Bizarre bike bollard leaves bicyclists bewildered; UCI president insists Pogacar's Tour de France tests are clean; Naked cyclist cheerfully greeting walkers spotted; Film crew blocks Hyde Park cycle lane; Ineos end Castelli deal + more on the live blog

And people think we don’t love cyclists!!?#WorldBollardAssociation pic.twitter.com/J54sXAWDHA

— World Bollard Association™ (@WorldBollard) July 20, 2021

The very important World Bollard Association has attempted to shore up its relationship with cyclists by sharing this image of a bollard that doubles up as a bike stand/lock of some sort. Even so, the design looks to be a bit questionable... 

That's such an expensive way of making something really bad. How do you fit a lock? How do you secure the frame? How does the wheel not bend if someone knocks into the back of the bike? How does it work for non-standard cycles?

— Finlay Knops-Mckim 🚲 (@FinKnopsMckim) July 20, 2021

"How do you fit a lock? How do you secure the frame?" asks Finlay Knops-Mckim, while Gabriel Bienzobas said: "It does look nice, but it is useless." Matthew in North London simply added: "Bollard off"

For more examples of alliteration using the letter B on road.cc, see this article. 

Introducing the 2021 Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 route!

▪ Carmarthenshire team time trial on stage three
▪ Great Orme, Llandudno to host hill-top finish
▪ Carlisle announced as stage six start venue
▪ World-famous finishing locations in Gateshead and Edinburgh#TourOfBritain 🔴🔵⚪

— Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) July 20, 2021

Victoire de @GroenewegenD @JumboVismaRoad !!! Le Néerlandais endossera le maillot de leader 👍💪 pic.twitter.com/seLbHrXZvh

— Tour de Wallonie & GP Wallonie (@tourdewallonie) July 20, 2021

Dylan Groenewegen has won his first race since returning to the sport following a nine-month suspension for his role in Fabio Jakobsen's crash at the Tour of Poland just over a year ago. The Dutchman beat Hugo Hofstetter on stage one of Tour de Wallonie to take his first win since February 2020. Groenewegen returned to the sport at the Giro d'Italia but despite four top tens left the race before the second rest day without a win. Jakobsen is also competing at the race in Belgium this week but did not challenge for the stage.

Now, we're pretty sure these are the thoughts of a man just finished with a gruelling three week trip around France and that in a couple of months he'll have the Tour bug again...however, Mark Cavendish has told Sky Sports he is still undecided on whether he'll compete at the race in 2022.

"We'll have to see," Cavendish told Sky Sports News on Monday. "I just finished the race yesterday, and normally after the Tour de France every year that I've done it I've been like 'I don't know if I can do that again' but a few days later you miss the buzz of it.

"It's different to any other bike race and you look forward to the next year but we'll have to see at the minute. I just want to spend some time with my family, I'm racing in a few weeks so I'd like to take a few days off and we'll see what the future holds."

With Sam Bennett set to leave the team and Fabio Jakobsen still taking small steps on his comeback, you might expect Cav to be a sure thing for 2022. However, the Manxman is also out of contract at the end of the year and is yet to sign an extension with the team, something Patrick Lefevere has admitted will be much more costly than his current deal.

Will it be 34 and done for Cav? Will he break the record? Will he still be at Quick-Step in 2022? A lot of questions we'd like to ask...just not to Cav's face...

A naked cyclist, who is apparently a regular sight during spells of hot weather, was spotted riding his bike along the Liverpool & Leeds Canal near Melling in Merseyside. Police confirmed they received a reported sighting on July 18 after a member of the public said they had seen the man at around 7.20pm.

According to the Liverpool Echo the sighting was shared in a local Facebook group where one walker posted: "Please tell me I'm not the only one who saw this....a man in his late 50s-ish riding his bike along the canal this morning completely naked!"

Many other locals then commented to say the man is a regular fixture during hot weather...One said the man, thought to be around the age of 70, is "well known", while another said he'd been seen a few times.

