"I don't think anyone is riding SRAM unless they're paid to, or forced by their sponsor": Phil Gaimon calls Jumbo-Visma dropping Shimano a "marginal loss"; Shell logo appears on (most) GB kits; Boonen: Van Aert could do better + more on the live blog

Cycling UK today launched its sixth route — the Rebellion Way — a 232-mile (373km) tour of Norfolk starting in Norwich. The route was officialy launched this morning and the charity says it will be the first accessible adventure route for people using adapted bikes like handcycles or tricycles.

The route is designed to be ridden over four to six days and, Cycling UK says, uses a "varied mix of country lanes, bridleways, byways, cycle paths and forest tracks" and is "suitable for anyone with reasonable fitness on the vast majority of bikes".

Claire Frecknall, an ambassador for Mason Cycles, rode the Rebellion Way in early September, and concluded it is a "great 'all ability' route" with "quiet lanes, beautiful forests and big skies, a proper adventure but without masses of elevation. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking to take their first steps into multi-day trips."

Full details here...

Reading aloud is not one of my strengths, but sometimes it’s good to come out of your comfort zone. Incredible experience reading tonight‘s bedtime story on @CBeebiesHQ in #Braille about a boy learning to read Braille and his classmates thinking it’s a secret code. #WorldSightDay pic.twitter.com/AV0Gu5LCKx

— Lora Fachie MBE (@loraturnham) October 13, 2022

 Paralympic gold medallist on the track Lora Fachie (and her guide dog Tai) will appear on tonight's CBeebies Bedtime Story, reading from a book in braille for the first time on the show.

The episode will air on CBeebies tonight at 18.50pm, available afterwards via the iPlayer, and will see Fachie reading The Secret Code by Dana Meachen Rau. Illustrated by Bari Weissman it tells the tale of a boy whose classmates think he uses a secret code to read, only to discover it is braille.

Fachie has a hereditary sight loss condition and lost her sight aged five. "I am over the moon to read a CBeebies Bedtime Story for the first time in braille," she said.

"I have always enjoyed reading and hope this will encourage everyone to want to read whether they use their eyes, their ears, their fingers or a secret code."

More marginal gains talk here, or as Gaimon dubbed it... "marginal losses"...

Dave Brailsford is reportedly living out of a caravan at French Ligue 1 outfit OGC Nice's training ground as he tries to rescue his venture into the sport. The club sit 13th in the league, well off the level the fans expect, with L'Equipe reporting the Ineos team principle has made his South of France home a "luxury camper" in the "car park"...

"I think Brailsford is making a lot of mistakes at Nice that is very much counterproductive to what the project is and what it should be," French football journalist Julien Laurens told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"He reminds me a little bit of Sir Clive Woodward when England won the Rugby World Cup. He thought he could go into any sport, including football, and be successful and it just doesn’t happen like that."

Those Shell logos are an abomination.

— Quartermaster Hanley 💚✊🏳️‍🌈 (@MattHanley) October 12, 2022

This is going well...

It’s so sad to see these great athletes reduced to being billboards for the deadly fossil fuel industry. I know it’s commonplace for professional teams but imagine working for years and dreaming of representing your country only to be told you have to wear a Shell logo to do so.

— James Smith (@drjnsmith) October 12, 2022

Shameful to see British Cycling sell out to fossil fuel giants

— George Cook (@george_cuckoo) October 12, 2022

shell logo is pure shame, makes me sick, poor athletes having to wear that

— Bit$piritual (@quantum_quentin) October 12, 2022

Shame their success is polluted

— Faerie Ro says: Ram it, Bunty! (@rotinkerbell) October 13, 2022

Gold medallist in Rio six years ago Callum Skinner asked fans to try to distinguish between riders and their governing body when criticising...

It’s not like playing for United and moving to City. For many disciplines it’s British Cycling or nothing.

— Callum Skinner (@CallumSkinner) October 13, 2022 

How was Wout van Aert's 2022? He won three Tour de France stages, a green jersey, Omloop, E3, stages at Paris-Nice and the Dauphiné, as well as helping teammate Jonas Vingegaard win yellow... oh, and Wout finished in the top five of 82 per cent of the one-day races he took part in — BUT, the prodigiously talented Belgian "could have done better"... apparently.

[ASO/Pauline Ballet]

That's according to Tom Boonen who told Wielerflits: "I hear he couldn't have done better this year, but I don't agree with that".

"The only thing missing this year is a Monument, they say. But that matters. A rider of his level is racing to win those races. It's nice that you are called the best rider in the world for months, but that's not the point. Wout has to win classics.

"Ask him. He will also say that that is what he wants. At the same time, I don't want to be too strict. Wout was having a very nice spring and he had the bad luck that he dropped out due to corona at a crucial moment, just before the Tour of Flanders.

"The years are ticking. I am convinced that he will still succeed, but will he win the Ronde three times and Roubaix four times? Champions race for those kinds of records."

Well, there you go. If Wout 'must do better' there's not much hope for the rest of us...

I mean worldtour teams don’t buy it 🤦‍♂️

— Phil Gaimon (@philgaimon) October 13, 2022

Still, look on the bright side SRAM owners... "Phil Gaimon says I'm losing 5 to 10 watts" can be added to the list of reasons you got dropped on the group ride...