England fans celebrate Euros win with bike lane wand javelin; Do wands make you feel safe?; Pogačar smashes Mont Ventoux KOM (Dave B’s pretty quick too); Sagan abandons; Delivery rider catches the match; Breakaway day; New kit + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Leicester bike lane wands take the hit as rampaging England fans celebrate semi-final win over Denmark
this is how we celebrate in leicester pic.twitter.com/DW6zaPQTnB
— zfr. 👁️⃤ (@uwizfr) July 7, 2021
This video doing the rounds on Twitter this morning shows the drunken scenes in Leicester last night after England beat Denmark in extra-time to secure their place in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday. The unfortunate target of the revelry was one unlucky bike lane’s wands which were thrown around like a pissed-up Olympic javelin trial…
Man that’s my bike lane what the fuck https://t.co/GRS7J63r2O
— Rashid (@censoredradish) July 7, 2021
Major tournaments must do strange things to people…yesterday on the live blog it was kids pulling wheelies photobombing a peculiar patriotic procession…today, it is booze-induced bike lane bashing…
Ventoux reaction: Parties and time cuts
Wout van Aert wins VENTOUX!!! Big party #Ventoux . @JumboVismaRoad @WoutvanAert pic.twitter.com/R6Pgiln7bs
— Daniel Heijne (@dsheijne) July 7, 2021
There was big party on Mont Ventoux yesterday evening…no wands were harmed. One of the more dramatic stories of the day that deserves a bit of attention was Søren Kragh Andersen crossing the finish with three seconds to spare before the time cut. You’d have to be one mean-spirited commissaire to chuck the Dane out if he’d arrived a few seconds later. Luke Rowe was not so lucky and is out of the race.
Cav was content with his day’s work: “We knew it was never going to be as close as Sunday, but we still had to be focused the entire day as it was really hard out there. I had my teammates with me, helping me up and down the mountains. It wasn’t easy, but I was incredibly motivated to make it and not quit. I love the Tour and I’ll keep going for as long as I can.”
Pure class from @MarkCavendish on the Mont Ventoux at the #TDF2021 today. pic.twitter.com/4yQhI3sf2W
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) July 7, 2021
Is today the day Cav matches Merckx?
As you can see on Headwind’s stage map, it’s going to be a bit blustery out on stage 12. Mainly a tailwind which is good news for the breakaway, but also a chance of crosswinds. Will Deceuninck-Quick-Step have the energy to chase the break after yesterday’s gruelling time cut mission? If it does come down to a sprint then it should be Cav’s first of two chances to bag number 34 before the weekend…
Stage start delayed by ten minutes due to strong winds
Thought you’d have a quiet day of Tour watching to get over last night’s football? (Evil laugh) Mwaaah ha haaaaa. Race start has been delayed by 10 minutes because of strong winds. We all know what that means…
— Orla Chennaoui (@SportsOrla) July 8, 2021
Uber Eats rider invited in to watch the game
Felt sorry for our @JustEatUK delivery guy missing out so invited him in to watch it come home pic.twitter.com/jydIzD7rAd
— Rich Wolfenden (@_Wolfenden) July 7, 2021
Peter Sagan abandons Tour de France ahead of stage 12
🚨 🇸🇰 @petosagan will not take to the start-line of the 12th stage!
🚨 🇸🇰 @petosagan ne prendra pas le départ de cette 12ème étape ! #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/WB1TjJoHVY
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 8, 2021
Peter Sagan has pulled out of the Tour de France ahead of stage 12 due to knee pain. The seven-time green jersey winner has struggled to challenge for stage wins and is 123 points behind Mark Cavendish in the points classification.
“It’s not very nice to be leaving,” Sagan said at the start today. “The injury I had after the first stage seemed to be getting better and better but then I hit the knee against the handlebars again two days ago in the sprint and it’s swollen. I can’t bend my leg. There’s nothing I can do but take some rest and get better. If you can’t move your leg, where can you go?”
