Over 100 readers applied. Only a handful made the cut. The mission was clear: to experience the Road World Championships together, GRAN FONDO style. For us, that meant a fast group ride through the Black Forest, endless bike talk and the Worlds on a shared screen, with no medals, rainbow jerseys or UCI points at stake.Gruppo compatto. It rolled like clockwork!Our GRAN FONDO national team: how we picked the squadWere always up for making things happen together with you, and legendary events like the Rari Racing Club have already given us plenty of practice. So, with the World Championships approaching, there was only one thing for it: we had to select our very own national squad. Every member earned their place with their own particular set of qualities.Sren, the stylistRapha Amani jersey, matching bucket hat and a pair of dazzling Gobik shorts: Sren is living proof that style and speed absolutely belong together. Looking this good practically guarantees you a place in the squad.Stefan, the exotic dudeStefan turns up with a Quickpro ER that could easily blend into our current race bike test field on looks alone, while sitting in a completely different price league. The Chinese custom bike even does without paint entirely to save the last few grams. In the pro peloton, youll often see unpainted frames underneath team leaders. Is Stefan trying to tell us something?Joshua, the diesel engineJoshua is actually a triathlete. Translated into cycling speak, that means a big engine, a massive gear and absolutely no pulling off the front after 20 seconds. On the fast sections, he keeps the pace high and makes sure nobody simply rides away on the flat.Doro and Dieter, heroes from DonaueschingenAs the only woman in the group, Doro repeatedly shows the rest of us how its done. She has also brought backup: Dieter from Donaueschingen, a town that could almost pass for the new capital of German cycling.Johannes, the musicianProfessional musician, climber and owner of a 2015 Cervlo S5. So Johannes doesnt just blow the race apart on the climbs, he also takes the opportunity to show our current Soloist test bike who its daddy is.Martin, the rookie who doesnt want to be oneMartin rides in the group with such relaxed confidence that nobody gives it a second thought. Until, at some point, he casually mentions that this is his first ever proper group ride. Sorry, what?Arthur, the French mountain goatA trail runner by trade, but just as difficult to rein in on a bike. Arthur is always happy to set the pace and, as our resident Frenchman, brings the necessary dose of national pride to the public viewing too. When Paul Seixas starts cramping, pretty much the entire room suffers with him.Christoph, the tacticianIf Jens Voigt and Fabian Wegmann were commentating, theyd probably point out Christophs experience on the track straight away. Smooth pedalling, a steady line and eyes everywhere: hes in charge of tactics. Between the Cycle Punk jersey and the Antifa sticker on his frame, Dieter leaves little doubt about where he stands on the notion that sport is apolitical. Needless to say, hes our go-to man for team statements.Simon, the motivatorWhen the legs start getting heavy and the mood threatens to turn into Remcos about to start thumping his handlebars, Simon steps in. Permanent grin, relentlessly good mood and always another joke up his sleeve. Hes our mobile team morale department.Tobi, the guideTogether with author Bene, Tobi takes on the role of capitaine de route. Not because either of them particularly needs to parade around with a captains armband, but because somebody has to keep this lot together. Everyone makes it back together. Job done.Robin, the team managerRobin bankrolls the team with passion and is already working on making his reports more successful than Patrick Lefeveres columns. Theres just one key difference: hes trying to do it without constantly laying into his own riders.Henry, our team mascotAnd whats a good team without a mascot? Probably just as successful from a sporting perspective, but only half as cool. Which makes Henry completely indispensable.Fast bikes, Ferrari, the World Championships? Sorry, but nobody comes close to Henry as the star attraction.Fast bikes, Ferrari, the World Championships? Nothing comes close to Henry as the star attraction!Sren won us over with his unique style. We love it!The all-round race bike world championWhile the World Championships are taking place in Canada, were running our own search for the best all-round race bike in the world. That gave our guests a little peek behind the scenes. Before the group test was even published, they got to inspect the bikes, get their hands on them and, of course, deliver their verdicts. The application process had already produced a clear favourite: the Specialized Tarmac drew the most interest. Once everyone saw the bikes in person, however, the balance shifted, and the Parapera stole the show.Talking bikes with our