BIKE OF THE YEAR 2020

Five riders, five bikes and a range of challenging climbs and technical descents ahead

I’ve spent the last five months testing 20 of 2020’s best new bikes over 2200 miles, riding against all the British winter can throw at me with plenty of input from the crew here at Cycling Plus. Now it’s been whittled down to a final five. So, we thought, ‘What better reward than to take the five finalists for a few days’ riding in the winter sun of Gran Canaria sampling some of Europe’s finest climbs and most thrilling descents to find our winner?’

THE FINAL LINE-UP

After a long day’s travelling with bike bags in tow, we arrive at our accommodation, assemble the fab five and hit the hay, ready for an early start and our first day beneath the island sun: five riders, five bikes and a range of challenging climbs and technical descents ahead. For the next three full days of riding we’ll exchange opinions while chasing each other up and down hills and mountain passes and all in the name of ‘work’!

First up, technical writer Robin Wilmott will ride Giant’s sublime Defy Advanced Pro 2; the Defy was a finalist last year. For 2020 Giant’s improved the specification and kept the price. What more could you ask for? Robin’s a racer through and through with three decades of cyclocross competition under his belt, not to mention time trials, MTB events and road races. I’ve been pushing that the Defy is a master of all trades – even though it’s an endurance bike – and I want to prove to Robin that it’s equally as fast up and down as it is on the flats.

Next up is Ade. He’s part of our commercial team, and regular readers will have seen him as part of Team Alpecin in the pages of . Ade is your classic sportive rider. He’s never raced but has conquered some of Europe’s classic events and many of the toughest ascents in the Alps and Pyrenees. That’s why I directed Ade to the aero weaponry that is