“From an ex-cyclist… no, it’s not cheating”: Sticky bottle video goes viral… before Thomas De Gendt silences the “cheating” claims; Snapped seatpost shocker; Bardet retires, Molly Weaver’s record attempt; One cool Bontrager + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"To say the least, it hurt": A painful start to the week for cyclist whose seatpost snapped mid-ride
Pain.
Poor Sara5a suffered this on a recent ride, taking to Reddit to tell the tale. As we’d all probably assumed would be the case, “To say the least, it hurt.” We’ll happily take your word for it and skip giving this one a go.
The bike’s a GT Gutterball fixed gear that was bought “used and clapped” off Facebook three years ago. While Sara5a replaced the drivetrain and brakes, everything else was kept the same, the previous owner having put that seatpost and matching fork on the bike.
“I just kept them on there…” the story continued, until one day — snap.
A mechanic who read the tale identified the seatpost as “off an old Specialized Roubaix”, adding: “Defects happen but they are not common. Working in a bike shop for years and I’ve never seen this exact failure. My suspicion is it was damaged from being inserted too far and someone tried to tighten the clamp at that spot or it was overloaded. But that would take about a 300 lb rider to overload it.”
Elsewhere, the comments were as sympathetic and mature as you’d expect the internet to be in times as painful as this…
“When your doctor told you to add fibre to your diet he meant like chia seeds or more vegetables.”
“I see you went for the direct mount seatpost upgrade.”
We’d love to have known how/if they made it home. We’ve seen incidents before where the saddle has come off the rails, but even then you can (very carefully) limp home perched on what’s left. There’s definitely no perching on that…
Anyway, the whole ordeal has reminded us of a live blog favourite from a few years ago, Chad Tavernia… or as you might know him: No Saddle Guy. Our favourite superhero, Chad was the US-based rider who rode 100 miles completely out the saddle and then did it again just to prove the haters wrong.
> ‘No Saddle Guy’ proves doubters wrong with virtual 100 mile ride
Weekend round-up: Remembering the Genesis Flyer, hot new tech + a mega competition you can enter
Our latest Bike at Bedtime feature takes a look at the Genesis Flyer, the steel-framed mainstay of the brand’s range for many years. Sadly it’s no longer available, so we thought we’d take a quick look back at this once-popular bike and see what similar options are still available.
For Tech of the Week, I put together a bumper round-up of all the tech we snapped at the Dauphiné, from a bonkers saddle angle to 160mm cranks, monster chainrings, 1x set-ups and, of course, Dries De Pooter’s front end.
We’ve also got a mega competition running with Kostüme at the minute, giving two lucky readers the chance to win limited edition Kostüme #EDIT004 cycling kit bundles worth £390 each, including jersey, bib shorts, base layer and cap. Check it out here.
Merci, Romain — Bardet retires at Critérium du Dauphiné
French favourite Romain Bardet has bowed out after a 14-year professional career that saw him carry the hopes for a home Tour de France win for the best part of a decade, entertaining us all with four stages and a King of the Mountains jersey along the way.
While his Giro and Dauphiné swansong lacked what would have been an incredibly popular final victory, Bardet was on the attack until the end, but unable to stay away with the strength of UAE Team Emirates and Visma-Lease a Bike charging behind.
🙌 Le bel hommage du peloton pour @romainbardet au départ de la 8ème et dernière étape ! 😍
🙌 A beautiful tribute from the peloton to @romainbardet at the start. 😍#Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/6HJQ8TFvSa
— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 15, 2025
He finished Sunday’s finale crossing the line alongside teammate Chris Hamilton, although it’s probably not the last time you’ll see Bardet racing bikes, just not on the road. Team Picnic PostNL have already shared a picture on Instagram of his Lapierre gravel bike, something it sounds like we’ll see him on at some big events soon.
The closest finish to a bike race ever?
Good luck calling a winner between Jasper Philipsen and Paul Magnier here.
Magnier on the far side was given the win after a photo finish that, somewhat confusingly, looked quite different to the real-time image above.
