“How could a human being write that to another person?”: Politician in New Zealand knocked off bike and suffers broken leg, only to face “cruel” abuse on social media; Kittel: Cycling absolutely not clean; Bizarre bike damage + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"My theory is a driver bent the frame": Cyclist spots locked bike snapped in half... but was bizarre damage caused by a driver or thief?
Have you ever seen anything like this? And don’t say ‘a unicycle’…
[MandrakeSCL/Reddit]
It’s the bizarre scene one rider spotted at a bike rack near them, a frame cut in half at the top tube and down tube, just the rear wheel, back half and most of the drivetrain still intact (although, zooming in, it looks like the chainrings might have been pinched too).
Given the poor bike’s position, locked right next to a road, plus the fact the ex-front of the bike would have seemingly been overhanging the kerb, the smart money is probably on this heinous bicycle abuse having been the result of an inattentive driver removing half the frame from the other, a theory shared by the person who put the pics (and Google Maps images from last year) online.
[Google Maps images from 2024]
Although, that other parked bike missing a saddle perhaps suggests there have been some rather thorough thieves at that rack previously… but surely we’re not talking about the criminals who steal bikes now opting to cut through frames for components?
> “Welcome to London” where thieves cut through bike racks
“Looks too clean. Must have had some good front end parts on it,” one person suggested online, backing the theft theory. We’re not convinced though, and neither were many who replied…
“The ends of the top tube and down tube are kinked and curled. Signs of twisting and tearing. If it were cut, they’d be significantly cleaner. Additionally, the parts remaining, plus the reflector in the wheel make me think this was never anything nice. Nobody’s come along to salvage those parts either,” one detective wrote.
“Additionally, the front end would be poking into the street. An inattentive driver could easily hit it. So I’m voting for this as well,” someone else added.
We reckon that’s the most likely scenario too, after all we’ve been here before…
We’ll leave the last word to the commenter who pondered if we could see such “weight reduction modifications” at a hill climb before long? Over to you, Harry MacFarlane…
A frozen moustache at the cyclocross (+ Nys and Brand win again)
The opening cyclocross World Cup round brought wins for Thibau Nys and Lucinda Brand in Tábor. Brand has won eight of her ten cyclocross starts so far this season and held off a determined Sara Casasola to take her fourth Tábor victory.
Last year’s World Cup winner delivers again ?
Lucinda Brand takes her 76th career win and triumphs at the Women’s Cyclo-cross World Cup in Tabor ? pic.twitter.com/mVKugyJfzN
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) November 23, 2025
Nys’s win was a bit more straightforward, the 23-year-old by far the strongest and looking as though he’ll enjoy a big winter. Down the pack in the men’s race was Brit Cameron Mason and while, on the results sheet, a ninth-place finish might not look like anything to write home about, he had no shortage of “frustrating” problems on the day.
Having sliced his tyre open on the bottom of a metal barrier in the start straight, Mason rode to the first pit to change bike. He could then start his race proper, from dead last, picking off the field as he went, but having lost plenty of time and energy. In the end, ninth was more than a respectable effort… oh, and to make matters worse, the cold weather got to his facial hair too.
"Rim brakes would've saved him..."
Weekend round-up: A cycling computer with a built-in electric pump? + contractors walk off site in bike lane row... meanwhile, the Dutch show us how to do it
The weekend that was started with a new Kickstarter cycling computer… (don’t roll your eyes just yet)…
Megan brought us news of a study about the impact of bike lanes on car use, while one active travel project up in Scotland made headlines after police were called and contractors walked out amid protests and claims the project is “an absolute shambles”.
That story came in contrast to the latest from the Netherlands where the government has committed €1 billion to building cycling infrastructure that connects new homes. Something tells me we shouldn’t be holding our breath for similar in this week’s Budget…
And finally, a review I’ve been awaiting with interest is the new(ish) Shimano Cues groupset, something Stu’s been getting to grips with and has penned some thoughts.
