WTFotD2; Video of “Behind closed doors” Paris-Nice Stage 2 as France fights coronavirus; UCI investigating sexual abuse claims; Champagne + Crepes as Groupama-FDJ land in France after UAE quarantine; Ruby Isaac in IWD shout-outs + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Weekend catch-up
Spent all weekend at the supermarket queueing for loo roll and missed all your vital road.cc goodness? Here’s what you need to know…
Airbus UK employees must wear high-viz and helmets to cycle on site
Near Miss of the Day 386: A very sweary van passenger
Special coronavirus measures at Paris-Nice – but race will go ahead
40 per cent of collisions involving Irish cyclists caused by ‘failure to observe’ on part of driver
Max Schachmann bags first Paris-Nice stage victory... as reported by Peter Sagan
Back at @ParisNice… It was a very cold and wet first stage but we worked very well as a team. Well done @MaxSchachmann for this nice victory @BORAhansgrohe https://t.co/yTy0Vq0Gr8
— Peter Sagan (@petosagan) March 8, 2020
Despite coronavirus concerns the show goes on in France, and Peter Sagan’s teammate Schachmann won stage one in a sprint finish. Sagan actually took to his website to give a little race report, here it is in slightly broken English…
“It is nice to be back at Paris-Nice, the race that gave me my first professional victories ten years ago but it sure was a tough first stage. The rain, cold and winds made it hard for everybody but we worked very well as a team and got the win and yellow jersey. Congratulations to Max.”
JIC you didn't know... cycling is faster than driving in most major UK cities
Traffic data experts Inrix have released the findings from their annual Global Traffic Scorecard for 2019, which rates cities worldwide for congestion, last mile speed and compares between various modes of transport.
As you may have guessed, UK cities rank as some of the worst in the world with London the eighth-worst for congestion. London drivers lost 149 hours sat in traffic in 2019, and crawled along at an average speed of 10mph for their last mile. Other cities in the top ten (in order of worst ranking) are Belfast, Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Southampton, Nottingham and Hull. The fastest average last mile speed in the ten cities is Birmingham at 16mph, meaning for the vast majority of us – depending on the traffic lights and various other factors – cycling will be faster than driving in all of these cities.
Inrix also say that congestion is costing our economy £6.9 billion a year, with road users spending an average of 115 hours stuck* in traffic. Trevor Reed of Inrix TOLD The Daily Mail: “Across the UK’s most congested cities, average driving speeds of 10-16mph mean cycling is actually a quicker option for many people. Congestion costs drivers, businesses and the economy billions of pounds each year.”
Inrix recommended big improvements to public transport (which is only quicker than driving in London and Edinburgh) and investment in rail could reduce car use, and also said safer roads could go a long way to encouraging more people to cycle.
It’s not all bad news, with Nottingham seeing congestion falling by 17% and London dropping from the third-worst to the eighth-worst city in the world for congestion. London’s congestion levels also dropped by 9% compared to 2018 according to the Scorecard. Here are some vital stats in picture form…
*If you’re driving to work when you could be cycling or walking… you’re not stuck in traffic, you ARE the traffic (but you knew that).
French National Champ Warren Barguil disqualified from Paris Nice
After what looked like a very painful crash just as it was all kicking off in the first stage of Paris Nice, Warren Barguil was deemed to have drafted behind his team car for too long.
The commissaries weren’t best pleased and disqualified the Frenchman.
Given the amount of drafting that happens during a race, we wouldn’t be surprised if Barguil thought the decision was a bit harsh.
It's not all Champagne and...errr...crepes
Quand Marc Madiot accueille son équipe @GroupamaFDJ avec des crêpes à l’aéroport ! 😂 pic.twitter.com/few6p2UKIB
— Josselin Riou (@josselin_riou) March 8, 2020
Well, it seems that it is if you’ve just got back from being quarantined in a hotel and your boss is Marc Madiot.
Groupama-Francais des Jeux was one of the teams held in quarantine in the UAE after coronavirus stopped the race. They had some big names in isolation including classics specialist Arnaud Demare.
The flamboyant DS was so happy to get his star riders and staff back that he turned up to the airport arrivals with a bottle of Champagne (obviously) and a stack of crepes. As you do.
