“Philipsen has to work so hard not to win, it’s a thing of beauty”: Cycling fans react to Mark Cavendish’s emotional ‘win’ at ‘last race’, as Manx Missile ‘outsprints’ everyone at the Tour de France Singapore Criterium + more on the live blog

“Emotional”, “grand”, and “perfect”… but perhaps, a bit “comical” too,

Beating the likes of Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay, points winners of the last two editions of the Tour de France, Mark Cavendish really did get the send-off he deserved in his final race, after that record-breaking 35th stage win in Saint-Vulbas. The greatest sprinter to have graced the sport and back on the bike, racing (in its loosest sense) his peers officially for the last time, it was like you were back in the late noughties/early 2010s, as the Manx Missile got his head down and 'outsprinted' everyone to win the Tour de France Singapore Criterium.

But of course, the race wasn’t really a race… as cycling fans familiar with the long, eminent history of crits, essentially semi-scripted cycling events meant to put up a show for the fans, would know.

(A.S.O./Thomas_Maheux)

The Singapore Crit, held by Tour de France organisers A.S.O, was a star-studded event at the Esplanade Park in Singapore. Last month, it was announced that the former world champion would be bowing out of the sport alongside the likes four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome, retired Italian and Tour champion Vincenzo Nibali, and 2024 Vuelta a España winner Primož Roglič.

And if you really wanted to know how poor actors some of the world’s best cyclists can be, have a look at the finish… with one of the fastest sprinters in recent years Jasper Philipsen sticking to the wall and going egregiously slow, 2024 Tour de France green jersey winner Biniam Girmay taking the lane on the other side and leaving as big of a gap in the middle as possible, and everyone else behind waiting patiently (as patiently you can while sprinting at dizzying speeds) for Mark Cavendish to come through. And come through the Manx Missile did, punching in the ridiculous watts and torpedoing his way to the finish line, one last time.

Who else could it ever be? 🤩

On his final day as a pro, Mark Cavendish is the winner of the Singapore Criterium 🏆 pic.twitter.com/wmldWTjAjZ

— Eurosport (@eurosport) November 10, 2024

> “I want to stay in the sport, I still love it. I’ve been building up to the moment I’m not racing”: Mark Cavendish reveals he wants to step into management role – and take up running – after retiring from cycling (but remains coy about racing again)

But in case you forget how much it can mean, especially for someone bowing out after recording 35 Tour de France stage wins over 17 years and etching his name firmly as the "best ever" in the echelons of cycling, here’s what Cav said after “winning” the race: “I realised in the last 5 laps, it was the last 15km of my career, and I went past the flamme rouge for the last time in my career, and I felt that.

“I was so on the limit, the heat here is not nice for me. I didn’t race since the Tour de France, so I’m missing that sharpness. When the guys are here with the leadout teams, it’s always going to be difficult. You see the amazing job my team, Astana Qazaqstan, did, controlling the race and leading me out.

“I have to say I was nervous about crashing or something if I fight. Not because of anything wrong, but because I really wanted to finish, at least, my last race. I was lucky I was able to get on the wheel and come past him [Philipsen] for the final.

He added: “I really wanted that so bad. I am so proud to win the Tour de France Prudential Singapore Criterium as my last professional race.”

(A.S.O./Thomas_Maheux)

However, cycling fans couldn’t help but comment on the slightly amusing situation nonetheless, with one person on Reddit saying: “Philipsen has to work so hard not to win, it's a thing of beauty”, while another wrote: “I love that our sport has this entire sub genre that is essentially WWE.”

A few more comments from social media: “Oh man, funny to watch how everyone is looking where Cav is to make sure he’s going to win”, “Project Singapore Criterium complete”, and “Come on nobody else is pedalling at the end”…

Some even questioned the BBC article's choice to not mention the context of the situation, with the report at no point insinuating the nature of a crit.

“Why on earth is the BBC reporting a fixed post-Tour criterium like a real race? I have no problem with the tradition personally, but it feels like bad journalism to make no mention of it?”

And as noted by a few fans, a quick look at the BBC article’s comments would tell you, a lot of newer fans and those unfamiliar with the sport had no idea about it, some even arguing against that it was a exhibition.

Either way, nothing takes away from the greatest ever's retirement, but hey, at least we told you...

