After a weekend of thrilling racing that brought us victories from Demi Vollering and Remco Evenepoel – the latter which threw up a controversy that is still reverberating – the moment has come for the time triallists to ply their trade in the UEC European Road Championships in Slovenia.

Both elite women's and men's events will be held on Wednesday 7 October on the same 22.1km lap that served as the finish circuit for the weekend's road races. It starts and finishes in Šenčur, around 20km north of the capital, Ljubljana.

Anyone who watched the weekend's elite road races will remember that there is a significant climb halfway round, so this is no pan-flat course for the heavy powerhouses. In the women's event, which takes place first, starting at 14:30 CET, it's difficult to see past new world champion Marlen Reusser of Switzerland, although Demi Vollering and Franziska Koch will both be there to keep her honest.

The men's event, which kicks off at 16:15 CET, feels more open, with home rider Primož Roglič, Stefan Küng (Swi) and Jakob Söderqvist (Swe) lining up with a chance. Of the riders who rode the recent Worlds time trial in Montréal, the Swede is the highest place in fifth, but that was a much flatter course.

European Championships elite women's time trial start times (all times CET)

14:30 Eleftheria Giachou (Gre)
14:31 Anja Perović (Srb)
14:32 Alina Abramenka (Blr)
14:33 Bríet Kristý Gunnarsdóttir (Isl)
14:34 Valeriya Kononenko (Ukr)
14:35 Beatriz Roxo (Por)
14:36 Gergana Stoyanova (Bul)
14:37 Varvara Fasoi (Gre)
14:38 Nina Berton (Lux)
14:39 Sandrine Tas (Ned)
14:40 Lauren Dickson (Gbr)
14:41 Marie Schreiber (Lux)
14:42 Yuliia Biriukova (Ukr)
14:43 Steffi Häberlin (Sui)
14:44 Alessia Vigilia (Ita)
14:45 Nika Bobnar (Slo)
14:46 Juliette Berthet (Fra)
14:47 Lieke Nooijen (Ned)
14:48 Lotte Claes (Bel)
14:49 Dominika Włodarczyk (Pol)
14:50 Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra)
14:51 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita)
14:52 Franziska Koch (Ger)
14:53 Demi Vollering (Ned)
14:54 Marlen Reusser (Sui)

European Championships elite men's time trial start times (all times CET)

16:15 Albion Kastrati (Kos)
16:16 Nofal Nuriyev (Aze)
16:17 Samet Bulut (Tur)
16:18 Kristinn Jónsson (Isl)
16:19 Ghennadii Morgun (Mol)
16:20 Borislav Palashev (Bul)
16:21 Catalin Buta (Rou)
16:22 Dávid Kaško (Svk)
16:23 Axel Källberg (Swe)
16:24 Miloš Lazarević (Srb)
16:25 Heorhii Antonenko (Ukr)
16:26 Tiago Antunes (Por)
16:27 Mathieu Kockelmann (Ger)
16:28 Blerton Nuha (Kos)
16:29 Andreas Miltiadis (Cyp)
16:30 Miguel Heidemann (Ger)
16:31 Aivaras Mikutis (Ltu)
16:32 Rainer Kepplinger (Aut)
16:33 Marco Frigo (Ita)
16:34 Sander De Pestel (Bel)
16:35 Burak Abay (Tur)
16:36 Filip Maciejuk (Pol)
16:37 Sjoerd Bax (Ned)
16:38 János Pelikán (Hun)
16:39 Alex Kirsch (Lux)
16:40 Maxime Decomble (Fra)
16:41 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus)
16:42 Felix Großschartner (Aut)
16:43 Mathias Vacek (Cze)
16:44 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel)
16:45 Marco Brenner (Ger)
16:46 Mauro Schmid (Sui)
16:47 Bruno Armirail (Fra)
16:48 Michał Kwiatkowski (Pol)
16:49 Nelson Oliveira (Por)
16:50 Jan Tratnik (Slo)
16:51 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita)
16:52 Iván Romeo (Spa)
16:53 Mikkel Bjerg (Den)
16:54 Primož Roglič (Slo)
16:55 Callum Thornley (Gbr)
16:56 Kasper Asgreen (Den)
16:57 Stefan Küng (Sui)
16:58 Jakob Söderqvist (Swe)

Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) and Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) delivered the expected victories, but the road to the rainbow jerseys received mixed reviews. The Formula 1 race circuit aside, rough surfaces, potholes, tight corners and the difficulty of carrying speed became recurring themes in riders’ reactions to a course that tested more than pure power.

Brandon Rivera (Colombia) crossed the line with a badly rubbing front wheel, torn clothing and bloodied skin. Ethan Hayter (Great Britain) hit a barrier and was nursing a sore hand as he spoke to journalists. Jakob Söderqvist (Sweden) saw his podium challenge disrupted by a slide-out in the closing technical section.

"The roads are pretty low quality and having half the road is really hard to judge with the cones," said Hayter, who finished 18th. "You don’t quite carry the speed the same as a normal road."

Silver medallist Filippo Ganna (Italy) also criticised the surface during his press conference, saying he had expected better and that "everyone would have benefitted from a better road."

For American Brandon McNulty, familiarity with the roads did little to soften the demands of the closing kilometres. The former Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal winner briefly occupied the second-place hot seat before finishing fourth, 12 seconds off a medal.

"You hit those corners with a lot of fatigue in your legs. It never feels good," he said.

The finish was familiar from his previous appearances in Montréal, but that offered little comfort.

"I think that was one of the worst times I’ve done it," he said.

The men’s crashes followed concerns from riders in the women’s race who tackled their longest time trial in the event’s history.

For Spain’s Paula Blasi, distance was not the issue. She felt she had the form to produce a strong ride, but struggled to find confidence.

Blasi, one of the season’s breakout stars on the road, had crashed during reconnaissance of the Spanish National Championships time trial course in June. The memory of that crash made the bumps and holes harder to negotiate.

"Already when we were doing the recon, I think the road is not as good as we were expecting," she said. "It didn’t help at all to have these holes on the road."

The flatter stretches and smooth roads of the Formula 1 circuit offered some respite. The technical first half, however, saw her losing a lot of time.

"The road was super bumpy, and mentally I got super scared, so every corner I was losing two, three seconds," said Blasi, who finished 18th. "You cannot compete with that."

POC has finally launched a suitably radical successor to the Tempor, the time trial helmet that started an aerodynamic revolution when it debuted at the London Olympics back in 2012 – and was possibly the first to be compared to Spaceballs on social media.

The Swedish brand’s headline claims for the new Sonal, which was used by EF Education-EasyPost in the Tour de France, are a 15-20 watt saving at 60km/h and a lower weight, but the most groundbreaking is that it comes in two shell widths so that both narrow- and wide-shouldered riders can achieve as optimal an aero profile as possible.

POC doesn’t claim it, but this must be the first TT helmet that comes in different shell sizes for the same head circumference. Our Tech Editor Aaron Borrill has been riding the medium over the tail end of his TT season.

There will be more Spaceballs comparisons, but POC is better than most people realise at explaining the real science behind the sci-fi aesthetics. Before the Tempor, time-trial helmets were teardrop-shaped almost without exception, with long, tapered tails that released airflow smoothly off the back of the rider’s head. Additionally, a lower-volume helmet was considered to be better simply because it was a smaller object to push through the air. But POC’s approach with the Tempor was to make the helmet an integral part of the rider’s overall profile rather than treating the head as an isolated object.

It was big and bulbous instead of sleek and long, and POC admits it took time for the Tempor to win over doubters. It was ridiculed, and Gustav Larsson, with whom it was developed, finished only 16th in the 2012 Olympic time trial, four minutes behind gold medallist Bradley Wiggins, who was wearing the classic teardrop design.

The Tempor seemed in danger of falling out of favour with the pro racing world (although it was always loved by the UK time trial scene) and POC played it safe with the stubby, more versatile Cerebel in 2014. Then Dan Bigham revived the Tempor in the latter half of the decade with his HUUB-Wattbike track team, winning national and international team pursuit titles and then using it with the Danish quartet when he masterminded their world record-breaking ride in 2020.

So POC relaunched the Tempor and rival helmet brands responded with similar designs with larger frontal profiles as the idea of making the head an integral part of the rider’s whole profile became mainstream.

The next giant leap came when Giro unveiled the Aerohead II at Paris-Nice in 2024: an enormous nosecone design that pushed the outer limits of the UCI’s bounding boxes and elicited a similar reaction to the POC Tempor 12 years earlier.

Perhaps POC should have been first to punch that particular missile-shaped hole through the air, but the Sonal looks likely to have made up any lost ground with its elongated front and contours at the side and rear, which closely follow the human body, and it may well have gained some ground by offering two shell widths.

As is now well understood, there’s no absolute fastest helmet – their aerodynamic performance is very dependent on the rider’s individual body shape and position on the bike. A helmet that’s fastest in the wind tunnel for one rider might not be fastest for the next, but by offering two shell widths, the Sonal is designed to test faster for a broader range of riders. POC says: “Results from testing with the [EF Pro Cycling] riders show that with both widths of the Sonal there was a significant improvement in aerodynamic performance. Tested against the already very fast POC TT helmets and at speeds we typically see in modern TT and track events, 60kph, the Sonal delivers average savings of 15 to 20 watts.”

POC advises riders with shoulders narrower than 37cm to choose the narrow size, while those with shoulders wider than 37cm should choose the regular size. Measurement is taken at the outer shoulders in a TT/aerodynamic position.

Both the narrow and regular width shells share the same internal helmet size, spanning head circumferences 51-59cm – covering most small to medium-size heads. This means riders get a shell matched to their shoulder width without worrying about head-size fit separately.

The Sonal is built to international protection standards and certified to EN and CPSC. POC also says that the wider form and internal structure, which are optimised for deformation in a crash, also provide an additional safety buffer. There’s no Mips rotational impact protection system.

Despite the larger surface area, the Sonal is relatively lightweight at a claimed 440 grams for the narrow and 490 grams for the large. The Tempor is 520 grams and the Giro Aerohead II 570 grams.

It’s available in ‘Hydrogen White’ and 'Uranium Black Matt' and it’s priced at €600/ £550 / $660. That’s a little bit more expensive than the Aerohead II but below the Kask Mistral 3.0, as worn by Filippo Ganna.

POC Sonal – first ride impressions

Tech Editor Aaron Borrill has been testing the POC Sonal – here are his initial thoughts.

I first caught a glimpse of the POC Sonal at the Tour de France Grand Départ, where it was being field-tested in the wild by EF Education-EasyPost on Stage 1’s team trial in Barcelona. As an ardent time triallist and resident tester here at Cycling Weekly, I managed to twist POC’s global director of PR Damian Phillips’ arm and had one delivered to my house just a few days later.

Having spent much of the early TT season using the Giro Aerohead II Mips, it was an easy transition as the two share some design similarities – the front overhang and elongated proportions. The big difference between the two helmets is the weight: the Sonal is lighter (my medium weighed 435g) and doesn’t feel as pronounced or weighted when lifting the head or moving side to side. The fit is good, too, and tailorable via the retention dial at the rear.

Damian made a point of emphasising the two size options – regular and narrow (riders with shoulders narrower than 37cm), which has aerodynamic and fit implications should you get that wrong. With medium-sized shoulders, I opted for the regular version, which fits my shoulders and back almost perfectly. It’s worth noting that time trial helmets don’t fit like regular helmets, and you’ll need to position it so that you’re looking just over the bottom of the visor when in the time trial position. Often, this means the visor is sitting well above your field of view when you’re standing, almost tilted backward. You’ll need to experiment with this so the tail and shoulder interface aligns as intended when stretched out in the extensions.

If there’s one area I’d like improved, it’s the helmet strap and buckle system. I’m a big fan of magnetic buckles and would like something like this included on the Sonal in the future. That said, the straps are easy to manage with no flappy ends – once you’ve arranged the straps to fit your chin, any excess strap can be doubled over and inserted into the fabric keeper.

In terms of performance, it’s hard to quantify whether the helmet truly is as fast as claimed. Without empirical testing in a wind tunnel, this would be guesswork, but it does require a disciplined position, as the long tail and elongated front/rear design will act as an airbrake if you’re moving about and not locked in. Of the six open time trials I’ve used the Sonal for, all of them (bar one) felt incredibly fast. I’ve managed a 25-mile personal best and recorded four sub-20 10-mile times, including two course personal bests and my first sub-20 minute Bentley 10 on the H10/8 in Hampshire, known for its wind-exposed layout and grippy and challenging surface. The one occasion I struggled was in heavy, turbulent crosswinds where I felt the helmet catching the wind. As such, I’d personally only use the Sonal in conditions where there's a block head or tailwind, or if the wind is calm to mild.

I’ve got two more time trials remaining, including some testing with AeroSensor in the coming weeks, after which I’ll file my final thoughts and write the review.

If you were compiling a list of cycling events that could be readily marked down as 'endangered', there's a reasonable chance you'd include 12-hour time trialling in the UK. While it isn't quite in the one-event-per year bracket with its big sibling the '24', events are relatively few and far between.

