Live blog: Boss defends NYPD officer who knocked cyclist off then told him it was “for your safety”; Yellow jersey confusion for Giulio Ciccone + more
SUMMARY
"No, sorry mate, you are the second"
New Tour de France race leader Giulio Ciccone gives an effervescent account of how he thought he was race leader, then thought he wasn’t, then found out he was.
When your dreams come true.
Congrats @giuliocicco1 and @treksegafredo! pic.twitter.com/4ygZty7Ewd
— Trek Race Shop (@TrekRaceShop) July 12, 2019
The ITV commentators raced up La Planche des Belles Filles
But they ran it, so this video can’t get a mention in the headline.
It was for Ned Boulting’s 50th. Happy birthday, Ned.
Today's stage
Longest of the race and, other thanthat, possibly also a candidate for least remarkable.
Stage 7 / Étape 7
Belfort – Chalon-sur-Saône
Discover the 3D route of Stage 7.
Découvrez le parcours 3D de l’Étape 7.#TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/QYBDOAG1xH— Tour de France (@LeTour) July 12, 2019
No gravel bikes for La Planche des Belles Filles, but Lightweight wheels for Team Ineos
The first tough mountain stage of this year’s Tour de France culminated with the ascent of La Planche des Belles Filles, a super steep climb with 900m of gravel track at the summit.
The expectation of riders switching to gravel bikes for this stage proved unfounded – the gravel track resembled smooth dirt – with all riders appeared to stick with regular bikes, instead, the 22% gradient proved the biggest challenge. As such the most obvious change was shallower carbon wheels with regular 25-26mm tyres, and Team Ineos using their Lightweight wheels that we scooped last weekend.
Attention Brighton cyclists
On the left, @BrightonHoveCC telling people not to cycle on the pavement.
On the right, a new scheme from, err, @BrightonHoveCC, putting cycling on the pavement, right in the city centre pic.twitter.com/4p4VRqXAyh— Mark Treasure (@AsEasyAsRiding) July 12, 2019
Andre Greipel's cyclo-cross finish yesterday
Arrivé d’André Greipel en mode cyclo-cross pic.twitter.com/opPosSdKwh
Actu Cyclisme [TdF] (@ActuCyclismeFra) July 11, 2019
They're underway
230km and – as it stands – a two-man break…
They’re off ! Stage 7 is underway with already Stéphane Rossetto and Yoann Offredo on the attack.
L’Etape 7 est lancée ! @StephanRossetto et @OffredoYoann
attaquent dès le départ.#TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/wwL3i6MI04— Tour de France(@LeTour) July 12, 2019
Yellow helmet for someone special today
As has become almost boringly common in the Tour de France, new race leader Giulio Ciccone has got some yellow tat to match his yellow jersey. Here’s a question for you, when did this trend for yellow parts begin?
Helmet cam cyclist Dave Sherry says he reports 70 drivers a week
He was on a Good Morning Britain segment asking “should cyclists shop motorists?”
“I am going to use whatever means necessary to stop you. And that is for your safety”
Streets Blog NYC reports that an NYPD officer used his SUV squad car to stop a Citi Bike rider who went through red lights with headphones on.
The Citi Bike ended up jammed inside the squad car’s rear wheel arch.
According to the police officer wearing headphones while bike riding is reckless driving and reason to run the rider off the road for running a red light @NYPDnews #citibike #bikenyc pic.twitter.com/SOWnRDhiUn
— Garvey Rich (@Garvey_Rich) July 6, 2019
The officer responsible said the move was because the NYPD “vigorously supports Vision Zero” – which is the city’s big thing about protecting vulnerable road users.
#NYPD run over #nyc #bicycle to stop them from running a red light ton”prevent reckless driving.” pic.twitter.com/AITjqNwYiZ
— Garvey Rich (@Garvey_Rich) July 5, 2019
“I put out my hand for you to stop,” he told the cyclist. “You acknowledged me, but continued to keep going.
“I yelled out, ‘Stop,’ and you looked back at me and continued to keep going.
