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Live blog: Luke Rowe leaves Twitter after accusation of making white supremacist sign; Caleb Ewan wins Giro stage in Fausto Coppi’s home town; Olympic triathlete Stuart Hayes hit by deer in Richmond Park; Lord Sugar gets a new e-bike + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Wed, May 22, 2019 18:40
SUMMARY
22 May 2019, 18:40
Wearing the Maglia Rosa < getting to sign your own Panini sticker
There’s a Panini sticker book for the Giro this year, and it looks like signing them is becoming part and parcel of the post-stage press conferences.
22 May 2019, 18:40
Lord Sugar is all fired up to be riding his new Corratec e-bike
Just taken delivery of the Carratec electric bike. Did 20 miles along the cycle lane in Palma . Brilliant machine @corratec_1990 pic.twitter.com/98w1PFoUUS
— Lord Sugar (@Lord_Sugar) May 20, 2019
After flirting with high-end Pinarellos (before moaning about being stuck in traffic after taking delivery of his last one because of Cycling Superhighways, apparently) it seems Lord Sugar has embraced the motor on his new ride.
22 May 2019, 18:40
Deery me... Olympian Stuart Hayes hit by deer in Richmond Park
O Deer!! Been cycling in Richmond park for 25 years and only heard stories of the wild life taking out cyclists/runners but today I was a victim, thank you @NHSuk for looking after me pic.twitter.com/oZtNr4wwPA
— MAGIC STU (@StuHayes13) May 21, 2019
Being taken out by a deer while cycling is the stuff of nightmares, and last night the latest victim was former pro triathlete and coach Stuart Hayes. Two hours ago he updated his Twitter followers saying he’s waiting for a CT scan, but hopefully he will make a speedy recovery.
Hayes competed in the London 2012 Olympics, where he played a domestique roll on the swim and bike legs to pave the way for Alistair Brownlee to take the gold medal. He is now a coach at Team Dillon coaching with his wife Michelle Dillon, also a former pro.
22 May 2019, 18:40
Luke Rowe leaves Twitter after being called a white supremacist...
Thanks twitter been a laugh, I’m outta here
— Luke Rowe (@LukeRowe1990) May 22, 2019
Ever since Team Sky began winning bike races, their riders have come in for a lot of abuse on Twitter. It seems enough is enough for Welshman Luke Rowe who has waved goodbye to the trolls after being accused of being a white supremacist.
Rowe was pictured with on the Team Ineos camper van with his teammates. The gesture that he’s making with his left hand is a classic schoolboy prank where anyone caught looking at it got a punch on the arm. This prank, known as the circle game, has been around since the 80s and featured on Malcolm in the Middle.
The ‘OK’ gesture as it’s commonly known hit headlines after users of forum 4chan started using it on social media. “The Boston Globe reported that users on 4chan’s /pol/ (Politically Incorrect) board were instructed in February 2017 to ‘flood Twitter and other social media websites…claiming that the OK hand sign is a symbol of white supremacy,’ as part of a campaign dubbed ‘Operation O-KKK’”.
So, is Luke Rowe a white supremacist? No.
22 May 2019, 18:40
It's not quite RIP for rim brake bikes...
…but their days might be numbered. We’ve had a look at the market to see what your choices are if you don’t want disc brake and prefer rim brakes, and well there are still lots of options but fewer than you might imagine.
22 May 2019, 18:40
Everybody loves a sequel…
The most useless profile sticker. Episode 2 pic.twitter.com/uIS5wwmtKl
— Thomas De Gendt (@DeGendtThomas) May 22, 2019
… Especially Thomas de Gendt at the Giro. Belt ‘n’ braces though with that and his SRM PC8
22 May 2019, 18:40
If cyclists were tortoises and drivers were hares...
‘One day a Hare was boasting about how fast he could run. He was laughing at the Tortoise for being so slow. Much to the Hare’s surprise, the Tortoise challenged him to a race.’
