Welcome to Wednesday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Team Ineos to debut at Tour de Romandie in one-off kit; Wiggo does classy; Women’s Paris Roubaix – World champ Anna van der Breggen makes the case, Near miss* – the pro race edition; Happy hour – the drinks are on Victor + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Wed, Apr 17, 2019 17:34
0
SUMMARY
17 April 2019, 17:34
Specialized makes compelling case for Women's Paris-Roubaix
At the launch of its latest Roubaix model last week, US bike brand Specialized also unveiled a women’s version of the bike – and in a video (see above) enlisted the help of world champion Anna van der Breggen and her Boels-Dolmans team mates Christian Majures and Chantal Blaak to make a compelling case for why there should be a women’s version of the race, showing the trio riding through the Arenberg sector of pavé.
As Specialized says at the end of the video, “The Roubaix is no longer just for men. The race shouldn’t be either.”
There are already under-23 and junior versions of the race for male riders – so why not one for elite women too? What do you think?
17 April 2019, 17:34
Don't worry Victor, we still remember
Victor Campenaerts has gone to great lengths to not be remembered as “that bloke who asked a girl out with a chest message in a time-trial.” pic.twitter.com/8qi8aPXpGg
— Andy McGrath (@Andymcgra) April 16, 2019
Campenaerts’ heroics in the velodrome yesterday may have almost banished the memories of when he asked a girl out on a date at the end of a Giro d’Italia time trial by displaying the request on his chest, for which he was fined 100 euros… but fear not, here’s the story from 2017 just in case you’d forgotten!
17 April 2019, 17:34
"Free beer all night long": Campenaerts plans to treat his fans to celebrate Hour Record success
Skip to 1:26:45-ish in the live stream, and Victor appears to offer a free night’s drinking at his local bar back in Antwerp, Cafe Mombasa in the district of Borgerhout. He says: “In Borgerhout, at my fan cafe (Cafe Mombasa) all my fans can drink free beer all night. And if you’re not a fan, you an still become a fan! All night, free beer. Enjoy.”
We might have to make a pilgrimage. If you want to read the full report of how Campenaerts smashed the record click here, to see his history-making bike in more detail head here.
17 April 2019, 17:34
David rides new Specialized Roubaix 2020
David has just got back from Belgium where he’s been riding the brand new 2020 Specialized S-Works Roubaix on the cobbled roads it was designed to tame and conquer, check out his first ride impressions in the video below. If you missed the launch fanfare, here’s everything you need to know about the new Roubaix.
17 April 2019, 17:34
Calorie counting for easter weekend
We hot cross buns! So here’s a tasty fact of the day: One hot cross bun will give you fuel for 22 minutes of cycling. Yum! pic.twitter.com/0A2ehihWS8
— Sustrans (@sustrans) April 17, 2019
How much to burn off a couple of easter eggs as well?
17 April 2019, 17:34
Watch how Giovanni Battaglin builds a steel frame
Giovanni Battaglin, winner of the Giro and Vuelta in 1981, turned his attention to building bikes the following year, and is still going strong today. In a new video series the Italian company is allowing you to go behind-the-scenes to see how a frame is made from start to finish. See more here.
17 April 2019, 17:34
Classy from Sir Brad
Chapeau Victor my man
— Brad Wiggins (@SirWiggo) April 16, 2019
Many are asking the question of how much advantage was gained by Campenaerts breaking the Hour Record at 1,800m of altitude – but Bradley Wiggins has suggested in his podcast (and in this tweet) that he has nothing but praise for his successor. What would Campenaerts have done at sea level? We might never know, but will try to investigate with some expert help over the next few days.
17 April 2019, 17:34
Team Ineos to make ddebut at Tour de Romandie on 30 April - in one-off jersey
Team Ineos will make their debut at the Tour de Romandie in Switzerland on 30 April – and will be wearing a one-off jersey, according to organisers of the Swiss race.
The takeover of Team Sky’s management company, and sponsorship, by the petrochemicals group is due to take effect from 1 May and it had been announced that the new kit would be unveiled at the Tour de Yorkshire, where Chris Froome is racing.
In a tweet, however, organisers of the Tour de Romandie confirmed that Geraint Thomas and co will race for the first time as Team Ineos in the race, which runs from 30 April to 5 May.
The tweet reads: “Breaking news. Team Sky will take to tthe start of the #TDR2019 in the colours of Ineos. A unique jersey that you will only see on the #TDR2019!”
They also tweeted an image of the jersey as part of the provisional start list, as shown in the image above.
@TeamSky prendra le départ du #TDR2019 sous les couleurs d’ @INEOS. Un maillot unique que l’on ne verra que sur le #TDR2019!
— Tour de Romandie (@TourDeRomandie) April 17, 2019
17 April 2019, 17:34
Sam Bennett doubles up at Tour of Turkey
Double trouble!