Sprawling, unwieldy courses, onerous marshal requirements and limited numbers of riders up for the challenge are the most obvious issues that mean event numbers are stuck at around three per season – around half what it was 10 years ago.

However, the multiple new records that came out of last weekend's RTTC National Championships events and, perhaps more importantly the numbers of young riders present, suggest that while it might be a small scene, it's one that continues to thrive.

The provisional results – still being ratified – include competition records for both men's and women's events from the new open and female champions Jake Sargent (Team Bottrill) and Naomi De Pennington (Drag2Zero), both of whom recorded their third consecutive titles and rode to 333.54 and 291.04 miles respectively. There was also a record road bike distance of 303.72 miles from Casper Von Folsach who, impressively, was also second overall. It's the Dane's third such mark of the year, having already set new times for 25 and 100 miles.

As well as the new distances, 10 riders of the 37 finishers were under 40, and 10 were female – one of whom, Helen Stevenson, was a junior. While there's certainly room for improvement, it feels like there's enough interest from women and younger riders to suggest a future.

"I've always said that it's the best event on the calendar," new open champion Sargent told Cycling Weekly, still nursing a 12-hour weary body. "You just don't fully realise it until you've done one. You've got to go through it all and get to the other side… that's something special. That's what I've always said to people. I'd be very sad to see it go."

As with the '24' and other ultra-distance time trials, the community aspect of the '12' was key, Sargent said, made up by not just the riders but groups of helpers too.

"I'd say finishing it is half the story," he said. "It's always more of a community event I find, because everybody – with the exception of the people who do it self-supported, which I think is crazy, the dedication and organisation they must have – but everyone's usually got a little team of two or three or four helpers, and it's it's so much more of an event than some of the shorter distances.

He continued: "In the last hour of 12, when there's people in dinosaur suits on the side of the road screaming your name and cheering you on… you don't get that at the National 10. The difference is quite remarkable in how many people come out to see the last few stragglers finish."

Sargent himself is just 26, and new female champ De Pennington said she was encouraged by the numbers of younger riders taking part.

"We're definitely starting to see some younger people riding the 12. Obviously, I discount myself from that because I'm 49. But there's a few younger women who seem to be getting going with it, which I think is really encouraging."

The smaller size of the field was to be expected to some degree, said De Pennington, who only realised she'd beaten the record after the event when she transposed the kilometres she'd ridden (her favoured metric) to miles.

"Even 10 years ago 12-hour events were accustomed to similar numbers of finishers, except perhaps in the Nationals. But she did allude to the difficulty in finding sufficient marshals, particularly for an event of such duration.

"You know, it's always a struggle for any time trials now to find marshals," she said. "It's the same with our local 10, and people only have to hang out for 25 minutes. So [the 12] requires a lot of people to give up a hell of a lot of their time."

Chair of Cycling Time Trials Tim Smith ostensibly rescued last year's National 24hr Championships from extinction when he took on the organisation. Both the 24-hour and the 'half-day', as it is often called, offer unique challenges, he told Cycling Weekly. In his estimation the '12' would continue to thrive.

"I think the 12-hour is in a really good place at the moment," he said. "Last weekend was a great demonstration of that, with records being set and some really impressive performances across the events. It shows that there is still a real appetite for ultra-distance time trialling and, importantly, that riders are continuing to see what they can achieve over the longer distances.

"I’m very positive about the future of ultra events," he continued. "There’s something quite unique about the challenge of riding for 12 or 24 hours, and I think we’ll continue to see riders pushing the boundaries of what is possible. From the CTT’s perspective, we want to support that and make sure there is a strong platform for these events to develop."

“In the grand scheme of things, it's only three and a half hours…so yeah, it was actually all right.”

Casper von Folsach, who this week rode his road bike into the record books, with what is believed to be the fastest 100-mile effort ever recorded on a non-time trial bike, isn’t one to blow his own trumpet too loudly. So we’ll have to do it for him.

Von Folsach. a 33-year-old road and track cyclist, rode for UCI Continental teams including ColoQuick and Giant–Castelli during his professional career. He also competed at the 2012 Olympics for Denmark in the men's team pursuit, and is now a performance coach for Uno-X Mobility.

Now, he rides for WattShop CC. And, fittingly, Von Folsach can still crank out the watts when he wants to. On Sunday, riding on the CTT's R100/9 course in Monmouthshire, he did just that, smashing a 100-mile ride in an extraordinary time of 3:27:08.

So, what is it really like to maintain maximum effort for ‘only’ three and a half hours?

“Even for the hour record, you shouldn't go out at a pace that feels maximal, and that's definitely true for three and a half hours," he explains. "It should feel quite manageable. I deliberately wanted to try and ramp it up, rather than like dive off a cliff. It's just a much nicer way to do it.”

“It slowly starts to creep up on you, like after an hour and a half,” Von Folsach admitted. “Then you're like, ‘Oh, it actually isn't as easy doing 300 watts as it was in the beginning’. With around half an hour to go, I could start to feel that if I did a sprint now, I would cramp up… [it felt] like my muscles are telling me that what I'm doing right now is not that that's not something they're used to.”

Even at the end of his record-setting century, the Dane feels like he could have continued powering on.

"[From] the finish you've got a little 11-kilometre bonus warm down to go back to the HQ, just because it's like on a on a big dual carriageway. I just I don't like going very slow, so I still just kept pressing on, but in a much more relaxed position. I think if I had to, I could still have another 15 minutes at the same power. It's more the position – to hold that is really tough for that long. Actually, more so than the power band.”

The mental challenge is almost as tough as the physical strain, and staying focussed for that length of time can’t be easy. Where does he go to in his head while he’s riding along a dual carriageway, we want to know.

“You get into a bit of a flow state,” says Von Folsach. “It's not like you're thinking 'oh I need to also remember to empty the dishwasher, hang up washing’. I just focus on the effort, keeping tabs on all these little things like how am I feeling? What's my power? What's my speed? What's my position? Remembering to drink and eat… And seeing what the others are doing.”

While there is a well-established record for riding 100 mile distance on a TT bike, a category for road bikes doesn’t actually exist yet, so Von Folsach didn’t have anything precise to aim for.

"The closest [thing] to a target was the Spindata prediction. That that usually gives you a pretty good idea on where you land, and something to aim for. I think I was like nine seconds off that in the end. Like I was nine seconds slower, and over such a long distance, you can pretty much always find nine seconds.”

"Pending CTT introduction of road-bike specific competition records, this stands as the fastest known time for the distance" WattShop CC wrote on their social media pages this week.

In the absence of official records, verifying this comes down to tapping into people’s knowledge about what other riders have done. From what can be gleaned, it appears the standing fastest known time was set back in 1983, by Ian Cammish, who rode 100 miles in 3 hours 31 minutes on a semi-standard road bike – an astonishing time, given the advancement of bikes and clothing in the last four decades.

After Von Folsach’s ride, it’s possible official recognition of the category will follow, and interest could grow, something the Dane would welcome, even if it meant losing his record to another rider.

“It's more a case of wanting to see the sport grow, or at least not decline,” he says. “It's no secret that it's been struggling with numbers, but the road category seems to have stopped the bleeding somewhat. Maybe you could you could hope for a little bit of an uptake in participation from riders finding the road bike category a bit more accessible and not having to buy a dedicated TT bike.

“So yeah, I definitely wouldn't mind losing the record to someone. It might give motivation to get it back, if that was to happen.”

For now, Von Folsach is looking forward to the National 12-hour TT Championships next weekend. “I think the longest ride I've ever done is around 10 hours,” he says. “And, actually, I don't know if there's a road bike record for 12 hours…maybe I’ll try and figure out what that is and then we'll see how far I get.”

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot suffered a major setback to her Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift title defence yesterday in a time trial that saw her lose over two minutes to Marlen Reusser, and the difference between the two riders could not have been starker. Whereas Reusser had a position on the bike that looked sleek with every component of the bike, her kit, and helmet dialled in to produce a bullet-like shape, Ferrand-Prévot looked a very different rider altogether.

The most prevalent aspect of her setup that just didn’t look right was the large Giro Aerohead II helmet that she was wearing. It was wider than her shoulders, and her position on the bike meant that it stuck out above her back when looking at her from the camera motorbike behind’s view.

In my experience as an Aerodynamics Consultant at Venturi Dynamics, I would confidently say that this was almost certainly not the optimal helmet shape for Ferrand-Prévot's preferred position on the bike.

The French rider, who finished 34th on the day, hadn't raced a time trial in over five years. Asked ahead of the race if she felt she was starting from zero in her time trial preparation, she laughed that it was more “minus 10 – [but] I did my homework quite well”. A rider we expect to fly when the race hits the mountains, Visma-Lease a Bike's GC contender has to adapt her TT position around two major surgeries she had to treat iliac artery endofibrosis, admitting herself, “it wasn’t the prettiest sight, it wasn’t the fastest for everyone else in the peloton, but it was the fastest for me.”

The Giro Aerohead II has proved phenomenally fast on plenty of riders. So, why might one of the best time trial helmets work for one rider, but not for another?

Over the last few years in professional cycling, aero optimisation has taken centre stage. With the head and shoulders of a rider pivotal to drag reduction, most obvious in this aero pursuit is the influx of different helmet designs, especially in the time trial market.

The POC Tempor may have started the trend back in 2012 at the Olympics, but it really took hold once Giro updated the Giro Aerohead II with its huge, bulbous, elongated design. But there is an interesting dilemma with these helmets: their performance can be very position-dependent. This even occurs within the aero road helmet market, but not quite to the same extent.

An interesting side note is that both the Lidl-Trek men and women’s teams, and FDJ men’s team, allow riders to use whatever time trial helmet they want. This is because helmets can be very individual to the rider in how they perform. I heard from one WorldTour rider that when a new TT helmet was released, they had to continue using the old one because the new one performed far worse for them, specifically.

But how can we account for this, and how can we ensure we get the right helmet for us?

How these new TT helmets work

A prevalent theme with recently released TT helmets is the huge flared designs on both sides of the helmets, and, in conjunction with that, the large flared visors. The Giro Aerohead II, the latest unreleased POC TT helmet used by EF Education-EasyPost and Oatley teams, Rudy Project Wingdream, Abus TimeShifter, and Ekoi Pure Aero, for example, all have a large flared-out design.

The predominant reason for this is that the optimal time trial position situates the head lower down, often slightly below the line of the back. In this position, the shoulders are a large barrier to the oncoming air and a large contributor to the total drag generated by the body, some 80% of the total drag equation in a time trial position.

What this requires is that the helmet features an outward flare to smooth the junction between the head and the shoulders of the rider, providing a more arrow-like profile rather than the bulky, blunt shift from neck to shoulder. In conjunction with this, the visors are often enlarged, either to close the gap between the rider’s arm and the helmet, or to create a turbulent flow of air that works for some rider positions. Think of the new Kask Mistral Pro visor as used by Filippo Ganna, but not all the riders on the Netcompany-Ineos team.

But that leads us to the next issue: some helmets work well with certain positions, and not with others. Often, these TT helmets are designed around a key rider associated with the sponsored team or the rider themselves. The Specialized TT5, for example, was designed in conjunction with Remco Evenepoel, while the Giro Aerohead II was designed in part for Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert. However, speaking with a WorldTour rider, they divulged that when a new TT helmet was released, aero testing confirmed that the previous version of the helmet was significantly faster on them than the new version.

Scott found a way to combat this, with its latest Split TT helmet featuring a modular design wherein the tail of the helmet can be switched between a wider tail fairing and a narrower one depending on the rider's shape and how they hold their head. This was previously done with the Giro Selector TT helmet. Having two different designs gives scope to have one helmet with two different settings that can be faster across a broader range of rider positions.

Lidl-Trek takes this a step further by not having a time trial helmet from helmet sponsor Trek. Instead, the team uses a mix of different brands, selected after hours of wind tunnel testing with riders to find the helmet that will be fastest on them. This is the best approach, but sponsor commitments limit most teams in this regard.

What you can do to ensure that you go for the correct helmet

It's likely that, if you're reading this, your own helmet choice is not determined by sponsor commitment. Happily, this will leave you spoilt for choice when it comes to TT helmet shopping; but how do you choose the right shape for you?

A good general rule of thumb is that if you have a more upright position on the TT bike where your head extends above your back, you want a narrower-profiled helmet that won’t add to the surface area, with a tail that can fit as flush against your back as possible. Often this means wearing the helmet so that, when off the bike, you are not looking through the visor, and the helmet is rotated rearwards. However, when in the TT position, you are looking up through the visor.

If you move your head around a lot, or end up looking down, then a stubby profiled TT helmet is going to be the best option. The original Giro Aerohead, for example, or the old Kask Bambino cater for this sort of position, as does the POC Procen.

If, however, you are able to keep your back more horizontal with your head tucked, or aptly named ‘turtled’, then the spate of new wider-bodied TT helmets may work well. However, if possible, you want to measure the width of your shoulders along with the width of the TT helmet to ensure that, especially for narrower riders, it will not be too wide when worn.

