Ah, the feed zone. A chaotic, nervous place where stray musette handles, anxious soigneurs, and hungry, weaving riders can wreak havoc on the bunch, creating a recipe for embarrassing crashes.
Or, if you’re Sean Kelly and PDM, a handy spot to attack and thoroughly annoy all your rivals (that’s one for the old-timers).
For Lidl-Trek’s multidisciplinary star Lucinda Brand, however, the feed zone during yesterday’s Giro d’Italia stage resulted in one of the more bizarre injuries of her long, distinguished career.
On the mountainous, hot stage to Urbino, won in sensational fashion by solo escapee Clara Emond, Brand attempted to grab a much-needed bottle from a roadside swanny – only to break her finger in the process.
Ouch...
The 35-year-old, a previous three-time stage winner at the Giro, is no stranger to suffering hand injuries in strange circumstances, sustaining a fracture in a metacarpal bone on her right hand while warming up before the Tabor round of the Cyclocross World Cup in October 2022.
So the Dutch star was well-used to the protocol after yesterday’s stage, which she described a “bit less fun”, thanks to her botched bottle grab:
However, Brand confirmed last night that she will be able to continue the race and help support her Lidl-Trek leader, the current pink jersey Elisa Longo Borghini.
“The good news, it isn’t as bad as the one they already fixed. Let’s see how I feel tomorrow morning but the doctors have [given] the green light,” she wrote on Instagram.
And speaking ahead of today’s fifth stage of the Giro, a rolling 110km affair from Frontone to Foligno, Brand – with her heavily bandaged hand – appeared upbeat about her chances of finishing the race, even with a broken finger.
Something went wrong yesterday for @lucinda_brand grabbing a bottle at the feed zone… 🤔
She has started today’s stage and hopefully we’ll see her finishing it 👊#GirodItaliawomenpic.twitter.com/K3JY1lsA7X
— Lidl-Trek (@LidlTrek) July 11, 2024
“An unfortunate feed yesterday, right?” the Lidl-Trek staff member asked her in a video for the team’s social media.
“Yes, it went a bit wrong!” Brand laughed.
“A broken bone, but luckily it’s all in place and we’ll see how it goes today. Hopefully it’ll be fine. I can brake, so as long as it’s safe, we keep continuing.”
Well, at least she’s been relieved of water-carrying duties for a day or two…
Primož Roglič’s career-long run of horrible luck at the Tour de France continued this afternoon 11km from the finish of another tense and fast stage to Villeneuve-sur-Lot.
The Red Bull-Bora rider, whose history of excruciating near misses and untimely crashes has seemingly migrated from Visma to his new team, hit the deck hard in the mass crash that shaped the remainder of the stage (and potentially the battle for the overall podium), after an Astana rider clipped a low, barely visible traffic island at speed with 11km to go, causing a serious pile-up.
"Jarrad Drizners has not moved."😨🇦🇺
The Aussie was caught in a HUGE crash with 12 kilometres to go and is receiving medical attention. Primoz Roglic was also affected but was able to finish the stage.
TDF 2024 | @SBS& @SBSOnDemand | June 29 - July 21#SBSTDF | #TDF2024pic.twitter.com/yNkvCOLz6q
— SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) July 11, 2024
While it was initially unclear whether Roglič had gone down in the crash, the forlorn, defeated demeanour of his team’s ride – it could barely be described as a chase – to the finish appeared ominous, and his second spill in as many days was soon confirmed by images of the Slovenian’s ripped jersey, damaged helmet, and bloodied shoulder.
Primoz Roglic, grand perdant du jour ! Une chute à 12 kilomètres de l'arrivée et le Slovène, touché à l'épaule droite, a perdu 2'27'' sur les favoris du Tour... #TDF2024#LesRPpic.twitter.com/MLC4pYKS7t
— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) July 11, 2024
Visma-Lease a Bike’s sudden and determined appearance at the front of the bunch in the wake of the crash has already provoked some consternation on social media, with many criticising the Dutch outfit for seemingly kicking their former rider when he was down.
