Welcome to Tuesday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Demare wins at Giro as big crash takes out Ackermann; Flying doctors from UK break tandem round-the-world record; Pro cycling’s most pointless route sticker?; MacAskill’s best video yet +more
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Tue, May 21, 2019 17:13
SUMMARY
21 May 2019, 17:13
ICYMI...
…over on off.road.cc, here’s Danny Macaskill being Danny Macaskill, this time putting his own unique spin on babysitting. It’s wracked up over a million hits on YouTube in a little over 24 hours, watch this four minutes of pure joy and you’ll see why!
21 May 2019, 17:13
No rest for Chris Froome as he celebrates his 34th birthday with six hour ride
6hrs with the lads, on his 34th birthday. Sure Froomey wouldn’t want it any other way pic.twitter.com/NLlzgP26AK
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) May 20, 2019
How much does Froome want a fifth Le Tour win? A six hour ride on his 34th birthday, that’s how much. Team Ineos are out in Majorca on a training camp in prep for their assault on the Tour de France, although it looks like they backed off on the intensity a little yesterday with time to take so many selfies…
A beautiful day riding above the clouds pic.twitter.com/xO5CKdTai1
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) May 20, 2019
21 May 2019, 17:13
"What is the point?" - Jeremy Vine records another dangerous close pass
Cycling turns a person into a philosopher.
In this you can just hear me saying, “What is the point?” over and over again.
The last time I was this close to so much heavy metal was at a Motorhead concert. pic.twitter.com/eHKvKG9c7x— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) May 20, 2019
The presenter and broadcaster has published enough criminal driving for a feature length film over the years on social media, and his latest involves a lorry that overtakes him on Shaftesbury Avenue as a bus and a van are coming the other way. Vine then catches up with the lorry at a later junction, who appears to have saved all of no seconds by making the dangerous manoeuvre. No word on identification of the driver yet, but the plate appears to be visible from the footage.
I do not condone the lorry driver but I do believe when being overtaken you (the vehicle/bicycle) should slow down to allow vehicle overtaking you safely and quickly
Yes, dangerous though— Paul (@broluch) May 20, 2019
Still some in the comments tried to suggest that the incident could have been avoided, with the one above being particularly unpopular.
21 May 2019, 17:13
Pinarello’s Dogma F12 goes on a diet
Just a short while after launching the latest Dogma F12, Italian company Pinarello has unveiled the even lighter Dogma F-12 X-Light and Dogma F12 Disk X-Light via the UCI’s list of approved equipment.
We don’t have any details about these new bikes yet, but we have asked. All bike companies that want their bikes used by WorldTour professionals must pay to get their bikes approved by the UCI, and this process means new bikes often get revealed ahead of any planned marketing material by the company.
With the last Dogma F10 X-Light, the frame was 60g lighter than the regular model due to using a higher grade of carbon fibre with a lower resin content, along with a new layup and new dedicated moulds. Could we see similar weight savings on the F12 Dogma X-Light?
The new bikes were only just approved on the 17th May 2019. More details when we get them.
21 May 2019, 17:13
£22,000 well spent
To the driver who paid £22,000 for a “MR BIL” number plate so he could tailgate, catcall and deliberately close pass a female cyclist. Your memorable reg number means I can now report you! Kind regards
— Kate Palmer (@katedpalmer) May 21, 2019
Plus hopefully a bit more in the form of a fine and enough points to get this idiot off the road.
21 May 2019, 17:13
Giro d'Italia Stage 10 starts at 12.45 BST
Stage 10 | Tappa 10
21 May | 21 maggio
Ravenna – Modena
145 km
Start: 1.45 PM CEST
Finish: 5.15 PM ca CEST
https://t.co/0nSX1re78C#Giro pic.twitter.com/gKpuDRcSiP— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 21, 2019
It’s a flat 145km stage today, which should mean a battle between the sprinters at the finish line in Modena. Barring a miracle/disaster Primož Roglič will still be in the Maglia Rosa at the start of stage 12 tomorrow, where things are about to get hilly.
21 May 2019, 17:13
London's Old Street roundabout switches to two-way traffic next week
London’s Old Street roundabout will switch to two way traffic next week as part of the overhaul of one of the capital’s most dangerous junctions by Transport for London (TfL) and the boroughs of Islington and Hackney.
