Cyclist’s injury caused by pothole costs council £200k; Surrey Bike Park plans moving at a snail’s pace; Emotional Cav video; Excellent save on TDF time trial; 900km drive to get Van der Poel a special front wheel; & more on the Live Blog
SUMMARY
On today's Live Blog...
For a few hours yesterday, my little world was perfect. Cav was being Cav – winning, making me shout at the TV and then swearing in the post-race interview. And then England were competent at football.
Today is TT day in the TdF. Some riders will be having a rest day. Not a full one, you’ve still got to ride pretty hard to make the time cut, but at least they should have a bit less stress while riding around on their own. It could, however, be a proper GC day. Primoz Roglic was heavily bandaged and we’ve heard that his Jumbo-Visma team expect him to lose around 1’30” to Pogacar today. How will Geraint Thomas cope after dislocating his shoulder?
We’ve also got some pothole news. As someone that has recently come off due to a pothole, I can actually feel this one. Anyone else had a run-in with a pothole recently?
TdF race leader goes shopping for speed
van der Poel’s team wants him to keep Yellow after Wednesday’s TT so they went hunting for some faster wheels.
They bought some Princeton CarbonWorks 6560 from Ineos rider Cameron Wurf and drove them 10 hours to Van der Poel’s team hotel in Renneshttps://t.co/rrzLfJmpeH
— Race Radio (@TheRaceRadio) June 30, 2021
Van der Poel’s Alpecin Fenix team would rather like to hang on to their Yellow jersey for a few more days, but that means getting Mathieu van der Poel through today’s time trial.
He’s near unbeatable in pretty much all bike-related activities, but the race of truth has never been somewhere that Van der Poel shines.
To give him every chance possible, Nieuwsblad reports that the team purchased the supposedly very speedy Princeton CarbonWorks 6560 front wheel from Ineos rider Cameron Wurf in Andorra and then took them to Van der Poel’s team hotel in Rennes, a drive of about 10 hours.
According to Nieuwsblad, team manager Christoph Roodhooft called Shimano to ask permission to use a non-sponsored wheel and Shimano agreed to turn a blind eye. Princeton didn’t have any stock available, so they had to contact Wurf who had an unused wheel. The owner of a hotel and friend of Roodhooft then collected the wheel and drove straight up to Rennes to deliver it to a (probably) very tired mechanic.
All in the name of speed…
Geraint Thomas "a little surprised" by Cav's win
Never in doubt eh, @GeraintThomas86 😜
Congrats, @MarkCavendish #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/TOln8s83um
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) June 29, 2021
“I hope he doesn’t hear me say that…”
*tags Cav in tweet”
Plans for Surry Bike Park moving at a snail's pace
Local residents opposed to the development of a free-to-use BMX track into what will be known as Surrey Bike Park have, Get Surrey reports, expressed their horror at the potential loss of habitat for rare Roman snails.
We first covered the potential Surrey Bike Park earlier this month when councillor Professor Patricia Wiltshire suggested that the development could attract child molesters, a claim that she clarified later as simply expressing the fear of a resident that had contacted her.
The area is already a popular spot with mountain bikers, but maintenance of the BMX track and trails that had been carried out by volunteers cannot be picked up by the council, as it says it can’t afford to shell out for the work.
Plans are moving sluggishly and a recent agenda item to discuss the project was removed after it was decided that an ecological survey was needed to assess the site.
Some residents are also keen to keep the site as a free-to-use facility for families to use. Bike Park projects are nothing new, and users are generally expected to shell out a pay-to-ride or annual fee.
Really, the question is… what have the Roman snails ever done for us?
Right in the feels
Deceuninck Quick-Step have released this video about Cav’s return to the top at the Tour de France.
In unrelated news, I seem to have something in my eye…
What a save!
What a recovery from 🇨🇭 @aka_muni! A little scare to start off his TT.
Plus de peur que de mal pour Stefan Bissegger 🇨🇭#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/P4ezaQPjoS
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 30, 2021
Stefan Bissenger had a pretty scary wobble on today’s stage 5 time trial, but managed to steady himself and get round the corner with just a second or so lost for the not-so-effiencient line he took. All in all, it’s been a pretty fortunate week for the Swiss so far in cycling and football…
We take your £100k pothole claim and raise you £200k
Yesterday we reported that of the £400,000 Surrey County Council paid out in pothole-related compensation claims, £100,000 went to one cyclist who was injured after hitting a pothole in Dorking – and further anaysis of the FOI request from Heycar reveals that £200,000 was paid out to a cyclist who fell on the A49 due to a pothole, reports driving.co.uk.
Even though councils in England filled 1.2 million potholes last year, or 20,000 a week, it’s estimated that there are over 100,000 potholes on UK roads at any one time. The Asphalt Industry Alliance estimate it would cost more than £10 billion to nip the pothole problem in the bud and repair the lot. We can dream…
Chapeau...
