🏋🏼♂️Stage 85: Gravel goes mainstream
The Greatest Hour Record of all time and the Atlas Mountain Race!
The Gravel Worlds has taken over the newsletter this week. We take an inside look into how the race was won, as well as look at all the tech that was on offer. We also dive into Ganna’s Hour of Power, some key off-bike exercises and also a mini-pod series from the Atlas Mountain Race!
Hello,
This week’s newsletter is coming at you from Oniria Cafe in Girona, and I’m pretty stressed out. I’ve spent the last couple of days moving out of our apartment here as the lease is up. I’ll be spare room jumping for the next six weeks or so before getting the keys to my new place.
I’ve lived outside the UK for three years now, and I didn’t realise how much “stuff” I’ve collected. From house plants to turbo trainers, keys to washing racks, you never realise how much stuff you have until you move house!
Next up in my off-season adventures is a trip to Dublin, and I can assure you that there will be no bike riding happening.
Happy Pedalling,
Joe
Feel free to email me at joe@nplus1.cc if you have any questions, or feel I’ve missed something that is worth putting in the Newsletter.
N+Read 🗞
Gravel(?) World Champs
At what point is a Gravel race a road race? At this week’s Gravel Worlds, there were many a critic. It wasn’t exactly the gravel riding we all know and love, and there was quite a lot of tarmac, but still. It was Pauline Ferrand-Prevot who won the women’s title, and Gianni Vermeersch who took the men’s.
This article takes you inside the race and speaks to the riders who were competing for the win.
⏱ 9-minute read
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The Hour Record
How fast could you ride in an hour? Granted, you’re not riding a €75,000 bike with the smartest technical minds in the world to help you, but still. Watching Filippo Ganna’s Hour record, I was gobsmacked.
Ganna didn’t just break the record, he made it his own. Here are some images from the night, and a closer look at his bike too.
⏱ 3-minute read
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An Ineos Grenadiers Women’s MTB squad?
How long have we been waiting for an Ineos Grenadiers women’s team? It seems like they’ve finally caught on. It’s unclear what they’re going to be doing just yet, but they’ve just signed the newly crowned Gravel Champ Pauline Ferrand-Prevot to a two-year deal.
Surely, this can only be only good news for the sport?
⏱ 3-minute read
The (European) Spirit of Gravel
The “Spirit of Gravel” is something we all like to poke fun at. It’s completely undefined, some think it means having a beer mid-race, others think it means not using aero-bars and for some, it’s all about the “vibe”.
⏱ 3-minute read
Gravel gear - dropper posts?
Dropper posts are a contentious subject in any discipline but MTB. Matej Mohoric used one en route to winning Milan-San Remo back in Spring, and now they’re starting to appear on gravel bikes too, but should they?
This article dives into the pros and cons of having a dropper on the Gravel bike.
⏱ 5-minute read
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Strength exercises for cycling
Winter training is the best time to start cross-training. Building core strength off the bike will make you both stronger when riding and less susceptible to injury, truly a win-win.
Getting it right or knowing where to start isn’t always obvious. In this article, they break down how to start strength training and the best exercises for cyclists.
⏱ 4-minute read
N+Tweet 🎲
Gravel Worlds is very fun but quite difficult to follow on a camera bike.
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N+Listen 🎧
The Atlas Mountain Race is one of the most gruelling single-stage events on earth. Starting in Marrakech and crossing the Moroccan Atlas mountains to Agadir, the clock never stops. 1,167 km long and over 20,000 m of elevation, it’s an epic.
⏱ 70-minute listen (five episodes)
N+Watch 👀
Gravel Worlds was interesting, to say the least. It felt more like an urban cyclocross race than the gravel epics that we’re used to, and that was reflected in the bikes too. The top riders used a mixture of “traditional” gravel bikes and adapted road machines.
⏱ 13-minute watch
N+1 Introducing 👋🏻
In this part of the Newsletter, each week we introduce one of the brands we work with at N+1.
This week we are introducing… Trikoterie
With the aim of making the cycling jersey fun, Trikoterie have some weird and whacky designs. Coined as “anti boring” cycling apparel, by buying one of their jerseys, you’re not just supporting a small business, but making the world a more colourful place too!
Be sure to download our app and browse their products!