Some 24 hours after hail stones six centimetres in diameter were reported in parts of France, the same freakish weather hit the junior French stage race, Ain Bugey Valromey Tour. Late on todays stage 4 some 89km from Meximieux to Ordonnaz Irish champion Patrick Casey was among the many riders forced to a []The post Riders forced to stop, shelter from freak hail storm at Valromey Tour | Video appeared first on Sticky Bottle.

This morning, Juan Ayuso was forced to abandon the Tour de France due to illness. The UAE Team Emirates rider tested positive for COVID-19, but despite this he decided to try to ride out with his teammates and complete the stage. However, the situation did not improve and the Spanish cyclist had to...

Carlos Rodriguez remains the best Spanish and INEOS Grenadiers rider in the general classification of the Tour de France 2024. After a tremendous 13th stage for the peloton, where the riders went at top speed from the start of the day to the finish, they are now preparing for a brutal weekend where...

Welcome back for the second installment of the MADE Australia photo extravaganza. This time Ill be sharing some of the gravel bikes that were in attendance, but Ill mix a few cargo bikes in there as well. Oh, and make sure you check out the awesome paint job that was on display by Squid Bikes. Lets get started. Gravel BikesCurve CyclingBack in 2012, when Founder Steve Vagara started Curve Cycling, he saw an opportunity to offer fellow riders high-spec products without the excessive marketing noise. Adventure is at the core of Curve Cyclings identity, whether its taking the long way home or racing across the country, adventure is built into Curves DNA. Curve GMX+(Photos / MADE Bike)Devlin CyclesUsing the modern look, but taking cues from cyclings past, Devlin Cycles Founder and fabricator, Sean Doyle designs his bikes to be functional first. Along with that functionality Doyles creations still have that classy, modern aesthetic about them that gives a ride that is smooth but responsive, that dances when pushed hard.Devlin Momentum NeonLost WorkshopIan built his first handmade bicycle frame a lugged steel gem from Columbus tubing, back in 2016. In 2018, The Lost Workshop is a culmination of Ians lifelong passion for designing, building, and riding bikes. His work is no fuss and adorned with classic and clean lines, with a touch of modern.Lost Workshop GreenSimpatico BikesSimpatico Bikes pulls its brand name from the Italian word meaning easy to live with. This reflects the ethos of Co-Founders Jeff Servaas and Bandon Stewart in their desire to create aesthetically pleasing and durable titanium bikes that are, indeed easy to live with. Simpatico BunyipSimpatico GammaWoods Bicycle Co.This family business is driven by bike-obsessed brothers who combine skill, attention to detail, and innovation to redefine your cycling experience. With a strong racing and fabrication background, they infuse each frame with expertise and passion, ensuring top-notch quality while meeting all of your biking needs.Woods NomadWilde Bicycle Co. Jeffrey Frane the Founder of Wilde Bikes pours his heart, soul, knowledge, experience, and passion into creating the finest bicycles. Once the Founder and fearless leader of the legendary All-City Cycles, Jeffery now leads the team at Wilde. Inspiring the team to utilize their network of talented friends, fabricators, artists, and partner shops. All of this is to create aunique footprint in the industry.Wilde Dream EngineSquid BikesRiding bikes is about as dumb and futile an endeavor as many other hobbies, which is to say its worthwhile and existentially gratifying in ways that are hard to explain. Bikes are simple machines that bring deep joy. Theyre a way to find clarity and peace, not to mention a great way to get around.Squid Bikes NFT (Gravel Track?)Cargo BikesDutch Cargo BikeDutch Cargo is a pioneering company specializing in the import, distribution, and retail of high-end premium and luxurious European eBikes and eCargo Bikes, like Tern, Urban Arrow, Riese and Muller, and the cool Larry vs Harry Bullitt custom-built cargo bike below.Larry vs Harry Bullitt Cargo Bike (custom build)Omnium CargoWorking as a bike messenger since 2002, Omnium Founder, Jimmi Jumbo Bargisen knew a thing or two about what he wanted out of a bike, how it should ride, and what it should be capable of. in 2012, he designed his dream bikeand Omnium came to be. Omnium Cargo V3MADE.BikeThe post MADE Australia Gallery #2: Gravel and Cargo Bike Beauties appeared first on Bikerumor.

There's was a massive battle for a spot in the breakaway in the thirteenth stage of the Tour de France. Even the likes of Mathieu van der Poel tried to enter to early moves. However with wind picking up the speed and peloton nervous about echelons, the world champion never got much of a gap.Mike Teu...

