Chris Froome says time at Ineos had become like “copy and pasting”; Council pledges net zero carbon goal an hour before announcing bike lane removal; Champs-Élysées to be an ‘extraordinary garden’; Machine fixes potholes in 8 mins + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
JCB launches pothole-repairing machine that can fill holes in eight minutes for half the price
In 2019, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request showed that one cyclist a week is killed or seriously injured by defects, such as potholes, on Britain’s roads. Now, JCB has launched a new machine for filling in hazards, that takes less time and is cheaper than current repairs. The PotholePro has been trialled in England for the past few months and JCB claims it is the most efficient way of repairing holes.
In one trial in Stoke-on-Trent, potholes were filled in less than eight minutes — 700% quicker than before. The machine costs £145,000 and the manufacturer says it halves the cost of repairs used by councils.
“We simply cannot allow our road network to continue to be blighted by potholes,” JCB chairman Lord Bamford said. “JCB’s solution is simple and cost effective and fixes potholes permanently, first time. Once the machine has done its job all the contractor then needs to do is just add tar.”
Happy Monday!
Toupalik ne sera pas champion de Tchéquie de cyclo-cross ! #lesrp #velortbf #lequipevelo #toitoicup @cyclocross24 pic.twitter.com/AwLzDGCMxz
— Clem 🐑 (@ClmPncn) January 9, 2021
Wout van Aert dedicates fourth Belgian cyclo-cross title to son Georges
🇧🇪 #BKMeulebeke
Georges gave him wings today. Well done @WoutvanAert 👶🏻👏🏻#samenwinnen pic.twitter.com/wd2SbhwBjI
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) January 10, 2021
Yesterday Wout van Aert won his first bike race since the birth of his son to claim his fourth national cyclo-cross title. The three-time world champion rode solo for the majority of the race and saw off a spirited Toon Aerts who finished second. After the race, Van Aert joked that he’d barely slept all week and dedicated the win to his son Georges and wife Sarah.
Jumbo-Visma teammate Tom Dumoulin will ride the Tour of Flanders in 2021, presumably in support of Van Aert, for the first time since 2012. Wielerflits reports the Dutchman will sacrifice the Ardennes Classics to ride E3 Saxo Bank Classic and Flanders before regrouping for the Tour de France.
Jeremy Vine rides penny farthing on new cycleway
Things you don’t necessarily expect to see on a Sunday morning cycle… @theJeremyVine on a penny farthing. pic.twitter.com/eUpg6YEV7d
— Ryan Wilson (@rhwilson83) January 10, 2021
Another penny farthing rider in London made it onto the blog just after Christmas when a DPD driver cut across him in Stoke Newington causing this crash. Unperturbed, Jeremy Vine took to the streets of west London yesterday including the new Chiswick Cycleway 9… In May, Jeremy shared a video on social media claiming to be the first person to cycle up the redesigned Park Lane on a penny farthing.
AT LAST I can cycle safely down my own high street. Thanks to the brilliant work of traffic planners, local politicians, people with the vision to see that we never needed four lanes for cars. Thank-you to all those who care about increasing road safety and reducing pollution. pic.twitter.com/wvgxNr9j3D
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) January 10, 2021
Paris Mayor agrees to turn Champs-Élysées into an 'extraordinary garden'
The mayor of Paris has committed £225 million to a development of the Champs-Élysées ahead of the 2024 Olympics. Anne Hidalgo hopes the work will turn the mile-long avenue into an “extraordinary garden”. The Guardian reports the Champs-Élysées committee has been lobbying for a major redevelopment since 2018 to overcome the pollution and heavy traffic that visitors to the central Parisian avenue experience currently.
In 2019, the committee president Jean-Noël Reinhardt said: “It’s often called the world’s most beautiful avenue, but those of us who work here every day are not at all sure about that. The Champs-Élysées has more and more visitors and big-name businesses battle to be on it, but to French people it’s looking worn out.”
The plans also include a makeover for the Place de la Concorde at the south east of the avenue as well as the area surrounding the Eiffel Tower. Cycling fans have wondered what the plans might mean for the traditional final stage of the Tour de France which famously finishes on the Champs-Elysées. From the initial pictures, it looks like there will still be a central road on the avenue wide enough for a bike race. But what do you think? Should the Tour try something new and finish the race away from the Champs-Elysées?