“Then, we entered the car to stop you after viewing what I believe to be reckless activity: going through red lights, wearing two earphones.
“I followed you down St Marks Place and then you run another red light.
“Then I go over the loudspeaker and say, ‘Bicyclist, stop!’ Again, you look over and acknowledge and continue to keep going.
“Now, at this point, you’re forcibly stopped. Because now you’re riding recklessly, and you’re refusing to stop after multiple lawful orders that you acknowledged. So I am going to use whatever means necessary to stop you, OK? And that’s for your safety.”
Difficult to unsee...
In case anyone was wondering how we warm up for stages at the Tour de France #TDF2019 #FridayMotivation pic.twitter.com/OlkkGk8f0x
— Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) July 12, 2019
Team Ineos awkwardly dancing to techno while seated, everyone. Still, nowhere near as cringe-inducing as Astana’s excruciating Cycling Rap…
London’s going to get £2.5m worth of bike parking
Plan includes improved parking outside 10 stations in the next 12 months plus 1,400 new spaces in residential areas.
Land art!
Magnificent land art
Magnifique réalisation #TDF2019 cc @FNSEA pic.twitter.com/iwnRrxbWJx
— Tour de Franc (@LeTour) July 12, 2019
Police commissioner defends NYPD officer
Regarding the story below about the New York police officer who knocked a cyclist off and then told him he did it for his own safety, Police Commissioner James O’Neill has now said that officers have the discretion to use their police vehicle to cut off a cyclist.
“NYPD officers have to use their best judgment,” he told Streets Blog NYC. “It’s not always easy to make the best decision possible when the situations are ongoing.
“Like I said before, these are very difficult jobs. It’s up to the individual officer to make that decision. Do we want them to use force? No. We want cyclists to comply.”
He added: “I understand that there is a difference between a 3,000 pound vehicle versus a 20- to 30-pound bike but there is an onus on everyone involved to operate whatever they’re driving and riding responsibly.”
"I'm nicking your bike mate," says bike thief (entirely accurately)
The Liverpool Echo reports on an unusually upfront bike theft. Asked what he was doing by the victim after being caught in the act, the man raised his middle finger and said, “I’m nicking your bike mate,” before riding off down the road doing a wheelie.
The incident occurred outside a Co-op on Lark Lane in Liverpool at 3.55pm yesterday afternoon.
A spokesman for Merseyside Police, said: “We can confirm that an investigation is underway following the theft of a bicycle in Aigburth yesterday, Thursday 11 July.
“At 3.55pm, officers were called to Lark Lane to reports of a mountain bike being stolen from inside the Co-Op convenience store when an unknown person stole it.
“The suspect is described as white, 17-21 years old, 5ft 10in, of skinny build, short brown hair and wearing an orange t-shirt and green tracksuit bottoms. He made off on the bike in the direction of Sefton Park.”
CCTV and witness enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information or who witnessed the incident can contact @MerPolCC, call 101 with reference 19100372674 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Passers-by lift car off trapped cyclist
Plymouth Live reports that passers-by lifted a car off an injured cyclist yesterday morning.
A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “Police and ambulance were called at 7.35am today, July 11, following a collision between a car and a cyclist on Glenfield Road/Plymbridge Road, Plymouth.
“The male cyclist has sustained shoulder and chest injuries – severity not yet known. He has been taken to Derriford Hospital.
“The cyclist was initially trapped under the car. The vehicle was lifted off the man by members of the public.”
Not entirely surprisingly, the escapees didn't make it
Long day for the two of them.
12 Km
End of the adventure for the breakaway.
Fin de l’aventure pour les 2 échappés. #TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/fWnpDXLbGV
— Tour de France (@LeTour) July 12, 2019
Last kilometre. Not exactly a huge margin of victory...
@GroenewegenD claims the win !
What a sprint ! We definitely have to take a close look back at this last kilometre !
VICTOIRE de Dylan Groenewegen !
