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Live blog: Cycling shorts on the catwalk… just say no; Bike licence debate contextualised; Find a new word for ‘cyclist’ to help curb driver aggression; Tour of Flanders contender blames Champagne celebration for bronchitis; epic Canyon vid+ more
SUMMARY

Tour of Flanders contender blames Champagne celebration for bronchitis that might keep him out of the race
Sporza reports that AG2R La Mondiale’s Oliver Naesen is suffering from bronchitis and reckons he contracted it after getting drenched with Champagne after Gent-Wevelgem last Sunday.
Naesen finished third in the race and celebrated in customary style with winner Alexander Kristoff and second-placed John Degenkolb.
It doesn’t seem like the Belgian is too bad though. He finished 19th at Dwars door Vlaanderen earlier in the week.
The Tour of Flanders is on Sunday.
Check out this cool clip from Canyon about Mathieu van der Poel's rich cycling heritage
With racing embossed into his family’s DNA and raw, boundless talent on any bike he rides, @mathieuvdpoel’s arrival in the top echelon of cycling is being played out right before our very eyes. #MyCanyon #PureCycling pic.twitter.com/9SFgcnnLL9
— Canyon Bicycles (@canyon_bikes) April 5, 2019
Dutchman van der Poel comes from a family of super successful cyclists, and the video intersperses his journey to the World Tour with clips of his Vuelta-winning grandfather Raymond Poulidor and father Adri van der Poel. Mathieu will be looking to emulate his old man this weekend at the Tour of Flanders – Adri won it in 1986.
Actor Christopher Biggins has phone stolen by a thief on a bike


The actor and TV personality, best known for playing Lukewarm in Porridge, told BBC Wiltshire that he was mugged of his mobile phone outside of a Covent Garden restaurant on Wednesday night: “I was calling an Uber. It was quarter to midnight and I was on my phone.
“I was looking down towards Trafalgar Square and I was seeing where he was, how far away, and suddenly a hooded cyclist came by and stole my phone – just took it out of my hand.
“The terrifying thing is now, in London, there are so many stabbings, so many thefts. Apparently this happens all the time but it was such a violation.
“I shouted very loudly because I have a very loud voice. But it was quarter to midnight and no-one was around really. So he got away.”
Video: Dublin motorist needlessly cuts up cyclist carrying two kids on cargo bike
The turn’s for a shopping centre. Watch it here and ask yourself why.
E-cargo convoy
First London cargo bike convoy! The times they are a changing. @TeamLondonBdg @ecargobikes @Jesse_Norman #Cargonauts #CleanAir pic.twitter.com/rbjn2Ywp3M
— e-cargobikes (@ecargobikes) April 4, 2019
While the previous post is extremely disappointing to see, here’s some more positive cargo bike news.
Guardian reporter contextualises the (highly stupid) bike licence debate
Amid the endless, nonsense debate about licenses for cyclists, this is the everyday reality on the roads: scary, illegal, utterly pointless close passes.
This was my ride to work yesterday. It’s a 20mph zone. Driver could have waited two seconds to have more space. pic.twitter.com/yf1j3LpDQB
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) April 5, 2019
It's why people get so irritated about TV and websites being full of things like cycle licensing. If you regularly experience events like this, the idea that *cyclists* are some kind of mortal peril in need of reining in and regulation can only prompt a hollow, bitter laugh.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) April 5, 2019
First to the top of the Kwaremont on Sunday will win €5,000 for charity
The first rider to the top of the Oude Kwaremont during the men’s Tour of Flanders on Sunday will win €5,000 to donate to a charity of their choice.
The new initiative between Flanders Classics and the Belgian National Lottery is a tribute to Belgian rider Stig Broeckx who spent six months in a coma after a crash involving two race motorbikes at the Tour of Belgium last May.
As well as the €5,000 for the first rider to the top, the Lottery will be providing an additional €5,000 for a charity of Broeckx’s choice.
