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Live blog: Tour de France highlights and reaction, Peter Sagan and other pros discuss disc brakes, + more
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Wed, Jul 18, 2018 15:07
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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Latest Comments
Rendel Harris 3 hours ago
@Rendel Harris Interestingly, and it sort of supports my theory that UAE were being cunning, Pog has the mountains jersey today because he was the quickest up the final climb, which argues that he hadn't burnt all his matches when he got to the finish.
eburtthebike 4 hours ago
@JLasTSR It takes time. I got knocked off nine years ago in broad daylight on a roundabout, by a driver who was wearing very dark glasses, I'm suspicious that he was actually visually impaired. No prosecution. It took me a few years to get my confidence back. I wish you all the best in getting the enjoyment back.
Rendel Harris 5 hours ago
@tomlew That sounds like someone who is thinking about GC to me. I don't think your comparison with 16-year-old footballers is particularly valid, ultimately football at every level is played on roughly the same size to pitch, the goals are the same size and there are eleven players on each team. If professional football was played on a pitch three times the size with goals half the size and for five hours instead of ninety minutes, that might be a good comparison. I have no objection to Seixas riding this tour for experience, I think it's a good idea, but as I've said, I don't think he's got any chance of winning unless something major happens to the big contenders (he's already shipped 39 seconds and 27 seconds respectively to the big dogs) and if he tries too hard he could receive humiliating setbacks that could damage him psychologically throughout his career. You say "If I were a prodigy cyclist youngster with a realistic shot at winning, I might take [the risk] even if I knew it might be the end of my career", but he doesn't have a realistic shot at winning and in taking the risk he might be putting in jeopardy the possibility of winning multiple Tours in future. I don't think this is a situation where a "death or glory" approach is suitable. We shall reconvene in three weeks time and see what happened, and I'm quite happy to be proved wrong and if he does win this year it would certainly mean we had had a thrilling Tour.
tomlew 6 hours ago
@Rendel Harris I absolutely know all that. But that's exactly what I said: he is risking a lot, but the reward might be worth it. It is only a matter of judgment. And by the way, AFAIK nobody said he's going to ride to win the GC. Maybe the plan is exactly to learn his lessons this year so that next year nobody can say he's too inexperienced to really go for victory. Of course, he could ride the Vuelta, but what better place is there to learn the TdF than TdF itself? Times have changed. No more pecking orders, 16-year-old footballers are already shaking the world (even though most of them do indeed get chewed and spat out badly, but again: that's a risk they take). Why wouldn't the same happen in cycling?
darnac 8 hours ago
Sôme interesting comments from Wright and Stewart about 'losing' thé team élément a bit with thé new format
choddo 13 hours ago
And I don’t know when you wrote this but I think it was published 9 days after Onley was confirmed out of the Tour.
choddo 13 hours ago
Paul Seixas’ team is Decathlon CMA CGM
GravelIsNothingNew 14 hours ago
The best thing about the TTT as Stage 1 is that it emphasises the fact that cycling grand tours incl the TDF are a team sport.
mdavidford 14 hours ago
If you click through and read the story you'll see that the first motorist hit the cyclist, and the second, following, motorist then also hit them while they were lying in the road - both were convicted of causing the cyclist's death.
Rendel Harris 16 hours ago
I may be reading far too much into it, but I felt as though Pogacar and UAE weren't actually that bothered about winning today. Not having yellow to defend and all the extra press etc to do this early in the race is an indisputable advantage; I just got the impression that they were out to lose no more than a handful of seconds but not to bury themselves for the win. With about 2.5kms to go I thought that if Pogacar really wanted it he would have gone from there, but he stayed with Del Toro for nearly another kilometre even though the body language was saying that no way was Del Toro in as good shape as Pogacar. Even after the finish he didn't seem as wiped out as Ganna (whom I don't think I've ever seen quite so shattered) or Jonas. As I say, might be reading too much into it but I would not be surprised if UAE had played a very clever hand not to lose any meaningful time but to avoid the burden of yellow from the get go.
29 thoughts on “Live blog: Tour de France highlights and reaction, Peter Sagan and other pros discuss disc brakes, + more”
If “speeding cyclists” are
If “speeding cyclists” are really the problem, how come I (on a bike) so often end up stuck behind a big queue of slow-moving motor vehicles…?
I don’t know how they are
I don’t know how they are going to find the room on the roadside for those signs. So much space is already taken up with signs for drivers;
-Don’t Speed
-Don’t Tailgate
-Don’t use your phone
-Don’t jump red lights
-Don’t overtake on blind bends
etc etc etc.
