An FOI request has revealed that Surrey Council alone paid £400,00 in compensation for pothole-related incidents between April 2019 and March 2020, and one of those was a £100,000 payout for one cyclist injured by a pothole. Surrey Live report that the council is yet to confirm if the pothole in question on Leith Hill Road in Dorking has been fixed yet.
Countrywide, councils in England paid out £8.3 million in compensation claims and legal fees in the same period. Manchester topped the charts, with claims totalling £1,165,279.
Après une belle nuit, Stefan Küng a choisi d'exhiber ses couleurs nationales 🇨🇭 pour chambrer ses coéquipiers français ce matin. 😅 (Instagram @jacopoguarnieri) #TDF2021pic.twitter.com/c6eut7pB53
— Le Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) June 29, 2021
Following a shock result for the Swiss national football team over their neighbours last night at the European champs, Stefan Kung of Groupama–FDJ (a French team, whose riders are overwhelmingly French) decided to rub it in at breakfast. Guess who's going to be on bottle-fetching duty for Groupama during today's stage...
At KM 0 of today’s stage of the Tour de France, riders paused in solidarity as part of their calls for UCI to set up discussions to adapt the 3 km rule during stage races. #SafetyFirst#StrongerTogether
— CPA Cycling (@cpacycling) June 29, 2021
While denying that a protest would take place an hour ago, the CPA has now tweeted "in solidarity" with the riders, who stopped at kilometre 0 as rumoured.
According to our news editor Simon MacMichael, the protest looked disjointed with a number of riders - including Julian Alaphilippe - appearing to be unhappy with what was going on.
To refresh those who aren't regular followers of pro cycling, the CPA, which has existed since 1999, is a not-for-profit organisation set up to defend the interests of professional cyclists. The mission statement on its website says: "The CPA works towards giving riders the opportunity to defend their interests, see their rights respected, and demand improved working conditions. Gathered in the strong and cohesive community of the CPA, the riders can make their voices heard in negotiations and in the dialogue with the other key players of world cycling, such as UCI, teams, and race organisers."
#TDF2021 - Stage 4 started. Riders on their way to Km 0.
There will be a minute stop and then first 10 Kms paced slowly as a sign of protest against yesterday route.#LFRLive
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) June 29, 2021
To protest against yesterday's route following a stage marred by horrendous crashes, it was reported that riders will pause for a minute at kilometre 0 (which should be coming up any second now at the time of writing) and will ride the first 10km slowly.
There were some suggestions that any protest would be cancelled, as teams failed to reach an agreement. Here is the CPA's statement on the matter (translated) released about an hour ago, that denies that any official protest will take place:
After the crashes during the third stage of the Tour de France, the riders discussed the measures to be taken to underline their dissatisfaction and the lack of attention on problems related to safety.
Although their frustration is great with foreseeable and preventable incidents, the riders wish to underline the respect they express towards their sponsors, their sports groups, the organisers and their international institutions. The spectators are very important to them, so that is why they will be practicing their profession as professional cyclists today.
The riders of the Tour de France ask, in return for the respect they express, the same for their physical integrity, which is why they are asking the UCI to set up discussions with all the parties and stakeholders to adapt the 3km rule during stage races.
With this noble proposal, the riders intend to show their understanding to all parties and to open up to a constructive dialogue rather than prompting actions that could create difficulties for cycling and the fans. However, the riders and the CPA will be determined to pursue the changes that are more than necessary.
As that stage was pretty hectic yesterday, we're still catching up from some weekend news on home soil... a big one being the setting of a new provisional Guinness World Record for riding LEJOG as a relay team, who completed the official route in a time of 38 hours 54 minutes - for reference, the Road Records Association record for an individual on a conventional bicycle is held by Michael Broadwith, who completed the route in 43 hours 25 minutes back in 2018.
