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Only you can decide what balance of carbs, protein and fat you need from your energy snacks and nutrition products, but here's a quick round-up of the latest options to hit our desks.

Gatorade

The American firm has made its presence felt in the pro cycling ranks in recent times thanks to the sponsorship of Team Sky and links to British Cycling. Their G Series is separated into before, during and after products, and into standard, Fit and Pro categories, depending on your level. Being the "high-performance" cyclists we are at BikeRadar, Gatorade dropped by to show us samples of the Pro range.

Let's start with pre-training. The Prime is a caffeine free, orange/berry/lime flavoured blend of carbs (83 kcal per 100ml) and B vitamins, in 118ml ready-made pouches that should be consumed 15 minutes before competition or training. As with all their products, they are available from online retailers such as Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles for £1.49 each or on their website in the US for $2.29 each or $41.22 per 20.

Once you're riding, the Perform powder will be your weapon of choice. The 350g tub (£8.99/$28.99 for 907g in US) comes in fruit punch, orange and lemon-lime flavours and packs in 125 kcal per 35g/500ml serving. Recovery is taken care of by the 500ml berry/orange Recover protein drink, which tastes much like the energy drink (think Ribena) but is slightly heavier on the stomach. It contains 16.5g protein/125 kcal per serving. The drinks are also available as packs shown above containing one of each product, together with varying degrees of British Cycling membership, from around £60.

Multipower

Be warned - Multipower's caffeine/guarana pre-training Red Kick drink is not for the faint hearted. If you can get past the rotten flavour (chemical, almost), this stuff is rocket fuel. We sneakily quaffed a 500ml bottle before a recent round of Rollapaluza roller racing at Bristol whilst everyone else was hitting the ale and it more than did the trick, powering us to an unexpected place in the finals. Each bottle only contains 81 kcal, but it's the incredible 160mg caffeine and 1000mg taurine that's its biggest selling point. You can pick up 24 bottles for £40.56 direct from their website. 

Elsewhere, the Energy Charge is stimulant-free but no less potent for it. Each 500ml bottle (£40.56 per 24) contains an off-the-chart 70g carbs, with 271kcal per serving. Given the strength, they're not ideal road ride fodder and we found them more difficult to get down than a lighter drink. They come in orange, tropical and wild berry flavours and are definitely for the mountain bikers only. The 55g Protein Shake proudly exclaims how much of the muscle building stuff it packs into its 500ml bottle. Available in strawberry, chocolate and vanilla, they are low in fat but hard to get down - 55g of protein is a lot. A pack of 12 costs £39.60 and are perhaps the reserve of track sprinters.

Kinetica

Irish firm Kinetica possess a huge range of products specific to a wide variety of sports, but the two we had our eye on were the Energy Gel (60g) and the 100% Recovery powder. The gel also comes in berry and tropical flavours, but our cola sample tasted like the ice pops we used to eat as kids. It's less viscous than most which makes it easy ingestible and contains 20g carbs/80 kcal per serving. They are available through their website for £36 per box of 24.

The Recovery powder is a strange one, continuing the trend of non-milky post-ride protein drinks. We find such drinks struggle to strike the right balance between a milky drink and a fruit drink, with the taste suffering as a result. The recovery drink contains whey protein, and comes in blackcurrant and orange/mango flavours. Each 75g serving is mixed with water to produce 267 kcal (41g carbs/24.8g protein) and retails for £24.99 per box of 10.

High5

The first of two products from High5 is the citrus IsoGel Plus gel (60ml), which is more drink than traditional gel. It contains 25g carbs, 105 kcal and a dose of caffeine. RRP is £24.75 per 25. The Zero Electrolyte tablets continues the growing trend of zero calorie electrolyte drinks, with research quoted by High5 suggesting such drinks burn 41 percent more fat than carbohydrate drinks during workouts. Each tube (£6.98) contains 20 tablets, with one tablet making each drink. Flavours include neutral, citrus, berry and cherry-orange. 