In the past week a cycle lane in the Dorset seaside town of Poole made national newspaper headlines after upset locals claimed they had been "blocked" in their driveways by wands installed to segregate the route from traffic. However, the council says it will create a safer environment for people using it, preventing drivers from blocking the bike lane with parked cars, and others from the town have questioned the "overblown" outrage.

Full story: > Controversial cycle lane wands go viral as furious residents lash out at "blocked" driveways, but local cyclist suggests outrage "overblown" and bike lane bollards only necessary because drivers park in it

Did Hertfordshire Constabulary miss the Halloween memo?

The Welwyn Hatfield Neighbourhood Policing Team have planted brightly coloured “scarecrow” bikes contain warning messages at bike racks outside The Galleria, Asda and the swim centre in Hatfield in a bid to promote bike security.

PCSO Mark Randall said: “We’ve placed the bikes in hotspot locations and we will be rotating them around the various bike racks.

“We want the bikes to be a visible reminder to cyclists to ensure their bikes are secure. The bikes also contain warnings to thieves that we are patrolling in the area.

“A top tip for securing your bike is to double lock it. Using two locks slows thieves down and makes your bike less of a target. We recommend using two quality locks and at least one should be a D-lock. Thieves are less likely to carry multiple tools, so please use two different types of lock if possible.”

In a bizarre turn of events, officials in Kaifeng city have decided to impose restrictions on the use of cycle lanes and rental bikes, with universities even banning cycles and asking students for passes to leave the campus after a viral trend of night-time riding led to 100,000 students coming together in search of some soup dumplings, ending up blocking a highway.

As crazy as it sounds, the trend began with four Zhengzhou University students decided to ride 50 kilometres and several hours to Kaifeng on public share bikes on a pilgrimage for the city’s famous oversized soup dumplings, guan tang bao, with posts from their ride going viral on social media with people saying: “Riding a shared bike from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng for breakfast. Youth is meant for enjoying, going wild and having endless energy. Kaifeng has it.”

(I don’t know about you, but this sounds like grand fun to me, count me in!)

Kaifeng, one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China (Caren on Flickr, via CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

With other students catching on the fad, it all culminated in a total of 100,000 students coming together to block the highway between Kaifeng and Zhenghzhou, the capital of Henan province, on Friday night.

Kaifeng, a much smaller ancient city just south of the Yellow River, quickly was overfilled with people — accommodation, restaurants and public spaces, all packed to bursting according to officials. Videos circulating online shows tens of thousands of cyclists filling the six-lane Zhengkai avenue, the expressway between Zhengzhou and the streets of Kaifeng, as police used loudhailers to ask students to leave, by bike or on a free bus.

And to avoid a repeat of the events, authorities announced temporary restrictions on roads and cycle paths for the weekend, and bike share apps warned they would remotely lock any bikes taken out of designated zones in Zhengzhou.

Bikes being taken away, Kaifeng, China (Red News on Douyin)

It should be noted that the Chinese media wrote about the act in positive light initially. A report carried on the English website of the People’s Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party, said: “What began as a spontaneous trip for dumplings has turned into a symbol of youthful energy and the joy of shared experiences, making the early-morning streets of Henan come alive in a new and unexpected way.”

However, Kaifeng residents quickly turned against the fad, with one person commenting on Weibo: “At the beginning, it was hyped up, but in the end it all ended in collapse and failure. You media should reflect on yourselves. At the beginning, you all encouraged and praised this behaviour.”

Despite the backlash and the bans, the Guardian reports that some students still managed to escape their uni dorms and set off to Kaifeng on foot. “I followed my boyfriend on a night ride to Kaifeng, now the traffic police don’t let people go to Kaifeng by bike any more,” one student wrote on social media. “There are so many bikes parked on the side of the road, and so students have started walking. It’s so good to be young, this is youth!”

If you’ve sulking about stashing your good bike in the shed, I might have an offer for you. How about you join road.cc’s team and race with us in the Zwift Racing League?

We’ve already done it for one season and Season 2 starts tomorrow with six races between now and Christmas, and we’ve got space for a few extra riders in both of our teams, road.cc Baller Division B team and the Chopper division C.

Want to be a part of it? Let us know by filling in this form. You don't have to available every Tuesday – the more riders we have the more you'll get a week off here and there – but the races are always Tuesday, and our league has a start time of 1845GMT, so you'll need to be able to race then. Come race with us!

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A post shared by Alexandre Chapellier (@alexchapellier)