After the roaring success of season one of Netflix's Tour de France: Unchained documentary about the 2022 edition of the race, a second season will soon be dropping on the platform (June 11th) and we now know that this time around, Tadej Pogacar will be heavily featured.The UAE Team Emirates leader...

Ron Andrews works his magic as the master craftsman behind the boutique bicycle bottle cage company, King Cage. Located in Durango, Colorado, the small, family-run, King Cage bends all of their cages by hand right in Rons basement garage using all USA-sourced materials. Im a big fan and a long-time customer. So, when they reached out to ask if Id like to review their unique new Stainless Steel Side Loader cage for the Haro Saguaro 1 I was reviewing, I was on board.(Photo/KingCage)For those who have seen some of my builds, you may have noticed that their Iris Cage is usually my first choice.First Inspection(Photos/Ron Frazelle)Out of the box, it looked like a regular bottle cage, as nothing immediately stood out as a side-loader bottle cage. As I looked closer, I noticed that the back, mounting plate was angled with mounting holes off to the side.Leaning out on the right a bitnot at all on the left.The mounting holes on either side allow for using the cage on the right or the left, depending on how you grab your agua.Mounting was simple. I was initially worried about the bottle getting in the way, but after mounting it, I saw that in my particular application, it didnt. I would imagine that my application, on the inside of the down tube, would be 90% of the applications for this cage. Side Loader Out on The TrailI know in the end, its just a water bottle cage, but using the Side Loader was a little bit of a game-changer, for me. Let me explain. Like most of us, Ive always at the minimum, had a bottle cage on the inside of my down tube. In a tight frame, like the Haro Saguaro 1, or my RSD Middle Child, its always been fairly easy to get to, but tight.Tough to photograph while riding. It looks to be in the way, but its not even close. But perfect for a quick and easy grab of the bottle. For the Haro Saguaro 1, I initially installed and tried the King Cage Stainless Steel Bottle Lowering cage. I ran that cage on the bike for a few rides. It worked fine, but still felt a bit tight in the front triangle. After the first ride with the side King Cage Stainless Side Loader mounted, as you might expect, grabbing my water bottle was easy. In fact, reaching for my water bottle and putting it back while riding has never been easier.Side Loader Retail, Go Get OneRetail: $30In the grand scheme of things, its not a huge problem. But if you cant efficiently use a traditional water bottle in your bicycles front triangle, then the King Cage Stainless Steel Side Loader is a great problem-solving product.Stainless steel wont mark up your bottles. Its light and durable. Its corrosion-resistant. Plus, its classy. The King Cage Stainless Steel Side Loader is handmade in Durango, Colorado, by a small family-owned company using 304 USA-sourced stainless steel. Check out all of the cool King Cage goodies at the link below. KingCage.comThe post Gettin Some on the Side, the King Cage Stainless Steel Side Loader Bottle Cage, a Review appeared first on Bikerumor.

