Auction house criticised for anti-cycling comments announces spin-off channel for manager’s opinions; Dumped building materials block cycle lane; Vernon Kay upset by Raleigh’s administration; More punchy hills await TdF Femmes + more on the live blo

It was “never ever” the intention of an owner of a a house clearance-specialist auction house in Grimsby to upset “the cycling community” by uploading a video of his thoughts on cyclists riding two-abreast and purposefully blocking roads. I would offer more quotes from but unfortunately the video’s since been removed. Still, I’m quite pleased with the blog entry I wrote a couple of weeks ago:

> “Cyclists purposefully blocking roads, riding two or three abreast,” claims Grimsby auction house in bizarre clip

Now, owner Carl has learnt the consequences of his statements:

“What it has told me this week is that some of the feelings were that high and that strong, I cannot have it affecting the auction business.

 

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“We’re gonna look at the format, it will be filmed completely independently, because it’s not right that we should bring any bad publicity onto it.”

That’s all good then, adding that a lot of people in the business are cyclists, and that he still thinks all cyclists should have insurance “for the peace of mind.” The net result though is that we might end up with just another content channel baiting opinions and rage….

One final titbit of news to bring you today comes from the world of anti-doping. Or, to be more specific, doping.

Giovanni Carboni, the Italian professional who last rode for the Unibet Tietema Rockets, has been handed a four year suspension following abnormalities in his biological passport.

A panel of experts found it “highly likely” that the data recorded during and after the 2024 Tour of Langkawi, when the climber was riding for Japanese team JCL Team Ukyo, was suspicious and acquired through the use of a banned substance.

Carboni has a right to appeal but is otherwise banned until 2029, with his suspension backdated to the date he was provisionally suspended last September.

Carboni thrice rode the Giro d’Italia for Italian second-tier team Bardiani, including in 2019 when he wore the white jersey of best young rider for three stages. He will be 34 when his ban expires.

Markus kicks again under the flamme rouge but is reeled in with 600m remaining. Trapped on the front she leads out the sprint. Kim Le Court launches first and Puck Pieterse rallies to draw level, but the Mauritian kicks on again to take her second Tour stage win after her exploits last year.

The GC group comes in around 26 seconds behind, led by Wlodarczyk.

Le Court is in tears over the line, fantastic scenes…

Kim Le Court wins Stage 6 after winning Stage 5 last year! Fabulous racing once again! 👍 #TDFF2026 pic.twitter.com/dnSR8miPEO

— Eemeli (@LosBrolin) August 6, 2026

Riejanne Markus, Kim Le Court, Sarah Van Dam, Cédrine Kerbaol , Liane Lippert , Elisa Longo Borghini, Célia Gery  and Puck Pieterse are the eight at the front. The peloton are still looking around.

4.5km and Le Court attacks and gets a gap! Longo Borghini initiates the chase and for a kilometre sits on the front to slowly claw her GC rival back. Finally with 2.7km to go she does it and the group stalls, the gap is down to 25 seconds.

Cedrine Kerbaol is next to launch but Le Court is stright on her wheel and again they ease up.

Now it’s Markus’ turn and she does get a gap! Again Longo Borghini is the one to chase them back single-handedly, but it’s a hell of an effort against the TT specialist. They’re approaching the flamme rouge and have 20 seconds.

Kim Le Court and Riejanne Markus bridged across to the front six to form an octet on the descent, with the Mauritian beating Longo Borghini to six bonus seconds.

6km to go, Vollering has started working behind, the gap is still around 30 seconds. I think the break have it…

On home roads, in the French national champion’s kit, Celia Gery attacked on the long descent and got a gap, before eventually a small group bridged to her, including Elisa Longo Borghini, Cedrine Kerbaol and Puck Pieterse. On the final climb they’ve held a gap of 25-30 seconds on the peloton, which has been led by 4th overall Antonia Niedermaier.

Over the top, Pieterse takes the final two points of the day, before the group start descending towards the bonus seconds, and a possible stage win…

Right then, I was very impressed by the geolocation skills of our readership on Tuesday’s live blog in identifying the precise road and coordinates where a tailgating bus driver appeared to spook a cyclist towards riding right by the kerb.

How about this effort though, published in one of the last vestiges of a sane Facebook, the public group ‘Why don’t they ride in the bike lane?’

The page is Australian-focused with the occasional interloping post from an American. But then this post seemed to appear. And Andrew Willis has a very good answer to the group’s key question…

“Because there’s aren’t just parked cars but building materials stored in it “

We’re no stranger to the blocked cycle lane, by car or by bad planning or just plain car-brain.

