“It’s like Manchester United”: Sir Bradley Wiggins takes shot at Ineos celebrating Paris-Nice stage win “as if they were a French team”; “You are spitting up a lot of blood”: Aussie rider reveals gruesome details of surgery + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Tube unions want TfL to ban e-bikes from the London Underground following latest fire
> Tube unions want TfL to ban e-bikes from the London Underground following latest fire
Merida posts £180m loss — but insists eye-watering figure a "one-time" hit and sales are up 48% in 2025
“They make a cut inside your nose… you are spitting up a lot of blood all the time”: Jai Hindley shares gruesome details of surgery for deviated nasal septum
We often get so caught up in the specifics of cycling that it’s easy to forget that riders, just like us, can also suffer from non-cycling medical issues. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Jai Hindley, has just reminded us of that with some gory details of what it means as pro cyclist when you are faced with medical scares like these.
The 2022 Giro d’Italia winner and Tour de France stage winner faced a low-key 2024 season, with not much going his way in races, and the 28-year-old Australian has now revealed that part of it could be attributed to his battle with illness.
“It basically started after Tirreno [2024], I just had this run of illness. It was not normal at all,” he told Velo. “You put in the work, put in the time, sacrifice everything and then you still go like shit, basically. It was pretty frustrating.”
The issue remained a mystery until an ENT specialist diagnosed Hindley with a deviated nasal septum. “We came to the idea that potentially can be the reason why I’m getting so sick. My nose is quite narrow and it’s just easy for bacteria to get stuck in there,” he said.
He had shared a picture of his post-surgery on Instagram in October, captioning the photo as a ‘moustache implant’, jokingly referencing it to Movember. Now, Hindley has gone deeper into the details: “They make a cut inside your nose, take out the cartilage. And from what I understand, they hammer it flat on a table or something, and then they put it back in.
“I think it’s a bit more scientific than that, but I think that’s the general way of working. It’s pretty rough. For two weeks your nose is really out of action and feeling really grim. You are spitting up a lot of blood all the time, and just feeling really blocked. The nose is really swollen too — if you look at the team photos, my nose is pretty big…”
And if you’d look at his results, the effects are clear. Hindley secured a commendable fifth spot in the general classification at this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico. He added: “Basically our team doctor was pretty convinced that if I got this surgery, then it would help a lot. You have got to do everything you can.
“In theory it should help the breathing a lot, and also should reduce the amount of sickness during the season. If it can help even a little bit, then it’s worth doing, in my opinion.”
Oh you’ve never done a cyclocross race with the cutest dog on your back and won it? Ah…
Honor Elliott making us plebeians feel even bad, and gaining some extreme cool points (or aura, as youngsters say these days) for having her dog on her back while competing in a cyclocross race at Herne Hill Velodrome — and winning it too.
Scroll for the cutest podium picture you’ll see…
She captioned the picture: “Raced cyclocross with my dog. Don’t think he even questioned why his nice bike ride was a little bumpier than usual, why we seemed to be passing the same places over and over again, and why people were shouting his name. He fell asleep, we won.”
“Who’s got a spare £3,000 these days and for something we didn’t do?”: Another couple returning from France fined £3,000 after two migrants found in bike rack
After the widely-reported story, in which Adrian and Joanne Fenton, returning from France after their holiday, were fined £1,500 after a migrant was found inside their bike rack, another similar news story has emerged.
The BBC reports that Lisa Russell and her partner Geoff Evans have now been the subject of an even larger £3,000 fine after Border Force found two migrants hiding inside the bike rack, stowed in their campervan.
The couple from Kent, once again in events mirroring the Fentons’ case, were returning from a short break in France last October and had taken the ferry from Calais. However, they were stopped by Border Force officers, who discovered a man a teenager hiding in the bike rack, believed to have hidden themselves before they arrived at Calais port.
Ms Russell said: “We came out of a shopping centre and saw a lady was guarding her van and our van. She told us someone had tried to steal our bikes.”
After leaving the shopping centre, she said that they felt “uneasy” and decided to go to the docks because it would be “safer”.
“After Border Force officers inspected our van at the port, they said we could go. Just as we pulled away, they told us to stop as we had two stowaways on our bike rack over the bike cover”, Ms Russell said, adding that they remained at Calais for three hours while authorities dealt with the incident.
