Wiggins: Amazing Froome will win 2020 Tour de France and surprise us all

By Eurosport

Bradley Wiggins has expressed his astonishment at the miraculous recovery being made by former team-mate Chris Froome in his latest Eurosport podcast, recorded at the Road World Championships in Harrogate.

Chatting in front of a live audience close by to the finish of the race in Yorkshire with presenter Graham Willgoss and guests Matt Stephens and Adam Blythe in the final 2019 edition of The Bradley Wiggins Show podcast, available now on all major podcast platforms, the legendary British cyclist marvelled at the injury comeback from Froome.

The Brit sustained a broken leg, hip, ribs, vertebrae and elbow at the Criterium du Dauphine and was not expected to race again this year, but organisers have said he will race in the Criterium de Saitama next month, something which Wiggins was not as shocked as others about given the four-time Tour de France champion's character.

"Nothing would surprise me with him [Froome]," Wiggins said on the podcast.

" I think he will win the Tour [de France] next year."

"He is an amazing athlete and the drive he has got, I think he almost needed something like this to drive him and push him on.

"He was almost getting bored of doing the same old thing every year, and I tell you what: I wouldn't put anything past him.

"Anything they say about the time he will be out [injured], he will surprise us with that, and he will be back at Tirreno-Adriatico in March I'm sure."

Stephens added: "He is a remarkably single-minded individual. Laser focused.

"I think he keeps himself to himself, he posts a bit on social media and stuff, but he is just focused on getting back.

"He has won every Grand Tour, and the next challenge for him to just to get back to race fitness. You just cannot rule him out at all for next year."

Listen to the full podcast for highlights including:

• Road World Championships reaction with the shock of Mads Pedersen winning

• Wiggins backs Froome to win the Tour next season

• Team all marvel at Froome’s miraculous recovery

• Team each reveal their favourite moments of the 2019 season

• Wiggins and guests recount previous World Championships experiences, including memorable times with Mark Cavendish

• Audience ask Wiggins and guests assorted questions, including how he has transitioned to being a media personality

• Wiggins reflects on his experience riding on the Eurosport motorbike at the Tour and ‘being a fan again’

This Cyclist Tested Positive for a Steroid. He’s 90.

Carl Grove in 2011. Now 90, Grove lost a world record because of a positive doping test.CreditCreditJ. Tyler Klassen/Elkhart Truth, via Associated Press

By Victor Mather NY times

It was the kind of short, dry announcement that pops up from time to time and goes virtually unnoticed. A cyclist had tested positive for a banned substance and had been disqualified.

What stood out was this cyclist’s age: 90.

Had Carl Grove of Bristol, Ind., actually taken steroids before competing in the 90-to-94-year-old division at the Masters Track National Championships? And why had he bothered, considering he was the only entrant?

No other nonagenarians turned up to challenge Grove in the 2,000-meter individual pursuit last July in Breinigsville, Pa. But his victory was not just ceremonial. Grove completed six laps of the velodrome in 3:06.12, setting a world record.

Afterward he supplied a urine sample. It tested positive for epitrenbolone, which is a metabolite of the prohibited steroid trenbolone. He was stripped of his national title, lost the world record and was issued an official warning.

LYFT BETS BIG ON BIKES IN NYC, AND UBER IS NONE TOO HAPPY

Now that it owns America's largest bike-share company, Lyft is expanding Citi Bike into NYC's outer boroughs. Not everyone is happy to hear it.

AARIAN MARSHALL AARIAN MARSHALL WIRED

AMERICAN BIKE-SHARE IS growing—and getting way more contentious. On Thursday, Lyft announced it had completed its acquisition of North America’s largest bike-shareoperator, Motivate, after previewing the deal in July. Motivate operates the Bay Area’s Ford GoBike, Chicago’s Divvy, Washington, DC's Capital Bikeshare, New York City’s Citi Bike, and five other US systems.

Citi Bike is already the biggest bike-share system in the country, and under Lyft’s ownership, it’s about to get bigger. In an announcement with New York City mayor Bill De Blasio, Lyft said it would pour $100 million into the system, expanding its reach into lower-income (and oft-neglected) outer boroughs, doubling its geographic footprint and tripling its number of bikes to 40,000 over the next five years.

