Cyclist

One of Britain’s brightest young female cycling prospects has won an award recognising her talent and dedication.

Lucy Garner, aged 14 and from Leicester, won £1,000 in the Taut 100 awards, which aim to recognise “young athletes who have shown extraordinary levels of excellence, passion and natural talent in their chosen sport.”

Candidates for the awards, which are sponsored by energy drinks brand Taut, are drawn from 60 Summer Olympic, 20 Winter Olympic and 20 non-Olympic disciplines. Winners also receive a supply of the drink.

A series of ‘BikeTubes’ are being organised by the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) to beat underground strikes planned for next week.

LCC is encouraging cyclists to band together on Wednesday and Thursday and ride in groups from tube stations to central London locations. A new website, www.biketube.org.uk, is coordinating these rides. With more than 800,000 regular cyclists in the capital, it is hoped that many commuters will use two wheels to get to work.

A Bristol police dog handler who denied pushing a triathlete off his bike after he banged his van with his fist has been cleared of assault.

PC Paul Nesbit-Bell was involved in an incident with William Shackcloth after the pair came into contact on a roundabout.

Mr Shackcloth, 65, told a Bristol Crown Court jury that he was on an end-of-season cycle training session when he approached a roundabout, intending to leave it at the second exit.

12-year-old Sam Scott's parents are furious at an insurance company which sent him a letter demanding £150 after a collision with a car.

The schoolboy was at home recovering when the letter landed on the doormat, asking him to pay the cost of the driver's insurance excess, following the accident which resulted in a smashed windscreen and left the boy with cuts and bruises.

According to a story in the Daily Mail, Sam, from North Shields, Tyneside, was knocked off his bike after riding into the path of the car.