I love a CX gallery. And celebrating 36yo Lucinda Brand makes it all the more enjoyable to put together.

Lucinda Brand has now reached 50 consecutive podium finishes on the CX bike. By my calculations, the pro women's record belongs to Marianne Vos (obvs), at just 51, only two more podiums and Brand tops the GOAT. (Van der Poel? 66. Brand could do it outright this season...)

I really hope there's no bureaucratic drama that makes this difficult for them in the coming months (you never know). Uno-X Mobility absolutely deserves to step up to WorldTour, and frankly I think Cofidis would have more fun as a ProTeam anyway...

Now that's how to score a (likely) WorldTour upgrade. Chapeau, Løland and Uno-X Mobility!

It would be easy just to let ambivalence reign, but instead let's celebrate Belgium throwing everything at Tadej Pogačar, including (apparently) a red carpet that was 75km long... #EuroRoad25

In this sort-of-preview/essay on the men's Euro road race, I took my chance to write about movies, sequels, blockbusters ... and the disappointment of unfulfilled hype (which will hopefully not happen this weekend). #EuroRoad25

Saw Jaws in the cinema for the first time tonight and damn, it makes such a difference! And all the better to see it at the rejuvenated @filmhouseedinburgh.bsky.social . Tom and I left the screen grinning, looked at one another, laughed, and parted with a hug and a promise to do it again soon.

Bonkers.

Van Poppel's fourth yellow card is exposing – or rather widening – the cracks in the UCI's most dramatic new safety initiative. escapecollective.com/van-poppels-...

A curious detail of the UCI's yellow card could turn it into a sort of get-out-of-jail-free card for Van Poppel. If he gets a 2nd at the Deutschland Tour today, he'll get a 7-day suspension, but it'll also wipe both cards issued here from his tally, returning him to a relatively safe (ahem) three.

Vuelta organisers taking a straw poll of spectators who might have seen the KOM sprint that the moto missed?

Cadel Evans is the subject of a new one-man show, and it's bloody good. Currently premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe, and coming soon – hopefully! – to a theatre near you. escapecollective.com/cadel-evans-...

Oasis's Wonderwall from Murrayfield and The Tattoo Pipes and Drums at the castle mingling on the coattails of Storm Floris is classic Edinburgh in August.

It truly is the end of an era, and casual British fans especially are going to miss out. I wrote about the end of ITV's Tour de France coverage and some of my favourite memories of summers gone by, Gary Imlach, Ned Boulting, Dave Millar, et al. providing the backdrop to many of them.

Accidentally profound hot-mic moment from Gary Imlach two minutes into ITV's final final stage coverage: "How long have we got?" Not long enough, Gary 😔

The white jersey is back, baby!

At this rate, Pogačar is going to break Cav's Tour de France stage win record before his 30th birthday.

It's 'Tour de France: Unchained' launch day! Anyone already binged the lot? I got to do so early with my @escapecollective.bsky.social colleagues, then flexed my cinema/tv muscles to write a review (which was a lot of fun) 👇 escapecollective.com/unchained-se...

This was a joy to put together. Je vous souhaite une très bonne retraite, Romain Bardet!

Golly. Big day.

Whatever happens, Isaac Del Toro has exceeded my expectations already. I'm in awe. This Giro is going all the way.

Massive respect for Del Toro. Way to go, kid. Giving it the beans in the third week of his second grand tour when everyone's writing him off, and other teams are trying to bully him out of pink, is bloody brilliant. Next stop, Dolomites...

Pellizzari for the podium? Kid looks pretty damn fresh – only six days older than Del Toro...

👀

I see two possible outcomes for this Giro: either Del Toro goes nuclear at the end of the week and seals pink with a stage win, or UAE doesn't even get on the GC podium.

If Del Toro doesn't win this Giro but still finishes on the podium, it's UAE's own damn fault they lost the race.

Watching the Giro right now.

Don't know about you, but we cannot wait for the Giro's final week. What are the storylines to look out for? escapecollective.com/the-giro-dit...

Dramatic finale brings a GC shakeup on stage 14, as Kasper Asgreen takes his first Giro win from the breakaway. escapecollective.com/gc-shakeup-o...

This Giro stage has been so uneventful thus far that they're showing highlights(?) of riders failing to get their jackets on.

Nine years ago, I was in Tuscany for Primož Roglič's first WorldTour win at the Giro in much the same conditions as Daan Hoole's today, i.e. benefiting from an early start while the GC and stage favourites endured rain. Back then it was a 'yes-but' win for a plucky nobody – little did we know!

I managed to relate my visit to a (mouth-watering) cheese cave in Greve in Chianti to Diego Ulissi taking the pink jersey at the Giro. (I miss Tuscany.)

This was a pleasure to put together, an intersection of a number of things I'm passionate about: bikes, dogs, resilience, and turning up the volume on marginalised communities and voices.

Fun fact: the last time Mads Pedersen won a race solo, he went on to take the World Championship title just seven days later, and what's in seven days? Ok, so I realise how different this is, but please let him feature at least. Make the Tour of Flanders a race!

'Twas a busy day yesterday, this on women's Omloop Nieuwsblad being the highlight. Although we're all still confuzzled about how it played out... What a way to make yourself known, though, chapeau Lotte Claes. Former nurse, duathlete and contestant on a special forces-style reality show.

Bored of winning the same way over and over and *over* again? Of course not, but still, Lorena Wiebes has a new project, and it's off to a golden start. escapecollective.com/lorena-wiebe...

Apparently Warner Bros./Discovery doesn't want our money.

Galleries are my favourite way to cover cyclocross, and a brilliant means of enticing new interest, imho; whenever I try to explain CX to a complete newbie – and after "steeplechase with bikes" falls flat – I often resort to "meh, I'll send you photos." Case in point ici:

Black Doves ... Slow Horses ... Netflix are jealous, aren't they.

Huge thanks to the Spin Cycle listeners and @escapecollective.bsky.social members who singled me out as "most-loved Escape podcast host 2024". Always a risk opening a box you didn't order at this time of year, but it was a wonderful surprise to unpack this trophy, and a great boost going into 2025.

Retro rewatch is back with a fun one – albeit not particularly retro...

Ugh. Yes, I'm here.