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Jeremy Vine films close pass but told he’s ‘in middle of the road’; Greipel misses Spring Classics with dislocated shoulder; Make Evans Great Again is BACK; Amazing (and stomach-turning) drone descent; No doping control at French race +more on live blog

Today's live blog is brought to you by Jack Sexty, with Simon MacMichael taking over the reins after hometime...
UPDATED Wed, Feb 12, 2020 09:57
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11 February 2020, 20:09
Andre Greipel out for 3 months with disclocated shoulder

Andre Greipel will miss the upcoming Spring Classics campaign with his Israel Start-Up Nation team confirming he will be out for three months after dislocating a shoulder in a training crash.

The 37-year-old German, 22 times a Grand Tour stage winner, with half of those at the Tour de France, had been hoping to get back to winning ways with his new team after a disappointing 2019 at Arkea-Samsic where his sole victory came in January last year in Gabon at a stage of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo.

11 February 2020, 16:48
Jeremy Vine accused of being 'in the middle of the road' in latest action cam clip

The broadcaster regularly posts incidents of poor, reckless and downright idiotic driving he captures on camera during his commutes around London; and the latest is a pointlessly aggressive overtake from the driver of a CBRE van, who honks his horn as he overtakes. Our news editor and London resident Simon MacMichael has identfied the road as George Street in Marylebone. 

A number of the replies accuse Mr Vine of being in the middle of the road; however the parked cars on the left would suggest he is taking up a (perfectly legal) more central road position to avoid a potential dooring from an occupant of one of the parked cars. 

Can Mr Vine possibly be in the wrong? Let us know in the comments as always... 

11 February 2020, 15:49
Polisport launch a 53g drinks bottle
polisport bottle

Need to hydrate, but also save weight? Polisport's new R550 bottle holds over 500m of liquid but weighs in at a paltry 53g, so could be the vessel for you. 

It has a one-handed ergonomic design which makes it easier to grab and is made using BPA free polypropylene, which also provides a super-soft squeeze experience acccording to Polisport. There are six different colour combos, and you can find out more on the Polisport website. 

11 February 2020, 15:42
Is the new Ribble Weldtite team bike the best outside the World Tour?

It's certainly an eye-catching paint job, and you can also buy this exact Pro Team Edition of the Endurance SL R Series Disc for £5,499 via Ribble's website. 

11 February 2020, 15:46
Retro pothole resentment

It's that time of year where Britain's potholes start to show themselves even more thanks to a few months of battering from crap weather and storms (and cars of course)... so it's time to wheel out this vintage local news pic of an injured young lass pointing angrily at her nemesis. 

11 February 2020, 15:11
Andrey Amador finally released from Movistar contract after long-running dispute

The 33-year-old Costa Rican expressed his desire to leave Movistar months ago, having joined way back in 2009. It's understood he wished to sign for Team Ineos but was unable to due to the contract dispute, and he was even spotted in Team Ineos kit in December.

As we understand it riders are only permitted to switch teams mid-season between 1-15 August by the UCI, so it could be a long wait before we see Amador in Ineos colours; so if it's no pro cycling until August, what should Andrey get up to in the meantime? Some gravel riding, commentary, get a paper round? Suggestions on a postcard, or in the comments... 

11 February 2020, 14:47
Pensioner fined £800 and given community order for pushing cyclist over on busy road
Reading Crown Court - wikimedia commons.JPG

Bracknell News reports that 69-year-old Hugh McDaid pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm after confronting a cyclist who he said undertook his HGV in August 2018. 

McDaid jumped out and 'spread his arms', which knocked the cyclist over and left him with a black eye and fractured sternum. The defence said McDaid was of previously good character and although his actions were reckless, he didn't mean to harm the cyclist.

The judge said McDaid was genuinely remorseful and the incident had taken its personal toll on him, but he committed "a completely reckless act." McDaid was sentenced to a 12-month community order and will have to attend 15 rehabilitation activity days, plus he will also have to pay £800 compensation to the cyclist and £420 in costs. 

