Welcome to Tuesday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty , Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: “Don’t buy into the anti-cycling thing” – James May tells drivers to stop worrying about cyclists; Rich Energy changesWhyte Bikes ‘inpired’ logo after row; Fiona Kolbinger wins TCR + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Tue, Aug 06, 2019 18:11
SUMMARY
6 August 2019, 18:11
Tributes continue to pour in for Bjorg Lambrecht, who tragically passed away aged 22
The biggest tragedy possible that could happen to the family, friends and teammates of Bjorg has happened… Rest in peace Bjorg… pic.twitter.com/9u9LZkp2Rt
— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) August 5, 2019
The Lotto-Soudal rider crashed at the Tour of Poland, and died in hospital yesterday. The race director Czeslaw Lang has now said: “It wasn’t a high-speed descent. It was a straight and wide road.
“He had a moment of hesitation, he left the asphalt and the tragedy occurred.
“The injuries were so serious that we called for a helicopter and an ambulance. He was transported to hospital. His heart started beating again but he sadly died during the operation.”
The cycling world has been sharing condolences since the terrible news broke.
Just so incredibly sad. Such a young talent doing something he loved. This sport can be so cruel at time. RIP Bjorg thoughts with all your friends and family
— Ben Swift (@swiftybswift) August 5, 2019
My deepest sympathy to his family, friends and teammates. RIP Bjorg
— Michael Rogers (@mickrogers) August 5, 2019
RIP Bjorg, My thoughts are with all of you close to this young star at these sad times.
— Magnus Backstedt (@Maggy_PR) August 5, 2019
No words, just shocked. Strength to his family, friends and his team. R.I.P Bjorg
— Paul Martens (@PMartens83) August 5, 2019
6 August 2019, 18:11
Fiona Kolbinger WINS the Transcontinental Race in 10 days, 2 hours and 48 minutes
Fiona Kolbinger has won #TCRNo7 in a time of 10 days, 2 hours and 48 minutes. pic.twitter.com/w82QnWvi9e
— The Transcontinental (@transconrace) August 6, 2019
We’ve said it in our soon-to-be-updated feature and we’ll say it again today, but Kolbinger’s victory must surely go down as one of the most remarkable sporting stories of the year. The reason for that not being her gender, but the fact that she has claimed the 2019 Transcontinental Race is her first actual race, of any kind, and her victory was comfortable against many experienced ultra-cyclists. Transcontinental have summed it up as this:
— The Transcontinental (@transconrace) August 6, 2019
6 August 2019, 18:11
Praise for Transcontinental Race winner Fiona Koldinger including from some top ultracyclists
Well done Fiona Kolbinger.
Winner of this year's @transconrace She had a 120-130km advantage over 2nd place for several days, but extended it to around 200km by riding through the last night while others slept. I expect that was a very tough night to get through. https://t.co/7PGgO3ywhu— steve abraham (@steve_abraham74) August 6, 2019
Well done Fiona Kolbinger.
Winner of this year's @transconrace She had a 120-130km advantage over 2nd place for several days, but extended it to around 200km by riding through the last night while others slept. I expect that was a very tough night to get through. https://t.co/7PGgO3ywhu— steve abraham (@steve_abraham74) August 6, 2019
6 August 2019, 18:11
Shifting six bikes? No problem
Now this is how you do deliveries. 6 bikes on a bike.
Go on @rapha / @CanyonUK / @pedalmeapp. pic.twitter.com/xdrBcb4yWv— Imandeep Kaur (@ImmyKaur) August 4, 2019
6 August 2019, 18:11
Christina Mackenzie "gutted" as she is set to miss out on LEJOG record
The support team of Christina Mackenzie, the Scottish endurance athlete who on Sunday morning set out to beat Lynne Biddulph’s 17-year-old record for being the fastest woman to ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats say she is “gutteed” at the prospect of just missing out on it.
Mackenzie is inside the final 40 miles as she heads up the Caithness coast, but after suffering from cold and fatigue overnight as she headed through the Highlands, she has been struggling on the hills today and would have to arrive at John O’Groats by 1245pm to beat the record of 52 hours and 45 minutes, which is now out of reach.
Michael Broadwith, who last year broke the men’s record, which had also stood for 17 years, and a maths teacher by profession, has been charting Mackenzie’s progress against Biddulph’s – they are the yellow and red lines here, respectively.
