Welcome to Thursday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
- News

Live blog: Peter Sagan drones on (amongst other things) in training camp vid; “My life could have changed dramatically” – Yoann Offredo on his temporary tetraplegia after crash last week; Lance Armstrong’s house; Prudhomme “sad” at Verity departure +more
SUMMARY

Peter's fully focussed as usual...
You don’t get to where @petosagan is in the world of cycling without taking training very seriously… Stay tuned for the full video on our Youtube channel. pic.twitter.com/53JyIysYjw
— ShimanoROAD (@ShimanoROAD) April 3, 2019
And sporting an epic tash!
19-year-old boy arrested in Los Angeles accused of cycling up to people and slashing them with "an edged weapon"


Sky news reports that Lenrey Briones was taken into police custody, after four people had been attacked in the past month and being left with severe injuries. He allegedly rode up to his victims and slashed at them with an edged weapon, Captain Dan Randolph said: “The suspect instilled fear in this community”.
Christian Prudhomme says he "feels sad" about resignation of Yorkshire tourism boss Gary Verity following expenses scandal
Prudhomme was speaking at an awkward tenth anniversary celebration of Welcome to Yorkshire, taking place after the recent resignation of its boss Sir Gary Verity due to a scandal involving alleged irregularities in his expenses claims. Welcome to Yorkshire brought the Tour de France Grand Depart to the county in 2014.
The Guardian reports that Prudhomme says he “feels sad” for Verity: “I cannot help but feel sad for the man who made me discover your beautiful county, for the man who brought together our ‘ooh la la’ with your ‘ee bah gum’, the man who made me love Yorkshire: mon ami, Gary Verity.”
After the event, Welcome to Yorkshire Board member Keith Stewart answered questions over the scandal, and said there will inevitably be meetings with West Yorkshire Police: “If there is anything that is thrown up from the investigations that we think are police matters, we will obviously pass them to the police. We have nothing to hide”, he said.
Two-way Cycling Roundabout
Two way bike roundabout, anyone? pic.twitter.com/kZmLbd3Rtg
— maidstoneonbike (@maidstoneonbike) April 2, 2019
What could possibly go wrong?
Take a look around Lance Armstrong's house
So many fridges. Can’t think what they’re all for…
Mathieu van der Poel doesn't let anything get in his way...
Mathieu van der Poel shows his skills again pic.twitter.com/LsMfIiIEir
— Cycling Today (@CyclingTodayEn) April 3, 2019
Did he do it on purpose or was it just luck?
Pro cyclist celebrates victory despite finishing second. And it's not the first time...
Marcos Garcia, celebrating 7 years ago on Estacion de Valdezcaray and today in Thailand. He didn’t win any of these races. Poor guy, he never learns… pic.twitter.com/Lo3rMxtwkl
— Mihai Cazacu (@faustocoppi60) April 3, 2019
Let’s hope its third time lucky for Marcos Garcia.
At least he’s not the only guy who’s had a premature celebration.
Pippo Pozzato celebrates win but Blel Kadri had already won
Cyclist starts celebrating win early – and gets pipped to the line
Premature exultation as Spanish rider Eloy Teruel celebrates California win a lap early
Never mind chaps, it happens to the best of us…
Organisers slam British Cycling after being forced to cancel Bristol Grand Prix 2019
Organisers of the Bristol Grand Prix have slammed British Cycling after cancelling this year’s event, which had been due to be the fifth edition.
In a statement published on the event’s website, they said: “From the start, the Bristol Grand Prix has been part of the Bristol cycling community and has been dedicated to women’s racing, youth development and creating a sustainable and locally produced race.”
But explaining their decision to cancel this year’s edition, they said: “As a race we have found that our objectives and our ethics are irreconcilable with the requirements of the governing body.
“The restrictions that are placed upon the race both undermine women’s racing and prevent us from including youth riders and local riders and clubs being part of the day.
“Additionally as race organisers we are being forced out of our race due to unfavourable conditions imposed upon us.”
They also warned the event’s backers to beware of a company that is apparently targeting them, saying: “Please note, it has come to our attention that a company is contacting our race sponsors claiming to raise money on behalf of the race.
“Please be aware that this company has nothing to do with the race and has no contract with us as organisers.”
Caitlin Moran ponders the annoyance of bikes in the hallway
Let’s open this up to a poll. Ladies, do YOU have a partner who reduces you to cold fury by leaving their bike in the hallway? https://t.co/XpvoBuWpZ3
— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) April 4, 2019
The journalist and broadcaster’s poll has revealed plenty of contrasting answers, with many female respondents saying they are the ones leaving the bike in the hallway. Is it a domestic problem in your abode? Do let us know in the comments…
Chasing KOMs for Charity
Former pro cyclist turned YouTuber, Phil Gaimon has been riding the most famous climbs around the US in the aim of claiming Strava titles. His series, Worst Retirement Ever, has become popular and now he is doing it for charity.
This summer I’m going on a 3-month van tour to ride bikes, make new friends all over the US, and make videos. The goal is a @strava KOM every day, and $100k (1 million meals) for @chefscycle @nokidhungry, sponsored by @veloguide @ShoAirCG and lots more. pic.twitter.com/caeYHZOjLX
— Phil Gaimon (@philgaimon) 3 April 2019
If you want to know more then click on his tweet and follow for information on how to donate
Peter Sagan (sort of) show us his training schedule in new Shimano video
After teasing us this morning with a preview, Shimano have revealed that testing bikes out with wheelies, flying drones, reading his own book and sneaking treats from the vending machine are all apparently part of Sagan’s ‘very serious’ training regime.
