Why A Heavier Cyclist Is A Better Cyclist GCN Show Ep 687

Hi, this is Toby from Prince George County, Maryland. Welcome to the GCN Show. Welcome to the GCN Show. Coming up this week, is the latest marginal gain an actual gain? In weight, with pros like Tani Pogacar looking slightly beefier than normal, and some top-level coaches suggesting heavier might be better, we're asking why? Will what works for the pros work for the rest of us? We will explain. We've also got not just one, but five brand new bikes to tell you about. Which one Ed Sheeran would buy? The conclusion to a six-year saga of a cyclist behaving badly, and a Cervelo test team anecdote for the end of the show nugget. This week in the world of cycling, we learned that being a teenager is no longer an obstacle to being amongst the world's best cyclists. No, 19-year-old Paul Cexas finished second to Tani Pogacar at Strada Bianca on Saturday. He was clearly the second strongest rider on the day, and for a few fleeting moments, it looked as though he might even keep up with the world champion. Indeed. Dreams were shattered for many viewers of the race soon after though, weren't they? We also learned that Lael Wilcox is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to her attempts to break the world record for circumnavigating the globe by bike. She shaved her hair off. Yes, but perhaps not for the reason you think. It is nothing to do with weight or aerodynamics, but simply to reduce daily fat time. She's calculated it will save her a significant chunk of time over the course of that record attempt, which actually makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Yes, 13 hours. Do quite a lot of riding in 13 hours. Hope she doesn't take her teeth out, save on brushing. No chewing, that would also save time, wouldn't it? Anyway, we'll leave that one with you, Lael. Finally this week, we learned that Tadej Pogacar now holds the record for the number of wins at Strade Bianche with four. Even if you didn't watch it, even if you hadn't seen the results, that probably comes as no surprise to you. No, partly because we mentioned that he'd won 30 seconds ago. That is true. Yes, we all knew where he was going to attack, and that is exactly where he did attack, never to be seen again. At least until the others reached the finish line sometime after him in Siena there. Yes. Now, there were a couple of things that people seem to notice from the pictures of Pogacar crossing the line at the end of the race. Firstly, that he had some sort of device around his bicep, which turned out to be a whoop. Yes, it was controversial for a time though, wasn't it? Was it? I missed that. I've got a whoop on my wrist. I don't make one big enough for my bicep these days, Si. Secondly, they were saying that he looked a little bit stockier than he has done in previous years. Here we've put up two side-to-side pictures of him, one from 2024, and then this year at the same race. Now, it might be that it's the white shorts playing tricks on our eyes and our minds. White shorts do have a habit of playing tricks on you. That's true. It also might be that he has put some muscle on over the winter months. If he has, you'd imagine it was almost certainly a deliberate move on his and the team's part. Why, you might be asking? Well, because of the objectives he has for this spring. Along with Strada Bianca, Flanders, and Liège, three races that he has won multiple times in the past. He's also competing at Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix, two races that he has yet to win. Unbelievable at this point. There's many races yet to win. Now, for Roubaix, this seems like a very obvious move, doesn't it? It's the flattest of all the monuments by quite some margin. It proved last year he could keep up with the best, the best being Machu Vanderpool, but in order to beat the best, some extra raw power would probably come in handy. And not falling off on a corner. That as well, yes. Now, that may also be the case for Sanremo as well, because whilst there are two climbs near the finish, the Cipressa and the Poggio, neither are steep. Some extra raw power, a little bit more acceleration may well be the difference between dropping his rivals and not. Now, there's every chance we're making a bit of a mountain out of a molehill here. It might just have been the white shorts, as we said. It might also be that he is the same weight he's always been at this time of year, but either way, Pogacar does not look like the skeletal alien that we've been hardwired to associate with being a climber. Whether or not you can categorize Pogacar as a climber is a different matter, but he's certainly not bad at going up hills, is he? No. To be fair, I noticed that he was looking bigger, as in completely independently on my own, sat in my kitchen. I was like, oh, he's looking a bit muscly. I just read what other people say. I just, yes, very finely attuned to Pogacar's body weight. Going back to the point though, it did make me think about a quote last year from Olaf-Alexander Buch. He's the world-famous triathlon coach who's now also working with the Uno-X pro cycling team. Speaking to Velo, he said that he expected the weight of athletes to increase because of the developments in nutrition. Interesting. He then went on to say that the increase in power could be far more beneficial for those cyclists than the problem they might get from extra mass. Yes, which is a novel concept in cycling, isn't it? One that is very hard to get your head around if you are a lifelong cyclist. Since day dot, basically, maintaining or increasing power whilst maintaining or decreasing body weight has been seen as the holy grail of performance on anything but the flattest of routes. To be fair, probably even on completely flat routes as well. To an extent, yes. Were that to change, were it to become abnormal to see a rider that looks like they'd be blown over in a little gust of wind, it could have a dramatically