‘Obstacle course for cyclists’ bike lane; Rider precariously carries sofa; Commuting through flash floods; No Olympics for Sagan; Tour de France wheelie contest won with 174m record; MAAP opens Harrods store; Stage 16; Cav poll + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Max Walscheid wins Tour de France wheelie contest with 174m record on stage 15 in Andorra
An one hundred and seventy-four meter long wheelie!🤩😱 #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/UsqdVaMBmZ
— Bas Tietema (@BasTietema) July 12, 2021
Team Qhubeka NextHash may not have come close to winning a Tour de France stage so far this year, but they will take home the prestigious wheelie contest thanks to Max Walscheid’s monster effort on stage 15. Set up by the guys from the Tour de Tietma YouTube channel, the wheelie contest was held on the final climb of the day – Col de Beixalis.
Riders were invited to take on defending champion Oliver Naesen and cheered on by the expectant crowds. Davide Formolo, Naesen, Mads Pedersen and Toms Skujins all impressed early on, before Walscheid put the contest to bed…
The German would eventually finish the stage in 140th place, 33:20 behind stage winner Sepp Kuss…but perhaps he was just saving his energy for the main event of the day. He easily balanced his way past Naesen’s previous record and the finish line before continuing around the hairpin and off into the distance, forcing the cameraman to put in a huge effort just to keep up…
Here’s the full video, including Wout van Aert’s laboured effort…it turns out there is something he can’t do after all…
Lachlan Morton completes epic Alt Tour before the pro peloton has even started third week
Champagne showers on the Champs-Élysée! 🍾🥂 a fitting end to an incredible ride. #TheAltTourpic.twitter.com/PPCnVixt9B
— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) July 13, 2021
These were the scenes at 5:30 this morning when Lachlan Morton finished the Alt Tour in Paris, five days before the peloton…Riding the full route self-supported, including transfers, Lachlan wrapped up the 5,510km challenge with 65,500m of elevation in just 18 days or 220 hours of riding…
Tour de France stage 16: A good day for the breakaway as the race returns to France
The rest day excursion to Andorra is almost over and stage 16 is just hours away. It’s another great day to be up the road, even with the steady headwind, and looks as though it could be the fifth stage out of the last six to be taken from the break. Expect the fight for the move to be as fierce as ever with relatively ‘fresh’ legs after the rest day and a long, fast downhill start.
Category 2 Col de Port is first up, before the hardest climb of the day Col de la Core comes midway through the stage. The short but steep Col de Portet d’Aspet is followed by a long descent to Category 4 Côte d’Aspret-Sarrat 8km before the uphill finish in Saint-Gaudens. I’ll go for a small group coming to the finish together and Omar Fraile taking the win. Get your pre-stage predictions in the comments for a chance at a small slice of glory come half-four…
Today’s @LeTour stage takes us back to the Col de Portet-d’Aspet. It will be the first time since 2018 and I wish we all stay safe.
And like always my thoughts will go to Fabio Casartelli while passing this tragic spot in cycling history. #TdF21 #TdF2021
📷 Photo News pic.twitter.com/aIzpkL8DBp— Philippe Gilbert (@PhilippeGilbert) July 13, 2021
Lachlan's Alt Tour in numbers...327km average and 12 hours per day
Avg distance: 327 km per day
Avg climbing: 3,800 m per day
Avg riding time: 12:20 per day
Max distance: 565 km (final day)
Max climbing: 5,900 m (Stage 8 + half of stage 9)
Max riding time: 20:22 (final day)
Chapeau Lachy! 🙌🥂
Amazing effort and can’t wait for the video. https://t.co/iQoIAXdbKi pic.twitter.com/9folc1INUZ— VeloViewer (@VeloViewer) July 13, 2021
We wonder if anyone could beat Lachlan if the Tour peloton (no ultra-endurance riders allowed) were the race to cover the route in this format? Obviously if you opened it up to the specialists then Fiona Kolbinger would have them all panicking…
Cyclist caught out in London flash flooding takes the plunge
#flooding on London Road by Linkfield Road in #Isleworth 🌊 🌊 taking a diversion to get home cause I don’t think my Prius can swim! pic.twitter.com/xN6GBQLr8e
— Fernando – Private Hire Driver (@london_pco) July 12, 2021
Yesterday when the heavens opened I’ll admit I was absolutely ecstatic to be working from home and not facing a commute closer to watersports than cycling. This lad wasn’t so lucky. I’d say at least he won’t have to clean his bike, but we all know that’s not true…
Parts of London received a month’s worth of rain in a day…47.8mm fell in Kew as residents were evacuated. The London Fire Brigade said it had received more than 1,000 phone calls.