The couple have now received a fine from the Home Office four months later, with a spokesperson saying that they “understand that recipients of penalties may disagree with the circumstances of the fine”.
The spokesperson added that they are “fully committed” in stopping people from illegally entering the country and “cracking down on people smugglers”.
They said: “The Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Scheme is there to ensure drivers take every reasonable step to deter irregular migration. The option to appeal and trigger a review is made clear in supporting documents.”
> Home Office cancels cyclists’ £1,500 fine over migrant found inside bike rack
Ms Russell, however, remarked: “Who’s got a spare £3,000 these days and for something we didn’t do? We feel like the victims and it’s really unfair.”
It was reported yesterday that the previous couple had their fines cancelled by the Home Office, via an email through the Border Force, with the Fentons “left ecstatic” with the news.
"Tree-hugging" protests backed by David Attenborough continue as council chops down trees to make way for controversial cycle lane
‘Paris sans velo’
Like any good Instagramming tourist, Mark Cavendish recapped his recent trip to Paris this afternoon with a series of snaps featuring breakfast pastries, coffees, desserts, a PSG match, the Arc de Triomphe, and his recent go at the city’s half marathon (we’re not sure if he hid in Tommy Voeckler’s slipstream for the entire race before sprinting by at the end)…
Come on Cav, at least make one trip to Paris properly relaxing now you’re retired.
“It’s like Manchester United”: Sir Bradley Wiggins takes shot at Ineos Grenadiers celebrating Paris-Nice stage win “as if they were a French team”, instead of a team that “aimed to win all three grand tours”
Just a week after comparing Ineos Grenadiers with Manchester United, Sir Bradley Wiggins is back with more comparisons to the football team struggling under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ownership.
Come on Wiggo, United have had a decent week (we beat relegation contenders Leicester City. Oh, and also Real Sociedad to make it to the Europa quarter-finals), let them off the hook…
Appearing on Lance Armstrong’s The Move podcast with former US Postal Service directeur sportif Johan Bruyneel, the Tour de France winner and five-time Olympic champion didn’t shy away from ripping into the British squad, which continued its mini-resurgence after a disappointing 2024 season with a stage win at Paris-Nice, thanks to a solo effort from Magnus Sheffield.
And while the team, said to be stuck in a transition phase for the last few years, has recorded four wins so far in the early parts of the road racing season, it is far from the success it enjoyed during its heyday as Team Sky, of which Wiggins was an integral part of.
Commenting on the team’s celebrations, elicited after Sheffield’s first-ever WorldTour victory, Wiggins said: “Ineos used to be a team that aimed to win all three grand tours, and now winning a stage in Paris-Nice is considered a big success.”
“It’s like Manchester United — the whole perception of success has changed. It’s as if they’re a French team now, celebrating a stage win in Paris-Nice. A few years ago, they wouldn’t have even gone for that. It’s remarkable, considering their budget, their riders, and their structure.”
The comparisons with the beleaguered Mancunian squad, also under the co-ownership of Sir Jim Ratcliffe after his minority stake bid last year, come just a week after he posed similar remarks.
While expressing his disdain for Dave Brailsford, Director of Sport for Ineos (as in, the whole enterprise — cycling, football — all of it) and tasked with rejuvenating Manchester United, Wiggins made light of his ‘Mission 21’ with the 20-time English top-flight football champions.
“Mission 21? More like Mission Championship,” Wiggins sneered, referring to the fact that Ruben Amorim’s side find themselves closer to the relegation zone than to the European qualifications spots.
Wiggins, who’s been faced with financial woes of late, with his unpaid debts doubling to almost two million pounds, did have some good things to say about Tom Pidcock, who left Ineos Grenadiers after a protracted transfer saga to join Q36.5 ProCycling.
He said: “I’m impressed by Tom since he left Ineos. He looks much more mature, as if he’s finally able to take responsibility. I saw the interview where he said he let Ayuso go. Maybe he was a bit surprised, but that’s better than how he handled things in the past. If he can maintain this focus going into the Giro, he can fight for the podium there.”
“He’s been presented as the next British winner of the Tour de France. This is his make-or-break year, where he has to prove himself.”
