Welcome to Friday's live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
13/09/2019, 19:31
Here are today's Vuelta highlights after another stage full of talking points
13/09/2019, 17:56
More from the Cycle Show… Whyte Gisburn
It’s aaaaaages since we mentioned anything about gravel on here so to put that right here’s a Whyte Gisburn we spotted yesterday at the Cycle Show. There were a lot of shades of yellow at play on the Whyte stand and one of them was this yellowy or is it green Gisburn. An eye-catching bike either way and I’m sort of surprised we haven’t test one already, it features a Sram 1x11 gearing, tubeless ready wheels, and a dropper post. Whyte say the geometry is mountain bike derived and the post helps get the most out of that when descending. You can find out more here. Oh, it’s £1999.99.
13/09/2019, 17:29
Sir Brad on the row about whether Valverde tried to take advantage of Roglic Vuelta crash
It's been kicking off on social media ... and in the peloton ... about whether Alejandro Valverde, second overall at the Vuelta, tried to take advantage of race leader Primoz Roglic getting caught up in a crash with 66km to go on today's stage into Toledo.
Our reading? Movistar had the numbers in the front group but did not go full gas, and it was Valverde who got his colleagues to knock off the pace, but only after he got an earful ... and it has to be said, a well-aimed bit of spit - from riders from rival teams.
Here is Sir Bradley Wiggins' take for Eurosport on whether Valverde was seeking to take advantage of Roglic's misfortune, plus footage of the crash and the stage results.
"You're not always aware when these things happen"@SirWiggo doesn't believe @Movistar_Team took advantage of Primoz Roglic's crash on purpose #LaVuelta19pic.twitter.com/sTBM3qm0AJ
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) September 13, 2019
13/09/2019, 16:27
First look: Hope RX gravel crankset
Our chums over at off.road.cc have got their mitts on Hope's RX gravel chainset, basically the RX chainset given the gravel treatment - you can read more about it here.
13/09/2019, 16:18
Why don't cyclists use the cycle path .. well, this doesn't help ...
Pavement parking has been in the news this week, so here is a timely video of a dad accompanying his kid on the school run, riding on a shared-use path until, rounding a bend ... they encounter a car parked on the path.
Back onto the main road it is, then ...
13/09/2019, 15:49
Advantage van der Poel as he wins penultimate Tour of Britain stage
Mathieu van der Poel of Corendon-Circus and Mitchelton-Scott's Matteo Trentin have been trading punches (in the figurative sense) at the Tour of Britain all week - and today, the advantage has swung firmly in the Dutchman's favour as he doubled his lead over the Italian to 12 seconds at Burton Dassett Country Park, where the pair finished respectively first and second.
And most years, that might be the GC all but decided - except that tomorrow, instead of a sprinter friendly circuit race in London, we have a looping parcours from Altrincham to Manchester that includes 2,000 metres of climbing.
Can Mitchelton-Scott, one of the strongest teams in the race, distance van der Poel on those climbs? Or will his Corendon-Circus team mates manage to neutralise any moves from the Australian UCI WorldTour team?
It should be a cracker.
Here's how @mathieuvdpoel got the better of nearest challenger @MATTEOTRENTIN to win stage seven of this year's @OVOEnergy Tour of Britain #OVOToBpic.twitter.com/CVkYQirrSP
— Tour of Britain (@TourofBritain) September 13, 2019
13/09/2019, 15:17
Too much orange?
Here's that Pinarello Gan we mentioned earlier. Can't help feeling that if they could have kitted it out with orange bars, saddle and stem Pinarello would. Not sure whether that would have been a good thing or not. Supppose that depends on how you feel about orange. One thing that shouldn't divide opinion is the latest version of Shimano 105 that this bike comes spec'd with a most excellent groupset you can read our review here and of those 105 7020 disc brakes and levers here - been riding those myself recently, very impressive.
13/09/2019, 15:10
13/09/2019, 15:08
Drama at Vuelta as Roglic caught up in crash
It's another dramatic day at the Vuelta as race leader Primoz Roglic got caught up in a crash in the rain that appears to have ended his Jumbo-Visma team-mate Tony Martin's race.
With 60 kilometres left of the stage from Avila to Toledo, a group including most of the Movistar team - and crucially, second placed overall Alejandro Valverde - was a minute up the road and the world champion was within two minutes of race leader.
With 53km left now though and groups all over the road, Valverde seems to have told his team-mates to knock off the pace ... we'll keep an eye on this one ...
Drama at #LaVuelta19 as race leader Primoz Roglic hits the deck in a pile-up crash during a wet Stage 19
See how Roglic recovers from the crash LIVE on Eurosport:
Eurosport 1
Eurosport Player https://t.co/bt3TbPVNQGpic.twitter.com/mkTp8si0l2— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) September 13, 2019
13/09/2019, 14:39
City shoes…
Keeping with the footwear theme, this new line of shoes that Fizik were showing also caught our eye. Ostensibly they fall in to the off-road category, but the Fizik person we spoke to at the show said they were very much intended for any sort of cyclist who might want a shoe that didn't look like a cycling shoe – and they particularly had urban cyclists, commuters in mind too. As you'd expect in an off-road shoe they take two bolt spd pedals, and the cleat looks like it should be well recessed so walking about in them shouldn't be a problem. They also feature Vibram soles and you'd expect them to be robust and durable too… we'll be getting some in to find out. They're available from Monday and the SRP is £120. You can find more full fat Cycle Show goodness here - where Dave Arthur checks a host of new bikes from British brands and here where Jack Sexty check out the cool stuff on display while trying not to drool.
