Mechanicals are always a pain in the arse, but some more so than others...
Just the 100km home on a Science in Sport 750ml water bottle for poor Matthew. Maybe we'll have to get one in for Stu to review. I'm thinking: cheap, light, easy to fit, but not the most comfortable.
One of the comments on the Strava activity (go give Matthew some well-deserved kudos) called it the "best audax bodge I've ever seen" and debatably a better choice than enduring 100 quad-shredding kilometres across Northumbria out the saddle. Chad Tavernia of previous live blog fame might disagree, the US rider who broke the cycling internet when he shared pictures of his saddleless Pinarello having completed 100 miles out the saddle.
Cue Photoshop accusations, Chad telling us he'd in fact taped over the seatpost hole to avoid getting water in his frame, and the retired police officer repeating the ride on Zwift to prove he wasn't lying.
> 'No Saddle Guy' proves doubters wrong with virtual 100 mile ride (+ exclusive interview)
Another legend of the 'no saddle' genre is, of course, Wout van Aert, the Belgian winning the Benidorm round of the Cyclocross World Cup despite kicking his saddle off while remounting after a final lap crash. No time to fit a water bottle, Wout completed the course perched on the rails before giving a modified victory salute...
BBC Radio 1 presenter Mollie King's Comic Relief cycle raised more than £1.3 million in total, the BBC has revealed. She described the week, which saw her ride 500km (311 miles) from London to Hull, as "incredibly tough" but "one of the most amazing experiences of my life". With all donations now counted, the final total stands at £1,312,558 (enough to buy the Pope's Pinarello 109,379 times)...
Probably got enough use out of this one😬 pic.twitter.com/xutUYUhUMk
— Pc @pc (@PCorfe) March 24, 2024
This is all too relatable I'm afraid to admit. One. More. Ride...
The video below from the women's edition of Gent-Wevelgem, captured as Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes powered up the Kemmelberg, has prompted more talk about fan behaviour at races...
WTF IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?
We shouldn't tolerate this, we really shouldn't... 🤯😡 pic.twitter.com/YIDOm18WRk
— Saar De Reu (@de_reu_saar) March 25, 2024
It was shared by Saar De Reu who wrote: "WTF is wrong with people?! We shouldn't tolerate this, we really shouldn't. This is NOT a one time thing, it happens all the time, only now I had images of it happening, but see stuff like this happen at least five times when I go to a race and NO the riders do not like that."
The video has been viewed more than 230,000 times in the past eight hours and sparked plenty of comments from fans questioning the need to touch or push a rider to show your support, an act even more strongly condemned if it involves touching a female rider like this.
"It's not a difficult concept to grasp but please DON'T TOUCH THE RIDERS!!" a cycling fan called Anna Mac added.
road.cc reviewer and contributor Charlotte Eleanor Broughton commented: "This is so awful, I can't fathom how anyone thinks it's ok to do this!"
For those who are interested this is the moment at normal speed. pic.twitter.com/KGj1i6xsk0
— Saar De Reu (@de_reu_saar) March 25, 2024
After Mathieu van der Poel's win at E3 Saxo Classic on Friday, some of the discussion was similarly focused on fan behaviour, one US-based cycling fan saying the images of Belgian fans booing and giving the Dutchman the middle finger were "unreal to me".
As an American who is envious of anyone living in close enough proximity that they can attend these races roadside, I’m shocked by the self righteousness & privileged attitude of some fans
Stepping into the road booing riders,👎&🖕towards the 🌈 jersey
It’s unreal to me 😢😤 pic.twitter.com/bclcBJmNgN
— Atlanta Rouleur Collection (@AtlantaRouleur) March 23, 2024
[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]
Adam Hansen, the retired pro cyclist and now president of the CPA riders' union, has revealed that they have asked the Giro d'Italia to provide "neutral rain jackets or warmer jackets, for riders that are caught out, due to extreme weather at the Giro on difficult stages".
