Category: News

In 2003 I went to cover my first Tour de France as part of the press. PEZ had almost no readers and even less money, so I rented the cheapest car I could find. I drove it for 2 weeks and 2500km across France from Lyon east to the Alps, across the south and into the Pyrenees via Andorra, dodging and weaving as far west as Lourdes, and then all the way back to Lyon. It was one of the hottest summers on record in France – when the mercury tickled 40C degrees every day for weeks.Click the video to watch, and see more at the PEZ Youtube channel here.The car was tiny and had no a/c, but I managed…

Gear Break: Sportful’s new Checkmate jersey, Colnago x Tod’s, an exclusive Made in Italy collaboration, KANSEPT1: Limited edition premium performance and lifestyle cycling apparel + gear designed in Portland Oregon USA, Brooks England invite riders to chart their own course with the latest Cambium saddle C17 – Special Lab, La Passione Striver Ultralight, even lighter for the warmer months, ORTLIEB launches Seat-Pack QR, bikepacking keeps getting easier and Enduro Bearings to host Bearings & Brews Speakeasy June 29 at Raphas San Francisco Clubhouse.Sportful Checkmate Jersey – $ 110 US / $ 140 CdnPEZ Sez: This one jumped out at me because of the cool burnt orange color, Sportful calls it “Chili Red Mauve”. It’s not orange, and it’s not red…

Rider Interview: Ed Hood is always keeping an eye open for the new young riders that are on the way up in the sport, but now teams contact Ed with their ‘Young Guns’. The latest is Dillon Corkery from Ireland who is presently riding for the famous CC tupes team in eastern France. Ed had a word.I used to do a lot of them but its been a while since I actually did one; Im referring to interviews with young men who head across the English Channel and in this case, also the Irish Sea, in order to find fame and fortune on the continent. But when CC Etupes Christophe Andre gets in touch from la Belle France to tell…

Dauphin and Suisse BREAKDOWN: Jumbo-Visma showed what they could do at the Dauphin and the real action in the Tour de Suisse is about to kick off. What can we take from these Tour ‘practice’ races? Spencer Martin gives us his ‘BREAKDOWN’ heading towards the 2022 Tour de France.– This article is an excerpt from the Beyond the Peloton newsletter. Sign up here for full access. –Jumbo Dauphin dominationJumbo-Visma dominated at the recent Critrium du Dauphin, getting three stage wins, holding the yellow jersey for seven out of the eight stages, and completely decimating the GC competition with Primo Rogli and Jonas Vingegaard finishing first and second in the overall with a massive gap over third-place Ben OConnor.Ben OConnor could…

In 2017 Briton Mark Beaumont smashed the record for cycling around the globe, completing the circumnavigation in less than 80 days. This epic journey is the subject of an excellent two-part documentary on GCN+, Around the World in 80 Days, but GCN+ has recently released a prequel to that. In preparation for his attempt, the cyclist undertook a test of himself and his team to see if the record would be possible and if all the systems they had worked out would function. He felt if they could work together for two weeks and he could maintain record pace for that time, there was a chance at the sub-80 mark later in the year. The documentary Around Britain is about…

There are now so many disciplines and subdisciplines of off-road cycling that it’s almost impossible to design one shoe to suit all purposes. However, the Bontrager GR2 comes close to that happy medium.Highlights:Balance of durability and comfort for all-day gravel and bikepacking adventuresWell thought-out details (lace holders, heel loop, heavy-duty scuff guards on toes and heel).Toe studs compatible for CX. Considerations:Very roomy and high toe box.Thick material & minimalist holes may make things heated in summer. Overall:A highly versatile and well thought-out shoe that can be used for most off-road uses.Ones idea for an ideal off-road shoe varies greatly depending on your intended use for the shoe. Are you gunning for CX or MTB XC racing needing stiffness and the capability for…

From the woods of Hong Kong, Pez fan Ed sent us in this story of his custom Colossi XCR that has clocked up miles in a number of different countries and has even had a respray or two…it’s Readers’ Rigs time from South East Asia!Name: Ed CluerLocation: Lantau Island, Hong KongBike: Colossi XCRGroupset: Campagnolo Chorus 11Wheels: Corima 45mm / Zipp 303 / Record with Ambrosio NemesisPedals: Dura AceSaddle: Brooks CambiumOther: Thomson / Deda finishing kitWeight: around 8.5kgWhen did you buy it?The frame was originally built to my custom spec. after visiting the Colossi factory in Shenzhen, China, back in 2010 and has been through a few iterations since. This is the second re-spray / repair.What made you choose this bike?After…

Even here in Canada, eventually hot summer weather will come. One strategy popular with athletes for reducing heat stress before or during competitions are ice vests. How effective are they?For endurance sports, the evidence is clear and unequivocal that performance is impaired with higher ambient temperatures. Its also reduced in cold temperatures or with a drop in core temperature. Data generally points to an inverted-U relationship, where performance is optimal at a moderate temperature, but becomes progressively reduced above or below this optimal range.This optimal temperature might be lower than we think, with a classic study from my post-doc lab at U Aberdeen finding that cycling tolerance time at a constant hard effort was longest at 11C, similarly reduced at…