Keep up with the world's best cyclists like never before. Introducing The Run Up, a new series that takes you inside the WorldTour’s best teams in the days leading up to cycling’s biggest races.
Soon more! 🎬 #teamsdworx#therunup#therunupseriespic.twitter.com/hzSgCRIuNL
— Team SD Worx (@teamsdworx) April 16, 2021
The Run Up is a new series following the Women's World Tour's best teams at some of the biggest races on the calendar. Filmed, edited and released in the days before a race, The Run Up will show how teams prepare for races, starting with the first episode from Liège-Bastogne-Liège nest weekend. Team SD Worx, Trek-Segafredo and CANYON//SRAM racing have all agreed to be followed, opening their doors for some behind the scenes access.
Trek-Segafredo's British star Lizzie Deignan said she is excited to be taking part. "As a sports fan myself I am always inspired and excited to see the character behind the athlete. I think it’s a really interesting idea to allow women’s cycling fans behind the scenes to get to know the characters within our sport. There are so many diverse and interesting women in the peloton so I am sure it will be a really intriguing series to watch."
🤜🤛💛 Magnificent teamwork and great attitude put @EnricMasNicolau and the Movistar Team into the @VueltaCV#VCV2021 GC lead with two days to go - an ITT tomorrow to defend this yellow jersey! #RodamosJuntos📸 @PhotoGomezSportpic.twitter.com/bdddwnzfhD
— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) April 16, 2021
Movistar's Enric Mas won the third stage of the rearranged Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana this afternoon, sprinting to victory at the top of the final climb. Whether his 35 second advantage over teammate Nelson Oliveira and 38 second buffer to Stefan Küng will hold on tomorrow's 14km flat TT remains to be seen, but for now he is in the leader's jersey and a first stage win since 2019.
The Tokyo Olympics organisers have postponed the test event for the BMX freestyle until May or June due to the pandemic. It was scheduled to take place on April 24-25 but has been delayed, the organising committee confirmed in a statement.
"In order to ensure the best level of preparations for these test events and for the Tokyo 2020 Games, considering the schedule of each party under the current global COVID-19 conditions, it was felt that postponing the events was necessary," the statement said.
A 12-year-old boy was threatened with a screwdriver by two robbers in Bournemouth who took his backpack and bike. The child was riding his bike with a friend at around 3.50pm on Thursday 8 April when he was approached by two young males on the corner of Ashley Road and Grantham Road. The Bournemouth Echo reports one the males grabbed the victim's backpack, pushed him on the floor and threatened him with a screwdriver, before taking his bike.
The two men ran off and the bicycle was found nearby, with police now appealing for witnesses to come forward. "I am particularly keen to hear from the occupants of a small dark red car, possibly a Nissan, that was near to the traffic lights at the time and may have witnessed the incident. We would also like to speak to the driver of a white van, which was driving on Grantham Road around the time of the incident and may have information to assist my investigation," PC Olivia Holt said.
Information can be passed on to Dorset Police with the reference number 55210055296.
Deceuninck-Quick-Step duo Yves Lampaert and Tim Declercq appeared in court in Belgium this week to testify against actor and TV presenter Melvin Klooster who allegedly assaulted Quick-Step pro Iljo Keisse in a nightclub brawl in 2017. Lampaert and Declercq were summoned along with former teammate Guillaume Van Keirsbulck by Klooster's legal team to examine "ambiguities" in their witness statements.
The Dutch TV presenter is accused of punching Keisse in the head and knocking him to the ground into broken glass. The prosecution service is asking for a two-year prison sentence if convicted, however Klooster denies he punched the veteran pro cyclist.
Het Nieuwsblad reports Lampaert, Declercq and Keisse all testified it was Klooster who attacked their teammate. "He attacked him from behind. I saw that," Lampaert apparently told the court. "And no, I hadn't drunk so much that I couldn't remember it exactly. Once a year we got permission from the team to go out together. Around 5am I started to gather everyone to go to the team's hotel in Brussels. We would return by taxi."
Declercq recalled what happened next. "When we came out, we were faced with a brawl. Two men were kicking and hitting a guy who was on the ground. I was shocked by so much violence. We thought Fernando Gaviria was on the ground, so we intervened by standing around the victim. Then it turned out it was someone else. Iljo Keisse helped the man up."
The Belgian newspaper reports the Quick-Step riders had a run in with Klooster earlier in the evening after he saw his girlfriend talking to Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria. Lampaert claimed this upset Klooster, "it all went very quickly, but I saw him waving his arm and then saw Iljo's knees give way. He hit his temple."
A verdict is expected in June with Keisse seeking €90,000 in compensation for a hand injury which forced him to miss the 2017 Gent Six Day.
Yo, @nextbikeUK. I’ve just seen 2 of your Glasgow bikes in Brodick, on the Isle of Arran. As much as I like to see people on the bikes, these muppets are breaking lockdown rules going outside of the local authority area.
Also, why did @CalMacFerries let them on the boat? pic.twitter.com/1VGAIkD67A— The Avant-Garde Traveller (@AvantTraveller) April 10, 2021
An Isle of Arran resident wasn't too pleased to see two people riding Glasgow city bikes on the island and accused the pair of breaking travel restrictions. The cyclists were spotted on Saturday in Brodick, the main village on the island more than 50 miles away from Glasgow.