Nick Fairholme, TfL’s Director of Project and Programme Delivery, said: “Our work at Old Street will transform journeys for thousands of people in the area and make it much easier and safer to walk, cycle and use public transport.
The road layout will switch to two-way traffic from 0001 on Monday morning.
“The switch to two-way traffic is a major milestone for the scheme and some road closures and changes to travel are needed for work to progress. I’d encourage everybody in the area to take extra care as traffic gets used to the new road layout.”
RoadPeace campaign co-ordinator, Victoria Lebrec, commented: “I’m really pleased to hear that works to Old Street roundabout are starting.
“The current layout is unsafe and we’ve seen some really horrible collisions happen there over the last few years.
“People walking and cycling should not feel like they are taking their lives into their hands when travelling through Old Street.
“At RoadPeace we see the devastation that road danger causes, and welcome TfL’s commitment to addressing it.”
21 May 2019, 17:13
British Cycling and HSBC give 600 free bikes to underprivileged kids in Birmingham
British Cycling and HSBC have begun distributing 600 free bikes to underprivileged kids in Birmingham with the help of Birmingham and West Midlands cycling and walking champion, the former BMX and track cycling world champion Shanaze Reade.
Under the scheme, which is being delivered by The Active Wellbeing Society, children will also receive a bike a bike pump.
Reade said: “Initiatives like this are fundamental to ensuring that children – regardless of who they are or where they come from – are given the opportunity to learn how to cycle.
“It’s easy to forget that a lot of kids simply don’t have access to a bike and schemes like this help to break down these barriers and ensure that cycling is something that can be enjoyed by all, no matter what your background.
“There are so many benefits to riding a bike – from physical and mental health, to the environment – and by providing hundreds of free bikes and equipment to children across the city, HSBC UK and British Cycling are contributing towards a healthier, fitter and greener nation which is something that should be applauded.”
21 May 2019, 17:13
Today's Giro d'Italia stage is as flat as they come, as noted by Thomas De Gendt
The most useless profile sticker i have ever seen. pic.twitter.com/ZgPDohgbm8
— Thomas De Gendt (@DeGendtThomas) May 21, 2019
21 May 2019, 17:13
Meanwhile, the latest test bike getting reviewed at the moment is this Merida Reacto Disc 4000. It’s a lot of bike for £2,000, but will it have the performance to match the looks? Review is coming soon
21 May 2019, 17:13
Giro d'Italia fans huff & puff at Team Ineos
The tweet translates as “They’ve changed name, but the popularity of Team Ineos on Italian roads remains very high.”
E’ cambiato il nome, ma la popolarità di @TeamINEOS sulle strade italiane rimane altissima… pic.twitter.com/Vf0aXjANtn
— Marco Bonarrigo (@cyclingpro) May 17, 2019
21 May 2019, 17:13
Wiggo's looking suave in tribute to the Giro
Giro inspired Tricolore pic.twitter.com/6a6FdQDc7v
— Brad Wiggins (@SirWiggo) May 21, 2019
Shame about that knackered old bike though Bradders, don’t you know it’s all about the F12 now?
21 May 2019, 17:13
Indoor cycle lane claimed to be first of its kind to open in Singapore mall
First-of-its-kind indoor cycling path in revamped #Funan allows #cyclists to ride through the mall https://t.co/T3b4bHclyN pic.twitter.com/RGjupx3bUg
— The Straits Times (@STcom) May 21, 2019
When the Funan mall opens in June, visitors will be able to cycle on a 200 metre-long path that runs through and around it. The Straits Times report that the path will have LED’s that light up whenever it detects movement, and will mostly serve working professionals who cycle to their office during morning peak hours. During the mall’s shopping hours between 10am and 10pm, however, cyclists will be encouraged to dismount.
It’s claimed to be a “first-of-its-kind indoor cycling path”; we’re not sure if that means in the entire world or not, but we don’t know of any other examples. If you do, feel free to let us know in the comments…
21 May 2019, 17:13
The ultimate millennial bike? Cannondale's Treadwell has a built-in phone mount and the app tells you how much carbon you've saved by cycling
Read all about it here.