Last week on the live blog we shared the video of a Uber Eats rider in Edinburgh who was spotted wading through knee-high water to make a delivery.
Need some flash new kit? Visit Harrods...where MAAP has a new store
Australian cycling clothing brand MAAP has opened a store in world-famous Knightsbridge luxury department store Harrods. The ‘menswear boutique’, which we assume also stocks the brand’s female clothing too, has been designed by retail design consultants Brinkworth to offer shoppers a “crisp industrial feel”…
MAAP co-founder Jarrad Smith said: “When Ollie (Oliver Cousins, MAAP Co-Founder) and I first started MAAP in 2014, like any business, we set some future goals and having our brand in Harrods was one of them. To see that finally come to life is a really proud moment for us.”
Bike Club subscription service expands to adults bikes from £15 per month
The Bike Club, the UK’s first monthly kids bike subscription service, has today announced it is launching a similar service for adult hybrid and road bikes. Members to the service can order bikes, have them delivered to their homes, with prices from £15 per month. Initially, the available models are the Forme Winster 1, Winster 2 and Forme Longcliffe road bike, but the Bike Club says it hopes to expand to more models in the future.
As part of the service, bikes are delivered just needing pedals attached before being ready to ride. In 2020, 15,000 new members signed up to the Bike Club, which was founded in 2016 by wife and husband team Alexandra Rico-Lloyd and James Symes, who believed in an alternative to bike ownership.
“This is an exciting step for everyone at the Bike Club, we’re thrilled to be the first in the UK to offer multi-discipline adult bikes on subscription,” Alexandra Rico-Lloyd said.
‘’Based on the extraordinary growth we’ve seen over the past few years, expanding our offer to include adult bikes is a natural step. It’s clear that increasing numbers of people are looking for an alternative to the traditional model of bike ownership, and are looking for subscription services which are more sustainable, flexible, and affordable.
‘’This is an incredible time for cycling, and we can’t wait to see new members of the Bike Club out on their bikes in the weeks and months ahead.’’
Injury round-up: Peter Sagan and Jack Haig out of Olympics with Tour de France injuries
MEDIACAL UPDATE: After withdrawal from the @LeTour @petosagan successfully underwent knee surgery. Read more here: https://t.co/9epwmCWmEP pic.twitter.com/Q7m6XhbpEA
— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) July 12, 2021
The Slovakian Olympic committee has broken the news that Peter Sagan will not be taking part in the Olympics after undergoing surgery on his knee injury that forced him to abandon the Tour de France before stage 12. Aussie Jack Haig is also out after doctors suggested his collarbone fracture will take longer to heal than first thought.
Haig abandoned on stage three but had hoped he could recover in time for the mountainous road race route in Tokyo, which takes in 4,800m+ of climbing. Remco Evenepoel is one rider who will be on the start line in Japan…the Belgian has been out in Italy training specifically for the race by replicating the big climb with ascents of the infamous Mortirolo…
In a quick bit of any other Olympic business…Vincenzo Nibali did not start today’s Tour stage. There’s no need to worry though, the Shark of Messina was always planning to leave the race on the second rest day to fine tune his form ahead of the Games.
Tour de France stage 16: Trio take a small gap following hectic start including wet descents
3⃣ riders in the lead now. 🇵🇱 @kwiato and 🇮🇹 @cattamat have joined 🇩🇰 @k_asgreen. The fight for the breakaway is not over!
3⃣ coureurs en tête à présent : 🇵🇱 @kwiato et 🇮🇹 @cattamat ont rejoint 🇩🇰 @k_asgreen. La bataille pour l’échappée n’est pas terminée !#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/mvPDV7as9h
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 13, 2021
Deceuninck-Quick-Step pair Kasper Asgreen and Mattia Cattaneo have jumped clear with Michal Kwiatkowski. They’re onto a very wet descent now, but the peloton is closing all the time…
One-man removal company carrying sofa by bike goes viral with 3 million TikTok views
@albeezyyyyyy One man moving company
‘You can’t take that by bike’…We can’t say we’re massive TikTokers here at road.cc, but we might have to be if videos like this keep popping up. Albert Molina’s clip has gone viral and has been watched more than 3.1 million times…that’s almost the entire population of Mongolia (thanks Google).