Quel sprint ! Il faut revoir cet incroyable dernier kilomètre ! #TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/fu0txmmqOJ
— Tour de France (@LeTour) July 12, 2019
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@Accessibility for all Reducing the speeds wouldn't have helped in this case as the driver was reported doing 65 in a 40 zone on the approach to the junction, his driving described by the witnesses as erratic and evidently had no intention to stop to give way even though he had been warned by the passenger who apparently shouted "bike" three times just before the collision. He would have likely flown through that junction even if it was traffic light controlled with a red light for him at the time. In my own experience the entire area i.e. east of Lymm towards Warburton and along Dunham Road all the way up to Altrincham and past into Hale Barns, all those wealthy, posh settlements around Manchester Airport are best avoided by road cyclists. A disproportionally high number of psycho drivers must for some reason live in that area because every single time I went there on my road bike in the past, I either got harassed myself or witnessed proper dickhead driving - speeding, close passes, overtaking into oncoming traffic or round a blind bend, accelerating towards pedestrians already crossing the road, you name it. I gave up road cycling in that area years ago and only use the local TPT these days.
In respect of the murder charge: based on him hitting Mr Mullins and making no attempt to help him (this killing him), how would the case compare to a hit and run driver who seriously injures or kills a cyclist, knowingly, and flees the scene without helping? Would this make the cut for a murder charge? Or is there something very different going on here that I’m missing? Genuinely curious because I don’t recall there being a murder charge before for this kind of thing unless it was premeditated. In fact, in my experience most cases like this seem to go the opposite way - where the driver can merely say the sun was in their eyes and get away with a slap on the hands.
@Rendel Harris...and there was me dishing out the praise!
@polainm He must also be an already hardened criminal. It wasn't mentioned during the court proceedings to avoid influencing the jurors and ensuring he had a fair trial, but he had been released from prison shortly before this incident and was couch surfing at his cousin's house days before. Just look at his face, he's only 35, but looks older than his victim who was 56. Must have spent half his adult life in prison.
@jaymack They did offer him manslaughter though but he declined to plead guilty. Without wanting to seem curmudgeonly, yes great that they preferred the most serious charges but hard to see how they could have done differently considering that Richardson got out of the car, saw Mr Mullins was stuck underneath and then got back in and carried on. That clearly moved it above anything that falls under death by dangerous driving.
@thrawed Agree - the UK winters are utterly grim; grey, wet & windy. Not the type of weather you really want to go out and ride. Everything get covered in filth, and takes time to clean it after a ride. Oh for colder, drier & crisper days which can be enjoyable to be out in.
@ymm In my view, lax sentencing of dangerous drivers, especially where cyclists are involved, makes the judge, jury and CPS complicit in UK driver culture. This driver is a sociopath.
@Mr Blackbird i reckon the libido is a bit overrated. I'd let that go rather than a limb or a nice bike.
There are a number of armchair prosecutors on this site who happily heap criticism on the CPS for the decisions they make, sometimes deservedly so. I note that none of them have so far applauded the over worked, under paid specialist prosecutor at the regional Complex Casework Unit who successfully took this to trial. It would have been easy to accept guilty plea to a lesser charge, but she didn't - thank you.
The force also noted that almost all of these serious collisions occurred in 30mph zones where, police claim, “drivers feel most comfortable and familiar in their local area”. Yes, my neighbourhood is a 30mph zone, and the residents have become so comfortable and familiar with it that they feel comfortable with exceeding the limit with regular aplomb, parking in the most ridiculous of places and overtaking parked cars into the path of oncoming vehicles (despite those vehicle having bright lights) 🙄
23 thoughts on “Live blog: Boss defends NYPD officer who knocked cyclist off then told him it was “for your safety”; Yellow jersey confusion for Giulio Ciccone + more”
NTPD are pretty shocking in
NTPD are pretty shocking in their attitude to cyclists (unfortunately some police inc the met can be as bad over here too) but if what he said is true, you can sort of understand why he did it. If the police are ordering you to pull over….you pull over. If you repeatedly ignore this then are you carrying drugs? Guns? Probably not but honestly, I can’t imagine a reason not to pull over as instructed.
