Welcome to Monday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Trump motorcade sees cyclists (but not drivers) kettled on NYC bridge bike path, some hop barrier to use roadway; Wiggins: Team Sky mechanic would have been sacked over Campenaerts TT bike-swap (+ remember his 2009 Worlds TT woes?) + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond as we start a new week…
Mon, May 20, 2019 16:09
SUMMARY
20 May 2019, 16:09
ICYMI - some of out top stories from the weekend
Sidi customers in USA warned of delays to orders after F16 fighter jet crashes into warehouse.
Near Miss of the Day 275: Close pass from “white van driver” (police officer)
Tacks strewn in road for cyclists in idyllic Shropshire village
20 May 2019, 16:09
Tour of California - what a save
The final stage was one for the sprinters, and just coming in to the finish one rider took a nasty tumble which meant some pretty impressive evasive action from those around him – skip to 2:38 in the video above to see it unfold.
The overall victory went to 20-year-old Tadej Pogačar, who was given a teddy bear instead of champagne on the podium because he’s too young to drink in the states…
20 May 2019, 16:09
Victor Campenaerts bike change catastrophe costs him TT stage win
If you ever find yourself in a position where you need to switch bikes on a time trial, however rare a situation that is, this is exactly not how to do it. The new hour record holder estimated that the bike change fiasco cost him at least 30 seconds, and surely would have won the stage if the catalogue of errors hadn’t had occurred. Following a mechanical he swapped to a road bike for the climb, and his team mechanic attempted to give him a helpful shove before he’d managed to swing his leg over the top tube and get in the saddle. The mechanic’s push wasn’t exactly effective, and a fan then took over to give Campenaerts an extra bit of momentum.
20 May 2019, 16:09
Yes, definitely stick to cycling...
We think our guys should stick to cycling, don’t you? pic.twitter.com/RqESBdOSpB
— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) May 18, 2019
Every now and then a video surfaces of cyclists trying to play football, and every time it’s gloriously bad. This time, it’s Bora-Hansgrohe.
20 May 2019, 16:09
Feather Cycles celebrates 10th birthday with ride-out in July
Feather Cycles has been producing some of the finest and most beautifully crafted bikes for the last 10 years and to mark this milestone the York-based company is having a day of celebration on 27th July. “The first ten years of Feather Cycles has been amazing. I’ve been lucky to be supported by some fantastic customers who have been super fun to work with on some really interesting projects.” Ricky further added, “These celebrations are an opportunity for me to say thank you to those who have supported me as well to show how far the business has come in 10 years,” says founder Ricky Feather. There’ll be a nice 40 mile ride followed by pizza and drinks, and the celebrations includes workshop tours and screening of short films featuring bikes made by Feather. Rapha will be producing a special 10th anniversary jersey and shorts available to pre-order at the event as well as t-shirts. “I really cannot wait to see all the Feather bikes together in one place and see so many old and new friends,” adds Ricky, “This promises to be a really fun filled day which I’m really excited about.”
20 May 2019, 16:09
Review: Ribble SLe
Ribble have nailed e-road at the first time of asking according to the review over on eBikeTips… check it out here.
20 May 2019, 16:09
Reclaiming the streets
An urban cloaking device for bicycles
That time we reclaimed road space to create guerrilla cycle parking…disguised as a skip pic.twitter.com/oLDCQtmil3
— ETA Services Ltd (@ETAservicesltd) May 17, 2019
For some reason no one seems to question it when a skip appears at the side of the road… so these cunnings chaps have covertly turned one into a bike storage facility. Of course when some people found out what the skip was they couldn’t get their head around this break with societal norms, apparently.
When people found out what it actually was, we had drivers threatening to crash into it! Go figure.
— ETA Services Ltd (@ETAservicesltd) May 17, 2019
20 May 2019, 16:09
Actions speak louder than words
Thames Valley Police have launched an operation targeting close passing drivers – although they didn’t act against the motorist responsible for the shocker featured in our latest Near Miss of the Day …
20 May 2019, 16:09
Giro Stage 9 ITT - juicy Strava stats
The riders had to dig pretty deep on the tough 34.7km course, having to deal with a 5.2km section at an average gradient of 7% after the opening 22km. Thomas de Gendt’s Strava file shown he put out a massive 419 watts for the course, topping out at 773 watts… And that was only good enough for 18th place.
The highest-placing rider we could find who made a Strava upload was Ben O’Connor of Team Dimension Data, who finished 17th. He rode the 5km climb section at an average of 423 watts, and averaged 397 watts overall.
20 May 2019, 16:09
Giro first-timers Mikkel Honoré and James Knox discuss their experience so far
The Deceuninck Quick-Step riders give us an insight of what it’s like to ride a Grand Tour for the first time, and how more experienced riders on the team have helped them out so far. Definitely worth a few minutes of your lunch break.
