Surrey Road Cops slide into DMs to educate angry driver; "Road hogging cyclists" video; Disc or rim brakes for Froome?; Team director guilty of sexual harassment; 3.3 million bikes sold in UK; Cycle lane scrapping protest + more on the live blog

Claiming to offer a completely unrestricted peripheral and vertical field of view, the frameless Airas centre around a new 8KO cylindrical lens that is said to provide the sunnies with the rigidity needed to keep them securely on your face.

The sunglasses are customisable as standard and cost upwards of £130 depending on the lens you select, so if they're anything like the Vulcan Full Frame sunnies that we reviewed, they'll be a good buy. A set is on the way to the office for testing, so if you can hang on for a bit, we'll have a full review soon.

sungod.com

You've got to be good to get this paint job (Etienne Schoemann​)

Specialized and Deceuninck Quick-Step have a good thing going. The Belgian World Tour team regularly finishes the season with the most wins and they've already won 32 races this year.

Funnily enough, Specialized seems rather happy with this exposure and so a deal has been done that covers the next 6 years. As part of the deal, Specialized will supply its bikes to the team along with saddles, tyres and the Roval wheels which started life as Specialized's subsidiary brand but now (officially at least) stands on its own two feet.

Mike Sinyard, Founder and CEO of Specialized Bicycles, said: “For over a decade, Deceuninck Quick-Step has been instrumental in the development of cutting-edge technology for our bikes and equipment, which has resulted in some of the most monumental victories for Specialized. We are honoured to continue the close partnership with Patrick and this special team, to drive the future of our sport.”

Edinburgh Council's proposal to remove "a very recently and expensively installed segregated cycle lane" according to the road.cc reader who contacted us about the issue has resulted in a protest, planned for 6pm this evening. 

Member of the CityCyclingEdinburgh forum have been urging others to object to the removal of the lane on Lanark Road, a surprise decision made by SNP and Labour councillors just months after the lanes were installed under the Spaces for People scheme. The person who organised the protest says that the council meeting about the lane is on the 25th June, so the ride two days before "will be a good message to send to them."

Ewen Maclean told The Scotsman: "The point of this protest is to point out the people who didn’t have a voice in this decision – our children. 

"These cycle lanes, and this goes for others across the city, are so important in the long term for the children in this city.

"They help reduce traffic volume by offering children and adults other ways to travel, but they also provide a safer way for kids to travel by bike. Not only is this a more green way of getting about, but it’s also encouraging physical exercise for children in a country where this needs to be a focus."

We are off! pic.twitter.com/4gSfrcMFgu

— London Cycling Campaign (@London_Cycling) June 23, 2021

Starting at London Bridge, London Cycling Campaign representatives joined cargo bike delivery firms such as Zedify and Pedivan on a zero-emission rideout. 

Gang 😎 pic.twitter.com/aqUaUnk2tc

— London Cycling Campaign (@London_Cycling) June 23, 2021

78-year-old William Shine was furious after his bike - a 40-year-old black Dawes city bike that used to belong to Olympic rower Charles Wiggin - was stolen from outside his home in Henley... however there has now been a happy ending for Mr Shine and his vintage bike after it was discovered abandoned in front of Jewson's building merchants, reports the Henley Standard. 

"I was so glad it was not left in pieces. I’ve now bought two locks, one for the front wheel and one for the back, to make sure this doesn’t happen again", he said. 

Mr Shine was told he could have Wiggin's bike after doing some work in his garden a number of years ago. Nowadays only three gears out of ten work, but nevertheless he said he was "absolutely delighted to be reunited with my old friend."

Chris Froome will be given the option of using disc brakes for the Tour de France after earlier this year criticising some of the functionality of disc brakes.

Froome's wheel identity crises before the Tour:

Discs or no discs
Lightweights or Black Inc#marginallosses pic.twitter.com/UTgtu61ciC

— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) June 23, 2021

The Israel Start-Up Nation rider has been spotted training on a rim brake bike as well as testing out a set of Lightweight disc brake wheel, a break from the Black Inc wheels that Factor provides.

Speaking to Cyclingnews, Israel Start-Up Nation co-owner and founder, Sylvan Adams revealed that “Factor produces a rim-brake bike so this is about Chris’s preference for rim or discs.” 

“He’s right about some of the things that he’s said. The issues with rim brakes, they do heat up and there is some rubbing on the disc brakes on some of the long descents but if you look, everyone is on them. Chris himself, if he wanted a rim brake bike at the Tour, he’d be riding that."

