“This is why we can’t have nice things”: Spacer-heavy stem set-up stresses cycling Twitter; Peter Sagan to retire from road cycling at the end of 2023 (+ a look back at Sagan’s good, bad and ugly moments); Toilet talk + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Peter Sagan to retire from road cycling at the end of 2023
The big news from Vuelta a San Juan overnight was not the racing (no, for reasons unclear to all, the week-long stage race had a rest day) but instead an announcement from one of biggest stars in the sport of the past decade…
Yep, Peter Sagan is retiring. The charismatic all-conquering king of 2010s cycling, who won the World Championship road race three years in a row between 2015 and 2017, has seven Tour de France green jerseys, 12 Tour stages, a Paris-Roubaix cobble and a Flanders win on his palmares, is entering his final season on the road.
Speaking at the season-opening race, Sagan explained he would end his career back on knobbly tyres, targeting the mountain bike event at the 2024 Paris Olympics…
“I’ve always said that I wanted to end my career on mountain biking because that’s where I started. Being able to finish like this, it’s going to be something nice. It’s important for me to spending time with my son Marlon and seeing life from different perspectives and not just as a cyclist.
“I never dreamed of running or being a professional cyclist until I was 40 or 50. I think it’s time now.”
But the 33-year-old doesn’t see his final year on the road as a procession and he “wants to be at my best”. One final Tour stage and, with Wout seemingly uninterested, perhaps even a green jersey in Paris?
Bike Accessories & Components Of The Year | 2023 Awards Show
Peter Sagan — the good, the bad and the ugly of one of cycling's brightest stars
You can accuse Peter Sagan of many things, just not being boring…
The good
There’s almost too much good to mention in a live blog post…
The wins, all 121 of them, including that imperious first world title, two subsequent, a 50km attack and sprint victory in Roubaix and a Cancellara-besting Flanders. He’s almost won it all…
But it’s also the antics away from the front of bike races that won Sagan the hearts of the cycling world — THAT Grease recreation, coming to the aid of a “flabbergasted” British cyclo-tourist in Gran Canaria, signing his autobiography for a fan mid-stage, joining Arnold Schwarzenegger in urging commuters to swap cars for bikes, the wheelies and the interviews…
> Peter Sagan: Cycling is “a boring sport” to watch on TV
The bad
After revealing all about his Roubaix win in his autobiography, Sagan was branded an “idiot” by Jelle Wallays for repeatedly bashing the rear wheel of the Belgian’s bike to try to straighten his handlebars. Not one to copy on the group ride…
Then, in 2020 Sagan was quick to take to social media to strenuously deny involvement in a bizarre get-rich-quick Bitcoin article. In the article, Sagan was said to have appeared on a Slovakian TV show and told the audience how the cryptocurrency platform can “make a millionaire out of anyone in 3 to 4 months”, accompanied by a crudely edited photo of the three-time world champion and a TV host.
“The truth is that a few minutes after the interview was completed, representatives of the Slovak National Bank called for the interview not to be broadcast, but it was too late”, the article stated.
But Sagan was quick to insist he was not involved, saying: “I categorically deny having any involvement, in any form, in what is mentioned in this article. I have never been in contact with any of the persons or companies mentioned and any allegation to the contrary is false.”
We’ll take your word, Peter. One thing Sagan did apologise for was pinching a podium girl’s bottom after finishing second at the Tour of Flanders in 2013…(good to see official race social accounts have moved on too)…
“I never should have done it. I am so sorry and I hope Maya and anyone else I have offended knows how sorry I am and accepts my apology. I promise to act more respectfully in future,” the then-23-year-old Sagan said.
The ugly
That 2017 Tour de France disqualification after barging Mark Cavendish into the barriers during a sprint finish is perhaps the biggest professional blot on the copy book.
> Videos: Peter Sagan says he accepts Tour de France disqualification — but disagrees with it
Then in November 2021 there was the fine for breaking Monaco lockdown curfew and injuring a police officer.
What memories will the enigmatic entertainer make in his final season on the road?
POLL: What was your favourite Peter Sagan win?