positive effect, we think, on our sport. It's no secret there have been a lot of riders, both pro and amateur, who've ended up with an eating disorder. Even those that don't have still had what could be described as an unhealthy obsession with food and weight. Now, I know that I was always super conscious of it. I suspect you probably were as well. Definitely, yes. Always conscious of what I was eating and how much I weighed at any point really during my career. Actually, that continued well past my career finishing. I reckon it was about six months after I finished racing competitively that I stepped into the scales and thought, what on earth are you doing? It was like a habit I had every day for more than a decade. I thought, I just don't need to weigh myself every day anymore. I think I was still the same weight in the end about five years after I'd retired from the sport and quite pleased myself that I was still the same weight. At a point, I thought the same about that. What are you doing? You don't need to be the same weight as a pro anymore. No, you're actually trying to put weight on now, aren't you? I am, yes. Deliberately trying to put weight on. So you couldn't win Paris-Roubaix? No, different reasons. I'm trying to do it in a sensible way and with an eye to increasing muscle mass as opposed to just putting weight on for the sake of it. I do feel better for it in general. Actually, when I got back on the bike last year to start training for that charity ride, I felt really strong on the bike. I didn't have the same FTP as before for obvious reasons, but I actually did my best ever in the saddle power last year. Did you? I'm going to lead up to that, yes. There you go. I definitely think there was a certain level of unhealthy conditioning when it comes to a cyclist's attitude to weight and body shape. Yes, like body dysmorphia really, isn't it? Yes, 100%. We are so used to seeing riders with sparrow arms and their ribs showing and wafer-thin skin that anything else seems abnormal when in reality, it should be the other way around. Exactly. For amateur riders and weekend warriors in particular, it does make more sense to have more muscle mass, I would say, and then more raw power rather than to obsess about weight. I mean, how many amateur races or even just club rides are decided with a mountaintop finish? Not many. Not many slash none. Well, no. One has made the headlines here in the UK this year for having a summit finish. Has it? Four kilometer climb. 4K, that is going to be quite long. For here in the UK, yes, but typically, I mean, what would it be, like 200 meters? Yes, the most. My point still stands either way. It does. Even with a 4K hilltop finish, far better to be a little bit bigger. More muscle mass, more raw power, better bone density, less chance of getting sick, which means more consistent training. Then beyond all of that, you know what the best thing is? What? Being slightly heavier. You're less embarrassed to sunbathe down the beach in the summer, Si. What was that story about you at the outdoor swimming pool in France? Crikey, you remember that? I do, yes. That was in 2011, Si, where I went with Lorraine and Ralph at the time. I don't think Jude had been born. You know outdoor swimming pools in France, it's obligatory to wear budgie smugglers. Yes, I do. I went with my normal swimming shorts, which weren't allowed. I was pointed to a vending machine where I had to spend money on black budgie smugglers. Because I'd just crashed and just done a grand tour, I had scars all over the place and massive tan lines, and I was super skinny. I had sunglasses on. I just remember walking past people in the swimming pool and a few people pointing and laughing, kids. Are you serious? Yes. I distinctly remember seeing on the corner of my eye a couple of people pointing over, because you probably just do look ridiculous, right? Well, yes. To a cyclist, you'd probably look like the pinnacle of health. Oh, I was aspirational to cyclists. Exactly, yes. To an ordinary person, you and budgie smugglers. Well, not now. They wouldn't be laughing now. Oh, well, that's very kind of you to say. You've basically got a budgie smuggler physique these days, haven't you? Exactly, yes. I've grown into it, literally. Anyway, in all seriousness, a shift in mindset among cyclists would be a good thing in general, wouldn't it? Well, pro cyclists will always be reasonably light, like functionally light, right? You're not going to win the world's biggest races if you have 15% body fat, not even Paris-Roubaix, despite it being flat. It'd be interesting to see if the general body shape of a pro cyclist does evolve in something more muscular than it has in recent years. Will pro cyclists have biceps in 2027? Well, if you've asked me just three years ago, I'd say absolutely not, but it feels like it might be going that way. It also made me think that actually, when you look back to pictures of pros in the 60s and 70s, they do look more robust back then, didn't they? Yes, they had to do a lot more racing, didn't they? Yes, there is that, yes. Greg LeMond, Bernardino, Eddie Merckx, they all look like they could handle themselves on the bike and off it. Well, maybe not LeMond, Bernardino, he still looks like he can handle himself off the bike, yes. I reckon, like you said, it's because the stage of the race that they did was so long and brutal, you had to be a bit bigger to survive because obviously, they were barely eating compared to now. It wasn't 150 grams of carbs per hour back then, it was probably about 10. Yes, that's a very good point, isn't it? Actually, what we're saying is that a lot of people who are not professional cyclists would probably benefit from being that little bit heavier for normal life and normal cycling. I would have thought so and I think it is definitely going that way just from a mindset point of view because people are now understanding through pro cyclists and science that it is so important to