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

🎥 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 2022

Powered by Intimissimi Uomo #Giro pic.twitter.com/B8Hx7ZzwWN

— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 11, 2022

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."

And the award for the weirdest bike racks go to Burton Hospital pic.twitter.com/pycClRJ4pp

— GrowLaughLearn (@growlaughlearn) May 10, 2022

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... 

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?

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... 

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."

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...

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...

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."

Link to the GoFundMe page here...