Another product in a new sachet packaging is the Xtreme Energy Source drink, and is surely competing with Multipower's Red Kick in the most potent stakes. Each 50g serving contains 188 kcal, 47g carbs and 150mg caffeine, costing £13.99 per 12. It's ideal as a boost later in a ride, or if you're in need of a boost after work in evening rides. A word of warning, though; don't over do it too late in the day or you'll find a good night's sleep elusive. Similarly, don't be tempted to have it too early in a long ride or you could set yourself up for a caffeine crash. From experience we'd say keep it to within 60-90 minutes before the end.

Maxifuel

The sister company to the muscle building nutrition firm Maximuscle, Maxifuel takes care of the endurance side of things. Their Viper Active energy range comes in a number of forms, including powder, gel, powder sachets and capsules. The 35g, 135 kcal powder sachets (£19.99 per 20), in orange and raspberry flavours, contain carbs (30.9g) and electrolytes for hydration and immune support. If gels are your thing, the 70g, 101 kcal lemon/lime and raspberry sachets contain 25g carbs and cost £35.99 per 24.

Viper Active sachet, Viper Boost capsules & Viper Active gel

Neither of the gels above contain caffeine, which might make the Viper Boost capsules appealing if that's your thing. They're pretty potent and really perked the BikeRadar office after the post-lunch slump. Each two capsule serving contains 100mg caffeine, 50mg guarana and 744mg L-Carnitine, and cost £19.99 per 30.

Message by Alastair Hamilton
A little bit quieter on the race front, but don’t forget the Classics start this week-end with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. Valverde has taken control of Andalucía and we catch up with the last cyclo-cross of the season. ”Top Story” is about paying to watch cycling, not a nice thought, but it’s possible. And we finish with the Colnago Sweater Guy at the Tour of Flanders…were will he be this year? Coffee time for EuroTrash Thursday.

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“If you were Belgian, you would have already been in the Pro Tour for three years…” That was the harsh verdict the Lotto team laid down on New Zealand’s Clinton Avery, explaining why, despite his five years of European results, and a very successful stagiaire period with Radio Shack, he could not get a pro contract. The new Champion System Pro Cycling Team, which snatched him up for 2012, might have very well saved one of the great talents in the sport.

For most serious cyclists, a 6.8-mile ride is a warm up, but for northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin riders that distance may create unbridgeable gap in a popular multiuse trail system. Four suburb communities are unable to acquire the federal “rail-to-trail” funds that would be necessary to complete part of the Skokie Valley Trail System.

This isn’t just a case of one section of trail left incomplete, rather, the gap creates a “missing link” in a greater trail system with the potential to connect Wisconsin with the Chicago area, and even beyond. The Skokie Valley Trail, which is a multi-use system for walkers, joggers, and cyclists, extends north where it meets with another trail that heads to Kenosha, Wisconsin.

To the south, organizers are hoping the trail could use land leased from the Union Pacific railroad to connect the system to Chicago. “The proposed trail would complete a vital north-south gap in the regional trail network,” Barb Cornew, north suburban coordinator told BikeRadar. “Currently people who bike have access to the North Channel Trail and the Green Bay Trail running north to south, however these two trails are not connected.”

At present the missing gap spans 6.8 miles through Skokie Valley in Cook County. It’s this area that has the potential to connect the villages of Northbrook, Glencoe, Northfield, Wilmette, and Glenview, which have a combined population of more than 125,000.  This would also link to the existing Skokie Valley Trail in Lake County, and could provide a new 28-mile transportation opportunity connecting Waukegan to the city of Chicago. “The Skokie Valley Trail would be a multi-use facility,” added Cornew. “Whether using the trail for exercise or transportation, the trail would create a safe space for residents and visitors alike.”

