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Spin Cycle
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Hello!
Welcome back to Spin Cycle, Escape Collective’s news digest.
The Olympics is in full swing and it’s been great to see cycling right in the middle of it all. The BMX freestyle was a palette cleanser of alternative competition to the racing we’re all used to, before the BMX racing, with its crashes and sweeping corners, provided an antithetical appetiser to the lengthy road races this weekend.
The Games is a time for old friends and new, so let’s begin with an old one …
Vino, vidi, vici
Don’t look away now (we’re talking to you, Rigoberto Úran) as Alexandre Vinokourov is back at the Olympic Games!
In town as part of the Kazakhstan support staff delegation, the 2012 road race gold medalist was out on the Paris course for a recon resplendent on a gold bike and in his Gran Fondo (50-54 year old category) world champion rainbow jersey.
You could say there is a quiet sadness to all of this, but you just have to look at the delight on Vinokourov’s face to know he is absolutely loving life, does not care what anyone else thinks, and presumably has a bank full of Yuan following the deal signed between Chinese bike manufacturer XDS and his Astana Qazaqstan team. Some guys really just do have all the luck …
Van der Pole position on the A1 motorway
Mathieu van der Poel can’t afford himself many luxuries despite being a millionaire sportsperson. That’s the curse of being a champion road cyclist – and some wouldn’t even call it a curse at all.
Sure, between the training sessions and subsequent rest so he can do it all again the next day, he fits in the odd game of golf, and his other vice is sports cars.
As he left from his home near Antwerp to head to Paris for the men’s road race, Van der Poel swung by the city’s Lamborghini dealership (who sponsor him) to pick up a new Urus model, equipped with a 1-MVDP-1 number plate.
It’s the sort of gauche, late-stage capitalism nonsense we don’t exactly cherish, but if we’re going to spin zone it on behalf of Mathieu it gives cycling a bit of glitz and glam when held up to the other Olympic sports, making our niche corner of the sporting world feel a little bit big time. We hope van der Poel enjoyed his drive down the (we estimate) exactly four roads connecting Antwerp to Paris. A victory for pan-continental infrastructure if nothing else.
Transfer news
Transfer news will begin trickling in over the next few weeks, so here’s what you need to know.
Confirmed transfers:
Ben O’Connor is deleting Duolingo off of his phone as he’s moved from Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale to Jayco-AlUla, with the Australian team saying the climber is a replacement for the departing Simon Yates, who was later confirmed to be joining Visma-Lease a Bike.
Jhonatan Narváez is swapping Ineos Grenadiers for UAE Team Emirates, signing a two-year contract.
Frenchman Axel Zingle (25) does a Christophe Laporte and leaves Cofidis for Visma-Lease a Bike, who posted a fun video on social media to announce it.
Dylan Teuns departs Israel-Premier Tech for Cofidis.
Florian Vermeersch read the tea leaves and says bye to Lotto Dstny to join UAE Team Emirates.
Bob Jungels leaves Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe for Ineos Grenadiers.
Rumours:
Sjoerd Bax (28) is switching from UAE Team Emirates to Tudor next year, Wielerflits report.
Tom Pidcock could hit the transfer market before 2025, despite having a contract until the end of 2027, Dan Benson reports, who also says Nairo Quintana has renewed for another year with Movistar.
Even more news from Dan Benson (seriously, do check out his Substack if you haven’t already), with Soudal-Quick Step boss Patrick Lefevere saying Max Schachmann is inbound from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, while the Belgian says Kasper Asgreen is off to Tudor, and Fausto Masnada is departing too.
🤝 Commitment to the brand deal of the week 🤝
We will never begrudge people from making their money (okay, never usually), especially when it comes to the money for old rope world of social media influencing.
Fresh from his stint on Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France podcast, Bradley Wiggins has been taken into quarantine equipped with hair and beard net is back to the grind doing his best Gregg Wallace Inside the Factory impression (sorry, non-UK readers for that reference), shilling gels while looking ready to serve you a school dinner at the same time. It’s fun, he’s clearly in on the joke here.
Feed Zone 🥖
👋 Lawson Craddock (32) has announced he will retire from the professional peloton at the end of the season. That brings to a close an 11-year WorldTour career on Giant-Shimano, various versions of what is now EF Education-EasyPost, and the last three years with Jayco-AlUla.
🔮 Lotto say they will continue to build a “bright future” despite their co-title sponsor Dstny announcing they will stop funding the Belgian team after this year, and that it does not cause them any concern.
👋 Coryn Labecki (31) has announced she will retire at the end of 2024. The 2017 Tour of Flanders winner and eleventy time US national champion on EF Education-Cannondale is expected to return to crit racing in the USA.
