The full, original version of this article was published in the 19th June 2025 print edition of Cycling Weekly as part of our 'Meet the Maker' series. Subscribe online and get the magazine delivered direct to your door every week.

Long before Alex Dowsett was setting Hour record times, winning Grand Tour stages and repeatedly becoming British time trial champion, there was another Dowsett from Essex who was speeding around and breaking records: his father, Phil. Hailing from a motor racing family – Phil’s nephew Oliver runs a successful British touring car team, Napa – the 74-year-old raced single-seater, saloon, sports and touring cars for 22 years.

Though he never accomplished his dream of becoming a Formula One driver, Phil was regarded as one of Britain’s best drivers throughout the 1980s. But it wasn’t how he paid the bills. “I had a job, and that was my biggest downfall because I only had one day a week to prepare and test the car before racing,” he says. In 1989, the year after Alex was born, Phil turned down the opportunity to race in Japan for Toyota Factory, instead beginning an upholstery, carpet and curtain business in London. Phil’s wife Jan gave birth to the couple’s second child, Lois, in 1991.

Alex, who was diagnosed with the blood-clotting disorder haemophilia at 18 months old, began cycle racing at age 13, despite no history of the sport in his family. “My nan on my mother’s side would have swum in the Olympics had it not been for the war, but other than that, neither side of my family was particularly sporty,” Alex says. The father and son have made the Dowsett name synonymous with speed.

Phil’s success was a source of inspiration for Alex from a young age. “I heard these stories as a kid about how good my dad was,” Alex says, “and I thought, How am I going to excel at life to the point where I can tell my own kids similar successful stories?” Phil nods: “He more than achieved that goal – he’s got better stories to tell than I have.”

The son's take

Alex Dowsett
Age: 36
Height: 5ft 10in
Raised: Chelmsford, Essex
Lives: Chelmsford, Essex
Occupation: Performance engineer at XDS Astana
Biggest sporting achievement: Hour record, 52.937km (2015); 2x stage wins, Giro d’Italia (2013, 2020)

Q: What did you know as a child about your dad’s racing success?
I was aware of it because he used to drive fast and his trophy cabinet was in the corner of the dining room. But he wasn’t one to talk about his success. I pieced together the dots when we went to the invite-only British Racing Drivers’ Club and I saw Dad’s name on the board next to 1988 with a silver star denoting that he was that year’s best national driver.

Q: Were you interested in motor racing?
I went to the local go-kart track where, if you got under a certain lap time in a kid’s kart, they let you come back on a Saturday or Sunday morning to drive the adult karts. I was pretty good, but not the fastest.

Q: How did your sporting career start?
I was diagnosed with haemophilia as a baby and doctors told my parents that swimming was really helpful for it. Swimming was my sport and I tried racing but wasn’t very good.

Q: Do you think your cycling talent was learned or inherited?
I find my childhood fascinating: I swam 10,000 hours to master swimming but I was sh*t. I went running and was quite good at a county level but nothing amazing. And then I picked up a bike and within a year I was the best in my age group.

Q: Physically, are you more similar to your dad or your mum?
Dad loves cycling, but you can see that it doesn’t come to him naturally. It’s a useless comparison but my wife Chanel and I took Mum and Dad to New Zealand a few years ago and we did a vineyard tour on tandems. Chanel and Dad were on one bike and me and my Mum were on the other. They wanted to race against us, but they didn’t win a single one! Michael Hutchinson once told me that in most cases the physiology comes from the mother’s side; in my case, I think that’s true.

Q: Did your dad teach you any racing techniques?
Racing lines – on the kart track as a kid. [Ex-pro] Paddy Bevin said to me a couple of years ago that I was one of the only bike riders who took a motor racing line on a push bike.

Q: Do you have a similar mindset to your dad?
Yes, I’d say I got my head from my dad – especially my work ethic.

Q: What about your will to win?
I once had a fascinating conversation with Dad where he said it was outrageous that I was buying a £5,000 skinsuit. I said to him: “Dad, you remortgaged the house to do another year of racing.” But if you ask him, he’ll say he didn’t want it enough – as if remortgaging your house isn’t wanting it enough!

Q: What career advice did you take from your dad?
He always drummed into me the importance of sponsors: “If there’s a logo on a pair of socks you’re being paid to wear, you wear those socks.”

The father's take

Phil Dowsett
Age: 74
Height: 5ft 7in
Raised: Chelmsford, Essex
Lives: Maldon, Essex
Occupation: Retired commercial upholstery business owner
Biggest sporting achievement: 1st – British Formula Atlantic race, Oulton Park (1980)

Q: How much did you train as a motor racing driver?
I ran around London keeping fit, which gave me an advantage over everyone else. Keeping fit was something that very few drivers did back in my day.

Q: Did you want Alex to become a racing driver?
We didn’t have the money for it. You’ve got to be extremely rich nowadays. He’s a good car driver and he’d have loved car racing, but he never approached me about doing it seriously.

Q: Did you give him a love of speed?
Definitely. I used to take him out in my Porsche and he’d enjoy ripping around in it. He had a hunger for speed from an early age, and you saw that in his time trialling.

Q: How did you try to encourage Alex’s cycling?
I used to go mountain biking on Thursday nights, and when he was 13 he asked if he could come along. I said yes as long as he kept up and didn’t fall off. That was the start of it.

Q: When did you know Alex had talent?
When he started racing time trials at Maldon CC, one of the guys said to me: “Phil, Alex is very, very good: his body doesn’t move [around in the saddle] but he delivers power”.

Q: How did you help him as a cyclist?
I didn’t know a thing about the technical side of cycling. I always said to him: “Alex, have a plan B. If things go wrong, you need to be able to execute an alternative plan.” All I could do was get him to where he needed to be, make sure he ate a good meal, had a good night’s sleep.

Q: What was the most important thing Alex inherited from you?
When he was around 15, if he didn’t win, he hated it. That will to win is something that I didn’t teach him, but like me, he had that desire. I think he also grasped early on that when your arse gets kicked, on those bad days, you learn more.

Q: Do you share a similar mentality?
He once told me: “Dad, I’ve learned how I can go quicker.” I was expecting him to go on and say he had new tyres or some new kit, but he said: “I’ve learned how to hurt myself more.” I am not like that on a bike – unlike him, I don’t like putting myself through pain! I push to keep up with my mates, but not to the level where I ruin myself.

The no-conferring round

‘Guess what your dad said when we asked…’

Who’s the best driver today?
Alex: He’d say me.
Phil: He’s better than me now. When you get to my age, you can’t process things as quickly as before.

Could Alex have made it as a racing driver?
Alex: I think I could have been, yeah.
Phil: He’d have been good, but I’m not sure how good.

Could Phil have become a cyclist?
Alex: From what I’ve seen, he doesn’t have the ability.
Phil: No. He’s got the cardiovascular levels and the technique – I don’t have any of that.

What’s one thing Phil can do but Alex can’t?
Alex: He could dismantle an old engine.
Phil: I can windsurf better than him. For now…

What’s one thing Alex can do but Phil can’t?
Alex: I can go under 30 minutes for a 10-mile TT!
Phil: Ride a bike fast! And he’s good at maths.

What’s the tougher sport, rally or cycling?
Alex: He’d have said pro cycling.
Phil: In my era, it was motor racing – it was far more dangerous, but then it became incredibly safe. Cyclists have to be far fitter.

How would Alex describe Phil in three words?
Alex: Humble, loyal and generous. Can I add smart?
Phil: Stubborn old bastard! Impetuous, selfish – to be successful, you have to be. And generous.

How would Phil describe Alex in three words?
Alex: He’d say something about me being focused, and how when I want something I work hard for it.
Phil: Cool, calm and collected.

Who’s more competitive?
Alex: He’ll say himself. He would get pissed off with me if I helped team-mates in time trials.
Phil: I think we’re similar, but I had to be very competitive, as it was often a dog-eat-dog situation.

Who’s more famous?
Alex: Dad tells the story about when his Wikipedia page stopped being about his own achievements and became about being the father of Alex Dowsett.
Phil: Alex, by far.

Love them or hate them, team time trials are back in vogue. There will be one at this year’s Vuelta Femenina, one at next year’s Tour de France, and Paris-Nice continued its tradition on Tuesday of hosting one each spring.

With more team races against the clock scheduled – particularly at the calendar’s biggest races – cycling’s great innovators are coming up with ways to draw marginal gains out of them. The latest came from XDS Astana, who wore multi-coloured gloves and overshoes when they lined up for Paris-Nice’s third stage.

The eagle-eyed among you may have already spotted it. Perhaps you thought it was just a fun gimmick, a nod to the disco trends of the 80s. According to XDS Astana's performance engineer Alex Dowsett, there’s good reason behind the rainbow.

“When you do a turn in a team time trial, you do obviously a massive pull on the front, with really high power, and then you have to come off the power,” he said in a team post on X. “When you get to seventh position or sixth position, you then have to do another big effort to get back into the line. If you miss the back of that line by centimetres, it then becomes a third monumental effort to close the gap.”

Riders typically count their way to the back of the line when they swap turns, rejoining the end, if they can hold on. At Paris-Nice, XDS Astana judged it quicker to respond to colours, rather than count back through teammates.

“You react to things in your periphery faster than you react to them if you look directly at them. The difficult thing about team time trials, from that respect, is everyone looks the same,” Dowsett said.

“It could be that split second where you’re like, ‘Is that [Harold] Tejada or is that [Mike] Teunissen?’ The first thing you see from each rider is their hands. I was like, ‘So what if we could make everyone’s gloves a different colour?’ So instead of looking for the person, or the riding style of that person, or counting one, two, three, four, five, six, you’re just looking for a colour.

“It’s a small advantage,” he continued. “Let’s not beat around the bush, we’re not saving on aero gains or anything.”

There are also advantages for the team directors in the follow car, Dowsett explained.

“They’re not having to memorise riders’ numbers,” he said. “I think it will just be easier for the directors to know if someone needs to miss a turn, if someone says they’re struggling, [or] if someone’s getting in on the back. It’ll hopefully be easier to relay that information to the riders as well.”

XDS Astana ultimately placed 13th of 22 teams in the Paris-Nice team time trial, which was won by Visma-Lease a Bike. Without the fluorescent gloves, though, who knows where they might have finished?

Former Hour Record holder Alex Dowsett has been confirmed as Astana Qazaqstan’s new performance engineer, in a raft of new appointments within the WorldTour team.

The 36-year-old Brit, who called time on a 13-year road career at the end of 2022, is taking on his first staff role in pro cycling, reportedly hired on the recommendation of the team’s retiring sprinter, Mark Cavendish.

Dowsett’s new role will include equipment testing, optimising rider positioning, and preparing for time trials, which he excelled in during his career, winning six national titles.

Astana Qazaqstan’s general manager, Alexandr Vinokurov, described the Brit's appointment as an "invaluable addition".

"[He] bring[s] expertise in biomechanics and aerodynamics. He understands speed and high-performance cycling," Vinokurov said.

According to a Substack report from journalist Daniel Benson, Dowsett was part of the wind tunnel team that helped optimise Cavendish’s riding ahead of this summer’s Tour de France, where the sprinter won a record-breaking 35th stage.

Dowsett told Benson: “After I helped him highlight some areas he could improve, namely with the aero bottles at the Tour, which gave him a 2% reduction in CDA on the Wilier, he recommended to the team that they take me on."

The Brit has spent the last two years competing in time trial events across the UK. He described his new performance engineer role as a “dream job”.

Dowsett is one of four names confirmed as joining Astana Qazaqstan’s performance team for 2025. Alongside him, Helmet Dollinger and Manuel Crespo will become coaches, while Morgan Saussine has been hired as a data analyst, having also worked on ‘Project 35’.

Former British road champion Pete Kennaugh will also join the team as a sports director, according to Cyclingnews. The 35-year-old, a friend of Cavendish’s and also hailing from the Isle of Man, is currently the lead sports director of British Continental outfit Trinity Racing.

Starting from next season, Astana Qazaqstan will receive sponsorship funds from Chinese carbon fiber company XDS. The deal will see the team receive a long-term investment of “at least five years”, with financing “at the level of leading WorldTour teams”, according to a press release shared this summer.

It is understood the team will ride on XDS’s own-brand X-Lab bikes. “They’re really good bikes,” Dowsett told Benson, “but my process was to make sure that the bikes were good enough to go racing and then try and make them perfect.”

Alex Dowsett has said that he sees no issue with the new 20mph speed limit ruling from the national governing body for time trialling that was announced this week. 

In new guidance published on Tuesday by Cycling Time Trials [CTT], it was announced that all riders taking part in time trials on UK roads will now need to slow down when riding through 20mph zones. 

CTT stated that the consensus is that 20mph zones and time trialling are “incompatible” and therefore any course with a substantial 20mph section should no longer be used if an alternative route is available. 

The new ruling is bound to cause a stir amongst the UK time trialling scene. But former multiple national time trial champion Dowsett told Cycling Weekly that it's a logical step to take in order to safeguard the future of the discipline on British roads. 

“I don’t think it changes a great deal to be honest and is the right thing to do and stance to take,” he said. 

“We’ll lose a few courses to 20mph speed limits, there’ll be question marks over 30mph speed limits but I think we’ll find most courses are on national speed limit roads. 

“I don’t mean dual carriageways necessarily but country lanes where the traffic count is minimal. 

“A 20mph speed limit I’d imagine reflects a high traffic count which is a non-starter for a course.”

The CTT explained in its new guidance that most riders competing in time trials in Britain travel between 20 and 30mph and acknowledged that riding at high speeds is capable of “causing public outrage” as well as potential risk to other road users and the riders themselves. 

“Such conduct could cause the Government to review the existing permission for time trials to take place on public roads, expose riders and organisers and CTT officials to the possibility of civil and criminal proceedings, and invalidate the insurance CTT holds for participants in time trials,” the guidance reads. 

As a result, Dowsett explained that after reading through the new information himself, he feels it is a sensible move from CTT long term. 

“Either way, it’s right that a national governing body should be encouraging sticking to speed limits and the law to protect our sport long term,” he added. 

Former racing cyclist, and resident Cycling Weekly expert Michael Hutchinson said that 30mph zones could end up coming into question in relation to the new guidance too. 

“My instinct would be that you shouldn't be racing in a 20mph zone at all and then I read that and thought actually, maybe this is more pragmatic,” Hutchinson said on the guidance. “The other question of course is what then happens with 30 mile an hour zones? Because there's no shortage of 30 mile an hour zones that you race through.”

A lengthier guidance note on the new ruling, available on the CTT website, clearly states that if district and club officials are unable to find alternatives to courses featuring 20mph limits, then some exceptions may apply. 

This includes taking into account whether a course is a typically used hill climb, or features similar terrain on a circuit. 

Hutchinson explained that he was interested to see how the exceptions would be put into practice moving forward. 

“Going through the guidance notes they've published along with it, kind of my first thought was let's see how this goes,” he said. “It might work and it might not. Clearly with hill climbs, that seems fair enough. There are a few hill climbs that people might hit 20 miles an hour on but not many at all.

