“I don’t think it should be open for cyclists”: Reaction to Oxford Street’s cycling ban (including Ned Boulting); Women duo make new LEJOG record on tandem; Wout van Aert’s “contract till eternity” with Visma-Lease a Bike + more on the live blog

In a surprising development, Belgian rider Wout van Aert has signed a “lifelong” contract tying him with Visma-Lease a Bike until the end of his active pro cycling racing career.

The Dutch team has announced the news with one of its trademark update videos with cinematic lighting and the blandest copyright-free background music, as Van Aert writes what looks like a letter to fans (surely they’re not making him write the contract?), while also recounting his highs and lows with the team that he joined in 2019, and since then has won nine Tour de France stages, besides the points jersey in 2022, as well as the Milan-San Remo monument in 2020.

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“Dear friends of Team Visma-Lease a Bike, with a heart full of nostalgia, I’ve been reflecting on the beautiful moments we’ve shared together,” Van Aert says. “Our journey so far is filled with cherished memories. As I look back, I feel the warmth of special rides in the Tour and the joy we’ve experienced in  victories, such as my stage win in the Vuelta, my first monument in San Remo, the Strade Bianche, the sprint on the Champs-Élysées, the Mont Ventoux, and that unforgettable sprint against Viviani — my first-ever victory in the Tour de France.

“But also the pain of loss and setbacks, like the crash in the time trial in Pau and Dwarns door Vlaanderen this year. Together, we have endured those difficult moments and have come back stronger. We’ve shared so much, laughed, cheered and cried together. We’ve built something beautiful, something that feels like a love that will last forever. Eternity… that’s a word full of promise.

“In the spirit of our team, there’s no limit to what we can achieve as long as we dare to dream and are determined to make those dreams come true. This team is my safe haven, my home. Here, I feel loved and cherished, just like with my family.Thanks to your support, the hunger for success and progress, and my fantastic colleagues, I have become the rider I am today.

“You have given me so much, and I feel a deep sense of gratitude. That’s why I’ve decided to stay with you forever. Maybe not literally until eternity, but at least until the end of my active career, and that moment is still in the distant future. Dear friends of Team Visma-Lease a Bike, thank you for your trust. I’m glad we’re continuing together with a commitment that has no expiration date. Here, I feel at home. Here, I want to stay forever. True love lasts forever.”

May I interest you in a new game of “take a shot everytime a cyclist says super”? Don’t call me if you have a hazy memory of the night next morning…

In my house, we play “super” bingo when watching cycling. You’ll love it. You just count the number of times riders say “super” in the interviews. Once you start, you won’t stop.

So here’s each of this year’s men’s Grand Tours, presented as a “super”-cut:@giroditalia pic.twitter.com/ydX6p9HDhL

— Simon Crisp (@simon_crisp) September 17, 2024

It’s been an interesting year for Primož Roglič. The Slovenian had a tumoultous Tour de France, battling with the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard and his countryman and eventual winner Tadej Pogačar, before that unfortunate crash in stage 12 would force him to pull out of the Grand Tour. 

A few weeks later, he would come back and put up a dogged performance, snatching away the lead of the general classification from Ben O’Connor in the final days and win his fourth Vuelta a España, equalling the record set Roberto Heras and cementing his status as one of the best GT riders of his generation.

Now, the 34-year-old, who’s had his fair share of misfortunes, crashing in the decisive 2020 Tour de France time trial after wearing the maillot jaune for eleven days, has opened up about his struggles in an interview with Slovenian newspaper Delo. “When it happened to me again, which it did, my thoughts went in the direction of what do I need this for, I don’t need to be part of the cycling world anymore and suffer all this,” Roglič said. “After all, I’m only human.”

After he withdrew from the Tour this year, and was later diagnosed with a fracture in his lower back. With the Vuelta just a little over a month away, he was even unsure if it was wise to try to return to competition so quickly.

He added: “What followed was a look ahead and the realisation that I never run out of new challenges. Of course I feel the pain, it’s not pleasant. 

