“He’s ready for a rainbow jersey”: Tadej Pogačar records 415 FTP on a 6.5 hour training ride paced by a Vespa as cyclists say “he’s taunting us mortals”; British race dropped from cycling calendar after abbey trust declines to host + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Even if it's on Strava, it might not have happened — some cyclists are paying 'mules' to ride activities for them
In some of the most bizarre news we’ve read recently there appears to be a new trend online, with Strava users paying people to complete activities on their behalf so they can impress followers with uploads to the ride-sharing app.
UCI-illegal carb-loading on time trials: Coming to a 20mph club TT ride next to you...
“When you want that carb hit but need to be aero”.
Another British race disappears from racing calendar after church decides not to host Ryedale Grasscrete Grand Prix
The already suffering road racing scene in the UK has taken another hit, as the organisers for the Ryedale Grasscrete Grand Prix have announced that the latest edition, held on 18th August, is going to be the last one for the foreseeable future.
The race, held on the grounds of Ampleforth Abbey, North Yorkshire, with two circuits extending out over the rolling Howardian Hills was the 19th edition. It was also the fifth race out of six in British Cycling’s 2024 National Road Series, the next being the Beaumont Trophy in Stamfordham this weekend on 15 September.
Bob Howden, the organiser of the Ryedale GP, announcing the news via a Facebook post, said: “Sad to report that the recent 19th edition of the Ryedale Grasscrete Grand Prix was the last one. The Ampleforth Abbey Trust has decided not to be our hosts again.
“We are however currently looking into other possibilities for Team Yorkshire to continue delivering a high level British Cycling and Lloyds Bank National Road Series Event.
“In the meantime it’s a big thank you to all the staff at Ampleforth, who over the years have helped to keep the show on the road and a shout out to North Yorkshire Council, to North Yorkshire Police and to local suppliers and providers who have never wavered in their support.”
The Ampleforth Abbey, founded in 1803, is a monastery of Benedictine monks, descending from the pre-Reformation community at Westminster Abbey, and has been the home of the Ryedale GP since its first edition in 2005.
Previous winners of the race include James Shaw, now of EF Education-EasyPost, former world and Olympic champion Nicole Cook, and Olympic track silver medallist Ollie Wood.
road.cc has reached out to the Ampleforth Abbey Trust asking for a detailed reason behind the decision to not play host to the race from next year.
Unfortunately, this is far from the first race to be cancelled from the National Road Series in recent memory, with sponsor woes, logistics issues and the cost of living crisis, all playing some part in the racing scene’s downturn.
The Tour of the Reservoir was put on hold in 2023 and 2024 due to “a number of recent operational challenges”. Likewise, the series shrunk in 2023, losing the three-day Manx International stage race and the Stockton Grand Prix.
Remco Evenepoel quashes Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rumours and confirms he'll stay at Soudal Quick-Step
The Vuelta is over, and that can only mean one thing: Goodbye T-Rex Quick-Step, welcome (back) Soudal Quick-Step.
My Aurchosaurian jokes aside, the Belgian team’s newly double-gilded star Remco Evenepoel has quite straightforwardly quashed any rumours you may or may not have heard about the Olympic champion’s joining of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, and indicated that he’ll continue to ride for Patrick Lefevere’s team in 2025.
After the final stage of the Tour of Britain, he was huddled around by Flemish media curious about the rider’s future, and asked about any plans of switching teams amidst interest from Red Bull, to which Evenepoel replied: “I don’t know anything about that.”
“So much always comes out without any truth to it. I have no idea what that would be about. I haven’t seen anything myself.” When asked if he will still ride for Soudal Quick-Step in 2025: Evenepoel replied: “That’s a yes.”
Anyone looking for "Strava mules"? We've got some applicants to choose from...
In today’s episode of the “weird and bizarre” in cycling, Dan reported of this new trend of Strava users paying people to complete activities on their behalf so they can impress followers with uploads to the ride-sharing app, adding another chapter to the various already astounding ways of rigging rides.