“That’s the same with a climb on a hilly circuit or something, I think the same logic applies there. I think the third and fourth exemptions, I'd be curious to see how it works in practice.” 

“I kind of wondered if in some instances, they might end up setting up a couple of timing stations into an over 20mph zone that they could then use to work out if people are exceeding the speed limit,” Hutchinson added. “But a lot of these are going to end up being on sort of small, relatively little used club courses where riders probably will obey a 20mph speed limit. 

“I mean it would clearly be a totally different ball game if you tried running a national championship on a course with a mile and a half of 20 mile an hour speed limit on it, that'd be very hard to make work. 

"If we're talking about a club course, that's got 300 yards of a 20 mile an hour zone somewhere, in a village or something, then that might well be capable of being made to work perfectly.”

In 2022 there has been a changing of the guard at the top level of professional cycling. 

Some of the biggest names in the sport have called time on their careers, passing over the torch to the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar as they ride off into the sunset. 

As well as the aforementioned trio, riders like Wout Van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel have taken the baton from Philippe Gilbert as being the riders to watch on the Classics scene. 

This year multiple Grand Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali has hung up his wheels after a final hurrah at Il Lombardia and former World Champion Alejandro Valverde has also retired after one final season. 

Valverde’s retirement allows new names to shine in Spanish cycling. For many years, Spanish fans will have wondered when the next big home Vuelta win would come but with talents like Juan Ayuso and Carlos Rodriguez stepping into the Valverde shaped gap, that win may not be that far away. 

We’ve put together a breakdown of seven riders who have retired from cycling's top level this year and an assessment of their legacy in the sport. 

VINCENZO NIBALI

The Italian former Grand Tour winner and stage racer supreme announced at this year’s Giro d’Italia that he would be retiring at the end of 2022. 

He leaves a legacy of being arguably the last of the great Italian stage racers, and his palmares comfortably backs up that argument. Three monument titles including two Il Lombardia victories and one Milan-San Remo as well as overall wins at Tirreno-Adriatico in 2012 and 2013 more than speak for themselves. 

The Sicily-born rider is also a two-time Giro d’Italia winner and has seven individual stages to his name. Nibali also won the Tour de France in 2014 and took six individual stage victories at the French Grand Tour during his career. 

Adding in his 2010 Vuelta a España victory to the equation makes him not only one of the last great Italian stage racers, but also one of the all time greatest riders in the sports history.

Few riders of his generation can match the prolific winning record of the “Shark of Messina”.

ALEJANDRO VALVERDE

42-year-old Alejandro Valverde finally retired from the sport's top level with the 2022 Il Lombardia also being his final outing in the WorldTour. Valverde finished a more than respectable sixth in that final race behind winner Tadej Pogačar.

Valverde’s career has been stacked with a huge list of one day race victories including four Liège–Bastogne–Liège victories and five La Flèche Wallonne titles. As well as this the Spaniard is also the 2018 road world champion and won the Vuelta a España in 2009. 

However, the 42-year-olds impressive palmares has a significant black spot which it is impossible to ignore. His involvement in the Operación Puerto doping scandal. 

Valverde received a two-year doping ban in 2010 for his part in the affair and all of his results that year were annulled. Since his doping ban the cycling world has often struggled to look the other way when it came to the Spaniard achieving any further success. 

As a result of this, his legacy in cycling is blemished by his doping offences. 

RICHIE PORTE

Prior to the 2022 Tour of Britain, Richie Porte announced that the British week-long event would be his final racing outing. 

In 2020 the Australian rider left Trek-Segafredo to join Ineos Grenadiers, a team he had previously raced for under the Team Sky name. A high point of Porte’s time at Ineos was his 2021 Critérium du Dauphiné victory.  

Before making a return to the British team, Porte enjoyed a successful spell at Trek-Segafredo which saw him achieve his first ever Grand Tour podium finish. Porte was able to stay with a rampant Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič for much of the 2020 Tour de France meaning that he would eventually finish third overall. 

Throughout the years, Porte’s exploits in the Grand Tour’s leave a more than respectable legacy at the sports top level that other Australian riders will look to emulate. 

With the emergence of riders like Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley and Ineos Grenadiers' Luke Plapp, Australian cycling is in a comfortable place despite Porte's retirement. 

PHILIPPE GILBERT

40-year-old Gilbert retired from cycling after an illustrious career which has seen him win four of the five monuments and stages at all three of cycling’s Grand Tours. 

The Belgian rider was renowned as being one of the best puncheurs in the business and that was backed up with impressive wins at Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders as well as the world title in 2012 in the Netherlands. 

One of the main highlights of Gilbert’s career is undoubtedly the four victories he took at the Amstel Gold race in the Netherlands. His world title win came on a similar route to the Dutch one day race and as a result, the Cauberg climb in Holland will long be associated with his cycling exploits. 

Gilbert recently announced that despite the rumours, he will not be taking over as manager of his final professional team Lotto Soudal in 2023. 

Winning four of the five monuments is no mean feat. When you bring his Amstel-Gold victories into the discussion, it’s impossible to consider Gilbert as being anything other than one of the greatest one-day racers of all time. 

LISA BRENNAUER 

German racer Lisa Brennauer retired in August after an impressive career which has seen the 34-year-old win both the individual and team time trial world titles on multiple occasions. 

Brennauer also won the female German national time trial championship on five occasions with 2022 being her final victory. As well as this she also won the German national road title on four occasions. One of her biggest highlights was a gold medal at the rearranged 2020 Olympics in the women’s team pursuit, in which the German team set a new world record. 

On the road the German won the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta race in 2019 and 2020.

Brennauer’s record is pretty incomparable in women’s German cycling, leaving her with a legacy as being arguably the best German female racer there has been to date.  

TOM DUMOULIN 

Dutchman Tom Dumoulin retired in August after a career which has seen him win the Giro d’Italia and multiple time trial titles. 

As well as his accomplishments on the bike, one of Dumoulin’s biggest achievements was also opening up the conversation on mental health and wellbeing in cycling when he decided to take a break from the sport in 2021 after being “unhappy as a cyclist for a year”. 

Several months later, Dumoulin capped his return to the sport with a silver medal in the men’s time trial at the 2020 Olympic games. He then announced that 2022 would be his final year with his last race being the World Championships in Wollongong, Australia. 

During his long career Dumoulin won the Giro in 2017, as well as the Dutch national time trial championships on four separate occasions and his Olympic silver medal in Tokyo. 

He’ll be remembered as a formidable Grand Tour rider who was also brave enough to publicly speak out about the psychological strain of elite competition.

ALEX DOWSETT 

During his long career, Alex Dowsett established a name for himself as being a top-level time trial specialist and one of the best that Great Britain has ever produced. 

He is the record holder for the most British national time trial titles- which he won on six occasions and he also has two Giro d’Italia stage wins to his name which he took in 2013 and in 2020. He also held the official hour record in 2015.

Dowsett suffers from haemophilia, a condition which prevents your blood from clotting, and he set up a charity called ‘Little Bleeders’ with the intention of encouraging young people suffering with the condition to engage with sport. 

The Essex-born rider leaves a legacy as not only being a top level athlete, but also one determined to give something back to the wider community not just focussing on cycling. Something which is of great importance and other top level athletes would do well to emulate on  a more frequent basis. 

It probably was not the way Alex Dowsett expected his last professional bike race in Britain to go, but stage five of the Tour of Britain last week was the denouement of the 33-year-old's racing career on home soil.

The Queen's death last Thursday led to the final three stages of the Tour of Britain being cancelled, with Dowsett finding out while in a hotel near Gloucester on Friday morning.

While the Israel-Premier Tech rider still has a few races still to come in his last few months as a professional, last week was very much part of his farewell from the WorldTour.

Last month, Dowsett announced his retirement, saying that he had changed his mind on a future in the WorldTour once it had become clear that it would be another "waiting game" to find a contract.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly in Nottingham ahead of stage five, he said that it was "more significant" announcing his career end than he imagined.

"I've know for a while now, a long time, but it was more significant releasing the information than I gave it credit for, than I thought it would be," Dowsett explained. "It has been quite exciting. Since the announcement there has been quite a few opportunities have arisen.

"It's been massive. Half in terms of support, but also people enquiring as to what I'm doing next and wanting to be involved in other things, stuff that I've never considered. Just saying yes to a lot of things, and keeping my options well and truly open."

Last month he explained: "My future is still going to be on two wheels, this isn’t a retirement from cycling. This is a retirement from the WorldTour.”  

Dowsett is behind a cycling brand called Thighs Club, which makes aero clothing for cyclists.

“I’m looking forward to actually being able to help more people go faster, with some business plans we have, and not being worried that I’m helping people beat me but just enjoying helping people go faster,” he said.

The man from Essex holds the record for most British time trial titles - six - and won two Giro d'Italia stages across his career. He also briefly held the Hour Record, with a distance of 52.937km, before handing it over to Bradley Wiggins a month later in 2015; he is one of the five Britons to hold the record.

On stage four, Dowsett was part of a gruppetto, or the group at the back of the race with Richie Porte, who has retired from the sport following the Tour of Britain.

"We chatted a little bit," Dowsett explained. "We're quite similar in that retirement is a bit of an unknown. We were having a good chat about our career really, how much cycling has changed over the years. I knew Richie from when we were both U23s back in Italy, he was on an Italian team, I was on the national one. It has been cool to share a career with him."

He said in his announcement that he could not face the "waiting game" of trying to find a contract in pro cycling next year. Expanding on this last week, he said that there was always "one reason or another" for it to be hard, from the pandemic to teams folding to relegation.

"The last few contract cycles have not been much fun," Dowsett said. "It's part of it, unfortunately. This year, it seems like there's more teams than there are riders, certainly at a pro conti level, but those teams don't necessarily have the funds to fund the level of rider they want. There never seems to be a good reason to be up for contract, for one reason or another over the last few years.

"There's always a something. All you need is one team to fold and then it's pandemonium. This year with all the relegation, a lot has been pushed to the end of the year for everyone. It's hassle. I think when I informed my manager of my plans he breathed a sigh of relief, that was a load of his mind."

With his manager relieved, Dowsett seems to be looking to the future now with optimism, with all those opportunities in his jersey pocket.

Alex Dowsett is set to retire from professional cycling, with the 33-year-old saying that he had changed his mind on a future in the WorldTour once it had become clear that it would be another "waiting game" to find a contract.

The Israel-Premier Tech rider's contract is up at the end of 2022, and so he will be ending his 12-year long stay at the top of cycling come the end of the season. 

The man from Essex holds the record for most British time trial titles - six - and won two Giro d'Italia stages across his career. He also briefly held the Hour Record, with a distance of 52.937km, before handing it over to Bradley Wiggins a month later in 2015; he is one of the five Britons to hold the record.

In a video for his YouTube channel, Dowsett said: "I’m going to step out of the WorldTour, well step out of pro cycling, from now. I understand a couple of months ago I said I wanted a couple more years. It’s worth talking about what’s changed since then. 

“This year I’ve gone through a period of the want to win something bigger than I previously won, or be better than I’ve previously been has wavered somewhat and I’ve been more in a state of being happy with what I have achieved, being content with my world and achievements and success and application to my time in the World Tour. 

"I feel it’s a very nice point to stop this chapter of my life and move forwards. I’m grateful I get to bring this to a close on my terms, it's my decision, nothing has been forced.”

Dowsett turned professional with Team Sky in 2011, and had spells at Movistar, Katusha-Alpecin and finally Israel-Premier Tech. His 15 wins over his career include the overall title at Bayern Rundfahrt in 2015. He competed in two Tours de France as well as five Giri d'Italia.

He is known for being a unique professional athlete as he suffers from haemophilia. He helped found a charity called Little Bleeders, which "supports young people with blood disorders to 'move more and be more'".

“Early in the year my manager and I tested the water with a future in pro-cycling, another couple of years, but when it was clear it was going to be another waiting game I said to my manager lets just stop looking. I want to move on from this,” he said. 

“I think since making that call I've become more and more excited about the future.

“My future is still going to be on two wheels, this isn’t a retirement from cycling. This is a retirement from the WorldTour.”  

Dowsett is also behind a cycling brand called Thighs Club, which makes aero clothing for cyclists.

“I’m looking forward to actually being able to help more people go faster, with some business plans we have, and not being worried that I’m helping people beat me but just enjoying helping people go faster,” he said.

He also explained that he would not be heading straight into the gravel racing scene, like other season professionals have in recent years.

"It would be highly arrogant of me to sit here and say I’m going to go and be a pro gravel racer now because I’ve never participated in gravel," Dowsett said. "I am fascinated by it, but what gives me the right to say I’m going to be a pro gravel racer now, because honestly I’ve got no idea of that scene.”

Watch Alex Dowsett's retirement video

Alex Dowsett walks away from his Hour Record attempt from the Aguascalientes velodrome in Mexico without any regrets, having raised over £45,000 so far for Haemophilia Society and his own charity, Little Bleeders. 

Dowsett, who suffers from rare blood disease haemophilia, rode independently from his team Israel Start-Up Nation in order to raise awareness and money for the two aforementioned charities.

Speaking in the latest YouTube video documenting his Hour Record, Dowsett explained his emotions towards the donations 24 hours on.

"The response since has been quite overwhelming," Dowsett said. "The JustGiving page is now at over £40,000, which is far beyond anything we ever expected, it really is. That’s quite phenomenal."

Despite falling 534 metres short of Victor Campenaerts' record of 55.089 kilometres in the Hour Record, Dowsett seemed content that he managed 54.555 kilometres himself. While he failed to break the record, he Briton is confident that he left everything he had on the track, and couldn't have done anything differently.

"I’m confident that was everything I had, and that was the important thing," Dowsett said.

"I am satisfied with the outcome. I’m not walking way with the World Record but I am walking away with the satisfactory feeling that I had the World Record and that I’ve also shown the Hour Record what I can do. We’re good."

The video also captures Alex sitting down with his coach, Michael Hutchinson. The pair analyse his attempt, describing how tactical changes still wouldn't have propelled himself further than Campenaerts managed.

"The goal to start with was to get the first five to ten minutes right, not getting too excited and settling on pace," Dowsett explained. "After that, from 15 to 20 minutes I had a bit of a rough patch but settled down again, then at 30 minutes I was like ‘I can do this, I’m in control'.

"But then at 35 minutes I started to be in somewhat less control. The lap times just started slipping away. I was five seconds up and thinking ‘ok, I’ve got five seconds of a buffer, hopefully I can lose that, regroup, and go again, but try as I might, I just couldn’t get back on top of it."

At that point in the challenge, the 33-year-old's lap times crept up towards the 17-second mark, 0.7 seconds slower than he needed to challenge Campenaerts' distance. However, both Dowsett and Hutchinson seemed content that the Briton's efforts couldn't be faulted. 

Hutchinson told Dowsett: "I thought it was a really good attempt, and you should be really proud of it because the margins are really tight."

