Mark Cavendish: Inspiring next generation means the most; Tour de France crash has riders scrambling; Wattbike to win England the Euros; Protesting cyclist stomps bike lane blocker; LEJOG record; Yates abandons; Giro Donne; 140mph + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Protesting delivery cyclist stomps over car blocking bike lane
Una ciclista repartidora de DIDI pasó por encima de un vehículo, debido a que el automovilista no respetó la ciclovía en el centro histórico de #Querétaro; el auto resulto dañado. pic.twitter.com/sM9EMUzttL
— Qué Poca Madre (@QuePocaMadre_Mx) July 2, 2021
A delivery rider in Querétaro, Mexico, was filmed stomping over a car parked in a bike lane during a march demanding safer conditions for cyclists. The protest was organised by the Union of Cyclists in Querétaro (UCIQ) to raise awareness of the dangers cyclists experience every day to hopefully prevent further deaths on the road.
The protestor, wearing a food delivery backpack, was filmed walking straight over the obstruction as fellow protesters can be heard shouting: “It’s a bike path, don’t you understand?”
UCIQ member José Antonio Morán told Mexico News Daily: “When there is a lack of road culture and authorities stay silent and speeding, recklessness and non-compliance with traffic rules are not adequately sanctioned we fall into the chaos.”
According to Infobae, there have been 43 collisions involving drivers and cyclists in the Mexican city this year, resulting in three deaths. In the city’s defence, transport director Saúl Obregón said 43 million pesos (£1.5 million) had been invested building 80,000 square metres of bike lanes.
It’s not the first time we’ve covered Mexican cyclists taking the no-nonsense approach…Back in 2011, activists in Mexico City painted a 5km guerilla cycle lane after progress on building a new network stalled…
Mark Cavendish hails Marianne Vos the "absolute GOAT" after 30th Giro d'Italia Donne win
Today’s all about Cav, but yesterday should be all about Marianne Vos. The Dutch cycling legend won stage seven of Giro d’Italia Donne, the biggest women’s stage race and closest thing to a women’s Grand Tour, to take her tally to 30 stage wins. On Instagram, Cav called Vos the “GOAT” (greatest of all time) and said her achievements continue to inspire him.
Vos is in her 16th season as a professional and has racked up 12 world championship victories in that time across three disciplines – road, track and cyclo-cross. Next year she should get the chance to race the long-awaited women’s Tour de France, which will launch in 2022.
A female equivalent of the biggest race in the world has been missing since 1989 and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will begin on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on the same day the men’s race finishes. It will run from July 24-31 and will consist of eight stages.
Tour de France stage 13: Cav's date with destiny, crosswind chaos or another breakaway stage?
As you can see on the interactive map for today, it’s another stage where the threat of crosswinds can’t be ignored. Without the wind or 12 gruelling stages already in the legs, you’d say stage 13 is a nailed on sprint.
Will Deceuninck-Quick-Step try and control it for Cav? Or will we see a repeat of yesterday with the Belgians happy to let a breakaway sweep up the green jersey points? It’s an interesting dilemma, but with five tough mountain stages in a row after today you’d think they would want to give Cav a chance now and worry about the green jersey later…
Gareth Southgate? Raheem Sterling? Dodgy penalties? Nah, it's coming home because of Wattbike...according to Wattbike's CEO...
If you haven’t heard, football might be coming home…and you’ve got Wattbike to thank for it. The brand’s CEO, Richard Baker has proudly pointed out that the bikes have a “fundamental role in the coming days to help England seal the victory on home soil”.
No, Gareth isn’t so confident that he plans to replace Jordan Pickford with a static bike for the final. Although a Wattbike might have got closer to that free kick…Baker’s link is that the squad uses the bikes in training…
“It fills me with immense pride to know that Wattbikes have been selected and utilised as a trusted training tool so far,” he said. “The training that goes into preparing for the Euros tournament is intense. It requires equipment that provides data insights to improve individual players’ fitness levels.
“The unrivalled data and accuracy that a Wattbike can provide is priceless. It’s also typical for players to use the bikes for low-impact off-feet conditioning in between games, as well as injury rehabilitation.”
