Get out of the gas station and make your way to the race start or you'll be disqualified!" As stirring pre-event calls to action go, it'll hardly give Michael Sheen sleepless nights, but the race compere has done her job and scores of cyclists are now careering towards the starting pens of the Gran Fondo II Lombardia.
The pro racers were given glorious sunshine at the 116th edition of Il Lombardia the day before, the final monument of the 2022 season and a race alternatively titled the "Classic of the Falling Leaves'. The weather gods have turned vengeful for the corresponding amateur event some 14 hours later, however. What starts with an isolated aquatic drop becomes a light coating of the sunglasses before it intensifies to biblical proportions to recall the Helm's Deep showdown in Lord of the Rings. Only with Orcs replaced by Italian cyclists with pointy elbows, who jostle their way to the pole positions in the infamous starting pens in Cantu, just south of Lake Como in Italy's northern reaches.
Billy Idol's soft rock gem 'Rebel Yell' blasts from the Tannoy as the starter's horn blares at 7:30 am. The peloton flies out of the blocks. It's my first continental gran fondo and they're already more competitive and frenetic than UK sportives, with riders racing for positions and times. What also becomes clear is that I've under-dressed for the occasion, picking just a gilet and short-sleeve bibs/jersey combo, whereas the rest of the field looks like a fashion show for Castelli's 2023 waterproof collection. There's even a guy in a full hazmat suit, a visual reminder of coronavirus, of which nearby Bergamo was Europe's ground zero.
Ticket to paradise
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Cycling Plus UK.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Cycling Plus UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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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.
No limits
Not every adventure needs to be that epic, says bikepacking Scotland founder Markus Stitz
UNBOUND UNLEASHED
Josh Patterson was one of 34 starters for the inaugural edition of Unbound in 2006. Now, with more than 5,000 riders taking part in today's event, he charts the rise of the most important race in gravel
FOREST COMMISSION
Looking for a goal race in 2025 that'll stimulate the synapses and live long in the memory? You'd struggle to do better than ENID CRV in Finland
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Ned sings the praises of the Paris Olympics road-race course
"I rode 3,000 miles around Britain on a bamboo bike to highlight our climate crisis"
Recordbreaking cyclist and triathlete Kate Strong, 45, took to the road to raise awareness of environmental issues
FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE
We venture into the hidden gem of the glorious Creuse, one of France's least populated regions
STAR TREK
New tube shapes and carbon lay-up makes the eighth generation of Trek's legendary Madone an aero and climbing bike all rolled into one
GOLD RUSH
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