“Pandering to the few that don’t even pay to be on the roads”: New Dutch-style roundabout branded an “expensive disaster area” by drivers – but cyclists say it’s “100% safer” and the “start of better cycling infrastructure” + more on the live blog

After almost two years of construction work, and months of delays, the first ever ‘Dutch-style’ roundabout in Sheffield – and only the second of its kind in the UK – has finally opened this week.

And it’s fair to say it’s already diving opinion.

First introduced in the UK in Cambridge in 2020, the new roundabout layout at West Bar in Sheffield, which was originally due to be completed in October after work began in April 2023, offers priority to cyclists and pedestrians, with motorists asked to give way to more vulnerable road users on entering and exiting the roundabout (so you can already see why there’s a bit of debate about it).

Based on a design made popular in the Netherlands (hence the name), zebra crossings have been installed at each arm of the Dutch-style roundabout, giving pedestrians priority over drivers, while a one-way protected cycle lane moves clockwise around the infrastructure, providing dedicated space for those on bikes, with give-ways at each exit.

Sheffield City Council says the new layout at West Bar forms part of wider plans to improve sustainable links to the city centre, “making it and easier for people to get around the city in an active way”.

At the infrastructure’s grand unveiling on Monday, three-time Olympic team pursuit champion Ed Clancy, in his role as South Yorkshire’s Active Travel Commissioner, said the West Bar scheme “demonstrates Sheffield Council’s ambition and commitment to being at the forefront of design that gives people more freedom and choice about getting around”.

“New walking, wheeling and cycling projects are happening right across South Yorkshire, creating better places and more opportunities for us all to move more and move differently,” the 39-year-old said.

(Sheffield City Council)

“For too long people wanting to cross West Bar roundabout to get around the city have had to wait for a gap in the traffic to do so in a safe manner,” added Sheffield City Council’s transport committee chair Ben Miskell.

“The changes we are delivering will make it easier for those on foot or on their bike in fantastic new ways [while managing] the speed of traffic using the roundabout, increasing safety for everyone.”

However, due to the delays which have hit the project in recent months, West Bar’s Dutch roundabout isn’t quite the finished article, with some sections of the protected bike lane exiting the roundabout yet to be completed.

 (Les Sturch)

The BBC has also reported that another 20m section of the cycleway was unfinished at the time of the infrastructure’s opening, and one stretch featured barriers across the lane where repair work was being carried out.

“Hopefully, in time they will finish all this off and join it up,” cyclist Charlotte Tallyfield told the BBC after using the new roundabout.

“It’s a huge issue everywhere in the city: the lanes still disappear and you suddenly get abandoned on to the road.”

Despite these teething problems, the roundabout’s design – and the priority it offers to vulnerable road users – already seems to be a hit with local cyclists.

“I feel very safe going round here. It’s not too fast and all the cars stopped for me. I’m really pleased it’s open,” cargo bike rider Billie Turner told the BBC, describing the roundabout as “perfect for cyclists”.

 (Les Sturch)

Meanwhile, other cyclists have described the new layout as “100 per cent safer for cyclists” compared to the mayhem that preceded it.

“It used to be mayhem and chaos, you would be trying to cross anywhere on the roundabout,” Mila Pesa Mezzola told Sheffield Live this week.

“It’s a lot easier now – we once spent 20 minutes waiting to cross and eventually just had to go. When they were doing the work, the path was really small and we kept going onto the main road.”

“It’s definitely easier as you don’t have to keep waiting. You can just cross anywhere,” added Ighauo De La Vega.

“There used to be loads of litter and food on the road when they were doing the construction work, but now it’s a lot better.”

“I came before the work was done and it felt like a maze when I was trying to cross. But it looks better and it’s 100 per cent safer now,” agreed Richard.

And university student Mingli said: “Every car has to wait for you, which makes you feel quite safe. The drivers have all been polite and have stopped. I think the new roundabout will help save a bit more time as you aren’t waiting to cross.”

“It’s all part of a jigsaw. It can’t just be this, we need a larger network,” added Peter Holt, who said he hoped the roundabout would mark the “start of better cycling infrastructure” in Sheffield.

