“Never listen to Lance Armstrong about anything”: Phil Gaimon hits back at disgraced cheat’s “don’t give them a reason to doubt you” warning to Tadej Pogačar; Four-time winner Chris Froome convinces oblivious Tour security guard + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Four-time winner Chris Froome convinces oblivious Tour security guard to let him through to race finish without pass
‘No, really… Monsieur, I really did win this four times… Please… Let me in…’
My favourite moment of the Nice final stage, was @chrisfroome rocking up in Birkenstocks, trying to convince the guard that he didn’t need a pass to go through 😂 #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/jZya25O1G0
— Hilde (@hilduspildus) July 21, 2024
Thankfully, Froome made it through without a repeat of the incident at the 2018 Tour which saw him pushed from his bike by an overzealous gendarme who thought he was a fan descending the mountain too soon after the stage had finished…
Then, in 2021, he was mistaken for a ‘leisure rider’ on French TV after being turned back due to forest fires in the South of France.
I bet David Beckham never has to deal with this…
"Sometimes cycling seems like it's for white people only, but now he teaches us that cycling is for all the world"
Biniam Girmay’s historic moment arrived in Nice last night — three stage wins later, the first black African to win one stood on the Tour de France podium adorned in green.
A journey from Asmara to Nice, via the World Cycling Centre in Switzerland, a facility Girmay was invited to train at after being spotted by a UCI scout as a 12-year-old winning a mountain bike race in Eritrea. Culture shocks, initial challenges adapting to Europe’s colder climate, and visa issues were all part of Girmay’s story since. Gent-Wevelgem two years ago was the breakthrough moment, a Giro d’Italia stage in the same year a monumental step too — but three stages of the Tour de France, the green jersey and a place at cycling’s very top table is on another level entirely.
The impact of Girmay’s success was seen online during these past three weeks, in videos from Eritrea, the streets packed with celebrating faces, a country inspired by his achievements.
Mani Arthur, who runs the Black Cyclists Network and has competed for Ghana, told the BBC: “We don’t really see many black riders, especially from Africa, competing in the Tour de France. So to see Girmay not only be competing but to also win a much coveted stage is incredible. He’s proven himself to be amongst the best riders in the world.”
Eritrean cycling coach Aklilu Haile added: “Sometimes cycling seems like it’s for white people only, but now he teaches us that cycling is for all the world.”
REVIEW: Enigma Eikon Frame 2024
"Exhausted" Jonas Vingegaard looking forward to taking a break, while fired-up Remco Evenepoel takes aim at his critics
Jonas Vingegaard quickly shut down any ideas that he could ride the Vuelta a España, telling Eurosport he needs a rest and has never “been this tired after a Grand Tour before”.
“Unfortunately not this year,” he confirmed. “I have different priorities this year, but for sure I will be there again in the future. I’m tired, I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired after a Grand Tour before. To be honest, I’m exhausted, and I need a bit of rest now. It’s been quite some journey because it’s only three and a half months ago I had the worst crash of my career, breaking almost every bone in the upper right side of my body, and puncturing both lungs.”
Meanwhile, the Dane’s fellow podium finisher Remco Evenepoel had some critics to respond to…
“In my home country there has been a lot of criticism. I’ve worked my arse off to be in the best shape possible”
Remco Evenepoel spoke to Matt after the podium presentation 🤍🇧🇪#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/ZQwLMhXElC
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 21, 2024
Drone shots impress during final time trial
best stadium in the world 💛#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/1piYSzWFdq
— Emma Bianchi 🍉 (@cyclartist) July 21, 2024
"I've only ever jumped up and down screaming at the TV twice": Reaction to Mark Cavendish bowing out of Tour de France
Cav was honoured by the race organisation as well, getting his own special podium presentation alongside the other classification winners…
Sir Mark Cavendish, the all-time record holder for stage wins at the Tour de France 3️⃣5️⃣🇮🇲🚀#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/4KV1hHy72W
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 21, 2024
For those particularly at a loss for something to do tomorrow lunchtime, Eurosport presenter Orla Chennaoui posted on social media: “Mark Cavendish will be arriving at Heathrow T5 tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1300. Let’s get a little flash Cav Homecoming thing going shall we?”
Some reaction from you guys…
Jakrayan: “I’ve only ever jumped up and down screaming at the TV twice. The first time was watching the Worlds in Copenhagen. The second was seeing the same racer hit the front with about 200m to go just over two weeks ago.
“Thank you Cav, for many things, but particularly for making me understand why and how people get so emotional when watching sport. I shed many tears after number 35, not ashamed to admit it, and I am delighted that you are going out with a fairytale ending after the crappy years, and particularly after being forced to pull out last year with the broken collarbone when you’d already come so close.”
