Live cycling updates, start at 12.45pm BST/1.45pm local Pogacar will ride Vuelta a España | You can mail Simon136km remaining: Some 11 riders have been dropped from the peloton, two-thirds of the way up the Col de la Faucille. They include St Michel’s Alison Jackson, and Amalie Dideriksen of Cofidis and Britain’s Pfeiffer Georgi of Picnic.138km remaining: There has, apparently, been a small and non-serious crash. I meanwhile am still, mentally at least, in Saint-Claude where it turns out there is a Musee Pipe et Diamant, a joint museum created by the Association of Diamond Dealers from Haut-Jura and the Brotherhood of Master Pipe Makers from Saint-Claude. Two unlikely bedfellows, I’m sure you’ll agree. The Confrérie des Maîtres Pipiers de Saint-Claude, to give them their full and proper title, confers the highly-regarded Premier Fumeur de pipe de l’année award on the person who has done most to improve the lot of pipe smokers. It appears that they quite often announce that there is “pas de premier fumeur” in any given year, which I suppose is a good thing. The Confrérie was created in 1966 by Edgar Faure, whose first decision was to name himself the premier Premier Fumeur du pipe. The last winner, after nine years without one, was the writer Daniel Pennac in 2025. Continue reading...