“This is why drivers hate us”: Fuming Mini driver goes off-road to overtake huge group of cyclists, as “entitled” riders accused of “blocking whole road”; Van der Poel vaper “plain stupid”; Strava “shambles”; Ineos junior team link + more on the live blog

> “Common sense isn’t that common”: Ice cream van owner has meltdown over bikes blocking door… after parking beside cycle racks

Development squads, eh? You wait a decade-and-a-half for one to show up, then three come along at once. Or at least that’s the case with the Ineos Grenadiers, anyway.

Last Thursday, Ineos unveiled the 12-man lineup for its new U23 Racing Academy, featuring, most notably, individual pursuit world champion Josh Charlton, who will be testing himself on the road in Ineos’ garish orange colours in 2026.

Comprising a UCI Continental team and elite young rider development programmes, Ineos says its Racing Academy will be “the cornerstone of the Grenadiers’ performance pathway”, providing a structured environment that mirrors the standards of the WorldTour, “preparing young riders for the rigours of racing as a team at elite level”.

And this morning, Ineos underlined its newfound commitment to developing young talent (as long as they’re male, of course) by announcing a partnership with newly formed British junior team, camsmajaco, which formed this winter following the merger of the Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco and Fensham Howes–MAS-CAMS squads.

As part of the relationship between the two British teams, camsmajaco will race an international and domestic calendar in 2026, with support from the Ineos performance structure, including coaching, education, development input, and access to the WorldTour squad’s European service course.

Camsmajaco will become Ineos’ second junior feeder team, after the North American U19 squad Hot Tubes, and will “create a new talent pathway for young British cyclists”, Ineos says.

Geraint Thomas, Ineos’ new director of racing and the public face of the team’s rebuild (who knows a thing or two about development programmes thanks to his time in the British Cycling Academy), said in a statement: “This UK-based partnership’s a really important part of our talent identification and development programme.

“The best young British riders will now be able to access the support of the Ineos Grenadiers and Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy, while continuing to benefit from two outstanding junior programmes.

“This is exactly the kind of start these young riders need and I look forward to seeing the best of their generation come through over the next few years.”

“This is not just a great moment for our newly formed team in 2026 and beyond, but also for the future of Britain’s cycling talent,” added Fensham Howes–MAS-CAMS founder, new camsmajaco co-lead, and dad of Tom and Joe, Giles Pidcock.

“Both of our junior teams have already seen a number of our riders go on to reach the WorldTour, with many more on development programmes. Now we can provide a much clearer bridge to supporting this next step beyond the junior ranks.”

And at least they won’t have to wear that terrible kit right away, that’s a plus.

Mathieu van der Poel has been the target of quite a few things lobbed in his direction by cycling ‘fans’ unhappy at his dominance over the years – spit, beer, rival-branded caps.

And now, as Dan reported on the live blog yesterday, we can now add the sickly sweet, hateful aroma of vape smoke to the list, after an unruly spectator puffed on his PlayStation controller and blew its contents straight into Van der Poel’s face, as the Dutch superstar navigated the final lap of another dominant winning display at the X2O Trofee Hofstade in Belgium.

??? | Het was zo’n prachtige cross na 17 jaar weer in Hofstade, maar dan is daar toch een smet. Een toeschouwer blaast zijn sigarettenrook in het gezicht van koploper Mathieu van der Poel. ??

? Stream cross op HBO Max! pic.twitter.com/80XE081Nij

— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) December 22, 2025

“Yes, I felt it. That was right before the finish, wasn’t it? I don’t know if it was intentional, because I didn’t see,” Van der Poel, who was forced to turn his head when the cloud of strawberry-scented nonsense hit him, told Sporza after the race.

His Alpecin-Deceuninck manager Christoph Roodhooft was more scathing, describing the latest attempt to target Van der Poel at a race as “silly”.

“I don’t really want to say anything more about it. Isn’t reacting to something so stupid just plain stupid? It’s simply inappropriate and improper,” Roodhooft said.

“It’s a shame that something so small gets so much attention. All the riders were very positive, this is a fantastic course… That’s much more important to take home than an action like this.”

To be honest, I can see why Van der Poel is thinking about hanging up his cyclocross bike…

When you’re so desperate to buy the latest outdoor gear before Christmas, you have no qualms about parking in the cycle lane… ignoring the thousands of other spaces on offer elsewhere:

Just the 5 cars in the cycle lane by Arthurs Quay today. Literally thousands of parking spots in the area.

