The Rapha Festive 500 Challenge for 2018 will follow the same format as previous years. The challenge is to cycle 500km between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve inclusive. Riders around the world can take part, which makes the challenge a lot easier for those in the Southern Hemisphere (particularly Aussies) than it does for us on the other side of the world. Completing 500km...
It’s that time of year where the nights are closing in, the days are much colder and suddenly it’s a lot harder to get the motivation to head outside to cycle. Luckily, Christmas is around the corner so we can treat ourselves (or be treated to) something nice. Being cyclists, we get a pretty clear trend of presents from family, friends and work colleagues –...
A review of the surprises and disappointments of 2018 and who to watch out for in 2019.
by Mathew Mitchell · Published October 29, 2018 · Last modified October 30, 2018
I finally got myself into time trials in 2017 after years of putting it off due to knowing I’d have to invest in a whole set of new kit and a fancy new bike. I started with some club TTs and some of the Open TTs that were easy to get to from my then home of Birmingham. I put off doing time trials longer...
The men’s time trial has the serious issue of the Gnadenwald climb, 2.6km at an average gradient of 10.5%. This may take this year’s time trial away from the out and out time trial specialists and more into the hands of those GC contenders that can time trial well. Other than the initial climb and Gnadenwald, the parcours is relatively flat – a final small...
by Mathew Mitchell · Published September 21, 2018 · Last modified November 15, 2018
The 2018 women’s world championship time trial takes place on a hilly 28.5km course starting in Hall-Wattens before finishing in the host city of Innsbruck. A number of short climbs will really test the legs – the last little ‘nick’ in the profile map below could be the deciding point as a test for how well riders have paced the race up to that point. Women’s...