> Calls to rip out “disastrous” cycle lane always blocked by cars rejected – but council proposes extra parking spaces in concession to angry traders

> Cycle lane outside primary school blocked twice a day by parents parking illegally, but council “dismissive” of cyclists’ concerns

> “Human bollards” step in to enforce road closure after “child knocked off bike” by motorist and cyclist reversed into

Thankfully, in the safe space of the this Facebook page, there’s a good mix of serious and silly posting…

“What an absolutely stupid place to dump it. Not only is it in the way but the local kids and yobs are going to love that as well. Ammo to throw at passing cars and cyclists that now have to swerve out into the road to avoid it. The thicko that tipped it there should be made to come back and pick it up. Stone by stone.”

“Looks like free stone”

“Get a wheelbarrow and borrow some for the muddy trails.”

“BMX and Mountain Bikers are laughing at townie road bike riders on this on. That’s called a ramp”

“I can just hear all the car drivers, why can’t they just jump over it “

“In my view the cars ahead should get TWO TICKETS EACH. they are blocking the bike lane, and they also are blocking the footpath/sidewalk. One could also say they illegally DROVE ON THE SIDEWALK because that’s where they ended up.”

But our personal favourite, by some distance comes from Louis:

“Its a picture, so maybe we don’t see that the rock pile has its blinking lights on… you know… it’s dumped there just for 5 minutes.. maybe it’s dropping off it’s little pebbles to rock school.”

Someone call Jack Black. In the meantime our original poster has set his location to Canterbury, so there’s your first (and only) clue…

After Magdeleine Vallieres rode a hard pace, UAE’s unwanted GC contender attacked with 3.5km left of the climb, only to be swiftly brought back. Blasi then goes and sits in the peloton, so it doesn’t look like that was a particularly coordinated move.

EF are undeterred by the attack and the loss of their world champion and re-take the front, working for Cedrine Kerbaol.

Meanwhile, after a very poorly timed mechanical, Kim Le Court rejoins the peloton inside the final kilometre of the climb, that was a complete team effort from AG Insurance-Soudal.

With a long descent after the climb, and still nearly 50km to go, it’s maybe not surprising we didn’t see many attacks. But that’s good news for Puck Pieterse, who just nudges to the front of the peloton to climb maximum points. Regardless of what comes next it’s been a good day for the Dutchwoman.

In the UK law-enforcement has been focused on the owners of these machines, rather than where they’re getting them from. Whilst coming from a different legal system and, as Ryan mentions, different vehicular categorisation, maybe we have a blueprint for a new system of regulation?

> New York mayor Zohran Mamdani issues cease-and-desist order to online retailers selling high-speed illegal e-bikes

Onto the biggest climb of the day and yellow jersey Reusser is marking every little move at the front of the peloton herself. Noskova has dropped from the break whilst Aalerud and Adegeest have only 20 seconds and should be soon swept up. The peloton is still grouped up for now, but there’s 7.5km left of the category-2 Lalouvesc.

Meanwhile, Anna van der Breggen is reportedly struggling and is expected to lose more time today…

80km to go and plenty to catch up on. Katrine Aalerud, Loes Adegeest and Nikola Noskova are the day’s breakaway, and Noskova has led over three of the day’s four climbs to establish herself as Puck Pieterse’s closest rival for the mountains jersey.

Sadly, we missed the intermediate sprint, where Aalerud rolled over the line first for the breakaway, whilst Noemi Ruegg led the peloton ahead of Lorena Wiebes. Ruegg will be hoping to overtake Lotte Kopecky in those standings to be best-placed to take the green jersey if Wiebes falters this weekend.

Ruegg’s EF and Pieterse’s Fenix are working to keep the break’s advantage in check. 1’15” the gap…

Handlebar monstrosity and an absence of brakes are my first thoughts…

Huh, I didn’t realize Metro shelving systems made bike parts too.
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UCI President David Lappartient says the Tour de France Femmes will continue to grow and extend in length, despite ongoing concerns about the lack of TV coverage.

“It’s important for this race to continue consolidating its popularity, and perhaps also to have live TV from start to finish. That is not the case for every stage. But we actually see that the organiser, ASO, tries to improve every year and does something extra every year. So there will be more stages,” he told WielerFlits.

Pointing to the growth in salaries among female pros since he became UCI President in 2017, Lappartient added he thought women’s cycling was developing “even faster than expected.”

