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Speeding driver who appeared to use phone behind the wheel complains about kids cycling on the pavement; Sadiq Khan gets his jab...in a Rapha tee; Supreme Court ruling may affect Deliveroo; Tao takes a knee; Aero talk with Dowsett + more on the live blog

It's Friday and Dan Alexander is taking you through to the weekend on the live blog...
19 February 2021, 14:38
"You couldn't make this up": Your thoughts on speeding driver who appeared to use phone behind the wheel complaining about kids cycling on the pavement

No shortage of opinions on the painfully ironic story this morning about the speeding driver who appeared to be on their phone behind the wheel while complaining about kids cycling on the pavement. As many have pointed out, what exactly did the driver want, the kids to be riding on the road in front of him? Others have said there isn't an LTN near where the incident happened but there may soon be a cycle lane...Worth keeping our eyes peeled for that.

In the comments under this live blog, Philh68 made an interesting comparison to riding laws out in Australia: "Speeding driver using their phone, just as well those kids were on the pavement. As an Aussie I find that it being an issue in the UK quite bizarre - here (NSW) children may ride on pavements until 16 years old. The sky hasn't fallen down."

19 February 2021, 16:42
Sadiq Khan gets his jab while wearing a Rapha tee
Sadiq Khan Rapha tee

We knew Sadiq Khan was pro-cycling from his support for cycling infrastructure in the capital, but here's another reminder. The Mayor of London sported a Rapha Technical Tee at his vaccination appointment today. It's important to look your best on a day out to the vaccine centre so a smart choice from the mayor.

He's not the only famous face who's been rocking some Rapha this week. On Monday's blog Kevin Hart was out posting pics on Instagram of him riding his bike in some sharp new gear. Nice to see as we head into the weekend.

19 February 2021, 16:29
British Cycling updates criteria for elite status during the pandemic
British Cycling logo

British Cycling has updated its conditions for an athlete being able to claim elite status to continue to access facilities and travel during the pandemic. Last month British Cycling were criticised for holding a 90-man track meet at Manchester Velodrome. To qualify for elite status riders must be earning a living, more than £13,500, from competing in the sport or be representing Team GB or a UCI licensed team. Junior riders are unable to claim elite status, except those riders in the elite development pathway with the Great Britain Cycling Team.

Under new Department for Culture, Media and Sport rules, announced last Thursday, elite athletes will only be allowed to leave the country for international competition or for training for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

19 February 2021, 15:14
Bauke Mollema wins stage one of Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var

No television pictures today so we'll just have to guess how Trek-Segafredo's Bauke Mollema won the opening stage in the South of France. Reports of a crash for Tao Geoghegan Hart who made it back on and worked for the team. Geraint Thomas and Dan Martin were both in that front group, three seconds behind stage winner Mollema and one second behind Greg Van Avermaet and Valentin Madouas who were second and third. There's another tough uphill finish tomorrow when the race will be back on our TV screens.

19 February 2021, 09:47
Speeding driver complains about kids cycling on the pavement... while appearing to film them on a mobile while driving

If you're going to moan about children cycling on the pavement it's probably best not to film from what appears to be the driver's seat...The video, from a Twitter account that has since been deleted, asked why kids were riding on pavements and not in LTNs. Unfortunately there were plenty of people on hand to question this logic, as the person who uploaded the footage was accused of filming it while driving. The car's speedometer was also shown accelerating to 24mph in a 20mph zone.

Some have said the deleted account claimed to be a licensed taxi driver, but this point has been disputed by other cab drivers who say it doesn't look like one of their vehicles. Others have argued it is filmed by a passenger, but the video appears to start and end with the phone on the right-hand side of the vehicle...

19 February 2021, 13:59
You have no authority here: Handforth Parish Council cycling kits are a thing
Handforth Parish Council cycling kits (via Primal)

Maybe Jackie Weaver would like to get out on the bike to get away from the squabbling of the Handforth Parish Council meetings? Primal has released these for preorder with £10 from every sale going to the NSPCC Charity. At £65 a pop you're going to have to be a pretty big fan of viral memes to rep this on your local lanes but maybe you just want to remind your riding mates they have no authority over which route you do or where you stop for coffee...

For more Primal kit why not check out the road.cc shop where we've got our own stash...

19 February 2021, 13:16
Colourised footage of the 1948 Olympic Road Race

 

19 February 2021, 12:18
Historic Supreme Court ruling may have ramifications for Deliveroo

Uber has lost its lengthy legal fight in the Supreme Court, meaning their drivers should be classed as workers not third-party contractors and should be entitled to basic employment protections including minimum wage and holiday pay. The outcome has been heralded as "historic" by the GMB union and lawyers believe the ruling will have ramifications for Deliveroo and other workers in the gig economy. Uber's argument that drivers were contractors not workers was dismissed unanimously by seven justices.

