You might have already seen the video doing the rounds on social media, it's already been viewed nearly three million times on the 'Cycling out of context' Twitter account. Apparently filmed earlier this week on the Galibier stage of the Tour de France, it shows the moment an overenthusiastic spectator, you know, one of those ones you see all the time and shake your head at for running up the climbs just inches away from the riders.
Well, things took a turn...
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) July 4, 2024
Another spectator clearly not very impressed by the running gives them a nudge, and by nudge I mean — quite a significant shove, so much so the fan is sent tumbling off the mountain. When the camera returns back to the falling fan seconds later it shows they'd dropped even further down the slope.
And while plenty took pleasure in seeing what they viewed as a moment of mountain justice — a perfect dose of karma for an irritating blight on the sport — the point has also been made that, well, pushing someone off a mountain because you don't like what they're doing might not be wholly virtuous either.
Idk, the guy is in the same position as the other one was running. Not like he was staying away from the riders himself
— King Arthur 👑🇧🇷 (@crash22crash) July 4, 2024
Admittedly, sympathy was in the minority on this one...
Maybe just leave it to the authorities in future...
Reminds me of Bergen 2017 pic.twitter.com/76wZYDRKd5
— Melhus skatepark 🦐🦈 (@skateparken) July 4, 2024
For those of us who spent years watching Dan Martin, Nairo Quintana and Domenico Pozzovivo ride TTs...
aero /ˈɛːrəʊ/ adjective INFORMAL
aerodynamic.
"we softened the lines for a more aero look"
In the end just four riders could beat Victor Campenaerts' time — Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič, Tadej Pogačar and stage winner Remco Evenepoel. If you're going to come fifth, that's not a shabby quartet to lose to. It was clear not long after yellow jersey Pogačar had rolled down the start ramp at 4pm on the dot that the Big Four were going to head the stage standings, the only question over the order.
The TT world champion wins his first Tour stage!
With Tadej Pogačar finishing 12 seconds down, Remco Evenepoel wins stage 7 of the #TDF2024pic.twitter.com/P2BCJH3Imr
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 5, 2024
While Vingegaard started hot before appearing to fade, Evenepoel looked bulletproof, the TT world champion bettering Roglič and the Dane's times and setting a benchmark that even Pogačar could not overhaul.
Hearts sank all over Belgium when Evenepoel signalled for the team car with two kilometres to go, before relief as the mechanical (perhaps chain troubles) was apparently fixed with a slam of the bike. When the yellow jersey crossed the line a winning margin of 12 seconds was confirmed, the Soudal Quick-Step rider cutting the gap to Pogačar. It was an otherwise successful day for UAE Team Emirates' star, who took time on his compatriot Roglič and great rival Vingegaard.
It all means Pogačar remains in yellow, 33 seconds ahead of Remco, 1'15" up on Vingegaard and 1'36" up on Roglič heading into a weekend involving punchy hills and gravel.
Everyone's on the road (or finished) now, Victor Campenaerts' current fastest time about to come under siege from the big hitters. Here are some of the more notable things to happen so far although, let's face it, TT days are rarely that riveting. Poor Stefan Küng had some mechanical bad luck...
😫 Terrible for @stefankueng. The Swiss champion has a mechanical issue that's costing him time!
😫 Terrible pour @stefankueng. Il est victime d'un ennui mécanique qui lui coûte du temps !#TDF2024pic.twitter.com/hvbgJ4UXRk
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 5, 2024
Meanwhile, Julien Bernard was living the dream, his entire village out on the climb to welcome him...
All the love for Julien Bernard 🥰@lidltrek#TDF2024pic.twitter.com/b34LEYwgJN
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 5, 2024
What a load of part timers. Only 25km on the menu at the Tour de France today...
A huge day in the GC fight. Can Jonas Vingegaard take back time on Tadej Pogačar? How will Remco Evenepoel go? Or will the Slovenian superstar extend his lead? All to play for this afternoon. Pogačar is the last rider off the start ramp at 4pm UK time.
One of the more bizarre stories to come out of the Tour so far...
Italian website Tuttobici reports that Davide Ballerini, Mark Cavendish's Astana Qazaqstan teammate, was fined 200 Swiss francs for behaviour contrary to the image of cycling on the day the Manx Missile broke the stage wins record.
Why? Well, he stopped by the roadside during the finale to watch the sprint on a giant screen. How dare you, Davide.
Mathieu van der Poel's father Adrie has spoken out about "really not healthy" dieting in pro cycling and admitted he is "glad Mathieu eats a greasy hamburger every now and then".
Speaking to Wieler Revue, he said: "In the past, almost all female cyclists had anorexia and when I look at today's cyclists, I almost get scared when I see them walking. They are already so thin and all the food has to be weighed. I am glad that Mathieu eats a greasy hamburger every now and then and that he doesn't care about that nutrition app. When I look at the Tour, I see cyclists of 1.80 meters with a weight of 60 kilograms. That is really not healthy."
That's the approach to nutrition I take too, Adrie, you know, it's all about avoiding being "really not healthy" so you've just got to keep scranning those hamburgers, right?
Retired pro Nathan van Hooydonck responded to Adrie's comments, suggesting that Mathieu is lucky to be able to eat a hamburger as, "If other riders do that, they are no longer competing to win."
"Mathieu can go eat a hamburger because he is exceptionally talented. If other riders do that, they are no longer competing to win. You race to win and to get the best out of yourself, don't you?"
I know what you're all itching to know: 'Does the aero beak make the cut???'
