Beautiful effort. Great timing, form and technique. Remco good as well. pic.twitter.com/GvKP33JdqU
— Phil Gaimon (@philgaimon) April 24, 2022
Team Climate Justice has more UCI points than Lotto-Soudal
— Fugue State Affiliated Media (@Eden_EdenEden) April 24, 2022
Harsh, but fair.
It looks like El Pistolero still has a few bullets left…
Seven-time grand tour winner – or nine, depending on what your stance on Spanish cattle farming is – Alberto Contador posted this frankly insane Sunday ride to Strava, and in doing so, made me feel a lot worse about my own weekend mileage.
The 39-year-old, who retired from the sport in 2017, covered over 270km of hilly terrain to the south and west of his hometown of Pinto, on the outskirts of Madrid, in under eight hours – averaging a mind-boggling 35km/hr.
Do I hear murmurings of a comeback on the cards? Hell, if 87-year-old Alejandro Valverde can still do it at the top of the sport, why not?
In any case, with both Spartacus and Bertie in the news, today has a strong whiff of 2009 about it. Let’s just hope a certain Texan doesn’t raise his head…
Bardet on Alaphilippe's Liege crash on the front page of @lequipe this morning. Says the road was "like a descent from a ski station that keeps getting frozen all winter. There were lots of holes where the crash happened"pic.twitter.com/uF00eOJyIp
— Peter Cossins (@petercossins) April 26, 2022
Romain Bardet has claimed that new bike technology, such as disc brakes, is allowing pro riders to take more risks and resulting in more crashes in the peloton.
The in-form DSM rider sacrificed his own chances of victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday to rush to the aid of the stricken Julian Alaphilippe, after the world champion fell into a ditch during a shocking mass pile-up with 60 kilometres to go.
Alaphilippe suffered a punctured lung and multiple fractures after hitting a tree during the 80km/h crash.
Yesterday on the blog we reported that Bardet and Tom Pidcock, who also careered off the road, blamed TotalEnergies rider Jérémy Cabot for causing the crash, though the Frenchman defended his actions and said he had “never taken ill-considered risks.”
In L'Équipe this morning, Bardet called for a change in behaviour within the peloton, arguing that riders are now taking more risks than ever – a trend, he says, that is being assisted by advances in bike technology.
In particular, the Frenchman, who has twice finished on the podium of the Tour de France, said that the now widespread use of disc brakes was a major concern.
Bardet claimed that the increased stopping power of disc brakes has shortened the reaction time of riders caught behind a crash.
“You can brake at the last minute, except that human reaction times haven't followed the technological evolution,” he said.
“The margin of error that was there before doesn’t exist any longer.”
From experience, if a crash occurred in front but I had stopped, safely, in time I would immediately be preparing for the, almost guaranteed hit from a rider who judged it a millisecond too late. Disc brakes are great n all but the grip that the tyre provides is still the same..
— Tom Portsmouth (@tompey_13) April 26, 2022
20-year-old British rider Tom Portsmouth, who rides for Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert’s feeder team Mini Discar, agreed with Bardet, tweeting: “From experience, if a crash occurred in front but I had stopped, safely, in time I would immediately be preparing for the almost guaranteed hit from a rider who judged it a millisecond too late.
“Disc brakes are great and all but the grip that the tyre provides is still the same.”
> What’s wrong with Chris Froome’s disc brakes?
Bardet, who was visibly shaken by the crash and appeared distraught after the race, also told the French paper that, as he emerged from the ditch after making sure Alaphilippe was receiving medical help, “I was almost run over by a completely mad DS trying to get back up to the front. Sometimes, the humanity...”
He criticised the road where the crash took place, which he claimed was full of potholes, describing it as “like a descent from a ski station that keeps getting frozen all winter”, and said that he “feared the worst” when he saw Alaphilippe.
“Julian was struggling to breathe, he couldn't speak, he couldn't move... I was shouting out, but no one was listening to me. I felt like he was going to stay there, all alone, forever.”
For those of us who base our year around the World Tour schedule:
It's 10 days until the Giro d'Italia starts. How has this even happened? In my mind, it's still mid-March.
— Sadhbh O'Shea (@SadhbhOS) April 26, 2022
There's absolutely no chance that we’re almost into grand tour season already. Surely Omloop was only two weeks ago, right?
Which reminds me, better book my flights to Italy…
Bloody hell.
This video, uploaded to YouTube last night by cycling activist Mike van Erp – better known as CyclingMikey (or the bike riding Batman, as one motorist disparagingly referred to him) – highlights the real dangers inherent in trying to make the roads safe for those on two wheels.
The cyclist who captured the video, who then sent it on to Mike, had allegedly just filmed a motorist using his phone behind the wheel in the Forest Hill area of London in February.
As we can see from the terrifying footage, the driver took exception to this piece of helmet cam activism, chasing the cyclist in his car after what we assume is a passenger tried to initially catch him on foot.
The motorist even mounts the kerb at one point during the pursuit, as the cyclist desperately pleads for passers-by to call the police. The bike rider finally escaped by turning into a private drive and switching off his lights.
> CyclingMikey ends up on car bonnet during confrontation with angry motorist
According to Mikey, who claimed he was assaulted himself by a phone driver in January, the Met Police told the cyclist they couldn’t identify the driver.
Mike has posted the video to Twitter and YouTube in an attempt to track down the driver, with some cyclists responding to the “shocking” footage by calling for a life ban for the motorist.
“Insane. That calls for prison time and a life ban from driving,” said one commenter.
“I recently got chased in a similar manner after calling out to a driver who was driving on the wrong side of the road. He did a U-turn and chased me, overtaking and brake-checking me twice while yelling abuse. It was all captured on front and rear cameras with the car and driver clearly identifiable.
