Disc-ussion and debate continues over which brake is best but should it all stop here?; Red Bull Timelaps is back; Chris Froome’s epic in the Alps; Relatable Danish ad; Famous cycling faces invest in alcohol-free beer; New Tour kit + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Danish broadcaster TV2 releases relatable Tour de France advert that has us all dreaming of a last minute call up
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It’s coming… 🇫🇷
⠀ pic.twitter.com/Bi4Q6HNSgK— ⓑιcιcletⓞ (@Bicicleto_ZGZ) June 15, 2021
As we all know, there is so much more to cycling than shaving your legs, wearing aero kit and looking ‘pro’, but some of us enjoy that side of our favourite pass time too…something Danish broadcaster TV2 has captured brilliantly in its Tour de France ad. Those early summer rides when even you have to wonder if this is your year for a chance meeting with Dave Brailsford, who will be so impressed by your pace that he’ll draft you in as a late call up to Ineos Grenadiers’ mountain train…then you hit your fairly mild local hill and remember exactly why that has never happened before.
If nothing else the ad has had a better reception than their compatriots at the Road Safety Council got after releasing a Viking-inspired helmet safety public service announcement that starred on the live blog last week…
Amazing, and scarily relatable 😂
— J McC (@TorontoJMcC) June 15, 2021
By far the best I’ve seen in a while
— Pablo (@swimpablorun) June 15, 2021
Londoners ditch 'green' transport during the pandemic in favour of more car journeys, according to TfL data...but cycling figures are up
New Transport for London data shows the number of journeys walked, cycled or made by public transport dropped from 63 per cent to 57 per cent during the pandemic. While the initial figures might seem disheartening, it is believed the drop is largely due to a huge fall in Tube and bus passengers.
“It does emphasise our recent concerns about a car-led recovery,” Alex Williams, TfL’s director of city planning told the Evening Standard. Figures to the end of March 2021 showed that cycling in inner and outer London is up between five and 20 per cent. A 25 per cent reduction in weekday cycling in central London has been attributed to more people working from home.
The report said: “This reflects the strong relative performance of cycling as a flexible mode increasingly being used for personal business and leisure trips, offsetting a fall in commuter cycling because of the pandemic.”
Once the great American hope...Tejay van Garderen to retire after US National Championships this weekend
Tejay van Garderen, who finished fifth at the Tour de France in 2012 and 2014, will retire aged 32 after this weekend’s US Pro Road National Championships. Van Garderen was touted as a future Grand Tour winner during his early career and achieved impressive results during his spell with BMC, finishing second at the Critérium du Dauphiné twice and winning a stage of the Giro.
“The honest truth is that I don’t feel super effective as a bike racer anymore,” Van Garderen said. “Once your ability starts to be less than it was, you have to find a way to make yourself effective. I was really motivated by the rise of Hugh Carthy, and I wanted to be able to mentor him and help him. I said, ‘Okay, I’m still a good climber. Maybe I can stay with him in the high mountains and give him support.’ But the truth is I wasn’t able to just climb into a group of the 20 best anymore.”
Chris Froome continues Tour de France prep with 5,161m of climbing on 237km epic ride in the Alps
Whatever you make of Chris Froome’s comeback and the news yesterday that the four-time winner is in Israel Start-Up Nation’s Tour de France team, you can’t deny he is putting in the graft. Along with three of his teammates Froome went for an epic 237km ride in the Alps, climbing 5,161m of elevation at an average speed of over 27.3km/h…he even nabbed a Strava cup with the sixth fastest time up the second category Montée de Cohennoz depuis l’Isle.
Last week, Froome did a 220km Tour de France recon before opting to jump back on his bike for another 50km back to the hotel…will all this hard work pay off next month?
It seems Froome has learned from his scandalous behaviour last summer when he triggered eagle-eyed Strava followers by ending his ride on 99.4 miles…just go around the block, Chris…
I guess smashing 147 miles is one way to avoid that problem…
Danny MacAskill, Dan Martin and Zwift founder Eric Min invest in alcohol-free beer company
Famous names from across the cycling world have invested in an alcohol-free beer company. Legendary mountain biker Danny MacAskill, Dan Martin, Zwift founder Eric Min and mountain bikers Greg Minnaar and Loic Bruni have invested in Big Drop Brewing Co. Daily Business Group reports the alcohol-free beer company’s revenue has soared by 150 per cent over the last year as sales in the low-alcohol drinks sector rose by 50 per cent during the same period.
