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
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Welcome back to Spin Cycle, Escape Collective’s news digest.
Ah, the off-season. Breathe it in. A chance for pros to fulfil sponsor obligations, amateurs to take KOMs and demand a WorldTour spot, or simply to just upload a photo you instantly regret and try to delete before the internet-at-large gets a screenshot.
Oh, and cyclocross is still cyclocross-ing.
One step closer to finding out what a Visma is 🤔
As Jonas Vingegaard begins preparations for the 2025 season, it’s best to get any distractions out of the way, which includes, as is the same for many riders, fulfilling your sponsorship obligations nice and early.
Therefore, Vingegaard swung by the Visma offices in Copenhagen this week, in full kit, bringing his bike up in the lift and riding it around the office.
Then he got to do an interview next to a cardboard cutout of himself, with the photo also showing Visma has a very nice office indeed.
However, we are no closer to figuring out exactly what a ‘Visma’ is. Sure their website says “Visma delivers software that simplifies the work lives of entrepreneurs, businesses, and societies,” but what does that mean? I’m not sure, but judging by the office alone I think maybe I want to work for Visma now, if only to nab one of those teeny salt and pepper shakers.
After the sponsor visits, it’ll be back to work, and Vingegaard is busy preparing his 2025 season, even cracking jokes in an interview with TV2: “I’ve read somewhere that I’m going to race the Giro, so it could be that I’ll race the Giro,” before making clear that the Italian Grand Tour is only a possibility at this stage, as he won’t let anything get in the way of preparing to take back his Tour de France title from Tadej Pogačar.
KOM on, give us a contract 📝
If you harbour WorldTour aspirations, taking the Strava KOM on the Mortirolo Pass, beating Vincenzo Nibali’s 2019 time, is one way to get people’s attention.
And that’s exactly what 29-year-old amateur Jack Burke did this week, climbing the 11.85 km, 10.8% segment in a time of 43:45, one minute and seven seconds faster than Nibali during the 2019 Giro d’Italia.
“Hopefully this gives us an opportunity. Anyone, anywhere, anytime. I’ll do whatever you want. I just want a chance against the best,” Burke said in a video posted to Instagram, having also claimed to have taken the Stelvio KOM too.
As far as self-marketing attempts go, this seems to be a pretty good one. We’ll be watching closely to see how it pans out.
Feed Zone 🥖
🇦🇱 An update on the Giro d’Italia’s Albanian Grand Depart debacle. Il Post reports the Albanian government criticised an RCS-owned TV station, La7, for portraying negative images of Albania while asking the country to then pay to host the Giro. The figure to be paid, according to Il Post, is €7 million, with Albania since requesting a much smaller sum, while RCS are reportedly now concerned of political issues with Albania harming the perception of the Giro.
💰Creditors’ claims against Bradley Wiggins have doubled from £1 million to £2 million after a revision of figures, Cycling Weekly reports, following Wiggins’ bankruptcy declaration earlier this year.
😯 Just eight months after signing a new deal, Maxim Van Gils has terminated his contract with Lotto Dstny, Het Laatste Nieuws reports, before adding that EU employment law allows Van Gils to leave the team if he wishes, but that Lotto Dstny will be entitled to compensation for the broken contract, which will help the team as it remains under significant financial pressure as they struggle to find a replacement for the departing Dstny.
Cycling on TV 📺
Saturday November 23rd
Cyclocross
Exact Cross, Kortrijk – Women
(07:30-08:57 ET/12:30-13:57 GMT/23:30-00:57 AEDT) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, Max 🇺🇸, FloBikes🇨🇦, Staylive🇦🇺
Exact Cross, Kortrijk – Men
(08:57-10:15 ET/13:57-15:15 GMT/00:57-02:15 AEDT) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, Max 🇺🇸, FloBikes🇨🇦, Staylive🇦🇺
Track
UCI Track Champions League, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – Round 1
(11:00-15:00 ET/16:00-20:00 GMT/03:00-07:00 AEDT) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧, Max 🇺🇸, FloBikes🇨🇦, Staylive🇦🇺
Sunday November 24th
Cyclocross
UCI Cyclocross World Cup, Antwerp – Women
(07:30-09:00 ET/12:30-14:00 GMT/23:30-01:00 AEDT) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧
UCI Cyclocross World Cup, Antwerp – Men
(09:00-10:30 ET/14:00-15:30 GMT/01:00-02:30 AEDT) Eurosport/Discovery+🇬🇧
Monday November 25th
No live racing …
🛝 Cyclocross moment of the week 🛝
Today’s cyclocross moment of the week comes from the northern Polish city of Władysławowo! Where this muddy slope claims all who try to pass its unforgiving and slippery gradient.
According to the replies below the tweet, one of the guys stuck by the tree eventually just gives up, ducking underneath the orange barrier and heading home. Now that’s cyclocross.
And finally …
The Instagram post that only existed for less than a minute before it was swiftly deleted.
If we had to guess, we imagine Pogačar had meant to post this on his finsta (a secret or secondary account that only close friends have access to). Luckily, we all now get to enjoy it for all eternity.
🧺 Send us yer laundry pics
“Laundry in Little Falls, New York State,” writes Chris Lightfoot, attaching today’s featured laundromat. “Saw this as we were riding the Empire State Trail from NYC to Niagara Falls and then onto Toronto. The Empire State Trail was amazing and a great way to see NY State. Mostly sealed paths to Albany and a combination of sealed and hard packed gravel to Niagara. Easy riding.”
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 Chris Lightfoot for the photo and Georgena Terry for help with the American TV listings. Yes, that’s the Georgena Terry, iconic and trailblazing women’s cycling product designer. We are not worthy. And, as always, a big thank you to all of you who have signed up as Escape Collective 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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