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Bonkers Buckaroo bikepacking set-up; Yves Lampaert spotted riding mountain bike with panniers home from national TT win; Jeremy Vine's 'Clown of the Day'; Could the Tour de France be returning to London?; Count the commuters + more on the live blog

Dan Alexander will be taking you through Thursday with all your updates from the cycling world on the live blog
17 June 2021, 15:45
Rohan Dennis jumping ship from Ineos Grenadiers to ride for rivals Jumbo-Visma, according to Dutch media report
Rohan Dennis (Eurosport)

Some slightly surprising transfer news to wrap up Thursday. Rohan Dennis is heading to Jumbo-Visma, according to Dutch outlet Wielerflits. The two-time world time trial champion has impressed since signing for Ineos, adapting to his new role as a super domestique following a controversial ending to his time with the team now known as Bahrain Victorious.

Media reports suggest that despite having the option to sign a new deal with Ineos or link up with his former sports director from BMC, Allan Peiper, at UAE Team Emirates, Dennis has decided to sign for GC rivals Jumbo-Visma. The Dutch team reportedly sees the Aussie as the heir to Tony Martin's vital role within their Grand Tour unit. It will be interesting to see if Dennis makes an appearance when Ineos reveal their Tour team in the coming week...

17 June 2021, 15:04
Zwift confirmed as presenting partner of Tour de France Femmes

The inaugural edition of the women's Tour de France will start on Sunday 24 July 2022 with Zwift on-board as a presenting partner. The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will begin in Paris on the Champs-Élysées and is the biggest step in creating an equal competition for female riders running alongside the biggest event in the men's calendar. Zwift founder Eric Min explained why he was so keen to be involved: "This is an incredibly important announcement for us as we look to build on our investment in women’s cycling and really help grow and develop the sport. Together we can bring women’s cycling to a larger audience and inspire new generations of female cyclists for years to come."

Zwift has signed a deal to be involved for four years with the event which will see female riders compete for the yellow jersey over eight stages with full TV coverage.

17 June 2021, 14:39
Primož Roglič insists he is not the favourite for the Tour de France

Primož Roglič has distanced himself from the favourite's tag ahead of the Tour de France Grand Depart next Saturday. Roglič suggested there will be more competition than simply just himself and Slovenian compatriot Tadej Pogačar in the fight for yellow.

"I wouldn’t even place myself, I don’t consider myself as so big a favourite,” Roglič told RMC Sport. "I’m not the defending champion. At the end, I didn’t race for a while. I will just go there and in the end we have to see how it goes. There are lots of guys who are super strong that are capable of winning. It’s not just a fight between me and Tadej. You have twenty other guys and I think all the race is just bigger than we are, so we definitely just need to go there, do our best with our guys. And in the end, we’ll see what that means with the result."

17 June 2021, 14:19
How do you celebrate becoming Belgian national TT champion? If you're Yves Lampaert you ride home on a city bike with panniers

Yves Lampaert needs to give Rob some advice on panniers. In true Belgian style the Deceuninck-Quick-Step rider returned home from his second national TT championship win on a humble steed without any of his flash team kit. The video shared on Instagram shows the 30-year-old being cheered on by the people in the car behind as he basks in the glory of his win.

Lampaert isn't quite at the 50.3km/h average speed that won him his title but he finds the time to give a victory salute. On a similar note, last week Team GB track star Laura Kenny hitched a lift to the velodrome on a cargo pulled by fellow serial gold medal winner and husband Jason Kenny.

17 June 2021, 10:48
Bonkers Buckaroo bikepacking set-up...starring obligatory aero bars

We need answers. Can Rob even use those aero bars or are they merely there to mount everything around? It doesn't look very...well, aero...but we're guessing that's not the point. He's been on the road for a month now, riding more than 2,000 miles from Bournemouth to Land's End to John O' Groats and back again on his Mason Cycles Bokeh GRX and has probably broken a record for most stuff carried in the process.

For a proper look at bikepacking, and what kit we'd recommend, head over to our friends at off-road.cc where they've got a complete guide with everything you need to know when preparing for a two-wheeled adventure...