But in the end – as Roglič rolled across the line in a manner he’s become all too accustomed to during his crash-strewn Tour career, two and a half minutes down, and with a 4.42 deficit on GC – it didn’t matter. His yellow jersey hopes, once again, were gone.
Van Aert ?
Démare ?
No! BINIIII 🏆#TDF2024pic.twitter.com/8M5Yxlkal1— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 11, 2024
Up ahead, in a strange, stop-start bunch gallop that almost resembled something more akin to an intermediate sprint, green jersey Biniam Girmay once again navigated the chaos perfectly to bag his third win of the race, seeing off the resurgent Wout van Aert, whose sprint was briefly thwarted at the barriers by third-place Arnaud Démare.
After a few years spent battling expectations in the wake of his stunning breakthrough 2022 season, the Eritrean (or should that be Eri-trio?) hero has firmly established his place not only as the dominant sprinter of this Tour, but right at the top of the cycling world.
VENI, VIDI, BINI 🇪🇷 💚
VICTORY FOR BINIAM GIRMAY 🥇🥇🥇#TDF2024pic.twitter.com/RFwSKoGbum
— Intermarché-Wanty (@IntermarcheW) July 11, 2024
Veni, Vidi, Bini, indeed.
After one of the Tour de France’s strangest, most chaotic bunch sprints in recent memory, Mark Cavendish and Arnaud Démare have both been relegated by the race jury for ‘irregular sprinting’.
Former world champion Cavendish, who crossed the line in fifth, could be seen flicking across from wheel to wheel before making a dramatic move from right to left just as the sprint opened up, forcing Cofidis sprinter Bryan Coquard to veer off himself to avoid a collision.
Van Aert ?
Démare ?
No! BINIIII 🏆#TDF2024pic.twitter.com/8M5Yxlkal1— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 11, 2024
At the same time, third-placed finisher Démare jumped off the wheel of his Arkéa lead-out rider, before drifting over to the barriers, a move that prompted Wout van Aert to stop pedalling for a brief moment and which the Belgian has blamed on his failure to win today’s sprint in Villeneuve-sur-Lot.
Both riders have been stripped of their top five placings and relegated to 67th and 68th on the stage.
Well, I think it’s fair to say that winning No. 35 hasn’t dulled Cavendish’s tendency to take risks during a sprint – or the commissaires’ ability to clamp down on some of the Tour record-breaker’s more, ahem, chaotic moments…
Shimano has reported “serious logistical challenges” and a “lower service quality of deliveries” with longer lead times as a result, the company’s warehousing and distribution operations suffering ongoing problems since it was outsourced to logistics giant Kuehne + Nagel last year.
Read more: > Shimano hit by delivery problems across Europe as brand admits “serious” logistical challenges, longer lead times and “lower service quality”
First, Lucinda Brand breaks her finger grabbing a bottle, then this EF Education-Cannondale swanny gets stuck in the middle of a charging peloton during a feed zone with 25km remaining during today’s stage to Foligno:
Jeepers.
Madness stepping so far into the road (a few other swannies were closer to the side), but fair play for keeping so calm, allowing the bunch to navigate their way past safely.
Ah, the fun, carefree life of a soigneur…
💥Crash in the peloton. Those worst affected are being seen to by the medical team.
💥 Chute dans le peloton. Les plus affectés sont gérés par les équipes médicales.#TDF2024pic.twitter.com/R4mjrhXCAz
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 11, 2024
Today’s inevitable sprint at the Tour has thrown up another potential GC twist, as a mass crash with 11km to go – after Astana’s Alexey Lutsenko clipped the central reservation at speed, causing a pile-up on both sides of the road and a number of riders, including one Lotto-Dstny rider, appearing badly hurt – has forced Primož Roglič and Red Bull-Bora to chase, after being caught behind the spill and losing over a minute.
And who’s putting the boot down at the front of the peloton? Only Roglič’s old mates at Visma-Lease a Bike…
That’s going to be a fun debate tonight.
