Fundraiser for Ironman competitor whose cycling crash led to insurance nightmare; Nibali announces retirement date; Giro’s new head pisstaker; Tour Series crash; Eurovision does cycling; Bike ink; Giro Whoop data; New infra + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Fundraiser for Ironman competitor whose cycling crash led to insurance nightmare
A cautionary tale to double and triple check your insurance…
Daniel was racing in the Ironman 70.3 Mallorca on Saturday when he was involved in a “very nasty accident” which has left him in hospital, recovering from four hours of surgery to treat multiple injuries. He has no memory of what happened, just that he flipped over the handlebars.
The cost of the surgery is estimated to be roughly £15,000, which sympathetic donators are contributing to on GoFundMe after Daniel found out all three of his insurance providers will not be paying for the treatment…(Oh, not to mention he’s also getting married on June 4…)
Daniel has since discovered his Velosure bike insurance only covers loss of a limb or death, while his Admiral personal travel insurance won’t cover the costs either as they say he was racing. British Triathlon, which fundraiser starter Sam Tomkins said Daniel had the highest level of cover with, “don’t pay medical expenses. But have offered around £250 for his broken bones”.
“I know insurance companies are historically tough to get to pay out, but all three saying no makes my blood boil,” Sam said.
“I want to try and get some money together to help him pay for his medical costs. Please give whatever you can. If he does manage to reclaim the money, I will just get GoFundMe to return the money.”
Cycling tattoos
I love cycling but maybe not this much… #cyclingtattoo pic.twitter.com/jXZkkgTRXh
— Rory McCarron (@CyclingLawLDN) May 11, 2022
Anyone got any bike-related ink?
Like Tim, this is the closest we’ve got…
Surely this sort of thing is enough?
🤣 pic.twitter.com/zmtzj54O3V— Tim Burnett 💙🧡 (@TriTim) May 11, 2022
Perhaps someone somewhere has got the slightly obnoxiously named ‘4th cat tat’ permanently inked on their calf? Niche…
Images that precede unfortunate cycling events
This is 100% not what you want to see whilst on a bike ride! pic.twitter.com/4Eq62VeJzl
— Will Columbine (@willcolumbine) May 10, 2022
How hard is riding a Mount Etna summit finish for the pros? Giro d'Italia Whoop data
Whoop are sending us rider data from the Giro d’Italia, showing how hard the day’s racing was and how much recovery riders got (and need)…
Hugh Carthy was right up there in the GC group on yesterday’s summit finish up Etna, efficiently finishing in last place in the group containing Simon Yates, Richard Carapaz and basically anyone else with a hope of winning the maglia rosa…
He burned 3,379 calories, according to his strap, and had an average heart rate of 137bpm throughout the stage. That’s a lot of pasta to recover..
Interestingly, Whoop are also sharing his sleep data, and suggest he is 81 per cent recovered this morning having got a touch under seven hours of kip last night. That’s almost four hours less than Whoop estimates he needed…not helped by nine disturbances during the night…I wonder if Whoop can work out which EF Education EasyPost rider’s snoring was keeping him up?
Stefano Oldani spent the day in the break…
Ouch
Not having the best @TourSeries so far. Bad luck comes in 3s or something? pic.twitter.com/3HuVFcissJ
— AlecBriggs/ Pedaler (@Alec_Pedaler) May 10, 2022
Transport for London addresses series of serious injuries and fatality with new segregated cycle route
Transport for London has announced the completion of a new protected cycle lane on Mansell Street in Aldgate, London, an area which saw four serious injuries in collisions, and one fatality in the three years up to July 2020. The new route will link Cycleway 2 and Cycleway 3 to “enable thousands of safer cycling journeys across London each week”.
Elsewhere in the English capital, a consultation has also launched, looking into the first phase of upgrades to the CS8 route between Lambeth Bridge and Chelsea Bridge, changes that have been in place on the route since summer 2020.
