“Will the gaslighting of law-abiding cyclists never end?”: Jeremy Vine shares footage of “arrogant” van driver who objects to him “riding in the middle of the lane” (and debuts his first ‘AI-generated song’) + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Tour of Flanders extravaganza and tragedy, plus more Trump tariffs madness for the bikes industry... here’s your weekend roundup
“Only in Belgium”: Cafe puts up “Wout van Aert, stop here for free cakes” sign, and the rider duly obliges (and takes home 36 free eclairs)
A testament to how strong of a community cycling can build, and as Chris from Rapha put it on LinkedIn, how approachable the sport is, was on display before the Tour of Flanders as a Wout van Aert paid visit to a cafe which had a put up a sign outside: “Wout van Aert, stop here for free cakes”.
While the Visma-Lease a Bike rider could only bag a fourth place finish despite a strong showing in yesterday’s Tour of Flanders, he got himself 36 free eclairs and perhaps made the day of a lucky cafe owner in Belgium during his Flanders recon ride.
“Go for a recon ride and come home with 36 free eclairs. Only in Belgium. Love it.” Van Aert wrote on Strava.
Chris, meanwhile, shared his thoughts on LinkedIn: “Love this! Such passion in Belgium for the sport. The picture, captured on a recon ride last week before Ronde van Vlaanderen, shows Wout Van Aert stopping at a local bakery (presumably for the promised tart).
“This captures not only how big cycling is in Belgium, but also how accessible the sport’s biggest stars are, with none coming bigger than Wout. Few elite sports can match this closeness fans are able to get to the athletes — something I hope never changes.
“Awesome to see Wout fighting toe-to-toe with Tadej, Mathieu and Mads yesterday after a tough week for him and the team.”
Tadej Pogačar shares Tour of Flanders destruction on Strava... and doesn't get flagged this year
> Tadej Pogačar shares Tour of Flanders destruction on Strava… and doesn’t get flagged this year
Fulham player Castagne casually cycling up Putney Hill on a Lime bike after beating Liverpool 3-2
You guessed it, this is a tipoff from Dan — the only road.cc news staffer who’s enjoying a decent footballing season. With the title race seemingly wrapped up neatly in a bow for Liverpool, Arne Slot’s men suffered a rare hiccup at Craven Cottage yesterday, falling to three quickfire first half goals from Fulham.
And while the Cottagers put in a commendable performance, weathering wave after wave of Liverpool’s attacks in the second half, full-back Timothy Castagne delivered not only a standout performance on the pitch, but off it too — the Belgian was seen riding a Lime bike up Putney Hill after the match, waving at a fan screaming “three two”.
Just Timothy Castagne cycling home up Putney Hill yesterday after beating Liverpool 3-2 at the Cottage. Filmed by my son @FulhamFC @WhiteNoise1879 pic.twitter.com/9sqYLj5gF3
— Darren Crouch (@darrenjcrouch) April 7, 2025
“Inspiring the next generation with every victory”
These beautiful moments often get lost in the tense, dramatic situations of pro cycling, but really, this is what it’s all about.
“I wasn’t good enough”: Mathieu van der Poel reacts to losing out to Tadej Pogačar at Ronde van Vlaanderen, says “it’s pretty clear who was the strongest”
An emphatic second Flanders title for world champion Tadej Pogačar was perhaps underscored even more by the clear upper hand the Slovenian displayed over his rival Mathieu van der Poel — most fans’ pre-race favourite after the Dutchman’s victory at Milan-Sanremo two weeks ago, but was ultimately denied a record-breaking fourth win over the Flemish cobbles.
Van der Poel never looked as strong as he did on the Cipressa and Poggio — his involvement in a crash early on in the race probably already placing him at a disadvantage.
“I was already pretty much at my limit from quite early on,” the defending champion said in his post-race interview. “Of course, a crash is not ideal and doesn’t feel good. But the damage wasn’t too bad. I was lucky. After that, we fought well as a team, and I did everything I could. That’s why I’m happy with my 3rd place and the podium.”
