Residents threaten to “pop bike tyres” after kids clear woodland of rubbish to create cycle track – as housing association fences off area due to “severe damage”; Cyclists v Sainsbury’s; Visma Control Room trolled; Tour hits Alps + more on the live blog

A housing association in south Wales has come under fire from residents, after it fenced off the entrance to a woodland that was being used by children as a cycle track after the youngsters allegedly cleared it of litter.

Throughout June, the group of local kids, all around primary school age, spent their weekends clearing rubbish from Garw Wood, which runs between houses in Croesyceiliog, a suburb of Cwmbran, to create a makeshift bike park.

However, last week the Bron Afon community housing association fenced off the entrances to the ancient woodland, a decision it claimed was due to “anti-social behaviour in the area which has caused damage” – but which local parents have claimed was due to pressure from residents who had threatened and swore at the children.

“It was overgrown and full of brambles and has been for decades,” local resident Robin Willis, speaking to Nation Cymru, said of the woodland.

“And a group of local kids have gone in over the last three weekends and cleared it and made a little bike track – it’s only 200 or 300 yards.

“The area was overgrown and people have used it for a shortcut, and the boys have cleared rubbish out of there. They had four black bags of rubbish out of there and there were cans, glass, and plastic bottles.”

Mr Willis said that his children, aged nine and 10, heard the boys riding their bikes and that he was happy for them to join in.

“My boys heard them playing over the fence and they were all well-mannered boys. I got speaking to them, realised I knew their parents, and I had no problem with my boys playing with them,” he said.

The local resident also said he took a photograph of one of the black bags that the boys filled with rubbish when they were creating their homemade cycle track.

> “It will be like living next to a motorway!”: Residents oppose school’s BMX cycle track project out of fears that they’d lose their “peace” and “privacy”

However, the Bron Afon housing association has said that it has been contacted by “concerned local residents groups” who claimed that “severe damage” had been caused due to bark being removed from some mature trees.

These complaints prompted Bron Afon to install metal fences at each of the entrances to the woodland, which it says will remain close until the area is made “safe”.

The association added that it is concerned about the woodland being used for riding bikes, along with the creation of ramps.

It said that while the ramps may not “inherently harm the woodland, associated activities and lack of proper planning can lead to negative consequences”, including damage to trees, flowers, and the soil, and the disturbance of the “delicate eco system of the ancient woodland”.

It added that “increased human activity can disturb wildlife habitats, scare away animals, and disrupt natural processes”.

We are sorry to tell you that we’ve had to fence off the entrances to Garw Wood in Croesyceiliog. This is due to anti social behaviour in the area which has caused damage.

Once we make them safe we will let you know when everyone can enjoy Garw Woods again pic.twitter.com/yOpN5vg9gp

— Bron Afon - Community Housing Association (@BronAfon) June 27, 2024

“We are sorry to tell you that we’ve had to fence off the entrances to Garw Wood in Croesyceiliog.  This is due to anti-social behaviour in the area which has caused damage,” the association said in a social media post.

“Once we make them safe, we will let you know when everyone can enjoy Garw Woods again.”

The association also denied claims that the bike-riding children had helped clear “decades” of rubbish from the area, instead insisting that its grounds maintenance team cleared “large amounts of litter (bottle, cans, and other litter)” from Garw Wood over the past week and that there was “no evidence of any being cleared”.

“The woodland is part of a regular inspection regime carried out by Bron Afon and regular woodland management has been carried out by Bron Afon and local resident groups over the past five to 10 years to encourage natural regeneration and growth of wild flowers, especially the bluebells,” a spokesperson said.

Bron Afon’s claims that the children were causing damage has been disputed, however, by Robin’s wife Emma, who also claimed that the boys were subject to threats from residents angry at them cycling in the woodland.

“There wasn’t any damage and no anti-social behaviour,” she wrote on Facebook.

“The only harassment was coming from tenants of the flats by the woodland who were threatening the kids, swearing at them and threatening to pop their tyres!

“All the boys wanted to do was make a track to ride their bikes down, it was an absolute pleasure to hear them all having so much fun! As I said woodland areas always grow back, that’s nature for you. Those boys went home every day happy telling their parents about all the fun, and that they had they built something for them and were excited every day to go out and play!”

All day long, you knew it was coming.

What initially appeared set to be a day for the breakaway – it’s too early for the GC contenders to really go for it, we thought, that descent at the end will negate things, we thought – soon turned into a classic Alpine war of attrition, as UAE Team Emirates’ white armada stamped their authority on an ever-dwindling bunch.