One woman said the mystery man "wishes you a cheery ‘hello’ like it’s perfectly normal." The post prompted a discussion, with some seeing no harm in the man's actions, whereas others were alarmed and pointed out the route is popular with families...

One woman commented: "Hang on, if you walked along the canal and exposed yourself to people it would be an offence, what's the difference?"

Another added: "I certainly would feel intimidated and uncomfortable if I seen him and if I had young kids even more so. Old man naked! All jokes aside, this is not right it’s indecent exposure."

Yesterday on the live blog, after the Tour de France peloton got flashed by a speed camera in Paris...we took a trip down memory lane to the time a cyclist in Germany was flashed flashing a speed camera, as he rode past stark naked at 46km/h...It's a weird world...

The Royal Parks were quick to give an explanation for the blocked cycle lane in Hyde Park yesterday. Replying to our Tweet, they said it was the film unit's fault for ignoring instructions...

a couple of drivers from the film unit disregarded instructions and parked in the wrong place yesterday, having left the cycle lane clear every other day of their tenure. Thanks to @theGeorgeMorgan for flagging and @cycleoptic for following up, the help is always appreciated.

— The Royal Parks (@theroyalparks) July 20, 2021

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Jakob Fuglsang (@jakobfuglsang_official)

Jakob Fuglsang suggested his second Covid vaccine could be the reason for his poor form at the Tour de France. The Dane was largely missing from the action in France and didn't break the top 20 once. However, Fuglsang believes his second jab might be the reason. Having finished third at Tour de Suisse behind Richard Carapaz and Rigoberto Uran, Fuglsang had his second vaccine and saw his training numbers drop to where they were in December.

"The only explanation that we can find is that I had my second COVID vaccination after the Tour de Suisse and that it’s limiting me and my body is still working on it. I got my first shot after the Classics and I did tests at a Tenerife training camp and I had high lactate for my power and in Switzerland I was good," Fuglsang told Cyclingnews.

"Then I got the second shot and a second test in the race showed the same results that I had in Tenerife, that my numbers are basically where they are in December or even worse.  That’s just how it is but at some point, it will go away and that’s what we’re waiting for.

"“My general feeling is okay. I don’t feel that bad but I can’t push myself to my limit. I feel limited that I’m not able to push my body like I normally I can. That’s meant that I’ve not destroyed myself and I don’t feel as tired.”

The Astana rider is in the final year of his contract with the Kazakh team and says he hopes his body may show signs of improvement before the Olympic Games road race on Saturday.

Did any of you lot feel worse on the bike after your vaccination? If so, what happened and how long did it last? 

When did the North Carriage Drive cycle lane become a car park, @theroyalparks @MPSRoyal_Parks ? pic.twitter.com/dekJQtZmSl

— George Morgan (@theGeorgeMorgan) July 19, 2021

Commuters and other riders going about their business in Hyde Park yesterday were met with a peculiar scene in the North Carriage Drive cycle lane. Had it quietly been turned into a car park? 

The Royal Parks got in touch to say it is for one day only and the bike lane blockers are filming in the park so needed somewhere to leave their vehicles. One Twitter user has questioned why, if it is for one day only, he saw the crew parked there on Sunday too. Another claimed they had been there all last week...

Others simply wanted to know why the cycle lane is the first choice spot when they could have used, I don't know, Hyde Park's car park instead? The London Cycling Campaign also pointed out we could all use the picture to answer the minority of angry people who demand to know why cyclists can't 'just use the park'...

Thousands rely on this safe route to get to work by bike

Closed without warning or signage and used for lorry and car storage…

— George Morgan (@theGeorgeMorgan) July 19, 2021

so it’s ok that a “safe” cycling route is closed for some filming ?
Why not use the Parks ample car park ?

— cycleoptic💙💚 (@cycleoptic) July 19, 2021