Even then, the speed at which you race will also impact which helmet is fastest, but specific testing is required to determine this. Either wind tunnel or velodrome testing, using software such as MyWindSock, to the Chung Method.

Considerations for road helmets

There is still a consideration when it comes to road helmets, although the differences are not quite as extreme.

To an extent, the same principles apply: for a more upright head position, a narrow-profiled, shorter-tailed helmet will generally be faster. But when riders are better able to stay in a flatter-backed breakaway style position, road helmets with extended tails such as the Trek Ballista can perform better. Additionally, the shape of that helmet channels the air across the back, but is often less effective when worn in a more upright position, or if riders drop their heads down more. The Giro Eclipse Pro, for example, excluded a longer tail because aerodynamically it was found not to make a large difference in the optimal position, but the short tail design was faster across a far wider array of head positions.

The race jury at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will pay “particular attention” to riders’ clothing ahead of Wednesday’s individual time trial, following reports of bra padding to improve aerodynamics.

On Sunday, Dutch outlet Wielerflits reported that several women’s WorldTour teams had expressed concern about riders using larger, padded bras as a chest fairings – objects inserted into the skinsuit to smooth the airflow around the body.

Wielerflits said the practice had been seen previously in women’s cycling, including at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Research suggests that large chest fairings can result in time gains of almost a second per kilometre.

UCI rule 1.3.032 specifically prohibits the use of any accessories that “modify the morphology” of a rider. Riders had previously been known to place water bottles or radios down the front of their jersey.

Following stage three of the Tour de France Femmes, the race organiser, ASO, shared a press release that warned extra checks will be present during stage four’s time trial.

The full statement read: “Riders must be to the final checks before the race (bikes and outfit) no later than 10 minutes before their respective start time. Particular attention will be paid to compliance with article 1.3.032 of the UCI regulations, including non-essential elements and clothing or other items/accessories worn by a rider (including but not limited to helmets, glasses, shoes or in-race communication devices) which could modify riders’ morphology.”

The UCI rulebook describes “non-essential elements” as “any element which does not have a purpose which is exclusively of clothing or protection, or which is not strictly necessary for the functionality of the clothing, or other item, or accessory”.

Any rider found to have worn “non-compliant" clothing will face disqualification and a fine of 50-200 CHF (£46-184, $62-248), according to the governing body’s regulations.

It is uncertain how the race jury will carry out checks for padded bras. Some reports have suggested inspections be done privately by female commissaires. Even then, confusion remains as to what exactly the jury will be looking for.

“The problem is how are you going to police it?” Lidl-Trek’s head of technical and innovation, Koen de Kort, told The Athletic. “That’s the biggest issue. You can say it’s not allowed [but] how can you say how much a woman needs? That’s time to get pretty much into a grey area of what you’re allowed to check.”

Stage four’s time trial stretches 21km between Gevrey-Chambertin and Dijon, with a 1.8km climb in the first half. It is scheduled to start at 14:51 local time (CET).

Good legs fuelled by a double paella ready meal and the presence of his dad on Father's Day was all it took for Yorkshire rider Adam Duggleby to smash the British 100-mile time trial record last weekend.

The Addform VLV-Garden Shed UK rider's stunning 3:10:48 lowered John Archibald's previous mark by more than two minutes and saw the record continue on its slow march towards a sub-three-hour time.

Set on the E2/100C course on the A14 on the Cambridgeshire-Suffolk border, the 41-year-old had travelled down the night before and, staying in an Airbnb, made do with a brace of microwave meals in preparation.

"I had like a paella thing, literally like a ready meal, but I had two of them – you know what the portions are like – and I thought, well, that's enough carbs, I'll be alright with that," he tells Cycling Weekly. It being Father's Day and with his dad there too – a ubiquitous presence at Duggleby's races – and a fine day out on the course, all the stars were aligned.

"I'd have been annoyed if I hadn't got a record, I would have felt like I'd just wasted his day, really," says Duggleby. "But he doesn't mind coming and watching me anyway, to be honest. He pretty much always comes to the long distance stuff."

Talking of long-distance stuff, the idea of riding a century against the clock would boggle the mind of many: so much focus for such a long time. But when you're going as fast as Duggleby, it almost becomes a different event.

"Most cyclists at a certain level are doing three-hour rides, four hours, five hours all the time. So a three-hour ride, it's not that long," he says. "You're concentrating and calculating in your head all the time, whether you're going too hard, going too easy, when should you drink…? You're obviously looking where you're going and making sure you don't hit a pothole, and knowing where the next junction is that you've got to come off… you're just constantly thinking, so the three hours flies past, to be honest."

Duggleby is a former Paralympic tandem pilot and won medals on the road and track with stoker Steve Bate across the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021 Games – including gold in the TT and pursuit in Brazil.

He and Bate also hold numerous British tandem time trial records, including at 10, 25 and 50 miles.

At 41 years old, Duggleby had wondered whether he was too old to go for a new 100 record last weekend, but it didn't take long to realise that he was on a good day after averaging 31.6mph for the first 30 miles.

He suffered a bad patch mid ride, but managed to tackle it with a drink and a nootropics gel to come back stronger than ever. "After I'd had that, I felt really good, to be honest," he says. "I felt like the best I've ever felt at the end of the 100 – the motivation of actually knowing I was on for the record, and knowing I wasn't too far from the end. I know an hour sounds like a long way from the end, but in the 100 it feels like you're almost there."

His ride ultimately saw him record a 19:05 10-mile time trial, 10 times over: most riders would consider just one an incredible feat.

Duggleby hopes to put his form to use at numerous national championship time trials across the summer: perhaps he will add another record to his already crowded quiver.

Both the road races and time trials at the 2028 Olympics are expected to end in uphill finishes.

The organisers revealed this week that both events will finish outside Los Angeles's Griffith Observatory, one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks, located on the south side of Mount Hollywood, 346m above sea level.

Although the exact route is yet to be unveiled, it is thought the events will end with a 7% incline that lasts around 2km.

The men’s and women’s road races, scheduled for 22 and 23 July, will start at Venice Beach Boardwalk, and are expected to venture into the Santa Monica Mountains, before heading to Griffith Park.

The time trials, to be held on 19 July, will begin and end in the ‘Griffith Park Zone’, with a start at LA Zoo and a finish at Griffith Observatory.

August’s Paralympic events, too, will be held in the same area of the city; the road races, time trials and mixed team relay will all start and finish at LA Zoo.

“In the Griffith Park Zone, Olympic and Paralympic champions will cross iconic finish lines set against recognizable landmarks and stunning views overlooking Los Angeles,” The LA28 organisers said in a statement.

The UCI confirmed the news on Wednesday morning, writing that the "elevated position" of Griffith Observatory "indicates that the athletes will have an uphill finish in their bid for the individual time trial and road race Olympic titles".

The full details of the courses will be published later this year.

At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the road races were held on a hilly circuit around the city’s Montmartre area, with a flat run-in to the line beneath the Eiffel Tower. Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel won the men’s race solo, while the USA’s Kristen Faulkner attacked late from a breakaway to claim the women’s gold medal.

The time trials in Paris took place on flat 32.4km courses around the city centre, and were won by Evenepoel and Australia’s Grace Brown, also beneath the Eiffel Tower.

As previously announced, the track cycling events at the LA Olympics will take place at the Carson Velodrome, BMX racing and freestyle at the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, and mountain biking at the City of Industry.

Matteo Jorgenson sprinted solo through the uphill finish at Perreux to secure victory for Visma-Lease a Bike at the Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes stage three team time trial.

It saw the Dutch team place 10 seconds ahead of Netcompany-Ineos, who suffered a dropped chain with Oscar Onley that may well have proved crucial in the final reckoning.

EF Education-EasyPost were third, with their French rider Alex Beaudin clinging onto the leader's yellow jersey by 12 seconds after a gutsy solo assault on the finishing climb.

It offered a thrilling glimpse four weeks into the future, when the Tour de France kicks off in Barcelona with a stage of exactly the same format – including individual timing for each rider rather than whole teams.

Afterwards Jorgenson declared it "seven times better than winning on your own". "Because you get the moment afterwards together, which in cycling you don't often get. It's a really cool discipline," he said, "and a really nice day."

"It didn't really go as planned at all," Jorgenson said. "We lost Wout [van Aert] really early, he wasn't feeling super. And then Ben flatted and almost crashed on the main descent of the day so that was a hairy moment. I think we adapted well to the situation and we rearranged things and readjusted.

"Honestly I think the last 10K downhill we couldn't have gone any faster – Bruno [Armirail], Edo [Affini], Per [Strand Hagenes], were all incredibly strong and I was given a free ride to the last climb."

A victim of a collarbone-breaking crash at Amstel Gold in April, Jorgenson said it was great to be "back on top" and that the performance boded well for the rest of the race, which finishes on Sunday 14 June.

"It feels good to win a race. It's really nice after the spring I've had to come back and be on top again... I'm super happy to be part of this team and take this win together," he said.

How it happened

The race saw the teams compete over a hilly 28.4km (17.6 mile) course based on the town of Perreux in the Loire region. The first third of the parcours was made up of two long climbs, after which 12km of mostly downhill riding delivered the teams to the foot of a final, 800m haul up to the finish.

Jayco-AlUla set an early benchmark, breaking the 50kph barrier with their 33:46 with sprinter-rouleur Michael Matthews leading them in.

But as the later teams began to come through that time was bested, and then routed. Notable among the faster finishers as were Lidl-Trek (4th at 32s) with Juan Ayuso leading the team in alongside Matthias Skjelmose and Decathlon CMA CGM, with the closely watched Paul Seixas leading the team in solo to sixth place at 45sec.

Once Netcompany-Ineos and Visma-Lease a Bike were underway (the fourth and third-last teams respectively) it quickly became apparent that the stage win would likely come down to a battle between the pair. Netcompany-Ineos led comfortably through both time checks, only for Visma-Lease a Bike to run them close shortly afterwards.

Both teams had issues though – Visma earlier on, losing an off-colour Wout van Aert and then Ben Tulett to a puncture. Netcompany suffered a late problem when Oscar Onley derailed his chain, and the decision was made to wait – much to the chagrin of Onley's fellow GC hopeful Kévin Vauquelin, who displayed his displeasure via a series of arm-flails. It was a heaving, uphill sprint to the finish for both Netcompany and Visma, with the efforts of Onley and Vauquelin being pipped by Jorgenson for nine seconds only minutes later.

With Guillaume Martin leading Groupama-FDJ United in well down, the final effort was left to EF Education-EasyPost and their GC leader Alex Beaudin. They put in a thumping performance that was perhaps greater than the sum of their parts, but the final climb provided a nail-biting will-he, won't-he denouement as Beaudin romped away up the climb. His efforts were rewarded – he kept yellow and led the team in to a third-place finish.

Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes 2026, stage 3 TTT: Perreux-Perreux, 28.4km

(Teams with first rider/s to finish)

1. Visma-Lease a Bike (Matteo Jorgenson), 28.4km in 32.52
2. Netcompany-Ineos (Oscar Onley, Kévin Vauquelin), +9s
3. EF Education-EasyPost (Alex Beaudin), +29s
4. Lidl-Trek (Juan Ayuso, Matthias Skjelmose), +32s
5. Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe (Daniel Martínez, Maxim van Gils), +40s
6. Decathlon CMA CGM (Paul Seixas) +45s
7. Movistar (Cian Uijtdebroeks, Diego Pescador), +52s
8. Jayco-AlUla (Michael Matthews), +54s
9. UAE Team Emirates-XRG (Isaac Del Toro), +1:01
10. Bahrain Victorious (Santiago Buitrago), +1:05

General Classification after stage 3

1. Alex Beaudin (Fra) EF Education-EasyPost, in 10:01:01
2. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Netcompany-Ineos, +12s
3. Oscar Onley (Gbr) Netcompany-Ineos, at s.t.
4. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +15s
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa) Lidl-Trek, +47s
6. Matthias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +47s
7. Jørgen Nordhagen (Nor) Visma-Lease a Bike, +50s
8. Maxim van Gils (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +56s
9. Bruno Armirail (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike, +57s
10. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa) Netcompany-Ineos, at s.t.

For the first time since 2019, a team time trial is back on the menu at the Tour de France, but now there’s a twist: times will be recorded individually, not as a team.

Anyone who has watched – or indeed competed in – any of the last four editions of Paris-Nice will already be familiar with this every-man-for-himself timing rule. ASO has been trialling it at the race since 2023, and did so again on stage three of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes last month, a key dress rehearsal before the Tour’s opening stage in Barcelona on Saturday.

So how does an individually timed team time trial work? Do the riders still race together? And is it the winning team or individual who is declared the stage winner?

Team time trials exist to test speed, unity and cohesiveness against the clock. Riders typically race in a close line, sheltering from the wind and saving the strongest riders for crucial moments.

Historically, and according to standard UCI rules, a team’s time is taken on the fourth rider across the line, with all riders granted that same time in the stage and general classifications. In recent years, however, event organisers ASO have tried to make the format more exciting at their races by introducing individual timing.

