“It would be mental to do single speed on that course!” Ultra-distance cyclist opts for cheap bike shop repair after trashing rear mech during gruelling off-road mountain race – and is forced to ride with one gear to the finish + more on the live blog

It’s a big week in the dot-watching cycling community.

We’re about halfway through the Atlas Mountain Race, one of the toughest ultra-distance races in the world, covering 1,300km over seven days across Morrocco, from Marrakesh to Essaouira.

Crossing the Moroccan Atlas, this endurance epic features some of extremely unforgiving terrain, featuring over 20,000m of elevation and following high-altitude gravel roads and long-forgotten single and double tracks, with barely any tarmac for respite.

And it’s safe to say it’s already taken its fair share of prisoners.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Matt Page (@mattpage24)

Our very own Matt Page – who seemed to be in good spirits yesterday after being joined by a few locals – appears to have scratched later that afternoon, his dot lingering about 30km off the route near Skoura. Matt’s not the only one to suffer a bit of bad luck, however.

Sofiane Sehili, one of the best off-road long-distance racers on the planet and the winner of the 2020 edition of the Atlas Mountain Race, felt the full force of Morrocco’s unforgiving terrain when he trashed his fancy Shimano GRX rear mech – and had to make do with an on-the-cheap replacement from a local bike shop.

Which, unfortunately for the French ultra-distance legend, means he’s now forced to ride all the way to Essaouira on single speed – putting him, obviously, out of the race.

> Bring on the Atlas Mountains: a beginner's guide to ultra-distance bike racing

Describing his DIY job in an Instagram story, while riding his newly single speed machine, Sehili, who’s also won the Tour Divide and the Silk road mountain race during his illustrious long-ride career, said: “So, I went to this little repair shop and they had chains, six or seven-speed chains, which obviously were too thick for my 12-speed cassette.

“I removed a couple of cogs from the cassette, replaced them with some spacers that were the right size.

“So now I can use one cog! And I added a derailleur, just to have the right tension on the chain. Yeah, so I’m riding single speed on tarmac.

“And if you’re wondering why I’m not back on the course, I honestly think it would be mental to do single speed on that course – though I know one guy who’s doing it!”

Yeah, that sounds fair. I doubt anyone will be shouting ‘one gear is more than enough on those mountain dirt roads!’ as he passes by on the tarmac anyway.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Sofiane Sehili (@sofianeshl)

In a longer Instagram post, Sehili – who joked that he was “in the mood for a bike tour anyway” after being forced onto the tarmac – added: “This is how my second attempt at the Atlas Mountain Race ends. Pretty differently from the first one. It was all going well, until it wasn’t anymore. I don’t give up easily but this time there’s nothing I could do but throw in the towel.

“When it happened, I was more than gutted. Now that I have had time to get some sleep and reflect on it, I feel a bit better. Of course I’m disappointed, but if something like that has to happen, I surely prefer it happens during a race I have already finished and won.

“I also take comfort in the fact that I didn’t just come here just for the race but was, beforehand, lucky enough to ride almost a thousand kilometres in this beautiful country that is Morocco.

“It is easy to indulge in self-pity, but in the end it is truly just a bike race and I got to take part in half of it. Some of my mates weren’t as lucky, a good friend is in hospital bed awaiting surgery after a serious accident. So yeah, it’s not the end of the world…

“I’m not gonna complain. Instead, I will look at the bright side of things, which is that I was racing hard and fast in a very competitive field. I was right there in the mix. Well ahead of my 2020 times.

“It feels quite good to actually get better while getting older to be honest. There will be other races. There will be many other opportunities to sing and (hopefully) crack you up.

“Now I'm gonna try to single speed my way to Essaouira.”

I don’t know about you, but that sounds brutal, too. These ultra-distance cyclists, eh?

In two weeks, the London Cycling Campaign will stage a protest at the “dangerous, unprotected” junction of Stratford High Street and Carpenters Road in east London, where a cyclist was killed on 13 January in a collision with a lorry driver.

On Monday 24 February, the LCC and its Newham Cyclists branch will gather where the Greenway meets Stratford High Street at 6.15pm, before leaving fifteen minutes later to ride along Stratford High Street, stopping briefly at the Carpenters Road junction for a minute’s silence and speeches.

The protest ride, the campaign says, will attempt to “highlight more than a decade of inaction on a series of unprotected and unsafe junctions along Stratford High Street that TfL (and Newham Council) should have acted on years ago. This inaction has now led to another needless death.”

While the recent installation of protected cycle lanes at junctions along Cycleway 2 has increased safety, the LCC says on the one-mile stretch between Bow Roundabout and Stratford town centre, TfL and Newham Council “have left the junctions unprotected and untouched”, exposing people cycling “to unacceptable danger”.

