Welcome to Monday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Wiggins: Froome “couldn’t scratch his arse” before 2012 TdF, 2016 TdF stage winner Jarlinson Pantano tests positive for EPO, Paris-Roubaix round-up on-bike footage and Sussex 11-year-old from Sussex who rode Saturday’s sportive + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond and we start a new week.
Mon, Apr 15, 2019 16:28
SUMMARY
15 April 2019, 16:28
Weekend catch-up
ICYMI, here are some of our top stories from the weekend:
– Campaigners in Cambridge ride for Space for Cycling ahead of local elections
– Philippe Gilbert wins Paris-Roubaix (+ video highlights)
– Jeremy Clarkson lost two stone by cycling
– 11 ways the pros prepare for Paris-Roubaix
15 April 2019, 16:28
The cycle paths that encourages you to sing
It is estimated that 75% of Dutch people sometimes sing while cycling, so they have created designated cycling paths where you are encouraged to sing aloud. (h/t @BicycleDutch.) pic.twitter.com/ugbe0XrDuG
— Quite Interesting (@qikipedia) April 14, 2019
Apparently it’s a thing in the Netherlands!
15 April 2019, 16:28
Elation from Philippe Gilbert as he clinches his fourth monument
True emotions… This is #TheWolfpack pic.twitter.com/viDFZy7U1E
— PHILIPPE GILBERT (@PhilippeGilbert) April 14, 2019
Gilbert is seen in tears after winning Paris-Roubaix yesterday, and is embraced by team manager Patrick Lefévère as he comes to a stop on the famous velodrome. Full report on yesterday’s epic here.
15 April 2019, 16:28
On-bike footage/carnage from Paris-Roubaix
The folks at Velon managed to edit together plenty of carnage just a few hours after the finish – check out the madness and Gilbert’s victory from another perspective…
15 April 2019, 16:28
Evaldas Siskevicius has ride of his life to finish 9th in 2019 Paris-Roubaix... a year after arriving at the finish to find velodrome doors closed
One of those stories we all love. Last year, he arrived last and found the Roubaix Velodrome’s gates closed. Today, he arrived 9th. Chapeau, Edvaldas Siskevicius! Gotta love pro cycling! #ParisRoubaix pic.twitter.com/ggejwvyrF3
— Mihai Cazacu (@faustocoppi60) April 14, 2019
You may remember the Lithuanian rider’s story of stubbornness from last year, in which he battled through exhaustion and a puncture 30km from the finish only to ignore the motorbike sweeper and continue on out of pure determination and respect for the race. Siskevicius found security had already closed the gates to the velodrome that Peter Sagan had rode through to claim victory over an hour before, and had to sneak in to cross the finish line.
A year on, and Siskevicius had the absolute ride of his life to record a top ten finish on the Hell of the North. Hard work pays off, chapeau that man.
*Edit* They do say if it’s not on Strava it didn’t happen, and luckily for us Siskevicius has already uploaded his epic ride from yesterday! Link here with all the juicy data.
15 April 2019, 16:28
11-year-old Ventoux and Stelvio-conquering Alfie Earl becomes youngest to complete Paris-Roubaix Sportive
The intrepid youngster finished the 145km epic over the famous cobbles on Saturday, gaining special permission to ride as the usual minimum age for the event is 18. He completed the course in just over seven hours. He said: “I’m really proud to have done Paris-Roubaix, it was a brutal but an amazing experience. The Arenberg was horrible but after that I got more used to the cobbles and my BMX’ing came in handy as I could bunneyhop into the gutters! Lots of people were encouraging me and I got lots of high fives along the way.”
Aged just nine Alfie, who attends the The Weald School in Billingshurst, West Sussex, climbed the Ventoux and Stelvio inside 48 hours. He also conquered the Col du Galibier a few months later.
15 April 2019, 16:28
Wiggins: Froome “couldn’t scratch his arse” before 2012 Tour de France
Remember Chris Froome saying on Nico Rosberg’s Beyond Victory podcast last week that he had issues trusting Bradley Wiggins at the 2012 Tour de France because of the previous year’s Vuelta, where he had to follow team orders and surrender the leader’s jersey to Wiggins, only to prove the stronger of the two Team Sky riders during the third and final week of the race, finishing second with his team-mate in third?
Well, it was bound to provoke a reaction from Wiggins, and so it proved in the latest episode of his Eurosport podcast, The Bradley Wiggins Show, when he said that Froome – who finished runner-up as his team leader became the first Briton to win the yellow jersey – “couldn’t scratch his arse” before the 2012 Tour de France.
You can listen to the full segment here.
15 April 2019, 16:28
Game of Thrones Olympics
When the world seems to be talking about something else, we always try to bodge in a cycling reference… and this time we thank The Humour Feed for sharing this gallery (original credit unknown) in which Bronn from Game of Thrones starts in the men’s Olympic Road Race (photo 14).
15 April 2019, 16:28
Another cycling and walking paradise in London thanks to an unlikely source
#ExtinctionRebellion have just blocked Waterloo Bridge to traffic. Still open to pedestrians and cyclists [ro] pic.twitter.com/RrJ3DnArAh
— BBC London Travel (@BBCTravelAlert) April 15, 2019
Last week Hammersmith Bridge was shut indefinitely to motor traffic thanks to the lack of money the council had to fix it, and this week the Extinct Rebellion climate change action group are responsible for closing off Waterloo bridge. They’ve started putting trees and potted house plants up to ensure the road remains blocked off for the foreseeable…
15 April 2019, 16:28
Tour de France stage winner Jarlinson Pantano tests positive for EPO
Colombian cyclist Jarlinson Pantano, who won a Tour de France stage in 2016 when he was with the IAM Cycling team, has tested positive for EPO, the UCI has confirmed.
