09/15 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Bike part listings from the 2015 season coming soon ... as soon as teams and sponsors are finalized.

04/04 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
The road bikes of the 18 teams from the 2014 UCI Pro Tour are listed here.

Click on a team to see a detailed list of components being used:
AG2R, Astana, Belkin, BMC, Cannondale, FDJ, Garmin Sharp, Lampre-Merida, Lotto Belisol, Movistar, Omega Quickstep, Orica, Europcar, Giant-Shimano, Katusha, Sky, Tinkoff-Saxo, Trek.

Don't forget your local bike shop - they can assist you with buying a bike, correct fit, warranty and repair.

01/01 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
When you first start cycling you get yourself a bike. It is lighter than anything you've ridden before and feels great and you're very happy. After a while you begin to notice that everyone's got deep section carbon fiber wheels. You begin to want them. Are they really worth the expense?

03/12 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Why do you even need a power meter on your bike? Is it the holy grail to fitness? What are the available options and how much do they cost?

I've owned an Ergomo, Powertap and SRM. The SRM seems to be acknowledged as the best, but is that title deserved, based on the metrics? There are new products on the market which are bringing the price down while increasing available data and accuracy.

04/03 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
What are the most important characteristics of the frame? Size, material, weight, aerodynamics and price are discussed here. My recommendation? A stock carbon frame in the right size that you can afford to crash!

05/29 2014
Martin Rowark
Why did I buy a pair of Bont Vaypor +? Was it the association with a certain mobile rifle range called Sir Brad, was it the mold breaking tennis shoe design, was it the promise of a shoe I could mold to my foot whist cooking my chips for dinner, was it the boat like carbon sole that promised 'Viagra' levels of stiffness, was it the €300 euro price tag that said ‘top end’ that made me desire rather than require?

04/29 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Tire choice is an emotive subject for many and tends to cause long debates. After trying many tires, I can give the following recommendations.

04/07 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Seat posts might seem to do very little, but there 's a lot to consider when you purchase one.
Find seat post recommendations here.

04/30 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
A chain pulls 2-4% of your available power. Which chain takes the least? Which chain lasts the longest?

Choosing the best chain will save you money and make you faster.

04/30 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Is an aluminium stem better than a carbon stem? Which is lighter? Which is stiffer? There has to be some justification for the high cost of carbon stems. Find out which factors are important when choosing a stem.

04/07 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Rim brakes have worked well for the last 25 years. Improvements in pad material, rim surface and clamping force have improved stopping power, but only slightly. Brakes work well from all the major brands, so it is more a matter of choosing your preferred design rather than any performance issue.

However, recently disk brakes have come to prominence. As at 2014, they are not UCI legal, so can't be used in UCI sanctioned events. Do these brakes really offer better performance than the tried and tested rim brakes?

05/01 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Handlebars are important as you spend most of your time holding them when riding. The wrong bars can mean your brakes and gears are out of reach, and can contribute to back and neck pain.

Narrow bars are becoming more popular as they offer aerodynamic advantages.

Should we choose aluminium or carbon bars?

02/08 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Cleaning your chain is the number one cleaning task for your bike. While everything on your bike can be covered in mud and that black road grime, your drivetrain should be spotless!

You will extend the life of your sprockets and chain, shifting will be improved and your bike will look much better. How should it be done?

02/17 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
What is it about cyclists and coffee? Cyclists seem to be mad on coffee before and after cycling. They even stop for coffee during cycling. Perhaps Rapha made it popular with their moody black and white shots.

Coffee is revered as some kind of endurance elixir. Does it really make you faster?

02/26 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
What should we eat whilst cycling? Manufacturers would have us believe that we should be eating their sports nutrition products on every ride, but this is expensive and unnecessary. 'Real' food should be consumed where possible, although commercial preparations have their place.

04/28 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
We all know that if you want to go fast on a bike you need to be skinny, but why are there so many overweight cyclists?

