The latest collaboration with the streetwear brand sees jerseys and accessories featuring designs that draw from one of cycling's most colourful and controversial eras.

While seeking aerodynamic improvement is regarded as conventional wisdom on the road, should the same apply to gravel racing?

CyclistUCI Gravel World Championships 2024: Routes, how to watch and start listsThe third edition of the UCI Gravel World Championships takes place in Belgium this weekend. Slovenian Matej Mohori will be looking to defend his mens title against some of the worlds best cyclists from across multiple disciplines including Mathieu van der Poel, and a stacked womens field includes Lotte Kopecky, Marianne Vos and former champion Pauline Ferrand-Prvot. At the same time, the Gravel World Championships offers amateur racers from across the world a chance to bag a rainbow jersey of their own.A host of big names from professional road racing, cyclocross, MTB and gravel though not many from the US this time are descending on Flanders to fight it out for the sports coolest rainbow stripes.The event, and the UCIs adoption of the discipline, has been controversial as part of the success of gravel racing over the last few years has been the lack of a governing body and the rules, teamification and closed system that tends to follow.Gravel resisted the UCI to such an extent that there is already a well-established event in the USA called Gravel Worlds, which is essentially a parody of traditional World Championships.To attempt to maintain part of this Spirit of Gravel, the UCIs #gravelspecific races in the Gravel World Series and World Championships have been drawn up along similar lines to its Gran Fondo events, meaning amateurs have the chance to line up in the same races as professionals. They will wear different coloured race numbers to distinguish them.Riders are also expected to compete individually rather than in teams, although that is easier said than done, especially given they will be racing in their national colours this weekend. Its certainly interesting to see how the year-round gravel specialists compare to road pros who will once again dab their hand in gravel. Over the past two years, WorldTour pros have taken the title on the mens and womens elite level. Related Posts Gravel Big Ride: Welcome to Girona, cycling central Its like Glastonbury for bikes: Inside the epic Unbound gravel race Unbound Gravel pro bike: Danni Shrosbrees Factor Ostro Gravel Little ride on the prairie: Unbound Gravel sportive review UCI Gravel World Championships 2024: Key informationDatesSaturday 5th October:Elite Women, all womens age groups and mens 50+.Sunday 6th October: Elite Men and mens under-49.LocationThe UCI Gravel World Championships takes place in Flanders, Belgium. All races start in the town of Halle and will finish in the university city of Leuven, host of the 2021 UCI Road World Championships.TV coverageLive coverage will be broadcast by Eurosport and Discovery+ with coverage hosted by Flemish TV station Sporza, which will be showing the event live in Belgium.Womens: 13:00-15:10 BSTMens: 13:20-16:30 BSTFormer winners2023 mens elite: Matej Mohori (Slovenia)2023 womens elite: Kasia Niewiadoma (Poland)2022 mens elite: Gianni Vermeersch (Belgium)2022 womens elite: Pauline Ferrand-Prvot (France)UCI Gravel World Championships 2024: Route, profile and surfaceThere are four slightly different routes to be ridden at this years championships. These routes are varied based on age and gender categories. That said, they all start in Halle and end in Leuven, covering the same opening phase of 88km.The longest continuous gravel sector will be around 5km long which comes in the Brabantse Wouden national park just south of Brussels. Towards the end of the elite races, the riders will negotiate a series of laps around the Meerdaalwoud forest. This circuit is very similar to the one used at the 2023 European Gravel Championships. The approach to the line in Leuven includes the Ramberg cobblestone climb, followed by one final gravel section from 1.5 to 1km from the finish.For the men, the parcours is 182km in length and 135km long for the elite women. According to the race organisers, 54% of the race is on unpaved roads.Women elite, mens 50-64 and womens 19-49 routeMen 65+ and Women 50+ routeMen 19-49 routeMen elite routeUCI Gravel