“We’ve seen a huge rise in walking and cycling over the past two years as more and more Londoners enjoy using sustainable ways to get around the capital,” Will Norman, London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, said. “To maintain this success, we are continuing to make our roads safer. I’m delighted that this new protected cycle route is now open, making a much-needed connection between two major Cycleways in east London.”
Eat your veggies and ride a bike: Eurovision does cycling
Disclaimer: new live blog favourite Ryan is fully to blame for Eurovision content appearing on your feed. I will take zero responsibility for any angry comments that follow, and would like to put it on record that I have never, and will never, watch it…
With the legal stuff out the way, we can move on to the meat (or lack of it) of the matter: Latvia apparently made a bit of a splash at *insert whatever the proper name for last night’s ‘event’ was* with some out-there lyrics about dietary advice.
“Instead of meat, I eat veggies and…”
Whole arena sang the line and Latvia still didn’t qualify??? #eurovision pic.twitter.com/mJ2kouZSdp
— Vi (@InVeiv) May 10, 2022
Their entry was censored by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) due to the problematic lyric…
Less problematic was the first verse: “I ride my bicycle to work instead of a car”.
Apparently, the Italians gave cycling a shout-out too. Their entry won the San Remo festival while riding BMXs (though Ryan informs me he’s not sure if they’re repeating that at Eurovision).
With great power comes great responsibility: Giro's new head pisstaker
The Giro has a new pisstaking king — all hail Juan Pedro López…
With great power comes great responsibility
Juan Pedro Lopez is getting used to his role as the new Maglia Rosa#Giro #Giro105 pic.twitter.com/5QmiKXqDMM
— GCN Racing (@GcnRacing) May 11, 2022
It’s one of the perks of leading a Grand Tour; you are bestowed the great honour of choosing when everybody takes a leak…in other words, chief pisstaker…
Just don’t ask Tom Dumoulin what happens if you need a number two…apparently even a maglia rosa doesn’t hold that power…
Funny how no matter how many races you win (Giro d’Italia, World Championship, three Tour de France stages, four Giro stages, Olympic silver etc…) everybody still remembers that time you had to drop one in a field…
Good news! We've got James May on road.cc very soon...
Here at road.cc we’ve got a dream list of interviewees, a pantheon of guests who we’d love to talk to more than anyone else. Think: Cav, Jeremy Vine, Sir Brad…the two-wheeled greats…
Well, we’ve ticked one off the list, and will be bringing you a special Drink at your desk Friday at the end of the week, featuring…*drum roll*… James May (admittedly the drum roll doesn’t work so well when you’ve already read who it is)…
This one will be dropping on our YouTube at 4pm on Friday, but we’ll be bringing you some sneak peeks on the site over the coming days to whet the appetite…
Team time trial to get Cav back in touch
The Wolfpack never gives up 👊#Giro pic.twitter.com/3cxB80x5IH
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) May 11, 2022
A high pace on the one major climb of the day has seen Mark Cavendish, Caleb Ewan and Arnaud Démare dropped from the peloton. Démare is best-placed at 30 seconds, Cav at one minute 20 seconds. Ewan looks out of it at more than four minutes back. Cav’s got a few teammates back to help. Can he make it?
They're doing the thing again...
You have to be young and brave to earn the #Giro White Jersey. But any age works if you want to purchase the White Jersey NFT. Discover @ItaliaNFT_art‘s amazing digital art collection inspired by Giro d’Italia 22. pic.twitter.com/rX6ZoXz632
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 11, 2022
You know, it’s almost like yesterday didn’t happen…
Arnaud Démare wins stage five of the Giro d'Italia after Mark Cavendish and Caleb Ewan are dropped on earlier climb
Of the three big-name sprinters to be dropped over the second-category Portella Mandrazzi, only Arnaud Démare made it back on, following some sterling work from his Groupama–FDJ teammates who then set him up perfectly for the sprint. Coming off a downhill ramp, but into a headwind, it needed impeccable timing; something the Frenchman delivered…
#Giro |🚴♂️Stage 5⃣ 174 Km
🏠 Catania – Messina 🏁
Victoria de @ArnaudDemare gracias a un excelente trabajo de @GroupamaFDJ. Canvedish y Ewan quedaron descolgados en Portella Mandrazzi
🥇Arnaud Demare (GFC)
🥈Fernando Gaviria (UAD)
🥉Giacomo Nizzolo (IPT) pic.twitter.com/IT40mXS04l— Bauhauss (@JBauhauss) May 11, 2022
Second-placed Fernando Gaviria was left to slam his front wheel into the ground in frustration (over and over again), while Giacomo Nizzolo was third. Biniam Girmay could only take fifth, largely due to being boxed in, and followed Cavendish-deputising Davide Ballerini across the line.