“I got pushed to the side just before the Kwaremont, and I had to come from far behind. Other than that, it wasn’t too bad. The strongest rider was at the front, right? That’s almost always the rider who reaches the top of the Kwaremont first.
“It’s pretty clear who was the strongest today. I wasn’t good enough. Again, I never really felt great, and I was at my limit from far out. With experience and determination, I fought my way onto the podium.”
When asked if he was still optimistic of a fourth De Ronde victory, Van der Poel said with an honest smile: “Everyone says the fourth win will come easily. But that’s what they thought about the previous guys with three victories too. Who knows, maybe it will stay at three, but I’m very proud of that.”
Lance Armstrong claims Tour de France titles will be reinstated as "history always tells the truth"
Aussie pro cyclist and triathlon star Cameron Wurf disqualified for “speeding” at the Ironman 70.3 Oceanside
Yep, you read that right. Turns out, you can, in fact, get disqualified for “speeding” in a triathlon race…
But that’s what the rules for the Ironman 70.3 Oceanside dictate. The triathlon competition taking place in California, has been the Achilles’ heel for many athletes, including former Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button.
And its latest victim has been 41-year-old Australian pro cyclist and triathlete Cameron Wurf. The reason? In the race, there is one specific stretch of the bike course where specific speed limits are enforced for safety reasons.
Wurf, who’s also an Olympic-level rower, had come out of the water around a minute off the pace set by Greg Harper, and was then setting about making inroads into the deficit as the bike leg moved into it’s final third. And that’s where he was caught out by the speed trap.
“I was expecting the steep climb, and it caught me by surprise. But it was actually the steep one, then the easy one, and then the descent. I was like s***!” he said in a video posted on Instagram.
“I’ll run anyway… it wasn’t the best day for me. Well obviously my handlebars came loose, and then I just wasn’t concentrating where the descent was. I went too fast, so it sounds like I’ve been disqualified.”
UPDATE: One of the cyclists confirmed dead at Tour of Flanders, after “collapsing” on Oude Kwaremont, was a former Cofidis pro
Peter Sagan does the quickstep and barely avoids elimination from Slovakia’s Strictly Come Dancing — amidst controversies of “favouritism” from judges as viewers say “he’s just sliding on the floor”
If you were unaware of how Peter Sagan is spending his retirement days, the former world champion has been jiving to Elvis Presley’s Hound Dog and going topless as Ken in a Barbie cha-cha-cha, as a contestant in Let’s Dance, Slovakia’s version of Strictly Come Dancing.
Although some keen viewers of the show (*cough* Ryan) were aghast at how the flamboyant cyclist had survived so deep into the competition, it’d appear that he has managed to win over many people.
In the sixth week of the show, Sagan channelled his Richard Gere and chose the quickstep (no, not the team), turning the stage into an 80s ballroom. And while he did just enough to avoid elimination, scoring a total of 25 out of 40 and ranking sixth out of the seven contestants, social media is ablaze with controversies of the ‘nine’ score from guest judge and Slovak musician Dara Rolins.
Many viewers claimed that they weren’t a fan of Rolins awarding actor Juraj Kemka — the participant who got eliminated this week — a score of five, while Sagan was given a nine.
“That Dara is not objective at all, don’t get mad at me, but nine points for a ‘non-dance hopping’?,” wrote one viewer, while another said: “Excuse me, but giving Rachel a six and Pete a nine is already questionable, apparently he’s agreed to be ‘kept’.”
Such is the case on Instagram comments as well, where one person said: “These Slovak ‘divas’ and their evaluation… Matyáš and Eva will get two points less from Dara than Sagan sliding on the floor!”
Another wrote: “Sagan a nine? So was he as good as Baran? And worse than Burešová? You should clean it up a little, because it’s becoming a joke. Terribly trying to push Sagan at the expense of others like you did last week?”
As someone who has absolutely no opinions on dances or reality shows (that’s strictly Ryan’s territory), I’ll sit this one out and let you all decide if Sagan really did deserve a nine or was he deserving of the elimination instead…
Driver found guilty of “reckless vehicular homicide” in crash that killed rising US cyclist Magnus White
A jury in Boulder County, Colorado, has found the driver who fatally struck 17-year-old U.S. junior cycling talent Magnus White guilty of “reckless vehicular homicide”.
