Very careless from Bike Exchange driver. Not paying attention. Inexcusable at this level https://t.co/cSiw2Uxolv
— Auribus Teneo Lupum (@AirbusLupum) May 13, 2021
This will be one to keep an eye on as we hear more from the rider involved and the two teams...there has been plenty of sympathy for Pieter Serry rolling in. In the live blog comments, OnYerBike was not convinced by Alex Howes' thoughts on it being the UCI's fault, he wrote: "I know the UCI isn't always the most popular organisation amongst pro cyclists, but this is stretching it. The crash was a product of the driver not watching where they were going."
dubwise suggested a strong punishment for BikeExchange: "Personally, I would throw Bike Exchange out the race. Rider safety doesn't seem paramount to them. If the UCI can throw the likes of Schär out because he threw a bottle away in the wrong place, then..."
DS's shouldn't be driving EVER. Eject 1 team car and the driver from the race. #Giro2021https://t.co/SxPC4dmo2l
— Dustin White (@dustinwht) May 13, 2021
Over on Facebook, we enjoyed the irony of an ad under the blog that one reader spotted...
Get on the phone, Pieter...
Do they have to retrieve it during the race?
— Daniel Lloyd (@daniellloyd1) May 13, 2021
💗 Giro d'Italia 2021 - Stage 6⃣
📌 Grotte di Frasassi - Ascoli Piceno (San Giacomo)🥇 @maedergino🇨🇭
🥈 @Eganbernal🇨🇴
🥉 @DanMartin86🇮🇪#Giropic.twitter.com/JOKFmLcrGb— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 13, 2021
No repeat of the Paris-Nice heartbreak for Gino Mäder today as the Swiss rider went some way to restoring Bahrain Victorious' pride after the loss of their leader Mikel Landa yesterday. Part of the day's breakaway, Mäder left Dario Cataldo and Bauke Mollema on the final climb to win the first summit finish of the race.
Behind, Egan Bernal showed his hand for the first time this Grand Tour, attacking close to the finish along with Remco Evenepoel and Dan Martin to force a small advantage over the rest of the GC favourites. Alessandro De Marchi would have been resigned to losing the maglia rosa having been distanced on a descent earlier in the day.
FDJ's Hungarian climber, Attila Valter, is the surprise new wearer of the leader's jersey and has an 11 second advantage over Remco Evenepoel. Egan Bernal moves up to third overall.
😶Bike Exchange team car accidentally hits Deceuninck–Quick-Step rider, Pieter Serry. Still gets back up, deservedly annoyed. #Giro104pic.twitter.com/bLMYjW0l7v
— Justin Britton (@Justin_Britton) May 13, 2021
A crazy day at the Giro d'Italia just got weirder...Deceuninck-Quick-Step pro Pieter Serry was moments ago rear-ended by the Team BikeExchange team car as the peloton started the final climb of the day. The team car appeared to be passing jackets to the race commissaire's car when the driver ploughed into the Belgian, knocking him to the floor.
Quick-Step tweeted: "He is back on his bike, but that gave us a huge scare. Hoping Pieter Serry is ok after that heart in the mouth moment which happened on the last climb of this Giro stage."
BikeExchange apologised for the incident shortly after but I am sure the fallout will rumble on into the evening. It comes a day after Mikel Landa was forced to abandon having broken his collarbone and some ribs in a crash involving a race marshal.
More reaction as we get it...
Cycling to work is a good start to the day. As an MP, I often cycled to work, weather permitting. Today was the first time cycling to the office since I became Prime Minister in January 2021. Hopefully I can #biketowork more frequently in the summer. pic.twitter.com/iJyb4It6I0
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) May 13, 2021
#Giro - The situation#LFRLivepic.twitter.com/IbFFbfAPY1
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) May 13, 2021
Echelons! There has been a split on the descent, the wind is blowing and maglia rosa Alessandro De Marchi has some work to do to defend the jersey. I wonder if we will hear of any other big names missing the split...
