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“How are cyclists at fault for drivers parking on cycle paths?” Tory MP slams “unloved” cycle lanes – by posting photos of drivers blocking them; The Hague police move barriers blocking cycle lane after complaints; GB pursuit gold + more on the live blog

It’s Friday, the Tour Down Under is underway, and Ryan Mallon’s back with more cycling news and views on the live blog – what’s not to love?
Fri, Jan 12, 2024 09:52
19

SUMMARY

“How are cyclists at fault for drivers parking on cycle paths?” Tory MP slams “unloved” cycle lanes – by posting photos of drivers blocking them; The Hague police move barriers blocking cycle lane after complaints; GB pursuit gold + more on the live blogMotorists parking on Doncaster cycle lane (Nick Fletcher, Twitter)
12 January 2024, 12:28
Motorists parking on Doncaster cycle lane (Nick Fletcher, Twitter)
“Motorists park where they shouldn’t, but let’s blame cyclists”: Tory MP slams “unloved” cycle lanes – by posting photos of drivers blocking them

I regret to inform you that Nick Fletcher is at it again.

Last February, the Conservative MP for Don Valley dived headfirst into the world of conspiracy theories (setting a precedent for the government itself) by demanding a debate in the House of Commons on the “international socialist concept of so-called 15-minute cities”.

> Tory MP attacks 15-minute city concept with known conspiracy theory

And in May, he claimed that Doncaster was “filled” with cycling infrastructure that was “rarely used” and “takes away from drivers and pedestrians”, an argument he doubled down on in the House of Commons in September, as he called on the government to reverse the trend of introducing “disastrous” cycle lanes that he said were turning cities like Doncaster into “ghost towns”.

So, it’s safe to say he has form.

> Conservative MP claims cycling infrastructure is "rarely used" and "takes away from drivers and pedestrians"

And this morning Fletcher’s war on Doncaster’s cycle lanes continued – in confusing fashion – when he posted four photos of motorists illegally parking on the active travel infrastructure which, he bizarrely claimed, was evidence that the lanes are “unloved” by local cyclists.

“I see that the unloved cycle paths (built at great expense to you the taxpayer) are finally being used in the town centre. Not by cyclists though,” Fletcher tweeted.

“Vote Labour in Doncaster and you get this. No vision, no plan, no leadership. It’s time for a change.”

Needless to say, cyclists on the social media platform were baffled by Fletcher’s odd take on drivers parking illegally.

“Motorists parked where they shouldn’t, but yeah, let’s blame the cyclists. Let’s not focus on why public transport has been run down by 14 years of Tory austerity and failures,” Stephen wrote.

“How are cyclists at fault for cars parking on cycle paths Nick?” another user asked.

“Looks like lazy rule-breaking motorists who haven’t learned they’re not meant to park on double yellow lines,” added a Matt Hancock ‘fan’ account (naturally).

Meanwhile, Andrew said: “Pandering to the motorist again. Hope you called your office to get these cars reported and fines issued.”

“From the party of Law and Order, let’s not talk about law breakers but concentrate on cyclists instead,” added Vince.

Well, I suppose it makes sense coming from the MP who coined the “international socialist concept of so-called 15-minute cities”…

12 January 2024, 16:58
When you don’t even need to be told which Conservative MP is spouting illogical, bizarre anti-cycling nonsense

Well, he’s certainly consistent when it comes to terrible active travel takes, I’ll give him that… 

12 January 2024, 16:34
Chain Reaction back up
Chain Reaction Cycles closes flagship Belfast shop

Three months after entering administration, WiggleCRC’s financial woes show no signs of abating, with Chain Reaction announcing this week the closure of its flagship shop in Belfast.

Opened in 2012, the Boucher Road shop acted as the retailer’s main in-person store across the UK and Ireland.

However, ‘closing down sale’ and ‘everything must go’ signs now currently populate the shop’s windows and earlier this week a Facebook post from senior store manager Dave Astin confirmed the news that it would be pulling down its shutters for good next month.

