Jumbo-Visma rider praised for “true sportsmanship”, checked on injured Tao Geoghegan Hart after Giro-ending crash; G shows off super glamorous pro cycling hotels… hideously grim toilets and all; Man City vs… Lance Armstrong?! + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
G shows off super glamorous pro cycling hotels... hideously grim toilets and all
WARNING: DO NOT LOOK AT THIS IMAGE IF CURRENTLY EATING OR PLANNING TO CONSUME FOOD IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS. ROAD.CC CANNOT ACCEPT LIABILITY FOR YOU THROWING UP AT YOUR DESK/ON YOUR PHONE OR WHEREVER YOU CHOOSE TO DO YOUR LIVE BLOG SCROLLING…
Picture the scene. After a traumatic Giro stage you get to your hotel, ready to put your feet up to try to recover ahead of the next day. You take a look around, nip to the toilet when this meets your eye…
Nice hotel tonight. After a crazy race so far, at least we get to stay in 5* luxury 🤣🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/AfyzD7SI4r
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) May 17, 2023
You can’t say we didn’t warn you…
Tao Geoghegan Hart fractured hip confirmed, will undergo surgery
Following the stage, the Ineos Grenadiers confirmed that Geoghegan Hart was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Genoa, where it was revealed that he had suffered a fractured left hip, which will require surgery.
Man City vs... Lance Armstrong?!
Ah Twitter, what a weird and sometimes wonderful place…
Lance Armstrong is trending this morning because of Manchester City’s Champions League semi-final destruction of Real Madrid… and a certain 100+ Premier League charges over alleged (let’s make that word very clear) breaking of financial fair play rules…
City are brilliant but then so was Lance Armstrong…
— Andythered83 (@AndyGni) May 17, 2023
All the Football writers fawning over City remind me of the journalists that fawned over Lance Armstrong.
— Phil Shaw (@prsgame) May 17, 2023
Anyway, back to cycling…
"I was so motivated; the boys rode incredible for me": Cav gets closer to first Astana win
Eighth, fourth, third… Cav’s getting closer to that Giro stage win. The bad news, however, is there might not be many more opportunities — there are probably only two more nailed-on sprint days… and one of them’s next weekend in Rome and the other side of a brutal third week.
Speaking after the stage Cav said he was “so proud” of his teammates’ efforts…
“We were really motivated for today’s stage,” he explained. “It was a nice sprint on paper, but it wasn’t easy to arrive there… The way we built as a team this Giro we knew if we work together, we get there. Vadim rode the whole day on the front, making an incredible tempo and making sure the break never got too far. And the boys looked after me in the final.
“There was a small kick when another team attacked to try to drop us, but the boys stayed with me. We were just off the pack, but we came back, we stayed together, we straight to the front and set up for the sprint. I was so motivated; the boys rode incredible for me, and I am so proud of them, and I am just sorry I couldn’t finish it off.
“I couldn’t change anything else about the sprint. In terms of how the sprint went and how I rode it I just got beaten by, actually, two incredible young riders, Pascal Ackermann and Jonathan Milan. It’s not bad boys to be beaten by. So, my congratulations to Pascal.”
The road.cc road rash club
Missed yesterday’s live blog? It was a road rash special…
> Astana pro shows off some of the worst road rash we’ve seen
Here’s editor Jack’s contribution to the collection… a fall on the Gavia will do that to you…
I’d share the red raw rash snap sitting in my phone’s photos since autumn 2019, but I’ll save you all a photo of my arse… perhaps after lunch…
Cyclist goes viral for shouting at white supremacists
from the ashes, a hero rises pic.twitter.com/EK9FdOXiHO
— abby (@abby4thepeople) May 14, 2023
This bike-riding heckler stole the show at a Patriot Front march in Washington DC. Author and photographer Joe Flood was seen interrupting the white supremacist group’s speech on Saturday, with such hard-hitting insults as… “Your mum [we refuse to write mom] hates you”… “Your friends hate you”… “You’re sloppy”…
“This guy was giving this speech,” Mr Flood told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show. “He kept having to stop and pull it out of his pocket and then start reading it. So, every time he stopped, I would yell at him and say he was boring. And then I said, ‘Why can’t you memorise your speech? Why can’t you memorise your speech?’.
“And then I said, ‘You look like Gen Custer’s illegitimate son’. The guy side-eyed and looked at me, and I thought, I got you. I got in your head. Now get out of my town.”
New climate safe streets boroughs report — London Cycling Campaign publishes report naming boroughs doing best and worst on decarbonising roads
The London Cycling Campaign has published its annual Climate Safe Streets Boroughs report, analysing the “gulf between boroughs on active travel and car use reduction scheme delivery”.
