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GB News presenter Alastair Stewart schooled over two abreast preaching; Lotto-Soudal pro Jasper De Buyst hit by driver; Tom Pidcock marks UK return at mega Dales sportive; Germans smash team pursuit world record; Marginal gains + more on the live blog

It's Monday and Dan Alexander is here for a spin around the live blog velodrome...
Mon, Aug 02, 2021 09:06
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GB News presenter Alastair Stewart schooled over two abreast preaching; Lotto-Soudal pro Jasper De Buyst hit by driver; Tom Pidcock marks UK return at mega Dales sportive; Germans smash team pursuit world record; Marginal gains + more on the live blogTwo abreast - cheltenham flyer tori and skardy 2
02 August 2021, 15:43
02 August 2021, 15:31
Your Monday dose of doggo

It's Monday, you deserve it, here's Simon Geschke's adorable welcome home from Tokyo. If anybody needed cheering up, it's probably the Cofidis rider. Geschke tested positive for Covid before the road race so couldn't take part and instead spent his Olympic experience quarantined in a hotel room... 

02 August 2021, 15:14
Tom Pidcock marks return with 120 miles in the Yorkshire Dales
Tom Pidcock Gran Fondo Strava activity

With an Olympic gold medal in the bank, you might expect young Tom Pidcock to be taking his foot off the gas for a minute. But with his first Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España, two weeks away, the 22-year-old is kicking on. That meant marking his return to the UK with a mega spin in the Dales at his very own sportive - the Tom Pidcock Gran Fondo.

Pidcock wasn't hanging around either, no leisurely social spinning here. GB's mountain bike hero pushed on at an average speed of just over 29km/h for the full 120 miles. And, being Yorkshire, there was 2,800m of climbing to be done too. Anyone here ride the Pidcock Gran Fondo? Chapeau if you did, it looks a killer...

02 August 2021, 14:30
In at the deep end

19-year-old George found himself with a tough gig over in France yesterday... 

02 August 2021, 14:13
Thread: Ever wondered how the peloton could look like in a parallel universe? AG2R-Nutella and Ineos PS5s

It says a lot that almost every single one of these concept designs are an improvement on the current kits...I'd list my favourites, but I think they all are. If you put a gun to my head, I'd go for top three: AG2R Nutella because well, it's Nutella. Qhubeka Applessos and U(AE)ber Eats...Who wouldn't want to see Tadej Pogacar zooming around town on his yellow Colnago for a cheap food delivery ad? Enjoy.

02 August 2021, 14:05
Ribble expanding with new Nottingham showroom

Just like Brompton this morning, Ribble is expanding. The brand has opened its new showroom in Nottingham to add to its flagship store in Clitheroe, and there are more to come...The next will be opened in Bristol in September and others are expected to follow over the next 18 months.

02 August 2021, 13:13
Lotto-Soudal pro Jasper De Buyst hit by a driver while training in Andorra

Lotto-Soudal's Belgian leadout man, Jasper De Buyst, has suffered broken ribs after being hit by a driver while training in Andorra. De Buyst was descending Coll de la Rabassa when a driver, overtaking two riders ascending the climb, struck him. The 27-year-old is now appealing for help tracking down the cyclists to help with the insurance report.

He wrote on Twitter: "To be clear the car driver didn't leave me there and did help me but it was important to find the two cyclists for the police and insurance report."

Some social media sleuthing is underway, with helpful fans analysing Strava leaderboards for the climb, looking for two riders with similar ascent times and checking ride 'Flybys'.

De Buyst is a key part of Caleb Ewan's Lotto-Soudal leadout train, but was forced to abandon the Tour de France on stage nine to Tignes. It appears likely he will now also miss the Vuelta a España because of his injuries.

02 August 2021, 12:51
02 August 2021, 11:15
The Alastair Stewart blocked club continues to grow

London Cycling Campaign is the latest victim of Alastair Stewart's bountiful block button...

I wonder if Surrey Roads Policing Unit are next up?

It's not the first time the traffic cops have been on fine form. Back in June the account admin slid into the DMs of one angry driver to explain why cyclists might ride in the middle of the road... 

While in 2017, the admin delivered a cool dose of reality, blasting one Twitter user as "too childish to drive" after one foul-mouthed rant...