The rules in place on the Tour's opening stage in Barcelona dictate that each rider will receive their own individual time in the team time trial. As previous tests at Paris-Nice and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes have shown, teams tend to treat this as a lead-out effort; many protect their leader for as long as possible, before releasing him to attack the final part of the stage.

The winner of the stage is the entire team, rather than the fastest individual. At the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes last month, for example, Matteo Jorgenson clocked the fastest time, and so his Visma-Lease a Bike team were declared the stage winners.

In the general classification, it is the riders’ individual times that count. As such, riders aiming for high overall placings will try to finish as quickly as possible, while those unconcerned by the GC may drop off the back of their team’s paceline, and roll across the finish line minutes later.

There is still a time limit, however, and any riders finishing outside a generous extra 30% of the winner’s time will be eliminated from the race. At the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Jorgenson's time was 32:52, meaning the time limit was 42:44, or an extra 10 minutes. No rider missed the time cut.

Announcing the new format ahead of the 2023 edition Paris-Nice, ASO said: “This should force each team to adopt the best strategy to lead out their leader in the final stretch, which is not unlike team spring events on the track. The innovation should also stop a whole team sweeping the top GC standings.”

Six-time British time trial champion Alex Dowsett described the individual timing as “brilliant” at the time.

“The most efficient way of doing the race will be to have your GC guy dropped off with 500m to go," Dowsett explained. "Maybe he has taken some turns, maybe he hasn't, that depends how strong he would be, and how much energy they want to save for days to come.”

Saturday's team time trial at the Tour de France is 19.6km long and finishes with an uphill drag to Montjuïc. The stage begins at 17:05 CET (16:05 BST).

The race’s first yellow jersey will go to the individual rider with the fastest time on the stage.

Pre-stage favourite Filippo Ganna (Netcompany-Ineos) pulled out a storming time trial to win at a canter on stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia 2026.

Despite the 42km distance – the longest Giro d'Italia time trial in more than 10 years – the Italian rider put in an ultra-fast 54.9kph ride, to record 45.53 – a full 1.54 ahead of runner-up Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos).

The stage was also billed as a big one for the GC, and it did not disappoint. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) put in a rather average shift by his own high standards, and maglia rosa Alfonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) managed to hold on to the GC lead by 27 seconds over the Dane with a tenacious ride.

Further down the top-10 saw multiple GC shuffles with various riders gaining – or losing – unexpected chunks of time.

Afterwards a jovial Ganna – who was no doubt pleased to have finished a two-hour-plus stint in the hot seat – praised his team, and said he was not done yet.

"I think we did an amazing job this winter, especially with the GC riders like Thymen [Arensman], who rode really well for the second place – like at Tirreno-Adriatico [where the pair also finished one-two in the ITT]," he said.

"It's a good victory for us here. We'll enjoy tonight and then we'll stay focused for the last 14 days."

Of the course, which suited him to a tee, he said: "It's really nice, with a long TT like this, I really like it. I'm really happy to finally find a good TT for me, without a climb," he joked.

With Friday's stage finishing in his home town of Verbania, his stage-hunting intentions did not stop today, he said: "From today starts another Giro for Filippo. Now we want another victory in a [road stage]. Why not try Friday for me – as well as another stage, obviously if it's less than 4,000 metres," he quipped.

The coastal course between Viareggio and Massa was characterised by long, straight and wide roads that dialled up the mental challenge and seemed to suit some more than others. GC hopefuls going away pleased tonight will include Arensman with his impressive second on the stage that boosted him to third overall at 1.57.

Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) declared himself "super-happy" with a fifth place on the stage that saw him jump six places to eighth on GC, although he described the long, straight parcours as "brutal – nothing to focus on but how much it hurts."

Those who will be hoping for better luck in the coming stages include Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), who has looked like Vingegaard's biggest rival so far but who lost 1.22 to the Dane today and drops to fourth on GC.

Battling rides from Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe pair Giulio Pellizzari and Jai Hindley saw them lose 18 and 31 seconds respectively to Vingegaard, with Pellizzari static at ninth on GC and Hindley dropping two places to sixth.

The race continues tomorrow with a long, hilly stage to Chiavari which the GC contenders may be tempted to call 'truce' on, at least just for a day, and let the breakaways roam free.

Results

Giro d'Italia 2026 stage 10 ITT: Viareggio > Massa, 42km

1. Filippo Ganna (Ita) Netcompany-Ineos, in 45:53
2. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, +1:54
3. Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United, +1:59
4. Sjoerd Bax (Ned) Pinarello Q36.5, +2:04
5. Derek Gee-West (Can) Lidl-Trek, +2:16
6. Max Walscheid (Ger) Lidl-Trek, +2:17
7. Johan Price-Pejtersen (Den) Alpecin-Premier Tech, +2:29
8. Mikkel Bjerg, (Den) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +2:33
9. Lorenzo Milesi (Ita) Movistar, +2:42
10. Niklas Larsen (Den) Unibet Rose Rockets, +2:42

General Classification after stage 10

1. Afonso Eulálio (Por) Bahrain Victorious, in 39:40:34
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +27s
3. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Netcompany-Ineos, +1:57
4. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon CMA CGM, +2:24
5. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Jayco AlUla, +2:48
6. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +3:06
7. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +3:28
8. Derek Gee-West (Can) Lidl-Trek, +3:34
9. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +3:36
10. Markel Beloki (Esp) EF Education-EasyPost, + 4:16

If the name Tim Smith sounds familiar to you, there might be a reason for that – last year he stepped in and pulled one of time trialling's most iconic races – the National 24-Hour Championships – from the brink of extinction, after its former longtime organisers stepped down.

He'll be organising the race again this year, but other things will be competing for his time – his role as new chair of Cycling Time Trials (CTT), for example. He was elected January's AGM – a meeting that has been characterised as a tumultuous affair that saw the resignation of numerous former directors as well as former chair Andrea Parish, whose legacy includes the successful road bike category and a new website, built from the ground up.

Smith is determined to build on those achievements he says, and has ideas of his own that he hopes will make time trialling more attractive and underpin its stability, including direct club contact and exploring racing away from the road.

Manchester-based Smith is 51 and has a background in IT consultancy. As you'd expect, he's a bike rider himself. He came back to riding and racing several years ago after taking a break while he had a young family. The secretary of CTT's Manchester District, he joined CTT as a board director in late 2023.

This year he has signed up with a coach for the first time. "I'm never going to be a superstar," he concedes, "but as I get older I do want to be the best I can be. So I thought, I'll sign up with a coach and at least know that what I'm doing is the right stuff."

He hopes to race up and down the country this season – something he hopes will feed into his new role: "It doesn't hurt to get around and talk to people about it," he says.

Smith is excited about his new-look board, which includes top-end racers that he hopes will add frontline insight.

"We've got a lot of new directors this time around, and some of them are racing at a very high level," he says. "So we've got people who are really engaged and involved at the sharp end, as it were." These include 2016 BBAR winner Richard Bideau and Alex Royle, silver medallist at last year's National 24-hour champs.

Much has been written on social media about those elections, including from those that were there at the AGM in January where they took place. Phrases like 'soap opera', 'sour grapes', and plenty more have been tossed around to describe what sounds like a highly-charged meeting.

"It was certainly interesting," Smith says, "[but] I don't really recognise some of the statements I've seen made. As you'd expect, there was a democratic election, and the delegates cast their votes and outcome from it.

He added: "I think that's it really. It's how these volunteer organisations work. People come and people go as things change, and we work with what we've got and we move forward."

Part of that moving forward, explains Smith, will be to reach out to the cycling clubs, which play such a key part in introducing new riders to racing. "We want to get feedback as to what we can do to help them," says Smith. "How can we help them get more riders, more members, to encourage more people to ride and so on."

CTT will also look at the potential lack of appeal of dual carriageway courses to new and young racers. "It's something we have to bear in mind," says Smith. "We want look at if we can do time trials off the road, whether that be off-road time trials or just off the road in some way," which he says could also include closed circuits.

However, ensuring events and support is in place for every kind of time triallist was important, Smith said – from newbies to dyed in the wool lo-pro aeronauts – but added: "I think the key is, let's get people interested in time trialling first, and then we can worry about finding events they want to ride."

Despite a big influx of riders to the sport via the road bike strategy, the top priority remains the slow decline in event numbers and overall rides, Smith says. The CTT Annual Report for 2025 shows the number of open events has fallen by 28% since 2022, and total rides by 22%.

However, he is, he says, optimistic for the coming months "We've got a great new team, and I think we can really make some differences – really reinvigorate the sport, and build on the good work done by Andrea and the previous board until now," he says.

In a British bike racing landscape that is often challenging for the clubs, organisers and associations that are trying to ensure competitive events thrive rather than dwindle, tales of woe are as common as success stories.

In the UK whole regions have fallen out of favour when it comes to promoting top-level road races, while the country's fastest time trial courses are being picked off one by one by new road developments that mean they're no longer raceable. A lack of marshals, volunteers, youngsters… they're all issues that many bike racing organisers and administrators lose sleep over.

However, there is one body that should give cause for optimism across cycling and which, thanks to innovation and determination, has seen participation and engagement headed in the right direction.

Northampton & District Cycling Association presides over a number of clubs in the UK's Midland area and was on the brink of extinction just a few years ago when its stalwart and figurehead Richard Daniells died after being in collision with a car while riding home from an event.

The association was pulled from the ashes by a determined band of volunteers who formed a new committee in a period not long after Covid and its associated lockdowns when UK time trialling was struggling as a sport.

Three years on, N&DCA is thriving having attracted new time triallists who are riding greater numbers of events.

"Richard basically did everything," says new N&DCA chair Noel Toone. "He was the treasurer. He managed the coordinating, all the events that the clubs organised…"

Determined to build on everything Daniells had done, Toone and his new committee introduced innovative ways of inspiring people to race more and to bring together those most disparate of factions – the new time triallist wanting to use their road bike to race on quiet roads, and the old hands with their fully-loaded TT machine whose bread and butter is the dual carriageway.

Introducing a new handicapped results system, Toone and his colleagues have been able to boost rides and engagement, and offer something for all.

"We've turned it around," he said of time trialling's dwindling fortunes. "It's gone up steadily, not a huge amount, but very clearly, the road bike entries have gone up, and also ladies' rides."

The new system awards prizes based on a rider's performance against their predicted time on time trialling platform Spindata, which is linked with Cycling Time Trials and analyses all performances in open events, proving remarkably insightful and accurate.

"It doesn't matter you can be 12, you can be 80, you've got just as much chance of winning the top prize, because it's, have you beaten your Spindata prediction," says Toone.

Like the rest of UK time trialling, N&DCA has also seen the benefit of the introduction of the new road bike time trial class, launched by CTT back in 2022, around the same time as N&DCA was being saved after Daniells's untimely death. There was some consternation around the new class at the outset and how easy the rules would be to manage, but Toone's view was: "The start timekeeper's assistant can see if it's a road bike or not. No need to worry about measuring depth of rims or this and that. 'Is it a road bike?'. [That's sufficient] for our level of competition."

That said Toone himself has first-hand experience of some of road bike time trialling's teething issues – he was the organiser of the National Championships in 2024 that saw complaints made against the set-up of Midlands rider George Fox, who was only crowned the winner after seven weeks of investigations and an appearance in front of a CTT panel.

But Toone's own experiences riding the bike leg of relay triathlons with his daughter have taught him that competition appeals to so many riders – they just need it to be accessible.

"You see people doing the triathlons, and some are on aero TT bikes with disc wheels and everything, but a lot are on road bikes and quite a lot are just on mountain bikes, and they're really enjoying it," Toone says. "So there's a lot of people out there that like a bit of competition, but don't want to go the whole hog… and just ride on what they've got. And what they've got is usually a road bike."

Other initiatives put in place in recent years include online racing on Training Peaks, which is being extended from just winter to winter and spring, with groups according to ability levels and separate results for all. Part of this particular plan is to encourage and enable younger riders from N&DCA's own 'Cyclones' group and beyond to discover bike racing.

But there is one issue with which organisers from time trialling and road racing alike continue to struggle with – volunteers.

"It's the only thing that causes any sort of stress for an organiser," Toone says. "As far as I'm concerned, when I'm organising, the village hall, not a problem; road conditions, checks, risk assessments, they can be done. But if I don't have enough marshals or my timekeeper's pulled out… that's the thing that causes the stress."

Toone wholeheartedly recommends the Spindata handicap prize system to other clubs and DAs out there who might be struggling, as well as season-long road competitions to keep things accessible and people engaged. It has worked for N&DCA, and anyone in need of a bit of help and advice could certainly do worse than giving them a call.

The Cannondale SuperSlice has always lived in the shadow of more established time trial bike icons such as the Specialized Shiv, Pinarello Bolide, and even the Giant Trinity. This even appears to be the case on the local UK time trial scene, where spotting a SuperSlice has become a feat in its own right - they're as scarce as hen's teeth.