World Championships 2024: Favourites and start listsRiders can qualify for the World Championships by competing in UCI Gravel World Series races throughout the year. The top 25% of finishers in each age group category qualify for Worlds and the top three in each one qualify for the championships regardless of the number of entrants.There are also places for the previous World Champion as well as national champions, such as British champions Connor Swift and Annabel Knight. National Federations also can enter 20 riders across all categories and the host country can enter 40 riders.Finally, Wild Card entries are available in the Elite categories for riders part of UCI-registered teams, these are at the discretion of the UCI but for the most part, this includes road riders who can bypass the usual qualification process.According to the UCI, the starting order for the elite categories in next weeks World Championships is determined by a combination of points earned in the UCI Gravel World Series, the 2023 UCI Gravel World Championships, and 50% of the points from the UCI rankings in road, mountain bike marathon, mountain bike cross country, and cyclocross.Mens favouritesDefending champion Matej Mohori of Slovenia is certainly not the favourite to retain his title. He has had a turbulent road season with few headline results. Hell be hoping this road form doesnt spill into the gravel tracks of Belgium.A host of cyclocross stars are taking to the start including Eli Iserbyt, Joris Nieuwenhuis, Michael Vanthourenhout and Laurens Sweeck. However, they will most likely be overshadowed by the presence of reigning UCI Cyclocross World Champion Mathieu van der Poel. For home interests in Leuven, Jasper Stuyven will start the race as the reigning European Champion. He grew up in Leuven and won on a similar route here at those very championships. He will be joined in baby Belgian blue by riders including Tiesj Benoot, Greg Van Avermaet, Jan Bakelants and Quinten Hermans.Petr Vako, a former QuickStep and Alpecin-Deceunink roadie, will line up as one of the favourites having won the Gravel World Series this year. Paul Voss of Germany will also be a gravel specialist to watch. He rode a strong World Championship last year and has spent the year deeply embedded in the gravel scene. Unbound runner-up and former Giro stage winner Chad Haga from the USA will be expected to compete for a medal this weekend too.A smattering of WorldTour road pros will be trying their hand off-road including Tim Merlier, Isaac Del Toro, British Gravel Champion Connor Swift, Jan Christen, Matev Govekar, Luke Lamperti and Jasha Stterlin.Womens favouritesThe reigning champion Kasia Niewiadoma will not return to defend her title, so its wide open.The winner of this years Unbound Gravel Rosa Klser and the winner of the womens Gravel World Series Carolin Schiff will be the headline name from the gravel world. Lauren Stephens will be leading for the US team alongside Morgan Aguirre. Stephens won the US Gravel Championships last month and has spent the past week in Zrich tuning up at the UCI Road World Championships.The womens start list will be bolstered by road World Champion Lotte Kopecky of Belgium who has stated that she has never raced on gravel. She has won Strade Bianche in the past, however, a road race that covers gravel tracks. Mountain bike superstar and Tour de France Femmes stage winner Puck Pieterse will star for the Netherlands alongside European road and gravel champion Lorena Wiebes. Other cross-discipline names include former UCI Cyclocross World Champions Sanne Cant, Lucinda Brand and Fem van Empel. Plus, it is expected that Marianne Vos will attempt to win a gravel world title to add to her cyclocross, track and road titles.WorldTour pros to watch for also include Silvia Persico, Shirin van Anrooij, Yara Kastelijn, Riejanne Markus, Neve Bradbury, Emma Norsgaard, Alison Jackson, Justine Ghekiere and Sarah Gigante.Find the full start lists for all races here. Related Posts Gravel Big Ride: Welcome to Girona, cycling central Its like Glastonbury for bikes: Inside the epic Unbound gravel race Unbound Gravel pro bike: Danni Shrosbrees Factor Ostro Gravel Little ride on the prairie: Unbound Gravel sportive review The post UCI Gravel World Championships 2024: Routes, how to watch and start lists appeared first on Cyclist.