Mike the team couldn’t put it into words any better! @christina_mack is gutted but knows in her own mind this opportunity has passed. She is however continuing on to complete the full #LeJog2019 What a brave effort from a remarkable individual. https://t.co/Rxap8bZqeh
— Lejogmack (@Lejogmack) August 6, 2019
Helmsdale proving a real struggle for @Lejogmack it's a brutal climb to have so late in the ride, with a scarcely believable 787 miles in the legs. One should recall images of most of the early RRA pioneers, including Eileen Sheriden, who pushed their bikes up these final climbs pic.twitter.com/J102ky4bhd
— Mr Broadwith (@24HourMaths) August 6, 2019
Schedule had @Lejogmack at Helmsdale 0854, arrived there at 0929 = 35 mins behind schedule that breaks the record by 15 mins. So she is 20 minutes behind the record with 52 miles to go. Finish by 1245 to break record by 11 sec (!) – 52 miles in 3 hrs 16 min =15.9 mph required pic.twitter.com/YSrkaUymT4
— Mr Broadwith (@24HourMaths) August 6, 2019
6 August 2019, 18:11
The champion speaks: Fiona Kolbinger's first interview since winning the Transcontinental Race
Fiona Kolbinger said: “I am so, so, surprised to win. Even now. When I was coming into the race I thought that maybe I could go for the women’s podium, but I never thought I could win the whole race… I think I could have gone harder. I could have slept less.”
A Transcon press release has confirmed this was indeed her first ever ultra-distance race, ending in victory at the tender age of just 24.
Image: AngusSung.co.uk for Transcontinental.cc
6 August 2019, 18:11
Stage 4 of Tour de Pologne neutralised following Bjorg Lambrecht's death yesterday
Organisers of the Tour de Pologne have neutralised today’s Stage 4 of the race following the death yesterday of Lotto-Soudal’s Bjorg Lamprecht following a crash earlier in the day. The stage has also been shortened to 133.7 kilometres, with the 22-year-old Belgian’s team mates leading the peloton away from the start.
6 August 2019, 18:11
CALM advocate Marcus Chapman discusses the link between keeping fit through cycling and mental health
Chapman lost a friend to suicide eight years ago, and in this video discusses how fitness has benefits that reach much further than just the physical benefits.
The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is a movement against suicide, the single biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK according to national statistics.
6 August 2019, 18:11
Are you listening Mr. Clarkson? James May delivers lovely speech telling drivers to "live in peace" and "not to buy into the anti-cycling thing"
Why worry about cyclists..?
Click and have a look at what James May has to say about cyclists…
HINT: It’s good! pic.twitter.com/ltFxMK6biQ— Stayin’ Alive at 1.5 (@SafeCyclingEire) August 5, 2019
A rousing pro-cycling speech, from an unlikely source… James May, who presented Top Gear alongside the not-so-pro-cycling Jeremy Clarkson between 2003-2015 and now co-presents The Grand Tour, has called on drivers to “live in peace” with fellow road users, and not to “buy into the anti-cycling thing”. Answering a question put to him about whether there are “any decent driving roads in the South East of England that are not full of cyclists”, May replied: “Why worry about cyclists? There are never that many of them. Bicycles are very narrow, it’s quite easy to get past them. Wait until it’s clear, you can give them a wide berth and just go for it.”
“Please let’s not have any of this road sectarianism, we have enough common enemies like potholes, legislators, bad drivers, bad riders, dogs, goats, donkeys walking around in the road, ice, mud… all of those affect all of us, don’t worry about cyclists.
“Don’t worry about cyclists, don’t buy into the anti-cycling thing. It’s not worth it. Live free. Live in peace. Live with your brothers and sisters in love.”
Chapeau Mr. May – and do have a word with your colleague when you get the chance!
6 August 2019, 18:11
Richie Porte 'everests' the Madone to mark Cam Wurf's birthday
The two Aussies ‘celebrated’ cyclist-turn-triathlete Cam Wurf’s 36th birthday by climbing over 9,000 metres on a monster 270km ride up and down the Madone. You can head over to Porte’s Strava to see the details in full – Wurf is also worth a follow too if you want to be inspired by some seriously epic training days.
6 August 2019, 18:11
The most famous drug-fuelled bike ride in history is now a graphic novel
No, it’s not Floyd Landis on the way to Morzine in the 2006 Tour de France, but Albert Hoffmann’s 1943 ‘Bicycle Day’ in Basel, Switzerland, when he rode home while taking the world’s first ever acid trip. Find out more about Brian Blomerth’s graphic novel about the LSD researchers landmark ride on the Guardian website.
6 August 2019, 18:11
Fiona Kolbinger's TCR win - brief bike and kit check
We’re waiting to hear back from Canyon and various other sources on the exact ins and outs of Kolbinger’s bike and equipment she used, but this info she posted on Strava along with two photos before the Transcon began gives us a good idea.