11 February 2020, 13:40
Make Evans Great Again returns after a month-long hiatus
make evans great again insta story

With no posts since January 11th, we were wondering what had happened to the Instagram account Make Evans Great Again, and indeed the person running it who claimed they were one of numerous disgruntled employees at the Sports Direct-owned bike retailer. The account was renamed and posts and stories after December 30th changed their tune dramatically, with the account admin(s) bemoaning Evans' buying department, who they claimed had stocked stores with less desirable brands. They also posted to promote 'Make Evans Great Again' merchandise, a baseball cap with an ironic nod to Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign slogan. 

After Evans' PR firm told us Evans Cycles were considering taking legal action against the people/person who hijacked the account, we assumed things had not gone so well for our anonymous friend(s), and the account had either been suspended or restored to be used for its original purposes; however, a new Instagram Story appeared last night (screenshotted above) to remind us Make Evans Great Again are still very much here.

*Update: Make Evans Great Again have told road.cc that Evans' head office have tried to take the account down, but can't because the email and password has been changed. We understand there have been sackings, and account admins are worried there will be more. 

11 February 2020, 12:08
Netherlands 'second-worst in Europe' for cyclist's deaths
Amsterdam_Alec_James_IMG_0493

A study by the European Transport Safety Council charting cycling fatalities over the last decade has found that the Netherlands is second only to Ireland in terms of the number of cyclist's deaths and the rate of increase; although considering the rates of cycling is so much higher than anywhere else in Europe, the figure of 228 deaths in 2018 is relatively lower than the 170 who died in Ireland, considering the latter's total number of cyclists is far lower.  

That said, the Netherlands' number of fatal cycling incidents has grown by 2% in the last decade (Ireland's grew by a quite shocking 8%), and 83% of the collisions that occurred involved drivers of a motor vehicle. The Council's report suggest that even more action should be taken to design extra infrastructure that gives priority to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport and to implement a 30 km/h speed limit in cyclist and pedestrian hotspots, reports IAmExpat. 

The report also recommends improvements to motor vehicle design, including crash-friendly bumpers on cars, blind spot mirrors on lorries and cyclist detection systems. The report also defends the Netherlands, saying it is in fact one of the safest places to ride a bike with a vast cycling infrastructure network. 

11 February 2020, 12:04
Got your eyes on an e-bike? Here's a 20% off code for The London e-Bike festival
london ebike festival main

Want to check out some of the latest and greatest e-bikes all in one place? The London e-Bike Festival on the 2-3 May is the show for you, and with our discount code adult tickets are just £8. The link to book tickets is here, and before adding yours just pop RDCC into the promo code box to get yours at 20% - kids under 10 also go free. 

This post features paid promotion on behalf of The London e-Bike Festival

11 February 2020, 11:49
Watch as drone cameraman tries to film cyclist's descent from a car seat

The mind-bending task is made all the more difficult as the cameraman is trying to deal with the G force of the car, which is markedly different to what he's seeing through the drone camera as he films the cyclist descending at speeds of 70km/h. Disorientating or what? 

11 February 2020, 10:32
UCI update and clarify rules on transgender athlete participation
uci logo - via twitter

A full story will follow, but in short:

- Athletes have to make a request to the medical manager appointed by the UCI to compete in their new gender category at least six weeks before the date of their first competition.

- Their file is passed on to a commission of three external experts. The commission’s members then assess the athlete’s eligibility to compete in the new gender category and will inform the UCI’s medical officer of their conclusions.

- The athlete will have to prove their serum testosterone level has been below 5 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to the eligibility date.

- The athlete has to undergo serum testosterone tests conducted using a benchmark method.

UCI President David Lappartient said: “The adoption of new directives in the UCI Regulations will provide the cycling community as a whole with a clearly defined regulatory framework that applies to everyone.  

“Thanks to this consensus, achieved by a working group representing our sport’s various stakeholders, our Federation has given itself the wherewithal to take into consideration – and in reflection of developments in our society – the desire of transgender athletes to compete, while guaranteeing a level playing field for all competitors. This is an important step in the inclusion of transgender athletes in elite sport.”