The famous cycling investors input has come via Rubix Ventures, an investment firm backed by athletes and company owners. Big Drop was launched in 2016 by Rob Fink and James Kindred who wanted to produce alcohol-free craft beer that tasted as good as the real thing. It now brews in the UK, Australia, Canada and the US and is available in more than 20 countries…perfect for when Dan Martin wins a stage of the Tour…
Get Dom to Le Tour
Tour De France, What You Saying!? @LeTour pic.twitter.com/jODJtavoKd
— Domonic (@domwhiting) June 16, 2021
Jeremy Vines takes us on a tour of the dangers of cycling down Oxford Street
Nice to see the new Oxford Street cycle lane is coming along pic.twitter.com/frk3gYizUd
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) June 16, 2021
Reaction to 8 reasons not to get disc brakes (spoiler alert... it got pretty lively)
Saying anything about disc brakes, positive or negative, seems to attract a queue of people ready to tell you how and why you’re wrong. So we should not have been too surprised to get the reaction we did to 8 reasons not to get disc brakes — find out the hassles before you switch. Cue the comments…
Plenty of people have happily had no such issues using discs…David Wilkins wrote: “Had rim brakes for 15 years, had disc brakes for last 7 months. Will never go back. Braking power and little to no noise on my SRAM Reds. Love disc brakes and I descend some steep hills with ease now.”
On a similar note, Soeren Kuehling said: “Never any problem with disc brakes, using them for years now, replace pads when gone (happens maybe after 5000km in my case). It feels safe racing downhill, can’t say the same about rim brakes on my single speed bike.”
Steven Hepworth was feeling articulate: “What hassles? I’ve been using disc brakes for years on mountain bikes, long before anyone thought of putting them on road bikes, and, especially these days, they hardly throw up any problems at all! Mega easy to change, and they actually stop you when it’s wet. Unlike rim brakes. Sure that add a little more weight to the bike, but I’ll just make sure I’ve had a good poo before I go out, to offset that weight!” I should have eaten my lunch before writing this…
Although these three did not sum up everyone’s thoughts on disc brakes…
Bill Jones is not convinced: “Here we go again, all the disc brake fanatics denying their highly flawed brakes are not as good as rim brakes. Even Chris Froome said discs are rubbish after being forced to use them. I have never had a problem with rim brakes and have used them to descend the highest hill in the UK in the wet. I have used discs and found them to be useless and require constant maintenance. Had a disc brake overheat and fail on a short descent, found discs don’t work when wet and disc pads have an alarming wear rate.”
Under our article, NZ Vegan Rider commented: “Disc brakes – unnecessary hassle with virtually little improvement in braking in the wet. I have a hydraulic disc brake winter bike. It would be fine if it was rim braked like my other bikes.”
I’ll leave you with Graham Leather…”What is the saying, disc brakes are for deciding where you want to stop, rim brakes are for deciding where you want to crash.”
Agree? Disagree? Couldn’t care less?
Disappointed Pascal Ackermann accuses Bora-Hansgrohe team boss of breaking promises over Tour de France omission
Bora-Hansgrohe sprinter Pascal Ackermann has accused his team boss Ralph Denk of breaking promises after he was omitted from the team’s squad for the Tour de France. Ackermann was expected to go alongside Peter Sagan as a second sprint option, however the team insisted the German was not up to the level necessary to be selected.
“I’m more than disappointed,” Ackermann told German outlet Radsport News. “Ralph was always a man who kept his word. But this time he definitely didn’t do it. It was said that I would be doing the Tour for three years, and it was always the case that I shouldn’t worry about it. Without this promise, I would not have signed the contract back then. You have to see that too. That’s why I am extremely disappointed.”
Elsewhere in Tour de France news, Total Direct Energie have a new kit…perhaps it will grow on me…
Un maillot aux couleurs lumineuses représentant le chemin des énergies qu’emprunte notre partenaire majeur @TotalEnergies 👌 #AllezTotalEnergies⚡ pic.twitter.com/0mvuRorpJ6
— Team TotalEnergies (@TDE_ProCycling) June 16, 2021
Red Bull Timelaps returns for 2021 with indoor and outdoor races
Red Bull Timelaps is back this year with a new indoor race to give riders more flexibility in how they participate in ‘the world’s longest one-day bike race’. On the weekend of 30-31 October riders and teams of cyclists will ride to see who can complete the furthest distance over 25 hours.
New for 2021 is the virtual/indoor category which follows on from the 2020 event. This will allow teams of riders to ride the event on an indoor turbo-trainer set up, compete against other teams outdoors, or do both, with separate race categories available based on a team’s preferred choice of getting involved. The In-person venues will be the Goodwood Motor Circuit and Red Bull Studios in London and entries are open on a first come first served basis at redbull.co.uk/timelaps.
And…for any of you feeling particularly hard there’s a solo category to see who can ride the furthest on their own in 25 hours. Anyone can take part from home too by logging their distance on Strava which will create live leaderboards during the event and allow riders to track their positions.