Word came in November that a federal grant request for US$6.8 million was denied, and local community leaders can’t cover the costs. Transportation enhancements, which are the largest funding sources for bicycle trails in the United States, were also eliminated from the transportation-funding bill currently running through the House of Representatives. The result is that the nearly 7-mile “hole” in the system. “I think the thing that really stands out that anybody can identify with and is close to connecting to the massive system to the south,” Eric Oberg, the manager of trail development for Rails-to-Trails Conservancy told BikeRadar. This is supremely disappointing, he added, because of the potential this short span offers the greater system. “We think this could create a huge uncut trail system for bicycle tourism or for weekend bike trips.”

The gap in the trail system may deter some bike commuters and recreational riders

Oberg notes that those who take such bicycle tourism trips could likely be turned off by the gap, but also says that the real losers are the causal riders who might not feel comfortable on city streets. “It is only six miles but it is connecting a hundred miles, and this has a great potential as a commuter route from the Northern suburbs to the city,” Oberg said. “It might not mean much to very confident riders who will have no problem taking city streets and connecting to the next trail, but this system is really mean for the people who aren’t as confident on the streets.”

Local riders have long touted the main benefit of the Skokie Trail to be its straight shot to the city, whereas other local trails wind and take riders out of the way. While that might be a pleasant way to spend a weekend, for those commuters the straight shot would have been a real benefit, and now commuters will have to hit the streets instead.

The question now is whether this gap will detour those casual commuters thinking about biking. “It could have been a way to convince people that they could use bikes,” said Oberg, who still hopes that eventually the system can be completed. “It is a small gap to fill in one heck of a system.”

Genesis Bikes were showing off their 2012 range at this week's iceBike* show, hosted by UK distributors Madison, but given that we'd already been given a sneak peek at those bikes back in the summer, what caught our eye were seven new prototypes.

Covering the full gamut of road, mountain and cyclo-cross, these bikes were all resplendent in the black, blue and orange of the new 'Guild' development programme. This is Genesis's equivalent of Orange's Strange project or SRAM's BlackBox, the idea being, why not promote the fact you're working on new ideas, rather than shrouding the process in secrecy – in this case with a distinctive paintjob and matching riding kit.

On the road side, they were showing a very tasty looking titanium version of the Equlibrium. The prototype uses the same geometry as the steel bike but is manufactured from proprietary 3Al\2.5v tubing.

Described as a "hard riding sportive bike for more aggressive riders" it's been designed to have a very stiff front end courtesy of an XX44 head tube and fat down tube. Out back, shaped and ovalised stays add vertical compliance for comfort. The frameset, which includes a headset and a tapered-steerer carbon fork with mudguard eyelets, is expected to cost around £1,500, with a complete bike equipped with Shimano 105 likely to cost £2,200.

If your budget won't stretch that far, the Volant may be more up your street. This entry-level alloy road bike is a replacement for the Aether. It's been designed from scratch by new Genesis designer Dom Thomas, who's deliberately avoided using hydroformed tubes in order to achieve a clean, simple look.

The top and down tubes are triple butted to save weight, the XX44 head tube allows you to run a straight- or tapered-steerer fork, and geometry is more race- than sportive-orientated. Three models will be available, all with a carbon fork. Prices are likely to be around £650 with Shimano 2300, £800 with Sora and £1,000 with 10-speed Tiagra.

Bridging the gap between the road and mountain prototypes is the Fugio. This 'cross racer combines a frame made from Reynolds 853 chromoly with a tapered fork made by US carbon specialists Whisky Parts Co. A frame, fork and headset package will be available for £800, with a complete bike equipped with Shimano 105 for £1,700.

All four of the mountain prototypes are 29ers. The High Latitude is a 29er version of the Latitude trail hardtail and comes in three variants – one geared, one designed to be run singlespeed and one based around a Shimano Alfine geared hub. A prototype frame made from Reynolds 853 and with a 1-1/8in head tube was on display at iceBike but Dom told BikeRadar that initial production bikes and frames will all be Reynolds 520, with an XX44 head tube.