An early finish today as the riders are off to the mainland tonight. Tomorrow skirts the coast, and should give the fast men another shot at glory.
Another classic for the weird bike rack genre...
And the award for the weirdest bike racks go to Burton Hospital pic.twitter.com/pycClRJ4pp
— GrowLaughLearn (@growlaughlearn) May 10, 2022
Vincenzo Nibali confirms intention to retire at the end of 2022
After stage five, and in his hometown of Messina, Vincenzo Nibali outlined his intention to retire from professional bike racing at the end of the season. Speaking to RAI, he said: “I was waiting for this stage for a while, for years, it’s where I started to ride and train, so I wanted to confirm that this is my last Giro and my last season.
The Shark of Messina was visibly emotional as he told the broadcaster: “It’s time to call it a day. I’ve done so much for so long but it’s the right time.”
Nibali will be looking for one final stage win at the Grand Tour he has won twice, in 2013 and 2016, and won seven stages over 11 participations. The 37-year-old is also, provisionally at least, in Astana’s Tour de France team.
Lesson of the day: check your insurance
Hope he gets well soon, but don’t really have much sympathy if he couldn’t be bothered to get the appropriate insurance to begin with, and then blames the insurance companies for not paying out.
— cycletothesea (@cycletothesea) May 11, 2022
Here’s some reaction to the main story (down at the bottom) of our live blog today…
TriTaxMan shared the travel insurance section of British Triathlon’s website:
If you have an existing policy it is worth checking the details as you may not have cover for your bike or for training or racing abroad.
“I do think it is pretty common that travel Insurance by and large always has an exclusion for any form of racing, and a lot will specifically exclude training as well,” they said. “As a triathlete who has taken part in triathlon training camps in Mallorca I was specifically told by the training camp to make sure my travel insurance included cover for triathlon training otherwise any hospital treatment may not be covered.
“Given this was an official Ironman 70.3 event I would have expected either the general entry fee to include some medical insurance cover or alternatively their entry pack would tell them that they needed specialist race insurance if they are racing overseas.
“Unfortunately there are too many people who don’t read the fine print, or don’t think to check before they do something (I mean the whole passport issues that have been in the press virtually every week for the last 3 months for example), and then when it goes wrong they go to the media. So my sympathy is limited to the injuries they suffered not the costs that they now have to stump up.
“That may seem harsh to some but life is harsh.”
Others shared advice from their years of dealing with insurance companies for events, holidays, racing and everyday riding.
“Insurance. Best to speak to a human, and detail all you want to get covered. Discuss openly and in full. Keep a recording or notes. Even the direct insurers, like Admiral, have “Live Chat” or similar,” Aberdeencyclist suggested.
HoarseMann said: “I have adequate insurance, but need to fundraise for a Mallorcan cycling holiday. Seriously though, you really do need to check the small print on insurance. I do have some sympathy, as generally road cycling is covered under standard premiums, but anything that involves racing or off-road mountain biking usually requires an enhanced level of cover at extra cost.”
Giro d'Italia stage five highlights
🎥 HIGHLIGHTS – Stage 5⃣ / Tappa 5⃣
💯A sprint that started with 100km to go. Here are the highlights of Stage 5⃣ of the Giro 2022
💯Una volata che è cominciata a 100 km dal traguardo.