“On the other hand, all these unpleasant events in my career, which I wished would not have happened to me, brought me also a lot of positive things. The support of my family and other loved ones, which I feel when picking up after falls, is exceptional,” he admits. He used to to it’s best, taking a few stage wins and a red jersey that will stand the test of time.

“Despite this support, it’s not easy to pedal with pain, but this support makes it much easier for me to make decisions about how to proceed. So the decision to start the Vuelta again after another crash at the Tour was, in the end, quite easy,” he concluded.

“The key was that I didn’t want to jeopardise my health by returning to training, but I was advised that the only obstacle would be the pain, which would not go away for some time. At that time, I was quite happy, because I perceived it as nothing bad and I could keep going.

“It’s always very tiring towards the end of a three-week race. I didn’t feel the best, but my competitors weren’t exactly fresh and rested either,” Roglič said. “I wouldn’t make too big a deal about it now and complain [about the injury]. We did the job we had to do, and the race went the way we wanted.”

Chapeau Hannah Fawcett and Ede Harrison, the women’s tandem duo who have soared to a brand new world record for cycling from Land’s End to John o’ Groats, commonly abbreviated to LEJOG, by completing it in 66hr 49min 52sec.

Fawcett, a doctor and Harrison, endurance cyclist, set off from Land’s End in Cornwall on their fluoroscent yellow Dolan tandem at 6am on Sunday. Their aim was to beat, or at least match the 84-hour standard cycling time set by the Road Records Association (RRA), which they ended up smashing by over 23 hours!

 

 

 

 

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Upon reaching Scotland and on their way to John O’Groats, they were cheered on by the women’s LEJOG record holder Christina Mackenzie, while the men’s holder of the record Michael Broadwith was posting updates about their attempt on Twitter.

The pair were using the ride to raise money for Kidney Care UK. At the time they completed the attempt, they had raised £2,628 – more than twice their £1,000 target.

The fantastic team behind the successful End to End attempt of Hannah Fawcett and Ede Harrison, riding for Liverpool Braveheart BC. New provisional women’s tandem record of just under 67 hours for the 839 mile journey. pic.twitter.com/5VDE3if3Ma

— Mr Broadwith (@24HourMaths) September 18, 2024

Interesting comment from road.cc reader Rendel Harris on yesterday’s news story about the cycling ban on Oxford Street, amidst Mayor Sadiq Khan’s larger pedestrianisation plans in a bid to transform the high street into a “beautiful public space” and and compete with other international high street destinations, such as Times Square in New York, the Champs-Elysees in Paris and Las Ramblas in Barcelona.

According to stonojnr, the Times Square comparisons would suit better with Picadilly Square — of course, with the huge, blinding (and kitsch, in my opinion) digital billboard doing the heavylifting.

So as you know, there’s only one way to settle this… a road.cc poll!

Poll Maker

When it comes to new housing and infrastructure projects, cyclists have long complained of their lowly place in the pecking order of potential users.

But in one new housing development in Bristol, people on bikes will fall below even bats in the hierarchy of road users, after a planned bat colony was afforded twice as much space as cyclists and pedestrians on an “incredibly popular” shared-use path which runs through the development.

> Bats to be given twice as much space as cyclists and pedestrians on “incredibly popular” shared path, as campaigners say new layout will be “too narrow” and “create safety issues”

Lachlan Morton in hi-vis?

We’ve seen cycling news that’s not the most ideal come out of Australia, and joining that list is the call from an MP from the centre-right Nationals WA party, asking hi-visibility clothing be made mandatory for all cyclists and scooter riders and saying it was a good idea, given the recent high number of road deaths across the state. 

Nationals MP and deputy leader Peter Rundle said: “Anything we can do to reduce the probability of someone getting injured or dying is really important. I had [an experience] myself recently, when I was just about to turn onto the main road.”

