some sections of our walking and cycling network are built to a very good standard, there are gaps and we know this can lead to frustration and act as a barrier to how people choose to travel.
“That is why we are fully committed to delivering further improvements and will continue to press for investment to provide the best walking and cycling network we can for people living in, working in and visiting Plymouth.”
3,000 cyclists take over Cardiff… thanks to DJ Dom Whiting’s latest Drum & Bass on a Bike extravaganza
DJ Dom Whiting going past with at least 3,000 cyclists, skateboarders, rollerbladers and more, in a mass rideout through Cardiff today. Total party atmosphere!
— Scowlin Munkeh (@scowlingmonkey.bsky.social) August 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Oi, most of those cyclists aren’t using the cycle lane!
What are the five coolest things in the road.cc office this week, then?
> Five Cool Things: The “world’s smallest bike pump”, Knog’s redesigned Oi bike bell, and more portable tech from Garmin, H2O Audio, and Nix Biosensors
“Fromey? For f**k’s sake”: Luke Rowe’s sweary Chris Froome-related audiobook faux pas slips past the editors
Following in the scorched pen marks of his prolific author mate Geraint Thomas (seriously, those ‘According to G’ books are basically their own cottage industry these days), Luke Rowe’s first foray into the world of sports autobiography, ‘Road Captain: My Life at the Heart of the Peloton’, was published in June.
And the former Ineos stalwart-turned-Decathlon AG2R DS, to be fair to him, even took the time to read all 288 pages for those cycling fans who prefer their books in audio form.
Which is a solid undertaking – and why we shouldn’t be surprised that the odd mistake or two crept in during the hours and hours of recording (believe me, I can barely get through a podcast introduction without having to start again).
What is more surprising, however, is that one particularly sweary moment – committed after butchering his old Tour-winning leader Chris Froome’s nickname (there are lots of nicknames in Rowe’s book) – made it past the publishers Penguin.
Wait for it…
Luke Rowe’s book was pretty enjoyable and I love it when authors/athletes narrate their own audiobook.
But this part missed the editor and is genuinely funny. pic.twitter.com/tBF3qrsLTa
— Always bet the break (@BreakAlways) August 10, 2025
I’d say keep it in, it’s authentic.
“They are not the ones left with the life sentence, I am”: BBC documentary to explore the disappearance and death of Tony Parsons, the charity cyclist killed by a drunk driver who hid his body for three years
The first episode of a two-part documentary exploring the death and disappearance of cyclist Tony Parsons, who was killed by a drunk driver during a charity ride in 2017, his body remaining undiscovered for over three years, will air on BBC Scotland tomorrow evening.
Part one of ‘Murder Case: The Vanishing Cyclist’ will also become available on iPlayer from 12 August, with episode two following on 19 August.
The documentary follows Police Scotland’s Major Investigations Team during the case and will feature interviews with family members, journalists, and the police officers who helped bring brothers Alexander and Robert McKellar to justice.
In 2023, following an investigation spanning six years, Alexander McKellar was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to killing Mr Parsons while drunk, before hiding his body in a shallow grave on a remote country estate, and trying to defeat the ends of justice.
His twin brother Robert McKellar, a passenger in the car at the time of the fatal collision, was also jailed for five years and three months.
McKellar was speeding at the time of the fatal collision in September 2017, which took place on the A82 near Bridge of Orchy. The two men left Mr Parsons to die, at the side of a dark, remote road before driving to the nearby Auch Estate, where they dumped the damaged car, along with their phones.
The pair later returned to put the cyclist’s body, along with his bike and other belongings, in another vehicle. Mr Parsons’ body was then hidden under a tarpaulin in a wooded section at the Auch Estate, before being taken to another location used for the “purposes of disposing dead animals”.
The brothers then dug a grave and covered the cyclist with animal remains and bleach before being burying him along with his possessions.
