Traffic Watch account claims “road restrictions squeezing lifeblood out of London” – but cyclists say “it’s not cycle lanes or LTNs… it’s too many cars”; Tommy Voeckler clocks super-fast 1:13.21 half-marathon – while gurning for TV + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
“The principal deterrent to uptake of cycling is the perception of cycling as being hazardous. The key to getting more people – especially from deprived backgrounds – cycling is to properly support it as a form of transport”
> British Cycling unveils “bold” four-year strategy to get people riding bikes – but road safety expert blasts failure to “tackle danger for cyclists”
When your comms manager is a City fan… and you can’t resist a dig at Ineos
Cheers Phil…
“I thought it was an early April Fool’s joke”: Former world champion shocked as Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour stage race reportedly on verge of cancellation after local government refuses to contribute annual €200,000 subsidy
This year’s edition of the week-long Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour in Germany is reportedly on the verge of cancellation, after the government of the state of Thuringia refused to contribute its annual subsidy of €200,000 to support the event.
The six-day women’s stage race has been held in the central German state since 1986 and features an impressive list of winners including Nicole Cooke, Judith Arndt, Lucinda Brand, Lotte Kopecky, and 2024 winner Ruth Edwards.
However, while the organisers have publicly stated their aim to bring their race to the Women’s World Tour in the near future, reports have emerged this week that the state government’s refusal to provide its annual subsidy could put July’s event in serious jeopardy.
According to MDR, Thuringia’s state chancellery has said the government’s “difficult budget situation” has made the “support in the required six-figure amount” – believed to be €200,000 – impossible.
“It is possible for the state government to provide support on a small scale,” the statement said.
However, race organiser Vera Hohlfeld has said that without the government funding there is “no realistic possibility of compensating for the funds planned in advance from last year”, with plans already in full swing for the July race, which receives most of its support from Thuringia’s state lottery.
In response to the news, the Left Party’s Andreas Schubert said: “It is a blow for sport in Thuringia if the event cannot take place due to the lack of support from the state. It will endanger the long-term existence of the race.”
Schubert also noted that the funding for the race had already been budgeted by the state government for 2025, making the decision “even more incomprehensible”.
Meanwhile, former world time trial and four-time world cyclocross champion Hanka Kupfernagel, who won the Thüringen Ladies Tour in 1999, said she “thought it was an early April Fool’s joke”.
“How can you not be proud of an event that has grown over three decades and is broadcast all over the world every day? It is such a great image advertisement for our Free State of Thuringia,” the 50-year-old said, adding that she hoped the government and organisers could come to a “positive decision” before July.
Here we go, here we go, here we go!
#ParisNice Now the climbing begins! Stage 4 is underway 🤝
— Lidl-Trek (@lidltrek.bsky.social) March 12, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Today’s the day – the first ‘proper’ summit finish of the season (carriageway climbs in the UAE need not apply).
Six categorised climbs and a 6.7km, 7.1 per cent climb to the finish at La Loges des Gardes. Today’s Paris-Nice stage could be very tasty indeed. Provided Jonas Vingegaard and Visma don’t just smash everyone from the foot of the final mountain, of course…
Size stickers don’t matter: Are you struggling to get comfortable on your bike? Well, we’ve got a video just for you
Retired pro cyclist Tommy Voeckler clocks super-fast 1:13.21 at Paris half-marathon while gurning for the TV cameras – before heading off to commentate on Paris-Nice
So, it turns out that French housewives’ favourite Thomas Voeckler isn’t just great at swashbuckling breakaway performances, heroic yellow jersey defences (I still haven’t got over 2011), and maniacal gurning.
He’s also pretty damn good at running, too.
At the weekend, the 45-year-old joined the growing list of ‘cyclists who can run fast’ (it’s a niche category, I’ll admit) by clocking a very impressive time of 1:13.21 at the Paris half-marathon, improving upon his previous best time of 1:14 over the distance.
That time was enough to secure the former Europcar star, now the French national team’s manager, fourth in his age category (which included former three-time European triathlon champion Frédéric Belaubre) and 179th overall out of 48,000 entrants. Very impressive, indeed.