Yves Lampaert crowned Belgian national time trial champion, Remco Evenepoel second
An unforgettable day for @yveslampaert, who crowns himself Belgian ITT Champion for the second time in his career after a superb performance in front of his home crowd, at #BKIngelmunster! pic.twitter.com/kQeX1rAlS1
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) June 16, 2021
Yves Lampaert beat Deceuninck-Quick-Step teammate Remco Evenepoel and Victor Campanaerts to win the Belgian national champs this afternoon. Riding in front of his home crowd at Ingelmunster, Lampaert won by 20 seconds from Evenepoel who was in turn 21 seconds faster than Campanaerts. Lotte Kopecky won the women’s race, while over the border in the Netherlands, Anna van der Breggen added another national title to her impressive palmares.
ASO requires everyone in Tour de France bubble to download tracking app
The organisers of the Tour de France, ASO, will require everyone in the race’s bubble to download a tracking app. TousAntiCovid uses bluetooth to track who people have come in to contact with for more than five minutes and therefore trace possible contacts if someone on the race tests positive. Riders and media will also be kept in seperate bubbles and there will be no interviews outside of mixed zones at the start and finish of each stage
Cycling limbs...did Yves Lampaert win or have Belgium scored?
Goosebumps 🤗 pic.twitter.com/d7HIDAKxKM
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) June 16, 2021
There have been a few scenes like these popping up on social media this week…but none from a cycling race. Yves Lampaert got the full Euro 2020 treatment after winning his second national time trial championship.
16 June 2021, 08:04
16 June 2021, 08:04
16 June 2021, 08:04
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@Mr Blackbird motorists who drink alcohol should be required to pass the test twice, once sober and once after three drinks in two hours. Then they can get an endorsement on their licence for driving home from the pub after a few pints.
In France, the closer the cyclist gets to the Mediterranean Sea, the weirder car drivers behave. Some of them being repeat road deliquents. Encounters with 13, 31, 34 and 84 may prove hairy. Drivers with plates showing 84 (Vaucluse) think light signalling is no longer necessary before making a turn or exiting a roundabout. Pity UAE Team came to the decision not to press charges.
@MaxiMinimalist We can fear such a ban to varying degrees. But I'd be surprised if it happens. Even if it does the police don't have the resource and time to deal with dangerous drivers. So I guess they will ignore it anway.
Sooner or later, there will be public calls for cycling ban on specific roads and / or at specific times of the day. The great divide that separates cyclists from drivers of motorized vehicles with 4-plus wheels isn't going to narrow anytime soon. In spite of the net-zero madness, there is zip political ambition to allocate massive funds to cycling, build proper infrastructure, elaborate a nationwide integrated cycling network, educate all road users. Why? Because motorists of all kinds are voters and taxpayers.
@Smoggysteve Right - as I say, though - that's a separate debate, that I'll leave to others.
AS I read this, I was wondering hao many other legal e-bikes may have been seized and crushed as a result of this bogus test? As I pointed out recently in a reply to a Facebook post that stated that e-bikes are limited to 25kph/15.5mph any bike, whether a pure pedal cycle or an e-bike, can exceed this speed if the rider can pedal hard enough, or when going downhill. The regulation just states that the motor must switch off at higher speeds. If the rider can achieve higher speeds unaided, that is legal. The test that the police used just demonstrated the maximum "speed" achieved by pedal power alone with no or little resistance can be much higher than the motor cut-off speed.
@ROOTminus1 Unfortunately, people will still do all they can to get past. the MGIFs can't help themselves and are a danger to everyone not only the cyclist.
It was going to weigh them up, but they were below the limit.
Clearly driver training and the driving test need to change to meet modern time poor driving conditions. I suggest the following need to be added to the practical test : 1) Undertaking on pavements. 2) Close passing cyclists or horses at 50mph.(It is clear from the comments on this website that cyclists do not appreciate how difficult a skill this is to master). 3) Threading between bollards to park on pavements near fast food outlets. 4) Steering with the knees while using a mobile phone and eating a burger or sushi, depending on the area. 5) Fighting with cyclists at roundabouts. For the advanced driving test the fighting will be with gangs of Hell's Angels or Mods. 6) Handbrake turns. 7) Driving at speed after all night parties. 8) Selecting the wrong gear and smashing into somebody's living room. The theory test could be shortened to make room for these practical additions. Maybe it could just be distilled down to learning crucial phrases like : "The cyclist came out of nowhere!" "I had the children in the car." "I had hunger knock and urgently needed an egg Mcmuffin." "I didn't see them." "I had been to a party and was wearing different shoes."
