Could Jonas Vingegaard quit cycling after a second bad crash?; Andy Burnham’s Transport Secretary Speculation; Doping suspicions at the Tour; Mad Transcontinental aero set-up + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
BREAKING: L'Equipe confirm judge approved night time anti-doping tests
Some breaking news from French newspaper L’Equipe this afternoon, that a judge approved the International Testing Agency conducting anti-doping tests on the basis of “serious” doping suspicions.
In a statement, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office told the ‘paper that a designated Judge specialising in liberties and detention “authorise[d] the anti-doping controls that occurred on the night of 18 to 19 July.” The Office added that the usual procedures were followed, in line with the French Sports Code.
However the procedures for such a case are not normal. In order to legitimise the ITA’s night testing, the judge must be satisfied there are “serious and corresponding suspicions” that the targeted rider has violated anti-doping rules or is about to do so. The judge must also determine a “risk of loss of evidence.”
L’Equipe also quotes an unnamed source who says this step is unheard of since it was introduced in 2015, and that it likely explains why Tadej Pogacar said in yesterday’s press conference that he was unaware that doping control was possible between 11pm and 6am. In response to being told it was a night control, this is what Pogacar said…
“I don’t argue, and I say okay. I couldn’t sleep after, but I accept it even if it’s a little bit strange. If this is still necessary to prove that we are riding clean, then I totally accept it and commit to this.”
As a reminder, Ryan wrote up a piece yesterday gathering the responses of several riders in response to the raids. Discussion yesterday evening and today has centred around the role the night testing may have indirectly played in causing Jonas Vingegaard’s crash.
L’Equipe’s reporting moves this story on dramatically, showing that the night testing was meticulously planned and rooted in serious allegations. It’s a good thing we’ll be on the ground at the race this coming week…
Brompton could learn a thing or two...
Today’s bit of Instagram nice-ness comes from South Africa, where ‘stance bikes’ are all the rage…
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RIP Kevin Keegan
My abiding Keegan memory remains his resignation interview where, worn down after defeat by Germany and haranguing from fans, he admitted he wasn’t good enough.
But for others, it will be Superstars, and the wobbling wheel that gave way to injure the Ballon d’Or winner…
The beginning of the end?
It’s the crash that’s been around the world (ay, ay, ay)…
Of the two days we each covered this weekend, Ryan definitely had the more dramatic day. We thought the day would peak with the overnight doping controls conducted on both Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. And speculation has been rife this morning that the doping controls indirectly caused the Dane to crash and break his collarbone…
But there’s another theory that has left a corner of the cycling internet brewing on the Tour de France’s second rest day. It started with Visma Lease a Bike’s social media post.
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“Over the past few years, you battled against the very best riders in the world. You excelled in the toughest mountains, earning five consecutive overall podium finishes, including two victories on the top step in Paris.
“An achievement we, as a team, are incredibly proud of. But above all, we’re deeply grateful. You have left your mark on the Tour.
Sadly, your incredible run in the Tour came to an end today. But we know you never give up, and we have no doubt you’ll come back stronger.
“Wishing you a speedy recovery, champion! ❤️🩹”
It should be said that Visma, for all their comms shortcomings, do have a track record of this ‘open letter’ type of thing to their star rider, here’s one they did after the Dane won the Giro d’Italia with ease…
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But still, the tone of the letter provoked some thoughts, not least the retrospection and talk of “an end”, even if it was likely referring to Vingegaard’s record in the race of only finishing first or second in all his participations.
Last week, the Dane even admitted he came close to retiring last year unless the team changed their approach and support around him. He’s also previously hinted at not having a particularly long career. And that thought has crossed the mind of several cycling fans, particularly in light of the Dane’s previous life-threatening crash in 2024…
The more times I read this, the more it sounds like Jonas is retiring…
— Dan Deakins (@dandeakins.bsky.social) 19 July 2026 at 21:29
Here are some thoughts…
“Same. His nerve went after the horrific crashes he had a couple of years ago. Wants to spend time with his young family.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me as he worries a lot about safety in cycling. And also his interviews about wanting to stop cycling if things didn’t change in his race & training programme this year…”
“I was thinking whether he might end his career now (if his contract allows him to do so). I believe after the brutal crash in 2024 his perspective on what is important in life has shifted.”