Rendel Harris: “Thanks Cav, you’ve added huge interest, excitement and joy to my watching of pro cycling and especially the Tour for the last nineteen years and finishing your last Tour by finally capturing the elusive #35 was a highlight of the year. Good luck with wherever the sport, or life, takes you in future!”
22cm bars... what does an Olympic track rider's road bike look like?
“It’s not everyday you build a bike for an Olympian, and this is one interesting build!” the people from Saddleback wrote on Instagram. You can say that again…
“Built for track superstar @neah.evans, this @envecomposites Melee features some special modifications to fit the specifications and bike fit requirements. The 22cm wide cockpit is quite a stand-out feature!” they continued.
Cycling UK calls on Labour government to put "divisive rhetoric" around active travel to bed "once and for all" with "coherent and committed" investment for cycling
"Right now, there is nothing that says that it’s being used in the optic of performance enhancement": Movement for Credible Cycling not calling for carbon monoxide rebreathers ban yet
It was one of the hot topics at this year’s Tour de France, the news that UAE Team Emirates, Visma-Lease a Bike and Israel-Premier Tech all admitted that they were using a controversial, but legal, device called a carbon monoxide rebreather during altitude camps to test riders’ progress.
What it all comes down to is that testing using the expensive device, which allows precise dosages of the deadly gas to be inhaled into the lungs, is safe and does not have a performance-enhancing effect. This is what cycling teams are using them for currently.
However, some have expressed discomfort at the fact the very same devices and techniques could be used by those looking to artificially boost haemoglobin.
The Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) has told Cyclingnews that rebreathers are “not a subject” it is looking to call to ban at the moment. “We’re talking about something hypothetical rather than something suspicious, so you have to be careful,” the organisation’s president Roger Legeay explained. “Right now, there is nothing that says that it’s being used in the optic of performance enhancement, so it’s not a subject at the moment.”
Ben Stiller congratulates Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard on Tour de France
What a dominant #TDF2024 victory by @TamauPogi. 🙌🙌🙌
Incredible second place after a serious crash weeks before the tour by @VingegaardJonas 👏👏👏
And of course the classic calls by @bobkeroll and @PhilLiggett ✊💙
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) July 22, 2024
"We used to have a life": Chants of "no more cyclists" at anti-tourism protest in Mallorca as residents complain of tourists driving up cost of living
Dame Sarah Storey selected for ninth Paralympic Games
Britain’s most successful Paralympic athlete Dame Sarah Storey has been selected for a ninth Games and will be looking to defend the titles she has held for the past three Paralympics in the C5 time-trial and C4-5 road race.
“Competing in nine Games is a dream I didn’t ever have. As a teenager I wanted to be an athlete for as long as I possibly could but always assumed I’d be too old by 46! I’ve got such a great support around me, led by my brilliant husband Barney and am very excited to pull on ParalympicsGB kit again,” she said.
"Never listen to Lance Armstrong about anything": Phil Gaimon hits back at disgraced cheat's "don't give them a reason to doubt you" warning to Tadej Pogačar
Former pro cyclist-turned-Strava KOM hunter Phil Gaimon addressed the comments of a certain other retired American cyclist, you know, the one who had seven yellow jerseys stripped for doping. Lance Armstrong bulldozed his way into the final weekend of the Tour de France, warning Tadej Pogačar “don’t give people a reason to hate you” and “don’t give them a reason to doubt you” after the Slovenian ruthlessly won his fourth stage of the race, at Isola 2000 on Friday, picking off the breakaway riders to beat Matteo Jorgenson with another brutal mountain performance.
Armstrong called cycling a “political game”, claiming relevance and being the person best qualified to talk about the subject because… I guess, he got caught for one of sport’s worst cheating scandals so… he’s allowed to make mysterious comments about future generations? Something like that…
Gaimon was unimpressed, telling his podcast: “Never, ever listen to Lance Armstrong about anything.” Cool, story done, next…
Only joking, he added on the episode released yesterday: “This was the performance (Isola 2000) that put it over the line for some folks, this is unbelievable, we don’t believe in this guy any more.
“People keep doing these climb comparisons. They’re looking at the climbs from Pantani and Lance and Ulrich and all those guys. And of course, Tadej smashed a tonne of those this year. And you look at that, it’s like, oh, well, that’s a bad sign. But then look at this is 25, 30 years ago for a lot of those. Think about if you went to ride Pantani’s bike right now up a hill, you’d be like, ‘ew’. Everything has progressed. All sports progress, technology has progressed, aerodynamics, equipment.
