The Cycling Brief

The Cycling Brief

By SEMIPRO CYCLINGSportsNewsSports NewsHealth & FitnessFitness
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The Cycling Brief episodes

  • [SUNDAY] The plan is not the training

    The plan is not the training. This week: why a single training load score hides what your sessions actually cost you, and how to read the relationship between the work and the response instead.

    Study: van der Zwaard S, Otter RTA, Kempe M, Knobbe A, Stoter IK. Capturing the complex relationship between internal and external training load: a data-driven approach. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2023;18(6):634-642. doi:10.1123/ijspp.2022-0493.

    Watch this week’s video: He Gained 21% FTP Without Training More

    Want a coach reading the cost of your training, not just the total? See Guided.

    Daily cycling intelligence from SEMIPRO CYCLING, produced with AI-assisted research, scripting, and synthetic voice.

    8 min
  • [DEBRIEF] Van der Breggen's Giro and the Not-Dauphiné Preview
    We build durable cyclists. New performance videos every week on YouTube:
    👉 https://go.semiprocycling.com/go/46v4ez

    ---

    The Saturday debrief breaks down van der Breggen's extraordinary Giro d'Italia Women lead at 36 after a 4.5-year absence, previews the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes without the big three, and celebrates Ben Oliver's fairy-tale Tour de Wallonie victory. Plus: is Evenepoel's Tour preparation pivot genius or a mistake?

    Daily cycling intelligence from SEMIPRO CYCLING, produced with AI-assisted research, scripting, and synthetic voice.

    12 min
  • [BRIEF] The Chris King Hub Problem Nobody Will Say Out Loud
    Get 20% off your first custom blend at:
    https://truenutrition.com/CYCLING

    Use code: CYCLING

    This episode is supported by True Nutrition.
    Build your own custom protein blend with the ingredients, flavour, and sweetener you want.

    ---

    Chris King hubs are beautiful, iconic, and increasingly impractical for how modern cyclists actually ride. We break down why Enve and the premium wheel industry are quietly moving away from artisanal hub maintenance — and what that means for your next wheelset purchase.

    Daily cycling intelligence from SEMIPRO CYCLING, produced with AI-assisted research, scripting, and synthetic voice.

    7 min
  • [BRIEF] Your First Metric Century Is a Logistics Problem
    Get 20% off your first custom blend at:
    https://truenutrition.com/CYCLING

    Use code: CYCLING

    This episode is supported by True Nutrition.
    Build your own custom protein blend with the ingredients, flavour, and sweetener you want.

    ---

    A viral thread about preparing for a first 100km ride reveals the cycling community's worst instinct: answering every question with a shopping list. We break down what actually matters — fuelling, pacing, and the one purchase worth making.

    Daily cycling intelligence from SEMIPRO CYCLING, produced with AI-assisted research, scripting, and synthetic voice.

    7 min
  • [BRIEF] Wolf Tooth Is Quietly Winning the Chainring War
    Get 20% off your first custom blend at:
    https://truenutrition.com/CYCLING

    Use code: CYCLING

    This episode is supported by True Nutrition.
    Build your own custom protein blend with the ingredients, flavour, and sweetener you want.

    ---

    A Reddit question about aftermarket GRX chainrings reveals a bigger story about Shimano losing control of the 1x upgrade cycle. Why availability beats engineering, and what it means for the future of gravel drivetrains.

    Daily cycling intelligence from SEMIPRO CYCLING, produced with AI-assisted research, scripting, and synthetic voice.

    7 min
  • [BRIEF] The $200 Training App Problem
    Get 20% off your first custom blend at:
    https://truenutrition.com/CYCLING

    Use code: CYCLING

    This episode is supported by True Nutrition.
    Build your own custom protein blend with the ingredients, flavour, and sweetener you want.

    ---

    TrainerRoad's subscription has hit $200 a year, and riders are asking what they're actually paying for. We break down why the single-purpose training platform era is ending, what the alternatives actually offer, and predict TrainerRoad's next pricing move.

