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news
Three weird and wonderful (?) things from CES; GFNY sponsor pulls out after Alejandro Valverde ad refused; Bjarne Riis named NTT manager (and part-owner); Durbridge beats world champ Dennis to Aussie TT title _ more on the live blog
SUMMARY
AO mask.PNG08 January 2020, 21:47
Some weird and wonderful (?) tech from CES 2020
While early January at the sharp end of the retail industry means New Year sales after the Christmas rush, in tech terms it also signifies a look at what may be some of the biggest sellers in the year to come with the mammoth Consumer Electronics Show – nowadays known simply as CES – in Las Vegas providing a showcase for products from brands big and small.
The sprawling show spans all kinds of sectors – and while in terms of the bike industry there are more important shows throughout the year, CES does tend to throw up some cycling specific products each year, some of which will catch on, others perhaps not.
We’ll be taking a more detailed look at some of those here on road.cc later this week but in the meantime, here are three that have caught our eye.
First off, there’s the AO Air Atmos personal air filter (pictured above). The company’s chief executive Dan Bowden developed it after encountering problems with air pollution during his commute in London. It’s claimed to be 50 times more effective than existing facemasks.
Next up, is it a car or is it a bike? Well, the Wello Family, originating from France, is billed as a bit of both. Costing £6,600 it can carry two adults – one behind the other – or one adult in front plus two kids in the back.
Last up this evening, we have the Benjilock. It’s a bike lock you can unlock using your fingerprint. Nifty, eh? Well, maybe not if our experience of trying to unlock a smartphone in the rain in the same way is anything to go by.
Luckily, it comes with a key as a last resort … although given the whole idea is not to have to worry about a key and you’ll have to take one with you just in case, perhaps that should be a key of first resort?
08 January 2020, 14:37
Organiser of Gran Fondo New York World Championships claims long-term sponsor pulled out because an ad featuring Alejandro Valverde was refused
A multi-year sponsor of GFNY discontinued their sponsorship because I refused to print their ad showcasing convicted doper Alejandro Valverde.
We are told that cycling is different today. That Omertà is history. That's not my experience.
This is a story of Omertà in cycling.
— Uli Fluhme (@ulif) January 8, 2020
Uli Fluhme, who co-founded the GFNY race with his wife and Ironman athlete Lidia Fluhme, has revealed that a 'long-term' sponsor has pulled out because they refused to print an advert featuring Alejandro Valverde; the 2019 world champion served a two-year suspension in 2010 for blood doping.
In a series of tweets, Fluhme - who is known for being particularly outspoken on anti-doping - continued: "Being anti-doping in cycling means acting on it. For us, the most obvious is IC and OOC tests at GFNY that cost $15,000 just for our NYC race alone.
"And we don’t invite active or former pros who have been caught for doping or implicated in a scandal. Think of any former pro and we have likely been offered his appearance. No thanks. Each of our rider is the star of our events.
"Entirely avoiding cycling industry companies who sponsor dopers would mean avoiding the whole industry - which is impossible. But that doesn’t mean we will print an ad showing a doper. And we don’t allow a company's ambassador to lead group rides if he’s a doper.
" won’t get tired of standing up for the clean athletes, even if the cost to do so is significant. Forget $15,000 for doping controls. That’s nothing compared to the losses suffered due to the widespread incestuous behaviour we see every day in cycling."
It hasn't been revealed who the company is, and in the replies a number of Fluhme's followers are speculating that it's GFNY's title sponsor Campagnolo; although Valverde and his Movistar teammates are now riding on SRAM components for 2020.
GFNY is described as an event that allows you to "be a pro for a day", taking place on mostly closed roads over a 100 mile route from New York City to Bear Mountain. In the 2019 edition back in June two riders of GFNY returned positive doping tests, with race rules stating that a rider who tests positive has to reimburse the cost of the test. Fluhme said at the time: "We don't allow course-cutting at our races so why would we look the other way when it comes to doping?”
