Car Vs Bike - Ed clancy takes on skoda rapid spaceback

This is Ed Clancy. He's a 2-time Olympic Gold medal-winning cyclist. Ed is sponsored by Skoda, and because the Czech car manufacturer also sponsors the Tour de France, they organised for Ed to show me part of the UK leg of the 2014 Tour. However to make things more interesting I decided to challenge him to a race. Ed, how are you doing? Got your email, said you could be me on a Skoda? Here it is... Ah, ok, um - I think that might have been a bit of a typo. You know how I and O are next to each other on the keyboard? I didn't mean to say I'll beat you ON a Skoda but IN a Skoda - like this Skoda. Ok, I see. Well, I can still give it a go. This is a Skoda Rapid Spaceback, and it has a big boot. This makes it ideal for carrying bikes, and although this one only has a 1.2-litre engine, the addition of a turbocharger makes it surprisingly nippy. Way too nippy for a cyclist, even one with 2 Olympic gold medals. However, after a bit of a discussion Ed and I came up with a compromise which would make our race fair. He would start by taking his bike out of the Rapid's boot, which meant refitting the wheel. Ed said I would have to do the same with the Spaceback. Our race would take place over a 2-mile section of the second stage of the UK leg of the Tour which passes through the Pennines in Yorkshire. With wet and windy weather, the going would be slippery. However I didn't think this would actually affect me. How wrong I was. I lose! After my failed start Ed kindly agreed to a re-run. Hopefully I'll do better this time. I knew I'd have to be quick. Ed can average between 25 and 30mph on his bike and with me sticking to the 50mph speed limit this meant that if he got further than halfway through the course before I set off, he'd definitely win. Finally, the wheel was on - it had taken me over 3 minutes. I'd never get a job in an F1 pit crew with a change that slow! I'm glad I'm in a car and not on a bike - the weather is awful. I really hope Ed hasn't gone too far because if he has this race is over already. Little did I know, Ed had just passed the halfway point. In theory, there was no way I could win... or was there? I've got to stick at 50mph so what I'm going to do is put the cruise control on and take my feet off the pedals. I can't afford to lose any speed so I'm going to have to go as fast as I can through corners. I'm watching the sat-nav as my kind of rally pace notes and I have to hold the wheel and hope I don't skid off the road! Ed was familiar with our course as he sometimes trains in this area. All he had to do was keep pedalling and not fall off - this race was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Until - I've damaged the chain! Ed's chain coming off was a stroke of luck and put me back in the race. This is not the fastest Skoda you can get - it's only got a 1.2-litre engine but with a turbocharger it's got 105bhp and it's actually pretty punchy. I'm leaving it in third gear so that if I do slow down a bit through the corners I can get back up to speed nice and quickly. I wasn't far from the finish line, but where was Ed? There is Ed, I can see him! I was closing on Ed fast, but not quite fast enough... Come on, come on!i'm going to have to cheat and put my foot down a bit... what can I do, 10% plus 2mph? Come on! That was so close! I think I might have beaten you! I want to look at the photo finish! I tell you what- I beat you in one way: I'm not as wet as you. I'll give you that mate, I'm freezing! We had a look at the finish on my laptop to find out who won - and it showed... it was me! hopefully Ed won't see this video and realise I cheated a little...