“What sort of person wants to hurt children?” Vandals destroy teen cyclists’ DIY bike track; Angry German cyclist gives rival the middle finger after losing sprint, and claimed it was “agreed” he could win; Weirdest altitude camp? + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Cyclist has knife held to neck during ambush by masked attackers
> Cyclist has knife held to neck during ambush by masked attackers
“He needs to keep sprinting to the line”: Lennert Van Eetvelt rues “stupid thing to do” after gifting Vuelta stage win to Primož Roglič, as teammate Thomas De Gendt offers some belated advice
Let’s just hope Thomas De Gendt didn’t place a bet on his Lotto Dstny teammate Lennert Van Eetvelt winning yesterday’s Vuelta stage to Pico Villuercas – because things might have got a bit frosty around the dinner table.
Two weeks ago, De Gendt took to the social media cesspit formerly known as Twitter to confidently predict that “Lennert will win a stage in La Vuelta”.
But after yesterday’s summit finish – which saw the young Belgian prodigy ‘do an Alaphilippe’, as we call it in the cycling world, by throwing his arm in the air just as Primož Roglič nipped by for the win – veteran breakaway artist De Gendt, riding the Vuelta alongside Van Eetvelt, reassessed his pre-race prediction, adding the caveat: “But he needs to keep sprinting to the line.”
(Unipublic/Sprint Cycling Agency)
The 23-year-old, meanwhile, was well aware of where he went wrong yesterday, telling reporters after the stage that his premature celebration was “a kind of stupid thing to do, but there will be more opportunities”.
“Did I think I had won when I made that arm movement? Yes,” he continued. “That’s something you learn as a rookie, that you have to sprint right to the line, and not before it.
“I didn’t sense Roglič was coming up, though, so I more or less thought I had the victory. What did I feel? Did you hear me shout? That’s what I felt.”
Nevertheless, Van Eetvelt also said he can take heart from his climbing performance, which saw him match three-time Vuelta winner Roglič on the final climb’s savage 20 per cent slopes, and almost – almost – beat him in the sprint.
“For sure, I can be more than happy with the form I had and with how the race went today. If I had been beaten in a different way, it would also have been a really nice result. But now it hurts a bit. I think in a couple of days I can be pleased with this result,” he said.
“I came here for GC and this is good confirmation of my condition. It will give me and the team confidence to go for it in the Vuelta. Of course I also have a sour feeling right now. But there are still plenty of days to come and if you see where I am in the rankings. I can only be happy.”
‘Come on lads, give us a push, would you? We need to make the time cut…’
Just in case you weren’t sure just how steep that final climb to Pico Villuercas was at the Vuelta yesterday, check out this brilliant photo by Zac Williams, capturing the moment the DSM-Firmenich Post NL team car juddered to a halt on the mountain’s 20 per cent slopes and needed the assistance of some very helpful roadside fans to make it to the top:
(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Never change, cycling, never change…
Just when Ole Theiler thought it couldn’t get any worse…
Speaking of the Tour de l’Avenir, check out the brutal-looking profile of today’s stage, which crams three monster climbs into just 70km, and where GB’s up-and-coming multidisciplinary star Joe Blackmore will be hoping to improve on his current fifth place on GC:
Ouch.
And if that wasn’t enough, the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes – which last year boasted a staggeringly impressive podium of Shirin van Anrooij, Anna Shackley, and Gaia Realini – gets underway today with a two-kilometre prologue… that also finishes at altitude at La Rosière:
A hill climb to kick off a mountainous stage race? Now that’s just cruel.
Though with good old fashioned hill climbing in mind, keep an eye out for Great Britain’s extremely strong six-rider line-up, which includes Flora Perkins (who picked up two top tens at the Tour of Britain), Awen Roberts, Tour de Normandie stage winner Josie Nelson, Eilidh Shaw, Millie Couzens, and all-rounder Zoe Bäckstedt.
Is another impressive GB showing on the cards at the ‘Tour of the Future’?
