"Just a flesh wound": Cyclists spot Cervélo TT bike for £820 on Facebook Marketplace which owner claims to have ridden "for years without problem"... despite giant crack in carbon downtube; Fallout to farcical Algarve sprint chaos + more on the live blog

An intrepid bargain-hunting cyclist spotted a Cervélo P2 on Facebook Marketplace for €990 (£820). Intrigued they took a closer look and were so amused by what they found they did what any sensible person of the internet would — head straight to Reddit to share. It was posted in the 'Delusional Craigslist' subreddit, a group for "the most ridiculous posts from Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and anywhere else idiots try to sell things for WAY more than what they're actually worth", which sounds like somewhere we might spend some more time scrolling in future.

> How to buy a bike on Facebook Marketplace — don't get scammed with these key dos and don'ts for buying a pre-owned bike online

Anyway, back to the Cervélo. "Switching hobby," the seller told potential buyers. "Lower frame has one-inch crack. Been using it for years without problem."

Okay, let's fire up the pic of the crack that hasn't stopped it being ridden for years... ah, right...

What's worse? The thought of someone riding this "for years" with that or claiming you had to try to get someone else to pay nearly £1,000 for it? We'll leave that up to the cycling High Court... (our comments section).

Like that heartbreakingly cracked Kuota we shared on the blog last week, there was brief back-and-forth in the comments over whether the crack could be fixed and, more to the point, if it was financially worth it. Yes, duct tape got mentioned again, we hope as a joke.

> "As a mechanic, I would judge a mechanic who offers to repair it": Cyclist asks Facebook if incredibly snapped carbon frame can be saved "for mostly indoor cycling", told absolutely don't "just put some duct tape on it and ride on"

Someone claimed to be happy to ride it in that condition: "I'd ride that. Then it goes up on the wall. I love pushing bikes to catastrophic failure. Feels like I got my money's worth. Haven't lost any teeth yet, but my shins tell a tale." Almost want to start a whip-round to check that one out.

Anyway, we'll crack on with the rest of the day and just leave this here...

 

 

 

 

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Here's what the man himself thought of that victory, Pidcock telling Q36.5's press team: "I think yesterday I was a bit too ambitious, a bit too active too early, and didn't really respect the race and the course. I paid for it in the final, which was unfortunate, but I learnt a good lesson.

"I also had fun racing, so it wasn't all bad. Today, I made amends for that — I played it smart, worked the tactics well, and it's super nice to get the hands up in the air. The team fully committed to me, and it's nice to be able to repay that."

GMBasix is, like most of us, fairly unimpressed by the Volta ao Algarve organiser's claims that yesterday's mistake was the peloton's "wrong decision"... no, really.

"Seriously, mate, stick your head in a cold butt of water," our comments section advised. "They may be pro riders but, at the last turn at the end of a stage, they will be a little bit tired and not focusing on the A to Z. Their job is to ride and, team instructions aside, ride as fast as they can. You want them to have navigators? Put on a tandem race. Any ambiguous junctions and lack of clear directions on the route is down to you alone."

Rendel Harris: "Pretty embarrassing for VAA organisers but also a bit for Arnaud de Lie, who opined: 'Everyone knows the finish is on the left, it's been like that for years. The first rider followed the motorcycles, but he must have never watched a cycling race, because we all know that motorcycles don't cross the finish line'. Presumably he said this before he found out that the first rider to take the wrong turn whom all the rest followed was Jarrad Drizners, his own leadout man." 

And a final bit of fun from mdavidford: 

 

 

 

 

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Following on from his two stage wins and overall victory at the AlUla Tour, Tom Pidcock has just won the second stage of Vuelta a Andalucia, sprinting from a small group including Enric Mas, Pavel Sivakov, Clément Berthet and his former Ineos Grenadiers teammate Brandon Rivera. He'll have a tricky job winning GC here, Sivakov holding a handy 32 seconds on the Brit, but what a start to life at Q36.5 it's been. 

More on that coming in the latest episode of the road.cc Podcast soon...

Treated to echelons on a Thursday morning, the UAE Tour is good for some things at least, even if the route's almost totally flat, boring and almost entirely unwatched by anyone at the roadside. Tadej Pogačar and his home favourites, UAE Team Emirates, led the charge as the wind blowed, optimal cross tailwind conditions seeing speeds of close to 70km/h and the peloton split into multiple groups.

Those behind got the chase sorted fairly quick however and the threat of total carnage was cooled. It all meant we got the sprint that was expected on stage four, Jonathan Milan pipping Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen in a photo finish. 

 

 

 

 

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All three are expected to head to the Tour de France this summer, setting up the prospect of some mouth-watering sprint clashes, especially when you add in Biniam Girmay, Wout van Aert, Fabio Jakobsen, Dylan Groenewegen, Arnaud de Lie and anyone else who fancies it. Shout out to British rider Dan McLay, now part of Visma-Lease a Bike's lead-out team, who got up for fourth on the stage. No changes on GC, let's see if the afternoon's action in Andalusia and the Algarve is quite so barmy as yesterday.

A seven-year-old from Northampton has raised £1,000 for a homeless centre in the town by cycling 100km over several rides after being inspired by Paddy McGuinness's Children in Need 300-mile Chopper charity cycle.

Albie's mum Katy told the Banbury Guardian: "He has also shown great perseverance and determination to complete the challenge even in the cold and miserable weather. There were many times he could have stayed inside watching television or films but he knew he had to get it done and that's what he did."

He raised more than 400% of his original £250 target, so far raising £1,010 for Northampton Hope Centre.

Things escalated quite quickly for everyone yesterday at Algarve, but perhaps quickest for Filippo Ganna and the Ineos Grenadiers. First, there was jubilation and a funny social media post...

And then disappointment, frustration and a less gleeful follow-up that tried to take a more philosophical view of events. The team wrote last night: "Following the finish, the decision was made to cancel stage one of the Volta ao Algarve without a result.

"Cycling is tough. Some days you win but most you lose. We want to pay tribute to the incredible love and dedication that organisers and volunteers put into our sport, as well as its amazing fans. We're thankful that today everyone finished safely, but let's use this opportunity to continue to shine a light on making the best sport in the world a safer one."