However he added that he wanted to see the gap closed between the Tour de France Femmes and other women’s races that lag behind in terms of coverage, exposure and funding.

Speaking of live TV coverage, we’re due to get pictures of today’s stage within the next half hour. A three-rider break is up the road and has already tackled the first three of today’s six climbs. Hopefully we’ll get live action before the intermediate sprint, but things are looking very tight…

Ah, if there are any hopes of Tadej Pogacar being challenged any time soon, it might have to be a La Vie Claire-style intra-team rivalry for the ages. It would be good if there was any leadership tension between the pai.. oh.

This is the news that Isaac del Toro has extended his stay with UAE Team Emirates-XRG until the end of 2031, by which point the Mexican will still be only 28. Interestingly, their had been speculation that Del Toro had delayed signing a contract extension until receiving assurances about his leadership opportunities within the team, amid reports that UAE had been negotiating a pre-contract agreement with Paul Seixas.

We may never know how far these talks went but they go some way to cementing UAE as the dominant team in the peloton for years to come. And, as for the transfer market, it leaves Paul Seixas as the only remaining top GC rider available in 2028. Unless someone this autumn wants to hand a two-year contract to Uncle Primoz…

And people say the monoculture is dead.

I worry when cycling news breaks through to the mainstream, fearful it comes through either a motonormative or doping lens. Or that it’s merely a strange sport people laugh about, as we’ve seen with recent coverage in various places of ‘Bra-gate.’ Thankfully, as someone who flitters between various radio stations throughout the day, I’ve found some positive comments on bikes, all thanks to the power of childhood nostalgia.

Admittedly, the news of Raleigh’s parent company entering administration is bad news, even if it’s just a means of creatively accounting and clearing various debts owed to HMRC or various creditors. Here’s looking at you, Le Col.

But the news is big enough to warrant inclusion at the end of Radio 2’s 11am news bulletin, and that gave mid-morning presenter Vernon Kay a chance to fondly reminisce:

“Argh! It’s an icon, every single person had a Raleigh. The yellow-and-blue Raleigh Burner was my favourite. The Chopper, the Budgie, the Shopper [also known as the Twenty – ed]. So many icons that kids throughout the 70s and 80s rode freely, in those hedonistic days.”

> Cycling-related Accidental Partridge of the Day: Vernon Kay says “you never see anyone on an electric bike pedalling”… and reckons it’s all to do with “road tax”

Kay went on to confirm that both his producers and the news reader owned a Raleigh growing-up.

“The Burner, the Super Burner, everyone wanted one… Well let’s hope they can figure it out, it’s a staple of our history.

“And if you look at all those shows that were very popular, in the late-90s, those talking heads shows that were retrospective, everyone talked about a bike made by that company. They were just iconic.”

“[Paddy McGuinness’ Children in Need challenge] is the perfect example of how iconic the bike was.”

Lovely stuff, even if he is a fan of the word ‘iconic’. This is also a lovely excuse for you to chat about Raleigh and let us know your memories and impressions of their bikes in the comments…

Yesterday’s stage was fantastic, the riders going hell for leather, one-on-one on explosive, short climbs. The good news is, we get to watch the same today!

Puck Pieterse has a 23 point lead in the mountains classification, and you sense that if the Dutchwoman can get in the break today and lead over the Lalouvesc climb, she’s probably only one ascent of the Col d’Eze away from wrapping up that competition for good. It’s the hardest climb of the day though and could tempt attacks from the peloton behind.

The final climb isn’t quite as steep but for the riders wanting to improve their position before Mont Ventoux, it’s ripe for a surprise attack, with bonus seconds available to boot.

A few bits of housekeeping before we return to the Femmes this afternoon, sadly today’s coverage is not live from the flag-drop, with coverage only beginning a couple of hours into the stage. Our genius solution to this problem however, is having someone on the ground! Already, Ryan has this morning filed this dispatch bringing you the roadside mood…

> “Everything can still happen”: Tour de France Femmes poised for epic finale after big GC three emerge in thriller

And finally, the all-important GC standings…

As convincing as the aero helmet, vest and unsureness at riding no-handed are, I think the Colnago gives it away. We wouldn’t dream of seeing him on Pogacar’s bike…

 

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This was quite a frustrating article to get over the line, not least because Forest refused to answer any of our questions about what (or who) their insurance would actually cover.

> London e-bike hire operator Forest to provide third-party insurance for riders following compensation controversies