Joran Wyseure has had a breakthrough victory today in Ruddervoorde. In the first round of the Superprestige Cup, the Crelan - Corendon rider managed to wrap up a perfect weekend of racing for the Belgian team and is the first leader of the competition.The race started off with dry conditions and ri...

The final race of the season... The Giro del Veneto closes down the main road calendar for the year and the race has been won by Magnus Cort Nielsen who was part of the early breakaway.The breakaway of the day was formed by six riders: Magnus Cort Nielsen, Alexis Gougeard, Tobias Bayer, Kyrylo Tsar...

Lara Gillespie has taken a medal for Ireland on the last day of competition at the UCI World Track Championships in Denmark today after placing 3rd in the points race. While the 23-year-old from Co Wicklow had won a collection of medals as a junior and U23 at Worlds and Europeans, todays bronze is her []The post Gillespie breaks through with first medal at elite World Champs | Video appeared first on Sticky Bottle.

A very stable wheelset that handles excellently, though the hookless design limits tyre choices when you go over 28mm 8/10

Lennert van Eetvelt is one of the breakthrough riders of the season. After winning the UAE Tour early in the year, stunning at La Vuelta and Clsica San Sebastin; he ends the season with a strong Lombardia and now stage and overall win at the Tour of Guangxi.Most years, I end my season somewhere...

Ive been called many things over the years but probably the most annoying is that Im an influencer Now you might say as I publish online reviews, you tube videos and have a instagram following that that is exactly what I am and up to a point I suppose you are right and also wrong, let me explain.Back in 2018 I was working in the bike industry, selling and fixing bikes in a local bike shop. These new fangled gravel bikes had started to be a thing. Of course I wanted one and even tried to get as near to the concept as I could by adapting a hard tail MTB with narrow tyres and a rigid fork. A year later I was lucky enough to be allowed to ride the shop demo gravel bike, a Trek Checkpoint (check the dropdown above for a review of that bike) which I absolutely loved. At that time there were so many companies that were jumping on that gravel band wagon it was really confusing for the ordinary rider to know what was good, what was essential and what just wasnt fit for purpose. No one really has the cash to throw away on a bike or product that the media tell you you need but in reality is so far from quality or purpose that you might as well just set fire to your pound notes (remember real money?)So I decided to start UKGRAVELCO on instagram to share my pictures and repost others snaps to inspire people to ride and quite frankly to find people to ride with. I started to be inundated with messages asking my opinion on this or that bike, that wheelset, what should i wear etc etc you get the picture. At the time there was a lot of media attention for gravel, lots of articles online and in magazines (they existed back then!) and many pro riders and those with lots of followers recommending kit. All well and good you might think. However, working in the industry Id had some of that kit thatd been recommended as essential in my hands and well I didnt agree. It was then I launched ukgravelco.com to try and give an honest, balanced look and review on some of these items.I started with bikes or kit I already owned and knew that worked or didnt and this proved popular. I gained followers at a fast rate and traffic to the website was good. I was able to show this data and contacted a few companies and distributors to see if I could review some of their kit, always with the premise that it was at their risk. If i liked the product I would say so, but also if I thought it was lacking Id put that in print too. It was a risky move, but I wasnt doing it to make a living from the reviews, I was doing it to help others and yea, it was fun too. Luckily quite a few companies and marketing people had confidence in their products and sent them to me to try out.i bet you get to keep all that stuff you get sent is a sentence I hear a lot and the answer is yes and a definate no. Understandibly no one wants clothing or shoes back after Ive worn them for a few weeks, especially bib shorts! Bikes and wheels definately have to go back and a few times at my expense too. Ive also agreed to review kit I can give away in a competition afterwards either in a straight free competiton with a random winner or by buying a ticket where all the profits go to a charity or good cause such as Nils Rider Resilience project.How much do you get paid to review stuff? honestly, nothing, not a thing. Now this is really what inspired me to write this article really. This was because I recieive quite a lot of offers of product that comes with a ready written script from the manufacturer, that script is what they want you to write about their stuff. Basically a glowing review before Ive even had the product in my hands. This comes usually with a sweetner of keeping the item or the promise of commission. Ive even had emails asking how much I charge for a positive review! Needless to say Ive always declined these offers. So have peace of mind that all the reviews on ukgravelco have not been paid for upfront or scripted by someone with a vested interest in having a good review.I reviewed the ASS Saver Win-Wing last year after writing an email to see if they would send me one to review. I loved it, its such a simple idea that really works. I wrote a review and made a a video that got lots of attention. When Ass Savers produced the mark 2 win-wing they asked if Id like to try one out to see the differences between the original and the new one. Of course I said yes. they liked the ensuing video so much they shared it and offered me a discount code to share with my followers. This was post review and not before it was written/filmed. This was something new to me and it came with what the industry calls a kick back This meant every time someone used my code ( GARYW_10 ) they would get 10% off their order and I would get a small percentage of that discount, This was a dilemma, would this compromise my neutrality? I decided that as i believed in the product so much and would recommend it anyway I would agree to it. After all the website hosting and domain does not pay for itself, plus a lot of the products I review Ive paid for in full from my own money. So full disclosure, for one Ass Saver sale of 20.34 i receive 2.85.All this is handled by an affiliate company. Usually an advertisement company or media company who handle publicity/promo codes and links for many companies at once. The company that handle ass-savers send out the codes and handle commission, if any and thats not guaranteed. Most times when you see a link to a product at the end of a review its an affiliate link, if you click on it then either the reviewer or the website that is paying the reviewer to write the review gets a percentage kick back. This is why Ive started putting a disclaimer next to any link I post that it isnt an affiliate link.It was while browsing the extensive list of companies on the affiliate website that I noticed that a good many of the accounts of influencers I follow on instagram had nearly all the cycling affiliate offers listed on their accounts. In some cases it was almost a carbon copy of the list. Taking a closer look at their content where they are saying look at what Ive been sent/this is the best thing ever etc etc and seeing the long list of discount codes and links in their bio they are getting a kick back for every one. Honestly half the stuff listed i would not even give the light of day too. I get sent an email if theres a new affiliate opportunity and Its become a ritual to go to this account and see how long before they announce that they cant live without that particular product and oh, heres a discount code so you dont miss out.Is this influencing? I guess it is. I feel its wrong and this is why I do not like being called an influencer. Ive had chats with a few cycle industry companies recently about reviewing the latest products and in all cases I own items theyve produced in the past already, paid for with my own money and the subject of earning a kick back for reviewing their product has come up and Ive said that I believe in their product and that Id recommend it anyway regardless of kick back.This is the only way I can go forward, I cant continue reviewing without being totally honest. If theres any offer code then Ill be upfront about any kick back and I wont be agreeing to that until Ive properly seen and tested the item.So choose your influencer carefully, there are genuine reviewers out there that will only take kick back on products they really believe can make a difference to your riding but unfortunately there are those who clearly are only in it for the money.This may be old news to you, it may open your eyes and make you look at any review or influencer with a pinch of salt and if its the latter its been worthwhile writing this. No pictures on this one as I didnt think it was fair to use unrelated pictures just to fill out the article and implicate any company, product or dare I say influencer wronglyif youd like to support these honest reviews and ukgravelco.com then please consider following this page, the instagram channel, subscribing to the youtube channel all of which are free to do or buying something from the ukgravelco shop, links below, non of which are affiliatehttps://www.instagram.com/ukgravelco/https://www.youtube.com/@ukgravelcohttps://ukgravelco.bigcartel.com/