“We’re expanding to more neighborhoods outside Manhattan to be able to achieve the equity goals of the system,” says Caroline Samponaro, who heads up bike, scooter, and pedestrian policy at Lyft. The company says it will pour its money not only into expanding bike-share infrastructure, but also into creating relationships with low-income communities to promote bike use and make it easier to cycle there.

That addresses a common criticism of these programs, that they cater to wealthy riders in downtown areas. Twenty-four percent of American bike-share systems have income-based subsidy programs, including Citi Bike. But while a Motivate spokesperson said the company didn’t have data on how many people have participated in its subsidy program, the company has admitted that its members skew whiter and richer than the city’s wider population.

Not everyone, though, is happy to hear about the expansion. Lyft’s move might hurt the prospects of Lime and Uber-owned Jump in one of the most cycling-friendly markets in the country, where bike-share fortunes might be made or dashed. Both of those companies are part of a city-run dockless bike-share pilot operating in the outer boroughs: Lime in Staten Island and the Rockaway section of Queens, where it has served more than 75,000 rides since June, and Jump in the Bronx and Staten Island, where it has completed more than 40,000 rides. (Citi Bike is also part of the pilot, operating dockless bikes in the Bronx.) That program was just extended by three additional months, in part to examine the viability of electric-scooter-share in the city, which is currently illegal. A spokesperson for New York City’s transportation department says Citi Bike’s expansion shouldn’t affect the pilot. But both Uber and Lime say they’ve been snubbed, and that they want to expand service to more lower income New Yorkers.

“The City should work with all parties to ensure access to everyone who wants to ride a bike to get around their communities—not one company which has long left outer borough New Yorkers stranded,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson said Jump was ready to deploy as many as 20,000 ebikes in the outer boroughs.

Lime indicated it would like the city’s permission to deploy more than the 600 bicycles it operates in the city. “New York’s transportation equity problem requires an immediate solution—and the best solution for New Yorkers is for multiple companies to compete, delivering the most options to every community,” Lime spokesperson Evan Thies said in a statement. “Lime stands ready to deliver for New Yorkers right now.”

Lyft’s investment also signals that the company has mostly committed to the docked form of bike-share, despite a recent explosion of dockless options. According to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, 44 percent of the more than 100,000 American bike-share bikes are dockless, but they represented just 4 percent of last year's 35 million US bike-share rides.

And if Lyft has its way, New York City bike-share stations will soon be more than places for keeping bikes upright. The ride-hail company wants more than a thousand bicycle docks woven throughout the metro area. (There are currently 750.) “Docks are very important, and they’re only going to become more important as we get more electric bikes,” says Samponaro, who notes that the 200 electric Citi Bikes that currently exist in the system are ridden 14 times a day, twice the usage rate of the non-electrics. Docks will be crucial sites for charging and for rebalancing electric bikes throughout the system.

Lyft would also like docks to be destinations. “Docks have place-making benefits,” Samponaro says. “They can help tie together urban planning initiatives, whether those are parklets, or neckdowns.” Lyft, in other words, says it wants to help shape a future that includes more alternatives to cars, like walking and cycling. And if docks make for easy places to pick up and drop off ride-hail customers—well, all the better.

A mock-up of Lyft's branded dockless bikes, which the company says it might deploy in cities all over the US.

Citi Bike rolls out 200 e-bikes in NYC

The new electric bikes are a preview of what’s to come during the L train shutdown

By Amy Plitt@plitter 

Your Citi Bike rides are about to get a bit easier—assuming you can score one of the company’s new e-bikes, that is. The NYC Department of Transportation, along with Mayor Bill de Blasio and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, today joined reps from Citi Bike in unveiling its new fleet of pedal-assist e-bikes at Borough Hall before taking a ceremonial ride over the Brooklyn Bridge.

The new two-wheelers, which became legal in July thanks to new legislation allowing pedal-assist e-bikes on city streets, are not tethered to any particular docks or stations; they can go wherever there’s Citi Bike service. That’s in contrast to the e-bikes that have been unveiled as part of the city’s dockless bike share pilot, which are intended to stay within their particular zones (Staten Island and the Bronx).