While the Tour de France and Vuelta a España peloton usually only has to worry about drinking enough water and applying sun cream, the Giro's May slot in the calendar leaves it susceptible to varied weather, especially by the time the race hits the mountains of the north.
[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]
Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale rider Larry Warbasse called Hansen's proposal "awesome" and "such a good idea".
"It's not always easy for team cars to support all their riders when the bunch is blown apart," Hansen explained.
Anything that would help prevent a rider having to descend a mountain pass in freezing temperatures in nothing but a jersey and arm warmers has got to be positive...
[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]
If Wout van Aert is to win that elusive Flanders crown on Sunday, he'll have to do it without Christophe Laporte. Visma Lease a Bike have confirmed that the Frenchman, who has continued to impress with the Dutch squad, will miss Dwars door Vlaanderen, the race he won last season, and the Tour of Flanders as he is "not sufficiently recovered from a stomach flu and a saddle sore".
Laporte's season began with top-10 finishes at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and Strade Bianche, but his problems began to surface at Milan-San Remo where, in the absence of team leader Van Aert, the 31-year-old was dropped well before the Poggio and abandoned the race early.
The team confirmed he then suffered from a fever and diarrhoea later that evening and had been unable to train since. It was hoped the European champion would win the race against time to be fit for the double-header of Flanders races this week, something it has now been confirmed he has not. Teammate Jan Tratnik suffered a crash at Gent-Wevelgem, reporting "luckily no major injuries, just a lot of bruises and pain".
"Helmet saved me," he wrote on social media, sharing the picture below...
[Jan Tratnik/X]
PuffaJones has set up a fundraiser to continue to support his efforts in 2024, repairing donated bikes to give to children who might otherwise not be able to enjoy the joys of having one.
"Each bike has a cost involved to repair it, I have no official funding, so your kindness is what drives the project," he told followers on social media. "So far you have helped me rehome over 3,000 bikes in five years. Thank you for your help!"
The bikes go to children most in need, 25 schools in South Wales, as well as dozens of local charities and clubs receiving Mike's bikes.
Jonas Rutsch suffered road rash and bruising during today's crash in Gent-Wevelgem. He will resume training tomorrow.
— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) March 24, 2024
Nice to know he got the evening off at least...
I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and got out on the bike at some point between all the racing action. Here's our whistle-stop tour through everything you might have missed.
"Same performance as SRAM AXS at half the price". Like the sound of that? That's the claim of WheelTop about its new EDS-TX electronic groupset for road bikes. Find out more in Tech of the Week.
As mentioned earlier, it was a bumper weekend of racing action, Mads Pedersen and Lorena Wiebes taking the victories at Gent-Wevelgem. This time next week we'll be dissecting the Tour of Flanders. A four-day weekend and the Ronde van Vlaanderen, there's something to look forward to.
At Catalunya, Tadej Pogačar won the final two stages, taking his tally for the week to four, one more than the other 174 riders combined.
Ryan also brought you the story of Bahrain Victorious' response to the internet drama dug up last week that Antonio Tiberi, the rider who shot dead a cat belonging to San Marino's former head of state, had apparently 'liked' a post on social media making light of the offence.
His team said he doesn't use the account and "didn't notice" the 'like'.
Oh, and here's a new bike that got an impressive review from Suvi...
Well, 39.9km/h if you want to be really picky...
First, Chad Tavernia and his no saddle antics, now Alexandar Richardson and his bonkers training efforts. There's a comfortingly familiar feel to this morning's live blog. Richardson, the Saint Piran rider who was formerly a teammate of a certain Mathieu van der Poel (whatever happened to him?), is no stranger to logging quite ridiculously impressive training rides on Strava...
> Alexandar Richardson's latest mind-boggling training ride — 220km at 37km/h
This one, the London to Brighton and back a regular favourite of his, almost always smashed out an incomprehensible average speed. It turns out professional cyclists are really good at cycling fast... who'd have thought it?