The headlines:
- Hackney tops the list, with Camden, Waltham Forest and Lambeth close behind on delivery in “current term and mode shift away from private motor vehicles prior to pandemic”.
- Tower Hamlets is the “only London borough that has seen mode shift towards private motor vehicles prior to the pandemic”. Bromley, Hillingdon and Bexley also sit at the bottom of the delivery league table.
- “The Mayor of London is broadly on track for his ‘Vision Zero’ commitment to eliminate serious and fatal road collisions on London’s streets by 2041 (based on his trajectory pre-pandemic) but behind on delivering his ‘Net Zero’ climate commitment as it relates to roads transport. To achieve it, he’ll need to reduce car use more than seen during 2020 – the year of heaviest Covid lockdowns”.
Big ol' breakaway day at the Giro
So, who’s in the break on stage 12? Or maybe the question is who isn’t in the breakaway?
Mads Pedersen, Michael Matthews, Alberto Bettiol, Patrick Konrad, Sepp Kuss, Bauke Mollema, Davide Formolo… they’re all there, with Stephen Williams flying the flag for the Brits. 26 riders in total, with four chasing on. If it becomes 30 that’ll be 22 per cent of the riders left at this Covid and crash-depleted Giro…
A third of Soudal Quick-Step’s riders are there (yes, just one of the three), but more impressive is Trek’s four out of seven.
Before the start there was a minute’s silence for the victims of the floods that hit Emilia Romagna this week…
Before the start of the race, a minute of silence was observed in memory of the victims of the floods that hit Emilia Romagna in recent days.
.
Il Giro d’Italia ha voluto ricordare con un minuto di raccoglimento le vittime dell’alluvione che ha colpito nei giorni scorsi l’Emilia… pic.twitter.com/EKtjo7plye— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 18, 2023
> The Giro just avoids Italy’s deadly floods – but cycling is now feeling impact of climate change
CPA union president Adam Hansen goes IN on Spanish fan's opinion piece criticising bad weather stage alterations in the name of rider safety
Jorge Matesanz began his “brief opinion of a cycling fan” by stating “I don’t know if Adam Hansen will read this”… boy did he read (and reply) to it…
[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]
In the piece Matesanz suggested the sponsors and fans deserve full-length stages as planned months in advance, hinting at the discussions to shorten the miserable stage 10 of Tuesday, as well as the snow-caused alteration to tomorrow’s.
“In short, cycling should aim to be more attractive, more spectacular,” he wrote. “To attract more viewers, a larger audience, to move more and not less. To cause more admiration. Or at least realise that the opinion of those on the other side, consumers after all, also has its importance and should have its weight. In most sectors, the opinion of customers (which is what we are after all) matters and is taken into account.
“In cycling? Only very occasionally. And many of us are getting more and more tired of the fact that little by little we are evolving towards a bubble cycling where nothing happens, where everything is tailored to the comfort of some [the riders] who seem to not like cycling. And when a sport fits the tastes and needs of someone who doesn’t like that sport, bad business.”
Did Hansen reply? He didn’t just reply, he penned the single longest tweet I’ve ever seen…(all 461 words of it)…
Thanks for the story. I will say this very nicely. My job is to represent the riders, not convince them, change their options, and definitely not side with the organisers, UCI, or fans. I’m not here to make friends with organisers, UCI, teams, or even fans.
It is not my voice.… https://t.co/XVCVTDCSKv
— Adam Hansen (@HansenAdam) May 18, 2023
The conclusion? “I care,” Hansen said. “If you, organisers, sponsors, UCI, or fans rather risk a human’s health for your own entertainment, then it proves the point that they need someone on their side, like me.”
The other 429 words are worth a read too, if you’ve got some office time to kill, but that’s the TL;DR edition.
Want to catch all the unmissable action from the Giro d'Italia? Watch live racing on demand with GCN+
Wheels testing Pt.2 — Carbon deeps vs classic aluminium
Nico Denz wins stage 12 of the Giro
The breakaway within the breakaway took the day, a small group leaving the rest behind and, after a further reduction on the final climb, deciding the stage with a three-up sprint — Nico Denz winning, Toms Skujinš second and Seb Berwick third. The German, following on from compatriot Pascal Ackermann’s win yesterday, seemed understandably pretty pleased with the victory…
🇮🇹 #Giro
Pure joy! 🤩
Amazing ride, @NicoDenz 🎉👊🏼👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/sdiXSXx0US
— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) May 18, 2023
"Vertical bike storage is discriminatory and should be outright banned": Rail engineer Gareth Dennis explains why taking your bike on the train is such a faff on the road.cc Podcast
Jumbo-Visma rider praised for "true sportsmanship", checked on injured Tao Geoghegan Hart after Giro-ending crash
Amidst the chaos of yesterday’s stage 11 crash, Koen Bouwman of Jumbo-Visma has received plaudits for his sporting actions, checking on a rival team’s GC rider as he lay injured in the road.
