“The worst part is he did it for over 500m”: Pro cyclist disqualified for “stickiest of sticky bottles”; Police fine driver with bike on rear mount for hiding licence plate; Wout van Aert goes for double disc wheels; Drunk Pogačar + more on the live blog

Tour de France may be over, but the pro cycling shenanigans are still finding ways to sticky themselves to this live blog, much like how 31-year-old Belgian pro Dietmar Ledegen found a cheeky bottle from his team car to sticky himself to at the Tour de Wallonie.

The five-day stage-race is currently being held in Wallonia and in the second stage yesterday, Ledegen, who rides for the UCI Continental Team Baloise-Trek Lions soared too close to the sun and tested the race comissaries patience for a bit too long — over 500 metres, according to a spectator who posted footage of the rider with a not-so-clever sticky bottle.

“The worst part is that he did it over 500m, I quickly took out my phone when I saw him coming from the distance like a bullet,” wrote the Belgian cycling fan behind the Twitter account Lv_cycling.

Magnifique Ledegem Dietmar 👏#TourdeWalloniepic.twitter.com/znw0RWyYeh

— Lv Cycling 🇧🇪 (@Lv_Cycling) July 25, 2024

Yesterday’s stage from Arlon to La Roche-en-Ardenne was the also the queen stage of the race, with the peloton going up and down the Ardenne hills in the punchy route. Ledegen who initally finished 104 out of 111 riders, 19 minutes down on the winner Markus Hoelgaard, has now been disqualified by the UCI for the sticky bottle.

Meanwhile, Antoine Vayer, former coach and trainer of the Festina team two decades ago, wrote: “Inspired by Cavendish and Pogacar, some riders combine [engine] power (Fr: puissance) and sticky bottles to resemble them.”

In a pro season that has been eerily devoid of many sticky bottles this year, we’ve now had two of them in the space of a week.

> "With the bottle like this, it's not correct": Giulio Ciccone hits out at Santiago Buitrago for 'sticky bottle' at Tour de France

Sticky bottles are fairly common in most races, as riders latch on to the bottle and let the team car propel them for a few extra precious seconds — but most of the times it's  executed to help riders catch back on to a group or give the legs a momentary break, in a manner that's seen as acceptable in the eyes of the race commissaries.

After stage 19 of the Tour de France, coincidentally also the queen stage on Friday, the broadcast cameras caught Giulio Ciccone and Santiago Buitrago arguing over a sticky bottle, with the two also embroiled in a battle for the top 10 in the general classification at the time.

Ciccone, placed 10th with just a 34 second lead over Buitrago, going into the penultimate stage of the race, was seen having an animated exchange with the Bahrain-Victorious rider, pointing out his antics of holding on to the bottle while receiving it from the team car for longer than required.

While Buitrago's alleged sticky bottle was missed by most broadcast cameras, it looks like Ciccone and his teammates had a good view of it.

"Hey! We were three behind you, we saw everything. With the bottle like this, it's not correct. This is the Tour de France," Ciccone said to the 24-year-old Colombian, approaching him on his bike as he was sitting down and wiping away the sweat

Not particularly amused at the interaction, Buitrago hit back at Ciccone, saying: "I've learnt it from you!"

Buitrago ended up securing the 10th place in the GC at the end, pushing Ciccone out of the top 10 on the last day with a very strong time trial in which he finished 9th, just 2 minutes and 53 seconds behind the dominant Tadej Pogačar.

An interesting bit of policing which has led to some opposing reactions from cyclists was carried out by the Lancashire Roads Police team, as they issued a Fixed Penalty Notice to a motorist on the M6 who was driving with a bike on their rear mount, thus obscuring the licence plate.

The police wrote on Twitter: “When reading manufacturer instructions on how to mount cycle carriers to their vehicles the part about registration plates/lights being visible is also read. This driver on M6 near Garstang was stopped and issued a fixed penalty for registration plate being obscured.”

When reading manufacturer instructions on how to mount cycle carriers to their vehicles the part about registration plates/lights being visible is also read.

This driver on M6 near Garstang was stopped and issued a fixed penalty for registration plate being obscured #Team4RPUpic.twitter.com/3RGfU1Tczd

— Lancs Road Police (@LancsRoadPolice) July 23, 2024

While some cyclists didn’t see any problem with this, others have called out the police team for ignoring more serious, dangerous traffic offences while choosing to focus on lesser ones.

Twitter user Real Gaz said: “I don't have a problem with this. The registration mark is clearly not visible so illegal. It's not hard or expensive to buy a plate.”

Another cyclist Marcus said: “So many people on here suggesting that the police were unfair on the BMW driver. I can guarantee that if the driver in this case was riding his bike instead, and the Police stopped him for something 'trivial' the same commenters would be calling on them to throw the book at him!”

However, another account by the name of BlueRay wrote: “A note to all Police officers in the traffic teams. There are far, far worse, driving offences to deal with on our motorways. No one is going to die because the reg plate is obscured. Don't be an anorak, and you might even get a little respect from the public.”

