Welcome to Monday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Pro cyclists split over whether e-racing is a proper sport; Junior BinckBank Classic winner lies down before crossing the line in over-exuberant victory celebration; how three former pro cyclists got on at the London Marathon + more
Cycle Surgery Owners looking to close stores.
Ex-mayor of Brighton & Hove calls for two lanes of seafront road to be turned into bike lanes.
Dutch pro cyclist Robert de Greef dies of brain haemorrhage after suffering heart attack mid-race.
Would you trust someone to jump over you?pic.twitter.com/u4C8dQu6nN
— Awesome Cycling (@AwesomeCycling) April 28, 2019
40,000 runners took to the streets of London for one of the world’s biggest 26.2 mile foot races yesterday, and in amongst them were some cyclists whose names you may well recognise. Husband and wife Matt and Nikki Bramameier (the former last rode for Aqua Blue and is now a coach, and Nikki is still a professional road racer) crossed the line together in a time of 3:53:28. We will give an extra tip our hat to former Olympic track cyclist Chris Newton, though, who finished in a mighty impressive time of 2:45:24!
To any haters on this, it’s a lifetime closer in reality than fifa is to football & there’s some serious money invested into fifa e-sports.
Crucially this is gamifying exercise which can never be a bad thing & may also provide a small stepping stone into people racing outdoors. https://t.co/dhnl12Cnu4
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) April 26, 2019
Alex Dowsett says the Fifa (the football game) comparison is wholly unfair on bike e-racing, as it’s “a lifetime closer in reality”; the idea being that a very very good indoor cyclist could actually have a chance at turning pro in real life, whereas that would never be the case for someone who is really good at Fifa.
Nikki Brammeier, however (who ran the London Marathon this weekend), isn’t so keen…
Is this for real? Seriously this is not what professional cycling is about. I was inspired to race after watching my hero’s push themselves to their limits outdoors on the road, in the woods, in a field. I don’t think I would have felt the same sat watching a screen of avatars https://t.co/FABulxfzYq
— Nikki Brammeier (@NikkiBrammeier) April 26, 2019
Her reply was met with plenty of opinions for and against, with some even saying the British Championships was great to watch…
I didn’t think it’d make for a great spectacle but actually, the British National Championships Final races were great to watch – it definitely has potential as a spectator sport – unlike standing on the roadside for 2 hours to see the peleton for 5 seconds!
— vonobox (@vonobox) April 26, 2019
What do you think, should we accept static bike racing as equal to road and track racing?
We’ve made it!
Cycling is in the top 6 ways that you can exercise in the most middle-class way possible according to the tongue-in-cheek website The Daily Mash!
“Practical, A-to-B cycling is for poor people. Instead, ride a £10,000 bike around country lanes in a large group, holding up traffic for miles until you reach a village tea shop where you loudly say you’d buy the local vicarage if it wasn’t for your ‘bloody commute’.”
Other ways include boot camp in the park, wild swimming, underwater weightlifting, outdoor spin class and finally, a 5k run with your children.
We’ll stick to our 10-grand bikes, thanks!
Unfortunately-named Italian cycling apparel brand Pissei have unveiled their latest collection, paying homage to the 1970’s. With the jersey and shorts available in two different colours, Pissei say the kit “has an influence of disco dancing”, with a regular fit, breathable mesh at the rear on the jersey and flat straps on the bibs for extra comfort.
The kit is available now on Pissei’s website.
From Beacon St going east before HPP an area in need of protection. Today, advocates around the world are placing red cups along bike lanes where protection is needed. The #RedCupProject is in honor of Dave Salovesh, a D.C. advocate killed while riding his bike. We #DemandMore. pic.twitter.com/zj5ZsjGCqi
— Bike Newton #mobilitylanes #2019Goals (@BikeNewton) April 26, 2019
Bike Newton, a cycle safety campaign group based near Boston in the US, laid out red cups to demonstrate how motor vehicles shouldn’t encroach on bike lanes. Unfortunately this was the scene a few hours later…
Sadly the scene at 7:30 am. There is no reason cups should have been knocked over. No vehicle should have been driving in the buffer. This is the most direct route for people biking into downtown. It needs protection. (Yes we have picked up all the cups and will recycle) pic.twitter.com/dhj97cad7g
— Bike Newton #mobilitylanes #2019Goals (@BikeNewton) April 26, 2019
“No vehicle should have been driving in the buffer”, say Bike Newton. The hashtag #redcupproject is doing the rounds mostly in the US, but the call for action is global, say campaigners.
