Welcome to Friday’s live blog with Simon MacMichael, Jack Sexty and the rest off the team.
Scientists urge WADA to ban spinach due to steroid-like effects; Coast To Coast In A Day sportive tomorrow (and 2020 entries open Monday); Dutch gov’t tells cyclists to leave phone in pocket as ban comes in + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond in the road.cc Live Blog
Fri, Jun 28, 2019 21:33
SUMMARY
28 June 2019, 21:33
Alex Dowsett wins national time trial championship for the sixth time
Alex Dowsett, who has been named in Katusha team for the Tour de France, will be riding the time trial stages in the colours of British national champion after winning the event for the sixth time in Norfolk yesterday.
Afterwards he said: “There were a few years where getting this jersey came quite easy and I guess I took it for granted. I think I will enjoy wearing it this time more than the other times I’ve had them. Today was a fight.
“I think I was down after one-third of the distance and this was a bit of a worry because I’d given a lot in this part of the course.
“Then at two-thirds it was touch and go, but then I brought it home well. We have some real fast guys in the Uk and the calibre of riders coming through is huge, so I don’t know when the last time in the national stripes will be so I’m going to enjoy every moment of this.”
28 June 2019, 21:33
Dowsett's new moniker recognised by the UCI...
May as well head to the registry/deed poll and get it properly changed now it’s been acknowledged at the highest level. Need all helps at the tdf I can get. https://t.co/iOtxJzhHPX
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) June 28, 2019
The new self-proclaimed ‘Alex van der Dowsaerttpoel’ (we presume the name is in tribute to a certain very talented Dutchman) has pretty much been knighted with the esteemed title…
28 June 2019, 21:33
Oregon cyclist sues city after workman places cable across cycle path
A cyclist is suing the city a Portland, Oregon, after a workman stretched a metal cable across a cycle path while it was closed for repairs.
James Thorne says the city was negligent in connection with the May 2018 incident, which happened in Kelley Point Park.
His lawsuit alleges that the cable was not clearly visible to riders, and that the city had failed to notify park users that the path was closed,
He sustained injuries to his back, neck and elbows and also had to undergo surgery on his left shoulder and right wrist.
Thorne is seeking $1 million in noneconomic damages for “pain, discomfort and interference with ordinary activities,” plus $86,000 in medical expenses, almost $85,000 in lost wages and $12,000 for damage to his bike.
28 June 2019, 21:33
Bloody cyclists, holding up traffic, rescuing ducks...
Rescued some ducklings this morning. First time I’ve been cheered for holding up traffic on me bike. from r/bicycling
This Redditer described his heroic act as the “first time I’ve been cheered for holding up traffic on me bike”.
*We’ve been told on certain browsers Reddit vids don’t appear to work, so here’s the link JIC
28 June 2019, 21:33
Glaston-bike
Lovely day for a bike ride! DH pic.twitter.com/zGJhpI3zbv
— Glastonbury Live (@GlastoLive) June 28, 2019
28 June 2019, 21:33
Dutch government tells cyclists to leave their phone in their pocket as ban comes in
The Dutch government has launched a publicity campaign urging cyclists to “Leave your phone in your pocket and save yourself a €95 fine” ahead of a new law banning people from using a mobile phone while riding a bike coming into force on Monday, reports dutchnews.nl.
The country’s transport minister, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, said: ‘In the traffic, an accident is just around the corner and this is why it’s important for all road users – including cyclists – to keep their eyes and minds on the road and not on their telephone screen.
“We often think that we can multi-task in traffic, but we really can’t, so please drive in ‘mono’ mode. I have a clear message for all cyclists: keep your phone, and your €95 in your pocket.”
28 June 2019, 21:33
Four-year doping bans for Denifl and Preidler
Professional cyclists Stefan Denifl and Georg Preidler have both been banned for four years for blood doping.
The two riders were provisionally suspended by the UCI in March after admitting being part of the Operation Aderlass blood doping investigation in their native Austria.