For me it’s got to be that first World Championship victory, but which win’s your favourite? Extra marks for Milan-San Remo 2023…
The entertainer
He’s always doing something entertaining 😂
Happy 33rd birthday to three-time world champion, Paris-Roubaix winner, Tour of Flanders winner and seven-time Tour de France green jersey winner Peter Sagan 🎂 pic.twitter.com/XLRd35l82S
— Velon CC (@VelonCC) January 26, 2023
Comment of the day
Would you live in this car-free utopia? Plans for Utrecht district with space for 10,000 people and 21,000 bicycles (and 0 cars) begin to take shape
For pure two-wheeled ambitiousness, this perhaps tops even the 7,000-bike capacity underwater cycle garage in Amsterdam we reported on last week… and you won’t be surprised to know that this plan for one of the largest car-free inner-city neighbourhoods is also located in the Netherlands.
The new Merwede district in Utrecht, ten minutes from Utrecht Central Station, will have 6,000 homes, roughly 10,000 residents and 21,500 spaces for bikes within its buildings and none at all for cars, reports nrc.
Supermarkets will be on the edge of the city so they can get deliveries, there will be plenty of parcel collection points so vehicles don’t have to enter the district and bulky items will be delivered to residents’ doors via e-carts. There will be no traffic lights, no motorways or car parking spaces, just paths for cycling and walking.
One of the designers for the project, Marco Broekman, told nrc: “I give a lot of presentations about it, there is always discussion, and there are always people who do not believe in it.
“They say: it’s wishful thinking, Utopia, it’s not going to work. I need my own car. I have to take my son to football every weekend. Yes, as if that is not also possible with a shared car.”
Sceptics have questioned whether the plans will work considering the population density of Merwede, and those involved in the project insist the elderly will be catered for, emergency vehicles will be able to get in and there will be exceptions for those who need cars for work or those with disabilities (these caveats are sounding quite familiar).
What else would we expect from a city that already has the world’s largest bicycle parking garage? We’ll be following with intrigue…
Great-granddaughter of Marshall Walter 'Major' Taylor, once the world's fastest cyclist and the first black 'superstar athlete', calls for national recognition
There are probably more people who haven’t heard of Marshall ‘Major’ Taylor than have, even amongst cyclists; but his great-granddaughter Karen Brown-Donovan wants to change that by calling for Taylor – once named the world’s fastest cyclist and arguably the first superstar black athlete in the western hemisphere – to be awarded a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal in the US.
“He went through things that people today can never even imagine,” said Brown-Donovan, who has also called for a monument to be erected in her great-grandfather’s honour.
After working in a bike shop then turning pro in 1896, Taylor’s palmares included numerous world records and six-day victories, gold in the 1-mile sprint at the 1899 World Track Championships and two national sprint victories, all in the face of a great deal of racial prejudice he endured along the way. He died penniless in 1932 after suffering a heart attack.
We reported in 2021 that singer John Legend was producing a film about Taylor that was to be named ‘The Black Cyclone’, however to our knowledge the film is yet to come to fruition. You can watch this short ESPN doc about him instead though, enjoy!
About that Amsterdam underwater bike garage...
Today @AmsterdamNL Central Station opened a new bike parking facility, which was not built on or underground, but underwater.
As city’s largest such facility, the Stationsplein bike garage was built under the Open Havenfront and can store 7,000 bicycles.https://t.co/CxOSk43sNm pic.twitter.com/aE7rIcMOD6
— Dutch Cycling Embassy (@Cycling_Embassy) January 26, 2023
…it opened yesterday, for those who didn’t know! I have a sneaky trip booked to Amsterdam in June and will be checking this out.
Salty handlebars, double cleats and rubber-robbed tyres... when your mechanical mishaps hit the live blog
We love to laugh together on the blog at our mechanical mishaps. We’re not getting all high and mighty about our own perfection as home ‘mechanics’, I’ve done more stupid things than I’d care to admit as a cycling journalist…
Anyway, here are a few classics from the archives…
> Can it be real? Mechanic shares double cleat horror set up
In the words of the mechanic who sent it to us… ”I say ‘alright, let me see your shoes’, at which point he takes them off and hands them to me. I must have stared for two minutes straight — not uttering a word — fully expecting cosmic black holes to open up on the bottoms of those kicks.”