08 January 2020, 15:58
Mark Cavendish gets stuck in to training
Will we see Cav winning again in 2020 with his new Bahrain McLaren team?
08 January 2020, 15:22
MGIF... of a child, and then hold them up a few seconds later
Pushed by the wind, this Mercedes driver #141d37096 had no other choice but to get in front...
No communication, no excuses, no nothing. pic.twitter.com/2dZjQfQXG2
— icyclet (@bicycletting) January 7, 2020
Perhaps one of the worst examples of the 'must get in front' phenomenon we've seen, with the driver achieving nothing other than endangering the lives of the cyclists they overtook before having to grind to a halt.
08 January 2020, 14:20
Bjarne Riis officially becomes NTT Pro Cycling manager
BREAKING NEWS
Virtu Cycling has acquired a minority stake in @NTTProCycling. The agreement will see former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis assume the role of Team Manager.
Full statement: https://t.co/sxNq7GHBST pic.twitter.com/JaCqiaUyWq
— NTT Pro Cycling (@NTTProCycling) January 8, 2020
The news was leaked by Danish website B.T. yesterday, and was formally announced at an NTT (previously Team Dimension Data) press conference this afternoon that the 1996 Tour de France winner and current Virtu Cycling co-owner will now become NTT's Team Manager.
Riis said: “This is a proud moment for our organisation, Virtu Cycling, and I’m really excited by this partnership and its potential. Together, I believe we can develop one of the world’s best cycling teams built on being performance and technology-driven, combined with our many years of experience from the World Tour.
“We have had some thorough and fruitful talks and meetings with Doug Ryder on the team’s future and potential. I’m really looking forward to our collaboration and to take on the sporting leadership of the team in this new setup. I have nothing but admiration for what Doug has built and achieved with this team starting on continental level onwards to become a WorldTour-team, for his contribution to cycling and his work and support for the Qhubeka Charity. Together, I believe we can take the team to the next level and make it a team that everybody – riders and staff – want to be a part of.”
08 January 2020, 12:28
On the forum: how do you deal with anti-cyclist relatives around the dinner table?
This topic has sparked a big old debate on our forum, after the little onion says they were subjected to a rant about cyclists "holding up the traffic" around the dinner table over Christmas: "The surprising thing is that this particular relative is actually normally really nice and chilled out, so it was really stunning to hear anti-cyclist venom pouring out."
The question has been asked... how do you deal with this? We've got 68 suggestions and counting on the forum, our favourite being: "I won't get into a battle of wits with an unarmed man."
08 January 2020, 12:16
Valverde has to settle for national champ stripes
The Spaniard is no longer the world champ as Mads Pedersen took the 2019 title, but he did scoop the National crown and Fizik have made him some nice new shoes to celebrate the fact. The Infinito R1's are all white except for the Spanish flag stripe at the top of the tongue.
08 January 2020, 11:49
Luke Durbridge defends Australian national time trial title by beating world champ Rohan Dennis
#RoadNats WHAT. A. RIDE... AGAIN!! @luke_durbridge1 has successfully defended his Australian TT title, once again beating world champion Dennis.
— Mitchelton-SCOTT (@MitcheltonSCOTT) January 8, 2020
Curiously two-time world champion Dennis has been unable to win at national level for the second successive year, thanks to another stunning ride from Luke Durbridge. The 28-year-old Mitchelton Scott rider completed the 37.5km course in 46:18, beating Ineos' latest big signing by 18 seconds.
Dennis won the title three times between 2016-18, but thanks to Durbridge's efforts it has alluded him in 2019 and now 2020 too.
08 January 2020, 10:49
New research finds a third of adults surveyed think it's 'too dangerous' to cycle
The research from Sevanta surveyed 1,040 people aged between 16-69 in the UK, and made some disappointing but sadly unsurprising findings.