Into a headwind, one by one they set an asphyxiating pace as the Tour snaked into France the hard, mountainous way only it knows how, their stoic, impassive leader Tadej Pogačar ominously lurking in the background.

By the time they reached the foot of the Galibier proper and its increasingly steep slopes and gasping for breath altitude – the rest was just a draggy, annoying prelude, we had thought – many of his rivals were reaching the end.

On the Galibier, the doomed remnants of the breakaway reeled in, they dropped like flies. Yellow jersey Richard Carapaz, gone. 2018 Tour winner Geraint Thomas, gone. 2019 Tour winner Egan Bernal, gone. Dauphiné winner Matteo Jorgenson, and rest of Jonas Vingegaard’s hitherto dominant Visma-Lease a Bike team for that matter, gone.

But then we waited, for maybe longer than we expected. A quickly aborted stint by a fading Adam Yates gave way to some harrying and cajoling as Juan Ayuso was ushered to the front to share turns with João Almeida, a brief period of respite that allowed Primož Roglič (almost gone) to recover and regain the wheels.

WE HAVE LIFT OFF 🚀

Pogacar attacks and drops Jonas Vingegaard and his other rivals over the top of the Col du Galibier 😱😱😱#letourdefrance #tdf2024 #cycling pic.twitter.com/QZubdvTK3V

— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 2, 2024

Then it happened. Pogačar’s burst, with 900m left to the top, was predictably exhilarating, Vingegaard’s immediately response encouraging. But, like we saw more than a few times last year, the elastic began to stretch as the Slovenian, fully aware of how long he could sustain his searing pace, piled on the pressure.

Vingegaard, in his first test since that crash, ultimately ceded – but not by much, crossing the summit only eight seconds down on his eternal rival.

On the rapid descent down to Valloire, things stayed roughly the same, Vingegaard’s descending skills – deemed superior to Pogačar’s, at least before April – keeping him in sight of the rampaging attacker in the white. But halfway down the gap began expanding; a consequence, perhaps, of the Dane’s lack of confidence so soon after his Basque Country spill.

Meanwhile, Remco Evenepoel – the only one in the shot behind the big two in that final uphill kilometre – also came under pressure on the descent, dropping from third on the road to sixth, as Ineos Grenadier Carlos Rodriguez underlined his podium credentials.

The clearly in-form Belgian needn’t have worried too much, however, as those chasing Pogačar eventually coalesced, before he outsprinted them all for some vital bonus seconds.

Pogacar TAKES FLIGHT 🚀

Tadej Pogacar dropped Vingegaard, Roglic and Evenepoel on the Col du Galibier to take the yellow jersey back 🥊#tourdefrance #TDF24 #cycling pic.twitter.com/jVL69IzYn2

— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 2, 2024

All the big bonus seconds, and 35 seconds on the road besides, went to Pogačar, the 25-year-old driving hard to the line, aware that every second counts in a Tour that remains delicately posied.

And with a 45-second gap over Evenepoel and a 50-second gap over Vingegaard the top of the GC standings (with teammates Ayuso and Almeida also handily placed in the top eight), Pogačar and UAE certainly made their first foray into the mountains of this Tour count.

Vingegaard, for his part, will be buoyed by the fact he could respond to that initial searing attack, and easily lived with the best of rest, while remaining within a minute of Pogačar, so early on in a Tour that could have passed him by. He’ll be less content, however, with the apparent superiority of UAE over his Visma outfit, who have long been established as the Tour’s dominant team.

In any case, we definitely have a Tour de France on our hands.

😡 Don't cross the road in front of the riders!

😡 Ne traversez pas la route devant les coureurs !#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/BDykaxFmsB

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 2, 2024

Jeepers.

Now, that’s what you really don’t want to see when you’re plunging down an Alpine descent at 90kph.

And I thought the idiots in fancy dress running alongside the riders were dangerous enough…

Looks like we’re set for yet another Tour GC leader, as EF’s Richard Carapaz is distanced with 6km to go to the top of the Col du Galibier as UAE Team Emirates, now led by Adam Yates on the front, set an absolutely relentless pace on the first massive climb of this year’s Tour:

🔴Se le enciende el piloto rojo al líder

Richard Carapaz se queda cortado antes de llegar a la parte más dura de la ascensión al Galibier #TDF2024 #TourRTVE2j

📺En directo, aquí: https://t.co/wsn4S2pnZ0 pic.twitter.com/1v4k2eWjIK

— Teledeporte (@teledeporte) July 2, 2024

And with Geraint Thomas and Visma’s Matteo Jorgenson, a key domestique for Jonas Vingegaard, now dropped, the Tour has well and truly started!