Ecco gli highlights della Tappa 5⃣ del Giro 2022Powered by Intimissimi Uomo #Giro pic.twitter.com/B8Hx7ZzwWN
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 11, 2022
"Fucking shit bike. I can't say anything because I'll get told off": Fernando Gaviria fumes at his Colnago
Fernando Gaviria – Giro d’Italia 2022 Stage 5 pic.twitter.com/clu8XgE5QD
— Doms (Pink Era) (@doomsiana) May 11, 2022
Taking a leaf out of our book here, Fernando? We always blame our bike when things go wrong too…to be fair it did appear the Colombian sprinter was left high and dry by his UAE Team Emirates team-issue Colnago, which seemed to be stuck in far too easy a gear for the downhill sprint.
Cyclingnews reports the sprinter was caught on camera calling his poor Colnago a “fucking shit bike” before saying “I can’t say anything because I’ll get told off”.
“It’s something I can’t say in the interview. I felt really good today and I was looked after so well for the whole stage. I had problems with my derailleur in the end and I couldn’t get in the gear I needed. It was a hectic final and I think someones wheel may have touched me from behind. It’s really frustrating and I could not hide it on the line but these are things that can happen in races.”
If the Tour de France champ’s bike is “fucking shit”, I’d hate to hear what he thinks of mine…
11 May 2022, 08:08
11 May 2022, 08:08
11 May 2022, 08:08
11 May 2022, 08:08
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Latest Comments
@bathcycleguy whether you think walkridebath is led "by a man who apparently knows best on women’s safety" or not, the issue remains that the proposed location of the path doesn't meet Active Travel England's, or the Government's, or even the council's own, criteria for a route that meets safety and equality guidelines. The reason we have this codified guidance is so it isn't the decision of one person, whoever that might be, as to what's safe, or not. The fact that the project is led by a woman doesn't override the fact that it doesn't meet the standards.
After 2 weeks of use I am not very impressed. Yes it’s beautifully built but the beam pattern and spread of light is not good for road riding. It doesn’t reach for enough but spread LOADS of light wide and right infront of the bike. On the road with speeds over 30km/h I want a light that reaches far and not spreads a carpet of light to the left and right. Some cheaper options with cut off beams throw the light further while still having a wide enough beam to see everything. Aktiv works but in constant traffic the beam just stays permanently dipped. I think the future is a cut off beam rather than a generic wide spread. At this price not recommended, even though it’s beautifully built. The GoPro style mount is nice but doesn’t work for all cockpits upaide down (too short so the release button blocks angling it up high enough) - eg black inc and cervelo need the reverse mount to ensure you can use it properly and that costs another 25£
@grOg That's not why it wouldn't work. It wouldn't work because it would involve government agencies and a big tech/data sharing project. It would be bound to go tits up within a couple of weeks.
@grOg I suppose this idiotic trope about "vigilantes" ought to be confronted whenever it arises: a vigilante is someone who acts outside the law in trying to prevent crime and/or to punish it. Legitimately recording criminal behaviour and then passing said recording on to the appropriate authorities for action is not vigilantism.
I wonder what proportion of large council project consultations have responses missed. I suspect the answer is very, very high because you get 100s of very similar claims (a good chunk of which are probably mixed in with rants that have nothing to do with the consultation process). See article implying the main issue is safety at night. Which they have considered given changes (additional lighting), so regardless of whether they responded to a specific submission, they have responded to the issue...
@grOg this one's an outlier for several reasons. But if you look at his previous criminal career (folks have dug that up now) in part it's motornormativity writ large (the other themes being drugs and alcohol, plus some violent behaviour IIRC). ... and "motornormativity" - and the sliding scale of acceptance of "it's not really crime ... everyone does it" certainly does help explain eg. endemic illegal phone use while driving (yeah, of course people only do that when they're stationary...) and the lack of interest in sanctioning it. And why we read many stories about... er ... "vigilantes" harassing people for "minor" or "purely technical offenses".