It means 33 riders have now abandoned the Tour this year, the most since 2012…and we’re only just past halfway…
Lotus announces Léger collaboration on new kit and concept bike
Full story will be up on the site shortly but here’s a first look at one of the new kit designs that has come out of Lotus’ collab with Léger, the premium cycling clothing brand established by former F1 star Jenson Button. They’ve also got plans to make a range of bikes too…
Tadej Pogačar smashes Mont Ventoux KOM...but it's Dave B who caught our eye
Despite being unable to follow Jonas Vingegaard’s attack, Tadej Pogačar was still fast enough to smash the Mont Ventoux KOM by 43 seconds. Helped by the early pacing of the Ineos Grenadiers and a tailwind on the exposed upper slopes, the yellow jersey summited the 20km official segment from Bedoin in 57:16 at an average speed of 21km/h…Not bad for an eight per cent climb…
Stage winner Wout van Aert clocked the ninth fastest time on Strava with 1:00:02 at 20km/h. At the other end of the scale, a look at the grupetto’s times shows that Brit Fred Wright was the slowest man brave enough to upload their ride. The 22-year-old was 24 minutes behind Pog and interestingly only two minutes faster than a certain Dave Brailsford who took on Ventoux before the stage…Could Dave B be Ineos’ secret weapon for the third week?
Perhaps the Ineos team boss was chased up the mountain by someone in a Ineos Grenadier 4×4 tooting the cyclist horn for added motivation.
Brailsford is back on Strava and uploading his rides out at the Tour. Earlier this week he revealed that he underwent heart surgery in March for a blocked artery.
Cav's going to have to wait for number 34...breakaway should go all the way on stage 12 to Nîmes
⏱With 91km left to ride, the 13 leading riders have a 10′ buffer to the peloton! Will they hold it?
⏱ Alors qu’elle quitte la région @auvergnerhalpes pour l’@Occitanie, l’échappée creuse encore l’écart : 10′ d’avance désormais. Peut-elle aller au bout ?#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/gUDg62L4Rp
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 8, 2021
It seems Deceuninck-Quick-Step are content to have a day off after yesterday’s all out race to beat the time cut. All of the team except Julian Alaphilippe, that is. After being in the breakaway yesterday, the world champion is having another shot today and is one of 13 riders up the road.
Pick your fighter: Julian Alaphilippe, André Greipel, Edward Theuns, Imanol Erviti, Nils Politt, Stefan Küng, Stefan Bissegger, Connor Swift, Harry Sweeny, Brent Van Moer, Luka Mezgec, Sergio Henao or Edvald Boasson Hagen.
For old times’ sake I’ll go Greipel, a British win for Swift would be alright too…78km to go.
The Countess of Wessex rides tandem bike alongside visually impaired cyclists in Bushy Park
The Countess of Wessex rode on a tandem in Bushy Park, West London, yesterday to support a charity ride for visually impaired cyclists and raise awareness for the Vision Foundation’s See My Skills report. The Countess is a patron of the charity whose report advocates better employment opportunities for blind and visually impaired people.
The royal rode the tandem bike in the pilot position while the Foundation’s Centenary Appeal Manager, Monica Smith rode as stoker. Smith told Hello! magazine, “It was really just like going out cycling with a friend, it was really lovely. Yesterday when we had a trial run, she said I was the one that was calming her down, and she said that if I had not been calm then she would not have been able to do it.”
Do wands make you feel safe?
this is how we celebrate in leicester pic.twitter.com/DW6zaPQTnB
— zfr. 👁️⃤ (@uwizfr) July 7, 2021
After last night’s video of wands being ripped out and chucked about in Leciester, some have been wondering if it’s proof that the pop-up cycle lane dividers don’t offer cyclists enough protection. After all, if they can be easily pulled out and lobbed halfway to Coventry at closing time then what’s to stop a driver ploughing through?
Brooksby also noted in the comments that some of Bristol’s wands have also mysteriously disappeared over the night of one of the biggest pub drinking evenings for years…
Anyone got any thoughts on wands? Are they better than nothing? A step in the right direction? A token gesture to safe segregated cycle lanes? Let us know…
There’s the case for installing permanent hard kerbing right there….
— PortsmouthCycleForum (@PompeyBUG) July 8, 2021
The calmest day of the Tour de France so far
🇫🇷 #TDF2021
he did it!!! pic.twitter.com/TCnY8ZU0ga
— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) July 8, 2021
Cycling’s a funny sport. Peter Sagan, Bora-Hansgrohe’s leader, left the race this morning and lo and behold the team has its first win of the race a mere five hours later. Just a coincidence I’d say, but what a strong ride by Nils Pollit to escape his breakaway companions.