No complaints from Philipsen at the result, the Belgian saying he was “happy” with second as he continues his prep for the Tour. As it turned out the first image was a bit of an optical illusion, the pic not taken from the centre of the finish line and the perspective making Philipsen look level.
Pide perdón pic.twitter.com/8CxBCkZspv
— Gorka (@GorkaBender) June 15, 2025
Molly Weaver's British coastline world record attempt underway — and she's flying!
Molly Weaver has made it to Southampton having left London early yesterday morning and ticked off the Kent, East Sussex and West Sussex sections of her coastline record attempt. The live tracker says she’s racked up 367km over the past 24 hours and is at 532km total distance, about seven per cent of the total. She’s got 20 days left to beat Nick Sanders’ current record.
road.cc Jo got out to the roadside to cheer her on as she passed yesterday evening. “Remarkably chipper, but then she’s only 370km in!”
You can follow her progress on the live tracker.
One cool Bontrager
It’s up on Craigslist over in the US for $1,250. A rare pre-Trek steel Bontrager made by the man himself, with Campagnolo Chorus groupset and 650c wheels.
"It is a mental boost for all the team": Tadej Pogačar looks unbeatable in Dauphiné comeback... but admits final Tour prep will "look a little bit towards the time trial"
It was a sobering weekend for Jonas Vingegaard, Visma-Lease a Bike, Remco Evenepoel and anyone else with hopes for the Tour de France GC battle, Tadej Pogačar again reminding everyone just how superior he is.
We’d questioned what went wrong in the time trial, Pogačar only fourth on the stage but losing significant time to Remco and Vingegaard, but once the race reached the Alps on Friday it was the now-familiar story of 2024, nobody able to get close to the Slovenian sensation as he secured two more stage victories and the overall.
“For sure, this helps the morale and motivation for the Tour because it is the biggest goal of the season. I think it is a mental boost for all the team,” Pogačar said.
However, it does seem that time trial is bugging him a little bit, the world champion saying he’s going to rest up from the week’s exertion before “we look a little bit towards the time trial” so he doesn’t find himself on the wrong side of a “big gap” to Vingegaard again.
If he delivers in the mountains as he did these past three days then the two TTs on this year’s Tour de France parcours probably won’t matter anyway, especially considering the second of the two is up the eight kilometre, seven per cent climb to Peyragudes. Regardless, it does seem UAE and Pogačar have some tinkering they want to do with stage five’s 33km flat time trial in mind.
“Obviously, it was a big gap after the time trial [to Vingegaard]. But when you look at the profile, and when we actually rode it, the weekend was even harder than it seemed at first. So I know it was possible to come back, I knew it would be hard, but I am super happy to pull it off,” he said.
"I'm empty": Can Demi Vollering refind her form before the Tour?
Marlen Reusser won the women’s edition of the Tour de Suisse over the weekend, beating former teammate Demi Vollering. Afterwards, three-time Grand Tour winner Vollering didn’t hold back when assessing her condition 40 days out from the Tour.
“I’m empty,” she said. “It’s time to sleep. I’m looking forward to jumping in the lake here and then going home and resting a bit. I didn’t feel well from the start of this race. I did my best every day and normally I recover quickly, but I kept suffering here as soon as I had to push a bit harder. I think there might be a virus in my body, because my roommate Elise (Chabbey) also really suffered.
“I have raced a lot in recent weeks. I won the Vuelta and the Tours of the Basque Country and Catalonia. But you can’t always be in top form, it is now time to rest. Apparently this was one race too many […] I have pushed myself to the limit here and beyond.”
FDJ Suez will be keeping everything crossed that Vollering recovers quick, gets some rest and peaks again for her biggest race of the year, an attempt at reclaiming the yellow jersey next month.
Your neighbours need help — do you have a cargo bike?
Here’s a cycling event that’s a bit different. Got a cargo bike? Like solving puzzles and planning routes? Ready to help your neighbours out in case of a disaster?