take on board enough carbohydrates to fuel yourself properly at this point. That's got to help, right? Yes. Do you know what? I'm just relieved that I've always been super buff and pretty stacked, hence, I think some people might say. I'm jealous that you've got that natural talent to stay like that. Anyway, we would love to hear your own personal experiences on this one. Do you think that putting on weight is a positive thing for pro cyclists and for the rest of us as well? Have you ever put weight on and found that you felt better on the bike? It'd be an interesting one, wouldn't it? It will be, yes. Maybe you've done that through a change in diet or spending more time down the gym or maybe it's both put together. I think it'd be really interesting to hear your experiences on this front because as we said before, it is something that cyclists can get obsessed by and sometimes going back the other way can benefit you massively. And now it's time for Cycling Shorts. Cycling Shorts now and tis the season for new bikes. We have not one, not two, not three, not four, but five. Went through a whole lot then. I did. I skipped from one to five in the intro. We're going to start with the new one from our partners at Orbea. This is the latest in their urban range and it's called the Carpe and it's the sister bike to their Diem which was launched a couple of years ago. See what they did there? Clever. Nice. Now that Diem, I should say, is mega. Does fantastic skids. Does it? Among many other things, yes. Like the Diem, the Carpe is also a lightweight e-bike. It's got a powerful Shimano motor, integrated lights, and also a built-in lock. I look forward to seeing whether that does good skids too. Nice. Then there is a new Cervelo. I'll talk about that for obvious reasons. The latest of the Caledonia line which is the entry point to their road bike range. Not that it's exactly entry level, but it's their endurance road bikes. A big tire clearance, slightly more comfortable geometry, and the ability to fit mudguards. Yes. That didn't exist 20 years ago when you raced for Cervelo Test Team, did it? Not in their range, no. No. It is a cool-looking bike, we should say. Prices start at 3,000 pounds or 3,300 euros. Next- Number three. Yes. There is a new Bianchi Infinito. Now, it's a model which I remember started out life as a bit of a classics race bike when there was such a thing with massive tire clearance for 28-millimeter tires. This latest generation now has clearance for up to 40-mil tires and there's more aero too, saving 12 watts over the previous version. Nice. Like the Caledonia, it's designed to be a bike for riding. Faster, yes, more comfortable, and better for real world with things like onboard storage. Yes. Then at the other end of the spectrum, the Merida Reacto is in town. Well, I say in town, given that they no longer sponsor a WorldTour team. You might actually see fewer of these than you otherwise would have done, but it is nevertheless the next generation of Merida's aero bike. This brand new one is more aero, lighter, and- Stiffer. Bingo, full house. No, more comfortable. In a potential norm, yes. To be fair, what would you want a new aero bike to be if not more aero and lighter? Well, this is true, isn't it? Merida say that independent testing by Tour Magazine over in Germany shows that this one is actually one of the fastest aero bikes out there and it's 15 watts faster than their previous Reacto. That's a lot, isn't it? It is quite a lot, isn't it? Right then, last but not least, five out of five, Giant have a new version of their Propel, which has always been their out-and-out aero bike, but which now tips the scales at just 6.56 kilograms off the peg. That is quite bonkers, isn't it? Now, Giant also say that this has an 18-watt advantage over the previous version, which cleverly, when they say advantage, is not all about aerodynamics, although 12 watts of it is, but to be clear, that's not changes in frame shape. That's stuff like fitting narrower handlebars and things like that. New tires reduce rolling resistance by 5.5 watts and another half comes from rotating drag. Yes, there you go, half a watt from rotating drag. Now, interestingly, the Merida wins the entry-level price point. The cheapest Reacto is £2,400. I confess, I don't know what it is in euros and dollars. The cheapest Propel is £2,600, both of the bikes with mechanical 105s. If you're wondering which bike Ed Sheeran might buy, as we alluded to at the start of the show, we can reveal he's gone for the Giant Propel with a SRAM Rival build. Simone I'm surprised at Ed. I didn't think he'd go for that one personally. It's a nice-looking bike, but quite understated for a global megastar. Dan We like to be undercover, away from the stage. Simone Possibly, yes. It's quite a nice little PR stunt there from the Giant Brisbane store. I think possibly a little bit of AI manipulation there. Apparently, from what we were reading, AI has got his tattoo slightly wrong in that photo. Dan Yes. For the record, I actually wasn't sure what Ed Sheeran looked like in the first place. Simon You weren't. Unbelievable stuff. Dan No. I did ask around. Changing the subject slightly, as someone, Dan, who was once the second-best Brompton rider in the world, I feel that I should mention that this year's Brompton World Championships will actually take place at the Sea Otter Classic, which for those of you who don't know, it's a legendary multi-discipline cycling event and all-around festival in Monterey, California. Simon Nice accent. The event is based on the infamous Laguna Seca racetrack. The Brompton World Champs, it's there that they will happen. Three laps of the circuit, which is 3.6Ks long, with a tough little climb, and so 55 meters of elevation. Dan Per lap. Having ridden and raced around there many times, I can say with absolute certainty that it will be quite a tough place to race at Brompton, not least the scale of the track. Because it's a motor racing