We've also got a round-up of 26 of the best bikepacking bags so you don't have copy Rob's unique set-up...unless you want to, of course...

17 June 2021, 12:58
Reaction to Transport for London's successful appeal against Streetspace ruling

Yesterday's Court of Appeal decision against a ruling from the High Court that Streetspace active travel initiatives were unlawful was greeted warmly by active travel proponents...

Jeremy Vine called it a "massive moment for cycling in London". Saying, "if confirmed, the Bishopsgate judgement means more protection for vulnerable road users and less chance of 'professional' drivers pretending they need access to all roads for all customers."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the decision "is a vindication of our policies". He continued: "Our world-leading Streetspace schemes are helping protect the health of Londoners, and this decision reinforces my determination to make it safer and easier for Londoners to walk and cycle, and to help ensure a green and sustainable recovery from the pandemic."

17 June 2021, 12:11
Tom Dumoulin marks return with fourth Dutch national time trial championship

After an extended break from the sport Tom Dumoulin is back near the top of the world in TTs. Dumoulin yesterday won his fourth national championship in the discipline, beating Sebastian Langeveld and teammate Koen Bouwmann. 

"In the second part the heat started to play a role. My legs became slightly tired. It was hard work," Dumoulin said. "But I have recovered well after a week of racing in Switzerland. I rode a very good time trial. If I had ridden this time trial a few years ago, I would have been very happy too. I am close to my good form. In Switzerland it went a little bit better every day. I started to like racing more and more. I have continued that feeling. I am very happy with the title today. This is really a victory over myself."

The win will be a confidence boost ahead of his main goal of the year at the Tokyo Olympics where the Jumbo-Visma rider will look to add a gold medal to his world title from 2017. Elsewhere, Aleksandr Vlasov, Emma Norsgaard, Stefan Küng and Rein Taaramäe all won their respective country's TT championship. 

17 June 2021, 11:41
We're saying nothing...

If you missed yesterday's big story about Egan Bernal visiting the Pope with a brand new Pinarello Dogma and maglia rosa, check it out here. 

17 June 2021, 09:51
Largest GPS drawing by bicycle record holder sets new target of riding between all 20 Premier League clubs during the Euros
Gordon Miller Ride for Freedom.png

Most of us are enjoying the Euros by setting up camp on the sofa and enjoying a few cold ones...Gordon Miller will be putting in some big miles on the bike for an excellent cause. Riding between every Premier League ground between 27 June and 11 July, Gordon is hoping to shine a light on modern slavery, specifically child trafficking in sport.

Starting at Wembley, Gordon will be visiting all 20 top-flight stadiums in time for the final of the Euros and must be ruing Norwich's promotion. A mammoth ride but it's not his first epic cycle challenge...last year he set the Guinness World Record for the largest GPS drawing by bicycle by riding 620.5 miles (998.7km) around England to spell out the message 'end modern slavery'. 

You can find all the details on the Ride for Freedom website...

17 June 2021, 08:46
Count the cyclists

I'm going for 11...but there was definitely another group of riders coming into the very blurry shot at the end of the video... 

17 June 2021, 08:44
Sadiq Khan wants to bring Tour de France back to London...once wounds of Boris Johnson's 2015 comments have healed
Tour de France 2014 Cambridge-London break (source L'Etape London)

Sadiq Khan hopes to bring the Tour de France back to London for the first time since stage three of the 2014 edition (pictured above). During his re-election campaign the Mayor of London pledged to push for the Olympics back in the capital in 2036 or 2040 and the Evening Standard reports Khan is eager to host Tour de France stages too.

Khan admitted that bridges may have to be rebuilt after Boris Johnson's decision to pull out of hosting the 2017 Grand Depart, saying it's "not worth it". Johnson insisted the money would be better spent on cycling infrastructure and should not be "wasted" on something that "would only deliver very brief benefits". 

Some even suggested that the 2017 route was designed to troll the now PM over Brexit by passing through four of the six countries that signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957, founding the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the European Union (EU). Niche.