Cycle training in schools reaching “new heights” in Scotland, as record number of councils deliver on-road lessons at every primary school in their area
More than 1,200 schools in Scotland took part in Bikeability cycle training during the 2023-24 academic year, figures collated by Cycling Scotland and local authorities have revealed, as Bikeability say the training – along with “building a network of safe, dedicated cycle lanes and preventing dangerous driving” – is essential to encouraging and supporting children to ride their bikes.
According to the recently released figures, a record number of local authorities from across rural and urban Scotland delivered Level 2 on-road cycle training, which is free for pupils and supported by Transport Scotland grants, in 100 per cent of primary schools in their area. These councils included Aberdeen, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, Western Isles, Orkney, Scottish Borders, Shetland, and Stirling.
Meanwhile, despite a reduction in the overall budget for the programme, the training was also delivered at 60 per cent of Scotland’s schools, a record, with half of the country’s local authorities now delivering on-road cycle training in more than 85 per cent of primary schools in their area.
“It’s brilliant to see the high level of training being done, in the smallest to the largest schools in Scotland – at Edderton Primary in Highland, which has just six pupils, five took part while at Dunbar Primary, 135 pupils from all five P6 classes completed Level 2 training,” Bikeability Scotland Manager David Collins said in a statement.
“Learning to cycle and road safety awareness are essential life skills and schools that commit to Bikeability Scotland are helping young people gain these. And the benefits are lifelong – providing greater transport independence and healthier, greener lifestyles.
“The positive impact of Bikeability Scotland on frequency of cycling is also shown to be greatest in schools with a higher proportion of pupils eligible for Free School Meals.
“Together with building a network of safe, dedicated cycle lanes and preventing dangerous driving, Bikeability Scotland training is essential to support children to cycle.”
More updates from the Matt Richardson nationality switch controversy, as Australian Cycling aim for two-year ban for sprinter – but former clubmates claim defection was due to “GB putting money up, which Australia can’t”
> Track cyclist who won three Olympic medals for Australia before “secret switch” to Team GB could face two-year ban from UCI, as AusCycling says Matthew Richardson would have been left out of Paris 2024 squad if they knew about defection plans
Marc Soler, doing Marc Soler things
Marc Soler eating a Calippo two minutes before the stage start is the most Marc Soler thing you’ll see today. pic.twitter.com/7h7zfHk1yh
— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) August 21, 2024
Cycling’s very own Ferris Bueller sure does love a pre, mid, and post-race Calippo. And in almost 40 degree heat in the middle of Spain, you can’t really blame him…
Marc Soler eating a calippo on a bike is an absolute vibe. #TDF2022 pic.twitter.com/MBDLAKAnEh
— Sadhbh O’Shea (@SadhbhOS) July 16, 2022
Not that there’s much Calippo weather coming our way in the UK anytime soon, mind you (he types, as he stares forlornly out the rain-battered window, somehow jealous of the scorching heat being withstood by the Vuelta peloton).
Rob Stannard set to race Tour of Britain for Bahrain-Victorious after accepting four-year backdated doping sanction for biological passport abnormalities
A year after being provisionally suspended by the UCI over alleged abnormalities in his biological passport, Australian pro Robert Stannard is set to make an “immediate” return to the World Tour with Bahrain-Victorious, and will make his comeback at the Tour of Britain at the start of September.
Stannard, who won the Tour de Wallonie, finished in the top ten of two stages of the Criterium du Dauphiné, and second in the mountains classification at the Vuelta a España while riding for Alpecin-Deceuninck in 2022 and 2023, was provisionally banned last August for the “use of prohibited methods and/or prohibited substances”.
In June, the 25-year-old accepted a back-dated four-year suspension for what the UCI described as “unexplained” abnormal values in his Athlete Biological Passport in 2018 and 2019, when he was racing for Mitchelton-Scott, now known as Jayco-AlUla.
The backdated nature of his ban means Stannard is free to return to racing, with the Australian immediately snapped up by Bahrain-Victorious.