But maybe there’s more to it? And couldn’t he not simply have pulled over and blocked the cycle lane to force him to stop?
After watching endless
After watching endless encounters of american motorists with the police on Youtube, it seems to me that the average American copper wouldn’t get near the door of the job (probably need to be able to read for a start) in the UK. They mostly can’t be reasoned with and carry out the job like a badly written computer program, with no deviation from their instruction set. Replacing them with actual robots would be a positive step.
Rick_Rude wrote:
As an American who’s lived over here the past 15 years, I can certainly back this up. The USA policing system is about half a step below a paramilitary unit, and there is very little requirement for any sort of reasoning, rational thinking or actual situation de-escalation. It is about rigid law enforcement and punishment (without even getting into the racial aspects). As someone who is friends with UK cops, I am constantly in awe of their ability to assess a situation and react APPROPRIATELY and at a level commensurate with the incident.
Rick_Rude wrote:
Like an ED-209?
I’m surprised the cyclist wasn’t shot to a halt TBH.
Butty wrote:
“I am only shooting you for your own safety, citizen”
brooksby wrote:
Looks like the cyclist got
Looks like the cyclist got off easy with that treatment after reading this: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/police-us-planted-evidence-meth-marijuana-cars-florida-zachary-a9001961.html
There are always two sides to
There are always two sides to any story. In this case, the cyclist broke several laws including going through several red-light situations. He was told to stop on numerous occasions, not sure what he expected to happen. Looks like he got what he deserved…
Biggus-Dickkus wrote:
The cyclist apparently went through two red lights (illegal).
He was wearing headphones (illegal, apparently).
He was not wearing a helmet (not illegal).
He did not stop for a gesturing police officer shouting out of his SUV at him (stupid).
Exactly which of those means that he “deserved” having a two-tonne bulletproof SUV driven into him? Did you see the state of the bike? Witnesses said the cyclist leapt from his bike as the SUV ran into him, so can you imagine what state he’d have been in if he hadn’t leapt to safety?
Again – which of those offences meant that he deserved to be run down?
Troll
Biggus-Dickkus wrote:
Yes, there are often two sides to a story, but I have trouble believing that the cyclist was endangering enough people to warrant being driven into, but maybe you have different priorities than most people.
Also, was there video proof that the cyclist went through red lights as it has been known for U.S. cops to make things up. Here’s a classic example: https://www.thedrive.com/news/28865/incriminating-video-shows-cop-run-stop-sign-cause-crash-and-arrest-innocent-driver
hawkinspeter wrote:
Very simple really… you are breaking the law, you refuse to stop when asked, so you are foraceablly stopped… well done to the police, was the rider hurt, nope, so reasonable force was used.
I find it ridiculous that we ignore the blatant law breaking acceptance because the police used force to stop an idiot on a bike that refused to stop, what should they do… just let him carry on and pray he doesn’t kill himself when he runs the next red light, people on this forum make me sick as your attitude is simple… when I’m on a bike I am the most vulnerable person on the road and that gives me the right to do whatever I want, this guy deserved exactly what he got, bottom line, ride responsibly and you wouldn’t get stopped…. 45 years cycling and not once has a policeman ever had reason to stop and talk with me, maybe because I don’t run read lights and ride like an idiot.
bigbiker101 wrote:
you and the cops in question seem to have no sense of proportion.
bigbiker101 wrote:
“just let him carry on and pray he doesn’t kill himself when he runs the next red light” – I know, we’ll run him over (and try to kill him ourselves) to make sure that doesn’t happen!
There are lots of posts on here saying he got what he deserves because he didn’t comply with police instructions (which he may not have heard, wearing headphones)… Proportionate response, people! If I asked you to move out of my way because you were blocking, say, a train aisle and you refused or were rude back, so I stabbed you- you can see that’s not a proportional response, can’t you?
brooksby wrote:
Probably all either Americans, or the kind of Brit who has pleged allegiance to Trump (of which there seem to be a distressing number, including our next PM, it seems).
