Labour’s shadow secretary for transport rides a bike and offers support for cycling infrastructure… gets accused of photo-op (and for riding without helmet); Eden Hazard climbs Mont Ventoux; Chris Froome denies team power struggle + more on the live blog

With slightly better weather over the weekend and of course, the Champions League final, you might be excused for missing out on any cycling news. So here’s all the stuff that was rocking the world of cycling these last couple of days, starting off with all the new bikes our team caught a sight of at the Critérium du Dauphiné…

> New Trek Madone breaks cover at Dauphiné… or is it an Emonda?

> Ineos Grenadiers race new Pinarello Dogma at Dauphiné

> Wilier set to launch mystery new bike

It wasn’t all about the Critérium though, there was much stuff away from France in Kansas, at the Unbound Gravel where Matej Mohorič didn’t have the best of his rides, and there was more bad news coming out for the iconic British bicycle frame manufacturers Mercian, which ceased its trading and operations two weeks ago.

> Mercian Cycles ceases trading and enters voluntary liquidation

> “We’re going to stick to road racing!”: Matej Mohorič gets stuck in the mud at Unbound Gravel, suffers cracked rim and puncture

> Council rubbishes concerned residents’ claims new cycle route will attract crime and increase insurance premiums

> Violent attack near Box Hill leaves cyclist seriously injured with punctured lung after masked thugs on motorbikes push him off bike on popular cycle path

Essex Police has called on RideLondon participants who may have witnessed a serious collision during the event to come forward with camera footage or information. The appeal comes after a cyclist taking part in the sportive was involved in a collision with a motorist driving on a road that was supposed to be closed to non-event traffic, the driver then leaving the scene.

Read more: > Police investigate RideLondon incident as cyclist seriously injured in collision with driver on closed road course

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome hasn’t been the same since his terrible 2019 crash. The rider who dominated cycling in a post-Armstrong world in the early 2010s, has been on the receiving end of many jokes and jests from fans (not lessened by his many rants and excuses over the years… rim brakes, anyone?)

The 39-year-old British rider is currently racing at the Critérium du Dauphiné, and after missing out on last year’s Tour, he has expressed his aims of getting into the squad once again.

At Tirreno-Adriatico in March, Froome said that his goal was “to try and get to the Tour in the best shape possible this year.”

And now if reports from French newspaper L’Equipe are to be believed, Froome may have made his way into Israel-Premier Tech’s TdF squad for 2024, but only “at the behest of team sponsors who want his profile/fame”, and in an even more scandalous revelation, it goes on to claim that there has been an internal power struggle within the team, notably between Froome and Canadian rider Michael Woods.

That’s news to me 🤪 what about you @rusty_woods ? 😆

— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) June 3, 2024

However, Froome has tried to immediately quash those rumours by replying to a tweet making those claims, saying that “that’s news to him”, with a laughing emoji. He’s also tagged Woods in the reply, asking him if he’s heard anything of the sort (followed by another emoji).

The former Sky rider had fractured his wrist on day two of the Italian stage race Tirreno-Adriatico, sharing the news on Twitter saying “I can’t catch a break!”. And just last week, Froome finished the Mercan’Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes a staggering 17 minutes and 40 seconds behind the 20-year-old explosive Groupama-FDJ rider Lenny Martinez.

Denmark’s two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard has been left out of the national squad for road cycling for the 2024 Paris Olympics, having been snubbed for the final place in the team for UAE Team Emirates’ rider Mikkel Bjerg.

The 27-year-old rider has expressed his desire to ride in Paris, however, it’s being reported that he may have been overlooked given his recent injuries from the Itzulia Basque Country Tour, where he suffered multiple fractures in a horror crash which also involved a number of top riders such as Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič.

Vingegaard is currently doing high-altitude training in the French Alps with Visma Lease a Bike teammates Christophe Laporte and Wout van Aert, with the latter also recovering from the broken collarbone and ribs injuries he suffered at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, which ruled him out for the majority of the spring classics season, including the coveted Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Velo also reports that while the Vingegaard and Wout van Aert are trying their best to get into top shape, the team is still unsure if the duo will be able to do so given their injuries and the demanding nature of the Tour. So, does this mean there’s a chance we’ll see Matteo Jorgensen ride for GC this time?!

A #madmax wannabe has been left walking down fury road after their car was prohibited for an array of faults. This included wheel nuts being replaced for spiked ones and a sharp, knife like spoiler plus other offences. The driver is now being prosecuted as a result. pic.twitter.com/3rfRyY54C6

— Glos Police Specialist Ops (@GlosPolSpecOps) June 3, 2024

*gets on a bike and sprays face with chrome* Witness me!

Thanks to the former Walking and Cycling Comissioner for West Midlands, Adam Tranter for refreshing my memory with this brilliant ad. “No, bikes aren’t the answer to every single journey, but they’re more versatile than you might think. It’s all about choosing the right tool for the job,” wrote Tranter.

