“Money doesn’t buy taste”: Tadej Pogačar’s UAE team slammed for “ugliest kit and bike combo ever” – sponsored by oil giant’s new investment arm… but “at least Pogi won’t have to wear it”, fans say + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
“Many Tories sincerely hate bike schemes”
In case you missed it last night…
> Stop bashing cycle lanes and LTNs, former Boris Johnson adviser tells Conservatives — as “enormous noise on social media” doesn’t mean they are “vote losers with the general public”
Cyclist disabled with life-changing brain injury awarded $29m damages after collision caused by inattentive truck driver “going too fast”
A cyclist in the United States has been awarded $29 million by a court after he suffered “extensive injuries” when he was hit by a truck driver who was “going too fast” and “wasn’t paying attention”, the life-changing impact causing multiple fractures and a severe brain injury that is likely to mean he requires assistance for the rest of his life.
Read more: > Cyclist disabled with life-changing brain injury awarded $29m damages after collision caused by inattentive truck driver “going too fast”
Tom Pidcock set for €8 million salary at Q36.5, according to reports from Italy
Tom Pidcock could be set for a bumper €8 million a year contract at Q36.5, rivalling Tadej Pogačar’s astronomical wages at UAE Team Emirates, according to a report in Italian cycling site bici.pro.
The double Olympic mountain bike champion, who was already one of the highest earners in the sports at Ineos, signed a three-year deal with Swiss second-tier squad Q36.5 last week after breaking his contract with the British team early.
And, in a bid to seal a deal for a rider who may have to forgo some of his favourite races next year at a squad reliant on invites from organisers, the Italian cycling site says Pidcock will be paid “about €8 million a year”, a similar figure to that touted when Pogačar inked his six-year extension with UAE last month.
(Ed Sykes/SWpix.com)
Bici.pro says that this bumper contract was the work of Q36.5’s backer Ivan Glasenberg, who was reportedly “obsessed” with securing the British star’s signature when it became clear earlier this autumn that his time at Ineos was up.
South African mining billionaire Glasenberg is also a majority shareholder at Pinarello and, as we reported on the live blog yesterday, a deal has been reached to allow Pidcock to ride his Pinarello bikes for off-road events, while racing on Q36.5 provider Scott’s machines on the road.
Money talks, as they say…
Inverness Velocity bike café, workshop, and social enterprise closes down after 12 years, as legal process to liquidate business begins
A popular bike café and workshop in Inverness has closed after 12 years, after a petition was filed for the business to be wound up and liquidators appointed.
Velocity, a social enterprise located on Crown Avenue in the Highland capital, was established in 2012 and won Scotland’s Cyclist Café of the Year award in 2018 and 2020.
It combined the café, which offered vegetarian and vegan options, with a bike workshop and ran a range of project to promote health, wellbeing, and sustainability, including cycle training for adults and group rides.
Customers were also able to book its workshop at low cost to carry out repairs on their bikes, with the option of having a mechanic oversee the work.
Earlier this year, the business was awarded £7,261 from the Inverness Common Good Fund for its Cycle to Health project, helping those who wish to cycle more but face barriers such as poor mental health, social isolation, low confidence, and poverty.
However, after failing to open for over a month, at the end of November Velocity presented a petition at Inverness Sheriff Court seeking an order under the Insolvency Act 1986 that the company be wound up.
Responding to the shop and café’s closure, the Highland Cycle Campaign said it was “deeply saddened” by the news.
“Velocity has done much to achieve its aim of Inverness becoming a cycling city,” a spokesperson said.
“The café has acted as a haven for local cyclists and an attraction for bike tourers. The projects have supported many people to become independent cyclists.”
“The sense of community Velocity created for the cyclists of Inverness and beyond will be deeply missed. We send our love to all the staff and everyone affected by the closing.”
New aero bike alert!