“It’s awesome to be able to ride my bike again, to be able to continue my cycling career,” Stannard, who continues to deny any wrongdoing, said in a team press release announcing his signing.
“I had to make a hard choice: accept the ruling and be able to do the sport I love again, or fight to clear my name. I believe I’ve made the wisest choice. I hope to be able to do both in the long run, but for now, I am seizing with both hands the opportunity to race again!
“I feel like I’ve got my life back, in a way. I can’t wait to return to racing, and I’m so grateful to have been given this opportunity by Bahrain.”
Reflecting on his case, and asserting that he has never intentionally used banned substances, Stannard continued: “Athletes with ABP violations have not returned positive blood or urine tests for anything.
“They alleged that it could only have been caused by ‘illegal means’, but throughout the entire process, provided no evidence of any wrongdoing. No evidence of doping is collected or required for them to reach this judgment.
“I hope the Tribunal ruling will be published in the future, and then people will be able to read the details and make up their own minds. But it’s certainly changed my perspective on things, on cycling, and life as a whole.”
“We are happy to have Robert joining us. Robert went through a difficult period, with a lot of confusion, but we support him, and through our medical teams’ analysis we could not conclude any wrongdoing,” Bahrain-Victorious’ performance manager Vladimir Miholjevič added.
“He has been cleared to race in the professional peloton again, and is a talented rider who we think has great potential.”
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> Best road bike tyres 2024 — get more comfortable and faster with fewer punctures
The Boss quits: Edvald Boasson Hagen announces decision to retire at the end of the season after 17 years as a pro
After almost two decades as a professional cyclist and 81 victories, Edvald Boasson Hagen has today announced his decision to retire at the end of the 2024 season.
Regarded as one of the sport’s most exciting and promising talents when he burst onto the scene in the late 2000s, the 37-year-old Norwegian was one of many riders over the years unfairly burdened with the ‘New Eddy Merckx’ tag, especially after his stunning win at Gent-Wevelgem in 2009, while riding for HTC-High Road as a 21-year-old.
One of Team Sky’s marquee signings when the British squad was formed in 2010, Boasson Hagen – who was stubbornly referred to by commentator Carlton Kirby as ‘Eddy Boss’ throughout his career – underlined his staggering all-round ability with two stage wins at the 2011 Tour de France, one from a bunch sprint and one from a breakaway in the Alps.
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(Unipublic:Graham Watson)
However, his career was viewed by many to have stagnated while at Sky, where he was often confined to domestique duty in stage races while failing to make the mark expected of him in the classics.
Things picked up again after a move to MTN-Qhubeka, winning the Tour of Britain in 2015 (his second overall victory at the race) and grabbing his third and final Tour de France stage in 2017.
The Norwegian’s last pro win, however, would come at the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné, where he won five stages throughout his career. He then spent three increasingly lean years at TotalEnergies, before securing a last-minute deal at Decathlon-AG2R for 2024, in what has proved his final pro season.
“There is a time for everything and after 17 years in the pro peloton, I’m proud of what I have accomplished during my career,” Boasson Hagen posted on Instagram today.
“2024 will be my last season and I am looking forward to spending more time with my family and exploring new opportunities in my life beyond cycling.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone that have supported me and cheered me on, the teams I’ve been a part of and especially my family and wife, who have always been there for me. I’ve been very lucky and happy to have been able to do this for so long, and for all the friendships, and cherished memories I am left with.
“Still some races left this season, going to do my best as always!”
One of those races will be the Renewi Tour, which Boasson Hagen has won twice before, in 2009 and 2011, in its old Eneco Tour incarnation.
Now one more stage win there would be a fitting way to bow out of the sport, Eddy Boss…
Weirdest altitude camp ever?
Not your average altitude camp 🐄😂
Join @soudalquickstep in San Pellegrino as the riders spend 18 days at altitude to fine-tune their form and even try their hand at milking some local cows 👇
🎥 Streaming now on @RoadCode: https://t.co/EPpZrQPAQo pic.twitter.com/xwwyE7Vxt5
— Velon CC (@VelonCC) August 21, 2024
First dinosaur jerseys, now cows… I have no words.
