After Mathieu van der Poel crossed the finish line of Glasgow’s crit-esque Worlds course - once the interviews were underway and the report live on the site - I took my daughter out to ‘ride’ her ‘bike’ around our housing estate. I’m employing air quotes in abundance here because she’s 12-months-old, and the bicycle-shaped-object in question is actually two beach balls connected by a strip of aluminium housing a saddle that she insists on sitting several centimetres behind. But I’m a new parent, so of course, I was as proud, smug and alert to potential crashes in equal measures.
The World Championships, like the Olympics, have that golden ‘inspiring a new generation’ feel, which somehow is more pronounced when that next generation is - I'd say all of a sudden, but no, after nine months of arduous growing - your responsibility. And it’s hard not to feel inspired by the week that’s been - the Dutchman overcoming a skin-stripping crash and winning with only one working shoe and the women’s Team Pursuit squad ending a nine-year Worlds dry spell, Elinor Barker later pairing up with Neah Evans to dominate a crash-marred Madison.
Our writers have been very much on the ground in Glasgow (catching Van der Poel outside a random Scottish pub was Tom Thewlis' reward for a three-hour drive back from Glentress), bringing you stories that you'll only find from being there: the rider who "popped out" for six hours before scoring gold on the track, Katie Archibald's honest account of feeling like she's being "trotted out for slaughter" (we think you're a legend, Katie). On the tech side, Joe Baker's been out riding his first 90km on that shiny new Specialized Tarmac SL8 and bringing you a lust-worthy World Champs gallery. Of course, in accordance with the Laws of The Internet, the top story remains our overview of the most famous mid-race poo stops (or, non-stops) in history.
And there's plenty more to come. With the women’s road race action set to take place this Sunday, I can already feel another proud lap around the block coming on.
What you've been reading - top five stories this week
Mathieu van der Poel's protest poo - and four other famous toilet stops in cycling history
Meet the cyclist who logged a six-hour training ride - without telling his coach - before winning World Championships
The new Specialized Tarmac SL8 is the 'fastest race bike in the world' but is cheaper than before
Men's team pursuit disaster gives Great Britain Olympic headache
Ask a cycling coach: '15% gradients destroy me, how can I get stronger on the steepest of climbs?'
The World Championship are, of course, far from over. We'll be here until the very end, and after that, onto the next big thing. Though we might take a couple of days in between to get out on our own bicycle-shaped objects, too.