> Coming soon! Van Rysel RCR-F “setting a new standard for aero bikes”… says Van Rysel
“More of this please”: Bus drivers take to their bikes for Road User Awareness training
In ‘things we like to see which should help make things safer for cyclists on the road’ (I’ll think of a catchier title some other time), bus drivers in Scotland have been taking to their bikes this week, as part of training designed to give them “first-hand awareness” of what it’s like to cycle on the roads.
The drivers, who work for private coach hire service Park’s of Hamilton, took part in the Road User Awareness Training sessions, which Cycling Scotland says helped them gain “first-hand awareness of at-risk road users and guidance on how to drive more safely around people cycling”.
The training sessions have been praised by cyclists on Facebook as a “great initiative” and “really good idea”.
“Excellent,” said Sandy Watson. “It’s my view, as a driver of 54 years and bike rider of 66 years, that no one should be allowed near driving lessons or a licence until and unless they’ve undertaken a comprehensive cycling proficiency course/test.”
“The greatest benefit to road safety in the UK would be requiring *ALL* motorists to spend time cycling on public roads,” added Chris.
Of course, it’s Facebook, so there was always going to be a few anti-cycling bingo enthusiasts.
“Great idea, now extend it to cycling around pedestrians awareness and its job done,” said Doug.
While Lee wrote: “Please can you make aware the lycra cyclists that the road safety awareness…”
Yeah, I have no clue what he meant there, either.
Ever fancied a coffee ride with Tadej Pogačar (virtually at least)? Well here’s your chance…
We all know what an ‘easy’ coffee ride looks like for Tadej Pogačar.
Just ask Formula One star Carlos Sainz, who described a leisurely, gentle spin around Monaco for focaccia – which the three-time Tour de France winner reckoned was a “zone zero” hangover effort – as “literally the hardest training session of my life” back in October.
“For Tadej, these are recovery rides, purely for fun, in which he does not push himself. So that cycling losers like myself can get the idea that they can potentially ride as fast as him,” the Ferrari driver said after his ‘relaxing’ spin with the world champion.
“The reality is of course that even during those coffee rides we completely die trying to follow him. He does us the favour of not dropping us because otherwise he has no one to talk to. Of course, talking is relative. I have a heart rate of 170, 180 while he is barely at 110. Those are not really interesting conversations, I can say.”
So, if you want to experience what it’s like to gasp for breath while a Triple Crown winner sings a song and texts on his phone, now you can… virtually at least.
Because, on Thursday at 4pm UK time, Pogačar is taking part in an online coffee ride, with riders of all levels, on the virtual training platform MyWhoosh (which you’ll find is plastered on the back of his UAE Team Emirates squad’s divisive shorts).
However, the ride (available under the name ‘Coffee ride with Tadej’ on the app’s live coaching function) will be limited to the first 600 MyWhoosh users on a first come, first served basis, with the ‘join event’ button going live an hour before the start time.
So clicking fingers at the ready on Thursday afternoon – it’ll be like a cycling-themed scramble for Oasis tickets. Let’s hope the servers don’t a Ticketmaster and crash.
Despite Sainz’s warning, we’ve been reliably informed that Pogačar will keep things to coffee ride pace, and not “full on Tadej blast”.
Yeah right – until the first hill probably…
The football/cycling crossover we really weren’t expecting today…
> Wife of ex-Scotland footballer scores hat-trick as cyclist films close pass, running red light, and phone use… but rider left frustrated by “ludicrously lenient” punishment of £255 fine and penalty points
£255 for all that? What a save… I’ll get my coat.
Cycling UK “concerned by lack of clarity” on cycling and walking in Welsh Budget, which could risk undermining “groundbreaking commitments to active travel”
It’s Budget Day in Wales, where the government has set aside £600m for the NHS and an extra £1.5bn overall for public services, with Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford describing the budget as a “real opportunity” to “reinvigorate our public services”.
Meanwhile, the Weelsh government also said today that transport will get an additional £69.6m (a 12 per cent boost), and £51m extra in capital funding.
