“You told us ‘No politics in sport’, remember?” UCI president ridiculed for praising “friend” Nicolas Sarkozy as he enters prison; Team boss calls for budget cap due to UAE dominance; Cycle to Work praised; Perfect hill climb bike? + more on the live blog

If you’re dreading the thought of another winter on that rusty old turbo trainer in the shed, we have just the competition for you…

> Win! New Elite Rivo smart trainer with Zwift Cog and Click + accessories worth over £600!

You’ll not be overly surprised to hear, following David Lappartient’s vocal support for him, that Nicolas Sarkozy has a long, rather interesting history with cycling – and one that shows that sport and politics do, in fact, mix quite often.

Back in 2012, Pierre Bordry, the former head of the French national doping agency, the AFLD, claimed that Sarkozy, during his tenure as president, forced him out of his post in 2010 at the request of none other than Lance Armstrong.

Bordry, who died in January 2024, aged 84, resigned from his position at the AFLD in September 2010, after frequently criticising the French government for cuts to the agency’s funding, while also publicly clashing with Armstrong on numerous occasions following the Texan’s ill-fated return to the sport in 2009.

Calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the politicians, doctors, businessmen, and sport officials he claimed protected Armstrong as he doped his way to seven Tour de France wins, Bordry claimed in 2012 that the UCI’s insistence that it should take responsibility for drug testing at the 2009 Tour, relegating the AFLD to the role of spectator, was directly motivated by a desire to protect Armstrong.

> French ex-anti doping chief says President Sarkozy forced him out of job at Lance Armstrong’s request

Bordry also alleged that his fate at the AFLD was sealed after Armstrong had dinner with Sarkozy at the Elysée Palace in July 2010, after which his budget was slashed by half by France’s sports ministry.

“Armstrong told me about it himself,” Bordry explained to the Nouvel Observateur. “He boasted in front of me of having called for my head from the President. I asked for a denial from the Elysée, even a private one, but never received a reply. I was shocked.”

> Police officer stops ex-French president Nicolas Sarkozy – for cycling the wrong way along quayside in St Tropez

And, in much less sinister fashion, Sarkozy also made cycling headlines at the start of 2017, when it was revealed that he had been ordered off his bike on New Year’s Eve by a policeman for cycling the wrong way on the one-way quayside at the millionaires’ playground of St Tropez.

Since Sarkozy and Carla Bruni married in 2008, the couple normally spent their summer and other holidays around 15 kilometres from the Cote d’Azur resort at the Cap Nègre clifftop villa owned by the singer and former model’s mother.

Nicolas Sarkozy surpris en sens interdit (à vélo) par un policer sur le port de Saint-Tropez https://t.co/8lcnSbTWUc via @var_matin pic.twitter.com/ylX2zTV56C

— Stéphanie Mayol 🇺🇦 (@smay06) January 4, 2017

When there, Sarkozy regularly hopped on his Looked bike to head into the hills, but on that particular day, instead of tackling the cols above the coast, the 61-year-old rode to St Tropez for a more “festive” ride – where he fell foul of the law.

Not for the last time, mind you…

One of the absolute highlights of the cycling calendar, the British hill climb championships, takes place this Sunday on the fearsomely steep streets of Matlock, Derbyshire.

And defending men’s champion Harry Macfarlane has been pulling out all the stops this year to build the perfect bike he hopes will propel him to national title number two.

Spoiler alert: It’s very, very, very light:

A true classic of the genre here: untaxed and left for over two days at the start of this week, strewn across the cycle lane on St Giles’ in Oxford (one local says it was being loaded onto a lorry this morning).

But at least the paint is doing its protective job, eh?

Sent in by a follower This has been here for long enough to get at least one parking ticket already St Giles

[image or embed]

— Badly Parked Oxford (@badlyparkedox.bsky.social) October 21, 2025 at 8:58 PM

A new report commissioned by the Cycle to Work Alliance has claimed that the scheme generates £573 million a year to the UK economy across retail, productivity, health, and household savings, while saving commuters over £1,200.

