“Why shouldn’t road safety be a human right?”: Cyclists welcome Canadian court ruling of controversial premier’s plan to rip out bike lanes as “unconstitutional” and in “violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms” + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Controversial town centre bike ban overturned after thousands of cyclists “aggressively” fined – as new order aims to crack down on “dangerous” cycling, not responsible riders
How fast?! Race team sets new Box Hill Strava KOM, with monster 34km/h leadout
> How fast?! Race team sets new Box Hill Strava KOM, with monster 34km/h leadout
Tour de France Femmes sttage 7: Col du Granier looms as Le Court braces for defence of Tour de France Femmes lead in the Alps
After six stages of exciting sprint finishes, daring solo wins, and a tightrope GC battle, the Tour de France Femmes finally hits the Alps. And with the yellow jersey still on Kim Le Court’s shoulders, the question is whether the Mauritian rider can hang on against the climbers.
It’s another long day in the saddle: 159.7km from Bourg-en-Bresse to Chambéry, with all the real damage likely to come in the final third. The Côte de Saint-Franc (3.8km at 6.9 per cent) kicks things off after 100km, but the main event is the Col du Granier — 8.9km at 5.4 per cent, topping out just 17km from the finish.
From there, it’s a fast and potentially sketchy descent into Chambéry, with a technical run-in that could favour riders willing to take risks downhill.
Kim Le Court starts the day with a 26-second lead over Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, with Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Demi Vollering and Anna van der Breggen all within 10 seconds of each other just behind.
There’s still everything to play for in the yellow jersey battle…
Another one bites the dust: The Remco reshuffle continues as Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe part ways with DS Enrico Gasparotto
Just days after parting ways with Rolf Aldag, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have confirmed that Enrico Gasparotto is also leaving his role as directeur sportif — another high-profile exit as the team continues its off-season restructuring, adding yet more fuel for the ongoing Remco Evenepoel-to-Bora fire.
Gasparotto had been with the team since 2022 and immediately made his mark, guiding Jai Hindley to Giro d’Italia victory that same season.
His statement this morning was polite, reflective and (unsurprisingly) vague: “Being part of the team has been an exciting opportunity. We worked together in making it one of the most important and successful cycling teams of the world, and will keep all the great memories about the Giro in 2022 and 2024 and the Tour 2025.”
Gasparotto’s exit follows the appointment of Sven Vanthourenhout — Evenepoel’s national team coach — who officially joined the squad today as one of its sports directors. With both Aldag and Gasparotto now gone, and Red Bull-Bora openly talking about a “realignment” of sporting goals, the space is very clearly being made.
Evenepoel remains under contract with Soudal-QuickStep through 2026, but no one really believes that matters any more. The only question is if, or perhaps more accurately, when, the announcement drops.
Ineos Grenadiers head carer who left Tour de France amid doping investigation reportedly worked at Manchester United last year
“That’s what women have to go through”: Kim Le Court reveals she won Tour de France stage on her period, as ex pro highlights change in attitude from 10 years ago when it was “crucial” riders were “so thin” they didn’t menstruate
Stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes ended with Kim Le Court raising her arms in triumph — a first-ever stage win for an African rider, a return to yellow, and one of the defining moments of the race so far. But what she revealed afterwards was just as remarkable, if not more…
“I actually didn’t feel that great today,” she said at the finish in Guéret. “It’s that time of the month for me, and my body is more tired than usual. That’s what we women have to go through.”
Racing through fatigue, discomfort, and the pressure of the GC battle, Le Court still had the legs to outsprint defending Tour champion Katarzyna Niewiadoma and former world champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. She credited her AG Insurance-Soudal teammates, particularly Sarah Gigante, for helping her manage the effort.
The 28-year-old Mauritian champion admitted that her body had been feeling the effects of her menstrual cycle — and that it was the “hyper-professional” support of her AG Insurance-Soudal team that helped her get through it.