02 August 2021, 11:04
Danish fighting talk: Rasmus Pedersen says British era of dominance is over

Chris Boardman isn't convinced...Danish world champ Rasmus Pedersen had some pre-competition fighting talk for the Brits today, saying the all-conquering track team had been "caught". Talking to France 24, Pedersen said: "They had a big leap for a while with their equipment but everyone has caught up with that now.

"That makes the physical side more prominent and I think GB has lacked a bit of that in their training, maybe they've slipped a bit because they've always been the best. But they still have a strong team. If you look back to Rio, the World Championships before was won by Australia and when it came to the Olympics, GB smashed everyone."

02 August 2021, 10:23
Brompton opens new flagship store in Covent Garden
Brompton store Covent Garden (press release)

Folding bike specialist Brompton has opened a new expanded flagship store in London's Covent Garden. The UK's largest bicycle manufacturer says it is looking forward to welcoming customers to its new hub, set over two floors, with the full range of bikes, luggage, clothing, accessories, as well as a dedicated Brompton workshop for servicing and repairs. To man the site, Brompton is hiring 17 members of staff and will soon offer workshop bike maintenance sessions too.

Brompton store Covent Garden (press release)

 

02 August 2021, 10:08
Marginal gains

This is the level of detail Team GB's men's team pursuit squad is up against...The Danes may have now stripped GB of the marginal gains crown. Just take a look at this sock length extending plaster providing the world record holders with a touch of extra aero...

02 August 2021, 09:43
Track cycling fever + which pro team could name the best team pursuit line up?

G's tweet has got me thinking. Which pro team would have the best team pursuit squad? Ineos Grenadiers' problem might be narrowing it down to four from: Filippo Ganna, Rohan Dennis, Geraint Thomas, Owain Doull and Ethan Hayter. Team BikeExchange's Aussies would give it a decent go too: Michael Hepburn, Callum Scotson and Alexander Edmondson all have an Olympic silver from Rio. Chuck Luke Durbridge's engine into the mix and I think we've got a decent pro team pursuit final...

02 August 2021, 09:31
Team GB qualify fourth fastest and are through to the men's team pursuit semi-finals

Alexander Porter and the rest of the Aussies bravely got back on the boards for a second attempt, but having already pushed five tough laps first time around, it was always going to be a tough ask. It means GB go through to tomorrow's semi-final and take on the fastest team from the qualifying round - world and Olympic record holders, Denmark. No pressure.

New Zealand qualify third fastest and face the unenviable prospect of challenging Filippo Ganna's imperious Italians. The semi-finals are tomorrow, with the winners going ahead to Wednesday's final. How many new world records will we have by then? I say two...

02 August 2021, 09:27
02 August 2021, 09:08
Team pursuit round-up: GB women qualify second fastest as Denmark's men set Olympic record

In the women's team pursuit, Team GB will face the USA after qualifying with second fastest time. The star-studded team of Laura Kenny, Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker and Josie Knight clocked the second fastest time in history. It sets up a clash with Stars and Stripes sensation Chloe Dygert tomorrow. Unfortunately for the Brits, the Germans went 1.7 seconds faster than the world record Archibald, Kenny and Barker set in Rio and are now strong favourites to win gold.

On the men's side of things, Ed Clancy, Ethan Hayter, Ethan Vernon and Ollie Wood went fast enough for a national record, but will have to wait to see if they are still racing for a medal. The Australian team will be allowed another run after Alexander Porter crashed heavily when his stem snapped. If the Aussies go faster than GB, the Brits will be demoted down to fifth place and out of the medal hunt. Italy, powered by Filippo Ganna's engine, set an Olympic record, before world record holders Denmark broke another record, clocking a new benchmark time of 3:45.895.

02 August 2021, 08:39
Olympic track cycling starts with a bang: German women smash team pursuit world record

 The real Olympic cycling is underway...The Germans left their mark on the boards this morning with a stunning world record in the women's team pursuit. What a start!

02 August 2021, 08:16
The velodrome is open for business...check out Team GB's speed machine
02 August 2021, 07:19
GB News presenter Alastair Stewart schooled over two abreast preaching

Alastair Stewart's blocked list was the place to be this weekend. The GB News presenter wasn't too pleased by the reaction to his enquiry about cyclists riding two abreast...possibly because most of it centred on his 2003 conviction for drink driving.

Labour councillor Jo Rigby was one of the many to be purged from Stewart's page. Wait until the presenter hears about Friday's news of the updated Highway Code changes giving cyclists priority at junctions when riding straight ahead...

Here's some more of the reaction...