We also wonder if his Bowie-like rate of appearance changes are also part of the strict routine. The latest facial hair styling reminds us of someone computer-animated and Italian…
“My life could have changed dramatically” – Yoann Offredo on his temporary tetraplegia after crash last week
Wanty- Gobert rider Yoann Offredo, who suffered temporary tetraplegia after crashing at the GP de Denain last week, is back training and aiming for a place in the team’s line-up at the Tour de France this summer.
The 32-year-old Frenchman said: “It took a while to get a good feeling, but the evolution was promising and the doctors allowed me to recover at home. I recovered bit by bit and now I am able to use my limbs and to speak quite normally. I want to thank the emergency unit, our team doctor Jelle Van Nieuwenhuyze and our sports director Steven De Neef who supported me in CHRU Lille.
“The many support messages I received were heart-warming. I crashed a few times in my career but I always picked myself again. It will not be different, whenever the mental and physical recovery will not be easy. Yesterday (Wednesday), I was able to ride my bike again and it went quite well.”
He continued: “I want to show what I am able to do on the bike more than ever. Last year, I broke my ribs at the end of April. This year, I am one month in advance. An athlete must be able to bounce back. My team Wanty-Gobert helps me perfectly to achieve my goal.
“The first medical was very alarming because they were speaking about tetraplegia,” he continued.
“My life could have changed dramatically so I want to enjoy the capacities I still have. I want to keep riding my bike and I want the be at the Grand Départ of the next Tour de France. Cycling is more than a sport. I became aware of it when Loïc Vliegen and David Boucher stopped after my crash to support me.”
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Latest Comments
@lawrence18uk Occasionally I see tradies travelling with some tools on the train, compact tool bags, rucksacks and wheelie luggage, often carrying long spirit levels separately, but on a couple of occasions collapsible ladders.
Finally some proper Gravel for the UCI World Championships! …no dates in the article. Racing starts today 10/11 Oct. Watch it free on SBS 6pm Go well Matt…
@Aluminium can - as an alternative to vans, yes cargo bikes (plenty in Cambridge), and I've been wondering whether supplies could be delivered from retailers - using delivery robots. and it's possible I suppose that ladders could fall in the same category - you could, instead of just hiring a bicycle, hire a ladder and it would arrive of its own accord.
... and we still had apostrophe rationing.
@Rendel Harris There was a bit in the bicycle hating Guardian, a nice little read, part of his justification was to acclimatise to the heat and humidity, which if he was in a better car might have been worth it. Good luck to him, chapeau.
@SecretSam That's not really fair, in fact not fair at all. It wasn't his fault that the last two mountain stages were shortened and on the first one he had dropped everyone and was a minute clear as he summitted the Iseran when the stage was neutralised, and on the second he stayed with or dropped all the other GC contenders. You seem to have forgotten his Giro win as well as Paris Nice and the Tour de Suisse. Only the fourth rider to have won the Tour and Giro before the age of twenty-five. Yes he probably couldn't have stayed with Pogacar even if he hadn't had the awful crash, and probably nor could any other rider in history except perhaps Merckx.
@lesterama Bernal has had two whammys. His crash, which he has probably never fully recovered from and Ineos taking a nosedive. They have no focus and no identity.
@Zermattjohn Read the comment I posted about my experience
I bought some Challenge Strada tyres. After a while the sidewalls began to detach from the tyre and the tread became rippled making them unsafe to use. The shop I bought them from asked me to drop them in and he would show the Challenge rep as he was due in the following week. The rep bizarrely firstly claimed that the tyres had failed because they may have been punctured (they hadn’t), then immediately claimed that they had failed because the rear tyre was more worn than the front! I emailed pictures to Challenge and was told they had failed because they had been fitted incorrectly. The black strip they had introduced to stop the issue I had was supposed to be above the rim. Which it clearly was shown to be correct on the pictures I sent to them which proved that the tyres were correctly fitted. This seems to be the norm now in the cycle industry, if there is an issue with a product, the company automatically blames the end user rather than look to address the issue, thereby pissing the customer off. A pissed off customer rarely returns.
@kingleo And there are hundreds, if not thousands of people holding up a shattered helmet saying it saved their life, the doctor/policeman told me.
7 thoughts on “Live blog: Peter Sagan drones on (amongst other things) in training camp vid; “My life could have changed dramatically” – Yoann Offredo on his temporary tetraplegia after crash last week; Lance Armstrong’s house; Prudhomme “sad” at Verity departure +more”
Quote:
Maybe he’s just pleased he finished…?
Quote:
I don’t understand that picture. Is it basically a – you know – a T-junction for bicycles?
Let’s open this up to a poll.
Let’s open this up to a poll. People of all genders, do YOU have a partner who reacts with cold fury to you storing one of your most prized and valuable possessions in a convenient place in the house you live in?
jollygoodvelo wrote:
LEAVE!
no, REMAIN!
I was thinking more Nigel
I was thinking more Nigel Mansell.
Armstrong has good taste in
Armstrong has good taste in art. Who knew.
martybsays wrote:
Everyone.. he famously brought loads of art, before someone outed him as Lord Voldemort.
He also gave money to charity, dated a pop star and admitted to tickling Bill Clinton’s balls just the once at a thanksgiving meal.