“I feel like he’s done what he set out to do. I feel like he might rather go home and be a dad to his littles now. He might come back working with juniors but not til the munchkins are older.”
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> Opinion: Vingegaard’s Giro canter proves he’s the 2nd best cyclist in the world
But also some cold water, for good measure…
“There is no way he is making this decision today to the point where he’s already communicating it to the team, so this has nothing to do with him retiring. They are just being dramatic. That’s not to say there’s 0 chance he retires. He might, idk. But this is not about him retiring.”
“I dont understand how Jonas fans are so focused on him retiring. I read it here from everyone and I just dont get it. Sure that crash yesterday was a huge bummer for him and the race but he didnt lost a leg. And I didn’t read or saw anything from him indicating his fighting spirit was broken.”
“It says “come back stronger” – why would they care if he comes back stronger if he was retiring?”
My thoughts, for what it’s worth, are that he won’t retire anytime soon but that he probably won’t renew his contract, which currently expires at the end of 2028, by which point he’ll be 32 and I think both his children will be in school. Although I also have the same opinion on Tadej Pogacar, that his contract – running until 2030 – might also be his last. But that’s an opinion for another day…
Testing Agency defend overnight doping control
As you might expect, the International Testing Agency has defended its own actions, namely waking up the two stars of the Tour de France for doping control, at 2am and 5am respectively.
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UCI rules stipulate that athletes should not be tested between 11pm – 6am to protect the riders’ sleep, unless an athlete says otherwise or if the UCI say there is “serious and specific suspicion that a rider may be engaged in doping.”
But the ITA has not indicated that such suspicion exists…
“The ITA is conscious that night-time testing may be disruptive to riders’ rest and recovery. Due consideration has therefore been given to minimise as much as possible the impact testing activities have on riders,” the ITA said in a statement.
“However, the ITA, on behalf of the UCI, has the responsibility to ensure the effectiveness of the cycling anti-doping program and the integrity of cycling races. As such, effective testing must, in limited and justified circumstances, be capable to occur outside standard daytime hours.”
That’s true, but it also remains true that there has yet to be an explanation for why the tests in the early hours were justified. There’s a possibility this story might continue to rumble on…
In the meantime, you can read the ITA’s own pre-race summary of its activities at the race, including an increased focus on Human Growth Hormone and their cooperation with national authorities.
Transcontinental madness
And the award for most insane bike set up for The Transcontinental Race goes to…
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The race started yesterday in Trondheim, Norway and Robin Gemperle, winner of the Unbound 350 XL gravel race is in the early lead…
New Transport Secretary incoming?
As I type, we have a new Prime Minister addressing the nation.
Andy Burnham said his appointment is a “circuit-breaker for Britain”, and announced he would present a 10-year plan for Britain.
At road.cc towers, we’re watching for the appointment of his Cabinet later this afternoon and evening, namely his Transport Secretary.
Louise Haigh, the former Transport Secretary and a staunch supporter of Burnham, was a keen proponent of active travel and launched a new Integrated Transport Strategy for England that encourages regions to connect their active travel, bus and tram networks – a lot like what we have seen in Greater Manchester, where Burnham was Mayor. She resigned following revelations of a decade old fraud offence.
Her successor, Heidi Alexander, was initially seen as a less ambitious Transport Secretary, more focused on renationalising the railways. She was also criticised for the smaller scope of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy that was announced last month.
She also welcomed a “dangerous cycling law” first championed by the Conservatives, saying rule-breaking cyclists will face “the full force of the law.”
However, she has also rejected the language of division between motorists and cyclists.
An honourable Bäckstedt mention...