circuit, it's massive. At bike speeds, it can be slightly dispiriting, but the descent is outrageously fast. Simon Plenty of room for overtaking by the sounds of it. You're not tempted to give it another go on the extra climbing? Dan Well, I am, Dan. I am, but whether I will be at Sea Otter remains to be seen. Simon Okay. Well, I'd say, well, wait with interest, but I'm not sure anyone's going to be particularly bothered, if I'm honest. Moving on, let's talk more about Strade Bianche from the weekend. One of the most hotly anticipated races on the calendar, of course, taking place, as it does, in Tuscany's picture postcard scenery, and then finishing in the medieval city of Siena. Dan It's a tough race, isn't it? Only a true legend of cycling can even hope to get a top 10 finish there. This year, in addition to Pogacar's record-breaking hat-trick of wins and record-breaking fourth win, we'd mentioned at the start of the show, perhaps the big stories came in the women's race, didn't they? Simon Well, and the excitement, let's be honest. Two of the big favorites in the women's race, Demi Vollering and Pauline Fromprevot, both suffered mechanical issues. Then Vollering was amongst a group that went off course after falling a race motorbike down a rough gravel track. Dan Yes, yes. Kasia Niewiadoma, therefore, had the perfect opportunity to finally land the victory, which had so far eluded her. She had second, second, second, third, fourth, and then on Saturday, second. Simon Unbelievable. I was absolutely gutted for her, but really pleased for Elise Chavez, who took a surprise win for FDJ instead. She looked really good, actually, in those tight streets around Siena at the finish, didn't she? Simon Well, yes. We had the pleasure of filming with her at Zwift Academy a few years ago, and she is, we've said many times actually since then, hands down one of the best bike handlers we have ever seen. Dan I think it's one of the only times I've been sat in a team car behind a rider and just been genuinely fearful. She just looked like she was going too fast. She was completely under control. Simon Completely, yes. These are like wet Mallorcan roads, which if anyone's ridden out there in the rain, they have no traction. It's like ice, and yet she was like she was on rails. Unbelievable. Rumors, though, are swirling that her team, which is called FDJ United Suez, same as Vollering, of course, might end up securing Red Bull as their title sponsor. It kind of feels like it's the golden ticket for them, doesn't it? Dan Does, yes. Also, kind of a weird thing that effectively bankrolls the management of the team, essentially because they managed to get Vollering to sign for them, what, two years ago? Simon Yes. She's coming towards the end of her contract this year, but then they must have been doing something right in the first place to get her signature at the time. Dan True, isn't it? It is weird, isn't it, to think that, okay, that's your business sorted for the next number of years. What was it the Cervelo test team actually did to lure you? Simon They were quite clever to lure me. What they did was they offered me a contract. Dan That probably would do it, wouldn't it? Simon Yes. Exactly that. Right. Here's an interesting story for you guys at home. Four years ago, a rider in Belgium was filmed on a bike path knocking off a five-year-old girl and sending her flat to the floor. Dan Yes. Initially, the rider was ordered to pay a symbolic one-euro fine and given a suspended sentence. Then, in a slightly bizarre twist, the rider took the parents of the child to court for defamation and invasion of privacy, essentially posting the video online. Would you believe, duly won €4,500 in damages. Simon Amazingly though, in another twist to the tale, years after the incident, a judge has now overturned that ruling and ordered the cyclist to repay the money plus an additional €2,000 in court fees. Dan It's just a monumental waste of everyone's time and money, isn't it really? I probably shouldn't get involved but from having seen video footage, perhaps it could all have been avoided if he'd not been quite such an idiot. Simon Oh, such an idiot. I mean, he said in his defense that he blew a horn and it was an accidental flick of the knee to keep his balance but anyway. Dan It wasn't. Simon It doesn't look like it, does it? Dan Deliberately knee'd a young girl in the back and sent her flying to the floor. Simon Were it me, I probably would have used my brakes and waited to get past. Dan If you haven't seen the video, try and check it out. Simon Just don't be an idiot. Dan Yes, don't check it out until you've got to the end of the show Nugget, obviously, but yes, check it out after that. They're good for the lawyers because I expect they made quite a lot of money out of that case. Right, we have got a giveaway for you all now. Who wouldn't want to win a pair of deep section Vision carbon wheels? Exactly, listen up. Simon Yes, Vision are giving away one pair of their Metron 60SL Silver Edition wheels, 60 mil deep and just 1,490 grams per pair with hooked rims. Dan, for those of you wondering. Dan Yes, they are mega wheels. I've used them myself even, Si. Ollie went to visit the Vision factory last year and was raving about how good it all was. There's a cool video actually on GCN Tech if you'd like to check that out from that factory tour. Dan Yes, so if you want to enter that giveaway, then the link to it is in the description beneath this video. We've got some results as well, haven't we, for a previous giveaway. Three lucky winners of Core 2 temperature sensors and heat suits. Simon Yes, hands down the best way to do heat training where you can pretty quickly add a few extra percent onto your FTP if done properly. Dan Yes, well, that's the whole point of that setup, isn't it? Simon Yes, the sensor so you know what temperature you're training at because it has to be a specific one. You can't just put a load of clothes on and hope for the