"I hope not, because he's already so good": Tadej Pogačar suggests it "would be scary" if Remco Evenepoel improves for Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe transfer
Tadej Pogačar says it “will be interesting” to see how Remco Evenepoel does at new team Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe, the four-time Tour de France winner stating he hopes any improvement will be minimal as “it would be scary to see him even better”.
While Pogačar has continued to dominate the biggest stage races and one-day prizes in the sport, Evenepoel has maintained supremacy in time trialling, comfortably beating the Slovenian star against the clock at the Critérium du Dauphiné, Tour de France (in the flat TT at least) and World Championships.
Will a new team, new environment and new ideas get Remco closer to Pogačar everywhere else?
“For him, change can be good, changes can sometimes be really good,” Pogačar told Sporza. “He goes from one super team to another super team. It will be interesting to see if he can make another step. I hope not, because he’s already so good and so dominant sometimes. It would be scary to see him even better.
“But I think he can do really good and I think the whole world is interested [to see] how he’s going to be at Red Bull.”
The rumours are that Evenepoel is strongly considering a return to the Giro d’Italia next year, having finished third at the Tour in 2024 and abandoned while struggling at this year’s race, the Italian Grand Tour expected to have a long, flat time trial in its route. It’s also been suggested we’ll see the Belgian’s debut at Milan-San Remo in 2026, and could the Tour of Flanders be on the cards too?
I’m all for it and, in many ways, see it as a similar situation to Tom Pidcock. I want to see them racing for wins at the biggest one-day races, not just going all in for GC campaigns to probably still get beaten by Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard at the Grand Tours. Imagine adding Remco to this and pray Pidcock can stick around for the Poggio descent… March can’t come soon enough…
Everyone's favourite hill climb The World Famous Cobble Wobble returns
Cobbles and fancy dress, what could possibly go wrong? Dave was at The Cobble Wobble in Frome yesterday, giving it some welly in a suitably festive get-up. You can leave your weight weenie-ing and gramme-saving at home for this particular hill climb…
Dave and the rest of the field tackled the 179-metre steep cobbled climb up the centre of Frome, in Somerset. It’s an amusing sight, fancy dress-adorned riders flogging themselves up the narrow, historic hill, flanked by 17th-century buildings. Top marks to all involved, not least organiser Andrew Denham, those cobbles far from the easiest surface to negotiate. It looked like a cracking turnout for a brilliant community cycling event.
Oh, and it even made the ITV local news.
This takes brazen bike thefts to another level...
Cyclist killed after crashing into sign blocking bike lane, as family questions why warning to drivers about malfunctioning traffic lights wasn't placed on 'no parking' zone
"You would be very ignorant about the facts": Marcel Kittel says cycling "absolutely not" clean
Marcel Kittel is back in pro cycling, not as a rider but as the sprint coach of the Unibet Rose Rockets (as they’ll be known next season), the team formed out of the Tour de Tietema YouTube channel that have made some eye-catching signings for 2026, including Dylan Groenewegen, Wout Poels and Victor Lafay.
The 14-time Tour de France stage winner has also been in the news after an interview with Domestique, the German sprinter suggesting it would be “very ignorant about the facts” to assume cycling is a clean sport.
“I don’t believe that cycling is clean now,” he said. “Absolutely not. You would be very ignorant about the facts. There will always be people who are trying to cheat the system. We just have to be sure that we really safeguard what we have and the progress that we made and make sure that these are single cases and not a widespread doping system that we had in the 90s.”
That’s probably the key here, Kittel hinting there that he doesn’t think we’re talking about widespread doping programmes, just individual cases. The regularity of UCI press releases dropping into our inbox about such cases means Kittel is probably right that it would be ignorant to think cycling is completely clean.
“Look at the budgets, how they have gone up, the salaries that riders can earn. There are riders who see an opportunity and who see also an opportunity not to cheat someone, but to end up with a better life. And I think that is also a fact. It is probably in the first instance very human.”
Kittel, who despite retiring in 2019 is still only 37, added that he doesn’t think that every exceptional performance should be disbelieved, and he was quick to point out how much training and other parts of the sport have improved in the past couple of decades.