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I'm intrigued what the data says for Scotland. Last year in Stirling, I had my bike (plus tailfin setup and camping kit) removed from the station cycle park and left against a rail to see if I noticed it. Thankfully I did and quickly made my way to get my train. I reported it online to PS when I got home, it was left for less than a hour and I mentioned that as a solo female traveller the most unnerving bit, was someone clearly watching me. Despite it being logged and a PS email to arrange a call back, the call back never came. They then had the nerve to text me a response questionnaire on how they'd done.
@mdavidford This is the instagram post. All seems very reasonable to me in view of the fire risk the batteries pose and the possibility of scooters and e-bikes being ridden in a dangerous manner when it's crowded at the start and end of the day. Children are still being encouraged to cycle to school but I'm a bit concerned that they are singling out tim for the lunch ban.
@mdavidford I thought you may have detected a hint of sarcasm there! Seriously though the standard of driving is much higher in London than Marrakesh.
That's terrifying!! I'm pretty sure I'd have ridden (or perhaps fallen or jumped) into the concrete ditch on the right; I wouldn't have even tried to stay on the carriageway. ********** Years ago in Laos I was riding into Vang Vieng at about 15mph when a lorry came straight towards me at full pelt (I was on the correct - right - side of the road). I made the instant decision to ride into the water-filled ditch on my right that ran immediately parallel to the road, having no idea of its depth. The water was only about 10 inches deep and I slowed down covered in muck but still upright. I then went back to see why the driver had chosen my side of the road, as he wasn't overtaking. Turns out there wasn't his side of the road - just a massive hole where it had been...
Whenever I see a near miss like this I can't stop myself thinking of all the excuses, sorry, reasons the police might give for not taking action if it happened in this country. List so far : We are not allowed to judge distances so we don't know how close the lorry was. At this point the lorry driver is going to have to inconvenience somebody. Lorry didn't cross the white line so it was the cyclists fault for not being in the cycle lane. Lorry was established. A close pass is not an offence. Am I getting cynical in my old age? Well done to the cyclist for staying alive.
This short sample of bargains tells the cycling community that retail prices are way too expensive. As fot Giant, they seem unable to get rid of their ageing inventory.
"...the delivery lorry in his lane, attempting to overtake another lorry..." "...the lorry does not decelerate or seek to move back to its own lane..." but "... as the driver narrowly avoids him." Come on @Callum Devereux Do better.
Bath cyclist view. Whilst being a very lovely city to live in, it is at times (and places) a car infested hell-scape which is easy just to accept when you live here. I pretty much walk and cycle within the city, and only get the car out if I have to (miserable at times). With narrow roads, lots of on-street parking, no outer ring road (geography; through traffic), a river splitting the city N/S, plenty of good private/state schools and some pretty steep hills, it's a toxic mix of inconsiderate entitled drivers and rat-runs; for years the traffic problem has been in the council's 'too difficult' box. They may not get it 100% right, but the current Lib Dem council are pushing ahead with new pedestrian crossings, shutting rat-runs, implementing 20mph speed limits, scooter/bike hire scheme and installing cycle lanes; it drives the car-lobby wild and their human right to drive wherever, whenever and however is violated (I include people who live around me in this group; "how will we get around?"). The local Greens seem to just side with the noisy NIMBYs, regardless of whether it's 'green', as it probably helps their election prospects. As a cyclist, you need your wits about you and where to go to avoid toxic traffic; I've felt safer cycling in London. I think this new park route links the cycle route(s) from the centre of town up towards Weston and the hospital reasonably well; bit of uphill in the park (noting that a N route is recommended). The 'antis' point out that there are already 2 parallel cycle routes, the river path and the section of the U Bristol Rd that has dedicated cycle lanes (they're still screaming about that one). The river path feeds cyclists towards the 2-tunnels route S and the Bristol Bath cycle path; tbh, it has a lot of pedestrian traffic and is pretty narrow and bumpy (tree roots) between Windsor Bridge and Locksbrook (apparently will be upgraded). The U Bristol Rd lanes incl floating bus stops etc (wouldn't be cheap to remove), but at the W end they just stop and turf you out onto a pretty busy road. Cyclists travelling from Newbridge may just stick to the U Bristol Rd, and enjoy the respite offered by the cycle lane stretch, or could head down to the river path. I dislike the car zealots so much (one resident group has taken their self-funded LTN complaint to the High Court) that anything that sticks one up their proverbial is fine by me. If I can make an effort to get about the city by means other than a car (I even invested in a ebike to use a bike more; kills off the hill problem), then perhaps they could to.
