- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
news
Mark Cavendish celebrates winning 2013 national road race (copyright - Alex Whitehead:SWPix.com)Lost in Yorkshire: Schoolboys put Mark Cavendish back on track for Tour de France recce
It’s not every day two schoolboys come to the aid of a former world champion cyclist – but that’s exactly what happened in Yorkshire last week when Mark Cavendish got lost while undertaking a reconnaissance of the opening stage of July’s Tour de France.
The Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider has made winning Stage 1 of the race his big goal for 2014. It finishes in his mother’s home town of Harrogate, and should it finish in a sprint and the 29-year-old wins, he will become just the third British rider to have worn the leader’s jersey in all three of cycling’s Grand Tours.
According to the Daily Express, Cavendish had to stop at a bus shelter last week after he lost the signal on his GPS device. The schoolboys however were able to point him in the correct direction for Middleham.
The town, in Wensleydale, is on the Stage 1 route and has a ruined castle that was once the favourite residence of Richard III and nowadays is also well known for being home to a number of racing stables.
Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity, quoted in the newspaper, said: “He couldn't get a GPS signal in Leyburn, I told him that's an occupational hazard, but these schoolboys knew the route inside out and gave him directions. Only then did they realise it was Mark Cavendish.
"He told them that he was going to win Stage 1. It gives the whole team a huge boost to know someone like Mark is so enthusiastic and so determined. He said everyone in cycling is talking about the Tour and how special it will be.
"He had a wonderful time, he was very impressed with the route and the enthusiasm of everyone he met,” he added.
Cavendish also had a look at the route of Stage 2 of the race from York to Sheffield during his two day visit to Yorkshire last week, and tweeted a picture of The Stray in Harrogate, where the finish line to the opening stage will be.
Any guesses as to where I was taking this photo yesterday? pic.twitter.com/Mm0EinFzn4
— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) May 23, 2014
He added: "Couple of days done looking at the 1st 2 stages of @letouryorkshire @letour & I'm tired! Beautiful, but very hard start to a 3 week race."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- Hirsute 2 hours 41 min ago
Radar tells me their closing speed, if they are slowing and how far away. Then I decide to say a prayer. The change of light pattern is incidental.
- lonpfrb 3 hours 1 min ago
Quite so, which is why our village 20mph zone covers the whole residential extent. Of course, enforcement is another thing..
- lonpfrb 3 hours 27 min ago
No, that's very doubtful while proper testing would be fully destructive.
- TheBillder 4 hours 13 min ago
In that £1000 exactly scenario, beginners should probably be made aware that pedals will be extra.
- don simon fbpe 4 hours 41 min ago
What's wrong with dropping down on to the Millenium Bridge, or the swing bridge, then the brief, but satisfying climb back up the hill? #training....
- chrisonabike 5 hours 22 min ago
The relatives might of course disagree, but in general I'd countenance a relatively light sentence* if only we could fix it so that those who...
- ktache 6 hours 1 min ago
Id forgotten that I got a second hand set of project two's for my getting to work bike over twenty years back.
- Veganpotter 6 hours 58 min ago
My bet is that all these tires popping off are from people with bad pressure gauges or they're simply just putting too much air in on purpose. ...
- chrisonabike 8 hours 14 min ago
David9694 - you were right! These new autonomous vehicles really are conspiring to run out of control!...
Add new comment
10 comments
I was recently on those same roads.
My Garmin Edge "Touring" never lost the signal, but it's still a very poor piece of kit that's incredibly awkward to programme and use.
Save your money - buy a map.
maybe that was his excuse for not having to ride up Jenkin Road ...
It's a nonsense story. Daily Express the source. That's a clue. Repeated verbatim and unquestioned here. I have cycled thousands of miles in the Dales and never, ever lost a GPS signal.
No mobile data signal I could understand, but no GPS? I don't really understand how that's possible unless he had a cheap GPS unit or there is a major obstruction to GPS line of sight in the immediate area...
Obstruction then
Doubt OPQS will send him out with some piddly Halfords-own job. So much for the 500 quid on the edge 1000!
"Gary Verity, quoted in the newspaper, said: “He couldn't get a GPS signal in Leyburn, I told him that's an occupational hazard,"
Aye, he's right mind. They haven't put up them fancy satellites in the north yet, we still have to carry an astrolabe and sextant round these parts.
first I miss Marcel Kittel riding my local patch, then I miss Cavendish - with my luck in being in the right place at the right time I'll turn up at the roadside on July 5th and find they've changed the route or brought it forward a day
Has Cav got a very wide backside or very narrow shoulders. That saddle is the same width as his handle bars.
Well that would brighten me up after school
It's all just a matter of perspective