@slc Stolen licences would be cancelled and replaced just as you do with stolen bankcards. We have a wealth of means of identification that could be employed, e.g. fingerprint recognition. Of course it wouldn't be foolproof but the more awkward and complex you make it for banned drivers to obtain the means of driving the less likely they are to bother.
@grOg Or just know how to obtain borrowed/stolen driving license cards. Many years ago, when bank card theft was a cause celebre, a banking official was asked on UK TV if photo cards would help. He thought not, because scrutiny of photographs at tills is tricky.
@grOg Cycling does not "lead to bone loss", lack of any other type of weight-bearing exercise in conjunction leads to bone loss. Blaming cycling for osteoporosis is like blaming sausages for getting scurvy, it wasn't the sausages that gave you scurvy but the fact that you didn't eat any vegetables with them. If you drive everywhere instead of walking and spend all your time at home sitting in front of the TV that will significantly contribute to osteoporosis, does that mean that driving and watching TV leads to osteoporosis as well?
@grOg So if nothing else it would make it much more awkward and time consuming for the banned driver and probably more expensive as one can't imagine his "plenty of mates" being prepared to make constant trips to the garage for him without recompense. He wouldn't be able to refill on the move therefore his ability to travel distances would be severely limited. Most petrol stations have a limit on the amount of petrol that can be purchased in jerry cans, further constraining his activities, and this could be lowered. Just as it's an offence knowingly to lend your car to someone who is banned it could be made an offence to procure petrol for a banned driver. So there's no "of course it wouldn't work" about it, with your attitude we shouldn't have any ban on selling alcohol, cigarettes or knives to children because if they are determined enough they will be able to obtain them anyway. Of course if someone is absolutely set on disobeying the law it's almost impossible to stop them but the more awkward you make it for them the less likely they are to try.
23 thoughts on “Fundraiser for Ironman competitor whose cycling crash led to insurance nightmare; Nibali announces retirement date; Giro’s new head pisstaker; Tour Series crash; Eurovision does cycling; Bike ink; Giro Whoop data; New infra + more on the live blog”
I don’t mean to sound cold,
I don’t mean to sound cold, but shouldn’t Dan have checked he had appropriate cover first? why should other people pay for his ignorance? People will hand-over cash for anything these days …except appropriate insurance it seems.
alexuk wrote:
I’m guessing that he had ordinary medical cover, but that doesn’t usually cover sports events. You don’t have to chip in if you don’t want to (I won’t be either).
I was there. On Friday, there
I was there. On Friday, there were a lot of riders out on disc wheels. And there were a lot of full-on tri bikes (plus some road bikes with aero bars bolted on). I have no idea about how Dan’s accident happened (so this is more a general comment) but climbing the Femenia to 580 metres (although at least the road is smooth, wide and sweeping) and descending Sa Batalla with its large number of tight hairpins didn’t seem like a good match to me.
I hope Dan heals fast and is back out riding and tri-ing again soon.
I have adequate insurance,
I have adequate insurance, but need to fundraise for a Mallorcan cycling holiday.
Seriously though, you really do need to check the small print on insurance. I do have some sympathy, as generally road cycling is covered under standard premiums, but anything that involves racing or off-road mountain biking usually requires an enhanced level of cover at extra cost.
Have to agree. And if he’d
Have to agree. And if he’d had a GHIC card or one or the old EHIC cards that would possibly have covered most of the cost. A GHIC card is free to apply for.
This is what I don’t
This is what I don’t understand here – why go to Europe without one? He would be entitled to the same healthcare as a Spanish citizen which would mean essentialy free care in a public hospital. Ok you need travel insurance to cover repatriation etc, but seriously everyone get a GHIC now!
https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-uk-global-health-insurance-card-ghic/
I didn’t know the EHIC card
I didn’t know the EHIC card had been replaced, I thought it was just extinct with the Brexit thing. Many thanks for posting that, new GHIC is now in the post!
bobbinogs wrote:
The EHIC cards currently in circulation are valid until they expire. After this point you need a GHIC.