Despite riding for hours and burning thousands of Calories, there are plenty of riders who can't shift their belly fat. They resign themselves to thinking that it is their body type, or that it is the price to pay for enjoying their food.

Losing weight does take discipline, but there is no need to go hungry or forgo delicious food. By understanding how the type and timing of food intake affects our hormones, we can lose weight with little inconvenience or willpower. By following the system below I am able to maintain sub 10% body fat all year.

09/02 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
I have been hearing a lot more about low-carb-high-fat (LCHF) diet regimes, so decided to find out more.

It appears that the standard advice on diet that we have been receiving over the last 30 years may be wrong.

01/02 2014
Adrie Post
At some point, probably sooner rather than later, you're going to fall off your bike. The road will act like a cheese grater and you will lose skin. Obviously you want to avoid that situation in the first place, but when it does happen there are a few techniques to aid healing and almost eliminate discomfort which I'll share with you here.

02/28 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
The sooner you recover from training the sooner you will be able to train again. The more training you can do, the fitter you will get. I have tried plenty of recovery techniques over the years, and as you might be able to guess there don't seem to be any short cuts. Correct nutrition, rest and time are the key ingredients. Here's a list of what works and what doesn't.

03/17 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
The saddle sores we're most interested in are those caused by infection of a follicle in the perineum area.

Sores may also be caused by chafing. Chafing can easily be sorted out by changing shorts, adjusting the saddle position and by getting more time on the bike.

Saddle sores range from small unsightly to infected painful nodules which require surgery. Everyone gets them, but there are ways of minimizing their spread.

04/04 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Huge power can be generated by the glutes. Keeping them strong and firing is the key to being strong in race winning efforts.

Too much time sitting at a desk, a crash or movement imbalance can cause the glutes to stop working. Find out how to get them firing and strong to make you faster on the bike.

04/03 2014
Alain Devolder
"Don't make the mistake of doing your easy rides to hard and your hard rides to easy"
You have probably read this many times as it appears in almost every training book.

However, whenever I go riding with amateur riders, I can see that nobody takes notice of this. They always want to destroy themselves. If you want to go fast and win races then you need to train more sensibly, as explained below.

01/23 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Every year we read about pro rider training camps. They go off to a sunny location, practice sprint trains, team time trials, ride 5 hours a day, get a suitcase of new kit and it all sounds awesome.

Amateur riders will of course want emulate this. Before you go, think carefully about the reasons for going on the camp.

11/05 2013
Pieter Van Pietersen
Many cyclists hate the turbo, but when used correctly it is a fantastic training tool.

In my opinion, riding the turbo is more enjoyable than riding in the rain and you probably won't have to suffer traffic lights, fumes or punctures. Here's my tips on how to make turbo training enjoyable.

02/05 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Cycle training is carried out at different intensities known as zones. Find out how to establish your zones here.

04/04 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Is gym work useful for cyclists? Many people don't think so, but many do.

After a program of squats, lunges and core exercises I was able to increase my sprint power by 20% in 3 months. It resulted in a spate of 9 race wins - all for an hour per week of gym work. Here's my program and tips.

09/11 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Over the past 10 years, cyclists have been told to spend as much as time as possible at or near the tough threshold pace if they want to improve (that's the maximum pace you can maintain for one hour, e.g. 300W).

For trained cyclists, this advice doesn't seem to stack up. Studies show that athletes who spent the least time at threshold had the highest fitness. Is this how elite endurance athletes train? How can recreational riders use polarized training?

04/02 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
If you want to get faster and win races, then you need to be spending 20% of your training time riding HARD INTERVALS. These High Intensity Intervals are the intervals that the pros use to increase heart volume and stroke, boost mitochondria, burn fat and turn you into a winning machine.

Properly executed, the intervals here will transform your ability. Be prepared to enter the red zone and snap the needle off the dial. It'll all be worth it as you'll be taking home the flowers.

Find out how.

06/17 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Is setting bike position a mystic art that requires motorized bike fitting jigs? Of course not!

