Climactic day at Tour de France with several Pogacar teammates ill and team avoiding questions; Trek announce new e-bike standards allowing 20mph on the pavement; Chris Froome’s next project; Alpe d’Huez mayhem + more on the live blog
UAE uncertainty
It seems like there’s only one place to start today’s live blog, on the lower slopes of Alpe d’Huez, where half of road.cc appear to have decamped. For nearly three weeks Tadej Pogacar has seemed imperious, untouchable, [insert another superlative here].
But there are more than just rumours that show all is not well. Yesterday we focused heavily on Adam Yates, who we had seen the previous day crawl over the line, pale and broken with the assistance of teammate Tim Wellens. Yesterday, the Belgian told Flemish media he had a sore throat and was not feeling great himself, but I think few would have expected him to finish with just the broomwagon for company, as captured by us on the ground yesterday…
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Yesterday, Brandon McNulty also abandoned the race having been dropped on the opening climb. That leaves Felix Grossschartner as UAE’s only climbing domestique, presuming the team will try and protect Isaac del Toro’s 3rd place, whilst Nils Politt and Florian Vermeersch might not be much use if the race explodes on the opening climbs.
As for the yellow jersey himself, yesterday the World Champion switched to black shorts for the first time in the race, having previously worn white in the world champion’s bands or yellow to match his top half. Coincidence? I’d be surprised.
Yesterday in his post-stage press conference, the Slovenian also only answered three questions – he normally answers five – whilst one of his answers was one word.
Last year of course, he was in a private battle with knee injury which we can say now was perhaps behind his race fatigue and apathy towards the whole rigmarole that surrounds the Tour. Do we have a similar situation on our hands? If so, the onus is on Remco Evenepoel and Paul Seixas to try and make the most of it…
Unibet break-in
Deary me…
> “It sucks”: Thieves smash window and steal bikes in raid on Unibet Rose Rockets cycling team van
Cycling to the Airport
In the sky with diamonds in the legs?
That’s the best way I could hammer home The Beatles and Cycling into a sentence on the fly – your own considered attempts are welcome of course.
But this is the news that Liverpool John Lennon Airport have created dedicated parking spaces for Bolt e-bikes and e-scooters, for airport employees and passengers travelling with hand luggage. The fleet is said to offer a 24/7 service compared to less reliable public transport options and is located near the employee entrance, according to CitiesToday.
They also say the e-bike and scooter fleet will be, “supporting the airport’s wider ambitions to improve sustainable access for employees and travellers.” But not the sustainability of their main travel journey – as you might expect.
Bolt already operates in Liverpool and recently expanded south to Speke and Garston, making the airport a natural extension to the network. Active travel for Daytrippers the world over!
About last night...
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If you’re wondering where our Ryan was in all this, he “just about made it past that lot.” No news on Liam’s whereabouts however…
Fast Trek
This being the last live blog of the Tour de France, today’s offerings will be, as you might expect, quite Huez-focused, but there will be a couple of other thing I want to draw your attention to…
We start with Trek bicycles who have announced they want the American bike industry to come together and agree nationwide e-bike standards, to tackle the messy mishmash of safety regulations from State to State.
That makes sense, and makes you grateful that our political system doesn’t give the devolved parliaments the powers to set their own funky rules. I imagine the people of Oswestry and Berwick-upon-Tweed are particularly thankful.
But what we can’t quite fathom are the e-bike category standards that Trek have set and want the rest of the US industry to follow. Here’s their press release, word-for-word:
“All Trek electric mountain bikes sold in the United States will be Class 1 and will:
- Have a 20mph maximum pedal-assist speed
- Will not have a throttle
“All Trek electric bikes designed for use on pavement and shared paths will:
- Limit throttle assistance to 20mph (if equipped)
- Limit pedal assistance to 20mph or 28mph, depending on model
“These standards strike the right balance between delivering the benefits of electric bicycles, respecting shared spaces, and protecting the trails and paths riders depend on.”
20mph on a pavement and shared path! That seems… too fast? In contrast, in the UK, e-bikes max out at 15.5 mph, regardless of any distinction for MTBs – and we’re talking about legal e-bikes obviously.