Pedal Collective is running a cargo bike Disaster Relief Trial down in Bristol on September 6, inspired by similar events in the US. The cargo bike delivery service explains that “it’s all about mixing the fun of a cargo bike meet-up with the really serious and necessary element of creating community resilience in preparation for any potential disaster”.
Essentially, riders will hit five checkpoints in total to pick up items to transport to the finish. You can go to them in any order they choose but it introduces a tactical element as some might be heavier than others, or more fragile, which do you want to pick up first and which do you want to save until the end?
The checkpoints will be revealed on the day and riders will get a laminated map (no GPS or phones allowed). There’s an e-assist category where riders will have to show how they’d charge their battery in a case of the National Grid going down. The non-electric category will undoubtedly be a leg-burner given some of those Bristol hills.
If you fancy getting involved check out Pedal Collective’s site where they need volunteers to marshal the event too. Oh, and there’s a family ride too.
Dangerous "fake" e-bikes undermining UK's cycling efforts and putting industry at risk, say MPs calling for clampdown
"That's our job to fix that": New CEO Fran Millar outlines plan for Rapha rejuvenation
Back in November we broke the news that Rapha had suffered its seventh consecutive year in the red, the brand’s losses almost doubling to £22.7m. Well, new CEO Fran Miller (formerly of Team Sky, Belstaff, and sister to former pro-turned-Factor CEO David Miller) has spoken to The Times about her plans to rejuvinate the business.
Millar explained how Rapha had tried to broaden the clothing from its “cult-like” following to “mass appeal”.
“In the process of doing that, and then post-acquisition, there was a lack of clarity,” she said. “It got a bit confused and went from being very clear, very focused, absolute crystal-clear knowledge of who the customer was… to this far looser and more democratised version.
“We just have to make sure that we can communicate to both ends of that in a way that feels credible and authentic, so the people at the top of the pyramid still feel a sense of ownership and belonging and the people at the bottom of the pyramid don’t feel alienated or that it’s elitist and they’re not welcome here. That’s our job to fix that.”
One particular area for growth, Millar suggested, was with female riders.
“You see across platforms like Strava that women are engaging more in cycling than they ever have done. Women performing at the highest level in cycling now are doing some unbelievable, incredible things,” she said, stressing that Rapha would be “doubling down” on its offering for women.
Vincenzo Albanese lands first win for EF Education-EasyPost, takes second stage of Tour de Suisse
Vincenzo Albanese makes it look easy as he claims victory in Stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse! 👏 pic.twitter.com/ErC2gz8wnU
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) June 16, 2025
"Is that a Lime bike there (suitable for transport of citrus plants)?" + who else has had a saddle mishap?
It’s a belting live blog comments section to start the week… Rendel Harris winning the day for spotting this in Battersea Park this morning… an “early contender for chump of the week”…
A worrying number of you have had to limp home without a saddle too. I had no idea today’s blog would turn into a ‘saddle mishap anonymous’ session. Well, as anonymous as the instigator behind his keyboard pasting your usernames back into the blog for a comments section round up…
chrisonabike: “Had my saddle stolen one evening many years ago so had to ride back standing. Luckily only a few miles from home – I wouldn’t want to do more than that!”
brooksby: “There’s a bloke I’ve seen riding around central Bristol on several occasions with no saddle or seatpost. I’m pretty sure it’s the same person, anyway. Otherwise there are some very unlucky people out there…”
wtjs: “Several years ago I went out in the dark for a Christmas morning ride in the hills. Both saddle rails broke (logic tells me that one of them may have broken previously but I hadn’t detected anything) so I had to complete 2/3 of the trip standing. That was only 15-20 miles, but it was hard work.”
Didsbury: “Snapped mine once, I hit the half inch lip of the lifting bridge in Poole at speed on the way home from work, limped the last ten miles standing on the pedals with the saddle and part of the aluminium post in the panniers. As a 100kg rugby player it was a bit of an unexpected shock to say the least!”