Her teammate Justine Ghekiere explained how the Belgian WorldTour squad has worked to integrate menstrual cycle tracking and personalised support into its performance planning.
“They’re working very hard on it within the team,” Ghekiere told Belgian outlet Sporza. “We have to enter all the data, and then they figure out how best to support us in those situations.”
“We’ve also recently started a sleep coach. When I’m on my period, my temperature is a bit higher. We’re now getting mattresses that lower that body temperature. That does help.”
Dutch journalist and former pro Marijn de Vries also reflected on how dramatically attitudes in the sport have shifted in recent years, saying that when she was racing: “It was crucial that you didn’t menstruate.”
“You were so thin that it wouldn’t start,” she said. “Now it’s the opposite, and it’s encouraged.”
“They just want you to menstruate, because that’s a sign of health,” Ghekiere added. “We also have specific meetings about this topic with the team. It’s discussed openly.”
According to Ghekiere, this open and supportive approach has helped the team that only stepped up to WorldTour level last year, take strides in “moving towards perfection.” She added: “I can’t point to anything that’s not going well. And you can see that in our results.”
Fans online have expressed shock at the historical norm of riders losing their periods as a byproduct of extreme training and disordered fuelling.
“There was a mentality in endurance sport that if you were menstruating, you weren’t training and/or dieting hard enough,” one user on Reddit wrote. “A lot of the issues with that were negated with PEDs. The sport science on diet/fuel, weight, stress, and the corresponding impact on the endocrine system was very poor until very recently.”
Another added: “It’s so f***** up that it even needs saying, but I’m so glad to live in an age where women’s health is finally being taken seriously and the riders can actually be healthy and smashing it at the same time.”
“So happy for the young girls watching this who will, unlike literally every generation before them, hopefully grow up in an environment that supports them, without shame or embarrassment. Yay for progress!”
You’ve met Ben Healy’s Olive at the Tour, now meet Alice Maria Arzuffi’s dog at Le Tour Femmes!
And the transfer season is underway! Jasper Stuyven joins Soudal-QuickStep, Attila Valter signs for Bahrain Victorious
August 1st means one thing in cycling: the transfer window is officially open. And within hours of the bell ringing, two major moves have already landed — one a Belgian veteran returning home, the other a climbing all-rounder looking for more freedom.
Jasper Stuyven is heading to Soudal-QuickStep from Lidl-Trek, signing a deal that will see him racing in Belgian blue from 2026. Team CEO Jurgen Foré said in a statement: “Jasper is one of the best Belgian riders out there, and it makes us happy that he will ride for us starting from next year. He is cut out for the Classics, having an impressive palmares in these races, but his tremendous experience and quality will help us also in other races.”
The 33-year-old Milano-Sanremo winner and Tour of Flanders top-five finisher is expected to bolster the team’s one-day ambitions and support sprinters like Tim Merlier and Paul Magnier — though Stuyven was clear he still has big ambitions of his own.
“If there is one race that remains a goal, it is Paris-Roubaix,” he said. “That, and winning a stage at the Tour de France.”
The move is also being read as a potential shift in focus for the team, as uncertainty still swirls around Remco Evenepoel’s future, with the Belgian GC star’s move to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe looking more and more likely…
Meanwhile, Bahrain Victorious have announced the signing of Attila Valter on a three-year deal. The 27-year-old Hungarian rider leaves Visma-Lease a Bike, where he’s played key domestique roles for Jonas Vingegaard and delivered some strong results of his own — including a top-five at Strade Bianche and the UAE Tour.
“The team’s goals are perfectly matching with my personal ones. This gives me a lot of confidence, and I’m excited to start this journey,” Valter said.
Team director Milan Ezren added: “We are very pleased to welcome Attila to Bahrain Victorious. He is a rider we’ve followed for a long time and believe he has the potential to take another step forward with us. Over the next two years, we see him playing a crucial role in the mountains — supporting our GC leaders while also having the freedom to chase his own results.”