Chain Reaction Cycles' Best 2021 Black Friday Cycling Deals

“We regret to inform you that our retail store located on Boucher Road, Belfast, will be closing its doors next month. We sincerely appreciate the support from all our customers over the past 12 years,” the statement, which signals the likely prospect of more job losses for the beleaguered brand, said.

“We will continue to serve all our customers through our online store, chainreactioncycles.com, where you can shop our full range and receive support, warranty, and aftercare services from our customer service team.

“With the store closing soon, we are offering some incredible deals as we sell through our remaining stock. Please feel free to visit us in the coming weeks.”

> WiggleCRC owed Haribo £20,000, plus millions of pounds to other cycling brands, administrator's proposal document reveals

Chain Reaction began its life in 1984 as the small village bike shop Ballynure Cycles, founded by George and Janice Watson, before moving to a bigger premises and changing its name in 1989, eventually setting up its online retail arm a decade later.

Around six years ago, shortly after its merger with Wiggle, Chain Reaction boasted four different locations in Northern Ireland, employing 275 staff – a number that has been more than halved in the intervening, turbulent, period.

12 January 2024, 15:59
“The council can’t afford to pay bin collectors liveable wages. Yet they have all the resources in the world to pick on cyclists”

It’s a Friday afternoon, so naturally we turn our attentions to the latest ‘people riding their bikes in pedestrianised zones’ story (which, I’m sure you all agree, is the biggest issue affecting the planet at the moment) and to Cardiff in particular, where the council has come in for criticism after posting about its crackdown on cyclists on the only pedestrianised street in the city centre.

In the social media post, Cardiff City Council said it had teamed up with South Wales Police to enforce the no-cycling rule on Queen Street, noting that between October and December 504 cyclists had been stopped on the street and 14 fixed penalty notices issued.

However, the clampdown was dismissed by local cyclists on Twitter as “anti-cycling nonsense”, with some pointing out that Queen Street is wide enough to include a designated cycling area.

"The council can’t afford to pay bin collectors liveable wages,” one Twitter user added. “The council has no resources to crack down on landlords guilty of illegal evictions. Yet they have all the resources in the world to pick on cyclists, many of whom are precarious gig-economy workers. Make it make sense!”

PCSO stopping a cyclist, Cardiff Queen Street (Cardiff City Council, Twitter)

Read more: > Council slammed for stopping and fining cyclists on pedestrianised city centre street

12 January 2024, 15:29
Just when you thought the last cycling team video was peak Euro…

After the latent TikTok-inspired monstrosity that was Soudal Quick-Step’s Celine Dion kit reveal, the brains behind YouTube channel-turned-Pro Conti squad TBT-Unibet decided it was time to kick the Euro Trashiness up a notch, with this typically understated bike unveiling…

Cycling, never change. 

12 January 2024, 14:58
Drumroll, please – And the best bike components of the year are…
roadcc recommends awards 2023-24 - Components of the Year

> road.cc Recommends Components of the Year 2023/24: The best saddles, handlebars, groupsets and more from the last 12 months

12 January 2024, 14:39
The Tour Down Under by numbers: 93 cyclists, 119 motor vehicles

A sobering, if not exactly surprising, statistic here from SBS Sport at the women’s Tour Down Under, where race motorbikes, cars, vans, and buses easily outnumber those racing their bikes in the peloton.

While it was ever thus in professional cycling – the swarm of motorbikes and cars that constantly circled the likes of Fausto Coppi and Jacques Anquetil evidence of that – it’s still a disheartening fact for a race struggling to affirm its green credentials in the wake of demonstrations staged last year by Extinction Rebellion.

The environmental group’s attempt to disrupt the Tour Down Under formed part of its protest against the event’s long-term sponsor, Santos, one of Australia’s worst greenhouse gas emitting companies.

