Video of Paris-Roubaix pro using foot to brake sparks disc brake debate; Smell of the North: Matteo Jorgenson gets caught short; Mario Kart bike race; Women’s Tour; Bike removals; Don’t kill me; Gianni Mosc-off; Cobble snorkelling + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Mario Kart or a bike race? AG2R Citroën team car ends up in a ditch at Paris-Roubaix
“Op de kant zetten” pic.twitter.com/XkYJZFW1ZA
— Bas Tietema (@BasTietema) October 3, 2021
The Hell of the North lived up to its title. The first wet edition in 19 years was as brutal/ chaotic/ hectic/ epic as expected. It even made getting out on the bike at half seven in full winter gear worth it. There were crashes, motorbike falls, punctures, Adam Blythe meltdowns, Christophe Laporte using his foot as a brake, Matteo Jorgenson ditch dumping, finish line scenes, and that’s just the stuff we saw.
AG2R Citroën’s team car taking a spill was one of the many incidents the TV cameras missed, but thankfully a well-positioned fan didn’t let this prime content go to waste.
No sympathy for Gianni Moscon: Puncture and crash ends Italian's Monument hopes...to the delight of cycling fans everywhere
Cue the memes…
Moscon // Moscoff. pic.twitter.com/0Mn8DqREzx
— 👻 ooOOOOooooOOooog 👻 (@Oog) October 3, 2021
MOSCON DROPPED
pic.twitter.com/bSHKhkfZHE— Nairo Quintana Fanclub (@NairoInGreen) October 3, 2021
There was a moment yesterday when it seemed as though, after 30 months of absence and expectation, one of pro cycling’s least popular names was going to spoil the party…
Alas, Gianni Moscon punctured, got a new bike with rock-hard tyres, bounced over the cobbles and crashed. The trio of chasers caught up, dropped him, and left the soon-to-be Astana rider one step off the podium in fourth.
It’s fair to say there wasn’t much sympathy for the Italian during, or after, the race…
I can’t imagine how on the limit he must have been when he made his racist comments.
— Daniel Lloyd (@daniellloyd1) October 3, 2021
I can’t speak for anyone else but I’m just so happy that Moscon got dropped that I really don’t even give a shit who wins now.
— Peter Flax (@Pflax1) October 3, 2021
Buckle up for a ‘why Moscon is peloton enemy number one’ history lesson. During the 2017 Tour de Romandie he racially abused French rider Kevin Reza, resulting in a six-week suspension. Later in the year he was accused of deliberately causing Reza’s teammate Sébastien Reichenbach to crash. Lack of camera evidence meant the case was dropped. To top off the year, he was then disqualified from the World Championships Road Race for holding on to a team car.
At the 2018 Tour de France, Moscon was kicked off the race for punching Élie Gesbert, and then at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne last year he was disqualified for throwing a bike at Jens Debusschere after a crash…nice chap.
Smell of the North: That wasn't mud on Matteo Jorgenson's shorts...Movistar rider apologises to families who saw him pulling a Dumoulin at Paris-Roubaix
Everyone had brown shorts by the end of Roubaix…
Matteo Jorgenson’s place in the front group was lost thanks to “six hours of cow shit and mud in the mouth taking my stomach for a ride and a half”. The young American took to Instagram to tell the tale of how he scarred several young families for life by adding to the Roubaix sludge…
The Movistar rider was in the same group as Mathieu van der Poel after the infamous Trouée d’Arenberg sector, but waddled home a few pounds lighter in 65th place after an unfortunate pit stop.
“Sometimes, nature calls and you have literally no choice but to answer,” Jorgenson laughed. “Apologies to all the women and children who just wanted a wholesome day out watching Paris-Roubaix, but this is the Hell of the North. Six hours of cow shit and mud in the mouth took my stomach for a ride and a half. Maybe next time I can stay in the winning move once I make it.”
The jokers in the comments had fun with Matteo’s misfortune, one dubbing it the “winning movement”, another congratulating him on being a “hitter”…well, it rhymes with hitter. Ask Tom Dumoulin, it happens to the best of us…
On the bright side, winning Giro D’Italia has never been closer for you.
