Viendo el entrenamiento en directo de @albertocontador. pic.twitter.com/A004AF2Hk8
— Iñigo Zubeldia (@Inigo_Zubeldia) March 15, 2020
The former Tour de France champ is live streaming his indoor sessions for some inspiration to those training in quarantine - follow him on Insta here for wise training tips and bike porn.
Like gravel bikes and tailgating? This collaboration between 3T and BMW could be just the bike for you - bringing "sheer cycling pleasure to BMW customers" according to 3T, it's modelled on their popular Exploro and has been given two colourways in its BMW-branded guise - grey/grey and grey/blue. They're priced at 5,499 euros each, and are available from 3T's website now.
Check out our review of the 3T Exploro Pro GRX 2020 (not BMW-afied) here and check out the launch vid below.
Quarantine day 6. pic.twitter.com/er652Oy3Ki
— jamie (@gnuman1979) March 16, 2020
Maybe there are some positives to take out of all this after all... now just to get the drivers of those cars on bikes!
In our second instalment of 'road.cc after hours', we bring you news of a steamy new way to upcycle your inner tubes... turn them into 'sexy leg harnesses' with adjustable buckles, of course.
Laura Zabo boldly say of their creation: "Laura Zabo is for the metropolitan warrior who wants to stand out and care for the environment.
"Wear them with a short, minidress or skirt and take your outfit from basic to edgy in a flash."
Fancy a pair, you can buy them here for £39.
It's pre-watershed yes, but we're bringing you the first of two risque stories a little early this evening... and it's a win for bike shops in the Netherlands amid the coronavirus outbreaks, but not such good news for the many sex shops that frequent the capital city of Amsterdam.
Forbes report that sex clubs, cannabis cafes, saunas, and some shops were closed as of 6pm yesterday, but as bike shops are an essential service in the "bicycle kingdom" of the Netherlands, they are not affected as is the case in Italy and Spain.
20 people have died from COVID-19 in the Netherlands so far according to the Dutch public health institute RIVM, with well over 1,000 cases reported.
Always wondered what life is like for those who have no interest in sport. Beginning to get an inkling....It’s crap. 😴
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) March 15, 2020
Even if Mr Lineker isn't talking about Strade Bianche or Paris-Roubaix, we'd have to concur!
There's so much going on here... firstly - if you didn't already know - ex-pro cyclist Danilo Di Luca, who was caught three times for doping, has a range of cycle shoes. What's so special about that, you might be thinking? Well, they're rather premium kicks and he uses the tactless name DL Killer for his brand.
Anyway, the shoes. There's the KS2, which will set you back *just* £395 and if that's simply too cheap, the Vito, in the faux-python finish, will cost you a whopping £520. Full story here, or you can splash out at dlkiller.cc
People seem to be split on whether it's right that bans on cycling have been enforced on cycling in Spain and Italy: "You cannot bike nor run, but you can go to the shopping mall, where's the logic?", asks Adam Ossowski who is stuck in Mallorca.
Or perhaps as Alistair How suggests, it's all a Zwift-spiracy...
Pothole Watch is calling for a ‘fix it first’ policy that would bring roads up to "acceptable standards" according to Cycling UK, who note that only one in ten councils are meeting their own target times to fix potholes.
Their Campaigns Manager Keir Gallagher said: “While the Government talks about “levelling up” the country’s infrastructure, the reality is that millions of miles of roads in the UK aren’t fit for purpose in the first place, and cyclists are being put at risk. The small increase in pothole funding in the budget, from £1.3 bn to £1.5 bn in the next year, will do little to tackle the huge backlog of cases which have built up on local roads across the country.”
The simple truth is that local authorities cannot deal with this issue without a long-term funding commitment from Government, enabling them to plan ahead as opposed to constantly trying to play catch-up with the ever-expanding pothole crisis.”
An FOI request in November revealed that one cyclist a week was killed or seriously injured due to road defects in the last five years, while a new £500 million potholes fund was recently announced in the budget; although Cycling UK criticised the government's lack of investment in cycling and walking infrastructure.
With the coronavirus outbreak set to disrupt small cycling businesses, pro rider Alex Dowsett and ThighsClub founder Chanel have set up an Instagram page to promote local cycling businesses, hopefully giving them the boost that they might need to see them through the period of uncertainty.
Got a local cycling business that you think might need a hand? DM the page with your suggestions.
We've heard on the grapevine that a leading retailer in the cycling market is seeing a surge in sales for indoor bike trainers; most likely folk who anticipate not being able to ride outside for the foreseeable. We'll do some more digging and see if we can get any confirmation of the scale of the alleged 'panic buying'.