~Fable of Aesop (on ingenuity) pic.twitter.com/v9W8jukbd3— Cycling Professor (@fietsprofessor) May 21, 2019
22 May 2019, 18:40
The next time someone tells you cycle lanes are a waste of money...
Just how empty is this cycle lane? #London #Cycling #CycleSuperhighway #CS6 pic.twitter.com/l1R2ciRWMM
— Streetcam London (@streetcamlondon) May 22, 2019
Show them this.
22 May 2019, 18:40
Giro latest - sprinters are lining up
.@CalebEwan”You don’t see often so many sprinters winning in one race” | @CalebEwan ”Non si vedono spesso così tanti velocisti vincere in un GT”. #Giro pic.twitter.com/6L6tKYpox9
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 22, 2019
There’s around 35km to go, and a three man breakaway is about a minute ahead. One of those, Marco Frapporti, has already completed over 800km just in breakaways so far over the opening 11 stages.
22 May 2019, 18:40
Weird flex but ok, Mario...
Sram Red AXS, Campag Bora wheels, in the small ring?? We were initially surprised and puzzled to see Sram’s 12 speed groupset on a Campagnolo wheelset, but it appears there is already an XDR freehub for Campag and Fulcrum wheels following a quick interweb search.
22 May 2019, 18:40
Giro d'Italia Stage 11: Caleb Ewan wins in Fausto Coppi's home town
Caleb Ewan of Lotto-Soudal has won Stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia in Novi Ligure today, the last but one sprint stage of this year’s edition, with the race heading into the Alps tomorrow. It’s the Australian’s second stage win of this year’s race. Valerio Conti of UAE Team Emirates retains the overall lead.
As yesterday the break – today comprising three home riders, each representing one of the Italian UCI Professional Continental teams with wild card invitations to the race – was swept up early, with the catch made with 25 kilometres remaining of the 221-kilometre stage from Carpi.
For the second day running, it was a pan-flat stage, today running from west to east along the Po Valley, with the final 40 or so kilometres taking in roads raced in the early part of Milan-San Remo as the peloton heads towards the Passo del Turchino and, beyond it, the Ligurian Coast.
That race was won three times by Fausto Coppi, whose home town of Novi Ligure provided the stage finish today and il Campionissimo will also be remembered tomorrow by a stage that starts and finishes in the same two towns – Cuneo and Pinerolo – as the stage he won by almost 12 minutes after a solo break on his way to winning the 1949 Giro.
Result and reaction to follow.
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Jack has 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 the website 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
slc 29 minutes ago
"~15% of the riding time that I’m forced to use the road(because the infrastructure for cycling is insufficient or nonexistent) " Amsterdam?
jamesha100 10 hours ago
Same here. I have a helmet with built in front and rear lights and have a red light clipped onto my bag plus lights attached to my bike front and rear but still have drivers putting me in danger. My commute is about two miles and I normally have around four incidents a week where I have to brake hard or take other evasive action to avoid being hit by distracted drivers. A big percentage of these are drivers coming on to roundabouts when I am already on them.
geomannie 531 10 hours ago
Glasgow's South City Way sounds great, does it not? As a user from before and after I wholeheartedly welcome the construction of the segregated route, but so much of the detailed construction is poor, if not unsafe. I provide a link to a presentation I made when construction was half complete (a personal view) and the construction errors remain outstanding to this day: crossed by high speed flared road junctions, poor colour differentiation, car door zone risks and so on. And yet cyclists come because they feel safe. It's a complex subject but IMHO the feeling of safety (or lack of) is a critical component. https://drive.proton.me/urls/B67AK44G90#CFueBGjscoWr
Jetmans Dad 10 hours ago
I can only conclude that you haven't been into a city in the last few years. Food delivery riders in particular are riding overpowered "eBikes" that are basically mopeds ... powered only via the throttle without pedalling at significantly more than 15mph. Problem is they look like normal bikes/ebikes and not like mopeds so that is what people describe them as. My reading of the article is that it is those vehicles that are being talked about here.
