A few early thoughts...
On Twitter, a reader told us: "This is disgusting. Shimano 105 groupsets were between €500 and €750 depending on certain factors, up to 2 years ago. This new one is ~€1800"
Jimmy Ray Will said: "Now, this is not exactly bringing electric gears to the masses is it? More like forcing the masses into premium price purchases via a lack of alternative. Sad times."
To which Rendel Harris replied: "Apart from Tiagra rim brake groupsets which are less than half the price (if you exclude wheels from the 105) and with a negligible weight difference. I have Tiagra on my commuter and honestly, if I was forced to swap the Ultegra Di2 groupset on my road bike for it I wouldn't be that bothered, the quality is that good. Good alternatives are available as long as you don't care about the name/number on the parts."
Almost exactly the same final sentence as editor Jack told me a few minutes earlier...
There is a MAD Cycling Jersey Collector, who once thought that Perhaps there is a possible way to Collect Water Bottles "AKA" Bidons
Impossible to Count, Store and even Number each one, as From Pro Teams, TDF, Giro's and more they just keep on coming#cycling#TDF2022#Bidonspic.twitter.com/mdRMzOVYBE
— Vintage Cycling Jerseys 🚴🚴🚴 / #Cycling (@ColPhilip1) June 29, 2022
Our Near Miss of the Day series has attracted more eyeballs than usual recently due to a string of high-profile episodes, some of which were picked up by the national press...
One day hopefully we will run out of close passes and near misses to report on, but until that happy day arrives, Near Miss of the Day will keep rolling on, hopefully hitting its aim of holding the authorities to account when they fail to protect vulnerable road users...(see Near Miss of the Day 763)...or at least receiving questionable police explanations...
We thought we'd mix it up this afternoon, with Not Near Miss of the Day (probably) for one day only...
Big 👍 to this @hurtplant driver looking out for me this morning. Shame muck on the lens spoils the footage #Cyclingpic.twitter.com/piQ1Zd1E2f
— PassPixi (@PassPixi) June 29, 2022
As discussed in the comments under this..."You may cross the line if necessary, provided the road is clear, to pass a stationary vehicle, or overtake a pedal cycle, horse or road maintenance vehicle, if they are travelling at 10 mph (16 km/h) or less."
Not sarcasm at all. I was slogging up the hill just under 10mph there so no problem at all with them passing me safely
— PassPixi (@PassPixi) June 29, 2022
At least it's one of the better ones...
One kit. One team. Two races. ❤️💙
Introducing our new kit from @SANTINI_SMS for @LeTour and @LeTourFemmes🤝 pic.twitter.com/xBB3OxauHZ
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) June 29, 2022
Bahrain Victorious performance manager Vladimir Miholjević has hit back at the police raids on the team's riders ahead of their departure for the Tour de France.
"The searches passed well. Everything was said in our press release and we're here more confident than ever. It's really difficult to say what to expect. We'd like to know why they are doing this," he told VeloNews.
Before dropping one of the mic drop line..."We’re sleeping like babies and working like horses." That gave me the shivers...
"We’re showing everything through our results and we are 100 percent transparent," Miholjević expanded. "Someone who is interested to see how we are working can join our team for a period of time and maybe these people will understand the effort that staff and riders are putting in their jobs to achieve their results."
NEW KIT DAY! 🤩
Something new for the #TDF2022 and... for the rest of the season! 🙌
Read all about it here: https://t.co/mHTOSJuq5Vpic.twitter.com/rLawxwlZPx
— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) June 29, 2022
That little blue sleeve touch is very Bahrain McLaren/Victorious 2020/2021...but what are those helmets?!
Apparently it's the unique green-blue colour of newly-announced sponsor Dstny, who will become a title sponsor in 2023... great for commentators and sports directors looking at a packed peloton, not so great for my eyes...