> Drink driver who killed charity cyclist and hid body jailed for 12 years
Mr Parsons – who was 63 when he was reported missing – was last seen at around 11.30pm on the evening of 29 September 2017 outside the Bridge of Orchy Hotel in Argyll and Bute.
The former navy officer was in the middle of a 104-mile charity bike ride from Fort William to his home in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, in a bid to “give something back” after previously being treated for prostate cancer.
Despite repeated police appeals, Crimewatch appearances, the release of CCTV footage, and extensive searches – involving local mountain rescue teams, volunteers, Police Scotland dogs, and the force’s air support unit – the whereabouts of the grandfather or his bike remained a mystery for over three years.
Mr Parsons’ body was only discovered after Alexander McKellar’s girlfriend Caroline Muirhead, who he confided in about the killing, alerted police to the location by leaving a crushed tin of Red Bull at the site of the grave. The brothers were arrested in December 2020, with Mr Parsons’ remains finally being discovered on 12 January 2021 close to a remote farm on the Auch Estate.
In 2023, Ms Muirhead was arrested after failing to turn up for the trial, after claiming that the police allegedly pressured her to continue to spy on the McKellar brothers, who did not know she had contacted the police, in a bid to collect more evidence, and alleging that officers threatened her with legal action if she did not co-operate.
It was also reported that the demands to take part in the upcoming BBC documentary caused her to have a breakdown.
In the documentary, Mr Parsons’ wife Margaret criticised the decision to allow Alexander McKellar to plead guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide, while Robert’s not guilty plea to murder was also accepted.
“They took Tony, they buried him and left me, my kids and grandkids for three and a half years not knowing where he was,” she tells the programme.
“When they get out of jail they will get back to life as if nothing has happened. They are going to enjoy themselves. I can’t do that because Tony is not here.
“They are not the ones left with the life sentence, I am. There’s no remorse, nothing from them at all. I hate them both, I’m still angry. It won’t go away.”
Tony’s Mike, a former police officer, added: “He would have been in massive amounts of pain and for them not to seek any form of treatment is just 100 per cent inhumane.
“If you know you have hit someone and know they are still alive, any basic human instinct says you need to try and get help.
“To willingly let someone die, that to me is murder and our opinion will always be the same. They murdered my dad and they have taken him away from us.”
> Family of charity cyclist killed and buried by drink driver to receive six-figure compensation
The documentary also features interviews with the investigating officers, as well as forensic experts who found the exact spot where Mr Parsons was buried.
“Where Tony was recovered was an area where there were kill pits, where a farmer or a gamekeeper will dispose of fallen livestock,” DC Gavin McKellar said.
“Words can’t describe what would go through someone’s head to put another human being into that position. They are horrible.”
“A stark postcode lottery”
> Cycling lawyers demand action on pothole “crisis” putting cyclists in danger
“For outright talent, Pogačar is definitely better than Merckx. But will he beat Merckx’s record? That’s another question”: Sean Kelly questions whether world champion can “keep his focus” to become cycling’s GOAT
Of course, the prospect of Tadej Pogačar burning out and leaving the sport in the not-too-distant future isn’t that far-fetched.
The Slovenian superstar, after all, has been racing at the highest level since 2019, when he won the Tour of California and Volta ao Algarve, and secured a breakthrough overall podium place and three stage victories at the Vuelta a España, at just 20-years-old.
After winning the following year’s Tour de France in dramatic fashion, Pogačar has relentlessly gone on to dominate professional cycling, winning three more yellow jerseys, a Giro d’Italia, a world title, and nine monuments – cementing his position as the most dominant and successful male rider since Eddy Merckx.
But it’s that need for longevity, and avoiding the burnout that comes with dominating a sport for so long, that has led Sean Kelly to the conclusion that Pogačar will fail to surpass Merckx as the greatest cyclist of all time.
Asked by stickybottle over the weekend whether the Slovenian was capable of winning the next five editions of the Tour de France, shattering every record going, the Irish classics legend-turned-iconic commentator was adamant: “No, no.”
