Ineos Grenadiers tease Tour de France bike and new colour scheme; ULTIMATE TdF team reveal in a time of pandemic …goes viral; Trump ‘will never ride a bike’; Before and after bike lane road transformations; Groupama–FDJ boss in OTT victory dance + more

Did you go out for a bike ride, get blown away and have only just managed to battle your way home? If so then here’s what you missed on road.cc…

Nonsensical ‘cyclists dismount’ coronavirus signs popping up around the country

Pimlico Plumbers appeal to catch cycling ‘criminal’ – but get accused of faking footage

World Naked Bike Ride London warns of fake ride scam – no official ride this year

Team Ineos pulls riders from Italian national championship after one tests positive for COVID-19

Near Miss of the Day 460: Van driver sacked after close pass

Cyclist attacked and robbed in Wigan, with bike, phone and wallet stolen

Police hunting four men after cyclist was killed in Birmingham hit and run

“C’EST ÉNORME” 🎬#NSFW pic.twitter.com/JKkDn12SzR

— Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ (@GroupamaFDJ) August 23, 2020

Hilarious because it just is, and terrifying because if his star rider Thibaut Pinot does actually win the Tour de France, then there’s a strong possibility Madiot could actually explode. If you want to see what set him off, here are the race highlights…

Danforth Ave. in Toronto, before and after bike lanes. Which one looks safer? 🤔 #bikeTO pic.twitter.com/qO7DxpSQfq

— Michal Kapral (@mkapral) August 21, 2020

The clips from Michal Kapral (who in unrelated news holds the world record for the fastest marathon while juggling, or ‘joggling’, at 2 hours 50 mins) show the same journey taken before and after the cycle lane installation… and what a difference it makes. 

We should note that the video is sped up, but in the pre-bike lane footage Kapral is close passed at least twice, and it generally looks like quite an unpleasant experience with cars whizzing past. In the post-bike lane example, wands are installed to separate cyclists from traffic, and some locals have commented that they’re now cycling on the road when they rarely, or never, would have previously. 

It’s amazing!! I NEVER rode on Danforth bc it was terrifying. This change is most welcome!

— alison thompson (@misspencil) August 22, 2020

I can’t believe I actually rode on Danforth before the bike lanes. When I rode Danforth before. I was literally putting my life on the line. Now I and others can ride safely!

— Hafeez A. (@trainguy89) August 21, 2020

Omygosh for YEARS the Danforth was the most dangerous road to cycle, and drive as well. Drivers weaving in and out of the curb lane, speeding on the right, passing on the right too close. I dared never cycle on it. #bikeTO It’s about TIME!

— Marie Belanger (@MsMarieB) August 22, 2020

Pleased to finally announce I will be riding with @BORAhansgrohe as of next year😀
Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way👍🏻
Can’t wait to get racing with these guys https://t.co/Sn3gCWJ7g9

— Matt Walls (@wallsey_98) August 24, 2020

Road and track rider Walls – who won bronze in the Omnium at the 2020 World Championships – will get to ride with that man from Slovakia after signing with the German team. Bora have also signed 19-year-old Frederik Wandahl, with both penning three-year contracts. 

Sports director and Scout Christian Schrot commented: “Matthew completed British Cycling’s talent development program on the track. We are confident that this foundation will enable him to cope well with the jump to the WorldTour. We will endeavour to bring him up to the necessary level in the next few years and build him up as a sprinter. With his speed, we believe that he possesses a strong basis for this.

“Frederik is a very young athlete, however, he possesses a lot of talent for various tasks. At the junior level, he showed himself to be a complete rider, whether in one-day or stage races.”

While at the start of the pandemic we were seeing events being postponed until later in 2020, it’s now become apparent that even this won’t be possible, with a number of events now postponing until next year. Grinduro Wales is the latest, with the organisers saying in a statement: 

“​The middle of October 2020 was due to be the date when the Grinduro express rocketed into mid-Wales and painted the landscape a vivid purple hue. We had hoped to bring the ultimate party:race ratio to the town of Machynlleth, but even though we kept our fingers crossed and made regular offerings to the trail gods, the Covid19 situation has conspired against us.

“As event organisers, we’ve got a huge responsibility to make sure all the competitors, local residents and event staff remain safe, but we also need to make sure the spirit of Grinduro continues with an event that is fun and everyone has a great time.

“With current UK Covid19 guidelines we just don’t feel we can offer the Grinduro experience we pride ourselves on – we are an event about bringing riders together not distancing them. For this reason, we’ve taken the difficult decision to postpone Grinduro Wales until 2021.”

Anyone registered for 2020 will automatically have their entry carried over to the 2021 event, which will be held on 24th July. 