20 May 2019, 16:09
Wiggins chips in on Campenaerts saying a Sky mechanic would have lost their job (and we look back at his own TT bike change disaster)
Sir Bradley Wiggins has chipped in on the discussion of the botched bike change yesterday that almost certainly cost Lotto-Soudal’s Victor Campenaerts victory at the Stage 9 time trial at the Giro d’Italia, saying on his Eurosport podcast that if it had happened to a Team Sky rider, it would have cost the mechanic his job.
Wiggins is eminently qualified to comment on yesterday’s misfortune for the Belgian, who last month broke his UCI Hour record – you may recall that riding in the colours of Great Britain, he had his own bike change disaster in a high-profile time trial a decade ago.
Still in the hunt for the bronze medal at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland, where Fabian Cancellara powered to victory on home roads, Wiggins fell victim to a mechanical on the final lap.
In his report for the Guardian at the time, William Fotheringham described how the British rider, who would finish 21st, “was unable to get a rapid bike change because his car had been held up behind riders who were following him on the course.
“Clearly livid, he threw his bike down in disgust and was left standing by the roadside, with one sympathetic Swiss fan tapping him on the shoulder,” Fotheringham added. “It cannot have cheered him up in the slightest: his race was over in the cruellest possible way.”
20 May 2019, 16:09
What ya been smoking, UCI?
When someone spoils the last episode of Game of Thrones #MondayFunday pic.twitter.com/UUz4YQH9hG
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) May 20, 2019
In the vaguest way possible, the UCI have managed to find an angle to mention the most talked about/most moaned about fantasy drama television series in a generation on their Twitter feed. Chapeau, sort of…
20 May 2019, 16:09
Bring back tri bars?
So here’s a question for the twittersphere…
Now that every rider seems to be riding imaginary tribars in everything from a gravel race to a crit, would re-introducing these make things safer? pic.twitter.com/6hJ6DnLdlH
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) May 19, 2019
Mr Dowsett has a fair point, since it’s a common sight to see riders with their hands out in front as if they have clip-ons bolted on anyway… should they just be reintroduced à la draft-legal triathlon?
20 May 2019, 16:09
“Unlawfully detained” – NYC cyclists (but not drivers) kettled on bridge’s bike path as Trump motorcade passes below
New York City cyclists riding over the Queensboro Bridge, which spans the East River to link Manhattan with Queens, were held by police and secret service officers on Friday morning to let President Donald Trump pass on the roadway below.
Drivers using the upper-deck lanes adjacent to the bike path on the two-tier structure – also known as the 59th Street Bridge, made famous by Simon & Garfunkel – were not subjected to similar treatment, reports Streetblog in a comprehensive report that you can find here.
That led some cyclists who had been told they faced delays of up to 45 minutes to hoist their bikes over the guardrail and mix it with motor vehicles, with one commuter and cycling campaigner saying, “We felt we were being unlawfully detained — and unjustly because it was about our mode of transport.”
What happens when NYPD tries to “close” the #MoreSpaceQBB bike sidepath on the Queensboro Bridge for “security” because the president of the United “States” is in “town” pic.twitter.com/62GKdTpyEZ
— Steven Bodzin (home) (@stevenbodzin) May 17, 2019
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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
the little onion 4 minutes ago
Although van Schip has been a victim of the UCI's pettiness and retrospective application of the rules, I think this is a step towards Making Cycling Aesthetically Pleasing Again. Really, pro-cycling isn't about winning races, it's about looking fantastic. I only hope that the World Champs are won by cyclists who have a commitment to plastering rainbow bands on absolutely every bit of their kit.
Rendel Harris 11 minutes ago
It's a shame that the final day neutralisation has distracted from the fact that this was one of the best GTs in quite a while, with all the jerseys in play right up to the penultimate day. It's certainly ridiculous to leave the decision on neutralisation until the evening before the stage but more generally, why not? It's only really a variation on the sprint safety zone, after all, and the final stages have effectively been neutralised (when they are not time trials) for a long time with the GC teams staying in touch until the safety zone and then letting the sprinters go. It was a great finish despite, or maybe because of, the neutralisation and it was rather nice for the winner's team to be able to ride in behind the peloton so that all the fans got a good look at them and could show their appreciation of the winner. If we want the excitement of narrow climbing finishes on the last day (as opposed to the, frankly, tedium of watching the peleton power up and down the Champs eight times) then it makes sense to arrange matters so that those who want the stage win can give us some thrilling racing without being encumbered by all the GC teams being forced to crowd the front. Everyone saying "God almighty, it's disgusting they've just decided not to race" is ignoring the fact that there are many times in a GT when the majority of teams will decide not to race, when they let a breakaway go, when the sprint teams are given free rein et cetera. The only thing I would disagree with was the removal of the final points at the finish, if the green jersey had still been in play that would have been unfair on the second placed rider. However, apart from tweaking that I thought it worked well and quite possibly gave us a more exciting finish than we would've had without the neutralisation.
james-o 2 hours ago
@mjvande@pacbell.net Mike Vandeman, is that you?! https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/trial-mike-vandeman/
eburtthebike 3 hours ago
@No Reply I had the same problem, but it seems to be sorted now.
eburtthebike 3 hours ago
@No Reply I had the same problem, but it seems to be sorted now.
tomlew 8 hours ago
@JMcWatt This may well be true. Nothing drives me crazy more than cosmetic updates and facelifts that don't really bring any new value about. Maybe they do attract new customers, but also discourage existing ones. I was never a regular customer of CRC, but if I had been, I would surely have been mad seeing confusing changes. If I don't understand the website and have to re-learn the process anyway, why not switch to another shop?