Ruby Issac name-checks her most influential cyclists for International Women's Day
Happy International Women’s Day… to some of the awesome women who inspire me…. but there are loads more…..Ruby X @Dani_Rowe_MBE @CXHelen @irisslappendel @InternationEll2 @desELLESauVELO #IWD2020 #InternationalWomensDay #InternationalWomenDay2020 pic.twitter.com/PS2NBPMBZb
— Ruby Isaac (@RubyWIsaac) March 8, 2020
Using her crazy roller skills, Ruby Issac has celebrated International Women’s Day by casually listing the women that have inspired her most in cycling.
First up is Dani Rowe, winner of the team pursuit at the London 2012 Olympics and 2011 World Championships.
Helen Wyman gets a mention as one of the UK’s pioneering and most successful cyclocross riders. Wyman has gone on to set up the Helen100, an initiative that earlier this year received Rapha Foundation funding to help the development of Junior and U23 women’s cyclocross.
Finally, Ruby mentions two teams of women taking on their own Tour de France in the absence of an official women’s race. InernationElles and DesEllesauVelo will be riding the full 21 stages from Brussels to Paris (via a few mountains) in July.
> Tour de France organisers say they are looking to launch major women’s race
French Cycling Federation asks UCI to investigate misconduct claims
Marion Sicot about Marc Bracke, DS of Doltcini-van Eijk: “he said I was too fat. I had to send pictures of myself in underwear every week. Front and back. He said he’d delete them afterwards but I can’t be sure.”https://t.co/ulpr3arWn3
— José Been (@TourDeJose) March 8, 2020
The French Cycling Federation has asked the UCI to launch an investigation after two female riders on the Doltcini-Van Eyck team made allegations of inappropriate conduct against Marc Bracke. The riders claimed that they were asked to send pictures of themselves in underwear to their male DS so that he could check that they weren’t “too fat”.
Marion Sicot and Sara Youmans have made separate allegations, the former in an interview where she admitted to taking EPO.
Speaking to L’Equipe, Sicot claimed that “he said I was too fat. I had to send pictures of myself in underwear every week. Front and back. He said he’d delete them afterwards but I can’t be sure”.
Face aux menaces et aux chantages, Marion Sicot
a cédé et a consommé de l’EPO. Retour sur une affaire de “dopage forcé” selon la cycliste, qui témoigne en exclusivité pour #Stade2. pic.twitter.com/CJQEGdG5A7— France tv sport (@francetvsport) March 8, 2020
France tv Sport reports that Sicot, “in the face of threats and blackmail”, was forced to dope using EPO which she was subsequently banned for using after testing positive at the French TT championships last year.
While we can’t say for certain that the male riders aren’t asked to provide similar photos, it seems highly unlikely when other methods such as body fat calipers, or simply weighing scales offer a far more scientific approach.
More to follow.
Tom Pidcock teams up with MTB legend Florian Vogel for Cape Epic race
The British cyclocross star, riding for Trinity Racing, will join household MTB name Vogel for the Cape Epic, an eight-day, 700km XC MTB stage race in South Africa.
Pidcock passed on the chance to join a World Tour team last year in favour of setting his own calendar and allowing a mix of disciplines that may not have been possible on a team like Ineos.
Explaining his love of multiple disciplines, Pidcock said: “I just enjoy riding my bike, everything from road bikes to downhill bikes. Thankfully a lot of people are starting to realise how mutually beneficial riding all disciplines can be, largely down to MVDP [Mathieu van der Poel] and Wout van Aert. They have set the standard on what is possible, and it is a great blueprint for me to try to follow. And, hopefully, be successful.”
The race will form part of his summer calendar which looks set to feature a mix of road and MTB as he prepares for another season of cyclocross.
The Wolfpack now have friendship bracelets
In a move straight out of a Year 5 classroom, Deceuninck – Quick-Step now have special wristbands to show that you’re part of ‘The Wolfpack’.
The wristbands are available on the team’s webshop and thankfully, they look a bit better than the ones you’d have made as a kid.
