Welcome to Monday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Brains G – Cardiff brewery honours hometown hero Thomas with bespoke beer ahead of Tour de France; French heatwave claims two cyclists’ lives; Alice Barnes shows that even GB champs don’t need to litter with their gel wrappers + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond as we start a new week…
Mon, Jul 01, 2019 17:22
SUMMARY
1 July 2019, 17:22
Weekend catch-up
Here are some of our top stories from the weekend…
World Tour pro Lachlan Morton wins “unimaginably hard” GBDURO bike-packing event
Cyclist dies after crashing on Wrynose Pass descent during Coast To Coast In A Day sportive
Big rise reported in cyclists seeking insurance after pedestrian collision legal case
Near Miss of the Day 284: Punishment pass while riding with a 14–year-old
1 July 2019, 17:22
If the national champ can do it, so can you...
The contents of @BarnesAlice pockets after her nationals win.
I call that responsible. pic.twitter.com/nGQ4VGfooI— Owen Rogers (@OwenRogers) 30 June 2019
Alice Barnes triumphed on the 136km British National Road Champs course yesterday, becoming the first woman since Emma Pooley in 2010 to win both the senior national time trial and road race in the same year. She also shown that it can be done without littering, as some wannabe pros seem to think it’s ok to do, with journalist Owen Rogers capturing the contents of her back pocket after she crossed the line.
On another note, wonder if Alice would have won by a greater margin if she’d have got through that Rice Krispie Square?
1 July 2019, 17:22
An unfamiliar sight...
I’m happy to see my brother Juraj win the Slovak championship and I’d like to thank the thousands of fans that cheered for us along the route. In a few days, we head to Brussels with the team for the @letour Grand Départ. (Thanks to https://t.co/LoKelSecLw for the nice photos) pic.twitter.com/AAPqbdqJE9
— Peter Sagan (@petosagan) 30 June 2019
…but one to get used to in 2019, as it’s just occurred to us this will be the first time for three years that Sagan has lined up for a Tour de France without a world champion’s jersey. Here he is in his bog standard, run-of-the-mill Bora-Hansgrohe kit while supporting his brother to a Slovak national champs win, looking like a normal professional cyclist but way cooler…
1 July 2019, 17:22
Ever seen a better save than this?
With a moto behind showing the speedometer approaching 80km/h, the next thing we see is two-time Ironman world champ Jan Frodeno having a scary wobble as he approaches a corner on the 185km Ironman Frankfurt bike course. Frodeno keeps a cool head, hops over a road divider and manages to keep control of his bike as he briefly goes cross-country and pops out the other side unscathed.
While Frodeno shown handling skills every bit as impressive as a single discipline pro cyclist, the same can’t be said of Brit Kimberley Morrison’s flat-fixing skills – skip to 3hrs 24 mins in the feed above, and you will see Morrison struggling to fill her tube with a flat-fixing sealant that doesn’t appear to want to go into the valve. She eventually reaches for a tube when it becomes apparent the damage is too great for the sealant to work, but doesn’t seem to have the equipment to inflate the tyre. According to the results she eventually finished the bike course in over six and a half hours, about an hour and a half slower than most of her fellow female pros…
1 July 2019, 17:22
Bit rude...
I like our kit, so it’s a no from me https://t.co/BQpowngCig
— Simon Geschke (@simongeschke) July 1, 2019
Simon Geschke was pretty reserved in his reply to this weird attempted burn. Here’s the kit below in the CCC team’s Tour de France reveal, and we reckon it don’t look half bad.
Our #TDF2019 roster is in! We’re proud to present the eight riders ready to take on @LeTour
@PaddyBevin
@ADM_RossodiBuja
@simongeschke
@sergepauwels
@joeyrosskopf
@michaelschaer
@GregVanAvermaet
@lukaswisniowskihttps://t.co/S9dNpcQYC8#RideForMore pic.twitter.com/KLgbP17DKz
— CCC Team (@CCCProTeam) July 1, 2019
1 July 2019, 17:22
Be in with a chance to win a load of wheels, kit and more from Pacenti with our latest mega comp
Enter here for another chance to win some excellent wheels and gear from Pacenti Cycle Design. Best of luck folks!