If the Champs Elysées stage is forced to move one day soon, then it might be the right time to reconfigure the notion of a GC neutral final day at @letour. I certainly think the @lavuelta would benefit from scrapping the Madrid procession and having a meaningful race. https://t.co/RXe899RyPV
— Ned Boulting (@nedboulting) January 11, 2021
Poll time: Should the Tour de France move away from the traditional final stage on the Champs-Élysées?
Did you get out on the bike over the weekend? How did you interpret the Government guidance?
We had plenty of new comments under our updated cycling dos and don’ts in a time of pandemic – how to be a responsible cyclist story over the weekend and, at least where I am, there seemed to be fewer cyclists about than in either of the previous two lockdowns. Granted, this may have had something to do with the unfriendly temperatures but I’m interested to hear what your experiences were over the weekend…Did you notice a change in how many people were out riding? And did you change your plans after hearing government guidance? I can see a few local riders to me on Strava sticking close to home or training on the turbo while others appeared to carry on as usual.
Oh oh Hirschi comes: Social media reaction as UAE Emirates confirm Marc Hirschi signing
Een oorwurm deze 🎧🎼https://t.co/DFbQKVp8Kb pic.twitter.com/yt130xmBSe
— Sporza 🚴 (@sporza_koers) January 9, 2021
Waiting for Mr. Hirschi to arrive like.. pic.twitter.com/OOyQVMC9lr
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) January 7, 2021
Vincenzo Nibali, Caleb Ewan and Nairo Quintana confirm Tour de France ambitions for 2021
There was plenty of news about race schedules for 2021 over the weekend. Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan has set out an ambitious programme for the upcoming season that he hopes will see him win a stage at each of the Grand Tours as well as the green jersey at the Tour de France. Speaking to Belgian outlet Het Nieuwsblad, he explained that the 2021 Tour route offers more opportunities for the sprinters than in recent years.
“The Tour offers more options for sprinters this year and that is an opportunity for me. In other years I was not involved in that green battle and I only aimed for stage victories. But that is one of my goals in 2021 (winning a stage at each Grand Tour). Just like the green jersey, by the way,” he explained.
Joining Ewan at the Tour will be Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana who both confirmed they would be targeting the race. Quintana does not expect to race for the first three months of the year but did not rule out racing both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France.
Trek-Segafredo also outlined their leaders’ ambitions. Nibali and Bauke Mollema are to ride the Giro-Tour double, while Giulio Ciccone will get a shot at team leadership at the Vuelta a España. Ciccone will also ride the Giro in a support role.
Insync Bikes trebles sales in 2020 thanks to cycling boom
Manchester bike brand Insync Bikes trebled sales during 2020, selling more than 50,000 bikes – 200% more than in 2019. The increase in sales was driven by a surge in demand for bikes during the pandemice as people sought healthier and safer modes of transport and exercise. Head of business Gopal Krishan said that the women’s hybrid and mountain bikes as well as affordable children’s bikes saw “unprecedented levels of demand”.
He said: “We are delighted with the success we have achieved during 2020, which reflects the soaring popularity of cycling as a pastime for the whole family. We now plan to double the sales in 2021 with a focus on a premium range of bikes and new range e-bikes.”
New cycling infrastructure in Sheffield
Some impressive bike infra going in all over Sheffield 🚲
Reasonable desire lines and clear distinction between road (⚫️), bike track (🔴), and footpath (⚪️)
Will post more pics soon, as this is 1st class stuff for the UK (normal in Netherlands, I know!) pic.twitter.com/nrjwt3RfO9
— Jeremy Burge (@jeremyburge) January 9, 2021
Here’s a nice thread about some of the new cyling infrastructure that’s been built in Sheffield…
Before ↔️ After
The previous one-way system was shrunk to use 1/4 of the space, freeing up space for benches, wider footpaths, bike tracks and gardens to avoid flooding.
Look around on Street view in 2018 and 2020 to see a huge difference https://t.co/hGe9irXTz4 pic.twitter.com/RTOQTmyOaf
— Jeremy Burge (@jeremyburge) January 9, 2021
'Hypocrisy': Council pledges net zero carbon goal one hour before confirming works to rip out bike lane
You couldn’t make it up (or maybe you could considering last week’s events)… Just one hour after West Sussex County Council shared a tweet with links to their plan to become net carbon zero by 2030, they tweeted again. This time confirming that works to remove the Shoreham cycleway will begin this week…
The replies sum up the mood…
How about *not* ripping out successful cycle lanes, @WSCCNews? https://t.co/tKLqXDJYD5
— Shoreham-By-Cycle (@ShorehamByCycle) January 11, 2021
Removing safe cycle routes for NHS staff seems a bit silly.