In 43 days and 14 hours from the writing of this article, we will be attending the wildly successful MADE Show in Portland. We are stoked to see the magic that will be on display (last years show was sick). In the meantime, we can check out the bike magic that was on display at the first MADE Show that just wrapped up in Melbourne, Australia. I was following it pretty closely on Instagram, and it looks amazing.Having the MADE show in Australia enabled the independent frame builders in that part of the globe a chance to show off their talents to an audience that may rarely get to see them. MADE had over 50 exhibitors and over 1000 attendees, making it a big success and shining the light on the independent frame-building community down under. Unfortunately, I didnt have the opportunity to attend, but the MADE Crw was kind enough to send some photos and brand info so I could share some of the magic with you guys.I will be doing three, maybe four gallery articles displaying bikes from these disciplines, Road, Gravel, and Cargo. I thought I would try to only cover the builders that werent covered in my coverage of the Portland show, well see. The articles will be simple with photos and a link to the builder. Cool? Ok, lets get started. Road BikesKen Evans FramesWith what looks to me like a bitchen blending of tradition and a keen eye for details, Ken Evans has been building bicycle frames since 1976. Check out his handy work. (Photos / MADE Bike)Palmer BicyclesAustralias Palmer Bicycles is a maker of bespoke carbon fiber bicycles that are entirely designed, engineered, and hand-crafted in the Macedon Ranges of Victoria, Australia, for the perfect fit.Palmer Bicycles Fast Road(Photos / MADE Bike)Lost WorkshopIan built his first handmade bicycle frame a lugged steel gem from Columbus tubing, back in 2016. In 2018, The Lost Workshop is a culmination of Ians lifelong passion for designing, building, and riding bikes. His work is no fuss and adorned with classic and clean lines, with a touch of modern.Lost Workshop Track BikeLost Workshop Yellow BikeBaum CyclesBaum Orbis + Darren Baum has almost three decades of frame-building expertise, which is even more impressive considering hes not even 50 years old. Ride your own race. Thats what Darren did, and now hes producing some of the worlds best bespoke bicycles.WondercrossBuilt for the people, not the podiumWondercross began life as a multi-disciplinary ride built around people, roads, gravel, and trails. Its these four pillars that are proudly stamped into every product they design.Wondercross AR TiWondercross RamblerStinner FrameworksCombining craftsmanship and performance-oriented detail, Stinner Frameworks builds steel and titanium bicycle frames that use some of the lightest and highest-quality tubing in the world.Stinner GibraltarWoods Bicycle CompanyThis family business is driven by bike-obsessed brothers who combine skill, attention to detail, and innovation to redefine your cycling experience. With a strong racing and fabrication background, they infuse each frame with expertise and passion, ensuring top-notch quality while meeting all of your biking needs. Woods Road RunnerMADE.BikeThe post MADE Australia Gallery: Gorgeous Road Bikes Down Under appeared first on Bikerumor.

In an exclusive and also rather worrying story,Escape Collectivereveals that at least three teams, including the Visma | Lease a Bike, UAE Team Emirates and Israel - Premier Tech have access to an expensive device called a carbon monoxide rebreather, which allows for the precise dosing of carbon m...

Despite only a reduced peloton entered the final sprint of Tour de France stage 13, there was still a crash in the final kilometer which caused quite a commotion. Arka's Amaury Capiot came into contact with Lotto Dstny's Maxim Van Gils with both riders hitting the deck quite hard. The race jury fou...

We have witnessed another lightning fast day at the Tour de France. The threat of crosswinds was closer than ever and after handful of false alarms, the most loyal fans have finally witnessed the sought after echelons. And would you guessed it - Visma | Lease a Bike took charge in splitting the pelo...

