“Cycle lanes aren’t empty — they’re just efficient”: Addressing a bike lane misconception; Castelli hides Remco Evenepoel’s bike for Instagram post, sparking new Specialized speculation; Tour de France stage 11 updates + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Castelli hides Remco Evenepoel's bike for Instagram post, sparking new Specialized speculation
What is it with Instagram posts including Soudal-QuickStep and Specialized this July? Last week it was Fabio Jakobsen quickly editing his post after stage four of the Tour to remove sight of his broken SL7. Now it’s Castelli sparking fresh rumours of an imminent new SL8 after this genius scribbling out of Remco’s bike at a Vuelta training camp in the Veneto…
‘Just go on Paint and scribble it out, mate, nobody will notice…’
We’re assuming the post has since been deleted, but then again it may just have passed the 24 hours it stays on Instagram stories having been from yesterday morning. A closer look doesn’t show much more so perhaps I shouldn’t be so dismissive of the editing…
No sight of that integrated cockpit with semi-internal cable routing Lorena Wiebes and Jakobsen were spotted using, nor the deeper headtube, thinner seatpost and seat tube and bulkier bottom bracket area that our video guru Jamie speculated we may be seeing on a new SL8 at some point in 2023.
Castelli’s Insta stories now just show pics of the team truck, Bert Van Lerberghe taking a very close look at a chamois pad and Tim Merlier with a ‘next generation sprinter suit’ (no bikes to be seen).
To be fair, a new SL8 is hardly going to break the cycling internet as it has been expected by many for a while. Back in the tech predictions story linked above, we gave it a likelihood percentage of 85% to happen in 2023. And while we’ll admit we thought we’d see it pre-Tour, our deep dive into the bike of former world champ Julian Alaphilippe (alloy bars, a normal saddle and short stem included) is still all based around an SL7 frame.
Will we see an SL8 at the World Championships in Glasgow? Or will Remco’s Vuelta defence be where it breaks cover?
Get the magnifying glass out...
Ffs it’s a TT bike! You can literally see the TT extensions in the photo!!
— Ben Healey (@BenGHealey) July 12, 2023
Let’s take at the second of the two blurred bikes…
What do you reckon? No clues about the other bike unfortunately.
"You would rather make the morally and ethically right choice": Uno-X Pro Cycling rider rejects UAE Team Emirates, chooses "not put the salary above everything else"
Tour de France stage 11: Alaphilippe's hometown and a sprint at a new finish?
Let’s head over to Simon for today’s stage preview:
After four days in the Auvergne, the race heads north-west from Michelin’s home city then east towards Moulins, hosting its first stage finish. Shortly before halfway it goes through Montluçon, home of two-time world champion and former Tour de France yellow jersey Julian Alaphilippe, who is bound to receive a warm welcome from family and friends as the race passes by.
> Tour de France 2023: From Bilbao to Paris, our stage-by-stage guide to cycling’s biggest race
With no significant climbs, on paper it’s a day for the sprinters with a flat, 900-metre run to the finish, but the complexion of the race could change if there is a strong wind blowing from the south-east which would be at the back of the riders for the first 115km before turning into a crosswind, raising the prospect of echelons forming and the frantic racing that invariably ensues.
The wind is looking mercifully calm, unlike the race’s difficulty and temperatures in France, another day in the high 20s for the peloton today. We should be getting a sprint, but will tired legs give a break a chance? We’ll keep you updated throughout the day on the live blog.
Pray for the right wind direction... Normandy to the Pyrenees, in a straight line
Ivan completed five days along the length of France, following the Greenwich meridian as closely as possible.
“A few routeing issues meant short sections through woods and across fields but otherwise a fantastic ride through France with combine harvesters everywhere — in the fields, on the lanes & even stopped in villages for a chat.
“Slowly the maize and sunflowers gave way to the vineyards of Cognac, Bordeaux, Castillon and Armagnac, before the mountains appeared on the distant horizon ahead and the proper climbing started. Only real downside was arriving late at the first night’s hotel after the staff had gone home so had to resort to bivvying on their terrace.”
