“Non Forgivable Thomas”: G faces NFT backlash; 32km/h up 8% climb: How Wout van Aert obliterated Tour de France peloton; Crime of the century: Who stole Pete Kennaugh’s wheelie bin?; Roubaix in July; Bike tech for the cobbles + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Crime of the century: Who stole Pete Kennaugh's wheelie bin?
It’s with regret that we have to start today’s live blog with some very serious news from the picturesque Manx village of Laxey. An unassuming setting for one of the great criminal mysteries of our time — who stole Pete Kennaugh’s wheelie bin?
BREAKING NEWS https://t.co/Le1sNd8her
— road.cc (@roadcc) July 5, 2022
Wheelie unfortunate (sorry) that an ex-pro can’t even go to the Tour de France for three weeks without the mean streets of Man showing what a dangerous and frightening place to live it is.
Perhaps the Cavendish Cartel is causing terror? (Although for legal reasons we should probably stress we DO NOT actually believe Cav is taking his Tour snub frustration out on Pete K’s rubbish…just to be clear…)
Whoever it was, ITV are sure to bring out a three-part drama with David Tennant playing a weathered island detective investigating the most shocking of crimes.
While some suggested Kennaugh had gone ‘full Partridge’, others sprung into action, including ITV colleague David Millar, who responded to one helpful reply…
He just got a message from @MarkCavendish telling him the same thing, amongst much laughter…
— David Millar (@millarmind) July 5, 2022
That’s what a good bin stealer would do, to be fair…cover their tracks…
“Let’s make this wheelie bin too hot to handle, people.” https://t.co/UYLm48EdMx
— Gary Fairley 🏴🇪🇺 (@TheGaryFairley) July 5, 2022
It was me, I’m painting it gold and ebaying it as Olympic memorabilia
— John Turner (@EcuriePeril) July 5, 2022
Jack was more concerned with other parts of the story…
Are people from Laxey laxeytives?🤔
— Blue is the Colour (@Jacksarback) July 5, 2022
We're kind of busy this afternoon...
I do hope the complete destruction of the Government can be wrapped up before the Tour hits the first cobbles.
— Simon Warren (@100Climbs) July 6, 2022
Roubaix in July
It may be going to be 23°C and sunny this afternoon in north west France, but despite the most unlike Hell of the North weather, the Tour peloton is going to take a battering…
As per Simon’s pre-race preview: Just 3km into today’s stage, the race will pass through Roubaix and 11 cobbled sections – the first tackled shortly after the halfway point, and four of them featuring in the Hell of the North – lie in wait, with the longer, tougher ones coming towards the finish. The Arenberg, perhaps the most iconic sector in Paris-Roubaix, won’t be among them, but the line will be 500m from its entrance.
At least one GC rider will (probably) lose it all today, let’s hope for as fair and upright a race as possible. G’s ready…
Let’s see if I remember how to ride the cobbles then 👀 Boys are ready to give it a crack today 👌 pic.twitter.com/0UBk0KRiVy
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) July 6, 2022
Bora-hansgrohe's "special set-up" for Aleksandr Vlasov
🇫🇷 #TDF2022
a special setup for @ale_vlasov today.@iamspecialized #smootherisfaster #roubaix pic.twitter.com/umX0fjF4GO
— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) July 6, 2022
Which of these Roval Tour de France wheelsets is best for YOUR bike? (sponsored)
32km/h up 8% climb: How Wout van Aert obliterated Tour de France peloton
Wout van Aert is quite fast, isn’t he…
Thanks to the power of Strava we know exactly how fast he was yesterday while smashing it up the final climb to drop…the entire peloton of the Tour de France…as you do…
Obviously Wout also destroyed the KOM, held for just over two years by Julien Antomarchi, who also set his best time during a race — ascending the Cap Blanc-Nez’s 860m at 7.9 per cent in 1:54, producing a power of 554w. That effort would have been enough to keep Antomarchi in the peloton yesterday…while to keep up with Van Aert you would have needed to go 17 seconds quicker and average 32km/h…
The fastest time with power data comes from Groupama-FDJ’s Kevin Geniets who put out 659w for 1:46… and that was still seven seconds slower than the stage winner…
Oh, and it’s not like Wout packed up his tools at the top…aided by a rapid descent the yellow jersey covered the final 10.5km to the finish in 10:20 at an average speed of 61.4km/h…what?!
💛 “I surprised you?”
🤍 “A little bit! It’s good that you dropped your guys also. I was lucky!”😉 Some nice post-stage chats between @WoutvanAert and @TamauPogi
💛 “Je t’ai surpris ?”