The Tour heads into the Pyrenees for the weekend. Today is the sprint version, tomorrow the marathon.TGV (Tour Grande Vitesse): a morning tour of the paddock and masks were back in fashion. First the Bahrain team on Wednesday, now more. Its contagious. Spanish media said Juan Ayuso had Covid but with light symptoms, only he was quickly dropped and quit.A crosswind provoked the bunch like a stick jammed into a wasps nest. Victor Campenaerts launched the move and Mathieu van der Poel joined in. The race never stopped buzzing. The average speed was hovering around 50km/h for two hours. A break of 23 riders coalesced and in it was Adam Yates, 7th overall at seven minutes. He probably learned plenty of foreign swear words as his presence condemned the move. Visma, Soudal-Quickstep and Ineos could not afford to let the group take time.It was a crafty move as Pogaars rivals were burning up energy on the eve of a weekend in the mountains. And they had to work for it, at one point Visma formed their own echelon in an attempt to close the gap but it didnt work. They got help from the sprinters teams, while up front the move was too big and some riders started to sit on. Then Magnus Cort attacked to form a quartet but this was too small to elude the chasing bunch, or what was left of it with less than 80 riders, the bunch shredded by the effort and some hills in the final. Dylan Groenewegen was among many dropped which was notable given how hard Jayco had worked earlier.No teams have managed to get a train to line out the sprints this Tour and coming into Pau it was a hectic and hesitant, Jonas Abracadabra Abrahamsen even took a flyer with 3km to go. Maxim Van Gils tried to go past Amaury Capiot in his bid to lead out Arnaud De Lie but took him out instead. Up ahead Christophe Laporte led Wout van Aert but ended up dropping him off with still 300m to go, too early? Van Aert thought so and held back but by now Jasper Philipsen had launched his sprint and came past to stay away for his second stage win.A paradox of the predicted outcome but only after a demented days racing. In the mix for the sprint Pogaar said, with a cough, he might race more defensively which would be a turn up for the books. It was the eighth fastest road stage in Tour history, and no tailwind.The Route: 152km and 4,000m of vertical gain, most of which is crammed into 75km. A passage by Lourdes, a place that puts the grotty in Grotto (Emile Zolas Lourdes sees the main character Marie de Guersaint horrified at the amount of junk sold and that was 1894). Then its into the Pyrenees, a place where nothing changes and everything feels a bit dated but comfortable, like visiting your grandparents house when you were a kid.The Tourmalet needs little introduction. Climbed from Luz meaning the easier side, just, its atypical of the Pyrenees with its length and regular slope and is followed by a familiar descent.The Hourquette is not hors-catgorie, just a nice backroad alternative to the Col dAspin as its more irregular. So is the descent, probably the most technical part of the course today. Theres a brief valley road approach, five kilometres for those last caffeinated gels.The Finish: the Pla dAdet climb is a tough one. 10.6km at 7.9% is plenty but theres a steep start to help prompt a selection from the start and later by Espiaube it flattens out which the profile doesnt show but it means that when the road is rising its often steep.The Contenders: can the breakaway make it? We could see UAE more hesitant today as they gauge Vismas form and both teams go head to head tomorrow.Itll be hard for the breakaway to form, one way is for a climber capable of winning to go with a team mate who can help tow them clear; the other is to hope the battle rages and instead they can make their move on the Tourmalet.Jai Hindley is a breakaway pick now Red Bull are without Primo Rogli. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) is stage-hunting. Richard Carapaz tried hard yesterday but should be ok today, while Ben Healy is the other candidate from EF. DSM trio Romain Bardet, Oscar Onley and Warren Barguil have a chance here. Tom Pidcock (Ineos) pointed out he was very light for the gravel stage so this suits more and he can play his own cards, Laurens De Plus might be reserved as a sherpa. Chris Harper (Jayco) is climbing well but yet to win big.If its a GC battle then who to pick between Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-LAB) and Tadej Pogaar (UAE)? The Dane seems to be in the ascendant but Pogaar normally has the punch for the finish. So if anything Vingegaard needs to move early on the final climb where it is steepest, easier said than done and he might prefer to pester Pogaar by staying with him.Vingegaard, PogaarHindley, Pidcock, Carapaz, Healy, Harper, Gaudu, BardetWeather: sunshine and clouds, just 21C in the valleys and much cooler at altitude.TV: KM0 is at 1.20pm CEST and the finish is forecast for 5.30pm CEST. The Tourmalet starts at 2.50pm.Postcard from Saint-Lary-SoulanMany places want to establish themselves as a cycling destinations, particularly ski areas keen to enjoy a lucrative summer season. Saint-Lary-Soulan is one such place and hosting the Tour de France helps.The Pla dAdet ski area dates from 1965 and it shows, both in a good way with retro architecture that vibes Barbara Moore soundtracks and a needs-a-new-coat-of-paint way. It probably looked sparkling when the Tour first came in 1974. The race is revisiting on the 50th anniversary of the stage win by Raymond Poulidor. The 38 year old surged on the final climb and even Eddy Merckx could not respond. Merckx would win the 1974 Tour overall and Poulidor finished second, of course.The same day saw voice of cycling Daniel Mangeas comment the stage over the PA system at the finish after the lead speakers car broke down, 50 years later and Mangeas is still going, he was the speaker at the recent French championships in his own village of Saint-Martin-de-Landelles.More recently Saint-Lary-Soulan has paved the Col de Portet in 2018, creating a new climb for road cyclists and got the Tour de France to christen it with a summit finish in 2018 and 2021. As the pass is only paved on one side its a cul-de-sac for road cyclists and so maybe not a big draw, you can visit to do it but thats it. If youre in the area the Hourquette dAncizan and the Col dAzet are nearby. So is the 22km climb to the Lac de Cap Long which has yet to feature in the Tour de France but probably ought to as this offers so much with scenery. It would really put Saint-Lary-Soulan on the map.The post Tour de France Stage 14 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.