However, Cycling UK has criticised the lack of clarity in the budget over what this could mean for active travel funding in Wales, arguing that increased support for transport projects that don’t prioritise cycling and walking could undermine the legacy of the country’s 2013 Active Travel Act.
“It’s concerning to see a lack of clarity in today’s Budget regarding funding for active travel,” Gwenda Owen, Cycling UK’s Wales advocacy lead, said in a statement his afternoon.
“Without clear direction from the government on the future of walking and cycling, there is a real risk that Wales’ groundbreaking commitments to active travel could be undermined.
“The Active Travel Act set Wales apart as a leader in sustainable transport, but without proper investment, ambition will evaporate.
“The people of Wales deserve access to affordable, sustainable, and healthy travel. It stands to benefit our economy, health and climate and we will continue to advocate for a future where cycling and walking are at the heart of Wales’s transport system.”
ITV post ‘Alternative Sports Personality of the Year’ shortlist… and look who made the cut
⭐️ 𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 ⭐️
James Anderson 🏏
Lando Norris 🏎️
Poppy Maskill 🏊♀️
Emma Finucane 🚴♀️
Luke Humphries 🎯
Mark Cavendish 🚴♂️#SPOTY pic.twitter.com/2OK7j8vRcX— ITV Sport (@ITVSport) December 9, 2024
Is this one better than the Beeb’s SPOTY shortlist? Or worse? Or just as meaningless?
Dragon Ride organiser Human Race rebrands as ASO UK
Human Race, the events company behind the popular Dragon Ride sportive in Wales, has today officially rebranded itself as ASO UK, to better reflect its partnership with the Tour de France’s organisers.
Based in London and one of the UK’s leading mass participation events companies, also organising the Manchester Marathon, Human Race first partnered with ASO back in 2016, when the Dragon Ride – one of Britain’s toughest and longest sportives – was also rebranded as the Dragon Ride L’Etape Wales by Le Tour de France.
Today’s rebranding, the newly minted ASO UK says, is a mere aesthetic alignment with its French parent company, and will have little effect on the British branch’s work or events.
“For many years we’ve been proud to be part of the A.S.O. family and the time was right for our name to match the relationship,” ASO UK’s Andrew Smith said in a statement.
“Alongside delivering our existing best-in-class events we are working together closely on some exciting new projects, as well as sharing knowledge and ideas to benefit our exceptional events across Europe.
“Whilst this is a significant announcement, we have already been working closely with A.S.O., and there will be no changes to how our team operates beyond the name above the door.”
Cav-termind: The Answers
And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for all day – the answers to the Mark Cavendish specialist subject round on Mastermind! (Or not, if you watched last night’s programme, of course.)
So, without further ado, the answers were:
- Andy
- Bank
- Scratch race
- Cervélo
- Jason Kenny
- Quick-Step
- Vincenzo Nibali
- Volta a Catalunya
- Four
- Saddle
- Rod Ellingworth
How’d you get on? 11 out of 11? Same…
Forget all that Sports Personality of the Year malarkey… Mark Cavendish was on Mastermind! (As a specialist subject)
Monday may have been dominated by the raging online debate that erupted in the wake of Mark Cavendish’s controversial exclusion from this year’s Sports Personality of the Year award shortlist, but the Manx Missile did at least make it on to one BBC programme this week – Mastermind.
And no, the Tour de France’s record-breaking stage winner – a proponent of speed chess back in the day – hasn’t decided to take up a post-cycling career in TV quizzing.
Instead, Cavendish was chosen as contestant Jeremy Hick’s specialist subject, which surely means more than yet another SPOTY nomination, doesn’t it?
Jeremy managed a respectable score of eight on all things Cav, before eventually finishing second to Dom, whose specialist subject was, brilliant, The Day Today.