The sheer number of race vehicles at the Tour Down Under also raises more general questions for a sport increasingly feeling the impact of climate change (a development underlined by the TDU’s own experience racing by the bushfires that decimated parts of South Australia in 2020), but which also remains seemingly so reliant on the motor vehicle.

12 January 2024, 13:58
Cyclist using segregated cycle lane (Transport for London)
Mind your language: Should we always refer to ‘protected’ cycling infrastructure, instead of ‘segregated’?

While the use of language concerning road traffic collisions (such as the tendency to pin blame on a ‘car’ instead of a ‘driver’, or the widespread use of ‘accident’) has long been a source of contention among road safety advocates, over on the road.cc forum MattW raised an interesting point about how we also should consider our approach to language when describing cycling and active travel infrastructure.

“A bit of a bee in my bonnet,” he wrote. “I’d like to see ‘segregated; fall out use around descriptions of active travel infrastructure, and be replaced by ‘protected’, for two reasons:

“1 – Importantly, ‘protected infrastructure’, ‘protected cycle tracks’ etc correctly implies that the people walking, wheeling, and cycling need to be protected from the dangers of motorised vehicles.

“2 – ‘Segregated’ is a negative, not a positive concept, which vaguely smacks of South Africa circa 1950.

“Can I encourage us to make the switch in our own use, and it will eventually feed into general usage – What about it?”

What do you reckon? Should ‘protected’ be cited as the preferred term for cycle lanes separated from motor traffic?

Or, as some readers pointed out, is ‘separated’ – distinct from describing the sort of infrastructure that does little to actually ‘protect’ anyone – the term we should all adopt?

Let us know in the comments…

12 January 2024, 13:28
ICYMI: Bike industry chaos, part 2 on the road.cc Podcast

With the bike industry facing severe headwinds as it enters 2024, we discuss its prospects for the year ahead with industry stalwart Rory Hitchens on the first podcast episode of the year – and it’s not all doom and gloom, you’ll be glad to hear.

Plus, we’ve got a world exclusive ‘Making Of’ special on our majestic Sgt. Pepper year review image (you lucky gits), so make sure you don’t miss out on all these podcasty delights and get listening over lunch…

road.cc Podcast episode 68

> “You have to dig in for the next three to five years”: What lies ahead for a struggling bike industry in 2024? More expert analysis, plus our Cycling Sgt. Pepper image discussed

12 January 2024, 12:59
Brake lever angle checks, coming to a race near you soon

Yesterday’s/this morning’s (who knows?) first stage of the women’s Tour Down Under was a landmark one in the history of pro cycling, featuring the first ever checks by commissaires on the riders’ brake lever angles, following the UCI’s announcement that it was clamping down on “extreme” tilted-in shifter positions.

Exciting times, I know.

While there has still been no confirmation on the exact angle set to be permitted by the governing body – prompting Victor Campenaerts to decry the “bullshit rule” – the nifty 3D printed tool being used by officials before the TDU stage allowed up to 10 degree of inward rotation for the levers, while also measuring how flared the drops are… and possessing the ability to baffle and crack up onlooking team staff.

This is going to be one fun season.

12 January 2024, 11:53
“My hamstrings were screaming!” Tour Down Under rider completes heroic, solo breakaway ride on wrong size bike

While AG Insurance-Soudal’s New Zealand champion Ally Wollaston secured her maiden WorldTour win and the first leader’s jersey of the 2024 Tour Down Under in a frenetic bunch gallop in a baking Campbelltown, much of the post-stage attention focused on breakaway star Matilda Raynolds, who forged clear on her own and was only caught with nine kilometres to go – despite racing on a bike too small for her, and without a computer (to prove it all actually happened, of course), for most of the stage.

The 36-year-old Australian, who races for the Continental team Bridgelane, suffered a mechanical in the opening kilometres of yesterday’s stage, as her seat came loose, forcing her to jump on one of the team’s spare Cervélo bikes.