At the time, Tao Geoghegan Hart sat third on GC, five seconds behind Geraint Thomas and just three seconds behind Bouwman’s teammate and team leader Primož Roglič. However, having given Roglič his bike, the Dutchman had a minute to breathe while his team caught up to replace his bike, taking a moment to check on Geoghegan Hart…
“I asked if there was anything I could do,” Bouwman explained after the finish. “He quickly said it was over for him.”
Plenty of love for Koen’s kindness…
We really appreciate it @koenbouwman. Thank you 🤝
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) May 17, 2023
Koen ❤️
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 17, 2023
True sportsmanship 👌Well done
— marion (@alternatiefje) May 17, 2023
Fair play to you fella, proper sportsmanship.
Chapeau— thibault pompidou (@bigbadrab36) May 17, 2023
18 May 2023, 08:02
18 May 2023, 08:02
18 May 2023, 08:02
In case you get lost on your next road ride...
Mountain bike slang - a beginner’s guide to speaking proper MTB
Confused by all the mountain bike terminology? We break down all the terms you need to know
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £1.99. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
14 Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
@Smoggysteve "Most would happily ride on the roads and be treated with respect by drivers". But people aren't - and as far as I can see they won't be. Not until there is a lot less driving and it's slower around cyclists, and far more people driving have "skin in the game" eg. they sometimes cycle and their friends and family do also. That's what leads to the model - which is perhaps most advanced in NL - where cycling, walking and driving are all seen as separate normal transport modes. Their needs, vulnerabilities and any dangers to others are considered. And *that* leads to "mix / share when possible, separate when necessary". But "possible" is "where your 10-year old would be safe to cycle unsupervised" - so very few motor vehicles, going slow! And AFAICS everybody - even "existing cyclists" - is happy with the result. (I dunno about a few pro cyclists - but don't they tend to have training camps in different counties anyway?)
@quiff as an Edinburgh resident I can confidently say he's speaking without moving his lips in one sense: - while as I noted in a separate comment there *is* now some real separated cycle infra, all the examples i can think of have *at least as much space* for pedestrians. The rest of the "cycle infra" is essentially similar to the situation in the rest of the UK: eg. bus lanes*, cycle lanes and shared use paths (eg. "build" infra by sticking up a sign). Edinburgh is one of the places with a moderately extensive network of former railways which have been converted to "shared use" paths (completely motor traffic few). However though shared they are not narrow by UK standards. And this is all effectively a "free extra" for all non- motorised users, not like the "sign a cycle path" where pedestrians do lose space. I think this all comes from the "popular understanding" of cycling in which ultimately cyclists are the "other". They don't fit "motor vehicle" or "pedestrian" (including wheelchairs on the very rare occasions people think about that). Thus "cyclists are cheating" in multiple ways! They shouldn't get their own space as "there aren't enough" of them. And "they can just use the road / path". But being able to *choose* "on the road" or "on the footway" (shared use path) is clearly unfair - nobody else gets to do that! BUT of course even if they did pick just one of road OR pedestrian space it's still not fair anyway because they're "too slow" for the road (don't pay "road tax" etc...) and "far too fast" for pedestrians... * Though some existing cyclists may appreciate them when there are few buses, buses and bikes are a very poor mix for several reasons.
Whilst a shame for any employees, their bib shorts had the worst chamois pad I’d ever encountered, utter waste of my money. Even though they were Strava challenge discount purchases, still a waste of money.
Thanks, just going to have to suck it up. Got next week off and will take the easy, if expensive option...
@ktache Just go for the TNT Sports only package, £30.99 for a month. Alternatively have you considered experimenting with a VPN for a few pounds, allowing you to sign up for a free stream abroad, e.g. SBS Australia which streams the Tour live? If I didn't have a kind mate's login that's what I'd do!
So, it's now the month of July and I'm going to have to pay to watch the TdF, for one month only. On a tablet unfortunately, as I didn't manage to get a laptop to rig up to the TV, grrr. Just wondering, what package will I have to fork out for? Not wanting to pay for the wrong one...
Not that it sounds like a dealbreaker given the other faults you've identified, but that cable isn't really a "proprietary" cable, four pin magnetic cables like that are quite common on bone-conducting headphones and other devices (my inexpensive smartwatch uses one) and they can be had for £4.99 on UK Amazon.