Unions have argued that the model used by Uber and other firms is exploitative and Sky News reports that today's victory could lead to drivers claiming compensation running into the thousands of pounds. Uber has already argued the ruling will only apply to a small number of their drivers.

 In March, the IGWB trade union accused Deliveroo of "PR spin" over "unworkable" coronavirus hardship fund for riders.

19 February 2021, 11:37
Plenty of love for Tao this morning

Tao's pledge to sponsor an U23 rider to increase diversity in cycling has gone down well with road.cc readers and the wider cycling community. On Facebook, Fergal Dolan replied to our story saying: "He can't even be on that big a contract so that's likely a proper sacrifice." Eric Willock added: "Not just a great cyclist but a brilliant person."

Nick Bell said: "Great to see a rider at the highest level looking to improve diversity and inclusivity." 

19 February 2021, 11:00
Alex Dowsett gives the bike review Factor probably wishes Chris Froome had done

All anyone took from Chris Froome's review of the Israel Start-Up Nation Factor Ostro VAM was that he doesn't like disc brakes...Nobody remembers that he was quite impressed by the bike after a decade on Pinarellos at Sky/Ineos. Step up Alex Dowsett to let the people know how good a bike it really is. 

In a detailed ten minute breakdown of the set up and aero gains it offers Dowsett explained: "If I didn't think a bike was very good I just wouldn't do a YouTube video on it because I don't have to do this. But this is a very exciting bike and I think in the WorldTour there's been a couple of teams where people look at their bike and say 'that is a significant advantage' and I now look at this and believe that we are on terms with the best teams and possibly even ahead. I love it."

For a closer look at the Factor Ostro VAM from one of our team, check out our Bike at Bedtime from the other week... 

19 February 2021, 09:32
Get the sun cream ready...
BBC weather screenshot

Chuck the arm warmers away and get the sun cream ready. Summer's here! Looking like a lovely weekend to get out on the bike if you can dodge the showers. After the minus temperatures of the last few weeks, 16 degrees is going to feel like heaven...

19 February 2021, 08:44
Tao Geoghegan Hart takes the knee and pledges to sponsor an U23 rider to increase diversity in cycling

Tao Geoghegan Hart has pledged to support diversity in cycling by sponsoring an U23 rider at his former team Hagens Berman Axeon. In a post on Instagram the Giro d'Italia champion took the knee, a symbol that racial inequality won't be tolerated, and promised to do more to follow in the footsteps of sportspeople like Billie Jean King and Marcus Rashford who have used their platform to improve other people's lives.

Tao wrote: "Cycling has a problem with diversity and inclusivity. This is a fact. It is not unique within sport, but we must face it head on all the same. I feel cycling has not done enough during this past year. Furthermore, I have not done enough. But what good are words without action?

"With this in mind, I will be taking action with Hagens Berman Axeon by sponsoring an under-23 rider to race with the team this summer. I hope this can be the beginning of a joint effort to increase racial diversity within the amazing sport of cycling. I will work with Axel Merckx and his team in the coming months to identify, coach and mentor the person, and athlete, to join the team on August 1st.

"This is just a photo taken in London last month, however it is also an expression of my desire to be part of change. Part of the future. I don’t have all the answers but I do know that I want live in a world that fights for social justice. A world that shares all the good that we have."

In the past months Tao has also been vocal in his support for cycling infrastructure in London and had the CS1 cycleway that runs through his home borough of Hackney renamed Tao's Route to honour his Giro victory. The 25-year-old kicks off his 2021 season today at Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var in the South of France.

Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. Having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for the Non-League Paper, Dan joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.

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32 comments

Avatar
mdavidford | 3 years ago
0 likes

Quote:

We knew Sadiq Khan was pro-cycling

Really? That's news to me. How does he fit in all his training and travel to races around his mayoral duties?

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Gkam84 | 3 years ago
1 like

British Cycling has left that massive loophole in their statement because of pressure from UCI teams who don't pay their riders but call them "professional". Last season, BC couldn't give "elite" status to most UK UCI teams because they don't pay riders. So now they will be allowed to go abroad, despite not earning a minimum living from cycling.

Drops, AWOL and CAMS don't pay their riders on the woman side and I believe that Canyon, Ribble, Saint Piran, Swift and Trinity all don't pay most of their riders on the mens side. Some are little more than club teams with some sponsors or family putting up the money to fund their kids ventures...

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Awavey | 3 years ago
0 likes

Seems to be some concern growing on social media that Eurosport/GCN wont have any of the classics,except maybe the Ronde, live for their UK viewers this year.

Anyone know any more details?

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Kendalred replied to Awavey | 3 years ago
1 like

Not seen any rumours, but the GCN app still has all the races listed (MSR, Paris-Roubaix, Strade Bianche, LBL, KBK, La Fleche Wallonne etc). 