While Mr Rundle conceded it would be challenging for police to monitor, he hoped riders would embrace the idea.He said he was confident the motion would pass at the next state council meeting in November. If passed, the Nationals MP said it would form part of their campaign going into next year’s state election.

Maybe it’s time to introduce hi-vis paint on cars in Australia too?

After two years of being ridiculed as “giant ugly objects” and “monstrosities” by residents and politicians who claimed they were evidence of the “continuing war against motorists”, Brighton and Hove’s controversial cycle hangars are now the subject of a petition calling on the council to let locals decorate them “tastefully” with mural-style artwork.

The cycle hangars, which offer secure on-street storage for six bicycles, proved a somewhat surprising and enduring source of contention in the south coast city when they were first rolled out in 2022 and early 2023.

Now this week, Brighton resident Dinah Clarke has launched a petition urging the now Labour-led council to let residents paint the aesthetically divisive storage units, arguing that those “living amongst these hangars should have a choice to decorate” them.

> Petition launched to let locals decorate controversial “unattractive” bike hangars outside their homes, after “giant ugly” storage units branded “a monstrosity”

The headline news from yesterday, in case you missed it, was Sadiq Khan’s announcement that Oxford Street, the central London high street, will be pedestrianised. When road.cc reached out to the Mayor of London’s office, it confirmed to us that cyclists will not be allowed on to ride on the street during the day, with potential for access at night and alternative routes and enhanced provisions being worked on to be provided.

The pedestrianisation plan, part of the London mayor’s 2016 election manifesto, had been in the making for a while, having been blocked a couple of times by the Conservative-led Westminster City Council. Now, with the UK Government backing the decision, it looks like the mayor’s dream of turning Oxford Street, that’s been overrun by vape and American candy shops, into a world class shopping area and public space seems to be finally taking shape.

However, with cyclists now allowed to access the major east-west road, there are concerns about how is the cycling ban going to be implemented, and what real alternative routes will be offered to cyclists — which will have to be shared with the rest of the diverted motor traffic as well.

> Cyclists to be banned from Oxford Street as part of Sadiq Khan’s pedestrianisation plans, but could be allowed to cycle at night

Khan, speaking to an Evening Standard reporter yesterday evening, said: “I’m quite clear — that part of the street is going to be pedestrianised. I want it to be for people to walk around in. There will be placed of course to lock up your bike, there will be alternative routes for you to go around in relation to getting from one side of the street to the other.

“I don’t want buses in this part of the Oxford Street, cars, mini cabs, taxis or racing cyclists, but what I do want is pedestrians, walking around, going to the shops. This would be a world class public space in which we can curate leisure events, cultural events to encourage people to come here.”

Andrew Gilligan, London’s former cycling commissioner under Boris Johnson, had claimed in 2017 that banning cyclists from Oxford Street represented “an unqualified disaster for cycling in London.”

He had warned that the lack of suitable parallel routes for safe infrastructure for bike riders means an Oxford Street cycling ban would be ignored by many, and that the road will become “London’s biggest unofficial example of the notorious failure that is shared space.”

The same concern seems to be reiterated and shared by many on social media, with some even questioning what about those who use cycling as a mobility aid. On Twitter, the account going by the name of Beyond the Bicycle wrote: “Will people using cycling as mobility aids be permitted? It isn’t world class if it excludes people.”

Will people using cycling as mobility aids be permitted? It isn’t world class if it excludes people.

— Beyond The Bicycle (@BeyondBicycle) September 17, 2024

However, a lot of cyclists seemed to be completely fine with the announcement as well, describing it as “perfectly reasonable and fair” and a “great update to Oxford Street”.

One person commented on road.cc’s Facebook post, saying: “Oxford Street isn’t exactly a good cycling route as it is, and would potentially be even less suitable if full of tourists window-shopping all across the street. Any sensible cyclist is going to prefer an alternative parallel.”