So remember Wattbike when you’re ripping out bike lane wands in celebration on Sunday evening…
Chiswick High Road protected cycle lane success story
📢New data shows Cycleway 9 in Chiswick success:
🚲 Cycle numbers up 72%, with bikes now 20% of all vehicles
🚑 Collisions down by half
💚 Improved air quality, with consistently lower levels of NO2, NO & PMs@MayorofLondon & @LBofHounslow – greener, cleaner and healthier pic.twitter.com/CGFCPF87fV— Will Norman (@willnorman) July 9, 2021
The data is in from a trial cycle lane in Chiswick. Figures from Transport for London shows it led to a significant increase in the number of people cycling in the area, while also leading to a reduction in the number of people being hurt while cycling. The temporary protected cycle lane on Chiswick High Road has been in place since December 2020 and is an amended version of earlier designs for Cycleway 9.
0-140mph in eight seconds
So we limit e-scooters to 8mph and ebikes to 15mph because SaFeTy.
But cars? 140MPH in a few seconds, no worries.
…I mean, it’s not like they’ve ever actually hurt anyone? Car drivers are really responsible. https://t.co/su7xiCD7fJ
— Mike Stead (@tweetymike) July 9, 2021
Stage 13 breakaway forms...it's looking like a sprint stage...
Pierre Latour, Sean Bennett and Omer Goldstein have made the breakaway and have four minutes on the peloton led by Mark Cavendish’s entire Deceuninck-Quick-Step team…I think we can guess which way this one’s going.
It’s looking like a classic Tour sprint stage, but will Cav win? get voting in the poll we posted earlier…It’s pretty tight…57 per cent say he’s going to do it.
Away from the Tour, Quick-Step have announced Fabio Jakobsen has signed a new contract to keep him with the team until at least the end of 2023. Jakobsen has made his return to racing this year, helping Cavendish win four stages in Turkey and taking his best result of the year at the Dutch national championships.
Veteran Iljo Keisse has also extended his deal for another year and announced the news with a very, very bizarre video. I guess Patrick Lefevere has to get his money’s worth out of Remco somehow…
Happy and proud to sign my 13th and last contract with @deceuninck_qst !
Thanks @PatLefevere to give me the opportunity to end my career with my beloved Wolfpack 💙🐺 pic.twitter.com/uQ5GvQmGMc— Iljo Keisse (@IljoKeisse) July 8, 2021
Don't read too much into the absent skinsuit
#SkinsuitWatch – Mark Cavendish cleared up to @friebos why we shouldn’t read too much into his jersey choices!
Here’s what he said at the start ⤵️
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 9, 2021
Yesterday when Cav appeared at the start wearing a regular jersey and shorts it started the whispers that the break would probably be allowed its day. Today, likewise, he’s in the jersey and shorts, which prompted a few questions of whether Deceuninck were going to bother chasing today…Here’s your answer…They’ve run out. 126km to go and the break’s advantage has been cut to under three minutes. Ominous.
Swapfiets extends bike membership service to London
Swapfiets bike membership service is coming to London with city bikes available for £12.90 a month, including all insurance and repairs. The Dutch-based company is hoping to join the post-covid cycling boom by offering people a hassle-free way of commuting by bike. Jumbo-Visma sported blue front tyres on the opening weekend of the Tour de France to promote the service.
More than 220,000 people across nine European countries have already signed up to the service which aims to avoid the ‘hassle’ of owning a bike by including 48-hour repairs, insurance, ‘puncture-resistant tyres’, a lock, luggage carrier and lights.
Marc De Vries, CEO of Swapfiets, said: “We feel that lockdown revealed a huge desire people had for an easier and more comfortable commute. It has presented a great opportunity to accelerate the cycling agenda and transform our cities into healthy, green, social environments – bikes are a transport solution for life, not just for lockdown. We are very excited to introduce the Swapfiets concept to London’s roads and help make cycling more accessible and affordable for everyone.”