Alex Dowsett did not manage to beat Victor Campenaerts World Hour Record at the Aguascalientes Velodrome in Mexico but did send out a powerful message to people carrying Haemophilia.

Dowsett, who did the record attempt for the second time in his career after first breaking the record back in May of 2015 with a distance of 52.937km, managed a ride of 54.555km, still behind Campenaerts' 55.089km set in April 2019.

But the ride was about so much more than just the record, with Dowsett adding that the money and awareness raised for a condition of which he is a carrier was one of the main targets along with trying to set a new record.

>>> Alex Dowsett falls short of Hour Record in Mexico

Speaking after the effort, a visibly exhausted and emotional Dowsett said that missing the record was not a failure, adding there was an equally important goal: "The biggest failure today would have been to have never tried and that's the message to send out you know, is I spent a childhood of being told what I couldn't do. 

"And you know, we, my mum, my dad, we knew what we couldn't do, like football, rugby, boxing. So we set about finding what we could do. We turned a negative into an absolute positive and I've been able to carve a massive career out, carve it from adversity.

"And that that should be the message, life can give you at a bad hand at times. And it's how you, it's what you make of it."

The six-time national time trial champion later posted to his Instagram where he thanked everyone involved in his effort from his family, including his partner Chanel and young daughter Juliette, to the coaches like Michael Hutchinson as well as the sponsors Pfizer, Israel Start-Up Nation, and the rest.

"We had three objectives for the attempt and we succeeded at two of them," Dowsett wrote. 

"54.555km is a distance I’m proud of, it’s everything I had/have and that’s the first success, I shot for the record, I was ok for 30mins and there was nothing more I could do to hang onto it.

"The second, and most important, is the awareness we’ve bought to a rare condition who my family have not only turned such a negative into a such a positive, but really making the absolute best of it.

"Mum, Dad, Lois, Chanel and Juliette were on my sleeve throughout today and kept me going even when I knew it was slipping away. Today was not a failure but the message from trying and missing the record is perhaps more poignant than that of succeeding, it would’ve been incredibly easy to not have attempted this."

Haemophilia, of which Dowsett, his mother and his daughter are carriers, is a rare and often inherited bleeding disorder where the blood does not clot properly. This means that a carrier could suffer from spontaneous bleeding as well as continued bleeding after an injury or surgery. 

It is not known whether Dowsett will ever try to go for the record again, but with growing rumours that world time trial champion and team pursuit world record holder Filippo Ganna is looking at an attempt, that may be unlikely.

To donate to Dowsett's cause, just follow his Just Giving link.

Alex Dowsett has fallen short of setting a new UCI World Hour Record at the Aguascalientes Velodrome in Mexico.

The Briton missed out on Victor Campenaerts' record of 55.089km set at the same velodrome in 2019, riding to a distance of 54.555km.

Dowsett has held the Hour Record previously, having set a new distance in May 2015 in Manchester before Bradley Wiggins beat his distance just a month later.

The 33-year-old set off on his record attempt at 16.00 local time in Aguascalientes, which sits at almost 1900m in altitude.

In the first 10 laps Dowsett was riding up on the time of Campenaerts's record, but his time in front of the Belgian was short-lived.

With around 20 minutes of the effort gone Dowsett had dropped to around three seconds behind the record, having completed 18.250km.

While he sustained that gap for a time, by halfway the cracks were beginning to show as the time slipped to four seconds and continued to go up.

Ahead of the record Dowsett said he’d be looking to do 16.3-second laps at the 30km mark, but he was still riding 16.4-second laps at that point.

With 40 minutes gone it was really not looking good for the former British time trial champion, who looked to be struggling as the gap escalated to over seven seconds.

He was still riding at over 54.8kmh with 46 minutes ridden, but at well over 12 seconds down the record looked to be gone.

That was all but confirmed when at 52 minutes in Dowsett sat up from the skis on his bars due to discomfort, before settling back in and battling on with his effort despite being at 21 seconds behind the Hour Record.

Dowsett continued on to complete the Hour Record attempt, but fell short by over 500m, or two laps of the velodrome. He also missed out on Dan Bigham's British record of 54.723km, which was set in Grenchen, Switzerland in October.

"The biggest failure today would have been to have never tried and that's the message I want to send out," Dowsett, who rode the record to raise awareness and money for haemophilia charities, said after the finish.

"[I] came up short. And I just want to take it to say another well done to Victor [Campenaerts] and to Dan Bigham because there was a British record up for grabs today and I was a bit shy. Hats off to both of them are both incredible athletes."

Alex Dowsett attempts the Hour Record tonight at 10pm GMT, at the Aguascalientes Velodrome in Mexico. 

He is livestreaming the event on his YouTube channel, while BBC iPlayer is also broadcasting the event. 

Dowsett is looking to break world record holder Victor Campenaerts' 2019 distance of 55.089km. The 33-year-old is attempting to break the record at the same velodrome that Campenaerts used for his record in 2019, suggesting that his performance will benefit from being 1,900 metres above sea level.  

The Briton previously set the Hour Record in May 2015 in Manchester with a distance of 52.937km, before Bradley Wiggins beat him just a month later. Dowsett hasn't attempted the challenge since, cancelling an effort in December 2020 after contracting Covid-19. 

Four riders have officially attempted the Hour Record since Campenaerts' record-breaking distance in 2019, with all of them unsuccessful in their efforts.

>>> 'I think it’s a 50-50': Victor Campenaerts unsure if Alex Dowsett will break his Hour Record

Dan Bigham's distance of 54.723km is currently the British record, however, it isn't officially recognised by the UCI, because the organisation's rules require an athlete to participate in its anti-doping system, including having a biological passport.

Regardless, Bigham's distance is also another record Dowsett is looking to beat tonight.

Dowsett has organised the event independent of his Israel Start-Up Nation team, because he is attempting the Hour Record to raise awareness for his charity Little Bleeders, as well as the work of the Haemophilia Society.

As a result, he has sourced his own equipment for the attempt. This includes a Factor Hanzo time trial bike (track version), Aerocoach Aten chainring, and a custom Vorteq skinsuit. 

Victor Campenaerts has revealed that he would be happy for Alex Dowsett to break his UCI Hour Record, as Dowsett prepares for the challenge in Mexico on Wednesday.  

Campenaerts holds the current hour record with a distance of 55.089km, which he set in April 2019 after breaking the benchmark set by Bradley Wiggins four years prior. Wiggins beat Dowsett on that occasion, just a month after the latter had set the new record.

Dowsett will attempt the Hour Record for the second time in his career on Wednesday at the Aguascalientes Velodrome in Mexico, 1800m above sea level and at the same venue where Campenaerts produced a performance that hasn't been beaten since. 

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the Belgian wished Alex the best of luck, highlighting that he would congratulate him if he managed to ride farther than 55.089km. If it is broken though, Campenaerts revealed that he doesn't expect to have any plans to try and wrestle the record back.

>>> How to watch Alex Dowsett's Hour Record attempt: Live stream the event from Mexico

“If he breaks it, I’m happy for him," Campenaerts said. "Records are there to be broken, and Alex is a nice guy. I also know what it would mean to him to break the record, so I would be happy for him."

“I don’t think I’d go back after him - not on short notice anyway - because of changes in my career. I think I lost a lot of my time trial abilities. It would be already hard to break my own record, so if Alex breaks it, I will just cheer hard for him, congratulate him, and not go back after him.”

During the video, Campenaerts also spoke about Dowsett's chances of breaking his record, and what it'll take for him to be successful.

"I think it’s a 50-50 per cent chance that he can break my record," Campenaerts said. "I think the biggest benefit Alex has over me is that he already had the Hour Record before. He already did an attempt and the full preparation.

"I prepared for the Hour Record very well but by doing it all I learned some things that I would do differently. That’s a big advantage Alex has – that he has the experience."

Also in Dowsett's favour, Campenaerts suggests, is the benefit he has in selecting the best equipment and technology that provides him with as much speed as possible. With the Briton attempting the challenge independent of his Israel Start-Up Nation team, he has the ability to choose whatever he wants to use and wear, regardless of sponsors. 

"Technology hasn’t been standing still. Everything goes forward," Campenaerts said. "Tyres are getting faster, frames are getting more aero, suits are getting faster, you have faster chainrings, raster chain lubes. All marginal gains but those margins are all very important in the end if you want to break an Hour Record.

"There are also new rules. Alex can ride with aero shoe covers, which I wasn’t allowed, though that’s only a small advantage.

"All marginal gains, but all very important if you want to break the hour record."

Alex Dowsett will attempt the Hour Record on Wednesday November 3, at the Aguascalientes Velodrome in Mexico. 

>>> WATCH ALEX DOWSETT'S HOUR RECORD LIVE HERE <<<

The Hour Record attempt will be streamed live on Dowsett's YouTube channel, with the attempt starting at 10pm GMT. BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport app will also broadcast the challenge, with coverage starting from 21:45pm GMT. 

Dowsett is looking to break world record holder Victor Campenaerts' 2019 distance of 55.089km, with the 33-year-old confident that the 1,900-meter elevation air of the Mexico track will help with improving his distance - Campenaerts broke the record on the same track.

“It’s quite a different beast coming to altitude to do an Hour Record, because the requirements are so different and you’ve got to travel the same speed, but actually the difference at that speed compared with sea level is quite significant,” Dowsett said.

“We calculated that in terms of moving the air around you it’s the equivalent of riding 43 kilometers in an hour at sea level, however with that comes the distinct lack of oxygen up here.”

Dowsett previously set the Hour Record in May 2015 in Manchester, before Bradley Wiggins beat his distance just a month later. The Israel Start-Up Nation rider hasn't attempted the challenge since, cancelling an effort in December 2020 after contracting Covid-19. 

Now though, the former Hour Record holder is looking forward to attempting to regain the title in Mexico. 

As a haemophiliac, and the only known elite sportsperson that competes in an able-bodied field with the condition, Dowsett is also riding to raise awareness of his charity, Little Bleeders, as well as the work of the Haemophilia Society. Consequently, the Briton has organised the event independent of his Israel Start-Up Nation team and he has sourced his own equipment for the attempt. 

Dowsett's attempt comes at a time when interest in the hour record has experienced a resurgence. Joss Lowden broke the women's record in September with a distance of 48.405km in Switzerland, while Dan Bigham broke Britain's national record with a distance of 54.723km.

Italian world time trial champion and Olympic gold medallist Filippo Ganna has also suggested that he will attempt the record in the future, but he hasn't given a specific timeframe yet. 

In a country where you can't watch the Hour Record?

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Alex Dowsett will attempt to break the Hour Record in Mexico next month. 

British time trial specialist and WorldTour pro Dowsett had planned to take on the prestigious track record in December 2020, but was forced to cancel the attempt after he contracted coronavirus. 

After initially planning to take on the Hour at the Manchester velodrome last year, Dowsett has now moved the event to the velodrome in Aguascalientes, Mexico, the high-altitude track where Victor Campenaerts set the existing Hour Record. 

Dowsett’s attempt will take place on November 3 at the Velodromo Bicentenario in Mexico, as the 32-year-old attempts to topple the 55.089km set by Belgium’s Campenaerts in April 2019. 

The Essex-born rider previously held the record for just a month in 2015, before his distance was beaten 36 days later by Sir Bradley Wiggins, 

Israel Start-Up Nation pro Dowsett said: “When I took the record in 2015, we rode enough to break the record but I knew I had more in the tank at the end which was frustrating given the work put in by everyone. Last year’s attempt was derailed when I contracted Covid-19 but the same reasons for wanting to do it are all still there. I want to see what I’m capable of and it’s an event I just really love and feel privileged to have the opportunity to take on again.

“In terms of difficulty I know the bar has been set extremely high by Victor. It’s going to be a very big ask but I think I’m capable. The biggest hurdle this time with it being in Mexico will be the altitude. Being at altitude the power output required will be lower than at sea level because of the thin air, but it’s not all plain sailing as the thin air also brings a tougher environment for breathing. We think in the end it should be more beneficial than detrimental to be at altitude.” 

The Hour Record, which sees riders cover as much ground as possible in 60 minutes on the track, has been back in focus this year, as Joss Lowden smashed the women’s Hour Record during her attempt in Switzerland last month. 

Her partner Dan Bigham also tackled the British Hour Record, as he builds towards an attempt on the World Hour Record next year. 

>>> Strava data reveals huge performances from Fausto Masnada, Alejandro Valverde, and Mike Woods in Il Lombardia 2021

But the race to break the Campenaerts record is now on, as time trial world champion and Olympic gold medallist on the track Filippo Ganna is eyeing up his own attempt, and based on previous form he could smash the existing record.  

In a recent 30-minute test, Ganna averaged 57.5km/h, covering 115 laps of a track - if he had continued to ride the full hour at that pace he would have beaten Campenaerts’ distance but around 2km. 

The British team time trial squad have explained the the reason for the unusual lumps on the front of their jerseys at the World Championships. 

During the second edition of the Worlds mixed relay TTT in Flanders on Wednesday (September 22), race commentators for GCN Rob Hatch and Michael Hutchinson noticed the shapes on the torsos for the Brits, speculating about the reasoning. 

Speaking after the finish in Bruges, the British Cycling team confirmed that they had opted to place their race radios down the front of the jerseys, rather than their usual place in the back pocket of a skinsuit, both for safety and aerodynamic purposes. 

Team leader Dan Bigham said: “Well, it's twofold really, more on the safety front - obviously you never want to crash but if you crash with the radio on your back it really hurts. 

“It's also not very good aerodynamically and it's just a better place to put it. Have you ever tried putting a radio down your back?” 

Joss Lowden, one of the engines in the women’s side of the TTT team, joked: “I like putting it down my front because I like to feel like I’m better endowed.” 

On whether the innovation is allowed under strict UCI rules for time trials, Alex Dowsett said: “You can put it anywhere and we put it on our front because it's got a nasty lump on the back where airflow is quite important. 

“The UCI checks us from the start, they check the bikes before we come to the start as well, they look us up and down and end of the day they let us roll down the start ramp or they don’t.”

The Brits were one of the strongest early squads to take on the 44km mixed TTT in Belgium, but eventually slipped down to fifth as Germany stormed to a dominant victory, the Netherlands and Italy taking silver and bronze respectively. 

>>> Australian federation shares update on investigation into handlebar failure that caused Tokyo Olympic crash

Following their bronze medal from the inaugural 2019 Worlds mixed relay, Britain finished the 2021 race 55 seconds off the gold medal, and 17 seconds slower than the podium places.  

Alex Dowsett has voiced how disappointed he is to miss out on the Team GB selection at the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer, saying he wanted his daughter to be able to say her dad was an Olympian.

Dowsett (Israel Start-Up Nation) posted a video up on his YouTube channel to talk about how he feels about missing out on the team selection and what he thinks about the new rules implemented by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The team selected for the road cycling Team GB squad were Simon Yates (BikeExchange), twin brother Adam Yates, as well as Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart (all Ineos Grenadiers). Dowsett had hoped to compete in the Olympic TT event in Tokyo, but instead Thomas and Geoghegan Hart will fight for a medal in the solo test. 