The High Latitude is based around an 80-100mm fork and has a 69.5° head angle. The frame will cost £300, with either horizontal or vertical dropouts, with complete bike prices ranging from £1,000 to £1,700. Availability is slated for the summer.

Finally, there's also a prototype entry-level 29er, the Mantle. This is made from 6069 alloy, with triple-butted main tubes and a bent seat tube for improved wheel/tyre clearance – Genesis say there's room for up to a 2.35in. It's designed to be used with an 80 or 100mm fork; with the latter it has a 68.5° head angle.

An XX44 head tube up front allows use of a tapered-steerer fork for improved steering precision. Three models will be available, ranging from the £750 Mantle 10 to the £1,300 Mantle 30, with Shimano SLX kit and a RockShox Recon Gold fork.

If you can't wait that long, the new Fortitude range of 29ers, which we checked out earlier this year at The London Bike Show, should be hitting shops within weeks. The bikes were designed around a rigid fork, because Dom reckoned it was important to get the basics right without having to worry about suspension.

Genesis's first foray into big wheels is available as a singlespeed (£850), with an Alfine hub and rack mounts (£1,500), or a 1x10 drivetrain (£1,250). Apparently, all the contact points (grips, saddle) are in the same position as on a 26in-wheeled mountain bike.

Other bikes that caught our eye were the Day One Disc 'cross bike (£800, available from April), which we first saw back in the summer, and the CDF, a lower priced (£900) version of the popular Croix de Fer, designed to come in below the UK's £1,000 Cycle to Work tax incentive threshold.

This uses Reynolds 525 tubing instead of 725 and Shimano Sora not Tiagra but shares the same proven geometry, mechanical disc brakes and classic good looks. It's due to hit shops by the end of the month.

More pictures to follow...

Message by Alastair Hamilton
It’s not all World Tour teams, Tour and Classic winners and International Professionals here at the PEZ Spanish HQ. The guys at Rapha Condor-Sharp might not be riding the Tour or the Giro this year, but the team is organized like they are and the riders attitude is just like any Continental Pro. A day with Rapha Condor-Sharp in Benidorm!

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“If you were Belgian, you would have already been in the Pro Tour for three years…” That was the harsh verdict the Lotto team laid down on New Zealand’s Clinton Avery, explaining why, despite his five years of European results, and a very successful stagiaire period with Radio Shack, he could not get a pro contract. The new Champion System Pro Cycling Team, which snatched him up for 2012, might have very well saved one of the great talents in the sport.

This article was originally published on Cyclingnews.com.

Having initially promised that the road races at the London 2012 Olympics would be one of the few events that the general public would be able to watch free of charge and without tickets, the organisers have announced plans to charge fans who want to watch on the key vantage point of Box Hill, provoking widespread criticism.

Anyone now wanting to watch on Box Hill, which the riders will race past numerous times, will need a ticket. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) have stated that the decision has been made in order to protect the stretch of land, which is a designated area of outstanding natural beauty, from overcrowding. But Baroness Doocey, who is the Chair of the Olympic Committee at the London Assembly, told British radio station LBC 97.3 that she would be questioning LOCOG and the government about it.

"I'm very unhappy about it,” she said. “We were promised cycling was going to be free - and I think for them to go back on that promise now is totally wrong. I'm going to ask them to seriously reconsider that decision. I think it’s completely and utterly wrong.

"They are saying they need to restrict access, but there are many ways to do that. They don't need to charge people for it. I can't think of any reason that would justify charging for something that was promised to the public as: ‘Don't worry, if you haven't got a ticket there are lots of events you can see free like the marathon and cycling’. You can't then go back and say ‘well actually, some of it is free and some you'll have to pay for’.”

Concluding BikeRadar's round-up of the 2012 Fisher Expo is a 'best of the rest' look at some of our highlights from the St Albans show, including DZR's SPD-compatible trainers, downhill helmets from Bluegrass and Troy Lee and a state-of-the-art virtual reality trainer from Tacx.