Behind, Cav won the sprint from the peloton for the final two points available on the line…you can’t say he’s not putting in the effort.
BBC presenter Louise Minchin joins the club
Oh the indignity! I managed to fall off my bike at 0 miles an hour, forgot to take my foot out of the cleat. Rookie error that haven’t done for years! 🤣🤣 thankfully only my pride was hurt. 🤦♀️ Anyone else as silly? pic.twitter.com/TFUsCohdqT
— Louise Minchin (@louiseminchin) July 8, 2021
Been there, done that. It’s a good club to be in…
8 July 2021, 08:11
8 July 2021, 08:11
8 July 2021, 08:11
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Never mind the police - many cyclists (at least in the UK) would be totally unfamiliar with a velomobile, so perhaps police can be forgiven for ignorance there. (I've "normal" recumbents and even those cause lots of head-turning). And for "e-things" the tail of the market is very much wagging the dog of regulation. Or rather there's almost zero political interest in that. In an ideal world someone would find the money and time to get the police trained - but I wonder if most of them even keep abreast of things like the highway code wording tweaks? (Do those not specialised in road policing / pursuit driving get any more training than the average driver eg "enough to pass the test, once per lifetime"?)
I thought that the lengthy technical downhill section on narrow roads was a poor piece of organisation. It was inevitable that faster riders with their team car would catch up with team cars of slower riders. Riders passing each other was a bit of a lottery at times. The camera motorbikes struggled to get out of the way at times.
It's not a 'statement' though - it's road.cc's words, based on l'Equipe's interpretation. The actual statement issued on it said that the judge authorised it "guaranteeing strict proportionality between the infringements on the rights of the athlete and the stakes of the fight against doping in terms of fair competition and protection of his health."
Trust me Callum, if you'd grown up watching the Tour in the 1980s, as I did, you would not be hankering after those long flat stages that weren't even as exciting as watching paint dry, it was more like listening to paint dry. As for the supposed benefits of those long TTs, what did they give us? Indurain winning five Tours in a row without winning a single road stage in any of them. As McT says below, you simply can't Pogacar-proof a course and we just have to accept, and enjoy, the fact that we are watching the greatest GT cyclist of all time. Anyway I think it has been a great Tour so far, yes no enormous drama about the inevitable winner (though of course Vinegaard and now Lipowitz have shown us that anything can happen) but just about every day has had a fascinating plot and multiple subplots. Some time in the future there will be another Indurain-style winner, playing it cautious, following moves, making incremental gains and winning without ever lighting up the race and we'll be saying I wish the old days of Pogacar making those spectacular solo breaks were back.
The main issue is the layout of the stages with the bigger climb first then a shallow finish climb. It means pogacar can get a gap at the top of the big climb and then stretch 10-15 seconds to a minute plus at the finish over smaller riders like Vingegaard. A summit finish on the hardest climb might not lead to the most exciting racing but equally would keep the gaps closer. I totally agree with the TT kms though, they should have 60+km tts in the grand tours.
@MaxiMinimalist I mean, that statement makes it sound like they had reason to think those two are doping. Either they didn't follow procedure and are making shit up to cover themselves up or something is going on.
Quite possibly. But the changeover time loss would be a bit more significant if it was done on the flat just after the downhill when the riders are travelling faster, the deceleration, changeover and acceleration loss could easily be around 30 seconds, which is quite a lot of a 34 minute effort.
So Skoda have taken a leaf out of Dung-Old Karen Taco Trump's book and are re-naming something when they have no authority to do so?
@Mr Blackbird Fair points, though I was wondering if doing the climb and descent on a standard bike and swapping to TT for the flat section would have been worth it? Certainly quite a few riders seemed to be having handling difficulties maintaining the best line on the descent with their TT machines.
No. The climb wasn't severely steep and allowed a reasonable speed to be maintained on a TT bike, his bike handling skills on road or TT bike are outstanding for the descent and on a road bike he would have lost a lot of time on the flat last 9k section. Terrific performance by him though!