Dowsett missed out along with the likes of Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo), James Knox (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), Luke Rowe, Ben Swift and Tom Pidcock (all Ineos Grenadiers). 

Dowsett revealed that he had been working towards the Olympics after he was contacted by British Cycling in 2019 and was told they thought he could be a medal contender in the time trial. But he then learnt he wasn't in the Olympics six days after he left the 2021 Giro d'Italia with stomach issues.

In his YouTube video, he said: "In our day and age we’re told so much that we can be anything or do anything if you want it enough, believe in it enough, it’s tough, I don’t want to sit here and tell you that’s not true but I can sit here and tell you that you can do everything under the sun, you can believe more than anything and it can still not go your way. And that’s okay.

"I had to do a lot of soul searching. There were just some big disappointments. The overriding one is not being able to compete in the Olympics for my country. Not being able to win a medal in the Olympics for my country. 

"The biggest one was being the first haemophiliac to go to the able-bodied Olympics, now that’s not happening I felt a real blow for me and for the haemophilic community, for now. I’m confident it will happen. It may not be me but it will happen. There will be a haemophiliac at the able-bodied Olympics. 

"I wanted my daughter to be able to say that her daddy was an Olympian but that’s okay. I thought about my dad [retired racing driver Phil Dowsett] who’s my sporting hero above all and he didn’t make it to F1, he wasn’t world champion - he was very good and I’m very proud of him and idolise him for where he got to."

The British time trial champion also said that it has brought the fact that he's now come to terms with being 32-years-old and thinking this may have been his last chance with him being 35 for the next games: "I don’t know if the Paris Olympics will be a go for me, I’ll be a bit on the old side, it’s three years away so I’ll be 35 so maybe."

But Dowsett's main issue was with the new IOC rule that he described as "athlete culling" where the time trialists have to do the road race as well. This means that some specialist in the time trial won't be at the Olympics as the road race is a mountainous one.

"The one that really rattled me, and it always has rattled me, was the whole rolling around that the time trialist had to come from the road team. 

"To put this in running, this rule, you say to Usain Bolt, 'yes you can do the 100 metres and the 200 metres which is your jam, but we’re going to need you to line up for the 1500 metres as well if you want to do it because we’re trying to cut numbers.' for me it dilutes it. 

"If you look at the Italian squad, the two best time trialist in Italy at the moment are Edoardo Affini (Jumbo-Visma) and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and only Ganna is going to ride in that TT because it’s a mountainous road race, which is why Affini won’t be going as far as I can guess from what I have read and heard."

But he did stress that he isn't saying he would have been selected even if the rule wasn't in place as he described the team selected as a "weapon" of a team. He continued that his fifth place at the World Championships gave Team GB the second TT place at the Olympics and that he's the national champion, but agrees that those things should not matter in the selection process.

"You can put everything into something and it doesn’t happen and that is also okay. Not everyone can win." He continued. "Not everyone can go, not everyone can be selected for a team. I just think it’s important that you come away knowing that you couldn’t have done anymore and that’s where I’m at.

"I’m okay with it. I’ll probably watch it. I think I’ll watch it. I’ve got a few team-mates in it as well and Chanel [his partner] is a Kiwi so we’re quite divided on who we’re supporting, whether it's Tao and G or Paddy Bevin."

The Olympic Games get underway in Tokyo on July 23 with the road race and time trial on July 24 and July 28.

Alex Dowsett has had to abandon the Giro d'Italia 2021 on stage 12 after suffering from stomach problems.

Dowsett (Israel Start-Up Nation) came into the race hoping to perform well in the two individual time trials that bookend the race as well as looking after his leader Dan Martin on the flatter terrain.

But the British time trial champion has not had a comfortable last few days as he was suffering from stomach issues.

Dowsett managed a strong 14th in the opening time trial with his next best result a 66th place on the second stage, but his job wasn't stage hunting.

Israel Start-Up Nation have had a tough couple of days with Martin losing over six minutes to the pink jersey of Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) on stage 11; the Irishman slipping to 18th in the overall standings after refusing to take risks on the gravel roads.

Along with this disappointment, Israel Start-Up Nation also saw Alessandro De Marchi crash out of the race in the early part of stage 12 today (May 20) with the Italian, who wore the pink jersey earlier in the race, looking in a very bad way as he was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

>>> Aleksandr Vlasov says 'it was not easy to breathe' through dust on gravel stage of Giro d'Italia 2021

The team were quick to confirm that De Marchi was conscious but he was unable to continue with Mauro Vegni, race director of the Giro, telling Italian broadcaster Rai that De Marchi seemed to have some chest trauma and a likely broken collarbone.

Stage 12 has seen several riders having to abandon the race with Marc Soler (Movistar) the highest placed rider in the GC to step off the bike after suffering a heavy fall in the early part of the stage and not recovering.

Stage six winner, Gino Mäder (Bahrain Victorious) has also abandoned the race after finishing last on stage 11 and lost touch early again with Soler before getting in the team car. Fausto Masnada (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) was the other rider to leave the race.

Alex Dowsett has been forced to postpone his Hour Record attempt.

The Israel Start-Up Nation rider had planned an assault on the prestigious record at the Manchester Velodrome on December 12, but the event has been halted after Dowsett contracted coronavirus.

Dowsett said he is "really disappointed" by the news, but said he will focus on his isolation and recovery, with his attempt now postponed until next year.

The 32-year-old pro from Essex said: "I am really disappointed the attempt can’t go ahead as planned but my health is first and foremost the priority.

"I’d like to thank everyone, the event organisers, event sponsors, my team, the UCI and above all the public for their support and very much look forward to attacking the record in 2021 with the same intent.

"We’re looking to announce a 2021 date as soon as possible.”

Dowsett added on Twitter: "Really disappointed to have to postpone the Hour Record attempt. Shortly after we announced the attempt I had some symptoms of Covid and a test result came back positive.

"My focus now is recovery, isolation & my health. Thanks to everyone for their support, we’ll be back stronger."

Dowsett had planned to take back the prestigious title, which he briefly held in 2015 before Sir Bradley Wiggins beat his distance a month later.

The current record is held by Belgium's Victor Campenaerts, who set a staggering 55.089km benchmark in 60 minutes in April 2019.

NTT Pro Cycling rider Campenaerts set his record at 1,800 metres above sea level at the Aguascalientes velodrome in Mexico.

Dowsett had been training hard to prepare for his record attempt, putting up some big distances around his home county Essex in November.

>>> Shane Sutton raised concerns about Chris Froome’s relationship with coach in 2012, Freeman tribunal hears 

Camenpaerts says Dowsett has a 50 per cent chance of breaking his record and added that he would try to retake the title if Dowsett is successful.

A new date for Dowsett's attempt has not yet been set.

Despite a stressful and chaotic year the work is not done for Britain’s Alex Dowsett, as he prepares for an assault on the prestigious Hour Record.

Time trial specialist Dowsett, who races for Israel Start-Up Nation on the road, plans to reclaim the title having held it for just over a month in 2015.

The current Hour Record holder is Belgium’s Victor Campenaerts, who rode 55.089km in 60 minutes at the Aguascalientes Velodrome, Mexico, in April 2019. 

While other pros are enjoying their off-season and preparing for 2021, Dowsett is training hard late into the year, and his Strava stats offer up some insight. 

After finishing the Giro d’Italia in late October, Dowsett took an easier week with 132.7km, before ramping up the distances again from November 2.

That week, the 32-year-old rode 618km on the roads around his home area Essex, with his long ride being a 165km tour starting from Chelmsford, past South Woodham Ferrers, then out to Bradwell Waterside. 

But it’s not all about the distance, as Dowsett’s power numbers on that ride were pretty huge, pushing a 20-minute maximum of 410 watts.

Then last week Dowsett rode another 640km, including a 176km run on November 12. 

The training is only likely to increase in intensity, with less than a month remaining until Dowsett’s attempt on December 12.

He will be trying to set the new record at the Manchester Velodrome, which could be a tall ask as Campenaerts had the benefit of riding at 1,800 metres above sea level in Mexico (Manchester is 38m). 

Camenpaerts says Dowsett has a 50 per cent chance of breaking his record and added that he would try to retake the title if Dowsett is successful.

>>> Tadej Pogačar: My life is the same as before after winning Tour de France 

The former Belgian national time trial champion says Dowsett (Israel Start-Up Nation) choosing Manchester maybe prove to be the wrong decision because of the air pressure. 

Victor Campenaerts, the current Hour Record holder, says he thinks Alex Dowsett has a 50 per cent chance of beating his record next month.

Campernaerts (NTT Pro Cycling) set a record of 55.089km last year at the Aguascalientes Bicentenary Velodrome in Mexico, beating Sir Bradley Wiggins record of 54.526km.

Dowsett has announced he will try to reclaim the prestigious title at the Manchester Velodrome on December 12.

The former Belgian national time trial champion says Dowsett (Israel Start-Up Nation) choosing Manchester maybe prove to be the wrong decision.

"The air pressure makes or breaks an hour record attempt," Campenaerts told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. 

"I am not a climatologist, but in Mexico the air pressure is almost constant every day.

"In Belgium or the United Kingdom, the temperature fluctuates day after day. If he has a breakdown on December 12 and there is high air pressure, I fear it will be an impossible attempt.

“I think he has a 50 per cent chance of breaking the record. I'm glad someone finally dares to do it.”

>>> Alex Dowsett will ride alongside Chris Froome as he extends contact at Israel Start-Up Nation 

Campenaerts recently beat Dowsett in all three time trials at the Giro d'Italia, with Dowsett putting in some disappointing rides against the clock but taking a stage win on the road.

NTT's star time trial rider Campenaerts says that he chatted about the record a lot with Dowsett at the Giro: "In the last Giro d'Italia we were still talking about the Hour Record. I get along well with Alex.

"I like him, but I can't give too many tips either. He is a competitor that can take away my greatest achievement as a cyclist. If he takes my record, I plan another attack in the short term."

The main advantage Dowsett has over the Belgian is that the British rider can choose his own equipment, which is something he has done in TTs in the European and World championships, riding a Specialized bike and wearing a POC helmet instead of his standard team equipment.

Campenaerts says this is a "big advantage" but it won't be easy for Dowsett. Campenaerts says he will be sad to lose it but he will have beaten fairly with the record not being obliterated: "That would be a bit painful [losing to Dowsett], but I honestly don't believe in that. Alex faces a tough challenge. It would be sad for me if it wasn't."

Alex Dowsett will ride in support of Chris Froome, as he has extended his contract with Israel Start-Up Nation.

The Brit was out of contract for 2021 in a tough year for riders trying to find jobs for next season, but after winning the team’s first ever Grand Tour stage at the Giro d’Italia, Dowsett will continue with the Israeli WorldTour team. 

Having joined ISN when they took over his old team, Katusha-Alpecin, Dowsett will now spend another two years with the team, as Grand Tour star Chris Froome joins from Ineos Grenadiers. 

Dowsett said: “Being on the road with the team is great fun. I’m often referred to as a time trial specialist, and it’ll forever be a discipline I love, but I feel I’m of far more value to a team for my strengths as a lead-out man. The team we had for UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatco, and the Giro was so cohesive and such a joy to be a part of. This is what I’m most excited about for the upcoming two years.” 

Dowsett took a remarkable stage victory at this year’s Giro d’Italia, riding solo to win from the breakaway, the first success in a Grand Tour since Israel Start-Up Nation joined the WorldTour. 

Team co-owner Sylvan Adams said: “Alex made history by winning ISN’s first Grand Tour stage. But just as importantly, he’s a great team-mate, with leadership qualities that motivate and guide his fellow riders. He is truly appreciated by his team-mates and the management of our team.”

Dowsett added: “For me this year, a highlight is unsurprisingly stage eight of the Giro d’Italia, something I couldn’t have done without the team, their sponsors, the directors, and my teammates.  It was only a matter of time before one of ISN’s roster secured the team’s first-ever WorldTour and Grand Tour win, and I’m honoured I was able to be the team member that delivered that to the line.”

The 32-year-old from Essex, who will became a father for the first time in the New Year, also has ambitious plans for the end of 2020.

This week Dowsett announced he will try to reclaim his Hour Record from Victor Camepenaerts.

Having held the record briefly in 2015 before losing it to Bradley Wiggins, Dowsett will try once again at the Manchester Velodrome on December 12.

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On his team-mates, Dowsett said: “From the outside, it’s clear ISN is one of the most exciting up-and-coming teams. With the strength of the signings for next year, including Bevin, Vanmarcke, Woods, De Marchi, and of course, Chris Froome, it will be quite something to be part of a team with ambitions to match the signings. 

“I’ll be playing a loyal supporting role to these guys and the sprinters throughout the year. When your teammate wins, you feel like it’s a win for everyone.” 

Alex Dowsett has announced he will attempt to break the Hour Record once again this year.

The British time trial specialist previously smashed the prestigious world record in 2015, but was beaten just 36 days later as Sir Bradley Wiggins set a new benchmark.

Now the UCI Hour Record is held by Belgium’s Victor Campenaerts, who rode a staggering 55.098 kilometres in 60 minutes, riding on the Aguascalientes velodrome in Mexico last April. 

But Dowsett, 32, has ambitions to take back the record in December. 

He said: “When I took the record in 2015, we rode enough to break the record but I knew I had more in the tank at the end, which was frustrating given the work put in by everyone. 

“I spotted an opportunity in December this year to have another go and obviously I want to try and break the record. I want to see what I’m capable of and it’s an event I just really love and feel privileged to have the opportunity to take on again.

“In terms of difficulty, this time around I know the bar has been set extremely high by Victor. It’s going to be a very big ask but I think I’m capable.” 

The attempt will take place on Saturday, December 12 at the Manchester Velodrome, with all the relevant Covid-19 regulations in place for the event.  

Dowsett returned to the UK after finishing the Giro d’Italia last month, where he raced for Israel Start-Up Nation, and has continued his intense training programme to prepare for the world record attempt. 

He has also undergone wind tunnel testing on his bike and skinsuit. 

It will be a tough ask to break the 55km record set by Campenaerts, who benefitted from decreased air density as he set his benchmark at 1,800 metres above sea level - Manchester is just 38m. 

Dowsett said: “The biggest hurdle to overcome in the Hour Record is actually wind. Put simply, the more efficiently you can cut through the air, the easier holding 55km/h-plus will be.

“The only variable outside of our control is atmospheric pressure so we’ll have our fingers crossed for preferable air pressure come December 12.” 

Dowsett, whose contract with Israel Start-Up Nation comes to an end this year but says he has found a new team, is also hoping to race awareness of haemophilia, a rare disease which causes the body to bleed excessively from any wound.

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The Essex-born rider is believed to be the only known elite athlete to compete in an able-bodied field with the condition - he will be taking on the challenge to support his own charity Little Bleeders and the Haemophilia Society. 