However, Voeckler still has a bit to go to surpass Tom Dumoulin’s blistering 1:08.42, recorded by the current king of retired cyclists-turned-amateur running enthusiasts in January. Though, to be fair to Tommy, the former Giro winner has a good 11 years on him.
And by all accounts, the French hero seemingly approached the race in classic Tommy V breakaway style – by going as hard as he could from the start… and playing it all up for the TV cameras with some trademark gurning. I wonder if he started swaying side-to-side and looking desperately behind him in the final few kilometres, too?
“I run for fun and to challenge myself, but I didn’t think I’d be able to run at 3.30 for more than an hour,” he said after finishing on Sunday.
“I’d never run a half marathon with so many people, I’ve never been alone and I was able to maintain this interesting pace. I thought I was aiming for 1:17 and then as a runner I had trouble holding back, I went for it and it worked. It’s nice but it’s very personal. I’m not used to doing high intensity anymore, I’ve given too much in my career.”
Tommy Voeckler not holding back – there’s a surprise. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, after finishing his half-marathon, the four-time Tour stage winner headed straight off to the France Télévisions studio to commentate on the opening stage of Paris-Nice.
Now, that’s a proper day at the office. Here, Sean Kelly, I have a challenge for you…
Songs about riding bikes klaxon! Indie-folk duo lilo release new single ‘Cycling’ – about riding down the Old Kent Road
It looks like we have a feature to update, because a new cycling-themed song was released into the wild this morning. And no, I’m not talking about a Belgian Eurodance track about Wout van Aert’s multidisciplinary abilities.
Instead, ‘Cycling’ is the latest single from London-based indie-folk duo lilo, from their forthcoming debut album Blood Ties.
According to the group, consisting of Christie Gardner and Helen Dixon, the song is about – among other, more existential things – riding a bike down the Old Kent Road in south-east London.
“I wrote Cycling, as with a number of the songs on this album, when I was working at a primary school during Covid,” the band said in a statement announcing the single’s release. “The journey referenced was my journey down the Old Kent Road on my bike.
“At the best of times, I felt like I was really helping, like the students were learning, and I was helping them move through this very confusing time. Then, there would come bouts of uncertainty, of sorrow, of grief.
“The song comes from this uncertainty, this unclaimed blame. But the good in this song, the feeling of being made to help out, the feeling of knowing you’re beautiful even covered in sweat, the arduous yet ever changing route cycling down the Old Kent Road, all comes from the inspiration of those children who, perhaps didn’t know another world, but were doing the very best with the one they were irresponsibly given.”
The above video for the song is also based, naturally, around cycling and bikes, and features a bloodied and bruised Gardner and Dixon carrying a battered tandem across the English countryside, just to… well, I’ll not spoil the punchline.
Deliveroo rider who killed cyclist while riding an illegally modified e-bike given community service and four-year driving ban
> Deliveroo rider who killed cyclist while riding an illegally modified e-bike given community service and four-year driving ban
Meanwhile, in ‘sunny’ Italy…
It’s fair to say the weather’s a bit grim today over at Tirreno-Adriatico, where the riders are heading for the other first big mountain rendezvous of the year at Colfiorito (the finish is located 5km down the road from the top of the 18.4km HC climb, so Paris-Nice lays claim to that prestigious ‘first major summit finish of the year’ prize).
In fact, it’s so wet and cold in central Italy, some riders – such as Dries de Bondt – have been attacking just to keep warm:
Not so Dries (I’ll get my coat) and Andrea Pietrobon have actually made that apparent comedy move stick, and are currently around two minutes up the road.
Anything to avoid sitting freezing in the middle of the peloton, eh?
Cyclist “eternally grateful” to volunteer first responders who saved his life after heart attack during club ride
A Northern Irish cyclist says he is “eternally grateful” to the volunteer first responders who saved his life, after he suffered a heart attack during a club ride in December and was told an ambulance would take two hours to arrive.
54-year-old Paul McAdam, from Coalisland, Co. Tyrone, was cycling with his Island Wheelers Club on 29 December when he felt a tightness in his chest and passed out at the side of the road, suffering a heart attack.
With a lengthy wait for an ambulance in prospect, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) alerted the local Killeeshil/Galbally Community First Responders who treated him and drove him to Craigavon Area Hospital.