Denifl has been stripped of results including a stage win at the 2017 Vuelta.
28 June 2019, 21:33
First Look: Cannondale SuperSix Evo 2020
Cannondale has totally redesigned its flagship carbon road race bike with an all-new frame that is more aerodynamic, stiffer and comfortable than the bike first introduced in 2011 and last updated in 2015, with wider tyre clearance and revised geometry with choice of rim or disc brakes.
28 June 2019, 21:33
Froome is fed up...
Working on my patience #recovery #cycling pic.twitter.com/wFMDRcyIfN
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) June 28, 2019
…and dreaming of getting back on the bike again. Let’s hope the doctor’s predictions were correct.
28 June 2019, 21:33
Scientists call for spinach ban for athletes due to steroid-like effects
Scientists have called for spinach to be banned for athletes after discovering steroid-like effects.
Vice reports that researchers at the Freie Universität Berlin have recommended that a chemical called ecdysterone that is found in spinach should be added to WADA’s prohibited list due to potentially steroid-like effects.
They said: “Our hypothesis was that we would see an increase in performance, but we didn’t expect it to be that big. We recommended to WADA in our report that the substance be added to the doping list. We think that if it increases performance, then that unfair advantage should be eliminated.”
You’d have to be eating Popeye-esque quantities of the green stuff to feel the benefits, though – 4 kilograms a day, in fact, or 40 of the 100 gram bags it often comes in at the supermarket.
28 June 2019, 21:33
Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal to jointly lead Team Ineos at Tour de France
Team Ineos will go into the Tour de france, which starts in Brussels a week tomorrow, with Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal as joint leaders – and they have a very strong supporting cast to back them up. Find out all about it here.
28 June 2019, 21:33
The eighth Coast To Coast In A Day sportive is tomorrow - and entries for 2020 open on Monday
With midsummer upon us, we’re coming into the height of the sportive season and tomorrow sees the eighth edition of one that combines one of the country’s bucket list cycle routes with some of its toughest climbs – the Coast To Coast In A Day.
1,000 riders will enjoy what is forecast to be glorious weather as they ride 150 miles from Seascale on the Cumbrian coast across to Whitby on the North Sea with 4,500 metres of climbing in between, including the Hardknott and Wrynose Passes before tackling the North Yorkshire Moors.
Organised by Open Cycling, the event sells out each year – the 2020 edition takes place on 20th June and if you want to get ride it, entries open next Monday 1 July. Find out more on Open Cycling’s Facebook page.
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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Latest Comments
Rendel Harris 15 minutes ago
@kinderje Are you aware that -ise endings are actually the newer form, having supplanted -ize (as used by Shakespeare, the King James Bible and Jane Austen, amongst many others) in the mid 19th century? Etymologically there is a far better argument for -ize endings for words with Greek and Latin roots than the -ise ending which arose from Victorian publishers imitating French verb endings. Both endings are now regarded as acceptable in British English, although the Oxford style guide recommends -ize. It is most certainly not incorrect.
mdavidford 23 minutes ago
@Backladder Given that the makers are selling it as being useable on any ride on open roads, it doesn't seem unreasonable to try to test it in those conditions.
mdavidford 26 minutes ago
'Leasting'? That's a whole 4 letters less.
mdavidford 30 minutes ago
Although usually the easiest thing of all would be for them just to stop for a few moments while you cycle past them (which requires a lot less space to do safely than them passing you), but most people seem allergic to stopping, even for the briefest time.
mark1a 1 hour ago
@Backladder Oh I think I can guess - the nearest indoor velodrome to road.cc HQ looks to be some distance away in Wales, whereas Odd Down Cycle Track (where this test was conducted) is just 2 miles away.
