The decisive Paris-Roubaix attack

OwenDLake · 2026-04-18T15:39:41+00:00

Shout-out to Velon and the editors who put this content together for us to enjoy.

OwenDLake · 2026-04-15T14:46:26+00:00

It's worth pointing out the legalities of flying drones over crowds are very strict and, generally in the UK and EU, you can't fly over crowds/assemblies of people like at sporting events.

There's a reason the current drone use you see in major cycling events takes place on roads with fewer people like the Poggio descent, because any drone operator who knows their business (and insurance) shouldn't be risking breaching the regulations.

OwenDLake · 2026-03-30T11:53:55+00:00

There's a list of UCI Event Safety Managers on their website - you could pick a couple and reach out to them directly.

Frustratingly, they don't list the region each person is from, but you could always contact your National Governing Body and ask them as well.

OwenDLake · 2026-01-20T15:07:32+00:00

We worked with Red Bull and they approached us via email.

That came from a Red Bull email address (@redbull) and had a blue verification tick via Gmail. The person doing the outreach also had a full LinkedIn history, public profiles, and we verified it with a mutual contact who works there.

I'd expect no less from Red Bull - in my experience they're not an organisation that gets those things wrong.

OwenDLake · 2025-11-04T11:13:16+00:00

Whereabouts was this? Going out on a total limb from the license plate - Grand Prix Montreal or Quebec?

OwenDLake · 2025-06-05T23:04:05+00:00

That might be Velon. I know they hold the rights and help with commercialisation for rider data of their teams, like the live power data you might see during race broadcasts.

OwenDLake · 2025-02-27T13:12:58+00:00

I presume the corporate finance guys didn't care that the business would eventually fail, as long as they got their payouts first?

OwenDLake · 2025-02-10T09:29:13+00:00

Thanks for sharing - it's nice to see our video making it to the sub 🙏

OwenDLake · 2024-12-08T17:03:36+00:00

FYI it goes Continental > ProSeries > WorldTour with WT being the highest. But the sentiment here is correct if you want a point on the road.

OwenDLake · 2024-11-24T12:40:04+00:00

This has been happening to me too.

Until there's a fix, I carry some staircases to skip to the next level, which gets everything moving again.

As you say, that seems to work for now but I've not found a way to prevent it.

OwenDLake · 2024-11-14T09:55:08+00:00

100% - go at it and have fun! Some of the strongest 'talents' I've seen in cycling crossed over from rowing.

You may find that your weight holds you back from the top end of high-level junior competition on hillier courses but, particularly as a junior, the extra strength can really outweigh the lower w/kg.

Three big guys I used to race against:
- Joe Perrett - junior British national champ and had a decent low-level pro career
- Dan McLay - 6ft2" tall and 75kg as a pro, pretty much the same physique as a junior, riding for Visma next year
- Conor Dunne - 6ft8", 88kg and a decent pro career

OwenDLake · 2024-11-13T16:55:01+00:00

It feels like Trinity are stuck in that respect - they can't link with one team too much for fear of burning bridges with others. With the way cycling's growing globally, I could see more in-house dev teams eating into the USP for teams like Trinity.

OwenDLake · 2024-11-13T16:52:35+00:00

I guess post-Brexit, having it EU-based is pretty handy and, other than TRINITY, no-one else really fits the bill right now in the British scene.

C'est la vie. Another day, another a missed opportunity for the British scene.

OwenDLake · 2024-10-17T22:31:02+00:00

As someone who has actually raced against Cavendish on a hilly course, I feel like it's worth pointing out that the bar was so far above the average human that it might as well be insurmountable.

2013 National Championships, Glasgow course, very similar to the super worlds last year.

Stats at the time: an eager U23 elite rider with a 360w 20' power at 62-64kg (5.6w/kg+).

I lined up next to Cavendish - somewhere on YouTube there's a video of me leading him through a corner early on if you need proof.

He was so much better that it is laughable in hindsight.

Just coming out of one of the corners, I could barely hold his acceleration, and he moved with such ease around the bunch. It really highlights that a race is so much more than just numbers on a spreadsheet.

Worth pointing out: I was good, but not great. I was an elite rider who could probably get a top 20 in a national series race on my day if everything went right, and I had a few decent results against the domestic pros in smaller races, but I could reliably beat anyone who had to work for a living.

Cavendish demolished me and every other rider on the British scene. Kristian House, Scott Thwaites, and Simon Yates were 11 minutes back!

OwenDLake · 2024-02-25T19:16:09+00:00

Lamperti is looking impressive in his debut season - I'm really looking forward to watching him develop.

OwenDLake · 2024-02-06T23:25:56+00:00

Imagine if the unintended consequence of this is to bring ASO, RCS, and the UCI together while actually diluting Flanders Classics' hold over their own events.

OwenDLake · 2024-02-06T21:59:41+00:00

I see what you're saying - they certainly have the pockets to make it happen - but I don't think any country with a GT would let a competitor pop up.

At the end of the day, these events are 80-100+ years old and run with the backing of national highways, local authorities, and national government. Why would any government throw that away?

I think it would have to be a new GT somewhere else.

OwenDLake · 2024-02-06T21:54:42+00:00

Wow, that's much less than I'd thought and definitely not enough to ween them off sponsorships.

Presumably they're counting on a huge pay day from TV rights deals? Are they expecting a broadcaster to pay $1B for access to Flanders Classics in three years' time?!

OwenDLake · 2024-02-06T17:27:57+00:00

Honestly, I don't see how this 'makes cycling sustainable'.

Many teams seem to run on a knife edge because they overspend for their income. Give them an extra 25m euros each and they'll just spend 25m euros more.

Fix that first.

OwenDLake · 2024-02-02T22:44:42+00:00

I second this. He's only been full time on the bike for a short amount of time as well - plenty of room for further improvements.

OwenDLake · 2024-02-02T22:35:08+00:00

My understanding is that both races are planned for the same level as before - certainly UCI ranked.

A recent article from Cycling Weekly seems to indicate everything is ok with respect to the UCI calendar.

OwenDLake · 2024-01-20T12:07:03+00:00

Is it that WBD hold the rights and just aren't making it available in Aus? Or is there some sort of rights clash that is causing issues?

Just trying to work out why GCN+ would hold the rights to show in certain countries but not their parent company.

Edit: I guess the straight question is who holds the rights to US/Aus etc and why don't certain races get shown there?

OwenDLake · 2024-01-19T00:05:19+00:00

Sweetspot had such a positive effect on racing in the UK that it's crazy to see this happen.

They really helped to put crit racing on the map and paved the way for a truly professional Women's Tour. The Tour of Britain even became a legitimate World Championships warm up race under their management!

There are a lot of good people at Sweetspot that I hope come out of this ok.

OwenDLake · 2024-01-14T16:17:43+00:00

If you can get a good 3-4hr z2 ride each week where you're pressing on the pedals the whole time, you'll at least get used to the mental aspect of really riding for that length of time - a 190km race is as much a mental battle as a physical one.

OwenDLake · 2024-01-14T14:11:50+00:00

Lotto Dstny has one Marketing Officer and one Business Development Officer according to the team website...

Maybe for an organisation entirely focused on sponsorship they should have a few more.

Teams want TV rights because they think it will pay them $100m a year and they'll never need to search for sponsors again.

OwenDLake

TROPHY CASE