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“It wasn’t too bad, just like a cold”: Tadej Pogačar claims Covid isn’t “as serious anymore” after testing positive 10 days ago; Vingegaard says “I’m just happy to be here” after recovering from injuries; Pidcock’s aero haircut; + more on the live blog

Just one more sleep and we’ll be at La Bella Firenze, ready for three weeks of non-stop racing at the Tour de France — but until then, it’s Adwitiya on the live blog with all the cycling news, reactions and chit-chat
Fri, Jun 28, 2024 09:56
33
“It wasn’t too bad, just like a cold”: Tadej Pogačar claims Covid isn’t “as serious anymore” after testing positive 10 days ago; Vingegaard says “I’m just happy to be here” after recovering from injuries; Pidcock’s aero haircut; + more on the live blogTadej Pogacar, Stage 19 of 2021 (picture credit Tour de France A.S.O./Pauline Ballet)
28 June 2024, 07:50
Tadej Pogačar wins the 2024 Giro d'Italia (Giro d'Italia)
“It wasn’t too bad, just like a cold”: Tadej Pogačar says Covid isn’t “as serious anymore” after revealing he got the virus just 10 days before Tour de France

Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič, and Remco Evenepoel — now, add Covid-19 to that list of foes.

Coming into the pre-race press conference yesterday evening, we assumed that we would be made privy to some additional information but was anyone expecting to hear that Pogačar, primed by most to wear the maillot jaune in Nice on 21 July, had just recovered from Covid less than two weeks ago?

“My grandfather passed away and I went to Slovenia to make a closure and see the family,” he said. “It was a bit of travelling but it was really important for me. Then I went back to the training camp [in the French Alps] but got sick and had Covid. That was a bit of a question mark… but I recovered really good from that.”

He then revealed that he tested positive for Coronavirus “around ten days ago”, but it had no impact on his training and form.

He added: “It wasn't too bad, just like a cold. It passed really fast. Especially if your body already had the virus before and I had it once or twice. I stopped for one day and then did some rollers inside. Then when I wasn’t sick anymore, I was riding outside.”

Umm, maybe tell that to Visma-Lease a Bike’s Sepp Kuss and Lidl-Trek’s Tao Geoghegan Hart, with both of them catching the bug and being ruled out of the Tour de France just days before the Grand Départ tomorrow in Florence.

The 25-year-old Slovenian, fresh from winning the Giro d’Italia and aiming to become the first man to do a Giro-Tour double since Marco Pantani’s triumph in 1998, would be hoping that his words don’t come back to bite him and that he’s able to stay in top shape against his primary rivals, all three of whom have had to recover from injuries sustained at the horror crash at the Tour of the Basque Country.

While Primož Roglič was fortunate enough to come out of that high-speed crash on one of the descents of the Spanish stage-race without any fractures, 2022 Vuelta a España winner Remco Evenepoel suffered a broken collarbone and a fracture to his right scapula, while two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard suffered a broken collarbone and several broken ribs, as well as a collapsed lung.

Since then, Evenepoel has managed to recover and race at the Critérium du Dauphiné, finishing seventh in the general classification, however Vingegaard’s race against time to recover fully has been a tad more difficult, with the Dane’s inclusion in the Visma squad until the last minute.

> “He has to be the old Jonas again”: Visma-Lease a Bike DS says Vingegaard will decide for himself whether or not he’ll go to Tour de France

Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard before stage 15, 2023 Tour de France (A.S.O./Pauline Ballet)

Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard before stage 15, 2023 Tour de France (A.S.O./Pauline Ballet)

However, Pogačar said that he’s happy to see Vingegaard back and excited to race against him for the top prize. He said: “It’s good to see him at the start. I think he’s ready because otherwise, I don’t think he’d be at the start. It’s something I’m looking forward to, making a great show again.