Alex Dowsett will continue riding until at least 2022 after securing a new two-year contract, but can't yet reveal which team he will be riding for.

The Brit was unsure of whether he'd be able to continue as a professional bike rider, finding himself without a contract for 2021 during the Giro d'Italia.

"It’s such a tough year. All the uncertainty, working out how I’m going to get to next year and still be racing, still be doing what I love and still being able to put food on the table for three of us rather than two of us come January," Dowsett told Eurosport after taking his solo victory on stage eight of the Italian Grand Tour.

"Hopefully this will help secure something for next year."

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Dowsett's prediction proved right, revealing in a YouTube video that he has a contract that will see him remain as a professional rider for at least another two years.

"The good news is I am sorted. I will be remaining as a cyclist of the professional nature for the next two years at least," Dowsett said. "That's good because I was really for a while...considering all options."

The 32-year-old adds that his Giro win was crucial to getting a new contract and that he had been contemplating life off the bike.

"Turns out winning a stage of the Giro can be quite useful when it comes to trying to keep yourself in bike racing," Dowsett said.

"If I'm honest, starting to consider life outside of racing was initially met with a whole load of fear because the minute I finished my A-levels I was a full-time cyclist and I don't really know any different," he added, the camera panning to a shot of Dowsett's laptop with a Deliveroo job application open on the desktop.

"I was coming around to potentially being a stay at home dad or finding work on the other side of cycling.

"So for when it does all end, perhaps this experience this year has made life a little bit easier to be ready for...because that will be a huge change when it does happen."

Instead, Dowsett will continue racing for the next two seasons at least, by which point he will be 34-years-old and have spent 12 years as a pro rider.

"But fortunately, it's not going to happen in 2021 or 2022," Dowsett says, before explaining he can't yet reveal which team he will be riding for.

Due to the shorter than usual off-season Dowsett says he won't be taking one, instead keeping things ticking over as he prepares for the 2021 season, as well as the arrival of his first child.

"Since the Giro finished I've decided not to off-season this year, not the full four-week bender that pro cyclists usually subject themselves to," he said.

Alex Dowsett’s emotional solo ride on stage eight of the Giro d’Italia was a hugely popular victory.

The Israel Start-Up Nation rider has picked up plenty of prestigious wins in his career, but his breakaway victory in Vieste might just be the biggest yet. 

But what did it take for Dowsett to break clear of his rivals to ride clear with around 17km of the stage remaining? 

The 32-year-old has shared his data on Strava to give fans an insight into the power numbers it takes to win a Giro d’Italia stage. 

Dowsett’s first huge effort came in the first 5km of the stage as he sprinted to break clear of the peloton to make it into the escape, hitting a maximum power of 1,200 watts in the process - his highest power output from the day.

The racing didn’t let up then, as the breakaway group then rode full gas to stay away from the bunch and extend their advantage to a sustainable gap. 

Onto the major climb of the day and Dowsett held a steady power at around 300w to stay with the group.

The pace began to ramp up in the final 30km, before Dowsett’s decisive move 17km from the line, which started with a 900w sprint to get clear of the break.

Dowsett then averaged 350w (around 4.67w/kg) for the final 24 minutes of the race, which allowed him to carry off the victory more than a minute ahead of his companions.

His maximum five-second power over the course of the day was 1,031w, while his five-minute power peak was 402w. 

Dowsett put out 370w for 10 minutes, while his 20 and 30-minute maximums were 250w, while his average heart-rate was 136bpm and a max of 175. 

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The Essex-born rider took plenty of Strava KoMs in the process including on the 26km Vieste finishing circuit, with a time of 35-42, ahead of Salvatore Puccio (Ineos Grenadiers) with a time of 37 minutes.   

But the effort clearly took it's toll on Dowsett, when then finished the following stage to Roccaroso dead last in 160th place, 40 minutes down on the stage winner.

Alex Dowsett has reflected on a tough year after taking a huge win from a breakaway in the Giro d’Italia. 

The British time trial champion made it into the six-rider breakaway from Giovinazzo to Vieste on stage eight, before attacking twice and finally making it away solo 17km from the line.

Dowsett, whose contract with Israel Start-Up Nation runs out at the end of 2020, hopes the victory will help him secure a new contract for next season, as he hopes to continue his career. 

The 32-year-old will become a father for the first time next year, making the stage an even more emotional moment.  

Speaking with Eurosport after the stage, Dowsett said: “It’s such a tough year. All the uncertainty, working out how I’m going to get to next year and still be racing, still be doing what I love and still being able to put food on the table for three of us rather than two of us come January.

“Hopefully this will help secure something for next year. To win like that as well...as you get older you wonder when your last win might be, or your last Grand Tour or your last anything, so you learn to savour it, learn to enjoy it and enjoy it with my team-mates here and enjoy it with [partner] Chanel and my family when I get home.” 

Dowsett and his Israel Start-Up Nation team-mate Matthias Brändle played a tactical masterclass from the break, with Dowsett launching the first attack 30km. 

Brändle then attacked at 17km, before Dowsett kicked again and finally made it clear of the rivals. 

Dowsett reached the finish more than a minute ahead of the rest of the break and looked stunned as he took his second win at the Giro d’Italia after his 2013 TT victory for Movistar.  

The win is also the first Grand Tour stage for Israel Start-Up Nation, which joined the WorldTour this year.

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Essex-born Dowsett said: “I think its going to be a big relief for the team to get that winner under the belt. 

“The team can end this year pretty content with how things have gone so far and we've still got the Tour of Flanders to go and the Vuelta [a España]and a few stages here.” 

Alex Dowsett showed his class with a 17km solo attack to win stage eight of the Giro d'Italia 2020.

Dowsett made it into the day's six-rider breakaway on an unpredictable stage that featured a lot of climbing, with the peloton giving up on the chase at the mid-way point of the day.

Into the final, Israel Start-Up Nation played a tactical masterclass as Dowsett kicked off with the first attack from the break 30km out, attacking once more 17km from the line and pulling clear of his rivals to time trial to a huge solo win.

The stage is Dowsett's second career Giro d'Italia win after his TT victory for Movistar in 2013, and was the first ever Grand Tour victory for Israel Start-Up Nation.

João Almeida (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) holds onto the race lead for another day as the peloton opted not to race.

How it happened

The big talking point before the stage was the abandonments, with five riders not taking to the line in Giovinazzo, most notably Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) who pulled out after testing positive for coronavirus. 

Opinions were split amongst the peloton about whether the stage from Giovinazzo to Vieste would swing in the favour of the breakaway or the sprinters. 

The 200km stage was split into two sections - a pan-flat opening 90km with the terrain then changing as riders hit the 9.4km-long Monte Sant’Angelo, which crested 106km into the day. 

After the descent from the climb, things only got tougher as the course undulated relentlessly over uncategorised climbs, before the fourth-category La Guardiola climb (1.4km at 6.2 per per cent) at 154km. 

The course then continued to roll over the next 30km, before the peloton crossed the finish line for the first time, setting up a single 14km lap to the finish line. 

It was 25km into the race before six riders pulled out a small gap on the bunch, sparking the day’s breakaway. 

Those six were Alex Dowsett and Mattias Brändle (Israel Start-Up Nation), Matthew Holmes (Lotto-Soudal), Salvatore Puccio (Ineos Grenadiers), Joey Rosskopf (CCC Team), and Simone Ravanelli (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), with the gap growing out to 10 minutes over the first 100km of racing, as the peloton was content to let the break have a large gap over the Monte Sant’Angelo, Deceuninck - Quick-Step doing much of the pace-setting at the front of the bunch. 

Minor drama hit the race 80km from the finish as GC contender Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) suffered a mechanical on the descent from the mountain, leaving him trailing the peloton in a large group a minute behind.  

Fuglsang wasn’t able to get in touch over the next 10km, with Trek-Segafredo suddenly deciding it might be an ideal time to chase down the breakaway, but 69km from the line the pace fell away from peloton and the chasers were allowed back in.  

The gap between the break and the bunch had tumbled to eight minutes mid-way through the stage, but with 50km left to race it had drawn out more than 10 minutes once more and it became clear the winner would come from the six hopefuls in the breakaway. 

Finally the fight for the stage honours kicked off 30km from the finish near the summit of an uncategorised climb. 

The other breakaway riders stalled for a moment allowing Dowsett a gap, but Puccio was able to bridge across to the British TT champion and the group came together again after a kilometre. 

With 25km left to the line it was Puccio’s turn to attack with Holmes the quickest to follow, that pair pulling out a decent advantage, before being joined once again by Rosskopf, but the gap was just nine seconds to the rest of the breakaway with 20km to go. 

The break came together again with Brandle launching a half-hearted attack to set up the full attack from Dowsett, 17km from the line.

Dowsett immediately pulled out a gap as his rivals watched him disappear up the road, using his TT skills to pull out a 33 second gap as the breakaway crossed the finish line to start the final lap and the gap continued to grow.

Over the final climb of the day, with just over 10km to race, Holmes and Puccio put in a huge effort to try and close down the gap, bringing Dowsett back to 26 seconds, but Dowsett was strong enough to extend the gap when he hit the flats, back in his element.  

The gap only continued to grow and with 3km to the line Dowsett had 40 seconds, as it became clear he would take the stage alone. 

Dowsett looked to be in complete shock as he took his hands off the bars to celebrate his victory, waving one hand in the air and showing how much it meant to him.

Holmes, Puccio and Rosskopf came into the final straight a minute behind Dowsett, with Puccio sprinting to second and Holmes in third to make it a British one and three. 

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Behind the peloton was in no rush as they came over the final climb of the day, riding in together with no hostilities, 13 minutes behind the winner.  

The bunch did hold a half-hearted sprint for seventh, with Michael Matthews (Sunweb) taking the consolation, while points classification leader Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe both sitting out the sprint.

Almeida is still race leader with an unchanged 43-second advantage over Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-McLaren). 

The Giro d’Italia continues with a big climbing day on stage nine, 208km from San Salvo to Roccaraso with four categorised climbs and a first category finish. 

Results

Giro d'Italia 2020, stage eight: Giovinazzo to Vieste (200km)

1. Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-Up Nation, in 4-50-09

2. Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-15

3. Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto-Soudal

4. Joey Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team, all at same time

5. Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation, at 2-10

6. Simone Ravanelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, at 2-13

7. Michael Matthews (Aus) Sunweb, at 13-56

8. Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates

9. Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates

10. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Ag2r La Mondiale, all at same time

General classification after stage eight

1. João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 29-52-34

2. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain-McLaren, at 43s

3. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Sunweb, at 48s

4. Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, at 59s

5. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, at 1-01

6. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling, at 1-05

7. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana, at 1-19

8. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma, at 1-21

9. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-26

10. Rafał Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-23

Alex Dowsett was one of two riders along with Geraint Thomas representing Great Britain in the World Championship time trial in Imola on Friday.

The British TT champion finished fifth in last year’s race in Yorkshire and was on the heels of the best solo riders in the world, but was only able to manage ninth place in this year's race amongst a strong top-10.

This year Dowsett tried to give himself every advantage by hand-picking all his equipment, opting to ride a bike that isn’t the Factor TT machine used by his Israel Start-Up Nation squad during the rest of the season.

Instead Dowsett opted to run an unbranded Specialized Shiv, with the stickers removed. 

While riders are under strict contractual rules to ride the kit provided by their team in most races, when competing for their national federations athletes are actually free to choose their own equipment. 

Israel Start-Up Nation ride Factor bikes and in time trials compete on the Factor Slick machine. 

But to maximise his aero efficiency on the 31.7km-long course in Imola, Dowsett rode Specialized’s rapid disc TT bike, the Shiv.  

Dowsett rode in the ubiquitous Poc Tempor aero helmet, which has become hugely popular in recent years thanks to the Huub-Wattbike team on the track. 

The wheels kitted to the Shiv are also pretty striking, as Dowsett used the Revolver Troika TMD tri-spoke front wheel, which features a carbon minidisc on the non-disc side of the wheel, which redirects the airflow around the disc rotor.

He has already tested the set-up this year, riding the European Championships time trial on the same kit, taking fourth-place as Stefan Küng (Switzerland) took the win.

Aerodynamics were pivotal throughout the Imola course, a high-speed out and back route with very little climbing, which makes straight-line speed on the flat key. That played into the favour of Italian Filippo Ganna, whose incredible power over shorter courses saw him come out on top ahead of Belgian champion Wout van Aert in second and Stefan Küng in third.

Like fourth place Geraint Thomas, Ganna rode the Ineos Grenadiers issue Pinarello Bolide bike.

>>> Filippo Ganna destroys rivals in men's time trial at Imola 2020 Road World Championships as Rohan Dennis knocked into fifth

The elite women took on the same course on Thursday (September 24), with Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) taking the victory after reigning champion Chloe Dygert crashed out at high-speed while looking certain to take the wine.

With the fate of the World Championships still uncertain and the Olympics postponed until next year, the 2020 European Time Trial Championships could be the biggest solo test of the season. 

A reduced field of riders donned their national colours to race against the clock in Plouay, France on an exciting  25.6km-long rolling and twisting course.

While some of the best time triallists in the world weren’t present, including Wout van Aert who chose to skip the race and Remco Evenepoel who is out injured, there was still some formidable talent in the start-list of both the men’s and women’s races. 

In the men’s event, it was Switerzland’s Stefan Küng who took the biggest TT win of his career, while Anna van der Breggen (Ned) added the European time trial title to her 2016 Euros road race victory. 

But what do the Strava stats behind the racing reveal? 

Unfortunately Küng, who set the fastest time on the Strava segment for the course with a 29-33 and an average speed of 50.1km/h, didn’t publicly post his power data from the ride but luckily we can still get an insight from the rest of the frontrunners. 

Second place on the day went to Frenchman Rémi Cavagna, who was also second on the Strava segment with a time of 29-51.

Cavagna pushed an enormous 441 watts for the half an hour effort, or around 5.56 watts per kilogram with an average speed of 48.6km/h.

Hour Record holder Victor Campenaerts also raced representing Belgium, but he wasn’t able to compete for the win on a challenging course.

Instead he settled for third place with a time of 29-53 and an average power of 391w. But with an average speed of 49.6km/h and finishing just two seconds outside of Cavagna’s time with 50w less, Campenaerts showed how much time can be saved with a strong aerodynamic position. 

In fourth place in the men’s event was Britain’s Alex Dowsett, riding kit not issued by his Israel Start-Up Nation team.

Dowsett admitted he wanted more from the race after finishing with a time of 30-35 and an average speed of 48.4kmh. 

But his power numbers were still pretty huge, as he put out 402w for his effort. 

In the women’s race, sixth place finisher Juliette Labous (Fra) was the fastest rider to share her power data, also taking the Strava KoM with a time of 34-58.  

Labous put out 261w for the ride with an average speed of 42.3km/h.

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Lizzy Banks (GBr) finished 13th on the day, but was the third fastest on the Strava segment with a time of 35-29. Banks put out 275w for her effort.

