Mid-October 2010

Thomas eyes the Classics

This week’s Cycling Weekly ride story will be one I did with Geraint Thomas. If there is one British bike racer I think will win one of cycling’s Classics, other than Mark Cavendish of course who’s already done it with Milan-San Remo, it’s Thomas. I also believe Bradley Wiggins has the ability to win one too, but whether he will is a whole different and much more complicated question. Actually, now I think about it, Adam Blythe can win one, and there could be more….., but we’re talking about Thomas for the moment.

In Cycling Weekly's story Geraint talks about his second place on the Roubaix stage of this year’s Tour de France. He takes us through the battle to win and talks about the emotions of the fight and the occasion. He also talks about taking part in the 2010 Tour of Flanders. It was his first time and he loved it.

He’ll do it again in 2011, but will focus on the track for 2012 Olympics, where Thomas is already an Olympic champion in the team pursuit. A London medal is so important to everyone who’s come through the British Cycling system in recent years that it’s worth putting everything else on hold to win one.

Then watch. Some time between 2013 and 2020 Geraint Thomas will win the Tour of Flanders. You heard it here first folks!

Speed for free
Thomas uses O,Symmetric chainrings on all his bikes, just like Wiggins. They look strange but are in keeping with Team Sky’s marginal gains way of doing cycling. Basically Sky ask why do the same thing if something new, even if, in Thomas’s words, “it looks a bit freaky,” is better than the old way?

For years chainrings have been round, so a constant diameter, but the forces that turn them aren’t constant. At the top and bottom of every pedal revolution your legs put hardly any power into the pedals, whereas from just past the top to near the bottom they put in almost all the power they can for each revolution. Wouldn’t it be great then if we could pedal a higher gear in the power phase to make the most of it, and a lower one in the low power phase to get it out of the way quickly?

That’s what O,Symmetric chainrings do. I’ve been using them recently and they seem to flick your leg through the top and bottom phase of your pedalling, like someone is pushing your foot.

In the book I’m writing, Cyclosportive, I talk a lot about speed for free. Speed for free is something every competitive cyclist should think about. It’s not rocket science, it’s just making the most of downhills, keeping aero when you are riding on your own, sheltering behind others to keep out of the wind, picking the right line through corners, and
lots of other little things. Things that can add up to minutes off your time in a cyclosportive event or a long race. O,symmetric chainrings definitely fit the philosophy of speed for free.