“I think the relationship between me and Jonas is extraordinary and that we always meet each other in July. It's crazy that we ride ourselves into history as rivals. I respect him a lot.”

Just two days ago, Pogačar — after having a phenomenal season in 2024, winning the Strade Bianche, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Volta a Catalunya, and Giro d'Italia in a dominating fashion — issued an ominous sign for the rest of the peloton, claiming that he has never felt so good on the bike and that his “shape is even better than what he expected”.

He said: “I’ve done some good training, and I’ve tested my legs a little bit and to be honest, I have never felt so good on the bike. I’m really looking forward to seeing if I have improved in the race situations from the Giro, but I feel good so I cannot complain!”

>  Was Tadej Pogačar’s Giro d’Italia victory boring? And does it matter?

28 June 2024, 16:49
Is the Tour de France set for its most epic battle in years? road.cc’s ‘expert’ panel predicts who’s going to win cycling’s biggest race
Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, stage 15, 2023 Tour de France (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

The 2024 Tour has been billed as the first real clash of cycling’s grand tour ‘big four’. But with question marks still hanging over reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard’s fitness, who can stop Tadej Pogačar securing the first Giro-Tour double in 26 years?

> Is the Tour de France set for its most epic battle in years? road.cc’s ‘expert’ panel predicts who’s going to win cycling’s biggest race

28 June 2024, 14:51
Happy Friday!
28 June 2024, 13:16
Mercian Cycles saved as four local businessmen confirm purchase of iconic bike manufacturer following liquidation
Mercian Cycles barber's pole seat tube and forks

Mercian Cycles has been purchased by four local businessmen, just over a month after the iconic British bike manufacturer entered liquidation, laying off all its staff in the process.

Last month, we reported that the legendary Derby-based brand, founded in 1946 and renowned throughout the UK and US for its custom steel frames, had ceased trading, with an agency appointed to assist in the process after Mercian entered voluntary liquidation.

It was later confirmed to road.cc that all employees were laid off on 3 May, after the company’s directors, according to our source, allegedly “just crawled under a rock and let it all happen”, with the source adding that “there was nothing controlled about closing it down”.

However, in a statement published on Mercian’s website(link is external) on Thursday, a group of four Derby-based businessmen, and self-professed “passionate cyclists”, confirmed that they have now purchased the beleaguered brand, while retaining the company’s craftsmen in the process.

Read more: > Mercian Cycles saved as four local businessmen confirm purchase of iconic bike manufacturer following liquidation

28 June 2024, 12:37
What a shame! Arkéa-B&B Hotels reveal the best Tour de France special jersey in Bianchi blue... only to say they won't be wearing it at the race

I'm sure regular readers of this live blog would be quite well-versed with my disdain towards more blue jerseys in the peloton, with Visma-Lease a Bike and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe the two latest teams to ditch their respective yellow and green colours and going for blue at this Tour de France (in the latter's case, it's less of a temporary change, which is probably even worse in my opinion).

But when for a change, a team does release a blue kit, and it's probably one of the best kits in the last decade or so, they decide to not wear it in the actual race at all... What a shame!

Arkéa-B&B, after receiving UCI WorldTour status two years ago, decided to celebrate the Grand Départ in Italy with an ode to the team's bike manufacturing company Bianchi — releasing a kit so good I couldn't believe my eyes.

A full, proper throwback kit, although I agree that the big B&B circle in the middle does taint it ever so slightly, but the aura of the pastel, Bianchi baby blue is too strong to be hampered by a sponsor placement.

Unfortunately, the kit was only there for the team presentation, before the riders revert back to the team's red and black come tomorrow...

Heal swiftly, my broken heart...

28 June 2024, 12:24
2024 Tour de France - A team-by-team analysis

If you haven't noticed, there's this little race called the Tour de France starting from tomorrow... So here's a nifty team-by-team Twitter thread analysis for those looking to brush up their knowledge and hype up for the racing to begin tomorrow!