In 2019 Quinn Simmons was Junior World Champion and won countless races, showing himself as a true top talent in the world of cycling. He has struggled to be consistent over the past few years but is looking forward to be consistent in 2025, something he believes could see him back to the top.He to...

Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com 20/10/2024 Cycling Tissot UCI 2024 Track World Championships Ballerup Copenhagen, Denmark Ballerup Super Arena Womens Points Race Lara Gillespie (Ireland)Lara Gillespie ended what has been a spectacular week for Irish cycling winning bronze in the Womens Points RaceConcluding what has been another excellent week for Irish cycling, Lara Gillespie once again took to the track in the final day of racing at the 2024 Tissot UCI Track World Championships in Ballerup, Denmark.Ending the championships on a high Gillespie finished third in the Womens Points Race, claiming her first ever senior championship medal. This result adds to her success from earlier in the week when the Co. Wicklow rider recorded three top ten placings at the championships.The Points Race consists of 80 laps and includes a sprint lap every ten laps, each of which offers points to the first five riders across the finish line. Riders can also win 20 points if they successfully gain a lap on the peloton.Gillespie won three points in the opening sprint. An early lap gain for Jennifer Valente for the USA, Mizuki Ikeda for Japan and Alexandra Manly for Australia saw these three riders gain an early advantage.New Zealands Ally Wollaston may not have been part of the group to take the first lap gain, but her excellent form which has seen her claim two gold medals at these championships continued as she dominated in the sprint laps.A lap gain and a sprint victory at the midway stage saw Gillespie move into second place, with just ten points separating the top eight riders.Strong riding from reigning World Champion Lotte Kopecky for Belgium kept her in the mix for a medal as well. Julie Leth for the home nation claimed a second lap gain putting her at the top of the leaderboard as the race entered the final stages.Gillespie gained more sprint points to keep her in the top five and an excellent finish saw her add ten points to her tally by winning the final sprint which is worth double points.Victory went to Leth on a final score of 43, Kopecky was second on 40 and Gillespie completed the podium on 39.Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com 20/10/2024 Cycling Tissot UCI 2024 Track World Championships Ballerup Copenhagen, Denmark Ballerup Super Arena Womens Points Race Podium Julie Leth (Denmark) receiving the Gold Medal to become World Champion with Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) receiving the Silver Medal and Lara Gillespie (Ireland) receiving the Bronze MedalSpeaking afterwards Gillespie said:I am so relieved with this medal because I knew I could do it and I have the legs and every time Im racing, Im getting closer and closer.This medal means a lot to me and Im so proud to do it for Ireland, we have a small but mighty team and all of us and the staff have put so much effort this year prepared for the Olympics and for our performance and development. I felt my coaches, and everyone here believed in me and that really drive me on the extra bit. Im very grateful.This concludes a brilliant World Championship where Irish riders have once recorded multiple top ten finishes among the worlds best, showing continued improvement and consistency.The post Bronze for Gillespie at Track World Championships appeared first on IrishCyclingNews.com | Irish Cycling News | IrishCycling.

GB place second in overall table with 13 medals, Netherlands finish top

Tadej Pogacar has just completed what is arguably thegreatest season in cycling history, dominating the sport with a triple crownthat includes victories in monuments, classics, and stage races. Pogacarsdominance is unrivalled in modern cycling, leaving competitors in his wake. But it is worth re...