New steel sculpture installed on Tynemouth headland as a tribute to coast-to-coast cyclists and the iconic C2C finish line
Perched on a headland above the North Sea and welded to a vintage steel frame, ‘Life’s Adventure’ is the latest work by North East sculptor Ray Lonsdale — a striking new landmark celebrating Tynemouth’s place in the UK’s most iconic cycle routes.
Unveiled today, the installation takes the form of a steel bench and bicycle, with intricate cut-outs nodding to the coast, local heritage, and the spirit of long-distance cycling. Positioned near the end point of the Sea to Sea (C2C) route, it’s designed as a spot for riders to rest, reflect and grab a photo, or just pause for some sea air.
Lonsdale said: “As a cyclist myself, I am delighted to create a sculpture marking the end of the coast to coast routes. I wanted to try to make something that attracts interest and photo opportunities, and that relays a little of the history of the area.”
Police reunite Tour de France pro with bike stolen at Barcelona airport as he returned home
Here’s your feel-good read for the weekend…
> Police reunite Tour de France pro with bike stolen at Barcelona airport as he returned home
Back-to-back brilliance from Maëva Squiban as French riders go one-two again on stage seven of the Tour de France Femmes
Maëva Squiban has done it again! Just 24 hours after her breakthrough solo win on stage 6, the 23-year-old French rider powered to another stunning solo victory on stage seven of the Tour de France Femmes, this time on the fast, technical descent into Chambéry after dropping the breakaway on the Col du Granier.
Maeva Squiban does it AGAIN 🤯
It’s two from two for the young Frenchwoman as she wins from an audacious breakaway ride. pic.twitter.com/VLSm9alNlX
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) August 1, 2025
Once again, the French fans were treated to a one-two finish, with EF Education-Oatly’s Cédrine Kerbaol crossing the line behind Squiban. Yesterday it was FDJ-Suez’s Juliette Labous in second — and with Squiban firmly in the form of her life, the home crowd will be hoping for more of the same in Sunday’s finale.
Squiban had gone solo over the top of the final climb after bridging across and attacking from a strong 17-rider breakaway that included Lotte Kopecky, Chloe Dygert, and Shirin van Anrooij. Despite a late chase from behind, she held on all the way to the line — grinning as she passed under the flamme rouge and securing her second win in as many days.
Behind, yellow jersey Kim Le Court Pienaar briefly lost contact on the climb but limited her losses and made it back to the GC group on the descent. The top five in the overall standings remain unchanged — and incredibly close — heading into the weekend’s final two stages. Mind you, both of those are going to be summit finishes.
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“Why shouldn’t road safety be a human right?”: Cyclists welcome Canadian court ruling of controversial premier’s plan to rip out bike lanes as “unconstitutional” and in “violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms”
Doug Ford’s war on bike lanes has finally met a challenge it couldn’t bulldoze — the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In a major legal victory for cycling advocates, the Ontario Superior Court has ruled that Ford’s plan to rip out three protected bike lanes in Toronto is unconstitutional, with Justice Paul Schabas concluding that removing the infrastructure would “put people at increased risk of harm and death” and therefore violates the Charter’s guarantee of life and security of the person.
Bike lanes have been the centre of a political fight ever since Ford decided they were, in his words, “just absolutely insanity right now.” Last year, his government passed legislation giving itself the power not only to remove the 19km of protected lanes and replace them with car lanes, but also to block municipalities from building any new bike infrastructure that reduced space for vehicles.
That legislation, colourfully titled the Reducing Gridlock and Saving You Time Act, became a central point of controversy across Ontario — and drew legal challenge from Cycle Toronto and two cyclists who regularly use the routes.
During court proceedings, Ford’s government argued that the bike lanes caused congestion and that removing them would help get drivers moving again, reports CBC. But the judge wasn’t convinced. In his ruling, Schabas described the province’s justification as based on “weak anecdotal evidence and expert opinion, which is unsupported, unpersuasive and contrary to the consensus view of experts.”