And of course, don't forget to check out our ultimate 2024 Tour de France stage-by-stage guide!

28 June 2024, 11:37
“It will destroy our sport”: UCI set to pay whistleblowers for “credible” motor doping information ahead of Tour de France
Vuelta motor doping check (@lavuelta/Twitter)

UCI president David Lappartient has revealed that world cycling’s governing body is planning to pay whistleblowers and informants who come forward with “credible” information related to the suspected use of hidden motors in the peloton, days after the UCI announced that it will pilot the use of a new unspecified “inspection tool” designed to uncover mechanical fraud at the Tour de France.

Lappartient said that financial incentives for motor doping whistleblowers would prove the UCI is taking the issue – which he claims has the potential to “destroy cycling” – seriously.

He also raised concerns about the methods currently in place to detect the presence of hidden motors within bikes, such as handheld tablets, and the increasingly frequent use of tactical bike swaps during races, while insisting that the UCI is “not afraid” to catch even the sport’s biggest names if they’re found to be using a motor.

Read more: > “It will destroy our sport”: UCI set to pay whistleblowers for “credible” motor doping information ahead of Tour de France

28 June 2024, 10:36
Jonas Vingegaard and Wout Van Aert in new Visma jersey
"I'm just happy to be here": Jonas Vingegaard says recovering from injuries for the Tour in time "feels like a victory in itself"

Winner of the last two Tours, Jonas Vingegaard would and should have been confident in his abilities of doing a three-peat, but as fate would have it, he was caught in the horror crash at Itzulia Basque in April — by no fault of his own — and suffered multiple fractures and a collapsed lung, throwing not just his Tour prep, but even his selection in the team into complete jeopardy.

However, the 27-year-old Dane has managed to regain his shape and hopefully his form as well, as the defending champion is now ready to take the fight to Tadej Pogačar. But most importantly, he is just happy to start the race tomorrow in Florence.

> "I have never felt so good on the bike": Tadej Pogačar issues ominous statement for his rivals before Tour de France, says his "shape is even better than what he expected"

Vingegaard talked about his precarious situation filled with doubt in the lead-up to the Tour de France. He said: "One day I thought I would make it, the next I didn't... My feeling was very inconsistent, but I want to fight for it. I'm just happy to be here. That's a victory in itself."

"I hope for the best possible result in the classification. But honestly: it was a very nasty crash and from now on everything is a bonus. The hardest part was getting back to my level. I had to take a long break and the injuries had to heal before I could train again. You can cycle outside, but actually training is something else."

He added: "I've worked a lot and my form is not bad. I've done everything I can to be ready. I have my own goals and then we'll see. I don't know what the effect of the two weeks I spent in a hospital bed will be. Of course, without the crash I would have aimed for the overall victory. But that crash changed everything."

28 June 2024, 10:01
Taking marginal gains philosophy too far? Pidock shows off new "aero" buzzcut

Can't have hair tufts popping out of your helmet and screwing up the aerodynamics, I guess every bit counts, eh?

This was pre-buzz Pidcock, if anyone had forgotten already, throwing down the gauntlet to Geraint and Sara Elen Thomas. We're waiting on G's post-haircut pictures to decide who got the better cut. Although, it doesn't look too hard to beat Pidcock right now...

28 June 2024, 09:46
2023 Paris Roubaix Mads Pedersen, Trek Segafredo
"I was not affected a lot": Mads Pedersen reveals he also got Covid before Tour de France, but plays it down like Pogačar

Not one, but two riders confirming they've had the Coronavirus in the last few days! What is it, 2021 again?

After Tadej Pogačar revealed that he tested positive for Covid "about 10 days ago", but it didn't affect him too much and was "just like a cold", Lidl-Trek's Mads Pedersen has also said that although he got the virus, his symptoms weren't too severe.