The Cannondale SuperSlice Disc was originally launched in 2017, replacing the rim-brake-only Slice model. Initially available in both disc- and rim-brake versions (the latter was pro team-only), it was updated again in 2021 as a second-generation model. Adopting an aesthetic more akin to the SystemSix, it wasn't readily available in the UK, with limited quantities assigned to Europe and the United States.

Increased pressure to perform at WorldTour level and radical advances in aerodynamics quickly rendered the outgoing model obsolete, forcing Cannondale to deliver a super-fast, lightweight time-trial chassis for both EF Pro Cycling squads. After all, 2026 is a massive year for time trials, what with a TTT pegged for the opening stage of the Tour de France and an individual time trial for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

We spotted what looked to be the new SuperSlice being raced by EF Education-EasyPost at Trofeo Ses Salines last month, and while details were thin on the ground, we've finally got the skinny on the new bike.

Here's everything we know about Cannondale's fastest time trial bike to date.

A seamless integrated chassis

For Cannondale, the new SuperSlice was as much about maintaining the steering geometry as it was about futureproofing the chassis. As a result, the bike is said to offer more control in the TT position thanks to an improved, highly adjustable cockpit layout. It also has clearances for up to 32mm tyres, and gets a UDH rear dropout and BSA threaded bottom bracket.

"Our racing bikes are focused on speed, so it was a case of how do we make the new SuperSlice and rider as fast as possible," said Cannondale Senior Design Engineer, Dr. Nathan Barry.

And that means a lot of CFD modelling and wind tunnel testing, looking at which tubes and shapes work best for the entire system - rider and bike included. As such, the new SuperSlice looks radically different from the model it replaces, with sculptural, deep-section tube shapes, a reprofiled, narrower head tube (thanks to the Delta Steerer), a chunkier fork, and a more optimised rear end and seat tube cutout.

The integrated deep-section airfoil seatpost retains the same dimensions as the seat tube, improving compliance and aerodynamics. The seat clamp allows 45mm of fore-aft movement, offering a wide range of fit options that correspond to nominal effective seat tube angles of 74 to 77 degrees.

Longtime fans of the platform will be happy to know that the iconic SuperSlice pizza graphic is present on the underside of the downtube. Yes, it's wearing a cape!

The result of all these changes has been a 10w yaw-weighted drag reduction at 50km/h over its predecessor, which is fairly significant given that the total system weight of a size medium EF team-issue bike is around 9kg (with 68T chainring, 90mm front wheel, and solid rear disc).

According to Cannondale, "weight savings achieved in the basebar successfully offset any gains in the fork, netting a bike that is significantly faster with the same mass."

As a result, depending on how you spec the build, a sub-9kg time-trial bike will be easily achievable.

The bike will not accommodate any aftermarket basebar systems, and extension compatibility is limited to parts designed for the Vision/FSA single-stack, mono-link TFA Evo configurations. Cannondale says, "The intention of the Vision MonoRiser JS bend carbon extensions is to allow riders to dial in positions with the adjustable sliding extensions, before settling in on the fixed dimension one-piece setup."

Regarding chainring sizing, the new SuperSlice can be run as either a 2x (60/46T max) or a 1x (64T max) setup. While Cannondale says it might be physically possible to run larger rings, it's not recommended, and that damage from oversized chainrings will not be covered by warranty.

Contrary to previous iterations, the SuperSlice is not just focused on out-and-out time-trial performance, but can also be set up for triathlons. As a result, it's compatible with Vision hydration systems.

The frame is only available in black, but the contrasting Cannondale wordmark logos and Lab71 nomenclature make for a rather stunning-looking package.

The new SuperSlice is compatible with electronic groupsets only.

Pricing and availibilty

While the second-generation SuperSlice was almost impossible to source, let alone purchase here in the UK, Cannondale has made a concerted effort to make it globally accessible for both time triallists and triathletes.

Owing to the Lab71 insignia and Series 0 carbon construction, it's not the most affordable time trial frameset on the market at $6,999 / £6,995 / €6,999 - and, considering riders will need to source a saddle, wheels, and the groupset separately, full builds are likely to cost more than $12,000 / £10,000 / €12,000 in some cases.

The organisers of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana decided last minute to neutralise stage two’s individual time trial due to strong winds.

A moderate wind warning was issued in the eastern Spanish region on Thursday, with gusts of up to 80kph.

Prior to the stage start, the race organisers announced finishing times would not count towards the general classification. Riders were also told they had to compete on road bikes, with TT bikes – principally the disc wheels – considered too dangerous for the conditions.

Despite the changes, the organisers confirmed the rider with the fastest time would still be declared the stager winner and receive a podium ceremony. That honour went to Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), who won with an average speed of more than 50kph over the 17km course.

A statement from the race organisers, published on social media, read: “As a result of the safety protocol meeting, comprising the various departments previously communicated, and following a thorough analysis of the situation and the conditions under which the stage will be conducted, the decision has been taken to proceed with the start in accordance with the planned route.

“Nevertheless, it has been agreed that the times will not count towards the general classification. The stage will have a stage winner, and the corresponding podium ceremony will be held in accordance with the established protocol.”

Following a recon of the course between Carlet and Alginet, Movistar’s Cian Uijtdebroeks said he felt it dangerous to start the stage.

“It’s crazy, the course is just unsafe,” Uijtdebroeks said in a video posted to X by Movistar. “Riding with the TT bike is just impossible with the wind gusts, but also just the barriers are flying over the road, so even with the road bike, for me, it’s unsafe. It would be a shame if we start.”

The Lidl-Trek team posted: “We hope everyone stays safe out there in the wind.”

Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling), the winner of stage one, will continue to lead the race on stage three, regardless of the result of the time trial.

It's just one month into 2026, and the pace race is well and truly underway with Tudor Pro Cycling and EF Education-EasyPost spotted aboard new time trial bikes at Trofeo Ses Salines in Mallorca. Stefan Kung was seen riding what appears to be an all-new BMC Timemachine, while the entire EF Education-EasyPost team was racing on what is unmistakably a new Cannondale SuperSlice in Lab71 guise.

The Cannondale SuperSlice Disc was originally launched in 2017 and updated again in 2021 as a second-generation model, adopting a look more akin to the SystemSix, but with time-trial extensions. The bike wasn't readily available in the UK, with limited quantities assigned to Europe and the United States. While it was in line with best time trial bike design trends, the increased focus on time trials at WorldTour events for 2026 and beyond has forced Cannondale to radically rethink its outlook on time trial bike research and development – after all, time trials are where brands test future technology that will eventually filter down into regular road bikes.

From the pictures, the new SuperSlice's clean-slate design signals a clear new direction for the American company. Based on the Lab71 nomenclature, we can assume the new frame architecture is made of Series 0 carbon fibre, which means it should be lighter than the model it replaces. The tube shapes are very sculptural, with a notably deep, reprofiled head tube, a chunkier fork, and a more optimised rear end and seat tube cutout. The bikes are all painted black, with contrasting white Cannondale wordmark logos on the downtubes.

The most notable change is the move to a newer mono-stack basebar, complete with Vision Metron TFE Evo extensions. The front end looks a lot more aero than before, with integration very much the order of the day. Vision also handles the wheels, which take the form of a Metron TFW disc and front system. As reported in our fifth-generation SuperSix Evo story from the Tour Down Under, EF Education-EasyPost is using SRAM-supplied groupsets. As a result, the new SuperSlice Lab71s are equipped with SRAM Red AXS componentry.

While we can't confirm whether the new SuperSlice will use the Delta Steerer (a triangular-shaped steerer tube designed to route internal cables without the need for an oversized 1.5-inch upper headset bearing), given the complex front-end plumbing of time trial bikes, we do expect it to be implemented, along with wider tyre clearance and a UDH dropout assembly.

We'll update this new story with all the facts and numbers once the bike is officially launched.

Time trial riders will now be able to use their old TT frames in UK road bike events, following the reversal of a decision made a year ago to ban them at what was a tumultuous Cycling Time Trials (CTT) AGM.

The sport's UK governing body had ruled that road bike time triallists could not use frames that had been marketed for time trialling.

However, that motion was reversed at the weekend, in a proposal put forward by CTT's own Regulations Advisory Group (RAG). Riders might wish to use their old time trial frames to create a bike for road bike time trials, it was thought, and outlawing such a practice would only make time trialling less accessible – something CTT has fought hard against over the past few years.

RAG also proposed that the aerodynamics and "perceived aesthetics" between a time trial frame and a modern aero road bike was "negligible".

A proposal to reduce the maximum rim depth in road bike time trials to 65mm did not pass, with the current 90mm maximum remaining in place for both front and back wheels.

The AGM saw the resignation of former chair Andrea Parish following the election of Tim Smith as new chair, while two other CTT directors, Martyn Heritage-Owen and Robin Field also resigned.

Time trial course design is also set to undergo a radical shake-up, with the creation of a two-tier course 'Competition' and 'Racing' system design to open up new possibilities and combat course loss – a major bugbear for modern time trialling often caused by road development that renders courses unraceable.

Under the new system, organisers will have far more leeway when it comes to designing 'Racing' courses, with the finish line allowed to be up to 50% of the total race distance away from the start, instead of between 1.5-2.5 miles on any course up to 50 miles.

CTT's Mark Bradley, who helped design the new regulations as part of the RAG, told Cycling Weekly in a statement: "I’m pleased that we’ve been able to formalise a way to relax the rules around course creation, in addition to the existing ability to request a dispensation. Hopefully it will encourage more innovative course creation around the country, and enable an uptick in the number of possible events."

Time trialling courses in the UK could be getting a makeover as the sport's governing body, Cycling Time Trials, seeks to introduce new measures to push it forward.

If a new proposal is voted through at the CTT annual meeting at the end of the month, all UK time trialling would fall under one of two brand new course types – 'Competition' and 'Racing'. The latter would enjoy relaxed course-design rules that would enable organisers to find design new courses with far more ease.

The proposal, which comes straight from CTT's Board of Directors as opposed to one of its regional districts, is designed to combat a significant time trialling bugbear – course loss.

Road and residential development means that courses are constantly being lost because of infrastructure such as traffic lights, which instantly renders a road unraceable.

The current course regulations are tight, making it difficult to design new or replacement courses. They specify that the finish must be relatively close to the start – within 1.5 miles of the start on courses of 10-15 miles for example, and 2.5 miles of the start on courses of 25-50 miles.

Under the proposed set-up, 'Racing' courses could place their finishes up to 50% of the total distance away from the start (for example, a 25-mile race could see the finish placed 12.5 miles away from the start) giving course designers far more leeway. However, only 'Competition' courses, which would retain the current design restrictions, would be eligible for competition records and championships. 'Racing' courses would have their own course records but nothing more.

Mark Bradley is part of the CTT's Regulations Advisory Group (RAG), which designed the new course design regs. He spent time speaking to every CTT District to find out what issues they had with courses, which turned out, he said, to be "wide ranging".

"From personal experience, I also know that my own club event came under threat," he told Cycling Weekly. "By the time you avoid all the limiting factors like traffic lights and housing developments and pedestrian crossings, it's really hard to come up with something that works, so I thought anything that we can do to reduce the limitations on that can only help.

"I guess the proof will be the pudding," he added.

There would be no upper limit on the 50% rule, Bradley told CW, but it would be up to organisers to decide whether – for example – having the finish line 50 miles away from the start would benefit their event, or be to the detriment of it.

The issue of course loss, he said, varied greatly between different areas: "It's probably a disproportionate problem. The more rural areas probably have fewer limitations, but one district that's densely populated came back and said, anecdotally, they've lost about three-quarters of their courses over the last 20 years."

The new course design regulations are not the only thing set to be voted on at the CTT's AGM this month. Also up for debate is a proposal to reverse a ruling last year specifying that only bike frames marketed specifically for road (not time trial) use can be used in road bike time trials, and a proposal to reduce the maximum rim depth of front and rear wheels from 90mm to 65mm – also for road bike time trials.

The governing body for time trialling in the UK has spelled out in the most explicit terms yet just how important embracing road bikes has been for the sport.

Time trialling had been facing "catastrophic collapse" when the strategy was launched back in 2022, Cycling Time Trials (CTT) wrote in its newly released annual report.

The report detailed the continuing success of road bikes within UK time trialling, with 76% of newcomers to the sport opting to use their standard bike rather than buy a TT-specific lo-pro machine. That figure was even higher among women at 83.7%.

"I'm absolutely delighted with it," CTT chair Andrea Parish said of the success of the road bike strategy. "There's been a big team effort on it, and it's giving riders what they want."

The organisation rolled out its new road bike class in April 2023, which saw a default category for drop bar machines attached to every event. It made time trialling immediately more accessible and appealing to a wide range of riders. Now, by CTT's own reckoning, the idea saved the sport.

The report said: "Put simply, the Road Bike category has almost completely offset what would otherwise have been a catastrophic collapse in the sport."

Explained Parish: "Where we were in 2022 we were looking at a post-Covid world that was not good. If we hadn't done what we did with road bikes, we'd be looking at, you know, 20,000 rides, we'd have been so down. It was looking fairly grim."

