Procycling

Procycling is the monthly magazine that takes readers inside the world’s toughest sport – professional road racing. From the mud and rain of the spring Classics through to annual summer spectacular of the Tour de France, the magazine combines thoughtful, probing sports journalism and insightful interviews with incredible sports photography. The rich, often scandalous history of cycle sport and its high tech future also feature in a magazine that’s a must for every follower of the grand tours and the peloton.

PREFACE • ISSUE 289 / REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2021

GALLERY • THE WORLD’S BEST CYCLING PHOTOGRAPHY

Cycling’s questionable funding model

THE GIRO KIND OF GOES TO DUBAI

COMMUNIQUÉ • NEWS • GOSSIP • CHATTER

JOSS LOWDEN • The Hour Record holder on baking brownies and winning a can of warm beer

LEO HAYTER • Team DSM’s young British star following in his brother’s footsteps

COACH’S CORNER

OBJECTS OF DESIRE • THIS MONTH’S ESSENTIAL GEAR

MICHAEL MATTHEWS • The Australian all-rounder on his difficult year and finding time to relax

A WOMEN’S TOUR DE FORCE • MARION ROUSSE HOW TO BUILD THE BIGGEST BIKE RACE IN THE WORLD, THEN MAKE IT BIGGER

DAN MARTIN • ISRAEL START-UP NATION

A LIFE IN CYCLING

KÉVIN RÉZA • B&B HOTELS P/B KTM

JÉRÔME PINEAU • MANAGER, B&B HOTELS P/B KTM

BRODIE CHAPMAN • FDJ NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE

STEPHEN DELCOURT • DS, FDJ NOUVELLE-AQUITAINE

CHARLIE QUARTERMAN • TREK-SEGAFREDO

YAROSLAV POPOVYCH • DS, TREK-SEGAFREDO

REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2021 • AFTER THE INTENSE AND DISCOMBOBULATING COVID-HIT 2020 SEASON, 2021 HAD A SHAPE AND RHYTHM THAT WAS A LITTLE MORE FAMILIAR TO CYCLING FANS. BUT WHILE THE CALENDAR UNFOLDED AS NORMAL, THE RACING WAS ANYTHING BUT. PROCYCLING LOOKS BACK AT A PACKED AND EXHILARATING SEASON

EDWARD PICKERING • EDITOR

ADAM BECKET • STAFF WRITER

PATRICK FLETCHER • DEPUTY EDITOR - EUROPE, CYCLINGNEWS

PUTTING THE POWER DOWN

BEST & WORST OF TIMES • In 2021, the Ineos Grenadiers won seven stage races, including the Giro d’Italia and a clean sweep of the podium at the Volta a Catalunya. But they came up short at the Tour de France, with a distant third place for Richard Carapaz, and no stage wins. Procycling asks whether the team that dominated the Tour through the 2010s can see this season as a success

INEOS GRENADIERS 2021 GC RESULTS

THE RANGE OF WOUT VAN AERT • WE ARE LIVING IN AN AGE OF ALL-ROUNDERS, WITH INCREDIBLE VERSATILITY AND RANGE ON THE BIKE. BUT WOUT VAN AERT STANDS OUT IN A STRONG FIELD AS THE BEST ALL-ROUNDER IN THE WORLD

CYCLING ALL-ROUNDERS

THE BERNAL AND GANNA SHOW ON GRAVEL

THE FIRE WITHIN • Everybody assumed Mark Cavendish was finished as a top-level sprinter after four very difficult seasons. Everybody, that is, except Cavendish himself. His extraordinary comeback to win four Tour de France stages was one of the defining stories of 2021. He tells Procycling how he did it

MARK CAVENDISH YEAR BY YEAR IN THE LAST DECADE

The Perfect Christmas Gift from just £6

FOUR OF THE BEST • ONCE AGAIN, DUTCH RIDERS LED THE WAY IN WOMEN'S CYCLING, AND A QUARTET OF RIDERS STOOD OUT ABOVE ALL THE REST. WE LOOK AT THE SEASONS OF ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN, MARIANNE VOS, ANNA VAN DER BREGGEN AND DEMI VOLLERING, FOUR OF THE BEST RIDERS IN THE WORLD

ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN

DEMI VOLLERING

MARIANNE VOS

ANNA VAN DER BREGGEN

A MAN AMONG BOYS

TADEJ POCAČAR BY THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW HIM • What is the winner of the historic Tour de France, Liège and Lombardia treble really like? We ask team-mates, friends, co-workers and fellow...