“I’m not allowed to say much!”: Jake Stewart wins Dauphiné stage on wild unreleased Factor aero bike; Ranting driver tries to barge onto road closed for cycling event… before police discover his driving test is coming up + more on the live blog

The weekend’s Ironman in Bolton saw Greater Manchester Police seize a car after an impatient driver had been ranting at event stewards to try and force his way onto a road closed for the event. 

As the aptly named ‘Idiot UK Drivers Exposed’ explained on Facebook: “Driver thought he’s IRONMAN, demanding steward open a publicised road closure for his right of way to drive into cycling athletes Ironman. Refused to park up ranting on to GMP traffic.”

The punchline? The officers attending then learnt that the driver had his driving test coming up soon. Or, more accurately, he did. Now his car’s been seized.

Someone else on Facebook got involved to say they regularly marshal events such as this one and “we get this at every event”.

“They will often run over cones, signs, people and bollards when you tell them ‘no’,” Albert Jones explained. 

“I think a village somewhere is waiting for this guy,” another commenter amusingly summed it all up. There is of course a serious side to this, an example from the 2021 edition of the very same Ironman event in Bolton highlighting the important work marshals and stewards do enforcing road closures at closed-road cycling events, and the danger that can be posed when something goes wrong or someone dangerously ignores closures.

In 2022, Puspha Gohil avoided a driving ban but received 10 points on her licence and a £200 fine having pleaded guilty to failing to stop and failing to report an incident after hitting a rider on a road closed for the Bolton Ironman, writing off the rider’s Canyon.

Thankfully, this year the marshal and GMP combined to prevent this driver making their way onto the course. It was a busy day for the police force, officers “quick out of the blocks” to arrest a suspect wanted for shoplifting offences who was spotted in the crowd watching the event. Officers also arrested a man who… *checks notes*… “tried to unplug the sound system”. We really want to know which artist tipped them over the edge, but GMP says the man “was arrested for public nuisance”. 

‘You honour, please, it was the third Ed Sheeran song of the morning…’

The good people of Reddit spotted this shocker on Facebook Marketplace… 

“Hmm, I wonder why this bike hasn’t sold in three weeks despite being so cheap…”

As somebody pointed out, you could probably snap it up for £20, turn the forks the right way around, give it a clean, scrub and polish, then resell it for a bit more. Then again, if the forks are the wrong way around, lord knows what we’d find if we actually inspected that drivetrain, bearings or other parts any closer.

There weren’t any interested buyers in the comments either: “Cheap department store bike that was never assembled properly and looks to have spent the last decade outside with zero maintenance. Seller couldn’t even be bothered to clean it for the listing.”

Perhaps the most interesting spot was that the bike’s had a replacement tyre fitted at some point… Another Reddit user commented: “Wild to see! Someone got a replacement tyre on that bike (maintenance performed, evidence of miles ridden and knowledge of tools) but never got the fork turned correctly?!? It’s just two bolts! What a world we live it.”

Someone else said: “I’m always in awe at the number of people who will purchase a bike assembled like this, and ride it without a care in the world. Sometimes I wish I could be like that.”

Then again…

> “You would never display a bike like this if you knew anything about bikes”: Halfords’ questionable display bike set-up – complete with backwards front fork

I’ve been racking my brain trying to work out when was the last time Tadej Pogačar had a bad day. It might even stretch all the way back to 2023, such has been his golden run since. Well, yesterday’s time trial was a bad day, that can’t be denied. Cycling’s biggest star finished fourth and lost 48 seconds to Remco Evenepoel, 28 seconds to Jonas Vingegaard, and even 11 seconds to Matteo Jorgenson.

So what went wrong? According to Pogačar, he “probably got the pacing slightly wrong”.

“I started out on the first section a bit too conservative and should have pushed a bit more there,” he explained. 

However, the Strava comparison between him and Remco shows Pogačar losing time throughout, with the Belgian’s advantage spiking on the climb and continuing to rise all the way to the finish.

What about the heat? We’ve seen Pogačar struggle on the hotter days at the Tour before and he was swigging from his bottle during yesterday’s TT, somewhat surprising given the short length of the effort. But, according to DS Andrej Hauptman, the heat “wasn’t a factor”.

Was there a tech issue? This was Pogačar’s first time trial since mid-February at the UAE Tour and afterwards he seemed plenty curious by Vingegaard’s Cervélo. We’ll hand over to the Eurosport France team for this one…

Quand Pogacar “contrôle” le vélo des Visma après le chrono du #Dauphiné 👀 #LesRP pic.twitter.com/10fORZKmUK

— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) June 11, 2025

So, the short answer is that nobody seems to know what went wrong yesterday or those who do aren’t willing to tell us, which we can’t blame them for either. It’s a long six weeks until the third week of the Tour, so if you’re going to come in a bit undercooked at the Dauphiné then it’s unlikely to harm your chances at the big one next month.