best. Dan No, no, because just being sweaty is not the same as heat training. Simon No, no, it didn't work for you. Dan I mean, maybe it did. Maybe I've been benefiting from an elevated FTP all these years. Simon Imagine how rubbish you'd have been otherwise. Dan Exactly, yes. I mean, the mind boggles. Anyway, three people will be able to tell us soon how much of a benefit they've had. Are you ready? The winners are Ben Long, Miroslav Greco, and Tom Horsberg. Simon Congratulations to you three. Let us know how you get on with your heat training. Lastly, in Cycling Shorts this week, we showed you our spring classics inspired prints this time last week. They've been going down very well indeed. Dan I'm not surprised. Simon Incredibly popular. Thank you very much to all of you who've already ordered one. They're able to nest the A3 size or indeed A4. I think we've got four different prints available for you at the moment. There should be a QR code on the screen if you'd like to make a purchase. You just need to scan that or head to shop.globalcyclingnetwork.com. Simon Yes. The four prints have been designed by our in-house maestro, Dan. Not this one, but designer Dan. He's been with us for years now, hasn't he? Actually, many of you might even remember him as the star of Team GCN in our GCN Plus feature World Tour to Catford. Dan was our, well, he was the golden ticket, wasn't he? He was our sprinter. Dan He was. I think he must have been with us about 10 years at this point. Simon He's been a good designer, Dan. Dan Next up, it is, of course, hack forward slash bodge of the week. You can get involved in this part of the show. All you need to do is go to globalcyclingnetwork.com forward slash uploader. Our first one this week comes in from Slick Cycler. The protective coating on the large bike hook I hang my gravel bike on, it started to break down. I was afraid it would scratch my bike frame, so I wrapped it with an old inner tube and the damaged part of the hook is covered and my bike frame is now safe. Leftmost photo is the hook before wrapping it with the tube, the middle photo is the hook wrapped with the old tube, and the rightmost is my bike sitting on the repaired hook. Simon What a transformation. Dan Are you being sarcastic? Simon Well, no, not really. It's a good idea, isn't it? Protect your frame, upcycle an old inner tube, but in terms of dramatic before and after photos, I mean, if you're listening to this as the GCN podcast, then what you can see is just a very slight gap in the protective rubber coating on a hook and then said hook covered in an inner tube. Dan I think this might be the most reluctant donning of a hack that Si's ever given. I presume you say hack, can't say podcast. Simon Please bear in mind when you're submitting hacks and bodges that you need to entertain Si to a certain level. Dan Well, not just me, like- Simon The viewers, the listeners. Dan Exactly, yes. Simon All right, well, let's move on then. Dan Well, for the listeners, they probably don't care because it's like they obviously can't see it, whether it's a black inner tube wrapped around a hook or a- Simon They've probably been disappointed with the description. That sounds boring. Dan True. I mean, it is. Simon Viewers know it's boring. Dan Because they can see it. The bike looks good, though. We should have a bit more bike photo. Simon You can't bring it back around. There's no way you can bring it back around. I'm really sorry, Slick Cycler, besides attitude. Dan I'm just quite intrigued to know what bike it is. Right, next one then. Peter Thomas has sent this one in. Bottom bracket protector. My carbon gravel bike has got clear tape protection, but I need something extra to protect my bottom bracket from golf ball-sized stones. I have a few used bead-ons in my man cape, water bottles, just waiting for the opportunity to be recycled. I cut one in half, and hey, pristo, a cheap bottom bracket saver. I used the underside water bottle screws to attach it. There you go. What do we think of that one? Simon Well, let me just tell our viewers, Si, that in the rehearsal for this part of the show, you were deeply unimpressed with this, weren't you? Dan I mean, you make me sound like a bit grumpy today, Dan, but I was a bit like- Simon I like it. Dan I think I said, God, that's ugly. That was my reaction. It's a nice-looking bike. In fact, there's a lot of nice-looking kit in your bike cave full stop. Very nice rug as well. Simon Oh, I don't like the rug. Dan Do you not? Simon No. A bit old-fashioned. Dan It's cool these days to make that. Simon Is it? Dan Yeah. It's cool, right? Not the rug, the water bottle hack. If it serves a purpose- The reason I like this so much is because one of my distinct memories from the Gralic gravel race in Scotland last year was how many things hit my cranks and frame. Dan Yes. There was chunks taken out of the bike and the cranks by the end of it. Dan Yes. I always thought to myself, yes, if I bought my own gravel bike, obviously I'm fortunate enough to get them for free, I'd really want a lot of protective layering over my frame and cranks. Simon Yes. To be fair, actually, Conor's Atlas Mountain race was partly supported by RideRap, who that frame protection is what they do. Conor was absolutely blown away by it. Dan Was he? Simon Yes, genuinely. He said the bike's immaculate in spite of rocking it around. Dan You want to keep your style rocker. Simon Yes, to be fair. That's cool. What I like, I like the fact that you've taken care over the logo placement on the water bottle. That is a neat touch and there's a good bit of trimming and stuff. I'm not super-duper grumpy. Dan Okay. All right. Great stuff. Simon I just personally wouldn't want one on my bike. Can I say that? Dan You can say that about the next one, for sure. This one comes in from L. Gray, who put, saw this in my hometown of Lewis, East Sussex. Not sure if it's a hack or bodge, I can't work out how it would shape like this. What