1 July 2019, 17:22
Once again, if the British champ can do it so can you
It’s a shame that things like this have to be pointed out and isn’t the norm. Drives me mad when people are throwing rubbish! If it comes out your pocket it can easily go back in! Thanks for all the kind words none the less https://t.co/cYEn1OX2Hh
— Alice Barnes (@BarnesAlice) July 1, 2019
Newly-crowned national TT and road champ Alice Barnes responded to the tweet showing the contents of her pockets: “It’s a shame that things like this have to be pointed out and isn’t the norm.”
She’s recently commented on her double victory in the TT and road race this morning, saying “it still hasn’t sunk in”.
Double British National Champion So many people to thank for this. Still hasn’t sunk in! pic.twitter.com/HftAFMN028
— Alice Barnes (@BarnesAlice) July 1, 2019
1 July 2019, 17:22
A good day indeed!
Ben Swift has uploaded his National Champs winning ride to Strava, making it official.
Jokes aside, the stats are staggering, with an average power of 291w for 4hrs21min over a distance of 196km!
With Ineos teammate Ian Stannard up the road, Swift put in a 1,185w sprint to drop John Archibald and bridge across to Stannard. Sensing his opportuntity, Swift continued to push well over 500w to ride straight past his teammate, covering the final 900m at 374w, a fabulous effort after 4 hours of racing.
1 July 2019, 17:22
French heatwave claims lives of two cyclists
This weekend saw the highest temperature ever recorded in France – 45.9 degrees Celsius – and now it has emerged that the heatwave has sadly claimed the lives of two cyclists, reports The Independent.
One of the victims, a 53-year-old man, died while he was taking part in a race in the Ariege department on Saturday, and with several other competitors falling ill, organisers cancelled the event.
The other fatality happened in the Vaucluse – the department where Mont Ventoux is located – with a rider dying after reportedly collapsing due to the heat.
1 July 2019, 17:22
Cheers G!
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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).
11 Comments
Latest Comments
yodhrin 9 hours ago
@robgodd The poor guy himself suffered a traumatic brain injury and his skull was so badly shattered a significant portion of it had to be removed - do me a favour, have a look around cycling helmet manufacturers and see if any of them claim the foam hats they produce will protect against or even mitigate that level of injury. I'll wait if you like, but I can save us both the time and tell you what you'll find: none of them. Not a single one of them will. Because they don't, and they *can't* based on simple physics. Once the point of failure in a material is reached all(or as near as makes no odds) of the additional force beyond that necessary threshhold transfers through to the object beneath. Since bicycle helmets are rated for forces roughly equivalent to being dropped straight down from a stationary start 1.5m above a hard surface. Now, I'm not an expert in vehicle crash investigation, but I'm *fairly* sure that any impact or series of impacts powerful enough to render a quarder of your skull into gravel, put you in a weeks-long coma, give you massive amnesia, and leave you with ongoing symptoms of traumatic brain injury are a little bit, a teeny-weeny amount, a little smidgeon-widgeon more than what bike helmets are rated for. That's why none of the companies that make them claim they will help in such circumstances: because they know it would be a lie, and that unlike uninformed punters, carbrained journalists, or "medical professionals" who think wearing a helmet would save you from a broken arm(an actual scenario encountered by a mate, who's nurse at the A&E tutted and harrumphed her way through his whole treatment due to his lack of helmet despite his bonce having come through *being hit by a car* - another scenario bike helmets are worthless in - completely unscathed), the lawyers for those companies know their business and understand that if you lie in advertising you will get sued into the ground.
Mr Blackbird 10 hours ago
The Battle of Ypres April 1915. The German infantry division advanced using das Brumptstadt Fahrarden. The slow speed kept them behind the cloud of chlorine gas as it drifted towards the Commonwealth trenches. The offensive cleaved a two mile gap in the Western Front. The use of cycles was copied by the Japanese as they invaded Singapore and Burmah. By then war technology had embraced wider low pressure tyres, carbon frames and hydration gels. The German forces decided not to incorporate cycling as part of Operation Session, as bike theft in London and the South East was rife and would have caused huge casualties. Ironically superior advancement of tyre technology led to a British victory at El Alamein. This technology played a key part in the US Marines victory at Iwo Jima.