🤍 “Oui un peu. J’ai eu de la chance que tu lâches aussi tes gars !”#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/X25ecpk1sg— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 5, 2022
Will he make it two from two today and continue his streak of podium finishes? Probably not, according to Jumbo-Visma sports director Merijn Zeeman, who told HLN: “It’s simple. Our goal is the yellow jersey with Jonas or Primoz and the green with Wout. Wout’s yellow is very beautiful, an honour for him and the team, but not a priority for us. We will not defend that yellow.”
Meanwhile in the Netherlands
🇺🇸: Militarized Police
🇳🇱: pic.twitter.com/hKDZ7HomU8
— American Fietser (@AmericanFietser) July 5, 2022
Let’s get this lad over to the Isle of Man to find Pete K’s bin thief…
Giro Donne: Marianne Vos wins stage five as Annemiek van Vleuten firefighting saves pink
The Roubaix stage is underway with an escape of breakaway favourites: Magnus Cort (obviously), Edvald Boasson Hagen and Taco van der Hoorn. But the stage will have plenty to do to be the most entertaining race of the day as stage five of the Giro d’Italia Donne was an absolute cracker.
Finishing in Bergamo, tracing some roads famous from Il Lombardia, a crash on the cobbles (yep, Italy’s got them too) led to a split which race leader Annemiek van Vleuten was stuck behind.
Then, Elisa Longo Borghini attacked, taking Marianne Vos and second on GC Mavi García with her.
Sensing the danger Van Vleuten bombed down the descent to pull it all back together before compatriot Vos sprinted to her second win of the week.
Mobile repairs
Who needs a team mechanic when you can do it yourself 😅#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/R4UJJQy38f
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 6, 2022
Simon Clarke (and his one bottle cage) has joined the breakaway. Neilson Powless and Alexis Gougeard are also there, meaning we’ve got six escapees up the road with a gap of 3:30. More importantly, it’s a little over 20km until the cobbles.
And literally the second I was ready to press publish…Wout van Aert has crashed with teammate Steven Kruijswijk. The yellow jersey is down, but in the time it’s taken to write this update, he’s back up again and on the move. Nervy, nervy times. “Certainly injured but looks like nothing broken,” is Wiggo’s on-bike analysis. “Back on the bike but he wasn’t happy”.
💛 The Yellow Jersey has crashed! He is back on his bike.
💛 Chute du @MaillotjauneLCL 🇧🇪 @WoutvanAert ! Il remonte sur son vélo et repart avec @s_kruijswijk. #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/agRvMIt1Gx
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 6, 2022
How's your bike-handling?
WOAH!!! 😬#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/SmuXdfcbBU
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 6, 2022
Mamma mia!
Wout’s back in the convoy, with some help from the Jumbo-Visma team car, but almost fell again. Can we all just calm down so my heart rate can stabilise, please?
Interestingly (and controversialy), the comissaire told Jumbo-Visma not to help their riders get back on. After a short spell of chasing in the wind the team car came through and towed the yellow jersey and Kruijswijk back into the race…
Van Aert will definitely be penalised tonight #TDF2022
— Julien Prétot (@julienpretotRTR) July 6, 2022
One to keep an eye on…
COBBLES
The Tour de France reduced to single file. What a sight!#TDF2022 #ITVCycling pic.twitter.com/PZHIO8xf92
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 6, 2022
Mads Pedersen has attacked, Sagan’s crashed, Dani Martínez has punctured…we’ve still got 70km of this…my heart…
Cycling Twitter ain't happy with G — the memes...
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) July 6, 2022
Not too sure what to make of the next one other than stressing people are very unhappy…
Gonna sell this as an NFT pic.twitter.com/9ek1fQXsJ9
— Nairo en maillot vert (@NairoInGreen) July 6, 2022
Remember when G’s biggest problem was a bit of friendly gilet banter?