“Journalists and fans absolutely have a right to say if they feel like, ‘I am not sure if I can trust it’. Then we should see this as a sign, ‘Okay, we have to check it and make sure this is really a valid result and we can really trust it’.
“People are doing amazing things on the bike. Because the periodisation of the training and racing planning, everything around it, the innovation, it all just comes into place on that day.”
Looking back at his career, which spanned from the mid-noughties to midway through the 2019 season, Kittel reflected that the sport needed a reset following the high-profile doping scandals of the era he began his career in and those before.
“There were already like a lot of disappointed fans who were yelling at us, spitting at us. And I was there as a youth rider, like, what’s going on? What does this have to do with me?” he recalled.
“I think it was not a black eye. I think that actually took a leg off of the body of cycling… because it will never go away. It will always be there as a topic. I absolutely think this was necessary. It gave the opportunity to talk about it and really to analyse where this came from.”
But what if you need to transport a wheelbarrow? you can't do that by bike
Final cost of Tyne Pedestrian and Cyclist Tunnel refurbishment reported as £11m more than expected, but local authority stresses 'length and complexity' of project
A local news report from the North East has put the final cost of the Tyne Pedestrian and Cyclist Tunnel at £18.2m, around £11.3m more than the expected cost of £6.9m. Chronicle Live got the figures off transport bosses, the extra cost perhaps unsurprising considering the long and repeated delays that the refurbishment project experienced, as well as setbacks such the discovery of asbestos and the main contractor going bust.
The tunnels connecting Jarrow and Howdon are now owned and managed by the North East Combined Authority and a spokesperson said it had been a “long and complex project”. The tunnels first opened in 1951 for the Festival of Britain and were granted Grade II status in 2002. However, they required full restoration due to their condition in the early 2000s.
[Before the refurbishment]
“They closed in May 2013 and reopened in August 2019 following an extensive programme of works,” a spokesperson explained. “The project faced significant challenges, including the administration of the original lift contractor and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, both of which contributed to delays and increased costs.
“The final cost of the refurbishment is £18.2 million. This includes £2 million for the installation of the inclined lifts which opened on 25 November 2024. These lifts can carry up to 21 visitors at a time and are designed to accommodate non-standard cycles, making them fully accessible for a wide range of users.
“We’re pleased that the tunnels have now been fully preserved and upgraded, providing improved walking and cycling infrastructure that continues to connect communities across North and South Tyneside. This vital link supports access to work, education, family, and friends and continues to serve the public as a safe, accessible, and sustainable transport route for the region.”
"I'm in a pretty bad way": Pro cyclist struck head-on by driver says he came "within a hair's breadth of being in a wheelchair" after breaking back in 30mph training crash
"I am very proud of the sporting career I have had": Esteban Chaves retires
EF Education-EasyPost have confirmed the retirement of Esteban Chaves. The Colombian climber won Il Lombardia, three stages of the Giro, two Vuelta stages and came so close to winning the maglia rosa when denied by Vincenzo Nibali in 2016.
Calling the decision “the right one”, Chaves said he is “very happy” call time on a career he is “very proud of”.
“I’m very happy to close this chapter in the way we are closing it,” he said through his team, who have also released a film to celebrate Chaves’s career. Happy retirement, Esteban.
RideLondon cycling event organiser resigns from board after careless driving conviction for seriously injuring cyclist
"How could a human being write that to another person?": Politician in New Zealand knocked off bike and suffers broken leg... only to face "cruel" abuse on social media
A politician in New Zealand, Julie Fairey, is back out on the bike after months of recovery from a broken leg suffered in a collision involving a driver earlier this year. Interestingly, Fairey says she’s used to getting her share of abuse on social media but reported things got way worse in the aftermath of the collision.
“People were basically one step on from blaming me,” she told RNZ. “It was like I deserved it and that it would be nice if they finished the job or if it happened again, and that’s hard to read.
“How could another human being write that to another person? You’re making this comment about someone, an actual person. How could you wish such ill on anybody? To me, it just seems cruel, and I don’t understand it. I’ve been doing this a long time, and a lot of it doesn’t bother me, although probably it should. But what bothers me is the idea that my kids or my mother might see it, and that would be upsetting for them, and that’s not okay.”
