Demi Vollering behind team car, Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift 2023 stage 5 (Eurosport/GCN+)
Drafting is far from an uncommon thing in pro cycling, nor is it the most frowned upon. Sure, riders do it sometimes, but it's also really easy to spot and penalise, or at least lambast (as we are doing here), both by comissaires and the fans.
Demi Vollering thought she was stopping for a fairly quick bike change with 60km to go in today's stage five, but was instead met with a subsequent slow wheel change by the mechanic. That would make it twice in two days that Vollering has thought she was getting something but instead didn't.
Anyway, as a result of the slow wheel change she ended up losing touch with the peloton and had some riding to do to catch up with the group. And when she, presumably along with the team, decided to do a bit of the good ol' naughty drafting behind her team car, right in front of the motorbike carrying the race commissaire, it was certain that they would get a telling off.
🚨🗣️📢
The SD Worx team car gets the hairdryer treatment from a furious commissaire.#TDFF2023pic.twitter.com/CUxikqSoFY
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 27, 2023
It didn't stop there, as it appeared that Vollering was going for another cheeky attempt at testing the rulebook, the good ol' naughty sticky bottle.
Team SD Worx is certain to receive a fine, but will Vollering, in her bid to snatch the crown of Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift from her rival Annemiek van Vleuten, end up receiving a time penalty too?
> Cheating at the Tour de France — a rich history dating back 120 years
Credit where credit's due, kudos Westminster City Council.
Ryan Wilson, the producer of the Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 had posted a video of him falling off his cycle after hitting a "cavernous" pothole outside John Lewis on Oxford Street on Tuesday 2PM, and asked the council to fix it, so "what happened to him on his way to work didn't happen to other cyclists".
The Council, acting with the briskness previously unseen by most cyclists, proceeded to fill the pothole, which Wilson later called a "beast" (if you're unfamiliar with road.cc pothole lore, a beast is smaller than a potmonster, but just bigger than a pothorror), in just over two hours.
Thanks again for flagging this with us. We take road safety seriously and can confirm that this pothole has now been filled. You can report highways and pavement issues directly to the relevant on our website here: https://t.co/tQSJzqoAdDpic.twitter.com/EIoYIXW5O2
— Westminster City Council (@CityWestminster) July 26, 2023
Do good things actually happen?
"Thanks again for flagging this with us. We take road safety seriously and can confirm that this pothole has now been filled," wrote Westminster City Council on Twitter the next day, posting a photograph with the time stamp of when the job had been completed.
And here’s my thigh and bike, both of which would also be grateful for your help. @WCCpressofficepic.twitter.com/liDYOcJy4y
— Ryan Wilson (@rhwilson83) July 25, 2023
Wilson, who was left with a bruise on his thigh and a detached rear wheel (hopefully the derailleur and the chain are okay), may not be the most pleased, but his alerting of the council and the council's swift movement in return has definitely impressed other cyclists, including Mike van Erp, better known as Cycling Mikey.
Yes, me too.
— CyclingMikey (@MikeyCycling) July 26, 2023
Others however, were a bit more sceptical of the pothole filling. "I assume that is simply a short-term emergency patch as that is going to loosen and come out very quickly with traffic running over it," wrote one person, while another sarcastically wrote: "Give us another text in two weeks when it's as bad as ever and we will come out again and fill it with".
> Council pays cyclist five-figure settlement over "harrowing" pothole crash
Danny Williams, CEO of Active Travel England, meanwhile thanked the cab driver following for "good driving", as he crept to a halt behind the fallen Williams. I know, the minimum, right?
With the non-existent summer being taken over by another spell of relentless rains, we might be in for some more potholes, as if there already weren't enough...
"London's #Cycleway1 route is constantly blighted by potholes. One of the many, many downsides of having a supposed Cycleway route on roads used by heavy motor traffic," wrote Toby Edwards.
> "Same question every winter": Cyclists slam "disgraceful" state of Britain's pothole-covered roads
Hopefully, this incident does mean the good work of fixing the ever-increasing potholes on Britain's roads keeps continuing, and we eventually have less and less of them to fix. Eventually.
While we are discussing potholes on today's live blog, there's some more good news coming in from Westminster.
Transport journalist Carlton Reid reports for Forbes that an influential group of British MPs has told the Department for Transport (DfT) that “future investment [in major roads] should focus more on maintenance and renewal rather than brand new projects.”
