One of the biggest stories on our site this week centred on fresh furore over handlebar width. If you thought we'd rode the wave of UCI regulation-related drama, it's far from over. Trickling down from the professional peloton to smaller British races, the real pain-point seems to be arising from a lack of clarity around the rules themselves: will they be implemented to the dot or not? You can read Pat Kinsella's piece on it here.
Cycling social media is a calmer place than usual, full of nostalgic throw backs to famous bike collections and horrible commuter cycling trips. But it also turned up some gems - I think the ballad for Paul Seixas has to be the crowning glory of this week's selection.
1. "This is the wrong road!" Pauline Ferrand-Prévot shouts into the radio as the bunch hits a dusty detour at the Strade Bianche Donne: 'The most chaotic race of the year already?'
2. How many cycling caps do you have? Indisputably the coolest part of a cycling kit, blogger Michael Wagner rocks them in this series of self portraits. “Some of those caps have rarely been worn, others have seen better days,” he wrote in a blog post. “The elastic is completely shot on some, the brim has started to rip off on at least one, and is severely warped on another. A couple of them look really small - what the heck - did they shrink?” Can you spot the decoy?
3. Myth-busting with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. How much protein should we really be taking in per day?
4. On the topic of fuelling, Lucy Houles shares how she survived the Strade Bianche route on beers, tiramisu and gels: “I’m a firm member of the anti-bonk club and I’ve got a lifetime membership.” Her top tip? Train the gut and eat on every ride.
5. Everyone's talking about Paul Seixas. A few weeks, our News Editor, Adam, wrote an opinion piece on the recent successes of Seixas and Matthew Brennan at Faun-Ardèche Classic and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne respectively: “These aren’t talents to incubate or to expect big things from in years to come, but to watch, to mark immediately,” he wrote. All we need now is a song.
6. The life and bikes of Robin Williams. The actor amassed a collection of over 100 bikes during his lifetime and was an avid cyclist and race fan. In 2016, his family auctioned off 87 of his bikes to raise money for the Challenged Athletes Foundation and Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.
7. Maybe I should shut up complaining about Lime bikes after seeing the motorway commute these cyclists in the 80s had to endure…
8. Ever wanted to ride with Chris Hoy? Entries to his charity bike ride, Tour de 4 on 6 September in Glasgow are open now.
9. With the addition of Il Lombardia, the women’s peloton will tackle all five Monuments in 2027. “It wasn't a big week for women's racing but it was a breakthrough week for women's professional cycling,” says 2021 Irish road race champion, Imogen Cotter.
10. For anyone thinking they could outpace a women’s peloton, think again. This is one man’s full-pace attempt to beat the women’s Danilith Nokere Koerse race. “But my short shorts were good enough to make it on TV,” laughed the speedy amateur in an Instagram comment.
