Cyclist numbers surge fifteenfold on Embankment during latest Tube strike; “The bane of every Parkrun director”: Pidcock fined for crossing Tour of the Alps finish line twice, plus final stage coverage; Liege-Bastogne-Liege preview + more on the live blog

Tube strikes are becoming something of a risky business for the unions. It reminds me of the story of the lift operators who went on strike in the U.S., prompting mass automation and their roles all but disappearing.

Anyway, the tube strike called by the RMT has led to surging numbers of people cycling, as we’ve seen before. Where others may use ambient music, our source of soothing is footage of busy cycle lanes, like this on the Embankment…

The Metro are now reporting that the number of cyclists seen on the Embankment is around 15 times higher than normal, with nearly 4000 people cycling along a stretch of road that normally gets 200-300 people.

The London Cycling Campaign are quoted as saying that demand in certain areas is “over capacity”, whilst Forest’s own maintenance teams have been using cargo bikes to move around the city to swap batteries in their fleet.

Voi meanwhile have reported that rider usage of their fleet in the capital is 52 percent higher than last week. Just excellent news…

Ah La Doyenne! The last big classic of spring, and both the men’s and women’s editions have the potential to be really rather explosive.

The men’s editions will likely be a Pogacar/Seixas/Evenepoel showdown. Pogacar is back on familiar terrain following a full-throated Monument campaign that saw him finally hit the jackpot at Milan-Sanremo but once again fall short at Paris-Roubaix, this time to Wout van Aert. He’s also taken victories at the Tour of Flanders and at Strade Bianchi where he defeated Paul Seixas.

Since then, the French hype train has become a hype zeppelin, an unwieldy behemoth that overshadows everything else in French sport and is breaking onto normal news programmes. Since Strade, the 19-year-old has taken victory at the Tour of the Basque Country, crushing Florian Lipowitz and Primoz Roglic, and won Fleche Wallonne. And then there’s Evenepoel, fresh from a maiden victory at the Amstel Gold Race and a podium at Flanders. He also probably brings brings the strongest team of the three favourites, and is expected to be supported by Jai Hindley and Dani Martinez.

Outside bets include Tom Pidcock, the indefatigable Ion Izagirre, Mattias Skjelmose, Romain Gregoire and Bens Tulett and O’Connor.

As routes go, Liege-Bastogne is really rather dull, and expect the opening 97km to be used to let a break get away. The women’s race is actually pretty smart in that regard by starting their race in Bastogne, then following the men’s route. Expect both races to utilise La Redoute, the steepest of 10 climbs that comes with 35km remaining. It’s been a launchpad for many a solo victory in recent years.

The women’s race could be tailor-made for Demi Vollering who is in great form after taking victory in Fleche Wallonne. Elise Chabbey and Evita Muzic will also make for great teammates for the two-time winner. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, Kasia Niewiadoma and maybe even Lotte Kopecky if it comes down to a reduced sprint could be in contention. Meanwhile, my wildcard is the World Champion Magdeleine Vallieres. These races are the Canadian’s favourite in the calendar and she has already top-10’d in both Strade Bianche and Fleche Wallonne this spring.

Some horrible news from Spain this afternoon…

> Tadej Pogačar’s former teammate dies from infection six days after suffering serious knee injury in crash

A bizarre story from Japan, where police in Nagoya are investigating after two men posed as traffic officers in order to ‘fine’ a cyclist for his supposed traffic violations.

A cyclist in his 70s was stopped by the two men and ordered to pay them 50,000 yen (£232) on the spot after he was told he needed to make hand signals in the presence of pedestrians. He approached the police two days later when he realised he’d been deceived after seeing a street crime prevention campaign, as reported by The Mainichi.

Police are investigating the incident and have issued a reminder that police officers “will never directly accept cash” and that members of the public should report any attempt immediately.

BBC London’s Tom Edwards has found that, within TfL’s network the Elizabeth line and TfL’s Santander cycle hire have been the biggest beneficiary of the tube strike in the capital. In his words online, the strikes have been more of an inconvenience than a disruption…

Tube strike passengers this week in numbers:

TfL network – 12% down
Buses – 4% up
London Overground – 18% up
DLR – normal
Elizabeth line – 33% up
London Underground – 48% down
Cycle hire – 28% up

1/2

— Tom Edwards (@BBCTomEdwards) April 24, 2026

 

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Wow, despite the gap at one point coming down to 10 seconds on the climb, Pellizzari extended his lead on the super-fast descent whilst the trio behind coagulated and struggled to co-operate. The young Italian takes the stage and his first overall victory in a stage race. We’re in for a very exciting Giro d’Italia.

