"Anyone got the route?": Critérium du Dauphiné riders copy group rides everywhere and miss their turn; Camera shows 91km/h just before another crash hits race; Kopecky wins again at ToB; Castelli's "aero sleeves" amuse us all + more on the live blog

I've got to admit, I do love it when the pros are brought back down to the level of the rest of us and made to see that even the most amateurish mistakes can befall any cyclist (regardless of if you can push 7w/kg or not).

Cycling is not a serious sport, part 394.

The crowd pointing the way 🙃🙈 #Dauphiné @OutOfCycling pic.twitter.com/DlC42NIG2y

— Katy M, Dauphiné edition 🐬 (@writebikerepeat) June 7, 2024

Today's edition: route-following gone wrong. A familiar one for any of you who've been on a group ride, or do sportives where your progress relies on following roadside signs — a missed turn, off course, that moment of realisation, the inevitable... "Anyone got the route?"

In such situations everyone rushes to their roles. You'll get at least one grumpy rider cursing the person meant to be in charge of directions, you'll get the chirpy rider who believes they "know exactly where we are" and can wing a diversion on the fly (despite having not had the navigational nous to notice things going wrong in the first place), you'll get someone sheepishly blaming their headunit for their own mistake, and of course you'll get complaints all the way back to the point at which you're back on track, extra punishing metres which the cycling gods always seem to make uphill just so you suffer more.

In fairness to the pros at the Dauphiné, when you're racing a WorldTour pre-Tour de France warm-up event, you don't expect it to be like a small-time Sunday sportive. Far more blame has to go for the lack of marshalling or whoever in the lead car missed their turn. Top marks for the roadside supporters doing their best to point out the mista... ah, they're gone...

Oh boy, more drama in Dauphine. The breakaway took the wrong road because they followed the organization car not the arrows. There was no marshall to send them the right way so I can't blame them.#Dauphine pic.twitter.com/RUyBENhRZn

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) June 7, 2024

Not so for the riders and teams, but quite amusing for us enjoying from the sofa. 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Zipp Speed (@zippspeed)

Meanwhile in Britain... 

> "Read the Highway Code – that is not a safe pass": Police say post advising drivers to give cyclists "an arm's length" of space while overtaking was published "in error"

There's no doubt about who won today, the world champion doubling up at the Tour of Britain, taking a second sprint victory in as many days, this time gracing Wrexham with her power. A cracking ride by Anna Henderson to stick with the rampaging Belgian over Horseshoe Pass, but it's a tough ask going head to head with Kopecky at the finish.

BACK TO BACK WINS FOR THE WORLD CHAMPION 🏆

Lotte Kopecky outsprints Anna Henderson to win Stage 2 of the Women's Tour of Britain 🇬🇧#cycling #womenscycling #roadcycling pic.twitter.com/9z8c7nkqYU

— Eurosport (@eurosport) June 7, 2024

SD Worx teammate Lorena Wiebes was on hand to win the sprint for third and suddenly the team is halfway to winning every stage of the race. Can anyone stop them as the race heads to Warrington and Manchester this weekend?

Kopecky's GC lead will be 17 seconds heading into tomorrow, Letizia Paternoster, Pfeiffer Georgi and Lizzie Deignan a few of those a bit further back.

Again, credit to British Cycling for two entertaining stages and the sort of scenery that makes UK races so great to watch.

💚 Horseshoe Pass, that was special!#TourOfBritain | @UCI_WWT pic.twitter.com/bfkN8obBB3

— Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain (@TourofBritain) June 7, 2024

Transport for London and Santander Cycles are offering unlimited free 30-minute rides on Sundays in June as part of the launch of TfL Cycle Sundays, a new programme of leisurely routes deisgned to encourage more Londoners to enjoy the city by bike.

Find out more on the TfL website.

More than a few riders sporting bandages at the start today... 

Bruised 🤕 but not broken 💪🏼

Los siete Movistar Team toman la salida en la primera de las tres grandes jornadas alpinas ⛰️ del 🇫🇷 #Dauphiné, que parte ya desde Hauterives.

🏁 ~17.10 (Le Collet d’Allevard) // 📺 15.20 (@Eurosport_ES @ciclismortve @eitbkirolak)

🎥 Barrage Media pic.twitter.com/jkRnAAlEhk

— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) June 7, 2024

Juan Ayuso and seven others, including 20-year-old British rider Lukas Nerurkar (who finished third on stage three and seventh on stage two), are out of the Dauphiné and won't start today's stage. However, far from crash injuries, the Brit has tested positive for Covid (how very 2021 of him) and teammate Harry Sweeney has an illness too. It's all going on over in France.

Ayuso, who was eighth on GC and one of six UAE Team Emirates riders to crash yesterday, is the biggest-name dropout ahead of today's HC summit finish at Le Collet d'Allevard. There'll be plenty of bruised bodies out there today.

Good news from Wrexham, Lifeplus-Wahoo will start the second stage of the Tour of Britain. 

"All of our thanks and appreciation goes out to the many teams that offered and gave their spare team bikes and their mechanics' time to get our girls on the road. We wouldn't be starting without them!"

There could be no more popular stage winners today... 

> British squad hit by bike theft at Tour of Britain as all 14 bikes stolen from mechanic's van – just days after team's rider was hit and "threatened" by 4x4 driver

> Scramble for refunds as cycling sportive organiser goes into administration after suffering heavy losses through the pandemic

The doctors and physios of the Critérium du Dauphiné were working overtime last night, the peloton trying to get its head around the sheer scale of how many riders were involved in the high-speed crash that brought an end to racing on stage five yesterday afternoon. The person behind the @keyshawn__bava account on Twitter/X shared roadside footage of the incident that shows the quite incredible high-speeds that riders were sliding down the wet road at.

Le pauvre chien qui a eu la peur de sa vie 😵🐶 #Dauphiné pic.twitter.com/ehQDhVNljf

— 𝕌𝕣𝕓𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕖𝕣 (@keyshawn__bava) June 6, 2024

 British pro Fred Wright was one of those involved, explaining to ITV and the other TV cameras: "Everyone had that feeling, 'it's a little bit slippy maybe'. We were racing to the top of the climb to get into that descent in a good position. It was a straight road but maybe just a touch on the brakes and bikes underneath people at the front... when that happens there's not really much you can do.

"It's a memory I don't think I'm going to forget for a long time, I was just sliding downhill for what felt like a long time, I've never slid on my back... a good 300 metres, didn't know where my bike was, just sliding, hoping to stop at some point. Pretty scary stuff."

Team Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed that Dylan van Baarle and Steven Kruijswijk will miss the Tour de France, the former suffering the suspected fractured collarbone many predicted when he was seen sat on the roadside with his arm in a sling. Kruijswijk has "a small fracture in his hip".

The UAE Team Emirates medical update confirmed that SIX of the team's seven riders were affected, all "provisionally cleared to race" today. Dr Adrian Rotunno earned his money yesterday...

Unreal stat: 6 out of 7 (!) UAE Team Emirates riders crashed today ar the #Dauphine. Fortunately, all are cleared to race tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/lyKXGwiiFX

— Luc Grefte (@LucGrefte) June 6, 2024

Kruijswijk, Van Baarle, Ådne Holter, Rémy Rochas, Axel Mariault, Laurens Huys, Milan Menten and Luke Durbridge were the DNFs from yesterday, while Intermarché–Wanty's Kobe Goosens is listed as a rider who will not start stage six. Let's see how everyone else feels this morning... stiff, sore and bruised, I'm guessing... and having 'enjoyed' the 'joys' of trying to sleep with road rash. Grim.