DZR

San Francisco-based DZR specialise in casual shoes that are equally at home when used as a trail or urban cycling shoe. With soles stiff enough to make them effective when pedalling hard, all models shown in the gallery feature their Variable Flex Shank nylon midsole, which aims to strike a balance between power transfer when pedalling and flexibility for walking. Each also contains a rubber insert on the sole that can be removed to reveal an SPD/Time/Crank Brothers/Frogs compatible cleat, while commuting credentials are boosted by a reflective badges. View the gallery for pricing info.

Bluegrass

Formed last year as a "gravity" offshoot of Italian helmet firm MET, Bluegrass' range expansion continues apace in 2012. On the full face front, the Intox (£84.99) is brand new this season, weighing a claimed 950g (medium) and, as ever with their helmets, catching the eye. It's available in the "Babe Orange/Cyan" below, plus yellow, red and black graphic options. Sizes range from 52-54, 54-56, 56-58 and 58-60cm.

Bluegrass Intox

The Explicit (£109.99/900g - medium) gets graphic updates for 2012, now available in green, orange, white and black. It has a fibre glass shell and full removable and washable internal padding. The range topping Brave (£134.99/900g - medium size) comes with orange, blue, green and Megavalanche graphic options.

Troy Lee Designs

Sticking with downhill lids, here are some more options in TLD's new D3 Carbon range following our look at the Pinstripe Blue version last year. The Zap CF Orange and Zap CF Yellow versions, like that one, costs £425.99/$450.

Zap CF Yellow

Tacx

We may be heading into the time of year where you can do it for real, but for a few months anyway, the Tacx Genius Multiplayer T2000 (£1,349.99) virtual reality turbo trainer allows you to ride up and down your favourite Alpine slopes and Northern Classic routes without leaving your front door.

It's their flagship model, and asides from the obvious visual aids such as the computer game-like virtual reality world and actual videos of European routes, it offers a more realistic riding experience than a standard trainer can offer. This includes BlackTrack, a turntable for the front wheel connected wirelessly to your PC which allows you to steer in the virtual reality setting. More ingenious is the motor brake, which simulates gradients between +/-20 percent, so whether it's brutal inclines or swooping descents, the rear wheel is driven by the brake to make it feel like the real thing.

The trainer works with ANT+ technology, so you can use your own power, heart rate and cadence meters, and needs to be plugged into the mains to be used. It comes complete with cadence sensor, heart rate belt, training films, software, trainer tyre, mat, bag and sweat cover - all you need is a computer. And if you're connected to the web, you can compete against others in races. Check our video below from last summer's Eurobike trade show for a closer look.

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Airace

Taiwanese pump firm Airace were showing off several new products. First up is the Turbo CO2 Mini Pump, which comes in mountain and road versions. Both allow manual hand pumping, but also come with a C02 canister for rapid inflation. 

Turbo Road CO2 Mini Pump

The mountain pump (£29.99) comes in black and titanium options, is compatible with Schrader and Presta valves, and inflates to a maxiumum 80 psi (5.5 bar). The road pump (£29.99) is lighter, comes in white and titanium, compatible with Presta and Dunlop valves and inflates to 120 psi (8 bar).

A little more heavy duty is the Speed F2 G frame and floor pump (£32.99) a hand pump with retractable hose that turns it into a mini floor pump. It inflates to a maximum pressure of 140 psi (10 bar), has an alloy barrel and works with Presta, Schrader or Dunlop valves. 

Carrera Sport

A number of design features are present on all Carrera Sport's sunglasses we saw at the Fisher Expo, with just the lens changing the price. These include a novel nose piece which can be adjusted not only on a horizontal plane but a vertical one too. All lenses are interchangeable and come in a variety of shapes to suit your style. There's also the option of adding an optical adaptor inside for those who need optical correction but can't wear contact lenses. The ear pieces are very pliable, allowing you to mould them to get the perfect fit.

