Tough day at the office for cyclist who rode 100km on a water bottle after saddle mechanical; Alexandar Richardson's latest London to Brighton (and back)... at 40km/h; Weekend round-up + more on the live blog

Mechanicals are always a pain in the arse, but some more so than others...

Just the 100km home on a Science in Sport 750ml water bottle for poor Matthew. Maybe we'll have to get one in for Stu to review. I'm thinking: cheap, light, easy to fit, but not the most comfortable.

One of the comments on the Strava activity (go give Matthew some well-deserved kudos) called it the "best audax bodge I've ever seen" and debatably a better choice than enduring 100 quad-shredding kilometres across Northumbria out the saddle. Chad Tavernia of previous live blog fame might disagree, the US rider who broke the cycling internet when he shared pictures of his saddleless Pinarello having completed 100 miles out the saddle.

Cue Photoshop accusations, Chad telling us he'd in fact taped over the seatpost hole to avoid getting water in his frame, and the retired police officer repeating the ride on Zwift to prove he wasn't lying.

> 'No Saddle Guy' proves doubters wrong with virtual 100 mile ride (+ exclusive interview)

Another legend of the 'no saddle' genre is, of course, Wout van Aert, the Belgian winning the Benidorm round of the Cyclocross World Cup despite kicking his saddle off while remounting after a final lap crash. No time to fit a water bottle, Wout completed the course perched on the rails before giving a modified victory salute...

> A grand for each apostle? Pope Francis sells Dogma for £12,000

The video below from the women's edition of Gent-Wevelgem, captured as Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes powered up the Kemmelberg, has prompted more talk about fan behaviour at races...

WTF IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?

We shouldn't tolerate this, we really shouldn't... 🤯😡 pic.twitter.com/YIDOm18WRk

— Saar De Reu (@de_reu_saar) March 25, 2024

It was shared by Saar De Reu who wrote: "WTF is wrong with people?! We shouldn't tolerate this, we really shouldn't. This is NOT a one time thing, it happens all the time, only now I had images of it happening, but see stuff like this happen at least five times when I go to a race and NO the riders do not like that."

The video has been viewed more than 230,000 times in the past eight hours and sparked plenty of comments from fans questioning the need to touch or push a rider to show your support, an act even more strongly condemned if it involves touching a female rider like this.

"It's not a difficult concept to grasp but please DON'T TOUCH THE RIDERS!!" a cycling fan called Anna Mac added.

road.cc reviewer and contributor Charlotte Eleanor Broughton commented: "This is so awful, I can't fathom how anyone thinks it's ok to do this!"

For those who are interested this is the moment at normal speed. pic.twitter.com/KGj1i6xsk0

— Saar De Reu (@de_reu_saar) March 25, 2024

After Mathieu van der Poel's win at E3 Saxo Classic on Friday, some of the discussion was similarly focused on fan behaviour, one US-based cycling fan saying the images of Belgian fans booing and giving the Dutchman the middle finger were "unreal to me".

As an American who is envious of anyone living in close enough proximity that they can attend these races roadside, I’m shocked by the self righteousness & privileged attitude of some fans

Stepping into the road booing riders,👎&🖕towards the 🌈 jersey

It’s unreal to me 😢😤 pic.twitter.com/bclcBJmNgN

— Atlanta Rouleur Collection (@AtlantaRouleur) March 23, 2024

[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]

Adam Hansen, the retired pro cyclist and now president of the CPA riders' union, has revealed that they have asked the Giro d'Italia to provide "neutral rain jackets or warmer jackets, for riders that are caught out, due to extreme weather at the Giro on difficult stages".

While the Tour de France and Vuelta a España peloton usually only has to worry about drinking enough water and applying sun cream, the Giro's May slot in the calendar leaves it susceptible to varied weather, especially by the time the race hits the mountains of the north.

[Zac Williams/SWpix.com] 

Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale rider Larry Warbasse called Hansen's proposal "awesome" and "such a good idea". 

"It's not always easy for team cars to support all their riders when the bunch is blown apart," Hansen explained.

Anything that would help prevent a rider having to descend a mountain pass in freezing temperatures in nothing but a jersey and arm warmers has got to be positive...

[GoFundMe]

PuffaJones has set up a fundraiser to continue to support his efforts in 2024, repairing donated bikes to give to children who might otherwise not be able to enjoy the joys of having one.

"Each bike has a cost involved to repair it, I have no official funding, so your kindness is what drives the project," he told followers on social media. "So far you have helped me rehome over 3,000 bikes in five years. Thank you for your help!"

The bikes go to children most in need, 25 schools in South Wales, as well as dozens of local charities and clubs receiving Mike's bikes.

Check out the fundraiser here...

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and got out on the bike at some point between all the racing action. Here's our whistle-stop tour through everything you might have missed.

"Same performance as SRAM AXS at half the price". Like the sound of that? That's the claim of WheelTop about its new EDS-TX electronic groupset for road bikes. Find out more in Tech of the Week.

> "Same performance as SRAM AXS at half the price": the new budget electronic groupsets aiming to take on the big brands + an e-bike caravan, OTT off-the-bike shoes + loads more tech news 

As mentioned earlier, it was a bumper weekend of racing action, Mads Pedersen and Lorena Wiebes taking the victories at Gent-Wevelgem. This time next week we'll be dissecting the Tour of Flanders. A four-day weekend and the Ronde van Vlaanderen, there's something to look forward to.

At Catalunya, Tadej Pogačar won the final two stages, taking his tally for the week to four, one more than the other 174 riders combined.

> Tadej Pogačar lashes out at police motorbike rider blocking road as relentless Slovenian briefly hampered (again) by fan congestion on climb

Ryan also brought you the story of Bahrain Victorious' response to the internet drama dug up last week that Antonio Tiberi, the rider who shot dead a cat belonging to San Marino's former head of state, had apparently 'liked' a post on social media making light of the offence.

His team said he doesn't use the account and "didn't notice" the 'like'.

Oh, and here's a new bike that got an impressive review from Suvi...

> REVIEW: Mason Definition 3.0