🏁 🏴 @GeraintThomas86 s'impose à Saint-Vallier ! 🏆
🏁 🏴 @GeraintThomas86 claims the win! 🏆#Dauphinépic.twitter.com/obXmIPMOmy
— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 3, 2021
How's this for a finish? Geraint Thomas just won Critérium du Dauphiné stage five by the barest of margins after a cheeky attack within the final kilometre. As the bunch slowed to a crawl for a 180-degree bend Thomas jumped to the front and attacked. Holding a small gap into the final couple of hundred metres it looked as though the former Tour de France champion thought he had it.
As Thomas took his hands off the bars to celebrate, Sonny Colbrelli came surging past at seemingly twice the speed leaving the Welshman with his hand on his head...a photo finish showed that the Ineos Grenadiers rider had crossed the line first and Colbrelli is left with an unwanted third second place of the week...
The victory will give Thomas 10 bonus seconds and brings him right back into the GC fold, 14 seconds off the yellow jersey Lukas Pöstlberger. Tomorrow, the peloton goes climbing with the first of three big Alpine mountain days which will decide the race.
Cumbria Police is asking drivers to park considerately after an emergency service vehicle struggled to get to a crash in Wasdale. This is an example of some of the traffic seen over the weekend across the Lake District.
🎥 Oliver Hodgson pic.twitter.com/PAr5fEu35h
— ITV News Border (@ITVborder) June 1, 2021
The bank holiday brought bumper crowds to the parks, beaches and National Parks of the UK...unfortunately, with the crowds came the thousands of vehicles that brought them there. Similar to the Richmond Park story from this morning...it has got us thinking...how can we get less people driving to National Parks or local beauty spots?
In Richmond Park's case many have suggested the obvious answer is to enforce a proper ban on through-traffic...Jon Owen wants to see greater investment for bus services in the Lake District to encourage people to leave their cars at home...
Urge all you like, but it's unrealistic to expect behavioural change at any meaningful scale without system change. And the transport system in the Lake District is tilted hugely in favour of cars. Among other things it's high time we financially supported bus services again. https://t.co/ECsPrG3fgv
— Jon Owen (@anotherJon) June 2, 2021
This is the result of too many people in cars. Time for lake District to enforce a park wide roadside parking ban.
And even better buses and park and ride schemes.
Car users are ruining these wonderful places https://t.co/FjTYKEXoZN— Real Gaz on a proper bike #fbpe (@gazza_d) June 3, 2021
This week is @WeAreCyclingUK's #BikeWeekUK. MPs and Peers have been celebrating by sharing pictures of their favourite bikes, rides, and cycling memories.
We'll be sharing those throughout the week, & you can see a video of them all below ⤵️⤵️ pic.twitter.com/TpA5h7nxfd
— APPGCW (@allpartycycling) June 2, 2021
Members of Parliament and Peers, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have backed Cycling UK's Bike Week 2021 by sharing photos and videos of their favourite cycling memories, bikes and rides.
Ruth Cadbury MP, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking said: "We’re delighted to see so many of our colleagues out and about on their bikes, celebrating all that we love about cycling and supporting Bike Week.
"I cycle because it's usually the quickest way to get around in outer London. On top of that, on a bike I don't have to worry about finding a parking place or how long the bus is going to take. We’re encouraging people to take part in Bike Week in any way they can."
Dear @JohnLewisRetail one of you liveried 7.5 tonner vans overtook me today around 15:35 at Cade Street near Heathfield whilst I was cycling.
Absolutely textbook overtake. PERFECT. They waited. They used the other side of the road and the right gear to pass me.
Thank you.
— Greg Collins 💙 (@ibikeburwash) June 2, 2021
Rik Verbrugghe, one of Chris Froome's sports directors at Israel Start-Up Nation, has cast doubt on whether his rider will even be on the startline for the Tour de France in three weeks' time. Froome has struggled this year and admitted to reporters before the start of today's Critérium du Dauphiné stage that he has no chance of winning the race. Verbrugghe went even further and hinted that the 36-year-old may not even make Israel Start-Up Nation's squad for the race.
"He is a huge champion for whom I have a lot of respect, but his participation in the Tour de France is by no means self-evident," the sports director told La Dernière Heure. "I expect there will be some clarity during this Dauphiné. He has made constant progress since the start of the season, but we would have liked his progress to be more exponential."
Froome finished 93rd on yesterday's TT more than two minutes behind stage winner Alexey Lutsenko and was dropped on the stage won by Sonny Colbrelli. The four-time Tour champion has lost almost six minutes before the race has even reached the high mountains and sits 57th on GC.