AidanR 11 hours ago
I have the Trace and Tracer, which have essentially the same design, albeit smaller and less powerful. The controls are a little complicated but only because there are loads of options. In reality, once you've chosen your level of brightness, you'll only cycle through 1 or 2 options and it's dead simple. The lights are rock solid, bright, with good runtimes. The only thing I find annoying is charging them - if your fingers are slightly wet or greasy, getting the rubber out of the way of the charging port is a pain in the arse.
mdavidford 13 hours ago
Dance and padel is all very well, but when is Strava going to let me record my gardening?
mdavidford 13 hours ago
You can use it to check whether it's raining.
Rendel Harris 13 hours ago
If it's dusk, i.e. post-sunset, then the cyclists should have lights on and thus the colour of their top is irrelevant. If you want to complain about cyclists not having lights when it's mandatory then by all means do but their top has nothing to do with it.
Bright Strider 13 hours ago
All of my Exposure lights with a button allow cycling through the modes with a short press. I have five of those; it would be odd if Exposure didn’t allow this functionality with the Boost 3. I also have two Exposure Burners if I remember correctly: they are rear lights for joysticks that clip on and are powered through the joystick charging port. They don’t have a button. None of my Exposure lights have failed. I looked at the Boost 3 review photos but none showed the button, so far as I could tell. I also have Moon lights. Good experience generally. One did fail, possibly because it was so thin it used to fall through the holes in my helmet onto the ground. Also, the UI and charge indicators vary for my Moon lights. Perhaps the latest ones are more consistent. My worst lights ever were from See.Sense.
STATO 14 hours ago
Steve really doesnt like exposure products does he? Boost and Strada marked down for being too complicated. While the Zenith and Six Pack reviewed by his colleagues give them rave reviews (as most exposure products have on road.cc), the Zenith even touted as 'even more intuitive to use' with the same controls.
35 thoughts on “Live blog: Luke Rowe leaves Twitter after accusation of making white supremacist sign; Caleb Ewan wins Giro stage in Fausto Coppi’s home town; Olympic triathlete Stuart Hayes hit by deer in Richmond Park; Lord Sugar gets a new e-bike + more”
I once rode into a deer, in
I once rode into a deer, in the dark, in Richmond Park. They are fairly solid, and easily annoyed.
Hit pheasant last week, took
Hit pheasant last week, took off from the undergrowth at side of road and i clipped it with my right hand/bar. Was pretty sore and caused a speed wobble as was going downhill at around 25 mph. Last night just missed deer and a rabbit, both of speedy downhills!
Could have had a good stew if i got them all.
Must have been one of those
Must have been one of those no eye deers.
My front spokes decapitated a
My front spokes decapitated a butterfly over the weekend, heart breaking times!
alansmurphy wrote:
So the answer to Alexander Pope’s question is ‘alanmurphy’. Finally cleared that one up!
FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:
Brilliant.
alansmurphy wrote:
and caused and typhoon in the China sea.
burtthebike wrote:
Quote:
Am I naive, in that I would use that as either “OK” or “Be seeing you!” (depending on the company)? I wouldn’t have known for a second that it was a white power symbol…
(And, my kids do the hitting-each-other-on-the-arm thing too, but I’d never heard of that before either).
brooksby wrote:
It’s also American Sign Language for “arsehole”.
brooksby wrote:
Thats what it is/was (meaning ‘ok’) but….
The shitposting, basement dwelling, unwashed, incel edgelords that reside on some of the festering arsehole places of the internet (4chan, 8chan…. really, dont go there) thought it would be funny to appropriate certain symbols and then post everywhere that it is a symbol of white supremacy / far right movements.
The press then picked up on it and instead of saying “oh look, the worst people in society are trying to bait us into something”, they instead run with it and next thing you know, all these various previously innocuous things are associated with the far right.
Then you have donkey-brained fuckwits like Luke Rowe, who being one of millions of dumb meme consuming children who grew up on the internet, think its really funny to do this in photos without realising exactly what it is he is doing. Shit hits fan.