“About 3km in, I had a mechanical and had to swap bikes, so I was on a bike that was a little bit too small for me. My hamstrings were screaming!” Raynolds said at the finish.

“The seat came loose straight away, as soon as I hit a bump, so I literally had to jump on a new bike. The thought crosses your mind of like ‘how much bad luck can you have’, but I just had to take a deep breath and go again.

“It went into crash mode at the very end there, so I was sprinting in a big gear, but the bike’s been amazing.

“It feels great that I could get on a bike that wasn’t even mine and still feel okay, but I’m already booking in the physio to try to fix my hammies.”

Ironically, just three days ago, Raynolds posted a video of herself dialling in her position on her own Cervélo in a bid to – as she brilliantly put it – “un-Chris Froome myself”.

Poor Chris, catching strays left, right, and centre these days…

12 January 2024, 11:21
Team GB win the men’s team pursuit at the 2024 European track championships (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
British record broken as men’s squad claim team pursuit gold at European track championships – and lay down important marker for Paris Olympics

While we’re all getting excited about the return of road racing – and feeling the rush of wheels in motion (a theme song gone but not forgotten) – at the Tour Down Under, some serious racing that doesn’t involve posing with koalas is going on in Apeldoorn, where the European track championships is currently taking place.

And last night, GB’s men’s team pursuit quartet of Dan Bigham, Ethan Hayter, Charlie Tanfield, and Ethan Vernon (aided by Ollie Wood in the qualifiers) claimed their first European gold in nine years, beating world champions Denmark in a to-and-fro final, laying down a considerable marker for this summer’s Paris Olympics.

Last night’s win also could prove even more meaningful than just striking heart into the Danes and Italians – Team GB entered the Euros in 11th place in the world rankings and outside the ten qualifying spots for Paris, following their crash at last year’s Glasgow worlds, but now look set to qualify as one of the favourites for gold.

And what’s more, last night’s blistering time of 3:45.218 also broke – by over 0.4 seconds – the previous British best for the team pursuit, set by Hayter, Tanfield, Vernon, and Wood at the Tokyo Olympics. Which, as Hayter Snr Tim noted on Twitter, means that aero guru Bigham now currently holds the British individual pursuit, team pursuit, and hour records. Not too shabby at all, Dan.

Team GB women’s team pursuit, 2024 European track championships (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

 (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

Meanwhile, Britain’s women’s team pursuit squad – consisting of world champions Meg Barker, Anna Morris, and Josie Knight, as well as Jess Roberts – were forced to settle for silver in the Netherlands, after losing their final to Italy, while Ireland finished fourth.

However, Neah Evans, who rode in qualifying, insisted that despite last night’s defeat for GB, the number one ranked team in the world “don’t need more motivation” ahead of the big rendezvous in Paris.

“We’re all pretty competitive people,” she said. “There are a few areas that we can work on, so that’s really encouraging that we know what we can do to improve for the future. It’s a super busy season, we’ve got a lot coming up with the main target in the summer.”

12 January 2024, 09:08
Police officers move barriers to avoid blocking cycle lane at The Hague (Anna Holligan)
“Only in the Netherlands”: Cyclist berates police in The Hague for blocking bike lane outside International Court of Justice – and officers duly move barriers to avoid “disrupting cyclists”

Here on the live blog, we’re used to seeing – how shall I put this? – disagreements between cyclists and the police (usually, it must be said, over some ill-advised social media post about hi-vis or helmets).

But they’re very rarely resolved in the manner witnessed by Anna Holligan this morning outside the Peace Palace, home of the International Court of Justice, in The Hague.

Holligan, a BBC foreign correspondent and presenter of live blog favourite ‘Dutch News from the Cycle Path’, is at the ICJ to report on the second day of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

And while much more grave and consequential matters are set to be discussed mere yards away, Holligan couldn’t help noticing an argument breaking out between a cyclist and a Dutch police officer over the positioning of some barriers which, the cyclist was busy pointing out, were obstructing a cycle lane.

