Triathlon star who wants to win Tour de France by 2028 slams “amateurish” Olympic organisation after missing out on medal; Cycling silly season underway; Hope for active travel and proper cycle infrastructure?; Supermarket wars + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Hope for active travel and proper cycle infrastructure?
Cycling journalist Carlton Reid and former active travel commissioner for the West Midlands Adam Tranter have been discussing our favourite topic: cycling infrastructure. Carlton’s published a photo essay on the “nine-mile, butter smooth Polegate-to-Lewes cycle track”, which was described by road.cc contributor Laura Laker as “quite possibly the best rural cycling and walking route in the country to date” in her new book ‘Potholes and Pavements: A Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network’. And looking at the photos it’s hard to disagree…
It *can* be done. High quality, separated, A to B rural cycle tracks in the UK, that is. PHOTO ESSAY: https://t.co/AABFE3jSob HT @laura_laker pic.twitter.com/x2scB26ux4
— Carlton Reid (@carltonreid) July 31, 2024
Meanwhile, Tranter has been pondering active travel investment in a separate thread…
When we build bigger roads, we get more traffic. Congestion briefly gets better, then the same, then worse. £Billions is spent in the process.
Instead of dualling roads, what if we used the space for active travel instead? Here’s a thread on why it should happen.🧵 pic.twitter.com/SE7dny0Q07
— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) July 31, 2024
Both well worth a browse this Thursday morning.
Cycling silly season underway
August 1 means pro cycling transfers can officially be announced. Two early big-name deals to flag. Ben O’Connor is joining Jayco AlUla (where he may soon be a teammate of a certain triathlon star) and Jhonatan Narváez has swapped Ineos for the UAE Team Emirates empire. These are deals which will begin on January 1 and naturally O’Connor’s comes with the obligatory signing announcement vid courtesy of Jayco’s social media team…
🖊️ 𝘽𝙚𝙣 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙣! 🖊️
Let’s get this thing signed!
Welcome 👋🏼 @ben_oconnor95 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/HpjlRHmoTn
— GreenEDGE Cycling (@GreenEDGEteam) August 1, 2024
UAE were more understated, Narvaez (a dark horse for this weekend’s Olympic road race) saying he expects to “take another step in the coming years”, whether that means classics glory, a place in Pogi’s imperious Grand Tour set-up, or both, remains to be seen.
REVIEW: Wheeltop EDS-TX Wireless Carbon Electronic Shifters and Derailleurs (road bike)
Cycling supermarket wars: Carrefour vs Intermarché vs Lidl
Intermarché–Wanty responded to the news that stage six of this year’s Vuelta will begin INSIDE a supermarket… no, really…
> Hold on, what? Stage six of this year’s Vuelta a España to start inside a Carrefour supermarket
Cool story but Intermarché supermarkets are best 😎 https://t.co/2C16rDDH4D pic.twitter.com/XSNGZhRed0
— Intermarché-Wanty (@IntermarcheW) July 31, 2024
Cue Lidl-Trek getting in on the act…
Cooler story but @lidl supermarkets are really where it’s at 🤠 https://t.co/PUj7ASwnfy pic.twitter.com/uWcTVbWb1p
— Lidl-Trek (@LidlTrek) August 1, 2024
Cofidis rider who bashed Look bikes following Tour de France disappointment moves to FDJ
A week on from this, and Guillaume Martin is off to FDJ…
Almost half of British people can't afford to buy a bike – and a quarter say it would take at least six months to save for one, new research for Cycle to Work Day finds
The great pressure washer debate — is it okay to use a pressure washer on your bike?
Apologies for the sporadic blogging folks, plenty happening elsewhere today. Anyway, it would be remiss of me to not dive into the comments on this…
bikes: “I use a garden sprayer. Cheap and no need to plug it in to a power or water source. And it uses very little water, possibly less than using a bucket. A light mist and a brush go a long way.”
Dunnoeither: “I’ve used gas station pressure washers on my commuter many many times and I am struggling to imagine how this could possibly harm any bike when done carefully. Just don’t get too close (>3 metres) and avoid the bearings and other sensitive parts.”