Welsh Gov't proposes legalising cycling on footpaths
A step towards fairer access for bikes?
So much no...
Cycling shorts served to add an aerodynamic burst of downtown cool to crisp tailored blazers and super-starched shirts https://t.co/eJr6ztGcmX
— British Vogue (@BritishVogue) April 4, 2019
Chamois-less ‘cycling shorts’ for people trying to be hip just won’t go away, and it seems some of the biggest names in fashion are trying to convince women with too much money that they’re bang on trend again. While the subject of the article on British Vogue’s website is hideous we will reserve our appreciation for its writer Ellie Pithers, who has managed to shoehorn in an impressive number of cycling references.
Fiday's Indicative Vote - A New Name for Cyclists
Got a better suggestion? Leave them in the comments below or head over here where you’ll also find the poll but with more words about it
Careless driver who caused cyclist's death loses appeal after arguing she was only 19 and didn't know the road
The judge said that an early guilty plea “might well have made the difference”.
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Latest Comments
@the infamous grouse I think the thing you're missing in all of this is that a robust defence is a requirement of securing a conviction in a legal system that aims to prevent false prosecutions as much as possible. Without defence counsel doing their jobs a conviction wouldn't be worth anything and we wouldn't be able to sit here confident that Richardson is a murderer asking how anyone could defend him in the first place.
Presumably because the brighter mode is using twice as much power.
"The council’s approval came after years of delays and debate concerning the lay-out of the shared route, due to heritage-based concerns...." Looks at picture showing part of park allocated to car parking and scratches head over heritage concerns As to pedestrian complaints I tend to classify pedestrians into two groups: People who genuinely walk to destinations and people who have temporarily had to get out of a vehicle
Meanwhile life-threatening driving has been officially decriminalised in Derbyshire. Times has been strangely silent on that one. Wonder why?
@Backladder I'm going to take a wild guess that this offence has not been enforced anywhere in the last five years. But also ... if there's a designated "play street" where motor vehicles aren't allowed, why the heck is the penalty only two points anyway!?
@wtjs Every - and I mean EVERY - close pass is a deliberate active choice to prioritise driver convenience over the life of a another human being. Don't want to prosecute them? Sure. Offer them a driver improvement course, or points and a fine. You'll find out soon enough if it's actually a "moment" of poor judgement, because if it isn't then they'll be back up again. Let them off, and you'll never know - because every time will just be another "moment".
I have to assume the reviewer's correct when he says they're red, but to me they look orange. Also: "Battery life is quoted at 7.5hrs/15hrs on steady" could do with some clarification. Why is one figure twice as high as the other?
There is no excuse for this There is: I want to drive onto a cycle lane, and I'll always get away with it
@rgriffith7 I'm not sure the wisdom of basing your safety analysis on what happens *after* the bad thing has occurred. I'd be more interested in that not happening in the first place ... but I guess it's a fair proxy for general attitude to driver behaviour / cyclists. Anyway - if you're of an adventurous disposition and can avoid obvious invitations to an altercation (basically any time a motorist takes the time to insult you, or worse) stats show that on average you can enjoy several lifetimes of cycling in the UK without serious injury... Lifelong UK transport cyclist here, still alive at time of posting...
@rbrtribble You're a bit of a cunt arent you
4 thoughts on “Live blog: Cycling shorts on the catwalk… just say no; Bike licence debate contextualised; Find a new word for ‘cyclist’ to help curb driver aggression; Tour of Flanders contender blames Champagne celebration for bronchitis; epic Canyon vid+ more”
FIDAYS indicative vote…….
FIDAYS indicative vote………….?
Road.cc, what is this doing
Road.cc, what is this doing on here?
Actor Christopher Biggins has phone stolen by a thief on a bike
Really slow news day today is it?
grumpyoldcyclist wrote:
Appropriate username
It’s not a good pic of
It’s not a good pic of Biggins.