Welcome to Thursday's LiveBlog with Liam Cahill, Jack Sexty and the rest of the road.cc team.
16/01/2020, 19:16
Matching underpants optional
Spotted this morning on the Fulham Palace Road ...
16/01/2020, 17:39
Brailsford outlines Ineos' Grand Tour leadership roles
Team INEOS Team Principal Sir Dave Brailsford has been speaking ahead of the start of the 2020 season.
Listen to his thoughts on the upcoming season, the team's Grand Tour aspirations and a special message for Team INEOS fans. pic.twitter.com/JlLfZvmG0K
— Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) January 16, 2020
New signing Carapaz will head back to the Giro in an attempt to defend the Maglia Rosa that he won last year.
Bernal and Thomas will share co-leadership at the Tour in a similar plan to last year. Brailsford sounded cautious when speaking about Froome's recovery and while the 4-time winner of the world's biggest bike race will be keen to get back to challenge for a fifth title, there are some that doubt if he can get back to the same level.
16/01/2020, 17:23
Paris-Roubaix and chill
Honest Valentines Day cards from Band of Climbers are back and they've made us giggle just as much as last year.
Want to express your love to your significant other? Want to remind them that you love cycling more?
Well, now you can. Head over to Band of Climbers for more
16/01/2020, 16:59
Explore commits to carbon-neutral travel
Adventure travel company Explore, who offer package cycling holidays, has announced that it will offset the carbon generated by trips booked through them.
The changes came into effect on January 1st 2020 with the aim of reducing the travel industry's current 8% contribution to the world's carbon footprint.
Customers will see a small price increase when booking, but as Explore are keen to point out "an average trip with flights, this equates to less than £10 per person". That seems like a pretty small price to pay in our eyes.
For more, visit www.explore.co.uk
16/01/2020, 16:48
Will the super-talent conquer the cobbles?
Paris-Roubaix wildcard invitation surely a formality now for Alpecin-Fenix after team joins the MPCC group https://t.co/t5MAmr8pey
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) January 16, 2020
Mathieu Van der Poel's team, Alpecin Fenix has just been granted spots at Strade Bianche and Milan SanRemo and their move to join the MPCC could be just the thing they need to get invited to Paris-Roubaix.
We wouldn't put it past Van der Poel winning them all. What's certain is that his presence is great for the races as he's always keen for an attack.
16/01/2020, 13:07
Well, that's enforceable...
Can’t believe my mate Doug got a parking ticket for obstructing a pedestrian highway today! Local businesses in this town rely on cyclists for income and surely must discourage this kind of activity from traffic enforcement officers. pic.twitter.com/Pd5HvvH5cy
— Gary Ridgeway (@GaryRidgeway) January 15, 2020
There's so much going on here.
We just saw this over on the forum and it's a bike getting a parking ticket.
It seems to be lent up against railings at a cafe and not obstructing a public right of way at all. But this traffic warden still issued a ticket, which won't be enforceable as there's no registration plate anyway.
Can anyone give us a reason why this happened? Answers in the comments below, please.
16/01/2020, 15:56
TfL trialling AI to collect data about cycling in the capital
I'm very excited that @tfl is trialling new artificial intelligence technology to better understand how people walking & cycling are using our road network. The new AI sensors collect vital data that will help us continue to expand our cycling network. https://t.co/2V0CGLHYldpic.twitter.com/CT6tBDlLrG
— Will Norman (@willnorman) January 16, 2020
London's Cycling and Walking Commissioner Will Norman praised the UK-first trial that will see artificial intelligence technology from Vivacity Labs implemented to understand more about how cyclists and pedestrians use London's road network.
The Vivacity sensors gather data around the clock, which TfL say "provides a significantly more detailed picture of how London’s roads are being used by everyone 24/7." Video captured is processed and then discarded in a few seconds, so no personal data is ever stored.
TfL is in the process of introducing 43 more Vivacity sensors at 20 central London locations to gather data and further test to understand the full range of capabilities the technology has to offer.
16/01/2020, 13:03
Ear Miss of the Day
The offending employee has been sentenced to eight hours on the turbo wearing the road.cc dunce's cap - read the typo-free story here.
