“Cars never seem to be the problem”: Cyclists slam Times article blaming Paris cycle lanes for slower bus journeys – but ex-transport officer claims “bikes prioritised over everything”; Chalamet cycles; Montmartre 2025 Tour finale? + more on the live blog

Speaking of Paris…

Racing-wise, the 2024 Tour de France’s Nice finale – the only time in the grand tour’s 121-year history that it didn’t finish in Paris, a necessity of last summer’s Olympic Games in the French capital – may have ended up a bit of a damp squib, Tadej Pogačar’s grip on the yellow jersey unbreakable by the time we reached the Côte d'Azur.

But that tradition-busting move – along with the enthralling racing witnessed on Paris’ streets at the Olympics – appears to have ignited a spark of inspiration among the Tour’s organising team.

Because, according to Le Parisien, the Tour’s organisers are currently exploring ways to incorporate the Butte Montmartre – the cobbled, picturesque, spectator-packed climb to the Sacré-Cœur which acted as the focal point of Remco Evenepoel and Kristen Faulkner’s gold medal-winning rides – during the final stage of this year’s Tour.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

The newspaper reports that the Tour is hoping to include three ascents of the Montmartre before plunging back down for the traditional laps-based finish on the Champs-Élysées, and has already filed a request with the Paris Police.

Could the fast men – who struggle through the long climbs and sapping heat of the Tour all in the hope of contesting the unofficial sprinters’ world championships on the Champs – be set for their second annual disappointment, or at the very least be forced to haul themselves over three last steep hills on the last day? Seems a bit cruel, if I’m honest.

The move also represents a U-turn from technical director Thierry Gouvenou’s previous stance on incorporating Montmartre into the Tour, pointing out last year that “it worked for the Olympics, but it wouldn’t be acceptable during the Tour”.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

“The Tour de France peloton is twice as big as it was at the Olympics, so we’d have to find much bigger streets than those used at the weekend,” Gouvenou said.

“In Montmartre, they went through some very narrow streets, and in some places, when they would have needed to provide mechanical service to riders in the pack, they’d barely could have opened the car door.”

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

And while Gouvenou, Christian Prudhomme, and the rest appeared to have warmed to the idea over the winter, Le Parisien nevertheless noted that the novel concept could still be scuppered, with the local authorities apparently concerned about the extra police presence and traffic restrictions required for any modified Tour finale.

But if the Tour organisers do get their wish, the 2025 finish on the Champs-Élysées – the 50th anniversary of the race’s first appearance on the world’s most famous boulevard – could be a very special one indeed.

Finally, the Bob Dylan/cycling crossover I’ve been waiting for my whole life…

As Jeremy Vine put it on Twitter, despite what the naysayers on social media and in certain parts of the national press might think, “we’re breaking through”.

Yes, the times really are a-changin’. Because last night, Timothée Chalamet – the acting star of the moment (get with the programme, old timers!) – decided to show up in proper style to the UK premiere of his highly-anticipated Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown: by riding a Lime bike.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Palace Cinemas (@palacecinemas)

The 29-year-old – fully kitted out as ’64-era funky shirt with blazer Bob (see, I could get a job writing for the Mail’s fashion pages) – casually made his way across London to the red carpet at BFI Southbank on one of the green electric hire bikes, along with his entourage.

Chalamet then parked the bike smack bang in the middle of the red carpet – I can just see the headlines now – before remembering to end his ride on his phone. Good lad.

“If Timmy says Lime bikes are in, Lime bikes are in,” Palace Cinemas wrote in response to the actor’s commute.

Timothée Chalamet riding a bike on his way to 'A Complete Unknown' premiere in London!

🎥 giulliang | Instagram Stories pic.twitter.com/hZhakBocfd

— Timothée Chalamet Updates (@timotheeupdates) January 14, 2025

His latest role as Bob Dylan – charting the Bard’s Greenwich Village days and his ultimate estrangement from the folk scene, culminating in him ‘going electric’ at Newport in 1965 (a pivotal moment which may or may not be conflated in the film with the infamous ‘Judas’ gig in Manchester the following year) – appears to have ignited an interest in ‘60s music and culture among Gen Z.

So, surely it stands to reason that Timmy-loving teenagers will all be hopping on Lime bikes this weekend?

Anyway, in homage to A Complete Unknown’s active travel-friendly premiere, I decided to shoehorn a few references to Lime bikes into some Dylan deep cuts. Who says we only cater for a nice audience?

First up, Like a Rolling E-bike: ‘Once upon a time you rode a Lime, threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?’

Timothée Chalamet arriving to ‘A Complete Unknown’ event on bicycle. pic.twitter.com/jaXD6baoa5

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) January 14, 2025

And another classic, from his era-defining album, CS1 Revisited: ‘I ride a Lime bike baby, can't buy a thrill, I’ve been up all night, leaning on the windowsill. But as I ride to the top of the hill, if I don’t make it, I know my battery will.’

And this comeback late-‘80s masterpiece: ‘I can follow the path, I can read the signs, stay right with it, when the road unwinds… on most of the Limes.’