Could we not end up with a situation where there are national standards that are so widely adopted they then can’t be changed? It all seems rather risky to us, and a little reliant on cyclists riding sensibly and not maxing out their motors… more than achievable but needlessly risky.
Sacked Turkish Governor latest...
Ryan found time up a mountain yesterday to dive into one of the stranger stories that keeps circulating…
> Turkish governor sacked after criticism for wearing “tight” cycling kit… while promoting cycling
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The most disappointing aspect of the climb to me is that it has no proper summit. You can stop in the town, but that's not where the pros stop. Instead you stop the other side of the town at a non-descript ski station but the road (turning into a track) continues on upwards. It's a weird anticlimax.
@Jakrayan Thanks for those. It seems to me that there is enough evidence to take the caravan towing incident further but a front facing camera would have been a slam dunk which is why I always have both. As for the bus, as wtjs points out the bus never crossed the line which means they never left their lane and this makes it difficult for the police to take action. I know it shouldn't be that way but with juries made up of drivers seeing nothing wrong they won't take the risk. I would not have been in the "cycle lane" (I'd call it a filter lane, safe enough with stationary traffic but worse than useless in fast moving traffic.) but I suspect that that would not have prevented a close pass (punishment pass) and I doubt the police would act on it. The advantage is that you have more space to move into.
For a site which loves to engage in a bit of culture wars nonsense, you'd expect they'd speak better American.
1 year and 3 months for... "dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance, criminal damage and using fraudulent registration plates" But cyclists. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c39e13rp0p9o
I believe they are leaving it to the police for now.
This being the USofA, doesn't 'pavement' likely refer to hard surfaces (so basically road use, as opposed to trail), rather than the 'sidewalk', as they would refer to it? (Though it still seems sketchy for shared paths, unless that also means something different over there.)
@Beryl Meanwhile, back in real life, I was cycling around Garstang last week being subjected to repeated attacks by Stagecoach drivers, secure in the knowledge that Lancashire Constabulary would be only too pleased to have them run over any cyclist they see (which is hardly any), with the consequences removed by the massively overmanned LC Driver Excuses Directorate: ttps://upride.cc/incident/px12dnv_stagecoach41_closepass/ ttps://upride.cc/incident/px12dmv_stagecoach40_closepass/ ttps://upride.cc/incident/px60beo_stagecoach41-closepass/ Of course, it's not only Stagecoach drivers- we have plenty of Psycho Lancashire drivers in standard Psycho vehicles ttps://upride.cc/incident/vo20xvf_bmw_closepass/ PS Other pathologically anti-cyclist forces are operating on The Dark Side: e.g Police Scotland and Kent
On the Pogacar / del Toro short colour conspiracy.... ...this was never an issue for the Ag2R cycling team. Hideous shorts as marginal gains.
Interesting article and a pleasure to read. A lot of pros say the the climb is tough because the gradient varies so much and they can't get into a rhythm. I have ridden Alpe d'Huez on Zwift. It is tough enough there, without any wind! One point. The phrase "piss and Amstel" could be replaced by "piss and fizzy piss"
@Pub bike Exposed yes, but still internally routed. 😎
4 thoughts on “Climactic day at Tour de France with several Pogacar teammates ill and team avoiding questions; Trek announce new e-bike standards allowing 20mph on the pavement; Chris Froome’s next project; Alpe d’Huez mayhem + more on the live blog”
On the Pogacar / del Toro short colour conspiracy….
…this was never an issue for the Ag2R cycling team. Hideous shorts as marginal gains.
This being the USofA, doesn’t ‘pavement’ likely refer to hard surfaces (so basically road use, as opposed to trail), rather than the ‘sidewalk’, as they would refer to it?
(Though it still seems sketchy for shared paths, unless that also means something different over there.)
For a site which loves to engage in a bit of culture wars nonsense, you’d expect they’d speak better American.
1 year and 3 months for…
“dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance, criminal damage and using fraudulent registration plates”
But cyclists.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c39e13rp0p9o