OnlyTifosi? Doping bust pro cyclist creates OnlyFans account after being sacked by team; Drivers fume at “waste of money” AI traffic lights for cyclists; Sarah Storey slams “appalling” Paralympics course; Tour of Britain thriller + more on the live blog

> Cube launches revamped 2025 range with new stiffer, cleaner Attain endurance road bikes plus updated Nuroad C:62 gravel bike (and the prices are tempting)

Hmmm… Have to say, even I’m tempted by some of those prices. Finally, things are becoming normal again!

Wout van Aert suffered no fractures in the horrific crash that abruptly ended what had until that point been a storming Vuelta a España for the Belgian, but will undergo “intensive care” on the deep wound in his knee, Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed last night.

Van Aert was once again making a nuisance of himself in the breakaway during yesterday’s stage to the iconic Lagos de Covadonga, as he targeted both the race’s green and mountains jerseys, when he crashed hard into the banking on the fast, wet descent of the Collada Llomena.

After gingerly getting on a spare bike, the 29-year-old – a winner of three stages at this year’s Vuelta during a dominant, redemptive ride after an injury-ravaged season – finally pulled across to the team car, clearly in distress and blood dripping from his knee, abandoning the race.

Following Van Aert’s DNF, Visma-Lease a Bike DS Grischa Niermann confirmed that his star rider had been taken to hospital by ambulance and was undergoing examinations.

Powerful shot of Van Aert’s distress, while the Vuelta continues, from @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/OyaQAaVIXT

— Jeremy Whittle (@jeremycwhittle) September 3, 2024

“Of course we are so sad seeing him leave the Vuelta in this manner. Luck has not been on our side this season. We all feel for him,” Niermann said.

And last night, the team said in a statement: “Wout van Aert has not suffered any fractures from his crash in La Vuelta. The three-time stage winner had to withdraw due to severe knee pain caused by a deep wound. That wound requires intensive care. Wout will travel back to Belgium to continue his recovery.”

Sticking with the Vuelta for a moment, and it turns out that Ben O’Connor didn’t miss yesterday’s podium ceremony on Lagos de Covadonga because he believed he’d lost the red jersey through the mist to Primož Roglič, as initially thought – the Australian just didn’t have a clue where the podium was.

Clarifying the mix-up, cycling writer and presenter Daniel Friebe posted last night on social media: “O’Connor says he DID know he had kept the jersey but thought podium presentation was 15km and not 500 metres from Covadonga summit, hence descended all the way (and had to be driven back up). He wasn’t thrilled.”

Oops.

Got to… get… to the podium ceremony! (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

And to make matters worse, the dogged Australian – who still holds a slender five-second lead at the Vuelta after fighting his way up Covadonga yesterday – was fined 1,000 Swiss Francs and socked 20 UCI points by the sport’s governing body for “failing to attend official ceremonies or failing to respect the 10-minute deadline after the rider crosses the finish line.”

Double oops. But look on the bright side, Ben, only a couple more days of red jersey presentations to go. What, too harsh?

Just a month after announcing that he was set to leave the Ineos Grenadiers after the Paris Olympics – complete with a very public denouncement of the British squad’s current failings – aero guru Dan Bigham has returned to the WorldTour as the new Head of Engineering at the ambitious and recently moneyed Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

Former hour record holder and team pursuit world champion Bigham revealed on the eve of the Olympics, where he added a silver in the team pursuit to his collections, that he was set to leave his performance engineer role at Ineos Grenadiers after Paris, saying the struggling team “should be doing things a lot better”.

Bigham – who worked with the Danish track cycling team at the Tokyo Games, having felt the British track set-up was dismissive of his ideas, before returning to the fold the following year – also claimed that Ineos have “lacked clarity” since Sir Dave Brailsford’s departure and expressed “frustrations” at missed performance gains.

(Ed Sykes/SWpix.com)

“How I want to do performance is not particularly aligned with how Ineos wanted to go about it. I wanted more autonomy, more ability to action my ideas. And I wasn’t really getting that at Ineos,” he explained, confirming there were similarities with his situation with GB a few years ago.