Don’t believe us, we’ve already got a few applicants for the Strava “mule” or “jockey” position. First up is Andrew, who replied on our Twitter post with: “If any Strava user wants to pay me to ride to my local cafe this afternoon, I’m available.”
If any Strava user wants to pay me to ride to my local cafe this afternoon, I’m available.
— Andrew Craig (@GoodClearTweets) September 10, 2024
We’re going to need a little more than that Andrew. How about some FTP numbers and VO2max levels, and don’t forget to share your palmares — all your KOMs and CRs, of course.
FINAL CALL for all Zwifters: The road.cc Zwift Racing League starts tonight!
It’s gloomy, it’s been pouring down, it’s getting really chilly, and training outdoors is about to become a cumbersome activity… So if Zwift’s your thing, why not join our team and show us what your’re made of (the only downside, for us, is, that you’ll see what we’re made of too).
Here’s the link to enroll yourself and join our B and C team, both in the Open EMEA-W Eastern leagues, which means an 18:45 start in the UK. Dave tells me we’re looking slightly slim on the Category B riders, so if you’ve got a power output of 4W/kg or thereabouts, feel free to join us!
Campagnolo launches new second-tier Super Record S electronic groupset offering "greater affordability"... and it'll still cost you over £3,000
Italian component manufacturer Campagnolo has introduced the new Super Record S Wireless groupset, a second-tier electronic groupset that offers “greater affordability”, a wider range of gears and just 150g more weight than the flagship Super Record Wireless. Priced at over £3,000, it promises to deliver comparable performance for considerably less cash, and is still a “Special Edition” product so we’re told.
Cyclist frustrated by police inaction after being "nearly killed" by lorry driver, as rider told he was in "blind spot" and driver in company vehicle can't be traced
A cyclist, who narrowly avoided being hit by an HGV driver who pulled out in front of the rider at a junction on Friday evening, has expressed frustration with the police’s inaction and suggested Leicestershire Police “have shrugged it off” and claim to be unable to trace the driver of a company-branded vehicle.
Astana Qazaqstan rider suspended after being found with illegal doping agent CERA EPO in sample, as team says they appointed him as one of the leaders and had “great expectations for him, which are now completely shattered”
Not the old school throwback we’re on the lookout for, but still a throwback nonetheless. CERA EPO in 2024? Hmph, amateurs, don’t they know it’s all about clostebol and menotropin now?
CERA, or Continuous erythropoietin receptor activator, or simply referred to as EPO is an endurance-enhancing drug banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and the latest rider to have been found with an unscrupulous sample with the aforementioned substance is Astana Qazaqstan’s rider Ilkhan Dostiyev.
The UCI Continental team said that it was informed of a possible anti-doping rule violation by the Kazakh rider, with CERA being found in a sample taken out of competition on July 30, 2024.
“Upon being notified of an Adverse Analytical Finding, the rider admitted to using the banned substance, providing explanations to the team and the UCI. Ilkhan Dostiyev was immediately suspended, and his contract was terminated,” the team added.
Dostiyev had previously secured second position in the general classification of the Tour of Rwanda in February this year, while also winning the UCI WR.2 stage-race Tour of Romania in August, just over two weeks after his sample was collected.
Alexandr Shushemoin, Head Sports Director of Astana Qazaqstan Development Team, said: “This news came as a shock and disappointment to us. We trusted Ilkhan Dostiyev as one of the team’s leaders and we had great expectations for him, which are now completely shattered.
“After receiving the information, we promptly contacted the rider and demanded an explanation, which Dostiyev provided, also expressing full willingness to cooperate with the UCI and anti-doping authorities.
“I can state with absolute certainty that Astana Qazaqstan Development Team has no connection to this incident. Our team adheres to a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy, we work continuously with the riders and do our best to ensure that athletes understand not only the consequences of using doping but also the absurdity of attempting to violate anti-doping rules.
“Given that Dostiyev has admitted to the anti-doping violation, the rider has been suspended from racing, and his contract has been immediately terminated. We are now cooperating fully and openly with all organisations involved to clarify all the details of what happened.”
Anyone interested in a new OnlyFans channel? Too soon?