He continued: “I think a time will come when he’ll get bored and he’ll say ‘I’m finished’. He’s been in there since he was so young that I don’t think he’ll go on for a long career.”
According to Kelly, despite the 26-year-old, in theory, only coming into the best physical years of his career now, Pogačar’s all-out racing style, and the tough training required to attack at will, lends itself to a shorter, more intense career.
“I’d say he has another three years in him but after that…. Will he be able to keep his focus and will he want to continue?” King Kelly asked. “I could see, maybe, with another three more years he might say to himself ‘well, that’s enough’.”
And that’s why Kelly doesn’t believe Pogačar can overhaul Merckx’s astonishing record on the road – which included five Tours, five editions of the Giro, three rainbow jerseys, and 19 monuments – despite admitting that the Slovenian is a better talent physically.
“Merckx, in the mountains, was a guy who struggled a bit, he was a bit like Indurain at times, grinding away in the mountains to limit his losses to the lightweight guys. But then he’d kill them on the flat and in the time trials,” the seven-time Paris-Nice winner said.
Pogačar, meanwhile, is “riding away from the best climbers”, Kelly noted, while also matching the best time triallists, winning classics across all sorts of terrain, and handling himself during the “crazy” opening days of a grand tour.
“For outright talent, Pogačar is definitely better than Merckx,” Kelly said.
“But will he beat Merckx’s record? That’s another question. He’d have to do a lot of years to match that record. In the Tour, he will. But then you have to look at the Giro, the Vuelta, so many races.”
“I’m already counting down to retirement”: Tadej Pogačar brings up retirement again and says he has to be “prepared to stop” – but admits UAE Team Emirates won’t be leaving him out of their Tour de France squad for a while yet
For a sportsperson at the peak of his powers and with the world at his feet, Tadej Pogačar has sure been thinking a lot about retirement lately.
On his way to winning his fourth Tour de France a few weeks ago, the world champion cut a somewhat jaded figure, burnt out and fed up, his attacking instincts curtailed – as Tudor’s Michael Storer claimed last week – by the apparent need to avoid antagonising the French fans on the roadside by, you know, winning more bike races.
In a post-Tour interview with L’Equipe, the 26-year-old even revealed for the first time that he is contemplating quitting the sport after the 2028 Olympics – despite his bumper contract with UAE Team Emirates running until 2030.
“I don’t think I’ll stop right away, but I also don’t see myself going on for much longer,” he told the French newspaper.
“The Los Angeles Olympics are one of my goals, which are three years from now. After that, I might start thinking about retirement, we’ll see.”
Zac Williams/SWpix.com
And, speaking for the first time since the Tour at home in Komenda, Slovenia, where he took part in a crit organised in his honour at the weekend, Pogačar repeated his desire to look ahead to a lifetime of chilling with his feet up on the sofa.
“It may seem funny to most people that I’m already counting down to retirement, but the fact is that a sports career isn’t very long,” he said during a press conference before the criterium.
“I started winning quite early and everything has been going strong ever since. Every year we train harder and faster, so I look forward to my future with pleasure.
“On the one hand, I know that my sports career will not be long, but on the other hand, I am aware that I can enjoy the level I am at now for a few more years.
“However, I expect that this level will drop at some point and that there will be no more victories in the season than now and that there will be a bad year at some point.
“I am prepared for everything that is coming, so I am all the more aware that I have to enjoy the moment. I have to be prepared to stop, say thank you and say goodbye to racing at the highest level.”
ASO/Billy Ceusters
When asked whether, after a few weeks to reflect on his latest yellow jersey, that he’s in a better mood now compared to the last few days at the Tour, Pogačar said: “I managed to rest a little, I have a difficult Tour behind me and everyone can have a bad day.
“Of course, we can’t expect that I will be glowing with happiness for all 21 stages. There were also difficult days. The Tour was really difficult, one of the hardest I’ve ridden, which can be confirmed by everyone who fought for the overall classification.