“I feel that a lot of performance we’re leaving on the table and that frustrates me because it’s clear as day we should be doing things a lot better. Let’s be honest, Ineos are not where they want to be, not where they need to be and the gap is not small.”

> “They should be doing things better”: Dan Bigham announces Ineos Grenadiers departure just before starring for GB’s track cycling team at the Olympics, expresses “frustrations” over “significant performance” gains being missed

And a month on from that very public criticism, Bigham has now jumped ship to one of the British squad’s rivals, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, who have appointed the 32-year-old to their newly created role of Head of Engineering, which the German outfit say will “further enhance the technical performance potential of the team” currently led by three-time Vuelta winner Primož Roglič.

Joining Bigham, who is expected to set aside his racing ambitions to fully focus on the role, at Red Bull will be Jonny Wale, who collaborated with the aero specialist on his HUUB Wattbike pursuit team and his successful hour record attempt in 2022.

According to the team, this new ‘engineering unit’ will work alongside other Red Bull entities, such as Red Bull Advanced Technologies, to “focus on optimising all aspects of performance and the integration of new and innovative technologies into cycling”.

“For the past decade, I have balanced the life of an elite athlete with my passion for advancing the sport of cycling through engineering,” Bigham said in a statement today.

“Having achieved nearly everything I dreamed of on the bike, I am now ready to fully dedicate myself to supporting the next generation of winners. The opportunity ahead of me at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe is immense. No other team can match this level of combined knowledge, capability, and expertise across its network, and I am eager to leverage it to the fullest.”

Red Bull-Bora’s chief DS Rolf Aldag also said: “With Dan and Jonny, we have absolute experts in the combination of cycling and engineering know-how. At Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, our new engineering unit meet the top know-how of our partners like Specialized on the one hand and the innovative technology entities of Red Bull on the other. This combination is unique in cycling and promises enormous potential.”

Last minute bike check for Remco. That paint job 🤩🥇 #TourofBritain pic.twitter.com/VXVBttcfcw

— Katy Madgwick (@writebikerepeat) September 4, 2024

Remco certainly hasn’t held back when it comes to blinging up his post-Olympic bike and kit. So much so, I’m assuming he’s standing there thinking, ‘I wonder if I could get away with gold water bottles?’

The Box Hill KOMs are falling like Autumn leaves this September, aren’t they?

> Box Hill Strava KOM smashed (again) as cyclist conquers iconic climb at 33.7km/h

I’ve already noticed a few people question the legitimacy of the mind-boggling team effort that went into securing Jackson’s place in online British cycling history – but surely then all Strava times posted during races shouldn’t count either, as they’re not technically ‘solo’ efforts?

Or do you also reckon the Foran boys are gaming the Strava system?

The Tour de l’Ardèche’s pink jersey here, becoming the latest in a stupidly long list of leader’s kits at women’s races hastily scrawled on with black marker by teams, who discovered the race organisers had provided no way of printing their sponsors on that big white space:

🇫🇷 #TCFIA2024@ThalitadeJong is the first leader of the Tour de l’Ardèche ahead of stage 2 💪👏 pic.twitter.com/nZw5yqwHeO

— Lotto Dstny (@lotto_dstny) September 4, 2024

Sigh…

“Memo to race organisers: if your race doesn’t have the budget to print the leaders teams’ graphics on the front of the classification jerseys, don’t draw attention to this fact by adding the space where it’s supposed to go,” wrote Ben Atkins on Twitter, in response to the race’s frankly amateur approach to their leader’s jersey.

A few weeks on from the euphoria and professionalism of the Tour de France, that’s one way to be bumped right back down to earth.

> There’s a new fastest time up Box Hill – but what’s the world’s hardest Strava KOM to add to your collection?

Somehow, I don’t think I’ll bother…

For the second day in a row, it’s been pure anarchy on the roads of the Tour of Britain, as a classic Remco Evenepoel surge on the steep Lythe Bank blew the bunch to pieces with over 50km to go to the finish in Redcar.

Tom Pidcock, and all of the Ineos Grenadiers in fact, were the chief casualties of the Olympic champion’s effort, as the British team enters the finishing circuit over a minute and a half down on an elite group that looks set to contest those two final ascents of Saltburn Bank.

