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.
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Welcome back to Spin Cycle, Escape Collective’s news digest.
Breaking news: Tadej Pogačar lies awake at night plotting how to destroy his rivals for the umpteenth time, while Mathieu van der Poel calls up Remco Evenepoel to wish him a happy birthday and take requests on what to give his fellow cyclist as a present. It's a weird and wonderful world, this land of professional cycling.
Oh, and despite the pleasant surprise of confirmed nice man Caleb Ewan arriving at Ineos Grenadiers, things are once again taking a turn for the worst at the sprawling petrochemical sporting empire. Maybe they could take a leaf out of XDS-Astana's book, at least they know how to party.
Dreams can come true, but mostly only for Tadej Pogačar 💭
A wonderful insight from Tadej Pogačar in an interview with Cycling Weekly (made all the more impressive by how he avoided nearly all of the quick-fire questions he was asked).
"Do you use any mental techniques to prepare you for races?" Tadej is asked.
"I don’t talk to myself in the mirror," he swears, something you only definitely say if you definitely weren't doing it, "but sometimes if I cannot sleep, or before a race, I imagine the race situation, thinking about what could happen. So many things can happen in cycling so you need to be mentally prepared."
This must mean Pogačar is imagining race scenarios other than the ones he usually finds himself in: up the road alone after an attack no-one else can follow and soloing to the finish. But if he's imagining these more interesting race scenarios, and getting all excited about them, how exactly will that help him get to sleep? Maybe we'll now not be able to sleep whilst contemplating this conundrum.
Not done quite yet, he had this answer for the worst quality to find in a training partner: "So slow you have to wait for them." Well, that must be just about everyone then!
Ineos Gren-oh-dears 2025 edition: Chapter One 📖
We haven't had an Ineos update for a while, have we? Well, yes, Caleb Ewan has signed for the British team, which was just about the first piece of feel-good news from the British squad we've had in a while. Never fear, as various bits popped up over the weekend.
We'll begin with Dave Brailsford, whose exact job role at Manchester United and Ineos we're still not completely clear on. Turns out, according to a Manchester United insider speaking to the newsletter of all newsletters called Popbitch, his employees are just as confused.
"No-one's quite sure what he's really there to do (apart from say 'yes' to anything Sir Jim says) but he's taken to wandering around Old Trafford and Carrington sticking his nose into everything, explaining his appearance with the phrase: 'I don't need to be here. I live in Monaco. I'm only here for you guys'."
Not to be outdone on the delusion front, Ratcliffe featured in this rather excruciating video from some United fans. As they film the outside of his car and shout about the recent ticket price rises to £66, Ratcliffe rolls down the window having not heard exactly what they're saying and tells them: "Have a photograph, guys," holding his thumb up ready for the photo, like some petrochemical Willy Wonka for the Instagram age, before realising they are being big meanies and rolling the window back up. He probably should have known better after category-c swear words were chanted at him during this weekend's match against Fulham. No matter how bad things got at Ineos Grenadiers, they were never like this.
This comes after a bit of sir-on-sir violence as Ratcliffe moved to publicly dump sailor Ben Ainslie from their America's Cup collaboration, only for Ainslie to launch legal proceedings over who owns exactly what in the partnership.
Well, hopefully Caleb Ewan can bring some slight relief to the man frittering away millions upon millions and buying neither glory nor friends. Chin up, Jim.
This week on the podcast … 🎙️
Pro cycling's calendar is an all-you-can-eat buffet, complete with some questionable shrimp.
Feed Zone 🥖
🏆 Michael Vanthourenhout sealed the Cyclocross World Cup overall victory, finishing ahead of Toon Aerts in second place. In the women's competition, Lucinda Brand took the overall win with Fem van Empel runner-up.
🇦🇪 It's been quite the start to 2025 for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with new signing Jhonatan Narváez winning the Tour Down Under and António Morgado taking the win at the Gran Premio Castellón.
🍫 Marc Hirschi was also victorious on debut for Tudor, taking the win at the *deep breath* 41st Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969-Gran Premi València.
☎️ We've found a likely more-than-willing participant in any Saudi-funded One Cycling takeover, as the Spanish government declared it was aligned with Saudi investor STC on "supporting" an overhaul at Telefónica (Movistar's parent company). The Saudi group is seeking a board seat after helping to oust the telecoms giant's chair recently.
🍼 Lidl-Trek Juan Pedro López missed the final stage of the Tour Down Under after being disqualified for the stickiest of sticky bottles. Judge for yourself.
Cycling on TV 📺
Tuesday January 28th
AlUla Tour, Stage 1
(06:30-08:30 ET/11:30-13:30 GMT/22:30-00:30 AEDT) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes, 🇦🇺SBS
Wednesday January 29th
AlUla Tour, Stage 2
(06:30-08:30 ET/11:30-13:30 GMT/22:30-00:30 AEDT) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes, 🇦🇺SBS
Challenge Mallorca, Trofeo Calvia - Men
(08:30-10:30 ET/13:30-15:30 GMT/00:30-02:30 AEDT) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes
Thursday January 30th
AlUla Tour, Stage 3
(06:30-08:30 ET/11:30-13:30 GMT/22:30-00:30 AEDT) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes, 🇦🇺SBS
Challenge Mallorca, Trofeo Ses Salines - Men
(08:30-10:30 ET/13:30-15:30 GMT/00:30-02:30 AEDT) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸Max, 🇨🇦FloBikes
Friday January 31st
AlUla Tour, Stage 4
(06:30-08:30 ET/11:30-13:30 GMT/22:30-00:30 AEDT) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸🇨🇦FloBikes, 🇦🇺SBS
Challenge Mallorca, Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana - Men
(08:30-10:30 ET/13:30-15:30 GMT/00:30-02:30 AEDT) 🇬🇧Eurosport/Discovery+, 🇺🇸Max, 🇨🇦FloBikes
📞 Cyclocross of the week(end) 📞
It was a World Cup double-header in the world of cyclocross this weekend, with Mathieu van der Poel coming away victorious twice in both Maasmechelen and Hoogerheide.
The former saw only the second battle between Van der Poel and Wout van Aert this season, with Van Aert undone by a number of mishaps, including this unfortunate tumble whilst in the lead. Good news, though! Van Aert has signed up for next week's World Championships after all, meaning we'll get a third and final bout in the mud between these two greats.
In yet another win for the ever-growing filofax charting victories for "Yay, team friendship," Mathieu van der Poel did Remco Evenepoel's Olympics putting-down-the-phone celebration in honour of his fellow pro's 25th birthday. How nice.
And finally ...
Aint no party like an Astana party. We'd missed this shot from XDS-Astana's training camp (courtesy of Fausto Masnada's Instagram and sent in by Matt @ridegravelroad), but you can always count on cycling's most peculiar team to bring some levity to the proceedings.
Who's your favourite? Clément Champoussin in the nurse-outfit-over-hoodie-and-jeans look? Alex Dowsett's glasses meet skull and crossbones combo? Or head honcho Alexandre Vinokourov, who has not deigned to get involved with the themed party he himself is throwing. Vintage Vino, that.
🧺 Send us yer laundry pics
"These are seven of the 13 washing machines in my apartment building," writes in Jeremy D'silva, attaching today's featured laundry photo. "I live in an apartment building for graduate students at Stanford University in California; I took this picture during the university's winter holidays, hence the abundance of empty machines."
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: jonny.long@escapecollective.com
Until next time …
That’s all folks! Thanks to Jeremy D'silva and Matt for contributions to today's edition, and 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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