“Cyclists are running riot!” Richard Madeley, Timmy Mallett, and Howard Cox ‘debate’ bike number plates on Good Morning Britain; Backlash against “sexist” race organiser who called pro riders “spoiled children” over safety fears + more on the live blog

So, Richard Madeley, Timmy Mallett, and Howard Cox walk into a TV studio and debate whether cyclists should be forced to put registration plates on their bikes…

No, I’m not describing a live blog and warm weather-induced fever dream I had last night – that was what actually occurred this morning on Good Morning Britain, the home of sensible, breakfast-accompanying discussion in the UK.

And, you’ll perhaps be surprised to learn (though maybe not), it was even more frustrating than it sounds.

'We want to encourage people to be on their bicycles'

'When you go through a 20mph zone and you're being overtaken by electric bikes and other bikes it's an issue'

Should cyclists have registration plates? pic.twitter.com/XuinL88709

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 12, 2023

Truncated due to Michael Gove’s incessant blathering about some former MP (Boris somebody? I didn’t quite catch the name), the ‘debate’ – titled “Should cyclists have registration plates?” – was an awkward, random, and chaotic assortment of mystifying statements and anti-cycling bingo tropes.

Fair Fuel UK founder Cox – a friend of the live blog – made sure to hit all his favourite points right from the start.

“As any HGV, van, or taxi driver will tell you, cyclists are running riot, running red lights, riding on pavements,” he said.

Most cyclists are doing 30 in a 20z jumping red lights. If a big guy on a bike travelling at 30 hits you its not much different to a motorcycle at the same speed.

— henry wright (@swwchels93) June 12, 2023

Cox also noted that people using e-bikes are riding at “30, 35mph” in 20mph zones (a claim that made e-bike aficionado Mallett raise his eyebrows), while he – again dubiously, I must add – added that cyclists “don’t contribute anything financially to the roads”.

Hmmm…

> 'Road tax' is coming... but not for cyclists

Unfortunately, the brilliantly attired Mallett was somewhat less succinct in formulating his own argument against cycling number plates (such as the ludicrous amount of resources that would be required to implement such a measure), a debating style not helped by Richard “I ride my bike every three days” Madeley ignoring his attempts to intervene during Cox’s more questionable claims.

Of course, what passed as a debate on British breakfast TV comes just days after Italy’s transport minister pledged to introduce tougher laws for cyclists, including requiring riders to wear a helmet, take out insurance, and put number plates and indicators on their bikes – before almost immediately backpedalling in the midst of a fierce backlash by claiming that the laws were only ever intended for scooter users.

> Cyclists blast Italian government’s “extremely worrying” plans to introduce bike registration plates and insurance

(Remind you of anyone, Grant?)

And anyway, despite all that nonsense on GMB, surely the Great British public have a much more considered take on the whole matter… or maybe not.

According to a Twitter poll carried out this morning by the programme, at the time of writing 70 percent of respondents believe that cyclists should in fact have number plates:

Should cyclists have registration plates?

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) June 12, 2023

Oh dear… Timmy, come back!

FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST. NOT. AGAIN. YOU UTTER MORONS. pic.twitter.com/1tlSEh5BFN

— Simon Warren (@100Climbs) June 12, 2023

Judging by his Strava, it looks like 2019 Tour de France winner Egan Bernal could be set to make his first appearance for three years at cycling’s biggest race next month.

The 26-year-old appears to be slowly returning to form following his horrific training crash last year, picking up two top tens overall at the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Hongrie, before climbing amongst the very best at the Critérium du Dauphiné last week, where he finished 12th on GC.

And today, the Ineos Grenadiers rider followed up his promising week at the Dauphiné by undertaking a recce of stage 16 of this year’s Tour, a hilly 22.4km individual time trial between Passy and Combloux.

The Colombian’s investigative spin has certainly contributed to raising hopes that he will make his first appearance at the Grande Boucle since abandoning with injury during his ill-fated title defence in 2020.

If Bernal is selected as part of Ineos’ eight-rider squad, it’ll be interesting to see if the British team allows him to go stage hunting, or whether he’ll aim for his own high GC placing or be confined to domestique work as he continues to regain his old strength.