Up ahead, things are looking much rosier for Israel-Premier Tech, who boast the British trio of Stevie Williams, Joe Blackmore, and Jake Stewart in the small nine-rider front group, after Stewart bridged back up to the leaders alongside the relaxed-looking Evenepoel.

Evenepoel’s Soudal Quick-Step teammate Julian Alaphilippe is also lurking ominously, as is the strong and punchy Oscar Onley, while GB representative Louis Sutton and English-sounding Frenchman Tom Donnenwirth can’t be ruled out in front of the jumping crowds on Saltburn.

Sit tight, it’s going to be a cracker.

“It’s the kind of race where things can get out of hand pretty quick!”

Stevie Williams after winning stage two of the #TourOfBritain@IsraelPremTech | @ITV pic.twitter.com/b3icExua9W

— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) September 4, 2024

Now there’s an understatement, Stevie…

Over to the Vuelta now, where there’s been some typically British weather on the flat run-in to Santander – and where Spanish cycling’s man of the moment Pablo Castrillo just can’t help himself, drilling it on the front and inspiring the race’s social media admin to dust off his old 45s…

The power of Castrillo 😮‍💨 he’s moved to the front and the peloton has broken behind him!

🚀 @pablocastrillo_ en modo bestia hoy también… 🤪 Se pone al frente del pelotón y lo deja roto. #LaVuelta24 pic.twitter.com/92LpCl7a2s

— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 4, 2024

Though if you were going down the classic British rock angle, surely Rocketman would have been a suitable choice for the turbo-charged Castrillo?

The rain normally associated with the Tour of Britain was certainly falling in Spain today, giving way to a sketchy, uncontrollable finale ultimately won – as usually happens at the end of chaotic races – by the huge pre-stage favourite Kaden Groves, who capitalised on Wout van Aert’s injury-enforced absence to claim his third win of this year’s Vuelta, continuing his streak of hat-tricks at the Australian grand tour.

HE NAILED IT! 👏 Kaden Groves wins Stage 17 of La Vuelta in terrible conditions! 🌧️ #LaVuelta24 pic.twitter.com/WiRLawrPrd

— Eurosport (@eurosport) September 4, 2024

But the seemingly inevitable sight of Groves beating Pavel Bittner, the second-fastest man left at the Vuelta, by a bike length in Santander was preceded by a fraught, nervy stage in the rain, as Alpecin-Deceuninck and DSM-Firmenich struggled to control the breakaway trio of Thibaut Guernalec, Jonas Gregaard, and Xabier Isasa on the sketchy run-in.

After those day-long escapees were finally reeled in with around five kilometres left, another trio broke clear, powered on by Swiss champion Mauro Schmid, with DSM anchor Max Poole and the late-arriving Victor Campenaerts tucked firmly in the wheel.

But Schmid’s dogged effort ultimately came to naught with just 250m to go, as Groves timed his sprint to perfection to make it three at the Vuelta for the second year running.

Now, who was the road.cc reader who said at the start of the race that the Australian sprinter would have a hard time repeating his 2023 hat-trick? Come on, hands up…

After finishing third last year on a British national championships course that took in the short, steep ramps of Saltburn Bank, Stevie Williams made absolutely no mistake this time around at the Tour of Britain, attacking through the crowds on the jampacked hill before outsprinting Julian Alaphilippe and Oscar Onley in Redcar to win a thrilling, potentially decisive stage and take the overall race lead.

Stevie Williams wins the second stage of the Lloyd’s Bank Tour of Britain! 👏🇬🇧#TourOfBritain pic.twitter.com/ib02DfDoz6

— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) September 4, 2024

Another chaotic, attacking final 50km, set in motion by Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel’s searing pace on Lythe Bank, saw an elite nine-rider group go clear containing Williams and his Israel-Premier Tech teammates Joe Blackmore and Jake Stewart (albeit briefly in Stewart’s case), Soudal Quick-Step duo Evenepoel and Alaphilippe, Onley, Mark Donovan, Tom Donnenwirth, and GB Academy’s Louis Sutton.