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) October 3, 2021
Movistar team mechanics pic.twitter.com/euxU1ecuSf
— Ricardo (@gallon88) October 3, 2021
Roubaix bog snorkelling
#ParisRoubaix mons-en-pévèle pic.twitter.com/lqehCiWOGk
— Christof Marien (@ChristofMarien) October 3, 2021
Cycling bog snorkelling is unbelievably already a thing. A nudge towards 14 of the world’s incredible cycling world records. Number six? Yep, it’s mountain bike bog snorkelling. Graham Robinson holds the fastest time on the Llanwrtyd Wells course, but shoutout to road.cc Dave who won the event two years running. The big question: could he beat a topless Frenchman who’s been on the beers all morning?
Britain’s National Cycle Network: “hold my beer” https://t.co/AahGSlk1Zz
— Jon (@ormondroyd) October 3, 2021
Queen Lizzie Deignan, Elisa Longo Borghini, Elisa Balsamo, Joss Lowden headline star-studded Women's Tour line-up in Bicester
There’s more top class bike racing in the UK this week. The AJ Bell Women’s Tour has attracted a stacked field, including world champ Elisa Balsamo, Paris-Roubaix winner Lizzie Deignan, third place at Roubaix, Elisa Longo Borghini and Hour Record breaker Joss Lowden.
> Take a closer look at the bike Lizzie Deignan rode to Paris-Roubaix glory
Today’s stage is from Bicester to Banbury, before the race dips into the Midlands for tomorrow’s Walsall stage and Wednesday’s time trial in Atherstone. The week ends in Essex and Suffolk…Thursday is Shoeburyness to Southend-on-Sea, Friday is Colchester to Clacton-on-Sea, while Saturday’s finale will take the peloton from Haverhill to Felixstowe.
Frustratingly, the race isn’t being broadcast live, but there will be highlights on ITV4 at 9pm tonight and then 8pm for the rest of the week. We’ll keep you updated with the stages here on the live blog…
Please don't kill me
Moving house by bike
I’m calling a brief Paris-Roubaix timeout…there’s just too much brilliant stuff from yesterday. We’ll resume the cobbled brilliance after lunch. For now, here’s PedalMe helping someone move house by bike…
The future of cross-London flat moving transportation. Shout out to the amazing @pedalmeapp cyclist – she even helped me up the stairs with the mattress. I’m having a sit down and she went off pedalling across London! pic.twitter.com/fSmyKxF2JP
— CC Bloom (@CC_Bloom) October 2, 2021
And some eagle-eyed CCTV scanning…
After reading your tweet, I spotted this one … wonder if that’s your flat on the move?https://t.co/1ozF6ttNxe
— Simone Di Michele 🇮🇹 (@simonmacmichael) October 3, 2021
Marta Bastianelli wins opening stage of Women's Tour
🏆 @martabasti (@CipolliniTeam) wins stage one of the @AJBell Women’s Tour in Banbury, Oxfordshire!#WomensTour #UCIWWT pic.twitter.com/TloyCyF2lN
— AJ Bell Women’s Tour (@thewomenstour) October 4, 2021
As expected the opening stage of the Women’s Tour came down to a sprint, and it was Italy’s Marta Bastianelli who took the win. Is there anything the Italians won’t win this year?
Chloe Hosking was second for Lizzie Deignan’s Trek-Segafredo team and Clara Copponi third. Britain’s Hannah Barnes and Josie Nelson both earned a top ten result in Banbury. Bastianelli will of course wear the leader’s jersey tomorrow. Talking of which, it’s a circuit race around Walsall. Nine laps of a largely flat loop before the town centre finish.
Highlights of today’s stage will be shown on ITV4 at 9pm…
A Kickstarter solution to staying seen as the long winter nights closing in?
There’s a new eye-catching cycling Kickstarter, this time it’s a bike reflector aiming to offer 360-degree visibility without affecting your bike’s performance. The FLECTR 360 WING doesn’t need batteries, maintenance and can’t be stolen (unless they take the whole bike, of course), according to its designers. There’s a challenge for British bike thieves…
What’s more, for any performance addicts, it adds zero drag and weighs just four grams. Each reflector weighs one gram, but it’s recommended you add two on each wheel front and back.