The report, conducted by Ortus and published today, found that £219 million worth of bikes and accessories were purchased in 2023/24 by 199,000 employees, a figure that rose to 209,000 the following year.

Of those employees, 38 per cent were new to commuting to work by bike, demonstrating, the Cycle to Work Alliance says, the scheme’s ability to influence behavioural change.

> Does Cycle to Work still… work?

Sales through the scheme also generated £43.8 million in VAT in 2023/24, according to the report, including £8.3 million that would not have occurred without it, while also providing a boost to the struggling UK cycling sector (though retailers have, it must be noted, criticised Cycle to Work and its impact on their businesses in recent years).

The report also found that newly commuting cyclists save their employers £63 each per year in reduced sickness absence, with an additional £115 each in productivity gains from being at work more consistently.

Combined, this contributes £37 million annually to the UK economy, while employees who switch from cars to bikes save on average £1,262 a year, amounting to £41 million across the scheme’s participants.

> Cycling a couple of miles to work enough to boost heart health by as much as 30%, new study finds

Marking the report’s launch, the alliance’s chair Steve Edgell said: “The Cycle to Work Scheme is proof that smart policy pays back. The benefits are tangible: commuters save over £1,200 a year, employers gaining from healthier and more productive staff, and communities enjoying cleaner air and less congestion.

“Crucially, it changes behaviour, with almost 40 per cent of participants new to commuting by bike. The case is overwhelming – the Scheme is proving its worth for businesses, communities, and the wider economy and should be expanded so even more people can benefit from its rewards.”

Local transport minister Lilian Greenwood also praised the scheme, first introduced in 1999, describing it as a “real success story, helping millions of people choose a healthier, greener way to travel while boosting local economies and supporting jobs”.

“This new research shows just how powerful active travel can be, and that’s why this government is investing £616m over the next four years, to help make walking and cycling a safer and easier way to get around, wherever you live and help grow the economy, so we can deliver our Plan for Change,” Greenwood said.

> MPs call for “urgent reform” of Cycle to Work scheme to tackle active travel inequality

Greenwood’s praise for the Cycle to Work scheme comes, however, just five months after a group of MPs called for “urgent reform” of the initiative, saying it should be opened up to more people and rebranded ‘Cycle to Health’.

A report published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking (APPGCW) in May recommended that the government should reduce the financial barriers to cycling by reforming the Cycle to Work scheme to enable access for low-income workers, freelance workers, and pensioners, who are all ineligible for the current initiative.

The report, assessing ‘social justice’ in active travel, also called on the government to tackle pavement parking, remove discriminatory access barriers from cycleways and footpaths, and ensure that inclusive mobility is included as a legal design standard for all active travel projects.

One of the more bizarre tech stories of 2025 comes to a predictably banal conclusion:

> Strava drops lawsuit against Garmin over alleged patent infringement

Yep, that’s about right…

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Tegan Phillips (@teganphillipscomics)

Fans of fading 2010s cycling stars, rejoice! Because veteran Colombian Nairo Quintana is set to remain at Movistar for at least another year after agreeing a new deal, the Spanish team confirmed today.

Quintana, now 35, was Movistar’s bright young grand tour of the previous decade, winning the Giro d’Italia in 2014 (becoming the first Colombian in history to do so) and the Vuelta a España in 2016, while also providing the biggest threat to Team Sky’s Tour de France dominance for a few years, finishing second behind Chris Froome in 2013 and 2015.

After spending the first eight years of his career at Movistar, Quintana jumped ship to Arkéa Samsic in 2020, and endured a tough few years at the French team, punctuated by anti-doping investigations and tramadol-related disqualification at the Tour.

Zac Williams/SWpix.com

Since returning to Movistar in 2024, he’s struggled to recapture anything close to his 2010s form, his best result this year being sixth at the Vuelta a la Región de Murcia, as he’s settled into a domestique role in stage races.

However, Movistar have clearly seen enough to keep their former talisman on board, confirming today that Quintana has signed with the squad for another season.

