Newspaper highlights petition for cyclists to be banned from local road... but it's only been signed four times; Pogačar wins FIFTH Giro stage; Cyclist feels "like a criminal" due to town centre ban; "Living nightmare" doping case + more on the live blog

> Near Miss of the Day 908: cyclist praises swift punishment of driver after shocking close pass but slams "sorry state of affairs" with third-party reporting in Scotland

> Giant joins Specialized and Trek in offering huge discounts on several of its mountain and gravel bikes

A cyclist new to Bedford has spoken out about its controversial cycling ban in the town centre after she was "left feeling like a criminal" when stopped and fined by "intimidating looking" officers. Writing to the local paper, the Bedford Independent, Karyn Pemberton said she had no idea she wasn't allowed to cycle through the town centre.

"I am fairly new to Bedford and have so far felt it to be very welcoming, lovely and quite a safe place to live. That is until the other day, when I was innocently cycling through the town centre, and was stopped by an intimidating looking 'officer' of sorts, who proceeded to tell me I had committed an offence and was being fined £75 for cycling in a pedestrian-only zone," she said.

> Bedford cyclists protest "discriminatory" town centre bike ban

"I was literally riding for less than a minute in an area I had assumed was OK, helped by the fact that there are scooters and kids cycling around everywhere in town, so not knowing about any restrictions, one would assume it was fine. I am shocked and extremely angry, and I feel I have been treated like a criminal when I am an honest citizen who made an accidental error, unaware of this cycling 'ban' in certain areas.

"The area was empty too, so I would never have been posing a danger to anyone. Clearly, something is very, very wrong with this, I am questioning the very purpose of this ban. If the aim is to honestly prevent cycling that is a potential danger to others in the pedestrian area, it is plainly not working. I've seen several cyclists, especially young men, cycle through at some speed, with no regard for people around them, including on market days.

> Bedford cycling ban to remain despite consultation showing most people want it scrapped

"I can't see them stopping for enforcement, giving their details as I did, and paying a large fine. So, the system is basically penalising law-abiding people, visitors, those new to the town and most probably elderly people who cycle slowly and carefully, and benefit from locking up their bikes close to where they need to go.

"One thing is certain, I feel less inclined to go into the town centre at all now. I am sure there are plenty of others that feel the same, that have had the same awful thing happen to them, and are wanting to now avoid the centre."

We've reported numerous similar town centre cycling bans across England in recent times, often enforced through Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) with a stated aim to tackle anti-social behaviour. 

Active travel charity Cycling UK has long been a prominent critic of PSPOs, which it says have the effect of criminalising cycling, with head of campaigns Duncan Dollimore stating that the orders only discourage people from riding bikes into town.

> "Why pick on a lone female cyclist?" Cyclist slapped with £100 fine – for riding on a cycle path

In December, North East Lincolnshire Council said it had "escalated" and "intensified" its "war on cycling menaces" by implementing a complete ban on riding a bike in pedestrianised zones, as part of a wider crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

The council and its enforcement officers have come in for criticism during the five years the PSPO has been in place, locals accusing council officers of targeting "old and slow" cyclists after a pensioner was fined for riding through the town in 2022. Barrie Enderby, who was 82 at the time, told the council to "stick it up your arse" after being fined £100 for breaching the order.

In November, Coventry too introduced a PSPO preventing e-bike use in pedestrianised areas, a measure the former West Midlands' Walking and Cycling Commissioner Adam Tranter slammed as "reckless" and something that will "discourage cycling and penalise responsible cyclists".

Yesterday, we reported that "rogue" wardens working for a local council have been accused of "lying in wait" to catch Colchester cyclists riding on the pavement, after two riders were recently fined £100 for briefly mounting a footpath to avoid navigating a notoriously busy roundabout and its "thick and fast motor traffic", a penalty described by one of the cyclists involved as "unjustified" and "a bit farcical".

Just like being home… 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🫣🤣#GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/E2W6KEie9h

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) May 21, 2024

> Removal of safety wands and dividers from cycle lane will "make it safer for all road users", claims council – but cyclists say plan is "vindictive and insane"

Political writer for the Guardian newspaper Peter Walker has an opinion piece published in today's edition analysing the new dangerous cycling law and concluding that it "will achieve pretty much nothing".

"In the six days since a law to prosecute dangerous cyclists was announced, somewhere close to 30 people will have been killed on UK roads, none of them struck by bikes," the piece begins.

It stands in stark contrast to much of the "Lycra lout" shouty columns seen in the Telegraph, Times and Express in recent days, Walker calling out the "out-grouping" of cyclists seen in other sections of the press.