11 February 2020, 11:23
Strava hits the 50 million mark, with 3 billion activities logged
Strava logo 2016.png

There are now 50 million athletes on cycling's favourite social fitness platform Strava, and it's still growing at a rate of 1 million new users every 30 days. Reaching their first billion uploads in 2017 after launching in 2009, they've amassed another 2 billion in just over two years which gives you an idea of the platform's rapid growth. 

If you haven't been converted yet you most likely never will be, but here are our top six reasons to use Strava just in case... 

11 February 2020, 11:11
MAAP making new film that will follow Aussie band cycling between UK gigs

The film, called 'Røøted 2: A Star is Tørn', will follow Sydney band New Lovers from London to Manchester via Bristol, with the band playing a gig on each city and riding between each one: "As we journey into the unknown pleasures of this raw uncensored film, we will witness first hand the headaches (and legs-aches) of a touring band giving it all they have on the stage, in the saddle and trying to find that special something", say cycling apparel brand MAAP.  

If you have half an hour, at lunchtime, Røøted part 1 (above) is well worth a watch, that follows best friends Luke and Rama as they meet up in Berlin to ride to Copenhagen.

11 February 2020, 11:03
Russ Downing refuses to retire quietly as he goes out mtb'ing in the blizzards
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Fancy a ride @ashley___brown ❄️⛄️....

A post shared by Russ Downing (@russdowning) on

Laughing in the face of Ciara, Dennis or whoever is controlling the weather at the moment, the former Team Sky man is seen huffing and puffing in atrocious conditions, somewhere we can only assume is up t'north. Put your feet up or get on the trainer Russ, it's not worth it!

11 February 2020, 10:46
John Degencobbles

Previously known as the Secteur d’Hornaing, the aptly-named German has now had this section of pavé named after him. 

11 February 2020, 09:27
"Maybe focus on some real issues, UCI?" EF Pro Cycling's Magnus Cort and manager Jonathan Vaughters hit out at UCI for lack of doping control at French road race

Vaughters, who himself used EPO during his pro career but is now a passionate anti-doping campaigner, has accused UCI boss David Lappartient of ignoring the real issues, as his rider Magnus Cort claimed there were no doping controls whatsoever at the five-day Étoile de Bessèges road race in France. 

In a further post, Vaughters said: "A more positive spin on my last tweet: We should all be pretty happy and proud that it’s an athlete calling out the lack of anti-doping effort. Athletes want fairness. They all believe they are the best, and will win if everything is fair." 

Cort won a stage at Étoile de Bessèges, but says that the result was sullied by the lack of policing on doping: "I don’t understand how it is even allowed to have a race on this level with seven World Tour teams on the start line without doping control? In my opinion that is simply not okay." 

Well, at least they're focussing on the big stuff like sock height... 

11 February 2020, 09:16
Boris Johnson pledges £5 billion for cycling routes and bus services
london-cyclists-hyde-park-corner-copyright-britishcycling.org_.uk_

The Prime Minister has announced that as part of the £5 billion investment in England over the next five years, ​ 250 miles of new cycle lanes and numerous 'mini Holland' projects will be built to make cycling safer, all for regions outside of London. 

After it was revealed last week that the government were missing their targets on spending for cycling and walking, many have said the investment is too little, too late. The BBC quotes shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald as saying: "After years of underinvestment and cuts, this unambitious announcement is nowhere near enough to make the difference that transport users, our economy or our environment need.

"Such paltry investment in cycling won't be enough to stop the UK lagging behind similar European nations for cycling participation."

11 February 2020, 09:08
Hand cyclist's train fails to bring the ramp to his carriage... so he pulls the emergency lever

Was it the right thing to do? Absolutely in our book... The 'Heavy Metal Handcyclist' says that the situation arose because the train he was on came into the wrong platform, so the platform staff weren't expecting him to be where he was actually was and weren't at fault. He added: "After this, I briefly chatted with station staff, then went on my way. Does this have potential to cause massive delays and disruption? Yeah, that's rather the bloody point, actually. I'm not wasting time coming back."

Jack Sexty

Jack has been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of the website including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named Editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master's degree in print journalism and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it's a long story). 