That said, Adams was keen to point out that Froome is yet to ask for a rim brake bike during a race. "He hasn’t requested that and he’s happy to ride the disc."

"You’d have to ask Chris about this whole subject, which as you know he did start. He really did create the ripple about the disc brakes but I think that the comments that he made were honest and accurate, and they would be shared by a number of the riders in the peloton. At the same time, disc brakes work great in the rain, they have a lot more braking power and give you a lot more confidence in the descents.”

So, what will we see Froome starting the race on? We'll find out on Saturday.

A video posted to the Daily Mail's Facebook page, titled 'road hogging cyclist' has attracted the usual range of well-informed comments from the paper's readers.

The video shows one cyclist attempting to block the car driver from overtaking. The car driver hangs back a reasonable distance for some of the footage, but then gets dangerously close to the rear wheel of the cyclist before overtaking recklessly.

There is a debate on Twitter surrounding the reason for the cyclist riding in this manner. We would imagine that the video's caption which says that the driver "managed to overtake the cyclists at a junction...", could be alluding to a prior incident between the driver of the car and the person on the bicycle. 

Hi @DailyMailUK @MailOnline, who does your video captions? Riding 2 abreast is legal in the UK and recommend. And a threat of "it's not going to end well" for the cyclists? Nice touch pic.twitter.com/w37EWmz2TB

— cycleuk (@cycleuk1) June 22, 2021

However, this context is not shown and the video is instead filled with captions that prominent cycle safety campaigners have taken issue with. One caption says: "It's not going to end well if they [the cyclists] keep this up", while another incorrectly states: "The cyclists should be riding single file on the left side of the lane."

This clearly frustrates the driver and this flashpoint is exactly what we’re trying to avoid.
Conversely, too many motorists close-pass/punish-pass cyclists with no perception of how vulnerable the cyclist is.

It’s all about situational awareness 😊 2/2

— Nick Esser (@Nick_9_9_5) June 23, 2021

Some people on social media have suggested that the rider would have been better off just getting away from the car and its driver to get out of the situation. 

One said: "They were riding like dicks though and didn’t do cyclists or themselves any favours even though we didn’t see what was probably a dick move by the driver to make them react like this."

Another, referencing a recent petition calling for public awareness campaign to address driver aggression towards cyclists, commented: "These kinds of posts absolutely contribute to anger towards people on bikes."

Do you know more about the footage or the people in it? Get in touch at info [at] road.cc

Following allegations of misconduct brought by former team riders Marion Sicot and others last year, including an accusation that riders were asked to take selfies in their underwear, the UCI has banned former Doltcini - Van Eyck team manager Marc Bracke for three years, saying in a statement: "The Disciplinary Commission confirmed the Ethics Commission’s analysis that Mr Bracke’s conduct constituted sexual harassment according to article 6.4 of the UCI Code of Ethics and article 2.3 of Appendix 1.

"The Disciplinary Commission has therefore ordered the suspension of Mr Bracke from any role in cycling with immediate effect for a period of three years. As an additional measure and a condition of being granted a new licence after the period of suspension, Mr Bracke must take part in a harassment awareness programme delivered by a recognised professional institution.

"This decision sets an important precedent when it comes to the fight against sexual harassment. It is essential for the well-being of athletes that they can have confidence in the institutions and feel free to report any form of abuse."

The case has been defined by the team's insistence that Bracke is innocent, and in an explosive Facebook post published two hours ago, the team says that the allegations are false, and that the only reason Sicot made the accusations was to obtain a reduced suspension for doping. 

"Marc Bracke has never been heard in this case and not one of his universal human rights, including the right to defend himself, have in no way been respected", the statement says. 

"In the complete dossier there is not one act and not one word from Marc Bracke that suggest he had any sexual intention towards Marion Sicot."

"We stay convinced that Marion Sicot's accusations against Marc Bracke have no other intention than to obtain a reduced suspension for her use of doping, in which she has succeeded. Not only Marc Bracke but the complete team, its riders, sponsors and staff and women's cycling itself are her victims."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by marion sicot (@marion.sicot)

Sicot took to Instagram to comment on the UCI's findings, saying: "The disciplinary commission finally gave its verdict after almost two years and found Marc Bracke guilty of sexual harassment against me. He was suspended for three years by the UCI.

"There remains the criminal complaint still in progress but it is progressing and it feels good."