> Flippin’ clip-in nightmare: Bike fitter’s disbelief at client’s upside down AND backwards cleats
And no, as someone asked, they aren’t cleats set up the Australian way…
> “This needs an exorcist, not a mechanic”: You’ll never train indoors without a towel again
Who could forget these… last but most certainly not least…
Puddle pain
Same kid, same.. pic.twitter.com/dbd1zprTo9
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) January 26, 2023
Police release details of man wanted over suspected hit-and-run that killed father and son cycling in Yorkshire
South Yorkshire Police have released an image of a second man wanted in connection with the suspected hit-and-run which killed father and son Dean Jones and 16-year-old Lewis Daines.
> Father and son named as cyclists killed in suspected hit-and-run
Paul Yates, also known as “Bane” or “Pip” Yates, who is 35, has been named as a person of interest. A spokesperson said: “Police want to hear from anyone who has seen or spoken to Yates recently, or knows where he may be staying. If you see Yates, please do not approach him but instead call 999.”
Kit of the year?
Feels real now 🥶🇬🇧 look out for the white tomorrow in Hamme ✊ pic.twitter.com/qxw9zR2d2v
— Cameron Mason (@camerooney_) January 27, 2023
Perhaps just not the best colour for cyclocross…
Roubaix or Richmond? Your favourite Sagan win...
With that we’ll leave you until Monday when Ryan will be back on live blog duty. Have a great weekend everyone!
"This is why we can't have nice things": Spacer-heavy stem set-up stresses cyclists
Disclaimer: we’ve all done stupid things with our bikes over the years and cycling certainly doesn’t need more snobby looking down of noses…
But does CycleSystemsOnline have a point about things like this happening when “brands go direct sale” and a helpful professional mechanic is removed from the buying process? To be fair, we’ve definitely seen worse from a certain large bike retailer and service provider…(I’m sure you can guess)…
From a FB group. There is always someone worse off than yourself… pic.twitter.com/lu4E4DaeIo
— CycleSystemsOnline (@CycleSystemsAc) January 26, 2023
Anyway, there was of course the obligatory subsequent speculation about the reasoning behind the high-rise spacer tower…
What’s up? Bar bag on an aero bike? Everything else looks grand 🤭
— Darran !spokesman! (@glfwax) January 27, 2023
Goodness, at least if don’t want to cut the stem until you’ve dialed the fit, just use some nice clean looking round spacers.
— Doug van den Ham (@DvdHam) January 27, 2023
it’s a fiendish lock where the bike won’t steer until you line up all the random elements
— Jo Burt (@VecchioJo) January 26, 2023
I’ve got a Defy, absolute nightmare to replace the headset as the front brake hose goes through the steerer 🤷♂️ my old Defy didn’t and neither does my TCR.
— ZwiftyCXer (@T15TSL) January 27, 2023
This is why we, as a species, can’t have nice things.
— Mike Stead ( @mikestead@mastodon.scot ) (@tweetymike) January 26, 2023
27 January 2023, 08:45
27 January 2023, 08:45
27 January 2023, 08:45
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First impression from the headline that he's likely a twit. Then the detail he was expelled from Reform makes you suspect that failing even their low bar requirements he really is. Then he clearly explains his vehicle is unsafe for the highway because he can't see to give way when turning. Any collision he now has should have that video run out explaining he drove a vehicle he knew to be unsafe. Advice for motorists; instead of thinking that pedestrians and cyclists are low risk 100kg objects, imagine them as a 300 Tonne trains that will crush you and your vehicle if you cross into their paths. You'd give way to the train, so you equally can to the others.
I've had a brief look on Facebook, and Ed Hill (who now appears to be affiliated with Advance UK) seems to have taken some useful road safety improvements under his remit, including an initiative to help local pedestrians on unpaved roads, where the wider council won't help due to planning failures. Regarding the cycle path, I think this is linked to a wider misunderstanding about giving way at junctions and I'm afraid I cannot agree with Mr Hill's conclusion. Regardless of the suitability of the cycle path, vehicles should give way at the junction to both pedestrians crossing and cyclists. It seems to be a poorly understood rule among motorists where some believe they have priority at junctions like this, where they certainly do not. I once had a similar issue myself, while leisurely walking to Waitrose to buy some lunchtime fripperies. A driver beeped their horn as I crossed the junction, despite me having priority, and was shocked and apologetic when I explained I had priority. A polite conversation later, the driver departed, educated and updated on the rules of the road.