So, four teams will be sporting new limited-edition kits for the #TDF2022 - Bora-Hansgrohe, Israel-Premier Tech, EF Education-EastPost and Jumbo Visma. Any more that I've missed? And which is your favourite? pic.twitter.com/GyYkzvl7sA
— Felix Lowe (@saddleblaze) June 29, 2022
1. Israel - Premier Tech
2. EF Education-EasyPost
3. Bora-hansgrohe
4. Jumbo Visma
Tell me I'm wrong...
Oh, and those are just the ones we know about. Lotto Soudal are teasing something...and we all know Alpecin-Fenix will have something eye-catching to mark the end of their Alpecin-Fenix era...
Do you know what these are? The end of an epic 2,5 years as #AlpecinFenix! 💙❤️
After their last training ride in our AFC kit, our 8️⃣ riders at @LeTour signed their jersey. And you can win one! 🥳
Head over to our Facebook or Instagram account to participate. Good luck! 🍀 pic.twitter.com/DWzUQmXif1
— Alpecin-Fenix Cycling Team (@AlpecinDCK) June 29, 2022
Transport for London (TfL) has published casualty statistics for 2021, which show the number of people killed while cycling was down by 40 per cent on the 2005-09 baseline, from 17 to 10 people. However, serious injuries to people cycling increased by 54 per cent, something TfL says may be explained by a near doubling in the share of road journeys by bike.
The total number of people killed on London's roads in 2021 fell by 22 per cent to the lowest level on record, although vulnerable road users — pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists — continue to be most at risk, making up 81 per cent of all people killed or seriously injured.
TfL stressed "continued action is needed to achieve the Mayor’s Vision Zero goal of eliminating death and serious injury from the transport network."
Cars continued to be the main vehicle type involved in collisions in 2021, involved in 64 per cent of all collisions resulting in death or injury.
"Although last year saw the lowest number of road deaths in London on record, the latest casualty stats show that it is more important than ever to double down on our Vision Zero goal of eliminating deaths and serious injury from London’s roads," Stuart Reid, Head of Insights and Direction for TfL, said.
BREAKING NEWS: Alpecin-Fenix have swapped out Mathieu van der Poel for his brother David...oh, sorry, I've been reading too much of my Danish official Tour de France guide...
The official Danish Tour de France magazine has a picture of David van der Poel instead of Mathieu 🤣 #TDF2022pic.twitter.com/C1UstdJjBF
— Frederik Bohé (@FreddyB_HS) June 29, 2022
Stefan Küng's changed...maybe he feels his best shot at winning the Roubaix stage is to impersonate this year's winner to slip up the road unnoticed by Ineos Grenadiers? Genius...
You should see what they've done to Cav's profile too. They seem to have spelt him name F-l-o-r-i-a-n S-é-n-é-c-h-a-l...
Kudos to Frederik Bohé for spotting the snaps, and doing the honourable thing...spreading them all over Twitter so we can live blog them...
Better late than never...Jonathan Vaughters said the team was waiting for the result of Covid tests before announcing the team, we suspect waiting until after their new kit dropped might be the real reason...
Eight riders, eight nationalities.
This is us. We can’t wait to see what this squad has in store for the Tour de France.
Head to the link below for more from each rider.https://t.co/PL3zNBukyxpic.twitter.com/yz8maygLk6
— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) June 29, 2022
Eight riders from eight nationalities, including an unexpected call up for Owain Doull, who was forced out of the Giro ill but is back for his Tour de France debut, making it eight British riders (one more round of Covid tests dependent) rolling down the start ramp on Friday.
On the eve of the Giro Donne, Annemiek van Vleuten has announced she is extending her contract with Movistar until the end of 2023, at which point she will retire from racing.
"I didn't feel like stopping right now — I'm still super motivated, while also aware that there will be a moment when I’ll have to stop. And it suits me better to stop when I'm still at my highest level, playing the game at the front in the biggest events. I just want to finish on a high, and doing it with this wonderful group of people feels like the right thing to do.
"I'm sure I'll stop with a little tear in my eye, because I love this sport so much, but I'd like to leave cycling, the 'professional athlete' part of it, at the top."