If cyclists are speeding, why
If cyclists are speeding, why are the cars overtaking them?
asdfqwerty wrote:
From spending most of my cycling time in North Yorkshire I can say the motorists which have a problem with cyclists and hills are the same sort that are ALWAYS in the wrong gear for hills and for passing. These idiots will sit behind you in 5th gear and then when the road clears, overtake you at 23mph (closely but slowly) for the next 15 seconds.
Be ready to pass, not start your thought process about which gear you should be in. Then again these are also the same people as the guy that mowed the cyclists down.
The thing that really annoys me about people complaining about cyclits is they are also the people holding ME up when I’m driving, doing 35 in 60. But somehow then going slow is ‘safe’ and cycling at 20 is speeding. Twats. Need to calm down.
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
I live in Wensleydale now. After a few months I’ve come to the conclusion that the locals are fine, patient drivers. It’s the visitors who bring their close passing, impatient, intolerant attitudes with them.
The next 6 weeks is going to be interesting!…
Sub4 wrote:
The next 6 weeks is going to be interesting!…— Sub4
The times Ive cycled around the Lake District, the impatient drivers are non-locals. The locals have the knowledge of passing places and are in no rush to get places (certainly not at the risk of injuring others)
All councillors do is talk
All councillors do is talk bollocks and waste taxpayers money. They hold up local businesses with silly rules and bureaucracy, and I’ve seen as many as thee or four abreast in a room talking bollocks.
PRSboy wrote:
Is funny *and* true.
N Yorks fanning the flames of
N Yorks fanning the flames of ignorance, It seems we need a national TV campaign to educate people that cyclists are allowed to be two abreast and in a lot of cases it is safer to be so. I was in Windsor great park the other day bimbling along having a chat with my companions (as you do) there were no cars but a women walking waited until we had gone past then shouted out “single file” wtf!
In this age of councils
In this age of councils screaming austerity and cuts left right and centre, not able to fund vital services, but they have the money to put up utterly stupid signs?
When is the next local election to vote these cretins out?
Maybe direct some educating
Maybe direct some educating comments towards the good councillor? You can contact her here https://democracy.hambleton.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=119
I am going to, but I would suggest you keep them respectful as they let be getting more ammunition…
PP
Pilot Pete wrote:
Nice.
Here’s what I just emailed to her:
Hi,
I was concerned to read this morning about the installation of anti-cycling signs: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/17/tour-de-yorkshire-routes-could-see-cyclists-banned-angry-motorists/
Now I understand that motorists are a loud and vocal majority, but I am wondering if you have any evidence or statistics to back up this policy as it seems to be against the general transport policy of encouraging as many people as possible to cycle.
As a cyclist myself, I find that a small minority of motorists are abusive towards cyclists (e.g. shouting about non-existent road tax) and installing these signs would seem to encourage this anti-cycling stance.
Now there are extremely good and logical reasons why cyclists would want to cycle two-abreast and one of these reasons is that it is safer and easier for motorists to overtake. This would seem completely at odds with what you are trying to achieve, so I am puzzled by your approach.
I don’t mean to belittle your ability to be well informed, but just in case you are clueless about overtaking cyclists, here’s a little diagram:
For more information, I can heartily recommend Chris Boardman as a sane and balanced information source.
I look forward to any comments or questions you may have,
What does Councillor Caroline
What does Councillor Caroline Patmore ( cllr.caroline.patmore@hambleton.gov.uk ) mean by it’s ‘road rage’, who’s raging the cyclists or the motorist ( heavy lorry / farm vehicles etc)?
Good afternoon Ms Patmore,
Good afternoon Ms Patmore,
I was confused by your stance on cyclists:
“All they do is speed” is a baffling statement. The tour de France average speed is often around 30mph, are you suggesting the average cyclist in Yorkshire is an elite level athlete? Could I suggest you contact British Cycling as they are missing an opportunity.
“It is not good for motorists following them up a hill” is confusing on many levels. Firstly, what isn’t good? Are you suggesting the motorist is more important. Is between 1 and 2 tonnes of polluting metal what you wish to encourage rather than an activity proven to be beneficial to the individual, the health service and the local economy? Furthermore, why are drivers trying to overtake a speeding cyclist on a hill?
“When you do overtake them you get a ride gesture” really? My mother cycles to the post office and I’ve never heard her drop so much as a “damn blast”, I’m unsure what about cycling would suddenly encourage her to change many years of good manners. If you are in receipt of a ride gesture every time you pass a cyclist, might I suggest you might be driving too close and endangering them or perhaps speeding as you’re passing a speeding cyclist.