Cav saves his legs at the intermediate sprint...Colbrelli and Matthews close the gap slightly
💚 Intermediate sprint
🇮🇹 @sonnycolbrelli 13 points
🇦🇺 @blingmatthews 11 points
…
🇧🇪 @JasperPhilipsen 9 points
🇮🇲🇬🇧 @MarkCavendish 8 points#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/1x6SUE4JV1— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 9, 2021
You might be getting the feeling this has become the Cav live blog today…I’ll dig out some non-Manx Missile related stuff for the next hour before the finish…
However, over lunch there were some interesting scenes at the intermediate sprint as Sonny Colbrelli took 13 points, Michael Matthews 11 points and Jasper Philipsen 9. Cav rolled across the line taking eight points and more importantly expending as little energy as possible. He appears to be saving everything for the big finish in Carcassonne…
Round-the-world cyclist Mark Beaumont smashes Land's End to John O'Groats relay record with ex-pro James Lowsley-Williams
Mark Beaumont and James Lowsley-Williams set a new Land’s End to John O’Groats relay record riding the full distance in under 40 hours. The pair, followed by the GCN cameras, averaged 22mph (35.4km/h) taking it in turns to ride one-hour stints.
Mark first rode LEJOG aged 15 and told the Caithness Courier the south-westerly wind was an important factor in the mammoth challenge. “We had the conditions and were lucky with the weather,” he said. “But we still had to turn the pedals and do it. It was great fun and a great team challenge in logistics and performance.
“It was bizarre when we arrived in John O’Groats because it was 3.45 on a Thursday morning. It was only us there at that time and we were very tired after missing two nights’ sleep.”
Next month Beaumont will be back pushing himself to the limit riding between the two iconic points when he takes part in the GB Duro, a 2,000km off-road bikepacking event from…you guessed it, Land’s End to John O’ Groats.
Giro d'Italia Donne: Lorena Wiebes wins stage eight as Dutch domination continues
🙋🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️ #KeepChallenging #GiroDonne pic.twitter.com/u3ssEjt9iC
— Team DSM (@TeamDSM) July 9, 2021
Lorena Wiebes has her second stage win of the Giro d’Italia Donne. The Team DSM sprinter outkicked Emma Norsgaard at the finish in Mortegliano – Marianne Vos was back in sixth. The win was the sixth of the seven road stages so far to be taken by a Dutch rider, while Anna Van Der Breggen holds on to the leader’s jersey ahead of the big final weekend, starting tomorrow with the cat one summit finish at Monte Matajur.
Simon Yates abandons Tour de France as major crash has riders scrambling up hillside
Crash by Declercq, Yates, Majka, van Baarle, Poels, Eekhoff, G. Thomas, Bol, Küng, Kragh Andersen, Bouhanni, Niewenhuis etc.#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/wdJGuf6nAp
— Jan Willems (@CyclingWiz) July 9, 2021
A big crash at the Tour de France has seen riders left scrambling up steep slopes to get back to the road. The fall on the right-hand side of the peloton saw riders slung down a steep bank. Simon Yates, Lotto-Soudal’s Roger Kluge and Lucas Hamilton have abandoned, while Geraint Thomas was also involved, but is back on his bike again.
Mark Cavendish’s teammate Tim Declercq was one of the ‘lucky’ ones who managed to avoid falling into the trees, however DSM’s Søren Kragh Andersen was not…he could be seen scrambling up the bank passing his Scott to a waiting member of staff. Possible challengers for the stage, Cees Bol and Nacer Bouhanni were also affected. With 36km to go Mark Cavendish has also just been held up after stopping for a bike change but should have time to get back into the peloton before the finish in Carcassonne.
Reaction from Cav...What's it like to be the equal of Eddy Merckx?
“It’s like my first one. It’s what I dreamed of as a kid, it’s what I dream of now.”
This one will take a while to sink in. Your 34-time Tour stage winner 💚 pic.twitter.com/hWVwMUoBHy
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 9, 2021
A visibly shattered Cav was still keen to downplay the importance of number 34, he said: “It’s just another win on the Tour de France. It’s like my first one, I’ve won a stage of the Tour de France – that is what I dreamed of as a kid. I worked so hard for it.
“We’ve seen such a growth in the UK of cycling since I started racing here at the Tour. So if any one of my wins can inspire a kid to ride the Tour de France or Tour de France Femmes next year then that’s what means the most to me…” Well said.
The Manx Missile still managed to find the energy to talk through the finish…”It’s tiring, I can’t even think about it, I’m afraid. I’m so dead, 220km in that heat with that wind…I went deep there. The boys were incredible. A lot of the day it didn’t feel like it was going to happen, I was so on the limit. It was slightly uphill, Ballero [Davide Ballerini] was there. Cortina made a good jump but luckily I had Mørkøv who dragged him back.”