Sorry? What country do you live in?
Range Rover ban for school runs?
19 thoughts on ““It’s like Manchester United”: Sir Bradley Wiggins takes shot at Ineos celebrating Paris-Nice stage win “as if they were a French team”; “You are spitting up a lot of blood”: Aussie rider reveals gruesome details of surgery + more on the live blog”
I don’t know why Dave
I don’t know why Dave Brailsford is wasted at Man U, looking at his Palmares, his sporting experience has been built up in Cycling, and not managing a team of people kicking a bag of wind around a field.
Surely it’s a pig’s bladder?
Surely it’s a pig’s bladder?
When Dave Brailsford was at
When Dave Brailsford was at British cycling and Team Sky, he used to make efforts to recruit performance coaches and small gains people from other sports such as swimming. It promoted new ideas and ways of thinking. Whether football is ready to accept ideas from other sports, is not clear.
At Man Utd, he is managing bags of wind kicking other bags of wind around a field.
at Man Utd its more about
at Man Utd its more about managing the bags of wind who used to play the game but now endlessly criticise from the comfy pundit sofa, than anyone getting a tune out of their current setup.
so we’re supposed to listen
so we’re supposed to listen to Bradley talking about big teams when he couldnt even keep his own affairs in order…..maybe he should have spent more time looking at his own accounts.
I mean, Bradley Wiggins used
I mean, Bradley Wiggins used to celebrate winning the TdF, now hes just happy not to be in a mountain of debt. Am I doing this right Wiggo?
Maybe a big part of the
Maybe a big part of the reason for Ineos celebrating was the fact that it was Magnus Sheffield’s first World Tour win. They are a team after all, and in any team you should be delighted at your teammates’ success, especially a relative youngster’s first big win.
Jakrayan wrote:
And doubly so to celebrate such a remarkable recovery after the appalling physical and mental trauma of being in the same crash that killed Gino Mader.
Quite right, that was
Quite right, that was mentioned during the commentary on Discovery / TNT which was a nice touch.
Doing the half price for 7 months that was talked about here – don’t hate me for signing up with the evil corporation 😆
At half price why not? I’m
At half price why not? I’m getting it for free at the moment because it’s part of a mate’s Virgin package and he watches on TV, so I’ve got the streaming password – saw that mention and it was very moving.
Apparently a mercedes has
Apparently a mercedes has been involved in the death of a cyclist.
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cyclist-dies-after-suffering-head-10032327
I suppose it’s possible the mercedes was parked and the cyclist rode into it.
No mention about whether or not the cyclist was running cameras but it looks unlikely.
Quote:
Is this better or worse than riding through London with a cat?
*runs away*
I was just wondering if a
I was just wondering if a certain gentleman of this parish was about to remark that she might crash (happens quite often in cyclocross racing to be fair), land on her back and hurt the poor dog. But at least it’s properly strapped in and not loose in a basket on the front, though being thrown clear would arguably be much safer 😉😁
Is it cheating if you get the
Is it cheating if you get the dog to give you a tow? (A new “pooch-doping” scandal ahead?)
Shock news. BBC reporter
Shock news. BBC reporter amends article to use correct language in report of driver collision:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8ypjyv3ymo
“A woman has died after a van crashed into a number of pedestrians on the Strand in central London.”
amended to
“A woman has died after a van driver crashed into a number of pedestrians on the Strand in central London.”
Somewhat unsurprisingly the
Somewhat unsurprisingly the once proud Thunderer still has the motonormativity language:
https://www.thetimes.com/article/ed21b13f-18bf-44a4-a8e6-a95550b124c1?shareToken=f5f965aa618bf8d26e15688dcbb77c06
Here’s another recent bbc
Here’s another recent bbc article about a 79 year old cyclist who dies after apparently being ‘involved in a car crash’. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr52pv5j032o.
Why the dig at the French
Why the dig at the French teams?
ErnieC wrote:
I don’t think he’s having a dig at the French teams, he just means that Paris-Nice is a massively prestigious race in France (probably second only to the Tour and equal with the Dauphine) and so a win means a lot to their public and sponsors, so naturally they have big celebrations when they take a stage; he is questioning why a British team is acting the same way (I don’t agree with him, it’s a prestigious race for everybody so why not celebrate, but I think that’s what he meant).