“Why, oh why did I think I could defy physics and geometry?”: A very painful crash taking out bottom bottle on the fly; New bike day nightmare; Wahoo issues continue; Brennan wins again; Bike brand’s bankruptcy; Doping ban + more on the live blog

How it started:

How it’s going:

Pain. This Pinarello owner was taking a photo of their new pride and joy when “a random gust of wind blew it over and ruined the paint job”. Ouch. And while plenty on the ever-sympathetic internet have told the rider to get on with it, bikes are meant to be ridden and all that, both can probably be true in this case.

Yes, your bike isn’t going to stay pristine forever if you’re riding it regularly, but yes, it is also bloody irritating to do that on day one before the pedals have even been turned. Anyway, the owner says they’ve managed to touch up the chip so it’s not quite so obvious.

“At least it’s non drive side,” they added. “Time to hammer this thing off-road and put some more scratches on it, I guess.”

That’s the spirit! Not that it stopped the horde of comments along the lines of “it’s a bike designed to ride on dirt… it’s gonna get dinged up” and “it’s not wall art… it’s meant to be ridden and get scuffed up”.

The rider got back: “It is what it is. Was super upset about it, but I can’t waste energy on something I can’t control. Lesson learned. More time riding, less time taking photos…”

As someone else suggested: “If mother nature isn’t blowing headwind, she’s blowing your bike over.”

Other comments included…

“That’s like an ongoing nightmare scenario for me. I actually don’t need my bikes to be pristine. I ride them, a lot. And if the cosmetic damage is earned through riding (rock strike, etc.) it doesn’t bother me. But if I decide to lean it up somewhere and then it falls over…that’s the kind of damage that causes me rage (mostly at myself).”

“Man, that hurts. Did the same to my new bike, leaning it on a wall to buy ice cream… rolled a bit and scratched the top tube on the wall. I feel you.”

Top comment though? That would be: “The wind did no such thing, ’twas vanity marred the steed.”

No major update from Wahoo on the situation affecting its first generation bike computers this week. As we explained yesterday, owners have reported significant “data and ride recording issues” since the weekend, online forums full of cyclists reporting problems with their first generation Wahoo Elemnt, Bolt and Roam computers.

Bizarrely, the issue appears to be that devices are resetting to the year 2006 because the older devices use a “limited 10-bit system to track GPS time”, the date issue then causing further GPS problems.

On Tuesday, Wahoo said it “now fully understands the root cause of the issue” and is “working around the clock on a fix”, however there’s been no major update since. Last night, a Wahoo spokesperson said:

We continue to apply absolute focus to resolve the current challenge affecting first-generation Elemnt devices. As we continue to work to address this issue, please remember that we offer an app that you can use to record your rides, pair your bike’s sensors, and share to third party services. We sincerely appreciate your continued patience.

Let’s hope we have more positive news to bring you soon. 

Well that’s got to be worth some kudos…

A few of you have reported issues with your first generation Wahoo cycle computers this week.

Inthedark1: “I have two Wahoo first generation Elemnts. I loaded a 200km ride on one device and lent it to someone else to use on a camping trip in West Wales. It failed to work at all. He had to resort to strapping his phone to the handlebars and doing short sections on Google Maps. I tried to use the other device myself but it froze on the track and was unusable. I tried a factory reset and repairing it with my phone but it made no difference.”

Sedis: “Presumably related to this, for the last few days, if I start at a location other than my home, any rides get recorded as ‘indoor cycling’. More annoyingly instead of showing my usual ‘pages’ I get a completely different set.”

fincon1: “Both my wife and I use 1st gen Wahoos and both had issues during a charity ride on Sunday. Luckily we both knew our routes because the Wahoos were unusable. At one point mine had me doing 132mph. I defy even Pogačar to match that!”

