Trek-Segafredo rider crashes over the finish line in bizarre UAE Tour incident; Rule of Six back soon; Pidcock's fighting talk; He's Ganna beat you; Cinelli apologises for "sexist" picture; Weekend cycling scenes; Echelon artwork + more on the live blog

Tiberi is being taken to the hospital where he will receive stitches to a deep wound on his right knee and evaluated for other injuries #UAETour

— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) February 22, 2021

* Updated 19:15 Trek-Segafredo added that they are still waiting on an injury update to Tiberi, and also note that he was still the team's fastest finisher despite the horrendous finish line crash. There's been some speculation in the comments section below and around social media about what caused the crash - some observers suggested that one of Tiberi's elbows slipped off a pad on his TT bars, while others speculated that a failure with the mono-riser bar system on the latest version of Trek's Speed Concept could be to blame. 

I might not be where I am now had I not been able to stay in Europe for long periods to race and train. Brexit makes it harder for others to have the same opportunities in an already incredible difficult time. Please sign this petition to help them. https://t.co/t6U30ec4pN

— Tom Pidcock (@Tompid) February 22, 2021

You may have seen our story yesterday about British pro riders petitioning the government to get visa-free permits so they can race and train in Europe this season. Tom Pidcock had his say this morning and pointed out how invaluable racing in Europe was in his development. What we want to know is if there's another 5k coming soon? Pidcock told The Times this weekend that the running community's response to his 13:25 time pissed him off...

"It pissed me off," he said. "Why would I not believe what the GPS watch, what Strava said? All winter I was saying I was going to do sub-15 minutes. I did it and that time came up and then all these runners are getting pissed off, like I’ve offended them. I’ll just have to do it again." 

Great fighting talk.

What a shot 👌 @bettiniphoto 📸🇦🇪 #uaetour @uae_tour pic.twitter.com/VQzwQnjFzW

— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) February 22, 2021

That's eight-in-a-row for the TT World Champion. Ganna clocked a frightening average speed of 34.8mph (55.98km/h) for the 13:56 it took him to cover the 13km route. The Italian put 14 seconds into second placed Stefan Bissegger, 24 seconds into Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar and more than 1:30 into Chris Froome...

Pogačar takes the race lead, five seconds ahead ofJoão Almeida. Adam Yates riding his first race with Ineos Grenadiers is in fifth, 39 seconds back. Tomorrow morning is the first of two big mountain tests for the riders this week. Tuesday's stage takes the poloton to the climb of Jebel Hafeet where Yates won last year, ahead of...you guessed it, Tadej Pogačar.

upCYCLE provides free bikes, training and maintenance workshops to young people from ethnic minorities to encourage them to take up cycling. South West Londoner reports the charity was set up at the back end of last summer and was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Phil Dobson founded the charity and says they have raised over £8,000 and donated more than 20 bikes in their first six months.

"The benefit of the bike itself is the freedom that it gives them to get out of their own area and discover different parts of London. A lot of kids growing up in estates don’t leave their area and they are just stuck in a bubble," Dobson explained.

"I am trying to tackle the lack of diversity in cycling. The London cycling scene is predominantly white males and I think that we need to target people whilst they are young and ignite a passion for cycling."

Part of their strategy is to teach young people maintenance skills so they can fix their bike if they don't have the money to go to a bike shop. upCYCLE has been supported by Lambeth Council, who helped some of the fund maintenance workshops.

No

— Thomas De Gendt (@DeGendtThomas) February 21, 2021

By contrast to the leisurely weekend rides in the previous post, the pros were probably cursing their luck with these scenes at UAE Tour...Great to watch, less so to be involved in. Sunday's stage started with a 200m neutral zone before the chaos ensued. Alex Dowsett, making his season debut alongside new teammate Chris Froome shared his numbers...

The first 10km of the stage was covered in 10:03, at an average speed of 38mph (62km/h) and Dowsett's average power was 413w...Nice easy start to the season then...

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Cinelli (@cinelli_official)

Here's one we missed last week...Cinelli apologised after sharing a Valentine's Day photo that has been branded as sexist. In an Instagram post, the bike manufacturer apologised that "the post offended many people." They also stressed that inclusivity and respect are part of their brand's culture.

Some have argued apologising for people being offended doesn't go far enough. Jennkaylives commented: "Apologising for offending people is not a real apology. Do you actually understand why that pic is shitty and sexist?"

"One thing for Cinelli to serve sexist stereotypes, another thing for the apparently predominantly male fan base to defend these in the comments. Both decidedly unfunny," Marklemarigold wrote.

Jrthomas91 asked "Why can't I choose between a Cinelli and my boyfriend?"

The full video was posted in the Pass wide and slow Facebook group, who say they are a "group to TRY educating drivers on how and why to pass horses." This driver got in between the support cyclist and horse rider before having a look at overtaking, but thankfully waits when a car coming in the opposite direction appears around the bend. In the end the horse rider signals they are turning right and the driver stays where they are. 

In the video, a man in the vehicle following can be heard saying to ring the windows and doors company whose van it appears to be. Under the video, Laura Jenkins replied: "I was actually more concerned for the cyclist. The driver passed them too close and totally cut them up and pulled in front of them."

Bob Jewell also pointed out "He overtook the cyclist at the central reservation, means he did not give her enough safe room. As well as being to close to the horse."