“Keeping it clean looks like a nightmare”: Puzzled cyclists want explanation over mysterious new wheels with hollowed out rims; CyclingMikey “anticipated bad driving” to avoid collision with driver turning across cycle lane + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Jonas Vingegaard out of Paris-Nice after suffering bruised hand in crash
Bad news: Visma-Lease a Bike have announced that Jonas Vingegaard won’t be starting the sixth stage of Paris-Nice today. Good news: He hasn’t suffered a fracture in his hand, as reports suggested yesterday.
The two-time Tour de France winner had a tough time at the French stage race, with a crash at the Côte de Trèves meaning he had injured his hand and couldn’t use his left brake throughout the race. He was seen struggling to even keep up with the peloton at one point, and in the end, he lost the yellow jersey to his teammate Matteo Jorgensen, dropping down to second position in the general classification trailing by 22 seconds.
This morning, Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed that the Dane suffered a bruised hand, not a fracture. “Our medical staff has decided that it is best for him to recover from yesterday’s crash at home and focus on his next goals for the season,” the team said in a statement.
Yesterday, Jorgensen had told reporters after the race that Vingegaard came up to him during the race and said that his hand might be broken. The team’s new domestique rider Victor Campenaerts also said: “Jonas was talking about how he was dizzy. I didn’t have the impression that he was very lucid.”
There’s no confirmation yet whether Vingegaard would be able to recover and ready to race in his next scheduled race, which is the Tour of Catalonia, set to start on Monday, 24th March.
“Just like you’d wait for a bus to pass on a bus lane”: CyclingMikey urges drivers to check if cycle lane is empty before turning across it after “anticipating bad driving” to avoid collision
To kick off this Friday live blog, we have yet another instance of a driver turning left across a cycle lane, without checking their mirrors and looking for any cyclists who could be coming through.
This time, the footage has been shared by popular camera cyclist Mike van Erp, better known as CyclingMikey, who had a near miss while cycling in Shepherd’s Bush, London.
Mikey was riding on the Uxbridge Road when he noticed the driver of a silver Mercedes standing at the traffic light junction despite the lights having turned green. I’m sure as many other cyclists would’ve experienced, that in itself is enough for the alarm bells in your heads to start ringing, with suspicions of either the driver being careless, or worse, using a mobile phone, mounting high.
It’s on you as a driver to check that a cycle lane next to you is clear before you turn across it. It’s no different to waiting for a bus to pass before turning across a bus lane. The Met Police proceeded with my allegation, likely outcome was a driver awareness course. pic.twitter.com/BMvsqlOGsM
— CyclingMikey the Unspeakable (@MikeyCycling) March 14, 2025
Already being careful and riding slow, Mikey comes alongside the driver in the bike lane, but then the driver speeds up and turns left across the cycle path, without checking if there was anyone there. Thankfully, he said that he had “anticipated and braked due to their bad driving”.
“If you turn across a cycle lane and force a camera cyclist to stop, then you’re likely to be prosecuted. This driver was dealt with by the Met Police,” wrote Mikey while sharing the video on social media.
“It’s on you as a driver to check that a cycle lane next to you is clear before you turn across it. It’s no different to waiting for a bus to pass before turning across a bus lane. The Met Police proceeded with my allegation, likely outcome was a driver awareness course.”
One person commented: “Scary how drivers turn left without checking their mirrors. Should be second nature.”
“We are not old, we just started young”: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot looks forward to racing with Marianne Vos, and shows off the after-effects of *that* slide at Strade Bianche
Making a comeback to road cycling with a completely new team at the age of 33 would seem like a daunting task for many, but not for Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, who’s got one of her big races of the season out of the way, and is not looking forward to racing with Marianne Vos at Visma-Lease a Bike at Milan-San Remo.
After losing her bike and going for a slide on Saturday’s Strade Bianche, in which she finished third, the former world champion has proudly showed off her wounds but also said that she’s been recovering well and training according to her programme
“Back to racing after nine years with the goat, Marianne Vos,” she wrote on Instagram. “We are not old, we just started young.”
Two climbs removed from tomorrow’s queen stage of Paris-Nice due to “unfavourable weather” conditions to “ensure riders’ safety”
While grim conditions are not a new feature for the Race to the Sun, the weather gods haven’t missed out on any tricks to put the riders through hell, unleashing snow, hail, heavy rain and extremely cold temperatures on the peloton.