"Drivers don't have to push their cars": Park barriers designed to stop "speeding" cyclists are forcing families onto busy road with no bike lane, cycling campaigners say
"From an ex-cyclist... no, it's not cheating": Sticky bottle video goes viral... before Thomas De Gendt silences the "cheating" claims
Quite a few people of the internet learnt what a sticky bottle was this weekend. In fact, this video has been viewed more than 20 million times since Saturday… that’s more people than there are in the Netherlands, Chile or Kazakhstan.
is this cheating 😳 pic.twitter.com/uaNXigJXB0
— Crazy Clips (@crazyclips_) June 14, 2025
Oh, and obviously from the caption, the main question was: ‘Is this cheating?’
The answer, which I suspect few reading this will need clarified, is no and yes, depending on how it’s done. The example from the video is of course fine, just your standard team car bottle run. However, as Vincenzo Nibali found out during the 2015 Vuelta, there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed when it comes to taking the piss when taking a bottle.
Josh Tarling too found himself on the receiving end of a DQ, at last year’s Paris-Roubaix, for taking a tow with the Ineos Grenadiers team car.
Thankfully, Thomas De Gendt was on hand to educate the masses who may have been seeing a sticky bottle for the first time when clicking on that viral vid, explaining why there’s no foul play there.
“From an ex-cyclist. No. It’s not cheating,” the breakaway extraordinaire explained, before answering some follow-up questions.
“It is regulated,” he said to one reply from a “lifelong cycling fan” who says they still get “infuriated” seeing it during races. “No longer than five seconds to exchange a bottle and the car can’t move up in the convoy,” De Gendt said of the limit. “Holding the car is only to stay level with the car.”
He also explained how, in this situation on a flat road, there would be “no benefit” and it would matter more if on a climb. Anyway, it’s a cracking excuse to bring up my favourite moment of Tadej Pogačar’s brilliant weekend. No, not the stage wins and climbing performances, but that moment on Saturday when he casually rolled back to the team car, fetched teammate Pavel Sivakov a bottle, then even more casually rolled past everyone to personally drop it off to the Frenchman on the front, just to let everyone know. Class.
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Latest Comments
I think 'Ben Graham' may well be a Lancashire Constabulary officer, because they are similarly mystified about ASLs as they are about most aspects of traffic law such as handheld mobile use, or unbroken white lines or whether a valid MOT certificate is reallynecessary when a vehicle is being driven on public roads. In practice, in Lancashire these disputes about the minutiae of crossing the SL and the ASL on amber or red are futile because the police believe you can just carry on across the junction if you were 30 yards away when the lights turned red, as I have demonstrated on here only too often
Khan's ulez extension is having real world beneficial effects on the lungs of London's children. Though of course it's more of a pollution charging zone...
@Nigel Garage What we can leave aside is the tedious and untrue claim that we are not undergoing extreme heatwaves, given that the three hottest recorded years in UK history have come in the last four years and that this year is likely to surpass even them. To address your last bit of drivel, for the 40,000 people who die premature deaths in the UK every year due to air pollution, to which in urban areas the largest contributor is motor traffic, and the millions of children growing up with developmental difficulties, both mental and physical, as a result of the same pollution, it is indeed, quite literally, "an existential argument".
This is a common sense idea that could and should have been implemented 50 years ago. Unfortunately successive governments just haven't had the guts to do it. Hopefully a younger and more climate-aware electorate will give them the support they need for this measure. I've noticed a lot more young parents teaching the kiddies to cycle on our local bike trail recently and our office cycle parking (120 spaces) is nearly always full, even with WFH. There would inevitably be pushback from the petrolhead/entitled motorist/Far Right/NIMBY lobby, there was some pushback in the Netherlands in 1974; but this last 6 months has shown just how vulnerable we are to oil supply disruption and climate change. It's set a lot of people thinking.
I suggest that you look up "physics", particularly the bit about the difference between a 10kg bicycle and a two-tonne tin box on wheels.
