Hi, and welcome to another newsletter.
Iām afraid this weekās newsletter starts with some bad news. Iāve tested positive for COVID so Iām unable to race this week. I was actually due to be on a flight as I write this, and Iām absolutely gutted that I canāt race. For those of you who donāt know, I fractured my knee back in May, and this race was due to be my first one since the crash. After months of rehab and training, COVID struck me down a mere six days before the race.
Iām currently self-isolating in my apartment in Girona and Iām in here for another five days. Iāve got plenty to keep me occupied: watching live sport, countless work projects, and Netflix, the list goes on. But itās still getting pretty boring, maybe lonely is the best way of describing it. My job is to race a bike, so I spent countless hours a week out on the open roads training. The freedom that the bicycle gives you is second to nothing.
I miss going out on my bike, and itās only been five days. But itās not just my bike that I miss. Itās simple things such as meeting my friends in the morning or going for a walk and watching the sunset in the evening. I speak to friends and family every day via messaging apps or FaceTime, but itās really not the same. I miss genuine, in-person conversations.
I hope you enjoy this weekās newsletter,
Joe
š Read
#TourdeFrance
The biggest bike race in the world, Le Tour de France, concluded in Paris on Sunday night. The image of the riders racing around the Arc de Triomphe will never fail to amaze. Tadej PogaÄar tied up the overall win, as well as the young riders jersey and the polka dot jersey for the best climber - a little greedy if you ask me. It was the comeback king, Mark Cavendish who won the green jersey for the best sprinter. Yet he was denied a fairytale ending in Paris, with Wout van Aert winning the final sprint. Here is a summary, from the riders themselves.
4-minute read
#TourdeFrance
The guy who finished second at the Tour de France used to work in a fish factory and his mother-in-law is known as the queen of the āGreat Danish Bake Offā. I bet you didnāt expect to be reading that sentence today. Jonas Vingegaard has had a crazy year. He wasnāt even due to be racing the Tour de France. This story, with input from his mother, gives an insight into cyclingās newest star.
5-minute read
#weird #tech
Youāve probably seen that Richard Branson (you know, the dude thatās famous for creating the Virgin empire) rocketed himself into space this past week. Well, what you probably didnāt see is that he supposedly rode a custom-painted Trek Domane to the launch. Whether he *actually* rode the bike there is a grey area (spoiler: he didnāt). A custom-painted bike in the theme of a space launch is still pretty cool though.
4-minute read
#ultracycling
How long does it take for you to ride 1,000 km? One month? Christoph Strasser has just done what many deemed to be impossible, ride 1,000 km in 24 hours. To be precise, the Austrian rode 1,026 km, thatās quite far. It equates to a rather frightening 42.75 km/h over the day-long ride. Ouch.
2-minute read
#training #coaching
Whether we like to admit it or not, sooner or later, we all crash. Unfortunately, itās part and parcel of the sport that we love. Coming back from a crash can be unnerving. The fear of the road on your first ride back is real, trust me. Here are some tips on overcoming the fear of crashing.
5-minute read
#weeklygravel
Each week, Iāll be bringing you an article with a new location to ride your gravel bike. The beauty of gravel is that you can take the road, or trail, less traveled. Even in the busiest of urban cities, you can discover a little part of nature thanks to the bike. This week, we bring you some gravel culture from Bilbao, in northern Spain.
4-minute read
š±Tweet of the week
Even professional cyclists want a signature from the yellow jersey!
š§ Listen
Thereās not an award for āBest Supporting Actorā in the Tour de France like there is at the Oscars, yet if there was, Michael MĆørkĆøv would have won it. Without the veteran Danish lead-out man, Mark Cavendish would not have won as many stages at this yearās Tour de France. MĆørkĆøv is the best in the business and in this podcast he tells the story of Cavās great comeback and his plans for Olympic Gold in Tokyo.
49-minute listen
š Watch
It would be easy to think that Tom Pidcock is an undefeatable star. The young Brit has cleaned up on the road, in cyclocross, and now heās taking on MTB. After a crash in his home country of Andorra, his first race back was at an MTB World Cup. Tom is human after all, and this video gives a behind-the-scenes look as to why heās so good.
7-minute watch