Lotto Dstny sports director Allan Davis apologises for inappropriate behaviour online after not travelling with team to Tour de France
Crocodiles, a tiger and jumping... UAE Team Emirates' cryptic radio message
No wonder Søren Wærenskjold rejected UAE Emirates, this sounds dangerous…
You can’t be serious… 🙈 #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/WeMgzoe256
— Benji Naesen (@BenjiNaesen) July 12, 2023
‘Jump what? Tiger… where… what… why are there crocodiles on the road in France? Is the stage neutralised? What in the Jumanji is going on?’
🐊🐊🐊 Beware of the crocodiles… 🐊🐊🐊
🐊🐊🐊 Attention aux crocodiles… 🐊🐊🐊#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/1zx1QOFOrG
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 12, 2023
Cycling instructors to strike with protest ride planned for Friday
Cycling Instructors have faced a 14-YEAR PAY FREEZE.
This Friday, @IWGB_CIB are striking to demand councils and training providers pay up💥💥💥
Come and join their protest ride around London:
🚲 Meet us with your bike,
🕐 at 11am,
📌 outside Lambeth Town Hall. pic.twitter.com/wSsFXE5cHh— IWGB (@IWGBunion) July 10, 2023
The ride will stop at: Lambeth Town Hall, Cycle Confident Offices, Oval, Westminster City Hall, Southwark Council, Tooley Street, Hackney Town Hall. road.cc Simon will be on the ground for a news feature for the weekend…
Sprinting perfection: Jasper Philipsen wins fourth Tour de France stage of this year's race
Four sprints. Four wins.
𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝑱𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝑷𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 🤩✨
A masterful sprint from Philipsen to grab his 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 win of the Tour de France 🥇@JasperPhilipsen | @Continental_fr | #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/BxM2FX9DqN
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 12, 2023
Dylan Groenewegen won’t get a better opportunity to get his stage win, dropped off in the perfect position by Luka Mezgec, the Dutch powerhouse kicked alongside Alexander Kristoff with the line in sight.
However, any hopes of a stage win soon faded as the race’s dominant fast man Jasper Philipsen exploded in front in the green jersey, crossing the line well clear of the rest.
Four stage wins from 11 stages for the man nicknamed ‘disaster’ in Netflix’s behind the scenes look at last year’s race. Nobody is laughing at the Belgian now.
The sprinters will now not get another shot at stage victory until stage 18 in a week’s time, the other side of some incrdedibly tricky Alpine stages where the time cut will come into play. How many of today’s top 10 get a shot at the two remaining fast finishes remains to be seen.
One thing is for near certain… Philipsen will, accident or incident aside, be in green in Paris, with at least four stage wins. In this form would anyone bet against five or even six? Not since Marcel Kittel in 2017 has a rider won five stages of one Tour, not since Mark Cavendish in 2009 has a rider won six stages of one Tour.
Jasper the disaster becomes Jasper the master
💚💚💚💚@jasperphilipsen | @Continental_fr | #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/Zsx0lNLUER
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 12, 2023
Some reaction to Philipsen’s win… alluding to a question at the stage start where he was asked whether his ‘Jasper the disaster’ Netflix nickname could be replaced by ‘Jasper the master’, the Belgian responded…
“If you say so, I said this morning if I win again then maybe, it’s an incredible Tour so far. I can’t realise how well it is all going. Just super proud and really happy with my shape and to get through the final without problems. That’s a big challenge and we managed to do it beautifully four times in a row. So happy.
“I can also win without him! [Van der poel] But of course he makes it easier. I had to find my wheel a little bit, finding a space when it’s technical is dangerous, but I was happy to find a good wheel of Groenewegen, he opened up early and I could go over.
“Maybe there could be three more sprint opportunities but there will also be guys going for a breakaway.”
In a second interview, Philipsen confirmed Van der Poel’s absence was due to a slight illness, plus saving himself for tomorrow’s punchy stage that looks set for a breakaway battle.