In the video a man is seen balancing a sofa precariously over his right shoulder while pedalling along. When asked if he wants any help, the well-balanced bicyclist explains he’s been doing it for six years…Doing what? Riding around with sofas on his back? Helping people move house by bike? So many questions…
It reminded us of this photo from Bristol of a rider pushing a sofa up Park Street’s seven per cent incline. Admirable, although I’m sure the people at Pedal Me would argue there’s a much easier way to do it…
Patrick Konrad? David Gaudu? Or Sonny Colbrelli? Stage 16 finish close
🇫🇷@DavidGaudu went all out on the climb of Portet d’Aspet but 🇦🇹@PatricKonrad maintains a 25” gap. And 🇮🇹@sonnycolbrelli is still up there too 👀#TDF2021 #TDFdata pic.twitter.com/kJdNFGrfwP
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 13, 2021
The breakaway is over the final mountain of the day. Bora-Hansgrohe’s Patrick Konrad led the way and has around 30 seconds on David Gaudu and Sonny Colbrelli, who is having another spectacular day on the climbs. A long descent, one Category 4 climb and an uphill rise to the line is all that’s left…26km to go.
Patrick Konrad reaction: Loyal teammate finaly gets his day in the sun
🇫🇷 #TDF2021
he did it! what an amazing ride from 🇦🇹 champion @PatricKonrad 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/fKuPnr0zsD
— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) July 13, 2021
Patrick Konrad is more often seen helping his Bora-Hansgrohe teammates with their ambitions but today won stage 16 of the Tour de France. The Austrian has never won a pro race other than the Austrian national championships but soloed to victory today.
“This victory is also for the people who support me,” he explained after the finish. “I’ve already been in the breakaway three times during the Tour, each time I waited too long to attack and it was the wrong decision. I told myself, ‘Ok, next time I’m in this situation I will be the guy attacking early.’”
On the forum: knighthood for Cav?
You know it makes sense… this was suggested on our forum so we thought it’s only right we do a poll too. If your answer is a straight no, do explain yourself in the comments!
Blimey...The Austin bike lane that could be the worst we've ever seen
“Move to Austin! We’re a real city! We have bike infrastructure!”
An actual bike lane in Austin: pic.twitter.com/FPtTNwrAFa— Colleen (she/her) (@collgrandelam) July 12, 2021
Who designed this? Pennywise? This has got to be up there with the worst bike lanes we’ve had the displeasure of sharing. The kerb, the slope, the drain, the token markings, no lighting…it’s just all dreadful. All we can hope is that smooth slither of tarmac to the right is going to get a proper cycle lane…we won’t be holding our breath though…
13 July 2021, 08:05
13 July 2021, 08:05
13 July 2021, 08:05
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Latest Comments
@andystow yeah, apparently four needed, two for each pedal: one visible from rear, one from front. (Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations I believe). For several reasons I'm technically stuffed on the recumbent. Although I guess I could strap an extra pair of pedals with them to the sides (they'd be like epaulettes). I'm guessing amputees who opt not to bother with one of the pedals also don't legally have a leg to stand on...
@andystow Illegal if sold without a bell, but quite legal to use without said bell, I understand.
I would assume Starbucks have video cameras. Although it will just show someone in a grey hoodie.
@flowboy just keep cycling! And if you're not cycling and still have time, online there are the blogs / videos of bicycledutch, notjustbikes (also "urbanism" and general transport), "a view from the cycle path" (David Hembrow), or more locally to you hedgehogcycling (from Harrogate, posts here)... oh, and road.cc! If you prefer a book, check out Peter Waker's "Bike nation - how cycling can save the world", Carlton Reid's ouvre (dives into particular cycle-related points in history eg. "Bike boom", "Roads Were Not Built for Cars" etc), or there's Laura Laker's "Potholes and Pavements" about the UK's NCN. If you want to be social IRL your city / region may well have a local cycling campaign group...
@chrisonabike only illegal at night without them, right?
I work in the city and go home from Paddington, east to west. I used to go through Oxford street years ago but it was a nightmare of buses and oblivious pedestrians. Then I found the cycle superhighway and never went that way again. It’s really easy not to use Oxford street. Why are the council being such twats?
@andystow and was it sold with pedal reflectors?
@Mr Blackbird ah, but you've no idea how badly decapitated they would have been if they hadn't been wearing a helmet!