13/09/2019, 14:33
Disco sippers
Some more VERY shiny stuff we spotted at the Cycle Show yesterday. Hard to miss these tbh
13/09/2019, 13:54
Rwanda submits formal bids for 2025 Road World Championships
The Rwandan Cycling Federation has submitted a formal bid to host the 2025 UCI Road World Championships and if successful would become the first African country to stage the event, first held in 1921.
With the locations of the event between now and 2024 already decided, 2025 is the next available slot for bids, and Morocco is also vying to play host to the event.
The country’s leading newspaper, The New Times, reports that sports and culture minister John Ntigengwa and Aimable Bayingana, president of the local cycling federation, Ferwacy, formally submitted the bid to UCI president David Lappartient at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland, yesterday.
Since February this year, Tour du Rwanda was upgraded from a 2.2 to a 2.1 UCI category race, making it only Africa’s second race with 2.1 badge, after Gabon’s La Tropicale Amissa Bongo.
The Tour du Rwanda, founded in 2008 as an amateur event and now a UCI 2.1 race – one tier below the Tour of Britain – saw its 11th edition in March, with hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the roadsides to watch it.
13/09/2019, 13:31
Froome: People writing off my career gives motivation for fifth Tour win
Chris Froome has said that people writing off his career following his crash at June’s Criterium di Dauphiné, forcing him out of the following month’s Tour de France, will motivate him to seek a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey next year.
The 34-year-old has spent the summer recovering from his injuries and this week it was confirmed that he will ride in the late season exhibition race, the Tour de France Saitama Criterium in Japan late next month.
The Team Ineos rider told the Telegraph: I'm going to have to train harder than I've ever trained before to get back there again.
"I'm grateful to be alive. I'm grateful to be on the road to recovery, I'm grateful that I'm able to recover. Now I'm going to give it everything."
He added: “As for the Tour, a fifth Tour title was a big deal in itself. But going for a fifth title off what was potentially a career-ending crash, that would be even bigger.
"There were loads of people who came out after the crash and said 'He's done. He'll never win another Tour.' They only spur me on."
Earlier this month, Froome was back in hospital to have surgery to repair a tendon in his left hand following an accident involving a kitchen knife, but he says there is “no lasting damage.”
13/09/2019, 11:53
Meanwhile in Cambridge ...
13/09/2019, 11:41
More 'cyclists' running a red light. Oh, wait ...
... we meant 'motorists' - and 10 went through red on this phase.
Northern end of Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes's house is just down there on the right, perhaps we should get him to investigate the paradox of why many drivers assume that all cyclists ignore red lights (spoiler: most don't) while turning a blind eye to people in motor vehicles doing exactly that?
“Cyclists run red lights” pic.twitter.com/Ngy25tx5x9
— hot tub state machine (@angryaboutbikes) September 12, 2019
13/09/2019, 10:37
Some recent history on the Pinarello stand
We'll be dropping various things we saw at the Cycle Show yesterday on to the blog during the day starting with something extra special on the Pinarello stand.
There's loads of cool bikes to see on the Pinarello stand (obv) quite a lot of orange paint schemes award for the orangest going to the Gan out front. Head to the back of the stand and you'll find a special hint of yellow - a signed yellow Pinarello - we're guessing it's the actual one ridden to victory at the Tour by Egan Bernal, although it could be one of his spare yellow bikes too. We'd rather believe though….
13/09/2019, 09:19
Commuter's recording of six drivers jumping red light in London causes stir on social media
A load of cyclists jumping red lights pic.twitter.com/0RGvWIFW2S
— The Dynaslow (@TheDynaslow) September 12, 2019
In the footage, the cyclist records numerous cars turning right at a junction where the light is clearly red, which takes them through the path of a cycleway. Ironically, the light actually goes green at the end of the clip.
The uploader says: "sadly I was not able to catch all the VRNs and nor would I have time to report them all", but we're waiting to hear back if TfL are planning to take any action. The footage was captured on the westbound Cycle Superhighway 3 at the junction of Lower Thames Street and Puddle Dock.
Anyone recognise this junction and had similar experiences?
13/09/2019, 09:41
British Cycling back 'Playing Out' initiative to make streets safe and traffic free for kids to ride outside
We're working with @playingout
to restore children's freedom to play and ride in the streets and spaces where they liveJoin the movement and create a safe space on your doorstep by organising a street play session
Find out how: https://t.co/kSoMSAZVWI#PlayingOutpic.twitter.com/KOOcDJFduE
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) September 12, 2019
British Cycling are working with Playing Out and the Children’s Commissioner for England to encourage more parents to "reclaim their streets and estates and give children the chance to cycle and play out freely."
The campaign is also calling on local authorities to get behind them, and say that the frequency of children learning to ride a bike safely outside is in decline; according to a survey just commissioned by British Cycling, 92% of parents used to ride their bike on local streets as a child, but 76% said they feel it's now less safe for their child to do so because of traffic dangers.
88% said they would teach them if their local streets felt safer and 94% said they would if it was easier to get to safe places to cycle, which is where Playing Out comes in. Starting on a street in Bristol but spreading to over 950 throughout the UK, parents and residents can apply for 'play street' sessions so kids can ride bikes traffic-free. Information on whether your local council has a play street policy can be found here.