The British squad for the road European Championships has been confirmed, with Lizzie Deignan, Alex Dowsett and Tom Pidcock leading the charge. 

Taking place in Plouay, France from August 24-28, the UEC Road European Championships will be the first competition for the Great Britain Cycling Team after the coronavirus lay-off. 

With huge talent lining up in the both the women’s and men’s races, British riders look to be in with a strong chance of taking home medals. 

In the women’s road race, former world champion Deignan will be leading the team with support from Alice and Hannah Barnes, with Lizzy Banks completing the four-rider squad. 

For the men’s road race, younger riders will be carrying the British hopes with Tom Pidcock, Gabz Cullaigh and Ethan Hayter lining up. 

The rest of the men’s team on the road will be Alex Dowsett, Matt Holmes, Scott Thwaites, Matt Walls and Fred Wright. 

In the European time trials, Lizzy Banks and Hayley Simmonds will race against the clock in the women’s race while Alex Dowsett will be the only British rider in the elite men’s category. 

Pidcock will then also be racin the under-23 time trial alongside Ethan Vernon. 

British Cycling performance director Stephen Park said: ““With the road race calendar still understandably uncertain, the European Road Championships are now a key feature for the Great Britain Cycling Team’s road squad and as such we are sending a strong team with real medal chances in each category and discipline.”

The 2020 World Championships, initially scheduled for Switzerland in late September, have been cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, as the UCI have said they will try to find an alternative venue for this year’s Worlds. 

Despite the uncertainty, the British team are keen to use the Euros as a preparation race for the World Championships.

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Park said: “As a team, we are remaining optimistic about the road worlds taking place in some form, and the European Championships will serve as good preparations for that as well as providing a great racing opportunity in its own right. I know the team we are taking are keen to do the jersey proud, and I know the road team will be ready for whatever happens in the coming weeks.” 

Great Britain Cycling Team for the European Championships 2020

Elite Women’s Road Race

Lizzy Banks

Alice Barnes

Hannah Barnes

Lizzie Deignan

Elite Women’s Time Trial

Lizzy Banks

Hayley Simmonds

 Elite Men’s Road Race

Gabz Cullaigh

Alex Dowsett

Ethan Hayter

Matt Holmes

Tom Pidcock

Scott Thwaites

Matt Walls

Fred Wright

Elite Men’s Time Trial

Alex Dowsett

Under 23 Women’s Road Race

Anna Docherty

Jess Roberts

Anna Shackley

Amelia Sharpe

Under 23 Women’s Time Trial

Anna Docherty

Jess Roberts

Under 23 Men’s Road Race

Rhys Britton

Alfie George

Max Rushby

Ethan Vernon

Sam Watson

Xeno Young

Under 23 Men’s Time Trial

Tom Pidcock

Ethan Vernon

Alex Dowsett has been forced to pulled out of the Vuelta a Burgos after a team-mate tested positive for coronavirus.

British time trial champion Dowsett was set to restart his season with Israel Start-Up nation in Spain, but the team have had to taken action after one of their riders not down to compete in Burgos was confirmed to have Covid-19.

On Monday morning (July 27) Israeli rider Omer Goldstein, who was scheduled to race next week, tested positive for coronavirus and has gone into quarantine.

His compatriot Itamar Einhorn was the only rider who had been in direct contact with Goldstein, before he was scheduled to start the Vuelta a Burgos on Tuesday.

Einhorn and Dowsett were re-tested, along with staff members who were in contact with Einhorn.

But the results did not arrive in time for the start of stage one, which meant both riders had to be pulled from the race.

The results have now confirmed that Einhorn has not contracted coronavirus from Goldstein.

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Dowsett said: “It’s a big disappointment that I did not take the start of Vuelta a Burgos. But even the tiny the risk of me returning a positive test for COVID - caused us to act responsibly and reassuringly for the whole peloton, so that everyone can put their mind at ease. The team made the right decision to ensure that the bubble is absolutely secure. I completely support and respect the decision for my withdrawal from the race and I wish the guys the best of luck and hope to start racing again soon.

“Big thanks to the team, the race and UCI for the measures put in place to keep us all safe in these times.”

Alex Dowsett has shared his thoughts after Griff Rhys Jones complained about “lycra-clad hooligans” in a newspaper column.

Rhys Jones, the Welsh comedian and writer, penned a piece for the Mail Online headlined ‘Off Your bike! Griff Rhys Jones is forced to take drastic action after lycra-clad hooligans started rattling down the public footpath running through his garden’.

In the article, the 66-year-old complains about cyclists riding along a public footpath that passes through his garden, claiming he was passed by one ride “at approximately 40mph” off-road.

Rhys Jones goes on to explain how he tried putting logs across the path to stop riders using the path, which legally is only for walkers.

But the tone of the article caught the attention of Israel Start-Up Nation rider Dowsett.

The British time trial champion wrote to Rhys Jones on Twitter, saying: “I wasn’t much of a fan of your article in the Mail. Whilst the facts of cyclists being on the footpath I believe to be wholeheartedly true, your descriptions of cyclists are exaggerated; depicting cyclists as ‘yobs’.

“That won’t help is driving a harder wedge in between the divide that the media seem intent on creating. We share this planet, these roads and we all make mistakes. We all enjoy being part of groups/societies/clubs yet we don’t necessarily agree with what everyone in them do.”

Dowsett said Rhys Jones’s claim that a cyclist had passed him at 40mph was “absurd”.

In the article, Rhys Jones explains how an ancient footpath that crosses through his land in Suffolk and is regularly used by walkers.

Rhys Jones said cyclists have been travelling through his land because the nearby reservoir, a popular cycling spot, is closed due to the coronavirus lockdown.

He goes on to say “I worry that my naivety has been exploited by some rather irritating keep-fit cyclists who insist on rattling past even though, according to the Countryside Act of 1968, bicycles should be ridden only on bridleways, not footpaths like mine.”

After installing logs across the path, Rhys Jones contacted Suffolk County Council to ask if he could install a gate to prevent cyclists using the path, but was told that he didn’t have the right.

He closes the piece by admitting that most of the cyclists have since returned to the reservoir, which has now re-opened as restrictions have been eased.

>>> Sunday Times ‘sorry for offence’ after columnist says it’s ‘tempting’ to injure cyclists with wire traps 

Dowsett said: “The article could’ve been very different, instead of ‘us angels & them villains; how about ‘making it safe for everyone to enjoy East Anglia through signs, respect and education’ but then I guess the Mail would’ve ignored your work.”

If you’ve ever ridden a time trial on one of Britain’s many out and back A-road courses you’ll know even a slight breeze can turn them into a race with two faces: floating one way, soul-crushing drudgery the other.

It’s a feeling British time triallist Alex Dowsett knows only too well, but nothing could have prepared him for the extreme highs and lows of 2019. Dowsett clinched a sixth national TT title last year and finished fifth in both the European Championships and the World Championships in Yorkshire.

In the background though, he found himself in a bind. Contracted to Katusha until 2021, he was unable to secure a spot elsewhere as rumours that the team was in crisis persisted.

“I’ve never had stress like it,” Dowsett says. “It’s not pleasant and I really hope it never happens again.

“I’ve never felt so vulnerable in my job — if the team had folded as late as it possibly could have, it would have been far too late for me to find anything at WorldTour level.”

Trouble started in 2018, when Dowsett and his team-mates were told the outfit had struggled to find sponsorship for 2019 and things  got worse when their talisman, Marcel Kittel, announced his retirement, mid-season. Then at the Tour de France rumours began to circulate that German hair product company Alpecin and bike sponsor Canyon would be taking their investment elsewhere.

While riders out of contract were given the green light to explore opportunities with other teams, a handful of riders including Dowsett still had contracts with Katusha-Alpecin and weren’t free to look for new contracts despite the team facing closure.

“We were asking around and everywhere was full,” Dowsett says. “We were told by the team, ‘You have a contract, you have to respect it.’ We talked to other teams anyway, we were trying to say to teams, ‘Is there interest in Dowsett?’ and a few teams said, ‘Yep, is he available?’ but we didn’t know.”

Then in early October, Professional Continental outfit Israel Cycling Academy announced they had taken over Katusha-Alpecin’s WorldTour licence and the two teams would be merging.

Dowsett began talks with Israel Cycling Academy team manager Kjell Carlstrom around the start of the Worlds in Yorkshire, cementing his place on the team with his storming ride in the TT.

“For me, I simply went across with the merger and I think the Worlds consolidated why I belong here, or why I’ll be of use,” he says.

"Sometimes my role can be overlooked when I’m leading out for a sprinter who’s had a rough year, like Marcel. You do a lot of work for no result, but the result is often reflective of the work that’s been put in and if there’s no result it can reflect badly on the team.”

During these difficult times, Dowsett had been putting in some of his best performances on the TT bike, starting with the National Time Trial Champs in Norfolk, where he was pushed hard by John Archibald (Ribble Pro Cycling), with Dowsett taking victory by six seconds after Archibald dropped a chain.

Dowsett explains: “The Nationals was a shock and I got into a bit of hot water for saying that Dan Bigham and John Archibald lacked some grunt. I never meant it offensively.

“Those boys have changed the game and it’s admirable. John’s a hell of a bike rider and you saw the way they rode at

the Worlds. They punch so far above their weight.”

But Dowsett believes the biggest factor in his improved performance is a move to Andorra in the Pyrenees.

High flier

“I moved to altitude and I think that’s helped,” he says. “I think the change of scenery has helped. My numbers have been consistent, I’ve had less bad days.”

Looking ahead to the new season with Israel Start-Up Nation, as Israel Cycling Academy has rebranded, Dowsett is excited about the prospect of hand-picking kit to improve his TT.

He says: “What has impressed me so far with Israel is the willingness to choose the equipment that’s fastest and if something isn’t good enough they seem very willing to either make sure it is good enough or find something else that is.

“I asked Kjell if I can use Speedplay pedals. I used them in 2010 and there’s clear evidence for them being quick. He simply said, ‘If that’s what you want to use because it’s quicker then you can use it.’

“One of the sponsors also has access to a wind tunnel.”

Dowsett is the front-runner to represent GB in the time trial in the Tokyo Olympics this summer, a prospect that he is relishing: “With Team GB we did a lot of work before the Worlds. Having the full support of Team GB is quite phenomenal. I’ve ticked a lot of boxes in my career so far but the Olympics was one I thought was going to elude me. It still could, obviously. However, it could be back on the table and that’s a really exciting prospect.

“The Olympics for Great Britain is huge and I’d kill to be there. But being British, you don’t go to the Olympics just to ride round, you go there because you can medal.”

But this does mean Dowsett will have to delay another of his ambitions — a tilt at the Hour record he once held?

“It’s been on hold for a long time,” he says. “Here I’ve got to find my feet first, but ultimately the Olympics is once every four years so that has my full focus.”

On his prospects for 2020, Dowsett echoes the sentiments of every good time triallist: “There’s always more gains.”

Alex Dowsett has signed for Israel Cycling Academy on a one-year deal, ensuring he competes in a tenth straight WorldTour season.

The British national time trial champion's signing has been announced alongside Reto Hollenstein, as both riders are brought across from Katusha-Alpecin who were taken over by the Israeli outfit in October.

>>> ‘A case of when not if’ the Tour de France returns to Yorkshire

Uncertainty had reigned over the future of the Katusha squad for a number of months, until the takeover left a number of riders without a team for the 2020 season as Israel Cycling Academy struggled to find space for two squads of riders.

Rick Zabel and Würtz Schmidt were the first riders under contract with Katusha to move across, while Harry Tanfield transferred to Ag2r La Mondiale. Meanwhile, Ilnur Zakarin secured an early move to CCC and Simon Špilak decided to retire.

Commenting on his transfer, Dowsett said: "I think ICA is a very progressive team with a focus on performance without compromise. There seems to be modern-day thinking. As a rider, that is all I ask for.

"I also think a name change should be considered. A step up to the World Tour surely means Israel Cycling Academy has graduated from an Academy to a great team now."

With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics looming ahead, Dowsett says he would like the chance to compete for Great Britain, and that Israel Cycling Academy are the perfect team to facilitate his aims: "I am looking forward to it and strongly focused on the Olympic Games. Obviously, I first need to get selected for the national team.

"Afterward, I want to win the gold medal in Tokyo. Israel Cycling Academy is a perfect fit for these goals."

Alex Dowsett put in his best ever Road World Championships time trial performance in Yorkshire to take fifth place and also secure Great Britain a second time trial spot at the Olympic Games next year.

The 30-year-old finished just over six seconds off the podium, with Filippo Ganna (Italy) taking third, Remco Evenpoel (Belgium) second and defending champion Rohan Dennis (Australia) first by over a minute.

>>> Rohan Dennis retains time trial title at Yorkshire World Championships 2019

Dowsett only briefly led the 54km time trial from Northallerton to Harrogate before Ganna beat his time. And while he was over two minutes down on eventual winner Dennis, Dowsett said he was pleased with his performance on home roads.

"Before a TT I don't like putting a target on where I want to finish because I want to win," Dowsett said. "Everyone on that start line should want to win, but looking at what's realistic I'd have said top 10 is a very good day, so I'm happy with that. It's just nice for it all to come together.

"This is a brilliant course," he added.

"It's a tale of three sections; flat to start where you kind of settle in and try not to burn all your matches and overcook yourself.  Then the middle section was really on and off, more so than I had anticipated. I made a good job of that and I think that middle section is why I was good."

Along with his best ever finish at the Worlds, Dowsett's performance was enough to hand Team GB a second spot in the Olympic time trial in Tokyo 2020.

Spots are handed to the top 30 UCI ranked nations as of October 22, 2019, with another 10 spots given to the nations that finish top 10 in this year's World Championships time trial.

Despite some climbing along the route the 44.2km time trial should be good for Dowsett, though he remained unsure whether he would get the nod by British Cycling with one of the road race team spots having to be filled by those competing in the time trial.

The Olympic road race course does not suit Dowsett, with the 234km route taking in 4,865 metres of climbing around Mount Fuji.

"I guess [the Worlds finish] throws the Olympics in as a possibility," Dowsett said.

"Olympics have this ridiculous rule where you have to be a part of the road race team as well. And we have some quite strong road racers in the UK. So it makes life more difficult.

"I think it's a ridiculous rule because it's like saying to Usain Bolt, if you want to do the 200 metres, you've go to do the 800 and 1500 hundred as well. Because [time trialling is] a different sport.

"I just have to have a sit down with British Cycling and work out what we can do. It's still a two minute gap to Rohan and it's a minute to Remco - who's probably not going to get any slower - but I've moved forward."

Alex Dowsett says it has not been easy to ignore the rumours of the potential end of Katusha-Alpecin, saying he simply has to try and "block it out and just crack on."

The 30-year-old turns his focus to the World Championships elite men's time trial on Wednesday, where he'll hope to improve on his best ever result of eighth in 2012.

