The UCI World Cycling Championships feel like they were completed months ago now, but there has still been a lot of news around including team moves and build up races to get teams ready for the Vuelta. Yep, the Vuelta is only a week away and it will be interesting to see if Jumbo-Visma will be able to put in another good showing in the third grand tour of the year.
Before we move on with this weeks news, have you thought about delegating some of your Hive to the Cycling Community. You don't have to delegate a lot, but every bit helps, with the Cycling Community(@hive-177745) growing and the payouts being rewarded is also growing, so it is definately worth you time.
What Causes Cramps When Cycling
A really great article has been posted by Cycling Weekly discussing some of the theories and myths around cramps and cycling. I have been pretty lucky that I don’t suffer from cramps when I am out on the bike, but maybe it’s because I am not riding hard enough. If you’re interested, you can read the article here:
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/cycling-and-cramp-367395
Daria Pikulik sprints to victory at Konvert Koerse
Daria Pikulik of Human Powered Health had taken out the Konvert Koerse one day race in Belgium with a powerful kick in a reduced bunch sprint to make it her third victory of the season. The race was a 126km, mostly flat course which would see the race win be a battle between 11 other riders in the final sprint of the race. Pikulik timed her sprint perfectly to power ahead of the bunch breating Julie De Wilde of Fenix-Deceuninck, who was second and Valentine Fortin of Cofidis Women, who finished third.
Toon Aerts Banned For Two Years For Anti-Doping Violation
Belgian cyclecross rider Toon Aerts has been suspended from competition for two years following a positive anti toping test for a testosterone boosting drug letrozole. The rider and his team had tried to prove that the positive sample was due to a case of contaminated food. His lawyer had attempted to make a case for the contamination and had found an open container of food, with the contamination, but for this to be legally binding, Aerts and his lawyer would also need to find a non opened container of the food as well. Aerts has been able to reduce the potential four year ban to two years as the UCI recognised that the substance was ingested involuntarily, but to completely reduce the ban, would have been virtually impossible. On the 18th of August the UCI published that Aerts would be banned for two years from the date of his initial provisional suspension, which was the 16th of February.
I find it interesting that the UCI has partially believed what Aerts and his team are suggesting and I have heard of this before. The thing I want to know now is, does our food contain a lot of these substances. For example, if I got tested, would I be showing positive results.
Women’s Team EF Eduction-TIBCO-SVB Set To Fold
In June we mentioned the mens EF Pro Cycling team would be creating a women’s team called EF Education-Canondale. It was confusing at the time because there was already a women’s team with the same title sponsor of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB. Things have been clarified a little this week with Linda Jackson who is the founder and CEO of “To the Top Cycling LLC” which owns and manages the team, announced to CyclingNews that the team would fold at the end of 2023, also mentioning the teams current Women’s WorldTeam license will not be assumed by another team going forward. All staff and riders are free to join new teams in 2024, with Jackson siting that loosing long time sponsors Tibco and Silicon Valley Bank, were part of the reason why the team was to fold.
Sad to see a team fold, but at the same time, we have a new team starting up with the EF Education naming, so hopefully all riders and staff will be able to find new positions in the coming year. We have also had announcements from the new EF Education-Cannondale team that both Lotta Henttala and Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson will be joining the new team in 2024.
BREMER Cyclassics Won In The Final Sprint By Mads Pedersen
Mads Pedersen waited until the last minute to make his decisive move over the competition to with the BREMER Cyclassics for 2023. It turned into an exciting finish to the 205km single day race, with a mostly flat course starting and finishing in Hamburg. A three man breakaway had formed with 13km left in the race with Brandon McNulty of UAE Team Emirates, Nils Politt of Bora-Hansgrohe and Yves Lambert of Soul-Quickstep. The three riders kept a slight distance of only 10 seconds leading into the final kilometre, but they looked strong enough to still finish ahead of the main bunch. Pedersen looked to be jumping across to the bunch but his timing was perfect as he used each of the breakaways slipstream to then take the lead. Danny van Poppel of BORA-Hansgrohe finished fast from the peloton to take second, and looked to almost catch Pedersen, but left his run late, with Elia Viviani of Ineos Grenadiers finishing third.
[Image Courtesy Getty Images]
Tour Of Scandinavia Kicks Off For 2024
The tour of Scandinavia has kicked off for its second year, with the five day stage race travelling through Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Stage one was a 124km ride from Maysen to Halden. The flat stage was going to be one for the sprinters with, Tirol Jorgensen of Team Coop-Hitec making a solo break for most of the stage. Jorgensen broke away on the first classified climb and continued on her own, stretching her lead to 3 minutes and 30 seconds, only to be reeled back in.
Uttrup Ludwig of FDJ-SUEZ made one or two attempts to also break away but with 4kms left in the stage, she almost made it stick, giving herself a 4 second advantage leading into the final kilometre. It looked like she might hold everyone off until Elisa Balsamo of Lidl-Trek launched her sprint in the final 200m, but with Lorena Wiebes of Team SD Worx stuck on her back wheel. The sprint from Balsamo killed off any hope Ludwig had for the stage victory, but she did keep third place for the stage, with Wiebes taking the stage at the line ahead of Balsamo.
[Image of Lorena Weibes Courtesy Of Getty Images]
Vuelta a Burgos: Roglic Takes Overall Victory
The 2023 Vuelta a Burgos took place in mid August and was the 45th edition of this UCI ProSeries rated race. Located in the Spanish province of Burgos, it is a five day stage race, which gives riders and teams a good warm up to the Vuelta a Spania starting later in the month. Primiz Roglic of Jumbo-Visma took a 33 second lead into the final 160km stage of the race, and was able to confirm overall victory, but winning the final stage in an uphill sprint to the finish line. The top three riders of the race were all together leading into the final climb, with Roglic sitting in behind Adam Yates of UAE Team Emirates and Aleksandr Vlasov of Bora-Hansgrohe. Little happened before this, with everyone waiting for the final 7km climb to see who would attack first.
Yates attached in the final 3kms of the climb, but Roglic held on and over took Yates in the final few hundred metres, where both Yates and Vlasov were not able to respond. Vlasov finished behind Yates in the stage, but was able to hold onto the overall second place, with Yates finishing third.
[Image Courtesy Getty Images]
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This week we have a great video from Peter Defty discussing the riders of the Tour de France and discussing what we can learn from the way they fuel and race:
About The Author
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I was close to having cramps a couple of times during long rides with a lot of altitude, but it never happened. I will certainly check out the article. I do know it has a lot to do with hydration. Keep hydrated. I read you could also add a bit of salt to your water so you hold more water.
Pedersen is really in shape at the moment. He won the Tour of Danmark last week and had an average speed of over 54 kmph on the final 16 km time trial.
What are your thoughts about the Vuelta?
Who is going to win this edition?
I'm curious who Jumbo Visma will bet on since both Roglic and Vingegard are riding.
Thanks for sharing!
You have done some big bike rides and I think I would be cramping as well if I had riden that far. I am not sure who will win the Vuelta but I think Primoz Roglic is looking good but I am not sure what Jumbo Visma will do team wise. I think he deserves a turn at top rider for the Vuelta.