Community First Responder Schemes are made up of volunteers who live within their local community and whose aim is to reach potentially life-threatening emergencies in the vital first few minutes before the arrival of an ambulance crew.
After being treated in Craigavon Area Hospital, McAdam was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where he had surgery to remove a clot in his artery and a stent fitted.
“I’m here and a big part of that’s down to being in the first instance out with the cycling club, the Island Wheelers,” the cyclist told the BBC this morning.
“If I was on my own somewhere this could have been an entirely different story. The first responders were brought in and got me where I needed to be.”
The 54-year-old added that the surgeon later showed him a plastic container with the blood clot in it and told him: “When I see that, 99 per cent of people haven’t made it”.
“That really hit home how lucky I was,” he said.
Paris-Nice stage temporarily stopped as organisers neutralise race due to “slippery” road conditions on descent
Not to be undone by the foul weather conditions at Tirreno-Adriatico, the Paris-Nice peloton has been hit by a heavy hail and sleet shower – which has prompted the race organisers to temporarily neutralise the stage.
That decision was made due to what the commissaires have described as “slippery” conditions on a descent with around 45km to go, underlined by the sight of a police motorbike lying on its side in a ditch, seemingly a victim of the treacherous roads.
Paris-Nice breakaway stopped, peloton rode up to them. 2°C according to Voeckler on the TV moto, he’s seen a police moto in a ditch too
— the Inner Ring blog (@inrng.com) March 12, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Cue widespread confusion and – once the riders were brought to a halt – a mass scramble to retrieve rain jackets and cold weather kit from the team car (while Jonas Vingegaard opted for a brief sojourn in the car itself).
The riders are back on their bikes now, but with snow beginning to fall at the finish, it’s not clear how much further down the road they’ll make it before the organisers step in again.
And… we’re back!
After a long, cold stoppage, Paris-Nice is back on the road with 28km to go to the finish at La Loge des Gardes, where the heavy snow has finally eased and the sun has started to peak out at the always perfectly named Race to the Sun.
The breakaway, which includes Ben Swift, has been given the same time gap it had at the time of the neutralisation (albeit another 20km down the road), while Movistar have responded to racing returning by hitting the front of the peloton hard.
And while things have certainly brightened up since the stage was stopped, images shown on TV of the earlier slush on the road, and the damage caused to a Decathlon-AG2R car, which appears to have crashed on the descent, clearly support the organiser’s decision to neutralise the race.
Not an ideal day for Paris-Nice, of course. But in a season during which safety debates and controversial decisions by race organisers have attracted quite a few headlines, it looks like the right calls have been made all round today.
Andrea Vendrame eases away from Tom Pidcock to take Tirreno-Adriatico stage victory, after Mathieu van der Poel snuffed out late attack from race leader Filippo Ganna
While the rest of us were all obsessed with the vast nothingness taking place at a neutralised Paris-Nice, stage three of Tirreno-Adriatico – held in equally grim conditions – finally burst into life on the final climb and chaotic run-in to the line in Colfiorito.
After surviving the stop-start attacks which characterised the long, draggy ascent of the Valico di Colfiorito, topping out just five kilometres from the finish, race leader Filippo Ganna decided to launch a blistering attack of his own in the final few kilometres, causing chaos behind.
It eventually took a concerted effort by Mathieu van der Poel – who else? – to peg back the powerful Italian, before Ben Healy, a typically constant attacking presence, attempted to upset the faster finishers in the reduced group with a late, last gasp move in the final few hundred metres.
But in the end, it was Decathlon AG2R’s Andrea Vendrame, after coolly hiding in the wheels as chaos ensued in the finale, who had enough in the tank to surge clear of the in-form Tom Pidcock for a cleverly taken win.
Although, after 239km in the freezing, pouring rain, the real winner of today’s stage will be the first rider to jump in the shower on the team bus.
"Bad memories once again for Jonas Vingegaard at Loge des Gardes": João Almeida nabs stage win at the death, but Visma-Lease a Bike star takes race lead
Last time up La Loge des Gardes at Paris-Nice, Jonas Vingegaard was on the receiving end of a typically explosive Tadej Pogačar destruction. Two years on and the Dane’s great rival is unlikely to be too concerned by what he saw this afternoon, the Visma-Lease a Bike leader putting up a brave fight but seeing a stage win disappear with the finish line in sight as Pogačar’s teammate João Almeida unleashed a last-minute kick to nab victory.