editor!And its hardly surprising: Campagnolo, Lightweight and luxury everywhere you look, all for the lowest price in the test field. Our readers quickly proved themselves to be genuine experts too. Doro is even planning to buy a Parapera in the future, so shes soaking up every scrap of information. Shes probably waiting even more impatiently for our finished test than we are.Stefan, meanwhile, remains relaxed. Hes already made up his mind about his own ER: Chinese-made luxury with performance to match, at a fraction of the price. Plenty to debate? Absolutely.Luxury made in China: Stefan is convinced his ER can match our bikes at a fraction of the price!The ride: World Championship pace and gruppo compattoThe original plan was fairly harmless. A little over 120 kilometres through the valleys of the Black Forest, at an average pace of just under 28 km/h relaxed and conversational, with coffee and cake along the way. A classic social ride, basically. Our national team had other ideas.Apparently, everyone had taken their selection a little too seriously. Joshua started chewing through the kilometres like a proper rouleur, Arthur and Johannes turned up the pressure on the climbs, and suddenly our easy spin had become a remarkably consistent 35 km/h paceline.The surprising bit? It worked. No frantic attacks, nobody getting dropped, no incidents. Instead, there were smooth turns on the front, good communication and a group that stayed compact even at high speed. Gruppo compatto, just as it should be. Stefan seemed particularly taken with the whole thing. Once he reached the front, he showed absolutely no interest in giving up his turn.But we wouldnt be GRAN FONDO if even our fastest rides went without coffee and cake. So, obviously, we stopped. We dont have scientifically robust evidence to back this up, but the carbs and caffeine might just have had something to do with the pace staying high afterwards.The only thing better than the harmony in the group was the weather: sunshine, 28 degrees and late-September conditions that felt more like the height of summer.Good thing Simon had packed enough sun cream for the entire team. Because at the end of September, thats definitely something absolutely everyone remembers to bring.After the cake, Stefan had no intention of leaving the front!Carb loading and public viewing. Recovery doesnt get much better than this!Tension, pizza and pure ciclismo!Back at HQ, there was no time to waste. Bikes down, TV on. With around 130 kilometres still to go, the World Championship race was already in full swing. The debate had started before wed even set off: Whos the favourite? Whos the outsider? When will the decisive attack come? And, most importantly, how many times will Remco Evenepoel thump his handlebars if the race doesnt go to plan?An original UAE Team bike and the winners actual weapon of choice! We wanted to deliver the full World Championships experienceAs it happens, wed picked Brandon McNulty as a dark horse in our pre-race discussion. But with German, Swiss and French guests in the room, every attack immediately became a diplomatic issue anyway.So when Mauro Schmid makes his move, almost everyone suddenly gets behind him. Swiss, German-speaking: the perfect compromise.Add pizza, tired legs and twelve people who had been hammering through the Black Forest together just a few hours earlier, now commentating on every attack on screen as though they were sitting in the team car, and youve got about as much ciclismo as anyone could ask for.To top it all off, we even had a genuine UAE team bike on site, just like the one McNulty rode to victory. The World Championships up close, even if we werent in Canada.By the time the event wound down, the glorious sunshine had long since disappeared!In the end, our World Championships weekend was never about who was strongest, whose bike cost the most or who cheered loudest at the public viewing. It was about what makes any great group ride: different people, different bikes and different strengths, all arriving at the finish together. And if thats our national team, well happily make the selections all over again next year.Thanks to everyone!Der Beitrag Fast Bikes, Good Company and Pizza: The World Championships, Gran Fondo Style erschien zuerst auf GRAN FONDO Cycling Magazine.

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Brandon McNulty's sensational World Championships victory not only saw him keep the rainbow jersey within the UAE Team Emirates - XRG ranks, but it also saw the American match a statistic last recorded in 1999 - 27 years ago. In winning gold after a 32-kilometre solo off the front of the group of fa...

Brandon McNulty will face one of the most special moments of his career this week. The American will make his debut in the rainbow jersey of world champion at the Giro dellEmilia, the first stop in a demanding block of Italian classics where he will defend the colors of UAE Team Emirates-XRG. Isaac...