I’ll leave this one with you all to discuss. Was the police right in fining the driver or do you consider that as a trivial offence?

Meet Oscar, a gentle, kind and super-cute pup who a couple on their indefinite cycling trip came across in Armenia.

These cyclists find this beautiful, alone pupper on indefinite trips in the Caucasus. They give him a life full of adventures & love. If the word Adventure were an Image, it'd be this Three on a journey.🙏

📽️Timo Schaper pic.twitter.com/eIrINtfZxH

— Hakan Kapucu (@1hakankapucu) July 23, 2024

Timo and Lara were crossing Armenia on their trip when they heard barking atthe roadside, and right there hiding in the garbage, they found an abandoned puppy all-alone. The couple decided to stay with him to see if his mother and siblings were around. But they instead found a small cardboard box which the puppy had managed to chew his way out of, before coming to the realisation that the two-months old pupper had been abandoned and left to fend for himself.

So, they decided to adopt him and take him on their cycling adventure. They named him Oscar, and he immediately became a part of their family. "His future will definitely be on the bike, travelling," they said.

Stop me if I’m wrong, but haven’t you ever loved a football club so much that you want to end up buying the club? Well, I guess not everyone is Jim Ratcliffe around these parts, but what’s the next best thing if you haven’t got a couple billion quid lying around? A share in the club I guess…

Well, Olympian and Active Travel Commissioner for England Chris Boardman was on the Pedal for Paris ride, a bike ride from Manchester to Paris organised by Boardman and Sport England to highlight green initiatives in sport that are helping to fuel sustainable practices for the future.

On the way, they stopped over at Lewes FC, a semi-professional football club in Sussex, where Boardman had a tour of the Dripping Pan, the team’s stadium and other facilities, and he was so enamoured by the team and its steps to tackle climate change, he ended up buying one share of the club.

Boardman told The Argus: “Lewes is an amazing set up and by the time I get off the ferry I will be one of the owners. It is completely membership owned, owned by the fans and I quite fancy being in that number.

“They grow their own food, they have equal pay and they recycle their kit. It is great that they are serving 50 per cent vegan food and they have days where they only serve vegan food and the attendance goes up.

“Eating plant-based food is the single biggest thing people can do about climate change. We wanted to put a spotlight not just on the problems but also the solutions.”

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he added: “The point of this journey wasn't just to raise awareness of climate change and its impact on sport. It was actually to stop off at places that are doing something about it.

“Lewes Football Club was the last one we stopped at and was serving vegan food to the fans. I was so impressed with them I actually bought a share in the club!”

Boardman also urged Sussex councils to continue creating new cycle lanes. He said: "Cycle lanes aren’t for cyclists they are for people who don’t cycle, because you look at the road and think ‘I don’t fancy that’.

"Every council is dealing with congestion, pollution and population health issues and bringing in cycle lanes is a way of dealing with all of those things at once and creating a nicer place to live. Over 80 per cent of people want to see more active travel, especially for getting to schools."

A couple cycling from the United Kingdom to Africa, raising money and undertaking charity work on the way, were hit with a setback when they did not even make it past Oxfordshire before one of their bikes was stolen.

> Couple cycling from UK to Africa make it to Oxfordshire... before bike is stolen at station

If anyone could use a pint of chilled brew, it would probably me right now. A close second might be Tadej Pogačar, the Slovenian just off the back of a dominating Tour de France campaign where he added a third maillot jaune to his palmares with some flair.

And as the UAE Team Emirates rider, who was already off to a crit race in the Netherlands on Tuesday evening, even revealing that the omission of her partner and Slovenian road race and time trial champion Urška Žigart from the national Paris Olympic squad played a part in his pulling out of the tournament, was seen with former pro cyclist Raffaele 'Lello' Ferrara, accompanied by Pogačar's mum as well. And looking quite tipsy (or tired, depending on who you ask), may I add.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Lello Ferrara (@lelloferrara3.0)

While fans have been going gaga over Pogačar's drunken demeanour, falling around on Ferrara's shoulder (come on, who hasn't done this with a mate on a Saturday eve), and even joking about his super low tolerance due to his build and metabolism, Ferrara has recently confirmed that he was in fact not drunk, but just tired from meeting his fans...

Pogačar claiming he's tired and fans colluding to claim there are some ulterior reasons behind — why have these two things coincided with each twice this week now?!

> “No Urška, no Pogi”: Tadej Pogačar pulls out of Paris Olympics due to “being too tired” – as fans blame shock Urška Žigart omission for Tour de France winner’s absence

"Let me clarify something important. Tadej had no opportunity to drink or eat. I have never seen a person so available to the fans," wrote Ferrara on his Instagram story after sharing the video as a post.

"His was really tiredness. I was excited and tired. I waited until the end to say goodbye to him; in a quiet moment he was with his mother and still dedicated time to me. Gentlemen, we are faced with something unique, let's enjoy this guy, it's what is good for world cycling."