There’s been much debate in Brighton and Hove recently about the installation of new cycle lanes on busy roads to promote safer cycling around the city, with some claiming that the lanes are increasing congestion. Last week, B&H Buses of Brighton appeared to state as fact that heavy traffic in central Brighton was “due to the new cycle lane on the coast road”, and Labour Councillor Peter Atkinson wrote in Brighton and Hove News that the lanes on Brighton’s busy Old Shoreham Road “must go”. 

Now, after claiming to have completed journeys in the area by bike, car, on foot and even by e-scooter, Labour MP for Hove and Portslade Peter Kyle has spoken out, urging people who are angry to “take a deep breath” over the new measures. 

He said: “I have seen with my own eyes people shouting at each other across a road, a driver in a rage bulldoze bollards on Hove seafront, and experienced a cyclist whizz past swearing at me and everyone else for not going fast enough when in fact he would have been breaking the speed limit had he been in a car.

“Please everyone, take a deep breath. Cyclists can’t wish away cars and drivers can’t wish away pedestrians, and none of us can stop the rise in popularity of new forms of getting around like e-scooters.

“Powerlessness is a horrible feeling. Right now there are a lot of people feeling utterly powerless and bewildered about who and how decisions about road use are being made.

“Having spent so much time in recent days travelling around, plus reading so many of your messages, I really do understand and share this feeling.”

These quotes are part of a lengthy essay Mr Kyle has written on the subject that was posted to his Facebook page over the weekend, which can be found here. 

 

 

 

 

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I’m coming home ❤️

A post shared by Remco Evenepoel (@remco.ev) on Aug 23, 2020 at 11:27pm PDT

The 20-year-old Belgian had a horror crash at the Tour of Lombardy last Saturday, and will reportedly finally be able to leave hospital today. Sporza claim he will be out this afternoon, while the man himself simply said he’s “coming home” on his Instagram and Facebook accounts. 

This might not come as a surprise, but the US President has confirmed that he won’t be following in the pedal strokes of his 2020 rival for the White House Joe Biden (the latter was spotted out riding with friends two weeks ago), as he doesn’t want to “get hurt” riding a bicycle. 

During the speech in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, Trump appeared to link a cycling accident suffered by US Secretary of State John Kerry in 2015 with the way he handled the signing of a nuclear deal with Iran, saying he “never got up and walked.” 

Trump continued: “He (Kerry) rode his bicycle remember. He was in an accident. I promised at 73-years-old, I said I’ll never be riding a bicycle. He had the helmet, he had the names, the insignias all over. He had insignias like, you know… like he was a 20-year-old great cyclist from France.

“…so I promised I wouldn’t do that. I might get hurt, but I’m not getting hurt riding a bicycle.”

Trump has a bunch of jokes about John Kerry’s bike accident pic.twitter.com/RlPdTPTrG5

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 21, 2020

It’s not the first time the president has referred to Kerry’s bike accident; in simpler times when he was simply a ‘White House-hopeful’, Trump incorrectly stated that Kerry was in a bike race when he fell and broke his leg, saying: “He falls, breaks his leg. I don’t want him on a bicycle during nuclear negotiations.”

It all seems a little contradictory when we consider that Trump was the headline sponsor for a US bike race called the Tour de Trump back in 1989, that he believed could “rival the Tour de France” one day. He did also admit that the last time he rode a bicycle was when he was “7 or 8 years old”, and it sounds like he probably hasn’t got in the saddle since. Knock yourself out with the full archive clip below, and imagine a world where The Donald was simply organising one of our sport’s biggest bicycle races, rather than holding arguably the most powerful position in world politics…

The UCI’s president David Lappartient said the virtual event, taking place between 8-9 December,will be “an exciting step forward for our sport during these challenging times.”

There will be Men’s Elite and Women’s Elite categories, with the real-life 2020 UCI World Champions getting rainbow jerseys on their avatar for sanctioned esports events in 2021 (that’s if the worlds do go ahead somehow). The UCI will allocate National Federations with participation quotas, to be announced soon, and automatic invitations will be sent by the UCI. They also say the aim is to represent all five main continents, with the same number of total entries for women as men.

Lappartient added: “It’s with great pleasure that we are able to confirm the dates and plans for the first UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. The year has certainly been a challenging one for all, but we are now back to enjoying racing and have a new UCI World Championships to look forward to at the end of 2020.

“Virtual races were hugely popular during the period that competitions ceased, and I truly believe in the potential of esports to help grow participation in our sport. This is a historic moment.”

Mathieu van der Poel is the new Dutch road champion. 🇳🇱 This is the moment VDP said goodbye to everyone with 44 km to go. 🚀 BEAST! 👏 #NKwielrennen2020 pic.twitter.com/memQxgT9Rx

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) August 23, 2020

The 25-year-old Alpecin–Fenix rider was in a different league to everyone else yesterday and here is the moment he got away from the peloton. There’s also the part where he rode on a tiny strip of smooth tarmac next to the cobbled section to get some advantage over his rivals: “a strip thinner than his tyres”, according to Wieler Revue. 