“Only in the Netherlands,” Holligan posted on Twitter. “Cyclist stops to remonstrate with police for stepping on bike lane outside ICJ.”

And just fifteen minutes after her original tweet, the Dutch police duly acted upon the rider’s concerns by moving the barriers away from the bike lane – “to ensure they aren’t disrupting cyclists” – a swift and decisive action which, naturally, astounded Holligan’s non-Netherlands-based followers.

“Imagine the Met bothering!” laughed CamembertElectricque.

“Someone does this in Panama today and police will probably threaten you, beat you, or worse,” noted Raul.

While Q added: “I want to live in a country where the priority and rights of active travel and cycling is taken seriously.”

While most commenters praised the “justice” (sorry) on display by the Dutch police, ‘British born, Netherlands-living’ Lee decided to pop up with the classic: “€10, they even didn't have any lights turned on, on the bike.”

There’s always one, even in the cycling utopia of the Netherlands…

12 January 2024, 11:02
Some Friday fixie action

Cue the angry motorist comments in three, two, one… 

12 January 2024, 10:47
Primož the Terminator

He’ll be back… with a narrower, more aero position. 

Alright, I’m going to say it – this whole aero tech thing has finally got out of hand (Didn’t it already get out of hand in the mid-1990s, I hear you cry? Fair point). Where does Roglič start and the time trialling machine/Batman/Terminator/Dementor from Harry Potter end?

Or maybe this is just the beginning of that cycling AI thing Shimano have been patenting…

12 January 2024, 09:52
Shari Bossuyt press conference
“No humanity or nuance whatsoever”: Shari Bossuyt slams authorities as she announces she will not appeal two-year doping suspension – saying “I simply don’t have the strength or money for this”, and compares her case to Alberto Contador’s 2010 positive

Shari Bossuyt had been expecting to enter 2024 with her sights firmly set on a gold medal in the Madison at the Paris Olympics alongside Belgian teammate Lotte Kopecky.

But instead, the Canyon-Sram rider’s first action of the new year was to announce that she will not appeal a two-year ban imposed by the French anti-doping authority (AFLD) following her positive test for the cancer drug Letrozole, citing a lack of resources and willpower to fight her case, while lambasting the current anti-doping rules and agencies for lacking “nuance” and humanity.

In a lengthy Instagram post last night, the 23-year-old – who won the Madison world championships alongside Kopecky in 2022 – detailed the effect of her looming suspension on her mental health, as well as arguing that, despite being sure that her positive test was a result of food contamination, it’s impossible to prove the drug’s source.

In June last year, it was revealed that Bossuyt had tested positive for Letrozole at the Tour de Normandie in March, where she won a stage and finished sixth overall, and was facing the same two-year ban handed down last year to Toon Aerts.

> “It’s like being wrongly put in prison for murder”: Canyon-SRAM’s Shari Bossuyt protests innocence following doping positive

Belgian cyclocross star Aerts also submitted a positive out-of-competition doping control for the metabolites of the drug – which is primarily used to block oestrogen during the treatment of breast cancer, but is banned by WADA due to its ability to boost testosterone levels and reduce or prevent the feminising effects of anabolic steroid use – three days after racing the cyclocross World Cup round in Flamanville in January 2022.

Last month, before this season’s World Cup round in Normandy, Aerts and Bossuyt’s agent warned riders taking part to avoid the region’s dairy products for fear of contamination, while the Canyon-Sram rider compared her case to that of Alberto Contador in 2010, who launched his infamous ‘tainted beef’ defence after testing positive for clenbuterol at that year’s Tour de France.

> Wake up to (anything but) milk: Pro cyclists warned not to eat or drink dairy products at cyclocross race after positive doping tests

But, despite her insistence that her positive at the Tour de Normandie was the result of contamination, Bossuyt last night revealed that she will not appeal her suspension in a scathing criticism of the anti-doping authorities.