The leather bracelets have the Wolfpack’s logo imprinted along with their ‘creed’:
“For the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack”
ASO reportedly decline to comment on Paris-Roubaix
Paris-Roubaix (April 12) potentially affected. ASO declined to comment
— Tom Cary (@tomcary_tel) March 9, 2020
The Telegraph’s Tom Cary says that ASO (the organisers of Paris-Roubaix) won’t comment on potential cancellations or rescheduling of the race due to the latest French coronavirus precautions. If indeed no more than 1,000 spectators are allowed to watch, there would be no cheering crowds at the velodrome and possibly no fans lining the cobbled sections; although we’re unsure how crowds congregating in public places could be 100% policed without a full curfew in place.
"You could by a car for that": Specialized Turbo Creo SL video review
This time you really could buy a car for that, and a decent one too… as the new Specialized e-road bike we got our hands on for review comes in at an eye watering £10,999. Video version above, words here.
Nominations open for Cycling UK'a 100 Women in Cycling awards
Who are your female cycling role models? We need your help to choose this year’s #100WomenInCycling. 🚴♀️
The list celebrates inspirational women from all walks of life who share with others the fun, freedom and friendship of cycling.
Nominate here 👉 https://t.co/DP2MUY5sgz pic.twitter.com/dnWkAMwPpQ
— Cycling UK (@WeAreCyclingUK) March 8, 2020
Ahead of the Women’s Festival of Cycling between 11th-31st July, Cycling UK are asking for nominations to celebrate female cycling role models who promote cycling and encourage others to take part.
“Women from all walks of life and every corner of the cycling world can be nominated, from mountain bikers and endurance cyclists to community group leaders, cycling school-run mums and industry entrepreneurs”, say Cycling UK.
If you want to make a nomination, you can do so here.
WTFotD2 - fluro gilet, chrome helmet, blue and white umbrella, eSkateboard unicycle thing
WTF of the Day – Weird, wonderful and WTF stuff captured on bike cams
Blink and you’ll miss this commuter casually rolling through the rush-hour rain in the most stylish way we’ve ever seen.
There is so much going on here. In fact, we’re not even sure what they’re riding. It’s some sort of one-wheeled skateboard contraption with its own front light.
How does it cope with potholes?
If you’ve got a submission for WTFotD then send it to info@road.cc. Thanks to Adrian for this one.
Alexander Vinokourov confirms Astana riders haven't been paid fully for two over two months
After Spanish newspaper AS reported that Astana Pro Team were yet to pay full wages to their staff in 2020, team manager Vinokourov confirmed it was true in a statement today.
Vinokourov insisted that the funds had been guaranteed by their main sponsor Samruk Kazyna, but there was simply a delay from the state-funded backers. He said: “We confirm that Astana Pro Team was not able to pay all wages in 2020 yet. The payment was done partially.
“We also want to confirm that the total budget of the main sponsor Samruk Kazyna has been successfully approved.
“It is also worth mentioning the fact that Astana Pro Team has already started its 15th season and during all these years our main sponsor Samruk Kazyna duly provided us the necessary funds. As we are being sponsored by official government organization sometimes there is a delay of payment due to slow administrative processing of the funds approval.”
It’s not the first time Astana riders have been left with unpaid wages, after a similar incident two years ago in which Vinokourov reportedly had to intervene to get salaries paid. Like many teams, Astana have pulled out of a number of races and have suspended their schedule until 20th March due to coronavirus, and insist this is nothing to do with their financial situation.
Laurens ten Dam takes up full-time gravel riding with Specialized after road racing retirement
When they’re not flogging 11 grand e-bikes, it seems Specialized are busy signing up ex-pro road racers to race on dirt, with recently-retired Laurens ten Dam partnering with them for his move to the gravel scene.
The Dutch climbing specialist is taking on events such as the Dirty Kanza and Belgian Waffle Ride in 2020, and will mostly be using Specialized’ Diverge and Roubaix models for his gravel adventures with their Roval wheels and helmets.
Ten Dam discovered gravel while living in California, and began racing events in the off-season to build up to World Tour racing in 2016. Specialized say of the partnership: “Laurens is the perfect fit for Specialized. Like us, he wants to ride fast, but it’s the community and lifestyle that has drawn him to gravel. He’s started his own events, LtD Gravel Raid and LtD Gravel Fest, which we are also proud to support, as well as pioneering his own gravel movement with Live Slow, Ride Fast.”