More than a third (34%) say they never cycle because they think it's too dangerous, and 64% of all respondents rated cars as their biggest worry on the road. 58% said HGVs, 54% bad road conditions, 50% buses and 44% were most worried by the lack of cycle lanes. 16% of Londoners even said that bike theft was a prime reason why they don't cycle more often.
There are also some generational stats, with Generation Z (aged 25 and under) being the most keen cyclists, even though 25% said they aren't confident enough to ride regularly. Baby Boomers and Gen Z are more likely to cycle for environmental reasons than any other age demographic, despite being the most concerned age groups around road safety.
For both leisure and commuting, the main motivator for cycling was the health and fitness benefits, with 61% of leisure cyclists citing this reason compared with 44% of those who cycle as part of their commute to and from work. The next most popular reason was the lower costs compared to driving or using public transport.
08 January 2020, 10:34
Vélobici launches Albert thermal winterproof jacket
The new British-made thermal jacket has a fleece-backed three-layer laminated fabric that Vélobici say is breathable, water resistant and windproof, suitable for a wide range of conditions - it will also pack away when you're not using it.
We're not sure of the price yet but it should be on their website later today.
08 January 2020, 09:14
Sainsbury's delivery driver admits killing cyclist, after driving off because he thought he had hit a deer.
65-year-old Vincent Cassar from Basingstoke admitted causing death by dangerous driving, after knocking down and killing 61-year-old Stephen Gibbons in Bracknell and initially driving off because he says he thought he had struck a deer.
Police initially launched an investigation into a suspected hit-and-run, and yesterday the judge at Reading Crown Court accepted Cassar was active in coming forward to the police when he stopped his HGV later on after realising an accident had taken place.
Judge Paul Dugdale said: “You have pleaded guilty to causing the death of Stephen Gibbons by the careless manner in which you drove the HGV on August 4, 2018.
“That is a serious offence, as you know. You understand and you need to know that it is an offence for which you may well receive a custodial sentence but you are a man in your mid-60s, you are of good character, you have 20 years of clean driving experience driving an HGV for Sainsbury’s."
Prosecutor Charles Royle said: "We would put this in the higher category of careless driving.
“There is a critique of sight lines. This took place about 300 metres after a roundabout leading up to a Sainsbury’s on the left hand side before going into Bracknell town centre. The view would have been about 180 metres.
“It would appear that there was an obstacle in the road which had been seen just before the collision. Reactions were too late to avoid it. We say this is an inattention of what is ahead. He came off the motorway at 04.40 in the morning. The collision occurred at 04.42.”
The judge gave Cassar unconditional bail and disqualified him from driving, saying there was "a very real risk" of a prison sentence. Sentencing was adjourned until 7th February.
08 January 2020, 09:11
Progress...
2010: didn’t own a bike.
2020: casually pedaled a week’s groceries + 3 kids (8, 5, 3) home in 35°F weather on my @UrbanArrowcom. #bikechi— Elsbeth Cool (@ElsbethCool) January 7, 2020
08 January 2020, 08:57
You might have already guessed which one won
We already have a winner while second place is not far behind in our Top Gear-style race to the office using Leeds' transport - can you guess who won? https://t.co/LdCC8bSXNW
— YorkshireEveningPost (@LeedsNews) January 7, 2020
We've seen this done a couple of times before... and coupled with our own experiences, it will come as no surprise that the latest local paper to send staffers into rush hour traffic found that the one on the bike won, with train in second, car in third and the bus coming last. The cyclist took just 26 minutes to make the journey from Horsforth to Whitehall Road in Leeds city centre, with the same bus journey taking a huge 1 hour and 33 minutes.