35 thoughts on “England fans celebrate Euros win with bike lane wand javelin; Do wands make you feel safe?; Pogačar smashes Mont Ventoux KOM (Dave B’s pretty quick too); Sagan abandons; Delivery rider catches the match; Breakaway day; New kit + more on the live blog”
Only the English could
Only the English could celebrate a joyous occasion by smashing up their own country ffs…
To be fair, they’re only
To be fair, they’re only throwing wands around rather than smashing anything up. It makes me nostalgic for the days when people set fire to cars.
Ah the good old days.
Ah the good old days.
They still punch/kick police horses pretty regulalry though – good to see the “football fan” keeping traditions alive 😉
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-53610926
markieteeee wrote:
Give it time, there’s still Sunday !
Whilst completely missing the
Whilst completely missing the point that their club goalkeeper and certified legend in their eyes is one Kasper Schmeicel, the Danish national keeper.
Fond memories of a Portsmouth vs Southampton derby, where Pompey won and smashed up their own city and attacked their own matchday police. It’s this sort of behaviour that’s a big part of why I no longer go to footie.
To be fair: this happens in
To be fair: this happens in Barcelona all the time. It also doesn’t seem to matter if they win or loose.
Definitely not only the
Definitely not only the English …
https://www.rt.com/sport/527630-montreal-canadiens-nhl-hockey-riots/
So much for lockdown. July
So much for lockdown. July was the month the British decided that football and fun was more important than Covid 19, so f**k it. Look forward to the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th waves.
Erm – you don’t need to – we
Erm – you don’t need to – we’re already in it.
4th I thought.
4th I thought.
1st started Mar 2020, 2nd Sept 2020, we started to come down and then Kent started another Dec 2020 and now this one.
4th, 5th, whatever, look
4th, 5th, whatever, look forward to 1000s of extra cases
Yep- there is a big gender
Yep- there is a big gender disparity in the latest data. Basically, a big spike in pub-going drunk men catching covid
It’s not just football
It’s not just football induced madness. You should have seen the unmasked press of spectators at the Otley Crit. (Much better behaved in all other respects though.)
pockstone wrote:
Right, so they didn’t go around ripping up football stadia then?
Missed opportunity!
youngoldbloke wrote:
No – you’re missing the point.
You see: all of those 60,000 spectators at Wembley had done lateral flow tests which were perfectly accurate, and none of them had lied about their result out of fear of missing out, and they were all probably in the same household anyway. Or something…
brooksby wrote:
It’s not about the 60,000 in the stadium, tested and (semi)outdoors, but the 100s of thousands in pubs across the country in enclosed spaces shouting, chanting and cheering that is driving the surge.
The view has been taken that now the vulnerable are protected fewer restrictions on peoples lives are desirable, and I think the majority of the country is behind that.
Theres been no evidence pubs
Theres been no evidence pubs are at all responsible for the surges at any stage during this whole pandemic, despite being the easy target to blame, the governments data for restricting pubs was based only on analysis of one club in South Korea I believe.
They are likely the most safest place to be around other people given the rules/restrictions they follow.
It will be the many millions more people mingling in each others homes that’s the primary cause of virus spread
Are you joking? Have you seen
Are you joking? Have you seen the miles of footage showing last night’s ‘celebrating’
There are 47,000 pubs in the
There are 47,000 pubs in the UK, ITV are claiming an audience share of 26million people, so I assume you visited all the pubs and peoples homes to be able to feel the footage you’ve seen is representative & evidence that pubs alone are responsible for a surge in Covid ?
Awavey wrote:
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, the vast majority of infections are from unknown source. Unless someone lives or works with someone who tested positive first, no one knows where they caught it. So every business can say no proof it is us, and yet it is happening somewhere and it isn’t outside on the street generally.
My point was not about pubs in general, but specifically large groups of people watching the match together indoors which is likely to lead to raised voices which have been shown to increase viral emissions from the infected, and therefore increase spread. This tends to happen in pubs more than homes I think.
People sitting at tables in pubs acting in a very similar manner to eating in a restaurant not a massive risk. I don’t think everyone watching the football at the pub stayed quietly sat at their table, talking with their group of 6 in indoor voices only.