“Now, two weeks after the end of the Tour, I have rested, reset myself, so we are now moving forward normally.”
Zac Williams/SWpix.com
And will he be aiming for that record-equalling (if we exclude a certain weight-lifting Texan of course) fifth Tour de France title next year?
“I will probably return to the Tour, in principle it is the biggest race and I don’t think the team will leave me at home…”
So, that’s a yes, then.
“You’d be surprised how many watts disadvantage the seatpost actually is”... says the guy choosing to ride 43km out of the saddle
He’s back… And he’s still out of the saddle.
Yes, that’s right. Chad Tavernia, the retired law enforcement officer from Malone in New York State who first made headlines back in 2021 after riding a few centuries out of the saddle, with no seatpost, is still bashing out those long miles standing on the pedals.
> What does it take to ride 100 miles out of the saddle?
And after a solid 27-miler out of the saddle at the weekend, he’s shared some interesting, left-field aero advice that, you never know, could soon be making its way to a professional peloton near you:
“Why don’t you just remove the saddle and leave the stem?” asked one curious Strava user after Chad uploaded his latest, painful ride.
“Duke, you’d be surprised how many watts disadvantage the seatpost actually is,” Chad replied (causing Dan Bigham, on the other side of the Atlantic, to sense a disturbance in the aero force).
Hello, is that Dave Brailsford? I’ve discovered the latest marginal gain that could turn your whole ship around…
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Latest Comments
It's like they want to get rid of the comments/commenters beneath the articles.
Yes. And what was even funnier was his attempts to lobby for taxpayer funding from central government to pay directly for a new Manchester United stadium. Describing the proposed structure as a "National Stadium Of The North", was an attempt to divert attention from the main beneficiaries being the Glaziers and himself.
Really sad to see. All three of my kids used 2 Frog bikes to learn and develop. Well sized and spaced. I passed them to another family who are still riding them
Of course they are 5 and 10 grand.. because Simon Mot has invested and because Rapha has lost 200$ dollars and his shares are now worth a packet of Cheese and Onion crisps, he needs the cash for more 'exclusive' things. 'exclusive' stuff is killing our sport. PS the welds are god awful.
Maybe because the ultra-rich don't want the common people to realise just how abusive the ultra-rich are and instead blame some out-group who will not have the resources/safety to defend themselves. The important thing to keep in mind is that the ultra-rich got that wealthy by exploiting others. We should be spurning their opinions rather than amplifying them.
I don't think you necessarily have to try something to object to it - I've never eaten dog poo, but I feel justified in not wanting it included in various foods. The main problem with ChatGPT/LLMs is the further concentration of power into the hands of the rich and the exorbitant resources that it uses. Sorry, the two main problems with ChatGPT are the concentration of power, the resource usage and the lack of control of the outputs. The three main problems are the concentration of power, resource usage, lack of output control and the exfiltration of personal information. Amongst the problems with LLMs are the concentration of power, resource usage, lack of output control, exfiltration of personal information and the swamping of our culture with AI slop.
Black skin is not the problem. White bibs are.
Isn't it great how ultra-rich people who complain about immigration not even live in there… or even funnier, are immigrants by themself? Ratcliffe lives in Monaco (maybe only on Paper to save taxes)
But it can, er, find you a waterfall. I know when I'm planning a route, including a random waterfall is often a pre-requisite.
I've generally found komoot's built in routing engine to be pretty decent, especially if you choose the "road bike" type (as opposed to "bike"). The underlying maps are Open Street Maps, which have pretty detailed information on surface type etc., so easy enough to bring that in to a routing algorithm. I'm unclear to what extent user-ridden routes get incorporated (cf. Strava Heatmaps) - I know my rides get uploaded to komoot so they must have a lot of that kind of data. Which I guess underlines what I see as the main flaw in this plan. The built in routing is pretty good. How exactly is bringing ChatGPT in going to make it better? The absolute best case would be it correctly interprets your prompt to plot basically the same route you would have got very easily by yourself. It's not going to do any better - it doesn't magically know which sections of road are buttery smooth on 23mm tyres versus which are best ridden using 32mm tyres.