So, just for fun, and for those that haven’t seen it yet, here are the questions Jeremy tackled last night, some of which were fairly tricky, to be fair…
- Mark Cavendish’s introduction to competitive cycling was when he accompanied his younger brother to the children’s league at the National Sports Centre on the Isle of Man. What’s his brother’s name?
- To fund the cost of travelling abroad to race, Cavendish took a job at what kind of business establishment at the age of 16?
- At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Cavendish won a gold medal for the Isle of Man in which track event?
- At the Tour de Suisse in 2010, which team organised a protest against Cavendish, after he was deemed responsible for a collision with their rider Heinrich Haussler?
- At the end of the 2009 Olympics in Beijing, Cavendish borrowed a silver medal from which of his teammates to try to get an upgrade on the flight home?
- At the end of 2011, Cavendish joined Team Sky on a three-year contract but left after just one season to join which other team?
- In 2013, Cavendish won the points competition at the Giro d’Italia by taking first place on two intermediate sprints on the final stage and winning the stage itself to overturn which rider’s 11-point lead?
- Although it was deemed too tough and hilly for Cavendish to handle in 2006, he competed the following year for the first time in what ProTour race, which he described as a “week-long school for suffering”?
- In 2016, Cavendish won the Madison with Bradley Wiggins at the world championships, then took silver in the Omnium at the Rio Olympics, a month after winning how many stages in the Tour de France?
- In 2021, Cavendish equalled the record set by Eddy Merckx when he achieved his 34th Tour de France stage win, despite completing the final descent with severe damage to which part of his bike?
- Cavendish joined Bahrain-McLaren for the 2020 season, after which former British Cycling coach became their team principal?
I’ll reveal the answers later today, so let us know how you got on. No cheating now!
Rohan Dennis pleads guilty to lesser charge of causing likelihood of harm following death of wife and world track champion Melissa Hoskins
Rohan Dennis has pleaded guilty to an aggravated charge of causing likelihood of harm, in relation to the incident at the end of December 2023 which led to the death of his wife, the team pursuit world champion Melissa Hoskins.
The 34-year-old had initially faced charges of dangerous driving causing death and an aggravated charge of driving without due care, but these were dropped by prosecutors after Dennis pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.
Adelaide Magistrates Court heard today that prosecutors accepted the plea to the new charge because Dennis was reckless, and did not intend to kill Hoskins nor was he responsible for causing her death, ABC reports.
Melissa Hoskins at the 2015 Women’s Tour
Barrister Jane Abbey KC, representing Dennis, told the court the new charge was admitted on the basis of recklessness.
“There was no intention of Mr Dennis to harm his wife, and this charge does not charge him with responsibility for her death,” she said.
Dennis now faces a maximum possible sentence of seven years in prison, compared to the 15 years he was originally facing.
“A cycle-hostile road for only the brave”
> Cycling campaign slams council plan to introduce bus lanes instead of bike lanes, rubbishes “factually misleading” claim new proposal will still encourage cyclists
“At least when their shorts are salty at the end of a long race they’ll match the jersey”: More UAE kit reaction you won’t be able to get out of your head next season
I can’t get past the fact the sleeves just look like salt from sweat….
— VamosCiclismo (@vamosciclismo.bsky.social) December 10, 2024 at 11:13 AM
I suppose UAE are just cutting to the chase with the whole salty sweaty look, most teams wait for a particularly hot day at the Tour to unveil that particular design flaw…
Tadej Pogačar to race two grand tours again in 2025, as world champion waits on routes of Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España before finalising calendar
Speaking of the world champion… After an extremely successful first tilt at a grand tour double in 2024, Tadej Pogačar will once again double up on the three-weekers next season, as he aims for a fourth Tour de France title.
According to Daniel Benson, who’s over at UAE Team Emirates’ Spanish training camp this week, Pogačar will – naturally – target the Tour again in 2025, after regaining the yellow jersey in July from Jonas Vingegaard.
But Benson reports UAE Team Emirates will not make the final decision on his second grand tour until the routes of the Vuelta a España and the Giro d’Italia are confirmed, when he will plump for the parcours that suits him the most.