Jimthebikeguy.com: “No.”
andystow: “I don’t use one on my bearings, but I’ve used it to blast off the rims and tyres, mudguards, and the chain. I blow all the water out of the chain with compressed air before re-lubricating it. I can leave my pressure washer hooked up, and turn the power off to rinse sensitive areas with the same wand.”
I’m going to give a shout-out to my personal favourite method, the water bottle ‘pressure washer’. Dehydrate yourself by not finishing your bottles then spray the muck off before you wheel your bike back to wherever you store it. Gets the worst off, leaves you more time to do the drivetrain, but can give you a cracking headache from all those fluids you didn’t touch… win, win, lose…
A big day of gravel-related tech news as brand new SRAM gravel groupset announced (+ new stuff from Zipp)
Our pals at off-road.cc have been busy today, SRAM unveilling Red XPLR AXS, a 13-speed, 1x-only gravel groupset.
Aaron’s had it for a while and has penned his thoughts here…
> SRAM Red XPLR AXS groupset review
Meanwhile, SRAM’s high-performance wheel sub-brand, Zipp, has developed two new models specifically for gravel riding. Find out more here…
Triathlon star who wants to win Tour de France by 2028 slams "amateurish" Olympic organisation after missing out on medal
Norwegian triathlon heavyweight Kristian Blummenfelt made headlines this week when the former Ironman champ and 2020 Olympic gold medal winner revealed his ambitious plan to win the Tour de France by 2028. Blummenfelt reportedly tested for the highest absolute VO2 max (as opposed to relative VO2 max, which factors in weight), ever recorded in history and is said to be joining UCI WorldTeam Jayco-AlUla to get his two-wheeled career underway.
He had the small matter of defending his Olympic crown yesterday, a task that did not go to plan, Great Britain’s Alex Yee pulling off a stunning comeback victory as Blummenfelt finished a disappointing 12th. Afterwards, the soon-to-be pro cyclist was not happy and had a pop at the “amateurish” organisation of the event which was delayed by a day due to concerns about pollution levels in the River Seine.
He told the Discovery TV cameras: “That is not what we have worked for, I’m of course disappointed. I felt I got into a position where I could fight for a medal and victory, but I just didn’t quite have the running legs I needed to keep up. I felt I had good control on the bike, and was excited about how my legs would be when I started running, but it was heavy.
“It is the same for everyone, but it is of course amateurish on the part of the organiser…”
We should point out he didn’t claim the “amateurish” organising stopped him winning a medal and he was quick to praise GB’s Yee and silver medal winner Hayden Wilde for their “aggressive” run.
“I felt ready this morning, that was probably not why,” he said. “They go hard from the start. It was certainly expected that they go out quite aggressively in the first two or three kilometres to stretch out the field. It is probably what Alex and Hayden regretted after Tokyo, that they did not run more aggressively.”
The “amateurish” aspect of the organisation was how the decision to postpone the races, initially scheduled for Tuesday but delayed until Wednesday due to the level of E. coli bacteria in the Seine where the swimming leg took place, was made and communicated to athletes (who have presumably spent months preparing to peak perfectly for one day). Early yesterday morning the organisers said they’d been given the green light and the races went ahead a day late, no doubt a frustrating exercise for many involved.
Norwegian teammate Vetle Bergsvik Thorn admitted it had “not been optimal”, the athletes having to wake up early on both days to check if there was a competition to race. Sports director Arlid Tveiten said it was “unprofessional” to not have a back-up plan for if the Seine was not able to be used, but said with time they’d only remember how cool it was to race through central Paris.
“We think it is a bit unprofessional not to have a reserve arena, but at the same time we have to, so there is nowhere in the world where it is cooler to organise a triathlon. I think that’s what we’re going to remember when we get a little distance,” he said.
Making (admittedly quite valid) complaints about dodgy race organisation after a disappointing result? You’ll fit in just fine in pro cycling, Kristian…
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@chrisonabike True, things went back to normal once the pandemic was over. In this case, however the problems are still ongoing, and aren't likely to be resolved in the near future. If anything, they're going to get worse. Food shortages are predicted because of the effect that the heatwave has had on crops. This is bound to push prices up. The Straits of Hormuz aren't likely to reopen anytime soon and the strategic oil reserves are running low. Russia is having to import petrol because its own refineries have been badly hit, so that's even more competition for an even more scarce resource. I think that more and more people are going to see cycling as a way of cutting household bills.
