“Vansplaining”: tweet bashing Van Aert’s gear choices mocked; Cycling UK CEO warns of return to “pre-COVID era”; Team bike merry-go-round; Richmond Park congestion anger; Moto rider who collided with Alaphilippe “feels guilty” + more on the live blog

Spent the weekend digging out your overshoes, gloves and all those other bits that make getting out the door that bit more laborious? Here’s what you’ve missed on road.cc… 

Julian Alaphilippe’s Tour of Flanders ends as he breaks hand in crashwith race motorbike

Mathieu van der Poel outsprints Wout Van Aert to win Tour of Flanders

Grant Shapps backtracks on cycling and walking pledge

Bradley Wiggins rates TT positions of the peloton

Shocking video of light truck driver ramming cyclist off bike sparks ‘debate’ online

RideLondon-Surrey 100: Surrey County Council withdraws support beyond 2021, despite majority wanting sportive to continue

Banksy claims new artwork next to broken bike, and takes pop at Government ‘reskilling’ poster

Giro d’Italia Stage 15: Tao Geoghegan Hart wins at Piancavallo and moves fourth overall

Monday pic.twitter.com/EMytklzPde

— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) October 19, 2020

Just five more sleeps till the weekend folks… 

Hey Sep, no worries! It can happen in the heat of the moment. We are sorry about the near miss, too! 🙈

— Team Sunweb (@TeamSunweb) October 18, 2020

The apology from the EF Pro Cycling rider was accepted by Sunweb on social media… maybe he’s also put out that he didn’t get to wear a super cool duck-themed kit like his teammates at the Giro? 

If you weren’t aware, Manchester’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner will be appearing on the famous Radio 4 show on 25h October. There’s already been some speculation on what Boardman’s top tunes will be… what do you reckon?

‘Ferry across the Mersey’ or one Beatles tune. No Bunnymen, though one Teardrop Explodes track – I’m gonna say ‘Treason.’ Also, ‘Seven minutes to Midnight’ by Wah! Heat, but nothing by Pink Military. Can’t see ‘You spin me round’ by Pete Burns – unless Sally has insisted.

— Kenny Pryde (@Kenny_Pryde) October 18, 2020

Lovely bicycle ride in the park this morning @RichmondCycling @theroyalparks pic.twitter.com/GPuvXycu0D

— Ian Brennan (@nannerb) October 18, 2020

After a temporary ban on driving through the popular London park made cycling in it quite pleasant for a few months, weekend rides now consist of dodging traffic if this scene is anything to go by. 

Feeling proud of your “sensitive management” of a National Nature Reserve, @theroyalparks?? 🤦‍♀️

A noisy polluting shambles. Stop treating the bridleways of Richmond Park as an urban by-pass.

Revert to banning through motor traffic. That worked so much better earlier this year.

— shamrocksoup🇪🇺🦔 (@ShamrockSoup) October 18, 2020

Hold your fire for November, we think: final consultation on the Movement Strategy, and everything to play for.

— Richmond Cycling Campaign (@RichmondCycling) October 18, 2020

We cycled there today. The amount of vehicle traffic today was nuts. We didn’t even attempt to cycle on the roads today with the kids. Such a step backwards from June/July.

— P B (@EPPB18) October 18, 2020

Chargeable car parking can’t come soon enough!

— Tim Lorimer (@bluetube43) October 18, 2020

The Royal Parks’ decision to reopen the park to rat-running drivers in August was slammed as “reckless and drastic” by campaigners at the time, and once again hundreds of people have been voicing their displeasure at these scenes since yesterday evening. Some have suggested that Royal Parks should charged for driving in the park, while others have called for a return to the ban on cars that was in force through the early parts of lockdown. 

Richmond Cycling Campaign have urged people to share their thoughts during the upcoming consultation on the Royal Parks’ Movement Strategy, which is pencilled to run between November and December. 

onsultation is November – please be ready to share your thoughts then!

Jumbo-Visma general manager Richard Plugge says the team is now “complete”, announcing a full team roster including three-time world champion Marianne Vos and British rider Anna Henderson on the day of the launch. They will be managed by Esra Tromp, the former team manager of the Parkhotel Valkenburg women’s team, who says the ambition is to “build the best women’s team in the world”. 

The word is out! The release of a new team: Team Jumbo Visma Women. I am happy to announce I will be the team manager of team Jumbo Visma Women😊 To make a new beginning makes you excited for the future but a good moment to see what happened to make a next step.