Elsewhere, Mikel Landa has been released from hospital and will fly home ahead of surgery on Friday. In a team statement, team doctor Daniele Zaccaria said: "The team arranged a private flight from Rimini to Vitoria, and the medical plan is to undergo surgery tomorrow morning there. After the surgery, he will start all the treatment needed to have a prompt and safe recovery."
Wout van Aert will head straight to the Tour de France after the Belgian national championships and has opted to skip the Critérium du Dauphiné, Wielerflits reports. The Belgian underwent appendicitis surgery last week and is expected to channel all his efforts into getting in top shape for helping Primož Roglič win the yellow jersey at the Tour.
Van Aert won the opening stage of the Dauphiné last year before taking two stages of the Tour but will not be at the traditional warm up race this year. Instead, he has added a defence of his national time trial championship and the road race to his programme. In the meantime, the 26-year-old will meet up with his Jumbo-Visma teammates at altitude in the Sierra Nevada next week.
The team's strategy has raised a few eyebrows. Primož Roglič decided to prepare his challenge solely at altitude and will not compete between Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the start of the Tour on June 26.
Any time Danny MacAskill does anything on a bike it is usually worth a shout on the live blog. His latest video, 'This and That' features some pretty impressive gate-hopping that could finally find a use for the ridiculous 'infrastructure' from earlier...
In between the super-human bike handling clips we even get a reminder he is human as MacAskill goes flying over the handlebars into a bush, cheers for making us all feel better about our skills, Danny. There is also a behind the scenes...
🏀 Hey @KingJames hold my beer 🍺#Giropic.twitter.com/HXBq1LyWhF
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 13, 2021
These new bidon bins Bahrain Victorious have set up at the Giro are great for improving the optics of the peloton lobbing their empty bottles into the nearest field as soon as they enter the 'litter zone'...
🔎 Have you seen our bidon bins at the feed zones of @giroditalia?
We created our bidon bins to do our part in looking after the environment and to make sure our fans still get hold of this treasured souvenir. ♻️
Who's next?! 👀🗑#RideAsOne#Giropic.twitter.com/d3ktV6FO0H
— Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) May 12, 2021
Ok Google. Sum up UK attitude to cycling in a single image https://t.co/v8enmmQPWw
— Real Gaz on a proper bike #fbpe (@gazza_d) May 12, 2021
Oh to be a fly on the wall in the meeting that decided this would be a good idea. We went down a 'Pointless Gates and Associated Infrastructure' rabbit hole this morning and discovered a whole Facebook page dedicated to the noble pursuit of pointless infrastructure...
This one shared yesterday really caught our eye...what looks like a shared-use path divided by some sort of unnecessary metal barrier. Why? To slow cyclists down? To 'stop' motor vehicles? Judging by the worn turf either side it is doing a sterling job...
On a more serious note, plenty of people have been pointing out how the only people these barriers really stop are disabled cyclists. Robyn Jankel commented: "So basically the only people who these barriers stop are disabled cyclists and people carrying kids who won't necessarily be able to cycle on mud/grass. Fantastic."
The level of ineptitude & idiocy is quite staggering.
Needlessly putting up barriers to cycling is understandable nay expected from many councils. But trying & thoroughly failing is just the epitome of useless town planning.Name & shame?
— cyclinggrump (@cyclinggrump) May 12, 2021
Northumbria Police appealed for witnesses to a collision between a driver of a Ford Fiesta and a cyclist on the A19 this morning to come forward. The incident happened at around 1:35am on the northbound stretch between A183 Offerton and A1231 North Hylton in Sunderland. Sadly the cyclist, a man in his 20s, died from his injuries and his next of kin have been informed.