A good idea? 2,030 people on Kickstarter thought so, at the time of writing. The project has raised £69,105 of its original £9,846 target. Hey, it’s got to be better than that GoFaster startup allowing riders to wear its kit one they’ve proved they’re quick enough to wear it…
Monday mood
Monday pic.twitter.com/YLpbmUq3gt
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) October 4, 2021
You made it. Four days to go…
What you might have missed while watching Paris-Roubaix...Greipel retires, Cav wins again
Let’s start this week with a standing ovation for this man. Congratulations on an outstanding career @AndreGreipel 👏
📽️ @VelonCC pic.twitter.com/fvbjUuafXM
— Israel Start-Up Nation / Israel Cycling Academy (@TeamIsraelSUN) October 4, 2021
While the rest of the world was watching Paris-Roubaix, Mark Cavendish and André Greipel danced the dance one last time. The German was riding his final race before retirement and waved goodbye to the crowds in Nienberge.
It was one of the Gorilla’s great rivals who took the win, however. A certain Mark Cavendish won from a small group for his tenth win of the campaign. A meeting of two legendary sprinters…
Legendary sprinters and rivals Andre Greipel and Mark Cavendish met one more time at end of race at Sparkassen Münsterland Giro. Total of 314 pro wins (Greipel 158, Cavendish 156). Today’s was Cav’s 156th.pic.twitter.com/z4NkFzbakN
— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) October 3, 2021
Christophe Laporte is everyone's new favourite rider + Paris-Roubaix disc brake debate
Laporte Man of the Match pic.twitter.com/VeoEor0Fvy
— Magnus K. Aarre (@magnusaarre) October 3, 2021
Christophe Laporte sprinted to sixth place from the group containing Wout van Aert and Yves Lampaert. The best result of his career in a Monument. Impressive. Even more impressive considering earlier in the day he was using his foot on his rear wheel after his brakes stopped working.
Deceuninck-Quick-Step hopeful Florian Sénéchal also reported braking issues, prompting some to question whether discs were the best kit choice for the race…
On Twitter, John Galloway argued: “Also for the record. Discs are a stupid choice for Paris-Roubaix. Slow wheel changes and with certain pads they lost the ability to stop in a race where braking is not an issue for rim brakes. Forget evangelism, embrace pragmatism. They’re mostly fantastic, sometimes there are better choices.”
Defective brakes? Riders stopping their bike by putting their shoe on their back wheel? https://t.co/S3H0pVDNgM
— Simon Warren (@100Climbs) October 4, 2021
Let the debating begin…
Just crap mechanics putting the wrong pads in. It was a day for a sintered pads, as any Cyclocross or mountain bike ride I would have told you
— dαvє hαчgαrth 🇪🇺 (@DaveHaygarth) October 4, 2021
Rim brake pads get eaten in conditions like that.
— Jon (@ormondroyd) October 3, 2021
I prefer Tom’s take…
This is a marketing opportunity…disc-specific cycling shoes, complete with emergency brake-block on the toes. They could even include a charging port for when your Di2 runs out of juice.
— Tom Isitt 🐝 (@masaccio60) October 4, 2021
road.cc Liam reliably informs me the pad choice theory is a decent bet, the pros would have undoubtedly been better served on sintered pads, not organic ones which can struggle in such wet and muddy conditions and work fine in cyclocross. We’ll never know, but it’s also something that could have been made worse by Laporte dragging his brakes if he was trying to avoid sliding out on the cobbles. Other possible issues could be to do with the piston or hose…
Which would you rather ride through a wet Roubaix?
Morning bike commuter one of many trying to let ambulance past Insulate Britain protest on Wandsworth Bridge
Insulate Britain activists attempted to block Wandsworth Bridge in South London, furious motorists weren’t having any of it & did what the police should be doing.pic.twitter.com/EfqW8X26PB
— Chris Rose (@ArchRose90) October 4, 2021
Loads of talk around today about protests…and there’s a cycle commuter in here trying to help get the paramedics through Insulate Britain at Wandsworth Bridge. It’s an interesting comparison to the Stop Killing Cyclists demonstrations across London where news editor Simon recalls seeing event organisers quickly act to move everyone out of the road to let ambulances through, before resuming the protest.
4 October 2021, 07:42
4 October 2021, 07:42
4 October 2021, 07:42
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Latest Comments
@Pub bike 2a. Being driven into by someone exiting a side road through queueing traffic. n+1. Being driven into by someone cutting the corner turning into a side road you're waiting to exit.
"If you start the stage at 10 instead of 12, you get a couple of hours in the stage. They could do that, though they’re looking at prime time television." Has the definition of prime time television changed?
@Pub bike Being reversed into by a driver who'd gone over give way/stop line/into yellow box Being reversed into by driver exiting parking space Driven into by driver cutting the corner turning into a side road
@Pub bike Gave this a go last night, but no subtitles available on iplayer, so it is a full immersion experience. However, I think I did learn the Welsh for Pogacar.