Use the Greg Lemond formula to set your saddle height. Go for a ride. Adjust it, ride a bit more. Repeat until you find a comfortable and powerful position. Now do the same with your stem length. Don't be afraid of tinkering with your position.

03/25 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
We might like to think of ourselves as rational beings but rational thought often goes out the window when we are exercising. Our limbic brain (or inner chimp) can take over, which leads to various undesirable actions.

With a little bit of planning, this can be prepared for, so you will get the outcome you want rather than a lost opportunity.

09/05 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
Is it better to apply a constant power from start to finish or is it better to apply more power during the uphill/headwind sections of the course and rest during the downhill/tailwinds?

With the aid of some basic physics we can answer this question.

12/20 2013
Pieter Van Pietersen
Once you start riding your bike further and faster it is human nature to want to race. You want to know how you measure up against the local competition and before you know it you've entered a race.

You may not win your first race but very soon you will be thinking about how you can win. Here are some tips about how to get that first win.

03/16 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
To be successful at a sportive you need to complete the route in your best time. You don't need to be first across the line. There isn't the need to surge as in racing. However the distance and time on the bike are usually longer than the average race.

Your greatest concern is to avoid running out of glycogen, also known as blowing up or bonking. If this happens, you will be tens of minutes, if not hours slower. You may not even finish at all. The way to avoid this is with training and diet.

09/05 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
At some point on most rides and races you will want to close or create a gap between you and other riders. You might be trying to get across to a breakaway or back to the peloton after a mechanical.

Will you close that gap more easily when climbing, descending or on the flat? Or should you just put your head down and blast it?

01/20 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
New riders crash more frequently than experienced riders. There is a skill in not crashing. Some call it a sixth sense, but dangerous situations can be spotted in advance and therefore avoided.

I have crashed many times, and witnessed many crashes. Each time I have made a mental note about how the accident could have been avoided. These notes have been listed below. Hopefully they might save you one day.

01/22 2014
Adrie Post
Rain. You might have to race in it and certainly will have to train in it. It might just be a quick shower followed by glorious sun or could be dark and almost snowing. It'll wear out your equipment and if get cold you will easily get sick.

What is the best way to ride safely warmly in the rain?

12/05 2013
Pieter Van Pietersen
Many cyclists jump red lights. Since they don't have number plates, they feel unlikely to be caught, so act like jaywalking pedestrians. Is there ever a good reason to jump red lights?

04/03 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
You're at the top of Sa Calobra, Majorca, looking down. 26 hairpins, a drop of 2200 feet in 6 miles. You are about to launch yourself down it like a base jumper. How can you get down smoothly and fast?

12/18 2013
Pieter Van Pietersen
Some people like to race while commuting. They might see another rider ahead, put their head down and start working hard to catch up and overtake. Victory! I am the champ. Kneel before me and kiss my Sidis.

Is it just a bit of fun or is it for losers who don't enter proper races?

12/11 2013
Pieter Van Pietersen
There are a few reasons why male cyclists shave their legs, but mostly it is about showing your dedication to being a cyclist. Once you shave your legs you are part of the tribe.

Note that female cyclists have it easy in this regard since they will either have very fine leg hair or will shave anyway.

10/25 2013
Pieter Van Pietersen
There's a good chance you have heard of Strava. I've heard it described as a Facebook for cyclists and runners. You upload your GPS data to the site and it matches sections of your ride to established 'segments', giving you a ranking of the hundreds if not thousands of people who have also ridden it. If you are the fastest at a segment then you become the King/Queen of the Mountains: KOM or QOM.

Like all good things it can of course become addictive. Some riders stop racing and just go out looking for KOMs. Fun in its own way, but do you really want to do everything alone?

04/03 2014
Pieter Van Pietersen
I have never been a voracious consumer of cycling literature, preferring to be out on the bike instead.

However, over the years I've stumbled across quite a few cycling books. Some have been great and some needed a bit of speed reading to get through them. Here are my favorites.