Vuelta a España: Pavel Bittner secures biggest win of his career by outsprinting Wout van Aert in thrilling photo finish in Seville
What a day for young Pavel Bittner, who took on Wout van Aert in a drag race to the line in Seville this afternoon at the Vuelta a España, and beat the Dutch star with a superb throw to the line to secure the biggest win so far of his promising career.
At the end of another largely uneventful flat, hot day at the Spanish Grand Tour, punctuated only by Rui Costa’s late race-ending crash with EF teammate Owain Doull, Alpecin-Deceuninck once again took control in the closing kilometres for Kaden Groves.
𝑺𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆! 👀
📸 Pavel Bittner takes Stage 5 victory after a photo finish sprint with Wout van Aert 💪#LaVuelta24 pic.twitter.com/fTsvXxygmf
— Eurosport (@eurosport) August 21, 2024
But when, with 250m to go, Groves inexplicably looked over his right shoulder, green jersey Van Aert immediately launched to his left.
Undeterred by the Belgian’s long-range sprint, DSM-Firmenich’s 21-year-old Czech all-rounder Bittner – who entered this Vuelta in top form off the back of two stage wins in Burgos – also accelerated into the wind, setting up a hard-fought drag race sprint with Van Aert.
Pavel Bittner (DSM Firmenich-PostNL) wins Stage 5 of the Vuelta pic.twitter.com/pdjdVr0q0r
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) August 21, 2024
And while another of the peloton’s young guns was caught out by a throw for the line yesterday, Bittner had no such problems, hurling his bike at the finish to pip Van Aert to take his third win of the month – which just so happen to be the only pro wins of his young career so far – and the biggest of the lot.
Pavel Bittner has arrived.
Israel-Premier Tech’s British sensation Joe Blackmore takes short, sharp mountain stage at Tour de l’Avenir and dons yellow jersey
Meanwhile over at the Tour de l’Avenir this afternoon, no middle fingers were raised (expect perhaps at the very concept of the race itself), as Israel-Premier Tech’s British pro Joe Blackmore outsprinted Jarno Widar and Pablo Torres for the win atop La Rosière at the end of brutally sharp 70km in the Alps.
Joe Blackmore wins the stage 3 of Tour de l’Avenir and takes back the leader’s jersey! #tourdelavenir https://t.co/TxbdMfgfWX pic.twitter.com/OxI2WWSIwN
— Eemeli (@LosBrolin) August 21, 2024
That victory for Blackmore – who has won three pro stage races already this year – means he leads the race overall, with Widar and Torres now at nine and 23 seconds back respectively, and everyone over 45 seconds down on the 21-year-old from Sidcup.
Meanwhile, at the Tour de l’Avenir Femmes, Britain’s Millie Couzens and Josie Nelson got off to a great start, finishing fourth and seventh respectively on the race’s 2km ‘hill climb’ prologue to the same ski station that hosted the men’s race, as Belgium’s Lore De Schepper took the stage.
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“I’m devastated, this could have been my moment”: Angry German cyclist gives rival the middle finger after losing sprint at Tour de l’Avenir – and claimed Italian “agreed” he could win after failing to contribute to breakaway
If you thought Lennert Van Eetvelt ‘Alaphilipping’ himself at the end of stage four of the Vuelta a España – the young Belgian raising his arm in celebration just as that wily old fox Primož Roglič nipped by him for the win – was the only finish line drama at an important stage yesterday, think again.
Over at the Tour de l’Avenir, widely regarded as a mini-Tour de France for under-23 riders and an indicator of future stardom in the pro ranks (Tadej Pogačar and Egan Bernal are recent winners), Germany’s Ole Theiler didn’t respond too kindly to fellow attacker Ludovico Crescioli’s decision to sprint by him for the stage victory in Hauteville, after sitting on his wheel for almost the entirety of their 6km winning move.
In fact, the 21-year-old could be seen offering Crescioli a middle finger salute as he crossed the line in his wake, and told reporters afterwards that the Italian had “agreed” to let him win after failing to contribute to the attack.
