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Live blog: Driver who allegedly rammed Andrew Gilligan off bike due in court, Wiggins urges Brailsford to sign "hottest property in cycling" van der Poel, Belgian road champ praises disc brakes, weekend catch-up + more

All today's news from the site and beyone as we start the week proper after the Easter Break.....
23 April 2019, 15:48
Driver in court accused of ramming Andrew Gilligan off his bike

A driver was due to appear in court today to face charges of assault and dangerous driving after allegedly ramming former London cycling commissioner Andrew Gilligan off his bike.

The Evening Standard reports that the incident happened in Bishopsgate on 4 April 2018 and left Gilligan, now a senior correspondent for The Sunday Times, feeling “very, very shaken” and needing hospital treatment for cuts to his shins.

Chukwudi Uzorh, aged 28 and from Camden, who was driving a Nissan Juke at the time, was due to appear at City of London Magistrates’ Court today.

23 April 2019, 13:22
Italy have been out in Yorkshire previewing the World Championship course
23 April 2019, 11:27
UCI List snooping... Time Alpe D'Huez 01D and 21D added, suggesting disc brake versions are coming
time-front-pool

We went to the launch of Time's Alpe D'Huez 'altitude bike' last year, and after perusing the latest version of the UCI approved list it appears that a disc version is on the horizon. The top-end 01 and more affordable 21 versions both have an additional listing with a 'D' added to the end of the name, which we can only assume means 'disc'. We'll update with confirmation when we get it. 

23 April 2019, 11:08
Bontrager's Bat Cage is now made out of recycled fishing nets
bontrager bat cage

The bat cage has been around since 1997, and now a new manufacturing process and partnership with Bureo means they're giving a new life to discarded fishing nets. Bureo collects end-of-life fishing nets and recycles them into tiny pellets that can be used for injection-moulded plastic products like the Bat Cage, sunglasses, skateboards, and more.
"Bat Cage may be a small product, but it's the little hinge that swings a big door. This year alone, it will put 44,000 square feet of discarded fishing nets to good use. That's making a real difference, and Bat Cage is just the beginning", says Trek's Justin Henkel. They cost £9.99 each, head over to Trek's website to buy yours. 

23 April 2019, 08:24
“Disc brakes big advantage over teams that don’t have them” says Deceuninck - QuickStep rider

If you've watched any pro racing this year, you'll have seen a lot more bikes with disc brakes. Every Deceuninck - QuickStep victory, and there have been a few, has been on a Specialized bike with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 hydraulic disc brakes, prompting Shimano to release this promotional video.

It reveals that the disc brakes take a lot more time and work to get right but that the benefits are worth it. And those benefits? “You can brake later, you can make more speed with them,” according to Belgian national champion Yves Lampert, in a video produced by Shimano and shared a few days ago.

23 April 2019, 07:50
Bradley Wiggins: Brailsford "must sign" Van der Poel after hugely impressive breakthrough year

The 24-year-old Dutchman has put together some mighty performances already in 2019, winning Dwars door Vlaanderen, De Brabantse Pijl and Grand Prix de Denain.and then topping them all with one of the best finishes to a race we've ever seen at the Amstel Gold over the weekend. 

On his latest Eurosport podcast, Wiggins explains why he thinks van der Poel would be a great acquisition for Team Sky, soon to be Team INEOS: "He’s just impressed us every week."

"He is the hottest property in cycling at the moment other than Alaphilippe. He’s a bigger potential. It’s weird to call him a potential because he’s already winning these big races. It’s scary to think what he might actually achieve by the time he’s (Philippe) Gilbert’s age."

The host Graham Willgoss asked who would be the better signing out of Van der Poel or Julian Alaphilippe, and again Wiggins favoured the former, saying: "I would pick Van der Poel. That’s no slouch on Alaphilippe, he’s phenomenal as well. But I think he could win a Grand Tour one day. It’s a little bit sad to think that they both may end up at Sky. It’s a bit like Manchester City and football. It’s nice having this spread of riders."