"A cycle lane that traverses the entrance to a side road in Exeter should be changed so that “cyclists give way to vehicles”, according to an independent county councillor" Newsflash: Bicycles are vehicles. Now what?
Bland and overcooked spaghetti
@mdavidford That would seem likely.
@StuInNorway Presumably they pulled out from the parking on the other side without paying any attention to the oncoming traffic / police car.
@StuInNorway photos taken a week apart. Ragebait. ;-)
@Rendel Harris If there were two people assigned to it full-time, (with a break for Christmas) then in accounting terms that might be considered four months...
@Nigel Garage Not very good adding up for an accountant, Nigel. The police received the formal complaint on November 18th, 2024, and closed the case after calling the journalist in "early February" 2025. So essentially two-and-a-half months tops, with the Christmas period in the middle. The police deal with investigations as a matter of priority, a complaint of harassment from an academic about a journalist would be well down the list. It's more than likely that the complaint was received and logged and put in an in tray, once someone got round to dealing with it they called the journalist to offer right of reply and then closed the case. Or do you think they spent "four months" (a temporal impossibility) carrying out extensive investigations into the case without ever calling the accused? Try applying common sense instead of your prejudices.
You do, however, accept that the police had a 4 month window - from November to February - where the met police engaged in a criminal investigation into a Times Education journalist for asking two polite questions about alleged plagiarism via email. You don't know how long, during that four months, they actually spent investigating it, but we do know the investigation was open for 4 months... they might have been working on the case 24/7 for all we know, just at a police pace (Don't forget those donuts and cups of tea take a long time to consume). Out of morbid curiosity, why do you think the police did that, rather than try to solve crimes?
33 thoughts on ““This is why we can’t have nice things”: Spacer-heavy stem set-up stresses cycling Twitter; Peter Sagan to retire from road cycling at the end of 2023 (+ a look back at Sagan’s good, bad and ugly moments); Toilet talk + more on the live blog”
I am proud to say that when I
I am proud to say that when I look back and think about where I was when I heard that Peter Sagan, a true legend of the sport retired, it will be the same place I read most of the content here on Road.cc: in my bathroom, dropping the kids off at the swimming pool. What a time to be alive.
I’m confused…..
I’m confused…..
Do you have a swimming pool in your bathroom, or do you make the little ones do laps of your bath?
Owd Big ‘Ead wrote:
Ewww!
Yuck! Don’t be cheap, buy a
Yuck! Don’t be cheap, buy a duck already!
chrisonatrike wrote:
Is that a llama?
Maybe a brown trout would be
Maybe a brown trout would be more appropriate?
Cavendish was at fault in
Cavendish was at fault in that incident
That spacer set up is a
That spacer set up is a symptom of a problem with fully integrated systems. Such a pain in the anus to work with for a tiny aero benefit that you won’t notice. Also good on them for slamming the stem. The way a bike should be
Giant clearly realised that
Giant clearly realised that set-up wasn’t ideal and changed it on subsequent Defy models.
You’ll change your tune in a
You’ll change your tune in a few years time.
I do like the idea that those
I do like the idea that those spacers are some sort of puzzle. Either you line them up to be able to cycle away, or else you summon the Cenobites… One or t’other.
Ah – the Lemond configuration
Ah – the Lemond configuration, you mean – which summons up a master of pain?
(No subject)
Doing a good, bad and ugly on
Doing a good, bad and ugly on Peter Sagan and not mentioning his repeated groping of podium girls is an odd choice.
Knew I’d forget something
Knew I’d forget something
Spacers:
Spacers:
Maybe the rider is short sighted, and the top one is actually a Garmin mount … and all these spacers are cheaper option to prescription cycling glasses
“The ugly
“The ugly
That 2017 Tour de France disqualification after barging Mark Cavendish into the barriers during a sprint finish is perhaps the biggest professional blot on the copy book.”
Get a life, only one person to blame and that was Cavendish.
dubwise wrote:
Really? Huge fan of Sagan as a racer but no doubt whatsoever that he deliberately put his elbow into Cavendish and was rightly DQ’d.
Personally I like the cursed
Personally I like the cursed bikes we assemble and ride. There’s something liberating about building your own unique contraption and taking it out into the world, even when it’s a mistake.
Gotta move to the Netherlands
Gotta move to the Netherlands.
7000 space bike parking at just one location in Amsterdam and the plans for the suburb in Utrecht would be heaven.