“He’s ready for a rainbow jersey”: Tadej Pogačar records 400+ FTP on a 6.5 hour training ride paced by a Vespa, as cyclists say “he’s taunting us mortals”
Morning everyone, here’s a reminder of how insane pro cyclists are… and also why (most of) you and I would never be pro cyclists…
Pogačar who was on a well-deserved vacation after his heroics at the Tour de France that saw him win the yellow jersey for a third time, is back on the bike and preparing for the Grand Prixes of Québec and Montreal coming up this week, before the big showdown to claim bragging rights on the rainbow jersey at the road race world championships in Zürich on 29 September.
And the Slovenian, who was also on a hiatus from social media during his two-week vacation, is back posting on Instagram, and with yesterday’s post, has broken the cardinal rule of never-post-your-numbers on the internet that most pros swear by, giving us the all-important data to crunch some numbers and find out his closely guarded functional threshold power.
His latest post on Instagram (coupled with the ultimate hype song by Indian rapper Hanumankind that’s taken the world by storm) shows the 25-year-old on a 6 hour 20 minutes ride from Monaco along the French-Italian border, paced by a Vespa of all things and apparently joined for a bit by Aussie rider Michael Matthews as well. He shows his Wahoo Elemnt Roam cycling computer a couple of times in the short clip, but the real good stuff lies at the end of the video, when just for a split second, his end-of-ride is visible — most importantly, his training stress score, or TSS.
If you aren’t aware of this metric (I know, yet another acronymic metric that’s not going to have any real impact on my Sunday 50-mile ride but will still have me stressing for no reason), put simply, it’s a way of measuring how much stress is put on the body from a ride, with Garmin’s guide suggesting that a TSS below 150 means recovery for the ride will likely be finished by the next day, while anything between 300 to 450 will likely keep you tired for several days after the ride.
Pogačar’s TSS on the computer was 390, and now with some complex formulae developed by sports scientists, amateur cyclist who’s interested in sports physiology Ryan Rodman has thankfully already done the number crunching, and found that for 6hr 20min ride, Pogačar’s FTP would’ve been somewhere around 415W.
And if the website ProCyclingStats is to be believed, Tadej Pogačar weighs around 65kg, which would mean his Watts per kg would be around 6.5W/kg.
Yep, you read that right…
IF = NP / FTP.
0.785 = 326W / FTP
FTP = 415W.
— Ryan Rodman (@Rodman1_r2) September 10, 2024
Fans have already started speculating that that Pogačar is well on his way to stun the competition once again at the UCI Worlds, although he’s bound to face stiff competition from the likes of double-Olympic gold winner Remco Evenepoel, Biniam Girmay and current men’s champion Mathieu van der Poel.
Mark Collop on Twitter said: “All this says to me is that he is ready for the WC and a rainbow jersey,” while James Hilbard wrote: “I feel like the average person fails to grasp how alien/ insane these kind of numbers are.”
Meanwhile, the Instagram account Blackcyclistsnetwork commented on Pogačar’s post: “Only Pog can make the life of a pro cyclist look fun and painless,” while Alessandro Colorà, speaking for most of us, said: “I think I wouldn’t be able to keep up with you on a Vespa either.”
Former pro cyclist Alessandro Proni who last rode for UCI Professional Continental team Vini Fantini–Selle Italia in 2013 and won a Tour de Suisse stage in 2007, told Pogačar to “never put watts on the reel screen, you might have on your conscience the lives of many people”, to which another person commented: “He’s taunting us mortals”. I don’t think they’re wrong…
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In France, the closer the cyclist gets to the Mediterranean Sea, the weirder car drivers behave. Some of them being repeat road deliquents. Encounters with 13, 31, 34 and 84 may prove hairy. Drivers with plates showing 84 (Vaucluse) think light signalling is no longer necessary before making a turn or exiting a roundabout. Pity UAE Team came to the decision not to press charges.
@MaxiMinimalist We can fear such a ban to varying degrees. But I'd be surprised if it happens. Even if it does the police don't have the resource and time to deal with dangerous drivers. So I guess they will ignore it anway.