In Scotland the current requirement is to 'stay local' and only make non-essential journeys in their local authority area. Nextbike replied to the tweet saying: "Thank you for reporting this. It is against our terms and conditions to take bikes outside of Glasgow. If you recall the bike numbers, we will fine these customers."
A photo finish 📸
Jasper Philipsen steals the stage win from Andre Greipel in a thrilling sprint finish 🚴♂️💨#TUR2021pic.twitter.com/GVLh5w7f5p
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) April 16, 2021
No fourth stage win for Cav just yet. Philipsen finally got his win, nudging out Andre Greipel in a photo finish. Norwegian Kristoffer Halvorsen was third with Cav fifth after being forced to go the long way around Polish national champion Stanisław Aniołkowski. Fortunately he managed to stay upright after a little coming together on the line...
Elinor Barker told BBC Sport the uncertainty around the Tokyo Olympics means the GB women's team pursuit squad will be focusing on posting a good time, rather than position. Having not raced against many of their rivals due to the pandemic, and the likely inconvenience of restrictions, the 26-year-old explained all the team can do is focus on setting a strong time.
"It makes it tricky to put expectations on, but it'll be the same for everybody. It's difficult for everybody involved," Barker said. "Usually at this point in the [Olympic] cycle we'd have a pretty decent understanding of where the rest of the world are and what we need to work on. Whereas we haven't actually raced some of our biggest competitors for over a year now already.
"That makes it quite difficult to say where we think we are. But we've got a very good understanding of ourselves now because we've had so long to train. So I think when it comes to goals and targets it's very much time-based rather than position-based."
This summer will be five years since the Welsh cyclist won her first Olympic gold, however she is expecting a very different experience in Tokyo. "'I'm preparing for maximum safety procedures and inconvenience," she explained. "Then anything from there is just going to be a bonus. Before Rio we were there for 10 days. One of the many rumours I've heard is that this year we'll be allowed five days, then as soon as we race we have to leave."
Let's start the day with a bang!
UCI World Champion @alafpolak1 signs a new contract with the team, that will see him ride for Deceuninck - Quick-Step until at least the end of 2024!https://t.co/IrHkVXRc7npic.twitter.com/Ap5E89AYnY
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) April 15, 2021
World champion Julian Alaphilippe will be staying at Deceuninck-Quick-Step for the next few years having signed a long-term deal until 2024 with the Belgian outfit. The news follows another of Quick-Step's stars, Remco Evenepoel, also committing his future to Patrick Lefevere's team in recent weeks. Alaphilippe has ridden for Quick-Step under their various banners for his entire career and his new deal will run out at the end of his 12th season with the team.
"I’m very happy to extend my stay with the team. It was the logical thing to do, and at no moment there was the question of doing anything different," the Frenchman said. "I look forward to continuing with this family and I want to say thank you to Patrick [Lefevere, team manager] and the sponsors for the confidence they have shown in these eight years and continue to show. It’s incredible to think of what we achieved together and all the beautiful memories we have."
Alaphilippe is back racing in the Ardennes Classics at Amstel Gold this weekend after a couple of weeks off after the Tour of Flanders.
Just been for a walk with my dog through Worcester. Such a warm, welcoming and friendly vibe as a result of the new PSPO street decorations! pic.twitter.com/uZkYRuCQ4K
— SHIFT (@goSHIFTscheme) April 15, 2021
As mayor I will scrap #ltn which are massively increasing congestion and pollution and restore the streets to the people. pic.twitter.com/nwHEmq83aG
— Peter Gammons (@Gammons4London) April 15, 2021
The latest poll from Politico has UKIP London mayoral candidate Peter Gammons on one per cent, so I guess the 'motivational speaker' is going all in to break the two per cent barrier...Naturally, his target of choice is LTNs...
This is the same candidate whose big idea for getting London moving was to send cyclists underground."I want to get London moving again. There are over 2 million miles of unused tunnels, streets, and chambers beneath London. I want to convert these disused spaces into walkways, safe cycle lanes, and create the world’s first underground ‘Pod’ transport system," he said on his campaign website.
An underground public transport system in London sounds familiar...Unfortunately for Gammons, with one per cent of the vote, that could be quite tricky to implement.
@but_cyclists you're shopping is here pic.twitter.com/4iL1GJFZZC
— Adam (@plasticfreeAdam) April 14, 2021
It seems you can now get your Sainsbury's order delivered straight to your nearest bike lane... I wonder why there's a cyclist riding in the delivery van parking lane? Some with local knowledge have pointed out this episode is made worse by the fact the Sainsbury's supermarket is just a two minute walk away...Now, if only there was a bicycle-powered way of delivering shopping that would bypass the problem of trying to park a great big van in built-up areas?
Knowing the area, worth pointing out that Sainsbury’s physical shop is, literally, a 2 minute walk away from here. Obviously accept that not everyone is able to walk and do their shopping, but maybe this would be a great opportunity to trial #cargobike deliveries? @sainsburys
— Simon (@justsimonr) April 15, 2021