“It hits some people hard and some people it doesn’t, I was not affected a lot,” Pedersen said in a pre-Tour de France conversation with Velo. “I had a few days off the bike, and I needed to rest anyway, and even riding with it was not a problem for me, I was lucky and hopefully I don’t get anything during the Tour.”

He added: “The Tour is more pressure and expectation, but I am used to that now. The team wants me to perform, that’s what I am paid to do. The Tour is the Tour. Every year we are fighting for a stage win or more.

“The speed is still there. We definitely won’t want to be better at climbing and take away the sprint. On the climbing days, it’s easier to get some points on the harder days for the green jersey. The weight is super good. We saw at the Dauphine the climbing was going well. I trained a bit more in the mountains, with a lot of sprinting and motor pacing.”

Just last Friday, the 28-year-old Dane's teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart was ruled out of the Tour de France after he fractured a rib at a crash in the Critérium du Dauphiné as well as contracting Covid.

After returning home to Andorra, the British rider confirmed on Instagram that he was “super sick” with the infection, missing five days of training in the process, adding to the litany of bad luck that has plagued him in recent years and prompting Lidl-Trek’s announcement this morning that he will miss the Tour

28 June 2024, 09:11
The Tour hasn't even started and we're already in love... Have a look at the rider briefing room in Florence!

Adam Hansen, the president of CPA, the pro peloton riders' association, has shared a picture of the Palazzo Vecchio (not my proudest moment, but I've read enough Dan Brown's pulp fiction to know this in my sleep), Florence's town hall where the pre-race briefing was held‚ and would you look at that! Italy never fails to disappoint.

Adwitiya Pal

Adwitiya joined road.cc in 2023 as a news writer after graduating with a masters in journalism from Cardiff University. His dissertation focused on active travel, which soon threw him into the deep end of covering everything related to the two-wheeled tool, and now cycling is as big a part of his life as guitars and football. He has previously covered local and national politics for Voice Wales, and also likes to writes about science, tech and the environment, if he can find the time. Living right next to the Taff trail in the Welsh capital, you can find him trying to tackle the brutal climbs in the valleys.

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33 comments

Avatar
Hirsute | 1 day ago
2 likes

//pbs.twimg.com/media/GQXJnhRWwAAaEjQ?format=jpg&name=small)

https://x.com/tomflood1/status/1803068909609763140

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chrisonabike replied to Hirsute | 1 day ago
2 likes

But they can just get off and push / carry their car round...

Exactly - even here you hear "but they have the roads as well" (possibly a variant of "from my cold, dead hands" - which unfortunately happens) and "but why should cyclists have their own dedicated infra unlike everyone else?" (The last ideally said while standing next to a road with footways, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, bus lanes and perhaps a railway running alongside. )

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Hirsute | 1 day ago
3 likes

Cyclist and walkers now deemed to be criminals according to Avon and Somerset Police.

"the police said the proposal was likely to encourage more people to walk and cycle along the route, increasing the risk of crime and anti-social behaviour."

Apparently "seating is one of the main drivers for anti-social behaviour"

BYOS then.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/plans-set-approved-missi...

 

"  Yet the police have no objections to a dance music festival for 30,000 people in Eastville Park, most of whom will be pissed/off their heads when they leave and try to get across a live motorway junction. And that's before we even consider the gang activity that goes with it.  "

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brooksby replied to Hirsute | 1 day ago
3 likes

I love how some objector says yes it's great for pedestrians and cyclists but won't somebody think of the horsists!?!

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Hirsute | 1 day ago
3 likes

More shit sentencing with the judge making the case for the defence.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cl5y43nxgd9o

Dungworth was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, after she pleaded guilty to * dangerous driving * .
the judge said she was "filled with genuine remorse" for what had happened.

The two-year suspended sentence and a five-year driving ban was proportionate, he added.

Harper and Briggs concurred.

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ktache replied to Hirsute | 1 day ago
2 likes

The innattention and bad driving had been going on for more than a few seconds, probably years.