[image or embed]

— Limerick Urban Cycling (@lmkurbancycling.bsky.social) December 21, 2025 at 1:23 PM

As regular readers of the live blog know, I’m not a massive Strava fan. Never used it, in fact. But I know a lot of people like the app’s Year in Sport, a kind of Spotify Wrapped for people who ride bikes. And then like to pore over stats related to their bike riding.

Well, they did like it anyway, until they found out they have to pay for Strava’s premium subscription to access their Year in Sport results.

“Shambles Strava putting your Year in Sport behind a paywall,” The Big Bird wrote on Twitter. “You did this shit a few years ago and I thought you’d wised up as wasn’t behind a paywall last year. You can jog on! Way to piss people off!”

And Forrest Corbett said: “The more Strava puts behind a paywall, the more they are antagonistic towards partners and the less they treat their users with respect, the less likely I am to ever be a subscriber again.”

> Is Strava still worth paying for? As the price of cycling continues to rise and rise, we weigh up the pros and cons of Strava’s Premium tier

“Strava’s Year in Sport is such a low-effort summary. There are never really any interesting insights and it doesn’t delineate sports very well. It’s not worth subscribing for!” added Dani on Reddit.

However, not everyone was shocked that Strava’s yearly recap was behind a paywall.

“I’m quite surprised people are mad about this… everything can’t be free, then people can’t get paid,” Ben noted. “I use Strava most days, it’s pretty much ad free, I feel like it’s worth the money.”

Meanwhile, on their FAQs page, Strava did their best (kind of) to summarise the reasons behind the move.

“With the relaunch of our subscription this year, we wanted to clarify the core benefits of Strava – uploading activities, finding your community, sharing and giving kudos – remain as accessible as possible,” the fitness company said.

“The benefit of the subscription ensures that myriad activities get transformed into insights that can be tracked, assessed and benchmarked along a fitness journey. The added layer of insights and storytelling, including Year in Sport and monthly stat cards for example, are now unlocked via subscription.”

Ah, okay, I get it. I think…

I’ll just leave this here for you to assess its comic merits:

> Scribe promises its wheels are the “ultimate upgrade without the elite price tag”, plus more cool things from Look, Wahoo, Assos and Coospo

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Bike Bus Camden (@bikebuscamden)

Tibor Del Grosso will have a great Christmas this year, after the 22-year-old Dutch champion nabbed his first ever elite cyclocross series win at the Superprestige in Heusden-Zolder this afternoon.

And not only that, he did it by outsprinting his childhood hero (and five-time winner at Zolder) Wout van Aert in a brilliant, closely fought duel:

TIBOR DEL GROSSO WINS A THRILLER IN ZOLDER ?

The young Dutchman out-sprints five-time winner Wout van Aert to claim the victory ? pic.twitter.com/sWqxweS3xV

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) December 23, 2025

What a moment for young Tibor.

And earlier, in the women’s race, French champion Amandine Fouquenet soloed to a surprise, and very impressive, victory, taking advantage of cyclocrosser of the moment Lucinda Brand’s decision to take it slightly easier on the run-up to Christmas:

A big win for Amandine Fouquenet ?‍?

The Frenchwoman claims her first win of the Superprestige series in Heusden-Zolder. pic.twitter.com/2jKbPHdhVj

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) December 23, 2025

Meanwhile, the battle for second (ultimately taken by Blanka Vas) was a fiesty affair, to say the least:

No love lost in the battle for second ?

Tempers were fraying in Zolder ? pic.twitter.com/YGTVlhnJ7I

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) December 23, 2025

Neilson Powless says he is targeting a big win in the classics next spring, after inking a new deal with EF Education-EasyPost that will tie him to the American squad until the end of 2029.

Since joining EF from Visma-Lease a Bike in 2020, Powless has cemented his status as a perennial contender in cycling’s one-day races, winning Clásica de San Sebastián in 2021 before – inspired the 2022 Tour de France’s foray onto the cobbles – trying his hand at the Flemish classics, an abrupt about-turn from his early reputation as a climber.

The 29-year-old has since achieved top tens in all the monuments bar Paris-Roubaix and earlier this year pulled off arguably the shock of the spring by outsmarting his old Visma teammates – despite being outnumbered three to one in the finale – and outsprinting Wout van Aert to take a stunning victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen.

And buoyed by that sensational win, Powless is out for more next year.

Zac Williams/SWpix.com

“I don’t think I ever would have realised that I could be a classics rider until I joined this team,” the American said in a statement announcing his contract extension with EF.

