Welcome to Tuesday's live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
16/07/2019, 20:17
Michael Woods and Rigoberto Uran from EF Education First explain why cyclists shave their legs
16/07/2019, 15:55
Shots fired: “The biggest problem here in France is trying to find good coffee”, says Richie Porte
#TDF2019 What would your perfect rest look like? We asked the pros! Here's episode 1 with @richie_porte! pic.twitter.com/gYE8zKHcai
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) July 16, 2019
The Aussie was describing his perfect rest day, but we didn’t expect him to go full savage on the hosts for their lack of coffee-making skills. Still, Porte claims they managed to find somewhere that would sell him a caffeine hit up to his high standards eventually…
16/07/2019, 15:54
Rest day research - pros to follow on Strava
Want to know which Tour de France pros to follow on the internet's foremost social fitness network? Look no further than this feature, where we list every rider at this year's Tour who is actively posting their rides stage-by-stage...
16/07/2019, 15:46
Tour Gap 2019 edition - Mountain biker jumps over peloton
Mountain bikers jumping over the Tour de France peloton mid-stage has become a bit of a thing in recent years - in 2013, French freeride mountain biker Romain Marandet jumped over a group including eventual winner Chris Froome of Team Sky during the 100th edition of the race, and there was another example last year, albeit on a BMX bike.
The latest, shown in the video above, features another French mountain biker, Valentin Anouilh, and took place early on during yesterday's Stage 10 of the race, which started in his home town of Saint-Flour in the Auvergne.
16/07/2019, 14:34
Get involved in Cyclescheme's weekly challenges ahead of Cycle to Work Day for the chance to bag yourself some prizes
In the build-up to Cycle to Work Day on the 8th August, Cyclesheme are running weekly challenges with the chance to win prizes when you complete each challenge.
We're now in week three, and simply by uploading a two-wheeled activity to Love to Ride and taking a photo you could win yourself a brand spanking new Ribble Hybrid AL e-bike with an RRP of £1,899! You have until 21st July to enter this one, and next week will be celebrating women’s cycling with a Trek FX Sports bike to be won.
Check out the Cycle to Work website here, and here's that link again to get hooked up with Love to Ride so you can start uploading for the chance to get your hands on the prizes.
16/07/2019, 13:34
Did this roundabout put paid to the chances of Pinot and other Tour de France hopefuls?
Here's an intriguing angle on yesterday's chaotic Tour de France stage that saw the race split into echelons and saw Thibaut Pinot and other GC hopefuls lose 1 minute 40 seconds or more to the likes of Geraint Thomas and Julian Alaphilippe; did some of those riders ultimately lose time because they went the wrong way around a roundabout?
Most of the overall contenders were positioned at the fornt of the bunch approaching the roundabout just under 40km from yhe finish in Albi. Thomas, Alaphilippe and others who would be in the front group took the shorter, right hand route; Pinot and others went left, which according to Groupama-FDJ boss Marc Madiot led to him dropping from 20th to 60th position in the peloton.
With EF Education First driving the pace immediately afterwards there was no chance for Pinot and other riders including Jakob Fuglsang and Richie Porte to move back to the front, and when the split happened, they were on the wrong side of it.
The roundabout where Pinot and some other favorites went left, when right was faster. Just after that hell broke loose when EF started echelon @inrng@davidopoczynskipic.twitter.com/aORJ5rYHyX
— Jonas Creteur (@jonas_creteur) July 15, 2019
Some riders including Pinot's Groupama-FDJ went left on a roundabout when the right side was faster, went from 20th place to 60th place in seconds https://t.co/2BAHJuRa2K
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) July 15, 2019
16/07/2019, 13:10
NYPD pledges no further crackdown on cyclists after rider deaths
A senior officer from the New York Police Department (NYPD) has promised there will be no more crackdowns on cyclists following the death of a rider.