The Vuelta route is due to be announced next week, though the Giro presentation has been delayed until January due to political reservations about the Italian race’s planned start in Albania.
(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
However, despite optimistic reports to the contrary following his era-defining season, UAE confirmed that Pogačar will not be attempting an unprecedented grand tour triple in 2025, but will instead aim for the first back-to-back GT double since Miguel Induráin in 1994 and 1995 – either via the same Giro-Tour route Big Mig navigated thirty years ago, or with a career first triumph at the Vuelta, the scene of the Slovenian’s three-week breakthrough in 2019.
Elsewhere, Pogačar will kick off his season at the UAE tour, before a jampacked classics campaign that will include Strade Bianche, Milan-Sanremo, and a string of cobbled classics which he skipped this year, E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem, and the Tour of Flanders, before taking on the three Ardennes classics at the end of April.
But like the grand tour triple, a first Pogačar crack at Paris-Roubaix will have to wait another year at least.
After possibly heading to the Giro, the Critérium du Dauphiné is on the cards before the Tour, while the only race pencilled in for the second half of the season so far is a world title defence in Rwanda.
“What is this atrocity?” Tadej Pogačar’s UAE team slammed for “ugliest kit and bike combo ever” – sponsored by oil giant’s new investment arm… but “at least Pogi won’t have to wear it”, fans say
Question: What time of the year gets professional cycling fans most excited, as they rush to their calendars and tick off the days until that sweet, sweet period of bliss arrives?
The spring classics campaign? Nope. The cyclocross season? Unfortunately not. The Tour de France? No, no, no.
It’s early December – when the new season’s kits start getting leaked on social media, of course!
And while a number of new 2025 designs and threads have been officially, or unofficially, unveiled over the past week or so – to varying degrees of appreciation (looking at you, Cofidis) – none have provoked a response like the one which greeted the first sightings of UAE Team Emirates’ kit this week.
And, if the team thought the reaction to their ‘radical’ new Colnago Y1Rs was divided, wait ‘til they read the comments about the jersey – first spotted by Dave Arthur, as world champion Tadej Pogačar’s teammates headed out for a leisurely spin on their Spanish training camp yesterday:
Seemingly inspired by the UCI’s decision to clamp down on team kits resembling race leader’s jerseys, it appears that UAE have ditched the all-white look for some smoky black accents and fading on the arms and the bottom of the jersey.
And cycling’s dedicated followers of fashion aren’t happy.
“Please God, don’t let this be real. What is this atrocity?” asked a disgruntled Emma on BlueSky.
“This is the ugliest kit I have ever seen,” vented Grace.
“Money doesn’t buy taste,” said another user.
UAE 2025 kit seems to have been leaked via a fan’s instagram reel (artem4ik19)
— Katie (@medicinexthings.bsky.social) December 9, 2024 at 7:21 PM
“Sad that they have to take part-time jobs scrubbing out chimneys,” added Katy.
“So UAE have simultaneously cooked up the most ugly bike ever and most ugly kit ever,” wrote Eben, clearly not a fan of the new un-Colnago Colnago either.
“Having a good battle with their bike for which can be uglier,” agreed Billy.
Some were more forgiving, however (at least slightly).
“I’m cutting them a bit of slack, because with the UCI’s very late announcement that teams are not allowed to clash with GT jerseys anymore, in this case the white jersey, they might have had to make very late changes to the design,” said Goldblue.
“But that doesn’t change the fact that those sleeves are atrocious.”
Ouch.
Juan Sebastián Molano, rocking the new divisive UAE threads (credit: Dave Arthur)
Meanwhile, after averting their gaze from the smoky sleeves, others noted the brand-new sponsor on the front – XRG, a recently established international investment company set up by United Arab Emirates state oil group ADNOC at the end of November.