The figures show, perhaps unsurprisingly, that younger riders are more likely to ride road bikes, and older age groups time trial bikes. For example, 59.3% of those aged 18-30 use road bikes, and only 28% of those in the 50-60 years bracket.

However, while road bikes continue to be an unqualified success story in UK time trialling, overall number of time trial rides continued to fall year on year, as did overall number of open events. There was also a lower number of clubs affiliating with CTT, with less money coming in as a result.

Open events are those that are open to all as opposed to club events which are broadly restricted to those within that club. The number of these had actually risen in 2025, Parish revealed, although those figures were not available at the time of writing.

There was work to be done, said Parish, who plans to take a 'ground-up' approach to addressing falling numbers.

"Where I would like to really push the growth is in club events," she told CW. "Because you can either enter club events and that's all you do. But that's also where people are 'found'. You think about Hayley [Simmonds]. She started off doing club events. People can graduate from that."

She added: "I would be very happy if the number of open events stabilised and we simply had more clubs who were interested in running club events, because for me, that's the entry point. That's where the real base is. I think if you can grow that, it strikes me that the rest might just follow."

The report also paid homage to off-road and gravel time trials, explaining that while they were already sanctioned by CTT, the organisation was currently finalising an off-road toolkit for clubs who wished to promote them.

The report said this would mean "every club can confidently stage them under the CTT banner. With gravel and off-road cycling booming nationally, this is a readymade, low-cost, high-appeal avenue for clubs to attract new members and riders who may never consider traditional road time trialling."

This year put time trialling in the UK on a firm footing, Parish said, laying the groundwork for community engagement and reconnecting with clubs – "the bells and whistles" – that she envisaged for 2026.

Dusk is setting in when I connect with Zoe Bäckstedt over video call. She is in Belgium, where it’s early evening and turning gloomy outside; she sits down to talk to me under bright artificial light. Fresh from the photoshoot for this piece, she has a Red Bull cap pulled tight over her blonde waves, and gives off a sparky energy as we begin chatting. Just out of shot, her wrist is in plaster – a training crash at the end of October left her with two small fractures, delaying the start of her cyclo-cross season.

Until this very recent spot of bad luck, 2025 had been a year of interdisciplinary dominance for the young Welshwoman. From a double victory at January’s UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships, rainbow jerseys collected in the mixed team relay and the under-23 race, she went on to rule supreme in time trials, winning five out of the six she competed in, and earning a national and under-23 world title. “If I look back [to last year], compared to where I ended the road season [this year], it’s a day-and-night difference,” she says. “I had a lot of wins this year, which I didn’t expect. I didn’t expect to win a road race – that was probably one of the big things, and also to win Nationals… Everything just fell into a good place.”

Her first big victory on the road came in July at the Baloise Ladies Tour, a six-stage race that weaves through Belgium and the Netherlands. Riding for Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, Bäckstedt won the overall and three of the stages, including the 3.1km opening prologue. “It was very interesting. You do a half-hour warm-up for three and a half minutes of racing,” she recalls. Aged just 20 at the time, she became the youngest winner in the race’s 13-year history.

Bäckstedt’s crowning achievement came in September, in her final race of the season and one of her biggest goals: the under-23 time trial at the UCI World Championships in Rwanda. “Before the race, before I even got into my kit, I went into the start area and watched the first rider go off,” she remembers of the morning in Kigali. “I was like, ‘OK, I need to take in all of the drums and the music and the lights.’” Bäckstedt wasn’t due at the start ramp for another hour and a quarter, but wanted to be there, soaking it all in.

When her moment finally came, amid the noise and the rumble of drums, she dropped onto the course, a 22.6km blast she had divided into chunks in her mind. She makes it sound like a piece of cake: after the climb, the Côte de Nyanza, came a “really, really, really long downhill, a cobbled climb, and then you were done”. The homework paid off. Before even the halfway mark, she caught and passed Czechia’s Julia Kopecký, who had started 1.30 earlier. Her next victim was Marie Schreiber of Luxembourg, who had had a three-minute head start and was tagged with a kilometre to go. So commanding was Bäckstedt’s ride that the next-best rider, Slovakia’s Viktória Chladoňová, was nearly two minutes astray.

Bäckstedt has competed with the elites on the WorldTour since graduating from the junior ranks in 2023, meaning fans won’t see her in her under-23 rainbow jersey next year Instead, she’ll wear the red, white and blue of the British bands, the spoils of a National Championships TT title claimed on home soil in Wales. “My whole family came up and we were all super excited,” she says. “The time trial course was absolutely savage. It was super hard, that climb.” Bäckstedt recalls her radio was buzzing with time gaps from her coach; she was up on the defending champion, Anna Henderson, but the climbing wasn’t done. “I think she’s a bit better at climbing than I am, so I knew that I was possibly going to lose time there. I just had to give it everything.” Twenty seconds separated the two at the finish, the rider from Pontyclun winning gold ahead of Henderson.

Before the Worlds junior TT in 2022, Bäckstedt recorded her entire recon with a GoPro, dictating notes on the course to study later. Is it this stringent preparation that makes her such a fine time triallist? Or is it physical, her huge power and ability to hold an aero position while at full pelt? “In a weird way, I think it has a connection to cyclo-cross,” Bäckstedt says, “which is also a very individual effort, you versus your body – how hard can you push, how deep you can go. I have that power that I can unlock when I’m on a time trial bike.”

Being a multi-discipline rider comes with its challenges, too. “When you’re just riding the road bike, it’s easy to forget how to ride in sand and how to do full-gas starts for 20 seconds. They’re such different disciplines.” It’s talking about cyclo-cross, the mud, pain and thrill of off-road riding, that brings the biggest smile to Bäckstedt’s face.

“Everyone thinks we must be a crazy bunch of people to enjoy racing in 2°C in the rain, when all the road riders are in the sun or on holiday. But that’s part of what I love about it, being in nature, among the trees.” She pauses, as if remembering her equal fondness for the road. “In the summer, I always say, ‘Oh, I love the road, but I miss cyclo-cross.’ And in the winter, I always say the opposite . As long as I’m on a bike, I’m happy.”

When cycling is your full-time job, it’s vital to enjoy it – something Bäckstedt’s parents instilled in their two daughters, Zoe and her older sister, Elynor, who rides for UAE Team ADQ. “I’ve had a bike since I could crawl,” Zoe tells me. “My parents gave me and my sister bikes, and if we wanted to ride them, that was up to us.” The two girls’ Paris-Roubaix-winning father, Magnus, and 1998 British road champion mother, Meg, would take them to the outskirts of Cardiff on weeknights to ride with Maindy Flyers, the legendary club that shaped the early careers of Geraint Thomas and Elinor Barker. Zoe’s memory of her first race is lost among a childhood full of social rides, hill sprints and circuit races. Lining up at the start of a race felt as natural as a long training ride with the family.

In 2021, aged 17, Bäckstedt won her first road world title in the junior women’s race in Belgium. She went on to claim a momentous double the following year, winning both the road race and time trial titles. In doing so, she earned her first Cycling Weekly Rider of the Year crown, the youngest rider to ever win this magazine’s biggest honour. It’s credit to her meticulous approach, and her love of cycling, that she remains at the top of British racing. “I’m happy with the season I’ve had,” she says at the tail end of another golden year, “not necessarily just the results, but the progress that I’ve made both as a person and a rider.”

From riding her lap “so full gas that you’re gasping for air” in the mixed relay at Cyclo-cross Worlds, to winning alongside her team-mates at Baloise, the thrill she gets from riding – in whatever form it takes, and getting to share it – continues to shine from Bäckstedt. At just 21 years old, she has nine rainbow jerseys, split across disciplines and age categories. And as soon as her wrist has healed there will, no doubt, be more to come.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Anna Henderson

The Olympic time trial silver medallist secured her first Grand Tour stage win and a stint in the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia, and closed her year with victory at China’s Tour of Guangxi. “It’s really nice to finish the season like this,” she said after the race. “My first year with Lidl-Trek ending in a win – it’s been really good.”

Cat Ferguson

In her first full year as a pro, the Movistar rider earned a maiden WorldTour win at the Tour of Britain in June, finishing second overall. She also scored a podium at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, a string of top-10s, and was part of the victorious GB mixed relay team at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in January.

Anna Morris

Morris successfully defended her individual pursuit crown at October’s UCI Track World Championships in Chile, having earned national and European titles in the event earlier in the year. On the road, she shone in the UK’s crit scene, winning four rounds of the National Circuit Series.

Katie Archibald

Archibald’s year was a testament to her longevity and grit. The 31-year-old track rider opened her season with her first national title in six years – dominating the points race on the final day – and ended it with gold in the Madison alongside Maddie Leech at the UCI Track World Championships. She also took home silver in the elimination race.

Northern hemisphere time triallists are an elusive species in winter time. With little competition available, they can be most often found tucked away in cosy pubs or at home working on extensive Christmas lists designed to improve their CdA.

The time trial bike might get an outing, decked out with tinsel, on the Boxing Day '10', but other than that is liable to languish in the shed for several months as its owner grows ever more itchy to pin on a number once again.

However, race-starved testers now have winter options. UK TT governing body Cycling Time Trials has launched the second iteration of its Winter Time Trial Series on Zwift, and the number of riders taking part so far suggest that there are plenty out there already missing competition.

"It's had an amazing response, with over 1,100 rides over the first week [across two events]," CTT chair Andrea Parish told Cycling Weekly.

"The objective is outreach into the wider cycling online community to reach cyclists who've not ridden CTT time trials – also, it's great fun," she added.

"Building an online, supportive community is a fantastic way to evangelise for the sport while providing a competitive outlet. It's keeping CTT front and centre during winter too, and anecdotally, from others, I fully expect to see riders transition to our real-life events next season," she said.

"I see this as an important part of CTT and pretty forward-looking. It's more investing in the future rather than immediate revenue"

Parish also said the CTT Zwift Club had amassed more than 1,200 members and the Discord and club chats had proved extremely popular.

The series is being run by elite time triallist Hayley Simmonds, who also ran it last year and is joined this time round by Ali McLean and Phil Gilbanks.

"Hayley, Ali and Phil are super-committed and are volunteers in this," Parish points out.

The series should offer enough racing for even the most eager online time triallist, with two races weekly all the way through to the end of February. There is a break of nearly three weeks between December 20 and January 7 – enough time to fully digest the turkey and play with your Christmas presents, and perhaps don a Santa hat for that Boxing Day 10.

It features a variety of courses on all kinds of terrains, from the flat, 10.3-mile London Classique to the super-hilly Everything Bagel in New York, which measures 21.7 miles and promises to be a tough call.

Events are held at 7pm GMT on Wednesday evenings, and are repeated at 9am on the Saturday.

All riders are welcome, and you can dip in and out of the series as you wish. However, there is the option of competing for an overall series placing, you'll need to race in seven of the 14 weeks, and include four flat rounds, two rolling and one mountainous.

Elsewhere Parish was keen to highlight the performance of the CTT website, which had been revamped at the beginning of this year and had so far seen 5.2 million views, against 1.1 million total last year.

It was dark when Henry Furniss set out for Regent’s Park, London, on Thursday morning. His nose was already streaming - a cold he’d picked up the day before, destined to make the next 24 hours even tougher than they were supposed to be.

Soon he fitted into a steady pace, slotting in with his friend Massimo Saetta behind a group of his Q36.5 CBRE team, their navy-blue kit flashing through London’s mid-morning buzz (after coffee and cake at the Pinarello store).

The challenge was inspired by an earlier one: last year, Tim Allen and friends had taken on the Regent's Park time trial, only to be caught in torrential rain, and, unable to maintain a steady core body temperature, two riders had to drop out with hypothermia. Luckily, Furniss and co. had the weather on their side. They’d worked out that they needed to keep a steady(ish) pace of around 19mph to reach their goal of 450 miles in the set time, but they didn’t account for one thing: art fans.

Traffic lights stalled their progress, and hoards of Frieze Art Fair goers clogged the route, with parts of the park intermittently cordoned off. But for Furniss, it wasn’t too much of a problem. “It was all quite interesting people watching,” he said. “We got to know the people at the crossings.”

“The day was kind of book ended by two amazing people,” Furniss said. “There was a 14-year old standing on the side of the road saying, is this the 24 hour time trial? Can I join you? Which I thought was so brave.

“And then right at the end, the brother of a guy that I know quite well rocked up. He’d ridden down from North London for about an hour - he was 81.”

And in the middle of the ride, he was joined by two off-duty police officers. They held the front for hours, maintaining a steady speed Saetta and Furniss could settle into behind. One of the officers returned the next day and was soon joined by his colleague - complete with squad car - who opened up a section of the park for the team to whip round once on their 24-hour ride.

“I love that about cycling - it's such a leveller. We all have this thing in common that we all love, regardless of our age or background,” Furniss said.

The ride was raising money for two charities: the Laureus Sport for Good who work with underprivileged school children to get them into sports, and for the Alzheimer’s Society. Both are close to Furniss’ heart, but after his dad, received a diagnosis of vascular dementia six years ago, the latter has entered his life more acutely.