All of that aside, Vingegaard is unlikely to be too disappointed this evening. He sits comfortably at the head of the GC, likely to win the race overall and improve as the year goes on and the bigger target of the summer and another Pogačar showdown gets closer.
Ineos Grenadiers had tried to set Tobias Foss up for stage victory, the Norwegian the last of the escapees to be reeled in before Lenny Martinez and Vingegaard exchanged attacks. Once Martinez dropped back, the Dane pushed on and came within metres of the win, the cohesion in the chasing group ultimately too much and setting up Almeida. Vingegaard is now five seconds ahead of teammate Jorgenson, the pair a good half-minute ahead of the rest.
🏆🇵🇹 @JooAlmeida98 s’impose à La Loge des Gardes !
🏆🇵🇹 @JooAlmeida98 wins in La Loge des Gardes !#ParisNice pic.twitter.com/7Db6VnNNpu
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) March 12, 2025
UK bike sales plummet to early 1970s levels and were lower than any other year this century in 2024, reveals Bicycle Association report
New team, same old sweary Ben O’Connor
Ben was not happy…
— Dan Deakins (@dandeakins.bsky.social) March 12, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Never change Ben, never change…
“It’s drivers causing all the congestion and blocking up the roads”: Traffic Watch account claims “road restrictions squeezing lifeblood out of London” – but cyclists say “it’s not cycle lanes or LTNs… it’s too many cars”
Yes, I know it’s early, but I think we may have already found the least self-aware social media post of 2025, courtesy of the fine folks over at the ‘London Traffic Watch’ Twitter/X account.
While on the surface at least, London Traffic Watch operates as, well, a normal traffic watch account – informing the capital’s residents of road closures, congestion and delays due to incidents, tube closures, and so on – it also has a tendency to repost the views of those opposed, oddly enough, to traffic-calming measures and active travel schemes.
In the last two days alone, the account has shared our old friend and retired Hackney councillor Vincent Stops’ latest criticism of Transport for London’s cycling initiatives, along with posts by anti-ULEZ groups and campaigners opposed to low traffic neighbourhoods.
So, it was no surprise, then, when London Traffic Watch posted this evocative image and Daily Mail-style headline this week:
“London grinding to a halt. Road restrictions squeezing the lifeblood out of the capital,” the account proclaimed, under an image of at least five lanes of traffic packed mostly with, you guessed it, cars.
Let’s just say the irony of that particular image wasn’t lost on Twitter’s remaining cohort of cyclists.
“Congestion?” asked Bob from Accounts in response to the traffic account’s post. “It’s not road restrictions. It’s not cycle lanes. It’s not 20mph zones. It’s not LTNs. It’s not the timing of traffic lights
“It’s this: too many cars.”
“It’s drivers causing all the congestion and blocking up the roads,” agreed Cycling Mikey. “We can’t afford to have so many cars in London.”
Chapona Bike added: “It’s already one of the busiest cities in the world. The only answer is to reduce private cars.”
“But, but but… it’s all those cycle lanes causing it, apparently! Not the fact that there are way too many motorised vehicles,” wrote Keith.
> BBC U-turns on article blaming London’s ‘most congested city’ title on cycle lanes
“Interesting that these characters equate ‘lifeblood’ with lots of cars,” noted Dr Robert Davis, chair of the Road Danger Reduction Forum.
“Traffic isn’t the lifeblood of the capital,” concurred Rob. “It’s a blight on the capital, ruining it for everyone. Cities should be designed for people, not cars.”
“Because giving up large swathes of public space for people to go around in large metal boxes on their own is somehow good for the economy?” the Cycleway, my arse! account helpfully suggested (don’t give them any ideas).
“Those objecting to road restrictions, cycle lanes, 20mph zones, LTNs, and traffic lights timings forget that 30 years ago when there were far less of them congestion was still horrendous,” Mark pointed out.
“Congestion was, is and always will be caused by too many vehicles.”
“The fun thing is that they themselves demonstrated the cause with their own poster,” joked Valerie.
What was I saying about self-awareness?
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £2.49. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
25 Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
I would happily tattoo “thieving scum” across the foreheads of this pair.