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) August 20, 2024
Theiler had launched off the front of the bunch with six kilometres to go of the Tour’s lumpy second road stage to Plateau d’Hauteville and was quickly followed by the 20-year-old Crescioli. The duo swiftly built up a ten-second gap over the peloton, though the TV pictures clearly showed Theiler doing the bulk of the work at the front.
In the final 150m, however, as Theiler launched his sprint, Crescioli burst past, celebrating wildly as his unimpressed German counterpart raised his middle finger behind (and Britain’s Matthew Brennan won the bunch kick behind).
It’s fair to say that, middle finger aside, Theiler wasn’t too happy with Crescioli’s actions on the run-in.
“He didn’t want to take over. He said he couldn’t get past,” Theiler explained after the stage.
“I told him, fine, but then I want to win. He said ‘okay’ and agreed that I would win. But at the end he started sprinting anyway. I’m devastated. This could have been my moment.”
Crescioli, for his part, was unruffled by his German rival’s complaints.
“We talked a bit, yes, I followed him, it was a tactic of mine and in the end I won,” the 20-year-old said, a stage win (and a middle finger) in the bag.
It’s fair to say that Theiler has had something of an eventful year as he aims to secure a pro contract.
Back in May, while riding in the breakaway at the Rund um Köln one-day race, the Team Storck rider bizarrely collided with the mobility aid of a woman who had wandered across a zebra crossing just as the race was passing by.
With nowhere to go as his breakaway companions quickly ducked left and right, Theiler hit the woman’s walking aid with his back wheel, knocking it from her hands and dragging it along the road. While the pedestrian appeared to lose her balance in the collision, both her and Theiler remained, rather miraculously, upright following the bizarre incident.
Crashing into mobility aids and giving rivals the middle finger – that’s definitely one way of making sure pro teams remember your name…
“What sort of person would want to hurt children?” Teenage cyclists “frustrated” after bike ramps they built vandalised and destroyed
Back in July, you may remember, a housing association in south Wales came under fire after it fenced off the entrance to a woodland that was being used by children as a cycle track after the youngsters allegedly cleared it of litter – but which led to the young cyclists being sworn at and threatened by local residents.
And now, in Hadleigh, Suffolk, vandals have targeted a bike track created by two teenagers, destroying their ramps and reportedly placing branches over parts of the DIY course.
Ethan J and Ethan R, both 16 – who have permission to ride on the track in woodland at The Fuzz, just off Hadleigh’s Railway Walk – told the BBC that they do now know who is targeting them, but that it won’t put them off riding their bikes on the land.
“It’s really frustrating because we don’t know who it is,” Ethan R said. “They’ve clocked on what times we come down here and what times we haven’t, and they wait for us to go so we can’t really do anything about it.
“This is what we love, this is what we do and we can’t do it now because it’s been destroyed.”
The boys and their friends were given permission by the landowner to use the land for their bike track and to ensure it is kept litter free.
“We’re really nice lads, we’re friendly to everyone that comes down here and we like to help people with their bike riding,” Ethan R continued. “We’ll build [the ramps] back up because it’s a nice thing for everyone to [use].”
“We spend hours and hours in the afternoons and at night with torches building away trying to make sure that they are perfect for the community and for us to ride,” Ethan J added.
“There’s not much in this town that we can really do besides riding… we get great enjoyment out of it and a lot of other people do.”
Meanwhile, Charlotte, one of the boys’ mothers, was scathing of those putting the teenagers in danger.
“This is what kids should be doing, being outside and playing,” she said. “It is just very sad that some people think they shouldn’t be here and taken it upon themselves to destroy their work.
“They’re not harming anybody and people are actively coming out here and laying branches so they will fall off their bikes.
“They’re laying out brambles – who does that? What sort of person would want to hurt children?”