Yeva Smilianska, 24, was convicted on Friday night, nearly two years after the July 2023 crash that claimed the life of the promising cyclist as he trained for the UCI World Championships.
White was riding on the shoulder of Colorado State Highway 119 when Smilianska veered out of her lane and struck him from behind. According to the Colorado State Patrol, the crash occurred just south of the 63rd Street intersection at 12:33 pm on 29 July.
Deputy District Attorney Trish Mittelstadt told jurors Smilianska had stayed up all night drinking and was severely sleep-deprived when she got behind the wheel.
“On July 29, 2023, the defendant recklessly drove her car, smashing into the back of Magnus White’s bicycle, killing him,” she said. “She swerves two times, and then on the last time, she crashes right into the back of him, sending him flying in the air.”
Mittelstadt said the crash was not caused by a momentary lapse, but by a complete loss of consciousness due to exhaustion, adding: “This is not dozing off behind the wheel — this is passing out.”
The court also heard that Smilianska claimed a steering malfunction was responsible. However, prosecutors showed bodycam footage in which she gave that explanation multiple times, even after being confronted with contrary evidence.
“She continued to tell this story not because she couldn’t accept this — she didn’t want to be held responsible for it,” Mittelstadt said.
Smilianska, who remains out of custody, is due to be sentenced on June 13. She faces a presumptive sentence of two to six years in prison, although the charge is probation-eligible.
> Promising teenage cyclist killed after being hit by driver just days before World Championships
Outside the courtroom, Magnus White’s parents spoke emotionally about their son and criticised the handling of the investigation.
“We want to start with Magnus because it was his life that was stolen. He was our boy, our beautiful, beautiful boy and brother,” said his mother, Jill White.
“Make no mistake, that driver killed Magnus,” said his father, Michael. “But the trial revealed something else: the systemic failure by those whose job it is to protect the public.”
Michael White said law enforcement failed to follow basic protocol, did not test Smilianska for drugs, and initially suggested she had done nothing wrong.
“We thought [the trooper] would tell us they were investigating the driver who killed our son. Instead, we were told the driver did everything right.”
He added that although cocaine was referenced in evidence and text messages about buying it were found on Smilianska’s phone, this information was redacted and never presented to the jury.
“Magnus’s death was not an accident, it was a crime,” he said. “We’ll never stop missing our Magnus, and we will never stop fighting for him.”
The White family have since founded a nonprofit in their son’s honour, The White Line, which aims to support young cyclists and push for safer roads.
Vicar who claimed "church is under threat" from bike lane now blames cycle route for congregation "getting lost" and plummeting attendance
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Not talking about just bikes shops, but any business that cannot afford to pay its staff a living wage, is not a viable business. Big companies whose staff have to claim benefits despite working full time are exploitative. And yet it's 'benefit scroungers' that get attacked and demonised by the press, not the extremely wealthy, tax dodging companies not paying their staff properly. Oh, like large say newspapers businesses.. Smaller businesses like your LBS, are like poor Vs rich folk, their existence costs them more than big businesses it does due to economies of scale etc, just like rich folk can afford to buy better quality suff that lasts longer or stockpile food when it's on offer whilst poor people have to scrape by.
The problems mentioned in this article are far more wide-ranging than simply affecting the viability of hiring Saturday lads/lasses. Fixing bikes or selling bikes now requires so much more skill and knowledge than it did 10-20 years ago, but the pay is still rubbish, partly because public perception is that the job is easy and is just a hobby. Therefore people with the ability to be good at the job are not encouraged to stick around and they look elsewhere for a career that can earn a decent wage. I don't enjoy the fact that half the bikes that I work on have almost-unique parts that requires odd techniques, tools, or parts to repair and I first have to research what I need for many of them (despite having 20 years of experience). I'm now getting so much work that I could consider hiring someone else, but it would be impossible to find a skilled person who would work for the wage I can offer and it would take far too much of my time to train someone to a level where they can do more than the simplest 10% of the jobs that come in (whereas 10-20 years ago, after a small amount of training they probably could have done 30+% of the jobs). The complexity and uniqueness of modern bikes is apparently necessary to sell them, but soon there are going to be no mechanics left who will work for the wages that people are prepared to pay. At some point, people are going to have to admit that bike mechanics and salespeople are highly skilled and knowledgeable and should be reimbursed accordingly. Or, everyone can just order bikes online and watch YouTube repair videos and end up with a bike that barely works and isn't safe; but that's fine because they're just simple kids' toys, right?