17 June 2021, 07:42
Jeremy Vine spots 'Clown of the Day' using phone while driving without hands on the wheel

'Clown of the Day' with Jeremy Vine...I'm sensing the start of a new series. Riding down Kensington High Street, Vine's nifty 360-degree camera spots this driver completely oblivious to the presenter. The motorist doesn't have either hand on the wheel and continues to scroll his phone as he rolls forward with the traffic.

Despite the BMW driver's protestations, Vine tells him: "I'm going to have to report you I'm really sorry. Why should I have to share the road with somebody as dangerous as you? You're not even putting your hands on the steering wheel."

I guess it would be nice if Kensington High Street had a protected cycle route for riders to avoid having to filter through traffic past distracted drivers...Oh, that would be the one Boris Johnson was said to be 'ballistic' after it was been ripped out last December.

Who is going to be the next clown in Jeremy Vine's circus?

Dan joined road.cc in 2020, and spent most of his first year (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. At the start of 2022 he took on the role of news editor. Before joining road.cc, Dan wrote about various sports, including football and boxing for the Daily Express, and covered the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Part of the generation inspired by the 2012 Olympics, Dan has been 'enjoying' life on two wheels ever since and spends his weekends making bonk-induced trips to the petrol stations of the south of England.

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51 comments

Avatar
brooksby | 2 years ago
0 likes

Quote:

Bonkers Buckaroo bikepacking set-up

Oh - the game! <slaps forehead>

I thought you meant they had an Oscillation Overthruster mounted on their bike...

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ChrisB200SX | 2 years ago
0 likes

When I had a (slightly older) BMW i3, I managed to have a two hour text message chat with my brother through the car's voice control without once touching the phone or looking at a screen.
So that idiot didn't even need the phone in his hand!

Avatar
wtjs | 2 years ago
6 likes

Vine is certainly performing a valuable service to the public, but it's unfortunate that he felt he had to apologise to the driver for reporting him to the police. This implies that Vine had something to apologise for, and slightly opens the door for the nutter social media comments about the Stasi. He should have been even more pleased to be a means of a BMW driver getting his just desserts, which seems likely to happen in London. I wonder if Vine's celebrity status would have prevented Lancashire Constabulary's reflex action of filing video reports of traffic offences straight in the bin.

I went to a Magistrates' Court for the first time on Monday- I felt slightly guilty about being present for a preceding case in which I had no interest, but I soon perked up on hearing that it was a typical BMW driver chalking up an increase from 6 speeding points to 9. Sadly, it wasn't the jackpot- I would have enjoyed being present for that. Let's see how I do with this one.

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Steve K | 2 years ago
4 likes

Excellent idea from Mr Miller and a very important cause.  All I can say from personal experience, however, is that cycling to every Premier League ground is a lot harder when you have to watch Crystal Palace play when you get there...

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eburtthebike | 2 years ago
4 likes

Now I understand why so many people are terrified of clowns.

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gazza_d | 2 years ago
4 likes

Le Tour can spend a day sightseeing in London on it's way back to France when it's been back to Yorkhire. 

TdY has had 2 years out due to the pandemic, but that and the Worlds were huge and TdY will be when it returns 

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G-bitch | 2 years ago
4 likes

Re. buckaroo bike packing.  Off-road touring aside... can all road.cc readers please just pledge to share some honest and straightforward luggage advice with anyone they speak to pondering some two-wheeled travel?  If it's on road, and it's not racing, panniers might be a good option. I fear there are some poor sods out there spending enormous sums on bikepacking bags and ending up with that sort of set-up and associated issues when it may not be necessary. Or worse... just facing the indignity of a cycle tour without enough room to stash a BFO bottle of beer/wine/buckie and a giant bar of chocolate when you know there's no shop options after finding a spot to pitch up.

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HoarseMann replied to G-bitch | 2 years ago
2 likes

I must admit to thinking that was a good advert for racks/panniers and butterfly bars. But I quickly told myself off!