For those that say that its still an innocuous thing, just remember that the swastika and the sauwastika were (and still are) Indian symbols of good luck but were appropriated and now mean something else.
zanf wrote:
Thats what it is/was (meaning ‘ok’) but….
The shitposting, basement dwelling, unwashed, incel edgelords that reside on some of the festering arsehole places of the internet (4chan, 8chan…. really, dont go there) thought it would be funny to appropriate certain symbols and then post everywhere that it is a symbol of white supremacy / far right movements.
The press then picked up on it and instead of saying “oh look, the worst people in society are trying to bait us into something”, they instead run with it and next thing you know, all these various previously innocuous things are associated with the far right.
Then you have donkey-brained fuckwits like Luke Rowe, who being one of millions of dumb meme consuming children who grew up on the internet, think its really funny to do this in photos without realising exactly what it is he is doing. Shit hits fan.
For those that say that its still an innocuous thing, just remember that the swastika and the sauwastika were (and still are) Indian symbols of good luck but were appropriated and now mean something else.— brooksby
Damn, that’s irritating behaviour all-round.
Can it not somehow be put about that MAGA is a secret code for expressing support for the Islamification of the west?
FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:
Can it not somehow be put about that MAGA is a secret code for expressing support for the Islamification of the west?— FluffyKittenofTindalos
What MAGA should be associated with is… look up Jeffery Epstein, who his friends are, who got him a really good plea deal and who that person works for now and who said he was ‘…a great guy. The bestest guy’ (probably).
If Luke Rowe didnt know what he was doing and what it has come to mean, then he needs to get up to speed really fucking quickly.
zanf wrote:
God, the US system is so corrupt, and it’s not just Trump.
I’m not sure about “what it has come to mean”, though. Should the alt-right be allowed to just take an existing symbol for themselves?
There’s something quite devious about the way the right employ mock-irony and faux-trolling for plausible deniability. This quasi-appropriation of an existing inoccuous gesture seems entirely typical. Sow confusion and dischord among those who don’t in fact support you, while being able to signal to your own, at the same time as acting innocent.
zanf wrote:
Very unfair both on Luke Rowe and on young people. Given the comments on this article, he’s not the only person who had no idea that the OK/zero/Don’tLookGame hand signal had been appropriated by internet-dwelling morons. By simply leaving Twitter and not reacting, I think he’s actually shown maturity. How many people who live in the real world actually frequent 4chan (which I’ve heard of) and 8chan (which I haven’t) anyway? It’s going to be awkward next time I go diving…
By the way, you’ll see swastikas of various designs throughout South and Southeast Asia, where its appropriation by the Nazis is either ignored or not widely known; it continues to be used with its original meaning, same as Luke Rowe was doing here, without anyone being accused of supporting Hitler.
srchar wrote:
All very true, but there has always been a group of people who have to be offended at something, even if it is innocuous to most people. Unless it is clearly a deliberate attempt to be fascist, racist, or whatever -ist, then relax, take a breath and tell yourself it really doesn’t matter compared to the rest of the shit we have to deal with every day.
zanf wrote:
I must also be a donkey brained fuckwith for not knowing some internet dwelling right wingers have appropriated a hand sign that’s in common usage and still has other innocuous meaning to the vast majority of the rest of the western world’s population.
In fact, the more this donkey brained fuckwith thinks about it, the more I think the biggest donkey brained fuckwits are those people who a) allow rightwing donkey brained fuckwits to appropriate things from them and suck them into being offended b) thinks everyone else who doesn’t even know or care about these right wing idiots is a donkey brained fuckwit.
They may have appropriated the sign from you, but they haven’t appropriated it from me thanks all the same. Right wing internet dwellers are currently drinking beer and laughing that internet snowflakes have been successfully swayed into being offended by someone using this sign.
and Luke Rowe is probably more interested in riding his bike than learning about right wingers approriating a wanking gesture.
Nick W wrote:
this guy right here, gets it.