I think the author is trying too hard to "both sides" this one. The basic error is Gove's - he was wandering across a pedestrian crossing on red for him with his head in a cup of coffee, and started well after it was on red. The Highway Code says "should not cross" in these circumstances. He then tried to excuse this by red herrings. Conservatives, including Gove, are supposed to have taking personal responsibility for their actions as a core value. Perhaps having the crooked coward Boris Johnson and Fruit Loop Liz as elected leaders demonstrates that this is merely historical. Gove is permitting a culture war being fought in the pages of his magazine; that is a war where Conservatives are demonising cycling because they hope it will save the rump Conservative Party. One example was their sudden reversal of support for the Welsh 20mph default limit. Should noodles have reacted less sharply - perhaps. A chat with Michael Gove to stop him wandering around the streets like a lobotomised koala may have been beneficial.
@mdavidford Funny, as soon as I saw your comment on the ticker on another article I knew to whom you must be replying.
@mctrials23 People have been suffering for years because they have been unlucky enough to have been hired by bad people, or had the bad luck to become ill. This is just bringing the system more into balance. I don't have a problem with encouraging people to start businesses but I don't agree with doing it by letting them exploit the poor and the desperate, if they need encouragement then offer state benefits for small businesses and use the claims process to make sure that they are doing everything they should to run the business properly including paying and training their employees. If they just want to get rich quick by exploiting others then they should be in the USA.
One may wonder why you've brought up DEI when it has nothing at all to do with anything in what Lappartient said. Or why you care about the state of the women's sport if you're so down on diversity, equity and inclusion. 🤷♂️
Not quite the first time, I rode over it back in the late twentyteens, just happened to see it was jammed nose-to-tail so thought it would be fun to filter along...turned out there was an overturned lorry at the eastern end blocking all carriageways. I honestly didn't know cycling was banned (the signs aren't very prominent), just assumed nobody rode on it because it would be suicidal in normal circumstances. Fortunately the weary copper at the other end who saw me just cut off my apologies and said, "Fuck off over there [a gap in the barrier to a slip road] and don't do it again."
They're not slalom barriers, they're Sheffield stands for parking your bike.
@momove I would think that spending time training someone up, putting the time and effort into that only to have most people move on relatively quickly isn't a great business model. I know there is the argument that "if your business has to take advantage of people to run then its not a viable business" but thats the reality of some of these shops. Up to a point, thats exactly what apprenticeships have always been. A business get cheap labour that might help them a bit and the apprentice learns something.
One may wonder why bureaucrat Lappartient wants to reinvent the wheel with a massive injection of DEI and drastic reduction of money. Let the best cyclists win, period. Meanwhile, women's pro peloton needs means and support to attract new sponsors, increase TV coverage, improve salaries and prize money.
24 thoughts on ““Will the gaslighting of law-abiding cyclists never end?”: Jeremy Vine shares footage of “arrogant” van driver who objects to him “riding in the middle of the lane” (and debuts his first ‘AI-generated song’) + more on the live blog”
“A testament to how strong..
“A testament to how strong…a community cycling can build, ”
Please dont propogate the superfluous ‘of’…its more of than I can stand!
pockstone wrote:
Please
dontDON’TpropogatePROPAGATE the superfluous ‘of’…itsIT’S more of than I can stand!— pockstoneYeah that post could of been
Yeah that post could of been better.
They should try and do better
They should try and do better next time.
I hope you spotted my
I hope you spotted my malapropism.
Thanks Brooksby, I asked for
Thanks Brooksby, I asked for that!
pockstone wrote:
I totally understand – you were so het up about the weird use of “of” that you rushed out an Angry of Tunbridge Wells post before proof reading it…
(I’ve done it myself)
I bet you proofread that one
I bet you proofread that one a few times!
