Cyclists face £900 fine for breaking 10km/h speed limit in shared zones; Controversial YouTuber Lucas Brunelle falls through ice while riding on frozen river; Council ignores anti-cycle lane fundraiser; Quick-Step go carbon neutral + more on the live blog

With yesterday's presentation of the Giro d'Italia route the GC contenders yet to commit to a Grand Tour can pick their poison. For Simon Yates that means unfinished business at the Giro d'Italia in May. Yates led the race until Stage 19 in 2018, winning three stages, before cracking on the Colle delle Finestre and dropping from 1st to 18th in one day. 

Compared to the Tour, the Giro offers less TT kilometres in 2021, something that attracted Yates to the idea of adding it to his calendar. "The 2021 Giro route looks really nice, there’s a good mix of stages and there’s even some gravel roads thrown in for good measure." Yates explained. "As always with the Giro, the final week looks hard and with only a small amount of time trial kilometres I think that is where the race will be decided.

"The last two or three years haven’t gone as I would have hoped with a combination of bad luck and some mistakes along the way. All I hope for is to have a clean run in 2021 without these things and that I can show myself in the best way possible."

👆👇 pic.twitter.com/zULDk7vop8

— Fat Dennis 💙 Ⓥ (@FatDennis1) February 25, 2021

We've had our say and plenty of you have let us know your favourite second bikes...Rupert Englander made a fair point that we might have jumped the gun with this one and the question we should really be asking is what's your favourite third, fourth and fifth bike? Have a read of our favourites and let us know yours...

My first bike was a Terry Dolan-built Cougar that finally gave up the ghost after 30-odd years. I know he doesn’t build them anymore but that earns a kind of brand-loyalty for life, so my first and second bike these days are still a Dolan!

— cramnalobretho (@STEVEBRETHERTO3) February 25, 2021

Mathieu van der Poel rides Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne and not Omloop Het Nieuwsblad pic.twitter.com/sf1AxUa9uq

— José Been (@TourDeJose) February 25, 2021

This will have made more than few pro riders' day...There'll be no Mathieu van der Poel at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this weekend. The Dutch champion returns to racing on Sunday at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne after flying home from the UAE early after a positive test in his team. Alpecin-Fenix confirmed Gianni Vermeersch and Jonas Rickaert can now also return to Belgium to complete their quarantine after coming into contact with the staff member who tested positive.

Muc-off has a new handy storage solution for cyclists. Their Essentials Case is suitable for road, mountain biking and everything in-between and is ideal for storing your phone, tools or snacks while you ride. The outer casing is fabric lined with a water-repellent zipper. 

Mavic's carbon wheels now come with a lifetime warranty to gve you extra peace of mind on the road. Applying to models in the 2021 range, sold since September 1st 2020, the warranty only applies to original owners who have registered their wheels with Mavic.

Want to protect your frame against all those annoying bumps and scrapes? Restrap think they have just what you need with their vinyl bicycle protector strips. Aimed at covering areas on your frame susceptible to abrasion, Restrap will send you three sheets of custom cut, easy-to-install heavy duty vinyl to keep your pride and joy looking sharp for miles to come...

ITV will show highlights of Paris-Nice every night during the week-long stage race. The race begins on Sunday March 7 and an hour-long highlights show will be aired on ITV 4 every night at 7pm, except the opening stage which will be shown at 6pm. In an extra boost for UK-based cycling fans, both men's and women's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad will be shown on GCN+ and Eurosport after the broadcasters secured the rights to the big first race of the Classics campaign. Fans had been critical of the outlets when they found out the race wouldn't be available to UK viewers. However, the issue has now been sorted and fans can watch the races on either platform.

Some of the pros have been out reconing the route this morning...

Back to our Omloop recon 😁 pic.twitter.com/guZVey2tyl

— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) February 25, 2021

British Cyling will continue to use pro kits made by Czech-based custom cycle wear specialists Kalas. The brand has provided the Great Britain Cycling Team kits for the last four years and will continue to do so until the end of 2024. British Cycling Performance Director Stephen Park said it is undoubtedly very positive news for their programme.

"When it comes to performance, our on-bike clothing supplier is important to the success of the Great Britain Cycling Team. To be the world's best we must be at the cutting edge of innovation. We have developed a close working relationship with Kalas and together we have some very exciting on-bike clothing plans which will improve aerodynamic performance and help make our riders go faster on the bike," Park explained.

A quick look at Lucas Brunelle's old videos and the times he's featured on this site will tell you he isn't your usual cycling filmmaker...Previous videos include daredevil descents, drafting lorries, holding onto vehicles and weaving in and out of traffic. So it's probably not a massive shock to see 40 seconds into his latest upload him riding along the frozen Charles River near Boston...and falling through the ice. 

In helping Lucas get out, his riding partner also falls through. A concerned onlooker asks if they need any help before Brunelle replies "No, we're all set thanks," as he clambers out the freezing water, moving his bike to safety before returning for his friend...

Talking about the incident to Boston.com, Brunelle said: "I ride my bike the same way I trade stocks. It’s my nature to take high risks and high return."

In 2014, we reported that Brunelle had been "pummelled" by a Boston taxi driver who intervened after the cyclist hit a pedestrian while jumping a red light.

Last week on the blog we shared the story about the Dublin cyclist who donated €5 to this GoFundMe campaign, set up to support opposition to a proposed bike lane. The cyclist left a message with his donation saying: "Buy yourselves two Flat Whites with my €5 donation. Don’t waste any more money donating. Your campaign will fail. On your bikes lads!"

This week Dublin City Council has confirmed they are pressing on with works to build the cycleway, despite the residents' fundraiser. The GoFundMe raised €21,345, including many large donations exceeding €100. At least two people donated €1,000 to the campaign which was set up to "cover costs in relation to our planning and legal options and to continue to fight for a solution that will provide Sandymount with a cycle lane that utilises existing available off road potential."

The Irish Times reports that traffic will be reduced to one-way from next week to facilitate the opening of a two-way cycleway later in the month, initially for a six-month trial. A judicial review of the council's plans is due in April.

The appeal submission sent to An Bord Pleanála, the national planning appeals board, claimed the cycleway will risk greater transmission of air-borne droplets, increasing Covid transmission rates. The submission claimed this would be exacerbated because the cyclists in computer generated images of the route are "not wearing a face covering of any description"...

Dublin Council has maintained that the cycle lane doesn't need planning permission as it is in line with the government's advice to implement walking and cycling schemes during the pandemic.