British pro says Specialized helmet visor saved his eye; Cyclists urged to be careful after woman injured while walking pet goat; Cav to ride Tour of Britain; Atlético Madrid find rival for Pog; Wiggle named UK's best place to work + more on the live blog

“Because in a split second, it’s gone” #alwayswearahelmet pic.twitter.com/oURNaZlQS2

— Benjamin Turner (@benjeturner) August 16, 2021

British pro rider Benjamin Turner has said his helmet visor saved his eye after he crashed during the prologue of the Tour de l'Avenir, the top U23 race in the world. In a statement on Twitter, the Trinity Racing youngster thanked Specialized for his TT helmet visor, which he says "100 per cent" saved his eye.

Turner crashed hard on a downhill corner during the short TT and collided with a sign, fracturing multiple bones on the left side of his face and breaking his nose. Without the visor, Turner says he "would have 100 per cent lost my eye [...] and probably had a brain injury #alwayswearahelmet".

The 22-year-old shared a photo of him lying in a hospital bed bashed up after the fall. He said he hopes to be back on the bike "at some point" but is just relieved to have not suffered worse injuries.

Søren Wærenskjold took the prologue win in Charleville-Mézières as Ethan Vernon was the best of the Brits, finishing 6th, seven seconds back. The Norwegian won Sunday's opening road stage too.

Kustom Kruizers created this cycling centre from an old block of public toilets in Robertson Park, Renfrew. The project includes hosting classes for young people aged 13-21 often from disadvantaged backgrounds, and teaches them how to strip, build and restore bikes which are then sold on.

The hope is that youngsters can then gain work experience, mechanical skills and qualifications in the new workshop and coffee bar. After a delay due to the pandemic the centre is finally open for riders to get their bikes fixed and pop in for a coffee.

"It is so exciting but also surreal to finally have the workshop open. It’s turned out 100 times better than we expected. We didn’t realise how big the space would be until everything had been taken out," Kustom Kruizers founder Dave Neill told the Glasgow Times.

Today's final climb of Picón Blanco - a regular test in the Vuelta a Burgos but one being used for the first time in the Vuelta. It's foggy and cold up top #LaVuelta21 pic.twitter.com/GY6o6Mgltj

— Felix Lowe (@saddleblaze) August 16, 2021

This is what we came for. It's what the Vuelta is all about. Stage 3 and we've got a summit finish up a brutal slog of a climb. Picón Blanco is a perennial challenge for riders at one of the Spanish Grand Tour's final warm up races -  Vuelta a Burgos.

Having said that; it wasn't used as a summit finish this year, possibly due to its Vuelta inclusion just a couple of weeks later. Romain Bardet won the stage that went over the climb. Last year at Burgos, Remco Evenepoel blew away the field, taking a stunning summit finish victory ahead of riders like Mikel Landa and teammate João Almeida.

Other past winners here have included Iván Sosa as well as two of the climbers racing today: Landa and Miguel Ángel López. Primoz Roglic is the big pre-stage favourite, but we're most interested in seeing how the Ineos boys go...will Egan Bernal be up to speed? Can Richard Carapaz hold his Tour de France and Olympics form? Where's Adam Yates at after a light schedule all year and yesterday's crash? Questions we'll hopefully have answers to in a couple of hours time...

The climb is 7.6km at 9 per cent but spikes at 18 per cent and has three kilometres north of 10 per cent. Tasty.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Zlatan Ibrahimović (@iamzlatanibrahimovic)

He's never been short of confidence that Zlatan...here he is proclaiming he moves mountains on a stunning bike ride somewhere we'd love to be too. Add Jan Oblak and Ibra to the footballers who like cycling XI. Although at this point we're probably up to a full 23-man squad plus some reserves...Foster/Oblak in goal, Lee Dixon, Geoff Thomas, Alan Shearer, Michael Owen, Ibra...not a bad start. And of course Neil Warnock in the dugout. 

The Fred Whitton is a bit of a bucket list event for those of us who enjoy filling our free time with savage gradients and long days in the saddle. At 113 miles and taking in all of the Lakes' toughest clibs, the Fred Whitton is one of, if not the toughest sportive in the UK. Consequently, it's popularity can mean part of the struggle is getting a place in the annual ballot. 

To give riders more freedom about how and when they ride the route, Fred Whitton has teamed up with Macmillan Cancer Support to create a new app, the Macmillan Four Seasons Fred Whitton Challenge. The app allows people to 'officially' ride the route in their own time, whenever they please, over one or more days. 

All riders have to do is download the app, pick a date and fundraise for Macmillan or one of their other charities, start at one of the eight locations on the route and clock out as a champion at the same point 113 miles later. 

It's happening! @deceuninck_qst's @MarkCavendish is the first rider revealed for this year's Tour of Britain 🇬🇧#TourOfBritain 🔴🔵⚪

— Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) August 16, 2021

Cav's back! We've spent most of the summer saying that. Your Monday morning might be boosted by the news that everybody's favourite sprinter is coming back to the Tour of Britain for the first time since 2019. A stage win will surely be on his mind, a feat Cav surprisingly last achieved in 2013. A home race win would top off a stellar year for the 36-year-old who added another four Tour de France stage wins to his palmares and now shares a spot at the top of the stage wins table with Eddy Merckx.

"It is always an honour to race on the home roads of the Tour of Britain. It is a race where I have always enjoyed success and I am really looking forward to racing with what I know will be a strong Deceuninck – Quick-Step team. It has already been a special year for me and riding the Tour of Britain will be a great way to see so many of the people that have supported throughout," Cav said.

@lavuelta

Each rider I beat on every stage equals 1 euro that I‘ll spend to an environmental organisation.

To decide where the money should go, write in the comments where it‘s best invested! The comment with the most likes at the end of the three weeks get‘s chosen.

— Gino Mäder (@maedergino) August 15, 2021

This is pretty cool from 24-year-old Swiss star Gino Mäder. Not least because he's a super strong rider with a Giro d'Italia and Tour de Suisse stage win on his palmares for 2021. He's already up to 282 euros after the opening two stages...