They do look cool, to be fair…
> Canyon steps into the cycling footwear market with new Tempr CFR racing shoes
This design for the Hogarth Roundabout in Chiswick, West London, looks… ahem… fun for anyone not in a car:
Why even bother adding advance stop lines on a 4 lane dual carriageway? pic.twitter.com/vjT9OBB3OL
— jamesdoestrains (@jamesdoestrains) July 11, 2024
And cyclists on social media aren’t impressed, anyway, with one describing that drawing as an “absolute abomination”, asking: “Has somebody dragged an early 1990s design out from the basement?”
Meanwhile, Luke reckons he knows why they’d even bother including some spots of cycling-themed paint: “Because there’s no usable alternative for cyclists and they feel a tad guilty about it?”
That’s maybe assuming too much, if we’re honest…
According to data gathered by Garmin and published today, female cyclists are the fastest growing demographic within the tech company’s Connect online fitness community, with a nine per cent increase in activities logged by women over the past year.
Cycling activities in general increased by seven per cent, Garmin says, while indoor cycling experienced an even bigger jump, rising by 12 per cent.
Garmin users who cycle an average of at least 70 miles a week possess normalised power output of more than 180 watts, which the company says is indicative of the age-old maxim ‘the more you ride, the better you ride’, with Garmin also noting that cyclists who ride 90 miles per week are achieving an average VO2 max figure in the mid-50s, which, depending on your age, will likely land you in the ‘superior’ athlete category.
Meanwhile, Italian Garmin users are racking up the most time on their bikes, with each ride lasting an average of just over two hours (I wonder if that includes the coffee stop?) and 29 miles, while cyclists in Denmark are the most powerful (averaging 196 watts) and those in the pan-flat UAE the fastest (16mph).
As someone whose 2008-era CatEye bike computer has been dead for about seven years, this all means nothing to me…
The illness – whether it’s Covid or something else – that led to Fred Wright’s miserable day in the Massif Central yesterday seems to have spread around other corners of the Bahrain-Victorious hotel, as the British rider’s teammate, Basque climber Pello Bilbao, climbed off his bike this afternoon after struggling all day off the back of the bunch:
😥¡LA PEOR IMAGEN DEL DÍA! #TDF2024
Pello Bilbao no puede seguir tras los problemas físicos que viene sufriendo y echa el pie a tierra. #TourRTVE11jhttps://t.co/lAImyrNqr4pic.twitter.com/Dx9poA0R0A
— Teledeporte (@teledeporte) July 11, 2024
The 34-year-old, who won a stage at last year’s Tour, had been sitting in the top 20 on GC until yesterday, when he finished 142nd, 38 minutes down on Jonas Vingegaard, clearly suffering from the effects of the illness that prematurely brought a halt to his Tour this afternoon.
She may have narrowly missed out to Chiara Consonni on the race’s first sprint in Volta Mantovana on Monday, and was forced to watch her teammate Niamh Fisher-Black take the spoils on the following day’s summit finish to Toano – but there was no stopping Lotte Kopecky this afternoon in Foligno, as the world champion converted those second places into her first victory of the 2024 Giro with a devastatingly dominant, stunning sprint.
Placed to perfection by a textbook lead-out by her SD Worx team – which was polished off by a superb burst of speed from Barbara Guarischi, who still finished fifth despite spending the last 100m celebrating her teammate’s victory – Kopecky was in a league of her own once she accelerated, finishing bike lengths ahead of Consonni and Arlenis Sierra.
This time, the sprint was not close: @LotteKopecky turns on the jets and flies to victory 🏆
Stavolta la volata non è stata al photofinish: Lotte Kopecky ha premuto sull’acceleratore e si è involata verso la vittoria 🏆
⏮️ Ultimo Kilometro#GirodItaliaWomen#WonderfulWomenpic.twitter.com/SZsGJZkgEd
— Giro d'Italia Women (@girowomen) July 11, 2024
Aided by the bonus seconds for winning the sprint, Kopecky now sits just three seconds behind pink jersey Elisa Longo Borghini as the Giro prepares for a decisive, and brutal, three days in the mountains – where the world champion will hope to turn one more second place into overall victory.