The team of 12, which included Torq Fitness owner Matt Hart, had to pass a GPS-enabled baton during changeovers to satisfy Guinness rules. "By relay, Steve meant splitting the route into sections and each rider having 3-4 focussed efforts of roughly an hour, taking it in turns to do the distance whilst passing a GPS baton", as it's explained on the Torq Fitness website.
Starting at 5am on Saturday, the team finished at around 8pm on Sunday, smashing their 40 hour target and raising £640 for the Jigsaw charity at the time of writing.
Cancellera is rocking the new EDGE+ GAME ON shoes that are "vivid and ready to perform where the sports world is competing", according to Suplest. Two BOA dials sit atop of the Japanese microfiber upper, and the carbon sole has Suplest's 'Solestar' insole that allows "an efficient boost power to the pedal during the whole ride."
All that attention to detail and borrowing Fabian Cancellara for your promo means these shoes don't come cheap - they're priced at 379 euros on the Suplest website.
Unfortunately for Steven Kruijswijk this isn't the latest hip custom shoe design from VeloKicks, just a very bloodied leg.
Kruijswijk himself shared the pic via his Instagram account apologising for messing up Sepp Kuss's bike. Those two Euro last 16 matches were definitely eventful last night, but not this eventful!
The Slovenian is one of many battered riders taking to the start line today, but arguably he is more battered than most... at 1m 35 secs down in the general classification and 56 secs behind his main rival and countryman Pogacar, can Roglic do the unthinkable and get himself back into contention in this state?
The Times' Transport Editor, Nicholas Hellen reports that Chris Boardman is currently favourited to become England's first National Cycling and Walking Commissioner.
If accurate, the claim, which appeared in the print version of the Sunday Times, would see the former Olympic champion aim to take the successes and knowledge gained during his time as Greater Manchester's Cycling Commissioner and apply it on a national scale.
Hellen suggests that one of the main aims will be to entice a portion of school run parents out of their cars, with safe cycles lanes being key to this aim.
Back in February, Grant Shapps said that the government wants “half of all journeys in towns and cities to be walked or cycled by 2030,” however, Shapps lacked information regarding the funding that would be made available past 2025 to make this possible.
The move to appoint a Walking and Cycling Commissioner in a national role could be one step towards achieving this goal.
Yesterday's stage was another that was marred by big crashes with Roglic's mountain domestique Robert Gesink and GC hopeful Jack Haig failing to finish. Aussie sprinter Caleb Ewan is also out after a high-speed crash in the closing meters. Here's where things stand.
Ineos Grenadiers look to have come through the carnage with the best GC placing. Giro winner Richard Carapaz is in third, just 31" down on yellow. Wilco Kelderman is quietly sitting at 38" while last year's winner Tadej Pogacar is at 39". Geraint Thomas is at 1'07" while Primoz Roglic had a disastrous day, slipping to 1'35".
It's another sprint stage today and given their dominance yesterday, Alpecin-Fenix will be feeling confident about launching Belgian Tim Merlier to a second stage win.
.... 2/2 the peleton I spoke to the jury and said this was not correct under the extreme circumstances of a nasty crash and a mangled shoulder. I shouted at the jury and said some words i shouldn’t of. There ya have it, peace out ✌️ #chill
— Luke Rowe (@LukeRowe1990) June 28, 2021
Ineos Grenadiers rider Luke Rowe has been handed a 300CHF fine and docked 20 UCI points for "assault, intimidation, insults, threats, or improper conduct."
Rowe said in a tweet that once he had helped Thomas back to the peloton, he "spoke to the jury and said this was not correct under the extreme circumstances of a nasty crash and a mangled shoulder."
Rowe admitted that "I shouted at the jury and said some words I shouldn’t of."
Rowe has a very valid point and you can see why he was angry when Primoz Roglic crashed with 10km to go. The Jumbo Visma team car came past Roglic and his teammates and proceeded to sit in front of the group, towing them up to what was the second group on the road and limiting the time that Roglic lost in the general classification.
While Rowe was indeed wrong to speak in the way that he did, the lack of consistency in which the rules are applied must be incredibly frustrating.