Quintana’s deal forms part of a plethora of contract extensions announced by Movistar today, including Jefferson Cepeda, Nelson Oliveira, Jorge Arcas, Orluis Aular, and Albert Torres, while Sara Martín, Aude Biannic, and Tota Magalhaes will all remain at the women’s team.

However, there is yet to be confirmation concerning the future of sprinter Fernando Gaviria, who’s been without win for over a year, along with Italian veteran Davide Cimolai and former Giro king of the mountains Ruben Guerreiro.

Active Oxfordshire, a charity dedicated to “fighting inactivity and tackling inequality”, has opened applications for its latest round of funding for local community projects designed to increase cycling, walking, and wheeling in the country.

Commissioned by Oxfordshire County Council, the charity’s Community Outreach Active Travel (COAT) Programme aims to support local residents from 10 priority neighbourhoods in Oxford, Banbury, and Abingdon, as well as specified market towns, “to travel more actively to work, school and in their daily lives”.

The programme, Active Oxfordshire says, is “designed to work with local community groups, charities, and organisations to build long-lasting, healthy alternatives to traditional travel so that as many people as possible can enjoy active healthy lifestyles”.

Since starting in April last year, the scheme has supported 317 children to start cycling, pool bikes at the asylum hotel in Witney have been used for over 1,200 trips, 27 bike leaders/champions have been created, 170 people have taken part in Bikeability training, learn to ride programmes, or cycling confidence building sessions, bike libraries have been opened in schools in Bicester and Banbury, and eight new route maps have been created.

According to the charity, 56 per cent of participants have since reported that they are cycling and walking more as a result of the projects, while 67 per cent use active travel on a daily basis, and participants cycle at least twice a week.

Applications for the 2025/26 round of funding are now open and details on how to apply can be found on Active Oxfordshire’s website.

> Physical separation between cyclists, pedestrians and motorists key to safer streets, research shows

Dan here, just butting in on today’s blog from Oakley HQ to share a close-up snap of the new Vanguard AI-powered glasses, a product created by the eyewear giants and Meta. They were officially launched last month and you might have seen a certain Mark Cavendish appearing in the ad for them at half time during the football last night.

We’ve got a pair in for test so expect some more in-depth thoughts soon, but yep, that circle in the middle is a camera that lets you capture rides in 3K. It’s voice-controlled too and the shades can also integrate with Strava and Garmin to display real-time data. Technology, eh…

Wout’s back.

Van Aert last raced on 20 September at the Super 8 Classic in Belgium, the conclusion to a mixed 2025 campaign which featured some stunning highs – including a stage win at the Giro and that sensational battle with Tadej Pogačar in Paris at the Tour – and another spate of near misses in the classics.

ASO/Charly Lopez

After spending almost a full month or so off the bike, complete with well-deserved family holiday, the Belgian returned to training yesterday as he begins to build towards what is expected to be a substantial winter cyclocross season.

And while yesterday’s ride, a 107km spin near his Herentals home, averaging 32.5kph, is quite the gentle, introductory spin (I’m lucky I can make it to the end of the road after a month off the bike), Van Aert’s Strava caption – ‘cramping’ – perhaps proves he’s just like us mere mortals, after all.

The cramp mustn’t have been too bad, since Wout was back at it today, though this time he opted for a very feasible 62km flat ride, which he completed in 1.52. So quick enough, to be honest. No wonder he captioned this one ‘Let’s Go!’

With the cyclocross season already kicking into gear, the Visma-Lease a Bike leader’s winter schedule is yet to be confirmed. Last year, he didn’t make his ‘cross debut until Christmas, and only took part in six races during the entire campaign, winning two.

I reckon he might wait to see how the first few weeks of training pan out before making a decision. You don’t want to be cramping for an hour nonstop in a freezing, muddy field, after all.

During the 2025 road season, UAE Team Emirates amassed a record-breaking haul of 95 victories.

That’s more than Alpecin-Deceuninck, Groupama-FDJ, EF Education-EasyPost, Movistar, Bahrain-Victorious, Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Cofidis, Picnic-PostNL, and Intermarché-Wanty combined.