Last year, Northern Irish MP Claire Hanna made headlines on this website by revealing she “gets more abuse on my bike than in my work”, the politician calling out “irrational attitudes” of some road users towards cyclists.
“People talk about the abuse politicians get. I get more abuse, week in, week out, on my bike than I do in my work,” she said. “I don’t know whether people are jealous that the cyclist is moving faster than them but I have taken really serious abuse from people for what they perceive as minor infractions.”
24 November 2025, 09:00
24 November 2025, 09:00
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Yes, not clear how the "road.cc understands" (based on what?) bits and the "police spokesperson" bits join up. Means testing of fines is still subject to the statutory maximum, so would only ever reduce the £1,000 fine. Same for a guilty plea - can get a third off the fine for guilty plea at first opportunity, reducing as you get closer to trial.
@mctrials23 But the thing is the cyclist is in his own lane (slightly outside to begin with but moves back in long before he gets parallel to the car) and the car driver is in theirs, so what offence has been committed (contrary to Nigel's previous assertion, there is no obligation for a cyclist to leave a minimum distance when passing a parked car, and he can clearly see there is nobody in the parked car so no danger of it pulling away or a door opening)? He has not crossed into the oncoming traffic lane, clearly at low speed uphill he poses no threat of danger to the oncoming car, where is the offence in law? One could say it would be more courteous to let the oncoming car through (on the other hand one could say as the cyclist is labouring uphill it would be courteous for the oncoming car to wait for the cyclist) but what law or Highway Code rule has been broken? The whole thing smacks of police and magistrates being determined to teach the cyclist a lesson for having the temerity to report a separate incident and ignoring the law in order to do so.
This bit of the BBC Skoda story made me laugh: "Campaigners placed an alternative placard beneath the advertising board for several hours, which "attracted support" from national park visitors, with many "unaware of the partnership" to their dismay." Between that, and the campaigner's photo which actually shows a Skoda next to the sign, I'm not sure if it's just the Streisand effect, or if they actually work for Skoda's marketing team.
The second quoted line doesn't appear to suggest that.
Well, what I was actually suggesting was a lack of clarity in road.cc's reporting (I know - also highly unusual!), but quite possibly aided and abetted by obfuscatory answers from West Yorks' finest.
Hmm - possible - but if that's what was meant then the wording is misleading: "him disputing the matter in court, where the subsequent penalty may also have been means-tested" suggests he 'chose to have his day in court', rather than simply pleading not guilty having been forced to go there. Also, later on the article it suggests that the final amount was just driven by the means testing.
@sigirides Oh 100%. There is little to no consistency between police forces and little consistency within the same police force. That doesn't removed the fact it should be actioned when it happens.
"nor is there a fixed penalty option (as there is no licence requirement for cycling)" What does that mean? There is definitely a fixed penalty option for careless cycling. It was created by the Fixed Penalty Offences Order 2025 and came into force on 24 February 2025. Obviously, there are no points on your licence for it, since that would make no sense, but what does that have to do with anything? Do they mean that they think the penalty is too small without points as well? If so, that's not no fixed penalty option, that's a fixed penalty option that they don't think is adequate. Or was this offence committed before 24 February 2025 and took this long to get to court? They need to say what they actually mean...
@mctrials23 I've been to court over the exact same situation in reverse, and the driver was declared innocent. I've reported a bunch of these situations in reverse, drivers love to push through when there isn't room, without any action other than the one time it made it to court. Obviously there's a bit of two tiered policing going on here.