To start, there will be 200 electric Citi Bikes throughout the city. A larger roll-out of e-bikeswill happen closer to the L train shutdown, with 1,000 new bikes intended for use at four docking stations in Williamsburg and lower Manhattan. Additionally, Citi Bike will add even more bikes to its fleet in particularly congested areas of Manhattan—though, as of right now, no expansion is planned for further out in Brooklyn along the L.

“Today’s pedal-assist bike ride signifies a new era of cycling for New Yorkers who love Citi Bike,” DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said in a press release. “Cycling is not only fun, it’s an affordable, healthy and sustainable way of getting around – and on pedal-assist bikes, it is even faster and easier.

While pedal-assist bikes—which reach top speeds of 20 miles per hour, and whose mechanism is engaged only when a rider pedals—the city’s clarification distinguishes those cycles from throttle bikes, which are still illegal (much to the chagrin of delivery workers who use them to get around—and feel they’re unfairly targeted by the city).

Peter Sagan finds heaven in hell as world champion beats Silvan Dillier in two-up sprint to win Paris-Roubaix

Peter Sagan (centre) won Paris-Roubaix ahead of Silvan Dillier (left) and Niki Terpstra CREDIT: AP

Peter Sagan became the first world champion since Bernard Hinault in 1981 to win Paris-Roubaix following an awe-inspiring display of strength and panache in northern France on Sunday.

After going into the race off the back of a relatively disappointing classics season – Sagan added just Ghent-Wevelgem to his palmarès during the spring campaign – the Bora-Hansgrohe rider responded to criticism in some style on Sunday with a long-range attack reminiscent of Tom Boonen's fourth and final win here in 2012.

With around 55 kilometres of the 257km race remaining and trailing a four-man group by 20sec, Sagan accelerated from a group containing a number of the pre-race favourites including defending champion Greg Van Avermaet and the in-form Niki Terpstra. Despite Sagan's obvious threat there was no response, perhaps a sign of the Slovakian's strength.

Sagan crosses the line to become the first world champion to win Paris-Roubaix since 1981 CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES

A serene looking Sagan, who until Sunday had just one monument of cycling – the Tour of Flanders – on his palmarès, drifted up the road towards the race leaders before further injections of pace saw the group whittled down to two.

Swiss national road race champion Silvan Dillier, in fact, stayed with Sagan all the way to the velodrome in the post-industrial town of Roubaix where he led the way onto the smooth concrete track after almost six hours in the saddle.

Despite the Swiss's sterling effort, though, Dillier was unable to hold off Sagan once the world champion opened up his sprint and dived below the Ag2r-La Mondiale rider towards the line.

"Amazing. I'm so tired after this race. I avoided crashes, and, actually, I feel less tired than the previous years," Sagan said afterwards.

"Thank you to all my team-mates. They did a great job, keeping everyone altogether. And in the end I made the winning move."

Terpstra, who won the race in 2014, finished in third spot.

Oscar Sevilla attacked and robbed while training in Colombia

41-year-old suffers broken wrist as five thieves beat him up and steal his bike

Oscar Sevilla was attacked and robbed by a group of thieves while training in Bogotá this morning, suffering a broken wrist that will require surgery.

The Spaniard, who lives in Colombia and races for the Medellin-Inder team, was out riding early Sunday morning in the north of the capital city when he was knocked off his bike and beaten up by five people. 

According to Sevilla's wife, Ivone, they took his bike, worth more than $10,000, along with his helmet and glasses, and made off in a taxi waiting on the corner of the road. 

During the attack, Sevilla suffered a broken wrist, fracturing the radius bone. He is due to undergo surgery today in Santa Fe hospital. 

"This morning Oscar went out to train like every morning, at around 6am, in Bogota," Ivone de Sevilla told the Caracol radio station. "Five young people assaulted him, pushed him, beat him up. A taxi was waiting on the corner and they took his bike."

The thieves did not take Sevilla's phone, which was in his back pocket, and he called his wife, though a passer-by soon drove him to A&E, where the fracture was revealed. 

