We are thrilled to announce our lineup for @LeTour
🇮🇹 @CarusoDamiano
🇵🇱 @kamilgradek
🇦🇺 @jackhaig93
🇸🇮 @matmohoric
🇪🇸 @LLEONSANCHEZ
🇧🇪 @dylan_teuns
🇸🇮 @JTratnik
🇬🇧 @fred_wright0Allez TBV!#RideAsOne#TDF2022
🔗 https://t.co/KvRLTVeJkmpic.twitter.com/MSP7R8suj3
— Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) June 24, 2022
Fred Wright has made the cut for Bahrain Victorious. That's two Brits now confirmed for the big one, with Adam Yates, G, Tom Pidcock and Connor Swift still possibly to come.
Wright will be eyeing up the Roubaix stage, as well as team duty looking after joint leaders Jack Haig and Damiano Caruso.
The team's sports director, Gorazd Štangelj explained the thought process: "We've selected a really strong group of riders for the Tour. It's a Tour with plenty of challenges with chances for wind in Denmark and then more wind in France and cobbles. After this, we go straight into a concentrated block of uphill finishes. I think we have got a group of riders to cover all these difficult challenges and support our leaders, Jack and Damiano, to achieve our objective.
"We will also be looking for chances with our other riders to take stage wins or help us gain time for our overall objective. I'm convinced we have a strong team for the race itself."
🚨 SEVEN DAYS UNTIL THE TOUR DE FRANCE 🚨
A week until the Tour means The Tour 21 riders, including Geoff Thomas, are getting their three-week challenge underway with the Copenhagen TT stage. Over 21 days, the riders will ride the exact same route the professionals will race, aiming to raise over £1 million for Cure Leukaemia.
As of day one of the 2022 ride, The Tour 21 has this year already raised over £635,000. Geoff Thomas returns to ride the Tour de France once again this month alongside 17 other riders. After hearing of LeMond’s diagnosis he said: "I was shocked to hear of Greg’s diagnosis, but what is promising is seeing him being so positive.
"This demonstrates the incredible progress being made in clinical trials across the world. When I was first diagnosed back in 2003 with the same form of leukaemia, I was only given a slim chance of survival. Fast forward 19 years and a diagnosis such as ours is treatable.
"We are over half way to our target of £1million but we still have much more to do to keep giving more people positive news when they are first diagnosed."
Biniam Girmay won Eritrea's national TT champs on his return to racing following THAT dream Giro d'Italia win and nightmare celebration...
He's something of a superstar in his home nation (and the rest of the world, for that matter)...
A hero @GrmayeBiniam🇪🇷
🎥 @4AfricanVisionpic.twitter.com/jpz5KPHEqJ
— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) June 24, 2022
Other newly-crowned TT champions we might have missed: 21-year-old Raúl García Pierna, who rides for Equipo Kern Pharma, shocked the big WorldTour names to take Spain's title, while Mavi García took the women's crown.
Lisa Brennauer is the German champ for the second year in a row, and Omer Goldstein will represent Israel's national jersey a week today in the opening TT of the Tour de France. Brother and sister Mathias and Emma Norsgaard won both Denmark's top titles, while Jan Tratnik and Urška Žigart are Slovenia's winners (neither Pog or Rog made the journey home however)...
272.9km/h or 169mph...that's how fast German mountain bike pro Elias Schwärzler clocked in a successful Guinness World Record attempt last month. He's this week released the video showing his pulse-raising achievement. Think how fast he could have gone if he pedalled...(joke)...
Schwärzler is now officially the "fastest person to be pulled on a bicycle" after more than a year of preparation for the attempt, and was pulled into the record books at the Lausitz-Ring in Brandenburg, north east Germany.
His parents reaction to learning his idea was, as you'd expect: "No, definitely don't do that," he told Voralberg. "In the end it was okay because my parents now know that I prepare everything I do properly.
"I always say, you squat up there like a donkey. I can't raise my head because the headwind is so strong. I just had a real tunnel vision and kept seeing briefly, ah, there's the motorcyclist, I have to go there. On the one hand, I was of course happy that everything worked out well, in terms of safety. On the other hand, we didn't achieve the goal."
The goal? 300km/h...
Over to Brazilian speedster Evandro Portela who has his eyes on topping 300km/h later this year to break the motor-paced cycling world record.
