“We’re introducing new fines to tackle inappropriately dazzling bicycle lights”: Parody ‘mayor’ tricks concerned residents with bizarre post claiming cyclists’ lights limited “to around 30 tealights” to protect motorists’ eyes + more on the live blog

The fallout to last week’s horrific crash at the AlUla Tour rolled on into the weekend, numerous riders involved giving accounts of just how terrifying the 100km/h+ descent was. Organisers of the early-season race have also come in for criticism over the decision to route the stage down a 20 per cent descent, especially in the finale when speeds, stress and the scrum for positioning were always likely to be high.

Laurenz Rex, Fabian Grellier and Davide Stella were the three riders who came down, it perhaps something of a miracle that three fractured vertebrae was the worst injury, considering the speed and fact the incident spilt onto the rock-strewn roadside.

This has GOT to hurt ?

A blistering 106km/h descent inside the final 15km of Stage 3 caused a three-rider pile up of Laurenz Rex, Davide Stella and Fabien Grellier.

We hope all riders involved are ok ?#AlUlaTour | January 27-31 | SBS On Demand ? pic.twitter.com/tN2HVDbyyu

— SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) January 29, 2026

The TV coverage had just displayed a graphic explaining the camera motorbike was travelling at 106km/h when the crash occurred, reports suggesting Stella hit a cat’s eye, punctured and lost control. Rex’s Strava activity suggests his top speed was 99km/h, however, the accounts of others in the peloton suggest the stage’s top speeds may have been even faster.

Team Picnic-PostNL rider Frits Biesterbos told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad his top speed was 116km/h.

“That’s scary, yes,” he said. “I saw those three guys crash, and that really gets to you. In moments like that, you just hope it isn’t too serious. You keep going. Is that difficult? You just do it, because crashing unfortunately [it] is sometimes part of racing. I was super focused on my bike, because one small mistake can be fatal. We’ve seen that.”

A rider who knows the life-changing impact a high-speed crash can have is Fabio Jakobsen, who was left in a coma and suffered extensive injuries in a sprint crash at the Tour de Pologne in 2020, which saw Dylan Groenewegen banned from racing for nine months.

“In a descent like that, I avoid all risks,” Jakobsen said of last week’s AlUla Tour crash. “These speeds are insane. I honestly think our bikes and thin tyres aren’t made for this.

“I braked in pulses, that’s what I think you should do in these kinds of steep and ultra-fast descents, although I had the impression that some riders don’t know that. My computer already showed 106km/h. The guys in front of me were going even faster. Above all, I’m incredibly happy and grateful that nobody slammed into that rock wall on the side, because it could have ended much worse.”

Picnic-PostNL are trialling use of Aerobag’s innovative rider airbag this season, although the team’s riders were not using the tech last week. Team boss Roy Curvers sees the potential in rider airbags for racing but stressed they won’t suddenly remove all danger from crashes.

“An airbag can help prevent serious injuries, but it doesn’t stop riders from crashing,” he told Het Nieuwsblad. “A descent like that should never be a matter of life or death, but sometimes it becomes one because of the racing behaviour of some riders. As team management, we have to keep stressing that you shouldn’t take every risk in the world.”

While Rex was remarkably the only rider of the trio to fracture a bone, Grellier and Stella’s teams confirmed the severity of their road rash, even if the TV pictures left little doubt about that.

Stella required “surgical cleaning” and would “remain in hospital under observation”, while Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported Grellier underwent emergency surgery on tears (apologies if you’re still eating breakfast) to his anus. The Frenchman’s team TotalEnergies said only that the injuries included “bruises and several deep cuts, requiring several weeks of rest”.

 

 

 

 

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Mathieu van der Poel is the first male rider to win EIGHT cyclocross world titles, joining Marianne Vos in that very select club. While there had been talk of retirement if Van der Poel broke the record, afterwards he only hinted at skipping a winter of ‘cross to focus on the road and chase even more wins there.