08 January 2020, 08:47
You aren't made of sugar": how the Dutch carry on riding through the rain
In his blog post (and demonstrated in the video above) the Dutch cycling ambassador to the Dutch Cycling Embassy Mark Wagenbuur observes Tilberg residents riding in the wet, and not appearing too fussed. The solutions are fairly simple, i.e. take car and dress in the appropriate rain gear: "This was on a Friday afternoon in mid-December. It was 5.3 degrees and it had been raining all day long. According to the weather service for a total of 8.5 hours and there had been 7.4mm of rain.
"When I cycled back to the station I noticed many young people coming back from school. They were cycling in the rain, often in groups, just like I was. But there were not only children, many elderly, doing some shopping in town, rode just as well, often in rain gear."
Jack has been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of the website including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named Editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master's degree in print journalism and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it's a long story).
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27 comments
On the GFNY situation. It is understandable using Valverde in an ad as he is the current World Champion; by virtue of serving his doping ban and coming back and winning. The reference to omerta seems to be a reference to the Armstrong days which does not apply. The organisers have every right to decide against running the ad, but their sponsor has every right to say they are pulling their funding. Both are right. Do we in the UK not enjoy David 'I'm so sorry I doped, please buy my book' Millar on TV? What makes an ex-doper a toxic brand or a reformed character?
He isn't the current World Champion, Mads Pedersen is, Valverde won in 2018.
The sponsor is effectively saying that there is no problem with Valverde. The race organiser disagrees and feels that the omerta, which existed long before Armstrong's domination of the Tour, is still in place. This disagreement has nothing to do with whether Millar appears on TV in the UK.
"Dennis won the title three times between 2016-18, but thanks to Durbridge's efforts it has alluded him in 2019 and now 2020 too. "
Why doesn't Road.cc hire a proofreader? They could higher me as there proofreeder, £10 four every spelling misteak I fined and I promise none will allude me.
A pedant might point out that 'allude' is spelt correctly.
Homophones.
Another pedant might point out that "eluded" was spelt incorrectly.
Don't think so. On another thread the return of BtBS was also noticed.
CiBM did seem to regulate their passion quite well, hopefully BtBS can stay and continue to give us their views.
Though Xena was an arse.
That Sainsburys report makes no sense. No way an HGV could make it from the Bagshot junction to the Bagshot Rd Sainsburys in 2 minutes. Its about 5 miles.
As to the deer thing, it was also used as a defence in the killing of the cyclist on the A338 near me last year. It's bollocks. I've never hit a deer but unless it's a muntjac you're going to know about it. They're big, fast-moving and attract our predator instinct. Biggest thing I've ever hit whilst driving was a hare and that made it sound like the car was falling apart, certainly enough to stop and check there wasn't a dirty great hole in something vital.
I did say you'd be going some to do it in 2 mins
Basically, it's impossible for an HGV and they often have mobile speed traps on the central reservation between the A30 London Road and the A332 junction, where it's 50mph.
I've been in the car when a deer ran in front of my Dad many years ago - only a glancing blow, but made a mess of the bonnet and killed the deer.
Also hit a gazelle in Kenya - not much bigger than the average roe deer, but bent the bull bars enough to crush the bonnet of the van.
Although perhaps an extreme version, I often find the argument to drive and not cycle because the roads are dangerous similar to the argument that we all need guns to protect ourselves from the other people with guns
Also from CES and the BBC comes worrying news that Sony have unveiled a concept car and then there is this -
Cybic displayed its folding e-bike - with built-in Alexa voice assistant.
It allows riders to speak to Amazon's virtual assistant on the go, such as asking for directions or information about traffic and the weather.
cybic.jpg
Seemingly pointless sort of e-bike that sort of rides on water
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-51029492/ces-2020-manta5-s-elec...
CHRIST ON A BIKE!
No helmet, no hi viz !
Does he pay river tax ?
(btw did you get a post about btbs/cibm removed by the mods ?)
So hit a dear, and didn't immediately stop even to check that there was no damage to his vehicle that might make it unroadworthy.
Dontcha jus luv "professional" drivers....
Was it in old dear?