I also note that in 2010/11 you claimed for 13,152 miles of travelling expenses whilst living just 8 miles from County Hall. Given an average working year of around 250 days, I’m surprised that you attended more than 3 times a day. You must be incredibly busy. I’d suggest getting a bicycle, even a more expensive electric bike, could save taxpayers £1000 per year (even allowing for purchase of a new bike per year) if 1 in 3 trips were made by bike.
I would be delighted if you could clarify your views as I think they could influence people’s choice to vote for you.
Tis a special kind of of
Tis a special kind of of stupid / sad to try and pretend to be somebody else on an internet forum…
Tis a special kind of of
.
I spent an hour writing my
I spent an hour writing my diatribe to said Cllr, it’s too long to put here and we all know what I said anyway. I included links to the .gov website with all the policy documents regarding the massive push to encourage cycling and walking (and indeed funding, which I am sure Yorkshire has benefitted from;-) and suggested she took time to learn what her own party’s government policy was regarding cycling!
I questioned the bigoted mass generalisations regarding cyclists and pointed out that I could (but wouldn’t) do the same regarding motorists and mobile phone use, speeding, drink driving, passing too close etc etc and urged her to stop victim blaming the vulnerable road users. I also pasted the facts about ‘road tax’, which I know she didn’t mention, but thought I’d put her right anyway, as that would surely be included in her reply (yeah, I’ll be lucky!) and mentioned helmets and hi viz (you know, the invincible hi viz that protects all cyclists from harm in the eyes of motorists!
oh and to finish it off I included a link to that horrendous accident in Somerset where the MX5 driver ploughed into that group and drove off, just to show how singling out sometimes encourages close passes (too bloody close). I hope she reads it and views the video…
PP
I have a reply;
I have a reply;
Dear Mr ****
Thank you for your comments, but I have to say that the reporter to whom I spoke has failed to pass on what I said and taken what he felt was newsworthy on to various newspapers. These comments are out of context.
Yours sincerely
Caroline Patmore
So I assume she will be writing a full article to counter the views as reported then…no, thought not.
PP
My reply to her reply;
My reply to her reply;
So Cllr Patmore
I assume you refute saying that;
1. All cyclists do is speed.
2. They ride more than two abreast.
3. It is not good for motorists following them up a hill. When you do overtake them you get a rude gesture.
4. It is the behaviour of cyclists that is the problem. They don’t seem to enjoy the countryside.
5. Ride too slow to keep traffic flowing. (Presumably at the same time as speeding?)
6. You call for riders to have to ride in single file due to their poor behaviour on the roads.
7. Say that there wasn’t room on the county’s roads for cyclists and large vehicles.
8. Said it was called road rage.
9. Said “Certainly, on the narrow roads they should have signs up saying ‘Cyclists welcome – but in single file only’.”
Would you like to address each point above and give me some context which I can pass on to the cycling community, as your quotes are going viral and you really need to deny them, retract them, or give the context which you feel has not been reflected by the reporter? Your ‘stock’ reply to me is not going to wash for an elected official. I know reporters report stories to fit their agenda, but that is a lot of quotes, which if not true mean you have been seriously misrepresented. My personal guess is you did say them and are now trying to distance yourself by saying they are out of context. Go on, give us the context…
Yours sincerely
Surprised hawksinpeter didnt
Surprised hawksinpeter didnt send her any squirrel pics, but otherwise a comprehensive response
Innerlube wrote:
She doesn’t deserve any squirrel pics.
@bike.owner – I just hurriedly grabbed a suitable looking pic from tinternet and it wasn’t intended as a joke. I’ll find a better pic next time I try to make that point as you’re right about that corner.
I got a similar reply to PilotPete’s, so I’m glad I didn’t spend too much effort on my email.
I live in North Yorkshire in
I live in North Yorkshire in Harrrogate. I was cycling in Swaledale this weekend and saw these signs for the fisrt time and commented to my wife that they were worrying.