I think if "grown up" cyclists * are quibbling about ASLs we've very much missed the road safety point anyway. (Not to mention the wider "better transport choices" picture). ASLs are poor-to-useless "cycling infra", even for their design intent. If the idea is "for less confident cyclists" then a design that requires that you re-position in front of the motor traffic - waiting to accelerate - seems unhelpful. Of course they're only designed to help when traffic is stopped, and you can reach the front in time and if vehicles aren't already occupying them. As we're noting here drivers frequently ignore them - whether that be deliberate, a lack of road craft, because they were concentrating on following the vehicle in front, or because the paint has rubbed off. * Aside: shouldn't cycling also be safe and accessible for kids? Or should they only be allowed to do this when accompanied by sufficient qualified adults? Or be limited to parks and otherwise being driven around by their carers? Perhaps there is another way...?
Hi Bungle, I saw you follow-up comment. I can't imaging there's a tolerance of 4 seconds on camera enforced lights, seems an odd decision - an offence is committed if a vehicle starts crossing on a red, any tolerance is discretionary. There does seem to be some odd thinking about 'advanced stop lines' where the rules relating to them are identical to a regular stop line, as explained correctly elsewhere in the Highway Code. It does seem a regular offence. Where I live it doesn't help that some of them are very faint and disappear in rain.
@ktache Not sure he's totally ruled out of the worlds yet (though I think it would be best if he doesn't), normal recovery time is about eight weeks but surgery can halve that...depending on the nature of the break he could be just about fit to ride by the time of the elite men's race, but he'll have missed a lot of training. Hopefully his managers and team will persuade him to wait until Lombardia, if not just to knock it off for the rest of the year.
@Bungle_52 The Met told me a couple of years ago when rejecting a submission that they needed a clear three seconds of red visible before they would consider it for an RLJ prosecution. I pointed out to them that this meant that at 30 mph a driver could see a light change to red from 40 metres away and still get through without sanction, or 55 m if they accelerated to 40 as most do. They just replied "them's our rules..."
@Ben Graham I have just checked the footage from my report. The driver crosses the 1st stop line 4 seconds after the light turns red. All on camera from behind the vehicle. No further action. So I assume the margin is at least 4 seconds.
Oh, and active travel funding per head (in England at least) is laughable compared to other places. Plus it is delivered intermittently. It's more like a Blue Peter contest...
Yup, I see those opportunities being missed all the time in Edinburgh. When it gets really bad, dig it all up and put it back down again how it was. Contrast with what seems to happen in NL - when things are dug up the whole thing seems to get a "let's redo this according to the current standards" treatment. They even coordinate with the utilities, so that after a refurb the street isn't immediately dug up again because of leaking pipes / we suddenly realised the new estate being planned for round the corner will want broadband etc. Pros and cons of course - you may wait longer there for changes as smaller changes may be deferred until a major redo is due. (Though in the UK case you likely wouldn't get them at all...) It seems we "can't have nice things" in the UK in part because a) we have greater motor traffic speeds/volumes spead across "streets" / within urban areas b) the funding and organisational responsibility differs. Are we in the "Sam Vimes boots" territory (being too poor to afford better products which not only save money over time but actually work)? There is long term money pressure on LAs and it seems that due to poor construction and maintenance we have to regularly pour money into (pot-)holes in the road. And it seems there's no budget to check up on or enforce adequate standards from utilities work or even private building.
Shame about the world champs defence. Speedy recovery. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/30/tadej-pogacar-vuelta-a-espana-cycling-crash-hospital-stage-nine
I believe the accepted form for this kind of argument is "I know you are, you said you were, but what am I?".
35 thoughts on “Triathlon star who wants to win Tour de France by 2028 slams “amateurish” Olympic organisation after missing out on medal; Cycling silly season underway; Hope for active travel and proper cycle infrastructure?; Supermarket wars + more on the live blog”
Would he rather be in
Would he rather be in hospital with E.coli? There is no explanation in the article for what exactly (or even vaguely) was amateurish about the organisation. Also interesting that he had the legs on Tuesday but not on Wednesday? In any case I’m looking forward to seeing him in the pro-peloton very soon. Is he riding the WC, or the Vuelta?