In what could be turning into the equivalent of pro footballers heading off to China or the MLS to see out their careers, former Katusha–Alpecin rider Ian Boswell recently signed a deal with Wahoo Fitness to compete in gravel and endurance mtb events as part of the brand’s Fronteirs campaign.
Video: Paris-Nice Stage 2 played out "behind closed doors"
Stage 2 of Paris-Nice today was played out effectively “behind closed doors” after France’s sports minister banned crowds of more than 1,000 from events in the latest measures taken to halt the spread of coronavirus.
Morevover, spectators are not allowed within 100 metres of riders at the start of stages, and have to keep a distance of 300 metres at the end of them.
Here are the highlights of today’s stage, played out in the rain and the win … yes there were echelons … and more drama on the way to the finish.
It’s worth noting that the weekend’s finale takes place in Nice… just 40 kilometres west of the Italian border, with the neighbouring country tonight going into total lockdown against the virus.
World champ van Vleuten takes her first Zwift ride ... with 1,200 others
World road champion Annemiek van Vleuten took her first ever Zwift ride yesterday … and the Mitchelton-Scott Dutch rider had 1,200 fellow Zwifters to keep her company.
With coronavirus continuing to hit the racing calendar at a key point in the season, we expect to see a lot more pros taking to the virtual cycling platform in the coming weeks, though perhaps not in the rainbow jersey.
Pretty cool to ride with 1200 Zwifters this morning. Had a cool intro to @GoZwift with help from @lvanbon First ride on my @tacx smart trainer was great experience, could even feel also the wooden bridge & gravel. Had fans from South Africa, Colombia and NL next to me today 😍. pic.twitter.com/8mkpoSH6bl
— Annemiek van Vleuten (@AvVleuten) March 8, 2020
An objective view of one of London's most contested cycle lanes
Black cab drivers telling porkies about the Tavistock Place bike lane? Say it ain’t so …
Pretty cool to ride with 1200 Zwifters this morning. Had a cool intro to @GoZwift with help from @lvanbon First ride on my @tacx smart trainer was great experience, could even feel also the wooden bridge & gravel. Had fans from South Africa, Colombia and NL next to me today 😍. pic.twitter.com/8mkpoSH6bl
— Annemiek van Vleuten (@AvVleuten) March 8, 2020
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@mitsky Its another one of those things that makes no sense isn't it. Someone was saying in another thread that we need a harder driving test. I don't think we do. Everyone who has passed in the last 20 years has done a test that is more than happy to fail you for behaviour that 90% of drivers exhibit every time they get behind the wheel. The test is fine. The fact that getting your license seems to be considered some weird proof that you will continue to drive safely is the issue. The fact that when you prove that you cannot drive safely its not immediately revoked is the issue.
@Rendel Harris The issue with GPS chips, as everyone who has one of those black boxes will attest to, is that they are crap. They interpret heavy braking as poor driving rather than someone else forcing it. They see rapid acceleration where there is none. All we need is a much higher chance of people being caught and punished for their everyday shit driving. I'm sure as a cyclist that every single time you go out on your bike you will have a dozen or more times when you think "that would have been a nasty accident if someone was coming the other direction". Eventually, when bad behaviour suffers no consequences it becomes completely normalised. Then we struggle to treat it as anything but a normal, unavoidable accident when that bad behaviour does incur consequences.
Drivers regularly pull out in front of me and cause me to slam on the brakes or avoid them. Very often they have seen me and just assume I'm not going very fast or they assume I will slow down/stop (which I do). Too many drivers don't look for cyclists, hate giving way to them or expect the cyclist to be moving slowly and just pull out.
@Rendel Harris By the time someone is looking at prison time its too late. As has been proven time and time again, the severity of punishment is a poor deterrent to bad behaviour if people don't think its going to happen to them or they don't think they will be caught. Now I do think that there should be far more severe and immediate punishments for bad driving when drivers are caught but this would need to be coupled with a massive push to actually act on information/proof of bad driving. As anyone that submits footage to the police knows, its a crapshoot and certain police forces are anti-cyclist. This would try to essentially put people off misbehaving whilst driving before they cause an accident rather than getting the tired old excuse of "it was a single dangerous incident, they definitely don't do this all the time and their luck finally ran out". Perhaps it should go even further and if you have a history of speeding and you hurt someone speeding, that is looked upon in a very dim light.