NB - credit to road.cc for their commitment to cribbing other people's content, which even extends to reproducing Velo's closing 'for more information see the Castelli website' link, despite there not actually being any more information there.
So I found a video and a picture of it inflated on BikeRumor: https://bikerumor.com/soudal-quick-step-castelli-ragaz-team-up-to-get-cyclist-airbag-into-pro-peloton/ It's fairly low-profile, so the jersey has enough give to accommodate it without damage. However, it does look like it's going to be difficult to remove and replace all that without removing the jersey. Unless you can swap out the activation unit separately from the bag, which might make it possible. It also looks like it'll give you a fair old kick in the backside when it goes off. And you're carrying the bag in a fairly wide strip up your back the whole time, which doesn't look great for ventilation.
Most of them are at least choices you can make when you buy a bike. Internal routing isn't really avoidable. It offers me nothing except a pain in the arse. Bikes are harder to maintain, harder to transport, and all for an aero gain I'll never get and a 'clean' look I don't care about And the manufacturers all proclaim it like it's a good thing, and we're all out there racing and with our 400w FTP :(
It was pointed out on the TNT commentary that the organisers had said people living on or near the course were still welcome to attend, and that presumably included people staying in campsites, hotels and holiday rentals, so the number who were actually ignoring the request to stay away was probably considerably lower than it might have appeared.
32 thoughts on “Video of Paris-Roubaix pro using foot to brake sparks disc brake debate; Smell of the North: Matteo Jorgenson gets caught short; Mario Kart bike race; Women’s Tour; Bike removals; Don’t kill me; Gianni Mosc-off; Cobble snorkelling + more on the live blog”
Such was the brutality of
Such was the brutality of yesterday’s race I found myself almost feeling sorry for Moscon. Almost. And then I remembered. And laughed. Karma.
He sure gave some nice family
He sure gave some nice family a moment to remember when he fell off his bike and slid to a halt right at their feet.
They were lucky he didn’t get
They were lucky he didn’t get up and throw it at them.
kil0ran wrote:
His was a bloody gutsy ride regardless of whether he’s liked or not, and I think he might have just held it if he hadn’t come down. Karma is a beaach.
no van Vleuten (ok she can
no van Vleuten (ok she can barely walk after breaking her pelvis & shoulder on Saturday but she wasnt on the shortlist lineup) no van der Breggen, no Uttrup Ludwig, and of the former winners no Vos, no Niewiadoma, no Brennauer, no Rivera.
in fact of the current top 30 UCI ranked women riders, only about 1/3rd are present in the race.
is that really that star studded a line up? Canyon SRAM have only entered 4 riders, I dont know if the revised position in the calendar has had an impact, but you get the feeling alot of the teams felt their season concluded at the weekend.
Hopefully Lizzie will get the
Hopefully Lizzie will get the recognition she deserves by the crowds but I personally am really disappointed the race isn’t coming to the North-West and doubly disappointed that it’s not being shown live on TV. I have 2 daughters and watched the womens PR with my eldest daughter who loved it. I’d have liked to take them both to watch a stage of the Women’s tour.
which is why live tv coverage
which is why live tv coverage is so important to keep up engagement with those fans, as the race cant unfortunately go everywhere, it has to go where there is money to pay for it.
I don’t follow racing. Who or
I don’t follow racing. Who or what is a Moscon, and why does nobody like it?
It’s like a very large
It’s like a very large mosquito.
The info is in the live blog.
The info is in the live blog. Follow the links for the ‘controversies’ he has been involved in.
Thanks – missed that because
Thanks – missed that because I don’t follow racing, but all the btl comments seemed to be making a thing of it. Don’t think I’ll follow the links: my curiosity has been satisfied now.
Quote:
I didn’t realise my wheels had a front and a back.
I’ve got similar wheel rim
I’ve got similar wheel rim based reflectors on my wheels, but I just bought some 3M black reflective stickers from Amazon – quicker and cheaper than waiting on a KickStarter.
£1 a pack for something
£1 a pack for something similar here:
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/bike-wheels/halfords-reflective-wheel-trims—yellow-285870.html
In fact, I got a pack of red and a pack of white ones out of one of their bargain bins for about 20p each a few years ago.
if they’ve been so succesful
if they’ve been so succesful why are they raising funds on kickstarter……
Disc brakes allow you to run
Disc brakes allow you to run tires are sizes and pressures where flats – and therefore tire changes – are less likely to occur in the first place. Rim brakes and 25mm tires at 1 million PSI are so yesteryear….