We asked, you told us...
You didn't hold back...
Vomit looks nicer.
— carterhartbeat (@cattahhaart) June 28, 2022
The Cheese Wanker (their name, not mine) has created a cheese lover's guide to the Tour, detailing a local artisanal cheese suggestion for each stage...
One week to go and it's time to go cheese shopping. #couchpeloton#tdf2022
The Cheese Lover's Guide to the Tour de France 2022 https://t.co/VEvBNmAgE7
— Jonah (@TheCheeseWanker) June 24, 2022
Get your Havarti in for Friday's TT, Mimolette for the Roubaix stage, Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage in Huez, Tomme de Chèvre des Pyrénées for Hautacam and Brie de Meaux for stage 21...
Tour de France general director Christian Prudhomme has urged spectators to keep their distance and "stick to their place" to avoid a crash like last year's stage one disaster.
Dubbed 'Allez Opi-Omi' due to the message on the spectator's sign, the crash marred the opening stage of last year's race, and saw the woman responsible fined €1,200. Four riders retired injured due to their injuries, and Prudhomme has asked the "very enthusiastic" roadside following to give the riders space.
"Of course [the race] is 3,500 kilometres long and what we really need is for the media to pass on the message and keep on reminding the public to be careful," he told Insidethegames.
"We will have on the Tour de France 29,000 police and fireman. It is difficult to have one policeman behind each person so we also have security guards to give information to the public that they should not cross and hold their children's hand and stay on one side of the road. The public can move their hands, but they have to stick to their place."
We shall be sticking to our place too...not leaving the sofa for the entire three weeks...
.@roadcc taking a hardline approach on Cav not making the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Le Tour roster posting the news under "Crime and Legal"
I mean it is fairly "criminal" to exclude him given last years results and his form this year. Just take Cav AND Fabio and chase stages. https://t.co/o4qOqWi2Tnpic.twitter.com/Yu9I7MMTgb
— Richard (@teaathalftime) June 27, 2022
Perhaps Steve Bray will have to start shouting: "Stop Brexit (and ministers' drivers ignoring cyclists' advanced stop lines)" from now on...
The prominent anti-Brexit activist, ever-present outside the Houses of Parliament, had an eventful day yesterday, so we'll forgive him for not giving the driver both barrels too. Bray's amplifiers were seized by police officers, who told him of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which came into effect on Tuesday, restricting where he can protest noisily.
All very interesting, important and newsworthy, but not very cycling-related...that was until this happened...
Sajid Javid just now in the car with armed escort behind. I’m not relenting or stopping. Nothing has changed. Up yours Priti Patel #ToryFascistspic.twitter.com/EuGzWCWD8X
— Steve Bray Activist Against Brexit +Corrupt Tories (@snb19692) June 28, 2022
This Range Rover, apparently transporting health minister Sajid Javid to the Commons, took a verbal bashing from Bray...but look where it's stopped...
Advanced police driver sitting happily in the advanced cyclist stop box -great example @theJeremyVine
— leicestercyclist (@leicestercylist) June 28, 2022
Stopped in the bike zone, very lawful.
— Andrew Hemmens Huninga van Oostwold (@llanelliscar) June 28, 2022
As per Rule 178 of the Highway Code, informed by Laws RTA 1988 sect 36 & TSRGD Schedule 14 part 1...
Advanced stop lines. Some signal-controlled junctions have advanced stop lines to allow cyclists to be positioned ahead of other traffic. Motorists, including motorcyclists, MUST stop at the first white line reached if the lights are amber or red and should avoid blocking the way or encroaching on the marked area at other times, e.g. if the junction ahead is blocked. If your vehicle has proceeded over the first white line at the time that the signal goes red, you should stop as soon as possible and MUST stop at the second white line. Allow cyclists, including any moving or waiting alongside you, enough time and space to move off when the green signal shows.
Drivers of large vehicles should stop sufficiently far behind the first white line so that they can see the whole area where cyclists may be waiting, allowing for any blind spot in front of the vehicle.