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18 Comments
Latest Comments
@robgodd The poor guy himself suffered a traumatic brain injury and his skull was so badly shattered a significant portion of it had to be removed - do me a favour, have a look around cycling helmet manufacturers and see if any of them claim the foam hats they produce will protect against or even mitigate that level of injury. I'll wait if you like, but I can save us both the time and tell you what you'll find: none of them. Not a single one of them will. Because they don't, and they *can't* based on simple physics. Once the point of failure in a material is reached all(or as near as makes no odds) of the additional force beyond that necessary threshhold transfers through to the object beneath. Since bicycle helmets are rated for forces roughly equivalent to being dropped straight down from a stationary start 1.5m above a hard surface. Now, I'm not an expert in vehicle crash investigation, but I'm *fairly* sure that any impact or series of impacts powerful enough to render a quarder of your skull into gravel, put you in a weeks-long coma, give you massive amnesia, and leave you with ongoing symptoms of traumatic brain injury are a little bit, a teeny-weeny amount, a little smidgeon-widgeon more than what bike helmets are rated for. That's why none of the companies that make them claim they will help in such circumstances: because they know it would be a lie, and that unlike uninformed punters, carbrained journalists, or "medical professionals" who think wearing a helmet would save you from a broken arm(an actual scenario encountered by a mate, who's nurse at the A&E tutted and harrumphed her way through his whole treatment due to his lack of helmet despite his bonce having come through *being hit by a car* - another scenario bike helmets are worthless in - completely unscathed), the lawyers for those companies know their business and understand that if you lie in advertising you will get sued into the ground.
The Battle of Ypres April 1915. The German infantry division advanced using das Brumptstadt Fahrarden. The slow speed kept them behind the cloud of chlorine gas as it drifted towards the Commonwealth trenches. The offensive cleaved a two mile gap in the Western Front. The use of cycles was copied by the Japanese as they invaded Singapore and Burmah. By then war technology had embraced wider low pressure tyres, carbon frames and hydration gels. The German forces decided not to incorporate cycling as part of Operation Session, as bike theft in London and the South East was rife and would have caused huge casualties. Ironically superior advancement of tyre technology led to a British victory at El Alamein. This technology played a key part in the US Marines victory at Iwo Jima.
The appropriate response to Google pissing on your cereal is not a fancy new sugar that removes the taste of urine. Stop using Google products where you can. Firefox browser and DuckDuckGo search engine have had noticeable upticks in market share by explicitly NOT pushing AI.
my thoughts exactly...I wonder how that approach is working, with motor vehicle drivers...🤔
I do not wish to diminish the personal tragedy, but one never hear calls for pedestrians or even hikers to wear clothing with integrated lightening rods.
RE Andy Burnam / Heidi Alexander - this is the best thing in many ways - set an example (even if currently it leads to lots of online name-calling). And imagine some of the political alternatives! The folks in the apparently second-placed party seem incredibly unlikely to be doing so. And even the current "new Greens" seem less interested in ... y'know, environmental things. OTOH I wish Heidi could be bolder. And I fear that like anyone ambitious enough to get to the top (exception B Johnson - well, I guess there was the Corbyn bicycle...) Burnam will be trimming his transport policy sails to fit the wind (should that be "bunker-fuel-burning engines"?)
@mattsccm Bull bars aren't banned, they just have to conform to regulations so they are deformable or have plates that allow crumple give on contact, rather than rigid steel bars that can smash into pedestrians and cyclists with no give at all, catch them and drag them under the wheels. If you think that's a problem, do one. Why should who is responsible for a collision remove the responsibility of people driving a tonne of machinery on the road from having safety features to at least mitigate some of the effects of a collision?
I'd be willing to bet that's lazy use of stock photography rather than deliberate misinformation, but the result is still the same.
@smallbeer You obviously don't realise how many bulls there are wandering around Chelsea, in and out of the china shops, that he needs to protect his Range Rover from.
