Welcome to Thursday on the road.cc live blog with Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Puntastic! – our fave headlines from the MSM after they picked up the Porn Pedallers story we broke yesterday, Epic fail for BMW pedestrian (and cyclist) avoidance system, Olympic champ Callum Skinner retires + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond
Thu, Mar 07, 2019 20:53
SUMMARY
7 March 2019, 20:53
Women’s Tour of Scotland route revealed
The route for the inaugural Women’s Tour of Scotland was unveiled in Edinburgh yesterday.
The three-day race takes place from 9-11 August, with the opening stage running from Dundee to Dunfermline.
That will be followed by a stage from Glasgow to Perth, with the closing stage starting and finishing in Edinburgh.
Olympic gold medallist Katie Archibald was at yesterday’s launch in the Scottish capital and will ride the event this summer.
“There’s a huge significance that it’s a standalone women’s event,” she said.
“I’m proud to be attached to it and hopefully events like this say to young girls that they can get on a bike, and to women that ‘this world is ours, we’re competitive and we can race just as hard as the men’.
“It should really give a chance to showcase Scotland and some gorgeous scenery,” she said. “Most years I end up missing the Scotland National Road Race so it will be a privilege to be on these roads.
“There are lots of nice moments that may not be globally iconic but to me will feel very special,” she added.
7 March 2019, 20:53
In the Neutral Service car at Strade Bianche
If there was one race last year where the Neutral Service car was most needed it had to be Strade Bianche. The rain turned the chalk roads to sludge and things quickly got interesting.
Take a look behind the scenes with the unsung heroes of the pro peloton.
7 March 2019, 20:53
Le Samyn 2019 highlights
Missed this Belgian semi-classic earlier in the week? Grab a quick cuppa and catch up with the racing.
How is anyone going to beat QuickStep this year?
7 March 2019, 20:53
Why is online cycling so popular? Oh…
Virtual reality vs reality – Tower Bridge, London both this Am @GoZwift pic.twitter.com/jSKUDuKPpo
— Rory McCarron (@CyclingLawLDN) March 7, 201
It might get a bit lonely in there. Eventually
7 March 2019, 20:53
Video: Sam Hill Vs Killian Bron
Nice riding, or should that be ‘sick edit’?
7 March 2019, 20:53
Olympic champion Callum Skinner announces retirement – but will work with British Cycling to “make the athlete experience more human”
Olympic champion Callum Skinner has announced his retirement from elite cycling at the age of 26 – though he plans to remain involved in the sport by working with British Cycling “make the athlete experience more human.”
Two years ago in Rio, Skinner helped Team GB retain its team sprint Olympic title, and also took silver in the individual sprint, won by team mate Jason Kenny.
In a post on his blog today, the Scot said: “Cycling has been very good to me, I’ve made lifelong friends and realised my dream for which I am eternally privileged.
“I appreciate that 26 might seem to many quite young to be transitioning away from the track, but I have never considered myself just an athlete; I consider myself far more than that.”
He continued: “I’m looking for a new challenge, my next Olympics. I want to build on the skills and perspective I’ve learnt and gained as a competitor over the last few years, and go on to greater things.
“As some of you will know, I’m particularly passionate about giving back to sport, using my profile for good, whether that’s in supporting the long overdue reform of sports governance, LGBT rights and encouraging people to get on their bikes.”
Last August, Skinner announced that he was taking an extended break from cycling, saying that he lacked motivation, although today he revealed that his hiatus from the sport was due to a deterioration in his health.
> Olympic champion Callum Skinner taking break from cycling
“This has proved to be a very challenging time,” he said. “Through seeking help outside the programme, and by the unswerving support of my friends, family and agent, I have made incredible progress and I’m pleased to say have almost fully recovered.”
As for his future role, he said: “My focus and effort now lies in working in partnership with British Cycling to continue to make the athlete experience more human whilst still maintaining that performance mindset. These two essential aspects are not mutually exclusive of each other.
“Overall, I have had an amazing time at British Cycling and would like to thank my current and former coaches, performance support staff and team mates for an amazing and unforgettable ten years,” he added. “I wish them every success going forward.”
7 March 2019, 20:53
Watch out for the BeeMer… but you knew that
Interesting vid from the US insurance industry backed Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) showing their testing of pedestrian detection/auto braking systems on a number of small and luxury SUVs from different manufacturers in simulations of typical incidents in which cars collide with pedestrians. Two of the cars, the 2019 versions of the Toyota RAV 4 and Subaru Forester managed to avoid collisions in all scenarios and only one failed the test entirely – BMW’s X1 which comes equipped with the company’s Daytime Pedestrian Detection system, and which the IIHS noted “didn’t brake at all in the 37 mph parallel adult scenario. The luxury SUV had minimal to no speed reductions in the other tests.” More work needed there then.
7 March 2019, 20:53
Guess where we are…?