No, bikes aren’t the answer to every single journey, but they’re more versatile than you might think. It’s all about choosing the right tool for the job.

🚴‍♂️ Celebrating #WorldBicycleDay by re-sharing one of my favourite projects: “The Best Tool For The Job”.

No, bikes aren’t the answer to every single journey, but they’re more versatile than you might think. It’s all about choosing the right tool for the job. 🌍💪 pic.twitter.com/MxaU02wH59

— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) June 3, 2024

Police praised the “swift action of witnesses” but urged the public to consider their safety after an angle grinder bike robber was confronted as he cut through a lock and injured in an “altercation”, the offender now jailed for 33 months.

> Cyclist reclaims stolen Brompton following “altercation” — as angle grinder bike robber jailed for 33 months

Heartbreak for Decathlon AG2R’s Bruno Armirail, who was caught by the peloton in the final few hundreds before the finish line on a misty afternoon at the Col de La Loge, as Uno-X’s precarious attack which somehow ended up working perfectly and placed its Danish rider Magnus Cort to take the win, holding off Bora-Hansgrohe’s Primož Roglič.

One Dane might hide another… 🇩🇰 After Mads Pedersen yesterday, today it was the turn of Magnus Cort to whoop the peloton’s ass and win the 2nd stage of @dauphine with a brutal uphill sprint. First ever WT victory for Uno-X Mobility. #Dauphine pic.twitter.com/1PpsVIDkWb

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) June 3, 2024

Cort’s win means that it’s a consecutive two victories for Danish riders at the French stage race, with yesterday’s sprint having been won by the ever-so-formidable Mads Pedersen.

Back-to-back #Dauphine stage wins and yellow jerseys for 🇩🇰Denmark! pic.twitter.com/6DMM8QgiED

— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) June 3, 2024

Police in Florida have admitted it was “just a fluke” that they managed to arrest a driver suspected of a hit-and-run which left a 15-year-old cyclist unconscious with facial fractures and other injuries, one of the victim’s AirPods falling into the vehicle during the crash and giving officers a handy GPS lead when the driver returned home with the Apple product lodged under a floor mat inside the car.

> Driver accused of hit-and-run that “could have killed” teen cyclist caught by “fluke” as police track missing Apple AirPod that fell into vehicle during collision

To round things up this World Bicycle Day, here’s one way how not to celebrate it, courtesy of road.cc reader Hirsuite…

If I had a nickel for every time a Real Madrid player would lose interest in football, leave the club and pursue their hobby of a different sport, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird it’s happened twice now…

While Real Madrid players were preparing to play the match of their lives in London and bring #15 to Bernabeu, Eden Hazard, the club’s most expensive signing ever who spent the golden years of his career not too far from Wembley, was indulging himself in a completely different activity — football now a distant memory in the 33-year-old Belgian’s mind — probably.

Hazard, who had his contract with Real Madrid terminated last June, announced his retirement from professional football a couple of months later. And since then, he’s kept somewhat of a low-profile other than popping here and there for an advert, the odd-charity match, or showing up at his boyhood club Lille.

But behind the scenes, it seems that the former Belgian captain and the mercurial forward has picked up a new hobby… Any guesses, anyone?

Of course, it’s cycling! And by the looks of it, Hazard’s been putting in the effort and hours on the saddle (tut tut, me), and has managed to scale one of the most revered and iconic climbs in the world, Mont Ventoux.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Eden Hazard (@hazardeden_10)

From images shared by Hazard on social media, it looks like it was a well-planned ride, with the ex-footballer joined by his brothers, Thorgan (who’s still playing for Belgian club Anderlecht, by the way), Ethan and Kylian — all decked out in the jerseys of the Belgian pro cycling team Intermarché-Wanty and riding Cube bikes.

Intermarché also shared the image on its social media, writing: “Eden Hazard did it! He climbed to the top of Mont Ventoux with his CUBE and the jersey of his favorite team.”

Hazard isn’t the first celebrity to take his bike up the almost 2000-metre high climb with an average gradient of 7.4%, or 4.4%, if you take the easier Sault route. In 2016, F1 world champion Jenson Button took his bike for a spin up the mountain too, and ended up doing a tribute to Chris Froome’s infamous Tour de France stage finish by jogging up the last bit.

> Video: Chris Froome vs Mont Ventoux – the slapstick version

We are still waiting to find Hazard’s Strava profile to see his stats. Anyone reckon if a footballer’s abilities can translate to road cycling? Not a similarly ideal comparison, but last year, we did have legendary Barcelona and Stoke City player Bojan Krkić take up gravel biking and even partnered with former teammate Andrés Iniesta to launch his own bike brand.

More recently, Anne Jones, an 82-year-old cyclist from Lewisham completed a summit of the famous climb in southern France to raise funds for a youth trauma hospital and a paracycling team distributing aid to communities by bike in Gaza, despite severely inclement weather with fog so thick she nearly missed the famous Tom Simpson memorial.