"He's very down about it because that type of fracture takes a while to recover, and he was due to travel to Spain to race," said Ivone de Sevilla.

"He's very disappointed because this is what we see on a daily bases in Bogotá. There are lots of robberies, lots of insecurity for cyclists. Every day bicycles are stolen, so he can't go out and train at ease because at any moment they can hurt you or take your life, for a bike. 

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Chris Froome: It's been a tough few months for me

Team Sky's Chris Froome says the last few months have been difficult, after it emerged last year that he had double the allowed level of legal asthma drug salbutamol in his urine.

Last Updated: 11/03/18 5:47pm - Sky News

The information came to light after the British cyclist was tested following the 18th stage of the Vuelta a Espana on September 7.

The 32-year-old, four-time Tour de France winner, also said he had received great support and was now preparing for the challenges ahead.

Speaking after the fifth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico race, Froome said: "The support has been incredible. It's been a tough-tough period, hasn't been easy for me but I'm getting through it.

"But I'm staying focussed on the goals ahead."

Sunday's stage was won by Briton Adam Yates who burst clear during the final five kilometres, to beat three-time world champion Peter Sagan into second place.

Kangaroo levels unsuspecting cyclist

A cyclist in Australia is recovering after getting absolutely obliterated by a leaping kangaroo during a recent ride.

The unwitting rider, identified by The Courier-Mail only as Rebecca, was riding at about 18 mph along a road in Queensland on Jan. 26 when a kangaroo jumps out of the bush from the right side, instantly knocking her off the bike. The woman was riding with six friends, one of whom caught the surprise encounter on video.

“Two of us also saw kangaroos on both sides of the road,” another rider identified only as Helen told the newspaper. “The ones on the left hopped away, the one on the right waited to join its mob.”

The injured cyclist was released from a hospital later that day after getting stitches in her knee and injuries to her arm and shoulder.

“Within a day she was having a rueful laugh about it all and worrying about the work days she will miss,” Helen told the newspaper.

The accident was the violent latest run-between cyclists and kangaroos in Australia. The Associated Press reported in May 2016 that a woman and a friend were injured when they were pounced on by a kangaroo while riding in the Clare Valley in South Australia.

Sharon Heinrich, 45, said she and Helen Salter, 47, were cycling side by side along a popular tourist route when a large kangaroo jumped across the trail, landing with his long hind legs first on Heinrich’s torso and then on Salter’s back. The animal knocked both women off their bikes before hopping away, apparently unharmed, Heinrich said.

“I’ve gone to ride past, I thought: ‘He’s cute,’ and he’s just jumped me and taken out the side of me,” Heinrich told the Associated Press. “As I’m falling, I felt him push off me and then he’s flown to Helen and taken her out.”

Heinrich said she broke three ribs and needed surgery to replace ruptured breast implants.

“He looked peaceful,” she said. “He didn’t look angry.”

Volta ao Algarve: Kwiatkowski wins the overall

Team Sky rider takes the final stage win in Malhão

The trio had made the day's early break, and with Kwiatkowski the only man in GC contention out front, the Pole comfortably sealed the overall win - repeating his 2014 feat. What remained of the Sky-controlled peloton crossed the line almost two minutes later, having never looked like catching the break.

The British team clearly had a gameplan, with Kwiatkowski biding his time until the final climb of the day before making his move. Attacks came and went throughout the day, but Kwiatkowski was patient before showing his strength with 2km left to run, simply leaving the rest of the break behind as he rode solo to the finish.

How it unfolded

At 173km, the final stage was the shortest of the race, but by no means the easiest with five categorised climbs along the route. One - the cat three Picota at 63km - came in the first half of the stage.

There were two additional third category climbs - Alto de Ameixieira at 99.6km, and Vermelhos at 153km. Either side of Vermelhos came two ascents of Malhão - one at 132.6km, and once at the finish. The climb, 3km long, topped out at a touch over 10 per cent. Two intermediate sprints were at 16.8km and 127.6km.