“I submitted the video to police but never heard anything more about it.”
Makes my blood boil as well as want to weep 😢
— AnnGreggs 💙 🇺🇦 (@AnnGregoryRN) April 25, 2022
That's scary. The cyclist must have been terrified & worn-out
— Bernie (@Bernieadufe) April 25, 2022
And yet this does not surprise me that this kind of behaviour is so common in society today. People are literally triggered at any level into such aggression. I hope he gets caught.
— thisisthatian (@thisisthatian) April 26, 2022
This is why on any route I ride regularly I have a mental map of bail-out points where I can get somewhere a car can't follow. I resent having to have this but there are a lot of dangerous angry people out there in possession of one of the world's most dangerous weapons, a car.
— Rendel Harris (@Rendel_Harris) April 26, 2022
We’ll keep you up to date with this story if any more details emerge.
Exciting day for 🇨🇭🚴♂️:
1. @f_cancellara is holding a pressconference (1pm): "Spartacus is back at racing".
He will announce the promotion of @SwissRacingAcad to become a ProTeam. FC has acted as a mentor since july 21. Will be the first 🇨🇭ProTeam since @IAM_Cycling (2013-16).— Emil Bischofberger (@bischofberger) April 26, 2022
Reflecting on my 2nd at #LBL, I've had a lot of people comment on or question why I was so happy and smiling 😆. Simply, I'm always happy when I can give my best in a race no matter what the result is. This would be a devastating job if I was only disappointed when I don't win!
— Grace Brown (@GLBrown321) April 26, 2022
You’d think taking over Twitter – and possibly ruining 90 percent of the source material for this blog – would prove enough of a distraction at the moment for tech billionaire and Bond villain candidate Elon Musk.
But no, he’s still pushing his daft cars in tunnels idea on the world, despite evidence that the Las Vegas-based prototypes of Musk’s congestion-busting “future of transport” are already – you guessed it – experiencing congestion.
Tunnels anyone?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 24, 2022
For those of you scratching your heads, “Teslas in Tunnels” is Musk’s ingenious plan to “solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic” by creating a new subterranean network where users can hitch a lift across town in an electric car. Yep, that’s right – it basically means more roads for cars, only this time underground.
So to answer Belinda’s question…
Does Mr Musk like bikes?
— Belinda (@reallyspoketome) April 25, 2022
Although, maybe there’s hope yet. Back in 2018 – remember then? – the Tesla owner said that his vision for his underground network would actually prioritise cyclists and pedestrians over cars.
Now, I wonder if my 250 followers on his stupid bird app would be enough to convince him to reconsider…
Fuck me. I'd hate to see what shit we'd have to put up with from drivers if they had a more powerful lobby. pic.twitter.com/FCSjypFQlB
— Katy (@TheBlueUlysses) April 25, 2022
As anyone who has followed British or Northern Irish politics in the last 25 years will know, ex-Labour MP Kate Hoey has some… let’s just say… forthright views on a number of issues.
A life peer – that’s Baroness Hoey to you – and former Minister for Sport under Tony Blair, the Antrim-born politician is known for her pro-Brexit, anti-LGBT, anti-immigration, pro-hunting stances, as well as recently cosying up to the more extreme elements of anti-protocol Northern Irish loyalism.
> Kate Hoey calls for bikes to be registered and cyclists to pay "road tax"
Hoey is also, she’ll have you know, a great friend of cyclists – she once said she wants “more people cycling”, for the record – who often has a funny way of showing it.
Way back in 2003, Hoey arguably coined that persistently repeated phrase “law-breaking lycra louts” (the world owes a great debt to her there) in an article for the Daily Mail.
And a decade later she called for bikes to be registered and for cyclists to pay ‘road tax’, after the then-MP for Vauxhall was caught driving her Mini through a red light. What was that about law-breaking, Kate? Maybe she was wearing lycra at the time...
> MP who called cyclists "law-breaking Lycra Louts" fined for driving through red light
Well, dear readers, I regret to inform you that the Baroness is at it again.
In an interview with GB News this week – another great friend of cyclists everywhere – she said: “I think there is a very well-organised cycling lobby in this country that will always speak out for the cyclist.
“And I’m afraid that we need some really strong people speaking out for drivers because quite honestly it’s a nightmare these days for a driver, especially now they have changed the Highway Code.”
Won’t someone please think of the drivers?!
I have to say, the thought of shouty, red-faced motoring groups like the Alliance of British Drivers growing in strength makes me slightly queasy…
While the ABU partied in the streets (sitting in their illegally-parked cars of course) after Hoey’s comments, some weren’t as impressed:
Yeah, those poor downtrodden drivers. https://t.co/Gns0ZualAE
— Katy (@TheBlueUlysses) April 25, 2022
I guess that’s proof that at least one other driver has acknowledged there’s been a change to the Highway Code.
Haven’t seen it apply in practice yet…— Johnny Plectrum (@johnnyplectrum) April 26, 2022
Has she thought of joining the AA or the RAC (both of whom backed the changes)
— James Craig Wightman (@its_life_jim) April 26, 2022
Sadly, I’m blocked by the former honourable member for Vauxhall who chose Brexit despite being MP for one of the highest remain constituencies in the country. Never knowingly right about anything. Perhaps she could take the bus?
— Scrap the Bristol Mayor on May 5th (@martin_frasehog) April 25, 2022
I forget who said it, but something along the lines of "it's hard to ignore Kate Hoey, but usually worth the effort" is a maxim I find useful.
— Jacques Le Singe (@John_the_Monkey) April 25, 2022