In any case, I’m sure most cycling fans would be delighted just to see one of the sport’s biggest talents back on the biggest stage of them all in July.

The reviews are slowly streaming in for Netflix’s long-awaited Tour de France series (we might even get round to chatting about it on the next Podcast episode. Maybe), but one particularly negative review may give the producers some cause for alarm.

Wout van Aert, one of the stars of the series thanks to his stage-winning, green jersey grabbing, mountain domestiquing performance during last year’s race, isn’t too impressed by the series’ apparent need to create drama where, he says, there was none.

Like many F1 stars before him, who questioned the arguably fictional storylines prevalent in Drive to Survive (made, of course, by the same people behind Unchained), Van Aert says the series is too “focused on commotion” – namely that between himself and Jumbo-Visma leader Jonas Vingegaard, who, if you believe Unchained’s narrative, wasn’t too impressed with his Belgian teammate’s decision to ride away solo to a storming stage victory in Calais early on in the race.

A.S.O./Pauline Ballet

“I was finally able to take a look. Because strange, but true, although I play one of the leading roles, I did not know what would be seen,” Van Aert, who also says he will focus on stage wins and not the green jersey at next month’s Tour, told Sporza this week.

“It is quite disturbing that stories were written in the documentary that were not there. For me, the series is aimed at commotion.

“Jonas and I are best mates. The focus is on moments when it is difficult to make the right choice, but there are also so many moments in which we have strengthened each other and worked together. It is a pity that that has been removed.”

Hmmm… I wonder if Van Aert’s negative reaction to his onscreen depiction will affect Jumbo-Visma’s co-operation with this year’s documentary, with filming already underway? I suppose we’ll have to wait to next year to find out…

Brace yourself. After Howard Cox’s appearance on Good Morning Britain today (as well as Richard Madeley’s latest attempt to out-Partridge himself), it’s the Spectator’s turn to weigh in on cyclists, number plates, tougher rules, and the like.

According to Italy-based Nicholas Farrell, Italian transport minister Matteo Salvini’s plans to make cyclists wear helmets, get insurance, and ride with number plates and indicators (a pledge which the right-wing politician has subsequently backpedalled on) are “long overdue”.

> Italy’s Deputy PM Salvini backpedals on number plates for cyclists – “It’s just for scooters”

Farrell, whose 2003 revisionist history of Benito Mussolini characterised Il Duce as “unfairly maligned”, has his history with cyclists, as his article in today’s Spectator shows.

He notes his first column for a regional paper in Romagna was “tirade against cyclists”, in which he wrote that “I could not help cheer when I read the other day that a cyclist had disappeared into a huge hole in the road he had seen too late and had not come out”.

One paragraph later, Farrell provides us with the reasoning behind this visceral hatred of people on bikes – they “force motorists to waste precious time watching their lycra-clad rear ends bobbing up and down”.

Ah, of course.

The columnist claims that “years of exposure to their arrogance, illegality, and sense of entitlement has shown me that Italy’s cyclists are a public menace” who “break the laws that already exist pathologically”, and that Salvini’s proposed crackdowns “brought a smile to my face”.

Because, Farrell claims, Italy’s cyclists are a “protected species” (the death toll on the country’s roads suggests otherwise).

> Internet troll who wrote “Run over one cyclist to educate 100” cleared by judge

A nearby road, he says, “is a death trap because it is too narrow and people drive too fast”. But who does he blame? Cyclists, of course.

The Grant Shapps-esque Salvini, according to Farrell, “opposes the tyranny of the cyclist, not in the name of fascism, but in the name of liberty. The liberty, for instance, to go to work. You need look no further than London to see where such a two-wheel tyranny leads. It’s not reactionary, it’s democracy.”

I think I might need a whole new bingo book before today’s finished…

Here’s a selection of the latest news, reviews, and previews to help you while away your Monday lunch hour:

> "Complex rope rescue" after cyclist crashes from bridge into river

> Review: Giant Propel Advanced Pro 1 2023

And with the Dauphiné coming to a fairly tepid end yesterday (don’t worry, we’ve still got Wout and Remco at the Tour de Suisse), the countdown to this year’s Tour de France has well and truly started.