Some more reaction from comments under our news story:

brooksby: “This would only be ‘fair’ if some sort of safe alternative routes for cyclists are put in place.*
*Except they won’t be – after Oxford Street is closed to all traffic, the motor traffic which is diverted along parallel routes will take up so much of the road space that there Just Won’t Be Room to put cycle routes in place…”

Rome73: “I completely agree with this. Oxford Street should be completely pedestrianised and free of motor vehicles and cycles. It will hugely improve the area. There are alternatives, if one wants to cycle between TCR and Marble Arch. Some of them are a bit ’round the houses’ so they must be improved and made more direct. Improvements have already been made in reducing traffic on Tottenham Court Rd and Charing X road so making Oxford Street pedestrian only will be a huge bonus for London. It should also mean that Regents Street and Great Portland Street will become traffic free or at least less. At the moment they are gnarled up with belching traffic queues.  

Paul J: “As a recent tourist to Oxford st, and as someone who spent a month or so working in London before and had that street on his cycle commute – good idea. As it is, it sucks for cycling along, cause of all the tourists – better to take some other parallel roads; and it sucks for the tourists with the vehicle traffic.
A major shopping street should be for pedestrians.”

Groadie: “It’ll take a lot more than pedestrianisation to turn Oxford Street back into some kind of elite shopping street. That ship sailed a long time ago. It would have been an opportunity to create a traffic free cycling route across the centre and it’s a pity that’s been ruled out, particularly in view of the fact that more motorised traffic is going to be forced onto the already busy alternative parallel roads alongside the cyclists who will also have to use them. I can imagine Piccadilly becoming more choked up than it already is. Waste of public money to make things worse for all road users, imo.”

Ned Boulting, British sports journalist and the smart, serene voice on ITV’s coverage of Tour de France, has spoken up about Sadiq Khan’s Oxford Street pedestrianisation plans announced yesterday, which road.cc confirmed would ban cycling on the central London high street during the day.

“Oxford Street as a pedestrian zone (not for cyclists) is thirty years too late. But it’s so clearly the right thing to do,” Boulting wrote on Twitter, inviting others to reply under complaining “about cyclists and also where will the buses go and how do people go shopping ever again without door to door taxis.”

A few minutes later, he quote tweeted the original post, saying: “Should clarify here – I do not think that a truly pedestrianised Oxford Street should be open for cyclists.”

Should clarify here – I do not think that a truly pedestrianised Oxford Street should be open for cyclists. https://t.co/hrE4VkKBH3

— Ned Boulting 🏳️‍⚧️ (@nedboulting) September 17, 2024

There were lots of reaction under Boulting’s initial post, with some pointing out the tube system which has three servicing stations on the 0.7 mile road — Oxford Circus, Bond Street and Marble Arch.

Arthur Hammond wrote: “I’m a cyclist Ned and I’m quite in favour of it being not for cyclists. The Barbican is strictly pedestrian and all the better for it. Bikes don’t need to be everywhere.”

Jonathan Roberts said: “I will interested in how the crossing roads are going to be managed. It could be great or a dog’s dinner,” to which Boulting replied, saying: “The dog’s dinner is right now. I fail to see how it could be worse.”

Meanwhile Mike Love asked: “How would you go shopping in Oxford Street without getting a bus or a taxi? That only leaves the tube and I wouldn’t take shopping bags on that.” Boulting responded saying: “You probably aren’t going to like my answer, but I’d cycle. I’d lock my bike up adjacent to Oxford St and walk. I appreciate not everyone can do this, however… but you did ask.”

When Mike wondered how would you hold all the shopping stuff on a bike, Boulting said: “Two panniers holds a huge amount. You’re arguing with my reality. I’ve been doing this for years. Besides, I am not going to go food shopping (which is kind of what you’re getting at) in Oxford Street.”

Zoe Kennedy also joined in: “I live in central London and sometimes even go to buy food on Oxford Street and manage it with my Brompton. It’s surprising how much you can carry on a bike. In fact, I prefer it to carrying shopping as I have a serious neck issue and struggle with bags.”