Cycling Weekly

22/02/2026

Eighteen-year-old Erin Boothman was “over the moon” just to be in the final three of the elimination race at the British Track Championships alongside Olympic medallists Katie Archibald and Anna Morris. So when she dispatched them both, and won the gold medal, she cupped her mouth in disbelief.

“I think a top five and I would’ve been happy, to be honest,” the teenager smiled afterwards. “I wanted to come into this weekend for a few medals, but I certainly wasn’t expecting it in the elimination race.

“It means the world. Especially in an elimination where anything can happen, I couldn’t be happier to win an elite national title for myself.”

(Photo: Olly Hassell/SWPix)

22/02/2026

It took just seven race days for Tom Pidcock to open his 2026 victory account, as he won the final stage of the Vuelta a Andalucía on Sunday.

The 26-year-old, now in his second season with Pinarello Q36.5, attacked on a short, category-three climb inside 6km to go on stage five. The move initially drew Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), who Pidcock then dropped with a second kick, before descending solo to the finish line in Lucena.

On his stage win, Pidcock said afterwards: “I think it’s great to get the pressure off and get the hands in the air early in the season in the first block of races. That’s definitely what we were working towards.”

(Photo: Getty Images)

22/02/2026

When you forget your energy gels… 😅

22/02/2026

It's been five years since we last reviewed the Giro 100 Proof winter cycling gloves, and eight years since the mitten-come-pincer entered production in its current form. At the time, it was considered a pair of the best winter cycling gloves.
To put that into perspective, Anna van der Breggen was dominating the podium (often on the top step), and the Brits cleaned up at the men's Grand Tours with Chris Froome (Giro), Geraint Thomas (Tour de France), and Simon Yates (Vuelta).
Most products, if still being produced, would be at the third version by this stage.
In fact, if it still existed, it's likely to have been completely redesigned by now, a manufacturing norm. How else can a company claim space in the media unless it has a new model to launch every few years?
The answer, according to Giro, is to make sure it's built so well the first time, so it sells itself.

Entering their eighth year of production, it's proof that it's just about getting the fundamentals right at the start

21/02/2026

They might be wearing the same kit, but that’s not a nine-man team… All three podium trios in the men’s team sprint at the British Track Championships on Saturday night were made up of riders from the Great Britain Cycling Team. How’s that for strength in depth? 🥇🥈🥉

21/02/2026

Fresh from breaking the 200m flying lap world record at the European Championships, Emma Finucane has carried her searing form into this week’s British Track Championships, where she is now one win away from a clean sweep.

The Olympic gold medallist, who won the team sprint on Friday, returned on Saturday to rule over the keirin, crossing the line at least three bike lengths ahead of her GB team-mates.

“In that final, I knew I needed some space, and as long as I put 100% effort in and found that black line, I knew it would be really hard to get round me. That’s pretty much what I did: I picked a point, found the black line, and absolutely sent it,” she said.

Now with a day to go at the championships, both Finucane and her partner Matthew Richardson are looking for one more win each to take a full sprint gold medal haul back to their home in suburban Manchester; Finucane will race the individual sprint on Sunday, while Richardson will race the keirin – both events in which the two are the European champions.

Read about all the racing from day three of the British Track Championships – including second wins for Anna Morris and Matthew Bostock – through the report in the comments.

(Photo: Olly Hassell/SWPix)

21/02/2026

Billy Cookson likes to think of this week’s British Track Championships as the FA Cup. “You’ve got the best athletes in the world in their discipline, you’ve got world record holders, world champions and European champions… and then you’ve got me,” he smiles.

Cookson, a 30-year-old management accountant based in London, only began cycling three months ago. He bought the track bike he’s riding in Manchester six weeks ago from Facebook Marketplace, and he’s so new to riding the rollers, he has to hold onto a rail while he warms up and down.

“When I set out, I said I wanted to ride in the Nationals,” he says. “A few people laughed at me, and I said, ‘No, I’ll ride in the Nationals.’” It’s the same resolve he showed seven years ago when, after a life-changing car crash, he had to teach himself to use a knife and fork again.

At the time, Cookson was put into an induced coma for six days, and had to undergo 28 surgeries. He's now looking towards the Paralympics in LA in 2028.

Read more through the link in the comments.

(Photo: SWPix)

21/02/2026

For U.S. bike brands and retailers still navigating elevated import costs, the Supreme Court delivered a significant ruling today: the sweeping global tariffs imposed under emergency powers were unlawful.

While good news, Industry leaders say any near-term relief for the bicycle market (and its consumers) may be limited.

20/02/2026

In the El Clásico of individual pursuit finals – world champion vs world record holder – it was the latter, Josie Knight, who won the title at the British Track Championships on Friday night.

Just one second separated the newly crowned European champion and rainbow-jersey-wearer Anna Morris inside the Manchester Velodrome. Morris led for all but the last 250m of the 4km event, at one point by more than two and a half seconds, before Knight clawed it back on the home straight to win with a 4:24.029.

“I’m just over the moon,” Knight said afterwards. “You can’t really ask for much more than beating the world champion.

“It’s such a privilege to have such a good race and to race Anna. I hope the crowd realised that that’s as good an IP final as you’ll get anywhere in the world.”

Find out what else happened on day two of the championships – including Matthew Richardson's sprint dominance – by reading the report in the comments.

(Photo: SWPix)

20/02/2026

This is what a national title-winning team sprint start looks like. , , .thomas_ 👏🥇

20/02/2026

The alarming image from this week’s UAE Tour was Fabio Jakobsen’s front tyre with the foam insert ripped clean off his rim after hitting a rock at speed.

It once again opens the debate on hookless vs hooked rims, and forces us to look bluntly at the safety margins with hookless road wheels.

The wheel supplier Ursus, describes the rim as a mini-hook profile, and while some might argue a mini-hook profile provides a hook for the tyre bead to grip, I would suggest that it bears a closer resemblance to a hookless system.

It provides less security for the tyre bead than a traditional hooked rim bed.

In the hours and days that followed the incident, social media and forums once again lit up with debate.

Some saw it as a freak accident; others saw it as confirmation of long standing concerns about hookless systems.

It’s easy to be reactive, but this incident matters not just because it involved one of the sport’s best sprinters, but because it encapsulates a tension that’s been building in road cycling for years.

Where once there was broad consensus and stability – hooked rims were just how it was done – there now appears to be a gap between standards, manufacturer advice and what riders actually do on the road.

Click the link in comments for the full article and have you say in the comments.

✍️ Andy Carr

The Dutchman struck a rock during a racing incident this week resulting in yet more alarming images of tyres completely detached from wheels at the road side. What's going on and are hookless rims really the villain?

20/02/2026

'There's a thousand faces all shining bright – and those golden faces are under 25', sang Paul Weller in The Jam classic 'In the City'. The song's sentiment was that young people have something to contribute, and they deserve to be seen and heard.

This appears to be manifesting itself in bike racing right now, because while all eyes remain glued to champions like Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel, who not long ago at all were the young generation themselves (and still are hardly old), a new batch is emerging. And, even in the face of cycling's biggest talents, they are refusing to go quietly.

Full story in comments

📸 Getty Images