Dan Alexander

Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.

Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.

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37 comments

Avatar
RoubaixCube | 3 years ago
2 likes

I *LOVED* the look of the nutella Jersey HAHAHA. I would love one! laugh

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brooksby | 3 years ago
2 likes

I miss 'normal' bike shops.  When you could walk in and find a whole different range of bikes, accessories, and clothing by a whole range of different manufacturers and - you know - browse...

Evans has gone all SportsDirect and only stocks weird zombie brands.

And the rest of the bike stores either have practically no stock ("we can order it in" "yup - so can I") or are dedicated single brand Trek / Brompton / Ribble / Giant stores.

Avatar
ChrisB200SX | 3 years ago
1 like

As soon as I saw that tape on those Danish shins I instantly saw that it was massively beneficial aero device, most likely to provide a "trip" for turbluent flow and boundary layer improvement each side of the lower limbs.

Rather surprised and disappointed they are allowed to do that!

Avatar
PRSboy replied to ChrisB200SX | 3 years ago
2 likes

ChrisB200SX wrote:

As soon as I saw that tape on those Danish shins I instantly saw that it was massively beneficial aero device, most likely to provide a "trip" for turbluent flow and boundary layer improvement each side of the lower limbs.

Rather surprised and disappointed they are allowed to do that!

Couldn't they have just shaved a strip down their shin and left the rest of the leg hairy, or vice versa?

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brooksby replied to PRSboy | 3 years ago
4 likes

PRSboy wrote:

ChrisB200SX wrote:

As soon as I saw that tape on those Danish shins I instantly saw that it was massively beneficial aero device, most likely to provide a "trip" for turbluent flow and boundary layer improvement each side of the lower limbs.

Rather surprised and disappointed they are allowed to do that!

Couldn't they have just shaved a strip down their shin and left the rest of the leg hairy, or vice versa?

Maybe they just forgot to yank the tape off?

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sparrowlegs replied to ChrisB200SX | 3 years ago
1 like

Let's hope all the other countries have the same tape applied for the next round. We'll see what the IOC does then. 

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eburtthebike | 3 years ago
2 likes

"Alistair Stewart & Friends"  Really?

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mpdouglas | 3 years ago
10 likes

How utterly depressing this ongoing war against cycling is. You come to expect it from tired, old, convicted drunk driving, has-beens like Alastair Stewart, but when the likes of Lucrezia Millarini join in, I just despair. As a prolific news journalist she knows only too well how utterly wrong and abhorrent it is to characterise any particular group based on stereotypical tropes. Were she to express her views against any group because of their race, religion or gender she would be fired. Yet here she is, on her public Twitter account fueling hatred towards a group of people that happen to enjoy cycling. I can only imagine her outrage and reaction were any of us to characterise all women drivers or all female TV presenters because of a behaviour we see in a handful of them!

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eburtthebike replied to mpdouglas | 3 years ago
4 likes

mpdouglas wrote:

As a prolific news journalist she knows only too well how utterly wrong and abhorrent it is to characterise any particular group based on stereotypical tropes. Were she to express her views against any group because of their race, religion or gender she would be fired.

Yes, but since they can't attack those groups, the main out group left is cyclists.  It demonstrates the intolerant attitude and complete lack of empathy shown by racists, sexists and religious bigots.  We're just an easy target for these sad excuses for human beings who have to hate someone.

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IanMK replied to mpdouglas | 3 years ago
1 like

I'm sure she would agree that all bigotry is based on ignorance.

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to IanMK | 3 years ago
2 likes

I would argue no. Maybe in older days when people were less travelled and information was not easy to find. But now it is a concious choice for lots of  well educated people.  

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eburtthebike replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
1 like

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

I would argue no. Maybe in older days when people were less travelled and information was not easy to find. But now it is a concious choice for lots of  well educated people.  

An interesting philosophical point; does wilful ignorance count as bigotry?

I'm not sure that travel and information are any competition for human bias and prejudice; there are none so blind as those who will not see.

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IanMK replied to eburtthebike | 3 years ago
1 like

This would be my take on this. So much anti cycling rhetoric is demonstrably wrong when checked against Google.
Last year, I spent some time seeking out black Voices on line to educate myself. It's obvious that many didn't.
Historically, most people got their 'facts' from the msm, I think many still do. In the world of click bate they have become more inflammatory, but people want a distilled truth rather than a nuanced argument that allows them to draw their own conclusions.