Meanwhile, stranded a minute and a half behind were the Ineos Grenadiers, the British team performing a 40km distillation of their frustrating season, chasing fruitlessly as the real race played out in the distance.

Up ahead with Evenepoel, ostensibly in domestique mode, yo-yoing off the front and back of the group seemingly at will, Alaphilippe entered the final ascent of the Beefeater-lined Saltburn Back firmly on Stevie William’s wheel.

 (Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com)

But the two-time former world champion was forced to let go as Williams, whose Flèche Wallonne victory earlier this year underlined his ability to sprint up steep inclines, sprinted up the hill, with only Onley able to get anywhere near matching the 28-year-old’s acceleration.

However, Alaphilippe may lack the punch he possessed in his rainbow jersey-winning pomp, but the Frenchman retains the same dogged determination, and quickly bridged across to the leading duo. With Evenepoel and the strong-looking Blackmore acting as anchors behind, the chase lacked cohesion and the gap ballooned out to over 20 seconds by the final kilometre.

In the sprint in Redcar, the Welshman Williams looked serene, leading out and easily dispatching Alaphilippe and Onley for the win, and in turn building a six-second lead at the top of the GC over his Scottish counterpart.

(Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com)

Blackmore, meanwhile, beat Evenepoel in the sprint for fourth 21 seconds back, ensuring both riders remain in the GC conversation, as 22-year-old Louis Sutton, representing GC, and after a full day in the break, proved he can hang with the very best by finishing sixth.

More of the same tomorrow, please.

Moments after winning an astonishing 18th Paralympic gold medal in this morning’s C5 women’s time trial, beating French home hope Heidi Gaugain by four seconds, Dame Sarah Storey branded the short, 14.1km course selected by the organisers for most of the female TT races as “appalling”, “disappointing”, and a step back in the fight for parity in women’s cycling.

Today’s win marked Storey’s fifth successive Paralympic time trial win, as she overhauled Gaugain’s seven-second lead at the halfway mark with a blistering ride on the hillier run-in.

However, it was also the first time Britain’s most successful Paralympian had ever raced on a Games course shorter than 22km, with the 14.1km route failing to even match the length of a club 10-mile TT at home.

(Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

Speaking after her win, which was also her 28th Paralympic medal in total across swimming and cycling in a staggering nine Games appearances, the 46-year-old said that a number of competitors had complained to the organisers about the course’s brevity, with only one women’s time trial (the B event for visually impaired athletes) being contested over the two-lap distance of 28.3km. Seven of today’s men’s races, however, feature two laps of the course.

“It’s a short race. This is the shortest Paralympic time trial we have ever had, and I think it’s a real shame because we don’t get to showcase Para-sport in the way we want to,” Storey said at the finish. “You’ll have to ask organisers. There’s plenty of time in the day for us to do two laps like the men.

“Having fought so hard for parity in women’s cycling, to not have it is a real disappointment. I’ve had to put that aside and focus on what I could control, because I couldn’t control the race distance. But I hope they never do this to the women again, because it has been appalling.”

She continued: “It’s a hilly 10km. I do lots of those at home, so I have plenty of practice. But in championships you expect a race of minimum 22km, that’s what we’ve done in all the other Paralympic Games.

“Look back to that incredible course in Beijing, Brands Hatch with all the fans, Rio was flat but longer, Tokyo we had the motor circuit, three laps, it was a real challenge. This has been the most disappointing in that sense, given what came before it.”

(Ed Sykes/SWpix.com)

Storey also noted that a number of riders had contacted the Paris organisers about the course, but had heard nothing back.

“You can ask, you might not hear anything back,” she said.

Despite her disappointment at the course, Storey was nevertheless thrilled to add to her position as one of Britain’s greatest sportspeople, with another crack at gold in Friday’s road race to come.

 “I’m utterly delighted. I had a target to get five gold medals [in the time trial]. I feel so, so proud,” she said.

“You can put the challenges aside, we race the course and prepare for it, but it is brilliant, to have friends and family here, the cheering off the start line. I’m so pleased.”