“And then you get into like nutrition and training. Every sport is going to get faster over time. Cycling from a certain era was going to regress a little bit and then progress over time. Am I saying Tadej is clean? No, I don’t know that guy. But I see a lot of comments like, ‘man, don’t be naive, everyone’s doing it’. No, they’re not. That is absolutely not true. I know a lot of guys in the peloton still, I’m very close friends with a handful of them.
“I’m not best friends with anyone on the podium, but I’m super tight with people who are very high up, who have gotten significant results this year, whose names have been mentioned in these events, who I trust thoroughly. So is everyone doing it?
No, even back then, that wasn’t the case.”
Pogačar was of course on hand to collect his prize for winning the Tour last night — a press conference with questions about doping…to which he replied: “There will always be doubts because cycling was damaged so much in the past, before my time. In any sport, if somebody is winning there’s always jealousy, there’s always haters. If you don’t have haters, then you’re not succeeding.
“In cycling, WADA and the UCI invested a lot of money and time to make this sport clean. I think this is one of the cleanest sports in the whole world because of what happened so many years ago. I tell you now, it’s not worth it. I think taking anything that can risk your health or your heart is super stupid. You can cycle until you’re 35, but there’s a long way to enjoy life afterwards. It would be stupid to do this and risk your life for stupid racing.”
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@chrisonabike True, things went back to normal once the pandemic was over. In this case, however the problems are still ongoing, and aren't likely to be resolved in the near future. If anything, they're going to get worse. Food shortages are predicted because of the effect that the heatwave has had on crops. This is bound to push prices up. The Straits of Hormuz aren't likely to reopen anytime soon and the strategic oil reserves are running low. Russia is having to import petrol because its own refineries have been badly hit, so that's even more competition for an even more scarce resource. I think that more and more people are going to see cycling as a way of cutting household bills.
I think if "grown up" cyclists * are quibbling about ASLs we've very much missed the road safety point anyway. (Not to mention the wider "better transport choices" picture). ASLs are poor-to-useless "cycling infra", even for their design intent. If the idea is "for less confident cyclists" then a design that requires that you re-position in front of the motor traffic - waiting to accelerate - seems unhelpful. Of course they're only designed to help when traffic is stopped, and you can reach the front in time and if vehicles aren't already occupying them. As we're noting here drivers frequently ignore them - whether that be deliberate, a lack of road craft, because they were concentrating on following the vehicle in front, or because the paint has rubbed off. * Aside: shouldn't cycling also be safe and accessible for kids? Or should they only be allowed to do this when accompanied by sufficient qualified adults? Or be limited to parks and otherwise being driven around by their carers? Perhaps there is another way...?
Hi Bungle, I saw you follow-up comment. I can't imaging there's a tolerance of 4 seconds on camera enforced lights, seems an odd decision - an offence is committed if a vehicle starts crossing on a red, any tolerance is discretionary. There does seem to be some odd thinking about 'advanced stop lines' where the rules relating to them are identical to a regular stop line, as explained correctly elsewhere in the Highway Code. It does seem a regular offence. Where I live it doesn't help that some of them are very faint and disappear in rain.
@ktache Not sure he's totally ruled out of the worlds yet (though I think it would be best if he doesn't), normal recovery time is about eight weeks but surgery can halve that...depending on the nature of the break he could be just about fit to ride by the time of the elite men's race, but he'll have missed a lot of training. Hopefully his managers and team will persuade him to wait until Lombardia, if not just to knock it off for the rest of the year.
@Bungle_52 The Met told me a couple of years ago when rejecting a submission that they needed a clear three seconds of red visible before they would consider it for an RLJ prosecution. I pointed out to them that this meant that at 30 mph a driver could see a light change to red from 40 metres away and still get through without sanction, or 55 m if they accelerated to 40 as most do. They just replied "them's our rules..."
@Ben Graham I have just checked the footage from my report. The driver crosses the 1st stop line 4 seconds after the light turns red. All on camera from behind the vehicle. No further action. So I assume the margin is at least 4 seconds.
Oh, and active travel funding per head (in England at least) is laughable compared to other places. Plus it is delivered intermittently. It's more like a Blue Peter contest...
Yup, I see those opportunities being missed all the time in Edinburgh. When it gets really bad, dig it all up and put it back down again how it was. Contrast with what seems to happen in NL - when things are dug up the whole thing seems to get a "let's redo this according to the current standards" treatment. They even coordinate with the utilities, so that after a refurb the street isn't immediately dug up again because of leaking pipes / we suddenly realised the new estate being planned for round the corner will want broadband etc. Pros and cons of course - you may wait longer there for changes as smaller changes may be deferred until a major redo is due. (Though in the UK case you likely wouldn't get them at all...) It seems we "can't have nice things" in the UK in part because a) we have greater motor traffic speeds/volumes spead across "streets" / within urban areas b) the funding and organisational responsibility differs. Are we in the "Sam Vimes boots" territory (being too poor to afford better products which not only save money over time but actually work)? There is long term money pressure on LAs and it seems that due to poor construction and maintenance we have to regularly pour money into (pot-)holes in the road. And it seems there's no budget to check up on or enforce adequate standards from utilities work or even private building.