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AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
7 likes

People are concentrating on Stewart, but ignoring the initial twitter that started it. Lucrezia Millarini happens to be an ITN news journalist  who decided to post the dogwhistle question instead of, I don't know, investigating it like a Journalist should to supply facts. 

And within that tweet, one of the top reply nests to a similar "single file" post contains this unironic gem of a Law Breaker. (Her bio contains atheist, fair enough, but then to that is added IslamDenier which seems targetted and superfluous as she already described herself as that with Atheist. )

"3h
I’m now a cyclist (mountain bike, just for fun) but being a driver first I am very aware of people using the road, I try to go on the pavement if possible so as not to hold traffic up and also my safety is my responsibility"
 

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Richard D replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
1 like

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

"3h
I’m now a cyclist (mountain bike, just for fun) but being a driver first I am very aware of people using the road, I try to go on the pavement if possible so as not to hold traffic up and also my safety is my responsibility"

So she is not merely admitting breaking the law by choosing to ride on the pavement, she implicitly says that she does to to stay safe?  Presumably unaware that the things that make riding on the roads less safe than it should be are all those drivers in motor vehicles who can't obey the law either!

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Legin | 3 years ago
3 likes

Like many in our geat country Alaistair likes to make up his own rules and doesn't neccessarily believe that those of society a meant for him. From family experience we voted him a cock in 1982 and he has only made it worse since.

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AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
8 likes

So anohter right wing drunk driver having ago at cyclists as a concern or danger to the roads. Just a shame the man sacked for percieved racism in his tweets decided to go back onto Twitter to pollute it once again. 

 

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hawkinspeter replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
13 likes

That's the problem with celebrity culture. Just because someone is well known for being good at a particular job doesn't mean that their opinion in other fields is of any interest, yet social media will always amplify 'famous' people due to human nature.

He'd be far better off going on a crusade against drink-driving as he has some insight into the causes and can declare how reformed and penitent he's become. Instead, he comes across as a selfish, entitled prick.

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eburtthebike replied to hawkinspeter | 3 years ago
5 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

Instead, he comes across as a selfish, entitled prick.

Because he is.

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Captain Badger | 3 years ago
8 likes

@road.cc

You forgot to hightlight the bits about him being done for drink driving....

Edit: but Twitter clearly didn't. Alistair's block button must be worn out by now.....

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StuInNorway replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
2 likes

Can't understand why he didn't simply delete the tweet, he must know it's not in his best interest to leave it up.

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Captain Badger replied to StuInNorway | 3 years ago
1 like

StuInNorway wrote:

Can't understand why he didn't simply delete the tweet, he must know it's not in his best interest to leave it up.

He's getting an utter pasting, virtually no supporting tweets. I don't get it either

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to StuInNorway | 3 years ago
3 likes

GBNews now mate. Can't be seen to be making any consideration to common good otherwise they get sacked over not maintaining their standards. I mean look at the difference between the person who took a knee in support of the black footballers and then the person who stated "they will never take a knee for anyone". Both are contravening he supposed "Standards" of not taking a side, yet one is let go. 

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
3 likes

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

GBNews now mate. Can't be seen to be making any consideration to common good otherwise they get sacked over not maintaining their standards. I mean look at the difference between the person who took a knee in support of the black footballers and then the person who stated "they will never take a knee for anyone". Both are contravening he supposed "Standards" of not taking a side, yet one is let go. 

I thought the entire point of GBNews is that they are one-sided and biased?

And to address why he's left the tweet up - it's free publicity.

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Hirsute replied to hawkinspeter | 3 years ago
0 likes

Not sure how this is good publicity despite the addage.

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hawkinspeter replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
6 likes

I said 'free', not 'good'.

I'd guess that GBNews target audience are probably anti-cyclist enough that they don't care about some previous 'technicality' that an upstanding, honest driver may have been caught out on.

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Hirsute replied to hawkinspeter | 3 years ago
2 likes

You forgot 'hardworking'.

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Captain Badger replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
2 likes

hirsute wrote:

You forgot 'hardworking'.

Not to mention "hard-pressed"

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TheBillder replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
2 likes

Was top lawyer Nick Freeman unavailable to him? Or was there no loophole wide enough?

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eburtthebike replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
3 likes

Captain Badger wrote:

hirsute wrote:

You forgot 'hardworking'.

Not to mention "hard-pressed"

And tax-paying.

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