Cyclist riding no-handed while using his phone argues with driver; Brailsford warns people to expect the unexpected at Tour de France; Former Olympian urges athletes to 'let loose'; World's most picturesque cycling cities + more on the live blog

Announcing the Ineos Grenadiers line up at the tour, Brailsford said “We won’t win this tour by sitting in the wheels. We have the team to make it a racers’ race, take the initiative, seize every opportunity and make our opposition focus for every kilometre of every stage. 

“We have changed our race philosophy this season to being more open and aggressive. Our performances have built all season and a joy of racing has infused the whole team. This more adventurous approach has led us to fearless racing and this is exactly how we will hit the Tour. We will seek out every moment in every stage where the race is on and try to exploit it. Key for us this Tour is our collective strength and camaraderie to the end.

“Expect the unexpected.”

The Ineos team at the TdF will consist of: Richard Carapaz, Jonathan Castroviejo, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Michal Kwiatkowski, Richie Porte, Luke Rowe, Geraint Thomas, Dylan van Baarle.

 

 

 

 

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What better news could there be on a Friday... you could win free beer and all you have to do is ride your bike. Sort of.

Small Beer Brew.co are inviting riders to plot and ride a route on Strava in the shape of one of its stubby beer bottles.

The company will then shortlist the best attempts and the winner will win a mixed case of its award winning Small Beer. 

That might seem like quite a bit of work to some for what is a low alcohol beer... but I'm sure plenty of people will take on the challenge for any form of alcohol after a long week. 

A unicyclist and a penny farthing rider are setting out to tackle the whole of the South Downs way.

Tom Clowes will be on the unicycle with his mate Neil Laughton on the penny farthing. Together they will take on the 100 mile (160km) route which features 12,637ft (3795m) of climbing over three days. 

Tom, an adventurer, who has previously climbed Mt Everest and Mt Kilimanjaro, said: "The unicycle is known as a mountain unicycle (or muni for short).

"It has a 29 inch fat 3 inch tyre. It is made by a Canadian chap called Kris Holm who was one of the pioneers of mountain unicycling.

“The ride is all to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK. My father died from this disease 16 years ago. I want to raise as much as possible by doing something that I will find incredibly hard.”

Tom added that although the route will be tricky on a unicycle, it might be even harder on a penny farthing.

He said: "The Penny Farthing is not built for off-road riding whereas the unicycle is built to be very strong. [The rider] sits much higher on his wheel and therefore the danger of falling off is greater.

“The hardest part for me will be the chafing and saddle sores… I shall be liberally applying chafing cream and I shall be wearing padded shorts of course!”

 If you wish to support Tom and donate to Prostate Cancer, you can do so here. 

Daisy wanted to learn to take drinks and snacks without anyone passing them to her, it tight to get a bottle off a tiny bike with the small space, getting food out of your pockets is definitely a skill 👏@Elite_cycling @gcntweet #roadcycling #3yearold pic.twitter.com/Ueaik3XkZa

— Daisy_tiny_biker (@biker_tiny) June 17, 2021

Daisy is back at it again, this time showing off her impressive skills on the rollers as she learns to get food out of her back pocket and her bottle out of the cage. 

Daisy Adams made the live blog back in November when she cycled from Bristol to Bath and back again, racking up a 34-mile, six-hour ride at just three-years-old and again in February of this year when she showed what she could do on a BMX.

When I started my career we we told and thought that lying down in your hotel room for hours was good for performance…it’s rubbish, get out and about, jump off things, let loose.

If you hurt yourself tell the physio it was definitely training related 😬 https://t.co/1cXJmN6LHc

— Callum Skinner (@CallumSkinner) June 17, 2021

Former Olympic cyclist Callum Skinner says it is 'rubbish' that athletes should spend their down time at races and competitions 'lying down in your hotel room for hours'.

He makes a pretty valid point that it might be more beneficial to take a leaf out of the British & Irish Lions book, and get outside and have a bit of fun. 

The Lions commented: "Absolutely Callum, high performance is about balance and knowing when to switch off but also when to go all in."

Head of Performance Lifestyle at the English Institute of Sport, Joanna Harrison also agreed, adding: I never bought that legs up constantly crap either! Get out and do something!"

Would taller people benefit from bicycles with larger wheels, the New Scientist asked this week? 

The science magazine asked readers whether they thought the tallest among us should in fact be riding bikes with bigger wheels.

The response generally was no they should not.  Aerodynamics and weight were both cited as pretty convincing reasons for riders to stick to more normal sized wheels.

Zwift will be sponsoring a week long women's Tour de France next year on a four year partnership.

The race has been added to the Women's World Tour and will kick off on July 24, 2022 on the Champs-Élysées. Unlike La Course by Le Tour de France - a one-day race that the Tour's organisers have put on for women since 2014 — the new event will be a multi-stage event.

Double world champion Anna van der Breggen, who rides for SD Worx, said: “This is a huge moment for professional women’s cycling.

"The Tour de France is the most famous race in cycling and it’s long been a dream for many of us in the women's peloton to compete in such a race. "I’m hopeful that the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will help us grow our sport even more by providing us with a media platform to take the excitement of women's cycling to new audiences.”

LOL at all the motorists exaggeratedly hand-wringing about me cycling care-free through a park on a sunny day, with my hands off the handlebars and my iPhone in one hand. You’re driving a massive polluting metal box through a park mate… https://t.co/fELU57sOoB

— The Department of Parks & Recreation 🦌 (@ldnparks) June 17, 2021

In the video posted by The Department of Parks & Recreation Twitter account, a heated conversation takes places between a cyclist who was riding no handed while using his phone and a driver who beeped him for apparently 'veering into the middle of the road'... 

The couple, explaining why they beeped the rider say: "You were veering towards the centre of the road you had no hands on your handlebars and you had your phone in your hand.

"Drivers aren't allowed to have their phones in their hands are they? You're a road user on wheels so you have to conform to the same rules."

To which the rider replies: "No, different rules sir."

Commenting beneath the video, people seemed pretty divided on who was in the wrong...

Leicestercyclist wrote: "Hmm I’m a cyclist that’s submitted plenty to Op Snap and I think this cyclist is being unnecessarily challenging . WE know riding no handed is fine but it can spook a nervous driver and crucially, give them a credible get out for “over reacting” to the rider."

Another user Urbane Cyclist, had a different opinion: "Riding with no hands is really quite easy.

"The element of risk really depends on the circumstances, e.g., it might not be a good idea if racing down a windy hill or crossing tram lines, but in a park it should be fine. And its not illegal!"