A host of junctions on this corridor, including at Carpenters Road, are “completely unprotected” and “don’t give cyclists any separation at all from vehicles turning left”, while forcing pedestrians to contend with “indirect staggered crossings, excessive waiting times, dangerous guardrail, and in some cases pedestrian crossings that are completely missing”.

“As our Dangerous Junctions map shows, there are far too many junctions in London where there are known design flaws that are resulting in clear patterns of collisions, yet year after year TfL does nothing,” the LCC’S chief executive Tom Fyans said in a statement.

“Worse, TfL right now is continuing to roll out supposedly ‘safer’ junctions which leave in design flaws even their own design criteria considers a ‘critical’ failure. If TfL and the Mayor are genuinely committed to reducing road danger, and saving lives like the one lost on 13 January, we need to see a step change in action.

“Ten people died while cycling on London’s streets in 2024 – until TfL designs better and works with all boroughs to move faster it's hard to see that number coming down any time soon.”

The cloud hanging over the British domestic racing scene in recent years shows no signs of dissipating any time soon, following the news this morning that the Lancaster Grand Prix will not go ahead in 2025 due to logistical and funding issues.

According to a statement from British Cycling this morning, the popular race, which forms part of the governing body’s National Road Series and is regarded as one of the most selective events in the season-long competition, will not be held this season.

> “You need a billionaire to say ‘I’ll save the sport’. But that won’t happen”: Matt Holmes on why British cycling needs a reset and his journey from WorldTour pro to the “world’s most reluctant YouTuber”

The Lancaster Grand Prix’s organising committee, headed by Roy Holmes, the father of former Lotto pro Matt, says the decision has been made “due to a variety of logistical reasons and to uncertainties in funding and sponsorship”.

Nevertheless, despite these issues, the organisers insist that they are proceeding with plans for the event to return in 2026.

In more encouraging news, however, British Cycling also announced that the historic Tour of the Reservoir, one of Britain’s most prestigious domestic races, is set to finally return in 2025, following a six-year absence.

James Shaw wins the 2019 Tour of the Reservoir (Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com)

The race, established in 2005 as a two-day event, boats Dean and Russell Downing, as well as EF pro James Shaw among its winners, while a women’s race was also added in 2014, cementing its status as one of the calendar’s key dates.

> "I can't think of any British bike race that would run at a profit": Another organiser cancels cycle race amid spiralling costs

However, following the death of organiser Mike Hodgson in 2020, the race has struggled to establish itself and has not been held since Shaw’s win in 2019. An attempt to run it last year was cancelled due to “unforeseen obstacles”, though organiser Steve Walton told the British Continental in December that the iconic race “is very much on for 2025”.

And that’s proved the case, with British Cycling announcing that the Tour of the Reservoir will return to Consett as a one-day men’s and women’s race (Walton hopes it will revert to its old two-day format in time) on Sunday 22 June and will form part of the National Road Series, an unexpected boost for the event after it was initially left off the competition’s calendar.

2017 world road race champion Chantal van den Broek-Blaak has confirmed today that she is retiring from the sport, a year earlier than expected, after announcing that she is expecting her second child.

The 35-year-old SD Worx rider is one of the most successful riders of her generation, winning the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold, Strade Bianche, Gent-Wevelgem, Ronde van Drenthe, and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad during an illustrious 17-year career.

At the 2017 road world championships in Bergen, days after taking silver in the time trial, she took advantage of the Netherlands’ numerical superiority and the confusion in the bunch to solo away to a deserved rainbow jersey, almost half a minute clear of her pursuers.

Van den Broek-Blaak winning the Tour of Flanders in 2020 (CorVos/SWpix.com)

After returning to the sport in 2024 following the birth of her daughter Noa, securing the final win of her career at the Dutch national championships, Van den Broek-Blaak was initially intending to hang up her wheels at the end of the season, renewing her deal with SD Worx.

However, after discovering that she was pregnant again at the start of January, the 35-year-old made the decision to step away from professional cycling for good.

“It took some switching, but there is no better reason to quit top-level sport,” Van den Broek-Blaak said in a statement today.

Referring to her return to racing in 2024, the Dutch champion said: “That was not an easy year. Especially mentally, I had to get used to the role of motherhood combined with top-level sport. I rode good races, but the stability was missing. Of course, capturing the Dutch title was a nice highlight, which showed that I could still compete for prizes at the highest level.

“I am now 35-years-old and wanted to flame another year. At the training camp in December, I was already pedalling good values at the tests. I finally had the same feeling on the bike as before my pregnancy and was eager to show the red-white-blue.

“In early January, we found out that I was pregnant again. It felt strange at first, but I soon realised how lucky I am to have got pregnant again so easily. This is what life is really all about. The farewell year is not coming now. With the 2024 season, in which I again became Dutch champion on the road, I was finally able to say goodbye to active cycling in a very nice way.”

