Riding up Snake Pass is taxing at the best of times. The gradient is not savage, but it works away at you, exhausting you long before you reach the top. It might not be an Alpine or Pyrenean monster, but at nearly 7km it’s about as long a climb as you get in the UK. Add in the incessant traffic – this is the most direct route between Manchester and Sheffield, after all – and the surrounding beauty barely eases the pain. And yet, this is where I find myself, on a freezing day in late 2023. A lovely day out in the Peak District.
Approaching through Glossop, Derbyshire, the weather doesn’t appear too bad, but as the road starts to rise and twist, I pass through freezing mist and the rain begins to hit my face, rendering my sunglasses useless. I’m here thanks to Jake Stewart, who now rides for Israel-Premier Tech, who sent me one of his regular training routes for me to try out. This wasn’t just an opportunity to test myself against Stewart’s benchmark, but also
