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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
SUMMARY

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
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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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Latest Comments
All the side streets where I live are blocked by cars parked on either side of the road so that they are too narrow to cycle in if there is a car or van coming the other way. It makes it really difficult and dangerous to cycle on my local roads. I used to cycle to the shops but now I walk because I could no longer face the regular unyielding motorists when I was already in sections too narrow for them to enter. How is this any different to Lime bikes blocking street corners?
@Sniffer well apparently he's a keen motorcyclist, so perhaps he's projecting...
Surprised this review didn't mention the Magicshine EVO 1300. It was reviewed very favourably on this site a while back and is much the same concept. I have been using it on my commuter for the last year or so.
@chrisonabike I heard this too. Very disappointed in Evan Davis ill informed comments, but I thought Alexander responded appropriately, explaining the law. Considering how many politicians spout falsehoods in this area, at least she clearly understood the rules.
Yes, @jonhall it's really easy to avoid Ox St and use the roads running either side. In fact, as a cyclist myself, pre and post pedestrianisation, it's more pleasant to use the roads running either side - who wants to try and meander through thousands of pedestrians? So, I can't help feeling this is a bit of a fuss over nothing.
Ah - "pm" on radio 4 on the Beeb coming with "ebikes can often go at 30 or 35mph"... Even Heidi Alexander (not always the most vocal supporter, though she really is a rider herself) was pushing back on that, a bit... Alas not enough on the "get the suppliers in order" eg. the shared dockless bike companies, sales etc.
Probably the coolest thing about this lamp is that it can be sandwiched between the mount and a Garmin, which means it uses net zero mounts. How cool it would be if lamps like Magicshine Hori did the same and provided a Garmin mount at the bottom for another piece of kit! BTW I wouldn't judge it too harshly about its battery life. I take this lamp primarily as a compact DRL, which uses flash mode and offers decent battery life. The way I see it, the full mode is for emergency rides back home only.
Nothing necessarily wrong with enforcing against people cycling under the influence, but it's the performative song and dance about it and the implication that new rules and punishments are needed because 'they can get away with anything at the moment' - when actually the powers already exist and they could just quietly get on with using them if they wanted to.
@cardch Or we could support actual UK made rather than rebadged Chinese brands. Gloria are made by Waltly and you can even just order direct from them for far less.
@mdavidford the new No10 North office at First Street doesn't allow ebikes in the bike storage which is inside this new build site
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.