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Dean Downing breaks collarbone and ribs in pothole crash; Cyclist proposes via Strava; Bath cyclists climb Mont Ventoux on a tandem – FOUR TIMES; Brailsford nearly quit after Sky pulled sponsorship + much more on the live blog

All today's news from the site and beyond.....
UPDATED Wed, Jul 31, 2019 02:26
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Dean Downing breaks collarbone and ribs in pothole crash; Cyclist proposes via Strava; Bath cyclists climb Mont Ventoux on a tandem – FOUR TIMES; Brailsford nearly quit after Sky pulled sponsorship + much more on the live blogDean and Russ Downing TDF Paris (copyright Simon MacMichael)
30 July 2019, 19:12
Dean Downing breaks collarbone and ribs in pothole crash on group ride

Best wishes for a speedy recovery

30 July 2019, 19:12
30 July 2019, 15:35
How you know you've left the Netherlands...
30 July 2019, 15:25
Tandem cyclists pedal up Ventoux four times in less than 24 hours

The 'Mandem on a Tandem' Will Trick and Dave Bowler managed four ascents of Mont Ventoux in 22 hours, and have raised £7,400 and counting for the Bath Rugby Association charity at the time of writing. They cycled more than 100km with around 7,800 metres of climbing in total. Will's dad David Trick is a former rugby player for Bath and England who is now president of Bath Rugby. Their fundraising page is here. 

30 July 2019, 15:04
Kask launch limited run of yellow Utopia, Valegro and Protone helmets to celebrate another Tour de France victory
kask ineos yellow helmet

Very few of us are capable of winning the Tour de France, but if you have enough money you can now imagine you did buy purchasing one of the limited edition yellow helmets just launched by the Team Ineos helmet supplier Kask. Versions of the Kask Utopia, Valegro and Protone helmets will be available in yellow, and although we've no word on prices yet we're told they will be available in limited quantities via Kask stockists later in the year. 

30 July 2019, 14:46
Katusha to merge with Arkea-Samsic

Reports are that Katusha owner, Igor Markarov, will remain, owner of the World Tour license. 

 

30 July 2019, 13:34
Zwift 2019 TdF infographic
"Wait ... is that G ... ?" Zwift at the Tour de France

If you watched the Tour de France on ITV4 or Eurosport, you'll have seen the Zwift ads featuring Geraint Thomas, one of dozens of cyclists on the race who use the virtual training platform - another being his team-mate at Team Ineos, and successor in the yellow jersey, Egan Bernal.

Here's an infographic from Zwift breaking down its involvement in the race by numbers - including the fact that Zwifters won fully half the stages where a winner was declared (there was no winner of Stage 19, where Bernal took the overall lead when the race was neutralised after crossing the Col de l'Iseran).

30 July 2019, 12:44
Cyclist proposes via Strava after bike ride with girlfriend

A cyclist in Houston, Texas took his girlfriend on a 15.4-mile bike ride – which, once it had been logged on Strava, turned out to be a proposal of marriage.

Jon Blaze posted an image from Strave to Reddit, and said: “So I went on a bike ride with my GF and showed her a nice surprise at the end of our ride. She said YES!”

So I went on a bike ride with my GF and showed her a nice surprise at the end of our ride. She said YES! from r/bicycling

He told KTRK that he and his now fiancée, Thau Nguyen, who are on Instagram as Cycling.Couple, “ride together at least twice a week. We also lead multiple social rides in Houston."

He showed Nguyen the route on Strava at the end of their ride.

"I went from being so annoyed by all the crazy turns we did to being completely shocked and with the biggest smile on my face," she said.

30 July 2019, 11:20
Transcontinental Race latest: Jonathan Rankin in the lead, and a unique attitude to recovery

The Transcon is no ordinary event, and that means the rider's rituals are far from ordinary too with Chen Yang Lin and Simon Hsiu winding down with a smoke and a lager following another hard day in the saddle. 

Screen Shot 2019-07-30 at 12.37.04

Meanwhile at the front of the race, Fiona Kolbinger is now in second place overall after leading last night, and Jonathan Rankin has regained a healthy lead as he winds his way through Croatia towards the Slovenian border. You can find the live tracker here. 

30 July 2019, 11:16
Dave visits Boardman's state-of-the-art wind tunnel

How much can an ordinary cyclist get from a day at a top-end performance facility? Check out our feature and accompanying video from Boardman's Performance Centre the Midlands, where Dave Atkinson was sent to find out... 

30 July 2019, 11:15
Five cool things
Mason Aspect Ti-19.jpg

Have a gander at our weekly test gear round-up here, including Mason's new Ti frameset and Rondo's two-in-one gravel grinder. 

30 July 2019, 10:28
Anyone fancy a TTT around Morrisons?
30 July 2019, 10:15
Susan? Sue... Susan!

The nightmare is real. Yesterday wasn't just a rest day. The Tour really is over.  

30 July 2019, 09:48
Not the worst endorsement

Trying to think of a pun involving 'hips don't lie' but can't think of anything, answers on a postcard... even so Egan Bernal got a shout-out from Colombian music megastar Shakira. 