7 March 2019, 20:53
Top punning from Fleet Street's finest on the Porn Pedallers story
When we reported yesterday that Porn Pedallers Cycling Club had seen its licence revoked by British Cycling due to infringing UCI rules, we suspected it wouldn’t be long before the mainstream media took up the case.
However, chapeau to the sub-editors of Fleet Street (well … the Baby Shard, Kensington High Street and elsewhere) for some totally puntastic headlines today.
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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Latest Comments
StevenCrook 45 minutes ago
Omata. Don't get it. Cool way of displaying the information and neat hardware integration. But you could have done that display with no moving parts using a touchscreen instead of the mechanical display and kept the electronics. Been less than half the price too, and just as cool tbh.
chrisonabike 1 hour ago
@mdavidford using a "Bath cap", you mean?
mdavidford 1 hour ago
For a moment there I thought that said Silca were going retro and bringing back omerta...
mdavidford 2 hours ago
Would they have been able to finish that bit properly if they hadn't lopped a couple of grand off the budget to get it under £500k?
Backladder 2 hours ago
@chrisonabike "The countryside is difficult when it comes to transport choices. " You're not wrong. "Recreational cyclists – as evidenced by the folks on here – will likely cycle anyways, probably even if it was banned!" Twice.
jackcycles 2 hours ago
@Rendel Harris whoa there son, put away that tinfoil hat. The Telegraph (a trusted broadsheet since 1855) was merely quoting home office figures, which shows knife crime rising steadily under Khan, even after 2019. By the way, on the off chance you're out tonight, make sure you keep your back to the wall on the way home? There's a good chap, despite our differences I'd hate for anything bad to happen to you.
Rendel Harris 3 hours ago
@Nigel Garage Is that the Telegraph that has the same obsessive hatred of Lord Khan as yourself, doubtless for the same reasons (brown, Muslim, left wing, popular, successful, caned the Tories three elections in a row)? The Telegraph that in 2024 claimed London gun crime had risen 2,500% in a year when in fact it had risen by 1%? If the Telegraph says it's Monday I check my watch to see if it's true. Knife crime offences have risen under Khan, by about 50%, from 9,086 offences in 2016 to 13,850 in 2025. What the Telegraph doubtless failed to mention is that a large part of this increase is due to stricter knife laws having been brought in in 2019, so that many offences that previously wouldn't have been recorded as knife crime now are. They doubtless inadvertently failed to mention that the number of under-25s injured by knives has fallen 25% since 2016, and the overall number of hospital attendances for knife crime has fallen 50% in the same period. Probably also didn't mention that homicides have fallen to the lowest level since records began in 1990, despite the population rising by more than two million people over that period. One imagines they also failed to mention that the Tory governments from 2010 to 2024 slashed over a billion pounds from the Metropolitan Police Service budget? Thought so. "Just this evening it was reported that legendary comedian Paul Whitehouse was the victim of an attempted mugging in Islington while using a cash machine, it’s completely out of control." In 1995 I was mugged at knifepoint in Bath, does that mean knife crime in Bath was completely out of control then?
chrisonabike 3 hours ago
@Backladder Do locals never drive to Thornhill for the cafe, community centre, school, vets etc.? Yes, this is "proper countryside" and maybe most people simply drive the fair ways to the big town (Dumfries!). The countryside is difficult when it comes to transport choices. I do know that in many places where it's made less unattractive people do choose the car less often. I'm not convinced more than a couple of the locals would walk on that road. Kids and older people cycling there seem rather unlikely also. But maybe they're hardy folk? Recreational cyclists - as evidenced by the folks on here - will likely cycle anyways, probably even if it was banned!
chrisonabike 3 hours ago
@jackcycles I can hear the Pub Landlord - "I'm sick of all those cells going to foreigners! I want to see Great British bike thieves in Great British prisons!" Given Mr.Farage has made a big thing about security while simultaneously refusing the offer of it * ... ... I'm guessing he'll be for blaming his pet hates for "an epidemic" of bike theft. Then refusing to use the police budget to tackle cycle crime, taking a millions from some dodgy donor "to fix crime", after which he'll refuse to answer any questions about what it was spent on **... * Apparently because it wasn't commensurate with his ego - sorry, his public profile - because "I'm bigger than the leader of the opposition!" ** AFAIK the latest explanation for the donations is "none of your business". Looking forward to the next report of eg. a judge receiving a large "personal gift, no strings attached" from the mob and offering the same explanation!
No Reply 4 hours ago
New Northwave winter boots, in Snow White? Don't they realise how filthy our roads are in winter?? Silca Omata, lovely retro computer, but about £400 too expensive.
1 thought on “Live blog: Puntastic! – our fave headlines from the MSM after they picked up the Porn Pedallers story we broke yesterday, Epic fail for BMW pedestrian (and cyclist) avoidance system, Olympic champ Callum Skinner retires + more”
Nice work, BMW, you should
Nice work, BMW, you should partner up with Uber.