>>> Watch: Chaos reigns supreme at Yorkshire Worlds U23 time trial

Dowsett is one of 11 contracted riders at Katusha for 2020, with the team's future still uncertain since rumours of it's possible demise surfaced during the Tour de France in July. Since then, the team has been linked to numerous mergers with teams including Arkéa-Samsic and more recently, a possible buyout by Israel Cycling Academy.

For the remaining riders, time is ticking for them to locate new contracts for the 2020 season if the team was to go under. Spaces are quickly filling in other teams and the deadline is looming for Katusha to register with the UCI for next year's WorldTour.

Dowsett is taking a "no news is good news" approach to the situation, saying riders haven't heard anything about developments in talks to save the team.

"To start with [hearing the news], it was fine," Dowsett said.

"We know it's difficult, but we knew that behind the scenes they were fighting for our team. And they still are.

"[But] It's not easy. You kind of have to block it out and just crack on.

"You start hearing other teams filling up and me being a contracted rider, you're just waiting to then see if you've got to go looking around or if you are safe. But I always figured no news would be good news, because it means there was still a possibility. And that's where we're still at.

"We don't get told anything, which, again, is frustrating; frustrating for us on a personal level, because it's just uncertainty, but actually you can understand because if I were to say we're chatting with Arkéa at the moment, this is how negotiations are going, it all just keeps the rumour mill turning.

"So I think the team's been real professional in keeping things locked down and and left it up to kind of anyone to fabricate a possibility and throw it out there."

The British time trial champion faces the 54km time trial in Yorkshire on Wednesday against some stiff competition from the likes of defending champion Rohan Dennis (Australia), European champion Remco Evenepoel and Hour Record holder Victor Campenaerts (both Belgium), as well as four-time winner Tony Martin (Germany) and Vuelta a España winner Primož Roglič (Slovenia).

Weather conditions blighted the U23 men's event on Tuesday morning, though conditions look set to be easier for elite men with the rain forecasted to hold off.

Dowsett said the course, which he first rode back in May, is ideally suited to him with the uphill sections not tough enough to play into the hands of stronger climbers.

The Essex-born rider remained cagey though on his finishing place expectations, saying he is just aiming to make sure he does everything as well as he can on the day.

"It's a really nice [course]. It has everything," Dowsett said. "I think it's a really well designed course. It has a couple of climbs but nothing that's going to separate the likes of Roglič from the rest of us. There's some long straights, a few corners.

"There's one bump that potentially you're going to lift off the ground on, and then the run into Harrogate is a slog at times, but I really like it.

"If I finish top 10, it'll be a nice result but I will be looking at what was the gap to ninth, or third, or first? And is that achievable? You analyse it afterwards," he added.

"I just I want to have good ride. I know I'll get everything out but I just want it all to come together on the day."

Alex Dowsett said climbing the Tourmalet was “like nothing I’ve ever experienced,” describing his emotions as he rose to the summit of the iconic mountain.

The Brit has returned to the Tour de France with his Katusha-Alpecin team after a four-year absence, and says he was inspired by the roaring fans as he climbed to the mountain-top finish on stage 14.

As Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) fired away from his general classification rivals at the top of the 19km climb, Dowsett was one of the dozens of non-climbers fighting to make through the stage in the grupetto.

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Dowsett, the newly-crowned national time trial champion, told Cycling Weekly: “It was epic, like nothing I’ve ever experienced. We were just riding up a wall of screaming people.

“I was in the grupetto obviously but they seemed to be as enthusiastic for me as they were for anyone else. It was absolutely mad.”

While the threat of elimination looms on any relentless mountain stage, Dowsett said he was bolstered by the support at the side of the road.

“We knew we had to be pressing on to make the time-cut but we could take it all in as well.

“From 3km to 1km to go I wasn’t thinking about how much it was hurting, I was just thinking ‘this is mental’.

“The atmosphere, the views from the top above the clouds, you’re riding through this happy, enthusiastic mob.

“It’s quite amazing.”

>>> ‘Losing time was an injustice, I wanted revenge’: Thibaut Pinot defiant after victory on Tourmalet at Tour de France

Dowsett, 30, is riding the Tour de France for the first time since his debut 2015, when he abandoned on stage 12 after suffering through an early crash.

But the Essex-born pro is riding a different race this year: “[In 2015] I went up the Tourmalet but I was last man on the road, I was really struggling. I’m definitely in a better place this Tour. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still brutally hard, but there I was fighting to survive.

“[I’m grateful] for a whole host of different reasons – the journey to being a professional athlete is not a normal one, and it’s pretty surreal being on arguably the world’s biggest sporting stage.”

Just a day after bagging a record equalling sixth national time trial title, Alex Dowsett is preparing to start his second Tour de France, which begins in Brussels next week. 

On Friday morning Katusha-Alpecin revealed their team for Tour with Dowsett among the eight riders starting the sport’s most prestigious race, the announcement capping two excellent days for 30-year-old.

>>> Tour de France 2019 start list: Provisional line-ups for the 106th edition

He won Thursday’s race in Norfolk ahead of John Archibald (Ribble Pro Cycling) and Dimension Data’s Steve Cummings after tough 40km ride.

“It was good, but it was a fight,” Dowsett told Cycling Weekly after collecting his champion’s jersey at the Queen’s Sandringham estate. “It was a draggy course all the way round and I was getting splits and I was down.” 

The opening half of the circuit was into a stiff headwind, making correct pacing more crucial than normal, and things were not going well for Dowsett, who has now drawn level with Stuart Dangerfield, who won the title six times between 1995 and 2005.

“I really gave a lot to that first section of the course because it was crucial. The first third I was told I was down quite significantly and I thought it was all over, but I kept plugging away and then after about two thirds I got the signal that it was close and I was coming back, so I hoped I would have it at the finish.”

In the end Dowsett’s winning margin was just six seconds over Archibald and 27 ahead of Cummings, who won the title in 2017.

“My first ever race was a club 10, so this is massive for me. It’s funny, I joke with Cavendish, and to wind me up he says this isn’t the Nationals, Sunday is the Nationals, he’ll say whoever wins the road race is the national champion.

“But to me this is more important because you can get lucky in a road race, you can’t get lucky out there in a time trial.”

“I knew I was capable of getting it again, but it’s much more of a fight than it was. Years ago, especially when it was in September, I’d be the only pro and I remember one year my two, four and six minute men didn’t turn up, and I think I caught my eight minute man.

“I would get to the finish and ask my Dad how much did I win by, as opposed to did I win. The standard is so high now that you have to bring your ‘A’ game to something like this, and I am ready for the Tour de France.

“I certainly will be enjoying these stripes this year, I think more so than I’ve ever done because I know what it’s taken and it could be my last one.”

With his form on track, Dowsett hasn’t ruled out another attempt at the Hour Record. He broke the record in May 2015 with a distance of 52.937km, losing it to Sir Bradley Wiggins a month later. In turn that record was beaten by Belgian, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Soudal) who rode 55.089km in Mexico earlier this year.

“Fifty-five k, that’s a big ask,” Dowsett continued. “It’s not outside the realms of possibility. One day I hope.”

The UCI is penalising the way pro riders race by issuing fines over sign-on presentations, according to Alex Dowsett.

Dowsett was one of 26 other riders were fined for signing on late for stage three of the UAE Tour.

More riders were fined after stage four, having attended the starting sheet ceremony while wearing non-racing kit earlier in the day.

>>> Remco Evenepoel says motorbikes ‘should have more respect for the peloton’ after UAE Tour crash

Katusha-Alpecin’s Dowsett, who was fined 500 Swiss Francs (£377) and deducted 20 UCI Points, told Cycling Weekly: "I disagree with taking UCI points off of us.

“That means that I’m probably in negative figures already and it’s penalising the way that we race for the fact that we didn’t sign on at the right time.

“It’s just unnecessary.”

Dowsett was one of 27 riders from Katusha-Alpecin, UAE Team Emirates, Groupama-FDJ and Astana that were reprimanded for missing their allotted sign on time.

Riders fined include Marcel Kittel and Dowsett from Katusha, Alexander Kristoff and Fernando Gaviria from UAE Team Emirates, and Gorka Izagirre from Astana.

Katusha were 34 minutes late to sign on, UAE 30 minutes, Groupama 21 minutes and Astana 14 minutes.

The fines for late sign-ons before stage three were followed by more punishments for the seven Bahrain-Merida riders racing the UAE Tour.

Ahead of stage four the riders, including Rohan Dennis and Vincenzo Nibali, attended the sign-on ceremony not wearing their race clothing.

They were all fined 500 Swiss Francs, along with their team manager.

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Dowsett added: “I think the problem is logistically we’re sometimes having to drive quite a distance to get to the start.

“Then we have to do a team meeting, and doing that in a tent with exposed walls with Quick-Step sat right next to us isn’t ideal.

"But if we don’t do that we have to do it before we leave, which means we have to get up an hour earlier, which isn’t right either because we have to recover.

“Teams that are getting a late sign on don’t have to. Penalising us for that financially, it’s quite a lot of money. Whoever gets the money has made a small fortune.”

He added that teams with a later sign-on time effectively get more time to sleep, and therefore recover.

UCI rules state that race organisers can set the order for riders to sign a starting sheet before each stage.

The signing on ceremony takes place one hour and 10 minutes before the start time for the stage, and will end 10 minutes before the race kicks off.

Bora-Hansgohe’s Pete Kennaugh, whose team were not involved, also spoke out against the UCI, calling the rules “out of control.”

Dowsett said: “If it’s that’s important, tell us it’s super important that we respect the time zones – it seems unnecessarily harsh.

“If it’s that important, we’ll make our best efforts but let’s find something that’s more reasonable.”

Former British time trial champion Alex Dowsett has entered the argument on cycling helmets after a high-speed crash last Saturday. The Katusha-Alpecin rider published a picture of a crack in his cycle helmet sustained when he was involved in a crash in the final metres of Saturday’s stage of the Tour of Guangxi.

The post first assured readers he was relatively unscathed in the fall, which came with just 100 metres of the 212.2km stage five, and was eventually won by Mitchelton-Scott’s Matteo Trentin.

He then went on to voice his thoughts on helmet use while riding.

“My helmet, it’s cracked, it saved my head, thank you @oakleybike!” he wrote. “Now let’s chat about helmets.

>>> Best bike helmets reviewed 2018: a buyer’s guide

“This is a topic that always causes some divided opinions but I’m certainly of the opinion that they should be compulsory for all cyclists, everywhere, all of the time.”

The picture of Dowsett’s Oakley ARO5 helmet pictured in the post clearly showed a hairline crack, and it is likely it prevented at least some injury to the Essex based rider, and his post argued his opinion.

“People like Chris Boardman have said like in places such as Holland where no one wears lids it’s not about wearing a helmet for safety but about infrastructure of the roads, which is a very valid point.

“… I along with a few people in Holland I’m sure have crashed by my own errors without the help of any others road users, human error isn’t it!

“Rather than wearing a helmet in a car I actually think it’s more akin to wearing a seatbelt.”

The debate about the effectiveness of cycle helmets in real world situations has long been debated, and former Olympic and world champion Boardman has long argued against them being made compulsory.

Indeed, Boardman responded to Dowsett’s post on Twitter.

“Tell me where in the world mandatory helmet use reduces reduces head injury? (Hint: nowhere),” he wrote in two tweets.

“Tell me what happened in countries where made helmets made mandatory? (Hint, it fell dramatically). 51% of kids  ride to school in the Netherlands. Tell me what there [sic] head injury rate is? (Hint it’s the lowest in the world.)

“Mandating will kill more people by other means than it saves.

“I researched it for 20yrs and use evidence not opinion to understand,” he concluded pointedly.

Dowsett’s post acknowledged his opinions were likely to prove controversial, and gained many comments prior to the post being deleted. Some of the responses were supportive, however, many others weren’t and may well have been the reason the post was deleted.

In the United Kingdom there is currently no law requiring cyclists to wear a helmet while cycling.

However, Rule 59 of the Highway Code states: “You should wear a cycle helmet which conforms to current regulations, is the correct size and securely fastened.”

British time trial specialist Alex Dowsett (Katusha-Alpecin) will be turning his watts to the 25-hour Red Bull Timelaps endurance event later this month.

Dowsett, a former UCI Hour Record Holder, will join around 800 riders at Windsor Great Park for a full day in the saddle.

Taking place on the night the clocks go back, Timelaps pushes participants to their limits on a 6.6km closed circuit for 25 hours.

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Dowsett said: “Now the World Championships are finished I’m really looking forward to competing in Red Bull Timelaps later this month.

“This race has a really interesting and different concept compared to other 24 hours races with the addition of Power Hour.

“This is where I will look to really make an impact for my team, we can play to my strengths as a time triallist and hopefully pick up extra laps.”

This year’s Timelaps comes with an unusual twist for an endurance event – between 2am and 3am when the clocks go back, riders will take on a shorter course during the ‘Power Hour’ where laps will count double.

The event is the longest one-day road cycling event in the world, as 200 teams of four race through the night.

At the end of the 25 hours, the team with the most laps wins.

Dowsett will be riding with ‘Team Walrus’, alongside Francis Cade, endurance cyclist Chris Hall and Ribble Pro Cycling’s Lawrence Carpenter.

How does it work?

Only one rider from a team can be on course at any time, and that rider scores laps.

That rider must then enter the transition area via the pit lane, then approach their dedicated stopping area and hand over the team baton to the next rider.

Last year’s even saw the winning team of Wellingborough Cycles complete an incredible 138 laps, meaning they covered more than 900km at an average speed of more than 36kmh.

Unsurprisingly the team will be back to defend its title in 2018, with team leader Jack Patmore saying: “We were ecstatic. We ended up entering the 2017 race as a bit of fun at the end of our season, so it’s really great that we ended up winning the whole event.

“We didn’t really have a game plan apart from just letting one of the guys hit it really hard! We are looking forward to coming back this year to defend our title”.

Alex Dowsett will be spending at least another two years at Katusha-Alpecin after signing an extension to his existing deal with the Swiss team.

Dowsett joined Katusha-Alpecin at the start of the 2018 season after spending five years at Movistar, and has since established himself in the team's lead-out train - even if he missed out on selection for the Tour de France - while also picking up consistent results for himself in time trials

"Alex has signed with us for another two years," said José Azevedo, the team's general manager. "He just came to us this year and is such a good time triallist but he can also be important for us in the lead-out for our sprinters.

"We also like what we see in his interactions within the group. He’s new but has fit in really well with the team. We’ve signed him with the idea that he can win races and this year he was close in some time trials.

"We expect victories from him in the future, especially in the time trials and we will continue to work with him on this point. We believe in him and that he can win."

Dowsett was selected for a Grand Tour at the first time of asking with Katusha-Alpecin, completing the Giro d'Italia in May and picking up two top 10 finishes in the race's individual time trials.

Dowsett's only comment on the contract extension has been a post on Twitter telling his followers to look forward to him featuring in more adverts for the Alpecin shampoo.

Katusha-Alpecin have also announced that Reto Hollenstein and Marco Haller have also signed for another two years, with Haller still on the comeback trail after being hit by a car while training in April.

