Welcome to Thursday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
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Live blog: Team Ineos doctor gives Chris Froome medical update; Bike cop nabs fully tooled-up bike thief; Halfords predict ‘e-bike revolution’ in UK thanks to new C2W scheme guidance; Moving a whole office by cargo bike +more
SUMMARY

Cargo bike > removal van
We missed this one first time around, but here’s the cycling and walking charity Sustrans doing their whole London office move using e-cargo bikes. They did it with help from cargo bike taxi and logistics service Pedal Me, who you can find out more about here.
Cycling Mikey's stand-off: video gains over 100,000 views overnight


The video via Cycling Mikey on yesterday’s live blog is going viral, garnering hundreds of comments on YouTube, Reddit and road.cc amongst others. Although some commenters appear to be taking issue with the vigilantism, most were fully on the side of ‘Bike Gandalf’s’ actions…
Froome out of the Tour de France - interview with Dave Brailsford on BBC, and reaction from around the web
First outing on @TrekBikes speed concept, happy with how my day went but feeling for Froomey after his nasty crash. Heal well matey! @TrekSegafredo @GettySport pic.twitter.com/LcfgNvLxaA
— Richie Porte (@richie_porte) June 12, 2019
Unfortunately Froome won’t be going for a fifth Tour de France this year, after a horror crash at speed when he took his hands off the bars to blow his nose caused multiple fractures (most notably the right femur and right elbow).
Chris is in surgery at the moment to repair the multiple fractures, please keep him in your thoughts. I hope to be able to share a message from him tomorrow morning – MF
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) June 12, 2019
Froome underwent surgery last night, and his wife Michelle is currently updating us from his Twitter account and we hope to get some better news this morning. The BBC interviewed Dave Brailsford about the crash on their Bespoke Weekly podcast here, he said: “It’s a big crash this one, it’s not great.
“It’s a tough one to be honest, he’s not in great shape.”
Brailsford revealed Froome was riding with Wout Poels, and as he hung back to blow his nose, a gust of wind took his front wheel and he went straight into the wall of a house – he also lost consciousness. Brailsford said Garmin data shown Froome went from 54km/h to a “dead stop”. Brailsford also praised the emergency services immediately after the crash, and luckily there was an ambulance very close to where the incident happened.
Here’s a few more reactions from around social media…
Everyone across INEOS is wishing @chrisfroome (@TeamINEOS) a speedy recovery following his crash during a recon of yesterday’s TT stage @dauphine. https://t.co/UjfZN6KIrn
— INEOS (@INEOS) June 13, 2019
Absolutely gutted for @chrisfroome. But if there is one thing we know about Froomey, it’s that he will be back from this. July won’t be the same without him that’s for sure. https://t.co/2KCehiuuTq
— Tao Geoghegan Hart (@taogeoghegan) June 12, 2019
Such crap news!! It’s always horrible hearing about any bad crash, but even worse when it’s a good mate!! Heal up quick!! #he’llbeback https://t.co/E61vKv1cPp
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) June 12, 2019
Froome undergoes successful 8 hour surgery, according to latest reports


According to L’Equipe, Brailsford said Froome underwent a successful eight hours of surgery last night. Some of the fractures were open and there were also some internal injuries – further updates when we get them.
Cycle to Work scheme £1,000 cap scrapped - Halfords predict e-bike revolution, as they reveal their e-bike sales are up 47%


If you haven’t read our article on it yet, Cycle to Work schemes in the UK have just got a whole lot more flexible with the Department for Transport’s new guidance, making it clear that bikes worth over £1,000 will now be far easier to get on C2W.
One particular genre of bike that is almost impossible to find at the sub-£1,000 mark is electric bikes, and retail giant Halfords is predicting an ‘e-bike revolution’ thanks to the relaxation of the cap – and they say their own e-bike sales are up 47% and account for 11% of their total bike sales, most likely thanks to the C2W expansion. They also recently commissioned research that predicted e-bike sales in the UK will jump from 50,000 today to a whopping 1.5 million by 2050 (read more about that over on eBikeTips)… someone really wants to flog you an e-bike, don’t they?
How to submit camera evidence to the police


You wanted to know, so here’s how in our handy guide here.
Father's Day tips...