CyclistI only have admiration for Pogaar. I think he can beat more of my records: Eddy Merckx interviewCyclist: Fifty years have passed since your last race victory, yet you still hold the record for the most race wins in a pro career. How many of those races do you actually remember?Eddy Merckx: I remember a lot of races, but not all 525 wins, of course. I do remember the most important ones. My first Tour de France, for example. My first Milan-San Remo in 1966, Paris-Roubaix in 1968, my Hour recordThats pretty good going. Do you ever think about how those races played out?No. I try to remember those races I did in the past, but its not something I look back on every day. I dont live in the past. Im watching the current racing, not thinking about the old.Is there anything you regret in your career? Any races you wish you had added to your palmars?The only thing I regret is the crash I had at the 1975 Tour de France. I suffered a double fracture to my jawbone, and that cut my career short.I never won Paris-Tours, but I dont miss that. I reckon Ive won enough races to be satisfied with what Ive achieved.Youve previously cited your Tour de France victory in 1969 as a career highlight. Are there any other wins you look back on with real pride?Of course, the Hour record 25th October 1972. I dont remember all the dates but I remember that one. I should mention the World Championships too. The first Tour de France with the rainbow jersey on my shoulders felt very special.Given the sheer number of races you won in your career, did you ever get bored with winning?The opposite. It never bored me. Instead it motivated me to try and win more. You see, I did something I loved as a job, and what I loved was winning. So for me, when I went to a race, it was to win. I wasnt there to just take part. Thats why I loved what I did back then. It still gives me pleasure to know that riders see me as the man who inspired them to win races.BreitlingThese days riders are signing contracts worth millions of euros per year. Do you ever feel hard done by that you never got the same financial reward in your time?We dont do sport for the money. Not at all. We do it for passion. They earn much more today than I did, but I probably earned more than the riders before me. These things change with time and I dont have any envy about that. Money is not the motivating factor for us to get into sports.Lets say you were 20 years old right now. Would you want to be a pro rider in the current generation?Absolutely, but Id like to race more than todays riders. I enjoyed racing, but these current pros seem to be doing it less and less.What type of rider do you think youd be in the modern peloton?I think Id be both a stage racer and a one-day rider a complete rider like Tadej Pogaar. I dont know if I would be stronger or weaker than him, but thats the type of rider I think Im closest to.Pogaar has been touted as the next man to take over your role as cyclings GOAT greatest of all time. Do you think hes similar to you at all?I think hes got the same ambition. When he goes to a race, hes there to win it. Hes like me in that sense hes not just there to show up.Hes a complete rider but the eras are different. We cant compare Tadej Pogaar and Eddy Merckx; its different now from what it was in my day.Do you think you could have beaten Pogaar in your prime?Ah, the question arises. I dont know if I could, but Id try. Id maybe beat him in a time-trial, but Im not sure if I could climb as well as him these days.You cant compare yesterday with today. Everything is different: the nutrition, the management, the kit.BreitlingDo you feel challenged when Pogaar breaks one of your long-standing records?The opposite. I only have admiration for Pogaar. It gives me lots of satisfaction to see him riding up the climbs with such ease. Im sure Pogaar can beat Mark Cavendishs stage-winning record. I think he can beat more of my records. Theyre meant to be broken, so the time will come.Which riders in the current peloton excite you the most?Pogaar, of course. Mathieu van der Poel is a super champion and so is Wout van Aert. I like Jonathan Milan, Jasper Philipsen, Evenepoel of course, and Vingegaard.I like it when these big riders do the one-day races Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix then the Grand Tours. I used to race 195 days a year. Nowadays the riders can only do 80 race days per year. I just wish theyd compete more often.It has been 50 years since a Belgian last won the Tour de France. Do you think Belgium will have to wait long for another Tour de France champion?At the moment theres nobody. Evenepoel can beat Pogaar against the clock, but he cant in a full Tour de France.Maybe in the future Belgium will have a rider like [Frances] Paul Seixas, who has the real qualities to improve in the years to come. Weve already seen he can come close to Pogaar, but currently theres just not a rider like Seixas for us to win the Tour de France.Do you consider yourself a legend?Yes I think Im a legend. When I look at the number of races I won during my career, its exceptional. Im not just someone from my era Im known around the cycling community. Breitling wouldnt have made a watch for me if I wasnt a legend.The post I only have admiration for Pogaar. I think he can beat more of my records: Eddy Merckx interview appeared first on Cyclist.

Brandon McNulty will make his debut in the rainbow jersey this Saturday 3 October at the Giro dellEmilia, his UAE Team Emirates-XRG team has confirmed. The American stunned the elite mens road race at the UCI World Championships last Sunday, when he won with a 33km solo attack. The victory made him the first American man in 33 years to claim the title. McNultys first port of call as world champion will be a trio of Italian one-day races: this Saturdays Giro dellEmilia, Sundays Coppa Agostini, and Tre Valle Varesine on Tuesday 6 October. He is then expected to take the start line at Il Lombardia, the final Monument of the year, on 10 October. Im really excited to make my debut in the rainbow jersey this Saturday, McNulty said in comments shared on UAE Team Emirates-XRGs website. The win in Montreal has definitely been something massive for me and I am still coming to terms with it a bit and letting it sink in.I still have a lot of racing left this season and Im excited for it. We have a strong group for these races, and well be aggressive as always. While McNulty has taken more than 20 individual wins since joining UAE in 2020, his role within the squad has largely been as a climbing domestique for the five-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogaar. Becoming world champion himself is an honour, the American said, but it doesnt change my approach. Well continue to race as we always do. Whether thats attacking or helping my teammates I know my role pretty well, and we have a great understanding of what works, so well keep it that way, the 28-year-old said. Racing alongside McNulty at the Giro dellEmilia will be Igor Arrieta, Filippo Baroncini, Felix Groschartner, Jhonatan Narvez, Tim Wellens and Adam Yates. UAE has won the last two editions of the event, through Isaac del Toro in 2025 and Pogaar in 2024. The team is still to announce a racing comeback for the Slovenian, the previous world champion, after he crashed out of the Vuelta a Espaa at the end of August. Having missed the World Championships, Pogaar will also miss his European Championships title defence this Sunday, as he prioritises his recovery from neck and collarbone fractures. He has, however, returned to outdoor training. The Giro dellEmilia is a 1.Pro-ranked event, held over 197.9km in Italys Emilia-Romagna region. The race closes on a finishing circuit in Bologna, with five ascents of the San Luca climb, at the top of which the finish line is painted. McNulty has never competed in the event before.