Might it have been these two?
— Emo Buchmann (@AugustBembel) June 30, 2021
Tony Martin and John Degenkolb were both police cadets before they became pro cyclists. Degenkolb has even said that he could go back to being a police officer once his racing career is over.
The answer was yes
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) June 30, 2021
Piere Rolland isn’t known for his time trialling abilities. Stefan Kung is. So when Rolland saw that Kung was starting three minutes behind him, he wrote a cheeky message on his bib number.
The competition was set to be nearly* as important as the Switzerland vs France football match where France lost on penalties.
In the end, Kung easily caught the Frenchman and it was another win for Switzerland. Though we doubt that this one made grown men cry.
Chris Boardman honoured to be appointed chair of Sport England
Thank you to all who’ve wished me well in this new role, I’ve not been able to respond as I’be been immersed in sport! But it’s an honour
Be it tennis, football or cycling, I think the last 24 hours have shown just what an important part it plays in our lives. https://t.co/vmhEFLPxg1
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) June 30, 2021
Boardman succeeds Nick Bitel, and will head up the Board for four years.
Tour de France latest: is another Swiss victory on the cards?
That. Was. Fast. 👏@stefankueng sets the new fastest time, 36 seconds up on Mattia Cattaneo. Can anyone beat the European champion this afternoon? 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/vgazrtramK
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) June 30, 2021
The current European time trial champ Stefan Küng put in a monstrous performance, posting a time of 32 mins 19 secs for the 27.2km. No one’s touched him so far, but there’s still plenty of talented time trial riders to go down the ramp yet.
Van der Poel - "I surprised myself today"
💛💛💛 pic.twitter.com/pmhbX1W7Tl
— Alpecin-Fenix Cycling Team (@AlpecinFenix) June 30, 2021
Having clung to his yellow jersey by a mere 8 seconds, you’d forgive Van der Poel for just wanting to relax, but he spoke to the media and thanked his mechanics for working until midnight last night to make changes to his Canyon Speedmax CFR. The changes, he says, were aimed at getting a more aero position.
Those changes included a host of non-sponsor-correct parts, including one of the Princeton wheels that, as we reported earlier, was driven 900km entirely for this TT. While we assumed that Alpecin-Fenix was in it for the front wheel, Van der Poel was actually riding the Blur 633 rear disc paired with an Aerocoach Aeox Titan front wheel.
Van der Poel was also using the Aerocoach Ascalon extensions in place of the standard Canyon cockpit and the team didn’t stop with the bike. A Lazer Volante helmet replaced his usual Abus and Aerocoach/No Pinz overshoes were selected over the regular Kalas overshoes.
Thomas says that his pacing was good but that there was "not enough power"
“I think I went out conservatively, maybe a bit too conservatively but it’s just what I had really.” #TDF2021
Hard day for injured Geraint Thomas as he tried to limit his losses. Here’s what he told Daniel ⤵️
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) June 30, 2021
We thought that the TT would shake things up in the GC race a bit, but unless your name is Tadej Pogacar, it was a bit of a disastrous day. Here are Geraint’s thoughts after losing 1’18” to Pogacar and slipping to 12th overall at 1’54”.
30 June 2021, 08:00
The person that caused the first pile-up on stage 1 has been arrested
Placard-waving spectator who caused huge Tour de France crash arrested
Prosecutors confirm a woman has been taken into custody in Saturday's stage finish town, Landernau
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Latest Comments
@Bungle_52 The Met told me a couple of years ago when rejecting a submission that they needed a clear three seconds of red visible before they would consider it for an RLJ prosecution. I pointed out to them that this meant that at 30 mph a driver could see a light change to red from 40 metres away and still get through without sanction, or 55 m if they accelerated to 40 as most do. They just replied "them's our rules..."
@Ben Graham I have just checked the footage from my report. The driver crosses the 1st stop line 4 seconds after the light turns red. All on camera from behind the vehicle. No further action. So I assume the margin is at least 4 seconds.
Oh, and active travel funding per head (in England at least) is laughable compared to other places. Plus it is delivered intermittently. It's more like a Blue Peter contest...
