Welcome to your Wednesday live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
20/03/2019, 19:52
Peloton, who threatened to sue cycling fan over trademark ... get sued for $150m over breaching copyright
The at-home cycling studio brand's intellectual property lawyers must be trousering lots of the green folding stuff at the moment ...
— Sherine (@SherineUnk) March 20, 2019
Twitter user @Trudgin spotted the inconsistency ...
Are these the dudes that tried to trademark the word “Peloton”? You’d have thought they understood copyright?
— Trudgin (@Trudgin) March 20, 2019
20/03/2019, 18:56
Whodathunkit?
Building cycling infrastructure in “Building cycling infrastructure gets more people cycling” shock https://t.co/XfINuAHcNA
— Mark Treasure (@AsEasyAsRiding) March 20, 2019
20/03/2019, 18:07
Nasty Crash in Nokere Koerse Sprint Finish
Chaos on the #NokereKoerse cobbles as Cees Bol takes a much-needed victory for @TeamSunwebpic.twitter.com/I7TtA1niXp
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) March 20, 2019
Today's race in Belgium, that ends with an uphill cobbled sprint to the line ended with several riders hitting the cobbles hard.
Mathieu van der Poel looked to be in the worst state with concerned teammates staying with him before he was loaded into an ambulance. It wasn't the ideal start to his cobbled campaign, but thankfully initial reports suggest there are no broken bones.
The other riders that came down included Trek-Segafredo's Matteo Moschetti who has a badly pulled calf while Floris Gerts was taken away in a neck brace.
20/03/2019, 17:20
Thank god Eddie's wearing a helmet (to prevent damage to the tarmac)
Hopefully no drivers will take issue with 2018's world's strongest man Eddie Hall commandeering the road either, they will most likely come off worse! Hall was an elite swimmer before he started competing in strongman, but looks like he now turns to cycling when he needs to shift some pounds.
20/03/2019, 16:29
The fastest bike for an hour?
This is the bike of Victor Campenaerts who is taking on the hour record next month.
The Ridley track frame is paired with double Campagnolo Ghibli Pista wheels, Vittoria tyres and what looks to be a 3D printed cockpit.
The gear looks huge so it'll be interesting to see what setup he uses in the thin air at the Aguascalientes velodrome in Mexico. Campenaerts is currently on fine form having just won the TT at Tirreno-Adriatico.
The question is, can he beat the 54.526km set by Wiggins in 2015? Time will tell.
20/03/2019, 15:05
Video: Take a look at yesterday's people protected bike lane on London's Old Street
Yesterday, campaigners from Cycle Islington and Active Travel Now formed a people protected bike lane on London's Old Street calling for it to be made safer for cyclists - with Islington Council confirming only on Monday its plans to reduce the danger posed by motor vehicles, but work not beginning until 2021.
Our news editor Simon MacMichael went along yesterday and rode through the people protected bike lane, together with miniature schnauzer Elodie in the basket of their Elephant Bike - the sight of all that hi-vis making her a little bit excited, as you can hear.
Make the lane - #MakeTheLanepic.twitter.com/1jFPT2qXiZ
— filter more streets (@iambrianjones) March 20, 2019
And here's what it looked like from their point of view - thanks to Sean Howes of Cycle Islington for the action camera loan.
20/03/2019, 14:27
Staff assaulted as thieves steal Brompton from London bike shop
20/03/2019, 11:28
Team Sky jerseys = vintage MAMIL
Spare a thought for the designers at @CastelliCycling today. They've come up with the best Sky kit since the team was launched 9 years ago... and it's not going to worn outside Richmond Park from 1 May.
— Felix Lowe (@saddleblaze) March 19, 2019
20/03/2019, 10:32
Toughest bike race in the World? Mike Cuming explains how he "obliged" after rider asked him to warm his hands during comfort break
It may not be the best-known race on the calendar but the Tour of Normandie certainly has some of the best stories from those tough enough to take it on.
Madison Genesis riders have been sharing their stories ahead of this year's edition of the race and without doubt, the highlight comes from Mike Cuming:
If you want to check out tales from some other riders then you can read the whole thing here: https://www.madisongenesis.co.uk/tour-de-normandie-the-world-s-toughest-...
Now, where is that meme about cyclists being tougher than footballers again??
20/03/2019, 10:23
Liam's head is 4,928 Skittle-sized
Hexo Helmets came into the office a few weeks ago to scan Liam's head for one of their new 3D printed helmets which is coming in for testing.
The results are in and his head has a volume of 4,928 Skittles (that's 308 fun-sized bags), a weight of 5.421kg (full of good ideas) and a roundness index of 1.2, whatever that means.
You can find out more here - hexohelmets.com
20/03/2019, 09:11
Still going strong...
"My Shimano cycling shoes are 27 years old. That's right, I got them in 1992, trained for a year, did several years of triathlon (Olympic distance) while training 6 days a week, and have ridden three times a week since then.
Thanks to Aaron Burns for sharing this photo with us! pic.twitter.com/wN9xLqsIbJ
— RideShimano (@RideShimano) March 19, 2019
It seems Shimano's triathlon shoes from the early 90's were certainly built to last... if you like your shoes to look a little fresher then why not consider your choices by perusing our guide to performance road shoes.
20/03/2019, 09:03
Dvid Millar defends INEOS sponsorship, but cycling world is still divided on the ethics
This is the best news professional cycling could have right now - if they’d shut down it would’ve been back to the dark ages - and chapeau on losing the biggest sponsor in professional cycling and replacing it with the biggest sponsor in professional cycling @franmillar et al https://t.co/efqVMjzq0W
— David Millar (@millarmind) March 19, 2019
Millar says cycling would "return to the dark ages" if its biggest team ceased to exist, and congratulated them for scooping such a big sponsorship deal; however many commentators on social media can't get over the irony of the team being backed by a chemicals company, especially as Team Sky back the Ocean Rescue movement that advocates a reduction in plastic waste. What do you think?
So Team Sky becomes Team Ineos now. Changing bad publicity to worse publicity, the controversial team is now financially supported by a petrochemical company owned by a Brexiteer, living in Monaco. You can't script this. https://t.co/UjdqYpWbuS
— Roy (@RoyagonInfinity) March 19, 2019
BBC News - @TeamSky set to name new sponsor as (fracking company) #Ineos owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe
This is such a bad decision
They really haven't thought this through, have they?!https://t.co/Xz4yaf7OUc
— Craig Bennett (@CraigBennett3) March 18, 2019
“Fossil fuel pollution=largest killer of people cycling”
It’s hard to imagine a less appropriate owner of a cycling team than @INEOS. Air pollution, a lorry fleet. It’s like Katie Hopkins sponsoring the Refugee World Cup. https://t.co/wbXtYCpVMJ
— Simon Whitmore (@betterberunning) March 19, 2019
20/03/2019, 08:42
It's officially the first day of spring...
...so what are you waiting for, get on yer bikes and ride!
20/03/2019, 08:37
Royal Mail e-trikes are on the road
We’re working with industry to reduce road danger, congestion and air pollution whilst keeping goods moving in London
A pioneering trial of zero emission e-trikes by @RoyalMail could reduce the number of vans on London’s streets and help to clean up the capital’s toxic air pic.twitter.com/vSTMLI0KC0
— Transport for London (@TfL) March 19, 2019
Eight have been deployed across three cities, and if successful Royal Mail will extend the scheme. Read more on eBikeTips.