Welcome to Monday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Samuel Sanchez handed two-year doping ban, #BloodyCyclists – bike commuter in India praised for leading ambulance through traffic jam, (£10k) Bikes Under The Hammer + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond as we start a new week
Mon, May 13, 2019 17:39
SUMMARY
13 May 2019, 17:39
In case you missed it: weekend catch-up
Here are some of our top stories from the weekend…
James Cracknell urges cyclists to wear helmets after being photographed riding without one
Arrest made as Vélo Birmingham & Midlands marshal reportedly run over and left with broken hip
Primoz Roglic wins opening time trial at Giro d’Italia (+ reaction and highlights)
Cyclists far less likely to break traffic laws than motorists finds study
13 May 2019, 17:39
Police appeal following Velo Birmingham crash death
Warwickshire Police are particularly interested to hear from anyone who may have action camera footage of incident that happened on twisting descent. Full story here.
13 May 2019, 17:39
Argon 18 go disc with their new TT bike
The New Argon 18 E-118 Pro gets disc brakes and improved aerodynamics, and is being used by the Astana team during the Giro d’Italia time trial stages. Full story here.
13 May 2019, 17:39
Peter Sagan takes first win since January
Peter Sagan has taken his first win since January – and the former world champion did it at a race where he enjoyed huge success over the years, the Amgen Tour of California.
It’s the Slovakian’s 18th career stage victory at the week-long race, the first two coming way back in 2010 when he was aged just 20 and rode for Liquigas-Doimo.
13 May 2019, 17:39
Contents of former high-end bike retailer Ubyk's stores go up for auction in North Lincolnshire, and 'jaws dropped' at the prices...
This morning Ubyk’s liquidated stock, apparently worth over a quarter of a million pounds, went up for auction in North Lincolnshire. Details of the items were given on the CJM Assets website, including some rather interesting descriptions from folk we assume aren’t too used to seeing high-end bikes and gear in the auction room: “Jaws dropped at the Eddisons CJM auction room in Scunthorpe when one small box was found to contain a lightweight bike seat . . . weighing in at just two ounces . . . that came with a price tag of £407 attached.
“The auction has been ordered following the collapse of Oxford and Brighton-based Ubyk, one of the country’s poshest independent cycling retailers.”
We think the ‘bike seat’, unusually weighed in ounces rather than grams (two ounces is about 57g), is actually from US saddle specialists Dash, as Ubyk were known to be one of the only UK stockists of the brand. Auctioneer Paul Cooper said: “I have to say the seat did cause a lot of comment. It is featherlight, quite remarkable, but who pays £450 of their own money on a bike saddle? If I was that worried about weight I would get on a diet for a few days – but I suppose the riders who want this sort of thing have already done that!”
Thanks for that assessment Paul. There were also Parlee bikes and Cippolini frames for sale, worth in excess of £10,000 at full RRP. Cooper helpfully reminds us: “They’re hand built, carbon fibre, with Zipp carbon wheels, although you don’t get pedals at that price. They’re extra”.
The auction was set to close at midday today. We’ll be scouring the interweb to see if anyone managed to pick up any ‘bargains’ this afternoon…
13 May 2019, 17:39
Giro d'Italia stage 3 - Japanese road champ makes Sho Hatsuyama makes solo break
Great effort by Sho Hatsuyama going solo for @NIPPO_Fantini on Stage 3 of the @giroditalia. His first 60km:
Time: 1h35’29”
Avg Speed: 37.8km/h
Max Speed: 72.2km/h
Avg Power: 275W
In comparison Primoz Roglic in the Maglia Rosa in the bunch has averaged 160W at 36.1km/h so far. pic.twitter.com/UiJHjTreAl— Velon CC (@VelonCC) May 13, 2019
The gutsy Hatsuyama finished 170th in the prologue and 169th in yesterday’s stage, but something’s come over the 30-year-old today as he leads by around 7 mins after 85km. There’s a long way to go in the 220km stage yet, though.
