Here's a blast from the past for some of you readers who've been around for a while, the return of STOLEN BIKE ALERT! It's being brought out of the cupboard, slightly dusty, for this bike theft with a difference...
Fellow penny-farthing lover Jeremy Vine shared the appeal saying: "Important we get this back. Red rear tyre will make it difficult to fence."
Yep, I'm sure it'll be that red rear tyre that's making it hard to shift...
Just to help narrow it down! Let's find Robert's Penny! pic.twitter.com/C9Tf9NxEaU
— Matt Shaw (@_MattShaw) June 4, 2024
In the end nobody could trouble Remco Evenepoel once he'd bested Josh Tarling's early benchmark, the Belgian taking a dominant win and claiming the race lead from Derek Gee, who put in a respectable ride but ultimately fell short of defending the jersey.
A great day for our team concludes with @EvenepoelRemco in the #Dauphine yellow jersey 🙌
Photo: @GettySportpic.twitter.com/9VjCm8TGPg
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) June 5, 2024
Primož Roglič rallied to take third on the day but sits 33 seconds behind Evenepoel on GC. It was a grim day for the rest, Juan Ayuso, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Aleksandr Vlasov, Jack Haig and Jai Hindley all shipping time to the stage winner. It puts the Belgian press on notice for a pre-Tour frenzy should their man hold out through the second half of the week as the race passes into the mountains. The others will be hoping the disrupted preparation catches up with Remco, but so far it's all looking very positive for the Soudal Quick-Step man...
That could well be the stage. Part of me wonders if poor Josh Tarling is just relieved to be free from his hot seat incarceration... almost certainly not considering that would have been a massive win for the Ineos Grenadiers youngster. He'd probably have sat there until midnight if required.
Wow, @EvenepoelRemco👏#Dauphinepic.twitter.com/2km3RDAhGI
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) June 5, 2024
Evenepoel was one second down on the Brit at the second checkpoint but timed his effort perfectly, finishing 17 seconds clear after some monstrous closing kilometres. Looking at those left to finish, and their first time check efforts, Juan Ayuso may be the only person who can spoil the Belgian's day. We hyped him up but Primož Roglič was 26 seconds down on Remco at that aforementioned checkpoint. It looks like Patrick Lefevere's going to be a happy man this evening...
'Tight bend coming up, keep an eye on the exit of the corner, hold that speed through the turnnnnnn... bleep...'
⏱Cette montée n'était pas au programme du jour 🇩🇪 @PolittNils
⏱This climb wasn't on today's menu 🇩🇪 @PolittNils#Dauphine l @TISSOTpic.twitter.com/Uu4s9qzeqW
— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 5, 2024
"This climb wasn't on today's menu..." the official Critérium du Dauphiné account joked, the big German Nils Politt not looking too bothered by his U-turn detour. He certainly took it better than at last year's Tour when he snapped his chain before performing a roadside bike fit amid neutral service blundering. Third time lucky...
By the time Politt crossed the line he had set the fourth fastest time, more than two minutes down on that set by a rampaging Josh Tarling at the start of the day. The GC favourites are preparing their efforts so it remains to be seen where Politt and Tarling end up, Remco Evenepoel setting the fastest time at the first checkpoint and Primož Roglič still warming up at the Bora-Hansgrohe bus. It could be an interesting next hour or so. Whatever you do, don't copy Nils...
The Critérium du Dauphiné time trial is underway, Ineos Grenadiers rider Josh Tarling the first to cross the line in Neulise. He wasn't the first to start however, the Welsh powerhouse passing three riders on his way to the fastest time so far. He'll now head to the hot seat where a quite lengthy wait will presumably commence, potentially all the way until about quarter to four when the final challenger will finish.
⏱ 🇬🇧@Joshytarling donne le ton sur ce contre-la-montre avec le meilleur temps sur la ligne d'arrivée !
⏱ 🇬🇧@Joshytarling sets the fastest time!#Dauphine l @TISSOTpic.twitter.com/1Nhu23CK2a
— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 5, 2024
The noises out of the Tarling camp were that he won't be at 100% today, having taken some time off after Paris-Roubaix, however he's two and a half minutes quicker than anybody else so far. Around an hour until Remco Evenepoel rolls down the start ramp, and then Primož Roglič will get underway at 15:11. Can anybody beat Tarling?