“This team is famous for its outside-of-the-box tactics. Letting me go to the classics, or the way Ben [Healy] raced into the yellow jersey at the Tour, or just the way we race the Tour every year, shows that. It makes it a really fun team to race for.

“Our tactics are always exciting and there are a lot of opportunities here for a lot of guys. That has helped me progress. I have found my niche in cycling here. Being opportunistic in hard, hard races has really paid off. That’s the way I’ve learned to race and the way I want to keep racing. This team is just the perfect environment for that.”

Zac Williams/SWpix.com

He continued: “I’ve transitioned into this opportunistic one-day racer, who’s able to race on almost any kind of terrain – cobblestones, climbing, flat, circuit races, or just super long point-to-points like Sanremo.

“I think I have developed into a really complete rider during my time on this team. The way that we go to races and try to achieve results has brought that out of me. I am really happy and proud of the kind of rider I have become. I never thought in a million years that I would try to win a cobbled classic, but it happened this year, and now I am chomping at the bit to back it up and build a spring around Monuments racing.

“I haven’t won a Monument yet. And that’s definitely a goal that I want to hit. But, just being able to be in the mix of every Monument I’ve started shows the completeness and the diversity of the athlete that I have become. It makes bike racing super fun, because I can go to every race and get involved in the action.”

Yep, 2026 is fast approaching, so we finally decided to embrace a bit of modernity at road.cc, at least when it comes to the podcast.

After 120-odd episodes of audio-only goodness (and the occasional waffle) on the road.cc Podcast, some bright spark in the office recently came up with the revolutionary idea of hitting ‘record’ on the video function, too (apparently all the cool cycling podcaster kids are doing it these days).

Which means that, from now on, as well as simply listening to my dulcet Ulster tones, you can now fire up the ol’ YouTube and gawp at me, Jack, Dan, Emily, and our fantastic array of guests from around the cycling world as we converse over a dodgy internet connection.

We’re calling it, wait for it… the road.cc Vodcast. Basically it’ll be just like the normal road.cc Podcast, but with our cameras switched on. Exciting, I know.

> The first road.cc Vodcast is now live! Catch our podcast in video form in 2026

And what’s more, the brand-new road.cc Vodcast will also offer you the opportunity to keep tabs on our haircut routines, take a peek at pro cyclists’ kitchens, and have a nosey at my bookshelf. If that’s your kind of thing. You weirdos.

Anyway, I’m sure it’ll be great. And our very first ‘vodcast’ is already out, featuring this month’s discussion with Cadel Evans and Stuart O’Grady on race safety, how cycling has changed, and a certain dominant Slovenian:

Right, that’s me signing off for a few days now. Happy Christmas, and I’ll catch you all in a few days!

As we wind down for Christmas, I’d like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to one of Northern Ireland’s cycling greats, Billy Kirk, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 88.

Born in Newtownards, Billy was one of the great Irish cyclists of his generation, winning three Irish 25-mile time trial titles between 1957 and 1959. He dipped under the hour mark for 25 miles over 100 times in his career and even set his PB for the distance, 57.59, in 2006, at the age of 69.

Overcoming tuberculosis, the infection which claimed the lives of his parents at a young age, Billy kept riding his bike until very recently and was chairman of Ards Cycling Club.

He was also a celebrated photographer, capturing some of the most iconic images of Northern Ireland’s ‘troubles’, and earlier this year the Ulster Museum hosted an exhibition of his archive.

A brilliant and engaging raconteur, as well as an advocate for social and political justice, I had the pleasure of getting to know Billy a bit in recent years, and we’d attend history lectures together or just chat about cycling over a cup of tea (he invariably would turn up by bike wherever we went).

He was a great man and a true cycling legend. Cheers, Billy.

And just like that, the transfer saga of the winter is over:

> Oscar Onley’s move to Ineos Grenadiers confirmed, as British star says “opportunity to represent the team of my home country was one I couldn’t refuse”

The Movement for a Credible Cycling (MPCC), the anti-doping group which calls for stricter measures when it comes to the medicalisation of the sport, has urged the UCI to clamp down on the exploitation and “expansion” of doping “grey areas” by teams, including the use of ketones, finish bottles, and painkillers.

Established in 2007, the MPCC is made up of several professional cycling squads, including seven men’s WorldTour teams and four women’s WorldTour outfits, who have signed up to adhere to stricter anti-doping controls than those imposed by both WADA and the UCI.