It has been the source of much controversy already, with differing opinions in the peloton about whether races should be allowed to take place in such conditions. Now, the organisers have decided to shorten the queen stage of the race, cutting down two climbs.
With the Côte de Belvédère (3.3km at 5.7 per cent) and the Col de La Colmiane (7.5km at 7.1 per cent) being bypassed, the total distance of the seventh stage will come down to 109.3km from the earlier proposed 147.8km.
Organising body ASO said in a statement: “The organisers of Paris-Nice have been closely monitoring the weather conditions in the Alpes-Maritimes department throughout the week. These conditions remain unfavourable for Saturday, particularly at higher altitudes.
“The arrival set in Auron remains unchanged, but safety conditions are not met to cross the Col de la Colmiane and use the following downhill. Thus, the riders will skip the Côte de Belvédère and the Col de La Colmiane and go straight after 55.8 km to continue through the Var Valley and then the Tinée Valley.
“They will rejoin the originally planned route shortly before Saint-Sauveur-sur-Tinée for the final 32.5km of this stage. Stage 7 will be 109.3km instead of 147.8km.”
“To ensure the riders’ safety, the decision to modify the route of stage 7 has been made in agreement with the city of Nice, the Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur, the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture, and in consultation with the panel of commissaires from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), as well as representatives of the teams and riders (A.I.G.C.P, C.P.A).”
“I have a question, can you let me win on Sunday?”: Matteo Jorgensen’s asks the all-important question to Lenny Martinez
Jokes abound in the peloton, perhaps to cut through the chill of the French stage race…
The GC leader stayed back at the press conference to ask the winner of yesterday’s fifth stage, the 21-year-old Bahrain Victorious rider Lenny Martinez if he would be so kind to let him on Sunday!
With tomorrow’s queen stage already shortened, the next two days should provide us with some good racing and a tough battle for the yellow jersey to the very end — of course, before we get through today’s flat stage, one for the sprinters.
“This pathetic human being then slowly cycled towards me, grabbed my hair, punched my arm, and then again in my side by my ribcage”
Mads Pedersen holds off Joshua Tarling in sprint finish to round off another cold, windy day at Paris-Nice
It’s becoming a running feature of this year’s Paris-Nice, even more so than usual — but today’s stage six was once gain dominated by the cold weather and heavy rains, only this time, there was the added effect of strong winds, causing some echelons in the peloton.
With a reduced bunch sprint on the cards to determine the day’s victor, with only 17 riders in the front group. And with Mads Pedersen one of them, you’d bet that it was going to be anyone but him crossing the finish line at Berre L’Étang first.
But the Danish Lidl-Trek rider was made to work for it, surprisingly by Welsh time trial specialist Joshua Tarling, who put up a really strong, determined sprint, coming very close to snatching the win for himself.
Mads Pedersen just about hangs on! 😲
A thrilling sprint to the line between Pedersen and Josh Tarling sees the Lidl-Trek rider claim Stage 6 at Paris-Nice 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/1zI6WKoTWP
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) March 14, 2025
Pedersen told reporters after the race: “After such a tough day like today, it’s of course nice to win. It would be a pity to get second or third.
“No one likes to race in five or six degrees and rain, so it was a tough day. I just don’t care when it’s weather like this, but I really don’t enjoy it. In the end, I enjoy it now after the race, and it’s a victory in the pocket.”
Today marks the last day for sprinters at the French stage race, with tomorrow’s (shortened) queen stage and Sunday’s downhill finish after the 6.9km seven per cent Col de la Porte poised to determine the yellow jersey winner.
“The breakaway has survived!”: Cinderella story at Tirreno-Adriatico as Uno-X’s Fredrik Dversnes holds off peloton to win fifth stage
Imagine after riding almost 200 kilometres in the breakaway, you go “all-in” to drop everyone on the final climb. With the finish line in sight, you realise the likes of Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel are chasing you…
But with nobody — and I mean nobody giving Uno-X Mobility’s Fredrik Dversnes a chance, nor expecting a breakaway rider to leave the peloton ruing their chances, the Norwegian proved everyone wrong with a wonderful, commendable victory.
The GC leader Filippo Ganna, meanwhile, survived a scare in the dying stages, suffering a rear mechanical, but managed to avoid losing any time after being awarded the same time as the chasing bunch.
Coming back to Dversnes’ fairytale… this is truly the stuff cycling dreams are made of! “I got the word from my sports directeur to go all-in,” the 27-year-old said after the race.