— Cannonball Adderley. (@Steve16711988) January 11, 2021
Last week, a Freedom of Information request found that the councillor who made the decision to scrap the cycle lane had never officialy seen it...Cycling UK has launched a judicial review on the decision to remove the cycleway and every school in Shoreham has co-signed a letter asking for it to be kept.
Danny MacAskill gym video one year on
Our @redbull @cutmedia film “Gymnasium” turned 1 yr old yesterday. Want to say a huge thanks to all my friends at CutMedia and @redbulluk who made the project possible and to @The_Proclaimers for the brilliant soundtrack! https://t.co/CWIBLBYaG1#redbull #cutmedia #gymnasuim pic.twitter.com/aCtJ2QPFel
— Danny MacAskill (@danny_macaskill) January 8, 2021
Chris Froome relishing Israel Start-Up Nation challenge, and compares later years at Ineos to "copy and pasting"
In his first interview since he joined Israel Start-Up Nation, Chris Froome says that he expects to end his career with the team.
“It was a pretty big decision to join ISN”, said Froome.
“After the discussions with Sylvain the team owner, we came to the conclusion – especially changing at this point in my career after having being with one team for 11 years – we agreed that joining ISN, this is a commitment I’m not just going to make for a year or two. This is a commitment until the end of my career, and possibly even beyond that.
“Year after year with the same team, it’s almost been copy and paste, copy and pasting, year on year. And changing teams at this time in my career is going to give me so much more mental stimulation and motivation. It’s a whole new change, a new project and a new chapter. It does feel quite rejuvenating for me.”
Froome explains that he’s been out in California preparing for the 2021 season, both on the road and at the Red Bull High Performance Centre to address “imbalances and weaknesses” left over from his horror crash in 2019.
He added: “My goals haven’t changed. I want to get back to that top level, I want to be fighting for victories at the Tour de France and other Grand Tours.
“I’m really looking forward to getting the 2021 season underway now, and hopefully this is going to be the beginning of a long, successful partnership going forward.”
11 January 2021, 09:04
11 January 2021, 09:04
11 January 2021, 09:04
11 January 2021, 09:04
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Latest Comments
@Rendel Harris You know damn well what I mean, Rendel. The bikes here are just a nice angle to make their point about how tech has changed over the years. They could have easily used two other bikes for exactly the same purpose. They chose these because they already had an article that looked at the old bike in depth, and because Seixas' bike is new. You keep cherry-picking, to try to win this silly argument on semantics, but the intro actually says it quite clearly: "We compare Jaan Kirsipuu’s early-2000s AG2R race bike with Paul Seixas’ latest machine TO CHART A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OF TECH PROGRESS". The article is not ABOUT these bikes, it USES these bikes to illustrate that tech progress, hence, the article is about that tech progress.
@Sreedlums That's hilarious, the article is literally about two Decathlon Tour de France bikes and comparing them. It says that everywhere, in the headline, in the subhead, in the body text. It says it's "a good excuse to look back at how Decathlon’s top-level race bikes have changed over the last 25 years", how on earth can you get from that to "this article was *not* about these two bikes"? Go on swearing black is white all you want, but you are totally wrong.
@Sriracha They have got what makes bicycles be recognized by the public as bicycles, and what motorbikes haven't got - pedals, that's why.
@Rendel Harris Oh wait, so now the article is only about Decathlon's TdF bikes? Because that's in the headline? That's funny, because in your previous comment you said "I think if you look really hard you can see this is an article about how Tour de France bikes have changed",. So, which is it? You can keep cherry-picking snippets of text, but it doesn't change the fact that this article was *not* about these two bikes, nor was it about TdF bikes. This article took these two bikes as examples of top road bikes of their time, to take a broader look at how road bike tech has changed in 30 years. And my original comment was about exactly that; road bikes then and now.
@Sredlums Did you miss this bit? See the words "Tour de France bikes" there? Easy to miss, only being in the headline and all...