Sir Mark Cavendish has now been officially knighted in a ceremony atWindsor Castle, receiving his knighthood from none other than the future King of England,Prince William.Im a proud Brit," the legendary sprinter said afterwards in quotes collected by ITV. "Ive represented the country many, ma...

As the Classic Cycle Old Crap Test Pilot I regularly find myself astride all sorts of bicycles and components Frankly I suspect the popular notion that all Spinergies are guaranteed to ass-plode ass-tacularly in a hail of crabon sharpnel is mostly just an urban myth. I was alive and riding during Peak Spinergy and never saw or heard anything myself. However, its not about Spinergae in generalits about these particular ones that Im riding, and who the hell knows what theyve been through in the last 28 years? They may have another 28 years left in them, or they may have been left repeatedly in hot cars and crashed multiple times and the only thing holding them together is the stickers.But my commendable bravery isnt the point. The point is that with all this Old Crap coming through my headquarters I occasionally find myself perusing popular online auction platformsnot so much to buy stuff, but more for general knowledge. For example, obviously doing so gives you a good idea what the current value of a certain bicycle or part isor at least what people think it should be. Also, these ads are sometimes the best place to see what an intact component is supposed to look like if youre having a mechanical problem, thanks to the thorough photographs many sellers include. Finally, you can also see what sorts of accessories or aftermarket parts are available for a particular bicycle or componentlike these Spinergy wheel-stiffeners:The deal with these was you simply stuck them between the spokes (or blades), kind of like a nasal dilator for the wheel:Its hard to imagine they actually did anything, but if you want them theyre incredibly rare and will cost you a whopping $99.99:Thats a lot of money for something you could probably improvise for about eight bucks at Staples. It also makes this Spinergy graphics kit on Etsy seem like a bargain:It probably does about as much to increase the wheels performance as the wheel stiffeners, plus I think a rainbow motif is exactly what my bike needs.Of course, once you start searching for stuff online, The Algorithm just keeps taking you deeper and deeper into the wardrobe. One moment Im browsing Spinergy stuff, and the next Im contemplating this baby:As a former Rascal owner myself Im deeply impressed, for mine was nowhere near as extravagant, and it ended up as a singlespeed due to the convenient (for singlespeedification) dropout configuration:[Yeah, I know its not a dropout, whatever.]That in turn brought me to this resto-mod (Lob I hate that term):Of all of the period-correct parts to keep they went with the Spinergys?!?Then before I knew it I was looking that this (ugh) resto-mod:Needs more purple.And eventually I found myself with this sweet 80s freestyler:I was still an enthusiastic rider of BMX bicycles during this era, and the bike brought back lots of memories. For example, I used to have these brakes:Why did I have them? Because they came in different colors and they had holes in them, thats why. I think I had a blue one and a white one, and I think I even switched the arms so that they were both half blue and half white, though I cant imagine I was mechanically capable of pulling that off at the time, so maybe I just remember wishing I could do that. Either way, I then started wondering if I could get a pair and put them on the Roaduno:See, a proper Rivendell should have at least one obscure vintage part on it, and a pair of perforated BMX brakes from the 80s would give me maximal retro-cred.I had no idea if the reach on these things was right or not, but I also figured old single-pivot brakes like this couldnt go for more than a few dollars:How wrong I was:Everyone selling these things was asking a fortuneand dont get me started on the levers:Holy crap, thats a lot of money for some holey crap:I guess its now the Delta brake of the BMX world.Naturally, as an aging semi-professional bike blogger who can barely bend down over his own gut to reach the handlebars of George Plimptons Y-Foil, I have the fondest of memories when it comes to the BMX bikes of that era. Launching myself off curbs, tearing around the neighborhood, poring over the magazines, fogging up the display case at the bike shopLooking back now though I realize that this was actually the era of peak overcomplicated BMX, and it was pretty ridiculous. By this point your bike needed to have a cable detangler systemAll kinds of medieval-looking stuff bolted to the frame so you could climb all over itWhich people also ask ridiculous money for, by the wayAnd lots of complicated bendy tube shapes, so that as you got towards the end of the decade the bikes just looked like 90s screensavers:See?By the time the bikes started looking like that Id moved away from the freestyle stuff to racing at the tracknot because I didnt want the stuff (I did), but because I couldnt do the tricks.Meanwhile, heres what a road bike looked like in those days:And heres a 1985 Stumpjumper:Now road and mountain bikes have battery-powered drivetrains and suspensions run by supercomputers, whereas (at least as far as I can tell as an old person) BMX left all the excess behind years ago and they dont even use brakes anymore.Funny how that works.

