Would you believe, this year is the 10th anniversary since (Sir) Bradley Wiggins, ably assisted by Chris Froome and the metronomic train, helped Team Sky and (Sir) Dave Brailsford win Great Britain's first-ever Tour de France. Wiggins' subsequent 2012 London time trial triumph not only kick-started our country's pro cycling revolution but also lionised the concept of aggregation of marginal gains. Soon, a day didn't pass without training partners, coaches, and business gurus espousing the benefits of small changes reaping significant rewards. We could all hit our peak performance with the smallest of tweaks. Goodbye failure, hello goal-getting. Hmmm...
"I feel the whole marginal-gains thing was somewhat hijacked by the media," says world-class bike-fitter Phil Burt, who was central to the team's progress and now runs his own clinic in Manchester. "Also, it was never Dave's idea, as I'm sure he'd agree. [Former England Rugby Union coach] Sir Clive Woodward spoke to us at a British Cycling conference in 2006 and told us that if you improve by one per cent at a number of things, you'd keep driving forward. Of course, he probably borrowed it off someone else!" Maybe legendary gridiron football coach Vince Lombardi? We speculate.
What's more important is returning to the idea of that hijacking. “Recreational riders must focus on the bigger picture rather than buying their way to success," says Burt. “Assessing yourself, your position and your fundamental equipment will deliver much greater gains than very expensive chain lubricant." With that in mind, Burt invited us up to his bike-fitting nirvana within the shadows of Manchester City's Etihad stadium to talk us through his seven simple steps to guaranteed cycling improvements...
IT'S ALL ABOUT... YOU
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Air Apparent - Pollution hasn't gone away. It's still there in every lungful, even if we can't see it in the air or on the news. But there are reasons to breathe easier, thanks to pioneering projects using cycling 'citizen scientists'. Rob Ainsley took part in one...
The toxic effects of pollution have been known about for years. 'Just two things of which you must beware: Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air!' sang 1960s satirist Tom Lehrer.Over recent decades, though, pollution has dropped down our list of things to worry about, thanks to ominously capitalised concerns such as Climate Change, AI, Global Conflict, Species Collapse, etc. That doesn't, unfortunately, mean the problem has expired. Air quality often exceeds safe limits, with far-reaching and crippling effects on our health.
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