@sigirides I think you might be being a little silly here. The cyclist very clearly should have waited for the oncoming car to pass before overtaking the parked car. They intentionally put themselves in the position where they would rightly have been pissed off if it was the other way around and the car was pulling out from behind the parked car. If this was the other way around of course the driver could be in trouble in precisely the same way the cyclist was here. They very clearly treat intentional close passing by drivers differently to unintentional ones ie. when the two parties are coming towards each other with no decisions other than speed and whether you are trying to leave space for each other. Yes it pisses me off when some twat rides at me on a barely single track country road at speed and I am forced into a tiny patch of road but I know they won't give a crap about those sort of head on closes passes and will consider it unavoidable. Its shit but its how they see these interactions. They don't take kindly to cyclists or drivers pulling out unnecessarily to pass obstacles when it causes a close pass. No it perhaps doesn't make sense but in plenty of cases, the close distance between driver and cyclist is unavoidable even if one party was to stop completely. Personally I would love to see the rules changed to "encourage" drivers to reduce their speed considerably if they have to pass a cyclist within 1.5m. I still think its very dangerous and a massive blind spot in the rules. The issue would then be determining speed from a video and they seem to struggle enough with the concept that a 2m wide car that passes you entirely on your side of the road would require a 4m+ wide road to be able to do that legally.
18 thoughts on ““How could a human being write that to another person?”: Politician in New Zealand knocked off bike and suffers broken leg, only to face “cruel” abuse on social media; Kittel: Cycling absolutely not clean; Bizarre bike damage + more on the live blog”
Surely the obvious answer is
Surely the obvious answer is someone opened an interdimensional portal next to the bike rack?
Terminator! But which model?
Terminator! But which model?
Oh God! You mean a T800 has
Oh God! You mean a T-800 (you know – Cyberdine Systems Model 101) has arrived? I knew it…. all this AI stuff, it’s the birth of Skynet. I really hope Michael Biehn has found Sarah Connor.
*removes tin foil hat*
‘I need your clothes, your
‘I need your clothes, your boots and your half o cycle’
Sounds like a job for Svald
Sounds like a job for Svald Cjelli, he would no doubt produce the holistic answer
It’s one of those separable
It’s one of those separable frames for ease of flying with?
If it was hit it would have
If it was hit it would have been bent/twisted. Angle grinder and deliberate. Perhaps someone with one in a van and done because the bike stuck out?
Lol, Rim brakes would have
Lol, Rim brakes would have saved him. Rim brakes maybe would have stopped it from being an endo, by not stopping the bike flying off the huge drop
don’t b a stick-in-the-mud
don’t b a stick-in-the-mud
(No subject)
It’s BCJ, that’s what they do
It’s BCJ, that’s what they do
– It looks like you’ve blown
– It looks like you’ve blown a seal
-No, it’s just frost in my moustache
“…the final cost of the
“…the final cost of the Tyne Pedestrian and Cyclist Tunnel at £18.2m, around £11.3m more than the expected cost of £6.9m.” Feasibility study, risks assessment and project management are supposed to avoid this kind of financial slippage.
Don’t think that helps with a
Don’t think that helps with a pandemic, and it’s possible that the key contractor’s bankruptcy was a surprise.
Still small change compared to the cost of much road infra. And it’s great that it’s now more accessible (eg. bigger lifts).
Mind you, doesn’t mean they couldn’t have spotted and dodged the odd million or additional expenses.
I shall miss Chavez, even the
I shall miss Chavez, even the better half liked him, he was good, but what a smile…
Seems like a lovely guy, real
Seems like a lovely guy, real shame about his injuries harming his career.
Who else wants to see MvdP,
Who else wants to see MvdP, Pog and Wout doing the Cobble Wobble next year?
“How could a human being
“How could a human being write that to another person?”
Yet another demonstration of the effect othering cyclists over the past fifty years has had. When the MSM only features cyclists to criticise them, and gives space to irrational people who hate cyclists just for being cyclists, this is the inevitable result.
When a minor infraction by a cyclist is heavily criticised, but much worse by drivers is excused, and the MSM stokes the flames of hatred, all forms of attack of the chosen victims becomes acceptable, even attacking people for being victims of those with power.
While the MSM is owned and run by the powerful for their own interests and they need a handy out group to blame, and to distract from their own selfishness, and you can’t blame women or coloured people any more, cyclists are an obvious target.
Coincidentally, I’ve just been banned from Facebook, for what I know not, they won’t tell me. I don’t think I broke any of their community guidelines, but I did mention that Nigel Farage doesn’t take bribes for promoting Russia: I wonder if that was it?