It would be a massive kick in the teeth for their new GCN+ platform if they launch it then loose the rights! 

EDIT - just seen on a Facebook post that they definitely won't have Omloop (in an answer to a comment) - not sure if there's any other races missing from their coverage alongside this. 

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Awavey replied to Kendalred | 3 years ago
0 likes

Paris Roubaix is supposed to safe because the ASO deal with that, but sorry should have been more specific its the Flanders classics specifically, the likes of Omloop,Gent Wevelgem, Dwars Deer Vlanderen, the Ronde (from next year), Amstel Gold, the exclusive international media rights were all bought just recently by a media company called Infront, and GCN confirmed at the moment they dont have any rights to show those races yet, Eurosport arent saying anything, but the issue is assumed to be Infront are just asking too much money to show these races.

so might be something that gets resolved, might not.

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IanMK | 3 years ago
1 like

In case anyone claims that drivers know the highway code you can now refer them to this. Some of them are pretty scary.
https://www.whatcar.com/news/the-uks-most-misunderstood-road-signs/n19249

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Hirsute replied to IanMK | 3 years ago
0 likes

How precise did you have to be? I didn't say 'with flow' nor without gates. Would I have been marked down as wrong ?

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HLaB | 3 years ago
3 likes

I could be wrong but I thought the government instructed the cops to not prosecute kids under 10 for using the footway. Also to consider why folk in general are intimidated to use the footway.

Separately the footway looks quite wide. I couldn't tell from the illegal camera footage if they were actually using a dedicated cycle facility 🙄

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to HLaB | 3 years ago
4 likes

Nope, but the initial complaint is "all the LTNs...." and I think others have pointed out, there is no LTNs' in that area. However the road has been 20mph for at least 4-5 years judging that the sign in the video in on the same post back until Apr2015.

As an aside, as I was trying to find the junction on the road and noiced two things on StreetView:-
Lots of cyclists are on that road over the years.

This Streeview car appears to do a close pass right after a pinch point. 
 

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Captain Badger replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
1 like

Ther's no F in LTNs....

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Tom_77 replied to HLaB | 3 years ago
5 likes

HLaB wrote:

I could be wrong but I thought the government instructed the cops to not prosecute kids under 10 for using the footway. Also to consider why folk in general are intimidated to use the footway. Separately the footway looks quite wide. I couldn't tell from the illegal camera footage if they were actually using a dedicated cycle facility 🙄

The age of criminal responsibility is 10 (England and Wales) so the police can't prosecute young children for anything. Also, fixed penalty notices can't be issued to anyone under 16.

(Ref - Cycling UK blog)

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wycombewheeler replied to Tom_77 | 3 years ago
4 likes

I was once told I wasn't too old to be taken home in the police van for riding on the pavement. Unfortunately I was too slow to say "thank you very much officer, I'm a bit shaken up after just being forced off the road by a driver."

Think I was 16 at the time.

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AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
16 likes

Re: Filming driver. As someone who spotted this before it was deleted (see yesterdays comments) the driver had many Taxi supporting tweets and had a Taxi logo in his profile pic. Yes, not one of their vehicles but a current or ex cabby definitely. 

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EddyBerckx | 3 years ago
19 likes

That dickhead driver really wants 5 year olds in front of him on the road??

Yes, yes he does. So he can film them illegally before accusing the parent of being an unfit woketard mother on social media blah blah blah. With people like that there will be a problem whatever you do.

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OldRidgeback replied to EddyBerckx | 3 years ago
12 likes

I'm curious if the police will contact him about the driving offences he committed?

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brooksby replied to OldRidgeback | 3 years ago
12 likes

Oooh - I know the answer to that one!  3

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eburtthebike | 3 years ago
19 likes

The speeding, phone using, illegal, dangerous driver perfectly illustrates the amazing human ability to blame other people whilst behaving much worse yourself.  We can only hope that he's learned his lesson and a little humility.

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brooksby replied to eburtthebike | 3 years ago
5 likes

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Philh68 | 3 years ago
13 likes

Speeding driver using their phone, just as well those kids were on the pavement. As an Aussie I find that it being an issue in the   UK quite bizarre - here (NSW) children may ride on pavements to 16yo. The sky hasn't fallen down.

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Jenova20 replied to Philh68 | 3 years ago
5 likes

Philh68 wrote:

Speeding driver using their phone, just as well those kids were on the pavement. As an Aussie I find that it being an issue in the   UK quite bizarre - here (NSW) children may ride on pavements to 16yo. The sky hasn't fallen down.

Government advice is that the police should use common sense before fining people riding on the pavement, and only do so if the person is cycling dangerously, or being a nuisance.

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Captain Badger replied to Jenova20 | 3 years ago
6 likes

Jenova20 wrote:

....