L'Equipe has this morning reported that Astana Qazaqstan may be getting some new backing, a Chinese partner apparently interested in almost doubling the team's budget. The French newspaper describes the potential deal as "XXL" and says a Chinese businessman is prepared to buy the team from the Kazakhs in 2025 in a five-year agreement.
The Astana name has been in the peloton since 2006, the team the first to be financed by government funds, a move that has since been repeated by Bahrain, UAE and Israel. L'Equipe says, if the deal comes together, the team would enjoy a significantly increased budget, placing them within the top three best backed outfits in the peloton.
8.30am in London yesterday morning, as filmed by Rory McCarron a cycling lawyer at Leigh Day:
London 08:30am pic.twitter.com/udbQJL3fPD
— Rory McCarron (@CyclingLawLDN) June 4, 2024
8.45am in Paris this morning, as filmed by Brice Perrin:
Paris, rue La Fayette, ce matin à 8h45.
Sorti de l'usage anecdotique et militant, le vélo est devenu un mode de déplacement massif pour les trajets quotidiens.
Dans la capitale française, sa part modale est déjà presque trois fois supérieure à celle de l'automobile (11% VS 4%). pic.twitter.com/0uxHzEzTzr— Brice Perrin (@briceperrin) June 5, 2024
Down(tube) and out in Paris and London didn't make the cut for the headline, but seemed too tortured not to give a mention before I move on...
Utterly dreadful news, hoping Kate makes a speedy recovery & after the physical injuries have healed she can manage the psychological impact. https://t.co/iuebEDsagn
— Dame Sarah Storey (@DameSarahStorey) June 5, 2024
Journalist and presenter at Sky Sports Sanny Rudravajhala also commented on the story...
We’re about to have an elite women’s road race in Britain and such is the current state of play, we’ve got a 4x4 driver nearly killing one of our British riders.
This is absolutely unhinged. @roadcc article link below. ⬇️ https://t.co/bNKIn2bjlOpic.twitter.com/nvEAwD31nA
— Sanny Rudravajhala (@Sanny_Rudra) June 4, 2024
There has been plenty of discussion given the high-profile nature of the incident,
Tim Egan suggesting that "road violence and violence against people on bikes is normal in England". I'm sure some of you in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would edit that to the whole of the United Kingdom.
"My son races at under 16 level but does most of training on turbo trainer and in car free space, I now commute on canal, my wife rides on pavement and canal. Is totally lawless with no justice for victims," he added.
Mark: "Depressing how outside of the cycling press this has also received zero coverage."
Ross McGibbon: "Always use a camera. Let's get the dangerous drivers caught for everyone's benefit."
Bev G-o: "Having been knocked hit by a car [driver] overtaking me and it then having a head-on collision with the car coming towards it, it terrifies me the number of drivers that make serious errors of judgement regarding overtaking cyclists.
"Cameras front and back are the way to get these people prosecuted for their reckless and dangerous driving. If it wasn't for my camera, two drivers would have got away with this. Instead, they were both prosecuted for driving without due care and attention. No, my camera didn't stop me being hit but it helped get justice and charges brought against those involved.
"I hope she's okay, recovers quickly and this experience doesn't stop her from doing the sport she loves."
"It doesn't matter how well trained he is or how well he cycles. Paint isn't infrastructure and it won't help him. We need physical barriers between motor traffic and cyclists. And no... clearly the pavement isn't an option here or anywhere else."
Those are the words of a road.cc reader who goes by the username AZB on Twitter/X and has highlighted the issues that face families that wish to cycle journeys in London and many other places.
The road in question, heading southbound on Upper Tooting Road, is actually part of CS7, a major cycling route from the City to Colliers Wood in south London, but this section is "particularly bad" and one of Tooting's numerous areas where AZB reports there is "literally nothing to keep cyclists safe".