At least it's a five year ban.

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ktache | 1 day ago
1 like

I'd like to take the opportunity to apologise to everyone, but this weekend I have decided to change my tyres over to the summer version...

And to top it all, this year I am going for race pads for my front Hope's, replacing winters sintered which I never took out to go for the normal organic, the mud just kept coming, the only reason I took off the full mud tyres was because id taken off the middle tread on the rear and it was spinning out in the filth. and they are soo draggy in all but the sludge.

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Matthew Acton-Varian | 2 days ago
5 likes

Good news from Mercian! As something I can only aspire to financially, the craftsmanship of classic British steel can't die out altogether. Hoping they will be around by my retirement in 40 years when I might just be able to afford one. I'm currently fixing up a vintage Claud Butler (a proper one, from 1949, not one of the post-bankruptcy rebadged lot) - not as light or as racy as a modern bike, but it has a charm and ride quality nothing compares to.

It still might get raced at a vintage rally or charity TT next year.

Avatar
EK Spinner | 2 days ago
3 likes

Since when was the Bianchi colour "Baby Blue" - I am pretty sure they always refer to it as "Celeste"

 

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Rendel Harris replied to EK Spinner | 2 days ago
2 likes

EK Spinner wrote:

Since when was the Bianchi colour "Baby Blue" - I am pretty sure they always refer to it as "Celeste"

But that would deprive Carlton Kirby of the chance, if an Arkea rider dropped out (and they were wearing it), to say "it's all over now baby blue".

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mdavidford replied to Rendel Harris | 2 days ago
8 likes

Rendel Harris wrote:

EK Spinner wrote:

Since when was the Bianchi colour "Baby Blue" - I am pretty sure they always refer to it as "Celeste"

But that would deprive Carlton Kirby of the chance, if an Arkea rider dropped out (and they were wearing it), to say "it's all over now baby blue".

"...celeste we'll see of them."

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mark1a replied to EK Spinner | 2 days ago
1 like

EK Spinner wrote:

Since when was the Bianchi colour "Baby Blue" - I am pretty sure they always refer to it as "Celeste"

 

They're two different colours, if you look, the jersey is not celeste, it's more bluey. 

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stonojnr replied to EK Spinner | 2 days ago
0 likes

But this is what's confusing me, unless it's one of those weird eye brain colour things again.

The Bianchi colour is Celeste, which I think the picture of Jan Ullrich from way back shows perfectly.

So in what way are Arkea B&B celebrating as an ode to Bianchi, a jersey that's a completely different shade of blue, this baby blue, though it's more reminiscent of Penguin books dark blue, as is the kit funnily enough.

I'm not getting this is a Bianchi celebration jersey from it, because its the wrong colour, and as they aren't going to wear it anymore anyway, why couldn't it have been Bianchi Celeste ?

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Kronsteen replied to stonojnr | 2 days ago
0 likes

I think the jersey is a throwback to Coppi's Bianchi Pirelli etc jerseys of the late forties / early fifties. I've never seen one IRL but photos show it more sky blue rather than Celeste.

https://drouot.com/en/l/23260342-fausto-coppi-1919-1960-maillot-porte-avec-lequipe-bianchi

Still a hint of green to it though. It's a classic jersey, real shame they aren't wearing it. 

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mctrials23 | 2 days ago
0 likes

What if they just checked all the bikes without telling everyone... you know, so you would actually catch anyone doing it and perhaps scare the crap out of the peleton when it comes to cheating. Screams of them not actually bothering to do the work to test and catch people and relying on faux fear and people to come forward. 

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Miller replied to mctrials23 | 2 days ago
7 likes

I don't believe any team is putting motors in their bikes. It's technically challenging, it would require multiple people to be involved, other riders might well notice: I just can't see how it could be kept secret.