27 thoughts on “Cycling’s newest marginal gain? “You’d be surprised how many watts disadvantage the seatpost actually is,” claims cyclist riding with no saddle; Tadej Pogačar won’t equal Eddy Merckx, says Sean Kelly; Luke Rowe’s sweary audiobook + more on the live blog”
Clearly they had to put the
Clearly they had to put the sign in the cycle lane because the unnecessary swerve around the flowerbed wasn’t proving off-putting enough and people were still using it.
Fair’s fair – before this was
Fair’s fair – before this was there cyclists didn’t have their own special space, so they can hardly complain, they’re not worse off! It’s not like they’re paying for it, like drivers are!
Also – perhaps it’s seen as a “moral trap” to just give people things like cycle tracks? We all know that what you don’t pay for you don’t value! Plus driving is seen as economically motivational – you have to make the effort and pay for your car, fuel, (optionally some places) tax and insurance etc…
Just had a quick look on
Just had a quick look on Streetview and it’s a pretty odd/pointless bike lane. As far as I can tell (and assuming nothing has changed since the Streetview imagery was captured last year), it pops into existence, runs the length of one city building (approx 70m) then simply vanishes at the next cross roads. No-where to go other than presumably merge with the traffic again, although with no markings or infrastructure to facilitate that. Also no actual markings on the “bike lane” whatsoever.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tx1AZAQW4RkznUwP6
They just love to block the
They just love to block the cycle lane over the caversham bridge with almost purely driving road work signs.
Even though he has many fans,
Even though he has many fans, there is also a strong cohort of “antis”… many coming with accusations of doping (only based on his performances, they have obviously not a single proof or clue about their own accusations). I’m saying this after reading diverse forums and comments in social networks, for years.
Also Slovenia is not one of the “traditional” nations in cyclism, unlike France, Belgium, Italy, UK, etc. where most of these races are organized, with previous cases of corruption and cheating (in the past, of course).
I wouldn’t be surprised if his motivation is victim of these dark influences… (and also the fact that he is already a millionaire now!)
Maybe the length of his
Maybe the length of his career will depend on whether a new talent emerges to replace him at the top.
There are still new targets he could aim for in the meantime, if he tires of the TDF :
Paris Roubaix,
Mila-San Remo,
La Vuelta,
World time trial,
Olympic road race / time trial.
Not forgetting there are
Not forgetting there are other disciplines besides the Road in pro cycling…..
Good point. He could be very
Good point. He could be very successful at gravel racing or cyclo cross.
Track not so sure. Hour record? Team pursuit?
I’d say he’s already tilting
I’d say he’s already tilting at all of those
Yes, but I can’t see him
Yes, but I can’t see him winning a World / Olympic TT or Paris Roubaix or even M S-R without altering his approach and focus.
If Slovenia had put Urška in
If Slovenia had put Urška in their Paris Olympics team then Tadej would have been in the team too and would have had quite good odds in the Road and the TT. We saw how good he was up Montmartre.
And he did come second in the hell of the north, with a bit of bad luck thrown in.
He is quite good…
It seems to me he lost interest near the end of the Tour, something needs to pique it again. But he did appear to enjoy that last stage.
ktache wrote:
I’ve been wondering just how bad the arm injury was, the fact that it was bandaged and covered for the rest of the race implies it was some pretty uncomfortable road rash, “my whole left arm is open completely” was how he described it. That might well have led to some very disturbed sleep and that in turn may have been a major contributor to his uncharacteristically low and negative attitude for much of the final week.