Fair play to him - he's out there doing it, which is more than I can say. Plus there's quite a bit of dust on the bike, a hint that perhaps it's seen a fair bit of off-road riding.

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G-bitch replied to HoarseMann | 2 years ago
4 likes

Yes, clearly getting some off-roading in there - I think I'm just genuinely a little perplexed at how the majority of cycle-touring content on instagram/twitter is 'bikepacking' led - someone show me a fairlight with racks!  As a died in the wool tourist though, it's fabulous that more people are seeing the light, however the load is carried!    

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Hirsute replied to G-bitch | 2 years ago
6 likes

Sorry to read of your untimely death.

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brooksby replied to Hirsute | 2 years ago
1 like

hirsute wrote:

Sorry to read of your untimely death.

That wool can be pretty dangerous, I hear...

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Captain Badger replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
1 like

brooksby wrote:

.....

That wool can be pretty dangerous, I hear...

There's a real risk of being fleeced

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andystow replied to G-bitch | 2 years ago
3 likes

I've settled on a Tubus front rack with a pannier on one side, and my tent and sleeping pad lashed to the other. I also have a front rando style bag. I'm considering a tail or frame bag and downsizing that huge left pannier. I like front heavy better than tail heavy, but this is a bit too front heavy.

I do have extra room to carry a 6 pack to camp.

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Velophaart_95 | 2 years ago
2 likes

I'd be more impressed if he made a bid for the Giro, or even the Vuelta.....the Tour has been here before; and in London before....

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Awavey replied to Velophaart_95 | 2 years ago
0 likes

it would make more sense and probably stand more chance, but then you cant blame Boris for upsetting the organisers of those yet...interesting also to note in the same interview Khan talks flying in parts of the Indian premier league cricket tournament to play in London and is already being in discussions for London to host a Formula 1 race,possibly as early as 2023.

not quite sure how any of that sits with a walking,cycling green recovery strategy maybe the teams will pay a congestion charge per lap or something, but it does earn more points in the Burson Cohn & Wolfe annual ranking of sporting cities survey, that London lost its top ranking to New York in, and which identifies as its key survey learnings that hosting major global sports events like F1 or the Olympics boosts your ranking.

apparently even just talking about hosting them boosts it too...

Avatar
Awavey | 2 years ago
1 like

Boris had a point, for a minimum outlay of 1million quid, that money could be better spent on longer term cycling goals. For all the boosting & flattering of egos hosting a Tour stage/Grand depart imparts, it's very short lived affair, does Yorkshire feel any of the warm glow of hosting Le Tour anymore ? has London even forgotten it hosted a stage finish just 7 years ago?

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Inspector Kevin... replied to Awavey | 2 years ago
9 likes

Awavey wrote:

. For all the boosting & flattering of egos hosting a Tour stage/Grand depart imparts, it's very short lived affair, does Yorkshire feel any of the warm glow of hosting Le Tour anymore ?

 

Hell yeah. Also we have (hopefully) the TdY as a legacy event and had the Worlds. Massive contributions to cycling take up and interest in competitive cycling across Yorkshire. I always love coming across the Belgians and Dutch who come over to watch and ride. 
 

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Awavey | 2 years ago
7 likes

Awavey wrote:

Boris had a point, for a minimum outlay of 1million quid, that money could be better spent on longer term cycling goals. For all the boosting & flattering of egos hosting a Tour stage/Grand depart imparts, it's very short lived affair, does Yorkshire feel any of the warm glow of hosting Le Tour anymore ? has London even forgotten it hosted a stage finish just 7 years ago?

Why not both?

Hosting a stage is more of a tourism thing whereas cycling infrastructure is more in line with "levelling up" the country in terms of improving mass transit and public health.

I don't even know why one is being compared to another - there's little discussion of professional motorsport events when roads are being planned/built/repaired.

Avatar
Awavey replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
5 likes

Well sure you could spend on both but then its costing you twice as much to do something and it would be nice for politicians for once to consider its public money they spend.