Great Britain’s @kye969 produced a stunning display in Manchester to win round two of the @UCI_BMX_SX World Cup 2019!
Read the full report from a fantastic second day https://t.co/zWySNzmNI4#UCIBMXWC pic.twitter.com/TnrwdYcdpP
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) April 28, 2019
19-year-old Whyte won in round two of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup yesterday, and said of his victory: “This is the best day of my life, I reckon! I thought that – without being cocky – if I could get amongst the top three, with the track speed I’ve got, I thought I could win. I’ve made world cup finals before, but I’ve only ever finished last! It’s been a great day.”
There was also a mega crash in the heats of the men’s elite event, with no one escaping apart from France’s Joris Daudet who rode away for an easy win. Watch it here on the BBC’s website.
Andresen Tobias Lund winner of E3 for juniors @E3BinckClassic @StadHarelbeke pic.twitter.com/TALRMVJwqJ
— Alex Vandevyver (@VandevyverAlex) April 27, 2019
This rather odd victory celebration at the Junior BinckBank Classic one-day race was performed by 16-year-old Tobias Lund Andresen, who found that he had time to get off his bike, sink to the ground and then walk across the line with his bike held aloft. Some have accused the youngster of arrogance and over-exuberance in victory, while others have put it down to a young lad who’s just proper excited to win a race.
God bless you, Middlesbrough https://t.co/kxQtahw3hZ
— Pete Mitchell (@peter_nhs) April 26, 2019
The anonymous urban artiste decided to doodle dongs around some particularly bad potholes in the Middlesborough area and… hey presto, the council quickly filled them in! Speaking to the BBC, resident Resident Brad Nicholson praised “the power of the willy” to give the council visual reminders that Britain’s roads need some serious TLC.
⠀
Cycle-basket
⠀ pic.twitter.com/carcoQoP4e— ⓑιcιcletⓞ (@Bicicleto_ZGZ) April 27, 2019
Team Sky may have ridden their last race at Liege-Bastogne-Liege yesterday – but their kit (the 2017 version, at least, or something very close to it) will be worn by the riders at the Tour de Romandie which starts tomorrow.
Officially, Ineos doesn’t take over the team – and its sponsorship – until Wednesday 1 May, which is when the new kit will be launched (minus, we’re guessing, the signature blue line).
With all but the opening day of the Swiss race taking place under the new sponsor, Ineos is the name Geraint Thomas and co will be wearing at Romandie … and provide a last glimpse of the colours that have dominated the Tour de France in recent years.
— Conor Dunne (@conordunnealot) April 29, 2019
The super-tall Irishman used to race for now-defunct Team Aqua Blue, who suffered their fair share of mechanicals that were largely blamed on racing with 1x setups. While there’s more to riding a bike than pro racing, it appears the facepalm emoji would suggest the front mech certainly ain’t dead according to Conor…
Tricky to get all of this into jersey pockets when cycling but thankfully they’re pretty stretchy @Telegraph pic.twitter.com/MLJGUox1Bg
— FlatStanley (@flat__stanley) April 29, 2019
Love them or hate them – and they are a team that divides opinion as no other since US Postal – today marks the end of an era in professional cycling that has seen Team Sky dominate the Tour de France, with six wins in the past seven editions.
While Team Sky will essentially continue in its current form – albeit with a new owner and sponsor, with Ineos officially taking over from Wednesday but its logo appearing on the jersey from tomorrow at the Tour de Romandie – both the team and the outgoing sponsor (which previously also sponsored British Cycling) have been getting a bit misty-eyed about it all, as these videos show.
Six Tour de France wins and millions of people inspired to cycle over ten years. It’s been an amazing journey @TeamINEOS #RideOn #LifeAtSky pic.twitter.com/V8KwG9pklf
— Sky (@SkyUK) April 29, 2019
An incredible journey, 10 seasons in the making. We couldn’t be more proud to have raced as @TeamSky. Thank you pic.twitter.com/n3qEwSaBkT
— Team Sky (@TeamINEOS) April 29, 2019
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"All that's required is an to roads policing" - that's a big all... Although no doubt the "idiots just keep coming" aspect does apply: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9lel2wz93o "Man charged after car crashes through bowling alley" - luckily they only skittled over skittles.