 

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Egan Bernal won the sprint behind for second, and finishes second overall ahead of teammate Arensman and Michael Storer.

Blimey, Red Bull have decided the best form of defence is attack. Giovanni Aleotti came to the front to do a scorching pace, reeling in Rodriguez from the break. Then, with 20km remaining and 2km from a bonus sprint, race leader Pellizzari attacks, and gaps both Bernal and Arensman.

 

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The Ineos pair come together and briefly cooperate before Bernal goes solo. Arensman is meanwhile caught by last year’s winner Michael Storer.

Pellizzari takes the six bonus seconds at the sprint, Bernal is 10 seconds behind, Storer leads Arensman 20 seconds behind. There’s just over a kilometre of climbing left before a long descent for the finale. My money’s on a sprint among the four of them for the stage win.

With a 30-second lead, Rodriguez and Pidcock went over the top before Pidcock did Pidcock things on the descent, briefly distancing the Colombian.

They’re back together now though, on the final climb of the race, but they’re due to be caught imminently by Ineos who are setting an aggressive pace. Rodriguez launches a final acceleration to go solo out front.

Local reports, stemming from police and statements issued by politicians, have suggested that the 57-year-old motorist either fell asleep or fainted at the wheel…

> Polish MP killed while cycling after being hit head-on by driver who allegedly fell asleep at wheel

With the gap coming down, the Yorkshireman has attacked, and taken EF’s young Colombian Juan Felipe Rodriguez with him, the pair are working together and extended their lead on the peloton to 1’20”. Meanwhile Marton Dina, riding for the Italian MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort team (rolls off the tongue) is working to bridge to the duo.

But then Double is done, and Ineos assert themselves at the front of the peloton, bringing the margin back below a minute and causing splits in the group.

2km left of the climb and it’s all kicking off!

After putting it to fans, Visma-Lease a Bike will wear a special black jersey at the Tour de France…

 

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Two people who won’t be happy with the verdict are Victor Campenaerts and Sepp Kuss…

 

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A fifth Pogacar Tour victory incoming…

It’s a battle of the Brits on the lower slopes of the Montoppio, as Mark Donovan paces the rapidly reducing breakaway whilst Paul Double leads the peloton for Jayco-AlUla, working for team leader Ben O’Connor. Double is winning though, with the breakaway’s advantage down to a minute with 6km remaining of the climb

Stalemate in the peloton among the GC favourites of Pellizzari, Bernal and Arensman.

#TotA – Stage 5
🚩 Trento (I)
🏁 Bozen/Bolzano (I)
🚴🏻‍♂️ 128.5 Km
☀ Weather: Clear sky
🌡️ 16°C (app 15°C, min 7°C – max 25°C)
☁️ Clou.: 7%, vis.: 100%
💧 Hum.: 21%
🌪️ Wind: 1.7 km/h ESE (max: 7.8 km/h NNE)
Route: https://t.co/m3q4RySBDm pic.twitter.com/fTw9RJrRkO

— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) April 24, 2026

So, the final stage of the Tour of the Alps sees the riders tackle the Montoppio and Cologna di Sopra mountains before descending into Bolzano for the finish. They’re under 20km from the bottom of the first of those climbs whilst there’s a 12-rider break up the road with a two minute advantage.

Tom Pidcock, nearly seven minutes off the race lead is up the road, along with yesterday’s stage winner Lennart Jasch. Sam Oomen, Koen Bouwman and Rainer Kepplinger are the biggest names up the road, whilst Pidcock has teammate and compatriot Mark Donovan also there for company. A final honourable mention goes to Alastair Mackellar, who Ryan featured when he was the last rider to finish the men’s Paris-Roubaix earlier this year, albeit outside the time limit.

> The man who raced Paris-Roubaix 7 minutes faster than Peter Sagan… only to miss the time cut

Fresh from doing absurdly silly stuff in a storm on two wheels, Alistair Brownlee’s been digging into a debate that never really goes away. Mat has the break down…

> Which is the hardest endurance sport? Double-Olympic triathlon champ Alistair Brownlee has crunched the stats to find out

Local elections are taking place in England on Thursday 7th May, as well as elections to the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments. One of the things we quite like is that the campaign period gives an opportunity for cycling campaigners to put forward their own policy objectives for the council. And that goes from bigger bodies like the London Cycling Campaign, to smaller groups like Cycle Kirklees in West Yorkshire.