JMcWatt 8 hours ago
It was such a small things that brought about the ruination of CRC, one decision made by the owners and management. In 2013 the decision was made to redesign the website, this change was the beginning of the end for CRC. They replaced a proven platform that had helped turn a Northern Irish bike shop into the world’s biggest online cycling retailer with a more complex system that never delivered the same growth. Sales momentum stalled, Wiggle overtook them, and within three years CRC was being bought by the rival it had once outperformed. This was very much the strategic mistake that broke the growth engine.
Sriracha 13 hours ago
@Smoggysteve "I normally wouldn’t condone buying a cheap Chinese copy..." Actually, I think I'd go with the Seconda strap line here: "Beware of expensive imitations."
No Reply 13 hours ago
The survey is shite. I have got to a point where it will not let me continue because I have done everything correctly so far.
belugabob 16 hours ago
Yes, it uses the same technology that is used to prevent that behaviour by motorists...🙄
12 thoughts on “Live blog: Trump motorcade sees cyclists (but not drivers) kettled on NYC bridge bike path, some hop barrier to use roadway; Wiggins: Team Sky mechanic would have been sacked over Campenaerts TT bike-swap (+ remember his 2009 Worlds TT woes?) + more”
Even the GOAT gets it wrong
Even the GOAT gets it wrong sometimes
(This is how he rolls now)
Marquez is good, but I think
Marquez is good, but I think we will find out if he’s the GOAT in a decade or twos time.
Yes, you guessed right, I’m a big Rossi fan.
ktache wrote:
Me too – since the 125 days. Marquez reminds me of him back then. Like Rossi he’s revolutionised how you ride a motorcycle.
Providing he stays healthy and motivated he’ll break Rossi’s records. It’s like Rossi moving to Yamaha at the moment – Honda isn’t the best bike on the grid and hasn’t been for the last two seasons at least yet Marc is riding it so far beyond its limits it’s still winning.
The latest Danny MacAskill
The latest Danny MacAskill video, featuring Danny being Danny with kiddie trailer
ktache wrote:
So.Much.Awesome (with a liberal dollop of kawaii)
That mechanic handed over the
That mechanic handed over the bike and it was in the big chainring, not even on the lowest gear either!
Wiggins talks so much crap,
Wiggins talks so much crap, you have to ask yourself why the hell did Campenaerts suddenly decide he was a runner and head off up the road without getting on his bik firste, get on your bike and let the mechanic push you, not run after you because you decided to become a runner, this isn’t the mechanics fault, it is Campenaerts.
bigbiker101 wrote:
Disagree, the mechanic was on the wrong side of Campenaerts, gave it him in the wrong cog and pushed ‘him’ when he wasn’t on the bike, then, stopped pushing when he got on the bike. In motorsport when stuff goes wrong like that sponsors pull out, which is why they make sure a catalogue of errors doesn’t happen.
peted76 wrote:
There were errors on both sides. Most bikes are in top cogs, hence the pushing. They maybe should have thought about changing it down when loading onto the car due to it being a plan to swap to that bike on the climb only but I suppose as they didn’t know when the swap was…..
And then they both panicked as the worst time to have a mechanical is a TT when he was obviously leading. The mechanic was pushing the moving man and bike but Campenaerts was deciding to run and try a CX mount instead of a getting on normally.
I remember years ago being
I remember years ago being stopped on my commute over the Avonmouth motorway bridge. Two police were stopping all the cyclists and checking their bags for “anything which might affect the fabric of the bridge ” because there was a nato conference in Newport and some of the world leaders would be driving over the bridge.
Weird thing was, they weren’t stopping all the motor traffic with its onboard tank of petrol… Pretty sure that would affect the fabric of the bridge if it caught fire…
Even the worst US presidents
Even the worst US presidents used to do at least one useful thing for their citizens: they provided a target for nutters with an axe to grind. Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley all died, sadly, but better one figurehead than dozens or hundreds of people. Then Kennedy was assassinated, the USA went nuts, and presidents are now protected by a small army, conveyed everywhere in tank-like limousines, and large parts of cities are shut down whenever they visit. You’d think the election of a walking blob of fetid pond-scum like Trump would provide an opportunity for a rethink.
handlebarcam wrote:
That is a rather poor reading of the job description of US President. Trump might be the literal worse, but letting people shoot him is probably not a good idea. He is at least ineffectual. And Reagan broke the curse.