TotalEnergies were targeted by thieves at the Tour de France overnight, as 11 team bikes and tools were stolen, including the main bike of stage nine winner Anthony Turgis, as team manager Jean-René Bernaudeau described the raid as “part of the game”.
> TotalEnergies bikes stolen overnight at the Tour de France
After questions over his tactics and team’s fuelling strategy yesterday, in the wake of the ‘mini-bonk’ that allowed Jonas Vingegaard to regain ground and outsprint him in Le Lioran, Tadej Pogačar’s stage 12 didn’t get off to the best start, as a touch of wheels in the bunch brought down the yellow jersey.
While appearing unhurt in the immediate aftermath of the crash, the spill did force the race leader into a bike change and a tetchy, frustrated ride back through the cars to the peloton, complete with a Cavendish-esque remonstration with the commissaires:
There's been a pile-up in the peloton and GC leader Tadej Pogacar is among them! 😨
He seems unharmed, but the same can't be said for a few other riders caught in the crash.
TDF 2024 | @SBS& @SBSOnDemand | June 29 - July 21#SBSTDF | #couchpeloton | #TDF2024pic.twitter.com/dkbBw9zXGi
— SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) July 11, 2024
Alpecin–Deceuninck’s Jonas Rickaert looked to have suffered the most in the pile-up, after a lengthy spell on the ground, but is now back on his bike.
Fabio Jakobsen, meanwhile, after two weeks of suffering at the back of the bunch anytime the road veered skywards, finally pulled the plug on his Tour during today’s stage.
Crash in the peloton, bike change for Pogačar. Jonas Rickaert on the ground but he's back riding now. Meanwhile Fabio Jakobsen stops. pic.twitter.com/H57KTtEeYJ
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) July 11, 2024
The lanterne rouge heading into stage 12, the DSM-firmenich PostNL sprinter – who sportingly, if slightly forlornly, waved to the cameras as he headed to his team car at the side of the road – quits the race eight days after his fifth-placed finish behind Mark Cavendish in Saint-Vulbas, his best showing at this year’s Tour.
Top work.
Five points deducted for the double use of ‘potential’, but still, impressive stuff.
Yesterday afternoon, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar captivated the cycling world as they battled side-by-side on the drag to the finish in Le Lioran, the defending champion pipping his great rival for a redemptive, iconic, narrative-shifting win, at the end of a thrillingly epic stage in the Massif Central which has blown this year’s Tour de France wide open.
An hour further back down the road, and a million miles away from the fight for yellow, Fred Wright was in a world of pain.
Wright battles on the gravel on stage nine (A.S.O./Charly Lopez)
The former British champion, as we noted on the live blog, was dropped from the bunch early on yesterday’s 211km stage, as a constant flurry of attacks streamed off the front, the breakaway and peloton refusing to settle.
While Cofidis riders Ion Izagirre, a double Tour de France stage winner, and Alexis Renard, called it quits and headed to their hotel for a much-needed break from the constant pain, Wright continued on, plugging away into the Cantal Mountains as the broom wagon loomed ominously behind.
It wasn’t enough, unfortunately. The relentless pace of the UAE-driven peloton saw Vingegaard and Pogačar cover the 211km, featuring four proper climbs at the finish and 4,177m in elevation, in 42.5kph – the fastest stage covering over 4,000m of elevation this century.
Wright, who finished second on a stage at the 2022 Tour and eighth in the uphill sprint on Saturday’s eighth stage, won by Biniam Girmay, crossed the line one hour, one minute, and 50 seconds behind the leading duo – and eight minutes outside the Tour’s time limit.
Speaking to ITV after he finished – which was very decent of him, given the circumstances – the Bahrain-Victorious rider said he had never suffered as much in his life, as he leaves this year’s Tour with his head held high.
👏 BRAVO @fred_wright0
Out of time today but he finished the stage bravely.
Hors délais aujourd'hui mais il finit l'étape au courage.#TDF2024pic.twitter.com/wZqK45DNYY— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 10, 2024
“That was the worst day of my life,” Wright said. “I really had to suffer then, and I wasn’t much fun. I’m not sure what happened to be honest. It was an easy day yesterday, but in the finish I felt terrible, I couldn’t help the boys.