Bit more info added now, the
Bit more info added now, the Norwegians said they had to wake up early on both days to see if the event was going ahead. Combined with the lack of back-up course if the Seine wasn’t possible + generally that they’d all been aiming to peak for the biggest date of their year only to be pushed back 24 hours all contributes, I think, to the frustration. But yes, think I’d rather wait a day too!
At least there weren’t any
At least there weren’t any giant sharks in the Seine!
(guess what film I watched on Netflix at the weekend…).
brooksby wrote:
A mako shark going from sea water to fresh water? How does it get through all the locks?
Was the film “Emily the Criminal”?
hawkinspeter wrote:
Was it “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On”?
Dan Alexander wrote:
I saw someone wearing an E.Coli jersey on my ride this morning so maybe some people prefer it to clean water? Only as I passed him I realised I was mistaken – the rider’s arm was obscuring the first letter and and it actually said “LE COL”.
Tomorrow’s headline – “Local
Tomorrow’s headline – “Local racer accused of E.Coli doping”. Officials say it’s a trickle-down effect from top level sports.
Hard to choose between E.Coli
Hard to choose between E.Coli and Carbon Monoxide. Maybe the Olympic committee should start testing swimmers and triathletes for E.Coli rebreathing?
Dan Alexander wrote:
All the other riders were in the same situation and eleven of them finished ahead of him.
Maybe the winner had an unfair advantage and the water companies dumping effluent in the UK’s rivers was a cunning plan all along…
To be fair, it does seem
To be fair, it does seem pretty amateurish. Basing an entire Olympic event on having cleaned up a historically unclean river with only days to spare with no alternative venue and even a suggestion to run the event with a key component missing, I would say, is quite amateurish.
I understand the desire to run the event as planned, and the Norwegian coach admitted that this will no doubt provide the abiding memories, but given the challenges involved in making the event safe, surely a back up plan would have made sense?
My understanding is it’s not
My understanding is it’s not at all uncommon (and getting worse) in triathlon for the swim leg to be affected by poor water quality, and mostly it would just end up being cancelled and the race run as a duathlon, it not being practical to relocate or reschedule. The Olympics, being the Olympics, are unusual in having the clout to make alternative arrangements, and paradoxically it’s the uncertainty that that’s caused that’s resulted in most of the complaints.
Cofidis should hire him if
Cofidis should hire him if they are still riding Look
Given that le déluge seemed
Given that le déluge seemed to be affecting pretty much all of France, it’s hard to see how they could have guaranteed the water quality of any backup venue (never mind the associated complexities of planning additional ride/run routes to coincide with it). At least not without very long travel being involved, which I suspect would have been at least as bad for their preparation as an extra early morning was.
Worth RCC contacting this
Worth RCC contacting this company about their response to me pointing out the waste of petrol, tailgating and lack of apparent seat belt wearing?
—
From: John & Jessica Bangs <admin@bmbsltd.co.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2024 4:30:43 pm
Hello
Firstly thank you so much for your pointless quote weird video! Showing absolutely no criminality made by my driver or staff.
Clearly you’re a total bum who scrounges off the hard working taxes of people like my staff! Perhaps get a job instead of wasting your sad bored little life making videos showing normal driving!
Perhaps get laid! But then again what woman in their right mind would find such a clearly small penis little man like you attractive!
Thank you so much for todays entertainment, I’ll be sure to tell my guys they are now YouTube stars ?
Have a wonderful day!
Admin Team – BMBS LTD
—
(not my clip)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkvDud_ygeA
Some people really don’t seem
Some people really don’t seem to understand that if they put anything in writing, it could end up being distributed more widely (and make them look really stupid).
(yes, I’m aware of the irony here).
Irony?
Irony?
Rider putting themselves at
Rider putting themselves at risk with that filtering.
ride2smile wrote:
They filter totally safely and legally for about 50 yards through completely stationary traffic, what precisely do you find risky about that?