Instead, the Tory-led transport committee recommends "cancelling complex and costly enhancement projects."
In February, the Welsh government decided to halt or amend almost all major road building projects– which forms part of a new transport plan that aims to reduce carbon emissions, improve road safety, and prioritise cycling, walking, and public transport use.
Cycling UK had praised it as "the most significant change in UK roads building policy over the last 20 years", with the charity’s head of campaigns saying the move represented a “marked shift from other UK administrations’ simplistic and outdated views of building more roads as the answer to all transport woes from congestion to poor air quality".
Could we be in for another nationwide transport policy shift? Something tells me this is going to be a bumpy ride...
A petrolhead writes that this is a “very biased piece of anti-car driver propaganda masquerading as journalism.” https://t.co/k1ptNJNNBA
— Carlton Reid (@carltonreid) July 27, 2023
Team SD Worx's Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes has been forced to abandon Tour de France Femmes after she suddenly started suffering from stomach issues this morning, an hour before the beginning of stage five.
The team has confirmed her departure, right before today's stages with a flat finish and tomorrow's entirely flat stage, perfectly suited to Wiebes' profile as an elite sprinter, who already has a victory in this year's Tour when she beat Jumbo-Visma's Marianne Vos in sprint during stage three.
Lorena Wiebes is leaving @LeTourFemmes after illness. She’s suffering from stomach issues & consequently can’t start in Onet-Le-Château. "Of course this is a sportive loss for Team SD Worx, ‘cause there were still sprint opportunities. But health always prevails," says Danny Stam pic.twitter.com/gqM1vh9AN6
— Team SD Worx (@teamsdworx) July 27, 2023
"Lorena Wiebes is leaving Le Tour Femmes after illness. She’s suffering from stomach issues & consequently can’t start in Onet-Le-Château," said Danny Stam, directeur sportif of the team in a social media post.
"Of course this is a sportive loss for Team SD Worx, ‘cause there were still sprint opportunities but health always prevails," he added.
SD Worx, a well-oiled victory machine has been enjoying a near-perfect season and now, a near-perfect Tour as well. The team has won two of the four stages so far and has the yellow jersey with Lotte Kopecky, as it looks to dethrone Annemiek van Vleuten with its own star Demi Vollering. Even in the races it didn't win, its riders bagged the second position — not as if that would be enough for the Dutch team.
Wiebes, the current European champion has also had a stellar season so far, winning a total of nine races in 2023. Besides the win in stage three, she came second in stage one behind teammate Kopecky when the Belgian had attacked solo and crossed the finish line alone.
Don't tell anyone but I'm a Pogi fan through and through, but man I can't stop loving these two Danes!
Team mate, friend, countryman.
Mads is THE perfect wingman.#TDF2023
— Anna Mac 👑🪱 🌈🖤 (@AnnamacB) July 27, 2023
"Yet another argument for five-year retests"?
Or at least that's what some people are calling for following a social media altercation involing road safety advocate Adam Bronkhorst and Colin Gregson, after the former shared a screenshot of a post from an anti-ULEZ Facebook page encouraging motorists to sticky a second licence plate on top of the orginal one as a "way of getting around ULEZ".
While we can discuss how wrong that is in the first place all day long, let's move on to Mr Gregson's replies shall we.
"Great news from Cheshire. The footpath along the River Weaver which has and is multi and equal rights of way has been given priority to PEDESTRIANS. Cyclists have been relegated !!! Majority of them have never heard of a 🔔".
I don't know what's going on, but Bronkhorst seemed to get it and replied saying that pedestrians have always had priority, and that drivers have to give priority to cyclists on the roads.
"Since when do drivers have to give priority to cyclistsbon roads???" asked Gregson.
Bronkhorst said: "Since it’s written in the Highway Code. Are you saying you don’t know the Highway Code?"
The glorious reply from Gregson to this was, if you can believe it: "Passed my test in 1988. not opened it since. oh and its merely a "code" its not actually legally binding. No one ever gets prosecuted for breaking the highway code."
> Most drivers still don't know Highway Code changes, poll shows
I keep up to date with the law changes. Yes. And refer to it often. It’s your responsibility as a driver to know the rule changes. You have to do it. You do know this right?
— Adam Bronkhorst (@AdamBronkhorst) July 27, 2023
Brilliant. Another driver who let alone is unaware of the Highway Code changes, but hasn't even bothered to open it since 1988. Just brilliant.
Yet another argument for five-year retests.