“After some time of silence and patience, I wish to respond to the verdict of the AFLD. On 4 December I received the verdict from the AFLD regarding the proposal of my suspension. As expected, they propose a sentence of two years,” she wrote.

“They confirm and acknowledge the fact that the contamination was not intentional. But we cannot, as in the case of Toon Aerts, prove the source of the contamination exactly, as a result of which the legal framework does not allow them to give us further sentence reduction.

“And just here this whole case frustrates me immensely! No humanity or nuance and no consultation whatsoever. Explain to me how an athlete should be able to prove contamination from food? The Clenbuterol 2.0 story is in full swing,” she said, alluding to Contador’s lengthy, and ultimately unsuccessful, defence of his Tour title.

Lotte Kopecky and Shari Bossuyt of Belgium, UCI Track Nations Cup (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

Bossuyt celebrates a UCI Track Nations Cup win in Canada with Lotte Kopecky in April 2023, weeks after her positive test (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

She continued: “Puzzle piece by puzzle piece, we now know almost with certainty where the contamination comes from. But unfortunately, we just can’t prove this officially. For this, we need official reports… Unfortunately, such studies cost tons of money and take a very long time. After consulting the food agencies, it turns out they don't even test for letrozole... No food safety risk or no knowledge that letrozole is used in Europe because it is banned here.

“And OK, I understand all too well that this product is on the banned list and does not belong in an athlete’s body. But there just isn’t any kind of nuance here.

“As an athlete, you are just completely on your own… I am a 23-year-old girl who happened to be able to make her hobby her profession. I am not a doper and have never considered this for any day. I will also keep repeating this until it all comes out one day,"

“I now have the chance to still appeal but I simply don’t have the strength or money for this. The feeling of having to fight a losing battle, the nights of sleeplessness due to continuous worrying and hurting me financially by having to spend another tens of thousands of euros on an already lost case made me decide to leave it at that.

“No one seems to realise what an impact this has on someone’s mental health. My Olympic dream is destroyed and having to walk around every day with the ‘stamp’ of a doper. It's almost unbearable. Fortunately, I find support from people who really listen to me, believe in me, and I also just keep doing sports because it does me good. I will prove that I will come back stronger!”

Ryan Mallon

After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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19 comments

Avatar
Hirsute | 10 months ago
2 likes

If only the cyclists were in Lancashire !

https://twitter.com/SurreyRS/status/1746454089297252738

Although the actual offence isn't shown for some odd reason - a nuance loss on many twitter readers.

Avatar
eburtthebike | 10 months ago
2 likes

“Vote Labour in Doncaster and you get this. No vision, no plan, no leadership. It’s time for a change.”  Nick Fletcher.

It's certainly time for a change Nick, starting with you.  Swap "Tory" for "Labour" and you'd have a point, and not just in Doncaster.

Avatar
Hirsute | 10 months ago
6 likes

To all camera reporting people

"These snidey little narks are the rats who'll implement the coming Social Credit Score system, grassing people up for any infraction.

As reward they'll get bonuses on their own scores - these rats happy to betray humanity to lead the race to a society-disintegrating bottom "

"For each driver you 'catch' you get to leave your 15 Minute City one extra time" !

Is it possible the author is on crack ?

Avatar
I love my bike | 10 months ago
7 likes

What do you reckon? Should ‘protected’ be cited as the preferred term for cycle lanes separated from traffic?

Aren't cyclists using cycle lanes TRAFFIC (just not motorised)?

Avatar
lesterama replied to I love my bike | 10 months ago
1 like

Exactly

Avatar
HarrogateSpa replied to I love my bike | 10 months ago
1 like

I like the term 'kerb-protected cycle track'.

Avatar
the little onion replied to I love my bike | 10 months ago
7 likes

I prefer "Kingdom of the Bollards" myself

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to I love my bike | 10 months ago
2 likes

I love my bike wrote:

What do you reckon? Should ‘protected’ be cited as the preferred term for cycle lanes separated from traffic?