@Rendel Harris Except of course, Rendel, it is not. This sentence is in the intro of this article: "We compare Jaan Kirsipuu’s early-2000s AG2R race bike with Paul Seixas’ latest machine to chart a quarter of a century of tech progress", and this is the sentence with which they end the article: "Would you like to have a soft spot for bike tech of the past? Or is it best left to history?". Nowhere does it say they are looking only at bikes from the TdF. They honed in on these two specific Decathlon bikes to compare bike tech then with bike tech now.
@Sredlums Well, Sredlums, I think if you look really hard you can see this is an article about how Tour de France bikes have changed, so if you were talking about road bikes in general (which you did not make clear) it was your comment, not my reply, that was not pertinent.
Looking at Google shopping results for 'road bike', and then at a variety of retailer sites (Halfords, Decathlon, Sigma Sports, Ribble, Winstanleys, etc. etc., plus a couple of our local shops with ecommerce presence), on none of them are more than about one in eight black or dark grey, and often that's just one of a number of colour choices. So if there are a preponderance of such bikes around, it seems like it's less because bikes have become more 'boring' than it is because the people buying them have.
@Rendel Harris Well, Rendel, I think if you look really hard you can see that I wrote "how much more boring road bikes have become" and not 'how much more boring road bikes IN THE TOUR DE FRANCE have become". Simply look around you, when you see a group of road bikers pass by. Look in the bike shops. It's black, black, more black, some dark grey, more dark grey, matte. And black parts, like on all the bikes you showed as an example.
Exactly. Agree. But that doesn’t give ProCycling a free pass – instead the UCI and all pro teams should be leading the way as ambassadors for cycling as the greenest sport. Pro cycling could be green, but it will take significant change. Frighteningly however, it’s greenwashing that is still the aim and motivation for the majority of pro cycling sponsors. It’s not good enough. Such sponsorships should be banned. Like tobacco and alcohol. It’s as simple as that. Our planet is sending a very clear message through ProCycling – not sustainable.
24 thoughts on “Chris Froome says time at Ineos had become like “copy and pasting”; Council pledges net zero carbon goal an hour before announcing bike lane removal; Champs-Élysées to be an ‘extraordinary garden’; Machine fixes potholes in 8 mins + more on the live blog”
A piece of tarmac from the M4
A piece of tarmac from the M4 walks into a pub just outside London. As he heads to the bar, he sees another piece of tarmac at one end, and realizes that it is an old mate from the M25 he hasn’t seen in years. They get drinks, sit at a table by the window, and proceed to catch up – talking about the weather, potholes, and how bad the M25 is as compared with the M4.
M4 glances out at the street, and sees a bit of red tarmac coming up the path to the pub. M25 follows his glance, grabs M4 and whispers urgently “toilet, NOW”. As the toilet door closes, the pub door slams open, and from that point on all the bits of tarmac can hear are crashing furniture, breaking glass and shouting.
After about 15 minutes, things get quiet, and the two bits of tarmac emerge into the now-shambolic pub.
“What was that about?”, M4 asked.
“Oh”, replied M25. “That red tarmac, he’s just a bit of a cyclepath”
Three cheers for JCB! Huzzah!
Three cheers for JCB! Huzzah!!
For me it’s less about how
For me it’s less about how quickly we can fill potholes as it is how long the repair actually lasts for.
As my impression from the weekends government sanctioned travel, and it’s not that weve even had a harsh winter here,is that all the holes & debris that are now littering the local roads and turning them into slalom courses, are largely the result of previous fills,some done within the last year, that have simply let water in and broken down with the first frost/ice.
I’ve noticed a surge in
I’ve noticed a surge in pothole fixing following Royal weddings. I’m pretty sure that the local council uses left over icing from the cake as the repairs usually only last until the next episode of bad weather.
Yeah, they should switch to
Yeah, they should switch to dried Weetabix.
The current Private Eye has a cartoon about wild swimming in potholes. As well as continued anti LTN spoutings.
That’s my bugbear too. The
That’s my bugbear too. The quality of work is too often poor – how do these things get signed off? I see too many ‘collapsed reinstatements’.
Tangentially, I’ll mention the local rag had someone complaining cyclists are not paying enough for roads. Apparently councils surface them to a higher standard to accommodate cyclists, so cyclists should pay the extra !!
Once the machine has done its
Once the machine has done its job all the contractor then needs to do is just add tar.”
I think that’s where a lot of the problems are as you say, they’re often not being sealed properly. On the other hand excessive tar can be slippery when wet.