— 🚲 🚗 60BPM (@willbramhill) July 27, 2023
Or as this tweet put it better...
They drive over us
— Blue is the Colour (@Jacksarback) July 27, 2023
🇧🇪 Jasper Philipsen challenging the stars of tomorrow 🤩#TDF2023pic.twitter.com/1tg2lUuNJq
— Domestique (@Domestique___) July 27, 2023
Kudos to the kids for sticking to their lines, lest Philipsen deviate...
“If you can’t pass safely, don’t pass. We need better education for some motorbike riders,” riders’ union president Adam Hansen said, after one of the motorbike riders was fined 200 Swiss Francs for the dodgy manoeuvre.
Demi Vollering has done a Jasper Philipsen. And by that, I don't mean his recent, ahem, heroics in the green jersey at the Tour de France, but the embarrassing scenes when he celebrated after crossing the finish line in last year's Tour, without knowing that Wout van Aert had already won the stage.
Vollering's oopsie moment came in yesterday's stage four of Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Yara Kastelijn had already taken the stage victory in a brave solo breakaway in one of the longer races on the women's calendar over a minute before the bunch sprinted to the finish.
Yara Kastelijn wint voor het eerst op de weg en hoe🤩
Demi Vollering deelt een prikje uit aan Annemiek van Vleuten → https://t.co/PQNIYvWBiqpic.twitter.com/ctHFlgZ0qx
— NOS Sport (@NOSsport) July 26, 2023
> Poor Jasper: Philipsen celebrates... second place
The prolific Dutch rider from the prolific Dutch Team SD Worx, looked slightly unsure, but still went ahead and posed for the photos as she outsprinted Uno-X's Anouska Koster. However, the photos would later come back to haunt her (well, second is not terribly bad is it), and she half-jokingly asked to delete the photos after the race.
"I had no clue what was in front of me,” Vollering told Cycling Weekly at the finish line. "I caught up Anouska Koster, and she was the only one I could see, so I thought I had everybody. I didn’t know Kastelijn was still in front."
"I didn’t know if someone from the group was out [front], you know? So I thought I’d celebrate anyway and then we have at least the pictures. If I didn’t win, then we can always delete them. So let’s delete them,” she said with a smile.
Demi Vollering thought she'd won Stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes 🤦#TdFF2023pic.twitter.com/i1C8IOldh8
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 27, 2023
Vollering now sits 43 seconds behind teammate Lotte Kopecky in second position in the general classification, with a eight second lead over Lidl-Trek's Elisa Longo Borghini and Movistar's Annemiek van Vleuten.
She was hoping to gain more seconds on her rivals, and was disappointed at not getting the stage win. "Of course, it's nice [to gain some seconds], but I had hoped for more today," she said. "I hoped I could do a bit more in the end on the last climb, but I couldn't make a difference anymore after such a long race."
I'm sorry, but you know how the internet works. Once it's there, there's no going back... At least she did have some fantastic company to enjoy after the race.
🎶 'And they call it puppy love'🎶
Demi Vollering may not have won Stage 4 of @LeTourFemmes, but it looks like she enjoyed some 🐶 company after the race! 😍#TDFF2023#sbstdf#couchpelotonpic.twitter.com/VJ7LSBHTOi
— SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) July 27, 2023
Among the 22 teams competing in the 2023 Women's Tour de France, familiar bike brands take centre stage. From Bianchi to Trek, Canyon to Giant, the women's peloton boasts an array of top-tier bike manufacturers, which for many is the highlight of the racing season, bringing the pro women racing to everyone's screens.
> Tour de France Femmes 2023 - what bikes are the women riding?
Bonus points to anyone who guesses correctly what equipment Team Canyon-SRAM Racing uses!
Firstly I am glad both parties are OK, and there were no serious injuries.
Saw a collision this morning, between a guy on a bike and a guy in a van.
Left turn only lane, bike passes van on the inside mid corner.
Interested to hear peoples opinions on where fault lays? pic.twitter.com/amKffFfegO— Michael Snasdell (@MichaelSnasdell) July 25, 2023
This video doing the rounds on social media since yesterday, everyone seems to be having an opinion. Cycling Mikey called it a "very stupid piece of cycling", while others have pointed out that the van driver did not have his indicator on, which have raised questions like whether or not a signal is required to drive around to the left if the road ahead is left-only.
So here's something to discuss for you lot, whose fault and what should or shouldn't be done in such a situation...