Slow internet down in Nice, Dave B?
Just the nearly two years since this was meant to have happened and Dave Brailsford’s ‘latest’ ride pops up on our Strava feed…
"Cycle lanes aren't empty — they're just efficient": Addressing bike lane misconceptiona
Whether it be from a talk show ranter on Talk Radio, GB News or Jeremy Clarkson, you’ve probably heard the ‘why’s that cycle lane empty?’ one before…
This video from Belgium attempts to address that often heard line, the poster suggesting: “Cycle lanes aren’t empty — they’re just efficient”.
Cycle lanes aren’t empty – they’re just efficient 💪 pic.twitter.com/TBGHSBWMxy
— Heroes for Zero – Brussels (@HeroesforZero) July 12, 2023
Exam season is over, but we’ve got a late five-mark tester for you… take those 30 people on bikes and 12 pedestrians and put them in a car on their own, how much longer would the queue be? A fair bit longer for those who need to drive a vehicle to get around, I’d assume.
Not everyone would be passing this test, mind…
I see space for 2 more car lines if they only removed bike and pedestrian space.
— Pablo Fernández (@pavlusf) July 12, 2023
Alternatively, if debating fails, just whip out this video, or the many we’ve shared in recent times, of what proper safe segregated cycling infrastructure can achieve…
Decent turnout of London cyclists this evening 🚲🚲 pic.twitter.com/0AdLCdiOJB
— Cycling in London (@Cycling_In_LDN) July 11, 2023
Look at that empty road…
12 July 2023, 08:22
12 July 2023, 08:22
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Latest Comments
A climate scientist taken out by a motorist is symbolic of the primary societal problem causing driver anger toward cyclists. It’s irrational, but climate emergency fear and denial is resulting in angrier motorists taking it out on those they consciously or subconsciously perceive to be the enemy. Cyclists are symbolic of the inevitable change ahead, whereby active transport is the best solution for the rampant energy consumption problem for humanity in the post Industrial Age. (AI data centres and water consumption will be next). Conversely protecting cyclists is symbolic of a self aware society preparing for a better world without fossil fuels. It’s obvious, so why isn’t it happening? RIP Francois Primeau and thank you.
@ktache thanks very much, you have a good memory, the thread was about a crowdsourced site to give details of cars that would fit road bikes without a rack outside. I’ll post the links separately as they’ll be stuck in moderation. I’ve just got back from a brilliant weekend cycling in France, in Suisse Normande.
@ktache thanks very much, you have a good memory, the thread was about a crowdsourced site to give details of cars that would fit road bikes without a rack outside. I’ll post the links separately as they’ll be stuck in moderation. I’ve just got back from a brilliant weekend cycling in France, in Suisse Normande.
That's the most convoluted logic I can imagine! Cyclists don't frequent this road because there is no cycle lane. Then a cycle lane is put in for the cyclists. Now cyclists don't use the cycle lane even though there IS a cycle lane! What's the point of putting in a cycle lane and wasting all that money!!!! ("Forgot" to mention that cars park in the cycle lane.)
@ktache isn't it mostly European standards which apply for impacts with pedestrians? notjustbikes was suggesting in on of his videos that as a result of the US tariff strong-arm tactics Europe at least might be doing a deal with "reciprocal recognition of standards". That would essentially declare the US tests as good - and apparently US car makers get to mark their *own* homework also...
Cradle Care you say? "Nobody shops for their baby clothes on a bike!" "You certainly can't carry a child on a bike!" "No way can you carry *two* kids on a bike!" "These cycle paths make it too dangerous for children which is why we all drive them and need to park right outside (to minimise the danger from ... er ... cyclists" I'm being unfair, but isn't it mostly "we can't walk / cycle because places are unpleasant / feel too dangerous *because of all the motor traffic*?" Yes, I know there's quite a steep hill there...