From a quick check, rkemb, I
From a quick check, rkemb, I understand that is the case, no wonder the nasty fascists use it to acknowledge each other.
Anyone remember Fox news
Anyone remember Fox news accusing the Obamas of performing a “terrorist fist bump”?
“Then you have donkey-brained
“Then you have donkey-brained fuckwits like Luke Rowe, who being one of millions of dumb meme consuming children who grew up on the internet, think its really funny to do this in photos without realising exactly what it is he is doing”
that makes no sense, he is the oppersite to what you describe because he doesn’t realise that symbol has been appropriated in the way it has.
As a membase beginer (basically the begining of meme-times) even i didn’t know the symbol had been appropriated like that, and your right, don’t go to 8Chan/4Chan and shame on the media being tards and not doing any actual fact based investiagtion on claims like this with out evidence.
Deer should have number
Deer should have number plates, insurance and wear hi-viz.
PRSboy wrote:
Are you a ‘civic leader’?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/cows-could-fitted-lights-hi-6131963
The “OK” hand gesture is used
The “OK” hand gesture is used in scuba diving where the thumbs up signal means something entirely different and potentially dangerous if you have a misunderstanding.
Answer is not to let the facists appropriate our signs and symbols. I hated it when the BNP appropriated the Union Jack and there was a time when displaying our own national flag was almost considered an act of racism. Fortunately the 2012 Olympics finally put paid to that stupidity and it was cool to wear the flag again.
This “OK” thing is the fault of the stupid MSM. Maybe there should be a show of strength by high profile sports people and celebrities to reclaim it, rather than letting the wannabe nazis have it.
White supremacists can have this sign from me.
Fluffy, I have ridden over
Fluffy, I have ridden over Hungerford common, it is on the NCN4 (and as I discovered yesterday EuroVelo2) I was both charmed and suprised to see roaming cattle. It was a lovely bit of the world. Damn those speeding motorists.
I’m guessing that the New Forest people will have to do the same thing with their ponies, after they sort out their problems with those pesky cyclists.
Who the **** reads 4chan?
Who the **** reads 4chan?
Organon wrote:
Not me though that’s more of a political protest against their choice of space cargo:
https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/4chan-b-baby-squirrels-rocket-launch/
I did some googling on that
I did some googling on that hand gesture thing, and there are so many differing opinions it’s just insane.
Some articles claim it was already in use as alt-right code *before* the 4chan post saying hey let’s make up a story so the msm look stupid (as a smokescreen).
Others reckon the 4chan thing is genuine and was the start of it, but that the alt-right never seriously use the symbol and have left it out there just to screw with people.
And others say the 4chan thing is genuine, that it started it and that the alt-right do genuinely use it as a secret handshake.
The whole thing kinda pi$$es me off, honestly.
Luke Rowe tries to hoop
Luke Rowe tries to hoop people, gets accused of being a white supremacist. No he isn’t, childish, and about 10 years behind the times, maybe.
Look at this damn nazi…
Look at this damn nazi…
And don’t forget the thumbs
And don’t forget the thumbs up nazis. Yes, you thought thumbs up was innocent, but no more, you nazi filth.
I think it’s time that us
I think it’s time that us cyclists appropriated a sign or two. Has the raised fist been taken yet?
burtthebike wrote:
The only thing left for cyclists to appropriate is the exhaust noise.
Fight the horsepower!
burtthebike wrote:
Black Panthers / black power, I think…
What about the raised middle finger?
I reckon that Rowe was either
I reckon that Rowe was either flicking a bogey or about to do rabbit ears on his mate in front.
The dimwit above having a go at him is just a self interested attention seeker. “he” can’t even express himself without swearing in public , an indication of low intellect and is obviously one of those people who feel that being nasty is being clever. Reminds me of the 7 year olds I teach.
use of any thing by anyone is totally irrelevant if it if its not being used by another person for that same purpose.
I guess that everytime I signal a score of zero with a clenched fist I am also a supporter of Malcolm X.
Click bait as expected of RoadCC and idiots respond.:)