Live blog: Chris Froome does 116-mile gravel ride ... on his Pinarello Bolide TT bike, Iljo Keisse 'apology', Twitter wags are out in force to mock at-home spin bike brand Peloton; meet Raphp, a Chinese knock-off of, well, Rapha + more

Deceuninck-Quick Step cyclist Iljo Keisse has apologised for an incident yesterday that has made headlines in which he allegedly rubbed his genitals against a waitress in Argentina as she posed for for a photo with the Belgian cyclist and his team mates.

We say "apologised" - but people replying to his tweet are unconvinced.

I want to apologize to everybody for the gesture during a photo taken this week. I didn’t want to offend anybody and I deeply regret it. I know I’ve made a mistake but I’m not a disrespectful person. I’m really sorry. @vueltasanjuanok

— Iljo Keisse (@IljoKeisse) January 29, 2019

Sometimes I’ll move the Peloton bike into our gallery so I can spend time with my half gay husband while he reads Architectural Digest wearing combat boots pic.twitter.com/jdBWowR4z3

— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019

Peloton, who charge two grand for a stationary bike then make their customers pay £40 a month on top for Orwellian virtual spinning classes with shouty instructors, haven't had it easy since trying to get pally with the cycling crowd. A cringey ad campaign on TV and social media has generally been taken pretty badly by most of us who believe their pricing structure to be pretty ludicrous, while they also further alienated themselves by trying to sue YouTuber Shane Miller for calling a segment on his channel 'Digital Peloton News' - they claimed to have trademarked the word 'Peloton', which led to much anger and laughter at the audacity of it all in equal measure, and Peloton swiftly backed down. 

I put the Peloton bike in the kitchen of our loft so I can get a workout and also cook the vegan three-bean tortilla soup recipe I downloaded from Goop. pic.twitter.com/GMj4YPu50r

— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019

Over the last 24 hours they've been gloriously sent up in a Twitter thread from an Arizonian calling himself Clue Heywood, who spotted Peloton ads always appear to show their spin bikes in grandiose and/or inappropriate locations in the condos, mansions and luxury apartments presumably owned by the majority of their well-heeled clientele. Peloton have done most of the work for him as almost every 21st century yuppie cliche is covered from their promo shots. There's also no sign of a fan anywhere, do rich people not have hygiene standards nowadays? 

In the mornings, after my housekeeper meticulously makes my bed, I like to ride my Peloton bike in the window of my high rise and literally look down my nose at people. pic.twitter.com/4tCrIOVVA2

— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019

Somebody mentioned to us the concept of 'last mile hubs', where vans from out of town can bring goods in order to be distributed by bike in the urban centre.
Unfortunately nobody told us about the van part... pic.twitter.com/SnwbCkd0nh

— Pedal Me (@pedalmeapp) January 29, 2019

You might have spotted Pedal Me on Dragon's Den at the weekend (find out how they got on by clicking through to yesterday's live blog here) - and they've been getting plenty of admiration on social media for laughing in the face of heavy goods vehicles with one of their expertly-loaded cargo e-bikes in this clip. 

#ThingsIWouldBan Potholes!! pic.twitter.com/xe3cGsoyQg

— road.cc (@roadcc) January 29, 2019

Maybe Piers Morgan as well, but at least that can just be ignored...

New research from British Cycling shows that 64 per cent of women don’t feel confident cycling on the road with around two thirds of women also claiming that the behaviour of motorists and lack of infrastructure also makes them feel unsafe.

The results have been published as British Cycling relaunches its One in a Million campaign, which has already increased the number of women cycling regularly from 525,000 to more than 800,000.

Julie Harrington, British Cycling’s chief executive, said: “Aside from reaching our million women target we want to create a cultural shift which normalises cycling for everyone – so that an equal number of women to men are riding bikes in this country. 

“Cycling is increasingly being understood as a fundamental part of the solution when it comes to issues of public health and air quality however change will not come unless people feel safe on the roads and we know this disproportionately affects women,” she added.