Number of Birmingham cyclists killed or seriously injured at record high, according to latest stats


Government figures have revealed that 280 cyclists were injured on the roads of the second city in 2017, and one in five (58) were killed or seriously injured.
The highest total number of incidents records was in 2014, at 287 – but the number of serious incidents has steadily rose since 2013.
Speaking to The Birmingham Mail about a perceived rise in dangerous driving around cyclists, Joshua Harris of the Brake road safety charity said:
“Cycling is one of the healthiest and cheapest ways to get around and everyone should be able to cycle every day without fear for their own safety.
“Yet our research has found that even drivers think dangerous driving around cyclists has increased in recent years, and with 10 people cycling being killed or seriously injured every day, more is clearly needed to be done to keep those on two wheels safe.
“Whilst the government’s actions to encourage more people to cycle and keep them safe are welcome, they must go further.
“We need slower, safer speed limits, greater investment in segregated cycle lanes and drivers who do behave dangerously removed from our roads.
“Drivers themselves also have a role to play in keeping people cycling safe – with our research showing that they acknowledge the dangers they can pose to cyclists.”
Froome latest - Wiggins send condolences, doctor who operated says he "may be back in the saddle in six months"
Wishing you a full & speedy recovery Chris x
— Brad Wiggins (@SirWiggo) June 13, 2019
Rémi Philippot, the head doctor who operated on Froome, told Le Progres: “The operation lasted a long time, there were several traumas and he suffered multiple fractures.
“The cyclist should stay in hospital for several days. There are potential further operations to be done.”
New | Update on @chrisfroome from his surgeon “He has now woken up, is conscious and knows exactly what happened. He knows there are difficult times ahead. That means a lot of recuperation but he’s an athlete and athletes are used to suffering.” #TeamIneos @TeamINEOS #Froome
— Steve Scott (@stevescott_itv) June 13, 2019
In better news, it’s also been reported on afp.com that Philippot says Froome could be back on the bike in six months: “The impact was at around 50 km/h, with very little body protection, causing a high-energy impact.
“Chris Froome has the morale of a winner and is very rapidly bouncing back. He started asking immediately when he could get back on his bike. He should be back racing in about six months.”
Strava are allowing us to make our rides more colourful to mark Pride Month


