Can they both lose? Lance Armstrong snaps back at Jake Paul 'call out' and promises controversial influencer boxer an "ass whoopin'"; Bizarre story pro cyclist lost "100 thousand" betting on teammate Marcel Kittel at Tour de France + more on the live blog

It's probably not top of the list of things we didn't expect to read this morning, but it's up there. Yep, this is the 'news' that disgraced retired pro cyclist Lance Armstrong appears to have nibbled a little too hard at what we're assuming was a light-hearted social media post from controversial (and easily hateable) influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul. Yes, you all have permission to skip straight to the next live blog item...

For those who can bear to read on, Jake Paul is... the former Disney Channel actor who now fights opponents of a questionable ability in the boxing ring, most recently beating 58-year-old Mike Tyson. Let's not spend too long here, but for further reading Paul has a quite lengthy 'Controversies and legal issues' section on Wikipedia.

Anyway, we've mentioned him before on road.cc because his girlfriend, Jutta Leerdam, has been part of Team Visma-Lease a Bike's speed skating set-up so, when she trains on the bike, she has occasionally taken Paul with her. Cue much-ridiculed photos emerging on Instagram...

"Can get in the ring with Tyson, but can't clip in?" the top comment on one Facebook re-sharing of that. To be perfectly honest, we're happy to see anyone cycling, especially a major celebrity with an enormous following. 

Paul went a little further and shared a video of him pedalling away on Instagram, taking the opportunity to tag a certain Lance Armstrong... "Lance Armstrong, I am coming," he yelled. "@lancearmstrong 1 v1 me," he wrote on the post. Now, as attention-seeking a figure as Paul is, that reads more like a joke, does it not? Obviously Paul would lose to Armstrong in any cycling event (a boxing bout is up for debate...), but the retired cyclist couldn't help himself but aggressively snap back...

"Child, please. You've been looking for an a** whoopin'. You found your place."

To which Paul responded, "Somebody tell him how many old guys I beat". Looks like our fantasy hill climb is off the table and we're moving towards something more combative. As sad/depressing/grim/*insert other horrified adjectives here* as it is, an Armstrong vs Paul boxing match would probably be the most publicity cycling (or more accurately, a disgraced former cyclist) has ever had.

Right, on with the readable stuff...

Regular road.cc contributor Laura has penned a piece for Fleet News communicating the update that police will be able to replace 'Police Accident' with 'Police Collision' on road signs and in-car messaging.

Campaigners and the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) welcomed the move, the language used to better reflect the fact that many collisions are avoidable and the result of human behaviour, not simply chance accidents.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has granted police special authorisation to use collision instead.

> Police no longer describing road collisions as 'accidents' – but over two-thirds still refer to vehicles instead of drivers, new research finds

Commander Kyle Gordon from the NPCC called the news "another positive step" as "correct use of language is essential to ensure we bring people's attention to the actual negligence present in so many of these collisions".

"I know this change will be welcomed by our colleagues in policing who see first-hand the serious and long-lasting impact of collisions on individuals, families and communities. Five people killed and over 80 seriously injured on our roads every day is quite simply unacceptable," he said.

"The vast majority of these collisions are simply avoidable if people start to take seriously their own personal responsibility for safe use of the roads. The correct use of language is essential to ensure we bring people's attention to the actual negligence present in so many of these collisions in order to try and prevent this level of harm on our roads."

Ilnur Zakarin, now-retired but winner of two Giro d'Italia stages and one at the Tour de France during the mid-2010s, has taken to Facebook with a bizarre tale about how he lost "100 thousand" betting on teammate Marcel Kittel to win a Tour stage... because the German powerhouse was eating a lot of pasta the night before.

The source for this story is... Zakarin himself... the Russian rider telling fans via his verified Facebook account of the tale. Thanks to Google Translate, we can grab a hopefully accurate enough translation... although we'd give him some leeway with some of the wording.

I just saw that @marcelkittel liked the previous post, I immediately remembered the story with it. I was very fortunate that he and I got to go on the Tour de France on the same team. After the 17th stage, we met for dinner and I noticed he's already eating his third plate of pasta. I be like, “wat up bro?” He replies that he feels that I will win the stage tomorrow, and this feeling never fails him. I laughed, but I postponed the feeling information, because I feel the same. For a second, he won five stages of Tour de France a year earlier.

After dinner, I quickly got to my room and wrote to my homie to bet 100 thousand for Kittel to win. Koresh, who understands cycling, said it was a bad initiative. But emotions turned out to be stronger and I still bet on him.
Of course, I sent the money immediately and waited for the next day. The bet should work, and I will make a lot of money.

I woke up in the morning energetic and charged up and expecting a big meal. I wished Marcel good luck, and I covered him from the wind, fed and protected him all day. I fell behind to the finish line, and when I got there, I immediately asked how he finished? He calmly replied that something went wrong today. After that, I no longer bet on sports.

The only year Kittel and Zakarin rode the Tour as teammates was for Katusha in 2018, a year when the sprinter was over the time limit on stage 11, so possibly a bit of misremembering going on here (although Zakarin saying Kittel had won five stages the year previous does check out). 

The "100 thousand" is presumably Russian Ruble too, which would have been about £1,250 in July 2018.