There were few surprises on the day, a Dutch 1-2 landed as Tibor Del Grosso followed his compatriot and Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate home in second, while Thibau Nys won bronze for Belgium. Things were a fair bit more straightforward than the action of the women’s race the day before…

> Cyclocross rider “aggressively” pushes rival at world championships, gets disqualified, rides on… then crashes hard, as Lucinda Brand powers to second rainbow jersey in thriller

 

 

 

 

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Reports from the US suggest there were more than 200 memorial rides for Alex Pretti held on Saturday, thousands of cyclists joining in events across the country and around the world.

Last week, Minnesota cycling brands Salsa Cycles, Surly Bikes and Wolf Tooth components urged people to join the Minneapolis ride for Pretti, the popular member of the city’s cycling community who was shot dead by ICE last weekend, the incident the second time a citizen has been killed by a federal agent in the city in recent weeks.

“The Minnesota bike community is one of the most amazing bike communities in the whole nation. You can see it. We’re bidding the world together through love, peace, protest,” one participant told CBS.

The scenes were mirrored in other cities around the US…

Fuck ice

[image or embed]

— Jason (@jrock08.bsky.social) 31 January 2026 at 03:01

Former pro cyclist Nicolas Roche told his Instagram followers he was attacked in Barcelona by three men who were “trying to rob my watch”.

“Just been attacked and beaten up by three men, as I walked out of a restaurant in central Barcelona, trying to rob my watch,” he explained. “Thanks to my girlfriend and the two security agents from the shop further down the street, I managed to not only save my watch but mostly stopped the attackers from beating me more.

“It’s crazy to think that someone in the restaurant must have warned the gang to wait outside for me. I had read about all of this in the news but it’s something else to experience it. Biggest fright of my life. Where I was shocked was that, for over five minutes, people stood there watching as I was on the ground as my girlfriend was shouting for help until, eventually, the two security came out to scare the thieves away.”

Roche said he had a few cuts and bruises but had “thankfully” avoided anything more serious.

People living, working or studying in Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees or Wakefield can sign up to an app which will see time spent running, riding, walking and wheeling converted into rewards that can be used on coffees, sausage rolls and other treats. Flatpack furniture too, Ikea, Starbucks, Argos, Greggs and Costa having already signed up to the scheme, and West Yorkshire Combined Authority is encouraging independent businesses to join too.

The local paper, the Telegraph and Argus, explained how the free BetterPoints app gives users one point for every minute they run, ride, walk or wheel within West Yorkshire, up to 30 minutes every day. You can also earn 15 points for every bus, tram or train journey made over a quarter of a mile within West Yorkshire, up to two journeys a day.

Points can then be converted into vouchers for rewards with the retailers signed up. West Yorkshire Combined Authority said it was predicted the app would prompt a “25 per cent increase in the number of journeys being made on foot, by bike or using public transport among users”.

Jack Windle, Chief Sustainable Transport Officer at BetterPoints said: “Active travel is one of the simplest ways to improve population health, but it needs to feel accessible and worthwhile. BetterPoints helps remove barriers by rewarding everyday journeys and supporting healthier habits while connecting people with local businesses and charities.”

This hasn’t gone down well in the comments on the thread. 

Most inefficiënt bicycle lane in Amsterdam rn and it’s brand new, thoughts?
byu/Smartie_Kroket inAmsterdam

In fairness, for a country that does cycling so well, this new route in Amsterdam is… interesting… but you’re going to struggle to get any sympathy from us UK ‘cycle lane’ users when the pits of your Dutch infrastructure-related despair is an inconveniently wiggly fully-surfaced off-road path. 

Someone in the comments shared a photo from the construction phase and had some intel on what happened here: 

“I was actually part of the team that made the technical drawings for this project,” they said. “Amsterdam gave the design, and we did the technicals. I asked the same question at the time. It’s meant to slow down cyclists and other users, like people on fat bikes. Funny thing is, those curves ended up being extra sharp because the permit to cut down those two trees in the picture wasn’t properly applied for. So the solution was basically just go around them.”