Admittedly he didn’t seem particularly undercooked rampaging to victory on stage one, beating Mathieu van der Poel in a reduced sprint, but then again maybe that’s just how good Pogačar at 90 per cent is.

Anyway, no panic from the man himself: “It’s okay – that’s why we are here, to tune-up before the Tour and improve. There are still three big stages to come here and I’m looking forward to it. The team is working well and with the rivals we have here, it’s the best place to test ourselves.”

Likewise, the word from DS Hauptman is simply that the plan is to peak for the end of July and everything’s on track for that.

We’re unlikely to get any more answers today, unless things change dramatically, stage five expected to be one for the sprinters or a breakaway stage, giving the GC men a ‘rest’ before the weekend.

There’s a quartet of climbs between 80km and 20km to go, although they aren’t the steepest so there’s a decent chance at least some of the sprinters can give them a decent crack. Will a group of escapees already be too far up the road for it to matter? All will be revealed this afternoon.

It’s official, Molly Weaver is setting off on her record attempt on Sunday. The tracking page is live, so dot watchers can join in the fun once she’s up and riding. 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Molly Weaver (@mollyweaver94)

To beat the current record of 22 days, Molly will have to ride over 7,700km while climbing the equivalent of over eight Everests and she’s doing it all to raise money for the RNLI. There’s a link to her fundraising page here and you can check out her live progress here (although you might want to wait for her to set off first…). Good luck, Molly!

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Heavy Metal Truants (@hmtruants)

A group of metal fans are cycling 150 miles from Walthamstow to Download Festival. The Walthamstow Forest Echo was on hand to see the 30-strong group set off yesterday for Donington Park in the East Midlands for one of the biggest weekends on the UK festival calendar, and what better way to get there than on two wheels. They hope to arrive tomorrow and the Heavy Metal Truants annual group ride has raised £40,000 for children’s charities Nordoff & Robbins, Teenage Cancer Trust, NSPCC, and Save The Children.

The group was founded by ex-music magazine editor Alexander Milnas and Iron Maiden manager Rob Smallwood back in 2013, Alexander telling the Echo: “It’s a functional mode of transport, it’s a social activity, and it does just kind of make you feel like a kid again. So there is a definite enjoyment to cycling.

“We decided to start the Heavy Metal Cycling Club as a way of keeping us loosely together year round. Because, you know, the joy and freedom of riding a bike can’t be overstated.”

Yesterday’s route ended with a camp spot near Milton Keynes, today’s riding up to Leicester before the final roll into Donington Park tomorrow. 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@teamvisma_leaseabike)

Here’s a funny one from yesterday’s time trial. Jonas Vingegaard set off one minute after fellow Dane Anders Foldager, who rides for Jayco AlUla. Unsurprisingly, Vingegaard had no trouble catching his less experienced compatriot, Foldager explaining afterwards that the pair enjoyed a brief exchange as they swapped positions on the road.

“I shouted, ‘Come on!’ And he also said hello to me as he passed,” Foldager told Danish broadcaster TV2 at the finish. Apparently they’d been chatting before the start and Foldager requested that Vingegaard at least give him a nod when he inevitably flies past. See folks, even in the heat of a WorldTour TT, say ‘hi’ on your ride…

> “It’s so important for drivers to slow down”: Mum of junior time trial champion killed in “split second” collision urges motorists to “be very aware” of cyclists on roads

Former pro Tom Danielson has penned some lengthy thoughts about yesterday’s dramatic Critérium du Dauphiné TT, making the “bold prediction” that Pogačar’s ride was a strict training effort and that it’s all part of the plan to win the Tour.

Now, Danielson’s obviously not suggesting that UAE Team Emirates and Pogačar are actively trying not to win the Dauphiné, just that he’s going to ride to his plan to peak in six weeks’ time, regardless of how strong Vingegaard and Evenepoel’s form is post-altitude camps.

Accepting his theory “may sound like a conspiracy theory”, Danielson wrote on Twitter: “Pogačar was fourth place! How in the world could that have happened? It’s funny — if it were anyone else, everyone would say, ‘That’s pretty good, and it’s still like 1.5 months to the key TDF stages’. But it’s Pogi, and he normally wins. So is it possible there’s more to the story?

“I think there is. I’m going with my gut — which may sound like a conspiracy theory — but I think he purposely rode a controlled pace aligned with training, knowing he would finish behind Jonas. I agree that he normally only goes to races to win, but this one is different because Jonas, his direct rival, is there. The other side of it is how Jonas and Visma focus so much of their efforts around Tadej.