After we initially posted photos of cyclists being stopped and fined for riding outside in Spain, Terry Hunt got in touch to give us an insight into how things are currently in Mallorca. Saying that he was stopped by police and sent back to his hotel yesterday wth talk of a €1000 fine, Mr Hunt told road.cc:
"I suppose the atmosphere is best described as one of disappointment, but also people understand why.
"Yesterday, morning (Sunday), there seemed a lot of confusion as to whether we could go out riding, no one could give us a straight answer. Some people decided not to to risk it, others did, including myself and a few people I met here.
"Our ride for the day was to the lighthouse at the Cap de Formentor. We managed 2.5 miles before some other cyclists warned us about a road block ahead, so we decided to turn back and try a different route.
"Another two miles later and we were stopped by the police (they were stopping everyone on bikes including locals) and were asked to return to our hotel. A quick stop at the supermarket for some snacks and then we were at the poolside, luckily the sun was shining yesterday.
"One group from the UK who are staying at the same hotel did venture out and got a full day's riding in. In the end, the hotel advised we could only leave to go to a supermarket or pharmacy. All bars and restaurants are closed."
An email just landed in our inbox states that the Group is proposing to close operations of Cycle Republic and the Boardman Performance Centre, and has entered into a consultation with colleagues affected - more on this in a full story soon.
Por espabilados. pic.twitter.com/arNBrJ3mXX
— Amantes del Ciclismo (@amantes_cycling) March 15, 2020
It would have been unthinkable to be typing this out a couple of weeks ago - in fact a member of the road.cc team recently returned from a product launch in Spain - but this is now the reality in a country that is the second-worst hit country in Europe for coronavirus cases.
With cyclists waking up on Sunday to a two-week state of alarm that ordered everyone to stay indoors, this also included a ban on riding bikes; which means being stopped by police, fines or even arrest for those caught breaking the rules. The cyclist in the photo above is reportedly one of those who was stopped shortly after the rules were introduced, and he wasn't the only one...
No estan solos jajaj pic.twitter.com/XZpMAkKiFn
— CaP Manuel ⚽ Zaragocismo 🏀 (@kapknicker) March 15, 2020
Otra pic.twitter.com/iTU3CjoqLf
— Jorx (@jordrums10) March 15, 2020
The comments under the post reflect some confusion towards the government's message, with one noting that hairdressers and tobacconists are allowed to stay open while cycling is banned. Another says that people won't listen until they're hit in the pockets with fines, while it's also noted that some pro cyclists are still allowed to train outside.
Is a similar ban coming to the UK soon? It's looking that way...
Although acknowledging that cycling isn't important "in the grand scheme of things", Wiggins fears for the livelihoods of pro team riders and staff with the 2020 calendar effectively cancelled for the forseeable.
He said: "Cycling is the least important thing compared to other things in life, but this is still their livelihoods.
" We keep saying ‘it’s only sport’ but for these guys the financial implications for the sponsors and teams – this could be devastating for a lot of them."
"It did seem odd that, with everything else going [being cancelled] and the crisis in Italy at the moment and just the outpouring of love for Italy that we were going very close to their [Paris-Nice] towards Nice with a massive bike race, celebrating that, when this thing is getting very serious.
"There’s no toilet roll, no paracetamol, and this massive bike race is going on.
"You see the Premier League is going and those things, and you think, why did Paris-Nice ever go ahead really, when we’d already lost Tirreno-Adriatico and teams…?"
Co-host Matt Stephens commented: "This situation is fluid and it is totally unprecedented in our lifetimes. When you put into context that Flanders has never been cancelled in 100 years, including the war years, it just shows you.
"For the cycling calendar it’s more than disruptive. Organisations, race organisers, promoters are going to be losing money; teams have got no exposure for their investment.
"Within the grand scheme of things, cycling is relatively insignificant because it’s the welfare of people that is at the forefront of all of this."
With loo roll running out and all of us facing the very real threat of not being able to ride outdoors, the Clag-Gone from 'Britain's third or fourth funniest magazine could bw just the thing we need in these times of crisis. Check out the Viz website for more epic silliness.
No internet in your bunker? Here's what you missed from road.cc if you have now emerged...
Coronavirus: How are top pro cyclists coping with enforced break?
Coronavirus: UCI unveils “decisive measures” to combat impact of outbreak
Oxfordshire County Council set to green light plan to get more people cycling
PR firm responds to coronavirus pandemic with live-streamed bike trade show
Golfer Rory McIlroy is "a bona fide Peloton stud"