Government advice is that the police should use common sense before fining people riding on the pavement, and only do so if the person is cycling dangerously, or being a nuisance.

Aaaah. Common sense.....

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Philh68 replied to Jenova20 | 3 years ago
4 likes

Discretion is ok for police, they can ignore the stuff they can't be arsed dealing with. The general public are better served by certainty in the law. Parents are much happier knowing that their children are able to ride on the pavement in relative safety, rather than it being at the discretion of law enforcement with the possibility of them being forced into the road because they're perceived a risk to pedestrians. The reason for laws is they resolve the ethical dilemma so we don't have to decide in the heat of the moment.

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Gimpl replied to Philh68 | 3 years ago
2 likes

The main challenge with your approach is that often laws that are brought in have to cover every eventuality and therefore apply to the lowest common denominator. 

Personally I hate this approach as we get further and further into a nanny state, legislating for everything. Much like some individuals getting all hot under the collar about 'how far can we ride during lockdown'. Just use your brain!

Sometimes you know the common sense approach is common sense! 

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sensei replied to Gimpl | 3 years ago
1 like

Gimpl wrote:

The main challenge with your approach is that often laws that are brought in have to cover every eventuality and therefore apply to the lowest common demonitor. 

Personally I hate this approach as we get further and further into a nanny state, legislating for everything. Much like some individuals getting all hot under the collar about 'how far can we ride during lockdown'. Just use your brain!

Sometimes you know the common sense approach is common sense! 

Very few laws cover every eventuality from the offset and as such are updated through loophole cases, which set a judicial precedent. Either way, laws are there to protect people and I don't think strengthening their practical applications is a bad thing. More generally the U.K. has the most cameras per sq ft than any other country in the world so we're already "the nanny state".

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Gimpl replied to sensei | 3 years ago
0 likes

So what you are saying is that laws are brought in that then get progressively more restrictive! 

This is not a good thing when a dose of common sense at the outset will usually suffice - particularly in instances like this one and the how far can I ride question. 

Yes, laws are there to protect people - of course they are. It also seems that some laws are being brought in to protect people from themselves - the lowest common denominator! Maybe my view is outdated but if people are too stupid to realise they are doing something stupid it's their look out!

Not sure what cameras have to do with the application of nanny state new laws though.

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sensei replied to Gimpl | 3 years ago
0 likes

Gimpl wrote:

So what you are saying is that laws are brought in that then get progressively more restrictive! 

This is not a good thing when a dose of common sense at the outset will usually suffice - particularly in instances like this one and the how far can I ride question. 

Yes, laws are there to protect people - of course they are. It also seems that some laws are being brought in to protect people from themselves - the lowest common denominator! Maybe my view is outdated but if people are too stupid to realise they are doing something stupid it's their look out!

Not sure what cameras have to do with the application of nanny state new laws though.

No what I'm saying is that it's almost impossible to cover every eventuality from the offset and eventually a case comes up that the law doesn't cover and if appropriate a new precedent is set. It is simply a process of updating the law as times change. Plus leaving something to "common sense" can bring two very different judgements on identical cases due to each individual seeing things differently, so there would be lots of inconsistency and injustice as a result.
 

I think the bigger problem is that laws aren't enforced as much as they should be and road.cc's close pass collection emphasises that very well.

 

Camera's are inextricably linked as they aid the speed and due process of enforcement. I understand your points, I just see it a little differently that's all.

 

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Philh68 replied to Gimpl | 3 years ago
1 like

Ah the nanny state mission creep myth. Laws are drafted to cover specific situations, they are usually reactionary to circumstance and rarely pre-emptive. Laws so vague as to be wide open to interpretation generally don't stay that way, and laws no longer needed are revoked. Close passing laws here are an example of vague laws - it was already law to not overtake another vehicle too closely, but the non specificity made conviction nigh on impossible and gave neither cyclists or drivers clarity as to a safe distance. Hence the amended law to specify minimum distance.

The pavement riding law here was amended to increase the maximum age from 12 to 16. This was after research found injury rates were higher in children both on road and on pavement, mainly due to inexperience and risk perception. So the law increasing the age cutoff was made to lower the risk level. That's sensible use of laws.

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mdavidford replied to Philh68 | 3 years ago
0 likes

Philh68 wrote:

Hence the amended law to specify minimum distance.

Isn't it the Highway Code that's being (proposed to be) amended, not the law?

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jasecd | 3 years ago
17 likes

Well done Tao - great to see a young rider with a social conscience and prepared to act on it.

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EddyBerckx replied to jasecd | 3 years ago
10 likes

jasecd wrote:

Well done Tao - great to see a young rider with a social conscience and prepared to act on it.

Yup, and can't help thinking some of the older riders should have done it first/wish they'd done it. Actions speak louder than words

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