Bianchi 'Air Deflector' cockpit sends cycling world into meltdown; "Totally unnecessary": Giro d’Italia route and THAT 750km transfer to Rome confirmed; Is the Giro being unfairly singled out for criticism?; Tractors and cyclists + more on the live blog

Transport for London (TfL) has announced that it will restart work on active travel schemes in the city – paused due to the body’s ongoing financial crisis and reliance on short-term government bailouts – after an agreement was reached with the government in August to secure funding until March 2024.

TfL says that it will now resume spending on “vital projects”, with £80m per year to be spent directly on walking and cycling schemes as part of its Healthy Streets Programme.

> Sadiq Khan admits Transport for London funding crunch means it is “extremely difficult” to make Holborn Gyratory safer for cyclists 

The projects include the start of construction on safer junction schemes at Holloway Road/Drayton Park and Battersea Bridge (subject to consultation), and pedestrian and cycling improvements at Streatham High Road and Manor Circus.

TfL will continue lowering speed limits across London, with plans to introduce a 20mph speed limit on a further 17.5 miles of roads in the boroughs of Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Haringey by March 2023.

As part of the next stage of the Healthy Streets programme, TfL will also complete cycleways currently under construction and begin work on up to 14km of additional sections, including on:

• C9 East, from Brentford to Kensington Olympia
• C23, from Lea Bridge to Dalston
• C34, from North Acton to Shepherds Bush
• C37, from Hackney to Westferry
• C50, from Finsbury Park to Camden Town

The body will also continue the design of a further 16km of cycleways, including sections of C9 West, from Hounslow to Brentford, the C4 Extension from Greenwich to Charlton, and further sections of the C50, from Finsbury Park to Camden Town, along with a new cycle route from Wembley to Wood Lane.

“In the last two years we’ve seen more Londoners than ever choosing to walk and cycle around the capital, but successive short-term funding agreements from Government forced TfL and boroughs to pause spending on some permanent walking and cycling schemes. London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, said in a statement.

“With the funding now agreed, I’m delighted that we can now restart work on these vital schemes – as well as beginning the design work for the next generation of new projects.

“The Mayor and I are determined to continue building a cleaner, safer and more prosperous London for everyone and encouraging more people to pick up greener and more sustainable transport options is a vital part of that.”

Just kids cycling to school. #cycletoschool pic.twitter.com/k8O0K04oih

— Limerick School Cycle Bus (@CyclingBusLmk) October 18, 2022

While the 2023 Giro’s controversial eight-hour transfer to Rome for the race’s penultimate stage has led to plenty of criticism online for RCS Sport – who have been accused of prioritising their event over the climate crisis – in the live blog comments section this morning, road.cc reader Rendel Harris pondered whether the Corsa Rosa is being singled out for criticism for a sin committed by every other grand tour (or indeed stage race) organiser.

As I noted in the original article on the then-rumoured Rome finale, long transfers (not to mention foreign grand departs) are becoming an increasing staple of the three grand tours.

The Vuelta a España has long been known for its frequent and extensive mid-race transfers, while – at least since Mont Ventoux featured on the race’s penultimate stage in 2009 – the Tour de France has favoured increasingly late stages in the Alps or Pyrenees, requiring a late night slog up to Paris for the final-day party on the Champs-Élysées.

Here’s what Rendel had to say about the controversy surrounding the Giro’s excursion to Rome:

The carbon footprint of Grand Tours is of course a major concern, but the Giro organisers must be wondering if there is one rule for them and one for the Tour.

This year the Tour transferred 534km to hold the final stage in Paris, in 2021 it was 586km. I don’t recall anyone raising much of an eyebrow about that?

Similarly, this year's Vuelta not only made the 1,400km transfer from the Netherlands to Spain, but then the massive 894km mid-race transfer from Les Praeres to Alicante.

I remember people complaining about the stress it put on the riders, but nobody seemed to be making too much fuss about the carbon footprint.

Numerous wrongs don’t add up to a right, of course, but not quite sure why the Giro is being so heavily criticised for something that happens in every GT.

What do you think? Is the Giro being unfairly singled out? Or is this just the start of cycling fans putting pressure on race organisers to create responsible routes?

Now, as the Eurosport commentators used to say in 2008, moments after announcing the latest positive test or doping scandal (ah, those were the days), ‘Anyway, back to the racing…’

So, what’s the 2023 Giro route like, and who does it suit?

Well, Remco Evenepoel, that’s who.

Nevertheless, RCS Sport’s charm offensive towards the world champion perhaps isn’t as overt as one may have expected.

There are three individual time trials totalling 71km, of course – a relative rarity in the modern era – but the quantity and nature of the kilometres against the clock can hardly be compared to the Tours de France of the Jean-Marie Leblanc era.

The race kicks off with a surprisingly long 18.4km TT, with a slight drag to the line, in the Abruzzo region. The next siren song for Vuelta winner Evenepoel – who has yet to confirm his participation in the Giro, but will almost certainly be spending next May in the bel paese – is stage nine, a pan-flat 34km time trial to Cesena, seemingly tailormade for the powerful, super-aero Belgian.

The third and final time trial of the race, however, is something completely different – and could have the potential to upend the entire race right at the last moment.

The first eleven kilometres of stage 20 may be gently rolling, but the final seven to Monte Lussari are anything but – averaging 12.1 percent to the summit (and over 15 percent for the first five kilometres). And all after three weeks and 3,500km of racing. Ouch.

Of course, the Giro – unless you’re Francesco Moser – is never just about time trialling. In many ways, the 2023 Corsa Rosa is a typical Giro, if a touch more backloaded than usual.

🇮🇹 GIRD D'ITALIA (May 6-28, 2023)

📷 All stage profiles in 1 pic | #Giro pic.twitter.com/1mB3lk75T2

— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) October 17, 2022

Week one takes on a varied, rolling and sometimes jagged tour of Italy’s east and west coasts, featuring the kind of in-between terrain favoured by a certain Wout van Aert, who is rumoured to be interested in making his Giro debut ahead of an earlier-than-usual world championships next year in Glasgow.

Following stage seven’s Apennine summit finish on the Gran Sasso d’Italia (a gentle slog with a sting in the tail) and the time trial two days later, week two will begin with some more classic breakaway fodder and possible sprint days, before the real mountains start.

Stage 13 to Crans Montana in the Swiss Alps – taking in, weather permitting, the 2,500m-high Col du Grand Saint-Bernard and the fearsome and almost as high Croix de Coeur – will no doubt rearrange the GC, while a Tour of Lombardy-style trek to Bergamo on stage 15 could produce some explosive racing.

Then we head into classic Giro territory. Stage 16 features a string of relatively low but tough climbs on the way to Monte Bondone, while the following stage offers a small bone to the remaining sprinters before three decisive days in the Dolomites.

The 19 percent gradients of the Coi climb on stage 18 could blow the GC group apart, ahead of a potentially myth-making stage 19 to Tre Cime di Lavaredo, the scene of newly retired Vincenzo Nibali’s 2013 triumph and Eddy Merckx’s grand tour coming of age in 1968.

While some legendary Giro climbs may be missing from the 2023 route, such as the Gavia, Stelvio, and Mortirolo, stage 19 more than makes up for their omission – packing in the mighty Valparola and Giau on the way to the Tre Cime.

And if that hasn’t wrapped things up in the battle for the pink jersey, race director Mauro Vegni will be crossing his fingers for a Planche des Belles Filles-style twist on the Monte Lussari.

Just don’t mention the transfer to Rome…