Fabio Jakobsen quickly edits Instagram post to remove sight of broken Specialized; Pidcock's back on Strava... with a Tour stage minimum heart rate of 47bpm; Mathieu van der Poel relegated for sprint shoulder barge on Biniam Girmay + more on the live blog

Tough day for Fabio Jakobsen yesterday: a heavy fall left his body grazed and bloodied, kit torn and bike snapped. That's the info you would have taken from the Soudal-QuickStep fast man's post-stage social media post...

If however, you were busy with life and didn't log on to Instagram until a short while later you might have missed the Specialized-snapping spot... as it had soon been edited to conveniently cover the cracks, mention of the broken bike removed from the caption too... (have a flick through the photos to see just how creative some of those camera angles got)...

"Cycling and life is ups and downs, but the most important thing is to keep moving forward, remain confident, stay hard and have faith that your moment will come 💪

Thanks to everyone for your support, and messages they mean a lot to me 🙏"

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Fabio Jakobsen (@fabiojakobsen)

And while nobody was scared to admit the broken bike at the time, directeur sportif Tom Steels saying it was in three pieces on the race track, you wouldn't know it from Fabio's photos. 

Pro cycling teams are no strangers to sponsor-friendly social media activity and we get it, they keep the lights on and provide the chain lube, but it only seems fair that in return we get to have a laugh on the live blog... such as when then-world champion Julian Alaphilippe's doctor prescribed specifically Tacx roller work for his rehabbing rider...

the Doctors specifically said only @tacx rollers and nothing else 🤣

But seriously, super news. 💪💪💪

— Joe (@joehenstridge) May 12, 2022

"I'm sorry, Julian. Your body is not strong enough for Elite or Wahoo just yet. For people with your injuries, I always prescribe Tacx..."

Anyway, ribbing of 'The Wolfpack' aside, here's to a speedy Fabio recovery and that Specialized, Soudal, QuickStep, Safety Jogger Shoes and Apparel, Dyka, Renson, Castelli, Ekopak, Janom, Maes 0.0%, Oakley, Garmin, 6D Sports Nutrition, Shimano, BMW, Meatless Farm, Coca-Cola, Tacx, Sportz88, Bkool, Morgan Blue, Hyperice, Geodynamics, Bruno Denis, Unior bike tools, Val di Fassa, Samsonite, Cermaicspeed, Klein Constantia, Compress Sport, Feedback Sports, QM, K-Edge, Canon, Rocket Espresso Milano, Nordic Coffee House, Roval, PRO, Core, RETÜL, Supacaz, Box Altitude KA, and Danielo-assisted stage win soon. 

Reaction time... 

Jai Hindley: "I was enjoying some bike racing and was improvising. I was happy to be in that group. It's really incredible and I have no words.

"I wanted to get as much time as possible and the stage. I find myself in the yellow jersey so that's pretty cool. It's my first Tour de France and I didn't know what to expect. I wanted to have some form of success. It's pretty incredible.

"This one's for them [my family], all the support, all the fans back home!"

Now, from the man second on GC Jonas Vingegaard: "We wanted a rider in the breakaway, we ended up with three, so that's even better. We didn't have to pull in the bunch, which was good for us. I felt good and told Sepp to go to the front and start pushing."

Responding to a question about if he knew Pogačar might be on a bad day, the answer was pretty clear... "No. No. I just look at myself. If I feel good I go. I know Tadej never gives up so it will be a fight all the way to Paris."

And from the man himself?

"It was not such a difficult day, Jonas went so so fast on the climb. I lost my legs a little bit, I feel good so I hope for the next days."

🇩🇰 Jonas Vingegaard attacks! @TamauPogi can't respond!

🇩🇰 Jonas Vingegaard attaque ! @TamauPogi n'est plus dans sa roue !#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/4jX6bli1qL

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 5, 2023

Jai Hindley, after his daring breakaway, is still at the head of the race, the defending champion hunting him down over the Marie-Blanque. Felix Gall is somewhere in between but as things stand the Aussie will be in yellow tonight. Pogačar, without teammates, a fair bit further behind.

[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]

A man accused of being part of the gang that violently robbed the home of Mark Cavendish, taking watches and a Louis Vuitton suitcase, during the November 2021 raid will stand trial next year.