Cugel 1 hour ago
There are a number of causes of "the divide between motorists and cyclists". Only one is to do with the technology (of bicycles and cars) and that's the nature of the car, which is designed to induce the sort of dangerous and careless behaviours that providing humans with a lot of power and glamour fetches out of us. Other causes are much more insidious - A culture of hyper-individualism bordering on solipsism, with violently ultra-selfish and aggressive anti-heroes being promoted in every mass media channel as the ideal. A "news" media that overwhelmingly seeks, creates and offers pariahs and scapegoats to the rabid individualists, which pariahs and scapegoats includes all kinds of those perceived as less powerful and therefore easy victims, including cyclists. The near complete lack of any curb upon the dangerous antics of vast numbers of media-maddened motorists by the forces of law and order, many of whom are actually members themselves of the mass media maddened motorist ilk. ******** No amount of a more rational discourse about active travel or the means of making it safer will change these root causes of the vast numbers of deaths and maiming due to inept, incompetent and deliberately violent antics of vast numbers of motorists allowed their dangerous "weapons of choice". Yet many other highly damaging aspects of modern societies would be solved by a much more effective curbing of mass media mob-building and goading along with a serious attempt to prevent motorists and a whole range of other damagers from behaving as badly as so many do. It'll not happen, of course. Large and powerful elements of the modern world obtain far too much ultra-riches and power from current conditions for them to allow any significant change. And vast numbers of the population have long had their minds, attitudes and behaviours captured and directed by various oligarchical monsters and their mass media propaganda horns. About the only chance of safe active travel becoming extant is for the population at large to become mostly too poor to afford a car, ironically one other likely outcome of the machinations of those same power and money-mad monsters that have created the car-issue in the first place. Their need for zero-sum socio-economic arrangements degrades everything, including the wallet-contents of the masses.
Rendel Harris 1 hour ago
@Astralstroll The hierarchy of road users does not mean priority of road users except in certain circumstances, e.g. stopping to let pedestrians cross junctions before turning. It doesn't mean that cyclists have priority over motor vehicles at all times any more than the pedestrians have priority over cyclists at all times. It certainly doesn't mean that you have priority in the circumstances you describe; personally, unless the driver is being a complete dick, on a narrow country lane I accept that it is easier for me to turn around and go back to the nearest passing place, which is never that far if you're on a bike, than for a tractor or other large vehicle to reverse back down the road for my benefit.
Backladder 1 hour ago
If you were spending that much money on the device the obvious thing to do is to book a couple of hours in a velodrome for testing in a stable environment, I can't understand why Road.cc tried to do it outdoors.
wtjs 2 hours ago
@Astralstroll The Hierarchy of Road Users, announced with great fanfares in 2022, has been rendered into complete fiction by the attitude of the police: there is this hierarchy/ priority list but we don't take it seriously and if drivers ignore it we don't care! The same applies to the ludicrous notice of close-passing - No KSI'd cyclist = No Offence ttps://upride.cc/incident/lwa190_minicooper_hierarchy/
25 thoughts on “Scientists urge WADA to ban spinach due to steroid-like effects; Coast To Coast In A Day sportive tomorrow (and 2020 entries open Monday); Dutch gov’t tells cyclists to leave phone in pocket as ban comes in + more”
With the Portland thing
With the Portland thing (America’s big cycling city) it would appear that the cable was the closure, no hanging signs or tape, no cones, no standing signs. A bit like doing a temporary road closure by sinking solid black metal posts in a road, hoping that was enough and wondering why it was destroying cars and injuring the occupants. And then being sued.
$12000 damages for his bike?
$12000 damages for his bike?
Rick_Rude wrote:
10k bike plus accessories and the frame snapped.
Then again America, so they start high with their claims.
Holding up traffic like that?
Holding up traffic like that? He should have got a bill.
hawkinspeter wrote:
What do the Inland Revenue and a duck have in common?
They can both stick their bills up their ass.
Dowsett has been observing
Dowsett has been observing for a few weeks/months on Twitter that having ‘van’, ‘aert’ or ‘poel’ in your name is an unfair advantage this season (e.g. Lampaert, van Aert, van der Poel, Poels, Evenepoel).