Valued at more than $80 billion (that will cover some of Pogačar’s salary, then) and set to begin operating at the start of 2025, XRG will apparently focus on lower-carbon energy, natural gas, and chemicals, with ADNOC saying it will take advantage of “the transformation of energy, exponential growth of AI, and the rise of emerging economies”.
And you can always trust an oil giant, of course.
However, fans were able to agree on one silver lining in all this new kit business – a certain rainbow jersey wearer.
“At least Pogi won’t have to wear this for one single day,” one user quipped (apart from in time trials – when he’s not leading a race, that is).
There’s always a rainbow at the end of some dark smoky clouds, I suppose.
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Latest Comments
@Terry Hutt which ones? I have the stem, seatpost and Arc SPD pedals on my commuter and have had no issues at all.
I've owned many redshift products over the years and I have not found them to be reliable. Anything with moving parts tends to break in a couple of years. I only buy from them when there are no other offerings on the market, which tends to happen a lot. There are many similar products on Amazon right now that, while they don't score as well as the Redshift, cost 1/4 as much. For the same price as these you can buy some nice SPD/flat pedals (SPD one side, flat the other). That's what I have on my trainer and they are great.
@SVXY I cannot think of a jury or a magistrate who would not convict cyclists doing that of lack of consideration of other road users and careless driving He was doing OK for the first three words, but then slumped back down to his usual pitiful standard, dreaming of cyclists being convicted of careless driving or being smashed to pulp by a driver guilty of nothing more than a minor lapse of judgement.
@chrisonabike Riding 3 or more abreast blocks most traffic on a carriageway getting past. I cannot think of a jury or a magistrate who would not convict cyclists doing that of lack of consideration of other road users and careless driving
@SVXY Again, it doesn't say that riding three or more abreast is inconsiderate. That's just your opinion, which counts for nothing.
Black bike in a black room with minimal lighting. Marketing people eh?
That’s honestly the best 32” bike I’ve seen yet. Avona’s road bike is also beautiful except for the tall stack height, if they ever release a race bike I’m in.
32 inch wheels are here to stay until the next new wonder product hits the market...
@Gd29 Redshift regularly have sales with 25% off, so you should be able to pick them up for under £40 at some point
@SVXY Yet again it's highly impressive how are you know the exact circumstances of this incident, now down to the exact type of footwear Ms.Tanton was sporting at the time. There are numerous types of all-terrain/hiking sandals that have far better grip than a standard pair of trainers. And once again do explain how having shoes without gaps in the uppers would have prevented Dick from driving straight into her from behind? No actually, don't bother.
20 thoughts on ““Money doesn’t buy taste”: Tadej Pogačar’s UAE team slammed for “ugliest kit and bike combo ever” – sponsored by oil giant’s new investment arm… but “at least Pogi won’t have to wear it”, fans say + more on the live blog”
Don’t know what the
Don’t know what the complaints are about, it seems to me very honest of an oil company to design a kit that accurately reflects what their products are doing to the environment, sinister smoky black stains encroaching on the pure white. For extra design honesty kudos it could also be seen as a metaphor for what UAE and assorted other petrodollar economies are doing to sport with their rapacious purchases of just about anything that moves.
Is it just me that’s seeing
Is it just me that’s seeing black sleeves covered in chalk then?
Maybe to improve their grip when in an illegal ‘puppy paws’ position, or perhaps it has some kind of aero benefit.
Quote:
Grace’s memory doesn’t seem to stretch back to 2010, specifically to the latter stages of the decline of the former Saunier Duval team…
See also the 2014 Columbian
See also the 2014 Columbian ladies flesh coloured outfits.
The team member 2nd from
The team member 2nd from right already knows what it looks like! Even I think this effort is pretty bad.
Geoff Ingram wrote:
[*NB – not actually flesh-coloured, but gold that didn’t photograph well]
(Also, is that Theresa May 2nd left?)
See also the 2014 Colombian
See also the 2014 Colombian ladies flesh coloured outfit. I tried to post a photo, but it’s so horrendous the computer refused it.