23 April 2019, 07:46
Brazilian bike company uses a strike by truck drivers to demonstrate cost savings of bike transportation

This video shows how the cost benefit of bikes can make sense in the wake of national truck strike, with Brazilian bike manufacturer Caloi working out how much money on gas is saved when bikes are used instead. 

23 April 2019, 07:39
Amstel Gold Race 2019 finish via Europsort on Twitter.PNG
Weekend catch-up

Jack has been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of the website including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named Editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master's degree in print journalism and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it's a long story). 

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10 comments

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism | 5 years ago
9 likes

I wonder what Andrew Gilligan, a "senior correspondent at the Sunday Times", feels about his papers article about drivers winning the war against cyclists. I suppose he is proof of the fact though.

Avatar
ktache | 5 years ago
0 likes

I remember, during the fuel protests here, encountering many more "new" commuters, riding into Birmingham on the 5, rather portly, older and on very flash "racers".  I'm guessing that once they had the oppertunity to fill up their executive gas guzzlers, they never looked back.  At least I never saw them again.

Avatar
Jackson | 5 years ago
1 like

The best thing for the sport would be to leave VdP and Alaphillipe racing the way they do now, not pumped full of asthma medication and TUEs and dragging Froome around every July.

Avatar
EddyBerckx replied to Jackson | 5 years ago
3 likes
Jackson wrote:

The best thing for the sport would be to leave VdP and Alaphillipe racing the way they do now, not pumped full of asthma medication and TUEs and dragging Froome around every July.

So you've investigated the confidential records of every team to ensure they don't use TUE's have you? If not, then you're a bit naive tbh, especially considering the record of many of sky's rivals over the years.

Avatar
Sniffer replied to EddyBerckx | 5 years ago
0 likes

StoopidUserName wrote:
Jackson wrote:

The best thing for the sport would be to leave VdP and Alaphillipe racing the way they do now, not pumped full of asthma medication and TUEs and dragging Froome around every July.

So you've investigated the confidential records of every team to ensure they don't use TUE's have you? If not, then you're a bit naive tbh, especially considering the record of many of sky's rivals over the years.

Agreed, we know MIS (or Orica Greenedge) forgot to submit theirs sometimes.

https://road.cc/content/news/187985-britains-simon-yates-tests-positive-...

To think Sky are alone is naive.  To think Sky are the worst for this is not based on any evidence in the public domain that I have seen.

That they get more  abuse than any other team when, for example, another World Tour team has a rider facing a ban for EPO seems illogical.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/trek-segafredo-suspend-pantano-after-epo-positive/

 

Avatar
OnTheRopes replied to Sniffer | 5 years ago
1 like

Sniffer wrote:

 

That they get more  abuse than any other team when, for example, another World Tour team has a rider facing a ban for EPO seems illogical.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/trek-segafredo-suspend-pantano-after-epo-positive/

 

That they get more abuse than any other team when they change sponsors too, funny how not an eyelid was bat for Direct Energie when Total stepped in.

Avatar
Rapha Nadal | 5 years ago
0 likes

Would any team in the World Tour allow VDP to ride 'cross in the winter?  I'm struggling to think of a rider who juggles both at the moment.

Avatar
lesterama replied to Rapha Nadal | 5 years ago
0 likes

Rapha Nadal wrote:

Would any team in the World Tour allow VDP to ride 'cross in the winter?  I'm struggling to think of a rider who juggles both at the moment.

Stybar for starters, although not to the level of VDP.

Avatar
Rapha Nadal replied to lesterama | 5 years ago
0 likes

lesterama wrote:

Rapha Nadal wrote:

Would any team in the World Tour allow VDP to ride 'cross in the winter?  I'm struggling to think of a rider who juggles both at the moment.

Stybar for starters, although not to the level of VDP.

Ah, yes! Thank you.

Avatar
lesterama | 5 years ago
1 like

Surely Van der Poel would be better at a team that has a mix of one-day and GT success? I would prefer to see him at Lotto Jumbo, Astana or Mitchelton Scott than at Ineos. It's a shame the days of riders' dominating the classics and grand tours are gone: he could possibly have done both.

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