The force has come under intense criticism from campaigners in recent months for its policy of responding to cyclist fatalities in road traffic collisions – some involving hit-and-run drivers – by ticketing riders in the area in subsequent days.
Streetsblog reports that NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan, speaking at a meeting hosted by WNYC and Gothamist, said: “It is absolutely insensitive of us to go back to a scene where a bicyclist has been killed and summons bicyclists. … I completely agree. So moving forward, the enforcement is not going to be on bicyclists.
“We may do education of cyclists if we see someone doing something dangerous, but the enforcement for 72 hours after [a crash] will be strictly on the vehicles.”
"It’s insensitive of us to go to a scene where a cyclist has been killed & summons bikes,"@NYPDChiefofDept sending a clear message - we're committed to making NYC streets safer for all. Enforcement immediately following a fatal bike collision will now be on vehicles only. pic.twitter.com/SkWwdo2utA
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) July 12, 2019
16/07/2019, 12:43
Driver who chased cyclist and knocked him from bike, breaking his pelvis, pleads guilty to assault
Incident happened in Renfrew in February - full story here .
16/07/2019, 11:58
e-road bikes for Tour rest day
Sagan and co are heading out for a rest day spin, not on their normal road bikes, but the brand new Specialized Turbo Creo SL e-road bike launched today. Neat marketing trick for sure, or a benefit for very tired legs maybe?
16/07/2019, 11:35
My hill's steeper than yours etc...
The announcement that Harlech is now the steepest street in the world has got plenty of attention; and plenty of correction attempts on social media. Yes Te Aute in New Zealand, Aproz in Switzerland the Scanuppia in Italy may have more savage gradients in places, but this record is for the steepest residential 'street', not just a hill. People actually live at the foot of Ffordd Pen Llech, rather than just fail to get up it on a bike!
16/07/2019, 09:05
Ffordd Pen Llech, the street in North Wales with a 37% gradient, finally recognised as the world's steepest
The Welsh town of Harlech has wrestled the title of world's steepest street from Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, with Ffordd Pen Llech now being officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the steepest.
Locals in the sleepy seaside town near Snowdonia were long convinced their street was steeper than Baldwin Street, which has held the title for over a decade, and the official measurements have finally proved so. Ffordd Pen Llech was shown to have a gradient of 1:2:67, or 37.5% over fall, while Baldwin Street's ratio is 1:2:86. Guinness measure the steepness by taking average of the steepest section over a distance of 10 metres.
Residents are already experiencing a mini tourism boom thanks to the street's notoriety, and hope it continues to ramp up (here all week). Speaking to Guinness World Records, visiting Belgian cyclist Uerslype Hendrik said: "The first day of vacation we went to the shop and I bought some postcards for Belgium – and we heard about this climb. It feels very good to climb up."
Anyone ever been daft enough to try and ride it, or got any photos? Do let us know in the comments, we're curious...
16/07/2019, 09:32
DO your worst Chris...
So many tempting replies but I’m resisting... https://t.co/ZgSblfKSGr
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) 16 July 2019
It's fair to say some of the replies aren't exactly sympathetic to Johnson either...
Chris Boardman probably took it back as there is such a thing as bad publicity.
— Francis Martin (@korkymaster) 15 July 2019
16/07/2019, 09:01
Wout van Aert's Stage 10 win on Strava
The prodigious 24-year-old Belgian bagged his first Tour de France stage win yesterday, and has shared the news on Strava. No power data but the upload shows van Aert bagged plenty of KOMs and rode at an average speed of 44.3km/h, keeping a cadence of 92rpm over the 222km, five hour ride.
16/07/2019, 08:56
Geraint Thomas congratulates teammates on top tactics in crosswinds
Boys on fire today in the crosswinds Great to be up to second at the first rest day #tdf2019pic.twitter.com/TA7BHGpGY3
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) 15 July 2019
Ineos caught a few GC contenders naping yesterday, with Thomas and Egan Bernal sitting in second and third place in the overall standings - is it now (one of) theirs to lose?