Belgium's junior sensation Stef van Kerckhove's World Championships came to an abrupt end before they even began in Montreal after the 18-year-old collided with a car in a training crash. Expected to contest victory with Benjamin Noval, he left Canada with multiple broken vertebrae after the frighte...

Around this time last year, I asked if we could stop talking about rim brakes finally. The dated tech cant match disc brakes in the important business of braking in all weather.Today, however, I came across this new rim-brake bike from Firefly, and I can admit when Im wrong. I definitely do want to talk about this rim-brake bike.Firstly, its finished impeccably a piece of titanium craftsmanship. Secondly, it can take a 40mm tyre, making it a true all-roader. In Fireflys words, it's a bike capable of handling "Good roads, bad roads, dirt and light gravel". The Firefly All Road: an all-new rim-brake bike in 2026. Firefly Cycles Firefly has been able to combine the 40mm clearance with one of the finest rim calipers ever made Cane Creeks ultra-lightweight eeBrakes. I've tested bikes for 25 years and it's time we dropped rim brakes here's whyWhy go back? A full-titanium fork is a rare thing. Firefly Cycles Kevin Wolfson at Firefly says: Our goal is always to build the best possible bike for each rider. Custom component selection is a big part of that."Disc brakes will continue be the right choice for most people. But we think there's still real value in good rim brakes for some riders, particularly people who prioritise the simplicity and classic design of rim brakes, especially if we could use rim brakes while still offering the versatility that comes with bigger tyre clearance. We realised designing and building a new Ti fork gave us the opportunity to fill that gap. So we went for it." Custom thru-axles for classic hub compatibility. Firefly Cycles The All Road is not just a set of cool brakes mated to a custom titanium frame; theres a lot going on here. Firefly didnt have much faith in existing quick-release skewers for the frame and titanium fork. Instead, the brand developed its own unique custom thru-axles, complete with custom 3D-printed dropouts front and rear. The rear dropouts are realised smoothly with 3D titanium printing. Firefly Cycles Retro yet modern The brakes are modified to work with larger tyres. Firefly Cycles The bike may be retro-flavoured, but its compatible with modern drivetrains by using Growtacs Control brake levers. They omit the hydraulics, yet maintain compatibility with Shimano Di2 and SRAM AXS, and there's even a version for Campagnolo mechanical drivetrains.The bottom bracket is a 68mm BSA unit, but you can opt for T47. Internal brake and Di2 routing is available as an option, as is a 3D-printed chainstay yoke to up the drivetrain stiffness. Rack, fender and pump peg mounts are available at no extra cost.Like all of Fireflys titanium frames, the All Road uses the brand's own proprietary adaptive butted tubing with a three-piece tapered head tube. Firefly offers full-custom geometry and tube selection dependent on your needs.I asked Wolfson about the decision to go with eeBrakes here, a specially modified version of the lightweight and expensive ee unit used by Brompton because small-wheeled Bromptons tend to have larger tyre diameters than 700c rim-brake bikes.He says: It is very important to us that the bike really performs well. It isn't just a throwback bike for the sake of using older components, so we wanted to build it around brakes that we knew would work consistently, yet be easy to set up and adjust."A recent Firefly custom was also built around Paul Components' minimal Racer V-style brakes."No one was asking for it" This custom Firefly was designed around Paul Components' V-style Racer brakes. Firefly Cycles I asked Wolfson what he expected the demand to be for the rim-brake All Road. We honestly had not seen any specific demand for this bike. No one was asking for it, he admits.I think thats whats made me smitten by this beautifully crafted machine. Ive always had a soft spot for brands who build bikes simply because they want to. Its why I own such anomalies as Cannondales Slate and the Sven Cycles Swift both bikes their makers wanted to build rather than existing to fill a slot in the market.Kevin continues: At the very least we wanted it for ourselves, and we knew it would be a fun project. We thought that some people would be interested, of course. But we had no idea how positive the response would be. It really seems like there is a hunger for a bike like this that prioritises simplicity and versatility. Every Firefly is custom made to order. Firefly Cycles If youre interested in the Firefly All Road, the frames are made fully custom to order from $7,200. With the matching titanium fork, complete custom bikes start from around $10,000.