He went further, noting that removing the bike lanes would not reduce traffic but actually make it worse, because “restoring lanes for cars will not result in less congestion,” and would instead “induce more people to use cars,” making any gains short-lived or non-existent. Schabas concluded that the legislation was arbitrary, disproportionate, and “completely out of sync” with its stated goal.
Cycle Toronto’s executive director Michael Longfield, who is currently recovering from a broken femur after a collision on an unprotected stretch of road, said: “It’s great news for Toronto. It’s great news for anyone who supports local democracy and local decision-making, and for anyone who rides a bike in the city. This victory is yours.”
He added: “I think bike lanes are great, obviously, for people on bikes, but they’re great for everybody who moves around the city. They make things calmer, more predictable and ensure that everybody’s getting to where they need to safely.”
In response to the ruling, Ford’s government confirmed that it plans to appeal. A spokesperson for Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said: “We were elected by the people of Ontario with a clear mandate to restore lanes of traffic and get drivers moving by moving bike lanes off of major roads to secondary roads.”
Ford echoed the same line later that day when questioned by reporters: “I believe, and the people of Ontario believe, that they elect parties to make decisions — they don’t elect judges.”
In November, Toronto city council voted overwhelmingly to oppose Ford’s legislation, refusing to fund any bike lane removals under the provincial plan. The city’s “cycling mayor”, Olivia Chow, said: “Ripping up our roads will make our congestion worse. It’s costly and it will make our roads less safe for cyclists.”
Lindsay Beck, a lawyer for Ecojustice who represented the cyclists in the court case, said: “The decision to remove protected bike lanes for the ostensible goal of reducing congestion was not grounded in any evidence. I think it’s not only a vindication of our clients’ Charter rights, but of evidence-based policymaking and decision making.”
Data from Toronto shows that six cyclists were killed on the city’s roads last year, all of them on streets without protected infrastructure. According to the city’s own numbers, more than a quarter of Toronto households don’t own a car, and about half of all vehicle trips in the city are under five kilometres — making cycling a practical option, and bike lanes a necessary one.
The Green Party of Ontario called the court’s decision “a win for safer streets, cleaner air, and a more livable Toronto.” Political strategist Mark Marissen also wrote on social media: “Why shouldn’t road safety be a human right?
“Road deaths due to cars crashing into cyclists are preventable. Why shouldn’t vulnerable cyclists and pedestrians have a right to dedicated routes through their city — such as sidewalks and bike lanes — where they won’t die?
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The defence may well have argued that, and the magistrate may have accepted it, but that's not what the law says. It says that you have only driven without reasonable consideration for others if someone is inconvenienced. But the offence is committed if you drive without due care and attention, OR without reasonable consideration for other person. You have done the first if the driving falls below what would be expected of a careful and competent driver, regardless of whether anyone was inconvenienced. And CPS guidance specifically cites driving too close to another vehicle as an example.
Some years ago (before there was a cycle lane) I used to commute on Sidmouth St. But only because I worked on the London Road campus, from anywhere else there are better alternatives. As a cycle route it runs from between two busy roads, neither of which are exactly cycle friendly. So it's hardly surprising that no cyclists use it.
The officer's comments unfortunately reflect the reality of UK law. While the Highway Code guidance indeed refers to 1.5m, that is not anywhere in the law. And the criteria in law for proving a charge of careless driving does in fact rest on whether the rider is being "inconvenienced", as the discovered several years ago when the Met prosecuted a taxi driver who nearly hit me when cutting into my lane from the left near Marylebone. The prosecution lawyer was a barely competent newbie who fumbled over his words. The court computer was barely capable of playing the video footage, which kept freezing and crashing. The cabbie had an highly assertive defence lawyer who immediately seized on this point, and argued to the magistraite that I clearly hadn't been "inconvenienced" because I had not stopped or swerved, and had carried on my journey. Never mind that didn't have time to do either of those things, or that I was centimetres from being hit - the magistraite acquitted him on those grounds. That is unfortunately the outrageous reality of actually prosecuting a close pass incident. I know it's popular to blame the police and the CPS for not prosecuting enough close passes ... but the fact is the law is inadequate, and if the driver has a good lawyer then they can likely get off most close pass prosecutions.