World cycling’s governing body said that the rider was targeted for testing by the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation.
It added: “The rider has the right to request and attend the analysis of the B sample.
“In accordance with UCI Anti-Doping Rules, the rider has been provisionally suspended until the adjudication of the affair.
“At this stage of the procedure, the UCI will not comment any further on this matter.”
The 30-year-old’s current team, Trek Segafredo, said: “It is with deep disappointment that we have just learned that our rider, Jarlinson Pantano, has been notified of an adverse analytical finding in a sample collected during an out of competition control carried out by the Cycling Antidoping Foundation.
“In accordance with our zero-tolerance policy, he has been suspended immediately.
“We hold our riders and staff to the highest ethical standards and will act and communicate accordingly as more details become available,” it added.
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Jack is group editor across road.cc, off.road.cc and ebiketips, overseeing all three sites in the F-At Digital group to make sure everything’s up to scratch. He’s been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of road.cc including tech, news and video, and also contributed to ebiketips before being named editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town, and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master’s degree in print journalism, and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it’s a long story).
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Latest Comments
Rendel Harris 40 minutes ago
@Mr Blackbird Fair points, though I was wondering if doing the climb and descent on a standard bike and swapping to TT for the flat section would have been worth it? Certainly quite a few riders seemed to be having handling difficulties maintaining the best line on the descent with their TT machines.
Mr Blackbird 55 minutes ago
No. The climb wasn't severely steep and allowed a reasonable speed to be maintained on a TT bike, his bike handling skills on road or TT bike are outstanding for the descent and on a road bike he would have lost a lot of time on the flat last 9k section. Terrific performance by him though!
Pub bike 10 hours ago
Would he have performed better on his normal bike?
wtjs 11 hours ago
the National Bus and Rail Union told the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) the following month, saying the requirements (making the cyclist scum wear helmets and HiViz) would, “make the roads a safer place, as it would make potential hazards easier to spot.” Nothing to do with driver behaviour then? Stagecoach is even putting intimidating threats against cyclists on the side of the buses now! ttps://upride.cc/incident/px60beo_stagecoach41-closepass/
eburtthebike 11 hours ago
.......the government was focused on the “enormity of the e-scooter problem” Just wait until they find out how absolutely effing gigantic the car problem is. The whole thing is just motornormativity at government level, and while Ciarán Cannon talks sense, Seán Canney is fecking eejit.
Rendel Harris 13 hours ago
40% of fatal road incidents (70 deaths p.a.) in Ireland involve excess alcohol. Pass a law mandating compulsory alcohol interlocks for all motor vehicles and see what that does for road safety first.
Rendel Harris 15 hours ago
@mitsky I didn't say it was applicable in this case or that I thought it should be, I was simply answering your question as to whether anyone had ever shot someone and been charged with anything other than murder or attempted murder, to which the answer is yes.
Rendel Harris 15 hours ago
@perce The new troll, my friend, is solely piss and wind, the new troll is solely piss and wind.
Xenophon2 15 hours ago
Very correct price for a basic, no-frills frameset. Older and wiser -after a warranty case on a '100 year' Ti frameset that lasted 5 years before a drive side chain stay weld said sayonara- I'll never again purchase a really high cost Ti frame. If the replacement -3999 Euro at retail but I paid 800, which is what it took for them to +- honour the warranty- fails, I'm done. Firstly because they do fail. Titanium is very finicky where welding conditions are concerned and good luck with that warranty, better read the wording very carefully. Secondly, often the price is justified with 'it's a frame for life'. Errrr....yes, unless you decide you want something different after 5 years, it breaks or technology evolves to a point where your frameset becomes aa anachronism and after 10 years you can start hunting for spares(UDH and disc brakes, anyone?). Third: I'm getting a bit tired reading about these so-called 'magical' properties of Ti. The only magical thing about it is the corrosion resistance. All that absorbing of vibrations etc is mainly function of frame design/geometry. If you want vibration damping: larger tires, lower pressure, done.
darnac 15 hours ago
True,but I can't count thé number of times I've seen him on TV as an invited expert for comments since
4 thoughts on “Live blog: Wiggins: Froome “couldn’t scratch his arse” before 2012 TdF, 2016 TdF stage winner Jarlinson Pantano tests positive for EPO, Paris-Roubaix round-up on-bike footage and Sussex 11-year-old from Sussex who rode Saturday’s sportive + more”
Someday, someone, somewhere
Someday, someone, somewhere when Froome nears retirement will make a documentary on Froome, I fear they will struggle to keep it serious.. he’s given us so many larfs through the years what with his overgrown baby head, crashing into an official literally off the ramp in his TdF debut, running up Mont Ventoux, silly elbows and stem watching.. Bradley’s probably right.
I tip my POV visor to both
I tip my POV visor to both Edvaldas Siskevicius and Alfie Earl, inspiring stories both.
Pantani guilty of drug taking
Pantani guilty of drug taking. It was inevitable he would be caught. What… not Pantini?
Obviously this report
Obviously this report sensationalises it, Wiggins comments were pretty measured.
1: The point before which Wiggins said Chris Froome “couldn’t scratch his arse” was the 2011 Vuelta – I doubt many would disagree.
2: Wiggins points out that before the 2012 tour he hadn’t failed to win a race he targeted in 2012, didn’t loose a single long time trial, he won the TdF by 3 minutes or Froome.
3: He was actually pretty complimentary to Froome in the segment describing him as the best rider of his generation and his favourite for 2019 victory.
Basically Froome was showing off, he couldn’t have taken 3 minutes out of a better timetrialist in around 1000m of riding.
But the showing off worked and the rest is history.