To put things into even more chilling perspective, if Tadej Pogačar were a team on his own, his 20 wins would place him ninth on the WorldTour when it comes to victories, just ahead of Jayco-AlUla, who managed 19 wins this year.

Zac Williams/SWpix.com

A team consisting of just Pogačar and Isaac Del Toro, meanwhile, would be fifth on the list, eight victories clear of the Ineos Grenadiers and just four off UAE’s big rivals Visma-Lease a Bike’s haul.

So, it’s not surprising that UAE’s dominance has led to concerns being raised about the all-conquering team’s seemingly unbeatable financial muscle.

Speaking to Italian site Bici.Pro, Jayco-AlUla general manager Brent Copeland called for the introduction of a budget cap, arguing the current state of men’s professional cycling – which has been on the end of a few ‘boring’ accusations lately – will “only get worse” if something isn’t done.

“The top teams have budgets 100 or even 200 per cent higher than the mid-tier squads,” Copeland said this week.

“And those teams in turn have far more resources than the smaller ones. This system doesn’t work, and it’ll only get worse if we don’t regulate it.”

Zac Williams/SWpix.com

For Copeland, UAE’s dominance stems from one thing and one thing only: money.

“We need to talk more about this trend,” he said. “It could lead to the bubble bursting if, for example, we don’t introduce a budget cap for each team.

“If nothing is done, the gap will grow even more, there will be less uncertainty, and the risk is that the spectacle of our sport will suffer.

“Formula 1 and MotoGP have evolved massively over the last ten years to stay relevant. We need to do the same, both in men’s and women’s cycling. If our sport becomes less competitive, we’ll lose TV audiences, sponsors, and fans.

“The gap is already huge. If we don’t act soon, we’ll end up with fewer teams able to compete, fewer surprises, and less spectacle. That’s not the cycling we want.”

It turns out a questionably judged post about Nicolas Sarkozy isn’t the only political manoeuvring David Lappartient has been doing lately.

Because, thanks to a whole suite of constitutional changes introduced by the governing body at its latest congress, the UCI president is now eligible for a fourth term, which could mean – if, like this year, nobody opposes him – Lappartient remains in power until 2033.

According to sources closes to Escape Collective, the extension of the UCI’s maximum term limit, unanimously ratified by delegates at the congress, was introduced so quietly that many within the cycling world have said they were unaware of the changes.

Pauline Ballet/SWpix.com

Some sources have also criticised the UCI’s justification for the measure, which the governing body says will bring consistency between itself and the sport’s continental confederations.

The decision to clear the path for a fourth Lappartient term will come as some consolation for the Frenchman, who replaced Brian Cookson as UCI chief in 2017, after his dream of landing the top job at the International Olympic Committee was scuppered earlier this year, when double Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Kirsty Coventry became the first woman and first African to be elected IOC president.

Coventry secured 49 votes in the race to replace Thomas Bach, while Lappartient – who holds cycling’s biggest job alongside being president of the French Olympic Committee and an IOC member and president of the organisation’s Esports commission – managed just four.

The relationship between sport and politics is a funny old thing (and when I say funny, I mean complicated and depressing).

One week, you’re telling people that sport shouldn’t be exploited for political purposes, the next you’re openly voicing your support for a former French president as he heads into prison. I told you it was complicated.

Yesterday, you may have heard, Nicolas Sarkozy became the first French ex-president to go to jail, after starting his five-year sentence for conspiring to illegally finance his election campaign with funds from Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

> “Is sport a force for good? Or for battering people into submission?” Former UCI president Brian Cookson on Israel, sportswashing, banning nation state sponsors, and why protests highlight bike race security failures

Sarkozy, who served as the president of France between 2007 and 2012, is also the first French leader to spend time behind bars since Nazi collaborationist head Philippe Pétain was jailed for treason in 1945.

The 70-year-old, who has appealed the decision and maintains his innocence, will occupy a small cell in the isolation wing of La Santé prison in Paris. But, if David Lappartient has anything to do with it, Sarkozy could at least be treated to a turbo trainer to pass the time.