As for the tourism angle, London is already one of the worlds top tourist destinations, it was (pre covid) literally like the 2nd most visited city in the world, more than half of overseas visitors trips to the UK,visit London. It really doesnt struggle to attract tourists by not hosting one off sporting events and its actually a gigantic gravity well for the rest of the UKs tourism industry because it's much harder to get those same tourists out of London to travel & visit the rest of UK as a result.

If the UK were to host TdF again it would be better to pick anywhere but London imo, but rest of UK doesnt get millions of pounds in promo budgets to spend so it wont happen.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Awavey | 2 years ago
11 likes

Awavey wrote:

Well sure you could spend on both but then its costing you twice as much to do something and it would be nice for politicians for once to consider its public money they spend. As for the tourism angle, London is already one of the worlds top tourist destinations, it was (pre covid) literally like the 2nd most visited city in the world, more than half of overseas visitors trips to the UK,visit London. It really doesnt struggle to attract tourists by not hosting one off sporting events and its actually a gigantic gravity well for the rest of the UKs tourism industry because it's much harder to get those same tourists out of London to travel & visit the rest of UK as a result. If the UK were to host TdF again it would be better to pick anywhere but London imo, but rest of UK doesnt get millions of pounds in promo budgets to spend so it wont happen.

I'm pretty sure that some of the extra money we've saved from Brexit could be used to finance it.

Avatar
ChrisB200SX replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
11 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

I'm pretty sure that some of the extra money we've saved from Brexit could be used to finance it.

£350,000,000 per week should cover it?

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to ChrisB200SX | 2 years ago
8 likes

ChrisB200SX wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

I'm pretty sure that some of the extra money we've saved from Brexit could be used to finance it.

£350,000,000 per week should cover it?

Nah, the NHS has earmarked that.... greedy bastards.

Avatar
HarrogateSpa replied to Awavey | 2 years ago
10 likes

From a tourism angle, we could try not being deeply unpleasant and untrustworthy in our dealings with the European countries just across the Channel.

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Flintshire Boy replied to HarrogateSpa | 2 years ago
1 like

Pot.

 

Kettle.

 

Get over it!

Avatar
ChrisB200SX replied to Awavey | 2 years ago
1 like

Awavey wrote:

Boris had a point, for a minimum outlay of 1million quid, that money could be better spent on longer term cycling goals. For all the boosting & flattering of egos hosting a Tour stage/Grand depart imparts, it's very short lived affair, does Yorkshire feel any of the warm glow of hosting Le Tour anymore ? has London even forgotten it hosted a stage finish just 7 years ago?

It doesn't have to be either/or, it's also not  huge amount of money, probably a loss-leader overall.

Avatar
peted76 | 2 years ago
2 likes

It'd be great to have the Tour back in Blighty... A prologue time trial in London past some landmarks and then a stage showcasing some of our rolling countryside.

Avatar
peted76 | 2 years ago
16 likes

It's almost a shame that citizens aren't financially incentivised to catch eejits like that car driver, in particular on to catch people on their phones. If there was an incentive, those 360 degree cameras could earn someone a living. I'm thinking, easy nationwide reporting system, £200 fines per infringment, £10 in the pocket of the person reporting it. 

Avatar
Jenova20 replied to peted76 | 2 years ago
10 likes

peted76 wrote:

It's almost a shame that citizens aren't financially incentivised to catch eejits like that car driver, in particular on to catch people on their phones. If there was an incentive, those 360 degree cameras could earn someone a living. I'm thinking, easy nationwide reporting system, £200 fines per infringment, £10 in the pocket of the person reporting it. 

I like this idea. It would be a great idea for illegal parking too, and a great way for people to make some extra cash.

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Darren Hunt replied to Jenova20 | 2 years ago
9 likes

I could literaly shop my neighbour every week for illegally parking on the pavement and too close to a junction, that could fund my bike habit!  3

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Mary Willoughby replied to peted76 | 2 years ago
2 likes

I think the Satsi operated a similar regime whereby people were incentivised to report on the failings of other citizens to the authorities.

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