This C-TF02 Photo model costs £159.99 and comes with a single pair of photochromic lenses

The new Zegho sunglasses from Assos caused quite a stir in the BikeRadar office when they arrived in late January, with their huge bug-eyed Carl Zeiss lenses, radical design and astronomical pricetag.

Continuing our new unboxing series, Cycling Plus Editor Rob Spedding gets up close and personal with the shades. From the flash outer box, the luxurious, plush white leather casing and the out-there shapes of the Zeghos themselves, there's no doubt they're aimed at the aspirational road cyclist looking to stand out from a humdrum crowd.

The Zegho range (pronounced 'Zay-go') is available now, via Yellow in the UK. Prices start at £299.99 ($399) for the Amplify model, rising to £309.99 ($429) for the Werksmannschaft and £319.99 (US$469) for the Noire. All models are hand made in Italy, one-size-fits-all and offer 100 percent UV protection and water repellence. For more details, check out Assos.com.

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Message by Alastair Hamilton
It’s not all WorldTour teams, Tour and Classic winners and International Professionals here at the PEZ Spanish HQ. The guys at Rapha Condor-Sharp might not be riding the Tour de France or the Giro d’Italia this year, but the team is organised like they are and the riders attitude is just like any Continental Pro. A day with Rapha Condor-Sharp in Benidorm!

Message by Matt Conn
Late last year, PEZ visited the home of Fondriest bicycles in the Veneto region of Italy, to talk bike manufacturing, team sponsorship and most importantly find out all about the racing career, of 1988 World Road Champion, Maurizio Fondriest.

Fans of Sky Sports' football show Soccer AM will know its former presenter Tim Lovejoy is a mad keen sports fan. With his devotion to football and his beloved Chelsea FC, sport is a key part of his life.

By his own admission though, cycling has never been on his radar. At all. So when World Champion and Right to Play ambassador Mark Cavendish appeared on his BBC show Something for the Weekend and goaded him into taking part in the sports development charity's annual 300-mile ride from Liege to London, the cyclephobic Lovejoy skeptically agreed.

With the time ticking on to the 30 June tour, we caught up with him at Sigma Sport's store in Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey as he made his tentative first steps in his quest to get in shape for the epic event. This is the first in a multi-part series, so stay tuned for more in the coming weeks.

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To get involved with the Liege-London ride, go to www.righttoplay.org.uk/cycle

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Training and performance are often referenced as points on a continuum. Each day you begin your training at a certain level of freshness and fitness intent on achieving the most bang for your training buck. But are you shooting fish in a barrel or shooting yourself in the foot?

The opening day of the Fisher Expo, the annual trade show hosted by UK distributor Fisher Outdoor Leisure, gave us a first look at an all-new new bike brand - Eastway.

Designed in-house by the St Albans-based distributor, the name derives from the cycle track that now lies under the vast London Olympic Park. The bikes are aimed at all types of cyclist, whether you're a road or 'cross racer,  commuter or city rider. The brand will be launched officially later this summer, with bikes available to buy from June or July. For now, here are a couple of models that caught our eye.

Eastway RD 1.0 D

The D in the RD 1.0 stands for disc brake, a sight rarer than hen's teeth on a carbon road bike (the Volagi Liscio is another example). The Avid BB7 Road Mechanical brakes are complemented by a respectable mix of SRAM Force and Rival as the front and rear derailleur, with Eastway's own components making up the cockpit. 

Rear brake cabling is external on the over side of the top tube which might not please everyone, though all derailleur cabling is internal. It'll retail for £1,950 all up when it's made available to the public in late June/July.

Eastway CX 1.0

Disc brakes are much more common on cyclo-cross bikes, such as this carbon CX 1.0. Like the RD 1.0D, it has Avid's BB7 road model, and looks much like its road brethren. Clearances are obviously much larger to fit the chunky Schwalbe Rocket Ron Evo tyres, with a much smaller big ring to suit 'cross terrain. Again all cockpit components are Eastway's own alloy parts, while the groupset is entirely SRAM's third tier Rival. It'll retail a shade over the road bike price for £2,000.