21 May 2019, 17:13
Giro d'Italia Stage 10: Demare wins as crash takes out Ackermann
Groupama-FDJ’s Arnaud Demare has won Stage 10 of the 2019 Giro d’Italia in Modena this afternoon after a short stage across the flat roads of the Po Valley that, as expected, came down to a bunch sprint. Valerio Conti of UAE Team Emirates retains the race leader’s maglia rosa.
The Frenchman outsprinted Elia Viviani of Deceuninck-Quick Step to take victory, while behind a big crash took out a number of riders including one of the favourites for the stage today, Pascal Ackermann of Bora-Hansgrohe.
As racing resumed following yesterday’s rest day, the 145-kilometre stage from Ravenna was raced mainly at a sedate pace, the speed only picking up inside the final 20 kilometres.
By that time, a two man break comprising Luca Covili of Bardiani-CSF and Nippo-Vini Fantini’s Sho Hatsuyama had long been caught ahead of what for once was not a highly technical finish to the stage, with the final bend coming 2 kilometres from the line.
CCC’s Fran Ventoso tried to spring a surprise from 3 kilometres out, but he was caught inside the closing kilometre, just as the crash that cost Ackermann the chance to contest the win happened.
Stage winner Arnaud Demare
“I knew it would be a fast sprint with the last 20km very nervous. To avoid any crash, I asked my team-mates to keep me in the first ten or fifteen positions. They have been excellent. Ramon [Sinkeldam] has been very strong and Jacopo [Guarnieri] exceptional. A sprint like this, at full speed with no need to brake, was perfect for me. I and my team would have liked to win a sprint earlier in the Giro. I was always placed but I wasn’t winning. It’s a relief today. My goal is to reach Verona. If I have the legs to overcome the mountains, I’ll be there till the end.”
Maglia Rosa Valerio Conti
“In some stages of this Giro we rode very hard but it wasn’t the case today. I don’t like this kind of racing because it makes the finale more dangerous as many riders are still fresh and too many believe they can win. I don’t want to take unnecessary risks. I repeat that I want to keep the Maglia Rosa as long as possible. My biggest fear is the attacks of Vincenzo Nibali. They’re unpredictable.”
21 May 2019, 17:13
Flying doctors (based in Australia but from UK) break round--the world tandem record
Two British doctors based in Australia have set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest round-the-world tandem ride, though – in common with solo riders circumnavigating the globe – they experienced some unexpected hazards along the way, including an encounter with a bear in Russia and being robbed at knifepoint in Mongolia.
Lloyd Collier and Louis Snellgrove, who work as A&E doctors in Townsville, Queensland, finished their ride around the globe in Adelaide last Thursday, 283 days after they had set off, breaking the previous record by seven days – subject to ratification by Guinness World Records – and raising money for neurology research.
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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
chrisonabike 4 hours ago
"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.
chrisonabike 4 hours ago
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.)
wtjs 5 hours ago
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.
HoarseMann 7 hours ago
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.
AidanR 7 hours ago
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.
Sredlums 8 hours ago
@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?
mdavidford 8 hours ago
They may have looked, but did they see?
jackcycles 8 hours ago
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.
Rod Marton 9 hours ago
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.
eburtthebike 9 hours ago
“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.
16 thoughts on “Live blog: Demare wins at Giro as big crash takes out Ackermann; Flying doctors from UK break tandem round-the-world record; Pro cycling’s most pointless route sticker?; MacAskill’s best video yet +more”
Seeing the posts on Froome
Seeing the posts on Froome and the Ineos guys out on their training ride sums up what makes Froome different to a lot of other riders, he seems to be able/willing to put in the sacrifice day in day out every year without going off the rails very heavily in the off season etc and without burning out either.
While it’s great that CF can
While it’s great that CF can ride six hours on his birthday, will he be able to do it tomorrow with a hangover?
Looks more like Tenerife than
Looks more like Tenerife than Majorca (typo?).
pl6125 wrote:
Yep thats Tenerife, my photo of same point
Er, Valerio Conti is in pink,
Er, Valerio Conti is in pink, Roglič is looking good and in a prime position but has yet to put the Maglia Rosa back on.
ktache wrote:
Sorry, nonsense post. Now deleted.