Given that he specified his name in the morning before doing the race, should we regard this ‘name-doping’ as unfair preparation?
jollygoodvelo wrote:
Well if all the other top riders are on it…
Anyone know the specifics on
Anyone know the specifics on the Dutch thing?
[Edit] France24 have it that you have to be moving.
[Extra Edit] Holland-Cycling has a bit more-
https://www.holland-cycling.com/blog/300-mobile-phone-use-on-bike-illegal
The last bit: The new law applies to holding or operating your device. So if you want to use your navigation, take pictures or make a video while you are riding, make sure you use a holder on your handle bars or helmet. Just don’t press any buttons while you’re riding!
About that new Dutch law: it
About that new Dutch law: it applies to all mobile electronic devices. So you’re also not allowed to take your GPS out of its holder (which makes sense).
Presumably that would also
Presumably that would also make it illegal to operate the compouter functions (speed etc) of a GPS-equipped bike computer while moving.
Depends on what they mean by
Depends on what they mean by “mobile electronic devices”. If that’s meant literally, then it could apply to turning on/off bike lights which I doubt they would want. I think they mean “mobile” as in “mobile telecommunications” which could exclude GPS devices.
I think it’d be clearer if they specified not staring at a screen (e.g. more than a second or two) whilst moving.
We’d need to consult the
We’d need to consult the original Dutch to see whether it includes eg Bluetooth-equipped devices. In any case, we can hope that the law will be applied pragmatically.
Bmblbzzz wrote:
If it follows the usual pattern, it’ll be applied pragmatically if you are old and white, mostly ok if you are young and white and incredibly aggressively if you are none of the above.
So how many people are being
So how many people are being killed/injured by people on bikes using phones, just so we know the data and risk factor? Are they going to apply the same law for pedestrians, if not, why not, surely the risk is pretty much the same isn’t it if not more so? oh wait, peds using phones utterly ignoring their environment and hurting people doesn’t count!
The fine for 20% over a 50km/h limit in an urban(other) area is €48, doing 60km/h in a 50km/h zone is €75,
The equivalent fine of €95 is for doing 42km/h in a 30 zone or 64km/h in a 50 zone, so in the lower speed limit (residential), one were there’s greater danger posed by motorists, if you’re 40% over the posted speed limit that gets you the same penalty as a person using a mobile phone whilst cycling, seems legit!
Oh do shut up.
Oh do shut up.
fukawitribe wrote:
if you’re responding to my post then no I won’t. This is a forum to discuss the subject maters at hand. Instead of dribbling like you’ve lost your marbles why not enter into a normal conversation/discussion, is it too hard for you?
Seems that the squirrels are
Seems that the squirrels are further up the food chain than ducklings in some places. At least the DfT seem to think so.
Grey squirrels are vermin!
Grey squirrels are vermin!
I really want to know why the
I really want to know why the squirrel did cross the road.
Was it because it was nuts or to show that it wasn’t chicken?
hawkinspeter wrote:
maybe an initiation ritual?
giff77 wrote:
Not as tough as the pheasant initiation.
Froomy is finally catching up
Froomy is finally catching up with GoT; hence the expression.
Ha, I’d always thought that
Ha, I’d always thought that gangs of cats waited by the side of the road, telling one of them “wait, wait, wait.. go, go go” whenever a car was close enough.
An official overview of the
An official overview of the new dutch law is here: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieuws/2019/06/28/%E2%80%98laat-je-telefoon-lekker-zitten-en-hou-95-euro-in-je-zak%E2%80%99
The term used is “vasthouden”, i.e. holding the device, so using it should be fine, as long as you’re not holding it. And the article explicitly states that /operating/ a device that is in a holder is OK:
“Als een mobiel apparaat in een houder zit mag het wel worden gebruikt, bijvoorbeeld voor navigatie of handsfree bellen.”
I.e.: “If a mobile device is in a holder, then it may be used. For example for navigation or hands-free calls”.
So… seems pretty sensible.
Just how much did the spinach
Just how much did the spinach growers pay for that research?