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Remco Evenepoel splits opinion by refusing to sign kid's jersey thrown at him by dad; Wheelie impressive skills by Tour of Britain rider up 20% climb; Cyclists renovate their favourite bench; New bike day; Pidcock's app goes live + more on the live blog

It's Thursday and Dan Alexander will be keeping you up-to-date with the best bits from the cycling world on the live blog...
Thu, Sep 08, 2022 08:58
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Remco Evenepoel splits opinion by refusing to sign kid's jersey thrown at him by dad; Wheelie impressive skills by Tour of Britain rider up 20% climb; Cyclists renovate their favourite bench; New bike day; Pidcock's app goes live + more on the live blogRemco Evenepoel refuses to sign jersey thrown at him (GCN/Eurosport)
08 September 2022, 18:41
Goodnight folks
08 September 2022, 18:32
08 September 2022, 15:25
From puncturegate to jerseygate...to wingate

Heartbreak for Robert Gesink caught within sight of the line...

No controversy here, just Remco doing what he does best, let's ignore the Pizza Hut sponsorship, national team falling outs, pushing rival riders, and disappointing children...

Enric Mas lit up the stage but had little left for the sprint although he does tighten his grip on second place. Carlos Rodríguez had a tough day on, or should I say off, the bike, losing plenty of skin before losing time and dropping to fifth behind Miguel Ángel López...

Ouch. 

08 September 2022, 15:31
08 September 2022, 14:43
Jordi Meeus sprints to victory on Tour of Britain stage five

 Winner of the bunch sprint in Sunderland, after the breakaway had crossed the line victorious, Jordi Meeus finally got his Tour of Britain stage win. Stanisław Aniołkowski sped up the inside to second while on the other side of fourth-placed Samuel Watson, Tom Pidcock threw his bike to third, taking some cheeky bonus seconds and moving closer to the race lead in the process.

The finish was somewhat overshadowed by a blunder which saw half the field on the wrong side of the barriers, unable to rejoin the sprint as they raced towards the line in Mansfield...

08 September 2022, 15:18
08 September 2022, 13:52
Concerns for Queen's health

Well, there's something quite a bit bigger than cycling unfolding this afternoon. Fair enough if your live blog scrolling has gone elsewhere...

Concerns are being expressed across the country for HM The Queen following announcement by Buckingham Palace that she is under medical supervision at Balmoral where members of the royal family including the Prince of Wales have travelled today.

Best wishes from all at road.cc, of course.

08 September 2022, 13:26
"Whilst it would have been better to have scribbled on the jersey and posed for a selfie you have to draw the line somewhere": More reader Remco reaction

A few more reader comments...

MattieKempy said: "Re. Remco. He has form which suggests he's a bit of a prima donna (the  incident at last year's Worlds where he apparently did his own thing despite the agreed team tactics and then sounded off about it later). It's all very well to suggest that he's entitled to warm down in peace and in some respects he is, but he and others also need to acknowledge that he wouldn't be riding a bike professionally if it weren't for the fans that were pestering him! The shirt-thrower was 5m away so it's hardly like he could have asked politely and handed the shirt courteously to Remco."

However, PRSboy commented: "Athletes need somewhere they can go for privacy and recovery, and it looks like this was a cool-down zone. Whilst it would have been better in the scheme of things from a PR point of view for him just to have scribbled on the jersey and posed for a selfie you have to draw the line somewhere.

"I can imagine after a Grand Tour stage you would be barely capable of coherent thought."

After a Grand Tour stage? I'm barely capable of coherent thought after 11am...

08 September 2022, 13:21
Robin Hood was aero
08 September 2022, 12:28
08 September 2022, 11:50
Cyclists renovate their favourite bench
Southend cyclists renovate bench

A group of community-spirited cyclists from Southend-on-Sea renovated their favourite bench, giving us a lovely dose of positivity for your Thursday lunchtime...

Southend cyclists renovate bench

The full video is over on the Piękna strona Wielkiej Brytanii Facebook group, but as it's a closed page it can't be embedded into the blog, so screenshots will have to do...