Yup, I see those opportunities being missed all the time in Edinburgh. When it gets really bad, dig it all up and put it back down again how it was. Contrast with what seems to happen in NL - when things are dug up the whole thing seems to get a "let's redo this according to the current standards" treatment. They even coordinate with the utilities, so that after a refurb the street isn't immediately dug up again because of leaking pipes / we suddenly realised the new estate being planned for round the corner will want broadband etc. Pros and cons of course - you may wait longer there for changes as smaller changes may be deferred until a major redo is due. (Though in the UK case you likely wouldn't get them at all...) It seems we "can't have nice things" in the UK in part because a) we have greater motor traffic speeds/volumes spead across "streets" / within urban areas b) the funding and organisational responsibility differs. Are we in the "Sam Vimes boots" territory (being too poor to afford better products which not only save money over time but actually work)? There is long term money pressure on LAs and it seems that due to poor construction and maintenance we have to regularly pour money into (pot-)holes in the road. And it seems there's no budget to check up on or enforce adequate standards from utilities work or even private building.
Shame about the world champs defence. Speedy recovery. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/30/tadej-pogacar-vuelta-a-espana-cycling-crash-hospital-stage-nine
I believe the accepted form for this kind of argument is "I know you are, you said you were, but what am I?".
Also the ability for drivers to see things is far worse as it's significantly obstructed by the frame of the vehicle.
So in your analogy I am the charming, caring creature that saves other animals through heroic actions and ends up as the new Prince of the Forest, whilst you are an horrific prehistoric lizard activated by pollution that blunders through civilisation smashing it in pieces by belching out yet more toxic pollution. Okay, seems fair.
@GravelIsNothingNew Yup - had a similar bag from Giant a few months back. It undid from the top velcro fastening, but remained attached around the ISP on a TCR. Resulted in a costly repair job to the ISP.
26 thoughts on “Cyclist’s injury caused by pothole costs council £200k; Surrey Bike Park plans moving at a snail’s pace; Emotional Cav video; Excellent save on TDF time trial; 900km drive to get Van der Poel a special front wheel; & more on the Live Blog”
It’d be interesting if VdP
It’d be interesting if VdP beat Ineos to yellow in Paris
I was just thinking the same
I was just thinking the same thing.
It would also be a miracle
It would also be a miracle
lesterama wrote:
Especially as he’ll likely be in Tokyo preparing on his MTB for the Olympics.
“They bought some Princeton
“They bought some Princeton CarbonWorks 6560 from Ineos rider Cameron Wurf and drove them 10 hours to Van der Poel’s team hotel in Rennes”
So, any pretence at green credentials blown away in that simple sentence.
I suppose it was better than
I suppose it was better than flying them in.
You know the yellow kit or
You know the yellow kit or yellow bikes they have the next day after topping the rankings, how do you think they get there? Actually how do you think the kit gets to each stage each day anyway?
bobbinogs wrote:
INEOS? Multinational petrochemical and fracking company and wankpanzer manufacturer? Green credentials?
wrong target. Its Alpecin
wrong target. Its Alpecin Fenix who did it. They just bought the wheel from an INEOS rider.
Moist von Lipwig wrote:
Well done Pike, I was wondering who would spot that…d’oh!
” what have the Roman snails
” what have the Roman snails ever done for us?”
They taste good, drowned in garlic butter. Roman snails (aka Burgundy Snail, Edible Snail) were introduced to the UK by the romans, to act as a food source
the little onion wrote:
So, an invasive species; to be exterminated surely. Any daleks for hire around there?
eburtthebike wrote:
I suspect that Daleks would be more interested in exterminating any humans before they got around to wiping out the snails…
Given this is a cycling site,
Given this is a cycling site, shouldn’t we follow the general francophone trend and call them escargots?
Steve K wrote:
Chapeau!
Steve K wrote:
Should they need relocating, Pedal Me can transport them aboard their escargo bikes.
Steve K wrote:
As the French snail said to his English girlfriend when suggesting they go for a drive, “l’escargot.”
I’ll get my coat.
eburtthebike wrote:
Reminds me of the story of the snail who won the lottery and ordered a Ferrari with a big S painted on the bonnet. When the salesman asked him why the S, he said so that when he drove past people who say look at that S car go.
brooksby wrote:
No need for Daleks, just a
No need for Daleks, just a tiny fork and a nice glass of Chablis.
Tuck in!
pockstone wrote:
Tiny fork and a pair of those special snail tongs. I love the fact that there are specific pieces of cutlery for eating snails.
Steve K wrote:
No need for Daleks, just a tiny fork and a nice glass of Chablis.
Tuck in!
— Steve K Tiny fork and a pair of those special snail tongs. I love the fact that there are specific pieces of cutlery for eating snails.— pockstone
Ah! Those wacky French!
the little onion wrote:
Yeah, but other than that what have they ever done for us?
£100k and £200k costs are
£100k and £200k costs are probably for permanent injuries / disabilities that affect their way of life so probably the minimum they have deserved. Especially as it probably wouldn’t have been awarded unless the road damage had been reported and ignored by the council.
“Shell out for the work”
“Shell out for the work”
I see what happened with
I see what happened with Councillor Wiltshire now – she just misheard – it was child molluscs the local resident was concerned about.