Spin Cycle is Escape Collective’s news digest, published every Monday and Friday. You can read it on this website (obviously) or have it delivered straight to your inbox.
Spin Cycle
Enter your email address to get our unique spin on news from the world of cycling delivered directly to your inbox!
Get our unique spin on news from the world of cycling delivered directly to your inbox!
Hello!
Welcome back to Spin Cycle, Escape Collective’s news digest.
Has everyone recovered from that final Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift stage yet? Blimey, now that was Bike Racing. It really had everything, well apart from a drunk fan wandering into the road and causing a crash, which was reserved for the Vuelta a España.
But more on that later, as we’ll begin with the fallout from the top of Alpe d’Huez yesterday.
Demi’s demise
Four seconds. That’s all that separated Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) at the top of Alpe d’Huez after eight days of Tour de France racing.
It was blockbuster, the tension slowly ramping before both riders crossed the line, about a minute apart, the TV cameras waiting in front of Niewiadoma for news to reach her that she’d managed to hang on to the yellow jersey.
An obviously huge result for Niewiadoma, but for Vollering and her team the inquest began almost immediately. People were asking why Lorena Wiebes didn’t wait following Vollering’s crash on stage 5, deciding instead to sprint for 8th place? Or, what exactly were the tactics being relayed to Vollering after her attack on the final stage 8? When the margin is so fine, these moments are lit up much larger. What can be agreed is the whole thing was an utter spectacle. More please!
Many people are discussing the potential dysfunction within SD Worx-Protime, with Vollering fans pointing the finger at her team and accusing them of not supporting their favoured rider well enough. There’s added intrigue to the team’s behaviour seeing as Vollering is all-but-confirmed to be heading out of the door for next season, apparently to FDJ-SUEZ, with Dan Benson reporting that team’s current co-leader Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig is heading to Niewiadoma’s Canyon-SRAM.
We’re not going to get into the mud with it all, but what we have heard is that the relationship between Vollering and SD Worx-Protime, even before this Tour, was anything but rosy. The Dutchwoman’s finger-on-helmet celebration as she crossed the line atop Alpe d’Huez sent a message to everyone; we’re already looking forward to Vollering’s 2025 revenge tour!
Ala-phil-up your bank account, buddy 💰
The dream of Julian Alaphilippe riding for a French team, such as TotalEnergies, where he’d be able to get up to some funny games with doppelgänger Mathieu Burgaudeau and also be a cardboard cut-out in French gas stations, are dead in the water, as the 32-year-old Frenchman is announced to have signed a three-year deal with Fabian Cancellara’s Tudor Pro Cycling team. There’s a watch joke in here about Patek Philippe somewhere …
Having also signed Marc Hirschi, the Swiss team are certainly making big moves this transfer season. Alaphilippe’s signature will likely have been with a view to gaining a Tour de France wildcard for next summer, the brand exposure from which will easily pay for the Frenchman’s salary which will be in the multiple of millions.
Good for Alaphilippe, good for Tudor. Not so good for Uno-X Mobility’s Tour wildcard, you fear.
Looking fine
A story that really defines the haves from the have nots, as UAE Team Emirates donned a special jersey for the Vuelta a España team presentation featuring splashes of yellow and pink to celebrate Tadej Pogačar’s Giro d’Italia and Tour de France victories.
Unfortunately, the team had not gained the necessary permission from the UCI to do this and were therefore sanctioned for “non-regulation clothing (not approved by the UCI).”
The team were docked 15 UCI points (oh, the humanity) and fined 500 Swiss Francs per rider as well as their sports director Marco Marcato, who presumably was punished for not being the responsible adult in the room.
A total of over €4,000, then, and it could have been more but Jay Vine was not actually present on the stage in Lisbon. We’re sure the richest team in the sport will be breathing a heavy sigh of relief at having avoided that extra €500. To put it in context, Tadej Pogačar, by estimates, earns over €16,000 every day.
Feed Zone 🥖
😬 “My back certainly still hurts,” Primož Roglič told Het Laatste Nieuws at the Vuelta a España, about how recovered he is from his Tour de France crash, as he seeks a fourth red jersey in Spain.
🙏 In an impressively brave and candid blog post, Ineos Grenadiers’ Leo Hayter has opened up about his struggles with depression, anxiety, and eating disorders and deciding to put his cycling career on hold.
🇵🇱 Lidl-Trek’s Thibau Nys won three stages in total as Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) took the overall victory at the Tour of Poland. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) was second overall, 13 seconds adrift, with Vingegaard’s teammate Wilco Kelderman rounding out the podium in third.
🧀 Cees Bol (Astana Qazaqstan) broke his collarbone in a fall during a training ride in Livigno and has undergone successful surgery to fix it.
😖 After crashing at the Critérium du Dauphiné and subsequently missing the Tour de France, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Dylan van Baarle has now had to abandon the Vuelta a España on stage 2 following a fall.
👶 The Tour de l’Avenir is underway, with a women’s edition following later this week too. Ineos Grenadiers’ Canadian Michael Leonard (20) took the first leader’s jersey after winning the opening prologue, seven seconds ahead of Israel-Premier Tech’s Brit Joseph Blackmore.
