3⃣ riders in the lead now. 🇵🇱 @kwiato and 🇮🇹 @cattamat have joined 🇩🇰 @k_asgreen. The fight for the breakaway is not over!
3⃣ coureurs en tête à présent : 🇵🇱 @kwiato et 🇮🇹 @cattamat ont rejoint 🇩🇰 @k_asgreen. La bataille pour l'échappée n'est pas terminée !#TDF2021pic.twitter.com/mvPDV7as9h
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 13, 2021
Deceuninck-Quick-Step pair Kasper Asgreen and Mattia Cattaneo have jumped clear with Michal Kwiatkowski. They're onto a very wet descent now, but the peloton is closing all the time...
MEDIACAL UPDATE: After withdrawal from the @LeTour@petosagan successfully underwent knee surgery. Read more here: https://t.co/9epwmCWmEPpic.twitter.com/Q7m6XhbpEA
— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) July 12, 2021
The Slovakian Olympic committee has broken the news that Peter Sagan will not be taking part in the Olympics after undergoing surgery on his knee injury that forced him to abandon the Tour de France before stage 12. Aussie Jack Haig is also out after doctors suggested his collarbone fracture will take longer to heal than first thought.
Haig abandoned on stage three but had hoped he could recover in time for the mountainous road race route in Tokyo, which takes in 4,800m+ of climbing. Remco Evenepoel is one rider who will be on the start line in Japan...the Belgian has been out in Italy training specifically for the race by replicating the big climb with ascents of the infamous Mortirolo...
In a quick bit of any other Olympic business...Vincenzo Nibali did not start today's Tour stage. There's no need to worry though, the Shark of Messina was always planning to leave the race on the second rest day to fine tune his form ahead of the Games.
The Bike Club, the UK's first monthly kids bike subscription service, has today announced it is launching a similar service for adult hybrid and road bikes. Members to the service can order bikes, have them delivered to their homes, with prices from £15 per month. Initially, the available models are the Forme Winster 1, Winster 2 and Forme Longcliffe road bike, but the Bike Club says it hopes to expand to more models in the future.
As part of the service, bikes are delivered just needing pedals attached before being ready to ride. In 2020, 15,000 new members signed up to the Bike Club, which was founded in 2016 by wife and husband team Alexandra Rico-Lloyd and James Symes, who believed in an alternative to bike ownership.
"This is an exciting step for everyone at the Bike Club, we’re thrilled to be the first in the UK to offer multi-discipline adult bikes on subscription," Alexandra Rico-Lloyd said.
‘’Based on the extraordinary growth we’ve seen over the past few years, expanding our offer to include adult bikes is a natural step. It’s clear that increasing numbers of people are looking for an alternative to the traditional model of bike ownership, and are looking for subscription services which are more sustainable, flexible, and affordable.
‘’This is an incredible time for cycling, and we can’t wait to see new members of the Bike Club out on their bikes in the weeks and months ahead.’’
Australian cycling clothing brand MAAP has opened a store in world-famous Knightsbridge luxury department store Harrods. The 'menswear boutique', which we assume also stocks the brand's female clothing too, has been designed by retail design consultants Brinkworth to offer shoppers a "crisp industrial feel"...
MAAP co-founder Jarrad Smith said: "When Ollie (Oliver Cousins, MAAP Co-Founder) and I first started MAAP in 2014, like any business, we set some future goals and having our brand in Harrods was one of them. To see that finally come to life is a really proud moment for us."
#flooding on London Road by Linkfield Road in #Isleworth🌊 🌊 taking a diversion to get home cause I don’t think my Prius can swim! pic.twitter.com/xN6GBQLr8e
— Fernando - Private Hire Driver (@london_pco) July 12, 2021
Yesterday when the heavens opened I'll admit I was absolutely ecstatic to be working from home and not facing a commute resembling something closer to watersports than cycling. This lad wasn't so lucky. I'd say at least he won't have to clean his bike, but we all know that's not true...
Parts of London received a month's worth of rain in a day...47.8mm fell in Kew as residents were evacuated. The London Fire Brigade said it had received more than 1,000 phone calls.
Is it worth pushing on when you could hit a pothole? Would you just get off and walk?
Last week on the live blog we shared the video of a Uber Eats rider in Edinburgh who was spotted wading through knee-high water to make a delivery.
Avg distance: 327 km per day
Avg climbing: 3,800 m per day
Avg riding time: 12:20 per day
Max distance: 565 km (final day)
Max climbing: 5,900 m (Stage 8 + half of stage 9)
Max riding time: 20:22 (final day)
Chapeau Lachy! 🙌🥂
Amazing effort and can't wait for the video. https://t.co/iQoIAXdbKipic.twitter.com/9folc1INUZ— VeloViewer (@VeloViewer) July 13, 2021
We wonder if anyone could beat Lachlan if the Tour peloton (no ultra-endurance riders allowed) were the race to cover the route in this format? Obviously if you opened it up to the specialists then Fiona Kolbinger would have them all panicking...
The rest day excursion to Andorra is almost over and stage 16 is just hours away. It's another great day to be up the road, even with the steady headwind, and looks as though it could be the fifth stage out of the last six to be taken from the break. Expect the fight for the move to be as fierce as ever with relatively 'fresh' legs after the rest day and a long, fast downhill start.
Category 2 Col de Port is first up, before the hardest climb of the day Col de la Core comes midway through the stage. The short but steep Col de Portet d'Aspet is followed by a long descent to Category 4 Côte d'Aspret-Sarrat 8km before the uphill finish in Saint-Gaudens. I'll go for a small group coming to the finish together and Omar Fraile taking the win. Get your pre-stage predictions in the comments for a chance at a small slice of glory come half-four...
Today’s @LeTour stage takes us back to the Col de Portet-d’Aspet. It will be the first time since 2018 and I wish we all stay safe.
And like always my thoughts will go to Fabio Casartelli while passing this tragic spot in cycling history. #TdF21#TdF2021
📷 Photo News pic.twitter.com/aIzpkL8DBp— Philippe Gilbert (@PhilippeGilbert) July 13, 2021
Champagne showers on the Champs-Élysée! 🍾🥂 a fitting end to an incredible ride. #TheAltTourpic.twitter.com/PPCnVixt9B
— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) July 13, 2021
These were the scenes at 5:30 this morning when Lachlan Morton finished the Alt Tour in Paris, five days before the peloton...Riding the full route self-supported, including transfers, Lachlan wrapped up the 5,510km challenge with 65,500m of elevation in just 18 days or 220 hours of riding...
An one hundred and seventy-four meter long wheelie!🤩😱 #TDF2021pic.twitter.com/UsqdVaMBmZ
— Bas Tietema (@BasTietema) July 12, 2021
Team Qhubeka NextHash may not have come close to winning a Tour de France stage so far this year, but they will take home the prestigious wheelie contest thanks to Max Walscheid's monster effort on stage 15. Set up by the guys from the Tour de Tietma YouTube channel, the wheelie contest was held on the final climb of the day - Col de Beixalis.
Riders were invited to take on defending champion Oliver Naesen and cheered on by the expectant crowds. Davide Formolo, Naesen, Mads Pedersen and Toms Skujins all impressed early on, before Walscheid put the contest to bed...
The German would eventually finish the stage in 140th place, 33:20 behind stage winner Sepp Kuss...but perhaps he was just saving his energy for the main event of the day. He easily balanced his way past Naesen's previous record and the finish line before continuing around the hairpin and off into the distance, forcing the cameraman to put in a huge effort just to keep up...
Here's the full video, including Wout van Aert's laboured effort...it turns out there is something he can't do after all...