Her bike appears to be a stock Canyon Endurace WMN CF SL Disc 8.0 Di2, with some minor alterations made to make it TCR-ready. Kolbinger ran additional Di2 shifters on the end of her aerobars at the front, and it looks like the wheels are also modified with DT Swiss R 500 rims and a dynamo hub.
Her kit bags are from Apidura, and she’s running Continental GP5000 tyres. A Rapha merino jersey and cheap and cheerful Giro Foray helmet completes her simple ensemble, and unusally she also started the race with two packs of chewing gum alongisde some Wiggle energy gels…
6 August 2019, 18:11
Rich Energy changes Whyte Bikes style logo ...
Remember the row between Rich Energy and Whyte Bikes over use of the latter’s logo? Well, it seems that the sports nutrition brand has quietly altered its previous logo … they’re still antlers, just less like the ones the bike firm has been using for years.
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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
60somethingcyclist 10 hours ago
@chrisonabike True, things went back to normal once the pandemic was over. In this case, however the problems are still ongoing, and aren't likely to be resolved in the near future. If anything, they're going to get worse. Food shortages are predicted because of the effect that the heatwave has had on crops. This is bound to push prices up. The Straits of Hormuz aren't likely to reopen anytime soon and the strategic oil reserves are running low. Russia is having to import petrol because its own refineries have been badly hit, so that's even more competition for an even more scarce resource. I think that more and more people are going to see cycling as a way of cutting household bills.
chrisonabike 11 hours ago
I think if "grown up" cyclists * are quibbling about ASLs we've very much missed the road safety point anyway. (Not to mention the wider "better transport choices" picture). ASLs are poor-to-useless "cycling infra", even for their design intent. If the idea is "for less confident cyclists" then a design that requires that you re-position in front of the motor traffic - waiting to accelerate - seems unhelpful. Of course they're only designed to help when traffic is stopped, and you can reach the front in time and if vehicles aren't already occupying them. As we're noting here drivers frequently ignore them - whether that be deliberate, a lack of road craft, because they were concentrating on following the vehicle in front, or because the paint has rubbed off. * Aside: shouldn't cycling also be safe and accessible for kids? Or should they only be allowed to do this when accompanied by sufficient qualified adults? Or be limited to parks and otherwise being driven around by their carers? Perhaps there is another way...?
Ben Graham 13 hours ago
Hi Bungle, I saw you follow-up comment. I can't imaging there's a tolerance of 4 seconds on camera enforced lights, seems an odd decision - an offence is committed if a vehicle starts crossing on a red, any tolerance is discretionary. There does seem to be some odd thinking about 'advanced stop lines' where the rules relating to them are identical to a regular stop line, as explained correctly elsewhere in the Highway Code. It does seem a regular offence. Where I live it doesn't help that some of them are very faint and disappear in rain.
Rendel Harris 13 hours ago
@ktache Not sure he's totally ruled out of the worlds yet (though I think it would be best if he doesn't), normal recovery time is about eight weeks but surgery can halve that...depending on the nature of the break he could be just about fit to ride by the time of the elite men's race, but he'll have missed a lot of training. Hopefully his managers and team will persuade him to wait until Lombardia, if not just to knock it off for the rest of the year.
Rendel Harris 14 hours ago
@Bungle_52 The Met told me a couple of years ago when rejecting a submission that they needed a clear three seconds of red visible before they would consider it for an RLJ prosecution. I pointed out to them that this meant that at 30 mph a driver could see a light change to red from 40 metres away and still get through without sanction, or 55 m if they accelerated to 40 as most do. They just replied "them's our rules..."
Bungle_52 15 hours ago
@Ben Graham I have just checked the footage from my report. The driver crosses the 1st stop line 4 seconds after the light turns red. All on camera from behind the vehicle. No further action. So I assume the margin is at least 4 seconds.
chrisonabike 15 hours ago
Oh, and active travel funding per head (in England at least) is laughable compared to other places. Plus it is delivered intermittently. It's more like a Blue Peter contest...