Instead I’ve got to be grateful for the less than 40 bike parking facilities opened up in Derby city centre.
Whoop-e-doo!!
Would you live in this car
Would you live in this car-free utopia?
What with only 2.1 bike spaces per person? Nowhere near enough! Others would have to do without a bike at all to achieve that average with me there
Full disclosure – I did have
Full disclosure – I did have the opportunity to move there with work and went over on some work trips, but passed that up. At that time I was moving north for more hills and wild country – so going the opposite direction for the flat was not on my radar!
Rumour has it that a lot of
Rumour has it that a lot of the population stick at n where n = 1. So that leaves plenty of overhead for the few who follow n + 1…
Bet you do run in to traffic jams occasionally though and certainly “I can’t find a parking spot”…
Oh – I’ve just had some news from an “avid” vehicular cyclist or two – apparently they’ve visited there recently (a decade ago or so) and it was a communist / hippie nightmare of a nanny state where drivers were taxed and hounded into oblivion and “they’ve taken our rights”.
They sent a picture and it doesn’t look great (update – that might be Belgium though…)
The car free suburb sounds
The car free suburb sounds too virtue-signally.
Some people require them.
Is it virtue-signally if you
Is it virtue-signally if you’re one of the (still large) number of people who don’t own a car?
Asking for a friend in their entitled middle-class tree-house / living on Sark, obviously…
“Require” of course means “I made choices already” / some other circumstances have been declared “fixed”. That’s how most of us reason obviously but this is a new place. So like Milton Keynes – which was built with the opposite assumption e.g. that you would have or acquire a car. (Yes – even with the “cycle infra” because the most convenient routes are for motor vehicles). Or indeed like lots of the USA.
If you build for motor vehicles, people will get and use them. Then they will use them more. Then people will have to have a car. Currently almost everywhere is designed for that lifestyle though – so don’t worry!
I did not say build for motor
I did not say build for motor vehicles – I said build for the mix that is required.
There is a reason we don’t ban vehicles needed by people who are not mobile from pedestrianised areas – and that is because some people meed vehicles.
To build it for a dream society will cause segregation, which is not a good thing.
mattw wrote:
(See Rendel’s point about “people who are not mobile”. Also designing for cars may actually not be the best compromise for the most people – including those who are not mobile (everything’s a compromise, right?). Another possibility here).
You said:
Some people require them.— mattw
(I’ve just emphasized some words). I don’t mean to cause offense – I simply questioned those statements – or rather all the assumptions there.
It’s always true “we are where we are”. It’s also true that nothing is static. Where we are now is a result of choices in the past. What happens in the future depends on what we build / do now.
We did built for a dream society back in the day (OK that’s the US but we took our lead from there). We just built it with a rather narrow vision. And that has already caused segregation. Even for those with no mobility issues (it’s now unpleasant / inconvenient / impossible to walk some places). Even for the “rich” (people in our country on low wages who can afford cars are in the “rich” category per the global average…)
So many but not all of us now have “nice things”. It’s not that “we can’t have nice things”. It’s just the case that now so many do have them the issues and costs become clearer. And some issues emerge because of sheer numbers.
It’s interesting to me that the notion of building a very small new area which has some limits to motoring is so troubling? Why is that?
“the ultimate, hidden truth
“the ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.”
― David Graeber,
mattw wrote:
“…those involved in the project insist the elderly will be catered for, emergency vehicles will be able to get in and there will be exceptions for those who need cars for work or those with disabilities.” So looks like that’s covered.
mattw wrote:
If you’re one of the people who require a car, surely the solution is simple? Don’t buy a house there! It sounds like this suburb is being designed for people who don’t like or want a car. If that’s not you, what skin is it off your nose?
mattw wrote:
Surely it provides the maximum benefit to people who require cars as there’ll be far less traffic to get in their way? This sounds like a win-win to me.
….”arguably the first
….”arguably the first superstar black athlete in the western hemisphere…” raced 2 seasons in Australia with the races being billed as the biggest prize money in the world in what was the biggest sport
“Arguably” is right, there’s
“Arguably” is right, there’s the American Tom Molyneaux, for example, who fought Tom Cribb for the bare-knuckle championship of England, which was really then the de facto world title, in 1810 and 1811, a time when boxing was probably the most popular sport in England.