Don’t tell the Telegraph that cyclists are hitting 132mph…

Reggie Perrin: “I maxed out at 115mph on a country lane on Sunday. I took a photo of my Wahoo just in case nobody believed that I could go that fast on a bike.”

wtjs: “If I were a Wahoo user I would be encouraged by the company getting on with a fix fairly quickly. I still enjoy being at a stage where I’m amazed these wonderful devices work at all — I’ve just bought a 2 generations obsolete Garmin Forerunner 255 and it’s much better than I expected — the much disparaged ‘breadcrumb navigation’ works perfectly both on the road and on the fells once you have a route loaded, although it’s useless if you don’t as there are no ‘features’ on the map. However, I expect that one day this watch and the Edge 1040 will fail catastrophically, although I hope not at the same time. I am fairly confident that Garmin will then fix the problem rapidly.”

stonojnr: “Well it’s nice of them to fix it of course, some might say that’s the bare minimum they could do to support their own eco system and not wreck their reputation, but this sounds from the speculation to be a Y2K style bug, they didn’t allocate enough memory to support an internal date counter. Which seems remarkable for stuff that’s not even a decade old in lifespan yet, given we learnt those lessons three decades ago. So no doubt it all bricks itself again in 2038.”

mdavidford: “If you’re still using your 1st gen Elemnt in 2038, I will be more than impressed.”

Well, if it does indeed brick itself in 2038 and people are still using the first gen devices, I’m sure an AI influencer will be along to livestream the event on whatever platform is the next decade’s TikTok. Hopefully we’ll still be around too…

Who better to ask for a Vuelta prediction than Alberto Contador?

The Spaniard, unsurprisingly considering the Dane is the bookies’ heavily odds-on favourite for the race, reckons Jonas Vingegaard is the man to beat. 

“It’s clear that Vingegaard is the favourite, and for me, the clear favourite. But many things can happen on a Grand Tour,” Contador told TNT Sports ahead of their coverage of the final three-week race of the season.

“I think with Vingegaard, everyone knows he is the second-best Grand Tour rider in the world behind Tadej Pogačar. I think that if he doesn’t win the Vuelta it would be quite surprising, but at the same time I don’t think he has anything to prove because of what he has done at the Tour de France in previous years.

“It’s his second Grand Tour of the year after the Tour de France. So we will need to see how he has recovered, but in theory he should be better than the rest.”

Vingegaard will have no shortage of support for his Vuelta tilt, Visma-Lease a Bike also taking Matteo Jorgenson and 2023 winner Sepp Kuss. It promises to be the latest instalment of the Visma vs UAE rivalry and while there’ll be no Pogačar on the start line in Turin, João Almeida and Juan Ayuso should be plenty threat enough.

Ineos Grenadiers have now confirmed Egan Bernal is leading them, while there’s a nice surprise on the Alpecin-Deceuninck squad list, Jasper Philipsen returning to Grand Tour action following his premature Tour de France departure. It promises to be a long three weeks for the sprinters due to the typically apocalyptically tough Vuelta route. Any chances for the fast men now even tougher with Philipsen rocking up as well.

supersurvey.com

> Owner of territorial dog opposes cycle path claiming disturbance from cyclists will lead to “excessive barking”

The London Cycling Campaign appeared on BBC London to continue the discussion kicked off by Dara Ó Briain about e-bike hire in the English capital…

👏 Big shout-out to @daraobriain for putting a spotlight on the many problems caused by councils chopping and changing e-bike hire licences!

Our CEO Tom Fyans gave his thoughts on the issue to @BBCLondonNews… 👇 pic.twitter.com/Ii4pYVXavu

— London Cycling Campaign (@London_Cycling) August 21, 2025

Polish bike manufacturer 7Anna, which owns brands such as Rondo, NS Bikes and Creme Cycles, has filed for bankruptcy.

The 24-year-old company is one of the oldest and best known Polish cycling businesses, however its CEO this week revealed the bankruptcy news.

“The series of blows that hit us were too hard. Sometimes you have to fall to rise stronger,” the CEO Tomasz Cybula commented, but he did also insist it would not be the end for “one of Poland’s best bicycle companies”.

A marketing manager at gravel bike brand Rondo also said the past few years had been “an enormous challenge” for the wider business, but added “we’re still fighting for the future of our brands”.

> Cyclist sentenced for ‘furious driving’ offence after pavement crash leaves pedestrian with fractured skull

The UCI has released a statement announcing that French rider Franck Bonnamour has been suspended for four years. Bonnamour most recently road for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale but hasn’t raced since an abnormality in his Biological Passport was revealed in February 2024. That related to his 2022 season and the UCI has now confirmed a four-year ban.