Number 35 and the outright record on the Champs-Élysées?
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) July 9, 2021
A trip down memory lane...Watch all Cav's Tour de France stage wins
How good was that? 34 stage wins at the Tour de France. I’d have given you good odds on that a year ago…Is there any better start to the weekend than a quick look back at the other 33…
Right then, I’m off for a bike ride and will be sprinting for every single town sign in honour of the great man…The live blog will be back on Monday, possibly at a more leisurely hour depending on how Sunday night goes…
9 July 2021, 08:03
9 July 2021, 08:03
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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!
Would he have performed better on his normal bike?
the National Bus and Rail Union told the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) the following month, saying the requirements (making the cyclist scum wear helmets and HiViz) would, “make the roads a safer place, as it would make potential hazards easier to spot.” Nothing to do with driver behaviour then? Stagecoach is even putting intimidating threats against cyclists on the side of the buses now! ttps://upride.cc/incident/px60beo_stagecoach41-closepass/
17 thoughts on “Mark Cavendish: Inspiring next generation means the most; Tour de France crash has riders scrambling; Wattbike to win England the Euros; Protesting cyclist stomps bike lane blocker; LEJOG record; Yates abandons; Giro Donne; 140mph + more on the live blog”
Yay a Giro d’Italia Donne
Yay a Giro d’Italia Donne mention, only taken 7 stages for the “biggest womens stage race and closest thing to a women’s Grand Tour” to get a mention on the daily blog…
Protesting delivery cyclist
Protesting delivery cyclist stomps over car blocking bike lane – well, we’ve all wanted to, haven’t we? 😉
brooksby wrote:
You go girl! that’s the best thing I’ve seen today!
You go girl! that’s the best
You go girl! that’s the best thing I’ve seen today!
Agreed. I feel a bit namby-pamby in comparison, with my legalistic, largely-ignored complaints to the Filth
I beleive this is how it is
I beleive this is how it is done
hirsute wrote:
This, but with studded tyres.
The amazing, and in some ways
The amazing, and in some ways positive, thing is that there’s no reaction from the driver. And it’s a new looking BMW, not some tatty old banger. In Britain, probably anywhere in Europe, the driver would be out of there, shouting, yelling and offering violence, in an instant.
It should be perfectly legal,
It should be perfectly legal, indeed, mandatory, for cyclists to ride over cars parked in cycle lanes, and if the driver objects, to shoot them.
A bit like this ?
A bit like this ?
Still sweeps the glass into
Still sweeps the glass into the cycle lane at the end
His “electric bike” is
His “electric bike” is actually a scooter. If you notice he’s not actually pedalling at the end.
Jenova20 wrote:
Not sure about that. Looks to me like it might have pedals but is following older rules which don’t require pedalling for battery power. Not hugely important either way.
The tweet about the insane
The tweet about the insane acceleration of that Tesla is right, and it is absurd that vehicles, scooters and ebikes, which cause so little danger are restricted, but motor vehicles are not. Surely the technology exists to restrict cars speed to the posted limit, and acceleration should be restricted also, not only for safety reasons, but for climate change too.
Excess speed and acceleration use more energy, and it is imperative that we use less energy immediately, and I can’t think of a better place to start than motor vehicles. Let’s face it, such powerful monsters are only big boys toys, and maybe it’s time they grew up.
For the purposes of full disclosure, my car is a Dacia Logan 900cc turbo petrol, which does 50+mpg and accelerates only slightly faster than imperceptably.
I don’t entirely understand
I don’t entirely understand why we manufacture and sell cars with such insane acceleration or top speeds to the general public at all. I mean: you can’t legally drive at 140mph on any public roads…
Regarding speed limiting
Regarding speed limiting technology
https://www.evo.co.uk/news/22326/mandatory-speed-limiters-to-be-fitted-to-all-new-uk-cars-after-2022
If anyone is caught tampering
If anyone is caught tampering with this to allow them to speed, they should have their car confiscated and scrapped / sold for charity. However like with illegal number plates, illegal window tinting, and illegal exhausts, the Police will probably turn a blind eye to them.
I saw an ad at the cinema
I saw an ad at the cinema this week (about the only time I see ads). Grr and Prr – 2 robots were sacked from their job on a building site, so they built a wankpanzer instead. But it is ok because it was electric.