Its frustrating given the number ofKSIson our roads that Essex Police dont deem driving like this to warrant further action

CyclistThe Pinarello F7: Ready to ridePinarellos F-series bikes open the world of race-proven road riding to a far wider range of riders, offering a combination of real-world performance and value for money, not to mention the kind of Italian style and passion that normally commands a much higher pricetag. And, thanks to a limited-time offer, Pinarello is imbuing the razor-sharp, Ultegra Di2-equipped F7 with even more performance and practicality for your money.Italian heritageThe name Pinarello is synonymous with everything thats good about Italian bike manufacturing: passion, style, panache, cutting-edge design, high-end tech and of course sporting success. Its founder, Giovanni Pinarello, might have won the maglia nera at the 1951 Giro dItalia (the Italian Grand Tours equivalent of the Tour de Frances lanterne rouge signifying the last-placed rider overall) in his riding days, but the bikes bearing his name are known for their race-winning pedigree. Since the companys first Grand Tour victory in 1975, Pinarello has won the Tour de France with carbon, steel, aluminium and magnesium-framed bikes. And you dont win the biggest race on the calendar without knowing how to put together a bike that excels in every area.Peerless performanceThe Pinarello F7, which sits at the top of the UKs F-series lineup, is one such machine. Extensive wind-tunnel testing and the use of computational fluid dynamics in its design process help optimise its design. Lowering the bikes centre of gravity allowed the F7s designers to change the seatpost dimensions for improved aerodynamics, while dramatically dropped seatstays further minimise wind resistance.Climbing is a breeze thanks to a lightweight Toray T900 carbon fibre frame, while Pinarellos unique asymmetrical chainstay/seatstay design counters the chains torsional forces to ensure maximum power goes into driving you forward. It adds up to an incredible spec for your money, which is sure to pay dividends out on the road.Do the mathsPinarello has given the F7 similar performance-focussed geometry to its Dogma race bike, so you can add handling to its list of strengths. Relatively short chainstays combine with a short trail figure to offer agile, pin-sharp steering, while a long reach and short stack put you in a stretched out yet stable position on the saddle. The 30mm tyre clearance opens a world of options for high-volume, low-pressure performance tyres as well. Pinarello offers the F7 in nine frame sizes, so finding one that fits you should be no problem.Spec-festThe F7 also benefits from the trickle-down of high-end components and finishing kit from Pinarellos top-tier race bikes, not to mention extensive R&D and its passionate engineers deep understanding of what makes a winning bike. Headline specs include a fully integrated MOST Talon Ultra Light one-piece bar/stem, MOST Ultrafast 40 carbon wheels, a full Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset, that T900 carbon frameset as well as TiCR internal cable routing to ensure invisible wiring and hoses throughout.Unmissable offerBut it gets even better. For a limited time, anyone buying the 7,000 Pinarello F7 from a Pinarello-approved UK dealer in the stylish razor colourways will receive a host of extras thrown in free of charge. These include a Vittoria tyre upgrade, Shimano Ultegra R8000 pedals, two MOST Trap carbon bottle cages (usually 35 each), two MOST water bottles (usually 10 each), and a MOST Saddle Case bag (usually 28). To find your nearest authorised Pinarello dealer, visitpinarello.com/uk/en/store-locatorThe post The Pinarello F7: Ready to ride appeared first on Cyclist.

On Sunday, October 6th, the men's elite race at the 2024Gravel World Championships takes place in Leuven, Belgium. Last year, Matej Mohoric claimed the Rainbow Jersey and the Slovenian is back again this time around, but faces some very notable competition.Included on the startlist are the likes o...