As a slight aside. Many people don’t seem to understand that it confers reciprocal rights and not NHS equivalent in a foreign country. If the natives pay, you still have to pay, even if it would have been free on the NHS and therefore free to say a Spaniard in the UK.
DrG82 wrote:
Three years ago I was in France and I hit a big stone on a descent. Ambulance job, overnight, full works. I had local nurses come every day to change my dressings and check on my welfare. I showed the hospital my EHIC card and they accepted it without a problem.Can’t remember exactly what it cost, about 2000 euros, I think. I paid a percentage of that to the hospital and some to the nurses. When I got back to the UK I was able to claim back everything I had spent from the DHSS (I think it was them). Very efficient.
Insurance . Best to speak to
Insurance . Best to speak to a human, and detail all you want to get covered . Discuss openly and in full . Keep a recording or notes . Even the Direct Insurers like Admiral have “Live Chat” or similar . Just arranging it yourself has many potential pitfalls . Directly arranged insurance ( by the policyholder) has an above average rate of dissatisfied claimants
Good point, definitely worth
Good point, definitely worth checking small print.
Laka insurance cover extends to sportives and triathlons, the exception is professional events, i.e.are you being paid to appear?
I recall some 20 years ago, a
I recall some 20 years ago, a couple had moved unto a canal boat to live in their retirement. It got burnt out. They bemoaned that they now had nowhere to live because the insurance was too expensive.
While I have sympathy for the
While I have sympathy for the Triathlete and their injuries, I do think it is pretty common that Travel Insurance by and large always has an exclusion for any form of racing, and a lot will specifically exclude training as well. The advice on British Triathlon website is quite clear :-
Travel Insurance
If you have an existing policy it is worth checking the details as you may not have cover for your bike or for training or racing abroad.
If this is not included in your existing policy you will need to arrange a single trip or annual policy that is specifically designed for triathlon and other multisport activity. You may need to specify the race distance as it could affect the policy and your ability to make a successful claim.
If you are taking part in an event, you can also check with the organiser to see whether they have a specific policy that will cover you for the event.
As a triathlete who has taken part in triathlon training camps in Mallorca I was specifically told by the training camp to make sure my travel insurance included cover for triathlon training otherwise any hospital treatment may not be covered.
Given this was an official Ironman 70.3 event I would have expected either the general entry fee to include some medical insurance cover or alternatively their entry pack would tell them that they needed specialist race insurance if they are racing overseas.
Unfortunately there are too many people who don’t read the fine print, or don’t think to check before they do something (I mean the whole passport issues that have been in the press virtually every week for the last 3 months for example), and then when it goes wrong they go to the media. So my sympathy is limited to the injuries they suffered not the costs that they now have to stump up.
That may seem harsh to some but life is harsh
With slightly less toilet
With slightly less toilet humour https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/anger-disgust-cyclist-caught-urinating-23918237
If only we had some sort of
If only we had some sort of reciprocal healthcare card that allowed access to free medical care in the majority of Europe.
we do its called GHIC, but
we do its called GHIC, but neither a GHIC or EHIC supplant the need for travel insurance because they neither cover all types of medical costs you may encounter
Genuinely looking forward to
Genuinely looking forward to the James May video drop on Friday, huge respect for the guy.
I just want his garage….
I just want his garage….
True that!
True that!
I’m a big fan of James May,
I’m a big fan of James May, and I remember watching the bike assembly video (from which the still is taken from above) back in 2020 where he unpacks his friend’s BSO. Unfortunately he was so busy concentrating on staying in character (slow, methodical, technical) and torquing up the front wheel brake rotor, he installed it back to front.
Come on James, let’s do better please.
RE: Another classic for the
RE: Another classic for the weird bike rack genre…
Is it just me or does this look like it could be a trap from Lemmings?
Do the bikes fly away in high
Do the bikes fly away in high winds ?
Probably the top folds down
Probably the top folds down then and you can’t get them out.
The bottom part looks like one of those city centre movable urinals. Maybe it is? Or maybe it’s triggering me for some other reason.