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Here’s what you missed at the 2021 UCI indoor cycling worlds

It was a *very* exciting few days.

Photo by: UCI
November 5, 2021
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One of the lesser-known sets of events in elite cycling is the indoor cycling. If you’ve never seen them before, you may wonder how you can still call yourself a true cycling fan.

There’s artistic cycling, which, as you can guess, is exactly that. Cyclists will ride their bikes around the floor, well, artistically. Athletes perform tricks (called exercises) for points on fixed-gear bikes in a format similar to ballet or gymnastics. The exercises are performed in front of judges in five-minute rounds by singles, pairs, four- or six-person teams.

The chainring and cog are run at or near a one-to-one ratio, but the chainring will not have fewer teeth than the rear cog. Also, the wheels must be of equal size and are closely spaced in order to make “exercises,” such as “wheelies” easier to perform.

The cockpit consists of handlebars that are similar in form to a shallow drop handlebar except it’s been turned upside down, F.U.B.A.R. style. It can spin 360 degrees, and mounted to a stem that has no horizontal extension, so it puts the stem clamp in line with the steering axis and allows for the handlebars to remain in the same relative position no matter whether the front wheel is facing forward or backward.

Neat, huh? Well good news, there’s even more events! There’s also cycle-ball, also known as “radball”, which as you can guess, was invented in Germany. It’s sort of like soccer but on bikes. Two people on each team ride a fixed gear bicycle with no brakes or freewheel. The ball is controlled by the bike and the head, except when defending the goal.

Anyway, the three day competition took place in Stuttgart, Germany this year. If you are going to host a world championship composed of such…“eclectic” events, you’d presume that your local riders must be pretty good.

Spoiler alert: they are. Germany won every single gold medal, in every single event, in both men’s and women’s division at the UCI 2021 world indoor cycling championships.