> Do you have these cycling essentials? 10 things we think every budding cyclist needs
Let's face it, despite relentless culture war noise around cycling in recent times, cycling and active travel were never prominent during the election campaign. With that said, it would be remiss of this live blogger to miss the opportunity to dig deep into the road.cc archives and pick out some of the politicians we've reported on during the last four-and-a-half years and see how they got on.
It's our (at times tenuous) cycling election round-up. We'll start with the most recent Transport Secretary.
Mark Harper (Conservative) LOST
The final Tory Transport Secretary lost his Forest of Dean seat to Labour (you'll be hearing more of that) in one of the tightest results of the night. Harper's majority from 2019 had been more than 15,000, but in a disastrous night for the former minister for transport, a huge swing to Labour, plus Reform taking 17 per cent of the vote, saw him lose his seat in Parliament by just 278 votes.
In more recent times, as one of his last acts in the role, Harper agreed to a proposal to introduce tougher laws for "dangerous cyclists" who kill or injure, as he said "it's only right tiny minority who recklessly disregard others face full weight of the law". That legislation was not passed in time, due to Rishi Sunak calling the election, although during the campaign Labour pledged to introduce it in the next Parliament.
Grant Shapps (Conservative) LOST
Where do you start with Grant Shapps. Another former Transport Secretary, Shapps' time was, from the viewpoint of a cycling website's interests, defined by that mad week in August 2022 when he proposed number plates, insurance and speed limits for cyclists... before making a rather quick U-turn. Shapps lost his Hertfordshire constituency of Welwyn Hatfield to Labour after his share of the vote plummeted 19 per cent.
Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative) LOST
North East Somerset and Hanham also went to Labour, Jacob Rees-Mogg presumably already banging on the GB News studio doors shouting to be let in. We've had less involvement with Rees-Mogg than others, although his opposition to a bike lane in Keynsham and use of an "extremely offensive racist term" while talking about "lunatic" cycle lane plans earned him some road.cc time.
Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative) WON
The former Conservative leader spearheaded the campaign to introduce the aforementioned new 'dangerous cycling' laws. Iain Duncan Smith kept his Chingford and Woodford Green seat, in part due to the opposition vote being split between the former Labour candidate Faiza Shaheen (who was replaced and subsequently ran as an independent) and the then-instated Labour candidate Shama Tatler.
Philip Davies (Conservative) LOST
During the campaign we heard from a reader who accused Davies of "massive prejudice against cyclists" after "angry email rant" to constituent who questioned his "contradictory" road safety views and number plates for cyclists stance. That was the least of Davies' problems when it transpired he was one of those who'd been down the bookies to bet £8,000 on the election date. It's always the ones you least expect. Anyway, Davies will presumably be joining Rees-Mogg down the GB News job centre having also lost his seat last night.
Nick Fletcher (Conservative) LOST
The Conservative former MP who was criticised for touting a known 15-minute city conspiracy in Parliament, and who later claimed cycling routes have turned his city into a "ghost town", lost his Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme seat to Labour last night.
Thérèse Coffey (Conservative) LOST
Thérèse Coffey, the Conservative politician who for a brief period during the autumn of 2022 served as health secretary during Liz Truss' stint as prime minister, lashed out at an active travel project in her Suffolk constituency, claiming that it is "anti-driver". Last night, Coffey lost her Suffolk Coastal seat to Labour, her share of the vote down a third on 2019.
Nigel Farage (Reform) WON
During his years of opportunistically jumping from issue to issue, Farage has unsurprisingly had a pop at cycling a couple of times, perhaps most famously in 2021 during a rant about"insane" cycle lanes. And no, you probably don't need me to tell you in this case "insane" isn't a positive adjective...
> Nigel Farage forges new career as anti-cycling bingo caller
Louise Haigh (Labour) WON
The shadow transport secretary easily kept her seat in Sheffield, so we're assuming Louise Haigh will be the next head of transport now her party is in government. In November, concerns were expressed after Haigh began to outline her stance on active travel policies, 20mph speed limits and low-traffic neighbourhoods.
However, she later insisted that active travel is "essential for economic growth" and "every pound invested delivers a huge return in benefits". She also said comments about Sheffield being too hilly to cycle in were a "light-hearted joke".
And finally, anyone know how this guy got on last night? At least he'll have a driver taking him everywhere from now on...
> Sir Keir Starmer was 'making U-turn' when he hit cyclist, says witness
It's been the Tour of expensive aero tech. Dylan Groenewegen got his nose in front to take yesterday's sprint wearing his 'aero beak', an attachment that Scicon has now made available online, priced at £300 for UK buyers. Don't all rush at once...
Well, once you've got that you can head over to aero clothing specialists Nopinz who are selling the socks Mark Cavendish has been seen in during this Tour de France. That's if you've got a spare £999.99 down the back of the sofa.
Named P35, a reference to Project 35 and Cavendish's hunt for the outright Tour stage wins record, they are, Nopinz says: "Designed by champions for champions. These exceptional socks are crafted for a groundbreaking project, offering unparalleled performance and comfort. Elevate your ride with the perfect blend of innovation and excellence."
Unfortunately for the brand, Cav's history-making win on Wednesday was achieved in a pair of the team's standard-issue socks, the Manx Missile changing back having been spotted rocking the extra aero ones earlier in the week.
If you sign up to Nopinz's mailing list you'll get five per cent your order and can very truthfully tell that significant other you got £50 off. Or just buy an entire bike, or a set of wheels, or a top of the range turbo trainer, or a different cycling outfit for every day of the week, or a holiday, or you know, anything you want that costs almost £1,000.