Well, it seems that yesterday’s story on Transport for West Midlands’ plans to introduce new AI sensors at traffic lights to detect cyclists quicker and offer them a faster, less interrupted journey has gone down about as well as you’d expect in certain motoring corners of the internet.

In case you missed it, the sensors, developed by VivaCity and already in place across the UK in the likes of London, Manchester, and York, have been installed by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and Solihull Council at a toucan crossing near Blythe Valley in Solihull.

The AI-powered technology is to detect cyclists 20 to 30 metres away, with the early detection enabling the traffic signals to go green quicker, “giving cyclists a smoother, uninterrupted journey on their bikes”.

> Psst… Don’t tell the Telegraph: New AI-powered sensor technology being tested on key cycle route in Solihull to give cyclists “smoother, uninterrupted journey” through traffic lights and “greater priority” over motorists

By detecting cyclists earlier, TfWM says, the sensors help reduce both the chance of collisions and reduce waiting times at crossings, while forming part of a “broader effort to promote active travel and offer them greater priority over motor vehicles” in the area.

Which has gone down like a big lead balloon among the internet’s more ardent Telegraph-reading community.

Anti-cycling bingo cards at the ready – let’s start with the very predictable ones…

“Cyclists already have that joy as they never stop at red lights,” said Just Social on X/Twitter, while Lewie added the not-so-original: “They are constantly on red so you can just go through them.”

“Seems like a complete waste of money to be honest, given a subset of the cycling fraternity deem traffic lights beneath them,” added another user with the perfectly balanced name ‘Cycle Catcher’.

> “Wait until you hear about cars”: Cyclists respond to Telegraph’s latest story claiming “more than half of cyclists” in London jumped red lights at rush hour

Meanwhile, Charlie on Facebook began to worry that all his morning overtakes will now come to naught.

“Great, spend 10 minutes overtaking a cyclist so they can go first and hold you up again, brilliant idea, must have been thought up by a cyclist, never mind the economy or saving the planet,” he wrote.

“Mind you, we probably won’t notice as most cyclists don’t understand what the red light means.”

“And gridlock. Not very eco. Well done,” added George, while Herbert also misunderstood the notion of promoting active travel to ultimately discourage private car use by writing: “It would be more environmentally friendly to give motorised vehicles priority.”

And, naturally, it wouldn’t be a story about cyclists and red lights without anti-LTN account Fidel weighing in with a classic case of whataboutery: “Of course, we cannot have our vulnerable and beloved MAMILs inconvenienced by silly traffic lights so their comfort takes priority over fixing the hazard created by floating bus stops! Way to go!”

With that level of whataboutery, there’s a career in Northern Irish politics awaiting that person.

> “Game changing” device allows cyclists to control traffic lights so children stay safe

Shockingly, not everyone was outraged by a technology that aims to avoid disruptions in traffic flow.

“The same as cars get then, seems completely fair,” Retro Bike said of the pilot scheme, while Mark described it as “a big change from the usual sensor-driven traffic lights which don’t detect bicycles at all!”

“Had these in York for months, don’t inconvenience drivers, so no stress,” added Max (better tell the internet that then).

Though not everyone was convinced that AI at traffic lights always works in cyclists’ favour.

“Well, we will see, with the C4 (some) lights at less than five bloody seconds,” said Baz, as NJ noted: “Pretty sure Worcestershire council will train the AI model to be at a disadvantage to cyclists.”

> Should cyclists be allowed to ride through red lights? Campaigners split on safety benefits

Announcing the pilot scheme in Solihull this week, West Midlands mayor Richard Parker said: “Road safety is a top priority for me, and I want everyone to feel secure when cycling or walking.

“This project gives us a chance to see how Artificial Intelligence can make our roads safer by detecting cyclists and pedestrians and manage traffic signals to give them more time to cross safely.

“This is just one part of my plan to make our streets safer and encourage more people to cycle, meaning improved fitness, fewer traffic jams and cleaner air.”

Which all sounds great, unless you’re a rabid online anti-cycling activist, then it sounds – as Keith sarcastically noted – just like “something, something, war on motorists”.