"They often have those soft little wands (many of which have been hit by drivers) but loads of parts of CS7 are like this and make cycling there really hard," they explained. "I cycle with my children really often but rarely go through the CS7 with them riding independently because it's not wide enough to ride side by side and I simply don't trust drivers to see him and not turn across and hit my children.
"I can't count the number of times a driver has failed to see or failed to give way to me on my bike so I just know they won't see or give way to him. It's the main cycle route for us from Kingston into central London and although we very very rarely cycle all that way independently, we often take smaller journeys along the CS7 and most of it is pretty bad for safe cycling."
Journeys to school are better as "it's quiet roads and when we get to the busier roads, he's able to ride on the pavement there".
Last August, a video of a five-year-old having to navigate traffic and a blocked bike lane while cycling to school with his father went viral, the child's impressive bike-handling skills and the state of many British routes for vulnerable road users the main talking points.
One of the child's parents told road.cc: "When I speak to my friends with kids, the primary reason they don't cycle with their kids is safety. I think driving behaviours affect kids riding as a form of transport as their parents are put off using a bike over the car due to safety."
Just a couple of months ago, students, pupils, and teachers at a north London school aiming to encourage active travel have called on the local authority to install safety measures at a crossroads described as "unsafe and extremely intimidating", after 11 incidents which saw pedestrians or cyclists hit by motorists in the past five years.
It's not the first time AZB has featured on road.cc with the issue of child cycle safety, a video in 2022 also going viral and prompting discussion on Jeremy Vine's Channel 5 show, as well as criticism from two Conservative politicians (if you'd believe it?!)
In the clip, a driver could be seen refusing to wait a few seconds for the parent and child to pass, continuing at speed past the pair as they cycled on a road narrowed due to parked cars.
Susan Hall, who failed in her bid to become London's mayor, claimed: "Surely the issue here is that a 5-year-old should not be on the public highway riding a bike!" The comments were unsurprisingly widely criticised.
Conservative peer Baroness Foster — appointed to the House of Lords by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in December 2020 — also argued: "A child that small should not be cycling on a road! A completely irresponsible decision along with your comments that puts the entire onus on the car drivers if/when something goes horribly wrong!"
Much of the discussion from cyclists centred around challenging the "car-centric" mindset of the politicians who refused to accept children should be making journeys by bike on roads, as well as featuring calls from many for more protected infrastructure to allow vulnerable road users safer journeys.
In case you were on the night shift and need a quick pre-bed look at a bicycle...
> Dream or nightmare? JonnyMole's Dream Machine 2.5 is a gravel bike… but not as we know it
If ever there was a way to get over failing to amass enough points to qualify for the cross-country mountain bike event at this summer's Olympics, sunning yourself on a nice beach somewhere with a few beers would be right up there. And when you've already won almost everything possible on the road, becoming an international superstar in the process, cashing some nice cheques promoting a few products back in Slovakia must seem a pretty cushty arrangement.
By the way in Slovakia we have Peter Sagan in new summer TV spot for 'Zlatý Bažant' beer. Here it is. 😁 pic.twitter.com/P8yUxBZwCk
— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) June 4, 2024
He's already famously auditioned for the Danny Zuko role in Grease, so maybe an acting career will follow?
And who knows, maybe cycling-related beer ads will blow up and in the not too distant future we'll see Cav being wheeled out to promote the 'joys' of sipping a pint of Carling on a summer's afternoon? Something tells me Tom Pidcock won't be getting the Amstel gig any time soon...
Obviously we'll have to get a few crates of the Zlatý Bažant delivered to the road.cc office for a review. Purely for important research and testing purposes, of course, although if possible we'd be after something a little bit stronger than the alcohol-free ones Sagan's seen slugging.
Maybe alcohol-free is for the best where the three-time world champion is concerned, considering this is the same Sagan who was last summer handed a three-month suspended prison sentence for drink driving.
Sagan was also banned from driving for three months after being caught "dangerously" riding his scooter the morning after a night out in Monaco in May 2023.
Officers reported spotting Sagan trying to park his scooter "in a space reserved for two-wheelers" and then "very quickly noticed the signs of the scooter driver's drunkenness".