“I had two pretty hard days and cold days, so with this weather today, it turned out to be a pretty good day. On the final climb, I got the word from my sports directeur to go all in, and luckily, it turned out to be good enough.
“For me, it means everything. It’s the biggest win of my career so far, and to be able to take the top step in a WorldTour race is a dream come true, no doubts about that.”
Hallelujah! We’ve found the patent for hollowed-out Coefficient wheels… and it’s an interesting one (Spoiler: they’re all about aero)
Wavy rims? Yes, we’ve all seen plenty of those over recent years. But wavy within a slightly deeper outer shell? Help!
We wondered whether Coefficient Cycling had a patent that could give us a clue, and thanks to some very smart sleuthing from our Tech Editor Mat Brett, we have discovered the patent for the most perplexing yet-to-be-released hollowed-out wheels that’s driving all of us mad.
It turns out that it applied for one for an aero foil system back in 2018. We can’t say 100 per cent that this is what we’re seeing here, but it looks like it.
“The Coefficient Cycling aero foil system is designed to reduce drag and turbulence from a tyre and spokes used to support a bicycle wheel. The system is integrated into a rim on a bicycle wheel which allows for increased forward momentum by cutting drag and reducing wheel turbulence that occurs during the rotation of a bicycle wheel. The foils may be strategically placed for optimum aerodynamic wind flow and are precisely angled to force win past the foil creating increased forward momentum.”
As is always the case, it’s written in convoluted patent language, but the essential point is: “The airfoils reduce drag and increase forward momentum by cutting turbulence created when the tyre spins”.
Strange, but the pictures included in the patent application suggest this is what we’re looking at. We’ll be intrigued to hear more next week.
“Keeping it clean already looks like a nightmare”: Puzzled cyclists want an explanation over mysterious new wheels with hollowed out rims
Another week, another new tech revelation that beats me (and actually, even my road.cc colleagues on the tech team). But before I get to the questions, let’s try and figure out what this latest innovation from Coefficient Cycling involves.
The company, whose claim to fame lies with the ergonomic and aerodynamic RR handlebar with a built-in GPS mount (it got a pretty good score from us and has allegedly become a reliable handlebar for many riders), mysteriously posted a close-up of its latest product on social media, and now we’re getting close to the supposed launch date.
The product in question are new wheels, but their rims look like they are hollowed out, with gorges in between each spoke, apparently for aerodynamic purposes? (If you ask your live blog editor, who has the most layman understanding of how aero stuff works, wouldn’t the recessed areas create turbulent air pockets, reducing the wheel’s aerodynamic efficiency?).
But, of course, the most pressing question is the apparent collection of all sorts of unwanted things that would take place in the recessed channels. I’m sure no cyclist wants their rims to trap mud, gravel, water, dirt, slurry — you name it — and then have them all sprayed up your back.
Don’t get me started on the additional weight from carrying all that debris trapped…
The company captioned the image with “The devil is in the details”. I know I’d happily make a deal with Him right now if that would mean finding out what’s the thinking behind all this.
> Review: Coefficient Cycling RR Handlebar
Thankfully, it’s not just us who’re left dazed and confused with this wheelset, others seemed to be as in the dark.
“Really love your approach and products, but this needs explanation!” wrote one person, while another asked: “What exactly am I looking at here?”
One social media user said: “Gonna need to see some real good data on this to back up the claims I see coming,” while one person simply joked: “Little early for April fool.”
Our tech gurus are baffled too, suggesting it could be something to do with vibration dampening, but with no explanation as to how the curious new hoops will stop mud and crud getting in.
The wheels are officially scheduled for launch on 17 March. We’ve asked Coefficient Cycling if they could provide us with some info that could help answer these pressing questions, and they’ve replied that we’ll be hearing from them soon. Rest assured, when we hear back, you will all be the first to know…
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Very brief look at this but I'm not sure it says anything much new, or particularly useful. Yes, they point to "some women who rode a hire bike possibly didn't ride before but might ride after". OTOH the *number* of women vs men surveyed didn't appear to be stated (except for one graph with a n=... - which was a lot less than the 5000 mentioned, and there only about half as many women responding there). Otherwise I think it just covers what regularly comes up (albeit perhaps it has to be repeated): - much fewer women from minority ethnic backgrounds. - Women care about socially safe parking locations far more than men do. - Women feel less safe on the roads due to external issues that they have no control over: traffic, road conditions and infrastructure, and harassment.