Let's not forget the protruding "side" mirror...
HTML rules are clearly only partially implemented
please can we have the ability to use bold and italics for emphasis back as well?
As a Reading resident and cyclist, I can say I cannot think of a single occasion when I have seen a cyclist using the Sidmouth St cycle lane, nor can I think of any reason I'd use it myself. It doesn't connect to any other useful cycle routes. I don't rejoice that some of it is going back to motor traffic but I can see why the council is proposing to do that. Reading could really do with a cycleway to cross the town centre west to east and east to west but I'm not holding my breath on that.
Giant are one of the most trustworthy brands out there when it comes to manufacturing components given that they actually own their own production facilities. None of that matters though when it comes to road hookless, I and most other people won't touch it with a barge pole. We're surely at a stage now where it's toxic amongst consumers and it's only a matter of time before the UCI ban it for racing.
Filling the road with one person per car is using the road space more efficiently, amazing, I never realised that.
I bought a Giant Defy recently and immediately sold off the hookless wheels at a pretty big loss and won't ever do that again. I'm not buying hookless for road ever. Giant in particular has very short list of what tires they test with their rims so it's way too restrictive even if I was going to ride hookless wheels. Which I won't. Very short sighted by Giant.
23 thoughts on ““Why shouldn’t road safety be a human right?”: Cyclists welcome Canadian court ruling of controversial premier’s plan to rip out bike lanes as “unconstitutional” and in “violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms” + more on the live blog”
have to choose to
have tochoose toI’m assuming you must have
I’m assuming you must have misunderstood that quote somehow, because otherwise… what??
mdavidford wrote:
they don’t have to [compete while menstruating], they choose to. unless there’s another scandal brewing and they’re being peer-pressured into it.
the infamous grouse wrote:
You really have totally misread her statement. She was pointing out that women have to put up with the inconvenience, pain, mood swings etc that come with menstruation, no matter what they’re doing, no matter whether they choose to race or not. She wasn’t complaining that she was forced to compete whilst on her period, just pointing out that it is something women have to cope with in whatever path in life they choose and that maybe that it’s something that men don’t really appreciate or understand. Which is a pretty non-controversial and obvious take, I’d say.
the infamous grouse wrote:
I’m pretty certain women don’t choose to have periods.
I guess they’re saying “you
Indeed, I guess they’re saying “you can take things that effectively stop that” and I know at least one woman who has (not for “sporting” reasons but certainly “stuff periods, I’m not having them all the time”)?
But of course there are potential consequences to that course of action (and I’ve no idea if it’s legit for sportswomen). And I’m not sure the poster would apply the same to men (“stop moaning and just take the ‘roids, you can worry about your fertility / future health later”…)
[/quote]
I’m pretty certain women don’t choose to have periods.
[/quote]
Indeed, but they can choose not to. And it’s not as controversial as it appears at first sight. That’s because women have evolved to spend most of their young adult lives pregnant. Until the mid-20th century that was the natural order of things for a huge swathe of the female population and it meant they were seldom menstruating. The invention of the “pill” and other contraception devices has changed all this and it’s now possible to limit periods of periods (sorry, couldn’t resist it). So, using tiny amounts of chemicals to stop periods for a time of your choosing could be seen as a return to normality for many women.