“So I kind of was like, okay, I’ll go into today with a fresh mind. I’m always going to be up for it, and I’m always going to stay positive.
“At the start, for the first one or two kilometres I was involved. But I just suddenly had a bit of a moment, where I was like I feel terrible. I just didn’t have any power left. I was on my own from very early on. And I’ve always been good at TTing, working out what I’ve got, this is where I need to push.
“I’ve got no regrets, because that was all I had. It’s just a shame it was me alone. I wouldn’t have wished this on my worst enemy – not that I’ve got any enemies! I don’t think I’m going to suffer like that again, which is hopefully a good thing!”
Fair play Fred. You’ll be back.
Following his brutally tough day in the Massif Central, which saw him finish outside the time limit after spending the bulk of 200km riding on his own, Fred Wright has elaborated on the reasons behind his Tour jours sans, which he believes could be down to the bug sweeping the peloton at the moment (and which saw Astana’s Michael Mørkøv withdraw this morning with Covid).
🇫🇷 #TDF2024 | ST 11
Candid words from @fred_wright0 reflecting on his hardest day in his cycling career.
Fred battled for 200km on his own trying to make the time cut, but unfortunately missed out and will not start stage 12 @LeTour#RideAsOnepic.twitter.com/8M5J5IHKix
— Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) July 10, 2024
“I fought as much as I could, as much as my body allowed, but I really wasn’t feeling myself today,” Wright said in a video for Bahrain-Victorious’ social media channels.
“I’m not quite sure yet what the reason was. Bu there’s a bit of sickness going around the peloton, and I’m pretty sure I’ve fallen victim to that on the worst day it could have come.
“I really had a bit of a rev limiter on today. It’s a bitter pill to swallow to not make the time cut and be out of the Tour. But that’s the way things go.
“I’m gutted I can’t finish this journey with the boys and fight for stage wins, but I’m sure I’ll be back.”
Cycling’s great barrier safety question has reignited, this time over in the US, following a shockingly nasty incident at a crit in Salt Lake City at the weekend:
> Cyclist undergoes surgery to reattach arm after gruesome criterium crash when limb caught barrier
Ouch…
In a blow for Mark Cavendish’s hopes of taking his record-breaking stage win tally at the Tour to 36 (just to prevent Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar from even trying), the Manx Missile’s lead-out chief Michael Mørkøv has been forced to leave his final ever Tour de France this morning after contracting Covid.
Astana Qazaqstan announced that the 39-year-old Dane, who revealed on the rest day that he will retire at the end of 2024, tested positive for the virus yesterday evening and this morning, and despite feeling well, will not continue.
(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
“Yesterday evening and this morning Michael Mørkøv was tested positive for Covid-19,” Astana said in a statement.
“Despite the rider [feeling] good and doesn’t have essential symptoms, the medical staff of Astana Qazaqstan Team took a decision to stop the rider, first of all, to protect his health from long-term effects the virus could provoke in the future.”
A shame for Cavendish’s chances in the Tour’s remaining two or three sprint stages (the Dane has piloted the British star to five of his 35 stage wins at the race), but especially for Mørkøv himself, whose last ever Tour de France has ended prematurely and due to circumstances of his control.
But hey, they’ll always have Saint-Vulbas…
In news that puts the trials and tribulations of the Tour de France into stark perspective, Ukrainian track sprinter Andriy Kutsenko was killed earlier this month while fighting for his country against Russia, the Lviv Regional Military Administration has reported.
34-year-old Kutsenko was a multiple national champion on the track, and set a national record for the kilo time trial at the 2017 European Championships in Berlin, with a time of 1:02.935. He was also part of the Ukrainian team who broke the national record for the team sprint at the same event, recording a time of 44.487 seconds.
Representing Ukraine between 2006 and 2016, he also took part at the 2013 world track championships.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he returned home from Italy, where he had lived with his family, to volunteer with his country’s armed forces, serving in its 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade for two years. He was killed in fighting on 3 July, and was buried in Zhovkva on Tuesday.