Right, it’s your turn now – get your best Bob Dylan Lime bike lyrics in the comments.

Oh, I’ve got one more – ‘Johnny’s in the basement mixing up the medicine, the Lime bikes are on the pavement’… Oh wait, maybe leave that one.

In any case, at 30kg we know Lime’s e-bikes won’t be blowin’ in the wind anytime soon. I’ll get my Freewheelin’ James Dean coat…

On Saturday, it will be 12 years to the day since Lance Armstrong’s long-awaited doping confession to Oprah Winfrey. And it’s fair to say that since then, US road racing – like its British counterpart – has been suffering through an extended period of malaise.

But one figure attempting to refresh and reignite the struggling post-Armstrong American domestic scene is former Tour de France podium finisher Levi Leipheimer, a teammate of the disgraced star at US Postal, Astana, and RadioShack, and one of the riders whose own doping admission helped secure the Texan’s lifetime ban.

As part of his bid to revive road racing in the US, Leipheimer – who founded Levi’s GrandFondo, a combination of both leisure and racing road events based in California’s Sonoma County, in 2009 – has partnered with Skipstone, a limited production estate winery in Alexander Valley, to help grow the gran fondo into the “richest” professional one-day race in the world.

(Photosport International)

As part of the new title sponsorship deal, a grand total of $156,000 will be awarded to the top men and women to finish the Growler, at 138 miles the longest and most challenging of the seven routes available at Levi’s GranFondo, with $25,000 on offer to the two winners (and equal prize money distributed at both the men’s and women’s events).

Defending champions Lauren De Crescenzo and Keegan Swenson are once again set to ride this year’s Growler race, which will take place on 19 April, along with local boy and Soudal Quick-Step pro Luke Lamperti.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by L E V I S G R A N F O N D O (@levisgranfondo)

“We are so grateful for the generous support from our friends at Skipstone. Together, we aim to reinvigorate domestic road bike racing,” 2011 Tour de Suisse and 2006 Dauphiné Libéré winner Leipheimer said in a statement.

“By investing in our roots, and the foundation of professional racing we will support and inspire the next generation of US athletes.”

The three-time Tour of California winner continued: “When we started this event in 2009, my goal was simply to bring people together and share the roads that shaped me as an athlete. Now, with this partnership, we are able to complete the circle, giving back in a meaningful way to help the sport that allowed us to become America’s premier gran fondo.”

(Photosport International)

Along with Leipheimer’s attempts to revive the US racing scene, Levi’s GranFondo also raises money for its nonprofit arm, King Ridge Foundation, an organisation that supports small local groups serving at-risk youth.

Since its inception, the event has helped raise over $3.2 million for at-risk youth by donating 10 cents from every mile ridden, by everyone from racers to families, to the King Ridge Foundation.

We’ll be chatting to Leipheimer about the GranFondo’s work and his potentially redemptive role in revitalising American racing on a future episode of the road.cc Podcast, so keep an eye out for that.

Kazakh rider Ilkhan Dostiyev has been handed a four-year ban by the UCI following two positive tests for blood boosting drug CERA, the governing body confirmed this week.

The 22-year-old was sacked by Astana Qazaqstan’s development team last September after failing two tests for CERA, an EPO variant responsible for a host of doping positives in the late 2000s, boh out-of-competition on 30 July 2024 and during the Tour of Romania stage race, which Dostiyev won, on 17 August.

Dostiyev, second from left with the beard, lining up with his Kazakh teammates before the U23 world road race in Glasgow in 2023 (Pauline Ballet/SWpix.com)

In 2008, Riccardo Riccò, Emanuele Sella (both of whom lit up that year’s Giro d’Italia), Stefan Schumacher (winner of two Tour de France stages), Bernhard Kohl (third place and the King of the Mountains at the Tour), Tour stage winner Leonardo Piepoli, and classics legend Davide Rebellin all tested positive for CERA.

It was also announced in November that another up-and-coming young rider, 20-year-old Daniel Vysočan, who raced for the Pierre Baguette Continental team, which was home to Peter Sagan for a brief spell in 2024, submitted an out-of-competition positive for CERA on 25 September, two days before racing and failing to finish the U23 world road race in Zurich for the Czech team.

In a statement released this week, the UCI confirmed that Astana hopeful Dostiyev’s positive samples were collected “as a result of intelligence-led testing”.

> Is EPO making a comeback? Asia-based Irish cyclist banned for three years as blood booster found in doping sample after Astana development rider’s CERA positive

After signing for Astana’s development team last year from Vino SKO, another team affiliated to Astana general manager Alexander Vinokourov, Dostiyev secured a series of impressive results throughout 2024.

These included finishing second to promising Brit Joe Blackmore at the Tour of Rwanda and winning the Turul Romaniei stage race – where he submitted his second positive – before jumping up to Astana’s WorldTour squad for two races in Italy and China.