With the Giro completed, a quick look at the weekly UCI rankings and the World Tour promotion and relegation race as the points for the Giro have been added.Relegation-facing Astana and Arka-B&B have started scoring more but their problem is their rivals have too.Relegation reminderIts a three year process between 2023-2025 based on the sum of each teams rankings for each season. The top-18 teams qualify for a World Tour place, a World Tour team below 18th place faces relegation.Riders score UCI points with race results and a teams ranking is based on the total of its 20 best scorers. The in the chart below red line signifies the promotion-relegation barrier. The raw data is at uci.ch.Lotto-Dstny and Israel-PremierTech are on course for promotion with both sitting well above 18th place. All the second tier ProTeams have the coral-tone bar for 2023.Arka-B&B Hotels and Astana are still below the red line. Astana are still well behind but theyve started scoring more and have taken over 1,000 points in the last five weeks. That still leaves them trailing and its probably not momentum that theyll keep. Besides as good as recent times have been for them, Uno-X has now overtaken them to move up to 20th which shows this is always a dynamic contest.Arka-B&B have been scoring of late too but their problem is that DSM Firmenich have too with the Dutch squad hauling over 2,000 points in the last few weeks. It all means Arka are about 1,250 points short of 18th placed DSM Firmenich and Astana 2,500 points behind.Theres a mini-peloton of teams jostling above the red line and there are about 2,000 points between Jayco-Al Ula at the top of this section and DSM-Firmenich right now, or just one good months results. But theyre all more comfortable for now because Arka-B&B are still 1,250 points below DSM Firmenich, theres a gap there. Still management at Cofidis and Intermarch will be worried that the Dutch team overtake them and theyre the ones sitting on the frontier.Finally reminder that relegation isnt ruinous. Just ask Lotto-Dstny. As in the event of relegation the two best teams on the rankings would get invites to the grand tours and this means Arka and Astana. For the big one day races the best three are invited so Uno-X get included here. As long as a team faces the drop with a plan and can retain riders then it can still prosper but easier said than done. Teams get demoted because of poor performance, it can be harder to recruit, sponsors crave the security of the World Tour and so on.ConclusionTheres still a year and a half to go so we cant make definitive calls. Still for Astana were left reaching into the sack of sporting metaphors and pulling out phrases like a mountain to climb. Arka dont have it easy either.For all the tables, points and charts theres also just the sense check here where these two teams just are not appearing the headlines or even the moves enough to get results. Without looking you can probably tell they are having a tough time of things.The post World Tour Promotion-Relegation Rankings first appeared on The Inner Ring.

Brands sales drop in the first quarter of the current financial year

DecathlonAG2R La Mondiale's team bike sold out within minutes in April, but its now back in stock with a limited number of bikes available

Riding his first Grand Tour in nearly two years, there were plenty of positive signs for Nairo Quintana at the 2024 Giro d'Italia as he hunted stage wins, coming closest on stage 15 when only Tadej Pogacar was able deny the Colombian.It is exciting and joyful to finish a three-week race. I think I...

Two of Irelands brightest young stars, Darren Rafferty and Archie Ryan, are back in action this week for their World Tour team EF Education-EasyPost, after a mid season break from racing. Raffertys last race was Eschborn-Frankfurt (1.UWT) one month ago, though that followed immediately after Tour de Romandie and a busy schedule of racing generally []The post Darren Rafferty, Archie Ryan back in action after mid-season racing break appeared first on Sticky Bottle.

The Mercan'Tour Classic takes place on the 29th of May this year. This is a recent classic in the peloton but quite a popular one as it is one of the few climber-focused one-day races in the entire year. The race comes just before the Criterium du Dauphine and serves as preparation. We take a look a...

In Sour Bicycles' latest video, they sit down with team rider Quinda Verheul from the Netherlands to learn all about her bike and gear setup for the 2024 Highland Trail 550. Watch the short video here...The post Quinda Verheuls Highland Trail 550 Bike Check (Video) appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

In this episode of the BikeRadar Podcast, deputy editor Jack Luke lights the coals and grills Simon von Bromley on Shimano's new GRX Di2 RX825 flagship gravel groupset.Simon shares his first impressions and delves into the details of the brand's first 12-speed electronic gravel bike groupset.New wireless shifters, and semi-wireless front and rear derailleurs are carried over from Shimano's current road offerings, while the brakes remain the same as the previous generation of GRX.For all the details, check out our Shimano GRX Di2 RX825 first impressions article, where we reveal the true weights of the groupset.How to subscribe to the BikeRadar PodcastThe BikeRadar Podcast takes you to the heart of the issues that matter for bike riders, whether you're a roadie, mountain biker, gravel rider or commuter.From the latest tech news, reviews and debates, to interviews with the biggest and most interesting personalities in cycling, the podcast is your direct line into the BikeRadar team.To make sure you dont miss a future episode, you can subscribe viaApple,Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.