Interesting counterpoint to the 'hire bike menace' narrative (obviously with the caveat that the report authors have a vested interest in selling the benefits, but...) Appears hire bike schemes go some way to addressing the cycling gender imbalance and, given the point about parking immediately outside the destination, dockless schemes particularly so. https://micromobilitybiz.com/forest-report-finds-shared-e-bikes-are-helping-close-london-cycling-gender-gap/
@chrisonabike True, things went back to normal once the pandemic was over. In this case, however the problems are still ongoing, and aren't likely to be resolved in the near future. If anything, they're going to get worse. Food shortages are predicted because of the effect that the heatwave has had on crops. This is bound to push prices up. The Straits of Hormuz aren't likely to reopen anytime soon and the strategic oil reserves are running low. Russia is having to import petrol because its own refineries have been badly hit, so that's even more competition for an even more scarce resource. I think that more and more people are going to see cycling as a way of cutting household bills.
I think if "grown up" cyclists * are quibbling about ASLs we've very much missed the road safety point anyway. (Not to mention the wider "better transport choices" picture). ASLs are poor-to-useless "cycling infra", even for their design intent. If the idea is "for less confident cyclists" then a design that requires that you re-position in front of the motor traffic - waiting to accelerate - seems unhelpful. Of course they're only designed to help when traffic is stopped, and you can reach the front in time and if vehicles aren't already occupying them. As we're noting here drivers frequently ignore them - whether that be deliberate, a lack of road craft, because they were concentrating on following the vehicle in front, or because the paint has rubbed off. * Aside: shouldn't cycling also be safe and accessible for kids? Or should they only be allowed to do this when accompanied by sufficient qualified adults? Or be limited to parks and otherwise being driven around by their carers? Perhaps there is another way...?
Hi Bungle, I saw you follow-up comment. I can't imaging there's a tolerance of 4 seconds on camera enforced lights, seems an odd decision - an offence is committed if a vehicle starts crossing on a red, any tolerance is discretionary. There does seem to be some odd thinking about 'advanced stop lines' where the rules relating to them are identical to a regular stop line, as explained correctly elsewhere in the Highway Code. It does seem a regular offence. Where I live it doesn't help that some of them are very faint and disappear in rain.
@ktache Not sure he's totally ruled out of the worlds yet (though I think it would be best if he doesn't), normal recovery time is about eight weeks but surgery can halve that...depending on the nature of the break he could be just about fit to ride by the time of the elite men's race, but he'll have missed a lot of training. Hopefully his managers and team will persuade him to wait until Lombardia, if not just to knock it off for the rest of the year.
@Bungle_52 The Met told me a couple of years ago when rejecting a submission that they needed a clear three seconds of red visible before they would consider it for an RLJ prosecution. I pointed out to them that this meant that at 30 mph a driver could see a light change to red from 40 metres away and still get through without sanction, or 55 m if they accelerated to 40 as most do. They just replied "them's our rules..."
@Ben Graham I have just checked the footage from my report. The driver crosses the 1st stop line 4 seconds after the light turns red. All on camera from behind the vehicle. No further action. So I assume the margin is at least 4 seconds.
Oh, and active travel funding per head (in England at least) is laughable compared to other places. Plus it is delivered intermittently. It's more like a Blue Peter contest...
Yup, I see those opportunities being missed all the time in Edinburgh. When it gets really bad, dig it all up and put it back down again how it was. Contrast with what seems to happen in NL - when things are dug up the whole thing seems to get a "let's redo this according to the current standards" treatment. They even coordinate with the utilities, so that after a refurb the street isn't immediately dug up again because of leaking pipes / we suddenly realised the new estate being planned for round the corner will want broadband etc. Pros and cons of course - you may wait longer there for changes as smaller changes may be deferred until a major redo is due. (Though in the UK case you likely wouldn't get them at all...) It seems we "can't have nice things" in the UK in part because a) we have greater motor traffic speeds/volumes spead across "streets" / within urban areas b) the funding and organisational responsibility differs. Are we in the "Sam Vimes boots" territory (being too poor to afford better products which not only save money over time but actually work)? There is long term money pressure on LAs and it seems that due to poor construction and maintenance we have to regularly pour money into (pot-)holes in the road. And it seems there's no budget to check up on or enforce adequate standards from utilities work or even private building.
17 thoughts on ““Keeping it clean looks like a nightmare”: Puzzled cyclists want explanation over mysterious new wheels with hollowed out rims; CyclingMikey “anticipated bad driving” to avoid collision with driver turning across cycle lane + more on the live blog”
I love that you can see the
I love that you can see the moment Mikey anticipated bad driving was also the exact moment he saw a silver convertible Mercedes.
