Daddy day care, pro cyclist edition – Rigoberto Urán straps eight-month-old daughter in for training; Reverse Hour Record: how low can you go?; Cav back on (Ghent's) track; Stolen Italian bikes returned; FA Cup helmet; NFT + more on the live blog

Full gas at #zesdaagsegent! pic.twitter.com/fS7oxyjXJa

— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) November 16, 2021

You're not going to take the reverse Hour Record riding like that... 

It's become far too common for it not to be a problem.

— Curt (@CurtMerckx) November 16, 2021

There's more than bit of reaction to Shimano denying dodgy design causing cracks to their cranks...you lot had your say in the hundreds of replies we got to yesterday's story. 

The component giant says its engineers are trying to find out if there is a specific cause of crank failures, but that there isn't a design problem...

Several people sent in the photographic evidence of their own snapped Shimano stuff. Matthew Schieferstein pointed out "there's a whole Instagram page dedicated to the failures of your components....yeah, there's a design flaw."

> Shimano denies design problem with Hollowtech cranks despite reports of cracked arms

Mickey Boulton commented: "My 70kg wife did this to a pair of Ultegra cranks... she was so proud of herself... BEAST!" Others suggested the problem has been around for years...

Alan Dwyer wondered, "Maybe not design but maybe manufacturing-related?"

To which Grahame Baker, a principal lecturer in mechanical engineering at University of Greenwich, replied: "I would argue that is still a design issue — either the product hasn't been designed for the process available, or the process has been designed to be incapable of manufacturing the product. Splitting hairs, I know. But important in my world as a manufacturing engineer."

We're actually sending Grahame a broken crank for an inspection...we'll report back his thoughts...

Queen Katherine Academy in Peterborough has introduced further safety measures after a number of bike thefts from the school. A parent told Peterborough Matters that five bikes have been taken within the last four days.

"We are not even able to claim any assistance in replacing the bikes. [It] appears that anyone can now walk on to the site and just help themselves," they said. "Thefts have been reported to the police but there hasn’t been a positive response from their end yet."

Another said: "My son is worried to take his bike to school. Over five bikes and e-scooters have been stolen. My son told me last week he saw a man coming into the area where bikes were locked up. He told him he was collecting his child’s bike but my son said it did not look right and stayed away from approaching the man further."

Cambridgeshire Police confirmed they had visited the school and would investigate the thefts. The principal Lynn Mayes addressed the spate of thefts: "As soon as the matter was brought to our attention, we began working closely with Cambridgeshire Police and, as part of the investigation, have positioned police officers and members of staff to patrol areas where bike thefts have occurred."

The 22 Italian team bikes stolen by a gang during the UCI Track World Championships in Roubaix have been collected by the team's mechanics. Romanian police found the bikes during a raid on premises connected to a criminal organisation. Filippo Ganna's gold Pinarello and the rest of the World Championship-winning team pursuit bikes, complete with £8,500 titanium 3D-printed handlebars, were among the haul of stolen bikes found during the search.

Italian Federation president Cordiano Dagnoni told La Gazzetta dello Sport, "They [the team mechanics] loaded the bikes on Monday and left Romania straight away. Now the bikes are back in Italy, in the Montichiari velodrome. They’re all there, only a few wheels are missing."

After the raid, the head of the Italian delegation Roberto Amdio told the same newspaper that they believed the theft was a professional operation undertaken by a gang who knew which van to break into, despite security at the hotel.

.@OutOfCycling @davideformolo numa competição de equilíbrio. Menor distância numa hora. Ele fez 918m. pic.twitter.com/CioElvgqx9

— País do Ciclismo (@DoCiclismo) November 16, 2021

We were certain we could set an unbeatable distance for the shortest Hour Record...then we were reminded you actually have to ride your bike for 60 minutes and can't just sit on the start line...

UAE Team Emirates climber Davide Formolo and Maria Vittoria Sperotto are the new record holders after they unbelievably covered the exact same distance, 918m, during a simultaneous record attempt at the Rino Mercante Velodrome in Bassano del Grappa.

The event actually happened a couple of weeks ago, but was brought into the mainstream this morning as the video did the rounds on social media. It was livestreamed by La Repubblica delle Biciclette and the full hour of stalling is on their Facebook page...trust us, it's more entertaining than the actual Hour Record.

The pair took the title from Bruno Zanoni, the maglia nera (last placed rider) at the 1979 Giro d'Italia, who had set a best distance of 1,070m in 2019. It seems the reverse Hour Record has a habit for close finishes and high drama...Zanoni himself took the crown from two-time Giro winner Gilberto Simoni by one metre...

Put the aero bars away...the reverse Hour Record is the new challenge we want to see pro riders targeting...

Flandria has moved over its name decals over to its new dedicated site called, you guessed it... Name Decals. You now can design your decals with a real-time preview and there’s plenty of customisation available: change the font, font colour, outline colour, background colour and more. 

You can choose your flag, with options including ‘Star Wars Jedi’, ‘Type 1 Diabetic’, ‘Vegan’, and there’s even a ‘road.cc’ option, as well as the usual countries. 

A pack of two (for either side of your top tube) will cost ya £5.99 and if you need 40 for your 20 strong bike collection (of course), that’ll be £25.99. There are options in-between that too, don’t worry. 

It's topical considering yesterday's news that G's named frame was one of the reasons French police knew the 15-year-old riding a sparkly Pinarello F in Menton probably obtained it by nefarious means...

Get yours over here...

We've done some more digging and found the original story on the bike lane message...turns out all of you saying it's Photoshopped were right. What's more, it was actually mocked up by Stevenage Cycle Touring Club to highlight the danger of the obstructed cycle lane.

The BBC story from 2013 includes quotes from the club, saying the lane was "hardly encouragement" for cyclists and undermined the council's claim to support active travel.

"It perhaps shows the true priorities for the county council. [It's] dangerous and a waste of money when we are told that budgets are tight. The money would have been better spent fixing the many potholes that are dangerous for cyclists and motorists," Jim Brown of the club said at the time.

pic.twitter.com/n9RaxIzT1q

— No Context Brits (@NoContextBrits) November 16, 2021

This one has been doing the rounds on Twitter and went semi-viral thanks to a push from 'No Context Brits' half a million followers. The account dedicated to "a mordant celebration of British mediocrity" shared a picture of some classic British infra...

The bumpy shared-use path split down the middle by a wobbly white line is a classic of the UK infra genre. We all know one. But the star attraction here is that traffic information display slapped bang in the centre of the lane, giving cyclists a dark-coloured pole to aim for...on said display, the message: "Cyclists: please note, you are about to ride into a pole." Clever.

But can it be real. We have to admit it all looks a little bit too 'clean'. Some have said it's got to be Photoshopped. Regardless, it got people sending in their other worst bike lane signs...

pic.twitter.com/VZS949iz8H

— Emma Louisa 🇬🇧❤️ (@Emmalouisajones) November 16, 2021

🤭 pic.twitter.com/z6zzRKalWm

— Emma Louisa 🇬🇧❤️ (@Emmalouisajones) November 16, 2021

And who could forget...

pic.twitter.com/sDcBxeNRNl

— Patriot (@Martyj13) November 16, 2021