Almost any change to roads and streets is accompanied by a period of heightened danger, and in the UK "look out for cyclists" will need to be learned... practically. And over the time it takes for cyclists to become a regular feature. OTOH once (if...) good designs are in and frequent enough such that drivers encounter them AND the cyclists on them regularly (another big if) I don't think they should be much more difficult than a footway to deal with. These things are all over NL - don't have the collision stats but they should. (NL isn't perfect but collecting info on the safety of designs to feed back into better designs as required is part of the "sustainable safety" philosophy - if they're really a killer I think they'd be altering these.)
I'm in the happy position of agreeing with everybody here! I've never considered a bike with a stand, yet I'm impressed by the ingenuity and adaptability of this axle. I tow a Yak Bob with a Robert Axle, employing my El Cheapo Vitus gravel bike and I just have to be very careful where I stop. Hedges are generally a dead loss, and I seek walls, telegraph poles and signposts and generally lean the widest part of the Bob against it. One very awkward task is removing the two steel pins which lock the trailer arms onto the special mounting slots on the Robert axle, and when you have one out, the sodding weight in the trailer can twist the whole caboodle and bend the Bob fitting before you can get the other out and unhitch. I doubt if a stand would help with that. You can imagine that this combo is a real pain when you have to get it over the bridge at railway stations, and it nearly resulted in Merseyrail nearly parting me and the trailer on the platform from the bike on the train. It's a long story for another time. Another axle example recently featured on here, with a 12mm front axle bearing the Herculean weight limit of a monster American front rack.
This has nothing to do with the type of bike - it's the type of behaviour that's the problem. Banning the sale of such bikes will not curtail the behaviour. They'll just find another type of vehicle and continue to drive dangerously as there's such a lack of enforcement. I'd sooner see them ban the bally. But really, all that's required is an improvement to roads policing.
The EAPC Bill is welcome, but full of holes. What's to stop an overpowered but temporarily limited e-bike being sold and subsequently delimited? This is often a trivial process.
@KiwiMike Yeah, in my over four decades of riding all over Europe I've never 'been for a ride in the countryside'. That must be it. Or, and I know this is a wild concept, you just accept that I just voiced my personal experiences and never missed a kickstand, like I wrote. Anyway, what's the big horror of laying your bike on its side for the very few occasions where there is nothing to lean your bike against?
They may have looked, but did they see?
Ds2025: where they are going wrong is that they are crushing the motorbike rather than the person sat on top of it. If they did the latter this issue would be solved in less than 24 hours.
I came this way today with the car boot sale in operation. There was a marshal at the entrance, who stopped a car turning right across the cycleway as I was approaching. So that certainly works. I think it necessary for the marshal to be there, I couldn't say if the driver would have turned if he hadn't been there but you always have to suspect the worst. Unfortunately there is no marshal at the exit, and there was certainly a car stopped across the cycleway as I was approaching it. But he pulled onto the road before I reached it, and the following car stayed off the cycleway as I went through. Ideally there should have been a marshal there too. On the whole, though, it's a really high standard piece of infrastructure. Just a pity it doesn't extend a bit further.
“absolute carnage” So right! Just look at the bodies piled up, blood running in the gutters and injured people limping away. It's a bit of a problem with a road, delaying some people for minutes at a time: it isn't carnage, let alone 'absolute carnage'. Anyone who exaggerates so ridiculously really shouldn't be allowed to comment in public, unless they want to demonstrate their idiocy to all and sundry.
21 thoughts on “Live blog: Team Sky (and outgoing sponsor) get misty-eyed as videos mark end of an era; Cycling among 6 most middle-class fitness fads (says Daily Mash), Unicycle basketball; Is eRacing is a proper sport + more”
Please stop banging on about
Please stop banging on about e racing.
HarrogateSpa wrote:
I’m not interested in e-racing or ordinary cycle racing, so I just don’t bother reading those articles (unless there’s a good argument happening in the comments).
HarrogateSpa wrote:
Please stop complaining about everything
HarrogateSpa wrote:
How about outdoor bike racing, but on electric bikes?
srchar wrote:
https://www.iomttraces.com/racing/classes/tt-zero
Proper racing.
HarrogateSpa wrote:
HYPE TRAIN COMING THROUGH
Skills!
Skills!