chrisonabike 15 hours ago
Yup, I see those opportunities being missed all the time in Edinburgh. When it gets really bad, dig it all up and put it back down again how it was. Contrast with what seems to happen in NL - when things are dug up the whole thing seems to get a "let's redo this according to the current standards" treatment. They even coordinate with the utilities, so that after a refurb the street isn't immediately dug up again because of leaking pipes / we suddenly realised the new estate being planned for round the corner will want broadband etc. Pros and cons of course - you may wait longer there for changes as smaller changes may be deferred until a major redo is due. (Though in the UK case you likely wouldn't get them at all...) It seems we "can't have nice things" in the UK in part because a) we have greater motor traffic speeds/volumes spead across "streets" / within urban areas b) the funding and organisational responsibility differs. Are we in the "Sam Vimes boots" territory (being too poor to afford better products which not only save money over time but actually work)? There is long term money pressure on LAs and it seems that due to poor construction and maintenance we have to regularly pour money into (pot-)holes in the road. And it seems there's no budget to check up on or enforce adequate standards from utilities work or even private building.
ktache 16 hours ago
Shame about the world champs defence. Speedy recovery. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/30/tadej-pogacar-vuelta-a-espana-cycling-crash-hospital-stage-nine
mdavidford 18 hours ago
I believe the accepted form for this kind of argument is "I know you are, you said you were, but what am I?".
10 thoughts on “Live blog: “Don’t buy into the anti-cycling thing” – James May tells drivers to stop worrying about cyclists; Rich Energy changesWhyte Bikes ‘inpired’ logo after row; Fiona Kolbinger wins TCR + more”
Fiona Kolbinger, if she ever
Fiona Kolbinger, if she ever wanted to change her career to sport, has options I’d say!
What a truly amazing endeavour.
Sympathies with Bjorg
Sympathies with Bjorg Lambrecht ‘s family, such a tragedy.
Well done to Fiona!
Well done to Fiona!
Can someone please explain
Can someone please explain why Laura Scott is a ‘top ulracyclist’ – just because she has a few thousand Twitter followers?
Fiona, with very litle online presence, has shown us that actions speak far louder than words. Phenomenal ride, executed in an admiral manner.
Supersam wrote:
I assume you’re aiming for a kind of rhetorical approach here, if not – GIYF. Failing that, don’t sweat it…
When did James May turn into
When did James May turn into Viv Reeves’ dad?
What, I wonder, was the
What, I wonder, was the purpose of the question posed to James (on line one, it’s Jeremy from Sevenoaks. Jeremy, what’s on you mind?). A “decent driving road”? Answers could have included the M23, M2, M20, M25, or M27. Or does that miss the questioner’s point? One pleasing comment, there aren’t that many cyclists – it’s alway made to sound like “getting stuck behind ” is some sort of daily occurrence – always challenge that: how many times this year – twice?
What other unnecessary evils are being perpetrated by legislators on hard-pressed drivers, I also wonder. They should pass a law against all those donkeys, clearly.
Nice try, but no cigar here.
You could write a movie on
You could write a movie on the whole Rich Energy saga and people would say it was unbelievable.
Interesting pre-demise piece on jalopnik about how the numbers didn’t add up and how you couldn’t actually buy the drink anywhere. Whole thing stinks of money washing to me. Assets in 2016 £100. Assets in 2017 £500. Assets in 2018…..trying to buy Force India level. Very odd. Still didn’t pay Whyte bikes and ousted CEO storey is being sued by literally everyone.
Rick_Rude wrote:
I’d have thought that a 60-second twitter video would be adequate to give an idea of the immense arsholery on displayed by Rich-tw@t Energy. You could then spend more time doing / watching / reading / listening to something more edifying.
Fiona Kolbinger wins TCR. Truly fantastic! Coming soon after Mavis Paterson’s LEJOG ride and the InternationElles riding the Tour de France route – unfortunately not covered by road.cc but with regular reports by the Comic and featured on BBC Breakfast – it’s great to see women getting positive coverage in the media.
Disappointing for Christina Mackenzie on her LEJOG but each failed attempt shows just how good Lynne Biddulph’s record is. I hope she’ll have another go in due course. I don’t like to use the word ‘fail’ since any serious attempt at such a record is worthy of respect in my eyes. Likewise everyone who even starts the TCR.
CW publised a very touching tribute from the team about Lambrecht.
The attempt at breaking the
The attempt at breaking the ladies LEJOG puts into perspective the incredible mark set by Eileen Sheridan, to think that 65 years ago she did 870 miles (they now do 840) in 59hours and 7 minutes, on the bike she had with the type of back up her time is utterly beyond compare, it’s up there with Burton’s ’12.
Reckon the Mighty Atom would have got close to 50hrs with modern kit, nutrition and physio/massage along the way.
Oh and her 12/24 weren’t too shabby either
1954: 250.5 miles
24-hour record in 446.5 miles
1954: London-Edinburgh 20h 11m 35s
Great attempt though from Christina, got another planned already it seems.