The attitude of this coucillor is sadly typical of N Yorkshire county council. They are currently trying to push through a relief road through part of Harrogate, the Nidd Gorge, that is an incredibly beautiful and unspoilt area that benefits from a segregated cycle route. North Yorkshire CC spent a fortune on a study, by a group of independent consultants, which concluded that 93% of the traffic on the part of the A59 that the relief road would bypass is local traffic and would therefore not use the bypass. The study propossed a number of courses of action, one of which was to not build a relief road but rather to invest in infrastructure for cycling, pedestrians and public transport. NYCC asked Harrogate council to deliberate on the matter and at meeting of the council they voted almost unanimously to reject all options for a relief road and to adopt the option for cycling, pedestrains and public transport. NYCC chose to totally ignore this and are still pursuing their plan to build a relief road! Personally I think that Harrogate Council should have resigned en masse. What is the point of refering the matter to an elected body only ignore their decision when you don’t like it!
iandusud wrote:
Absolutely disgusting that county hall should ignore evidence and the thinking of the district council and the people that live there. Should have been a legal challenge as that is the only way to get these matters resolved but that means money. However that would be far less than what county would spend on slimy types to draw pretty pictures/computer graphics and all the rest of the bullshit to promote their idea as being great.
It’s the same everywhere, currently there’s a hundred million being ploughed into a road going through the city of Hull to get traffic to go faster off the A63 to the docks, basically forcing cyclists off the road completely because it’ll be a pseudo motorway and the cycle lane they promised on the last upgrade never happened nor will it for this. The previous upgrade also didn’t actually decrease travel times that much, a few seconds but that was only because local roads had less traffic on them so that was actually the deciding factor. A total fucking waste of £70M!
The new plan includes a shitty bridge that has a lift at either end for wheelchair users to get from one side to the other and a shared path over the bridge that in no way is suitable for people on bikes to use with pedestrians. There’s just that one bridge in about 1/2 mile, basically cutting off the other side of the river front of the city unless you drive.
Whilst a lot of traffic using the road is from outside the locality as it goes to the docks how do they think local workers get to the docks and the industrial units in that area, well not by bike because there’s no fucking safe place to cycle or it’s disjointed/goes the long way.
Hull even until 1989 had 22% of people going to work by bike, I think it’s around 6% at the moment and as a consequence the city gets gridlocked at rush hour, the population hasn’t even risen ffs!
Ian
Ian
I sympathise with your situation – my mum lives in Harrogate and I know it well. What you have to realise is that town councils are responsible for parks and dog shit, and… that’s it!
They have virtually no powers, little budget and regularly pass or deny proposals through votes only to be over-ruled by county councils which hold all the power and budgets.
How do I know this? Because my wife is Mayor of our town and extremely pro cycling, doing everything she can to raise the issues and improve the infrastructure, uptake and health and well-being generally in our town.
Would you believe the county council’s Cycling Champion wasn’t a cyclist and didn’t back our proposal to get the Tour of Britain Stage 3 in 2016 (incidentally the most successful stage of the ToB EVER according to the organisers Sweetspot). Did the county council build on the success (£3.5m net spend in the county on the day!)? Did they hell- Sweetspot were desperate to come back due to the huge crowds that turned out and we even proposed trying to get the start of the Vuelta in 2019 – they backed out claiming they couldn’t get enough sponsors to cover the costs, fact is they never tried…
PP
Pilot Pete wrote:
I have a good friend who heads up Zero Carbon Harrogate, very pro cycling, and as such is very involved in local transport issues. She attended a meeting of the local Chamber of Comerce last week with regard to the World Cycling Championships coming to Harrogate next year. Would you believe that they were moaning about how much business they were going to loose because of all the raod closures! These people have no idea what a business oportunity this is. In September 2019 for eight days Harrogate will be the centre of the cycling world. Towns in France pay a fortune to get the Tour de France to spend one night there because of the financial benefits. Makes you want to weep!
Can I blame Thatcher for all
Can I blame Thatcher for all of this? Can I, can I?
Beecho wrote:
Yes. Yes you can.
Didn’t she come up with the quote:
I’m wondering why we don’t get more collisions if vehicles are always overlapping the central line.
I live in North Yorkshire
I live in North Yorkshire and was out cycling at the weekend. I stopped at a small shop in Glaisdale to buy some water/snacks and just after handing the money over the lady started telling me how cyclists should be banned as they ride too quickly and are going to kill someone, block the roads, etc. Madness given that I was giving her my custom!
Richard1982 wrote:
What a sad individual. The boost in popularity in cycling in North Yorkshire (as elsewhere I expect) has been a huge boon to the local economy, particularly for cafés. I regularly stop at cafés for tea and cake, usually with my club, and they are packed with cyclists. It makes you wonder what would happen to them if they didn’t have cyclists – I reckon most of them would go out of business. I also have to say that they generally are very welcoming and clearly value the business.
I also cycled up to the Tan Hill Inn where at least half of the people buying food and drinks were cyclists, most of the other motorcyclists.