@Sammmy_Be takes another amazing stage win while teammate @gro_felix finishes second!! #teamworkmakesthedreamwork amazing teamwork! pic.twitter.com/vSBU2HEGDL— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) April 17, 2019
The Irishman has taken both of the opening stages at the Presidential Tour of Turkey, winning an uphill sprint finish on day two. The comeback from illness for Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) isn’t going to plan at the moment, finishing 22nd on stage 1 and 94th today.
17 April 2019, 17:34
Near Miss: Pro edition
It’s hard enough to get in a breakaway as it is. It’s even harder when the race motorbikes get involved.
Luckily Liane Lippert has good bike handling skills.
When you’re trying to escape from the peleton but the motor driver doesn’t like you #BPwomen #BP #BP19 pic.twitter.com/aGkfUIkUY2
— Jesse Abeloos (@JesseAbeloos) April 17, 2019
*interestingly since we posted this earlier today the tweet and accompanying video off the moto veering in to Liane Lippert’s path has been taken down.
17 April 2019, 17:34
Specialized makes compelling case for Women's Paris-Roubaix
At the launch of its latest Roubaix model last week, US bike brand Specialized also unveiled a women’s version of the bike – and in a video (see above) enlisted the help of world champion Anna van der Breggen and her Boels-Dolmans team mates Christian Majures and Chantal Blaak to make a compelling case for why there should be a women’s version of the race, showing the trio riding through the Arenberg sector of pavé.
As Specialized says at the end of the video, “The Roubaix is no longer just for men. The race shouldn’t be either.”
There are already under-23 and junior versions of the race for male riders – so why not one for elite women too? What do you think?
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Jack is group editor across road.cc, off.road.cc and ebiketips, overseeing all three sites in the F-At Digital group to make sure everything’s up to scratch. He’s been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of road.cc including tech, news and video, and also contributed to ebiketips before being named editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town, and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master’s degree in print journalism, and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it’s a long story).
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Latest Comments
Matt Page 5 minutes ago
@jaymack Praxis bottom brackets have Enduro steel bearings fitted through most of the range.
60somethingcyclist 3 hours ago
Re. Pro-car campaigner slams “hidden agenda” to “slow down motorists, restrict parking, and deter travel” this is just another right-wing conspiracy loon spouting off their usual rubbish. Why give him publicity? Like the sad people who walk through our town centres ranting on about anything and anyone they're best ignored.
60somethingcyclist 3 hours ago
Been a cyclist since I was 5 (63 soon), but I can't support this kind of behaviour. Just dumping bikes like this isn't on. Lime should have been made to provide enough designated pick up points before they were allowed to operate the scheme.
AlanMyles 4 hours ago
It is easier to trace fatalities and match them with the news story. In 2018 for instance, the only reported death where a "cyclist" was the other party, was the death of Sakhine Cikan, who was killed by someone riding an illegally modified machine. I have done a bit of research for other years and found similar. Injuries are going to be harder.
IanMK 4 hours ago
It's quite important if it's an illegal motorbike, you could claim against the MIB for damages etc. How will you (or the MIB) know if it's not recorded properly.
Mr Blackbird 5 hours ago
I agree that all steps should be taken to avoid death or serious injury in sport. However, things can go wrong. Neck injuries in rugby, cardiac arrest in football, high speed crashes on descents in cycling etc. I don't know whether this was a case of a driver disobeying instructions and barriers etc, or something in the stage organisation got missed ; after all, ensuring that a longish cycling stage remains traffic free must be an absolute logistical nightmare. The main thing to take away is that whenever a tragic death etc occurs, it always leads to improvements in organisation, equipment etc to reduce the chances of a repeat. Examples are Casartelli's death in the TDF in 1995 playing a part in making cycling helmets mandatory, collisions and injuries caused by vehicles pulling out in front of amateur time triallers led to the making front lights compulsory in recent years. I do hope that any failings identified in this case will be acted on so that Tarling's tragic death was not a total waste of a young life.
cruachan 5 hours ago
Tragic news, my condolences to his family, friends and team.
Rendel Harris 7 hours ago
@Velo-drone I hold no brief for the UCI, but I believe their statement came out before the news broke that Finlay was hit by a driver. They presumably were guided by the race organisation's initial statement which also described his death as "a serious accident" with no mention of a car being involved and so had no reason to think it was anything but a racing incident (or accident).
tomlew 7 hours ago
@boblo This! Also the 'it’s a lot more relaxed than its policy suggests.' part is worrying. It sounds like 'we will decide arbitrarily based on the mood of our customer service rep'. If they claim something is their policy, why not say it - like - literally in the policy?
mdavidford 7 hours ago
Depends on your frame of reference. The Earth's rotational speed at that latitude is about 600 mph, it's orbital speed is about 67,000 mph, and the speed around the centre of the galaxy is about 514,000 mph - those could be considered quite fast-moving.