There was never really anything to say about le col kit. Most of it was alright. Some of it was poorly designed/made. Trying to position yourself as a Rapha competitor whilst always offering 40% or more off doesn't scream premium though.
Up next in the MucOff product line; for when the cassette won't budge, (chain)whip-it!
14 thoughts on “Jumbo-Visma rider praised for “true sportsmanship”, checked on injured Tao Geoghegan Hart after Giro-ending crash; G shows off super glamorous pro cycling hotels… hideously grim toilets and all; Man City vs… Lance Armstrong?! + more on the live blog”
best wishes to Tao and hope
best wishes to Tao and hope he has a full and quick recovery.
spotted in Regents Park
spotted in Regents Park yesterday – the pothole marking team have been out, we’re hoping the filler team follows on soon – other potholes only had ordinary rings around them…
How opponents of LTNs are
How opponents of LTNs are adopting the climate-sceptic playbook (Grunaiad)
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/18/how-opponents-of-ltn-are-adopting-the-climate-sceptic-playbook
brooksby wrote:
They missed out the often over-looked issue of noise pollution. I’m becoming more aware of it as Mrs HawkinsPeter suffers from some noise anxiety and will often choose side roads to walk along rather than main roads simply because the traffic is so loud. It’s also remarkable how many young people are almost constantly wearing headphones/earbuds and I wonder how much of that is a way of coping with intrusive noises.
The sounds of the city
The sounds of the city (Amsterdam in this case)… Cities aren’t loud, motor vehicles are loud. (Well… louder than they might be, cities have always been loud for some). Maybe one reason why motor scooters aren’t loved by many there.
chrisonatrike wrote:
The noise issue became far more obvious when during lockdown, the sound of bird-song could be heard once again.
Of course, cities are always
Of course, cities are always going to be more irritating to the ear than the countryside.
Yes, and in the wake of the
Yes, and in the wake of the pandemic of the old and unfit, they missed out on the even bigger issue of public health. Being fit cut the risks of death from Covid-19 about in half, and there were indications it was dose-related. Not many many pro cyclists died after catching the bug. Does anyone remember the number? Going forward, anything done to get people out of their motor vehicles and moving can be considered a move to reduce the death toll in the next pandemic. Not to mention the protections against the other big and long-ago normalized killers like heart disease. diabetes, etc.
cmedred wrote:
Considering pro cyclists were in the age range of 20-35 this would not be unexpected. Can you back this up with percentages compared to their age group.
What might be more enlightening would be the number of club cyclists in their 50s succumbing compared to the general population of 50-60 year olds.
After all, most of us could not become pro cyclists, but the vast majority would benefit from taking up regular exercise.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Having spent a large part of last weekend up a ladder, doing house maintenance, it was nice to be outside in the sunshine at last.
Well, it would have been, if it hadn’t been for the almost constant stream of ridiculously loud cars and motorcycles whose sole aim in life seems to be the disturbance of other people’s lives.
Contrast this to the motorbike which passed me whilst I was waiting for the bus, on Monday – I wanted to stop the rider and thank him for riding a vehicle that I saw before I could hear it – even when he was at his closest, the engine noise was merely a nice, refined, hum.
This proved my theory that it is totally unnecessary for vehicle to have such loud noise profiles, and it’s mostly down to macho posturing and lack of consideration.
Bring on the quiet of electric vehicles…
Many years ago I went with a
Many years ago I went with a friend to collect a Ducati 916 Carl Fogarty replica. The bike was on an open set of Termignoni exhausts and sounded like the opening of the gates of hell. As we were about to leave, the previous owner’s next door neighbour came out to wish the bike a fond good bye. It turned out that he was almost completely deaf and the bike was one of the few things he could clearly hear.
Disclaimer – This story is for the purposes of boring the reader not to advocate for loud motorcycle exhausts.
Agree, people only look at
Agree, people only look at the air pollution aspect of cars (so they think electric cars are the answer to all our prayers) but there is noise, space, damage caused by accidents and even just generally wear and tear to the infrastructure ignored.
Without wishing to start
Without wishing to start another endless debate on earphones while cycling, one worth remembering for anyone planning on riding in Spain, €200 fine for using them: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/tourists-in-spain-now-face-e200-fines-for-cycling-with-earphones/
I suggest Jorge Matesanz
I suggest Jorge Matesanz develop an interest in CX. Go to a world cup round and get to see the likes of WvA, MvdP, Tom P, Fem van Empel and Puck Pieterse slug it out 7 or 8 times in the course of a race and at a pace where you can actually see them within touching distance (not that I would recommend that!). Plus if it’s in Belgium/Netherlands drink beer and eat chips with mayonnaise while doing so. What’s not to like?