Southend cyclists renovate bench
Southend cyclists renovate bench

Tremendous.

08 September 2022, 11:32
Double stage winner and mountains jersey wearer Jay Vine OUT of La Vuelta

Tough break for the Aussie climber whose abandon means we could have a fight for points on today's double first-category climb stage... did I mention the breakaway's got 40 people in it? Nearly a third of the race...

One of the escapees, Richard Carapaz, is now the virtual leader in the mountains classification, and who'd bet against him making it win number three of the race in a few hours?

08 September 2022, 10:52
Tom Pidcock's Link My Ride app goes live
Link My Ride In App

Link My Ride, the app founded by Tom Pidcock, has launched on the App Store and Google Play today. Billed as a pre-ride organisational platform allowing cyclists to plan and create group rides, Link My Ride is also free to use.

Co-creator Jacques Sauvagnargues explained the concept: "Organising group rides, finding local club rides to join or connecting with other individuals to ride with has never had a simple solution. We wanted to create a simple way for any rider to be able to explore, plan and create group rides and make connecting and socialising with other riders a more straightforward and enjoyable experience."

The app is free to use, but also has a tailored clubs portal designed to help clubs manage membership and club rides, which costs £240 per club per year.

"I've been joining club rides and chain gangs since I can remember but the organisation via other apps or social networks has always been lacking. We're really excited to finally bring the Link My Ride app to riders all around the world. We're on a mission to become the only tool cyclists need to connect with other riders, clubs and cycling hubs, at the touch of a button," Pidcock said.

08 September 2022, 10:47
Priorities...

> Council slaps nuisance notice on family cargo bike parked on pavement 

Council issues nuisance notice for cargo bike parked on pavement (credit - Will Prochaska)

 

08 September 2022, 09:03
Remco Evenepoel splits opinion after refusing to sign kid's jersey thrown at him by dad

This one's split people down the middle...

Remco appears to shake his head at the kid holding up a red jersey to be signed by the race leader, ignores the man (presumably the boy's father), then looks disdainfully at his soigneur when the jersey is thrown to him, prompting a Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl photographer to hand it back rather more kindly than it was thrown...

One tired rider, one disappointed kid...who's the real victim here?

The Cronoescalada cycling page shared the clip, saying: "Good for Remco denying the photo to the father who harasses him. You have to respect the athlete."

However, not everyone backed the rider, with many pointing out how little effort scribbling a pen would have taken, especially when it will make a child's day and possibly inspire them into a lifelong love for a sport (and, more cynically, your photographer is stood five metres away)...

One fan commented: "The father is weird but the child deserves his signature even if you tell him to wait a moment to recover from the effort."

Another said: "He is a professional and part of his job is to attend to the fans (and more so to future generations). There was only one person and he did not even go to approach. That's why he had to throw the jersey."

Maybe Remco's dehydrated, fatigued and had it up to his Specialized helmet with interviews, doping control and podium ceremonies, maybe he should have just taken ten seconds and signed it in the first place? 

What do you reckon? 

08 September 2022, 09:56
"He is completely within his rights not to let fans disturb his warm down": Your thoughts on jerseygate

First it was puncturegate, now jerseygate...

Remco Evenepoel refuses to sign jersey thrown at him (GCN/Eurosport)

At least the kid wasn't holding up a god-awful cardboard sign...

Here are a couple of your early thoughts on the matter...

Rendel Harris commented: "Remco did seem a bit out of sorts yesterday, it was noticeable directly after the finish that he angrily waved away one of his own team who was trying to take a picture, presumably for their Twitter feed or whatever. However, he is completely within his rights not to let fans disturb his warm down, the dad should have asked once and seeing he got no response given up."

EnjoyTheRide added: "Fully behind Remco in refusing to sign the jersey — the father displayed discourtesy and disrespect in spades by throwing it across in this manner. It's also a terrible, self-entitled lesson to teach a young child. It wouldn't surprise me if the bloke just wanted to stick it on eBay."

08 September 2022, 09:30
New bike day
2023 Canyon Ultimate riding-3

Oooooh shiny 'new' bike...

