Councillor under fire over anti-cyclist “w*nking off the Dutch” tweet considering his position; Best ever cycling save? Vuelta "part of the process of getting back", says Froome; Trek join 'How it started. How it's going' bandwagon + more on the live blog

Cllr Walker was heavily criticised for appearing to endorse the tweet above that says cyclists "are constantly w*nking off the Dutch", and suggests such people should move to the Netherlands. He is now being investigated by Oxfordshire County Council following a number of complaints about his conduct. 

After first issuing a statement apologising for any offence caused, Walker has now took to Twitter to say that he is "taking a break" from social media in the wake of the row. He said: 

"I’m going to take some time off Twitter. It’s been a crazy few days after my inappropriate tweet about cyclists which has resulted in several complaints to the council. My apologies again to anyone who was offended this was not my intention.

"I’ve always been one to speak my mind forgetting that as elected officials we have a responsibility to ensure we balance personal and professional opinions. I’m acutely aware my tweets are monitored by many in the hope I trip up. It’s right our monitoring officer now investigates the complaints fully and fairly.

"In the meantime I guess I need to decide if having the huge responsibility of highways in Oxfordshire and being a councillor is really right for me. I love the role and the incredible team at OCC but sometimes all this mentally takes its toll and personal life should always come first."

🏁What a great feat accomplished by @ben_oconnor95! Watch now the Last Km of Stage 17 of #Giro d’Italia 2020!

🏁Che impresa! Riguarda l'ultimo km della Tappa 17 del #Giro d'Italia 2020! pic.twitter.com/yvxlEM2DY4

— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) October 21, 2020

All the more impressive after getting narrowly beaten in a head-to-head with Jan Tratnik on stage 16, the Australian got his revenge today with a sweet solo victory on the slopes of Madonna di Campiglio. 

With the move reeled back in it's a select lead group taking on this tough climb. Carapaz in green and @ivansosacuervo are up there in this selection #LaVuelta20

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) October 21, 2020

Meanwhile at the Vuelta, there's just over 20km to go and Richard Carapaz was pushing the pace. The move was reeled back, and a small pack has now formed at the front. 

Our latest road.cc reader opinion piece is itself generating plenty of opinions... what do you think? 

“You had one job”https://t.co/tj2GlQdVqT

— Angry People in Local Newspapers (@angrypiln) October 21, 2020

An Auckland Transport spokesman said the possum got painted over because it was "missed on a dark country road", apparently. 

Humberside police say the driver, in a blue BMW, hit two boys who were riding bikes when the incident happened at around 6pm on Monday evening. 

One of the boys died in hospital, and the other is still in a criticial condition. The 30-year-old driver has been arrested "on suspicion of driving offences in connection with the collision" according to police, and he remains in custody. 

Officers are appealing for witnesses, and anyone who saw either vehicle prior to the collision, or anyone with dashcam footage from the area at the time. Anyone with information is asked to called 101 quoting log 488 of 19 October. 

Baptism by fire for the first day back in a grand tour since my crash! 🔥 @lavuelta knows how to dish out the pain 😆 All part of the process in getting back! Looking forward to the fight over the next 3 weeks 👊
📸 @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/pzw1qS8BbZ

— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) October 21, 2020

Have the goalposts moved, or did the two-time Vuelta winner know he wasn't going to be in contention for the GC in the first place? Plenty of fans have chimed in to wish Froome the best, hoping that he'll be back to his unbeatable best one day. 

Cllr Liam Walker, a Conservative who is Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet member for Highways Delivery and Operations believe it or not, has been forced to backtrack after replying to the tweet, which also suggests that cyclists should "f*ck off over" to the Netherlands. 

Who knew that as the weather got worse all those temporary measures wouldn’t get used..... cycling went up during lockdown because people had time on their hands. Now they are back to work & on school run they need their cars. This was obvious months ago. https://t.co/cjpWAKXYqe

— Cllr Liam Walker (@_Liam_Walker_) October 19, 2020

I’m well aware of that. It’s not a lack of vision it’s the reality of where does the funding for all this come from? I’m tired of being trolled by Oxford cycling groups always demanding more with no plan how to fund these things.

— Cllr Liam Walker (@_Liam_Walker_) October 20, 2020

What a piss poor comparison 🤦🏻‍♂️ so every cyclist is a fair weather rider ! You are a tool ! And you are a councillor 😂😂😂 fml 🤦🏻‍♂️ think you might find cycling went up due to HOW SAFE it was because of no cars.

— AtotheJ (@AtotheJ19) October 19, 2020

Cllr Walker has now deleted the reply, that originally appeared under a thread in which he appeared to criticise new cycle lanes installed during the pandemic. He claimed that cycling levels were going down as the weather turned and people return to work and the school run, while a number of people replied arguing that cycling levels are going down again because of increased danger on the roads due to more motor vehicle traffic. 

Cllr Walker has (sort of) apologised for his tweet, saying that he has deleted it because reading "all sort of expletives" about himself "takes its toll": 

“I am sorry if anyone was offended, it was just a tongue-in-cheek comment off the back of that article", Walker told the Oxford Mail. 

“Obviously I did not say it, I implied I agreed with the view.

“I hear a lot about what is going on in Holland but we are not the same as Holland. We are trying to do the best we can to improve infrastructure but with restricted funding.”

Oxfordshire County Council confirmed that they had received a number of complaints about Cllr Walker's conduct, with a spokesperson saying: “Oxfordshire County Council has received complaints about this matter, and they will be investigated by the monitoring officer.

“The council has a member code of conduct and has adopted a complaints procedure for assessing whether this has been breached. The monitoring officer will investigate this matter over the next few days in accordance with that procedure.”

don’t forget to wear your bicycle helmet, it will help with working out where your head was for identification purposes pic.twitter.com/atFvazIqX9

— Jo Burt (@VecchioJo) October 21, 2020

*It's actually up to you, but that would ruin this dark tweet from road.cc contributor Jo Burt.