But yes any groups watching the match in each others homes are also a factor, and far greater numbers there than in the stadium.
The was also a significant outbreak traced to a pub where people had been watching the football. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-57678761
Inside = bad
outside = good
Inside = bad
outside = good
check12 wrote:
– must be OK then.
And there is the reason that
And there is the reason that bike lane near Celtics ground reported about yesterday doesnt get the wand treatment
So the strategy is to give in
So the strategy is to give in to criminals in advance, rather than providing safe bike infrastructure and using the criminal law against anyone who commits criminal damage?
No the strategy is work out
No the strategy is work out how places like London or the Netherlands deliver lots of miles of protected cycle lanes without a flappy bollard in sight, and go do that kind of stuff instead.
Alright smart-arse. If you’d
Alright smart-arse. If you’d read the European Cyclists’ Federation Best Practice Guide, you’d know that light infrastructure can be a useful stopgap measure which is both cheap and quick to implement, and can provide a good level of safety and comfort (p27).
The costs of this infrastructure are around 10% of more permanent physical separation.
1) Your original point was that you have to give in to vandals, which is the wrong approach. You then moved the goalposts in your second comment.
2) It’s very easy to be critical of cycle infrastructure that isn’t perfect, but if you were actually interested in the subject you would know that light segregation does serve a useful purpose; and transport planners should not have to anticipate the effect of football hooligans ripping up their work.
Something like that might
Something like that might explain the eight (if I’m counting bases correctly) wands missing along Park Row, Bristol. They were all there at 6pm last night, and all disappeared (not just tossed around, actually gone) this morning.
Today we tackle the tricky
Today we tackle the difficult subject of football hooliganism
Stupid drunk football
Stupid drunk football supporters do lots of stupid things and use either losing or winning a game as an excuse for things they should be severely fined for! In Garstang, Lancashire the morons decided to uproot a tree planted ‘in memoriam’ and meticulously watered by me for months. They are at liberty to rot in hell!
Could be worse … Canadian
Could be worse … Canadian hockey fans have been known to set fire to things when they win the Stanley Cup.
Or when they lose it.
Sorry to hear that.
Sorry to hear that.
Pfft…..
Pfft…..
It’s Leicester, what does anyone expect.
They like to talk up a big rivalry with Forest, but we couldn’t care less about them, Derby are our rivals. The reality is that Leicester have to contend with Coventry and they haven’t played each other for a couple of decades now IIRC.
One can only assume that the hard lads think chucking a few wands around is the equivalent of gettiing “a result” at Notts County. All talk, no action.
wands stop drivers driving in
wands stop drivers driving in cycle lanes, and stopping in them while in traffic, but offer no protection to cyclists, and don’t create a safe space for them in non stop start conditions.
Most of the time wands make
Most of the time wands make me feel safer, on the grounds that your average incompetent driver is at the very least going to stay on the other side of them. They’re by no means perfect, but I do think it requires a whole other level of poor driving to ignore them. A level of poor driving that does unfortunately exist (see e.g. recent video of car mounting pavement) but is less common.
However, they can cause problems too. They are often blocked by parked vehicles, bins etc. and the wands make it harder to move out and around the obstacle. Or if you want to turn right, you need to find a gap in the wands and a gap in the traffic.
There is also one junction near me where the road curves round to the right but with a turning on the left going effectively straight on, and most drivers want to go that way. In the abscence of wands I would want to move out and take a primary position well before the junction to avoid left hooks, but the wands keep you tucked in to the side right up until the junction. I think they also make drivers less aware of you, as if you’re on the other side of the wand they don’t have to put any concentration into overtaking, so they just forget about you instantly. (Map link to clarify my explanation – https://goo.gl/maps/FSCJHRn1RBNjdEyk6)
Not all wands are equal, I
Not all wands are equal, I suspect.
The ones here in Bristol are lightweight plastic hollow cylinders, which screw (a half turn) into a base which is (AFAICS) melted onto the road surface, not bolted.
The wands can easily come out if hit by a motor vehicle, punched by a passing drunk (I’ve seen it!), or if its particularly windy weather.
I personally wish that the council would work on the assumption that motorists are skilled enough to not hit them, and as a consequence have the confidence to put more more rigid and fixed ones in place.