All weekend talk has been about a certain Slovenian, a Yorkshireman going up the road or a Dane on the floor. But in the Baloise Ladies Tour in Belgium, we have a British winner!
Zoe Bäckstedt defended the title she won last year by once again taking victory in both the opening prologue and on Saturday’s split stage time trial. The win keeps the Welsh woman’s record of not finishing lower than second in any time trial for the last year. Some record that…
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This weekend's non-racing round-up...
Remarkably, the driver has only been charged with manslaughter…
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Latest Comments
@lawrence18uk Occasionally I see tradies travelling with some tools on the train, compact tool bags, rucksacks and wheelie luggage, often carrying long spirit levels separately, but on a couple of occasions collapsible ladders.
Finally some proper Gravel for the UCI World Championships! …no dates in the article. Racing starts today 10/11 Oct. Watch it free on SBS 6pm Go well Matt…
@Aluminium can - as an alternative to vans, yes cargo bikes (plenty in Cambridge), and I've been wondering whether supplies could be delivered from retailers - using delivery robots. and it's possible I suppose that ladders could fall in the same category - you could, instead of just hiring a bicycle, hire a ladder and it would arrive of its own accord.
... and we still had apostrophe rationing.
@Rendel Harris There was a bit in the bicycle hating Guardian, a nice little read, part of his justification was to acclimatise to the heat and humidity, which if he was in a better car might have been worth it. Good luck to him, chapeau.
@SecretSam That's not really fair, in fact not fair at all. It wasn't his fault that the last two mountain stages were shortened and on the first one he had dropped everyone and was a minute clear as he summitted the Iseran when the stage was neutralised, and on the second he stayed with or dropped all the other GC contenders. You seem to have forgotten his Giro win as well as Paris Nice and the Tour de Suisse. Only the fourth rider to have won the Tour and Giro before the age of twenty-five. Yes he probably couldn't have stayed with Pogacar even if he hadn't had the awful crash, and probably nor could any other rider in history except perhaps Merckx.
@lesterama Bernal has had two whammys. His crash, which he has probably never fully recovered from and Ineos taking a nosedive. They have no focus and no identity.
@Zermattjohn Read the comment I posted about my experience
I bought some Challenge Strada tyres. After a while the sidewalls began to detach from the tyre and the tread became rippled making them unsafe to use. The shop I bought them from asked me to drop them in and he would show the Challenge rep as he was due in the following week. The rep bizarrely firstly claimed that the tyres had failed because they may have been punctured (they hadn’t), then immediately claimed that they had failed because the rear tyre was more worn than the front! I emailed pictures to Challenge and was told they had failed because they had been fitted incorrectly. The black strip they had introduced to stop the issue I had was supposed to be above the rim. Which it clearly was shown to be correct on the pictures I sent to them which proved that the tyres were correctly fitted. This seems to be the norm now in the cycle industry, if there is an issue with a product, the company automatically blames the end user rather than look to address the issue, thereby pissing the customer off. A pissed off customer rarely returns.
@kingleo And there are hundreds, if not thousands of people holding up a shattered helmet saying it saved their life, the doctor/policeman told me.
15 thoughts on “Could Jonas Vingegaard quit cycling after a second bad crash?; Andy Burnham’s Transport Secretary Speculation; Doping suspicions at the Tour; Mad Transcontinental aero set-up + more on the live blog”
-Hammersmith Bridge’s future ‘could be driverless’-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyjlekmjndo
@mitsky My god, why wouldn’t people just walk
@Shake
The report indicates it would move at approx 15 mph.
So about the low end for a cyclist with a decent bike I guess.
I assume it is usefull for people who are disabled/elderly etc, rather than people who don’t mind walking a few minutes rather than pay to use it.
And I also guess there would be a wait time to load/unload not forgetting a frequency issue (say once every 5 minutes?).
Also, with 8 seats and space for 6 standing, that’s over 1 tonne just in passenger weight, plus the weight of the vehicle. Okay, they might not usually be at capacity, but a company is hardly likely to run them almost empty. It was vehicle weight which damaged the bridge and they’re solving that with more vehicles?