With regard to the Polegate /
With regard to the Polegate / Lewes path, the Cuckoo trail (a converted rail track) runs from Heathfield to Polegate. If there’s an easy connection between the 2 paths that will make a pleasant run through the Sussex countryside with minimal traffic.
I was looking at that the
I was looking at that the other day, as far as I can see the end of the CT is about a kilometre from the new path through quiet residential streets so should be excellent. I love the Cuckoo Trail for a quiet potter on the gravel bike, looking forward to trying the new path soon.
Did anyone see this,
Did anyone see this, yesterday?
An Olympian effort: my struggle to cycle from London to Paris (Laura Laker, writing in the Grauniad)
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/article/2024/jul/31/cycle-from-london-to-paris-avenue-verte
Anybody else reading
Anybody else reading ‘Polegate’ in association with cycle tracks, and immediately imagining this kind of thing?
Edinburgh Tram have got you
Edinburgh Tram have got you covered. Proudly leaving major obstacles in the Leith Walk “crazy slalom” cycle path since 2016! (They have finally sorted this out now…)
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/lamppost-in-the-middle-of-new-leith-walk-cycle-lane-609759
https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/edinburgh-locals-hit-out-ridiculous-28802417
I’ve just realised that is a
I’ve just realised that is a real photo of a cycle path
I skimmed over it earlier and presumed it was a photoshopped ‘this is what it could look like’ picture…
Website blocked due to
Website blocked due to malware
What I thought was amateurish
What I thought was amateurish about it was the 1.4bn Euros spent on trying to clean it up in the first place! And failing.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/articles/cjerxp572n8o#:~:text=Organisers%20said%20about%201.4bn,was%20clean%20enough%20for%20swimming.
WTAF!
Hope for active travel and
Hope for active travel and proper cycle infrastructure?
There was always hope, but far too often, those hopes were dashed. Maybe Cycling England will finally be able to effect change. Maybe the new government will restore the cuts to their funding?
Essex Police going back to
Essex Police going back to don’t give shit.
In July 2023 60% of reports by cyclists resulted in a notice of intended prosecution
Close Pass App out this
Close Pass App out this weekend
https://closepass.app/
“
The app is ready but requires some video tutorials. You may find it if you look for it. Public release will happen over the weekend. “
https://x.com/phonekills/status/1818800893673832549
KSIs have fallen
KSIs have fallen significantly following the introduction of 20mph limit in Wales. 140 lives saved according to an article just published in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/01/casualties-on-welsh-roads-fall-after-20mph-speed-limit-figures-show
These figures are hopefully going to make it harder to defend raising the speed limit since those in favour are saying that those 140 lives don’t matter.
No no no haven’t you got the
No no no haven’t you got the message?
Lowering speed limits (in a “blanket” fashion) makes things more dangerous! Just changing numbers on signs doesn’t change anything except it “brings speed limits into disrepute”. And apparently the police won’t be able to identify criminals any more (is this right?) because the purpose of speed limits is to highlight bad drivers (but … not just those who are going faster than an “unnatural” speed limit of course … er… I’m even more confused)?
Unfortunately I can easily imagine Labour gradually undoing this, and as for the alternative colour party of government they’ve repeatedly said and shown what they’re about (and not just in their more recent “on the side of the motorist” vote grab attempt either)…
The best way of course is the best way. Start altering roads to guide people towards appropriate behaviour for given environments. (I *do* think that means “20mph or lower in built-up areas”). Or we might even consider that road safety is about far more than just the speed of drivers…
133 fewer casualties on 20
133 fewer casualties on 20 and 30mph roads – which is good news – but that’s all deaths and injuries, deaths on those roads for the first quarter of 2024 have fallen from eleven to five. Wales had 98 road deaths in total in 2023 so 140 lives saved wouldn’t be possible even if the new limits had eliminated all deaths.
Sorry that will teach me to
Sorry that will teach me to not look deeply enough at the numbers.
Some caution advised on
Some caution advised on comparing a single quarter’s figures against the previous year. The overall long-term trend is downwards anyway, and the previous year’s figures were a little higher than the trend might have predicted (probably nothing more than a bit of statistical variation), whereas the latest quarter just looks like more or less a return to trend.
Excellent point of course –
Excellent point of course – longer view always needed!