Re CyclingMikey Video:
Re CyclingMikey Video: Jeremy Vine posted a video on Twitter on 19 July 2021 at 14:15 – undertaking a left turning lorry – a sensible person would not do that!
https://mobile.x.com/theJeremyVine/status/1417111204766564357
There are two Highway Code rules to consider:
Rule 140 – motorists should give way any cyclists in a cycle Cycle lane, even those approaching from behind, which many cyclists such as Jeremy Vine “hang their crash lid on” as their fundamental priority.
However…
Rule 74 – Cyclists should not ride on the inside of vehicles signalling or slowing down to turn left.
Me, regardless of who has priority, I never undertake a left turning vehicle!
It’s worth remembering that
It’s worth remembering that the camera view is often not representative of the experience on the road – even though from the comfort of our homes we can see the drivers indicating just before the turn in Mikey’s and Jeremy’s clips, on the road your eyes are likely focused a lot further forward than that, and you have often already made the decision to come alongside before they start indicating. The only collision I’ve had was like that – my front wheel was not far short of their rear bumper before they indicated at the last minute and turned left across me.
It’s somewhat vague, but I
It’s somewhat vague, but I suspect rule 74 is intended to refer more to filtering, rather than riding in an entirely separate lane.
Nonetheless, I’d agree that, regardless of what the HC says, that Vine clip does appear to exhibit a lack of either awareness or a sense of self-preservation, and I think I’d have chosen inconvenience and annoyance over risk to life and limb in that situation.
mdavidford wrote:
Rule 74 is absolutely about filtering. If there are bollards, it becomes a separate lane. Rule 140 applies here, so the driver must give way. Cycling Mikey was appropriately cautious, even though he had right of way. Driver is absolutely in the wrong.
the little onion wrote:
I think you mean “driver SHOULD give way”.
‘should’ these days – only
‘should’ these days – only the MUSTs and MUST NOTs are shouted.
There was no risk to life or
There was no risk to life or limb there. I think that, like many of us, Mikey is always tempted to stay safe whilst also capturing bad driving on video to share with the police.
He knew what the car was/could be doing and made sure he wasn’t in danger whilst also making sure that it was clear on camera that he hadn’t bothered to check before turning across the cycle lane.
I was talking about the Vine
I was talking about the Vine one, not the CM one. In the CM case I think he was remarkably clear-headed to have predicted it well in advance, given that he’d already passed them before they started indicating to turn – the first many people would have known about it was as they re-passed them and started to cut across.
Mr Anderson wrote:
On Mikey’s video, it looks like they caught up with him, then drove alongside him with the indicator blinking, and only then at the last moment swung across in front of him.
Given how long they were happy to sit at a green traffic light, you would have thought that the few more seconds to make sure that they weren’t going to kill anyone would not have been such a big deal…
Just a couple of quick things
Just a couple of quick things ….. 1) She was already passed by another cyclist ahead of Mikey and should have been aware that: “Oh! The cycle lane might be being used by cyclists!” 2) No mention of the lorry parked in the cycle lane further on. 3) I always ride with the attitude “I’m invisible and silent —– they can neither see nor hear me!”
The moron who almost took me
The moron who almost took me out today.
Too busy on his phone reaching across to the pasenger seat to notice he was now steering into me.
Due to the bright sun I could not find a clear shot of the reg and my front camera card was full, so nothing off that.
Did you see the reg plate in
Did you see the reg plate in person? Perhaps reading it out loud for the camera’s mike to record!
Mic is crap on the rear. The
Mic is crap on the rear. The front one is on a loop and I have to press a button to keep the segment but I only found the card full when I got home.
If you turn across a cycle
If you turn across a cycle lane and force a camera cyclist to stop, then you’re likely to be prosecuted
Different worlds! The only reason this doesn’t happen every day here is that there aren’t any cycle lanes*. That’s why I don’t have an upRide video of such an offence- which would definitely be ignored by Lancashire Constabulary.
* There are some painted ones on the A6, so I’ll be looking out for a suitable video- I’m sure it’s happened to me frequently, but around here you have to expect such bad driving all the time and you learn to automatically avoid the consequences
Was PFP in Strade Bianchi
Was PFP in Strade Bianchi another victim of Pogi corner?
D=Cd 1/2ρ v^2 S
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