Any thought Simon Yates' early Giro d'Italia withdrawal could prompt a Tour de France stage-hunting raid have been shut down...
🅿🆁🅴🆂🅴🅽🆃🅸🅽🅶 🅾🆄🆁 🆃🅴🅰🅼 🇫🇷 #TDF2022🟡
🔵BAUER
⚪️DURBRIDGE
🔴GROENEWEGEN
🔵JANSEN
⚪️JUUL-JENSEN
🔴MATTHEWS
🔵MEZGEC
⚪️SCHULTZ“𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥.” @GroenewegenD🎯
📖 https://t.co/VfTZWhM1YEpic.twitter.com/Oexi8OymwB
— Team BikeExchange-Jayco (@GreenEDGEteam) June 24, 2022
An almost full-on sprint team...what a throwback. Nick Schultz and Michael Matthews will offer options on the lumpier days, but don't expect to see much of the Aussie outfit in the mountains...
Team leader and making his Tour de France return for the first time since the Tour of Poland crash and subsequent comeback, Dylan Groenewegen said: "I'm looking forward to returning to the Tour de France, the last time I raced was in 2019 and it was a success for me, and so it is great to be returning this year.
"I will have a strong team, the best support that I need. We've been working a lot together this year, we've had some good wins and that is the big goal for us in France."
Step 1. Walk or ride to bike shop
Step 2. Leave with bike shop
Steps 3-10. Wait
Step 11. Hand over cash
Step 12. Ride home https://t.co/Apf0cplCHg— Tom Epton (@sportwritertom) June 24, 2022
If you do fancy it...
> How to remove press-fit bottom bracket bearings in 12 easy steps
Exciting news!
In yesterdays newsletter, the UCI and Flanders Classics confirmed that London has been awarded the final empty slot on the worldcup calander
— Cyclocross Social (@Cyclocrosss) June 24, 2022
11th December 2022: world class cyclocross is coming to London. The UCI has announced the empty slot on the calendar has been taken by the English capital, and although details about where and what the course will look like, the thought of Pidcock, Van Aert and Van der Poel (if they're not on their winter break) doing battle on home mud is something to look forward to.
Elsewhere on the calendar there is another new round in...Benidorm?! No, really... Starting from the wintering Briton-infested sun loungers, the riders will sprint to the all-inclusive, have to finish a pitcher of blue lagoon and a shot of sambuca before riding back to the start through the pool. Seven laps. Last rider standing...
It’s pool time for stage winner Quinten Hermans 💦 🐬#BaloiseBelgiumTour🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/fquRnTeZBO
— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) June 18, 2022
Really positive to see @TfL improving safety for vulnerable road users.
Motorists: it’s not mandatory for a cyclist to use a cycle lane, there is often good reason not to - too narrow, pot holes, debris, drains etc.
Give vulnerable road users space when passing. pic.twitter.com/V1LTMG6gyQ
— Roads Policing Unit (RPU) - Surrey Police - UK (@SurreyRoadCops) June 23, 2022
> Transport for London to begin fining motorists caught driving in mandatory cycle lanes
NHS Bike Room, campaigning for better bike facilities across the NHS, tweeted: "This is why we need secure places to park our bikes. Not the first and sadly won't be the last."
Join our fight for secure bike parking across all NHS sites! Let's make this a thing of the past
— NHS Bike Room (@BikeNhs) June 24, 2022
So what else have you been saying this morning?
Owd Big 'Ead called hospital cycle parking facilities "another box-ticking exercise by the public sector to convince themselves that they are doing something worthwhile for the health of the nation and environment".
Reiver2768 made the point: "Surely an employer like the NHS, of all organisations, should be promoting active travel and should be making at least some effort (over and above a piece of bent pipe in the ground) to facilitate this?"
eburtthebike reported it's a location issue that needs to become more commonplace: "The NHS is very keen on active travel, and in some places, they support it with cycle stations, including indoor, secure cycle parking, showers and changing rooms and lockers; just not everywhere."
It's a dilemma for most of us weighing up commuting by bike...
"I'm lucky enough to have my own private office, so I can bring my bike inside (which also, means I can commute on one of my 'nice' bikes without worry). If I wasn't able to do this, I probably wouldn't commute by bike at all - especially with the area I work in. Even using the cheapest beater bike you can find gets very expensive if it's stolen all the time."