Ahead of the council election for the metropolitan borough, the campaign have issued a ten-point plan for specific initiatives such as for safer school routes, on-street cycle hangars, traffic-free Sundays and greenway recognition.

Cycle Kirklees chair Chris Knight is leading the charge, telling candidates they are “seeking your commitment to giving priority to making ‘everyday’ cycling – as well as leisure cycling – accessible and safer for all.

“Walking, cycling and wheeling are a more affordable option as energy costs increase. ‘Active travel’ contributes to wellbeing. People leading healthier lives will save on social care and improve public health and ease pressure on the services councillors are responsible for funding – as well as on the NHS.”

Kirklees Council has been Labour-run (either in majority or minority) for 31 of its 40 year history, but is facing stiff challenges from both the left and right. Fingers crossed whoever takes over shares the vision of active travel campaigners…

A very important and really rather worrying story from Ryan here. Because why should you expect a driverless taxi to observe the laws of the road?

> Expecting driverless taxis to respect bike lanes “too high a bar” – because customers want to be dropped off in them, autonomous vehicle firm Waymo tells cyclists

It was hard watching La Fleche Wallonne on Wednesday without thinking of Stevie Williams, the punchy British climber who won a freezing and wet edition in 2024, and also racked up overall wins at the Tour Down Under and the Tour of Britain.

Next week will mark a full-year since the Welshman pinned on a number, having battled serious knee injury that made 2025 a year to forget.

But the 29-year-old, who has a long-term contract with NSN, has opened up about his rehab process that has taken him to Amsterdam.

 

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“Things are heading in the right direction with my recovery. I’ve been dealing with an injury for a while now. Over the past few weeks I’ve been rehabbing at SEG Performance in Amsterdam where I’ve been in great hands with the physios and the wider performance team.

“It’s been a tough process, but step by step I’m feeling stronger and getting better. And the best part is: I’m back on the bike. If things keep progressing like this, hopefully it won’t be long before I’m back racing again.”

Whilst Williams hasn’t placed a date on his return to racing, if he can start racing again over the summer how great would it be to see him fighting with the best in the Italian autumn classics?

The latest example of motonornativity shows bollards being used to divide parking spaces, rather than protecting pedestrians and cyclists. Naturally it leads to things like this…

Bad parking 1 – 0 Bollards

[image or embed]

— Leith Feeder Ride (@leithfeederride.bsky.social) 23 April 2026 at 15:48

Ah, the bane of every local race organiser or even a parkrun director. Turns out even the pros can be a nuisance…

Tom Pidcock’s week is going rather well, with a stage win and the points jersey in the Tour of the Alps. It’s all boding rather well for the fourth Monument of the season on Sunday for the Brit, and all very impressive considering his crash at the Volta a Catalunya. Unfortunately, he’s been causing trouble for the commissaires, by travelling through the finish line after yesterday’s stage twice.

It’s the direction of travel through the finish line (with the same bike and bib number still on) that has caused the grief, with riders regularly seen having to ride back down mountains after stages to team buses or podiums, or even on a bunch sprint…

Wrong Way, Tim!@MerlierTim had to hop over the barriers to avoid an incident after the finish of #Scheldeprijs pic.twitter.com/Z3t1eVMXXn

— GCN Racing (@GcnRacing) April 6, 2022

But Pidcock sadly forgot to remove his bib numbers. And unfortunately, despite him probably preferring a time penalty given he’s not riding GC, he’s instead been handed a fine of a whopping 100 Swiss francs (£94). There goes his dogs’ pocket money…

Yesterday’s stage was won by Tudor’s Lennart Jasch from the break, his first pro win since switching from speed skating, surely the most European sporting career switch possible. He celebrated his win yesterday by attempting to translate a German idiom about a cow. It didn’t quite work but you get the gist…

🇩🇪 Lennart Jasch’s path from speed skating to pro cycling

“There is a German saying, and I will translate it now, but I don’t know if it makes sense: Even if you’re old as a cow, you can still learn.”

📰 https://t.co/X3Rk0rZ6Yd

📸 Cor Vos pic.twitter.com/7CSGeyekxh

— Domestique (@Domestique___) April 24, 2026

Today’s final stage is a blockbuster summit finish, with Giulio Pellizzari looking to defend his small lead over both Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal of Ineos. I’ll let you know how it plays out a little bit later…

Unfortunately it now seems impossible to read a bike industry article without seeing the phrase ‘geopolitical tensions’…

> Bleak start to 2026 for Shimano as sales drop and operating income slashed by half