shape of bottom could the owner have and just how comfortable is it in reality? I will not be asking. I mean, what we're looking at here is a traditional-looking brown leather saddle with rivets that appears to have melted. Is it a brook saddle? Simon It looks like a brook saddle. Dan Because it's got the thing at the front where you can adjust the tension of the leather, but it literally looks like someone's face has melted. Simon Well, yes, it looks like it's been put into an oven to melt and then somebody's been asked to sit on it to mold it around their backside, doesn't it? Dan I don't know which bit of it you would sit on. You certainly couldn't sit at the back. Dan Well, it wouldn't- Simon Is there any room for one butt cheek? Dan I'm just thinking about how far back on the rails it is. It would just bend, wouldn't it? You'd end up on your pannier rack. Simon I know, it's a funny-looking thing, isn't it? Dan Yes. Well, I mean, if this is your custom-molded brook saddle, then please get in touch and let us know which bit you sit on. Simon No one's going to admit to that. It's probably a bodge from me. Dan Yes, a bodge from me. Last but not least, we've got this one sent in by Jollyman. Simon We've got two more. We've got two more. Dan Oh, happy days. Jollyman has sent in our penultimate one. Building a new gravel bike, yay, and got the brilliant idea to anchor the stand with weights. Oh, nice, your work stand. Easy to work on installing the fork with these straps holding it too. Is it a double hack? Well, yes. We have got a work stand complete with some fairly chunky 25-pound weights holding it in place. Yes, I think that's a hack probably, isn't it? Simon Yes, as long as the stand can take those weights because most bikes don't weigh 50 pounds these days. Dan No, good point. You need quite big muscles to take those weights. Simon Yes, you would do so, yes. I'd like to help you with that. Dan Taddy Pogaccio will help me, Dan. Simon Yes, Ford Focus in the background there, man of your own heart, after your own heart. Dan Is it? Simon That's what it says on the car, yes. Dan A Ford Focus, is it? Simon Yes, you see the Ford logo there and it says Focus just underneath. That's what I'm guessing. Dan Oh, yes, okay. What got you zoomed in close on that? That's a bit creepy. What? Simon I just wanted to see what the car was. Right, a hack for that one. Finally this week, Ian Hanna put, I bought a new angle grinder-proof U-lock. Didn't come with any holder, quite a bit wider than my old lock which used to fit pretty easily on my bike rack. This one didn't though so I thought I'd make myself a lock holster using a cheap desk mat from a dollar store. For $4, some glue and hooks from the toolbox, I made this. No rattles, quick to get the lock in and out, helps balance out my pannier and looks pretty neat for the price. Pretty neat, it's one of the neatest missions I think we've ever had. Simon That is incredible. I don't know what a desk mat is but- Dan I don't care. Simon It looks great as a U-lock holder. Dan Holster. Simon Holster, yes. Oh, yes, quick draw holster. That's cool. Dan, if you zoom in on this one, you get to see what Ian Hanna looks like in the reflection. Hi, Ian. Dan That's amazing. I just think that looks so cool. Simon That is very cool actually. Yes, super neat. It looks like quite a good town bike full stop. I'm a big fan of your mud guards. Dan Well, it's good that you've managed to bring Si around, Ian, because he was quite moody at the start of Hacks and Bodges this week but at this point he's looking forward to next week. Simon I wasn't moody at all. I just wasn't blown away by a hook covered in an inner tube and a half a water bottle as a down tube protector. Dan It got better. Simon It did get better. Right, see if you can top it next week. Keep those submissions coming in, please. It's time now for caption competition, that part of the show where you get a chance to get your hands on a coveted GCN Camelbak water bottle. All you got to do is put a witty caption in the comment section down below that relates to a photo we'll give you in just one second. We will start, of course, with the results from last week. This was the photo that we gave you last week, the best prize in cycling, a cuddly donkey being given to Matt Brennan of Bismarck after he won Kona-Rotterkirche. The winner this week is Shrimo2009 who put caption competition, he came, he oar, he conquered. Dan Nice. Dan Yes. Fans of Winnie the Pooh the world over will be chuckling away at that one on the floor laughing. Simon If you don't know Winnie the Pooh, might not mean anything to you, but look it up. Right then, Dan, what is this week's photo? Dan This week's photo actually is from the same weekend as last week's photo, this being the women's Omloop Nieuwsblad, no longer Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. I only learned that about two days after the finish of the race. Simon What happened to the het bit? Dan They just decided they didn't need the middle anymore. Anyway, this is Kasia Niewiadoma and Demi Vollering on the podium of Omloop Nieuwsblad. I will get you started. I thought I was supposed to get Cristal champagne. I didn't actually see the podium celebration, but I think after she popped the cork, champagne went in her eyes. Simon Oh, did it? Simon She doesn't look terribly happy. Dan No, she looks quite miserable. Simon She does, yes, but- Dan Kasia looks happy. Simon She does, yes. She looks happy with her second place that weekend, less so this weekend. Anyway, poor old Kasia. I was actually shouting at the TV. I genuinely- Simon I think a lot of people were actually. Dan Yes, I think they probably were. Simon I think a lot of people were very pleased with Shabby and she worked so hard predominantly for other people. She really deserved it as well, but Kasia and that race in particular, we've been doing previews for years, haven't we? For so many of those years, we've said how consistent she is and