Quote:
Your poll seems to be missing an option for ‘Sofa’.
I was going to say “Team car”
I was going to say “Team car” – then I saw the AG2R ditch surfing…
I wondered when the “disc
I wondered when the “disc brakes are rubbish again” thing would pop up as a result of that. if you can afford to replace a bunch of carbon rims after a race like that using rim brakes, because theyd be absolutely toast no question, go ahead be my guest. Ill stick with discs and just choose the correct pads for the conditions.
secondly why is it the mechanics are being given such rubbish tools to work with ? and do they not practice wheel changes ? saw that on a race previously the guy fumbled around for ages, like he’d never seen a disc wheel before, and because the thing he was using to unbolt the thru-bolt looked about as powerful as something you could pick up from the bargain bin in Aldi.
Roubaix & disc-brakes: haters
Roubaix & disc-brakes: haters gonna hate.
Insulate Britain protests: the chav-twat-(in all likelihood)-Brexit–mouth-breathers have no idea why there’s a need to protest. They’re part of the problem, not the solution.
Though I’m not convinced that
Though I’m not convinced that it isn’t possible to have your home insulated without having the taxpayer fund it, I do get what Insulate Britain and XR are trying to achieve and broadly support their actions. But blocking the road to an ambulance?
I broadly supported their
I broadly supported their motives. Their actions seem to mostly consist of activities designed to polarise and alienate people.
For the sake of balance I should point out that:
a) No ambulance actually appears in that video.
b) When the proper XR lot blocked Regent Street they actually had their own marshals clearing the way for Emergency vehicles.
c) Some of the dragging in that video looks suspiciously like assault to me.
d) How the hell do you get that worked up over loft insulation? Really?
Mungecrundle wrote:
What ambulance? The same one drivers block every day? That one?
It’s so very wrong to block a
It’s so very wrong to block a road to protest, but queuing for fuel, well that’s worthwhile. Let alone driving a mile or less to the shops or dropping kids off at school.
I’ve never seen drivers block
I’ve never seen drivers deliberately block the road for an ambulance once in my entire life.
The watermelons of XR are doing a fantastic job of alienating the green movement from the rest of the country yet again – the Germans have shown in their elections that a centrist Green party can have succes at the polls, time for the UK Green Party to cut these extremist lunatics loose and condemn their disgraceful actions in public rather than the mealy mouthed “we wouldn’t use the same methods, but…”.
Ah – but the drivers would be
Ah – but the drivers would be able to move out the way – indeed there would be no delays to traffic – if they weren’t being blocked by … cyclists!
You can make impatient overtakes into wins by just chanting “…another point for XR” as they roar by.
Speaking of haters who hate .
Speaking of haters who hate …. here you are again. What a great contribution you make to any discussion. More, please.
If disc brakes were so crap
If disc brakes were so crap in wet and muddy conditions, surely everyone riding them in MTB and CX races (not to mention everywhere else) would have noticed by now!
Must have been either the mechanic put the wrong pads in/didn’t set them up correctly or a genuine mechanical issue.
Watched the highlights of the
Watched the highlights of the womens on itv4.
Even my wife said how poor the production was and the lack of information.
Didn’t see a single time gap or groupe and very little on how far there was to go. Not a great advert really.
yep same as previous years
yep same as previous years unfortunately, thats the problem with highlights only coverage package, because they dont get that automatic on screen graphic production stuff, because its literally just video recorded by camera
so theres no way they can reconstruct the data with all the picture feeds theyve got properly post race in the edit to do it as it would just take too long to work it out and cover the jumps in cuts properly, especially when you have to turn it around that night, you just hope the commentators pick up any main points, and if overall leads in the jerseys change hands.
plus assuming they werent goofs, it has in the past allowed them to edit pictures out of sequence that might tell a more dynamic story of the race, or fits better with the advert breaks.
Thanks. I think the
Thanks. I think the commentators could do a better job with working out the gaps though and they were more interested in the crash about 1km from the finish (not that we saw the flame rouge) than the actual finishing sprint where how far they had left was mystery until I saw a 100m sign.
With slick tyres on those
With slick tyres on those muddy cobbles it would make a blind bit of difference what brake system I was given, I’d be using them as gingerly as humanly possible