I’m selling this Thomas the Thomas Hype Engine NFT for 1 Gilet pic.twitter.com/XQAwIdK6ou
— Tommy Radler (@tommy_radler) July 6, 2022
"Non Forgivable Thomas": G faces NFT backlash
You know how these go by now. Public figure, in this case Geraint Thomas, posts social media message with catchy copywriter-friendly phrases like “super excited to announce my first NFT collection”. Shortly after, said public figure gets ripped to shreds in the replies…
With the Tour underway I’m super excited to announce my first NFT collection with Project FUERZA is now live. They’ve taken my raw power data from some of my biggest wins and turned it into amazing art. My actual power file comes with the NFT too! The first drop is live 👀 pic.twitter.com/OultwBnf6M
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) July 6, 2022
This well-polished tweet from Thomas’ account comes just a couple of hours before he’ll battle the cobbles of Roubaix, perhaps it was even sent from the team bus (or perhaps a social media manager’s undisclosed location), but has left the Ineos pro facing not just the nerves of a huge GC day, but baying fans too…
Anyway, we brought you the news about the project last week: You may not have Mark Cavendish’s sprinting power – but you can buy a unique file of it for $80,000 in cycling’s latest NFT launch
Here’s how G’s promo went down…(at the time of writing we could find literally not one supportive comment)… One reply said “I think the comments say it all, sadly. From an athlete who normally gets all the love too.” Another somewhat hysterically concluded: “Congrats, you’re now a worse person than Lance Armstrong.” Let’s leave the sin hierarchy there, shall we…
This is a very shitty thing. Where to begin? Horrific environmental impact. Terrible art. Naked cash grab. https://t.co/DrEHOSH3Av
— tom owen (@tomowencc) July 6, 2022
— Hanne Emilie (@newGarlick) July 6, 2022
Non Forgivable Thomas
— Rob Kent (@robkentzy) July 6, 2022
Oh cool, finally a NFT from one of my favorite riders…said no one ever.
— Froglié (@f_roglic) July 6, 2022
The first time I actually hope someone has been hacked…
— unclesuperfly (@unclesuperfly) July 6, 2022
Tell a lie, we found a single positive reply in the sea of more than 100 negatives. For balance…
Don’t listen to ’em G…they remind me of those who bemoaned losing adding machines when that new fangled calculator came about.
Just be careful in it, and avoid the dead end tech
— charissagracewhite (@CharissaGrace15) July 6, 2022
Jonas Vingegaard punctures — Wout van Aert drops back...BUT THEN ROG CRASHES
CHAOS…
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) July 6, 2022
Vingegaard punctures, Jumbo-Visma (including Van Aert drop back)… only for Primož Roglič to crash moments later. Utter carnage. Jumbo are chasing back in two groups. Meanhwile, Pogačar’s on an attack…
Vingegaard’s at a minute, Ben O’Connor is more than two minutes down too after a mechanical. Roglič is ahead of O’Connor but 50 seconds behind his teammate. As things stand, Pog will be in yellow at the end of the day BUT we’ve got a long 25km to go…
Just Tadej Pogačar going full send on the cobbles
Pogacar and Stuyven now clear of the peloton chasing after the head of the race! #TDF2022 #ITVCycling pic.twitter.com/NqrIQLmDwA
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 6, 2022
Is there anything this lad can’t do?
Jonas Vingegaard and, to make matters worse after his NFT battering, Geraint Thomas are currently losing a minute to Pog, while Primož Roglič is losing two minutes and Ben O’Connor three…
Cycling, resignation, cycling, another resignation, repeat
TdF ad breaks good for getting latest news on ministerial resignations.
— Carlton Reid (@carltonreid) July 6, 2022
It seems Britain’s cycling fans aren’t even getting an opportunity to stop procrastinating during the Tour de France ad breaks at the moment. Come on ministers, give us a break!
Simon Clarke wins stage five from the breakaway — Wout van Aert keeps yellow
🏆🇦🇺 @SimoClarke wins the stage!
🏆🇦🇺 @SimoClarke s’impose !#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/HQ6VCpCp3R
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 6, 2022
In the end the breakaway held off a rampaging Tadej Pogačar and Jasper Stuyven. Simon Clarke pipped Taco van der Hoorn to the line in the sprint after Edvald Boasson Hagen has used his acceleration pulling back Neilson Powless. After Magnus Cort, dropped on the final cobbled sector, came Stuyven and Pogačar, the Slovenian taking an even firmer grip on the race.
Jumbo-Visma, Van Aert and Tom Pidcock saved Jonas Vingegaard, Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates’ chances, pulling back the gap from over one minute to just 13 seconds by the finish. Consequently, Van Aert is still in yellow. Of the other GC players: Nairo Quintana, Aleksandr Vlasov, G, Enric Mas, Yates, David Gaudu, Rigoberto Urán and Damiano Caruso finished in the Vingegaard group.
Primož Roglič was once again one of the big first-week losers, shipping 2:08 to Pogačar because of a crash. Alexey Lutsenko finished in the same group, while Ben O’Connor and Louis Meintjes lost more than three minutes to the white jersey. Jack Haig crashed out of the race.
And breathe…
Taco's straight talking
Taco telling it how it is.
“How do you feel?”