I agree, it's bloody 'elf and safety overreach, can't help some people, I put some meat, sorry, neat decoration on the front of mine and the polis were round poking their noses in like that (mind you, that was a mistake...) (etc)
18 thoughts on ““What sort of person wants to hurt children?” Vandals destroy teen cyclists’ DIY bike track; Angry German cyclist gives rival the middle finger after losing sprint, and claimed it was “agreed” he could win; Weirdest altitude camp? + more on the live blog”
Wheel sucking all the way to
Wheel sucking all the way to the line before launching your sprint might be an effective tactic, but it’s not a clever one. I imagine that other riders will take note for the future.
Maybe so, but riders agreeing
Maybe so, but riders agreeing who is going to win rather than racing each other is one of the worst aspects of professional cycling.
It cheats viewers.
It’s all part of racing
It’s all part of racing tactics. What was the alternative here? Neither agreeing to do any work, the breakaway failing and being swallowed up by the peloton? How would that have been better for viewers?
Yeah. I think this’ll work
Yeah. I think this’ll work once or twice.
I’m reminded of this long
I’m reminded of this long-form story by Ian Dille — also an under 23 racer — in Bicycling:
I Made a Deal in a Bike Race—And It Haunted Me for 15 Years
Essex Police not processing
Essex Police not processing close passes as there is no one with the suitable qualification to go to court to state distance/speed with suitable expert opinion
Apparently this is at least a 1.5M gap
Wow. At least they’re
Wow. At least they’re admitting a reason why they’re doing nothing, as opposed to Dorset Police who just gave this a damn good ignore.
It’s uphill and I usually go
It’s uphill and I usually go nearer the edge than when on the flat. Also there are some manhole covers that I go left to avoid. I will have to take primary at about 9mph and miss the covers on the right with no police protection.
Blimey. That’s frank by the
Blimey. That’s frank by the law. “There’s no-one capable of persuading a jury that your bike rack isn’t bigger than the cars in the picture”. (I guess this is exactly the kind of lawyering that happens and provokes the CPS to raise the bar for what they’ll take forward…)
OR… is it that they have been motivated … to come up with new reasons for fob-off rather than just the Polis Scotland “just try reporting it!” and the Lancs “dropbox which is linked to the recycle bin”?
Essex Police not processing
Essex Police not processing close passes as there is no one with the suitable qualification to go to court to state distance/speed with suitable expert opinion
Is this in addition to the ‘can’t be a close pass because the cyclist didn’t brake or wobble’ dodge, or instead of it? Essentially, they’re claiming that it’s impossible to judge how close the nearside vehicle mirror came- coming closer to the police Holy Grail of all evidence in cases of offences against cyclists being ‘insufficient’. Cyclists really should despise these lying b******s!
Wow. Makes me think maybe I
Wow. Makes me think maybe I should make a control pic to accompany each submission, showing rear view with my bike positioned 1.5m from a parked car.
But hey, the tail of the car
But hey, the tail of the car must be at least 1.5 meters behind the bicycle, no problem then, it seems…
race noun (COMPETITION)
race noun (COMPETITION)
– a competition in which all the competitors try to be the fastest and to finish first.
All is well.
Seems somewhat lacking as a
Seems somewhat lacking as a definition. There are many instances where people enter races with no expectations of finishing first, and most races are run within certain rules (written and unwritten) which constrain what is acceptable in pursuing a result.
Quote:
Ah, but they’re not really children, are they? Clearly they are just juvenile cyclists and therefore fair game…
It wasn’t mentioned on
It wasn’t mentioned on commentary so maybe I’m mistaken but it looked to me as though WVA had actually misjudged the finishing line, he seemed to throw, sit up slightly then see that Bittner was throwing and threw again. As per the screenshot below, there were three big Cofidis logos on the road but a fourth smaller one the same width as the finish line just before the line, I wonder if Wout mistook that for the finish line?
I saw the same when I watched
I saw the same when I watched it last night. Definitely looked like he misjudged the finish line and made a second throw.
Interesting [sic] followup to
Interesting [sic] followup to this: the peleton have just crossed the finish line to start the final loop today (Friday) and the colours of the logos have been changed to white writing on a red background, with the finish line still white. Wonder if someone’s had a word?