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stonojnr replied to Miller | 2 days ago
0 likes

Heard that one before, we'll be using the no bike has ever failed a motor doping check (since 2016) next.

Are they motor doping? who knows, and neither does the UCI which is the concern. They can't on one hand say it's impossible to cheat with motors and the other say but we will pay you if you can tell us how.

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Rendel Harris replied to stonojnr | 1 day ago
1 like

I think Cyclist summed it up rather well when there were rumours of motor doping in the 2021 Tour:

Quote:

According to Le Temps, talk in the peloton wasn’t of a seat tube-based motor of the kind found in 2016, but of some sort of energy recovery devices like the KERS system used in motorsport or a form of electromagnetic propulsion.
Yet the idea that anyone developing technology small and light enough to be used in this way would first employ it to help a rider cheat their way to Tour de France victory, rather than using it to become extremely wealthy, seems a non-sequitur.

 

 

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stonojnr replied to Rendel Harris | 1 day ago
0 likes

And yet since 2016 ebikes, well properly made ones at least, have progressed from bikes with very visible motors and battery add ons, to looking virtually identical to standard bikes, you have to double check now to be sure on some of them.

Fine they'd still fail the current checks, but clearly battery & motor tech is improving and shrinking all the time. And will become harder to detect.

I wouldnt base my is anyone motor doping in cycling trust purely on the idea its a route to riches in other applications if such tech existed

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Oldfatgit replied to mctrials23 | 2 days ago
5 likes

I dunno why they bother with motor doping ... I mean, these pros are passed 15.5mph before they're out of second gear ...

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chrisonabike replied to Oldfatgit | 1 day ago
1 like

Just look out for the knackered mountain bike with the centre triangle filled with some plastic or metal-foil-wrapped object in the peloton.

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the little onion | 2 days ago
0 likes

Arkea-Samsic - rubbish cycling team, absolutely fabulous switch-out kit for the tour. Retro, dignified, and just the right shade.

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mark1a replied to the little onion | 2 days ago
1 like

the little onion wrote:

Arkea-Samsic - rubbish cycling team, absolutely fabulous switch-out kit for the tour. Retro, dignified, and just the right shade.

They're not wearing it. 

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the little onion replied to mark1a | 2 days ago
2 likes

OUTRAGE!

 

Ugliest. Peleton. Ever.

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DoomeFrog | 2 days ago
12 likes

Why is it that when I am driving behind a cyclist I have to watch the moron divers behind my car more than the cyclist in front.

2 trips this week, one on a bendy rural road followed by a blind summit meant I held back only for impatience from the idiots behind trying to either drive into my rear or overtake me and the cyclist on the short straight uphill.

and today I leave home onto the new release road (so not narrow but two way with roundabouts and traffic islands) and immediately I am driving on my mirrors  because the twazzoks can't wait for the road to clear. 😞

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Patrick9-32 replied to DoomeFrog | 2 days ago
13 likes

That's one of the most frustrating feelings when cycling too, is having someone sensible behind you knowing when they finally safely overtake a line of morons is going to try and squeeze through behind them no matter what is coming the other way. 

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john_smith replied to DoomeFrog | 2 days ago
0 likes

In situations like that I fold the rear-view mirror down and focus on the road ahead.

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Hirsute | 2 days ago
3 likes

We walked along NCN 61 yesterday which is also a shared path to be confronted by a escooterist doing 30 on it (he also had a m/c crash helmet). Fortunately for him this was not at the narrow, nettled earlier section.

Saw no police except for a sign to a police station.

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brooksby | 2 days ago
0 likes

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/27/uci-to-pay-whistle...

Quote:

The head of world cycling’s governing body has revealed his organisation will pay whistleblowers to come forward with evidence of hidden motors being used in the Tour de France and other major races.

Avatar
Hirsute | 2 days ago
3 likes

Cycle shed at Hatfield house.
Not sure how you can lock your bike but there are some lockers to store a pannier.

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