> “You would be very ignorant about the facts”: Marcel Kittel says cycling “absolutely not” clean

In October, the organisation’s longstanding president Roger Legeay stepped down from the position, and was replaced by Emily Brammeier, the head of communications at Picnic PostNL.

Zac Williams/SWpix.com

“The MPCC is becoming increasingly concerned about an excessive use of medicine in the sport and calls upon its governing body to take action against the expansion of the so-called grey area,” the group said in a statement this week.

“This grey area includes substances and medical treatments not yet banned by WADA, but which raise serious ethical questions when used by healthy athletes, rather than the sick patients they were developed to treat.

“Cycling needs the UCI to act quickly and decisively to protect both the sport’s credibility and the health of the peloton – so that no athlete feels forced to take questionable products merely to keep up.

“The lengthy timelines of anti-doping processes without quick and concrete action leave space for various substances to be debated each year, allowing athletes to continue using them despite the unanswered questions surrounding their health or performance enhancing effects. Is a safer approach to ban a product during its investigation and then when it’s safe, allow its use?”

> “The best nutritionists understand ketones, let them do their job”: Supplement brands hit back at UCI’s “puzzling” intervention on ketones

Focusing on the use of ketones, which the UCI controversially advised teams to avoid earlier this year, the MPCC said: “The most recent example is the topic of ketones, which has been a part of cycling’s credibility debate since 2017 when the first scientific research on the subject was published.

“The MPCC brought a clear position that their members would not use the product and then nearly two years later, the UCI issued a ‘notice of non-recommendation’ until further analysis was completed. Many teams and riders ignored this advice, with some even forming partnerships with ketone suppliers.”

The group criticised the UCI’s failure to introduce a “formal medical rule or anti-doping regulation” concerning ketones, saying the governing body’s guidance “unfortunately does not close the debate or discussion”.

> Mark Cavendish brands cycling “cleanest sport in the world” and says “idol” Lance Armstrong “lost more than anyone else”

“The so-called ‘Finishing Bottle’ rumours are back within the peloton, with multiple borderline substances said to be mixed and passed into the peloton to prepare riders ready for the final,” the statement continued, before highlighting the continued use of heavy duty painkillers in the peloton, and their potential impact on crashes.

“Next to this, we face other potential substance abuse with medicine such as Tapendatol, which is up to ten times stronger than Tramadol (banned in competition by WADA after 12 years of lobbying from MPCC).

“The UCI now has this specific substance under monitoring, but must we wait for the result of another lengthy analysis while riders’ health is at risk and crashes are becoming even more prominent?

ASO/Charly Lopez

“The authorities are clearly able to move quickly in decision-making: take the example of non-diagnostic use of carbon monoxide (CO), which after coming to light during the 2024 Tour de France will be listed by World Anti‑Doping Agency (WADA) as a prohibited method from 2026.

“What is clear is that, as long as the grey area remains, the credibility of cycling will continue to suffer and riders health is at risk.

“The MPCC’s position has not changed: the endless medicalisation of riders is a major problem and requires action. The MPCC urges the UCI to establish a clear and regulated position on a range of (medical) products in the grey area or other specific products (such as ketones). The MPCC stands ready to work closely with the UCI and support progress in this crucial area for the future of our sport.”

> Emma Pooley on the Tour de France’s weight debate, growing women’s sport, and battling cycling’s old-school “f***wits”

Following the publication of the MPCC’s statement, former British champion and TNT Sports commentator Brian Smith highlighted the negative long-term effects cycling’s obsession with medicine can have on riders, including himself.

“I am suffering with osteopenia which is a result of minimal weight bearing and poor education. I also suffered bulimia,” the former Motorola rider wrote on Twitter.

“Pro riders are NOT educated on their health and abused by their teams for performance only.”

It’s fair to say the police in Llíber have earned themselves a nice Christmas bonus this year.

The small village, located around 10 miles from Calpe, a winter training hotspot for professional cycling teams along Spain’s Cost Blanca, hit the headlines earlier this month when several Groupama-FDJ riders were stopped and fined €100 for apparently jumping through a red light in Llíber.

> “So, you don’t respect the Highway Code?” 10 Groupama-FDJ pro cyclists fined €100 for ‘riding through red light’ during Spanish training camp, according to reports

And it seems like it’s not just pros falling foul of the local police. According to the Spanish Traffic Law social media page, more cyclists were fined in a single morning over the weekend in Llíber than during the entire rest of 2025 combined.