Jo Jobson, 26, is in custody and was not present at the hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday, but will be invited to enter his pleas on 13 July, ahead of a five to seven-day trial starting on 26 February 2024.

"She does it 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧" 🤩

🥇@AvVleuten of @Movistar_Team wins Stage 6 of Giro d'Italia Donne to tighten her grip on the Maglia Rosa. It's her 101st career win! 🥳#GiroDonne pic.twitter.com/g4Md7kWpVg

— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 5, 2023

A second stage win of the week for Annemiek van Vleuten in Italy today, increasing her lead to over three minutes, in part assisted by yesterday's winner Antonia Niedermaier leaving the race. Elsewhere on the abandon front, Elisa Longo Borghini did not start today's stage after her crash yesterday.

"She had a good night and checks performed this morning show no sign of concussion. However, she is still in some considerable pain, and for this reason, with regret, the team believes the right decision is for her not to start today's stage of the Giro," her Lidl-Trek team said.

That's 101 career wins now for Van Vleuten who afterwards suggested it was a case of "attack is the best defence"...

"Everyone was focused on yesterday's mountain stage, then it's cool to win on a day that is actually for the sprinters," she said. "It wasn't necessarily about saving time today. I want to enjoy the Giro, but I know I also have to stay focused. The attack is the best defence, Johan Cruiyff once said about it."

RideLondon's mass-participation sportive, which sees up to 25,000 amateur riders participate, will continue to be hosted by Essex, the county's council and event organisers have announced.

The extension of the partnership until 2026 includes the RideLondon Classique UCI Women's WorldTour race, won by DSM's Charlotte Kool this year.

"We very much look forward to this event improving even further in the coming years," the council's Conservative cabinet member for highways maintenance and sustainable transport, Lee Scott, said.

N+1 eat your heart out...

Scottish cyclewear brand Endura is hoping to revive a "forgotten legend of cycling history" recreating Kirkpatrick Macmillan's 1839 bicycle first ridden from Dumfriesshire to Glasgow, a journey that will be repeated once the bike is rebuilt in August.

The ambitious project pays homage to Kirkpatrick’s invention, recreating the historic pedal cycle with the utmost authenticity and rideability, Endura says, and it will be brought to life in partnership with Ullapool-based boat builder Tim Loftus.

The team will aim to perfectly capture the essence of Macmillan's invention while incorporating modern engineering capabilities that allow the bike to be suitable for modern riding. And, once complete, it will be ridden on Thursday 10 August, during the World Championships in Scotland, on Kirkpatrick's original journey.

"As a proud Scottish brand, we want to remind the cycling world that the foundations of this great sport were laid by a proud Scotsman, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, in Dumfriesshire. Our historic ride will merge the past with the present in a way that encapsulates Endura’s commitment to performance and heritage, while celebrating the spirit of innovation that drives our industry forward," Noah Bernard, brand director at Endura said.

The omniscient, omnipotent Tour de France commissaires had their say on yesterday's sprint stage after hours. And while things weren't quite as tense as the now-viral meme of a nervous Jasper Philipsen, and inquisitive Tadej Pogačar, checking with VAR, the jury landed on a relegation to the back of the group, a fine and docked points for the Belgian's lead-out extraordinaire Mathieu van der Poel. Like he'll care, stage win in tact and his teammate the dominant sprinter at the race.

Anyway, you'll catch the incident at 30-35 seconds of this...

Jasper Philipsen wins with a bike throw! 🤯

The @AlpecinDCK rider narrowly beat Caleb Ewan on Stage 4 of the Tour de France after an insane lead out from Mathieu Van der Poel 💪
_________
🇫🇷 #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/0BUgLHb4P4

— Velon CC (@VelonCC) July 4, 2023

A messy sprint, ironically, seemingly made worse by the fast bends and width of the race track finish, Van der Poel and Philipsen refound each other in the final KM, the Monument-collecting superdomestique's shoulder telling Girmay he was moving out, rather than asking. The team bus will be 500 Swiss Francs lighter too and Van der Poel has been docked 13 UCI points. Again, like he or the team will care.

Third-placed Phil Bauhaus was also called out, for an obstruction at 1.8km to go, but keeps his result. The German has been penalised 50 green jersey points and whacked with the same fine as Van der Poel. Oh, and 30 seconds on GC which moves him down two places to 168th and 40 minutes behind Adam Yates. Great punishment for a sprinter that.