There’s a headline I never thought I’d write about professional cycling… and, considering the weird and often sordid side of the sport, that’s saying something.

But according to reports in the Italian cycling media this morning, Andrea Piccolo – the pro rider sacked by EF Education-EasyPost in June after he was caught trying to bring human growth hormone into Italy – has seemingly opted for a rather dramatic career change by setting up an OnlyFans account.

Yep, you read that right.

23-year-old Piccolo, who led the 2023 Vuelta for one day and finished fourth on stage six of this year’s Giro d’Italia, was stopped by authorities over two months ago while attempting to return to Italy following a training camp in Colombia, and was later revealed to be the centre of a targeted anti-doping investigation which led to his arrest.

He was found to be in possession of human growth hormone and immediately fired by EF, who said they would “cooperate fully with any investigation into the matter, and we encourage Andrea to be open and truthful with anti-doping authorities”.

> EF Education-EasyPost rider sacked for transporting human growth hormone was targeted as part of anti-doping investigation, UCI confirms

Piccolo then admitted to transporting four unspecified medicines, but launched the somewhat dubious defence that he is innocent because he “never tested positive” for any of them.

 (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

And after a summer without racing since his last competitive outing at the Giro d’Italia, cyclingpro.net has reported that Piccolo is now filling his time creating content for his newly opened account on OnlyFans, the (in case you weren’t aware) subscription social media platform primarily focused on videos of the… ahem, adult variety.

(Or you never know, the Italian could just be offering a pay-per-view insight into the ongoing influence of doping in the current peloton. To be honest, I don’t really want to check – but judging by the rumours concerning the ‘content’ of his videos, Piccolo may be telling the truth that the HGH wasn’t intended to aid his cycling career after all. Yikes.)

Piccolo’s eyebrow-raising (don’t go there) method of making up for his abrupt salary deficit following his EF sacking probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, however.

The 23-year-old’s partner, Colombian model and influencer Valentina Gomez, is already on the platform, while also amassing a whopping three million followers on Instagram (finally, an app road.cc is actually signed up for).

EF Education EasyPost rider Andrea Piccolo with his girlfriend Valentina Gomez 🩷 #GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/4KhUv6yEbl

— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) May 13, 2024

In fact, Piccolo and Gomez’s relationship even provided some tabloid fodder for the likes of the Daily Mail after his arrest in June, with headlines focusing on the Italian’s “fall from grace” and “bad-influencer girlfriend”.

Look ma, cycling’s made the celebrity gossip pages! And he wasn’t even that famous in cycling circles yet, if we’re honest.

But who knows, maybe this whole OnlyFans stuff will take off and work out a whole lot more lucrative than a domestique’s salary, especially if he’s, ahem, ‘performing’ alongside his famous girlfriend?

(Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

So, to paraphrase cycling commentators throughout the 2000s, anyway, back to the doping story…

Following the UCI’s confirmation that Piccolo had been the centre of a criminal anti-doping probe, EF boss Jonathan Vaughters said the team had no knowledge of the investigation, but that it had shared general concerns with the UCI after they suspended Piccolo without pay in March for taking a sleeping aid (albeit a legal one) that was not approved by the team.

Despite claiming that they did not terminate the Italian’s contract at that time due to legal reasons related to the UCI’s employment rules, EF nevertheless picked Piccolo for the Giro, which he abandoned on stage 19, his last for the American squad.

> Cyclists behaving badly — times when the pros lost the plot

The news of the anti-doping probe into the young Italian came as another blow for EF, whose foundation as Slipstream in 2007 was based on championing clean sport and providing redemption for reformed dopers in a particularly murky period of cycling’s history, a stance which has since been shaken by historical accusations of doping for many of their riders, Matt White’s sacking for referring a rider to soon-to-be-banned ex-US Postal doctor Luis Garcia del Moral in 2011, and Tom Danielson’s four-year ban for testosterone in 2015.

However, I don’t think White and Danielson have set up OnlyFans accounts yet, to the best of my knowledge anyway.

Though maybe Piccolo will blaze the trail and open a new post-racing career path for ex-pros, sick of driving the team car or chaperoning VIPs around the Tour de France?