@mark1212123 "you’ll have to dispense with thinking your small thing is a massive thing while cycling to work in the winter?’" I find things tend naturally to shrink in the cold... Having "the big debate" with any given person is almost always pointless. We've all got our to-do list for that day/week/year that we're struggling to get through, using the familiar transport tools we spent time and money to acquire. And if we could really introspect we might find out that a shocking amount of life is delegated to autopilots or essentially reacting to external prompts. But - *given* that someone is at a point to actually discuss (rare!) - I think the Chris-Boardman-style works eg. "are you happy with (the congestion / your kids not being able to get themselves to school / all the cars parked all over your road and the pavement / hearing that the local authority can't afford to fix stuff)?" And "if you are, fine - your area, you own the consequences, good or bad (but ... it likely won't get better). If you're not, tell us about one of those pain points and let's work together to explore some solutions". (And no, those aren't going to be a personal bypass which takes you in your car past all the other traffic and yet doesn't cause your nice street to become a motorway. Because everyone else wants that *their* way not yours and anyway we can't afford it).
One definite conclusion to be drawn from the lab tests is that no cycle helmet can protect against decapitation.
21 thoughts on “‘Obstacle course for cyclists’ bike lane; Rider precariously carries sofa; Commuting through flash floods; No Olympics for Sagan; Tour de France wheelie contest won with 174m record; MAAP opens Harrods store; Stage 16; Cav poll + more on the live blog”
Oh I love that wheelie
Oh I love that wheelie competition!! Ace silly TdF fun 🙂
brought a big smile to a grey
brought a big smile to a grey day….
5,510km & 65,500m elevation
5,510km & 65,500m elevation (with tent and bags!!) That is bonkers, totally bonkers.
Chapeaux!
Not sure why you present
Not sure why you present cycling through water like that as bold. Cyclist had no idea what was under the water in terms of potholes and debris.
Why didn’t they use the higher level pavement?
Interesting to note the car driver was taking it very steady, then got swamped by the bus driver – nmotd anyone ?
hirsute wrote:
Not to mention that the water was unlikely to be what you would call clean. It wouldn’t just be rain runoff in there.
I can’t even do a 17.4 mm
I can’t even do a 17.4 mm wheelie ?
I can’t do a wheelie
I can’t do a wheelie
cbrndc wrote:
I can, but only when I’m walking.
Captain Badger wrote:
I can’t do a wheelie
— Captain Badger I can, but only when I’m walking.— cbrndc
depends on the bike, on the winter bike the rear mudguard grounds out too early.
wycombewheeler wrote:
Trust me, I wouldn’t even be able to wheelie a unicycle…
Captain Badger wrote:
No, I meant that even when walking I could not wheelie my winter bike.
Absolutely incredible effort
Absolutely incredible effort by Lachlan – chapeau indeed.
And also chapeau to Geoff Thomas’s Tour21 team who completed the course a week ahead of the Tour on Sunday – and smashing their £1million target for Cure Leukaemia in the process.
That bloke reminds me that
That bloke reminds me that Mrs HawkinsPeter and I were shopping for sofas just the other weekend. The overly enthusiastic salesman showed us one and said “That can seat three people without any problems”.
I said, “Where the hell am I going to find three people without any problems?”
That cycle lane in Austin is
That cycle lane in Austin is just crying out for some injury/damage claims. How on earth did that get past any adults involved in it?
I keep telling you Brits that
I keep telling you Brits that you have no idea how good you have it. Most states and municipalities have immunity against lawsuits for everything other than the most egregious and intentional actions. There’s no lawsuit to be had here. Our cycling infrastructure is godawful and there is absolutely zero political will to change that. Our rail systems are a disaster. Our bridges and buildings are collapsing. The GOP will disagree with the most obviously necessary changes out of spite and refuse to let anything pass while creating ridiculous wedge issues out of nonsense. Of course they control the largest portion of the news media (look at number of viewers) while simultaneously playing a victim card and whining about “mainstream media.” Democrats are weak and can’t ever get anything done. Our political system is a joke because more than half of our country are morons. So, in short, our cycling system sucks, and it’s not going to get better.
Really? I’m surprised at that
Really? I’m surprised at that as I thought the U.S. loved suing whenever someone gets hurt, but maybe that’s just how it’s portrayed.
When it comes to suing people
When it comes to suing people, sure. But suing government? Nope
SaintClarence27 wrote:
Preaching to the choir
It is said that a country gets the government it deserves and I think the same about news media.
imdb.com/title/tt0387808/
imdb.com/title/tt0387808/
The (real) Knighthood
The (real) Knighthood nomination form for Cav is here
https://www.gov.im/categories/home-and-neighbourhood/honours/nominations/
Ugh.
Ugh.
Road cycling never used to be a luxury sport. How come its feeling more and more like every clothing company is trying to get us to disappear up our own arse?
Cycling: To attract new people we need to be inclusive and less elitest.
Also road cycling: That’ll be £200 for a jersey thanks.
What happened to value?