Shame about the world champs defence. Speedy recovery. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/30/tadej-pogacar-vuelta-a-espana-cycling-crash-hospital-stage-nine
I believe the accepted form for this kind of argument is "I know you are, you said you were, but what am I?".
13 thoughts on ““Never listen to Lance Armstrong about anything”: Phil Gaimon hits back at disgraced cheat’s “don’t give them a reason to doubt you” warning to Tadej Pogačar; Four-time winner Chris Froome convinces oblivious Tour security guard + more on the live blog”
Guardian interview with
Guardian interview with Victoria Pendleton
Well that was a fucking
Well that was a fucking depressing read. Poor woman.
She has been through so much
She has been through so much shit. Her successes during and since her cycling career are remarkable achievements.
She’s one of so many athletes British Cycling, particularly of that era, have utterly failed
Couple of dashcams from the w
Couple of dashcams from the w/e
Interesting one asking who is a fault
Driver fails to understand the difference between middle of the lane and middle of the road. Fails to think about where to overtake safely and what happens even if the overtake is ok.
Hirsute wrote:
I’m going to go with pretty much everybody:
This is the location from the
This is the location from the dashcam overlay – https://maps.app.goo.gl/WZF7QD1PvVodr6mP6
Possibly the cyclist thought the driver was going to turn right, that would explain the attempt to pass on the left.
Hirsute wrote:
Gotta say, I went into that comment section expecting a fight, but the general consensus (surprisingly) seems to be that “yeah, he’s obviously going to take primary approaching a junction, why would you even think of overtaking there?!”.
Maybe we’re finally getting somewhere?
Yes, I could only find loads
Yes, I could only find loads of comments against the driver and none against the cyclist.
Hirsute wrote:
I’m not convinced that it’s the cyclist, on either of those clips
#1 – motorist overtakes cyclist who is overtaking (badly) parked heavy plant, then thinks that they have evaporated so it’s safe to turn left.
#2 – motorist clearly doesn’t realise that the approach to a junction is a really bad place to overtake a cyclist, cyclist disagrees so moves right ever so slightly so as to discourage said unsafe overtake.
Pog would be so much more
Pog would be so much more believable if he didn’t sound so much like Lance.
Pog: “I think this is one of the cleanest sports in the whole world because of what happened so many years ago. I tell you now, it’s not worth it. I think taking anything that can risk your health or your heart is super stupid. I think this is one of the cleanest sports in the whole world because of what happened so many years ago. I tell you now, it’s not worth it. I think taking anything that can risk your health or your heart is super stupid.”
It sounds a lot like Lance talking about how the Tour is clean because of, well, Festina, and how he’d never dope because of, well, “cancer.” And all this worrying about health risks from people who regularly engage in high-speed, potentially deadly downhill runs on their bikes on a regular basis.
Hopefully, Pog is clean. But it might feel better if he just said: “I”m not doping. I don’t know what else to tell you. You’ll have to take my word for it, I guess, because I can’t bring myself to offer phony claims as to how that wouldn’t be healthy.”
cmedred wrote:
But if he isn’t doping and that is one of his main motivations not to then his claims aren’t phony. Honestly, I know we’re all geared towards suspicion and for good reason but he really is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t, isn’t he?
ETA:
That’s a totally nonsensical argument, on that basis you can’t believe anyone who says they care about their health if they undertake any potentially dangerous activities as part of their job or hobbies. I’m fond of a good descent myself (nothing like Tour speeds but 80 km/h or so on a good surface with a clear run), I don’t disregard my health the rest of the time on the basis that I could be killed doing it. These are young men who devote their lives to achieving superhuman levels of fitness, just because their pursuit also involves high risk activities doesn’t mean you can write off as nonsense any claim that they care about their health.
Sorry but Froome sounds like
Sorry but Froome sounds like an arrogant ‘do you know who I am’ t**t. If you need accreditation to get passed then get it. Don’t expect officials to risk their jobs just becuase they don’t recognise you. And even if they did, that doesn’t give you the right to get passed anyway.
Rome73 wrote:
Have you considered that maybe the guard was wrong and that he didn’t need accreditation, that maybe he was told by the organisers he could just come along and they would let him in? Clearly accreditation was not essential as the guard eventually did let him in. Best not to judge without the full facts.