So I think it’s about time you became acquainted with the intricacies of this year’s pretty savage route, by getting stuck into our detailed stage-by-stage guide. Unless you’re a time triallist, of course, then this Tour just isn’t for you…

> Tour de France 2023: From Bilbao to Paris, our stage-by-stage guide to cycling’s biggest race

What do you mean, you still haven’t finished watching the Netflix doc yet?

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Emmagrayshepherdess (@emmagrayshepherdess)

Brilliant clip – especially love how the cyclist just nonchalantly rode away across the field afterwards – though I’m less sure that the anti-cycling bashing was necessary in the caption…

Unfortunately, this year’s Tour Féminin des Pyrénées won’t be remembered for a scintillating battle on the fearsome Hautacam, or for Marta Cavalli’s long-awaited return to winning ways after a difficult year.

Instead, the three-day stage race will be remembered for the UCI’s decision to call off the final stage following protests from a peloton concerned for its safety after two stages dominated by members of the public driving on the course (and even towards the riders), parked cars littering the final kilometres of stage one into Lourdes, race motorbike riders creating hazardous conditions, spectators wandering on the roads, a lack of marshals, and, finally, successful calls to neutralise most of the second stage to the foot of the Hautacam.

> "What a mess": Chaos as live traffic passes metres from racing peloton

“Considering the safety risks involved, we firmly believe that a bike race is not worth endangering the lives of the female cyclists,” Adam Hansen, the head of the riders’ union the CPA, said in a statement announcing that yesterday’s third and final stage had been cancelled.

If your finale looks like this, with random vehicles everywhere, you're not worth organizing a race. What were they even thinking? The attitude of the organizers makes it clear: no single rider will participate if there comes a new edition without drastic changes. pic.twitter.com/VUvJOhXjdt

— BramDesmet (@BramDesmetKoers) June 11, 2023

> Tour Féminin des Pyrénées stopped amidst rider safety issues

So, how did the organiser of the Tour des Pyrénées react to being at the centre of a media frenzy (the race’s cancellation even made the BBC’s website!) concerning the running of his event?

By creating another, entirely different kind of media frenzy.

“What is happening is that the girls have requirements that are not in line with their level,” race director Pascal Baudron told La Nouvelle République yesterday morning.

“They imagine that they are on the Tour de France and that all the roads must be closed. But in France you cannot do that.”

Baudron continued: “They are sawing off the branch of which they are sitting. The day when there will be no more races, they will cry and that’s what’s going to happen.

“Quite honestly, I tell myself that it is not worth organising a race to see all those months of effort ruined for the whims of spoiled children.”

Omg those comments are from someone from the 15th century! Certainly they can’t organise a race if they do not think the athletes deserve safety measures ! Unacceptable!

— Evelyn Campos Flores 🌳 (@wevecampos) June 12, 2023

Unsurprisingly, Baudron’s questionable use of language, and his belief that top-tier pro cyclists are “spoiled children” for believing that they should be able to race without motorists driving at them, hasn’t gone down too well with most of the cycling community.

Some described the organiser’s comments as “sexist”, “offensive”, and “from the 15th century”, with Twitter user Jonathan writing: “The numerous use of ‘girls’ and ‘spoiled brats’ is quite telling of his attitude towards women”.

You'd expect something like yeah it was not good enough but it's hard and we'll do better next year. But this is just taking the piss with road cycling and the sponsors should not be happy. That's saying it nicely.

— Marco van den Hout (@mvdhout) June 11, 2023

“Female riders being called spoiled for, er, not wanting to be hit by cars?” wrote cycling journalist Matilda Price. “Extremely basic levels of safety shouldn’t be the reserve of the Tour.”

“Sounds like it’s the race organisers with ‘requirements above their level,” added Ryan. “They expect the best cyclists in the world to show up to their race but they're not competent enough to fill out the forms to close the roads?”

Organising a major bike race is tough (as we’ve seen in Britain over the past year or so), but that’s certainly one way of ensuring you lose all the sympathy you had from onlookers, I suppose…