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21 comments

Avatar
nniff | 4 years ago
4 likes

Jeremy Vine was not in the 'middle of the road'  - that's where the white line is.  He was mostly in the middle of the lane.  You could argue about whether he could have been a bit further to the left, but choice of road positioning when passing parked cars is the rider's prerogative and we're talking about a foot or so at the most.  It is entirely reasonable that one vehicle passing another should have to make a manoeuvre and give the latter some space and, as a cyclist, it is prudent to make sure that drivers are not tempted to squeeze past.  However, you will always encounter thsoe who consider that they are entitled to pass without making such a manoeuvre and one of them apparently works for CBRE.  As he workds for CBRE, I'm sure the driver has lots of rules and documentation for safe systems of work etc, all of which are suspended when he gets to operate a lethal mechanism with four wheels. 

Why does the Health and Safety at Work Act get suspended when an employee gets into a vehicle?  if a crane driver had swung a load past a person like that the H&SE would be all over them and their employer.  How about wobbling someone using a ladder and blowing a horn at them - they could do that job by standing on a swivel chair and a couple of reams of paper.

 

Avatar
Philh68 | 4 years ago
0 likes

I can’t be sympathetic to Jeremy Vine for that pass. His position created the issue. By all means ride in the centre of the lane to avoid dooring, but if you’re riding so close to the centre line of the road that a vehicle that fully crosses the line to pass you is deemed too close, perhaps you’re being a bit selfish.

Avatar
brooksby replied to Philh68 | 4 years ago
2 likes
Philh68 wrote:

I can’t be sympathetic to Jeremy Vine for that pass. His position created the issue. By all means ride in the centre of the lane to avoid dooring, but if you’re riding so close to the centre line of the road that a vehicle that fully crosses the line to pass you is deemed too close, perhaps you’re being a bit selfish.

But he's been put in that position by all the cars being stored at the side of the road.

Based on your argument that 4oad clearly needs 5o be made one way, doesn't it?

Avatar
Philh68 replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
0 likes

No, he has not. He’s put himself in that position by drifting to the right when looking over his shoulder, by around half a metre and he’s done this as the van is making the overtake. Minimum lane width is 3 metres (can’t be less because maximum vehicle width is 2.5m), if you ride in the centre of the lane you’ll have over a metre of space either side of you - enough to avoid being doored by drivers of parked cars while being clear of any vehicle that overtakes using the adjacent lane.

Thats not to excuse the driver of the van for being impatient. However, I have no doubt that Jeremy’s road positioning made it worse than it needed to be, and the extra metre of space he’d have had if he kept his line would have made it just another annoying MGIF.

Avatar
kt26 replied to Philh68 | 4 years ago
5 likes

Haven't seen the video, but as the Highway Code says you need to leave a cyclist as much room as a car. Would you have been able to safely overtake a car going past those same vehicles? If not then it wasn't a safe overtake.

As for selfish, storing your vehicle on a public highway is a bit selfish. As is taking up as much room as a car in the first place.

Avatar
Zigster replied to Philh68 | 4 years ago
4 likes

It's a central London street with parked cars alongside.  Would it have been a huge problem for the CBRE van driver to have waited a few seconds?  He would only be a little bit later to the next set of lights or queue of traffic.

Avatar
antigee replied to Philh68 | 4 years ago
1 like

reckon Jeremy speeded up that video and must have slow pedalled to make speed difference look greatersmiley not sure what speed limit is but in central London I'm guessing 20mph...my guess at that vans speed is around 35mph ?

riding just outside the door zone / narrow street van driver should have simply slowed ...there is a brake pedal...this bit in response to the post suggesting the driver was forced into a close pass...really?

Avatar
ktache | 4 years ago
2 likes

Came across this on StreetsBlogUSA

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2020/02/11/another-city-eliminated-non-drive...

Apparently Helsinki joined Oslo in no pedestrian or cyclist deaths on their roads in 2019. Very well done.

Avatar
Philh68 replied to ktache | 4 years ago
0 likes

Montreal also had no cyclist fatalities, though they had 24 pedestrian deaths. With any of these cities, how much is down to good luck as opposed to good management we will see in future years. You can’t completely design out or legislate against poor decisions.