13 May 2019, 17:39
Putting on a great Sho...
Sho Hatsuyama is leading the Stage 3 with a sensational break #Giro pic.twitter.com/OJrnhHvLe0
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 13, 2019
13 May 2019, 17:39
British champion Connor Swift joins French team Arkea-Samsic
British road champion Connor Swift has joined the French team Arkea-Samsic with immediate effect, with his principal role there being to provide leadout duties for 11-time Tour de France stage winner, Andre Greipel.
The 23-year-old, ninth overall at the Tour de Yorkshire earlier this month and the cousin of Team Ineos rider Ben Swift, has raced for Madison-Genesis since 2017 and also had a spell as a trainee with Dimension Data last year.
He said: “I’m over the moon with the opportunity that has come around! Things like this don’t happen often and to be able to step up to Pro Continental level with Arkea and go there to be part of a team helping out Griepel will be pretty surreal.
“I am super thankful to everyone involved to make this happen and of course Madison Genesis for the past two years and allowing me to step up and leave the team mid-season.
“I’m excited to kick things off with Arkea which seems like a great team and one that also has a really good race programme too.
“The hard racing on rolling terrain in France will suit me,” he added. “I’m sure it’s going to develop me more as a rider and I’m keen to learn from the more experienced riders.”
13 May 2019, 17:39
Giro latest: Hatsuyama caught
Hatsuyama (NIP) is caught. The @NIPPO_Fantini rider has ridden alone for something over 144 km, having attacked alone in the first kilometre | Ripreso Hatsuyama. Il corridore della @NIPPO_Fantini ha attaccato al primo km ed è rimasto da solo per 144 km.
75 km #Giro— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 13, 2019
It was a pretty heroic effort after riding around 144km out front on his own, but the peloton never appeared troubled. 60 wind-swept kilometres to go.
13 May 2019, 17:39
Giro stage 3: 11km to go, and the sprinters are sounding each other out
Ready for the bunch sprint? | Siete pronti per la volata?
11 km#Giro pic.twitter.com/64aVXWCmuS— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 13, 2019
It’s all set up for a furoious sprint finish here.
13 May 2019, 17:39
The size of that bunch
5 km to go! Bunch sprint is coming! | 5 km al termine! Volata in arrivo! #Giro pic.twitter.com/5vrUEQ4I0U
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 13, 2019
Hopefully no one takes a tumble here, it’s going to be a hectic finish.
13 May 2019, 17:39
Samuel Sanchez handed two-year doping ban
Samuel Sanchez, the 2008 Olympic road race champion, has been handed a backdated two-year ban for doping – although the UCI accepted his explanation that his positive test arose from a contaminated supplement.
The 41-year-old was sacked by BMC Racing in October 2017 after his B-sample was found to be positive, with the date from which his ban takes effect being 17 August of that year, the day on which he was provisionally suspended.
Sanchez, second overall at the Vuelta in 2009 and Tour de France the following year after Alberto Contador and Denis Menchov were disqualified for doping, has not raced since.
News of his ban comes as former German national champion Danilo Hondo, now retired, admitted being part of a blood doping ring being investigated in the German city of Erfurt, with his confession leading to him being sacked as coach to the Swiss national cycling federation.
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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
mdavidford 2 hours ago
They did the towns pretty quietly too. It's only [certain elements in] that there Oxford that's really kicked up a fuss about this stuff. Mind you, most of the time, you'd be doing well to get over 20 going through town anyway.
mdavidford 3 hours ago
You're conflating the throttle and the pedal assist. The throttle should only get it up to walking speed; about 6kph. Once it takes it past that, whether or not it's capable of 15mph or 58mph is entirely irrelevant.
chrisonabike 3 hours ago
@ktache Isn't it "LTNs BAD, cul-de-sacs and a quiet village green good*"? * As long as we can drive into town, of course...