The all new Canyon Ultimate is here, but if we're being honest it's hardly a surprise considering it has been raced by the pros for pretty much all of 2022. Anyway, more important than what it looks like and who rides it are the numbers that have now been released with the official announcement...15 per cent increase in head tube stiffness and a 10 watt saving at 45kph, find out more here...

And for our review, Liam's been out giving it the once, twice, thrice and many more times over to find out exactly how it rides... it's a tough life, eh Liam...

> Review: Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 8 Di2 2023

08 September 2022, 08:09
As promised yesterday, more on this one here...
08 September 2022, 07:47
Wheelie impressive skills by Tour of Britain rider climbing 20% climb

Move over Erling Haaland, we've all got a new favourite Norwegian... Anders Halland Johannessen...

At the top of Carlton Bank too...

Legs burning, cadence slowing, double-digit grinding and the Uno-X Pro Cycling Team rider still had the skills to pop a quick wheelie for the grateful masses. Amongst the throngs of supporters, was a dinosaur...not an actual dinosaur, of course...just a grown man dressed as one running alongside home hero Tom Pidcock...

 The Beefeaters, more commonly spotted on the slopes of Alpe d'Huez, were there too and got a front-row seat for Johannessen's entertaining cameo...

Dan Alexander

Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. 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 joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.

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11 comments

Avatar
Rik Mayals unde... | 1 year ago
0 likes

Remco should have signed the jersey. It would have taken a few seconds, made the kids day and made him a fan. 

He's a spoilt smacked ass, I remember in an early race this year he tried to ride between two riders and shoved one of the riders out of the way. I think even Adam Blythe called him a smacked ass or similar. I too was suspicious about the so-called 'puncture'. I don't think he's a gracious sportsman.

My opinion.

Avatar
MattieKempy | 1 year ago
2 likes

Re: Remco. He has form which suggests he's a bit of a prima donna (the  incident at last year's Worlds where he apparently did his own thing despite the agreed team tactics and then sounded off about it later). It's all very well to suggest that he's entitled to warm down in peace and in some respects he is, but he and others also need to acknowledge that he wouldn't be riding a bike professionally if it weren't for the fans that were pestering him! The shirt-thrower was 5m away so it's hardly like he could have asked politely and handed the shirt courteously to Remco. 

Avatar
Awavey | 1 year ago
1 like

Was it that guy in the dino fancy dress costume from the photo of the day ? or another one who got impressively tackled by, I guess, a steward to stop disrupting the riders on a climb

Avatar
PRSboy | 1 year ago
0 likes

Athletes need somewhere they can go for privacy and recovery, and it looks like this was a cool-down zone.  Whilst it would have been better in the scheme of things from a PR point of view for him just to have scribbled on the jersey and posed for a selfie you have to draw the line somewhere.

I can imagine after a GT stage you would be barely capable of coherent thought.

Avatar
Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
2 likes

Remco did seem a bit out of sorts yesterday, it was noticeable directly after the finish that he angrily waved away one of his own team who was trying to take a picture, presumably for their Twitter feed or whatever. However, he is completely within his rights not to let fans disturb his warm down, the dad should have asked once and seeing he got no response given up.

Avatar
Jogle | 1 year ago
5 likes

This popped up in my Google feed

Escaped chimp returns to Ukrainian zoo only when he’s allowed to ride his keeper’s bicycle

https://cyclingmagazine.ca/sections/news/escaped-chimp-returns-to-ukrain...

Avatar
Hirsute | 1 year ago
2 likes

//ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/6D8A/production/_126624082_mediaitem126624081.jpg.webp)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-62817403

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
0 likes

A bit modernist.  Surely something more native would have been in keeping?

Avatar
Secret_squirrel replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
3 likes

But how do you draw a cock on a bicycle? Or would Boris count?

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to Secret_squirrel | 1 year ago
2 likes

Forgotten Chicken Run? (OK, OK, it's a trike, so troll me).

Avatar
Steve K replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
1 like

"You can't see paradise if you don't pedal"

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