how much she deserves to win that race, and it just felt like it was going to happen. Dan Yes, I think that's it. It did feel like the best opportunity she's had, but anyway, there we go. The season is yet young. She can win the Tour de France again. Right, should we just go straight into our favorite comments from last week? Simon Yes, make sure you put your captions in the comment section below. Pick a winner next week. As ever, we will let you know our favorite comments from last week's videos first, starting with a few from underneath the GCN show. At Stratojohn put, when Si said a coat hanger, never seen one of them before, I can very well believe it with the wrinkled state his clothes are sometimes in. Not sure he needed to put sometimes into that comment, but yes. Simon Well, I haven't got a coat hanger downstairs. Dan Not too bad today, actually. Simon No, I think because this- Dan A little dandruff, but no creases. Simon Yes, exactly. Simon That's all right. It hides them. I think I've got that as well. Simon I think it's yours. Dan It's probably, yes. Simon Right, at Catcycle, what an amazing nugget for the 16 of us that remain. Congratulations, Dan. The jacket looks fantastic on you. It's fortunate that it's a jacket and not bib shorts because I think you'll have to share it with me. Good point, that. I don't think I want to share bib shorts with you. Dan Well, that's the point, but I might share the jacket with you. Simon No, I know, but as in just thinking about sharing bib shorts, I wouldn't go there. Dan No, no. Me neither. Simon No, not even with that special industrial washing powder that we talked about last week that kills 99.9% of everything. Dan Slightly different subject, but I remember years ago, I was looking for a secondhand kitchen because you get some great deals, NX Display. I said, there's never like X Display or secondhand bathrooms for sale. My mate said, you would never buy a secondhand toilet, would you? I said, well, what do you do when you move into a house? Just clean the toilet and carry on using it. You don't go into a new house and replace the toilet straight away, do you? Simon I mean, no. Dan Well, that's a banger for them. They don't need to get to the end now. Simon By the way, that wasn't even a nugget. Mark Jones said, Dan and Simon, you both featured in a dream of mine recently. We were eating in a canteen. For context, Dan, you were really warm and friendly, but Simon was a little aloof and cold. If you could ponder this, please, Simon. I hope to have a better nocturnal encounter next time. Mark was not the only person who dreamt about you last week, Si. Dan That's weird, isn't it? Not one but two. And that's just that commented. Who knows how many more dreamt about you but didn't even write about you? Simon This one, I feel really bad, Mark, that I wasn't very kind to you in your dream. Hopefully, we'll meet in real life one day. The other one, can I teach him how to do a wee? That was what it was, isn't it? Dan Was it? Simon Yeah, it was, yeah. You sent me a screenshot of it. It was so peculiar. Anyway, I don't even know. There are no words to describe that one. Underneath Dan's cool little vid about who the strongest pro cyclist is, Louis Lulumon. What is that? Louis Lulumon. Yeah, it is. Funny, however, the thing watching athletes doing something they're not used to is pure cinema. Dan Yeah, it was funny, wasn't it? Simon It was funny, yeah. Dan Nick and Jay, but if VO2 max and grip strength were two of the best predictors of longevity, some of these guys will live past 100. Simon Yeah, fair point there, isn't it? Dan Probably. Two good ones. Sonic Vision, many people find their non-dominant hand is stronger because it's less well-coordinated. It often becomes stronger to compensate. I did not know that. Bodybuilders noticed this in the 80s. Their non-dominant arm was slightly bigger even though it was trained exactly the same. Simon That's strange. Right, underneath amateur versus pro time trial. This was me going as fast as I could around the time trial circuit in the UAE tour and then getting overtaken by Remco Evenepoel on his practice lap. Jesus Pascual Camino put, that intro from the announcer was epic. A roast, but also a warming acknowledgement. Great job, Dan. Dekuf1, they should have let Dan sit on that hot seat for the effort. A bit like when somebody elderly gets on the bus and you feel like you should give them your seat. Dan Well, except that Remco started behind you and finished in front of you. Simon At no point were you ever the fastest on that circuit. No, I think, yes, the hot seat was not open to you that day, was it? Unfortunately. Remco appearing in shot without music is the coolest thing ever. It's like Airwolf only with cyclists. Dan An IQ core lap. Is that a giraffe? Oh, it's just Dan attempting a time trial with his head up. Just kidding. You killed it, Dan. Yes, my nickname at school was giraffe neck. Simon Was it actually? Dan No, it might have been swan neck, actually. I can't remember now. One of the two, something with a long neck. Simon Oh, both of them are really nice nicknames, Dan. Dan Yes, I love that. Simon Right then. Now, we've saved the best for last, haven't we? Conor's epic Atlas Mountain Race video dropped. I think I can use that term, can't I? Just about. On Sunday, loads and loads of people loving Conor's work on there. KimB101, you're such a good oak. I assume that's not a typo. I don't mean oaf. In my books, you've not only completed something major, but you've won. You went out there with the best attitude and despite all that went on, you kept to it to the end. Almost the end. You were led to attempt this by curiosity, not ego. You still did so much more than you ever thought you might. What an inspiration for everyone who's training improved or started due to riding with you, and mostly what a huge lesson and example for your kids. Chapeau, dude. There we go. That's pretty cool, isn't it? Dan Middle-aged rookie