“Shit. Really shit.”#TDF2022— Simon Mikkelsen 🇩🇰🚲 (@simonmacmichael) July 6, 2022
Reports Primož Roglič dislocated shoulder in Roubaix stage fall
Nog meer pech! Roglic gaat onderuit samen met Caleb Ewan #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/sVuGvpWbnH
— Sporza 🚴 (@sporza_koers) July 6, 2022
There are spreading rumours that Primož Roglič dislocated his shoulder in the fall that saw him lose two minutes to Tadej Pogačar. Daan Hakkenberg reports Roglič’s coach, Grischa Niermann, told him the Jumbo-Visma rider put it back in himself before continuing. Pro cyclists are hard as nails…
And the Oscar for most comedic use of national speed limit signs goes to...
And the Oscar for most comedic use of national speed limit signs goes to @MonmouthshireCC 😂 pic.twitter.com/uOZIfjTatJ
— Jack Thurston (@jackthurston) July 6, 2022
6 July 2022, 08:03
6 July 2022, 08:03
6 July 2022, 08:03
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Latest Comments
@chrisonabike I think you missed the bit of the story that claimed people couldn't access a bike mechanic, regardless of price, due to there being a big shortfall in the profession. Which clearly doesn't make sense given what you and I have both written.
@jackcycles "If I can do it anyone can because I am useless at all manual jobs." Well, presumably some people would prefer not to spend their time on something they can get others to do cheaply * so they can spend it elsewhere eg. opining online... * Another Schrödinger effect: bike maintenance is simultaneously too expensive ("20 quid to pump the tyres up?!") and not expensive enough (given what the hourly rates for bike mechanics seem to be / cheapness of many parts).
@Rendel Harris alas from the variety of opinions posted even here much may be explained by "cock-up" before invoking corporate conspiracy. That is: ignorance of risk - "it only does 9mph!" - and ignorance of the laws that applied here - "private land". And perhaps immediate reflexive backside-covering? Throw in police maybe not quite up to ideal standard and the law applying the highest possible evidential standards / reasonable doubt and here we are. Doesn't mean there wasn't also some deliberate management deception ("let's not have any more trouble / negative publicity") of course. (And a H&S examination of them: what risk assessments existed around use of the vehicles, what training / monitoring / event recording and feedback was in place etc?) All that and I'm not sure we even need to invoke motornormativity - which certainly applies in many cases. RIP.
What a load of rubbish. There are too many bike mechanics around as attested by the fact that many of them have shut down over the past couple of years as they can't make a living due to having no pricing power. People who claim they can't cycle because they don't have access to a mechanic are making stuff up... Likely means they couldn't be arsed to buy a tyre pump or some other nonsense. A 2 minute YouTube tutorial teaches anyone how to change a tyre, inner tube, brake pads, chain etc... If I can do it anyone can because I am useless at all manual jobs. Perhaps there is a shortage of people willing to work on e-motorbikes, but that's a whole different story separate from cycling.
Unknown rear hub motor and you've given it an 8 out of 10? What's the availability of spare parts going to be like in the future? How long is the frame set warranty? The Geo looks a bit weird, the chain stays look very long. Maybe people should save up and buy the entry level Cube with a proven mid drive Bosch motor instead.
@eburtthebike full details of the judgement are online in a document called: Ruling-on-submissions-of-no-case-R-v-Davies-for-publication It doesn't make for great reading. Something about inconsistencies in the expert witness evidence and police case, but also a very odd comment that no jury would likely have experience of driving at 9mph for periods of time, nor of driving a golf buggy, so would have to rely on the expert evidence. I am not convinced about this argument at all. There is also the mention of an oncoming Biffa waste vehicle that distracted the golf buggy driver. In my opinion, and this is conjecture, I think the golf buggy driver was distracted, waving at his mate in the bin wagon coming towards him, then turned left into the side road without properly looking where he was going - because this road he was turning into is one-way, so he wouldn't expect anything to be coming out of it - nor did he expect a stationary cyclist just as he turned in. It was a turn he would have done many, many, times, being close to the main site depot. I can imagine the way they drive these golf buggies (which are speed limited to 9mph) is foot to the floor all the time, driving on the limiter, to make as much progress as possible. But yeah, cycle helmets :/ There's also a clue as to why the cyclist might have stopped here - a broken glass was found at the scene. Again, conjecture, but I suspect the cyclist noticed a glass on the ground and had stopped to pick it up.