Can we talk about “Washing up liquid contains a lot of salt – not a great idea to use a corrosive substance on a bicycle”? This is an urban myth. I have washed all of our many bikes using Fairy liquid or Ecover for decades. I’ve never found any evidence of corrosion, paint, laquer or decal wear, or any sign of anything. I regularly service forks and bearings, swapping a lot of gear, and everything has always been fine. Here’s far too much info below - long story short, Fairy liquid in 5L of hot water has a borderline-homeopathic amount of salt, it’s fine to use on a bike. ============ The honest answer is that neither Fairy nor Ecover publicly disclose the actual sodium chloride concentration in the consumer products I could find. The safety data sheets list hazardous ingredients above reporting thresholds, but sodium chloride is not reported for either product. However, we can put some realistic bounds on it. Fairy Original The SDS lists: Sodium laureth sulfate: 20-30% Lauramine oxide: 5-10% Alcohol: 1-5% No sodium chloride is declared. 15 In detergent formulations, sodium chloride is commonly used as a viscosity modifier (thickener) and is typically present at around 0.5-3%, sometimes lower. The absence of declaration suggests it is either not present or present at a low concentration that does not require reporting. This range is an informed formulation estimate, not a value stated by Fairy. Ecover The Ecover ingredient information lists: Sodium lauryl sulfate Lauryl glucoside Cocamidopropyl betaine Alcohol Lactic acid Sodium octyl sulphate Again, no sodium chloride is listed. Ecover's formulations tend to rely more heavily on plant-derived surfactants and may use little or no salt for thickening, but I could not find a published concentration. 63 What does this mean for bike washing? Let's assume a worst-case 3% salt content in Fairy. If you add: 10 mL Fairy to a 5-litre bucket Then salt introduced would be approximately: 10 mL × 3% ≈ 0.3 g salt Distributed through 5 L water ≈ 60 mg/L salt For comparison: Typical seawater: ~35,000 mg/L Lightly salted winter road spray: often hundreds to thousands of mg/L The wash bucket above: ~60 mg/L So even under a pessimistic assumption, the salt concentration is hundreds to thousands of times lower than the salt exposure your bike gets from winter roads. From a corrosion perspective, the quantity of salt introduced by washing-up liquid is essentially negligible compared with: Riding on salted roads Coastal spray Leaving winter grime on the bike Therefore my practical conclusion remains: ✅ Fairy or Ecover in a wash bucket is extremely unlikely to contribute any measurable corrosion risk. ✅ The important thing is rinsing and drying afterwards. ✅ Winter road salt is the real enemy, not washing-up liquid.
Another example of a driver's actions that would have been a straight fail in a driving test but is barely likely to lead to a disqualification... I'm wondering if having a driving licence is like a "Get out of jail free" card...
Yes indeed. I have a version of the R8100 and you definitively need ceramic for the socket.
@perce I'm not sure I agree with that. I think thats just confirming that he is take fully responsibility and recognises that the cyclist could have done nothing to mitigate it.
If we don't fight it now, we'll all end up forced to wear baggy shorts!
@Rendel Harris Agree, I am baffled that the 84 year old who is now banned from driving for year can then start driving again without a retest. We should be re-tested regularly.
6 thoughts on “WTFotD2; Video of “Behind closed doors” Paris-Nice Stage 2 as France fights coronavirus; UCI investigating sexual abuse claims; Champagne + Crepes as Groupama-FDJ land in France after UAE quarantine; Ruby Isaac in IWD shout-outs + more on the live blog”
Looks like a Onewheel XR
Looks like a Onewheel XR
Inspirational woman cyclist ;
Inspirational woman cyclist ; Katie Kookaburra 😉
Yes, but I unsubscribed from
Yes, but I unsubscribed from her YouTube channel because of her association with a certain antipodean vegan cyclist…
‘…heading off to China or the
‘…heading off to China or the MLS’
(on ex-pros riding gravel)
Nice analogy!
Annemiek van Vleuten has “the
Annemiek van Vleuten has “the knowledge”?
Yes they have messed up, and
Yes they have messed up, and replaced a potentially interesting Tavistock Place tweet with what is presumably a paid promotion for an indoor electric bicycling company.