So if women take drugs to
So if women take drugs to suppress their periods they are returning to normality because they won’t be menstruating in the same way that women who used to have constant pregnancies weren’t. That’s a really weird take on female biology. I mean really weird.
mike the bike wrote:
interesting tangent from this. if a woman chooses to prevent menstruation either by surgery or hormonal medication, are they then considered to have an unfair advantage when compared to women who menstruate while competing? (stable / predictable hæmatocrit, etc)
When Lonsdale’s quote started
When Lonsdale’s quote started “As a cyclist myself…”, I was half expecting, they should ride on the left, they should get out of the way etc.
“As a cyclist myself, I
“As a cyclist myself, I thought it would be hilarious to make people who are knackered from cycling coast-to-coast have to hoist themselves a good foot or so off the ground in order to enjoy a sit down.”
Glasgow calling: “That’s not
Glasgow calling: “That’s not a bike – this is a bike…”
Don’t fancy that one – not
Don’t fancy that one – not with that saddle angle.
That’s to help mounting,
That’s to help mounting, bringing it a metre closer to the ground!
I like the creative use of a Sheffield stand *as* the lock though.
mdavidford wrote:
… And to add to the pleasure of it I thought I would make it from steel so that their arses will be welded to it in winter and grilled on it in summer…
And welcome back to our
And welcome back to our coverage of the Tour de Mansplaining, and I’ve got to say, Steve that some of the participants here have got some pretty ill-informed, negative and bizarre takes on women’s sports.
If you’re a bloke you had best sit this one out.
David9694 wrote:
I am and I have Brian, next up, disc brakes, are they all that?
If you’re a bloke you had
If you’re a bloke you had best sit this one out
But not if you’re the bloke’s 30 year old daughter:
I’m surprised that used to be the standard. To lose your period you have to be extremely thin, and it’s hard to train with that few calories ?? Also not have your period (from thinness not contraception) is so bad for your bone density 🥹 how was this only 10 years ago?
Another “e-bike” article on
Another “e-bike” article on BBC Breakfast news this morning (Sat 2nd 07:15, BBC One). Interview with the Thames Valley PCC who thought the idea of putting number plates on e-bikes was “interesting” 🙄.
Apparently lots of these “e-bikes” are also used for crime. Totally missed the point they are actually illegal motorbikes, that motorists are often involved in crime and the main issue is they can’t (or won’t) enforce exisiting traffic law.
The Canadian politico is
The Canadian politico is straight out of the Trump and the war criminals from Israel book of politics – ‘Ford echoed the same line later that day when questioned by reporters: “I believe, and the people of Ontario believe, that they elect parties to make decisions — they don’t elect judges.”
judges rule on law. Politicians should never be above the law. Otherwise that is fascism.
Always enjoy it when a bully
Always enjoy it when a bully get’s told “No! You’re not getting your own way!” Wish the one in the White House Would get the same treatment.
I know nothing about the
I know nothing about the politics there, a) the attraction of the Ford brothers (the sometime alcoholic, crack-smoking one is now deceased) baffles me *, but the surviving one is in fact pretty popular (or at least, good at getting elected) b) they have been very much against anything which might trouble motorists c) I have heard that things may have been essentially gerrymandered so those on the edges / outside the central city have disproportionate influence. Basically making the place more conservative.
* Except it seems “strongmen” everywhere get ahead and generally people slightly favour conservative/illiberal types – as long as they think the big man is sticking it to someone else.
Ford has been like this for
Ford has been like this for years. I’d say you could argue Trump is the one that’s copying him, except I think we all know that both are simply doing the bidding of their industry sponsors.
And as much as Ford seems sincere in his hatred for bike lanes, and for seeing and exploiting the potential of a wedge issue, you don’t have to do that much research to discover that the main beneficiaries of his anti-bike/pro-car sentiments are the road building construction companies. Some of his recent legislation that at first glance appeared to be anti-bike lane, was really about reducing the regulatory hurdles to building new roads, and locking in a public reliance/obligation to fund those new roads (and keep the $$$ rolling in for those road building companies).