Because following Sarkozy’s highly-publicised trip to La Santé yesterday, UCI president Lappartient decided that the time was right to write a few words extolling the former head of state’s virtues… and love of cycling.

“I have a friendly thought for my friend Nicolas Sarkozy on this very special day,” Lappartient tweeted, alongside an image of Sarkozy riding a B’Twin bike and sporting some classic black leather cycling shoes, toe straps, and very long white socks.

“He is a great servant of France, which he loves so deeply. I can testify to his energy, his enthusiasm, and his courage. 

“He loves people! See you soon on the bike. Sincere friendships!”

Needless to say, Lappartient’s intervention on behalf of Sarkozy has raised a few eyebrows, coming as it does just weeks after the UCI and its chief made it very clear that politics should have no place in sport, in the wake of the pro-Palestine protests which brought several stages of the Vuelta a España to a grinding halt.

Zac Williams/SWpix.com

Following the protests at the Vuelta, which targeted Israel-Premier Tech’s involvement and saw a number of stages abruptly abandoned due to unrest on the road, the UCI accused the Spanish government of “exploiting sport for political purposes” by backing the demonstrators.

Describing the protesters’ actions as “militant”, the governing body condemned the “unacceptable and counterproductive” stance taken by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who called for Israel to be banned from all sports events, arguing that the nation should not be permitted to “whitewash” its “barbarism” in Gaza.

“We regret the fact that the Spanish Prime Minister and his government have supported actions that could hinder the smooth running of a sporting competition and, in some cases, expressed their admiration for the demonstrators,” the UCI said.

> UCI denounces Vuelta Palestine protesters’ “militant actions” and blasts Spanish government for “exploiting sport for political purposes”

Doubling down on the statement at the world championships in Rwanda, Lappartient argued that Israeli athletes are “welcome” at races, insisting that “sport is not a tool for punishment”.

So, it’s not surprising that Lappartient’s public support for former president-turned-convicted criminal Sarkozy has prompted some harsh criticism online, with the statement branded “massively naïve” and “Infantinoesque”, a reference to FIFA’s notoriously shady chief Gianni Infantino.

“Remember, the UCI is not political, they said it themselves a month ago,” wrote Gerard, while Mattia said: “No politics in sport they told us, remember?”

“So, no politics in cycling is a variable geometry thing?” asked another X user, and Anna quipped: “UCI: Sports and politics don’t mix. President of the UCI: Hold my beer.”

Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong’s former sports director Johan Bruyneel, a consistent critic of Lappartient’s time at the UCI helm, was typically scathing.

“No friendly word or thought for me, David?” the banned Belgian said. “I also invite you for a bike ride if you wish, VIP treatment and plenty of selfies with celebrities included.”

Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com

Belgian sports journalist Jonas Creteur also pointed to the UCI’s decision to stage last month’s world championships in Rwanda, a decision which also attracted criticism from human rights groups, who have accused the country’s authoritarian president Paul Kagame of using cycling and other sports, such as football and basketball, to sportswash his image on the world stage.

“David Lappartient has collaborated with and openly praised a mass murderer (Paul Kagame) and is now openly sympathising with a convicted criminal. This man has no shame,” Creteur wrote.

> “A mockery of press freedom”: Belgian journalist refused entry to Rwanda for cycling world championships after “critical reporting” on authoritarian regime

“I think we’re looking at an all-time tweet here, a disasterclass like rarely seen before,” added KingKüng.

Others, meanwhile, were able to poke fun at the whole situation, penning similarly worded tweets in support of other controversial figures, such as Pablo Escobar… and a certain Texan.

“I have a friendly thought for my friend Lance Armstrong. He is a great servant of cycling, which he loves so deeply,” joked Hadrian.

“I can testify to his energy, his enthusiasm, and his courage. He loves the sport! See you soon on the bike. Sincere friendships!”

And finally, Damien reckons Sarkozy accepting cash from former Libyan dictator Gaddafi is the least of his crimes.

“No helmet, prison is deserved,” he said. I’ll leave that one to you…