Italian sprinter Allessandro Pettachi stormed back from his 12 month drugs ban in emphatic style to take Stage 1 of the Tour of Britain. Petacchi powered home ahead of Rob Hayles with Magnus Backstedt in third. Daniel Di Luca – who had been first to break for the line – lost out on a podium spot. In every edition of the Tour of Britain so far the winner of the first stage has gone on to claim the race, which might seem like a good omen for Petacchi. The usual scenario is that a small break develops early in the stage, building up a big lead, while the peloton declines to chase. When they do it is too late: the result of the stage and the race is sealed in the first few hours. This time around things looked to be following the usual pattern with a seven man break going clear, of which Di Luca was a prominent part, but they were caught before the finish when Stuart O’Grady and his CSC Saxo Bank team upped the pace and reeled them in on the final lap of the London street circuit. That set up the day for the sprinters and Petacchi had his moment. Whether his LPR Brakes team will be strong enough to help him hold on to that lead remains to be seen. We should get an indication of that today when the race goes from Milton Keynes to Newbury. The Tour of Britain ends in Liverpool next Sunday when the riders will once again take on a city centre circuit. www.tourofbritain.co.uk
Petacchi wins Tour of Britain Stage 1
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Is that a Russian "z" symbol represented by the front wheel? Or is it an "s" - and is the back wheel the same?
Of course this will rightly be subject to meeting legal evidence requirements. Which will then be amended to "we have been told that the minimum evidential standards are..." Which a cynic might suggest will allow police to dismiss enough cases so they don't get too busy. Except when a few of them get suspicious of someone and decide to make up the law again...
RE: "suitable roadside test equipment" Does this mean "UCI-level scrutiny is needed" .... Or "eyes plus awareness that bikes normally slow down when on the flat / going uphill *without being pedalled*"?
"West Midlands Police is exploring alternative methods of spotting illegal e-motorbike use" Somebody please tell them easiest way to 'spot' would be the rider's going faster than any typical cyclist for the conditions. And if the rider isn't even pedalling - well bang to rights, innit? Or if they're scouring popular stops for Deliveroo etc. couriers, just look for the throttle.
Motorists cause considerable delays to cyclists in cities and towns.
And even in the apology statement they call him a driver 🤦♂️
That sounds like work, though.
I was quite disturbed by this story yesterday and I'm glad that it seems to be getting resolved a bit. Presumably the bike looked fairly standard and was not covered in gaffer, with tern graphics, so surely one quick web search would have shown the ridiculous expense of this machine (you pay for quality mind...) hinting at it's full legality in unmodified state and preventing this embarrassment through incompetence.
@GoodWheelHunting Or indeed if the person had a white skin I doubt the police would even have got a chance to hear their accent as they wouldn't have bothered him. As I stated on the original thread, contrary to the opinion of a certain PBU and others, one doesn't have to have an agenda or a chip on one's shoulder to know that if Mrs Fortescue-Smythe had ridden her £6K Tern past the officers with Henry and Jemima on the back on their way to school there's not a chance in a billion that they would have stopped her and accused her of having an illegal machine.
The rider can clearly be heard telling the police to take it for a ride and see... That's all they had to do - listen and act on a concerned citizen's request. No malice my arse!