Avatar
brooksby | 4 years ago
5 likes
Quote:

... after confronting a cyclist who he said undertook his HGV in August 2018. 

Or, as we also like to call it, "using the marked-out cycle lane".

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
3 likes

Or, as we also like to call it, "using the marked-out cycle lane".

Did he? Not that it matters.

However it is interesting that as soon as the driver became a pedestrian I noticed the seriousness of the crime was upped. Compare and contrast to someone using a car as a weapon being allowed to plead guilty to careless driving.

I'm also struggling to get my head around the sequence of events which have been reported. 

  1. He gets out of his lorry to confront a cyclist undertaking.
  2. Cyclist was travelling past him at speed. 
  3. Footage shows him jumping out of his cab to confront the cyclist about the dangerous manouvre as he tried to squeeze past the lorry and a another car

I can't see how the cyclist "trying" to squeeze by could then still be trying by the time he leaves his vehicle to come around the front AND also be going at some speed. 

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism | 4 years ago
0 likes

I wonder how many of those Dutch deaths are due to "visiting" drivers and how many with home grown. 

Avatar
Pyro Tim replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 4 years ago
3 likes

Dutch drivers do still kill you know. Like the one that killed my sister by knocking her off. He didn't brake, but did knock a lamppost over and roll his car 3 times. It was a 50kph road, he said he wasn't speeding. Without skid marks the police couldn't ascertain his speed so took his word for it over the only witness: 8 year old me. I still see it regularly 34 years on. I hear it, I feel it, and I am damaged by it. I still think we need less infra as it causes many issues with drivers not being so aware and ready to share. Holland does many things right, but they aren't perfect as the stats show

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism replied to Pyro Tim | 4 years ago
2 likes

I'm sorry about your sister and that you had to see an horrible incident at such a young age. 

But hasn't it been only in the last 40 years where the mentality of the Dutch planning changed to seperation, protection and being more dedicated to cycling? My question was more that since then, most local drivers would have grown up with this mentality rather then "the Car is the Star". However drivers visiting from other countries do still have different priorities at junctions etc. Obviously in any society you will still have the careless, speeders and sociopaths as well so I am not absolving the local idiots either. 

 

Avatar
JMcL_Ireland replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 4 years ago
1 like

Those figures for Ireland aren't correct. Driving standards, enforcement, and penalties here are of course every bit as piss-poor as the UK (probably a smidgen worse actually), but the annual fatality numbers have ranged 5-15 for the last decade (source http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/cycling-deaths-ireland-2019/ ) - 170 is way out of range. And yes, 5-15 is still 5-15 too many

Avatar
bechdan | 4 years ago
5 likes

'athlete will have to prove their serum testosterone level has been below 5 nmol/L'

Based on this I assume that all transgender athletes are former males wanting to compete in womens events. I wonder why it doesn't happen the other way around....

Avatar
devPanda replied to bechdan | 4 years ago
1 like

Exactly my thoughts.  Be interesting to see what requirements they have for FTM athletes.

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hawkinspeter replied to bechdan | 4 years ago
5 likes

//i.imgur.com/lcO2c1f.png)

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Shake | 4 years ago
5 likes

250 miles of new cycle lanes accross all of England. So I can expect a new 1 mile cycle lane near me then

Avatar
Philh68 replied to Shake | 4 years ago
9 likes

Over 5 years, so 50 mile a year. So maybe you’ll get a fifth of a mile if you’re lucky. Pitiful when you consider in the Netherlands they build around 600 miles of cycle paths a year.

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism | 4 years ago
2 likes

I'm surprised you haven't picked up the current issues with Ride London cocking up the Success Mail out and sending out the wrong peoples forms in the correct envelopes. As the internal sheet contains perosnal data including names, addresses AND DOB, it could be quite serious. 

So far they have just acknowledged a "small" problem with the mail out on their twitter account.

I had some nice ladies one who lived within 10 minutes of me so deleivered it hoping she would have mine but she had someone elses as well. My collegaue at work is also in the same boat with someone elses details.

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