“At the end of the 2009
“At the end of the 2009 Olympics in Beijing, Cavendish borrowed a silver medal from which of his teammates to try to get an upgrade on the flight home?”
Is the answer none, as all the other athletes had travelled home in 2008 – the actual year of the Beijing Olympics?
Don’t know what the
Don’t know what the complaints are about
Agreed! I don’t see anything wrong with the kit or the bike. Other considerations, as stated by Rendel, are available
Doug wrote:
So they should be made to spend some time, er, walking…?
In response to those who have
In response to those who have slated the new Colnago bike.
‘Some may love it now. Some may love it later. And some may never love it. And that’s OK.’
As Gerry McGovern has recently said about another brand pushing boundaries & making change
I hope this bus driver has to
I hope this bus driver has to take road user awareness training…
I hope this bus driver has to
I hope this bus driver has to take cycle awareness training…
All available spaces should be taken up by Lancashire bus drivers, but apparently they’re all available because all the reports of bus attacks are immediately binned up here by Lancashire Constabulary b******s. The offences will be going to The Parliamentary Active Travel and Social Justice Inquiry but I don’t hold out much hope for any improvement without great change in police attitudes
https://upride.cc/incident/4148vz_travellerschoicecoach_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/px12eez_stagecoach41_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/ua5013_kirkbylonsdalecoaches_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/yj60kgzar12way_brethertonsarchwaybuses_closepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/px12dne_stagecoach42bus_closepass/
I’m trying for a variety, because there are so many to choose from
Comments on the “Wife of ex
Comments on the “Wife of ex-Scotland footballer scores hat-trick…” aren’t open, so will post here instead.
Nobody will be surprised by the police/courts in Scotland, what people will be shocked about is the driver was actually punished.
The only time I cycle on that stretch of road is early Sunday mornings and then it still is taking your life in your hands at times.
May be a side issue but
May be a side issue but really a bit disappointing to see a woman identified (by road.cc, not you) in that headline solely as an appurtenance of her husband. As an interesting piece of trivia to mention in the article as an aside, fine, but one would hope we’re a bit past just describing women in terms of who the men in their lives are. Road.cc rightly joined in the mocking of the “Pogacar’s fiancee wins race” headlines but this is much the same thing.
Well, except in this case her
Well, except in this case her association with a celebrity might have helped her secure an unbelievably lenient sentence. That close pass on a two-lane road with minimal traffic is mindboggling. One can only surmise that she looked up from her phone at the last moment, decided she couldn’t brake in time, and decided she had to try to squeeze in front of the oncoming vehicle to pass.
cmedred wrote:
Possible but unlikely I’d say, given that every single day people with no association with celebrity in any way are let off with unbelievably lenient sentences or indeed not prosecuted at all for equally bad offences.
I suspect this has happened
I suspect this has happened because the drivers solicitor has put forward arguments to the prosecutor for defending the close pass. These are probably along the lines of “you can’t prove the distance of the car from the cyclist and the highway code 2m is only guidance not law and no inconvenience was caused”. That’s what Gloucestershire police would say anyway. As for the red light “the number plate is not clear so you can’t prove it was my client”.
Although even Mr loophole wouldn’t have been able to defend the mobile phone use the guilty plea would save valuable court time when they gave it a try so as far as efficiency goes the prosecutor sees it as a win win.
6 points and a fine is probably more than they would have got for killing the cyclist in a “momentary lapse of concentration with the sun in their eyes and blind spots” any way.
It is still infuriating but until the law is changed to match up with the highway code we are on a hiding to nothing as cyclists when things go to court.
Quote:
Unless of course he doesn’t retain his world title, unlikely as that seems, in which case he’ll be wearing it for the end of the season, including at Lombardia.
“some smoky black accents and
“some smoky black accents and fading on the arms and the bottom of the jersey.”
Reminds me of an oil-stained bird