Remember all that snow at the top of the Galibier from a few weeks ago?

Well, some it ended up on the road about half an hour, just after the summit of the 2,642m-high climb, on the descent into Valloire:

#TDF2024 Un petit bloc de glace-neige s'est détaché sur la route juste derrière le sommet du col du Galibier un peu après 15h30. pic.twitter.com/L45AlG8Be8

— Thomas Perotto (@thomasperotto) July 2, 2024

Luckily, ASO was on the ball, as ever, and the road has been very, very quickly cleared.

Though just looking at the sheer power being put down by UAE Team Emirates on the Lautaret at the moment, in preparation for what appears to be the inevitable Tadej Pogačar attack, I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire Alps starting shaking.

Fire, snow, and a potential early GC battle? Today’s stage has had everything so far…

> I can't believe it’s not carbon, awesome integration, and a subtle Shand rebrand: Five Cool Things from Bespoked Handmade Bike Show 2024

As the Tour de France – a race that has always been firmly embedded in its nation’s wider social, political, and cultural consciousness – prepares to return to its homeland this afternoon, it does so at a particularly tetchy, tension-filled moment in France’s history, with the right-wing National Rally aiming for a majority in parliament following the first round of voting at the weekend.

And the Tour’s return to a potentially very different French political climate hasn’t escaped the attention of L’Équipe’s cartoonist Soulcié, who this morning depicted the peloton crossing back over into France only to be surrounded by RN posters and the news of their electoral success, prompting one rider to tell the rest: ‘Come on guys, speed up!’

Today's cartoon in L'Equipe by Soulcié as the Tour crosses back into France ("come on guys, let's speed up") pic.twitter.com/xAWkeGT5XY

— the Inner Ring (@inrng) July 2, 2024

Maybe, that’s why they were all riding so slowly yesterday…

The Tour de France’s opening three days in Italy certainly lived up to their billing, featuring some brilliantly unpredictable, exciting racing, spectacular scenery, and Italy’s typically passionate tifosi.

But all things must pass, and the Tour finally heads back into France midway through today’s 140km stage between Pinerolo and Valloire – which also just so happens to be the race’s first excursion into the Alps (before returning in the third week for a much more prolonged, brutal showdown).

A long 40km drag will take the riders above 2,000m altitude for the first time this Tour, and to Sestriere (the scene of Lance Armstrong, 1999, and all that), before crossing the border at the Col de Montgenèvre.

Then, the Col du Galibier will take centre stage. The second-most used climb in the Tour’s history after the Tourmalet, the 2,642m-high, 23km-long monster will be tackled from its easier side, via the open, steady Col du Lautaret.

The final 8km to the top, however, are the steepest of the entire climb, and could prove decisive in the breakaway or maybe, just maybe, crack the GC battle wide open before the 19km fast descent to the finish in Valloire.

According to Strava, Thibaut Pinot set the KOM for this side of the climb on stage 18 of the 2019 Tour, which was won by Nairo Quintana, also in Valloire, at the height of Pinot-mania and just a day before the Frenchman’s tearful abandon with injury when the yellow jersey was within reach.

Pinot’s time that day for the 23km, 5.5 average gradient climb was 52.46, while Strava says the average pro takes just under 58 minutes to climb the Galibier’s southern side.

The average amateur? Well they take one hour, 50 minutes, and two seconds. Which would probably get me to the foot of the climb, if I’m honest…

I think I’ll just prefer watching them today.

Alright, before we hit the Alps, just one more look at the reaction to Biniam Girmay’s magical stage win, this time courtesy of an understandably euphoric Intermarché-Wanty team car:

EMOTIONS!!! 🥹

Celebrating Biniam Girmay historic Tour de France victory in the team car 🥇🇪🇷

📸 @insta360 #insta360 #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/wF8AzU1W9o

— Intermarché-Wanty (@IntermarcheW) July 1, 2024

I take it they were happy about the win?