ROOTminus1 10 hours ago
The appropriate response to Google pissing on your cereal is not a fancy new sugar that removes the taste of urine. Stop using Google products where you can. Firefox browser and DuckDuckGo search engine have had noticeable upticks in market share by explicitly NOT pushing AI.
belugabob 11 hours ago
my thoughts exactly...I wonder how that approach is working, with motor vehicle drivers...🤔
Anonymousattorney 11 hours ago
I do not wish to diminish the personal tragedy, but one never hear calls for pedestrians or even hikers to wear clothing with integrated lightening rods.
chrisonabike 11 hours ago
RE Andy Burnam / Heidi Alexander - this is the best thing in many ways - set an example (even if currently it leads to lots of online name-calling). And imagine some of the political alternatives! The folks in the apparently second-placed party seem incredibly unlikely to be doing so. And even the current "new Greens" seem less interested in ... y'know, environmental things. OTOH I wish Heidi could be bolder. And I fear that like anyone ambitious enough to get to the top (exception B Johnson - well, I guess there was the Corbyn bicycle...) Burnam will be trimming his transport policy sails to fit the wind (should that be "bunker-fuel-burning engines"?)
Rendel Harris 11 hours ago
@mattsccm Bull bars aren't banned, they just have to conform to regulations so they are deformable or have plates that allow crumple give on contact, rather than rigid steel bars that can smash into pedestrians and cyclists with no give at all, catch them and drag them under the wheels. If you think that's a problem, do one. Why should who is responsible for a collision remove the responsibility of people driving a tonne of machinery on the road from having safety features to at least mitigate some of the effects of a collision?
AidanR 11 hours ago
I'd be willing to bet that's lazy use of stock photography rather than deliberate misinformation, but the result is still the same.
Backladder 11 hours ago
@smallbeer You obviously don't realise how many bulls there are wandering around Chelsea, in and out of the china shops, that he needs to protect his Range Rover from.
chrisonabike 12 hours ago
I agree, it's bloody 'elf and safety overreach, can't help some people, I put some meat, sorry, neat decoration on the front of mine and the polis were round poking their noses in like that (mind you, that was a mistake...) (etc)
11 thoughts on “Live blog: Brains G – Cardiff brewery honours hometown hero Thomas with bespoke beer ahead of Tour de France; French heatwave claims two cyclists’ lives; Alice Barnes shows that even GB champs don’t need to litter with their gel wrappers + more”
“Ever seen a better save than
“Ever seen a better save than this?” yes managing to mention Alice Barnes’ win after not covering it yesterday
antigee wrote:
it was Sunday, imagine everyone was out riding their bike? Please request a refund of your road.cc monthly fee for this month by way of compensation.
check12 wrote:
They must have filed the Ben Swift wins national road race title article from the cafe stop mid ride then clearly…
Awavey wrote:
We’re a one man band on Sunday, rather than my colleague working a 12 hour day we decided to cover Alice’ win in the morning.
Jack Sexty wrote:
I’ll look forward to reading it later then 😉 you can cover the u23 winners in it too
It wasn’t the organisers that
It wasn’t the organisers that cancelled the Ariegoise, it was the prefecture (the county council) as they couldn’t cope with the number falling ill from the heat during the ride. The organisers were charging €10 for people to change to the shorter course…
Great to see some pro riders
Great to see some pro riders raising the issue of gel wrapper rubbish. It is a complete load of nonsense that this is acceptable, pro rider or not. Commentators always seem to excuse the behaviour of litter dropping, saying that the rider mess will be cleaned up later. Yet even on the TdF it can be hours before a road sweeper comes through…and by then most light rubbish has been blown into the surrounding countryside to cause many issues for wildlife and litter that will be around for many years to come. No excuses, end of.
Ever seen a better save than
Ever seen a better save than WHAT? no bloody video!
Bob’s Bikes wrote:
It’s a FarceBook video – try these links:
https://www.facebook.com/IRONMANnow/videos/2122925761150614/
https://www.facebook.com/IRONMANnow/videos/318476015707963/
Just back from riding in
Just back from riding in France during the heatwave – which is doable with lots of water.
For anyone else doing this, riding between villages is ok before noon because you can stop at fountains and douse yourself. Climbing cols is riskier in the heat because there are often long stretches with no water. Starting early helps, but 5am temps were as high as 27C.
For reference, I drank a liter an hour, plus water for dousing, and kept power below 250W to reduce head/core overheating. I found it cooler with a helmet than without.
Izoard N and S were ok, ran out of water on the Agnel and drank melted snow.
Lots of electrolytes needed, skipped caffeine and alcohol (boo) plus slept on kitchen floor (coolest place in house).
Thank you Hawkinspeter for
Thank you Hawkinspeter for the feed