@Bungle_52 Thanks for the extra information, I was wondering why the report made it sound as though the trial judge had found him not guilty. That sounds very dodgy on the part of Centre Parcs' staff, someone was (as it transpired) fatally wounded and they thought there was no need to include the police on the emergency call and cleared away all the evidence? Shocking failure to follow proper procedure and highly suspicious to boot.
@Rome73 No, 28mph is correct, Class 3 ebike, legally allowed in most states without licence or insurance, a mate of mine who works in Washington DC commutes on one. Some states have age restrictions of 16 or 17 and some mandate helmets for Class 3 riders. Throttle must cut out at 20mph so pedalling is required for the top speed.
I actually got to chat with an officer (metropolitan police) just a few weeks ago about reporting near misses. He was chatty so told me loads as he used to work on the road safety unit in London. Unfortunately I didn’t make notes or record the conversation - but he may have stopped talking at that point. Anyway, no surprise, it’s all to do with resources. I.e. there are none - it’s been stripped to the bone. As we were chatting illegal e-motorbikes were zipping past. What about those? I asked. Unless they are committing another offence - like going through a red light or stealing a phone we are told to ignore them. Otherwise, in London, we would never get further than 10 meters from the station before having to return to file a report. Other ‘horror stories’ he told me were things like the RSU having 6 officers to cover the whole of London! These are the officers who check for illegal private vehicles (no tax, insurance etc) Although he did say that ANPR does a lot of checking and prosecution. But only if they can find the legal owner, I pointed out. A real officer could make an arrest.
The details of the reasons the judge gave for directing the jury that there was no case to answer are two links out from the BBC article. I tried to post the link yesterday but it's still awaiting moderation. First click on the second link in the BBC article of the 16th Feb labelled "Buggy driver cleared after judge heard from expert", then click on the link lablelled "directed jurors to find him not guilty" which is near the top of the article. A quick summary as far as I can tell: the police were not called straight away because staff didn't think they needed to be involved. When the police finally arrived the two vehicles had been cleared from the scene and it was raining heavily thus a lot of evidence was lost. PC Knight took over the case from the acting PS who started the investigation. A reconstruction was arranged but the judge felt the the camera used to record this was placed incorrectly. Parts of PC Knight's testimony were successfully challenged by the defence. A sorry story from start to finish but not entirely the fault of the police.
13 thoughts on ““Non Forgivable Thomas”: G faces NFT backlash; 32km/h up 8% climb: How Wout van Aert obliterated Tour de France peloton; Crime of the century: Who stole Pete Kennaugh’s wheelie bin?; Roubaix in July; Bike tech for the cobbles + more on the live blog”
I’m surprised you haven’t
I’m surprised you haven’t reported Laura Trott’s resignation – oh, well, she can concentrate on cycling now.
https://www.gov.uk/government
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-second-cycling-and-walking-investment-strategy
But how do I carry my bath to my girlfriend’s house ?
Don’t be ridiculous!
Don’t be ridiculous!
Obviously you carry her house to your bath using a cargo bike.
But cyclists……
But cyclists……
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
Thanks for a reminder of the murderous idiots we share the road with.
The motorcycle crash shows if you use the roads on any kind of two wheeler drivers won’t see you and the Police won’t care..
Actually not the one I was
Actually not the one I was trying to show. Must have autoplayed to the next clip before I copied the link.
This is the one on todays BBC showing a BMW mounting the pavement and travelling at what looks like double digit speeds to not have to wait at red lights.
Only one camera though.
Only one camera though.
#cyclelikeyoudrive
On twitter it says it’s a
On twitter it says it’s a shared path
Guess the vehicle user forgot what vehicle they were in.
Entitled motorist!
Entitled motorist!
Dashcam grass !
Dashcam grass !
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
Why did the Beeb decide to blank out their numberplate?
Why did the Beeb decide to
Why did the Beeb decide to blank out their [his] numberplate?
Annoying isn’t it?- this insistence that evidence is a matter of opinion. We might expect this sort of nonsense from the police (see the recent topic showing, admittedly on a Twitter post, a distinctive picture of a tattoed driver and the number plate of the vehicle and the puzzled police claiming ‘if only we had a means of identifying the driver…!’. It’s as if there was problem with me claiming that this is a photo of super-toff Range Rover Velar B6 CAX on the B6430 southbound at 9:17 15.6.22 without MOT, and road.cc deciding to blank out the photo and the text showing me wondering why Lancashire Constabulary is so star-struck that officers can’t bear to break the news to the toffs that new-car MOT doesn’t last forever
I am reminded of when seat
I am reminded of when seat belts became mandatory and the number of people who were convinced that they would rather be thrown clear of a crashing vehicle than risk becoming trapped by a seat belt.