— Esra (@Esratromp) October 19, 2020

The existing Parkhotel Valkenburg team will continue as a development squad to feed into the elite Jumbo-Visma team. Here is the full roster: 

Marianne Vos (NED)
Jip van den Bos (NED) 
Riejanne Markus (NED)
Anouska Koster (NED)
Nancy van der Burg (NED)
Romy Kasper (GER)
Aafke Soet (NED)
Teuntje Beekhuis (NED)
Julie van de Velde (BEL)
Pernille Mathiesen (DEN)
Karlijn Swinkels (NED)
Anna Henderson (GBR)

If you’re not familiar with social media’s latest craze, the idea is to provide a visual update on your life, the world or a particular topic. Here are a couple of our favourite cycling-themed posts from the last few days. One positive, one not so much…

How it started – how it’s going #RVV20 pic.twitter.com/mSgOHj4AYR

— Ginevra (@ginevragarga) October 18, 2020

How it started. How it’s going. pic.twitter.com/4neRc23dlG

— Bristol Shitfrastructure (@shitfrastructur) October 17, 2020

🇫🇷 😱 CHUTE D’ALAPHILIPPE ! Quelle terrible fin de saison pour le Français…

Le champion du monde était en train de parler avec son DS et n’a pas vu la moto garée sur la droite de la route, il ne repartira pas 😨#LesRP #HomeOfCycling pic.twitter.com/4oe0ryOJxB

— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) October 18, 2020

In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, the 64-year-old former policeman who was riding the race motorbike that collided with Alaphilippe has defended his actions. Eddy Lissens said: “The lead of the front group was more than 20 seconds.

At that moment I decided, together with Shimano’s bike, to take up my post behind the leaders. We let ourselves hang back, the TV crew went on the left side of the road and we chose the right side. 

“Should we have gone on the other side too? Anyone who says such a thing has never ridden a race. I didn’t do anything unusual. Such things happen 100 times in a match. This was just an unfortunate moment.”

Nevertheless, he also expressed regret over the incident, apologising at the time and saying that he has already spoken to members of the Quick-Step entourage: 

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years and something like this has never happened to me”, said Lissens.

“I feel sorry for Alaphilippe. His injuries are bad, but he also had the chance to win the race and that really hit me hard. 

“…I feel guilty, even though I can’t do anything about it.”

X-rays confirmed that Alaphilippe broke the metacarpal 2 and 4 bones on his right hand, and he is due to undergo an operation today. 

Gosh, those were the days in the 1990s – when you had paper advertising hoardings that were easily amendable. https://t.co/PKfhjFa7Pb

— Streets for people (@BrendaPuech) October 18, 2020

We understand this photo was taken in the 90’s, “when you had paper advertising hoardings that were easily amendable” according to Brenda Puech, the person in the photo. Of course, it’s just as relevant today. 

The UCI have just issued a statement confirming that while no riders tested positive, two team staff members – one from Bahrain-McLaren and the other from Team Sunweb – did. Full story to follow. 

Look of the state of it @LBRUT
Get those cars out.

— 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐲 🎨 🖌️ 🌳 🐈‍⬛👽🌝🚲 (@JustinBaileyart) October 19, 2020

We’ve had quite a response to our earlier coverage of the congested scenes in Richmond Park; although Merv Charles claims that the photo was misleading considering the scenes in the rest of the park, saying that the photo was taken near a car park. He added: “The rat runs of Sawyers & Queens road were pretty much traffic free yesterday.”

Do you think Royal Parks should re-introduce the motor vehicle ban that was brought in during lockdown? 

Thank you to these two incredible riders who made a great show yesterday. The photo show true sportsmanship. #rvv pic.twitter.com/YsHAfe4F7m

— Merijn Zeeman (@merijnzeeman) October 19, 2020

There has been a bit of boxing-style trash talking reported over the past few days, but it seems there’s plenty of mutual respect between the prodigal pair really.

Hot off the press and the team’s second big announcement of the day is that they will be parting with the Bianchi celeste and riding Cervélo bikes from 2021. Here’s the statement, more to follow: 

The Dutch-based team is already famed for athletes such as Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert and Tom Dumoulin. However we’re proud to announce that Cervélo is also collaborating on the development of a new women’s programme for the team that already has among others Marianne Vos signed up for next season.

With the R5 disc, S5, P5 and Caledonia the teams riders have the choice to select the most suitable bike for any race making the world’s fastest riders even faster and propelling them towards the biggest titles in cycling. Our composites and aerodynamics engineers will also be developing new products to help reach
the highest of goals as the partnership unfolds.

Reserve carbon wheels, co-designed by Cervélo, will equip the women’s and development teams.

Cervélo’s Managing Director Nick McAdams says, ‘We are very proud to partner with Team Jumbo-Visma. We’ve been involved in World Tour racing for a long time and with that comes access to the best athletes and testing for our bikes. As one of the best teams in the world, TJV are made up of world class riders racing at the sport’s highest levels. That knowledge and feedback will help us develop products to
make all riders faster. We are very much looking forward to our cooperation and to seeing the team riding Cervélo from next season.

I also want to use this opportunity to thank Team Sunweb for inviting Cervélo to be part of their program and delivering some exciting moments and great results these past two seasons.

