Callum Devereux

"We offer what the internet can’t. But it’s not enough": Popular bike shop closing after 45 years, "can no longer compete" with online retailers York Cycleworks first opened in 1980 but will close at the end of the month.

"We offer what the internet can’t. But it’s not enough"

A popular York bike shop is closing after 45 years, saying "we can no longer compete with what is on offer from the internet."

🚨 New working paper alert 🚨
Missing summer — and the Tour de France? Don’t worry, we got you covered. 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️
In this paper, we show that being on the route of Tour de France reduces far-right voting. osf.io/preprints/so...

NEW: Hollowed out and holding riders back.
On the eve of Geraint Thomas’ last race, I’ve done a deep dive on how the British Continental tier of cycling boomed and went bust during his career. open.substack.com/pub/callumde...

Red-eyed Geraint Thomas rides past, his son sitting on his handlebars

My mum got the best photo…

Good morning from the Tour of Britain! A wet rollout from Newport means a damp train to Cardiff is in order…

Thanks Katy!

@nedboulting.bsky.social @writebikerepeat.bsky.social @jonnylong.bsky.social

Hollowed out and holding riders back The boom and bust of British Continental cycling

This essay is adapted from my Major project and dissertation from my Master’s Degree and any support would be greatly appreciated :) open.substack.com/pub/callumde...

I also spoke to Geraint Thomas’ former coach, Ineos reporter-extraordinaire Jonny Long, and freelance machine Katy Madgwick. Together they see a changed landscape that didn’t fully utilise the 2010s successes to make the sport accessible, whilst talented riders are now forced to develop abroad.

Ned Boulting has covered cycling since 2003, he spoke about the systemic obstacles and ‘deeply foreign’ culture of cycling that never laid roots in the UK.

Red Walters spoke to me about his time on two British continental teams before and after the pandemic. Unpaid, he experienced first hand how the money and opportunities seemed to dry up.

Thomas was part of British Cycling’s first academy cohort in 2004, he’s the last gold medal winner from London 2012, his retirement is the end of an era that saw the British scene explode into life and then cave in on itself.

NEW: Hollowed out and holding riders back.
On the eve of Geraint Thomas’ last race, I’ve done a deep dive on how the British Continental tier of cycling boomed and went bust during his career. open.substack.com/pub/callumde...

Good morning from the Tour of Britain! Today’s tip: attack early! The steepest gradients are before the final right hand bend with 150m to the line. Riders will cross the line three times though so should time their efforts well. Head says an Evenepoel/Onley battle, the heart yearns for Alaphilippe…

I’m pretty sure the Combination jersey stuck around because the Spanish jersey sponsors (first a steelmaker then a fertiliser) realised they’d rather near guarantee Valverde in their jersey (either on merit or someone’s behalf) than someone unknown. His aging probably contributed to its demise.

After 5 weeks out of action with concussion earlier this year, Torstein Træen is the new leader of #LaVuelta25. Here’s an extract from my 2023 @cyclingalmanack.bsky.social essay on the Norwegian. TLDR: he’s hard as nails…

Football journalism needs defending – it won’t surrender ... The term ‘match report’ is misleading, and serves no purpose in describing what football journalism does

Thanks for the responses to this.

As many have pointed out it goes beyond football and sports writing.

The capitulation to 'content' and hits is turning writing itself into a 'cost burden,' an anachronism.

observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...

“It’s done! It’s done! The story is finally complete!”

I’ve finished my master’s project on British road cycling’s boom and bust since London 2012. Very proud of my efforts, I’ll be putting together my project’s findings for a long read, maybe in time for Geraint Thomas’ homecoming…

Definitely partly related to Pogačar and Vingegaard and their superteams deterring ‘b-list’ GC riders when they could target better results at other Grand Tours. Luxury domestiques also make the time gaps wider even if they don’t insert themselves on GC as well.

Anyway, thread over! Just wanted to bemoan the slow death of one of the Tours more intriguing subplots, to me at least. And the hollowing out of the ‘second tier GC rider’ at the Tour in the age of Pogačar and Vingegaard.

It also reflects that as Pogačar and co dominate, it suffocates some of the next best talent at the biggest race in the world. I’m not sure this talent disparity is good for the sport long term, shown by 2 WorldTour teams may be merging to save money and a 3rd close to collapse.

This year, Jegat, O’Connor and Martin will have to rely on a non-threatening breakaway to crack the first page. Either that or crashes, it’s a cruel sport.

This era gave me a love of following the outer edge of the top 10, riders like Meintjes and G Martin riding for themselves with almost no chance of wider recognition. Downside of superteams is those placings can be filled with luxury domestiques and the timings just balloon!

Top 10 in 2017

Top 10 in 2025 after 14 stages

I’m old enough (I.e at least 13) to remember when the Tour was decided by <1minute, the top 10 <10 minutes and the winner barely attacked. For the race to be like this with Ventoux and the Alps still to come is utterly mad!

Fond memories of last year when Rendell saw the perfect opportunity to start talking to Jacopo Guarnieri about Francesco Conconi while the race tackled a categorised climb. He bowls in his own lane and I love it!

Really enjoyed being here for the start of the #TdF2025. The highlight? Easy…

Final day of expert analysis: it’s wet! Expect the peloton to ride carefully up the cobbled Mont Cassel as the roads are unlikely to dry in these temperatures!

Today’s expert analysis: it ends up! If Pogačar and Van der Poel don’t attack on the preceding climbs, surely they’ll be tempted on this final uphill drag (photo taken with 500m to go). Still the heart yearns for Roglification… #TdF2025

Caught Pog and Rog in the same frame, along with their respective back markers Wellens and Moscon.

My expert analysis (from the other side of Hazebrouck) is that it is very windy! #Tdf2025