“It should be welcomed, though, because it shows our council and hopefully other councils this is the way to do it.”

(Les Sturch)

However, not everyone was as welcoming when it came to the new infrastructure.

“I strongly believe this will cause more rear-ended bumps than a normal roundabout would,” Sheffield-based driving instructor Nadeem told the Telegraph, which also reported, in classic Telegraph-style, that the new layout had immediately caused “traffic jams” in the area.

“With these sorts of roundabouts there are more cons than pros. By the time a pedestrian is spotted it is too late to brake as the driver is usually focusing on the road far ahead rather than what they can see in their peripheral vision.”

“Can see this being an expensive disaster area,” Paul Cook said on social media. “No bloody wonder we’re missing £22bn.”

“I drove around it the other day and there are no road signs explaining it on the approach to it at all so if you don’t know about it you won’t know how to use it properly. It’s ridiculous!” wrote Kat.

> More collisions at UK's first Dutch-style roundabout than old layout, figures reveal

“Problem I see is idiots coming off the roundabout too fast and hitting someone on crossing,” added Troy. “Also coming off roundabout, stopping, then someone rear ends you. I know it works well in Holland, but cyclists and pedestrians well outnumber cars.”

And anti-cycling bingo enthusiast Mike concluded: “Pandering to the few again that don’t even pay to be on the roads.

“Don’t they realise A&E have enough to cope with already, disaster waiting to happen, and then it will be redesigned, wasting another few million quid.”

Well, I suppose you can’t please everyone…

UAE Team Emirates are no longer using the controversial method of carbon monoxide rebreathing to test their riders’ progress during altitude training camps, the squad’s performance co-ordinator has confirmed.

Last month, world cycling’s governing body, the UCI, called for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to “take a position” on the use of carbon monoxide inhalation in the peloton, after Escape Collective broke the news during this year’s Tour de France that UAE Team Emirates, Visma-Lease a Bike, and Israel-Premier Tech have access to a CO rebreather to test blood values.

Providing an accurate means of measuring key blood values such as haemoglobin (a protein that facilities the movement of oxygen in red blood cells), several pro squads have confirmed that they use CO rebreathers to track their riders’ progress during red blood cell boosting altitude training camps.

(ASO/Charly Lopez)

Both Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard confirmed at the Tour that they had previously used carbon monoxide rebreathers, with Pogačar even dismissing the practice as a “pretty simple test” and claiming he’d never actually completed it, while Vingegaard told Danish reporters that there was “nothing suspicious” about the controversial rebreathing technique.

However, despite not breaking any current anti-doping rules, those very same carbon monoxide rebreathers also allow for precise dosing of the gas into the lungs, which could potentially assist riders’ bodies in producing more red blood cells and improve their aerobic capacity, enhancing their performance artificially – an alternative use of the equipment which all teams at the Tour denied using.

After urging WADA to take a stance on the issue, and requesting that teams and riders avoid using “repeated CO inhalation”, clarifying that “only the medical use of a single inhalation of CO in a controlled medical environment could be acceptable”, UCI president David Lappartient last week officially called for the method to be banned.

> “There are a lot of people smoking cigarettes every day”: Jonas Vingegaard says carbon monoxide method is like “smoking one cigarette” and claims he “never knew” it could be misused

But if a ban does eventually come into effect, it shouldn’t have an impact on Pogačar, however, after his UAE Team Emirates performance co-ordinator Jeroen Swart confirmed that the squad has stopped using carbon monoxide rebreathing after finishing an 18-month-long “process”.

(ASO/Charly Lopez)

“To give you complete clarity on that, carbon monoxide rebreathing is a technique that has already been validated for 20 years and has been used by climbers, endurance sportsmen and athletes around the world to measure haemoglobin mass when they go to altitude,” Swart told Cyclingnews during UAE’s training camp in Spain this week.

“We’ve been very good with our altitude training camps in the last seven years. We feel that we’ve done a really good job in terms of the benefit, but there’s no way that you can quantify that clearly, other than measuring haemoglobin mass.