@Rendel Harris that was a hard read. Not often am I stuck for words but I can't even begin to comprehend how someone can be so callous. I also wonder how there isn't something the passenger could be charged with. Even though it would have unlikely changed the outcome (but she wouldn't have known at that point), the fact she delayed so long in reporting it shows she is just as scummy as the driver.
Halfords in Milton Keynes has space to lock up a grand total of two bicycles outside it's shop. That's how committed they are. I looked at stuff there, at a time it wasn't busy, then went to Decathlon's cycling department and that was heaving with customers. They seem to focus on car stuff these days, they may be better off dropping cycling.
@shufflingb I agree. I switched off the voice control on my GoPro when it’s on the bike. It would randomly switch on and off when I was talking to my riding buddy. Who needs voice control on the bike, in wind and traffic?
@Rendel Harris If was the passenger, I'd have got out at the petrol station, taken the keys (if possible) walked away and phoned the police.
surely the shopping carrying dilemma at Oxford Street is no worse than at places like Bluewater?
@Rendel Harris absolute scum..no other words
Something I learned the hard way going down the south side of the Col du Parpaillon in the mud and rain on a loaded touring bike was to ride across the ruts not in them.
Trainers with steel toe-caps?
Not sure I trust myself to comment on this one, so I'll just give the facts: guy ran over a cyclist, a 56-year-old headteacher, with his 4x4. Dragged him a mile with the passenger still able to hear him moaning in pain. Stopped to try and pull him off the car, couldn't so got back in and drove off again, slaloming to get rid of him. At least he's on trial for murder, which is something. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c674p0l8925eo
25 thoughts on “Traffic Watch account claims “road restrictions squeezing lifeblood out of London” – but cyclists say “it’s not cycle lanes or LTNs… it’s too many cars”; Tommy Voeckler clocks super-fast 1:13.21 half-marathon – while gurning for TV + more on the live blog”
Who is behind London Traffic
Who is behind London Traffic Watch? Who funds it?
Follow the money.
the little onion wrote:
Don’t think it costs much if anything to pump out crap on Twit/X ?
Who is behind London Traffic
Who is behind London Traffic Watch?
Obviously a load of Mail/ Torygraph/ Sun /Express-reading tossers blessed with absolutely no insight or self-awareness (unlike Skynet)
I’ve heard claims that one of
I’ve heard claims that one of the increasing problems is Uber drivers. When they don’t have a fair they just drive around as there’s no where to stop. Is there ant data to back up this claim?
And what only a few of us
And what only a few of us know about, these Uber drivers who are driving and monitoring the Uber App on their “Smartphones” at the same time, are committing an offence under Regulation 109 (CUR1986 as amended). The Police now know this, because ‘someone’ raised the issue of Reg.109 and display screens in vehicles back in December 2018, which caused the Police to rush through emergency legislation because they didn’t realize using ANPR was also an offence!!
Robert Wheetman has an
Robert Wheetman has an article on the trope of “Traffic is the lifeblood of the city”.
I hear in London it may be a tale of two cities – the centre and the outer regions?
Centrally I think private transport use is lower. “Congestion” may be more to do with just having traffic lights (for buses and taxis and goods / service vehicles) and how those interact with the large numbers of pedestrians *.
Outside the centre there may be more “but it’s a long way to travel and public transport doesn’t work for me” – there may indeed be plenty of room to lean on motorists to reduce trips?
* Presumably feedback went: more vehicles, so wider roads / more lanes -> more demand for pedestrian crossings -> those need to be wide (because wide roads) so it takes time for pedestrians to cross -> longer pedestrian phase -> complaints by drivers -> longer times between pedestrian phases and drivers certainly aren’t going to be sympathetic to “informal” crossings etc.
Where there are cycle paths it should be so easy to cross that formal crossings are not needed, but because of the history above pedestrians will expect that *everybody* comes to a stop when they cross. Which makes cycling less efficient as well…
Always good to see that image
Always good to see that image used by Traffic Watch, much beloved of those who claim that cycling is responsible for congestion in London, apparently oblivious to the irony that you can only see one cyclist in the picture squeezing his way through all the modes of traffic. The picture was in fact taken more than eight years ago, February 20, 2017 to be precise, and shows traffic approaching Bank junction, a place where congestion and air quality have improved very significantly over recent years due to traffic control measures.