L put, I wish Conor and Max could bottle their spirit and sell it to us mortals. I think it'd be quite expensive, wouldn't it? You could bottle that. Simon Crikey, Max in particular, that guy, you literally can't keep him down. Dan No, no. He could sell his for quite a lot more than Conor. Simon Yes, he really could. It's potent stuff. Spicy Bangra lover. It's a weird username, isn't it? You didn't fail, Conor. Not turning up at all would have been failing. You gave it your best shot and I thought you did really well, so well done. The video called to your family was so wholesome. Dust yourself down and go again. Dan So many comments along those lines. Simon He absolutely will. Dan And finally, Duncan Mac put, gutted for you. However, this was so worth the watch. You found a weakness and know what to improve. You have a great way about you. You are a star. There were loads of very, very positive comments underneath that video, which I know Conor is very appreciative of. Do you know what? I've never done anything like the Atlas Mountain Race, but sometimes when I have done something that's a little bit longer and more stupid than I normally would do, I too have found a weakness in my ankles. You wouldn't have thought that, would you? Simon Crikey. Simon You must have to go to extremes to find that. Dan Yes, exactly. Ankles can be a weak point for cyclists, even really thick ones. Dan Well, yes, they really are. Simon Yes, mine snapped. Right. Coming up on the channel this week then, on Thursday, who is the nicest guy in the pro peloton? We didn't decide this ourselves. We actually asked some of the pro riders. Dan I can't wait to see that one. Who would they have said in 2009? That's the question. Simon They probably wouldn't have heard of me to know how nice I was, Si. Dan Top 10 at Strada Bianca, Dan. Who would have done? On Saturday, what's the point of an e-road bike? Something that we were discussing here at GCN Megabase, so we went to find out. Three of us have ridden Canyon's latest and greatest enduro race on fly to actually work out who an e-road bike is for. Simon Very nice. Dan Yes. Simon Then on Sunday, I rode, and this is me, I rode the world's fastest Gran Fondo. You might have seen some podium shots from this a couple of weeks ago on the show. That video will be out for you to watch on Sunday. Dan After the Ed Sheeran debacle, I'm going to be going into AI just to see what on earth happened there. I hope you actually know what I look like. Simon That is true. You have no tats that I'm aware of, so it's not like AI can get that one wrong. Dan No, it can't. Well, it could put some on me, and you'd know it's not me. Simon Well, that's a good point. Yes. Dan Right. That's almost the end of the show. Simon No. Yes, that's it. We want Dan's nugget. Dan Yes. Simon Nugget, nugget, for the 16 of you left. Dan This nugget is for the 16 of you. Yes, thanks for hanging around. This is just a small anecdote from Strada Bianca 2009 when I was racing for the Cervelo test team and got my top 10. Simon Yes. Dan I always like when somebody really good finishes ninth. I don't want to criticize Andreas Krohn too much, but I was hoping Wout would finish ninth. Anyway, this morning, Si, I was having a quick comparison of my time up the Tolfe, which is the final gravel climb, quite a steep one. Simon Very steep, yes. Dan Versus Tadej Pogacar. Simon Oh, yes. Dan The results are not bad. Simon Are they? Dan No. I'll put it on the screen now. This is me. Simon Yes. Dan One second behind Pogacar initially. Simon He just went around the corner going into it a bit slow. He didn't have a very good lead out. Dan Then a second ahead of him, and he was doing 3Ks per hour less, and then he overtook me. He did the entire climb just two seconds quicker than me. Simon I think you could have closed that gap at the top. Dan I would have done if he'd been there. I mean, I was just in the group I was in. Slight caveat to this. Firstly, when we raced it, we'd gone a lot easier in the earlier part of the race, and we were racing to attack each other on that final climb. Pogacar had already been solo for about 60 kilometers by that point, but nonetheless, I'm going to take that. Simon I think you should take that. What was interesting as well from Pogacar's Strava was that the last time up the Tolfe was his fastest. Dan Yes, I thought that was weird. Simon Yes, because at one point when the gap started to come down, there was a moment where I was like, oh, is he getting tired? Then clearly from the Strava, no, he was not. Unbelievable. Dan Just out of interest, Dan, what happens to that graph when you add Mathieu van der Poel in there? Simon Then it doesn't look quite so good because he did it in 1.06 versus my 1.20. 14 seconds quicker, it doesn't sound like a lot, but over the course of a minute, it's a fair chunk. Dan It's quite a big percentage that, isn't it? Simon That was when it was raced in a more similar way to how we did it where he was actually attacking towards the end. What an attack that was as well. Dan What an attack. An attack that he couldn't make this year because there were so many people watching. Simon I know. Dan Which is both- Simon And he wasn't there. Dan Yeah, good point. It was great to see so many people watching, but also it does make you think perhaps they need to have some kind of barriers on that little bit. Simon I think next year they'll need to, yes. Getting increasingly popular, that race on the roadside, isn't it? Dan I'm not surprised. If I was going to go watch a bike race, going to Tuscany would be quite high on the list. Simon Yes. Right, so we've got 16 very disappointed people, I think. I've waited all this time for that nugget. Dan That's a great nugget, Dan. Basically, you've proven that you are as good as Tele Pogacar. Simon Basically, yes. Dan But not as good as Mathieu van der Poel. Simon Not quite. Dan No, not in this race anyway. Simon No. Right, see you next week. Dan See you next week.