"It's been screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks": Arnold Schwarzenegger — bodybuilder, actor, politician... public-spirited pothole repairer?; Alpecin-Deceuninck vs Wout: Instagram edition; Would you hire a bike from Decathlon? + more on the live blog

"I'll be back... with a shovel"

Today, after the whole neighborhood has been upset about this giant pothole that’s been screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks, I went out with my team and fixed it. I always say, let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Here you go. pic.twitter.com/aslhkUShvT

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) April 11, 2023

So California gets Arnie, while we're left with Mr Pothole and a cup of pot noodle? Seems fair.

Of course we missed out the most important part of the bio of the bodybuilding actor who later went into politics — the cyclist part, of course.

> Cycling celebrities — famous folk who love to ride their bikes

He loves life on two wheels, saying in 2018 he "wants to bicycle all over the world", acting on his quote when riding in Edinburgh (we'll ignore the part where he was seen on the wrong side of the road, heading into live traffic)...

In 2017, Peter Sagan joined Schwarzenegger in urging people to swap their car for a bike for their everyday journeys. The video coincided with the Terminator star, founder of R20 – Regions of Climate Action, joining Hidalgo in publicising research conducted by C40 Cities highlighting the benefits of an active commute, something we'll need well-maintained roads and cycle paths for... 

"You're welcome," he can be heard telling a neighbour. "You have to do it yourself, this is crazy. Three weeks I've been waiting for this hole to be closed..."

@Bryant10TV the tarminator.

— Ross Caruso (@RossCarusoTV) April 11, 2023

Meanwhile, over here...

In England there’s a guy spray painting pictures of penises around the potholes because that way the councils deal with them quicker 😂

— Zahirah (@ZahirahEvitt) April 11, 2023

> Pothole penis painter pisses off council 

Tadej Pogačar won the final stage of Paris-Nice, securing the GC, without his Richard Mille watch on his wrist. The watch, worth €165,000 when gifted to the Slovenian by "my boss" after the Olympic Games, and now worth an estimated €300,000, was stolen from his hotel room as he received a post-stage massage elsewhere.

"It was special for me. It was offered to me by my boss after the Olympic Games. It was worth 165,000 euros. It is estimated today at 300,000 euros. It is very curious that they sold it so quickly, without the box, without the documents," Pogačar explained.

Nice Matin reports 32-year-old Jonathan Napolitano and 37-year-old Haikel Jerbi gained access to the room by manipulating a trainee waitress, reportedly telling her it was their room.

"I had a debt of 100,000 euros at Les Moulins. I was in danger. It is not excusable, but I had no other choice," Jerbi said. "Haikel is a childhood friend. He called me for help. I joined him," Napolitano added.

The pair were each jailed for four years.

In February, two men were jailed for the armed robbery at the Essex home of Mark Cavendish in November 2021. During the raid valuables, including Richard Mille watches of a similar value to Pogačar's, were taken.

It's the official cobbled classics x Ardennes classics handover today. Brabantse Pijl, the one-day race over some of the same roads as the 2021 World Championships, has cobbles but also an Ardennes-y feel, the women's race won by Silvia Persico ahead of Demi Vollering and Liane Lippert...

Silvia Persico sprints to victory in #DBPwomen! 🏆🚀 #DBP23 pic.twitter.com/bxomSTDWJD

— De Brabantse Pijl (@DeBrabantsePijl) April 12, 2023 

[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]

10 days on from the incredible drama above we now know where Tadej Pogačar will next be gracing us with his racing talent... Sunday's Amstel Gold Race.

"The spring has already been a big success for us but we're hungry to come to the Ardennes classics and take home a big result, starting with Amstel," he said. "It's a race I've only done once but I know it's a long, hard parcours with lots of climbing so we need to be ready for a tough race."

Beyond this weekend the Slovenian will be at the startline for all three of the major Ardennes races next week, looking for a fifth Monument and second title at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Good luck to anyone planning on stopping him.

This year's Tour of Cambridgeshire will be the event's final edition, the organiser Golazo Cycling has decided. Running since 2015, the final event will be the seventh edition after two years were lost to the pandemic and is the only British qualifier for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships.

Malcolm Smith of Golazo Cycling said "much has changed" since 2015 and each edition has "thrown up considerable challenges for us to overcome".

"Our aim, when we established the Tour of Cambridgeshire was to bring the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships to Britain and this year we have the honour of hosting that event as part of 2023 Cycling World Championships in Glasgow & Scotland," he said.

"With our primary goal accomplished we feel now is the right time to close the door on the Tour of Cambridgeshire. In the years since we began the event thousands of riders have enjoyed taking to the closed roads of the county, with many of them qualifying for and subsequently competing at the Gran Fondo Worlds where the Tour of Cambridgeshire has consistently provided the largest travelling participation.

"It has given us a huge sense of satisfaction to know that we had a hand in opening up this opportunity for amateur and age group racing cyclists from Britain.

"Since we are at the end of this journey and having been part of bringing the Worlds to Britain, we would like to send heartfelt thanks everyone who has come and ridden the Tour of Cambridgeshire and embraced what we have delivered. We look forward to welcoming everyone to Peterborough for one last time in June and then seeing those who qualify at the 'big one' in Scotland this August."

Event information and entries can be found here...

> Sing when you’re spinning: Strava announces "first of its kind" in-app integration with Spotify

£40 a day?!?! https://t.co/aiZHT7lcZU

— Josh Soane (@JoshuaSoane) April 11, 2023

> Decathlon launches bike rentals in all stores across the UK from £40 a day 

Some reaction:

fenix: "I've definitely hired brand new cars for less than that per day. Maybe not in the last few years mind. Seems a tad expensive but maybe I'm missing something."

mattw: "Those prices are at least two times higher than they need to be, especially for a place getting the service from existing staff. eg Prices from Derwent Cycle Hire on Ladybower in the Peak District are 19 for a full day for an adult bike, or 12 for educational groups."

£40 a DAY?! Yeah, best of luck with that then......

— Neil Tweets Stuff (@TheBroonster) April 12, 2023

Another reader pointed out they managed to hire a Brompton for £5 per day, someone else a bike from a bike shop at a Dutch train station for €7.50 per day.

Seriously? I just paid that per day in Mallorca for a £22k Renault Captur. It should be well under a tenner for an £800 bike!

— 🇺🇦 Ben Digedig 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇷 (@Ben_Digedig) April 11, 2023

40 pound a day lol keep them buy your own

— chris numnuts (@robbertbucket) April 11, 2023