There was a bit in the forum a while back, someone was attempting to create a web based thing. Forum went a bit sour with the upgrade, but I do remember mark1a's fine travelling tool kit...
Clearly it's hard not to do so - indeed you seem to have separated "us that ride bicycles" from others already... Ultimately concentrations of people - that is, urban spaces - work best when there is indeed a (physical) separation between quite different modes of transport *. Trains, motor vehicles, "cycles" and pedestrians. And bigger, heavier vehicles (driven by the same indifferent drivers) just make things more dangerous / put pressure on authorities to allocate even more space for their use etc. * Or as eg. the Dutch sustainable safety principle has it - homogeneity of speed / mass. And "combine where possible, separate where necessary". Note that means it *can* be sensible to share space but only where speeds / volumes of the more dangerous mode(s) are suitably controlled. Of course - "different roads for different modes" "doesn't work" if we start from the assumption that motoring is *and will/must be* the predominant mode, so that should get the existing direct routes and everything else must then be designed around it...
Well, I can only say I hope Berk have improved their QC. I’ve had numerous (due to the fact that if you break one, Berk will simply send you a new saddle, no questions asked), and only one hasn’t broken. For info, I’m under 70 kilos, so well within the weight limit. You can’t argue with the customer service though - as I say, it’s a no questions asked replacement.
Bits of a car are made to deform too, absorbing energy and increasing impact time, ain't so for a bus...
39 thoughts on ““Cycle lanes aren’t empty — they’re just efficient”: Addressing a bike lane misconception; Castelli hides Remco Evenepoel’s bike for Instagram post, sparking new Specialized speculation; Tour de France stage 11 updates + more on the live blog”
“Where are the cyclists?”
“Where are the cyclists?”
Already at work/college/uni/shopping centre.
“How?”
Because they weren’t stuck in traffic like you.
“A waste of space”
“A waste of space”
A peach of a classic article.
A peach of a classic article. And still car lobbyist deny such things.
*5 minutes later*
*5 minutes later*
“still not seeing them whilst staring at the car’s rear bumper in front having moved a total of 6 feet”
You were too busy venting off to notice the same people mentioned earier coming home in the other direction.
I imagine that is how it would go.
Mrs Fandango & I were out for
Mrs Fandango & I were out for a walk at the weekend, it took us over the M25. A couple of the anti-clockwise lanes were empty (I mean the stretch that we could immediately see, so clearly this applies to the entire length of the motorway) – not the middle one obviously, that’d be ridiculous…
Bah! bloddy motorists not using the infrastructure I pay for. May as well just add a segregated cycle lane or turn it into a tramlink I say.
For any motorists who
For any motorists who complain about empty cycle lanes… do they also complain about empty bus lanes and pavements?
They can both be empty for a massive % of time…
No?
Just us cyclists they are envious of then.
mitsky wrote:
To be fair, they do complain about bus lanes too.
Really?
Really?
I’ve never heard of that.
Presumably it is no where near the same level in the media/online as it is with us (cyclists/cycling).
Maybe I’m just not in that bubble.
mitsky wrote:
Some people in my local Facebook group lost their shit when they extended bus lane hours beyond just rush hour, saying it made congestion at peak times worse. Nonsensical to me, but people love a good moan.
Just from this week
Just from this week
https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/23647652.residents-anger-new-experimental-bus-lane-ipswich/
The comments section gives plenty examples of people venting about empty bus lanes
I think the reason for this
I think the reason for this is that many recent cycle lanes have been created by taking space away from cars, while pavements and bus lanes may have been in situ for longer. So there’s a perception that making cycling provision is at the expense of drivers.
quiff wrote:
I think this is right. There was quite a lot of fuss when London made bus lanes 24 hours rather than just rush hours.
Just how horse riders,
Just how horse riders, equestrians and cyclists feel – they all predate car users.
Samtheeagle wrote:
No wonder car users feel attacked. Do they taste nice?
I think I’ll complain about
I think I’ll complain about all those completely empty roads I’ve seen at 5am – with not a vehicle in sight in either direction for ages.