30 July 2019, 08:11
Brailsford admits to being "angry" following TUE controversies, and almost quit after Sky pulled sponsorship
Egan Bernal and Dave Brailsford (via ITV Cycling on Twitter)

The Telegraph report that the hugely successful Team Ineos manager revealed he felt like he was "in a fight the whole time" at last year's Tour to defend himself and his team, following allegations of crossing an ethical line over Bradley Wiggins' use of a TUE ahead of his 2012 Tour de France Victory: "I got to the point where I felt life is for looking forward. You can look back and be angry or bitter, but leading a group of other people to achieve something is a much happier place to be.

“During the Tour last year, I was angry. I felt like I was in a fight the whole time. I was stewing. Maybe age helps but, this year, I’ve felt a lot calmer. I don’t feel any less ­competitive, but I’ve been a bit more measured and I’ve stopped fighting everybody.”

He also revealed that the ending of Sky's contract with the team was nearly the final straw late last year: “There was a moment of reflection where I thought, ‘What am I doing? Where is this heading? It would have been a natural break, a chance to take an easy way out and step away gracefully. But then you think, ‘Hang on a minute’ – life is all about challenges and I love the sport too much. So I thought, ‘Sod it, I’m going to carry on’. ”

30 July 2019, 08:03
Brad on a bike - the ultimate compilation

Bradley Wiggins on the back of a moto was one of the highlights of this year's Tour coverage for many of us, and here he is in all his glory. From outlandish Union Jack cagoules, to interviewing riders mid-race and getting lairy on the run-in to the Champs-Élysées, you can't deny Bradders proved to be excellent value. 

30 July 2019, 08:09
"The greatest and saddest" - Phil Liggett on commentating without his great friend Paul Sherwen at this year's Tour
30 July 2019, 07:47
Nibali's power data from TDF stage 20 revealed he cranked out a huge average of 339 watts

Nibali's coach Paolo Slongo shared the stage 20 data of his rider, and over the 59km stage that Nibali won in 1hr 51 mins he averaged a huge 339 watts, normalised at 353 watts - considering he weighs just 65kg, those figures are other-worldy. There were also sections where Nibali hit over 550 watts for sustained periods, including where he broke away. 

Jack Sexty

Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.  

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7 comments

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mdavidford | 4 years ago
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I like the idea of "new singings Nairo Quintana and Nacer Bouhanni" - presumably one of their first numbers will be 'I like to ride my bicycle'?

 

Surprised Downing and so didn't spot the pothole in time, with it being clearly marked out by those orange-topped bollards.

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ktache | 4 years ago
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According to BBC South Today YoBikes are getting the hell out of Southampton, vandalism and theft.  Reading's Readibikes just disappeared one day, the drunken people waiting for their kebabs are no longer able to while away the minutes by ringing the bells.

Berylbikes were also mentioned, Bournmouth and Poole, anyone know how that is going?

Avatar
srchar replied to ktache | 4 years ago
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ktache wrote:

Berylbikes were also mentioned, Bournmouth and Poole, anyone know how that is going?

Berylbikes were deployed within green-painted parking areas in my bit of north London less than a month ago. They have all but disappeared.

We have had a load of bright red Uber eBikes pop up here over the last month or so, though. My theory is that they get used as one-way post-alcohol transport from city to suburbs, then don't get redistributed back to where they're needed.

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quiff replied to srchar | 4 years ago
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srchar wrote:

We have had a load of bright red Uber eBikes pop up here over the last month or so, though. My theory is that they get used as one-way post-alcohol transport from city to suburbs, then don't get redistributed back to where they're needed.

Freebike is another recent entrant, although apparently those are geofenced so they can't stray too far. Presumably the logistics and distribution is even more important for an e-bike sharing scheme, as they also need to be re-charged periodically.       

Avatar
Tom_77 replied to ktache | 4 years ago
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ktache wrote:

According to BBC South Today YoBikes are getting the hell out of Southampton, vandalism and theft.  Reading's Readibikes just disappeared one day, the drunken people waiting for their kebabs are no longer able to while away the minutes by ringing the bells.

Berylbikes were also mentioned, Bournmouth and Poole, anyone know how that is going?

 

There's an article in The Daily Echo on YoBike - https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/17799017.yobikes-pulled-southampton/

 

Comment underneath from their operations director Dave Munday:

Quote:

The Daily Echo didn't try to contact me for comment, if they had, this is what I would have said: The parent company has schemes operating in over 10 cities across the world, from Dublin to Mexico City which are working well and Dockless bike schemes work in many other cities worldwide and help cut pollution and congestion. Unfortunately Southampton has a segment of the population who have no respect for property and the level of theft and damage was significant and it was decided that it was no longer economically viable. As a population we have become blind to the unsustainable impact that the car is making to our heath, wealth and happiness which is a tragedy and there is not enough support for alternatives. My view is that in business, if you don't fail occasionally you're not trying hard enough. We will learn from this and move on.

 

Avatar
Pyro Tim replied to ktache | 4 years ago
1 like
ktache wrote:

Berylbikes were also mentioned, Bournmouth and Poole, anyone know how that is going?

They seem to be being used. Plenty around and being used by the look of it. Not tried one myself yet, but one was in my nextdoor neighbours

Avatar
ktache | 4 years ago
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I have just caught the end of an item on Quests Made by Destruction, which seemed to suggest they can recycle carbon fibre bicycles and with a bit of jiggery pokery turn it into parts for race cars.  As I say, I only caught the end, and I cannot seem to view it on QuestOD.

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