The headline states the article will "weigh up the pros and cons" but doesn't really provide any argument for keeping the limit. Or maybe it's to "weigh up the pros (of lowering the limit) and cons (of keeping the limit)"? Beyond having a different limit for either/or women's races/smaller riders, which I can see a strong argument for, I don't really see the point of just lowering the absolute limit. What will it achieve? We'll end up with aero bikes at the new limit but instead of costing £10-15k, it'll be £15-20k and we'll still hear more complaining about everything in the bike industry being so expensive. Sure, no one's forced to buy the TdF bike, but it does anchor the price ceiling, which will have an effect on every other model. There's a focus in the article on companies being able to make lightweight bikes again, or for pros to race on them. Well, they already exist for those that want them. And the pros? We might have a few years of bike choice, but we'll still end up with everyone using the aero bike at the new weight limit but with lots of expensive R&D and new materials that need to be paid for. Especially lightweight bikes don't have a right to exist. A 7kg bike from 20 years ago is the same weight as a 7kg bike today. I think what's more interesting is the suggestion of scaling the weight limit with rider weight. That feels fairer. But could it remove an advantage that a bigger sprinter might have over their colleagues, for example? We could end up with just the same style of rider across a whole race. It also feels like it doesnt make much sense to just map the men's limit onto the women's field. But then if it's an arbitrary limit, does that matter either?
22 thoughts on “Disc-ussion and debate continues over which brake is best but should it all stop here?; Red Bull Timelaps is back; Chris Froome’s epic in the Alps; Relatable Danish ad; Famous cycling faces invest in alcohol-free beer; New Tour kit + more on the live blog”
That TdF ad is absolutely
That TdF ad is absolutely glorious. I’m going to wear some old team kit on my next leisure ride now. MAMILs ahoy!
Very jealous of Froome. Haute
Very jealous of Froome. Haute-Savoie is hands down the nicest part of France and easily the best climbing (and in many cases the hardest) in all of the Alps.
If you get home and you’ve
If you get home and you’ve only done 99.4 miles it’s easy enough to go once more round the block. But what if you find you’ve only climbed 4,994m? I guess you’d have to take the Garmin up and down the stairs a few times before you saved the ride. (These are not problems I encounter often.)
captain_slog wrote:
I’d change my settings back to feet.
mdavidford wrote:
Im sure the MP for 1850 and father of the house Jacob Rees-Mogg would approve.
…on your abacus?
…on your abacus?
Big Drop have already done a
Big Drop have already done a collaboration with cycling brand Paria – a limited edition beer and a jersey. https://shop.bigdropbrew.com/products/paria-collab-tailwind
you can’t deny he is putting
you can’t deny he is putting in the graft
Yes! Very good luck to him even if he is really Kenyan. I’m still hoping for Geraint: 100% UK!
Two Monégasques, accents aren
Two Monégasques, accents aren’t important, darling.
Aww that’s nice.. Total
Aww that’s nice.. Total Direct Energie let primary school kids design their kit. Very much on point re pride month too! (Or will pride month be over once the tour starts..?)
Mr. Froome: 237km – 5.161m
Mr. Froome: 237km – 5.161m elevation – 27.3kmh avg speed.
Fiona Kolbinger: 428km – 5.042m elevation – 30.5kmh avg speed.
I think there is something that I can’t understand.
That was probably a base
That was probably a base mileage / low effort ride for Froome.
also more climbing per km,
also more climbing per km, although neither ride qualifies as flat
Ctulhu wrote:
Probably unnatural angles and eldritch dimensions – I’d’ve thought that would be right up your street
I start babbling about
I start babbling about horrifying, unnatural angles at about 15%.
Streetscape judicial review –
Streetscape judicial review – sounds like TfL have won the appeal case.
not sure why road.cc feels
not sure why road.cc feels the need to continue the divisive and binary debate about brakes. A well adjusted and maintained brake is better than a poorly adjusted brake. And all brakes require the user to understand how to use them and the limits of the equipment and the operator. context and conditions play a huge part. full stop.
love the tv ad…can imagine
love the tv ad…can imagine they could use a similar strategy for many sports… the upcoming olympics…or even getting back to commuting after a year…..
Global Nomad wrote:
I loved it too. Treating sport with humour,a sense of the ridiculous, and without pomposity. Football, looking at you…..
The disc-brake article was
The disc-brake article was ridiculous clickbait. Half of the ‘issues’ can also apply to rim brakes, the rest were hardly major. As for weight…there is already good evidence that weight doesn’t matter as much as we thought.
And the debate is over. Disc won.
SecretSam wrote:
you mean I can take two bidons on a long ride?
I don’t see MTB-ers having
I don’t see MTB-ers having this discussion – they work, that’s it!! Move on…Road cycling seems to attract technophobes, whereas MTB is far more willing to embrace it…..