Check back to BikeRadar tomorrow for much more from the show.

Message by Edmond Hood
The Olympic road race, Seoul – the year is 1988 and it’s the first big East/West Olympic showdown since the Montreal Games 12 years before. East German Olaf Ludwig restored Eastern honour in Seoul, with West Germans Bernd Grone and Christian Henn taking the other two medals; legendary Soviet sprinter Djamolidine Abdoujaparov took fifth. But in fourth place was an ex-skier who’d only been riding a bike for four years, who says he couldn’t ride GC, couldn’t time trial and in his own words, was ‘built like a wrestler’ – Bob Mionske.

Hosts Great Britain topped the medal table in the fourth round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup, which was staged in the Olympic velodrome in London between Thursday and Sunday.

The Brits won five gold medals of the 14 that were on offer, also picking up a silver and two bronzes to take their total to eight. Close rivals Australia finished second with seven medals: two golds, three silvers and one bronze, while Germany won two golds, two silvers and a bronze to finish third on the table with five medals.

Sprinter Sir Chris Hoy was the standout performer for Team GB, winning both the individual sprint and keirin, as well as teaming up with Ross Edgar and Jason Kenny to take bronze in the team sprint. Although Hoy won his events well, he gave the strong impression that there was more to come before the Olympics.

Sir Chris Hoy looking ominous ... and is that an Alpina Carbon Sprint track bar?

In Britain's womens' sprinting stakes, Victoria Pendleton succeeded where Hoy failed, pairing with Jess Varnish to win the women's team sprint against Australia in a world record time of 32.754. Pendleton, however, was unable to back up in her individual events, finishing fourth in the individual sprint and fifth in the keirin. A similar fate befell her Australian rival Anna Meares, who ended with a silver in the team and individual sprints and sixth place in the keirin. Both riders struggled to back up for every race, a likely sign of a heavy training programme.

In the endurance events, Team GB came away with a mixed bag of medals. Their biggest disappointment was not beating Australia in the final of the men's 4000m team pursuit on Sunday. The clash was dubbed The Ashes of the Track World Cup, mimicking the rivalry between the two countries in cricket.

Australia fly to victory in the men's 4000m team pursuit

Australia drew first blood on Thursday, with their team of Jack Bobridge, Rohan Dennis, Alexander Edmondson and Michael Hepburn qualifying fastest in 3:57.885. Team GB's Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Peter Kennaugh and Geraint Thomas were half a second slower in 3:58.446, setting things up for a close final on Sunday.

In the final the hosts had the upper hand at the 1000m mark, clocking 1:02.586 to Australia's 1:02.625, but then the tables gradually turned. Australia, spearheaded by the impressive Jack Bobridge, rode the second kilometre in 56.462 seconds to take the lead by 0.7sec. From then on they increased their advantage to finish in 3:54.615 (the second fastest time ever) to GB's 3:56.330. Both teams will improve before the Olympics and the race is on for the first team to go sub-3:50.

The British women's 3000m team pursuit squad fared better than the men, with Jo Rowsell (who also won gold in the individual pursuit), Dani King and Laura Trott defeating Canada in the gold medal final. The Brits clocked 3:18.148, setting another world record in this relatively new discipline in women's track racing.

In the omniums, which comprise six different endurance and sprint events raced over the course of two days, the take home message is that there isn't a clear favourite for the Olympics. Colombia's Juan Esteban Arango won the men's omnium, thanks largely to his consistency on his own against the clock: he won the individual pursuit and placed second in the flying lap, points race and kilo time trial. He managed fifth in the elimination and ninth in the scratch race to finish a clear winner overall ahead of Ho Sung Cho (Hong Kong) and Zach Bell (Canada). Home crowd hopes were with Ben Swift, who raised the roof when he won the scratch race and finished third in the elimination, but clearly lacked the speed required for the flying lap and kilo and ended sixth overall.