Indeed, and in my defence I
Indeed, and in my defence I do think two missing apostrophes and a misspelling are far outweighed by that increasingly prevalent mangling of English and its simple economy. I know language evolves with use but I hope that this particular mutation finds itself at a dead end very soon.
In the cycling context, Rob
In the cycling context, Rob Hatch (whose commentary I otherwise enjoy) drives me up the wall with his continuous use of “he’s just got fifteen seconds of a gap” and similar.
Indeed, Hatch is indeed
Indeed, Hatch is indeed better than Kirby, indeed, who sounds like a nice old chap chuntering away to himself in a retirement home.
Petrosexual van driver is so
Petrosexual van driver is so enraged by someone not following his own imaginary Highway Code that he drives without any hands on the steering wheel.
I can’t imagine carrying that
I can’t imagine carrying that Lion of Flanders flag round with him helped Van der Poel much either.
Poor 6 year old was killed by
Poor 6 year old was killed by while cycling by a lorry driver in Galway over the weekend. 🙁
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/04/07/girl-6-killed-cycling-in-galway-is-named-as-school-pays-tribute/
Also interesting about the
With the van driver vs JV clip, the van has a company name/logo on the side and back (but no website or other contact info) and after various online searches I have given up trying to find it.
The van has a silver r inside
The van RJ69BZX has a silver “r” inside a blue oval and then the word “reflex” with the word “limited” underneath.
Searching on “Reflex limited”:
The first link is to companies house:
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03131814
Companies house: REFLEX LIMITED
Company number 03131814
Registered address:40 Clifton Street, London, United Kingdom, EC2A 4DX
Nature of business (SIC)
47990 – Other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets
Two active directors:
BEERE, Stuart John
CONOLEY, John Richard
The second link that comes up is
https://open.endole.co.uk/insight/company/03131814-reflex-limited
The “r” logo comes up at the top of the page that is exactly the same as on the side of the van.
Both links point to the same company so I suspect this is the one. Still not obvious what they do though although from the list of mutual companies on Endole suggests they are involved in amongst other things AV and displays.
Here and here are two NHS contracts reflex has been awarded:
There is a possible telephone number here, although it is based in Reading and they recently moved their office so it might not be relevant any more.
There’s a private equity company dealing in crypto at the registered address with reflex in its name but then that office is used by a lot of different companies so more than likely unconnected.
JV vid – “I wasn’t going to
JV vid – “I wasn’t going to overtake” – as he shouldn’t, given that he seemed to be approaching a red light with stationary traffic, but (a) somewhat at odds with his approach speed, and (b) if you weren’t going to overtake, what does it matter where JV is in the lane? PS: pretty sure it’s Piccadilly, not Shaftesbury Ave.
quiff wrote:
Not necessarily – maybe they meant “I wasn’t going to overtake, [I was going to just drive straight through you]”.
It was a narrow lane, so it
It was a narrow lane, so it didn’t really matter whether Vine was ‘drifting’ or not – there was no overtaking someone on a bike without moving into another lane.
Vine’s real crime in the driver’s eyes was simply being there IN THE WAY.
The week before, I casually
The week before, I casually cycled up Putney Hill on my own bike, after watching Crystal Palace bear Castagne et al 3-0 in the FA Cup quarter final.
Lance who?
Lance who?
Received an email from
Received an email from daysaver, free worldwide shipping. Now I would really like one of those delightful multi hex keys, with a JIS2 extra and the little silicone case. The p+p would normally be quite harsh, and of course adds to import duties. So a bargain. But should I be buying from the states at the moment? Thoughts?…
Sounds like the US bike
Sounds like the US bike industry has never had fewer powerful friends at home so could do with some support. Unless the economic downturn bites so hard a few more people there will have no option but to cycle?
OTOH things seem to change almost daily so perhaps next week there’ll be another Tour de Trump?
Clevedon seafront “cycle lane
Clevedon seafront “cycle lane” at the weekend…
All those empty cars can finally park facing the sea again