    Daily cycling intelligence from SEMIPRO CYCLING, produced with AI-assisted research, scripting, and synthetic voice.

    8 min
  • [GT] Giro Stage 21 — Cycling History Complete
    Not sure which part of your cycling training is actually working?

    Start with the SEMIPRO Training X-Ray:
    👉 https://go.semiprocycling.com/go/9ffbdq

    ---

    Jonas Vingegaard becomes the eighth man to win all three Grand Tours after dominating the 2026 Giro d'Italia, while Jonathan Milan finally breaks through for his first stage win in Rome, denying Paul Magnier a fourth victory. We grade our predictions, analyze what Vingegaard's 5:22 winning margin means for the Tour de France, and examine how this Giro's psychological warfare changed everything.

    Every stage, we take you inside the team bus — the tactical read, the data behind the drama, and what to watch for next. This is The Cycling Debrief.

    Daily cycling intelligence from SEMIPRO CYCLING, produced with AI-assisted research, scripting, and synthetic voice.

    7 min
  • [BRIEF] The Tubeless Lie the Bike Industry Won't Admit
    Get 20% off your first custom blend at:
    https://truenutrition.com/CYCLING

    Use code: CYCLING

    This episode is supported by True Nutrition.
    Build your own custom protein blend with the ingredients, flavour, and sweetener you want.

    ---

    A viral Reddit post about four years of tubeless failures on a Giant Defy exposes the road cycling industry's standardisation problem. Why tubeless works brilliantly at the top of the market and creates genuine frustration everywhere else — and why at least one major brand will quietly walk it back.

    Daily cycling intelligence from SEMIPRO CYCLING, produced with AI-assisted research, scripting, and synthetic voice.

    7 min
  • [GT] Giro Stage 20 — Exhibition Mode Complete
    Not sure which part of your cycling training is actually working?

    Start with the SEMIPRO Training X-Ray:
    👉 https://go.semiprocycling.com/go/annpqd

    ---

    Jonas Vingegaard attacked unnecessarily with 11km to go on Stage 20, won his fifth stage of the Giro, and extended his lead to over 5 minutes with only tomorrow's ceremonial Rome stage remaining. His dominance has been so complete that rivals stopped attempting meaningful challenges weeks ago, turning the final week into a demonstration rather than competition. Derek Gee-West's surge to fifth overall provides the only late-race intrigue as the most controlled Giro victory in recent memory heads to its inevitable conclusion.

    Every stage, we take you inside the team bus — the tactical read, the data behind the drama, and what to watch for next. This is The Cycling Debrief.

    Daily cycling intelligence from SEMIPRO CYCLING, produced with AI-assisted research, scripting, and synthetic voice.

    6 min
  • [SUNDAY] What Your Morning HR Is Really Telling You
    The study you should read this week

    A 2016 meta-analysis from the CMAJ pulled together 46 prospective cohort studies — 1.2 million people, 78,000 deaths. The finding: for every 10 beats per minute higher your resting heart rate sits, your all-cause mortality risk goes up about 9 per cent. Linear from 45 bpm upward, no point where lower stops being better. Independent of blood pressure, smoking, BMI, cholesterol, diabetes, and physical activity. Resting heart rate is carrying its own signal.

    Plus what to do with this if you race, ride high volume, or train time-capped — and why the adaptations that lower your resting heart rate are the same adaptations that predict a longer, healthier life.

    Study: Zhang D, Shen X, Qi X. Resting heart rate and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the general population: a meta-analysis. CMAJ 2016;188(3):E53–E63. DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.150535

    Links:
    YouTube companion: Cyclist Over 50? Your Fitness Can't Tell You This.
    Guided is live — two coaches, weekly review, my read behind every plan: https://go.semiprocycling.com/go/btsmfg

    Daily cycling intelligence from SEMIPRO CYCLING, produced with AI-assisted research, scripting, and synthetic voice.

    9 min

About The Cycling Brief

From the publisher's feed

The cycling world moves fast. The Cycling Brief makes sense of it. Every day, in under 10 minutes, we break down the stories that matter — product launches, race results, tech shifts, industry…

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