I know it’s only the first Tuesday of the Tour de France, but today the peloton is getting ready for the first of two separate forays into the high Alps over the course of the next three weeks (those cruel, cruel taskmasters at ASO), including the not-too-insubstantial matter of a trek over the monstrous Col d Galibier, before a high-speed plunge to the finish in Valloire.

And, with Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard already trading blows (and the occasional turn) on the roads of Bologna, it’s safe to say that the mind games have well and truly started between those two perennial yellow jersey rivals and their teams.

> UCI looking into Visma-Lease a Bike's Tour de France 'Control Room' after team unveils "high-tech van" for tactical analysis and real-time decisions

And with Visma-Lease a Bike’s much-vaunted Tour ‘Control Room’ – basically a high-tech van the Dutch squad said would enable them to collect real-time data during the race and therefore “make the best tactical decisions, quickly and accurately” – banned from the race’s premises by the organisers, let’s just say that there’s been plenty of scope for some good-natured trolling.

Yesterday, Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates squad gave their own take – complete with the not-so-subtle use of the Crédit Lyonnais yellow jersey lion – on Visma’s banned attempt to turn the Tour into a slightly sweatier version of Pro Cycling Manager:

Long day in the control room at #TDF2024 🦁🛰️. #WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/nKtQ9wcQ1J

— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) July 1, 2024

I don’t know about you, but give me a cuddly lion in cycling glasses over a glorified VAR truck and nerds banging on about ‘data collection and visualisation’ any day…

And UAE Team Emirates weren’t the only ones to stick the boot into Visma.

EF Education-EasyPost, who have now inherited the lion from UAE after Richard Carapaz skilfully slipped into yellow yesterday (becoming the first Ecuadorian to do so), also offered up their own variation on a Tour control room:

Hey @vismaleaseabike, do you like our control room?#RaceTV pic.twitter.com/DynBBHMdlB

— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) June 30, 2024

Ah, Visma, they keep making it so easy for everyone (apart from on the road, of course, where it really matters).

I think it’s fair to say Biniam Girmay’s stage win at the Tour de France yesterday was one of the most universally popular victories the race has seen for years.

The superbly taken sprint triumph – a perfectly executed balance of precision, power, and speed amid the chaos that was yesterday’s run-in – ticked off, like so many of the pioneering 24-year-old’s successes over the past three years, a series of firsts.

A first Tour de France stage win for Girmay himself. A first Tour victory for his Intermarché-Wanty team. A first stage win on the sport’s biggest stage for Eritrea, and a first triumph on the sport’s biggest stage for East Africa and for black African cyclists.

So, it was perhaps fitting that the rider who is currently 34 stages to the good on the race’s record books was one of the happiest to heart about Girmay’s maiden Tour win.

> “It’s our moment, it’s our time”: History-maker Biniam Girmay becomes first black African rider to win a Tour de France stage in chaotic sprint in Turin, as Richard Carapaz takes over yellow jersey from Pogačar

“Is he the first Eritrean stage winner?” a beaming Mark Cavendish asked ITV4’s Daniel Friebe at his Astana team bus after the stage.

“Because Daniel [Teklehaimanot, Cavendish’s teammate at Dimension Data] had the [polka dot] jersey for one day.

“Oh, that’s brilliant, isn’t it? This race is so massive, cycling’s massive in Eritrea, that’s super good. Super good for him, for African cycling – he’s a legend, isn’t he? Very nice, very nice.”

 (ASO/Charly Lopez)

While Cavendish was clearly happy to see Girmay and Eritrea strike gold for the first time at the Tour, a crash with 2km to go – while not bringing the former world champion down – scuppered his own chances of making history with a record-breaking 35th stage win in Turin.

“Yeah, we weren’t the only ones lucky to stay upright. I hear it, but I’m too little to see what’s going on, and I hear people in front of me going. And then I’m skidding and just waiting for someone to hit me from behind,” Cavendish said.

“But lucky we kind of got through. But we were way off, and with 2km to go you’re out of it. So it’s just lucky everybody’s okay.”

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

When asked about a number of mechanical issues he appeared to have during the stage, including a double wheel swap with 90km to go, the 39-year-old said: “I didn’t feel bad, but I don’t think anybody felt great today. I’ve always been fidgety, changing different stuff. But I’m not changing my cleats for once in my life, so it was okay.”

As we’ve all learned over the past 17 years, Cavendish fussing over his bike usually means he’s got his eyes on the prize. Though he’s just got to get over the massive Galibier this afternoon before he starts worrying about his cleat position again tomorrow…