The new dangerous cycling offence is a move, he concludes, that "reflects wider state of politics around active travel — arguing around the margins and doing little to change lives for better".

Another bit of Tuesday reading that we're happy to recommend.

British pro cyclist Lizzy Banks, who has represented Great Britain at the World Championships and ridden for WorldTour team EF Education–Tibco–SVB, has penned an at-length blog detailing an "incredibly dark" nine-month ordeal that left her "silently living my worst nightmare" after a positive anti-doping test last summer. 

I have some news. I’ve been offline for a really long time now. I’m afraid the reason isn’t a very nice one & too complicated to explain on social media so I have written everything up and put it on a website. Please head to https://t.co/3kaV1vD1y3 to read the full story. 1/4

— Lizzy Banks (@ElizzyBanks) May 21, 2024

Ultimately, last month UKAD (UK Anti-Doping) found that Banks held "no fault or negligence" for the chlortalidone and formoterol found in her system, but in what she called "a landmark case", they accepted this without her having identified the source of the contamination.

On 28 July last year, Banks was notified of an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for formoterol, a "medication I have been using for asthma for four years was detected at a concentration in line with how I have been prescribed it", and chlortalidone, a diuretic, which was "detected at a low concentration indicative of contamination".

To get to the point of UKAD accepting the conclusion that Banks had "no fault or negligence" regarding the positive took nine months of stress, endless reading of anti-doping rules and €40,000 of her own money spent.

"This process has cost me a huge amount, literally and metaphorically. My husband and I spent every penny of our savings and the huge mental toll has left deep scars," Banks wrote in an in-depth blog piece recalling the tale from start to finish and that can be read in full here.

"But somehow, through it all, I knew I had to fight. Right from the start, I learnt of other athletes in the similar situations with a contamination of chlortalidone, whose lives and careers were also being torn apart. 

"Prior to being completely cleared of any wrongdoing, I was repeatedly told by UKAD and lawyers that I would receive a two-year ban. This simply didn't make sense. No party thought I had 'consumed' chlortalidone with any intent, yet that's how the system works and my life continued to be torn apart for nothing.

"It is difficult to emphasise enough how significant UKAD's finding is that I bore 'no fault or negligence'. To put it in black and white, I understand that this is the first time that UKAD has ever issued a finding of 'no fault or negligence' (and therefore zero sanction) when the athlete has not specifically identified the exact source of the contamination."

4/4 as there was nothing I could say. As you will read, the truth is that I haven’t been okay. I’ve been silently living my worst nightmare. Please know that I read every message and I was so grateful for the kindness at what has been an incredibly dark time.

— Lizzy Banks (@ElizzyBanks) May 21, 2024

 From initial suspicion about contamination from anaesthetic and medication used by the dentist the day before the positive test to endless hours trying to trace, "shattered" mental health, a paranoia about taking legitimate and approved medication, anxiety that "crippled", Banks' story shows the financial and emotional stress that she went through during the months of investigation.

"You are being charged for a crime, but you are also being told that the police aren't going to investigate anything themselves. You are guilty until proven innocent and you have to pay every penny of the investigation yourself with no help from the police," she said.

"So that's it. Everything points to contamination, but that's what UKAD says. Two-year ban unless you can find that needle in that barn of haystacks. Oh and by the way, that needle was put there three months ago. The haystacks aren't there anymore but good luck finding them and that needle.

"I had spent in excess of 38,000 euros investigating this case. That included every penny of savings that my husband and I had accrued as well as money borrowed from both mine and my husband's family. These costs barely scratched the surface of the initial investigation. Furthermore, I was no longer receiving an income due to the provisional suspension which compounded the financial and emotional stress.

"I still had the perpetually sickening feeling that my life was over. My mental health had been ripped to shreds. I consistently felt that I had lost everything, that I would never be able to work due to my name being tarnished, that when the world and the cycling community finally found out I would be labelled as a doper and discarded by all those who I thought cared about me. That I would lose my integrity which is so deeply entrenched in the core of all my beliefs and actions. This is one of the things that hurt the most. I became deeply depressed. Over the months, it worsened and I started to have suicidal thoughts. It was terrifying for me and deeply harrowing for my husband."

Following a hair test that "unsurprisingly indicated low-level [chlortalidone] contamination in a short period just preceding my anti-doping test" UKAD "did a full 180" and found Banks "to bear no fault or negligence and therefore would be subject to no sanction and no period of ineligibility".

There really are too many twists and extra details to the story to summarise exhaustively in a live blog post or news story, so we'd recommend taking a read of Banks' full blog post recalling the ordeal from the initial UKAD email last July through to the present day. It's an estimated 67-minute-long read, according to the blog page, so maybe save it for your lunch break. You can read it here...