The social media page reported that this staggering increase in cycling fines stems from the village’s Christmas market, which closed Llíber’s main crossing, which allows for alternate one-way traffic through the village.

The news page reports that, “instead of following the established detours, many of them rode in the wrong direction through the streets of the municipality”, with some even apparently mimicking Groupama-FDJ by running red lights.

The number of cyclists flouting the traffic law was so large that Spanish Traffic Law reported that, at one stage, there was a “queue” of around 30 riders waiting to be issued their fixed penalty notice (and judging by the photos posted on Facebook, there may have been a few more pros among that number).

The local police were also forced to enlist the help of a nearby Guardia Civil patrol to help them dish out the fines, reports suggest.

“This post is not against cyclists,” the Spanish Traffic Law page stressed. “Other road users also commit infractions when driving.

“The aim is to give visibility to this type of situation and to show that the local police also sanctions this group, despite many people thinking cyclists are allowed to do whatever they want.”

Hmm…

“It’s also a reminder to those cyclists — most of whom hold a driving licence — that traffic rules are the same for everyone, both motor vehicles and cyclists, when using roads open to traffic,” the page continued (though someone should also tell the motorists).

“If they want to stop following vehicle rules, they should get off the bike and walk it. Only then would they be considered pedestrians.”

If you thought the classic Daily Mail response to a clip of two cyclists riding side-by-side on the road can verge on the apoplectic, wait until they see this one.

Because a recent group ride in Miami has caused quite the stir – after a fuming Mini driver resorted to flying along the grass central reservation to overtake the huge bunch of cyclists.

And that’s not all. A clip of the bonkers overtake has sparked a massive backlash on social media, with hundreds of motorists (and a few cyclists too) flocking to the comments to accuse the group ride of “blocking the whole road” and creating an “unsafe situation”.

First, some context. If, like me, you’re not familiar with South Florida’s weekend cycling scene, the Don Pan is a popular social ride based in Key Biscayne, near Miami. Taking place on Sunday, the ride attracts hundreds of cyclists, is largely flat, and averages over 30mph, normally featuring an impromptu, unofficial race at the end to crown a ‘winner’.

To get a feel of what it’s all about, one regular participant published a video from last Sunday’s ride on YouTube, complete with the caption: ‘We stopped for a red light – first time ever’:

So, you get the picture. Did I say the Daily Mail would be all over this already?

But it’s another clip from the following week’s ride that has courted the most online controversy. On Sunday, Florida bike shop Revolt posted this clip of a Mini driver taking an unusual, off-road approach to overtaking the Don Pan peloton:

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Revolt (@revoltcyclery)

“One of the highlights from Don Pan this morning,” Revolt said. “4×4 no patience.”

The comments, however, were more concerned with the size of the bunch than the motorist’s encounter with the central reservation.

 “What do you mean ‘no patience’? You guys were blocking the WHOLE ROAD!” one Instagram user replied.

“Maybe don’t take over the whole fucking road??? Like I bike to work daily and this shit is ridiculous,” said another.

“As a cyclist, this kind of pisses me off… why the whole three lanes? Please, someone, explain,” one user asked, prompting the reply: “Entitlement”.

And it seems like a lot of the replies stemmed from mortified cyclists.

“This is why drivers hate us,” wrote Cait, while another user said: “I’m a cyclist and I can say I hate these cyclists.”

“This makes me angry!!!!” wrote punctuation enthusiast Yeti. “Who do these guys think they are????? They are taking up both lanes!!! They should all be ticketed!!!!”

And Edwin added: “I’m a professional athlete, but we need to respect other people, occupy only one lane and not two as if other people’s rights didn’t exist. The authorities must do something to stop this from happening.”

“In Europe, such peloton on the road would not be allowed. Too dangerous for everyone,” noted another viewer. “Police would intervene. As cyclists, we wish to be respected, it starts with respecting other road users.”

“Stay in one lane, and this won’t happen. It creates an unsafe situation for everyone,” said Luis.

However, not everyone was up in arms about the lack of two-abreasting going on at the Don Pan.

“I genuinely don’t understand the resentment,” said Goldstucker.

“Don Pan is a ride where cyclists are moving at roughly 30 mph. Expecting 70 riders at that speed to squeeze onto a bike path—shared with people cruising along at half that pace—is, of course, completely logical.

“It’s a Sunday ride that might delay traffic by five minutes, if that. A true crisis. Civilization barely survives.

“But yes, let’s direct our outrage at cyclists for briefly existing on the road we all supposedly share. Perspective, apparently, is optional.”