Richard Plugge, managing director of Team Jumbo-Visma: “This is a great step for our team. Cervélo is a fantastic brand and an industry leader by technology. We are very happy that our cycling teams will be riding on Cervélo from next year. I am confident that we can further innovate to build even faster bikes together. Working together and striving for the best is our daily objective.”

The Dutchman is excited about the collaboration. “We look forward with confidence to work with Cervélo. The brand is part of Pon, just like us they are a Dutch global company. It is great that two Dutch brands that make a global impact have found each other.”

It’s all change, as it’s now confirmed that Bianchi have found a new home at GreenEdge cycling (celeste is kind of green, so guess it makes more sense). A statement reads: “Cervélo will provide the bikes for Team Jumbo-Visma from next year while Bianchi – which currently supplies Team Jumbo-Visma – moves on to partner Australia’s GreenEDGE cycling.”

Meanwhile, Sunweb will switch from Cervélo to Scott. The statement is here. 

IL pirata Marco Pantani /Bianchi ❤️

— Yet (@yet7171) October 19, 2020

👀https://t.co/eigFGhqZmD pic.twitter.com/w4msjcLngc

— Cervélo (@cervelo) October 19, 2020

pic.twitter.com/XH0chV2Bvm

— billybomb30 (@billybomb30) October 19, 2020

Thanks for the ride @cervelo.🤩🚲

Take a look back at some of our best bits aboard our noble #S5, #R5 and #P5! Hopefully with still some more to come.😉

📸 https://t.co/p3PDi2jEhO pic.twitter.com/KpdlnOe47o

— Team Sunweb (@TeamSunweb) October 19, 2020

Musical bikes

— Top Paver™️ 🌐 (@toppave) October 19, 2020

Plenty to discuss and mull over who will be riding what next year… which new team bike do you reckon will be the most handsomest? 

Starting as the CEO of the charity today, Mitchell has vowed to help maintain the increased levels of cycling seen in Britain during the pandemic, and has urged councils to resist pressure from a “minority of people” who are against low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), cycle lanes and wider pavements.

She said: “We’re at a crossroads in the UK. We have to ask ourselves whether we want a return to the bad old ways of congested cities, polluted unsafe streets and parents feeling they have no choice but to drive on the school run, or whether we want something better.

“Funding and guidance released by national governments for local councils to improve cycling has seen a series of measures including cycle lanes, widened pavements, “school streets” and low traffic neighbourhoods employed at a local level to great success.

“These have largely been well received by residents, though Cycling UK is concerned councils are under pressure from a minority of people who are resistant to the positive impact these changes could bring.

“Lockdown showed that the people of the UK want to get out on their bikes but only if conditions are made to feel safer. The vast majority of people support councils’ improvements for cycling. We can’t – and I won’t – let a small minority of people pressure our councils and governments into going back to a pre-Covid era that put motorists first.

“It is my, and Cycling UK’s, mission to keep Britain cycling, ensuring people have a choice over how they can travel safely.”

https://t.co/W7XHAZKa5v

— LTT (@Long_Tailed_Tit) October 18, 2020

Back to matters on the home front now after that spontaneous flurry of bike sponsor announcements… and after Cycling UK’s new CEO warned against council’s prioritising the voices of a minority when it comes to cycle lanes and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (see below), the debate over Low Traffic Neighbourhoods is raging on and getting ugly in places. 

Imperial College have denied that someone claiming to be an epidemiologist at the university works for them, as this person appears to be using their self-appointed expertise to argue against LTNs and cycle lanes in London. The account holder has claimed, amongst other things, that cycling campaigners have “infiltrated political parties and are using targetted harassment to try to silence opponents”, and that cycle lanes on main roads “make no sense due to increased risk from air pollution & accidents”. Imperial College say they have reported the account holder to Twitter for impersonation. 

I saw a cyclist not wearing a plastic hat tho…….

— cycling weakly (@chute55uk) October 19, 2020

This week’s edition comes to you from an idiot who has done it before, and will most likely do it again… 

Hate this shit, analysis is fine but WvA probably has figured out how gears work by now. pic.twitter.com/BVQYWd73SZ

— Joe Earley (@joeearley) October 19, 2020

Vansplaining

— Richard Moore (@richardmoore73) October 19, 2020

🤣😂🤣 I think Wout knows

— Ross (@sumsinmyhead) October 19, 2020

It seems social media doesn’t have much time for this analysis, suggesting Van Aert didn’t choose his gears correctly in a photo finish with Mathieu van der Poel at the Tour of Flanders. Some are claiming the anonymous tweeter is simply an armchair analyst (we don’t know that, they could be a bona fide cycling expert after all). 

While it’s true that Van Aert was beaten, we’re going to say that it’s probably quite unlikely whoever this is knows more about what it takes to contest a sprint, and which gears are best to use, against one of the world’s best cyclists than the Belgian… who himself is one of the world’s best cyclists. 

If you want to scrutinise Van Aert’s tekkers for yourself, his ride upload on Strava can be found here.

Chapeau to Richard Moore for the quality pun.