“So, two years ago, we decided to assess whether or not our riders were improving to our expectations. And so, it was an exercise that we conducted over 18 months and assessed the haemoglobin mass using carbon monoxide rebreathing which is a very standardised technique with very specific equipment.

“Actually, we finished that process now and our results show that our training camps are actually very well suited to the maximal adaptation for our riders which we see in the performances as well.

“So, we actually don't need to do the tests any further. We don’t plan to do any more.”

 (ASO/Billy Ceusters)

After confirming the end of UAE’s dalliance with the controversial method, Swart then criticised Escape Collective’s apparently “sensationalist” initial reporting on the issue.

“But I think it’s quite a sensationalist article that’s been published and speculating about using a technique that would be quite complicated and probably not something that I can see anybody actually doing,” he said of the alleged performance-enhancing benefits.

“It doesn’t come across as realistic. So, I think there’s a lot of sensation.”

2025 will mark the start of a new era in professional cycling, at least in Belgium, after one of the sport’s brashest, most controversial – and successful – figures, Patrick Lefevere, announced last night that he is stepping down as CEO of Soudal Quick-Step, a year earlier than initially planned.

A remnant of cycling’s old-school, traditionalist past, and one seemingly attracted to controversy and conflict, Lefevere was initially due to stay on as the Belgian team’s manager before retiring in 2026, with COO Jurgen Foré primed to transition gradually into the CEO role.

However, it was revealed last night that Foré, who joined Soudal Quick-Step earlier this year, will now make the jump earlier than planned, with Lefevere now set to retire on 31 December.

 (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

69-year-old Lefevere, a pro in the 1970s who won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and a stage of the Vuelta in 1978, founded the Quick-Step team in 2003, from the ruins of the old Mapei and Domo-Farm Frites squads.

Since then, he established the team as Belgium’s biggest squad and arguably the most dominant one-day classics outfit of the past 20 years, winning 22 monuments, including eight editions of home race the Tour of Flanders, courtesy of Tom Boonen (three times), Stijn Devolder (twice), Philippe Gilbert, Niki Terpstra, and Kasper Asgreen.

Lefevere also oversaw Quick-Step’s 124 grand tour stage wins, as well as its recent transition to GC contention at cycling’s three-week race, winning the Vuelta with Remco Evenepoel in 2022 – their first ever grand tour triumph – and following that up with third at this year’s Tour de France.

> “I wish he’d just shut up forever”: Patrick Lefevere blasted for claiming that women’s cycling is “being pushed artificially”

However, Lefevere’s legacy will arguably be tarnished by his brash public persona, which saw him criticise his riders in the press, leading to high-profile fallings out with Sam Bennett, Julian Alaphilippe (who he accused of partying and drinking too much), and most recently Kasper Asgreen.

In March, he was sanctioned by the UCI for “public comments considered as disparaging towards women”, after he claimed former double world champion Alaphilippe was “under the spell” of his partner and Tour de France Femmes organiser Marion Rousse.

And last year, Lefevere was heavily criticised after claiming that women’s cycling is “being pushed artificially” and that many female pros “are not worth” the current minimum wage set by the UCI.

He also likened Bennett’s return to Bora-Hansgrohe to a “women who still returns home after domestic abuse” and claimed on Belgian TV that it is not safe for women to be out alone after dark because “women used to not drink. Now they drink as much as we do. Not everyone is good at it, sometimes they tread on thin ice.”

 (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

In a statement announcing his impending retirement yesterday, Lefevere said: “It is a life changing moment to leave a role that I have committed so much of my life to. Cycling is a sport that I am still deeply passionate about, and it has been a great honour to head up this beautiful team and make so many special memories.

“But I felt that it was the right moment for this change. When I started to work with Jurgen one year ago, it was with a view to smoothing out the transition for when I would eventually leave. I have seen how his relationships with our sponsors and partners, as well as the team’s internal stakeholders has grown over the last 12 months, and I know that with Jurgen taking over as CEO and with the board’s backing, that this team has a bright future.

“There are countless people that I need to thank, far too many to mention individually, but there are of course my family, the team’s talented riders, our dedicated staff, our loyal sponsors, all of which is backed by the generosity and support of our team owner Mr Zdenek Bakala.”