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Team SD Worx - Protime (@teamsdworxprotime)

 And in a post on Instagram, she added: “I had imagined my last season differently, give it one final push in the national jersey. But more than anything, I feel super happy and grateful for what’s ahead. There is no more beautiful reason to say goodbye.

“Looking back, I’m proud of everything I’ve achieved in my cycling career. It has been an amazing journey. Cycling was the best life lesson I could have, and the sport will always be in my heart. Exciting times ahead!”

> “Taxis using bus lanes only serve to endanger cyclists”: Cycling campaigners slam “hidden"” consultation to extend “dangerous” and controversial trial

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Tour of Oman (@tourofoman)

If a Dutch sprinter continues his flying start to 2025 at a race with barely any roadside fans, and with no TV coverage, did it actually happen?

No, I’m not talking about the existential crisis facing every UK-based cycling fan in next month’s post-apocalyptic – sorry, I mean post-Eurosport world. I’m referring to Olav Kooij’s second stage win at the Tour of Oman this morning, a race where the coverage is so scarce it appears to exist solely as a timely, doom-laden harbinger of bike race viewing to come.

Anyway, according to the handful of wobbly videos and photos uploaded to social media by the race organisers, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Kooij made it two from two in bunch kicks this week, taking advantage of Uno-X’s Erlend Blikra’s decision to launch his sprint early on the drag to the line, coming off his wheel with 200m to go and holding off Giacomo Nizzolo for the victory, as Movistar’s Orluis Aular took third ahead of the fading Blikra.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Tour of Oman (@tourofoman)

“It was good for me. We could control the finish with the team, and they helped me very well,” Kooij said after the stage.

“We knew the last kilometre would be important to get in a good position. I could then follow the right wheels to start my sprint at exactly the right moment.

“After coming from the winter in Europe, it takes some time to get used to [racing], but the feelings are good.”

The 23-year-old Dutch sprinter – who once again looks set to miss out on a Tour de France debut this year due to Visma’s GC ambitions – can now bask in the glory of a job well done in Oman, as tomorrow’s summit finish to Green Mountain promises to be an explosive battle between race leader David Gaudu and reigning champion Adam Yates.

If we could see it, that is.

Ah, Pogi-Roubaix, we hardly knew ye.

Yesterday morning, Tadej Pogačar set the online cycling world alight by mischievously posting a video of himself tearing over the jagged cobbles of the Trouée d'Arenberg, sparking speculation that the world champion is set to make his Paris-Roubaix debut this April.

However, while social media was abuzz with excitement about the prospect of a mouthwatering duel on the cobbles with Van der Poel and Van Aert, Pogačar’s old adage that “Twitter is for trolling” appears to have crept over to Instagram, after his UAE Team Emirates squad were quick to point out that, no, the Hell of the North has not been added to their Slovenian star’s 2025 programme… Yet.

> “Hey, not too fast!” Tadej Pogačar tests himself on the jagged cobbles of the infamous Arenberg Forest during Paris-Roubaix-themed training ride… Is the world champion finally ready to tackle the Hell of the North?

Speaking to Daniel Benson, UAE’s sports manager Matxin Joxean Fernandez claimed that the Arenberg recon was merely part of a wider trip assessing the key sections of Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders, and Roubaix with sports director Fabio Baldato and teammate Tim Wellens, who is pencilled in to race the Hell of the North this year.

“They were in the area and did the recon of the Arenberg. In Tadej’s initial race programme, there’s no Paris-Roubaix this year. He simply did three days looking at the Tour of Flanders, Gent-Wevelgem, and then Paris-Roubaix,” Fernandez told Benson.

“He was looking at the materials, the tyres, the bike and was riding with them and looking at the critical moments of those races.

“Tim is racing Paris-Roubaix, and Tadej went with him. At the moment, we’ve not looked at Roubaix for his race programme. Normally, he’ll stop after the Tour of Flanders and prepare for the Ardennes Classics.”

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Tadej Pogačar (@tadejpogacar)

Asked if Pogačar could ultimately add Roubaix to his plans after the Tour of Flanders, Fernandez said: “We can’t speak about this. Maybe after Flanders, he has good confidence, but it all depends on the situation, but at the moment, no.”

So… you’re telling me there’s a chance?

Fernandez was equally vague when pressed about the world champion’s apparent plan to target the Vuelta a España, the only grand tour he’s yet to win, later this year after the Tour.

“We’ll see soon, I think at the UAE Tour, it will be explained and announced by Tadej himself. I know, but the communication will be for the team at that moment,” he said.

So, one more time… Twitter is for trolling, Instagram is for nice photos, and team staff statements are for keeping things vague and the online speculation rolling.

> “They’re so bad”: Donald Trump promises to scrap “dangerous” New York bike lanes and “kill” congestion charge