I have now climbed the two highest passes I'll tackle on my solo bike ride across America for @mssocietyuk
This pass is nearly three times the height of Mount Snowdon! pic.twitter.com/PEXvb9tFHo— Antony Butcher (@antonybutcher) June 17, 2022
Anthony Butcher's pan-America adventure to raise money for people with multiple sclerosis received an unexpected boost in the form of a £2,000 donation from Dame Judi Dench. Anthony set a £20,000 target and was "flabbergasted" to learn Dame Judi had sent over a cheque to his home, which (to great surprise) his wife subsequently opened.
"It was just before I reached my target of £20,000 and it pushed me right up to the edge — I screamed and jumped up and down," he told the BBC.
"My dad was dentist to Judi Dench's daughter for a period of time and she had remembered my mum."
In the last week, Anthony has traversed the Rocky Mountains ahead of 10 days cycling through the Sierra Nevada. "Then there's a third mountain range to get over and the wind is blowing a real hoolie, so I'm having to fight for every mile," he said.
Example of crap unaware driver behaviour mixed in with some top notch super aware driver behaviour on Lanark Rd coming home from work today. - 1 pic.twitter.com/hf3y0dttsZ
— Alan Gordon (@agordonsalive) June 23, 2022
Oh and a YPLAC nomination right out the top draw...
Outstanding overnight @YPLAC from that cabbie!https://t.co/m4vc5XgxWJpic.twitter.com/nLTJ8gdZ44
— LukeB_MTB (@LukeB_MTB) June 24, 2022
Apologies for the late (next day) update to yesterday's TT champs results. I was long off into the search for Classic Italian Taste San Pellegrino (very good, by the way) by the time Joss Lowden won the women's elite TT in the glorious Dumfries evening sunshine.
She said afterwards: "I'm very, very pleased. Obviously I was eyeing it up last year so this year to come out and do a ride I’m really pleased with – there was nothing left on the road today. I really enjoyed it, it was a beautiful course."
Men's champ Ethan Hayter is eyeing up a road race TT double...
"It's really nice to defend my national title and I'm looking forward to wearing these stripes in Europe. We've been pretty lucky with the weather today – perfect weather for a time-trial. Hopefully I'll win the road race on Sunday, but I've got both Bens with me [Tulett and Turner] and they're both really strong, so we'll see."
And a nice photo with brother (and U23 champ) Leo for the mantlepiece too...
All images: SWPix
A doctor in Sheffield finished their shift at a hospital, returned to the bike rack to cycle home, only to find a thief had taken their bike. Not by cutting through their lock, but instead cutting through the very rack the bike was locked to...Oh, and to make matters worse, it's the second bike he's had stolen this month...
"How are we in a position that this is ok and happens so frequently?" the doctor's wife asked...
My husband (a hospital doctor) has just had his bike stolen from work - the second bike this month - the thieves cut through the U frame it was locked to. How are we in a position that this is ok and happens so frequently? @CycleSheffieldpic.twitter.com/ncMjsYhMrZ
— Rachael Rothman (@RachaelRothman) June 23, 2022
In a reply, Rachael added some interesting police 'advice' and confirmed the area was not covered by CCTV...
Sadly no cameras. Last month the police told my husband he shouldn’t have an expensive bike if he doesn’t want it stolen.. in the grand scheme of bikes it wasn’t expensive, but it was good enough to commute 100 miles a week to hospital on.
— Rachael Rothman (@RachaelRothman) June 23, 2022
Employers need to invest in better cycle storage provision. Indoor secure units with CCTV. Like bike lockers. Reward staff who choose the healthy option of cycle commuting to employment. Good for mental health, good for fitness. Happier, healthier workforce. Less sick days.
— keeptheball (@keeptheball) June 24, 2022
Unfortunately the bike theft shock factor left a long time ago. We've been worn down by countless depressing tales of thieves taking bikes from hospitals...
In March, we spoke to a victim who had their bike stolen from inside a cancer centre where she was having an emergency brain scan.
> "My heart sank": Victim speaks out after shameless thief stole bike from cancer centre
In 2020, two men were charged following a series of bike thefts from Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre...while staff were inside treating coronavirus patients...