Aren't cyclists using cycle lanes TRAFFIC (just not motorised)?

Yeah, should be "protected from dangerous traffic".

I think "protected" and "separated" should be preferred over "segregated" as that word does carry a lot of cargo with it.

Avatar
Ryan Mallon replied to I love my bike | 10 months ago
2 likes

Yep, well spotted, five points heading your way. It's been a long week...

Avatar
marmotte27 | 10 months ago
12 likes

Conservative politicians, so predictably vile...

Avatar
Miller | 10 months ago
3 likes

What a terrific team pursuit GB win yesterday, and so fast. Must have been especially satisfying putting away Denmark after that GB/Dk crash at the Tokyo Oympics in 2021.

Avatar
Pyro Tim | 10 months ago
2 likes

I wouldn't use AC's defense of tainted beef as a positive. Nobody believed him. Especially as he was never the same after

Avatar
mitsky | 10 months ago
16 likes

Dear MP Nick Fletcher.

Tell us that you're too incompetent to serve in office without saying it out loud.

[NF posts online with proof of lawbreaking drivers which he incorrectly blames on cyclists/cycle lanes.]

Thank you.

Avatar
lesterama | 10 months ago
1 like

That brake-lever angle-measuring tool looks as if it was designed by a non-engineer on a work placement. More UCI useless cycling ignobleness.

Avatar
SimoninSpalding | 10 months ago
6 likes

So run this by me again...

Lots of athletes including cyclists take part in events in Normandy. There are lots of dairy products from Normandy available throughout France and the rest of the world. And yet, the only athletes that test positive are two cyclists who are represented by the same agent? That is one hell of a coincidence.

As for not being able to prove where it came from, it eminently possible to do this. Daryl Impey did years ago as a result of very thorough record keeping and sample retention. I am fascinated that other cyclists haven't learned from this, and as a result my sympathies lie solely with Lotte Kopecky who will struggle to develop an effective partnership for the madison in the next 6 months.

Avatar
Surreyrider replied to SimoninSpalding | 10 months ago
1 like

I hear what you're saying and strict liability certainly applies. But if you're an athlete who hasn't been quite as on the ball as Impey with records then it is also the case that you'll likely need very deep pockets to have a realistic chance of challenging a suspension, or at least reducing it.

Avatar
Brauchsel replied to Surreyrider | 10 months ago
1 like

Record-keeping would help, and it's surprising that a pro athlete in a doping-rife sport hasn't been doing that.

Her argument isn't exactly strong though: "I was caught with a PED in my system, I had some dairy in Normandy, there's no evidence that Norman dairy doesn't contain the PED: therefore that's where it came from."

I'm sure there has been an effect on her mental health, but it's a foreseeable consequence of being caught cheating and it's a bit shameful to use it as an insinuation that she should be let off. 

Avatar
Springbok45 replied to SimoninSpalding | 10 months ago
1 like

Part of this is why a lot of teams are very particular about supplement usage, the manufacturers have a legal duty to maintain sealed samples of every batch produced explicitly for future testing due to the risk of contamination in the supplychain. 

There was one recently that was a cheap supplement bought as they didn't like the sponsors product causing a positive and the supplement showed the contamination but because it was an "amazon special" they were unable to find any still sealed of that batch to prove that it had come from upstream of the athelete.

It's a weak argument but it doesn't mean something hasn't got into the food processing chain from someone trying to save a few quid, Findus and their horse lasagnes are a pretty solid example of that.

No idea if she did or didn't, but if shes that good of an actor holywood would be a hell of a lot easier and more lucrative than bike racing.

Avatar
Geoff Ingram replied to Springbok45 | 10 months ago
0 likes

"They confirm and acknowledge that the contamination was not intentional", she states. If this is in fact the case then it changes her culpability somewhat, perhaps even to mere carelessness. Though I must agree with Mr. Spalding that it is strange not to learn from previous events.

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