🐝 Second behind Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in the stage 2 Vuelta a España sprint, Wout van Aert at least took the consolation prize of the red jersey, a replica of which Visma-Lease a Bike quickly put up for sale for as long as they hold the race lead. Van Aert then went on to win the stage 3 sprint.
😲 Wout Poels will head to Astana Qazaqstan from Bahrain Victorious next year, a surprise transfer it’s fair to say.
😡 In things you don’t want to see, Lidl-Trek’s Mathias Vacek (current white jersey at the Vuelta) was brought down by a spectator on stage 2. “It’s a bit frustrating that some people just don’t care. They don’t give the riders any space, but that’s how it is,” the 22-year-old Czech rider said afterwards. “I finished safely and I’m happy that things are going well. I still had to make a big effort to get back into the peloton. I could still recover there, but I didn’t have any power left in the final. I’m happy that I still have the white jersey and that I feel good.”
Cycling on TV 📺
Tuesday August 20th
Vuelta a España – Stage 4
(08:30-12:00 ET/13:30-17:00 BST/22:30-02:00 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, Peacock🇺🇸, FloBikes🇨🇦, SBS🇦🇺
Tour de l’Avenir Men – Stage 2
(09:15-11:00 ET/14:15-16:00 BST/23:15-01:00 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, Max🇺🇸, FloBikes🇨🇦, Staylive🇦🇺
Wednesday August 21st
Vuelta a España – Stage 5
(08:30-12:00 ET/13:30-17:00 BST/22:30-02:00 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, Peacock🇺🇸, FloBikes🇨🇦, SBS🇦🇺
Tour de l’Avenir Men – Stage 3
(08:20-10:20 ET/13:20-15:20 BST/22:20-00:20 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, Max🇺🇸, FloBikes🇨🇦, Staylive🇦🇺
Deutschland Tour – Prologue
(08:05-10:05 ET/13:05-15:05 BST/22:05-00:05 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, FloBikes🇺🇸🇨🇦
Tour de l’Avenir Women – Prologue
(11:30-12:55 ET/16:30-17:55 BST/01:30-02:55 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧
Thursday August 22nd
Vuelta a España – Stage 6
(08:30-12:00 ET/13:30-17:00 BST/22:30-02:00 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, Peacock🇺🇸, FloBikes🇨🇦, SBS🇦🇺
Tour de l’Avenir Men – Stage 4
(09:45-11:30 ET/14:45-16:30 BST/23:45-01:30 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, Max🇺🇸, FloBikes🇨🇦, Staylive🇦🇺
Deutschland Tour – Stage 1
(09:05-11:05 ET/14:05-16:05 BST/23:05-01:05 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, FloBikes🇺🇸🇨🇦
Tour de l’Avenir Women – Stage 1
(08:00-09:45 ET/13:00-14:45 BST/22:00-23:45 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧
Friday August 23rd
Vuelta a España – Stage 7
(08:30-12:00 ET/13:30-17:00 BST/22:30-02:00 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, Peacock🇺🇸, FloBikes🇨🇦, SBS🇦🇺
Tour de l’Avenir Men – Stage 5
(09:10-11:10 ET/14:10-16:10 BST/23:10-01:10 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, Max🇺🇸, FloBikes🇨🇦, Staylive🇦🇺
Deutschland Tour – Stage 2
(09:05-11:05 ET/14:05-16:05 BST/23:05-01:05 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, FloBikes🇺🇸🇨🇦
Tour de l’Avenir Women – Stage 2
(07:45-09:10 ET/12:45-14:10 BST/21:45-23:10 AEST) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧
🤔 Say what you see of the week 🤔
We imagine one of the worst parts of being a professional cyclist is all of the media obligations, endless inane questions, being made to dance to the tune of whoever is standing in front of you with a microphone.
We therefore can’t get enough of Mikel Landa’s complete blind spot when it comes to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, when asked to say what he is shown, demoting it beleagueredly to merely “a bridge.” Eat that, 415!
Post-publication correction corner because the shame was too great to wait until Friday: Turns out our dumb-dumb brain didn’t realise this is not, in fact, the Golden Gate Bridge, but the 25 de Abril bridge in Lisbon. Yep, our heartfelt bad, but also, Lisbon, you can’t be going around copying bridges. This is where we find out the 25 de Abril Bridge is older than the Golden Gate Bridge or something. We need a break, or a lobotomy, or something. Sorry!
And finally …
Jonas Vingegaard has had a tough year, so it’s great to see him get not just a stage race victory at the Tour of Poland, but also a fantastic podium hat! You go JoJo!
🧺 Send us yer laundry pics
“With TDF Femmes coming up,” B Lee wrote a week or so ago, attaching today’s featured laundromat, “I thought this photo of my local west-end laundromat, after my last Renfrewshire Rodeo ride in Glasgow, would do the trick.”
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 B Lee and Kit Nicholson 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.
Every edition of Spin Cycle is available for free so please share it with your friends and help us enjoy limitless growth. You can give them this link to take them to our most recent edition.
And if you’ve been forwarded this email from someone else and want to receive it straight into your own inbox while it’s still hot, you can sign up by clicking the button.
Spin Cycle
Enter your email address to get our unique spin on news from the world of cycling delivered directly to your inbox!
Get our unique spin on news from the world of cycling delivered directly to your inbox!
Did we do a good job with this story?