By putting a rainbow emoji in the title or adding the #worldpride2019 hashtag to the activity description, your ride route will be displayed in rainbow colours in celebration of Pride Month. It works on the app only and not on desktop, and the feature will work through the whole of June.
Team Ineos doctor gives medical update on Chris Froome
Team Ineos doctor Richard Usher says Chris Froome’s surgery last night following his high-speed crash while previewing the route of yesterday’s time trial stage at the Criterium du Dauphiné was a success.
“First things first, the surgery was a success. The operation, which lasted for six hours, went very well,” he said.
“Chris woke up this morning and was reviewed by the intensive care consultants and the orthopaedic specialist who operated on him and they’re both very happy with his progress to date.
“Chris will remain in hospital for the next few days for observation, but he is already actively engaging in discussing his rehabilitation options, which is very encouraging.
“As he begins his road to recovery, the team will now only be providing further updates at a stage where it is necessary to do so.”
Team Ineos added that Froome appreciated the messages of support sent to him, and will provide his own response in the coming days.
Bike cop nabs fully tooled-up bike thief
All the tools of the trade …
Following a day of pickpocket patrols our #CrimeSquad noticed a 'cyclist' whose behaviour just wasn't quite right
He then failed to stop for two police cars, but not the cycle officer who brought his journey to an abrupt stop
We then recovered Aladdin's Cave in his bag! pic.twitter.com/be5RHq4XJa
— City Police Officers (@CityPoliceCops) May 31, 2019
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... and we still had apostrophe rationing.
@Rendel Harris There was a bit in the bicycle hating Guardian, a nice little read, part of his justification was to acclimatise to the heat and humidity, which if he was in a better car might have been worth it. Good luck to him, chapeau.
@SecretSam That's not really fair, in fact not fair at all. It wasn't his fault that the last two mountain stages were shortened and on the first one he had dropped everyone and was a minute clear as he summitted the Iseran when the stage was neutralised, and on the second he stayed with or dropped all the other GC contenders. You seem to have forgotten his Giro win as well as Paris Nice and the Tour de Suisse. Only the fourth rider to have won the Tour and Giro before the age of twenty-five. Yes he probably couldn't have stayed with Pogacar even if he hadn't had the awful crash, and probably nor could any other rider in history except perhaps Merckx.
@lesterama Bernal has had two whammys. His crash, which he has probably never fully recovered from and Ineos taking a nosedive. They have no focus and no identity.
@Zermattjohn Read the comment I posted about my experience
I bought some Challenge Strada tyres. After a while the sidewalls began to detach from the tyre and the tread became rippled making them unsafe to use. The shop I bought them from asked me to drop them in and he would show the Challenge rep as he was due in the following week. The rep bizarrely firstly claimed that the tyres had failed because they may have been punctured (they hadn’t), then immediately claimed that they had failed because the rear tyre was more worn than the front! I emailed pictures to Challenge and was told they had failed because they had been fitted incorrectly. The black strip they had introduced to stop the issue I had was supposed to be above the rim. Which it clearly was shown to be correct on the pictures I sent to them which proved that the tyres were correctly fitted. This seems to be the norm now in the cycle industry, if there is an issue with a product, the company automatically blames the end user rather than look to address the issue, thereby pissing the customer off. A pissed off customer rarely returns.
@kingleo And there are hundreds, if not thousands of people holding up a shattered helmet saying it saved their life, the doctor/policeman told me.
I spend a month most years in China because of family, and a cargo bike there with an electric motorbike style front end and either LFP or advanced lead acid batteries, costs under £100 and is the backbone of every trade. There are a hundred different kinds but what they share in common is functionality and cheapness. Even the ancient pedal pulled wooden wagons with literally welded spokes from the sixties have been electrified with e-motors attached to the underside - and they cost sod all. In China cheap transport for business is a public good like drinking water. Because to get people to work you have to make work affordable. That's a secret of capitalism we in the UK could do better to learn.
@Zermattjohn handmade genuinely means handmade with Challenge. You cannot compare ride quality of a mass produced, vulcanized Panaracer tyre with these. The ride quality is incredibly supple, and can transform a riding experience. More expensive yes, but worth every penny!
@SecretSam 2019 Tour (don't see anyone else putting their hand up to say they won it), 2021 Giro, 2019 Paris-Nice, 2019 Tour de Suisse, 2018 Tour of California. So I'd say Lesterama is about right with his burned bright comment.
9 thoughts on “Live blog: Team Ineos doctor gives Chris Froome medical update; Bike cop nabs fully tooled-up bike thief; Halfords predict ‘e-bike revolution’ in UK thanks to new C2W scheme guidance; Moving a whole office by cargo bike +more”
It’s finally time… One
It’s finally time… One Pizza to Mr. Froome’s room.
At least the Bolide was
At least the Bolide was largely unscathed.
Number of Birmingham cyclists
Number of Birmingham cyclists killed or seriously injured at record high, despite the rather grand claims made about how effective the close pass initiative has been in making conditions safer for cycling…
dodpeters wrote:
but how do you know without it, the numbers wouldnt have been much worse ?
Awavey wrote:
The point is still valid, despite the close pass intiative the figures have got worse, you can’t know what the figures would be without the WMP intiative so we can only go on the basis of the numbers that we do have.
What we can do is find out if there is any cycling increase, compare the casualties and cycling rates to other large cities as well as looking at pedestrian casualties and see what’s what.
With all due respect to WMP what they are doing is so insignifcant in the grand scheme of things and I said as much when it was first rolled out. the number doesn’t surprise me in the least.
dodpeters wrote:
And without the basic data about exposure, how many cyclists there were and are, the ksi figures are meaningless.
dodpeters wrote:
And without the basic data about exposure, how many cyclists there were and are, the ksi figures are meaningless.
Dunno about the fully tooled
Dunno about the fully tooled up cycle thief, I carry more than that in my pannier! No bolt croppers, no grinder?
burtthebike wrote:
if you follow the link to twitter to see the full photo you’ll find a large de walt battery powered grinder.