16/01/2020, 12:42
Jeroboam Gravel Series goes global in 2020
With 7 races planned for 2020 in 6 different countries, the Jeroboam series continues to expand.
In 2017, the Jeroboam Bike Festival Franciacorta was held for the first time and in 2019, Jeroboam landed in three new countries. This year it will continue to expand, including events in Central America (Costa Rica) to open the calendar and one in Asia (Japan).
The full Jeroboam schedule:
Costa Rica - 13/15 March
Greece - 8/10 May
Japan - 6/7 June
Italy Dolomites - 19/21 June
Italy Franciacorta - 18/20 September
Spain - 2/4 October
Austria - 2/4 October
Across the series, the 300, 150 and 75 km routes (matching the Jeroboam, Magnum and Standard wine bottle sizes) will be joined by a short Demi Family Ride which sounds perfect to us as it includes 'tasting stops' where you can sample local foods and drinks.
If you're interested, head to jeroboam.bike for more info.
16/01/2020, 10:04
Cycle Surgery set to cease trading this year, according to anonymous insider
After the fiasco with the appearance of a Make Evans Great Again Instagram account levelling some damning accusations against Evans' senior management last week, today road.cc has been contacted again to say another major UK bike shop chain is set to close in 2020.
A source who says they work for the chain claimed that employees were told yesterday of the closure plans. The London stores in Victoria and Waterloo have apparently already been closed; although some stores will continue to trade until May, and the online business should remain trading until June, according to our source.
They continued: "It's quite sad news but the truth is that there is no willingness to keep the company up and the market did change a lot. Companies did not follow the trends properly I guess."
We've now got a full story on this with further updates here.
16/01/2020, 09:09
Wahoo launches gravel racing team
Wahoo has launched its first gravel racing team, headed up by former World Tour pro Ian Boswell.
Boswell retired from road racing due to ongoing problems caused by a concussion and is one of the many former World Tour pros making the jump over to gravel racing.
He joins the likes of Ted King, Laurens Ten Dam and Peter Stetina who will be lining up at some of the world's biggest gravel races throughout the year.
16/01/2020, 08:24
Sitting comfortably, Chris? Wout is.
I guess when you've been away from a certain bike for so long, it's bound to feel a little weird.
Then again, Wout's been having no such problems. Both had huge, career-threatening crashes on their TT bikes last year, so it's great to see them back in the TT bars.
16/01/2020, 08:18
Spot on, or a bit harsh?
#runtervomradweg! Wer Radwege oder Radfahrstreifen mit Parkplätzen verwechselt, wird abgeschleppt. Dafür sorgt seit einigen Wochen auch die neue Radstaffel der städtischen Verkehrspolizei. pic.twitter.com/qDTmn8LUGS
— Frankfurt am Main (@Stadt_FFM) January 15, 2020
What's your take on this one?
Cars that park in bike lanes in Frankfurt are being towed or even lifted out and taken away, probably to the naughty-step-for-cars.
16/01/2020, 08:13
Retiring pro re-joins is local team for his final season
Gediminas Bagdonas, 34, has decided to join local Klaipeda Cycling Team. Multiple national champion (2 x RR, 4 x ITT) intends to end his career where he started it. The Lithuanian rode for AG2R for 7 seasons (2013-2019). https://t.co/pOfl3Xlzjd
— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) January 15, 2020
Struggling to find a contract, Bagdonas has gone back to his local team for one last year before he hangs up his race wheels for good.
That's like me going back to Somer Valley CC. Apart from I'm not a multiple National Champion...or very good...
16/01/2020, 08:10
Van der Poel - the most frustrating rider to watch?
This is frustrating for me to watch because he can coast up shit I couldn't ride no matter how hard I tried. COAST!!!! https://t.co/LPtHpd3Szp
— Rebecca Fahringer (@GoFahr) January 15, 2020
Watching this guy ride is great but it can also be incredibly frustrating.
If we tried half of this, we'd be on our backsides pretty quickly! We feel your pain, Rebecca.