This report is just a press release reissued.
The Barnes and Hammersmith Electric Light Transit is supposedly a grassroots community group that developed this junk?
Remarkably, the driver has only been charged with manslaughter…
Not remarkable in the sense of surprising. It wouldn’t be murder in the UK either, because all the driver would have to say is ‘I didn’t mean to do it’. With the assistance of the police and CPS in the UK, he might have got away with ‘careless’ by claiming he had changed into reverse by accident, and then had just panicked.
ITA super cops can disrupt sleep and disturb recovery at any time of the night without a warrant. One may wonder how and why officials and bureaucrats have acquired unlimited power and total immunity. Hinault would have never opened his doors at 2.00 a.m. Very likely, the Badger would have had a very public argument with te ITA the following morning.
Could the ITA’s powers be required to detect or deter micro-dosing?
@Another_MAMIL I’d say yes.
I’ve not read up on the requirements lately, but my understanding is that while the heavy lifting of doping tests can be done after competition as it routine at the Olympics and in tennis, or as part of the whereabouts testing (athletes specifying when and where they’ll be for an hour each day), the doping authorities have the right to turn up and request a test any other time, specifically to deter microdosing. They can’t get into trouble if they aren’t there when the testers turn up, but refusing is not an option.
I have heard of testers turning up on mass at tournament hotels used by tennis players, including one time in the run up to the start of the Paris Masters event. I remember because rumour has it that one well known player had a sudden and coincidental family emergency that meant they had to temporarily leave the country. That was around the time biological passports were coming in, and they were taking blood samples.
If memory serves me right, that was late at night, but not the middle of the night. While some players may have been in their pyjamas, it sounded as if all of the top players were targeted, and the tournament hadn’t yet started, so much less disruptive, and harder for any player to claim they’d been victimised.
As much as I support actions to catch or deter doping, it’s because sport should be fair. Having just one or two competitors woken in the night is not fair.
What were their suspicions and what were the results?
Well, the new transport secretary isn’t Lousie Haigh, she’s been appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Has anyone worked out what that job is yet?
Much as Louise Haig seemed to start out on the right track as transport secretary
(a) she hardly got going and
(b) if the issue was she hadn’t revealed a fraud then and was outed, I don’t think “now everyone knows so it’s fine, can I come back?” should apply.
Of course others might say that – given the small size of the actual offense and the not mentioning thereof – she’s far below the standard level of shamelessness. Indeed isn’t the usual way to say it’s none of anyone’s business / she shouldn’t need to declare anything etc.?
Yes, I don’t disagree with you. I wasn’t meaning to advocate for her in the role, just observing. Although the ambition was nice to hear, for a change.
Unless I’ve missed something, as of 23:30 the Transport Secretary still hasn’t been announced? Doesn’t say a lot for that as a priority, but I get there are other things to announce first.
I’m more interested in the appointment of Lucy Powell and “changing the education system”. Will wait and see, I suppose.
Unfortunately convicted Fraudster Louise Haigh is unavailable to serve as Transport Minister as she has been given (checks notes) the lead role for Ethics and Propriety as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
That’s right – Burnham has appointed to an ethics and propriety role a person who not only committed fraud, but reportedly stayed silent when the person she sold one of the phones she stole to got arrested for having bought it from her in good faith.
Doesn’t sound good.
On the other hand if you read the papers (particularly Private Eye – recommend their recent podcasts) you’ll see it’s not at all unusual for the poachers of business (consultancy, accounting, tech, gambling…) to become the gamekeepers of the public purse / data – or at least advisors on the same. Who better to know exactly the sharp practices of industry players we should be wary of giving contracts to?
And if we head in the direction of how it works in the US (as some of the politicians seem keen) I can assure you this kind of thing will increase in a way that will make anyone paying attention wish for the innocent days of such minor peccadillos!
The French will try anything to get a Tour de France winner.