Before today's stage, Froome said: "I'm not talking about winning the Tour de France in a few weeks' time, that's for sure. I'm very much focused on just returning back to my former level and taking one step at a time. I don't go from this level to winning the Tour de France in a few weeks."
Tom Pidcock has broken his collarbone after crashing last Monday. He was training around Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via and was found conscious on the ground. His frame broke in two on impact.
📷 by one of our followershttps://t.co/6NQdrC1FKipic.twitter.com/2S8iDWyFTP
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) June 2, 2021
This is apparently the aftermath of Tom Pidcock's training crash on Monday that saw him go under the knife after breaking his collarbone. No amount of surgery is going to fix that Pinarello, unfortunately...
Richmond Park is just horribly, horribly dangerous. This poor kid. And then I get punishment passed twice. pic.twitter.com/fMmC3pba7k
— The Department of Parks & Recreation 🦌 (@ldnparks) June 2, 2021
On yesterday's live blog we shared a video from Richmond Park of a van driver dangerously tailgating a cyclist as they overtook another rider. The clip was the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of incidents of people being put in danger while riding in the park. Back in February, a cyclist was taken to hospital following a crash in a 20mph zone which left the driver's vehicle wrecked and some distance off the road...
Now, another clip has summed up what cyclists, particularly those who may be inexperienced riding around traffic, have to deal with when visiting the park. Posted on Twitter by regular Richmond Park contributor The Department of Parks & Recreation, it shows a child cycling along the road while a steady stream of drivers pass in both directions. In fairness, the first driver overtakes near-perfectly: slowing down and indicating before giving plenty of room...after that things start to go downhill...the video ends with two drivers close passing the cyclist filming.
The optics of the child riding alongside so many motor vehicles has once again sparked calls to ban through traffic from the park. Richmond Cycling Campaign said: "That is some spectacularly bad driving at the end. And seeing a child on a bike like that really brings home the 'park not rat run' question."
This is just appalling really that a child, cycling in a park, has to deal with live traffic. @TheRoyalParks needs to close the park to through-traffic now. It's ridiculous. https://t.co/21U0QxryPt
— Elisabeth Anderson 🐺 (@velobetty) June 2, 2021
Literally every other city in the UK:
"There are CARS in a PARK?!"https://t.co/g2Ux4vfeDp
— Sam 🚴🌱🍻Ⓥ (@MCRCycleSam) June 2, 2021
British wonderkid Tom Pidcock is out of the Tour de Suisse this weekend after suffering a fall while training in Andorra. Since the Ardennes races Pidcock has been doing a mixture of road training and some mountain bike races to prep for the Olympics in Tokyo. Now back in Andorra, the 21-year-old crashed on Monday and underwent surgery in Girona on a broken collarbone yesterday.
"Tom is doing well and is already looking ahead and focussed on his rehabilitation," his coach Kurt Bogaerts explained. "While this means he won’t be able to start at the Tour de Suisse this week as planned, he will get back to training as soon as possible and prepare for the rest of the season."
We'll have the full story for you shortly...
🚲 = clean transportation
🚲 = #ClimateAction
🚲 = access to education & health care
🚲 = improved health & fitnessMore about how bicycles benefit people & 🌏 on Thursday's #WorldBicycleDay: https://t.co/4QSs2moNuR via @UNDPpic.twitter.com/qo7cPBBqxU
— United Nations (@UN) June 3, 2021
Happy World Bicycle Day! Hopefully we can all make time for a bike ride to celebrate...India's Minister of State Pratap Sarangi certainly has...
Bicycle is a simple, affordable, reliable, clean and environmentally fit sustainable means of transportation.
On this #WorldBicycleDay, let's cycle our memories n make bicycles more a part of our lifestyle.
Greetings on #WorldBicycleDay2021 . pic.twitter.com/QrtShadzdq— Pratap Sarangi (@pcsarangi) June 3, 2021
Here are some of the other best World Bike Day posts we've seen so far, from a bumper Belgian critical mass to some recent scenes in Paris...
Happy #WorldBicycleDay#WorldBicycleDay2021
😍😍😍 pic.twitter.com/nV5q183Kvp— Critical Mass Brussels (@CritMassBrussel) June 3, 2021
Happy #WorldBicycleDay2021pic.twitter.com/YKqBPbCpXF
— Juraj Mikurcik 🚲 (@JurajMikurcik) June 3, 2021