CyclistIl Lombardia 2024: Everything you need to knowThe 2024 edition of Il Lombardia will take place on Saturday 12th October over a hilly 252km route from Bergamo to Como in Italy. The last of the five Monuments on the WorldTour calendar, The Race of the Falling Leaves is one of the hardest one-day races of the season and, as a result, its easy to see how and why the past three editions have been won by Tadej Pogaar.The Colma di Sormano returns for the first time since Remco Evenepoels crash in 2020. Riders will approach it from the opposite direction to 2020, climbing instead of descending the section.Historically, Il Lombardia has favoured punchy climbers, with recent winners including Pogaar in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Bauke Mollema in 2019 and Thibaut Pinot in 2018.Il Lombardia 2024: Key informationTim de Waele/Getty Images)Date: Saturday 12th OctoberStart: BergamoFinish: ComoDistance: 252km2023 winner: Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates)Most wins: Fausto Coppi (five) Related Posts Big Ride: An ode to Lombardia Cycling autumn Classics 2024: Canadian and Italian race dates, details and live TV guide Classic climb: Muro di Sormano, Il Lombardias crown jewel Classic climb: Madonna del Ghisallo, a holy institution of Il Lombardia In praise of Il Lombardia and the Monuments Il Lombardia 2024: The routeWhen the race first appeared in 1905, it took the form of a loop to and from Milan. From the 1960s until the early 2000s, the race would either start or finish in Milan with the opposing venue being another location within the Lombardy region. Between 2004 and 2006, the race even started in the Swiss town of Mendrisio.Since 2014, however, the race has settled on switching start and finish locations between the beautiful cities of Bergamo and Como.In 2024, the first climb of the Forcellino di Bianzano hits less than 30km into the day and is quickly followed by the Passo di Ganda with a maximum gradient of 15%. From there, its another 1-2 punch with the Colle di Berbenno and Valpiana.Some respite can be found just over halfway through the race with a flatter section that precedes the Sella di Osigo and the longer Madonna Del Ghisallo.The highest point of the race is encountered after 210km of racing. The Colma di Sormano is the last major test of the day with a gradient up to 13%, a long descent then follows before one final short and sharp kick upwards as the San Fermo della Battaglia hits with 6km remaining. The last kilometres to Como are then downhill until the flamme rouge.Il Lombardia 2024: Live TV guide and how to watchSara Cavallini via Getty ImagesIl Lombardia will be broadcast on Discovery+ from 09:00-16:00.A Discovery+ subscriptioncurrentlycosts 6.99 per month with the basic package, which includes cycling and all other Eurosport programmes.If its not being shown in your country, you may be able to watch coverage using a VPN Virtual Private Network which allows users to mask their IP address and watch geo-blocked content, provided they dont need to pay for a subscription. This is also helpful for watching paid-for coverage while travelling abroad in countries without access.One such example isExpressVPN, which is verywell reviewed, has specific advice for watching cycling and costs 5.36 per month with three months free. Other options includeNordVPN,SurfsharkandKapersky.Read more:How to watch cycling post-GCNIl Lombardia 2024: Start listData powered by FirstCycling.comIl Lombardia 2024: Previous winners2023: Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates)2022: Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates)2021: Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates)2020: Jakob Fuglsang (Astana-Premier Tech)2019: Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo)2018: Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ)2017: Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida)2016: Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange)2015: Vincenzo Nibali (Astana)2014: Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp)2013: Joaquim Rodriquez (Team Katusha)2012: Joaquim Rodriquez (Team Katusha)2011: Oliver Zaugg (Leopard-Trek)2010: Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) Related Posts Big Ride: An ode to Lombardia Cycling autumn Classics 2024: Canadian and Italian race dates, details and live TV guide Classic climb: Muro di Sormano, Il Lombardias crown jewel Classic climb: Madonna del Ghisallo, a holy institution of Il Lombardia In praise of Il Lombardia and the Monuments The post Il Lombardia 2024: Everything you need to know appeared first on Cyclist.

Rockgeist, one of our favorite bagmakers, was directly impacted by Hurricane Helenes catastrophic flooding over the weekend, resulting in immense damage to their shop in Asheville, North Carolina. Lucy Kruesel, a former Rockgeist employee, started a GoFundMe campaign to help kickstart their recovery. Learn more here...The post Support Rockgeists Journey to Recovery appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.