The cycle lanes by me are
The cycle lanes by me are rarely empty.
They’ve usually got parked cars in them.
Sounds about right. And I bet
Sounds about right. And I bet this “dedicated infrastructure” are some broken paint lines along the gutter.
Road not completely free
Road not completely free flowing – build another road
Cycle lane not completely clogged – what a waste of space.
Also – yet another London video, on my route, without me in it!
M1 in the 1970s – hardly used
M1 in the 1970s – hardly used – what a waste of money.
Here’s one to make you laugh!
Here’s one to make you laugh! – Car parks at risk of closure due to lack of use.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/sutton-coldfield-parking-town-centre-27293845?fbclid=IwAR0rZogqOzE1JM8gVdzEDeuB5OK2DJycT94G7ZDeggXKj25ukB2GJzuG6ec
…and a resident bemoaned
Under used car parks, love it!
I actually grew up in Sutton
I actually grew up in Sutton (Coldfield). There’s loads of parking, at least there always used to be & the cost has never exactly been prohbitive if you insist on driving in to the town centre. Comparing it to where I live now (nearer the other Sutton) parking is still cheap.
You have to wonder with “angry residents in town meetings” like that whether they won’t actually be happy until driving is 100% subsidised, fuel is free, you get paid to park wherever you want, and all shops are drive throughs & get moved to the end of their own driveways.
Clem Fandango wrote:
When you say “the other Sutton”, which one do you mean? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton
It doesn’t matter really,
It doesn’t matter really, they’re not the other one.
But, the one with the pie eating goalkeeper
Clem Fandango wrote:
Which is, co-incidentally, where I live – less than a mile from the site of the pie eating. Do say hello if you see a middle aged man riding either a Titanium Ribble bike or a Tern GSD (because it’ll probably be me, if you didn’t work that out).
About 20 years ago I lived in
About 20 years ago I lived in Sutton (the Surrey one) just the other side of the railway from Gander Green Lane. I’m nearer Epsom now.
Will keep an eye open for you when in the vicinity though. I’ll be the
5027 year old on a Vitus muttering about how it all used to be fields / yelling at clouds etc etcSutton Coldfield Town Centre
Sutton Coldfield Town Centre is a fraction as busy as it used to be. I don’t think people are being driven away by car parking fees but lack of stores, the rise of online and no other draw to go there. It is a dingy concrete affair which isn’t even indoors, so open to the elements. As for the car park, it is no surprise the one right next to the town hall / train station is the full one.
However the town edges are full of very rich people, so no surprise they want to be able to drive rather then use public transport.
Just wondering if a certain
Just wondering if a certain poster has been given the heave ho again.
Hirsute wrote:
No, I’m still here
Hirsute wrote:
He does seem very quiet although his old posts are still up – suspension, perhaps?
If you’ve interacted with
If you’ve interacted with them. Check your post count. That should confirm things.
I rarely look at my post
I rarely look at my post count, so that’s not going to help !
Hirsute wrote:
Me neither, I just went back to an article I remembered him commenting on and saw that his post was still up.
Hirsute wrote:
7758.
I hope that helps.
“Cycle lanes aren’t empty —
“Cycle lanes aren’t empty — they’re just efficient”
One moving cyclist is better than a thousand queueing cars.
Crocodiles, a tiger and
“Crocodiles, a tiger and jumping… UAE Team Emirates’ cryptic radio message”
I was already an advocate for this but we are getting some corkers over the radio. These coded messages are hilarious.
Up there with “Multi 2-1 Sebastian” and “Fernando if Faster than you!”
We haven’t heard “leave me
We haven’t heard “leave me alone I know what I’m doing” yet… (c) 2012 Kimi Räikkönen. I’m hoping for similar from WvA or Tom Pidcock.
“The school run …”
“The school run …”
Hirsute wrote:
Where are the Tyre Extinguishers when you most need them?
Or perhaps fit that sign to a piece of timber with a row of 6 inch nails protruding from it.