@Rendel Harris yup - it's about the big picture, balancing safety, convenience, what we can actually persuade people to do and all the other things we want from transport. But clearly many people with no particular interest in cycling or active travel *are* open to the surface arguments about "same rules for everyone, fair's fair" *. Ideally in a stable system (eg. behaviour in public spaces - the roads) perception and facts should be in reasonable if imperfect alignment... * Indeed that's one reason why I very much doubt that the "just share the road" arguments get us very far - cyclists simply can't follow some (unwritten) rules (keep at or near the speed limit) and others aren't helpful - or even needed if cyclists have their own space eg. no need for traffic lights or roundabouts!
20 mph limits make traffic flow more smoothly. It's a pro-car policy.
On balance I’m probably now against the e-bike hire services like lime / voi etc. Although the idea / principle is a great one, the reality is rather different as the services seem to mostly attract selfish a-holes. As a pedestrian / parent it’s a nightmare in local parks and on pavements as the voi / line bike users just cycle through people on paths at full tilt and expecting everyone to leap out of their way. As a cyclist in local bike lanes, the speed of the e-bikes and unwillingness of riders to slow down around other riders makes for a lot of conflict. As a driver the road craft or lack of it is very frustrating due to like bike users completely ignoring traffic lights, pedestrian crossings or recognising rights of way when turning etc. Then there’s the quite evident use of lime and voi for dodgy purposes - with a good number of local riders at night wearing balaclavas and clearly being involved in drug distribution in local parks. I’ve also gone into co-op and nearly been knocked over by a kid riding out of the store entrance at full tilt on a voi scooter.
@Muddy Ford They don't understand what 'left' means either.
@migex I've been guilty of this previously - that's a simplification. E.g. not all the energy is transferred. I think it's a reasonable proxy, but the collision dynamics are important. There are different risks either way. Motor vehicles are wider, modern ones often with higher fronts so more danger of people going under them, cyclists quieter / often "unexpected", some vehicles may have frontal energy absorbing measures, cyclist quite likely to be injured also etc. I'd guess the main reason that motor vehicles are more dangerous is that it's just much easier for drivers to reach (much) higher speeds. Then exposure factors. Not certain but i guess cyclists may be more likely to interact with pedestrians in the UK and in more informal environments (shared use, pavement cycling). However there must be much greater exposure to motorists (given the fraction of people driving for x time).
23 thoughts on ““From an ex-cyclist… no, it’s not cheating”: Sticky bottle video goes viral… before Thomas De Gendt silences the “cheating” claims; Snapped seatpost shocker; Bardet retires, Molly Weaver’s record attempt; One cool Bontrager + more on the live blog”
I recall there was quite a
I recall there was quite a lot of interest in and comment on this story about a couple who were returning from France and got a £1500 fine from Home Office because a migrant hid in their bike cover to get over the channel; it seems that after review and intervention by their MP the fine has been rescinded:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyr0gl299ro
Snapped mine once, I hit the
Snapped mine once, I hit the half inch lip of the lifting bridge in Poole at speed on the way home from work, limped the last ten miles standing on he pedals with the saddle and part of the aluminium post in the panniers. As a 100kg rugby player it was a bit of an unexpected shock to say the least!
Early contender for chump of
Early contender for chump of the week in Battersea Park this morning, stupid enough in a park full of joggers, skaters and other cyclists but I’m guessing he probably got there on the road and was leaving by the same means…
Triffids should only be
Triffids should only be cycling on roads where it is clearly marked “heavy plant crossing”!
Is that a Lime bike there
Is that a Lime bike there (suitable for transport of citrus plants)?
There’s only a pedestrian in
There’s only a pedestrian in that pic, why would you post it on a cycling website?
Our favourite superhero, Chad
Our favourite superhero, Chad was the US-based rider who rode 100 miles completely out the saddle
Several years ago I went out in the dark for a Christmas morning ride in the hills. Both saddle rails broke (logic tells me that one of them may have broken previously but I hadn’t detected anything) so I had to complete 2/3 of the trip standing. That was only 15-20 miles, but it was hard work
Had my saddle stolen one
Had my saddle stolen one evening many years ago so had to ride back standing. Luckily only a few miles from home – I wouldn’t want to do more than that!