The ban will be backdated to 5 February 2024 and remain in force until 4 February 2028. In a statement released this afternoon, the UCI said: “The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces that the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal has rendered a decision against French rider Franck Bonnamour.

“The Tribunal found that Franck Bonnamour had committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) for use of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method due to an unexplained abnormality in his Athlete Biological Passport in 2022. As a consequence, the Tribunal has imposed a four-year period of ineligibility on the rider.

“The period of ineligibility started on 5 February 2024 and will remain in force until 4 February 2028 in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules. Furthermore, in line with the Procedural Rules of the Anti-Doping Tribunal, the decision will be published on the UCI website. The decision may be appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within one month. The UCI will not comment further on the matter.”

> Bin lorry driver who killed 11-year-old cycling to school after “failing to account for vulnerable road users” avoids jail

That’s the 11th win of Matthew Brennan’s season, the 20-year-old (yep, that’s born in 2005 folks) outsprinting Jonathan Milan to a latest sensational victory. Most of his wins thus far have come on punchier days, but to beat the Tour de France’s green jersey winner in a flat finish? That’s quite special.

Photo finish in Germany 😳

Matthew Brennan takes the win ahead of Jonathan Milan after a sprint that was this close 🤏 pic.twitter.com/9pg0dvZMmZ

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) August 21, 2025

Here’s another painful one from Reddit, one rider dubbing themself “the idiot and the bottom bottle”. If I show you their set-up you can probably take a decent guess about what happened.

They ended up with a shattered nose, a rip from the inside and outside of the upper lip, broken 4th and 5th metacarpals with deep bone bruises over the fingers of their left hand, and “the worst oozing road rash I’ve ever had in my life on my face and hand”.

Incredibly, they escaped with no concussion, no neck injury and the bike is “relatively unscathed” apart from the some broken bars and scratched hoods.

It all happened when they tried to take a sip from that bottom bottle on the fly, trying to pull out the bottle from underneath the downtube.

“On most bikes, it’s obvious that it’s impossible to grab a bottle down there while riding,” the poor rider wrote. “Why, oh why did I think I could defy physics and geometry and grab it in motion on my Crux? Just look at it. Clearly there’s no space for it to disengage from the cage and avoid hitting the tyre…

“I knew this was a bad idea before I even attempted it. All logic was flashing a warning sign in my psyche to not attempt this foolish manoeuvre. I’ve looked at my bike loaded with three water bottles numerous times and thought to myself ‘No way could I grab that bottom bottle while riding’. However, I saw a break in traffic on a busy road that I was crossing to get from one side of the trail to the other, and because I was in a hurry, my lack of good judgment got the best of me.

“Rather than stopping at the trail crossing, disengaging from my pedals, slowly reaching for my third bottle, swapping it with my empty bottle, then patiently waiting to cross the road during another break in traffic, I made one the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made in my 20 years of cycling, and it almost cost me my life.”

It all happened at around 15mph, the rider seeing a “sudden flash of blue sky whiz past followed by an immediate blackness accompanied by a crack of thunder between my ears”.

“I sprang to my feet and immediately thought ‘This didn’t just happen’,” they continued. “I looked down at my hands and felt what I thought was hot water soaking my gloves. Suddenly, my vision turned from black and white to technicolour and what I thought was hot water was blood pouring out of my face. My water bottle had been sucked out of my hand by the rubber of my tyre and shot up into the fork which stopped the front wheel and pitched me over the bars onto my face. I took my helmet off and saw that I had broken the front off of it. More blood all over the trail and grass and my shoes and kit and sunglasses and everything.

“What sucks the most is this this terrible mistake has taken me away from my family, meaning my wife is pretty much on the hook for doing everything for our two-year-old for the next month while I recover from my broken hand as I’m unable to pick him up or perform any two-handed fine motor skills. But my helmet saved my life. I’m upright, breathing, walking, thinking, talking, and forever grateful. I get to live another day as a dad and husband and son and brother and friend and neighbour and co-worker etc. That could have all ended in a split second because I was in such a hurry to shave 30 seconds off of my ride.

“So. As if you really needed anyone to tell you, don’t try to grab the third water bottle. Take your time. Listen to your conscience.”