> Can he ride it on a cold rainy night in Stoke? Ex-Barcelona (and Stoke City) footballer Bojan launches new gravel bike brand

In the meantime, Hazard can definitely ring up his pal Remco Evenepoel, who himself made a reverse career switch, ditching football for cycling, for any on-the-saddle tips. The time trial champion is currently out racing at the Critérium du Dauphiné (psst, we’ve come across loads of unreleased bikes, including from Trek, Pinarello and Wilier) in preparation for his first shot at Tour de France glory.

Although I’m sure he’ll have enough support from his friends over at Intermarché-Wanty. Maybe he can learn some sprinting from Biniam Girmay, who won the bunch sprint to come second at the Brussels Cycling Classic yesterday. Maybe the Belgian team’s looking for domestiques for next season?

The former Chelsea player will also be making his return to Stamford Bridge this Sunday, turning out for the World XI in West London for Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2024. By the way, it’s not soccer…

And finally, we may have a big revamp on our hands to our starting XI of the world-beating squad of ‘Footballers Who Cycle’. Some tough decisions to make there, I don’t envy whoever gets the top job of managing this squad next…

> Footballers who cycle XI — the Premier League stars who love life on two wheels

We reported a couple of months ago that Louise Haigh, the Labour shadow secretary for transport, had been the latest to join our very warm and friendly community of cyclists. And her becoming a cyclist, felt even more resounding of a moment given that long ago, she had made some very questionable statements about active travel, and had been rightly faced the brunt of criticism from the campaigners and cycling advocates alike.

When Independent asked her a simple question of, ‘does she cycle?’, Haigh responded: “God no, have you been to Sheffield?” Telling the newspaper she drives a petrol Nissan Juke, Haigh suggested Rishi Sunak had “demeaned himself” by saying the Labour Party would pursue a ‘war on motorists’.

She went on to say 20mph speed limits and low-traffic neighbourhoods should be a matter decided by local people and argued many of the most-criticised councils who had implemented apparently unpopular schemes were Conservative local authorities.

Concluding the transport section of the interview, Haigh said there would be no Labour Party diktat that people should walk or cycle more.

> Is Labour’s shadow transport secretary cycling’s latest convert? Louise Haigh says e-bikes “make all the difference”, months after backlash over controversial cycling comments

But after doing her homework, learning and educating herself, she made a U-turn and in March as she finally got round to travelling through her Sheffield constituency by e-bike, which she said has the potential to “make all the difference” in encouraging even those wary of the city’s hills to cycle more.

Now, to mark the World Bicycle Day, she has shared a post on Twitter, saying that if elected in the upcoming general elections on 4th July, Labour will offer support to local authorities to “provide the safe, accessible cycling infrastructure that is right for their areas – so that everyone who wants to cycle can”.

It’s World Bicycle Day! 🚵‍♀️

Cycling is great for your health – and it’s a clean, cheap way to get around.

Labour will support local authorities to provide the safe, accessible cycling infrastructure that is right for their areas – so that everyone who wants to cycle can. pic.twitter.com/Tp9HpaGe4r

— Louise Haigh (@LouHaigh) June 3, 2024

Haigh – the politician likely to be tasked with heading the next government on issues of transport – was also briefed by Cycling UK on a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), which made the case for greater investment in cycling and walking infrastructure to help “unlock” several health, well-being, economic, and environmental benefits.

> “Chronic underfunding” of active travel makes England the “poor relation” compared to Scotland and Wales, says Cycling UK

“Sheffield is known for its hills and that may be a barrier for some people who might be thinking of choosing cycling to get around,” she said.

“It was great to be out with Cycling UK and to see how much easier it is to cycle when you have an extra boost from an e-bike, it makes all the difference.”

And cyclists are chuffed to see finally some backing for cycling from the Labour party, which incidentally takes place just a week after a hilarious Lib Dem campaign photo op in Wales, featuring — yes you guessed it, Ed Davey.

“The political will and support that’s been lacking,” replied the Twitter user and cycling activist Bob from Accounts, while Rob wrote: “Hope to see real manifesto commitment to this via progressive new active travel policies.”

There were some sceptics too, who considered the post as another photo-op before the elections, and added that “support” was in fact a hollow backing and didn’t mean much given how deeply entrenched motonormativity is in the British society, and instead asked for concrete plans to improve cycling and walking to reverse the Tory government’s repeated slashings of the active travel budget amidst all the anti-cycling rhetoric.

Nice, but would be great if you could do more than “support” (meaningless) – how about committing to reversing the government’s despicable slashing of the active travel budget? https://t.co/eGhm6nrMim

— Matthew Marks (@MatthewMarks42) June 3, 2024

I think it’d be only right for me to mention here as a matter of fact that there were some comments who pointed out that Haigh was riding the bike without wearing a helmet… *throws grenade and ducks for cover*