Italian cyclist 'throws himself into the sea' to evade police; 'The Body Coach' Joe Wicks broke wrist cycling; Geraint Thomas says cancelling Tour de France will cost jobs; Olympics clash with TdF; Coffee DOESN'T dehydrate; + more on the live blog

2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas has said that cancelling this year’s race will result in people working within cycling losing their jobs.

While organisers ASO remain hopeful that the race can start as planned in Nice on 24 June, it seems unlikely that will happen, with countries across Europe and beyond in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic,

The Team Ineos rider told the Telegraph: “I just want to race my bike again, so in that sense I’d love it to be on, but only if it was safe to do so.

“But on the other hand there are 20-odd teams, and companies invested in those teams, and if it went there [could be] quite a few people left unemployed.

“So while the result itself doesn’t matter, the event does because there are a lot of livelihoods wrapped up in it.”

ASO has said that it plans to make a decision on whether or not the race would go ahead by 1 May, and while the French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu has said it could be held behind closed doors – that is, keeping fans away from the event – Thomas is not sure that is an option.

“It wouldn’t be the Tour without the fans,” he said.

Copenhagen is great "but it's no Amsterdam", according to this video which looks at some of the finer points that make Amsterdam's cycling infrastructure so renowned. 

The video was recommended to us by road.cc reader Mike, who commented: "I’ve been to Amsterdam and Copenhagen many times, though I know the former better. I agree with most of what this video says, but it does rather overlook the kamikaze like attitude of Amsterdam cyclists. If you’re a pedestrian, I think Copenhagen cyclists are more forgiving and less entitled.

"I also cycle in Munich pretty often, which is a much better city for cycling than many people realise."

Beryl's bikeshare scheme is now free to NHS workers in every area they operate in countrywide. This means NHS staff in London, Bournemouth, Poole, Hereford (in partnership with Herefordshire Council), Norwich and Watford all have free access to Beryl bikes, allowing them to protect themselves further by skipping buses, tubes and trains. 

To get free access, workers will be able to access the scheme by signing up to the Beryl App with their NHS email address. This will automatically provide access to free sponsored rides. 

More details on Beryl's website. 

That would make for an early Tour de France Grand Depart. https://t.co/riqMLAfUBg

— Sophie Smith (@SophieSmith86) March 30, 2020

Le Tour 2021 is set to start in Copenhagen on 2nd July 2021 and finish in France on the 25th July... meaning it could be virtually impossible for any riders to compete to the best of their abilities in both the Tour and the Olympics, with the games' new date set for a 23rd July opening day. Will the Tour get pushed back a week to accommodate both, or could all the cycling events be towards the end of the rearranged Olympics? Questions questions... 

So, you know ‘bonjour’, but can you match these descriptions of common cycling scenarios and words to their proper French phrases? Time to head back to school for this French-themed cycling quiz! Click here to play. 

Another one, this time near Cheadle on the M60 report the Manchester Evening News. We'll have a full story up shortly with a recap of some of our other 'cyclists caught riding on ther motorway' highlights from years gone by... 

Does coffee dehydrate? https://t.co/GhUUMU6xpP pic.twitter.com/6q2Fyzk4bH

— Asker Jeukendrup (@Jeukendrup) March 29, 2020

There's not a great deal of good news out there at the moment, but this gem courtesy of sports nutrition expert and keen cyclist and triathlete Asker Jeukendrup might just be our favourite since this strange new world we find ourselves in began to take shape. 

For the study published in PLOSOne, Jeukendrup and his team got 50 men to drink four cups of coffee per day for three days, or the same amount in water for three days... and found no change in body mass, urine volume or urinary hydration markers. They say coffee can be a diuretic (increases the production of urine), and at the end of the 'very long and labour intensive study' the conclusion was that there simply wasn't any difference between the caffeine and water trials in terms of hydration markers. 

The paper concludes: "The data suggest that coffee, when consumed in moderation by caffeine habituated males provides similar hydrating qualities to water.

"So now, when we board a British Airways plane we can actually read that coffee and tea also contribute towards daily fluid requirements."

We'll raise a mug to that!

We've already reported widely that the demand for turbo trainers has shot up rapidly, but the BBC now reports that the bike industry on the whole is seeing an upswing in sales and demand. 

The London Cycle Workshop say that they're twice as busy as normal, either servicing older bikes so key workers can travel without resorting to public transport, or servicing bikes for people "looking for something to do."

Brompton are reporting a 15% rise in sales across the industry, with CEO Will Butler-Adams telling the BBC: "People are thinking, I want to have independence."

Halfords have also reported big rises in sales, as well as Sigma sports. That doesn't mean the whole bike industry is benefiting of course, and some shops who are unable to trade and coaching businesses who have had to change to online-only are suffering - check out our rolling guide to cycling businesses that are worthy of your support during the pandemic.