Ah, but it’s just the few
Ah, but surely it’s just the few slow cyclists you can’t see in the picture getting in the way of drivers which clogs the system up (grit in oyster theory)!
Or – it’s because they reduced road capacity somewhere by adding a cycle lane / lowering junction capacity?
TBF I think the following are reasonable observations a) at busy times the system may basically be at capacity for motor traffic, so any small disturbance can have a disproportionate effect and b) because motor traffic is so space inefficient it is subject to dramatic effects from small changes in capacity. (e.g. expressed thoughtfully here by the Invisible Visible man).
Of course … that’s kind of identifying the real issues we should address though: motor traffic is space-inefficient, and without a suite of measures to make alternatives relatively attractive to driving and also make driving a bit lesss attractive, drivers will keep filling the space until it reaches capacity and the Downs-Thomson paradox applies.
I thought you were going to
I thought you were going to say, “That’s me!”
Rendel Harris wrote:
So it is literally a “before” picture, showing how much congestion there was before LTNs, 20mph zones, segregated cycle lanes etc (not just at Bank, but generally)?
Steve K wrote:
Exactly, it’s a brilliant argument against their own case!
Not sure who is “grinding to
Not sure who is “grinding to a halt” in London. My journey this morning during rush hour from Paddington Station to my office by Trafalgar Square took just 16 minutes. Pleasant ride through Hyde Park, Green Park and along the Mall, apart from a few traffic lights no hold ups at all. Wouldn’t like to try to drive it though…
I’ve often said, we need to
I’ve often said, we need to compare journey times for cyclists and motorists both during rush hour/school run and other non-peak times.
Lets see who is affected more by the difference in motor traffic volume…
I know I’m not fast but I can honestly say that my journey times are barely 10% longer when having to slowly filter through queues of motorists.
We all know what happens to driving times during rush hour.
I’m not sure where to ask
I’m not sure where to ask this, so I’ll ask here (and might again tomorrow when it’s not so late so hopefully Ryan / Road.CC staff might see it):
Can I enter the TORQ comp if in the Channel Islands? Not 100% strictly UK but Royal Mail postage costs are the same and I see dropdowns for the two main islands.
Cheers and 🤞!
(and other comps that say UK)
I quite liked the Cycling
I quite liked the Cycling song/video, but I couldn’t understand what was said at the end.
Can anyone help me, as I am clearly hard of hearing/understanding?
“Here’s the chinese you
“Here’s the chinese you ordered!”
Thank you.
Thank you.
Dries isn’t really pronounced
Dries isn’t really pronounced anything like the english “dries” (as in, in the process of drying). It’d actually be almost exactly the same pronunciation as the Scots word “driech”, ending excepted.
Lilo – Old Kent Road to
Lilo – Old Kent Road to Maldon, some Deliveroo journey that was!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c39vpgeg170o
Police seize three vehicles after one stop
“Officers were… on the streets of Luton for a day of targeting drivers without insurance, during which time they caught 43.”
43 in one day.
And thats just the ones they caught in that small area they targetted.
Imagine the actual number on the roads…
But of course, some drivers say that cyclists should have to pay “road tax” and insurance…
mitsky wrote:
Agree. I’d love to see more speeding tickets, more action on drivers with vehicles that don’t have insurance, VED and MOT. Start in the better-off parts of town too.
The article next to that on is titled Infamous crash-prone bollards to remain on road. You must understand that it’s all the bollard’s fault and nothing to do with the people in the vehicles.
You missed the Gendarmerie
You missed the Gendarmerie bike at Paris Nice, great parking in a ditch
You can’t park there, mate!
You can’t park there, mate!
It’s not just “too many cars”
It’s not just “too many cars” causing congesgtion in London, but also the fact that said cars are getting bigger all the time, especially in width. So even with the same amount of road and the same number of cars, congestion is worsening because of the growing size of cars.
Re Thomas Voeckler’s 1.13 HM,
Re Thomas Voeckler’s 1.13 HM, at age 45.
It isn’t super fast, but he would almost certainly win a medal (probably gold) in the British V45 HM championships with that time.
I am sure he would be capable of going faster with more focus on running.