Sainsbury Driver Report: First line of the report states he has admitted causing death by dangerorus driving, however both the judge and the prosecutor are reported as stating "careless driving". So which one is it?
Also, I don't live in Bracknell but both Sainsbury's showing on the map are both in pretty built up areas. So has Urban Deers superceded the Urban Fox as foraging around in the morning in that area?
I know Bracknell pretty well.
The quote "There is a critique of sight lines. This took place about 300 metres after a roundabout leading up to a Sainsbury’s on the left hand side before going into Bracknell town centre. The view would have been about 180 metres." suggests it's the one on Bagshot Road, which could be reached in 2 mins from the M3, but you'd be going some to do it. No way you'd reach the one in the town centre in that.
This is just after you go past Swinley Forest and Swinley Park, which do have deer (there are warning signs on the A322), so it's not completely out of the question at that time of the morning.
I did think it was that Sainsburys based on the description and animals do show up in some odd locations, so not completely out of the question. Still, in the scheme of things, unlikely at best and the fact that he made no apparent effort to stop, whether to check what he hit or for damage to his vehicle, makes the defence laughable.
I'm confused (not unusual) the HGV driver has admitted dangerous driving but both the judge and prosecutor are saying careless. Is this a prelim to a less than robust sentence, and yes I don't see any point in putting a 65 year old in jail but a lifetime ban will send a clear message to others. Also would not the company also be liable in some way?
I'd rather just know what the driver was doing, he exited the motorway at 4.40am and killed someone within 2 minutes. If you're going to plead guilty at least tell us:
Were you still doing motorway speeds?
Were you starting to fill in your log for the delivery?
Were you texting?
Was the mini dvd player at a crucial bit of the film?
Were you distracted by the thousands of deer and herds of wilderbeast?
I know as cyclists we generally want anything whereby the operative of heavy machinery hitting another object is dangerous, but if you admit dangerous driving you should be expected to say why it was dangerous...
If you hit a deer while driving
Your priorities, in this order, are:
keep yourself and anyone with you as safe as you can
park your car in the safest place with hazard lights on. Consider using it to also warn other road users
call an ambulance if human injuries warrant it
call the police
That's from https://www.gov.uk/government/news/five-steps-motorists-should-take-to-a...
Given that is the advice, surely the excuse "I thought I hit a deer" is b*ll*cks? I know that if I hit anything big enough to cause a thump or bump, and I wasn't 100% certain of what it was (as in seeing a bird/rabbit and knowing I hit it) I would follow that advice and check what it was I hit. At the very least, why wouldn't you check for damage to your vehicle? Something deer-sized could well cause damage rendering your vehicle unsafe to continue the journey....
Final bit of rant, looking on google maps, neither of the Sainsburys in Bracknell could be considered anything other than "urban" the likelihood of there being a deer that close to one seems.....far-fetched at best.
Exactly, if it IS a deer, stop and call the police, don't just bugger off and leave it in agony. If necessary plod will call a firearms trained officer to euthanise it (most traffic cops are firearms trained and packing anyway - at least they are round our way).
It sounds like the judge in this case is already making his excuses to spare the killer from jail?
It seems that there are a lot of drivers out there who hit "something", then assume they've hit a deer (according to their defence brief) and just carry on with their journey.*
I'm pretty sure that cyclists look different from deer. For a start, count the legs and antlers
*The others seem to think random sacks of potatoes fall out of the sky...
- I'm thinking of you, Gail Purcell 
)
Almost every day during the hunting season you see at least one item in the newspapers about somebody who has shot somebody else, under the impression that he was a deer with a red hat
perhaps, maybe a large flesh-colored squirrel. - Tom Lehrer
As for the 1/3 of adults thinking it's too dangerous to cycle... I'll wager that 3/3 of adults think they are excellent drivers.
"take car and dress in the appropriate rain gear"
Well yes, taking the car is what a lot of us do when it rains, but I think this was supposed to say "take care"