Cycled on Saturday as normal,
Cycled on Saturday as normal, but went as two couples instead of the usual foursome. Separate routes and start times, so not just a semantic rearrangement. Otherwise all much as before, a 20 mile circuit stopping nowhere. Probably slightly fewer cyclists about than previously, but pro-rata the drop in temperature I’d say numbers were up.
21 mile solo loop for me on
21 mile solo loop for me on Sunday. Given the temperatures at the moment, I would try to get out Saturday and Sunday and do max 50miles over the two days. Saturday was like freezing fog all day so I gave it a miss. I will continiue to ride solo and not stop for non-essential coffee fix. Agreed, fewer cyclists out and most were riding solo.
BTW, I went out for a walk on Saturday and was quite shocked by the level of traffic on the local A road.
That JCB is impressive except
That JCB is impressive except that what it’s shown doing isn’t filling a pot hole but preparing to patch an area of carriageway. Two men slopping a bit of tar in a hole would still be far more ecconomical so that ‘s what’ll continue to happen with pot holes.
Theres a bit if discrepancy
Theres a bit if discrepancy between whats shown in the final shot and what actually happens – the JCB looks like its planed out a full lane (which is good – ideally you don’t want joints in wheel tracks) in reality, a 1m x 1m square is (sometimes) cut around the hole, depending on where its located, it could have the edge repeatedly run over which will contribute to earlier failure. Irrepsective of that a small amount of material will always be more susceptible to failure than the surrounding carriageway
To be fair to JCB, I don’t
To be fair to JCB, I don’t think the video is supposed to suggest that it’s showing a single repair operation – it’s just illustrating the different parts of the job that the machine can do. It’s the Mail and Road.cc that have confused the issue by embedding it under headlines about repairing potholes in record time, implying that it’s showing one quick repair.
Using this machine to fill a
Using this machine to fill a pothole would mean that you’d also have the added bureaucracy of applying for a street works permit as it cuts the road surface, sloppping in tarmac doesn’t need one.
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Is the reply threading system up the spout again?
Not sure how that’s relevant to what I said?
How did you interpret Govt
How did you interpret Govt guidance? Better Ask Boris…
Johnson under pressure to explain why he went for cycle ride seven miles from No 10 (Guardian live blog)
The Evening Standard has a good exclusive today. It reports that Boris Johnson went for a cycle ride around the Olympic Park on Sunday, seven miles from Downing Street.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-cycle-7-miles-downing-street-olympic-park-b827961.html
This is awkward. As government officials were telling the Guardian only this morning (see 12.49pm), the advice is that when exercising you should you “should stay local in the village, town, or part of the city where you live”.
At the Downing Street lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesman did not have an answer as to why the PM thought that going seven miles away from home was consistent with the spirit of the rules – although he indicated that he would come back with a proper response later.
Considering the outdoor
Considering the outdoor exercise rules were that you could exercise for 1 hour outside, then 7 miles on a bicycle isn’t bad. Even 7 miles there and 7 miles back is easily doable in an hour.
Jenova20 wrote:
They weren’t.
That’s not the accusation.
That’s not the accusation. The accusation is that he drove or was driven 7 miles to cycle around a park. It’s totally flouting all the messaging that whitty and Hancock have been putting out all day. Stay Local, don’t travel out of your local area for exercise, act as if you have Covid.
I think we should cut the guy
I think we should cut the guy some slack. If more of those in power came to the attention of the press upon a bicycle that can only be a good thing.
Sriracha wrote:
Agreed. I’m certainly no fan of him, but he’s out getting exercise and the more that cycling is normalised, the better for everyone.
I don’t mind him going for a
I don’t mind him going for a bike ride. More generally, that monumental twat has been cut way too much slack.
He was going to inspect the
He was going to inspect the Chiswick High Road bike lane to explain why it should remain but took a wrong turning and got lost.
Best in my view to keep quiet
Best in my view to keep quiet, in case too much media focus falls on the relative freedom currently allowed to cyclists!
Re West Sussex
Re West Sussex
“The County Council’s approach to adapting to climate change and becoming net carbon zero by 2030 will be examined by the Environment and Communities Scrutiny Committee at a meeting this morning.”
I think we can imagine what that approach will be : Tick boxes when money from central government becomes available then return to the status quo asap after we’ve taken our cut.