We’ve started with the top story this week because it’s that good.
Great Britain has taken five gold medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in London, putting us comfortably in top spot:
In short, a phenomenal championship!
The results of the UCI Track Championship, though spectacular, put Cavendish in a tricky situation – should he stake completing the Tour de France, or make himself available for selection for the Rio Olympics?
A Guardian article about the dilemma quotes Shane Sutton (British Cycling technical director) as saying “Cav needs to decide whether he’s worthy of competing for that gold medal”, adding “what’s a bronze medal at the Olympics to Mark Cavndish given what he’s achieved?”
High pressure indeed! We can scarcely imagine what it’s like having to make that choice.
While we’re on competitive cycling, here’s a closer look at a concealed motor similar to the one that caused a scandal a few weeks back in the Cyclo Cross championships:
This motor switches on and off via handlebars, and the battery is hidden in the water bottle (not ideal if you want a drink while riding!). It’s able to contribute 1-200 watts for an hour, and offers no resistance when it’s not switched on.
How do they describe it? “Strange”. The 86rpm limit means it feels different to other electric bikes – instead of feeling it helping out with his pedalling, it instead feels like something else turning the pedals for him.
When asked ‘could this be used in pro racing’ they have their doubts, mainly because of how loud it is. They test it in a competitive scenario, with Dan attempting to break one of his previous KOMs with the motor switched on. He doesn’t manage it: 8.16 with motor vs 7.02 without.
We wrote a while back about cycling’s benefits to business, and in an interesting admission this week, the chair of a major law firm has said that top talent is attracted in cities in part by good cycling infrastructure. He says that a ‘silent majority’ of companies support investment in this area.
An article on road.cc covers the topic and is worth a read. Our favourite quote?
Anything that attracts top talent is good for London, good for business; I think cycling’s one of those things, it makes the city a more attractive place to live and work.
Let’s hope they decide to become more vocal!
Milan, the beautiful city that marks the ending of Ride25’s third leg, are considering incorporating a scheme that would see cyclists given money for cycling to work. Some French regions trialled a similar system last year and found lower uptake than expected, but it still contributed to lowering pollution levels.
Anything that improves cycling in Milan is good by us!
Would measures like this convince you to commute more by bike (if you don’t already)? Do you think it is a justified use of taxpayers money?
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