"Marco suffered a bad accident earlier this year, but has been part of our group for seven years on this team," Azevedo continued. He turned professional with this team. He’s always been an important rider both in and out of the race and we always believe in Marco.

"It’s at these bad moments in his life and career that he needs to know that the team appreciates everything he’s done over the past years. We don’t sign him to pay him back for what he’s done in previous years but because we want Marco in the team."

Alex Dowsett has not been this deep into a Grand Tour since 2013, but says that he should be challenging for stage wins at the 2018 Giro d'Italia rather than celebrating just being able to finish

Dowsett took his only Grand Tour stage win in a time trial at the 2013 Giro d'Italia and placed sixth in the Rovereto time trial on Tuesday and, as he pointed out, has been riding consistently through the three weeks.

"It's where I should be," Dowsett rolling to a stop in his red Katusha-Alpecin kit on the edge of Lake Garda ahead of the start of stage 17.

"I shouldn't be celebrating just finishing a Grand Tour, I should be competitive. I showed in both TTs that I'm there and getting to where I need to be.

"I feel that I have a lot to thank the team for with that, just the consistent support. They helped me get back to where I can be with the potential I showed in 2013. I had flashes of that over the last five years, but now I have to be consistently solid."

Before joining Katusha at the start of 2018, Dowsett spent five years at Movistar with Nairo Quintana, in 2013 winning the Giro d'Italia's time trial ahead of Bradley Wiggins. He raced the 2015 Tour de France in support of Quintana - abandoning through illness on stage 12 - and has not returned to a Grand Tour since.

However his fifth place behind Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) in the 2018 Giro's opening Jerusalem time trial and sixth on stage 16 are good signs for the five-time British time trial champion.

"It's good for morale, I had a lot fewer bad days this year. I've been on top of it this season," Dowsett continued.

"There have been moments when I forgot how hard a Grand Tour is. I've been backing it up well, different than 2013 when I was on death's door often. I was in the 2015 Tour, but stage 12 was it for me."

Dowsett must still survive three demanding days in the Giro's mountains and the final stage in Rome. The Giro will give him good form to try to take the British stripes back at the National Championships in June..

"That's the next big target," Dowsett said. "I will put my hand up to be on the long list for the Tour de France. I want to be on it. It's competitive team to be in, but I think that I can help Marcel Kittel, as well. I hope, and I can only ask.

"Two Grand Tours in row? The way I have ridden here, I think I can back it up. I felt good here. Being able to do what I did in the TT shows that I'm backing up well, I think I can handle it. And lead-outs are something I want to be a part of and I'm excited about."

The 2018 Tour of Romandie kicks off with a short and sharp prologue time trial on Tuesday, April 24, in Switzerland.

Marco Minnaard (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) is the first of just 133 riders off in the 4.02-kilometre test against the clock in Fribourg at 3.13pm local time (2.13pm UK time).

Despite its short length, it's far from straightforward test, with cobbled surfaces, sharp bends and several hills.

Among the starters are several notable time triallists, including the runner-up in last year's Romandie prologue, British rider Alex Dowsett (Katusha-Alpecin).

>>> Tour de Romandie 2018 start list

Dowsett ranks as one of the favourites to post a good time, along with the likes of Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), Victor Campanaerts (Lotto-Soudal), Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Sky), Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing), British time trial champion Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) and defending Romandie champion Richie Porte (BMC Racing).

Porte is last rider off at 5.25pm local time (4.25pm UK time).

>>> Tour de Romandie 2018 live TV guide

NB: Start times are local time, subtract one hour for UK time.

Alex Dowsett is muscling his way around the peloton with purpose these days helping lead out Marcel Kittel, who won his first race with new team Katusha-Alpecin on Thursday on the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.

The Englishman, 29, switched teams this winter after five years working for GC riders at Spanish team Movistar. Now, he is pulling for the 6'3" broad-shouldered Marcel Kittel.

"I think I made more enemies in three races than I have in the last five years because I didn't really have to contest finishes like that with so much pressure over the last five years. It's actually quite new for me," Dowsett told Cycling Weekly while Kittel prepared his bike for stage three of Tirreno-Adriatico.

The WorldTour team hired Kittel from Quick-Step Floors over the winter and replaced out-going sprinter Alexander Kristoff, who went to UAE Team Emirates. Dowsett was part of a wave of new riders which also included Ian Boswell and Nathan Haas.

>>> 'I'm surprised there weren't more crashes': Riders react to 'sketchy' Tirreno-Adriatico finale

Instead of piloting small climbers like Nairo Quintana around mid-stage, he is now in the sharp end of the sprint days for Kittel. The German is one of the best in the business, having won 14 stages in the Tour de France and worn the yellow jersey twice after winning on the opening in 2017.

A multiple national time trial champion and former Hour Record holder, Dowsett is now working alongside another strong time triallist in Tony Martin in the Katusha lead-out train. On Thursday the duo worked through the chaos, from where Kittel emerged on the wheels of Nathan Haas and Rick Zabel.

Watch: Dr Hutch meets Alex Dowsett

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd2jKVRWa8c

"Oh my god, so many [potholes and speed bumps]. That finishing circuit was crazy. I don't know if it was a shock because we've been used to having 27 lanes in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It felt like the first race of the year again with all the fighting," Dowsett said.

"I guess it [doing a lead out] is a bit like a time trial - you hate it whilst you're doing it, but when it all comes off for the win, you do kind of enjoy it because it was all for a massive outcome. It was mental. When you hear on the radio a big ol' scream that you won, it makes everything worthwhile."

Prior to Thursday, Kittel was one of the few sprinters who had yet to win in 2018. He said that it took some time to get the train working perfectly, that "it doesn't happen in eight weeks over the winter."

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Dowsett began the season with Kittel last month in the Dubai Tour and Abu Dhabi Tour, and hopes that the team can take confidence from Kittel's Tirreno victory and push on for more success.

"Hopefully this has taken a bit of weight off our shoulders, because we tried many times and hadn't pulled it off," Dowsett added. "We are confident we can do it, I'm sure Marcel is happy he now has his first win of the year. We will fight just as hard as before for the same thing and hopefully there be more wins.

"I do enjoy it, I fell like it's something I'm good at as well. It's always nice to be good at something rather than coming into a race and riding around. That's not much fun, so it's good having a job."

British time trial ace Alex Dowsett has admitted he isn’t sure he’ll feel safe at home any more following a “distressing” burglary at his home in Chelmsford while he is racing abroad in which his “pride and joy” time trial bike was stolen.

Dowsett appealed on Tuesday for help in finding the bike which was stolen over the weekend.

Speaking at the Dubai Tour where he is settling into his new role in sprinter Marcel Kittel’s lead out train, the former holder of multiple national time trial records said: “It’s my TT bike! It’s my pride and joy, but anyone who has been robbed knows it’s a bit like someone you love having cancer in that you never think it’s going to happen to you and then it does and everyone who it’s happened to has that story of distress.”

>>> Alex Dowsett has rare Canyon team bike stolen in burglary

He added: “It’s your home, it’s where you feel safe and suddenly you don’t. They have clearly waited until I’ve gone away, I give an insight into my life freely on social media and someone has taken advantage of that.”

Dowsett continued: “My girlfriend is at home, it’s the first race of the year with a new team and it’s the last place I want to be right now I want to be at home with her looking after her. I’ve had a lot of support from friends that have offered to stay with her, my dad has gone to stay with her a bit.”

While Dowsett acknowledged that although it would be possible for thieves to know when he was away regardless of social media he doubted they had “the intelligence” to work that out.

“If they were that smart would they resort to robbery or would they be doing something worthwhile with their life?” he said.

The former Hour Record holder said the burglary happened over the weekend but that his girlfriend and father had decided not to tell him about it until after the first stage of the Dubai Tour, his first with Katusha-Alpecin, to avoid distracting him.

“It's one of those things people who love you want to protect you from what’s going on,” he said. “But also life does go on and you have to deal with those things.”

>>> Watch: CCTV footage shows thieves making off with €100,000 worth of Bianchi bikes in bike shop raid

Dowsett revealed that the thieves only took his time trial bike but had tried to steal another as well. “I had a friend's Trek Madone he leant to me, it was on the side but it needed one wheel. They were smart enough to know to put that together but they put one of my Zipps in and the rim was too wide and it wouldn’t roll. So they just left it,” he said.

The 29-year-old revealed it was “lucky” his Hour Record bike and his Canyon road bike were not in the garage attached to his house where the time trial bike was stolen from. After revealing where they were he said, “I’m getting nervous just telling you that,” clearly concerned he might be inspiring further burglaries.

Dowsett said he was installing additional security measures following the robbery. “The house is a secure house and we’re upgrading even more now it’ll be like Fort Knox now,” he said.

Alex Dowsett has posted a detailed description of a harrowing near-miss with a 4x4 while out cycling on Monday, December 18.

The 29-year-old Movistar professional rider said that the red Porsche Cayenne was coming straight at him as it was overtaking another car, an experience that he says left him shocked and in tears.

"Today a new red Porsche Cayenne overtook another car but in doing so he came straight at me on my side of the road doing, I would guess (given it was an overtake in a powerful car) around 60-80mph. I was doing 25mph. A head-on at this speed is an impact speed of 85-1005mph with a 2040kg car and an 80kg me... you can do the consequential maths.

Dowsett continued: "He saw me, we made eye contact, I don't know if he saw me before he started the overtake but once he was mid-manoeuvre he saw me, he didn't try to squeeze the Fiat 500 he was overtaking, nor did he tray and brake or even lift off and I'm fairly sure of this, he took a chance that we would all fit.

"Of course, I was angry initially, in shock that someone could take such a chance with someone else's life for the sake of an overtake."

The Giro d'Italia stage winner and former Hour Record holder said that once the anger subsided he thought back to when his mother was "driven off the road" by a car and caravan, causing her to crash and leaving her with significant injuries. Dowsett says she has not ridden on a road bike since.

"Maybe we were lucky that an experienced cyclist was in the oncoming path of this Porsche and not an inexperienced one, perhaps, but it doesn't make it ok. It just makes it lucky."

"I was in tears afterwards. It's the closest I've ever been to a career or life-ending crash and it's scared the living daylights out of me, made me question why we do what we do and if the consequences are worth it."

>>> Alex Dowsett relishing chance of Marcel Kittel lead-out role with Katusha in 2018

Dowsett says that he has few details of the incident – no camera footage or number plate. He also doesn't say whether he has reported the incident to police.

He concludes his message: "And lastly to the Porsche Cayenne driver, if you get the chance to read this, I hope you had a fright also, I hope my thoughts of what my loved ones would do if I didn't come home from a training ride mirrored the thoughts of how your loved ones would be having to visit you in a cell, or how you'd feel with the guilt you'd carry, and so I really hope it's something you won't do again."

Dowsett, who has signed to Katusha-Alpecin for 2018, says that he will be back out on his bike on Tuesday, but with a camera affixed to the handlebars.

Stars from the world of cycling turned out to the annual Champions of CycleSport dinner on Thursday night, helping to raise £260,000 for charity Action Medical Research.

Among the stars in attendance at the Battersea Evolution in London were Chris Boardman, Graeme Obree, Dan Martin, Alex Dowsett, Katie Archibald, Dani Rowe, Steven Burke, Yanto Barker and Rochelle Gilmore.

Former Hour Record rivals Boardman and Obree gave an on-stage interview with Sky News presenter Dermot Murnaghan.

"What a fantastic evening! It has been an absolute privilege to be this event’s Ambassador for the last five years and I could not be more proud to see how much it’s grown in that time," said Boardman.

"Action is a charity that I hold dear to my heart; my son George was born six weeks early and so I know first-hand the concern that parents have for their little one’s health.

"I’m very proud to be a part of the ‘Champs Dinner’ and am truly delighted to hear how much has been raised to help fund vital research."

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Obree added: "It was an honour to be invited and just amazing to meet so many passionate cycling fans. Action is a wonderful charity and I know that cycling is very much at the heart of its fundraising. It was just nice to be able to play a small part."

Around 600 guests made the evening a success. An auction after the dinner raised a significant amount, and included items such as a Vuelta a España leader's jersey signed by Chris Froome, an original portrait of Stephen Roche and a watch donated by one of the event's sponsors, Garmin.

The Action Medical Research Champions of CycleSport dinner has been run since 2010, and in total has raised over one and a half million pounds for the charity which is dedicated to funding research into conditions that affect children, including asthma, prematurity, epilepsy, meningitis, cerebral palsy and brain cancer.

In just his third year of his professional career and riding his first Grand Tour, Alex Dowsett took a famous victory on stage eight of the 2013 Giro d'Italia.

After helping his Movistar team to second in the team time trial on stage two, Dowsett was clearly in good form, but didn't know what to expect as he went into the 54.8km test against the clock having not pre-ridden the course.

>>> Alex Dowsett relishing chance of Marcel Kittel lead-out role with Katusha in 2018

The pre-race favourite was Bradley Wiggins, and in the interview Dowsett reveals how his former Team Sky team-mate had given him a few tips going into the race, which he'd combined with his own ingenuity with an illegal Garmin to make sure that he wouldn't lost any time on the unfamiliar course.

In the end, despite losing time on the final climb to the finish, Dowsett would hold on to take the biggest victory of his career, leaving Wiggins in second place by 10 seconds.

Alex Dowsett has revealed how the chance to join Katusha-Alpecin’s sprint train, which as of next year will be spearheaded by Marcel Kittel, was one of the main reasons for his move to the Swiss team.

“It all happened really quickly,” said Dowsett. “We were asking around and Katusha were interested, and as a team, and with the signings they were making, I thought it looked really positive.

“Above anything I was just excited to work with a sprinter again, in any capacity. I think that I was quite consistent when I was in that role with Sky and performed well when it came to the lead-out and looking after a sprinter.”

Riding alongside world time trial champion Tony Martin and facing off against the likes of BMC and Quick-Step Floors in team time trials, was also a draw for the 28-year-old Essex rider.

“The team time trial suddenly looks very exciting, and with Katusha there is some real horsepower there. I’ll certainly learn how to suffer on a wheel if Tony is pulling turns as well.

“A real highlight for me at Movistar was finishing third in the World Championship team time trial [in 2015]. There is something special about it.”

The Movistar man added that the attraction of staying on the Canyon time trial bike which both his current and 2018 teams use, was another big factor in his decision.

Dowsett had been scheduled to have a second tilt at the World Hour Record, which he lost to Bradley Wiggins in 2015, this year but that has been cancelled. However, he is still keen to reclaim it though he has not had any detailed discussions directly with Katusha.

“I’ll get settled first.” he said. “I’ve got seven years to do the Hour Record but it’s a shame it didn’t happen this year. I know the numbers are there and I can do it, I just need three months’ warning and an hour slot in Manchester.”

Despite putting his name in the hat for the Great Britain team for the World Championships, Dowsett didn’t make the longlist for the squad.

But he is expected to sign off his Movistar career with a ride in the World Championship team time trial next week.