“Knowing this, I just don’t see any world where Tadej shows up three weeks before the Tour and goes all out, dropping a massive data point showing where his performance level is. A TT performance can be easily examined and dissected. If you look at Jonas’s performance in relation to Remco — and assuming Remco is better than he was in last year’s Tour — Jonas finished about where Tadej would have finished given last year’s level. At this moment, Visma has confirmation of the improvement from Jonas, as well as Matteo, but they do not have a clear understanding of where Tadej is.

“This is just my opinion from the couch, so take it for what its worth.”

Don’t worry, Tom. We love a theory. Here are some of your thoughts from the comments section…

Rendel Harris: “In his last 20 ITTs he’s ‘only’ won four, he’s simply not best in the world or even second or third best on a flattish TT course. That coupled to the fact that he will definitely be undercooked as part of his Tour prep is enough to explain yesterday, I’d say.”

Secret_squirrel: “It is amusing that coming fourth is described as an ‘underperformance’ when he finished eight secs clear of the next best rider and only three others went under 22 mins.”

stonojnr: “Yes, the real question is actually how were Remco and Vingegaard so much quicker, not why Pog was slower. Remco averaged over 50kph.”

sizbut: “Agree. This is trying to make something of what is probably nothing. The person who came first just happens to be the current time trial world champion. Jorgenson and Vingegaard aren’t exactly nobodies either. One of that quartet was always going to be fourth and some journalist with a quota to meet was always going to write how that may be portending the end of the world.”

 I’ve got a quota? Don’t give the road.cc big cheeses any ideas… I quite like my KPIs of: log on, chat some s**t, log off.

Here are Pogačar’s own thoughts having had the night to reflect. Here’s what he told the TV cameras before stage five…

“It was a nice time trial, hot out there, but I lost more time than I wanted, so yes, a little disappointing. There were positives to take. We’ve identified some areas to improve on the TT bike. It was a solid effort, I still finished fourth, and the GC is far from decided so I’m happy overall.”

Another normal day on Reddit… 

Settle a debate: is cutting the grass Strava worthy?
byu/Brilliant_Good_4444 inStrava

> Popular bike lock brand relaunches under new ownership – year after winding down due to “brutal reality” of Brexit, Covid, and cost-of-living crisis

> Wild unreleased Factor aero bike spotted at Critérium du Dauphiné: mysterious track-inspired bike features huge fork legs and seatstays plus V-shaped stem

> Coming soon to a bike shop near you? Jake Stewart’s radical unreleased Factor has 12 months to hit the shops… or else

Turns out it’s a bloody quick bike… 

Jake Stewart has just beaten Jonathan Milan in a sprint to win the fifth stage of the 
Dauphiné, his celebration appearing to point rather wildly at those eye-catching track-style forks we snapped pics of ahead of Sunday’s opener.

🏁 🇬🇧Jake Stewart remporte la 5ème étape à Mâcon ! 🏆

🏁 🇬🇧Jake Stewart wins Stage 5! 🏆#Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/TBS8glsC7E

— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 12, 2025

Stewart was delighted with the win, so much so the all-black prototype ended up lying alone on the tarmac as he celebrated a well-earned success with his team. In the TV interview afterwards it was good to know that even a first WorldTour win couldn’t break the Brit’s silence, Stewart laughing to a question about the new bike… “I’m not allowed to say much.”

Amusingly, the camera stayed on Stewart for long enough post-interview to catch the moment he appeared to continue the fun with someone off camera, perhaps a team press officer whose heart was in their mouth…

That’s still more than the cheery “Morning” myself and Jack got outside the bus in Domérat on Sunday.

As we told you on Sunday, it’s the wild track-style forks that have turned most heads, seemingly taking inspiration from the design of the radical Hope/Lotus track bike that first appeared in 2019, and the design which Factor utilised in the redesign of its HANZŌ Track last year to “fine tune the interaction of the air flow between the bike and athlete”.

> Coming soon to a bike shop near you? Jake Stewart’s radical unreleased Factor has 12 months to hit the shops… or else

The bike also has a new V-shaped cockpit. We’ve seen variations of this on aero bikes such as the latest Colnago Y1RS and Bianchi Oltre, and the reason those brands give for the design is drag reduction.

The seatstays are also wide, and referring again to the reasons Factor gave for this on the HANZŌ Track, it says wide seatstays “capture air off the legs and maintain the flow conditions in open channel”. So, all in all, it’s all about speed, something Stewart may just have given the best possible display of marketing for.

“That one feels good,” Stewart said, back on subjects he is allowed to talk about. “The team backed me and did an awesome job. I’ve been getting better and better this season […] I knew I just needed to kick before Milan and get a bit of a rush on him, managed to kick at 300 before he went and held on until the line.”

JAKE STEWART TAKES THE BIGGEST WIN OF HIS CAREER 😱🙌

A huge sprint from the Brit sees him claim Stage 5 at the Dauphine. pic.twitter.com/QG9t22NMmt

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) June 12, 2025