Grass Track racing

Re. Pro-car campaigner slams “hidden agenda” to “slow down motorists, restrict parking, and deter travel” this is just another right-wing conspiracy loon spouting off their usual rubbish. Why give him publicity? Like the sad people who walk through our town centres ranting on about anything and anyone they're best ignored.

Been a cyclist since I was 5 (63 soon), but I can't support this kind of behaviour. Just dumping bikes like this isn't on. Lime should have been made to provide enough designated pick up points before they were allowed to operate the scheme.

It is easier to trace fatalities and match them with the news story. In 2018 for instance, the only reported death where a "cyclist" was the other party, was the death of Sakhine Cikan, who was killed by someone riding an illegally modified machine. I have done a bit of research for other years and found similar. Injuries are going to be harder.

It's quite important if it's an illegal motorbike, you could claim against the MIB for damages etc. How will you (or the MIB) know if it's not recorded properly.

I agree that all steps should be taken to avoid death or serious injury in sport. However, things can go wrong. Neck injuries in rugby, cardiac arrest in football, high speed crashes on descents in cycling etc. I don't know whether this was a case of a driver disobeying instructions and barriers etc, or something in the stage organisation got missed ; after all, ensuring that a longish cycling stage remains traffic free must be an absolute logistical nightmare. The main thing to take away is that whenever a tragic death etc occurs, it always leads to improvements in organisation, equipment etc to reduce the chances of a repeat. Examples are Casartelli's death in the TDF in 1995 playing a part in making cycling helmets mandatory, collisions and injuries caused by vehicles pulling out in front of amateur time triallers led to the making front lights compulsory in recent years. I do hope that any failings identified in this case will be acted on so that Tarling's tragic death was not a total waste of a young life.

Tragic news, my condolences to his family, friends and team.

@Velo-drone I hold no brief for the UCI, but I believe their statement came out before the news broke that Finlay was hit by a driver. They presumably were guided by the race organisation's initial statement which also described his death as "a serious accident" with no mention of a car being involved and so had no reason to think it was anything but a racing incident (or accident).

@boblo This! Also the 'it’s a lot more relaxed than its policy suggests.' part is worrying. It sounds like 'we will decide arbitrarily based on the mood of our customer service rep'. If they claim something is their policy, why not say it - like - literally in the policy?

Depends on your frame of reference. The Earth's rotational speed at that latitude is about 600 mph, it's orbital speed is about 67,000 mph, and the speed around the centre of the galaxy is about 514,000 mph - those could be considered quite fast-moving.

Don't worry. Crank makers will make sure you need to buy a new standard soon!