Sooner or later, there will be public calls for cycling ban on specific roads and / or at specific times of the day. The great divide that separates cyclists from drivers of motorized vehicles with 4-plus wheels isn't going to narrow anytime soon. In spite of the net-zero madness, there is zip political ambition to allocate massive funds to cycling, build proper infrastructure, elaborate a nationwide integrated cycling network, educate all road users. Why? Because motorists of all kinds are voters and taxpayers.
@Smoggysteve Right - as I say, though - that's a separate debate, that I'll leave to others.
AS I read this, I was wondering hao many other legal e-bikes may have been seized and crushed as a result of this bogus test? As I pointed out recently in a reply to a Facebook post that stated that e-bikes are limited to 25kph/15.5mph any bike, whether a pure pedal cycle or an e-bike, can exceed this speed if the rider can pedal hard enough, or when going downhill. The regulation just states that the motor must switch off at higher speeds. If the rider can achieve higher speeds unaided, that is legal. The test that the police used just demonstrated the maximum "speed" achieved by pedal power alone with no or little resistance can be much higher than the motor cut-off speed.
@ROOTminus1 Unfortunately, people will still do all they can to get past. the MGIFs can't help themselves and are a danger to everyone not only the cyclist.
It was going to weigh them up, but they were below the limit.
Clearly driver training and the driving test need to change to meet modern time poor driving conditions. I suggest the following need to be added to the practical test : 1) Undertaking on pavements. 2) Close passing cyclists or horses at 50mph.(It is clear from the comments on this website that cyclists do not appreciate how difficult a skill this is to master). 3) Threading between bollards to park on pavements near fast food outlets. 4) Steering with the knees while using a mobile phone and eating a burger or sushi, depending on the area. 5) Fighting with cyclists at roundabouts. For the advanced driving test the fighting will be with gangs of Hell's Angels or Mods. 6) Handbrake turns. 7) Driving at speed after all night parties. 8) Selecting the wrong gear and smashing into somebody's living room. The theory test could be shortened to make room for these practical additions. Maybe it could just be distilled down to learning crucial phrases like : "The cyclist came out of nowhere!" "I had the children in the car." "I had hunger knock and urgently needed an egg Mcmuffin." "I didn't see them." "I had been to a party and was wearing different shoes."
The headline states the article will "weigh up the pros and cons" but doesn't really provide any argument for keeping the limit. Or maybe it's to "weigh up the pros (of lowering the limit) and cons (of keeping the limit)"? Beyond having a different limit for either/or women's races/smaller riders, which I can see a strong argument for, I don't really see the point of just lowering the absolute limit. What will it achieve? We'll end up with aero bikes at the new limit but instead of costing £10-15k, it'll be £15-20k and we'll still hear more complaining about everything in the bike industry being so expensive. Sure, no one's forced to buy the TdF bike, but it does anchor the price ceiling, which will have an effect on every other model. There's a focus in the article on companies being able to make lightweight bikes again, or for pros to race on them. Well, they already exist for those that want them. And the pros? We might have a few years of bike choice, but we'll still end up with everyone using the aero bike at the new weight limit but with lots of expensive R&D and new materials that need to be paid for. Especially lightweight bikes don't have a right to exist. A 7kg bike from 20 years ago is the same weight as a 7kg bike today. I think what's more interesting is the suggestion of scaling the weight limit with rider weight. That feels fairer. But could it remove an advantage that a bigger sprinter might have over their colleagues, for example? We could end up with just the same style of rider across a whole race. It also feels like it doesnt make much sense to just map the men's limit onto the women's field. But then if it's an arbitrary limit, does that matter either?
FFS France always seemed like a safe place to ride a bike, outside Paris that is. Can't see the Department number in the photo - hire cars traditionally have been registered in Oise (60) and many still are, though not all. Does make you wonder if it was a Brit on holiday. Only road rage driver I've experienced in Spain was in a hire car, and that was relatively benign - brake check and windscreen wiper / fluid squirt.