🙌 Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) was given the green light by doctors to return to normal training again following his Basque Country crash.
🌈 Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) may race the Tour of Britain as a warm-up to the Road World Championships at the end of September.
🙏 “UAE, we need him,” was Vuelta a España boss Javier Guillen’s plea to UAE Team Emirates to have Juan Ayuso race the Spanish Grand Tour later this month.
😮 Matteo Jorgenson told YouTube channel CyclingmoleTV that it would be shocking if the Belgians don’t win the men’s Olympic road race on Saturday.
🇺🇸 Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) will return to racing after five months out at the Vuelta a Burgos (August 5-9).
🛒 Stage six of the upcoming Vuelta a España will start inside a Carrefour supermarket. Can someone check in on Lidl-Trek please. Iain Treloar has the story here.
⛰️ The 2024 Transcontinental Race has been won. Read our report here.
🏊♂️ Tokyo gold medal triathlete Kristian Blummenfelt has announced he will switch to road cycling with the aim of winning the 2028 Tour de France. Joe Lindsey has the story here.
🥇 The Olympic track events are nearly upon us! Can’t remember exactly how it all works and what it all is? Our Kit Nicholson has a helpful explainer to get you back up to speed here.
Cycling on TV 📺
Saturday August 3rd
Paris Olympics 2024 – Men’s Road Race
(04:45-12:15 ET/09:45-17:15 BST/18:45-02:15 AEST) BBC/Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, NBC/Peacock🇺🇸, CBC/TSN/Sportsnet🇨🇦, Channel 9🇦🇺
Sunday August 4th
Paris Olympics 2024 – Women’s Road Race
(07:45-12:45 ET/12:45-17:45 BST/21:45-02:45 AEST) BBC/Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, NBC/Peacock🇺🇸, CBC/TSN/Sportsnet🇨🇦, Channel 9🇦🇺
Arctic Race of Norway – Stage 1
(09:15-12:15 ET/14:15-17:15 BST/23:15-02:15 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, FloBikes🇺🇸🇨🇦, SBS🇦🇺
Monday August 5th
Paris Olympics 2024 – Track, including Women’s Team Sprint Finals @ 13:46 ET/18:46 BST/03:45 AEST
(10:45-14:25 ET/15:45-19:25 BST/00:45-04:25 AEST) BBC/Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, NBC/Peacock🇺🇸, CBC/TSN/Sportsnet🇨🇦, Channel 9🇦🇺
Arctic Race of Norway – Stage 2
(09:15-12:15 ET/14:15-17:15 BST/23:15-02:15 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, FloBikes🇺🇸🇨🇦, SBS🇦🇺
🥴 Unnecessary side swipe on the way out the door of the week 🥴
Of course, the transfer season is one of ups and downs. For some people to get new jobs, others have to lose theirs. But with cycling there’s also the peculiarity that riders are announced to be leaving and then continue to work for their current employer for the next four months.
Which is why it’s always a bit mischievous when an outgoing rider praises his new destination as the best in the world, making it clear how much they are looking forward to jumping ship. Maybe we’re reading too much into Jhonatan Narváez’s quote after he was announced to be leaving Ineos Grenadiers for UAE Team Emirates, but to say you’ve always wanted to ride for the best team in the world after being at Ineos for six years is a bit of a kick in the teeth on your way out of the door.
“Since the beginning of my career I’ve always wanted to be involved at the highest level of cycling and we can say that UAE Team Emirates is the best team in the world in the last years so it’s an honour to be moving there,” Narváez said. “I feel I’ve taken big steps at Ineos but I think I still have margin to take another step in the coming years.”
And finally …
Remco Evenepoel. Slightly shocked but largely unmoved by Belgium going close in their hockey match against India on Thursday.
🧺 Send us yer laundry pics
“Two laundrette photos for you … from Beat-Herder Festival near Clitheroe in the Ribble Valley.” writes in Lobster_Shorts via Discord, attaching today’s featured laundry photo. “Believe me, most people at this festival spent their whole weekend in HR zone 5.”
As always, we are accepting your laundry photos (especially ones with the doors open so we can Photoshop riders inside the drum) to star in Spin Cycle. Either send them via the Discord or shoot me an email: [email protected]
Until next time …
That’s all folks! Thanks to Lobster_Shorts for contributions to today’s edition and a big thank you to all of you who have signed up already as Escape Collective founding members. If you haven’t there is no time like the present. To smooth the process just click this link here and hit the Join Today button in the top right of the page.
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Spin Cycle
Enter your email address to get our unique spin on news from the world of cycling delivered directly to your inbox!
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