He explained: “One of the things that I've learned about dementia, which none of us learn until you know someone really close to you, that's got it, is that only 5% of Alzheimer's cases have been proven to be hereditary. You know, selfishly, you're like, Oh my God, my dad's got dementia, his father had it, his uncle had it - I'm gonna get it. You selfishly think that way.

"Then you start looking into it, and you start looking into lifestyle, and how profound the effect of lifestyle is on your likelihood to get it at all. Depending on lifestyle, the variance is about 30 years if you have a terrible lifestyle versus if your lifestyle is really good."

“Stay hydrated,” he advises on his JustGiving page. “Eat clean. Prioritise sleep. Move your body - really move it. Suck at something new. Ditch the alcohol (yes, any amount is too much). Floss!”

“It’s funny, when I tell people about the flossing thing, they all run straight down to Boots,” Furniss smiled. The science backs it up, with a recent study suggesting that gum disease and mouth infections could lead to the development of Alzheimer’s, though more consistent research suggests that a healthy diet, sustained exercise and hobbies that stretch the brain (like dance or music) can also help maintain general health for longer.

Furniss, Saetta and their Q36.5 CBRE teammates - plus everyone who came to cycle with them - finished their team time trial in 24 hours and seven minutes, at an average pace of 19.2 miles per hour ("it's been pretty flipping tough, I have to say!"). They have so far raised almost 50% of their £10,000 donation aim, in support of the Alzheimer's Society, and will be keeping their JustGiving page open for more donations.

According to the Alzheimer's Society, dementia is the UK's biggest killer, affecting one in three people.

Team Bottrill continued to exert their dominance of the time trial scene with multiple victories across this year's British Best All-Rounder (BBAR) time trial competitions, including a hard-fought last minute victory in the short-distance class.

The Bottrill team's 12-hour champion Jake Sargent took his first win in the men's traditional 'BBAR' – which sees riders compete over 50, 100 and 12 hours – as well as taking third in the short-distance contest over 10, 25, 50 and 100 miles.

The men's short-distance was won by Thomas Lee, also of Team Bottrill, who secured the title only last weekend with a 17:58 10-mile time trial at the Sotonia Falling Leaves event.

His had been a hard-fought battle with runner-up James Jenkins (Hart Performance Coaching), who finished less than 0.2mph behind Lee's impressive 31.536mph on average speed.

The Bottrill bunch extended their success across the women's contests, with the UK's national closed circuit champion Emily Martin proving her versatility with a win in the short-distance BBAR.

But Team Bottrill didn't get things all their own way, with Drag2Zero's Naomi de Pennington defending her title in the women's trad distance event. She was closely pursued by Team Bottrill's 2023 winner Kim Barfoot-Brace though, who finished runner-up.

Naturally, there was also a road bike category for those brave enough to attempt 12-hour and 100-mile time trials on drop bars.

In the traditional distance road bike class, Stephen Clark of Sherwood CC was the winner, and indeed the only rider to qualify across open or female categories.

The short-distance road bikes had a few more takers, with Ipswich BC's Joseph Shaw heading home seven qualifiers in the open class, and the female category won by Sien van der Plank for the third year in a row.

This is the third season in which the British Best All-Rounder competition has had a separate road bike class with short and traditional distances open to both female and open-category riders.

Qualification is simple: competitors must compete across time trials of the requisite distances (and in the case of the traditional distance, a 12-hour too), and the highest average speed wins.

It was introduced at the end of 2022 as part of a number of measures voted through at the AGM to help modernise Cycling Time Trials. While the long distance time trialling of the BBAR does not lend itself to drop-bar riding, the introduction of a road bike category has overall proved a shot in the arm for the governing body, with recent figures showing a rise of more than 300% over the past few years in numbers of those racing time trials on road bikes.

Results: British Best All-Rounder competition 2025

Time trial bikes

Open category
Traditional distance (50mi, 100mi, 12 hours)
1. Jake Sargent (Team Bottrill)
2. Benjamin Williams (Team Bottrill)
3. Anthony Jones (VMCC powered by Y Beic)

Short-distance (10mi, 25mi, 50mi, 100mi)
1. Thomas Lee (Team Bottrill)
2. James Jenkins (Hart Performance Coaching)
3. Jake Sargent (Team Bottrill)

Female category
Traditional distance
1. Naomi de Pennington (Drag2Zero)
2. Kim Barfoot-Brace (Team Bottrill)
3. Chris Murray (Army Cycling)

Short-distance
1. Emily Martin (Team Bottrill)
2. Hayley Wells (Wrekinsport CC)
3. Kim Barfoot-Brace (Team Bottrill)

Road bikes

Open category
Traditional distance (50mi, 100mi, 12 hours)
1. Stephen Clark (Sherwood CC)

Short-distance (10mi, 25mi, 50mi, 100mi)
1. Joseph Shaw (Ipswich BC)
2. Lee Ridden (Reifen Racing)
3. Mark Fenn (Shropshire CAA)

Female category
Traditional distance
[no qualifiers]

Short-distance
1. Sien van der Plank (New Forest CC)
2. Sharon Langton (Liverpool Century RC)

Zoe Bäckstedt thundered to her first under-23 road world title on Monday, winning the time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda.

The Brit, a three-time junior road world champion, won by 1:50 ahead of Slovakia's Viktória Chladoňová, averaging 43.8kph over the 22.6km course.

So dominant was Bäckstedt's effort, that she caught and passed two riders on her way to victory: Julia Kopecký (Czech Republic), who started 1:30 ahead of her, and Marie Schreiber (Luxembourg), who had a 3:00 head start.

Beyond the finish line, the 20-year-old fell in a heap on the floor, empty after the course's final cobbled climb. She has now won her last five races against the clock, and nine rainbow jerseys, split across road, track and cyclo-cross disciplines.

"I was of course nervous before the start. I think that's natural in one of these championship events," Bäckstedt said afterwards.

Those nerves began to subside when, before even the halfway mark, she overtook Kopecký, a fellow WorldTour-level rider.

At the first time check, the Brit posted the fastest time by 16 seconds. She then grew her lead to 34 seconds by the second, which fell between the course's two climbs.

"Those two climbs that we had to do just zapped your legs completely," Bäckstedt said. "I have to say, it was quite fun on that downhill going super quick. I’m looking forward to seeing what my maximum speed was in that one.

"Hearing that I was up at the first time check, only by 16 seconds, I thought, 'Ok it's possible to lose that on the last climb.' But I just kept pushing as hard as I could on the section in between."

Waiting in the hot seat for Bäckstedt's arrival, Chladoňová had drawn out her lead on the closing climb: the Côte de Kimihurura (1.3km at 6.3%). The Brit, too, ploughed into the cobbles, passing Schreiber with 1km to go, and charging in victory to the line.

Having decided not to take part in the under-23 road race, Bäckstedt will now leave Rwanda with a rainbow jersey. In fact, this year's Road World Championships mark the third of the 20-year-old's career, at each of which she has won at least one title: the junior road race in 2021, and the junior road race and time trial in 2022.

"It means a lot," Bäckstedt said of her latest exploit. "Hopefully next time I can try out for the elites."

The bronze medal was won by Italy's Federica Venturelli.

Results

Women's under-23 individual time trial, Kigali > Kigali (22.6km)

1. Zoe Bäckstedt (Great Britain) in 30:56
2. Viktória Chladoňová (Slovakia), +1:50
3. Federica Venturelli (Italy), +2:11
4. Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (Australia), +2:21
5. Alena Ivanchencko (Individual Neutral Athlete), +2:22
6. Millie Couzens (Great Britain), +2:37
7. Justyna Czapla (Germany), +2:47
8. Alli Anderson (Australia), +2:53
9. Tabea Huys (Austria), +2:59
10. Ava Holmgreen (Canada), +3:05

After Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) and Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) were crowned world champions in the elite categories on Sunday, the 2025 UCI Road World Championships continue on Monday with the under-23 individual time trials.

The women's event begins first, at 9:50 (BST), and is set on a 22.6km route with 350m elevation. The course counts two climbs: the Côte de Nyanza (2.5km at 5.8%) and the cobbled Côte de Kimihurura (1.3km at 6.3%) which leads up towards the finish line.

The men's event starts later in the afternoon, at 12:50 (BST). Its course is exactly the same as women's elite time trial on Sunday, stretching out 31.2km on a loop south of Kigali. The riders will climb 460m in total, over three climbs: the Côte de Nyanza, which is ascended from both sides, and the Côte de Kimihurura.

One rider to look out for on the women's under-23 start list is Great Britain's Zoe Bäckstedt, a three-time junior world champion, who will roll down the ramp last, at 11:05 (BST). Speaking ahead of the race, the 20-year-old said she is going to "give it 200% to try and go for that gold medal".

In the men's event, the last rider to start will be Sweden's Jakob Söderqvist, who finished runner-up to Spaniard Iván Romeo last year, and will ride for Lidl-Trek in 2026.

There are no defending champions in Monday's under-23 time trials in Rwanda, as Romeo and Antonia Niedermaier, last year's women's title winner, both stepped up to the elite category.

Other Brits competing on Monday include the national road champion Millie Couzens, who will begin her effort at 10:41 (BST), and Callum Thornley, the only Brit in the under-23 men's event, starting at 14:34 (BST).

Below are all the start times for all 110 riders competing across the women's and men's under-23 time trials, listed in British Summer Time. The local time in Kigali (Central African Time) is one hour ahead. All the riders will set off at 1:30 intervals.

Women's start list

Men's start list

The men's elite individual time trial is the second event of this year's UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, following on from women's event on Sunday.

The course takes the riders on a 40.6km out-and-back route, starting at Kigali's BK Arena and returning to finish at the city's Convention Centre.

It will be the hilliest Worlds time trial since Bergen in 2017, with a total elevation of 680m, gained over four climbs: the Côte de Nyanza (tackled from both sides – firstly 2.5km at 5.8%, and then 4.1km at 3.1%), the Côte de Peage (2km at 6%), and finally the Côte de Kimihurura (1.3km at 6.3%), which is cobbled and leads the riders to a closing kicker at the finish line.

The event begins at 12:45 (BST) with local Rwandan rider Shemu Nsengiyumva the first to roll down the ramp. The last rider to begin his effort will be the defending champion Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) at 15:00.

Evenepoel, who also won gold at the Olympics last summer, is one of two clear favourites for the title in Kigali, alongside Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia). The four-time Tour de France winner will be the penultimate rider to start, doing so at 14:57:30. Also among the contenders are Luke Plapp (Australia) at 14:12, his compatriot Jay Vine at 14:50, and Stefan Küng (Switzerland) at 14:55.

There are three reigning world champions on the start list: Evenepoel, who is targeting three in a row, last year's under-23 champion Iván Romeo (Spain), and Paul Seixas (France), the winner of the junior time trial in Zurich, and the youngest rider taking part on Sunday, still only 18 years old.

Below are all the start times for the 55 riders competing in the men's elite time trial, listed in British Summer Time. The local time in Kigali (Central African Time) is one hour ahead. All the riders will set off at 2:30 intervals.

Make sure you have read our guide on how to watch the Worlds.

The elite time trials at the UCI Road World Championships 2025 in Rwanda take place on the opening Sunday - 21 September - with the women's race occurring first, followed by the men's.

Both start at the BK Arena, mostly used for basketball and volleyball, but this time, cycling.

The races are, euphemistically, sporting courses. This is not a pure time trial specialist’s course, not one for Filippo Ganna or Ellen van Dijk to blast everyone away on, with 460 metres of climbing across 31.2km for the women, and 680 metres in 40.6km for the men.

Unusually for a time trial, the route also includes a cobbled section. The women’s race includes ascents of the Côte de Nyanza from both sides, first from the north, 2.5km at 5.8%, before 4.1km at 3.1%. There is then a long, reasonably straight, descent towards the cobbles, which come before the Côte de Kimihurura, 1.3km at 6.1%, before a finish at the Kigali Convention Centre.

Britain’s Anna Henderson will surely be in contention, alongside the favourites, Demi Vollering (Netherlands) and Chloé Dygert (USA). 2024’s defending champion, Grace Brown (Australia), is now retired.

The men’s race is 9km longer than the women’s race, thanks to a longer return from the Nyanza climb, and then a further climb is tackle, the Côte de Péage, 2km at 6%, before the cobbles and Kimihurura, meaning there will be more opportunities for time gaps to be made towards the end.

It will be the hilliest time trial since Bergen in 2017, when the race finished up a proper climb, but with ups and downs throughout this year’s race, it is one for a time triallist who has a punch, like Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) or defending champion Remco Evenepoel (Belgium).

The individual time trials are followed by the mixed relay team time trial in midweek, which takes place on a similar loop.

The junior men's and women's and under-23 men race against the clock midweek too.

Make sure you have read our guide on how to watch the Worlds.