Have a watch of the Jakob
Have a watch of the Jakob Fuglsang save in his victory in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, it’s worth a quick look.
I did the virtual Alp d’Huez
I did the virtual Alp d’Huez last night in my garage and it was horrible so I ferkin well hope e-racing is something like the real thing!
In all seriousness, it’s one of those is but isn’t things. The is elements are laser scanned and gps accurate routes needing the same power and effort to get the same results as real life.
The isn’t elements include no risk, no bike handling skills required, no falling off or pileups.
It certainly is an odd one as other e-sports such as driving are way more accurate than FIFA with a proper forcefeedback wheel setup and VR but once again, they have no risk and the element of fear is what you can’t take away from real motorsport and pretend it’s the same thing. Nobody is going to die at a virtual circuit. I’m pretty quick at driving in the virtual and real world but I know that a lot of those people in the virtual world would probably crap themselves doing it for real so I have no respect for them really. I guess with applies to Zwift in a way.
Rick_Rude wrote:
I’m pretty quick at driving in the virtual and real world but I know that a lot of those people in the virtual world would probably crap themselves doing it for real so I have no respect for them really. I guess with applies to Zwift in a way.— Rick_Rude
Whereas if you have a look at the results from the qualifiers and finals of the British Cycling e-racing, you’ll see that most of the riders there in male and female races are already established domestic pros.
Rowing has indoor (ie on static rowing machines) and outdoor (real boat on real wet water) championships. Climbing has indoor and outdoor competitions.
Cycling already has indoor and outdoor racing, so e-racing really isn’t that big a leap. Especially when you consider that “cycling” as a sport encompasses BMX, track, DH, XC, CX, road, circuit, trials…. Sure there’s some crossover. BMX and track cycling, especially at the sprinty end are actually very similar – Shanaze Reade for example. XC and CX, CX and road. So yes, I’d say that e-racing is absolutely valid. And also a great way to reach out to new participants. Zwift and Canyon/SRAM have now recruited two women into domestic pro ranks through e-racing.
crazy-legs wrote:
But how many people would watch an Oxford v Cambridge rowing machine race compared to the one on the Thames? As a spectacle, is e-racing or even Rollapaluza as good as being at a Team Pursuit final in a velodrome or roadside at a stage of the Tour (or even just watching it on TV)? Or is it just a competitive version of a fitness class with its lights and noise?
I think the disparaging remarks may be because so many people associate riding a bike with being in the countryside, fresh air, great scenery and so on. For people like Nikki it can’t possibly match the experience of what she does for a job. I’ll be glad when the hype abates.
But that’s simply their chosen method and done partly for publicity.
Those two riders might have the watts but Zwift won’t give them the bike skills, the experience of riding in the peloton, knowledge of the parcours etc that riders gain (and need) coming up through the ranks.
Simon E wrote:
It’s not an either-or though, is it ?.. or even which is “best” – it’s just another thing. Ignore the hype, not that there’s a huge amount of it, it’s the same for anything – sports related or not… really not sure why folk get quite so worked up about stuff like this one way or another.
Surely painting a vagina
Surely painting a vagina around potholes would be more appropriate?
I always appreciate the power
I always appreciate the power of the artistic “Wanksy(s)” I believe it’s because the “cock and balls” is so much easier to draw, and everyone knows what it represents.
Please stop complaining about
Please stop complaining about everything – bigbiker101
When I comment here, I’m never quite sure if I’m right – until bigbiker101 pops up to disagree with me…then I can relax.
I’m all for anything that
I’m all for anything that gets people doing something active, as long as no one is deluding themselves that e racing is representative of real racing that’s fine. It’s not my thing, I haven’t got time to waste on it, I’m too busy riding my real bike (s) on real roads, but it’s got to better than doing nothing.
the second pic with the
the second pic with the squashed red cups confirms that the space to the right is parking and the cycle lane is in the door zone … parking priority over cyclists living everytime
Whether e racing is a “real
Whether e racing is a “proper sport” is entirely subjective and irrelevant – it’s just that no one other than the participants is remotely interested in it…
… a bit like what ravishing Rick_Rude gets up to in his garage.
theDoctor wrote:
Whether you like it or not, that’s evidently not true.
fukawitribe wrote:
Really? Well, it ain’t evident to me pal…
‘e racing’ is nothing new.
‘e racing’ is nothing new. They’ve been doing it in Yorkshire for years.