Mathieu van der Poel op een strookje dunner dan z’n banden.. pic.twitter.com/sTqDGeQdcp

— Wieler Revue (@wielerrevue) August 23, 2020

You rightly make requests of policing. Now I need your help.

Please tell ‘at least 10 people’ about the #London road safety public reporting system of traffic offences and encourage them to report offences. Spread the word and be part of the solution. 24/7 👀#Dashcam #Headcam pic.twitter.com/8JC1BKTA5c

— Andy Cox (@SuptAndyCox) August 22, 2020

Superintendent Cox seems to make this blog regularly nowadays for his pro-cycling views, often dipping in on Twitter to urge members of the public who share footage showing bad driving, assaults and more to report it to the police.

He’s now asking Londoners to tell 10 others about the Met’s road safety public reporting system for traffic offences, encouraging people who may think chances of prosecution are slim to come forward. He also reminded us of these unfortunate stats, asking drivers to be more considerate. 

As you set off on your journey today please give this infographic a thought. The purpose of any journey is to get from A-B safely but unfortunately many drive with a complacent risky attitude assuming nothing will happen to them. The below shows it can and does.#MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/X9FHiAK66H

— Andy Cox (@SuptAndyCox) August 24, 2020

Notre sélection pour le Tour 2020

Nuestra seleccion para el Tour 2020

🔴⚫️#Tousensemble 🤜🏻🤛🏻 pic.twitter.com/bIkbsNFbw2

— Team Arkéa Samsic (@Arkea_Samsic) August 24, 2020

Arkea-Samsic have unveiled their TDF team, with the 24-year-old making the cut to assist Nairo Quintana in his quest for the yellow jersey. The squad also includes Nairo’s younger brother Dayer, but there’s no place for sprinter Nacer Bouhanni. 

Norfolk Police are appealing for witnesses following the incident in the village of Booton last Thursday, after “a car collided with a cyclist” shortly after 6pm on Norwich Road. It’s said that prior to the incident, a female passenger of the car was shouting at the cyclist, a male in his 30s. 

Police want to hear from anyone who may have witnessed the incident or could have dash cam footage, asking those with information to call 101. 

For avoidance of doubt , this is how you behave in a car behind cyclists. It’s really very simple. Absolutely no reason to not drive in any other way. Just wait. Chill out and give them room. @MikeyCycling #dontbeatwatdriver #space #stopkillingcyclists pic.twitter.com/07MlucCPoT

— Ben (@BendyBen999) August 22, 2020

Not that difficult, is it!?

Unveil those masked men! 👺

We present our 🇫🇷 @LeTour lineup. 👇

Read more in our #TDF2020 preview
👉 https://t.co/2HM5xfFJR8 pic.twitter.com/dNEnfq1rmw

— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) August 24, 2020

Take it away Trek-Segafredo, who unmasked Bauke Mollema, Richie Porte, Mads Pedersen, Kenny Elissonde, Niklas Eg, Toms Skujins, Jasper Stuyven and Edward Theuns as their eight-man squad for the Tour de France. 

The team’s Sports Director Kim Andersen outlined the team goals, saying: “The objective of our team is to go for the GC with Bauke Mollema and Richie Porte. But our other main goal is to win one or more stages. We will try to keep at least one of the captains up there for GC, and otherwise go full for stage wins.

“In the team we have some strong, fast guys like Jasper Stuyven, Mads Pedersen, and Edward Theuns. I think there will be many stages with breakaways, and we can try to put them in there. They will also be good to protect the leaders. In the second week, we can give a lot of freedom to the Classics riders.

“I have been to the Alps to see the final stages and I can see that it will be a really hard last week. I think that it will be a very difficult Tour de France because you need to be ready at the start of the Tour, as you already have mountains in the early stages, but also fresh enough for the tough final week. I like the parcours very much, I think we will have a lot of exciting bike racing.”

It’s been a month now since Team Ineos announced that as of this week they will change their name to the Ineos Grenadiers, in a PR move to support the forthcoming 4×4 vehicle from Jim Ratcliffe’s giant petrochemicals group.

This evening the team teased a picture on Twitter of the new colourway on the bike Dylan van Baarle will be riding in the Tour de France, which starts in Nice on Saturday.

26.08.20@Pinarello_com @INEOSGrenadier pic.twitter.com/ybKcXHYDyB

— Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) August 24, 2020

Navy blue is the colour it seems, together with a vertical red chevron, echoing the stylised ‘A’ in the vehicle’s logo.

Renderings of the riders’ Castelli kit have been doing the rounds for a while, again navy blue with that red chevron on the chest.

The initial image, it seems, came via Tour de France organisers ASO, and is now confirmed in the roadbook for the race, from which the (rather blurred, sorry) image below has been taken. 

The official reveal takes place on Wednesday.’