Women's individual time trial

31.2km, Sunday 21 September, 9:10am (BST)

Men's individual time trial

40.6km, Sunday 21 September, 12:45pm BST

Mixed relay team time trial

41.8km, Wednesday 24 September, 11:30am BST

The 42.4km mixed relay TTT, raced after all the individual time trials have taken place, occurs on a similar, but not identical course around Kigali, with the Côte de Nyanza only climbed from the north, and the Côte de Kimihurura making an appearance, but not the cobbles. The men go first, riding 21.2km, before the women set off on the same route. The defending champions are Australia.

Junior and U23 time trials

The under-23 women and junior men tackle the same 22.6km course with 350m of climbing. It's a shorter version of the elites, with just one ascent of the Côte de Nyanza, but still includes the cobbles and then the Côte de Kimihurura.

The under-23 men tackle the same course as the elite women, 31.2km with 460m of climbing, while the junior women don't make it to the Nyanza, riding 18.3km with 225m of climbing.

As the Vuelta a España builds towards its finale in Madrid on Sunday, the riders face one last time trial on stage 18.

Thursday's course in Valladolid is 12.2km and flat, cut down from the original 27.2km by the organisers. The decision to shorten the stage was made on Wednesday evening, in a bid to ensure "greater protection" for the riders amid security concerns over ongoing pro-Palestine protests at the race.

According to L'Équipe, the Vuelta organisers have sought extra security measures for the stage, for which 300 officers, in uniform and plain clothes, and 150 security guards are expected be deployed.

As is always the case in stage races, the first rider down the ramp will be the last-placed rider in the general classification, which is Oscar Riesebeek (Alpecin-Deceuninck) at this Vuelta. The Dutchman will start proceedings at 14:35 local time (13:35 UK time)

Race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) will be the last of 153 riders to begin his effort, doing so at 17:17 (16:17 UK time).

The Dane, a two-time winner of the Tour de France and former runner-up at the Vuelta, goes into the stage with a 50-second advantage over João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) currently sits in third overall, almost two-and-a-half minutes adrift of Vingegaard, and with a 36-second buffer to Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in fourth.

Time trial specialists to look out for during the day include: Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), twice a world champion in the discipline, at 14:51 local time, Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ) at 15:09, Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) at 16:01, and Bruno Armiral (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) at 16:49.

The full rider order, with start times in local Spanish time, is listed below.

Scribe launched the Tempus wheelset with some bold claims around aerodynamics, stating its new time trial wheels are the "fastest bike wheels on the planet." The Northern-Irish brand has been making waves in the industry since opening its doors in 2019, offering cyclists impressive wheels at more palatable price points through its direct-to-consumer sales model. Having catered to most of the cycling demographic with myriad options spanning the best road bike wheels segment, Scribe has leaped into the triathlon and time trial space with Tempus wheels in 2025 and finds itself going head-to-head against some very established rivals.

As a cyclist who spends a lot of time on my time trial bike, I naturally take my equipment very seriously and am always looking at ways to shave off time and go faster over the 10- and 25-mile distances. Of the many ways to go faster, I've found that wheel and tyre choice can account for a significant saving in the watt department, especially if you fit the very best road tyres. So when Scribe launched the Tempus range, I was pretty excited to put the company's claims to the test.

While the Tempus wheels were launched amid much fanfare, for this review, I refrained from going into the aero data and claims. Instead, I focused on how the wheels felt and performed in real-world training and racing scenarios, touching on the ride quality, ride feel, and how they fared against the clock.

Design and construction

There's no denying the beauty of Tempus wheels – the finish looks incredible and bestows them with a refined and premium appearance. Much of this can be attributed to the gloss-finished unidirectional carbon fibre, which shimmers in the sunlight, almost giving off a metallic look at certain angles. Both the front wheel and solid disc rear are manufactured from high-filament (12K/18K) Japanese Toray T1000 carbon fibre, known for its lightweight properties and high tensile strength. There's no fancy paint or special logos used here. Instead, the company has utilised its logo on both wheels but increased the scale to ensure onlookers don't mistake it for anything but Scribe wheels.

Apart from the 100mm rim depth, there are no Tempus references on the front wheel – only on the solid rear disc, where a diagonal Tempus wordmark logo aligns with the valve hole. I love the look of both wheels, but truly appreciate the design of the rear wheel specifically. It uses a 'pie-chart-like' pattern on the carbon fibre, creating a three-dimensional effect despite its almost totally flat surfacing.

Looking at the specifications, Scribe has left no stone unturned with the Tempus wheels. Both wheels employ a mini-hook design and come standard with ceramic bearings (Grade 3). The front is built using 24 Sapim CX-Ray spokes laced in a 1:1 two-cross pattern with concealed nipples for a clean aerodynamic profile. With 24/21mm front/rear internal rim width, the wheelset was optimised around 28mm tyres for better comfort and aerodynamics. The total system weight of the Disc/100 wheelset is pegged at 1,900g. They can be purchased individually, as the Disc/100 wheelset pictured here, or optioned in a 100/100 configuration – the choice is yours.

The 100mm front wheel uses a wide, toroidal disc-specific rim profile – widely known for its aerodynamics and crosswind stability. The rear disc wheel was designed to balance weight with functionality across multiple frames. Scribe's goal was to bring a lightweight disc for TT specialists and triathletes to the market that would be compatible with all frames and drivetrains, and I think the brand has succeeded.

According to Scribe, several shapes were computed and tested on both the drive- and non-drive sides within the disc and drivetrain parameters. Some of these were elaborate and novel concepts, but, in short, none proved groundbreaking in terms of measurable gains outside the testing margins of error. As a result, the drive side of the Scribe Tempus rear disc wheel features a slight concave shape to accommodate derailleur/jockey wheels in the largest sprocket. This ensures its compatibility with a range of derailleurs and aftermarket OSPW systems – particularly those requiring the full spread of gearing to be functional, especially on 1x setups on hilly/sporting courses.

I've struggled with rear disc wheel compatibility on my Cannondale SuperSlice TT frame in the past. The derailleur cage often rubs or scratches the disc wheel when the chain is in the upper sprockets, which is both annoying and costly in terms of wattage. The Tempus Disc, however, is dished in such a way that there's no rub and plenty of clearance when my CeramicSpeed OSPW Aero is in the 30T on the cassette.

While it's close to perfect from a functionality perspective, if I were to nitpick, I would have appreciated a dedicated rubber or carbon valve door as opposed to a vinyl sticker. Scribe says it did look at creating a dedicated valve door cover but decided it wasn't needed with the consensus being that a vinyl sticker was a "lightweight and efficient" solution.

The ride

Aerodynamics is always going to be challenging to quantify in the real world, and manufacturer wind tunnel tests don't always take individual body shapes and bike setup into account when benchmarking performance, which means the claimed gains will vary from rider to rider. That's not to say Scribe's claims of being the "fastest wheelset in the world" are not true – but the real world is a very different place from isolation in a laboratory, and that's why all my testing was done outdoors on the same 10-mile time trial course, using the same bike, kit, and helmet. Sure, conditions are often variable and not as controlled as a lab, but I find that real-world rider/bike/environmental interaction is the best way to critique equipment of any kind, especially if the conditions are similar.

I've reached a point in my time trialing where I've settled into a good position and consistently complete 10-mile time trials in under 20 minutes – but my new goal is to dip under 19 minutes. My best result to date is 19:20 using an 80mm Caden Trispoke front and DT Swiss Arc 1100 DiCut rear disc, and I haven't been able to go any faster since returning the Trispoke wheel to the manufacturer. This year, while pleasing and consistent, my times have plateaued somewhat, with my fastest attempts of 2025 being 19:48, 19:40, 19:30, and 19:57 using an 80mm DT Swiss Arc 1100 DiCut front and Arc 1100 DiCut Disc rear wheel wrapped in 28mm Vittoria Corsa Speed Pro tubeless tyres.

As a consequence, I was very interested in Scribe's latest offering, and the company's claims got my attention. While 100mm for a front wheel is radically deep, I've never felt uncomfortable in the wind on my time trial bike and was intrigued to see how the claimed "lower rolling resistance, higher speed and uncompromised comfort and control" would translate into real-world performance.

The wheels arrived with 28mm Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed tyres pre-installed, complete with sealant, but with the wrong freehub body fitted. I quickly swapped out the SRAM XDR body for a Shimano version – a one-minute job. After fitting my 140mm front/rear rotors and 12-speed cassette, I checked the derailleur cage compatibility and was very happy to see ample clearance in the largest sprocket (30T). While I don't often use the 30T, having the extra climbing gear at my disposal has been a bonus and real lifesaver – especially on some of the sporting courses I often race.

After a few shakedown rides, I was ready to put the wheels to the test on a local 10-mile course in Hampshire. While this particular course is not the fastest around, owing to the four roundabouts to negotiate and exposure to the wind, I wanted to feel them at speed in race conditions. The wind was relatively calm, and compared to my previous time on this course, I was 14 seconds quicker in similar conditions. I was pretty happy with my performance and how the front wheel dealt with the wind – if anything, it felt more controlled than the 80mm options I've been testing and provided me with confidence heading into my target races. The ride quality was good, too, and the wheels felt comfortable and stable at high speed.

After monitoring the weather conditions for a few days, the wind didn't look great ahead of my target 10-mile time trial in Oxford, and far from ideal. With much of the dual-carriageway course exposed to the elements and the forecasted side wind coming on a downhill stretch of road, it would require some bravery and discipline to stay in the position at high speed. As the average yaw angle at the front wheel is consistently higher than at the rear, crosswind handling performance at the rear wheel is significantly less critical since the wheel is on a fixed axis, so I opted to stick with the rear disc wheel. It's more important to swap out the front if you're not feeling confident – I opted to keep the 100mm Scribe Tempus in place and focused on maintaining a less rigid, more supple position to counter any gusts while remaining as aero as possible.

I had a good start, reaching the first roundabout ahead of my target time and avoiding cars without getting held up. I kept the power down on a few rolling sections, where I felt the wheels helped with momentum at a high speed, and I was on for a decent time. Having made it to the turnaround several seconds ahead of my sub-19-minute pacing plan, the horrendous cross-headwind on the way back scuppered my sub-19-minute hopes, and I came home in 19:26 – just a few seconds off my PB. I wasn't particularly dejected as the conditions were far from favourable, yet I was still able to put in a reasonably fast ride on the day. With one more 10-mile still to come, I'm confident I'll dip below the 19-minute threshold if the wind plays ball and we get a float day.

I also tested the wheels over a 25-mile time trial on a course I've done a few times before to see how the Tempus wheels perform over a longer distance and whether they could help me dip under 50 minutes. While I finished the race a fair bit down on my goal, I did secure a personal best time of 51:25 – over one and a half minutes faster than my previous outing on this particular course and over two minutes faster than the second-place finisher. I reckon a sub-50-minute 25-mile is well within reach on the right course and in favourable conditions. I felt the wheels pushed me along quite nicely at certain yaw angles, and I felt comfortable and, more importantly, stable even when the wind did gust at times.

Value and conclusion

As a time trialist, the law of diminishing returns becomes a significant cost factor the faster you get, and this has turned the local time trialling scene into an arms race, with accessibility forcing people to the sidelines or driving them away from the sport entirely.

As a wheelmaker for the people, Scribe has built its reputation on affordable performance products, and the Tempus Disc/100 wheels are not any different. In fact, if we compare them to other options on the market - and I'm talking genuine rivals with a solid carbon rear disc wheel - there’s nothing that can compete with the Tempus on weight, specification, and performance.

Sure, there are some good-value alternatives available from brands such as Parcours. I thoroughly tested the 83mm Parcours Chrono Max and rear Disc in 2022 and, while they are very impressive and offer better value at £1,819 for the complete set, they are heavier, less ornate, shallower, and don’t come standard with ceramic bearings. Add the ceramic hardware and the price jumps to £2,039 – making them £41 dearer than the Scribe Tempus Disc/100 wheelset.

At £1,998, the Scribe Tempus Disc/100 wheelset is also considerably cheaper than high-performance options from DT Swiss. In fact, at £2,300, the new DT Swiss Arc 1100 DiCut 85mm front wheel alone is more expensive than the complete Tempus wheelset. Add the £2,500 1100 Dicut Disc rear and the total price jumps to £5,800 – £3,802 more than what Scibe has created with the Tempus wheelset.

If you're a competitive time trialist looking to improve your 10-mile PB, the Scribe Tempus Disc/100 wheelset might be the key to unlock the gains you've been after. Not only do they look good and complement most bike colour schemes, but they are also lighter and cheaper than many options on the market, delivering high performance at an accessible price point. Furthermore, the wheels are backed by Scribe's Infinity Warranty, which covers them for three years against material or workmanship defects. In the event of a crash, Scribe offers a 50% discount on all replacement parts for carbon wheels

I highly recommend them.

Scribe Tempus Disc/100 wheelset specs

Price: £1,998
Weight: 1,900g
Hubset: Ceramic bearings (Grade 3)
Freehub options: Shimano HG11/12, SRAM XDR, Campagnolo
Rim depth: 100mm front, solid disc rear
Rim width: 24mm internal, 31mm external (front) / 21mm internal, 29mm external (rear)
Spoke count: 24 front / N/A rear
Hookless: Mini-hook design

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.