Movistar pro drafts speedy food delivery rider smashing it in sandals; Who heard this over Christmas dinner?; Mud, Glorious Mud! All the best of festive cyclo-cross; Cycle lane gift; Richie Porte targets "dream" farewell at Giro + more on the live blog

What cycling is all about! 🤩 @Tompid. (IG mark_condor1) pic.twitter.com/Sm1GQ68IfW

— Cyclingtakes (@cyclingtakes) December 28, 2021

An 85-year-old man in France has been reunited with a bike he last saw aged 18 after a friend was called by a junk dealer who had found the bicycle. Joseph Carayon was gifted the bike for Christmas by his parents when he was ten years old, but parted with it eight years later. 

That was until fellow Abelhan resident Thomas Christiny found the bicycle while hunting for antiques...

"I often recover old objects and I love to hunt for antiques," Christiny told Connexion France. "I have a friend who contacted me saying that he had found an old bike and that on this bike there was a plate with the writing ‘Joseph Carayon, Abeilhan, Hérault'.

"Jojo is an emblematic figure here, he is 85 and works every morning delivering the newspaper about the village. The bike was in good condition."

He pumped up the tyres and reunited Carayon with the bike his father had assembled from spare parts when he returned from World War Two. The relieved owner has since given it a fresh paint of coat and keeps it safe in his garage.

The Independent had an interesting feature yesterday, informed by Matt Rendell's Kings of the Mountains, in which reporter Graham Keeley profiled Roberto Escobar, Pablo's brother, who before joining the drug smuggling cartel rode for Biciletas Ositto and dreamed of winning the yellow jersey.

Keeley writes that Escobar's career became embroiled in the carnage of the cocaine trade in 1980s and 90s Colombia. Now 74, there is a section of Rendell's book which explains Roberto still listens to the Tour on the radio religiously.

"Now they realise that I was good (as a cyclist)," he told El Pais in an interview where he outlined how his past as number two in the Medellin cartel weighs heavy on his shoulders.

Tom Dumoulin has attributed a large part of his new perspective on pro cycling to a chat with teammate and fellow time trial extraordinaire Primož Roglič. Speaking to L'Equipe, the 2017 Giro d'Italia winner detailed his past year, 12 months that started with him walking away from the sport.

Now back and targeting a Grand Tour return in 2021, Dumoulin said his all-conquering teammate helped reset his focus on what is important in life. "I love talking with Primož," Dumoulin said. 

"When you talk to him about your problems, he really listens. I've never seen him judge anyone. He gives his feelings, talks about his experience. I want to see it now as an adventure, a story that I write, for me and for me alone. Something that you are lucky enough to experience only once in your life and of which you have to accept the best and the worst."

Dumoulin will begin 2022 in Portugal for Volta ao Algarve and stressed he wants to target general classification at races once again. 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Richie (@richie_porte)

 2022 will be Richie Porte's final season as a pro cyclist after a career spanning 15 years and some of the biggest teams in the sport. The Tasmanian is targeting a full circle farewell at the Giro d'Italia, the Grand Tour he got his breakthrough at in 2010.

"The one thing the team really wants out of it is for me to enjoy my last year," Porte told 7News. "If I can close the circle there [at the Giro d'Italia], that would be a dream. It's a race I've always enjoyed.

"It's nice to still be at the pointy end of bike races at 36 against these young kids who are so incredibly talented."

Porte will not be riding the Tour de France in his final season and also suggested adding to his impressive palmares of week-long stage races is high on the agenda. Having already won last year's Critérium du Dauphiné, as well as two editions of Paris-Nice, Tour de Suisse in 2018, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Tour de Romandie and two Tour Down Under titles, a Tirreno-Adriatico win in March would all but complete the set.

If whispers of a rescheduled Tour Down Under before World Champs in September do turn out to be true, who'd bet against one final Willunga win too?

The Aussie has certainly been training hard. Christmas Day apart Porte has ridden his bike every day this month, racking up almost 100 hours...

Here was Boxing Day's 'Morning Ride'...

It was a BIG Boxing Day for the Great Britain Cycling Team yesterday! 👏🇬🇧

Incredible wins for @camerooney_ and @Backstedt_Zoe in Dendermonde, as well as a second place for Nathan Smith! 🤘

Full results 📄 https://t.co/qMzIz4HUzR

📸 CorVos/SWpix#CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/3V7kSi0gZd

— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) December 27, 2021

Britain's cyclo-cross future looks bright. Very bright indeed. The present isn't too shabby either...Tom Pidcock finished second behind Wout van Aert at yesterday's Telenet Superprestige Heusden-Zolder. Van Aert, doubling up from the much-anticipated Dendermonde Boxing Day cross, made it two wins in as many days, and five unbeaten since he returned to the discipline. Mathieu van der Poel was second at Dendermonde on his comeback from injury.

But back to Britain's bright future...before the big boys contested Sunday's event, rising star Zoe Backstead and U23 prospect Cameron Mason won the women's junior and men's U23 races respectively. Mason copied Van Aert by winning at Zolder yesterday too...one to keep an eye on...

Since you couldn’t watch my race on tv or in real life yesterday, I decided to edit my video super quick for you all. Hope you enjoy it 👇 https://t.co/oVoAJZgtBH @TrinityRacing_ @iamspecialized @ZippSpeed @SRAMroad @wahoofitness @maap_cc @BritishCycling @oakley

— Cameron Mason (@camerooney_) December 27, 2021

Delivery guy vs. pro cyclist 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/EEeGd1osNm

— Cycling Today (@CyclingTodayEn) December 27, 2021

e-bike or not, that's one speedy delivery cyclist. You'd have no problems with cold food here, not just because of his lightning-quick riding, but also the 37 degree temperature reading on the Movistar pro's Garmin.

The video is from somewhere where iFood runs delivery service like Uber Eats or Deliveroo, that means likely Mexico, Brazil, Colombia or Argentina... our fingers are crossed it is one of the Spanish team's overseas riders drafting, and not just a keen local with all the kit.

With sandals powering the pedals, and just a baseball cap up top, the delivery cyclist nonchalantly spins ahead of the WorldTour kit-covered rider behind...go give him a turn on the front...

It reminds us of that time EF Education-Nippo's Rigoberto Urán was drafted by a backpack-wearing local in khakis and work boots at 45km/h...