There’s a bloke I’ve seen
There’s a bloke I’ve seen riding around central Bristol on several occasions with no saddle or seatpost. I’m pretty sure it’s the same person, anyway. Otherwise there are some very unlucky people out there…
Problem Page in The Guardian
Problem Page in The Guardian – My mother-in-law is still driving despite a near miss. How can we stop her?
“If we were talking about a gun, no one would hesitate over taking it off her. Yet a car can also kill.”
It shows it can be hit & miss
It shows it can be hit & miss with Doctors advice as ive known people treated for cataracts who the doctor insisted DVLA be notified it was happening, who then effectively lost their license as the process to get it back is classic get stuck in a feedback loop which has no exit government agency style process.
So just notify DVLA in those cases, job done.
My personal opinion has
My personal opinion has always been that the doctor should have to notify the DVLA. The DVLA can then deal with the driver directly. IMO it’s stupid that the doctor advises the motorist but then it’s entirely up to them whether they notify the DVLA and hand in their licence.
IIRC it’s the tricky balance
IIRC it’s the tricky balance of potential public harm vs. “we really, really don’t want people avoiding the doctor because they’re worried about ‘unintended consequences’ “.
OTOH I wonder if somepeople might not already be prone to suspect the medical profession? (For example older people with declining cognition / people with experience of the mental health system / capacity for work assessments might well have some … strong views here).
Obviously “protecting harm to others vs. patient confidentiality” is a much bigger general topic.
Beyond this there are those who simply “don’t know what they don’t know” – unless others pick up on this and somehow *persuade* them to take action that is maybe a problem. Is there any option if they’re still “competent” but not willing other than reporting them to the police and hoping they can spot an issue at a particular time?
brooksby wrote:
It doesn’t have to be a doctor. Anyone, including worried relatives, can inform DVLA of their concerns and this might result in the driver being ‘invited’ to attend a short driving test at a DVSA centre. Such tests are free and sympathetically carried out by senior examiners who are looking only for basic competence, not by-the-book perfection. That might put your minds at rest.
There are too many mights in this explanation but such is the way the system grinds cheerfully along.
Guardian – Sales of illegal
Guardian – Sales of illegal and dangerous ebikes must be stopped, say MPs and peers
Report from All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling & Walking here – https://appgcw.org/resources/inquiries/unregulated-and-unsafe-the-threat-of-illegal-e-bikes/
Bristol Post has an article
Bristol Post has an article about a RTC at the weekend:
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/live-serious-crash-clifton-triangle-10264934
Live: Serious crash at Clifton triangle forces road closures
Now, there’s no further detail but going on the ‘picture from the scene’ I would wager that the pedestrian was riding a bicycle…
Or cyclist / pedestrian
Or cyclist / pedestrian collision, and the car in shot is incidental? Not the most likely, I grant you.
If that was the case, I would
If that was the case, I would wager that the Post would have mentioned that (in BOLD three hundred point text!).
UPDATE (Bristol Post):
UPDATE (Bristol Post):
“Cyclist left fighting for life after Clifton Triangle crash
The crash involved a cyclist and a car”
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/cyclist-left-fighting-life-after-10269105
No mention of a driver. Air
No mention of a driver
.
Air ambulance attended and the road was closed all day for forensics. Hopefully the police will do a thorough investigation.
https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/emergency-incident/cyclist-in-his-50s-fighting-for-his-life-in-hospital-after-milton-keynes-collision-5178162
Molly will be riding past my
Molly will be riding past my place in the next hour or so. I’m tempted to get a bike out and ride into town with her but I’ll probably hold her back.
I did get out to see Molly
I did get out to see Molly and ride along the seafront for a few seconds. I then went home and dropped a shilling on the sponsor page as I knew that she had Abbotsbury Hill to climb and the rest of the B3157 coast road to Bridport less than an hour after this.
Screengrab from video:
She’ll be coming past my work
She’ll be coming past my work in about half an hour. I’ll clock off early and shout some support