US cops have a long history of killing people who fail to carry out a complex list of ambiguously-expressed instructions. Encounters with them can become a lethal game of Simon Says. I guess it’s an intrinsic part of gun-culture.
Americans have built themselves a prison and called it liberty.
You do not knock someone off
You do not knock someone off their bike . He could easily have pulled up to him and had a word ,the cyclist would have eventually stopped. Policeman just pissed off because he feels that it’s his right to dictate to a cyclist a stupid fucking law , that thousands of people are breaking anyway . If the guy wants to wear headphones then he has to face the consequences of his actions if he did cause a accident. But the chances are slim . So the knob end police decided to knock him off his bike . His he going to smash into cars when their drivers are on the phone. Is he going to run over a jaywalker . Police in the states are out of hand . They are supposed to help you not run you over.
GO take a look at this https://youtu.be/Q9SZlypyK-
police are out of fucking control and here to take a look at this .
wake up people ,the Orwellian nightmare is here. Stop looking at your phones and start looking at what is really going on in the world and it’s not the BS the MSM are shoving down your face
The usual polarization here
The usual polarization here regarding the cop stop thing, I’m getting a bit tired of reading endless variations on the ‘if he was riding a bike then whatever happened, he’s the victim’ theme. IF everything happened as related by the police officer then you can put me with the ‘all things considered the officer acted proportionately’ crowd. Cyclist repeatedly ignored orders to stop, ran a red light, endagering himself and others. There comes a moment that he has to be made to comply. I’m waiting for all the armchair specialists who weren’t there to explain how he should have handled it.
Xenophon2 wrote:
How about……he just overtook him……got a bit ahead and then got out…….and shot him?
Xenophon2 wrote:
“There comes a moment that he has to be made to comply.”
why? He’s not committing a major crime, why is it worth putting his life in danger to make him comply? It’s like transporting children to Australia for stealing a bread roll.
ConcordeCX wrote:
I think Rees-Mogg is lobbying for the reintroduction of that law…
ConcordeCX wrote:
Firstly, you weren’t there so can’t make a definite statement about ‘putting his life in danger’. Second, I guess you’d feel better if your better half or kid got run over and seriously hurt by an idiot on a bike than if the same were to happen by a car driver who ran a red light? Anecdotal but 30 miles from where I live a 68 year old woman on her bike was killed last week after being hit by a bike courier who ran a traffic light. I commute daily by bicycle, don’t even own a car. But damn, the way some of the cyclists whom I see every day behave themselves in traffic I can understand that we get a bad rep. That’s not to say that car drivers are saints but when talking about traffic light infractions in the city, I witness more of them committed by cyclists than by cars. Third, pray tell: how was the cop supposed to have stopped him else than by cutting him off after he repeatedly refused to comply (supposing that the circumstances as related are correct).
Xenophon2 wrote:
Firstly: you weren’t there either.
And secondly, this was a bloke on a hire bike not a courier or racer.
I really don’t imagine he was speeding along, just slow and steady (and not stopping at a red): those things aren’t renowned for their manoeuvrability or speed, y’know.
How often does the NYPD ram cars which have jumped red lights?
Xenophon2 wrote:
For me it’s not so much about the cyclist thing, as just being cynical about the tendency of US cops to leap straight to maximum violence, whether it’s commenserate with the offense or not.
Maybe in this case he could have just let the guy go? He wasn’t escaping from a bank job or shooting as far as I can tell. (Also, if it’s a hire bike, are there not records on who hires them and when, thus allowing them to summons him later if it’s really necessary?).
US cops:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Daniel_Shaver
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/us/dallas-police-officer-botham-jean/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Justine_Damond
…and many, many others
British cop:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11167891/Sergeant-who-single-handedly-tackled-samurai-sword-attacker-wins-bravery-award.html
Xenophon2 wrote:
I think he should have just run straight over him.
There he won’t be doing that again.