After 15km a large group of 31 riders broke away. Notable names included Tony Martin (Katusha), Philippe Gilbert, Zdeněk Štybar (both Quick-Step Floors), Kwiatkowski (the best-placed GC rider in the group at 19 seconds down) and Arnaud Démare (FDJ).

The attacks started 90km into the stage, with Jürgen Roelandts (BMC) and Ruben Guerreiro (Trek-Segafredo) among those attempting to strike out. Things were soon back together though, with the real action saved until the first ascent of Malhão.

There, some 40km from the finish, the lead group was shattered as Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) struck out alone. He quickly put 30 seconds into a small chase group, and a minute in the remainder of the break.

Pöstlberger was out on his own until Štybar joined him on the Vermelhos climb, 20km from the line. The break lay 30 seconds further back, while the Team Sky- and BMC-led peloton were three minutes further back.

Štybar left his companion behind on a sharp unclassified climb with 11km to go, his advantage over the chasers up to 45 seconds as he reached the bottom of the race's concluding climb. With 2km to go, Kwiatkowski followed Davide Cimolai's (FDJ) early attack, launching himself away from the group and up to Štybar.

The Pole soon passed his ex-teammate, riding unchallenged over the final 1,500 metres to the stage and overall victory.

Further back, Pauwels led the charge, taking Guerreiro and Stefan Küng (BMC) with him. After a tactically smart ride up the climb, Guerreiro made his move with 500 metres remaining, sealing second place ahead of Pauwels.

Full Results

#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult

1Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky4:18:02 

2Rúben Guerreiro (Por) Trek-Segafredo0:00:04 

3Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data0:00:08 

4Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team0:00:13 

5Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe0:00:15 

6Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert0:00:17 

7Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb  

8Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA0:00:23 

9Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates0:00:29 

10Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert0:00:35

When Should You Replace A Road Bike Tyre? | The GCN Tech Clinic

We've got a special edition of the GCN Tech clinic, brought to you from sunny Dubai. This week Jon is talking tyre wear, when to replace cables, and how to care for your helmet.

Cycling race across Australia cancelled after British rider's death in event last year

Indian Pacific Wheel Race will not go ahead until the outcomes of an inquest into Mike Hall’s death near Canberra in 2017 can be assessed

An epic 5,500km-long cycling race across Australia has been cancelled after the death of a rider during the event last year.

Organisers of the Indian Pacific Wheel Race, an ultra-endurance ride in which cyclists journey solo from Fremantle in Western Australia to the Sydney Opera House, said this week that the race – which was due to start on 17 March – would be cancelled in 2018 because of the “potential outcomes” of an upcoming inquest into the death of British rider Mike Hall.

'Completely shattered but incredibly high': inside the mind of an ultra-distance cyclist

“Given this situation, and as more information about the potential outcomes of this process has become clear only very recently, it is with an extremely heavy heart that we cancel the 2018 Indian Pacific Wheel Race with immediate effect,” race director Jesse Carlsson said.

Hall, 35, was killed during last year’s race in a collision with a car south of Canberra.

A prolific ultra-distance cyclist, he had ridden more than 5,000km in 12 days – averaging more than 400 kilometres a day – and had previously warned riders about close calls with motorists.

The long-distance race was held for the first time in 2017. Crossing the Nullarbor Plain and passing through Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra on their way to Sydney, riders were required to either carry all their food, water and repair supplies or buy them along the route.

Hall was one of 70 riders who set off from Fremantle last year, and race leaders were expected to complete the race in about 14 days.

Organisers canceled the event after Hall’s death, but Carlsson had previously said the race would still go ahead with increased safety measures.

Entry fees would be refunded, he said.

“The fact that this race has taken on a life of its own, strengthened the ultra-endurance cycling community and created an unparalleled interest in what is largely a very solitary pursuit, is something of great pride,” Carrlsson said.

“It’s for this same reason that this decision is not taken lightly, knowing how many people this will upset and even anger.”

He said Hall was an “inspiration” to other riders.

“The phrase ‘be more Mike’ is something many of us have clung to in the weeks and months following his untimely death,” he said.

“Revisit that and please channel any of the negative energy associated with the cancellation of the IPWR into something that Mike would be proud of. Live because you can.”