The force wants to hear from anyone travelling in the area at the time who may have dash cam footage or saw anything. They are particularly interested in tracing the driver of a heavy goods vehicle who may have witnessed the collision. You can contact Northumbria Police on their website or by phoning 101 and quoting the log 47 130521.
💬 💙| @JoeDombro had a message for you all.
All the best for a speedy recovery, Mighty Joe!#UAETeamEmirates#RideTogether#Giropic.twitter.com/htGuPp6cIl
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) May 13, 2021
Here it is from the horse's mouth...a bruised up Joe Dombrowski looking like he had a scrap at the team hotel last night...
Pavel Sivakov has also left the race overnight. Ineos Grenadiers' back up plan fell earlier in the stage and limped home 13 minutes behind the peloton.
Back in the peloton ➡️ @tom_dumoulin
His first race will be the Tour de Suisse🇨🇭
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) May 13, 2021
Tom Dumoulin will make his return to the peloton at the Tour de Suisse, six months after taking a break from the sport. Speaking to his team, the 30-year-old said he had rediscovered his love of cycling and was ready to make a comeback. Beyond the Tour de Suisse in June, Dumoulin will target the Dutch time trial and road national championships before heading to the Olympics in Tokyo.
Jumbo-Visma recently announced Dumoulin's place on the Tour de France team would be taken by Jonas Vingegaard who impressed during the spring, winning a stage in UAE before finishing second on GC behind Primož Roglič in the Basque Country. Back in January, Dumoulin stepped away from the sport, saying he needed to "get things clear in my head about what i want and how I want it."
"It feels really good to take this step and I feel very supported by my friends and family and the team to take this step. Taking the decision immediately felt like a big weight of my shoulders. I’m going to do a lot of thinking and talking to a lot of people and I’m very confident that I will find the answers the coming period," he said at the time.
🏥 Medical Update: Unfortunately @JoeDombro will not start stage 6 of the #Giro🇮🇹 after his crash yesterday. 1 | 2#UAETeamEmirates#RideTogetherpic.twitter.com/bpDI3LRP7L
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) May 13, 2021
Joe Dombrowski has been forced to abandon the Giro d'Italia following tests by team doctors at the UAE Team Emirates hotel this morning. The stage four winner crashed in the same incident that saw Mikel Landa leave the race in an ambulance with a broken collarbone and ribs.
The American's team confirmed he has been officially diagnosed with a concussion and cannot be allowed to continue. Does that mean Vincenzo Albanese gets a last minute delivery of another king of the mountains jersey for stage six today? We will have to wait and see.
Stage six looks like another intriguing test for the peloton with one big second category climb before a summit finish at San Giacomo, a 15km climb that averages 6 per cent, although the final 4.5km are much tougher, averaging 7.5 per cent. A good day to be in the break? Will Alessandro De Marchi retain pink? Plenty of questions to be answered...
Back in October we got hold of this video of a Ferrari driver in London filming himself speeding over Lambeth Bridge before losing control and narrowly missing a cyclist riding in the opposite direction. Well, another Ferrari driver has made the blog this morning...and it is another shocker...
Greater Manchester Police appealed for information and dash cam footage after this major city centre crash on Wednesday morning. Pictures released by the force show the wrecked Ferrari 488, worth £250k, badly damaged and now sat half on the pavement, half in the cycle lane where most of its front end looks to be scattered.
The other driver involved was in a Peugeot 308 and police confirmed one person suffered a "minor injury". GMP Traffic tweeted: "Two vehicle RTC on Chester Road attended by #XT14 & #ME51 this morning involving minor injury. "We are aware of potential CCTV that may assist our investigation into the circumstances and would ask anyone with footage to email 15246 [at] gmp.police.uk."
We can confirm at this stage no CCTV / Dash Cam has been recovered or passed to police. We are aware of comments to suggest the investigating officers have established the speed of the vehicles involved - this is not the case. Any witnesses/dash cam are asked to make contact.
— GMP Traffic (@gmptraffic) May 12, 2021