Caravan-towing motorist knocks cyclist off after close pass dispute; "It's incredible to see": Wiggo hails Pidcock's brilliance (+ "return of Froome"); Tour leaves the Alps; Alpe d'Huez reaction; Fancy dress bike bus + more on the live blog

The Pidcock pucker pic.twitter.com/2W4LrTOHI5

— Race Radio (@TheRaceRadio) July 15, 2022

Have a good one... 

Here are some of your comments to end the week...

You would hope this results in a driving ban. That could have been so much worse.
Goes to show how utterly pointless it is to squeeze past on a road with multiple traffic lights along it. Gained nothing but many points or a ban and increased insurance premium for years.

— James Sansome (@_James_Sansome_) July 15, 2022

Pretty uncontroversial this one...

OldRidgeback reckons the driver "needs to attract a serious fine for that. I hope the footage has been sent to the cops and that they take it seriously".

AlsoSomniloquism added: "Points and ban.
1: Close pass whilst blowing horn for no reason = Careless Driving. 
2: Running into cyclist and then continuing driving forward. Dangerous Driving. Especially as they didn't know if they were actually running over the bike or the cyclist. 
3: Leaving the scene of an accident.

All should be totted up and added to the sentence, and I expect as a merc driver they probably already have points anyway."

eburtthebike was left wondering where "cycle like you drive" fits into all of this...

Throw the book at them. https://t.co/cjuY7H65OP

— Older than Ernie (@NickForster4) July 15, 2022

This video was doing the rounds on, of all places, LinkedIn yesterday...but has since been deleted and resurfaced on Facebook via Car Anything (and its delightful comments section)...

In it, a cyclist's rear-facing camera at the back of a group ride captures the moment a driver towing a caravan races past at an alarmingly close distance while the group is travelling at close to 40km/h (as per the Garmin data at the bottom, which also suggests this incident happened last Saturday) near Bournemouth airport.

The driver stops at the traffic lights shortly after prompting the group to filter past, one rider is heard saying "I got him on video", while another says something slightly less suitable for publication.

As the lights turn green and the group rolls away the driver continues forward, closely behind the penultimate rider, hitting their back wheel and causing them to fall. The motorist continues, driving over the rider's bike in the process...

Unbelievably, or perhaps not considering this is Facebook we're talking about, the most popular comment on the post accused the group, not the driver, of failing to obey the Highway Code, while another accused them of "really antagonising the motorist" and were "completely asking for it". Perhaps we should take our own advice for a certain news national news outlet (you'll know the one)...NEVER read the comments.

Mads Pedersen wins stage 13! Fred Wright with an excellent rides comes 2nd 🇬🇧💪#TDF2022 #ITVCycling pic.twitter.com/TxmqFaqY1h

— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 15, 2022

All we want is for poor Fred Wright to get his stage victory... second today after another breakaway effort, his third break of the race. Mads Pedersen always looked likeliest from the trio at the head of proceedings, and so it proved, the Dane comfortably beating south London's Wright and Hugo Houle.

Matteo Jorgenson, Filippo Ganna and Stefan Küng (as well as safely back in the peloton Quinn Simmons) were part of the effort to keep the break ahead of the peloton but couldn't follow when Pedersen jumped on the final climb. They finished fourth to sixth respectively.

A brave ride from Pedersen who was one of the favourites for the sprint, let alone attacking a rolling 193km stage head-on from the break...

No change on GC as we head into the second weekend.

😱 What a save!

😱 De justesse !#TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/Mo5Ok1PQWj

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 15, 2022

The break has 2:16 with 18km left. Normally that would be touch and go but the peloton don't seem to be making much headway. We'll see in about half an hour's time, but this looks like one for the break. Top Ganna? Fred Wright? King Mads?  

Get Wout to ride it? Good tip! https://t.co/P1jpRMa62i

— Katy Moon (@Oog) July 15, 2022

Look who we met today on the Tour de France parcours 😁

Speaking of this, what’s your first memory of Didi at the #TDF2022?

Photo: @woutbeel pic.twitter.com/5TlFouJ00W

— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) July 15, 2022

Your stage 13 breakaway: Filippo Ganna, Stefan Küng, Mads Pedersen, Fred Wright, Quinn Simmons, Hugo Houle, Matteo Jorgenson...

There are some proper engines in there. Good luck Quick Step, Lotto and Alpecin...you'll have to work hard for your sprint. 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Stephen Clancy (@stephen_clancy)

Air travel has seen better days: staff shortages, cancelled flights, delays etc. etc. but we've also reported a spike in riders losing their bikes, or should I say airlines losing riders' kit...

>  EasyJet sends cyclist’s £14,000 bike and luggage to Naples… instead of London

Novo Nordisk rider Stephen Clancy was on his way to Copenhagen after the Irish National Championships on June 29 and last saw his €12,000 Argon team bike at the oversized baggage drop-off.

The rider on the team raising awareness for diabetes, and consisting entirely of diabetic riders, also lost medication he needs in the misplaced luggage. Clancy told the Irish Daily Mail he'd been on hold for three hours with Scandinavian Airlines on Tuesday.

"Usually you get your bags back in three or four days. That timeframe has gone out of the window. The most stressful thing is the lack of information. I know it is not the baggage handlers' fault but it has been three weeks with no progress.

"One thing that is giving me hope is hearing about other people in similar situations. It makes me feel less alone and I've heard of some good outcomes."

Happiness is… #TDF2022 #alpedhuez pic.twitter.com/rG2lDD5zGY

— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) July 14, 2022

Former teammate and fellow member of the exclusive 'British Tour de France winners' club Sir Bradley Wiggins was pleased to see Chris Froome back at the front of the race in the high mountains.

Speaking to Eurosport about yesterday's stage, Wiggo said it was the "return of Chris Froome". 

"That's testament to all the hard work and sacrifice him and his family have gone through these last few years since that big crash, great ride."

Wiggins also quite rightly had plenty of positives to mention about the stage winner, and man of the moment, Tom Pidcock: "I think we all are a bit [lost for words]. I still think of him as a young kid racing in the UK and he's won on Alpe d'Huez at his first Tour de France. The extent of his talent, I don't know where he goes from here. We say that every time he does something, but it's amazing. It truly is amazing.

"To go on the descent of the Galibier, to bridge across to the group and then be one of the instigators driving it forward all day. His descending today was off the scale. He's got such a mature head on him. It's incredible to see."

One for the sprinters? A breakaway day?

As Simon wrote in his pre-race preview: It's the 27th time that Saint-Etienne, the city that was once the centre of France’s bicycle industry, will have hosted a stage of the race. Last time it hosted a finish three years ago Thomas De Gendt won the stage, but organisers have opted for a less taxing profile today with the last of three categorised climbs crested with 44km still to ride.

On the prediction front: Simon – Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious)
Suvi – Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl)
Ryan – Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)

Those were made pre-race, so with the benefit of two weeks of eagle-eyed viewing, I'm on Jasper Philipsen for today...