Mr Blackbird wrote:
He came second in his first ever Roubaix and would probably have been contesting for first if he hadn’t made a rookie (for the race) misjudgement, he’s come third the last two years at MSR, both times in the same time as the winner, and he’s won numerous TTs in the very biggest races in which he has defeated the current world and Olympic champion numerous times, so perhaps not that much change of “approach and focus” required…
I currently can’t see him
I currently can’t see him winning a one off TT against specialists. Winning within a tour is a different thing because recovery plays a part.
Mr Blackbird wrote:
He’s won the Slovenian National TT three times against some of the best in the business such as Roglic and won/taken a podium in TTs in the early stages of stage races. I agree he’s not going to win on a flat course but on rolling terrain with a couple of stinging climbs he can live with the best.
Yes, a rolling course would
Yes, a rolling course would suit him better.
As things stand I can’t see him beating Evanapoel on any course. Don’t underestimate riders like Tarling, Wout van Aert, Affini or even Ganna(maybe past his best now) on rolling courses, with specific focus on that race on that day.
You know, it wasn’t that long
You know, it wasn’t that long ago, people would say, Peter Sagan – best cyclist ever. He can do it all. He won a few world championships and entertained them vanished like a fart in the wind. What’s there to say Pogacar won’t be being spoken about when the next hot talent is taking the world by storm? Short careers, new riders appearing on tbe scene there are so many riders who were called ‘the next Eddie Merckx’ but no one remembers them
Hardly the same thing,
Hardly the same thing, Pogacar isn’t exactly a flash in the pan – the only real argument about his legacy is already is he the greatest men’s cycle racer ever or “only” second best. He only needs two monuments to go second equal on the all-time list, one more Tour to be joint first on the all-time list, if he races three more Tours he’ll come pretty close to most stage wins…he’s a once-every-five generations talent, he wouldn’t be forgotten about even if he quit tomorrow.
Come to that, Sagan wasn’t
Come to that, Sagan wasn’t exactly a flash in the pan either – he was very successful for several years before he got, in sporting terms, ‘old’ and stopped winning. Pogacar’s got a while to go before he reaches that age.
Indeed, I was thinking more
Indeed, I was thinking more about the “people would say, Peter Sagan – best cyclist ever” which (some) people were saying and which clearly was never going to materialize given his inability to compete for GC in GTs.
Sagan was also pretty
Sagan was also pretty successful as a young pro, although never going to be called the best ever.
And that’s despite not
And that’s despite not ‘growing up’ on the road – he was focused on cyclocross and mountain bike, and very successful at them, in his junior years.
Nice chart but I’d love to
Nice chart but I’d love to see Le Blaireau included.
Please don’t give Chad any
Please don’t give Chad any more publicity – he’s utterly insufferable already.
Was watching bits of GMTV
Was watching bits of GMTV this morning, part of the getting ready for work routine, BBC then ITV weather, then both local news’s, but then the bbcs local gos into breakfast’s sport so I go GMTV for the papers 6:30ish, sandwich making time, they are discussing older drivers having eye tests, (discriminatory against those whose eyesight is so bad they shouldn’t be driving…), and it’s “controversy”, presenter mentions lowering drink drive limits and it immediately goes into cyclist’s bingo. And it wasn’t Tory boy who went there but he sure was going to run with it.
Came here to say I’ve been
Came here to say I’ve been guilted by Galibier CC. Me and my Classique bibs of shame.
“Bike industry challenges
“Bike industry challenges continue as Giant and Canyon profits down 66% and 30%”
Those news always make me scratch my head. What do people expect from econmy? Both, Giant and Canyon will make profit but just less. If you take a closer look how the industry has changed and how the margins changed in recent years, it’s totally fine to have some adjustments in profit.
Especially Canyon … Canyon is a mailorder … uhm … sorry “Direct to cusomer”-Company, but build some “flagship-stores” in the last year. Those stores are pure marketing and burn money …
Bike company had quite a run since 2020 and some of them raised their prices because of the demand. Like in many other markets, they overshoot and that’s now falling on their feet.
And again, it’s not that Giant or Canyon make loss … they just make less profit.