Cyclist Magazine – Issue 166

Cyclist is a celebration of the lifestyle, the gear, the history and the people that make cycling great.

Cyclist is the multi-award winning magazine that is as passionate about road cycling as you are. We use the best writers and photographers to bring you incredible rides from around the world, the most beautiful bikes and kit, and behind-the-scenes insights from the pro world. We’d love you to join us on our adventure.

In the September 2025 issue: The Alto de l'Angliru; Lachlan Morton; Mallorca 312; UK's best climb

The high mountains are the centrepiece of any Grand Tour, singular tests of body, mind and machine that beyond just deciding races can make or break entire careers. Just yesterday we witnessed another epic battle on Mont Ventoux between Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, watching as the two greatest riders of their generation added another chapter to their seemingly endless battle for Tour de France supremacy.

But for outright brutality, surely few climbs can match Spain’s Alto de l’Angliru. It’s 10.1% average gradient over just upwards of 12.5km is hard enough, but the real savagery comes in the sustained ramps of more than 20% in the second half of the climb that turn every pedal stroke into a battle just to stay on the bike.

With the Angliru set to make its 10th appearance in the Vuelta a España in early September, we decided to pay it a visit for our Big Ride in the September 2025 issue of Cyclist magazine, which goes on sale today. As the literal high point of the issue, it’s not one to be missed.

Also not to be missed is our catch-up with Marion Rousse, race director of the Tour de France Femmes. With the fourth running of the biggest race in women’s cycling set to get underway in Vannes on Saturday, she shares some of the challenges she has faced in establishing the race as more than just ‘the women’s Tour de France’, revisits some of the incredible highpoints from the first three editions and speaks candidly about her ambitious plans for the future.

With the men’s Tour reaching its climax this weekend and the women’s about to begin, the latest in our Classic Climbs series really couldn’t be anywhere other than France. We tackle the uniquely spectacular Les Lacets de Montvernier, which may not rise as high as its better-known Alpine neighbours but makes up for it by packing an incredible 18 tightly wound hairpins into just 3.8km… then we keep riding to throw in another climb, the Col du Chaussy for good measure.

And we're still not done with the climbing. In the first of a new series covering the best climbs here in the UK, it's off to Wales to tick off a few more hairpins in our ascent to Stwlan Dam in Wales.

The theme of suffering continues elsewhere in the magazine too with our first-hand account of riding the Mallorca 312 sportive, where we joined 8,499 other hardy souls to take on one of the longest and most gruelling events in cycling.

Switching gears, the second in our series of Dream Bikes features focusses on Bastion’s trailblazing Icon, a one-of-a-kind custom-made masterpiece that is still as cutting edge today as it was when it came onto the scene back in 2015.

Also in the September 2025 issue, we join record-breaking ultra-endurance rider Lachlan Morton and presenter Matt Stephens for a ride and a chat, take a closer look at British titanium bike builder J.Laverack’s new 3D printed AM64 range, and test out new bikes from Wilier, Cannondale and Mason.

Language: English