14 thoughts on ““He’s ready for a rainbow jersey”: Tadej Pogačar records 415 FTP on a 6.5 hour training ride paced by a Vespa as cyclists say “he’s taunting us mortals”; British race dropped from cycling calendar after abbey trust declines to host + more on the live blog”
Will Road CC pick up on this?
Will Road CC pick up on this?
“…biker crashes into pedestrian”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/crlry1rd9w3o
Two points:
1) Whilst not condoning the idiot on the electrike motorcycle (or whatever it was) I think the pedestrian pulls his right arm out of his pocket and in some way holds it out which the idiot then hits.
You can see it by slowing down the clip.
2) The result of the impact is why I am not usually concerned about idiot cyclists on pavements. The idiots themselves are the ones most likely to be hurt.
My question is how can he be
My question is how can he be banned from riding when it doesn’t require a licence?
ChasP wrote:
It does require a licence, it’s a motorbike.
It requires Licence, insurance, MOT, VED declaration (nothing to pay as an electric motorbike, but still needs to be declared), and motor vehicle use certified helmets to be worn by rider and passengers.
It said cyclist on ebike when
It said cyclist on ebike when I first saw it, now changed to ‘biker’ much more appropriate.
I’ve already submitted
I’ve already submitted another complaint to the BBC as the headline was “Cyclist on e-bike crashes into pedestrian”. Pursuant to my last complaint, the vocabulary was misrepresentative towards cyclists as the vehicle is not an e-bike but an electric motor bike. Evidenced by appearance and the fact that the rider in question admitted to motoring offenses, not charges against the OAtPA 1861 which includes the “Wanton and furious” charge.
It appears that has been corrected at least
It certainly looks like the
It certainly looks like the pedestrian assaults the moped rider
I don’t blame him tbh,
I don’t blame him tbh, motorbike heading towards him at speed in a pedestrian zone
Indeed. See
Indeed. See
https://road.cc/content/forum/bbc-confuses-motorcycle-e-bike-deliberately-310255
Thanks.
Thanks.
I don’t check the main news section and it did not appear to be posted on the blog.
Whilst I do not condone violence…
The rider was riding at excessive speed on an area which is evidently not meant for motor vehicles.
The rider rode towards and exceptionally close to the pedestrian, probably in an attempt to intimidate/scare him and thus feel “empowered” when it had plenty of space to pass more safely (which is debatable anyway given the speed etc).
I’m glad the pedestrian didn’t appear to be significantly hurt by the impact, regardless of whether he intended the rider to fall off by extending his arm/hand.
Basically, the rider was an idiot.
He F-ed about and found out the results of its actions.
Don’t for a moment think I am
Don’t for a moment think I am defending the motorcyclist! But I’d rather see the story portrayed truthfully – plucky pedestrian’s adroit reflexes rain karma on motorcycling yob.
And consider this – had the motor vehicle in question had four wheels instead of two, and there was no conflation with “e-bikes” and the concomitant menace of cyclists, do you suppose more might have been made of the pedestrian’s outstretched hand “hitting the vehicle”?
Sriracha wrote:
No – it wouldn’t have led to the driver falling off/over/out but could have caused injury to the pedestrian. Slapping the outside of a vehicle might sometimes lead to road rage from the driver, but it’s not considered to be assault/illegal etc.
Sometimes?
Sometimes?
A harmless twanging of a sprung door mirror tends to lead to threats of violence/attempted GBH/assault with a motor vehicle in my experience.
I really do strongly advise against it, a driver that has already provoked your harmless reaction by needlessly endangering you is more likely to be an unhinged sociopath who’ll then deliberately drive into you.
Is it worth asking the social
Is it worth asking the social media team at Have I Got News For You to do better than this?
“Cyclists are to be given AI technology that means they won’t have to stop at red lights, although they seem to be handling this quite well by themselves”
https://www.facebook.com/groups/794529223949148/posts/8228963280505668/
(Yes, I appreciate HIGNFY is satire. But this sort of thing is what gets cyclists abused.)
A friendly reminder that the
A friendly reminder that the plural of Grand Prix is Grands Prix…