Vine does himself no favours
Vine does himself no favours riding too close to kerb
CXR94Di2 wrote:
He could be wider but he’s also mindful of the emergency vehicle no? Either way he should be able to ride 2″ from the kerb or 4′ and in any case there are some knobs that will still close pass you and in this instance it probably wouldn’t have stopped the cretin from still coming past but only closer.
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
He could be wider but he’s also mindful of the emergency vehicle no? Either way he should be able to ride 2″ from the kerb or 4′ and in any case there are some knobs that will still close pass you and in this instance it probably wouldn’t have stopped the cretin from still coming past but only closer.— CXR94Di2
Perhaps, but if you’re as close to the kerb as Vine appears to be*, then when you get close passed, you have nowhere to go – likewise when a pedestrian steps into the road with looking (and without warning). I don’t want to victim blame, but I would expect him to know better.
* admittedly, the camera looks like it is mounted to the far left of the handlebars, so it may appear closer to the kerb than it is.
** I don’t think the fire engine was a factor in Vine’s positioning – it is right on the far side of the road.
jh27 wrote:
Cycle training tells us we should ride at a minimum of 1 meter from the edge of the kerb. Motorists dont know this and go into a rage if you’re anywhere near that (whilst also ranting you should get trained and have a license etc)
I’m not gonna look but I bet there are people in that thread who believe he’s taking too much room as it is. He can’t win. Must have a very thick skin to keep posting these things on Twitter…
jh27 wrote:
When he saw it it was more central after overtaking the bus and coming up to a junction that it could swing right at. I would instinctively move further away from any emergency vehicle in a rush in that situation and he definitely starts the video more central beforehand. Unfortunately that did leave the gap open for the lorry that probabaly was sitting behind him for awhile to make the move and fuck the Fire Engine if it was turning. Normally Jezza has a rear camera. I’m surprised he didn’t show that footage.
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
He could be wider but he’s also mindful of the emergency vehicle no? Either way he should be able to ride 2″ from the kerb or 4′ and in any case there are some knobs that will still close pass you and in this instance it probably wouldn’t have stopped the cretin from still coming past but only closer.— CXR94Di2
I understand your point, but we all know drivers will seize any opportunity to just get in front of a cyclist. If you give them a easy but dangerous(to cyclist) manoeuvre they will go for it. Riding central gives you more area to escape
CXR94Di2 wrote:
He could be wider but he’s also mindful of the emergency vehicle no? Either way he should be able to ride 2″ from the kerb or 4′ and in any case there are some knobs that will still close pass you and in this instance it probably wouldn’t have stopped the cretin from still coming past but only closer.
— BehindTheBikesheds I understand your point, but we all know drivers will seize any opportunity to just get in front of a cyclist. If you give them a easy but dangerous(to cyclist) manoeuvre they will go for it. Riding central gives you more area to escape— CXR94Di2
As I said, maybe he was mindful of the emergency vehicle, to be honest it’s usually too late to bail out to your left in most instances especially when the driver is going as fast as the lorry driver was here. I do agree that trying to induce doubt into the mind of the person behind does work but we don’t always get our road positioning 100% right 100% of the time because we are having to think about that constantly on top of all the other stuff that is going on.
I think JV is acutely aware of how he is judged in every minutae, he’s probably not the best in terms of riding primary whether that’s because he doesn’t feel comfortable doing it or there’s that little nagging thought in his head that those even within cycling circles will call him out for it. You only need read how some so called ‘cyclists’ criticise never mind the rest of the general public, he’s certainly not the worst in terms of giving himself some space and that time he was assaulted by that stupid bint who did ‘gun’ fingers at him he was riding wide of the parked cars.
he makes errors same as we all do, but having to ride primary/wide enough out as a defensive mechanism just proves how shit things are and is another of those change the actions of the vulnerable to supposedly increase safety and not change the actions of those doing the harm.
CXR94Di2 wrote:
Maybe not far out enough normally but it looked like he went towards the kerb because of the oncoming fire engine and before he could move back the truck (who appears did nothing about the oncoming emergency vehicle) forced his way past.
SRM clearly the most pro of
SRM clearly the most pro of head units. Look, it’s got a “pro” button and everything.
A 6 hour ride on a beautiful,
A 6 hour ride with mates on a beautiful, sunny day in Majorca sounds more like a awesome day off than something deserving of recognition! I sat at a desk for 10 hours on my last birthday. Where’s my medal? 😉