chrisonabike 3 hours ago
@Robert Hardy As Rendel suggests, I'm not certain that any wheeled mode of transport - even at speeds well below the limit - would have avoided tragedy here. Although the road around the *outside* of the park where IIRC this occurred (Outer Circle) isn't "the main drag" (that would be e.g. Park Road / Marylebone Road) it is wide enough to put a question mark over "casual crossing". And indeed there are signalised crossings... Leaving aside "but racing cyclists!!" for now, looking at how safety might be improved here let's see how others do this. For example: West End of the Vondelpark in Amsterdam is on a "main road" (Amstelveenseweg). (The rest are very much "streets"). What happens there where pedestrians are crossing to and from the park? As it's a main road (and with tramlines) there are cycle paths (in this case unidirectional). That means that everyone knows where everyone else is and what to expect. The cycle path is really obvious, and it's only a couple of paces wide. People expect cyclists in that section, but being narrow compared to the road lanes it's simple to cross - so much so that no lights are used. cross. (Although unusually - presumably due to very high flows of pedestrians and cyclists - there is a *marked* crossing point). Once you've negotiated the cycle lane you can then wait (again in "pedestrian space") and concentrate on "watching for the cars" at a signalised crossing if needed (because it takes longer to cross the road part). I think there is space in the Regents Park case for cycle paths of some kind...
ktache 3 hours ago
Oxfordshire very quietly made all it's villages 20mph a couple of years back.
Mr Blackbird 4 hours ago
My favourite bit was when they passed The Lion & Snake at the top of the hill. I had a nice burger with bang bang cauliflower wings and chips there a few years ago. Maybe an alternative refuelling option for the cyclists.
ktache 4 hours ago
Those high pressure slick roadie tyres exert more pressure than a landing jumbo jet...
belugabob 4 hours ago
maybe we shouldn't be making cars so big and heavy?
fatbikephil 4 hours ago
It's worth noting that Fife (where Dunfermline is) started implementing 20's in 2005. By 2015 all residential zones and town centres had them. The additional new ones in Dunfermline reported above are just for a small number of remaining streets to meet the guidance from the SG. Fife Council used traffic calming and compliance is very good as a result. The vast majority of people support them.
Rendel Harris 4 hours ago
@Robert Hardy The lady was standing on a traffic island in the road giving every appearance of waiting for the cyclists to go by. She then, according to independent eye witnesses, for unknown reasons, stepped out in front of the rider when he was two metres away. Even at 15mph two metres takes 0.30 of a second; the baseline reaction time as employed by the guidance in the Highway Code is 0.67 seconds. To have had that amount of time to react (that's to even start pulling the brakes) the rider would have had to be travelling at 7.5mph. The lady's death was, sadly, caused by her own actions in stepping straight in front of a cyclist who had no chance to stop and would not have done even if he had been going at one third of his actual speed. That's why no criminal proceedings were taken against the cyclist. Just for your information, as you seem to think "it was a road in a public park" is somehow damning, the Outer Circle marks the outer perimeter of the park, and it is a very busy standard London road. The Daily Mail and The Evening Standard tried this "cyclists thundering through a public park" line with pictures of locations in the park where cyclists are banned, it has no validity.
4 thoughts on “Live blog: Samuel Sanchez handed two-year doping ban, #BloodyCyclists – bike commuter in India praised for leading ambulance through traffic jam, (£10k) Bikes Under The Hammer + more”
Doubleing up on live blogs
Doubleing up on live blogs today.
Doubleing up on live blogs
Doubleing up on live blogs today.
And it would seem posts, how ironic.
If you’re good enough to
If you’re good enough to justify a 50g saddle then you’re probably getting all your gear for free anyway.
Where were the
Where were the #bloodycyclists? I remember someone made those jerseys a few years ago. I would instabuy one if they made them again.
https://road.cc/content/news/99247-emma-way-trial-opens-bloodycyclists-driver-denies-charges?sort_bef_combine=created%20ASC&sort_order=ASC&sort_by=created&page=3&qt-more_news=0
Or is Sammy Sanchez the Bloody Cyclist? I wouldn’t trust anyone who wears their helnet backwards.