Sarah Hammer (USA) won the women's omnium

The women's omnium saw USA take its only gold medal of the meet with Sarah Hammer triumphing overall. Hammer didn't manage to win any of the events but was the most consistent performer - marginally more so than Australian Annette Edmondson, who finished with the same number of points as Hammer. Third went to Britain's Laura Trott, who won both the 500m time trial and the elimination race, finished second in the individual pursuit and flying lap but had a poor ride in the points race and finished 17th. That cost her the top spot overall but should give her encouragement for the Olympics.

The London meet concluded the fourth round of this season's Track Cycling World Cup. The next stop is the World Championships in Australia between 4-8 April, where it's expected that Australia will claw back some of the gold medals they lost to GB and other nations in London. But all nations have their eyes on the big prize, the track cycling at the London Olympics from 2-7 August. The pressure to perform there is the highest, not just for personal glory and national pride, but also for determining funding for the future, such is the value of Olympic gold medals compared to everything else.

Did you go to the Track World Cup in London? What did you think? Please let us know in the comments section below.

On a grey Saturday morning in Greenwich, London this weekend, nine hopeful riders set out on the World Cycle Racing Grand Tour, hoping to break the Guinness World Record for circumnavigation of the globe by bike.

This 'mass' start at the home of the meridian marked the event as something greater than yet one more rider throwing everything he or she has at the record, making it instead the first ever round the world bicycle race.

Greenwich park was buzzing, as a decent crowd of spectators gathered to see the departure of the riders, clustered at the starting line for 9am on a date specifically selected such that the winning rider would be returning around the start of the Olympics. The riders competing in this rider-organised event, are Mike Hall, Jason Woodhouse, Sean Conway, Simon Hutchinson, Stephen Philips, Martin Walker, Kyle Hewitt, Stuart Lansdale, Richard Dunnett. A 10th rider, Paul Ashely-Unett is himself attempting a record breaking ride, starting instead on February 15th from the Isle of Man.

And they're off in the World Cycle Racing Grand Tour!

Seeing nine cyclists together, all hoping to break a round the world record, showed just how diverse and personal each approach to the task at hand is. Some, such as Mike Hall and Sean Conway are riding super light, with minimal equipment, relying instead on their fitness and speed to get them through, while others, like Kyle Hewitt, Stuart Lansdale and Stephen Philips have gone for a more traditional approach, carrying much more in the way of supplies, but hoping that this means fewer stops. The one thing every rider shared, though, was an air of trepidation and pre-race anxiety, not helped by last minute hitches such as having left a passport in the library photocopier the night before, in the case of one rider, and all manner of accommodation problems and mechanical issues for more than one.

All ten riders are carrying SPOT satellite trackers which, in addition to being a safety measure, means that live race coverage is available on the website created for the event www.worldcycleracing.com. Currently, Sean Conway seems to have covered the most ground, but it’s virtually impossible to have an accurate idea of who is “winning” given the various different routes involved. Some are starting travelling east while others have headed west. Guinness only stipulate that 18,000 miles must be travelled and two antipodal points passed.

Sean is also the only rider to be aiming to visit six of the seven continents, making his route more complex than most. With three months or so of riding ahead of all of them, even if they are to break the current record of 106 days, it’s a tough call to say who will make it back to Greenwich first.

Message by Alastair Hamilton
There was so much racing at the week-end that I’ve had to leave a couple bits out of EuroTrash Monday, but don’t worry we have the usual results and video’s for your information and enjoyment. ”Top Story” is about drugs (again), this time footballers and confirmation of something we’ve suspected for a while. OK, lots to see and read, you’re going to need a large coffee today!

Message by Gordan Cameron
Those of you who spend too much time at work (cough, of course I mean personal leisure time) browsing through the results lists of women’s road races might just have noticed a familiar name cropping up towards the tail end of last season. After time out to assume a dominant position in the world of endurance cross-country mountain-biking (XCM), Finland’s Pia Sundstedt is back on the road … with a vengeance and an eye on next summer’s London Olympics.