An amusing spot by Dave this morning…

Oh, right, you don’t mean that Planet X… Ah, yep, that does make more sense… sorry, it’s just for a minute there I thought the new album was all about the bike industry’s post-pandemic struggles, supply chain woes and Rotherham-based cycling brands having to be saved at the 11th hour by new investors? No, I guess that would be a bit niche…

Meanwhile, back in the real world…

> “Is this really the biggest risk to road safety?”: Police force questioned after operation sees eight cyclists fined £50 for riding without lights

Tom Pidcock has taken a break from racking up the big mountain days in Chile to speak about the news his team, Pinarello Q36.5, have been invited to the Tour de France this summer, meaning the Brit will return to the sport’s biggest race after a year away in 2025.

His last memory of the Tour won’t be too fond either, Pidcock having abandoned the 2024 edition days after getting beaten in the gravel stage’s sprint by Anthony Turgis. A second Olympic gold, a few weeks later, undoubtedly softened the blow of that disappointment but Pidcock accepts it’s a race he’s had “ups and downs” at.

“I think it’s really special that we’re going to the Tour de France this year,” he said. “We have earned our place, the team, through our performances last year, that’s given us the right to go there and no one can take that away from us. So I think it’s a massive opportunity. I’ve had ups and downs in the Tour de France the last years, so it’s nice now, with this new team, to earn our own place there.”

So, what can we expect after a breakthrough GC performance finishing on the podium at last season’s Vuelta? Maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised Pidcock isn’t committing to too much this far out.

“I think personally, my biggest objective is to go there, enjoy the suffering, enjoy the intensity of the race, the media with the racing,” he continued. “I think if we can enjoy it and enjoy the suffering as a team, then the results will come from that. We’re a team that’s growing, so to have the opportunity to go and race the Tour is just one step along the way. Of course, where we want to go is to be at the Tour de France every year, racing every year for wins. So yeah, it’s another step on the ladder of where we want to get to.”

> Kinesis reckons it has launched the “ultimate endurance aluminium road bike frameset”, rivalling the performance of carbon

Another normal day over on Facebook. The ‘Mayor of Braintree’ has announced new fines for cyclists who use “excessively bright lights”. Now, as you’ve probably read in the headline by now, those quote marks around Mayor of Braintree are because this is not in fact the Mayor of Braintree, but rather a parody account pretending to be the Mayor of Braintree. However you get your kicks, and all that.

Sporting a rather sloppy AI image of a distressed pedestrian almost being run over by a stony-faced, bright-lighted cyclist in a leafy residential street, the ‘Mayor’ informed ‘residents’ that “cyclists in our town will now have their lights restricted to 400 lumens, the equivalent to around 30 tealights”.

“Following numerous complaints by motorists and pedestrians, we are introducing new fines to tackle inappropriately dazzling bicycle lights,” the parody post began.

“Many road-users said that cyclists’ lights presented a serious risk to them as they became momentarily blinded. Pedestrians agreed, with one stating in a recent survey that ‘the power of the light felt like I was having an x-ray’. Cyclists in our town will now have their lights restricted to 400 lumens, the equivalent to around 30 tealights. This is more than adequate as we have excellently lit roads and tracks.

“Anything higher than this will result in the cyclist receiving a fine and having their light(s) confiscated. The safety of all road-users is of paramount importance and – despite some being intimidated by certain cyclist pressure groups – we are not afraid to take the necessary steps to protect people.”

In the comments, someone representing (pretending to be) the local Tealight Manufacturers’ Guild offered full support, while someone else suggested going back to the drawing board as… they’d stuck 30 tealights to their handlebars, but they’d blown out. We’re really not sure what corner of the internet we’ve stumbled upon here. The discussion then pondered if four candles would be too powerful…

There was one rather large nibble from someone not realising it was a parody post, the reply asking why cars with even brighter, more dazzling lights wouldn’t be attracting fines… to which the ‘Mayor’ insisted the authorities “aren’t aware of car lights causing issues”.

Since the cycling lights post blew up, the ‘Mayor’ has moved on to bigger issues… such as free ‘picking up poo’ lessons for all dog owners in the town and… *checks notes* banning Stephen Yaxley-Lennon from protests in Braintree as his visa approval has been delayed amid questionable media credentials and a lack of confirmation of the individual’s name. “We cannot just let anyone into our town centre,” the ‘Mayor’ told residents… needless to say that comments section makes bike lights look like child’s play…