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First for Armitstead

This year’s Women’s British National Road Race title has been comfortably won by Lizzie Armitstead of Garmin-Cervelo in a time of 2:48:40 over the 64mile course in Stamfordham, Northumberland. The 22 year old from Otley who had finished runner-up in both 2009 and 2010 (and is an alumni of the Great Britain’s Olympic Academy) sprinted home ahead of 10-time champion Nicole Cooke of Mcipollini-Giambenini to take her first National Championship win. Sharon Laws – also of Garmin-Cervelo – took third place on +4.

 

Very much seen as a riding star of the sport, Armitstead’s 2011 season had not started well with a string of injuries and illnesses – but following yesterday’s success (June 26), the clearly relieved rider commented: “Finally, thank God. I’ve been getting too many silvers…”

 

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Wiggins Wins at Nationals

Bradley WigginsIn a repeat of last year Sky Pro Cycling have taken the one, two and three at the British Road Race National Championships. In a blaze of glory across the 196km course Bradley Wiggins scored a solo win – his first – at Stamfordham, Northumberland, yesterday (Sunday, June 26) in a time of 4:41:08, holding back his team mates, Geraint Thomas and Peter Kennaugh, into second and third respectively – both on +30. The win means that Wiggins will now be entitled to wear the British Road Race National Champion’s jersey in the Tour de France, which begins Saturday July 2, in addition to the British Time Trial National Champion’s jersey.

 

In the under-23 event Scott Thwaites of Endura Racing took first with Andrew Fenn and Erick Rowsell following up.

 

Result:
1 Bradley Wiggins (Sky Pro Cycling) 4:41:08
2 Geraint Thomas (Sky Pro Cycling) +35
3 Peter Kennaugh (Sky Pro Cycling) +35
4 Ian Stannard (Sky Pro Cycling) +5:41
5 Ian Bibby (Motorpoint Pro Cycling) +8:02
6 Kristian House (Rapha Condor-Sharp) +8:05
7 Ben Swift (Sky Pro Cycling) +8:13
8 Yanto Barker (Pendragon) +8:20
9 Scott Thwaites (Endura Racing) +8:28
10 Andrew Fenn (AN Post) +8:28

 

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Cinema Cycles

If there’s one thing Cyclo loves almost as much as a good sportive, it’s a classic Ealing comedy. If only there was some way to combine these passions… Well now, to celebrate the re-release of “The Lavender Hill Mob” in cinemas on July 22 (then on DVD/Blue-ray, August 1) and thanks to the combined efforts of Optimum Releasing, Tally Ho! Cycle Tours and British cinema expert Richard Dacre there is. A series of three specially designed cycle tours – complete with vintage 1920’s bikes – will visit some of the iconic Central London locations from classic Ealing comedies “The Lavender Hill Mob”, “Hue & Cry” and “Passport to Pimlico”. The tours, which take place on July 29, 30 and 31, will start and end at the Southbank Centre; finishing in time to nip in and enjoy the associated film being shown as part of the “Vintage at Southbank Centre” season.

 

For more details and to book tickets please visit: www.tallyhocycletours.com

 

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Juan Mauricio Sole Improves

The Movistar Team have announced significant improvements in the health of star rider Juan Mauricio Soler, with the news that doctors are reducing his medication and no longer consider his condition to be life-threatening. The 28-year-old Columbian pro was seriously injured in a fall in the village of Gloten, 11 km into the sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse on Thursday June 16 – he suffered multiple fractures, but, more seriously, the crash left him with a significant bleed on the brain. He is being treated at the Hospital St. Gallen in Switzerland, from where Team doctor Alfredo Zúñiga has reported: “He has begun to make light movements and tests seem to rule out spinal injury, although we should be aware of further studies. Now we have to see the evolution of a possible neurological damage.”

 

The accident came hard on the heels of the tragic loss of Movistar’s great Catalan rider Xavier Tondo who was killed after a freak accident in his garage on May 23; which in turn came only weeks after the death of Belgium’s Wouter Weylandt during the Giro d’Italia.

 

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Small Wonder

A mini-marvel, the Red Bull Mini Drome – a 25m, one-tenth scale, fully rideable velodrome – is heading for Scotland. To be exact the track, which was designed and built in Germany by renown manufacturers VeloTrack, is about to make its appearance at Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow on Saturday June 25, with qualifying events for 100 fixed-gear bikes between 2 and 6pm and the main event kicking off at 7pm. The track, which can be broken down into 180 pieces for easy transportation and can be reassembled in just 2 hours, was created using a revolutionary, ultra-flexible plywood and serves up a continuous curve, keeping riders on a perpetual 50degree angle whilst pushing them to speeds close to 50mph.

 

The event is free to all members of the public, but will be on a first come first served basis so Cyclo suggests you arrive in good time to avoid disappointment. For more details, and to see where the Mini Drome will be heading next, visit: www.redbull.co.uk

 

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Easy as 1,2,3…

As Cyclo is on a bit of a roll with bike-theft and lock stories at the moment, following the Halfords report revealing that a truly staggering 80% of incidents go unreported, we thought we would share this incredible clip by video artists Casey and Van Neistat with you. After years of suffering thefts of and from their bikes in New York City the Neistat Brothers set out to prove just how simple it is to turn to a life of crime at the expense of the poor commuter cyclist. The brazen results are both jaw-dropping and, hopefully, a salutary lesson to us all. For more information on the Neistat Brothers visit www.neistatbrothers.com – enjoy the video and try not to have nightmares…

 

 

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Can We Fix It?

Bike WeekTeam Green Britain Bike Week, billed as “the UK’s biggest mass participation cycling event”, was launched yesterday (June 15) at the EDF Energy London Eye, with what promises to be the first of hundreds of ‘Bike Fixes’ planned to roll out around the country between June 18 and 26. The ambitious sounding scheme is an attempt to mend over 10,000 bikes and, in the words of the organizers, “liberate the multitude of unused bikes from sheds across the country” by encouraging cyclists to attend the country-wide events. Team Green Britain (founded by EDF Energy in 2009) is an online community that aims to enable people to live in a more sustainable way and this is the second year in which they have supported Bike Week.

 

Commenting on the depressing and long-languishing state of many of the county’s two-wheelers Phillip Darnton, Chairman of the Bicycle Association comments: “We know that 77% of people in the UK own a bike, but only 14% use them regularly and a major barrier to people getting back on two wheels is often something as simple to fix as a dodgy brake or puncture.”

 

For details of your nearest event visit www.bikeweek.org.uk

 

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Lock Down

Cyclo can only suppose that Halfords are looking to promote the purchase of new bike locks (can’t blame them really, it’s their job) as they have issued a press release about the dire state of affairs that is cycle theft in the UK. Using a Freedom of Information request to each police force, they have estimated that most bikes reported stolen have a value of between £100 and £500 with an average of value of £340 and that, according to police crime statistics, a total of 115,147 bikes were reported stolen in the UK last year. However, according to the British Crime Survey, that Halfords also cite, the true number of thefts is closer to 533,000 (the equivalent of a bike going “missing” every minute). If the figure is correct then almost 80% of owners are failing to report thefts…

According to the figures obtained by Halfords the Top 10 police forces for bike theft in 2010 were:


Metropolitan police: 21,315
Thames Valley: 6,060
Greater Manchester: 5,185
Cambridgeshire: 4,477
Avon and Somerset: 3,895
West Midlands: 3,222
Leicestershire: 3,057
Lancashire: 2,727
Sussex: 2,668
Humberside: 2,440