Announcing his sacking in September, Astana (whose general manager Vinokourov was banned for a year in 2008 for blood doping at the Tour de France, before returning to win more Tour stages, classics, and an Olympic gold medal at 38) said the news of Dostiyev’s doping came as a “shock and disappointment”, and that the team does its “best to ensure that athletes understand not only the consequences of using doping but also the absurdity of attempting to violate anti-doping rules”.

Dostiyev’s ban begins on the day he was provisionally suspended last September, meaning he won’t be able to return to competition until 8 September 2028.

A coroner has urged a local council to lower the speed limit of a residential road in Newcastle, concluding that the current 40mph limit is “unsafe” and has the potential to cause further fatalities, following an inquest into a cyclist’s death after he was hit by an overtaking minibus driver.

Read more: > Council warned “future deaths could occur” unless speed limit is lowered on road where cyclist was killed by overtaking minibus driver

An interesting, and timely, debate has sprung up on the road.cc forum concerning bike lights – namely, are they simply too bright these days?

“Anyone else noticed this year that there’s an increasing number of overly bright front (and rear) lights, or is it just me?” asked road.cc reader Slartibartfast as part of their post, ‘Moan: Constantly dazzled by other commuters’.

> Are bike lights too bright nowadays? Different beams and power settings tested

“My commute has an extended part over an unlit moor, but mostly lit cycle paths, and I’d say people have their lights on the wrong setting or pointing at eye level approximately 50 per cent of the time.

“Maybe my eyes have just got more sensitive but I’m finding myself having to ask people to please turn their daytime strobe off as I can’t see where I’m going.”

“Same goes with car headlights for those of us road riders,” replied bobbinogs.

“It’s a similar sort of arms race it seems,” agreed Slartibartfast. “On a pitch-black country lane, yeah, 1500lm is necessary, but on an urban cycle path less so.”

> road.cc front bike lights Beam Test 2024/25 — our big Beam Comparison Engine is live to help you choose the best front light for your riding

Meanwhile, chrisonabike wrote: “Nothing new I suspect. Where manufactures can with new tech, some will, then gradually most will. And ‘excellent’ yesterday becomes inadequate because many folks judge by a combination of price and where the thing sits in relation to other products available now (Whether they have a Scooby Doo or not).

“Anyway, I’m very happy with my up-to-3-W of dynamo-powered-lighting for most (sub)urban pottering. I think most of my salience (where people are looking for cyclists, or looking at all) comes from moving reflective lights. But my lights are enough to see and be seen by pedestrians on shared-use spaces.

“BUT on a rare late-night country ramble, yes, I'll amp up with some rechargeables.  FWIW, I am just old enough to remember how bad the Ever Ready battery jobs were, even with far more acute youthful eyes…”

Ah, Ever Ready – just the mention of the name is enough to send cyclists of a certain vintage down (poorly-lit) memory lane.

Anyway, what do you reckon? Are bike lights becoming too bright? Or are you just glad the technology has moved on from the low brightness and low battery world of the ‘80s?

This year’s National Pothole Day fittingly marks the end of a long, bumpy, poorly-maintained era, as Mark Morrell – better known to the masses as the hi vis-wearing Mr Pothole – announced this morning that he is stepping away from his 12-year campaign to fix Britain’s battered roads.

> National Pothole Day: An interview with Mr Pothole

Since adopting the Mr Pothole moniker back in 2013, Morrell has reported thousands of road defects, formed his own pressure group, become a TV regular, and even partnered with Pot Noodle, as part of his battle to get councils and the government to act on what he dubbed in 2023 the UK’s “dangerous pothole menace”.

However, this morning – on National Pothole Day no less – after 12 years of campaigning, and with his wife’s health deteriorating at home, Morrell announced on Good Morning Britain that he’s hanging up the hi-vis for good – but not without aiming a parting shot at governmental inaction first.

'I've lost faith in any government or political party wanting to do something.'

On National Pothole Day, Mr Pothole aka Mark Morrell, has announced that he is quitting his campaign after more than a decade. He talks to @susannareid100 and @edballs about his reasons for doing so. pic.twitter.com/uKmFIsE3NM

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) January 15, 2025

“I’ve lost faith completely in any government or political party really wanting to do something,” the campaigner told Susanna Reid and Ed Balls.

“They talk £1.6bn being an awful lot of money, but the size of the backlog in the UK is not only £16.3bn in carriageway works in England and Wales, there’s a £6bn backlog in bridge maintenance. Then you’ve got footpaths, which I estimate to be around £30bn.

“If the government had come out and said they were going to put an extra £3bn a year to resurface our roads, I could see there being some change. But unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.”

Enjoy your retirement, Mr Pothole, and thanks for your service!

As the Parisian authorities reportedly deliberate over whether to allow the Tour de France peloton to ride up the Butte Montmartre three times during the 2025 race’s final stage, I reckon it’s time for a live blog poll, to find out once and for all whether tampering with the Tour’s 50-year-old procession-turned-sprint warfare on the Champs is  good idea or not.

What do you reckon? Is the Tour’s traditional champagne-tinged finale a sporting institution not to be messed with? Or could three ascents of Montmartre finally ignite a proper full-on race through the French capital’s streets in July?

Supersurvey