Exasperated Nils Politt snaps chain, suffers comical roadside bike fit with THREE neutral service bikes; "There's no need for that": Cav weighs in on Philipsen blocking; Sex toy cycle lane; Stage 19; Ashes fever hits the peloton + more on the live blog

Bike fits are very 'in' at the minute, however admittedly few bike fitters recommend undegoing your appointment at the roadside during the Tour de France, with a raging peloton one minute behind you... cue chaos...

𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁! 😲

A broken chain enables the peloton to overtake the Bora–Hansgrohe rider as he struggles to find a bike from the neutral car and is forced to wait for the team car 💥🔗#TDF2023pic.twitter.com/LyuqydDqb1

— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 21, 2023

As much as it's Politt we should feel sorry for, I can't help but feel a bit bad for the poor neutral service lad. Then again if you're sat behind the break at the Tour offering mechanical support you should probably know what pedal system each team uses... oh, and that a small frame won't fit a 192cm tall rider...

For anyone wondering, with the gap between the breakaway and the peloton at just one minute there would have been no team cars behind the riders up the road, hence the neutral support.

> What the hell is neutral service at the Tour de France?

That's a question Nils may well be asking himself tonight. Back to the racing... Victor Campenaerts and Simon Clarke are off the front, 50 seconds ahead of a huge breakaway including 34 riders. Names such as Jasper Philipsen, Mathieu van der Poel, Fred Wright, Christophe Laporte, Dylan Groenewegen, Mads Pedersen, Tom Pidcock... although, as I say this, Clarke has gone pop spectacularly on the climb... Campenaerts lone leader with 32km to go.

Stick with us for more updates from stage 19 throughout the afternoon...

Mathieu van der Poel summed today's stage up quite nicely...

💬 Can you tell us what will happen today?

💬 Pouvez-vous nous dire ce qui va se passer aujourd'hui ?

Thanks @mathieuvdpoel😂#TDF2023pic.twitter.com/zykfIYbSCD

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 21, 2023

Let's hope Simon has more of an idea, as we head over for the next of his daily previews...

Another one that should, in theory, end in a bunch finish, but subject to the same caveats that applied yesterday. We're back in the Jura today, but the two categorised climbs, the second of which has its summit 29.1km from the finish town, shouldn't prove too taxing for the legs of the fastest men in the peloton. 

A finishing straight that is around 8km in length also plays into the hands of the chasers – psychologically, it’s easier to chase down a break when it is within line of sight, and the absence of twists and turns late on, more easily negotiated by individual riders or a small group rather than the peloton, also favours the sprinters who today have their last chance of success before Paris.

Back to Dan for his big prediction of the day: Tiesj Benoot, Matteo Trentin, Julian Alaphilippe, Jack Haig, Mads Pedersen, Georg Zimmermann, Warren Barguil and Victor Campenaerts will go in the break and have a lead of around one-minute with 80km to go. 

What? You mean that's how it's unfolded exactly? Wow, must be my day...

I love the Tour de France, but questions needed to be asked about some of the sponsors.
(Image funded by my Diagram Club https://t.co/kuFoBdbmdK) pic.twitter.com/SSZLueDq4c

— Dave Walker (@davewalker) July 20, 2023

Little fact for @PhilWest13 during todays stage of @LeTour….thanks for the fact @BumbleCricket! Sorry about me 😂 @TDSM_Firmenich@lancscricketpic.twitter.com/BSzwkbP7dK

— Matt Winston (@Mattw1nston) July 20, 2023

DSM, whose directeur sportifs are quite clearly supporting the home team but whose Tour squad includes four Aussies (Sam Welsford, Chris Hamilton, Matthew Dinham and Alex Edmondson), have clearly had plenty to talk about on the bus this July.

So much in fact, yesterday John Degenkolb was complaining he's now getting cricket ads popping up during his browsing...

QOTD “there is so much cricket chat on this bus between the brit’s & aussies i now get cricket adverts in my feed” @johndegenkolb🇩🇪 whose sitting drinking his Yorkshire tea…with Milk

— Matt Winston (@Mattw1nston) July 20, 2023

No need to tell you who was very quiet on the team bus last night... there were four of them and they're praying for rain this weekend... 

Welcome to the Pleasure(velo)drome... that needs some work, admittedly...

The good people of Wilford and Ruddington have undergone a long-running campaign to get this bike path more regularly cut by the council, the overgrown greenery often spilling out into the cycle route, narrowing access and pushing riders closer to the road.

Thankfully, the repeat attempts to get the powers that be to listen have been successful, one local rider reporting the path has now been added to the 'urban programme' of maintenance, meaning it will get four or five cuts a year rather than the one or two it used to get.

The first of those cuts was done, revealing... well... this...

Those CO2 inflators are getting quite high-tech, aren't they?

The road.cc reader who forwarded us the details of this amusing addition to the route speculated it could be the next 'Wanksy', the community-spirited artist spraying penis paintings around potholes to get the council to fix them sooner.

"Interesting twist on the saga of neglected bike paths," Julian told us. "This could be the female version of the aforementioned geezer..."

Notts People on Bikes, a group promoting cycling in the area, commendably swerved any immaturity you might find on such websites as this... commenting only that it shows "if you keep campaigning on and on... then eventually, even some simple, low-cost/no-brainer good stuff might get done for those who want to travel actively."