Manic golf buggy driver chases cyclist and tries to ram him off trail while shouting “we’re going to go for a ride” in bizarre video; “Women are tired of that”: Demi Vollering slams Sydney Sweeney ad; Pogačar still up for Roubaix + more on the live blog

Here’s something you don’t see everyday on your morning commute. Or maybe you do, who knows?

Across the pond in Pennsylvania, cyclist Matt Dianna’s ride to work on Tuesday took a frightening, and frankly bizarre, turn when an aggressive golf cart driver chased him and attempted to ram him off a trail while allegedly shouting slurs at the cyclist.

Dianna posted a short clip of the incident, which took place on a popular off-road path near Reading, Berks County, on the Friends of the Schuylkill River Trail Facebook page.

The video shows a man driving a golf buggy approaching Dianna from behind at speed. As he nears the cyclist, the driver can be heard laughing and shouting something along the lines of: “Let’s go for a ride, we’re going to go for a ride!”

He then appears to drive into the cyclist’s back wheel (while a dog barks somewhere in the background), causing him to wobble, before speeding off into the distance, his cart’s red flag fluttering in the early morning breeze.

According to Dianna, the confrontation occurred after he told the buggy driver that he’s not allowed to drive the vehicle (normally reserved for long par fives on leafy courses) on the Schuylkill River Trail, leading to some pushing and shoving before the off-road chase sequence took place.

“I travel the SRT to work in the morning and today I had a man in a golf cart try to run me off the trail,” Dianna told the Facebook group.

“Upon telling him he can’t be on the trail with a golf cart, he stopped and laid his hands on me. I pushed him back and got on my bike and tried to continue to my job in West Reading. This is when he started to pursue me and try to run me over.

“Authorities have been contacted. Just thought I’d send a warning to other riders.”

Speaking to NBC10 Philadelphia, Dianna also claimed that the buggy driver had directed “a lot of slurs, a lot of hate speech” in his direction during the attack.

“You can hear it in the video a little bit. But he was laughing and really just trying to scare me,” he said.

“He almost ran me off the trail first and he stopped and basically pulled in front of me and started screaming at me and I started screaming back at him. He comes up and put his hands on me. I just pushed him away,” Dianna continued, adding that the subsequent chase lasted for several minutes.

“There was another encounter after the video too. He again pulled in front of me. He was basically standing in the middle of the trail in an assault position,” he said.

Reading Police have since been shown the video and said they were concerned about the behaviour depicted, while confirming that golf buggies are not permitted on the trail.

Since Dianna posted the video, other locals say they have experienced similar encounters with the trail’s manic golf enthusiast.

“We have encountered this guy multiple times while on our Wednesday taco rides and I can agree he is aggressive when told he is not to be on the trail!” Aaron Widmer said.

According to a report published in Philadelphia Magazine at the weekend, two days before Dianna’s golf buggy chase, complaints have been made in recent months about people on illegal high-speed bikes, motorbike riders, and cyclists in “Lycra onesies” riding “well above the speed limit” on the Schuylkill River Trail, creating conflict with fellow trail users.

There was nothing, oddly enough, about eejits in golf buggies in the article, though. Maybe it needs an update.

“One ad, and the internet went wild,” began Demi Vollering’s Instagram post. So you know what this is going to be about, then.

This week, the discourse surrounding women’s sport has been dominated by US actress Sydney Sweeney’s controversial viral advert for betting company Novig. The provocative ad, which shows the Euphoria star covered by sports equipment while wearing very little else, has provoked widespread backlash from athletes all week, who have accused her of sexualising and belittling women’s sport.

The cycling world has also weighed in on the issue, with Lotto Intermarché joining the now ubiquitous ‘This is what “women in sports” really looks like’ with this video posted last night:

 

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A post shared by Lotto-Intermarché (@lottointermarche)

Meanwhile, Olympic team sprint champion Sophie Capewell told the BBC that the issue demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding among ad companies concerning how women competing in sport want to be represented in media.

“It’s almost like people miss the mark, they don’t fully understand why people are upset about it,” she said.

 

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A post shared by Sophie Capewell MBE (@sophieecapewell)

And this year’s Tour de France winner Demi Vollering, a passionate advocate for the positive impact of sport on women and girls, has penned her own lengthy take on the subject.

“Maybe it’s good that it started a conversation. But it’s also sad that women still need to have this conversation,” Vollering wrote on Instagram.

“For a very long time, women have fought to be seen for what they can DO, not only for how they look. And I think many women are simply tired of that.

“Especially in sport, because sport can teach us something completely different about our bodies. Not: How do I look? But: What can I do? How strong can I become? How fast can I go? What can I achieve with this body?

“I think this matters in particular for young girls. During puberty, their bodies change, periods start and many become much more conscious of how others look at them. Research from Women in Sport shows that 1.3 million girls in the UK who once loved sport drop out during their teenage years. Only 23 per cent dream of reaching the top in sport, compared with 53 per cent of boys.”

The Dutch superstar continued: “At exactly that age, I want sport to be a place where girls can worry a little less about how their body looks and discover what their body can do. And being strong doesn’t make you less feminine.

“You can race a bike until there is nothing left in your legs and still love putting on a beautiful dress. You can have muscles and feel feminine. You can be powerful and vulnerable.

“Women’s sport is growing incredibly fast. With that comes an opportunity, and I think also a responsibility, for athletes, brands, media and sports organisations.

“What do we want the next generation to see? I know what I hope to show: That your body is so much more than something to look at. It can take you places you never dreamed possible. It all starts with dreaming…”

Phew, that was a close one.

For a brief window this month, it looked like we were going to miss out on another Tadej Pogačar Roubaix attempt next spring.

Rumours were swirling a few days ago that the five-time Tour de France winner – back on the turbo trainer this week following his season-ending Vuelta crash – was contemplating skipping Paris-Roubaix in 2027 to concentrate on other goals. And to avoid the argy-bargy crash fest that characterises the Hell of the North.

Those rumours have been quashed, however, by Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates principal Mauro Gianetti, who insists that winning Roubaix (and completing the monuments set) remains high on the Slovenian’s list of priorities for next season.

Pogačar has only raced in ‘Hell’ twice, in the past two years, finishing second on both occasions to Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, respectively. And Gianetti says his team leader’s brutal Vuelta crash has not changed their approach to a race traditionally deemed too risky for the sport’s grand tour contenders.

“We still have the same confidence in Tadej,” Gianetti told Radio Corsa. “Roubaix may seem more risky than other races, but when you look at it, the worst crashes with the most serious consequences lately don’t happen there.

“They happen in races and situations like the one where Tadej crashed [at the Vuelta]. Situations where the speed is extremely high, and the whole peloton is packed very closely together.

“High-speed crashes are more devastating than what might happen at Roubaix. If you crash on the pavé, you may be traveling at a lower speed. Roubaix is a difficult race, but we’ve seen that it’s not the only place where you can fall.

“We’ll have to think about the calendar, but we can’t think about avoiding falls. Rather, we must try to get to the race fresh, so that the riders have maximum concentration. That is the most important thing.”

 

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In case you missed it last night, the Daily Mail’s readership is at it again:

> “Many cyclists are out to prove a point and deliberately get in the way”: Daily Mail readers rush to defend unrepentant driving instructor who struck grandmother from behind at 55mph before shouting “f***ing a***holes”