Driver charged over three incidents of cyclists rammed in road rage attacks; Councillor demands mandatory helmets and 'road tax'; Movistar pro's wounds from Vuelta barbed wire crash; Sir Chris Hoy gets a cargo bike; Paralympic gold + more on the live blog

Nine Australia reports a man has been charged after allegedly ramming cyclists in three seperate road rage attacks in Adelaide. He is also alleged to have lied about his car being stolen.

Police say the white Ford Fairmount was travelling on Lady Gowrie Drive, North Haven at around 6.30am when the driver steered at a cyclist, knocking them to the ground. The rider suffered bruises and grazing.

A short while later a second cyclist was then forced off the road into the verge before a third cyclist was hit by the driver of the same vehicle, throwing him off the significantly damaged bike.  

Police arrested a 25-year-old man who has since been charged with endangering life, leaving the scene of an accident, property damage and making a false report to police as investigators dispute the claim his car was stolen at the time of the offences. The suspect is due to appear in court next month.

Tomorrow is Local Bike Shop Day, an annual celebration to raise awareness of services offered by independent cycle shops across the country and the role they've played in supporting cyclists over the past 18 months. 

New shop The Bicycle Rooms in Stratford upon Avon is launching this Saturday and will offer free safety inspections all day.

Elsewhere Cycle Solutions Uplands is joined by Gower Gelato, who will be handing out Gelato pots free to customers who spend in store or book their bike in for a service. G64 Cycles in Glasgow is offering 3 for 2 on bike maintenance lubricants/cleaning as well as free lights and a cable lock to any bikes sold on the day.

Cycling in Wales increased by more than 68 per cent during 2020 as motorised traffic on Welsh roads fell to levels not seen since the 1990s, according to new Welsh Government research. Cyclists covered more than 320 million vehicle-kilometres (vkm) on Welsh roads last year, compared to 190m vkm the year before.

The trend follows a spike in cycling activity elsewhere in the UK during the Covid lockdown and emergence from restrictions. Interestingly the the number of vehicle-kilometres clocked up by cyclists in Great Britain in 2020 was the highest since 1962.

By contrast, car use in Wales fell by 26.3 per cent during lockdown, with motorists driving over 7.5 billion fewer vkm than in 2019. However, the volume of motorised traffic in Wales was still equivalent to 7,760km (4,823 miles) per person.

Greg Wilson of Quotezone.co.uk commented on the numbers: "It’s extraordinary that lockdown saw cycling increase to levels not seen since 1962, a time when less than 40% of households owned a car."

Ready? FIGHT! #LaVuelta21 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/y3Q0359Xaw

— iker gallastegi (@ikguallas) August 26, 2021

The best way to do the school run. Welcome to the cargo bike club, @chrishoy! pic.twitter.com/z54efcoHZ3

— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) August 26, 2021

Top comment from someone questioning Chris' abilities to ride a cargo bike on British roads. Yeah, the six-time Olympic champion and 11-time world champ is going to struggle...

Perhaps they were from Bath Conservatives...who on Wednesday said you can't use a cargo bike anywhere hilly, only to get shut down by a cargo bike courier who's been delivering up Bath's steep hills for years...

And while we're on the subject of Tories talking nonsense about 'steep hills', you might have seen the news this morning that a Camden cycle lane has been voted through despite a Conservative claim the three per cent incline was too severe.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Nelson Oliveira (@nelsonoliveira_89)

Ouch, ouch, ouch. Poor Nelson Oliveria ended up in the barbed wire on stage 12 and finished the stage 14 minutes down on the day's winner Magnus Cort. The Portuguese rider on the Movistar team rolled across the line bloodied and with little of his team shorts left around his legs. 

The veteran campaigner reassured concerned fans on Instagram: "Don't try to go against a barbed wire net - I'm fine and nothing serious, tomorrow will be another day - thank you all for your affection"

Shades of Mitch Docker at the Tour of Flanders and Johnny Hoogerland at the Tour de France in 2011. Many other riders, including Ineos' Adam Yates and Dylan van Baarle were involved. Max Schachmann has abandoned the race and Alpecin-Fenix Grand Tour debutant Tobias Bayer didn't finish the stage.

If Boris to rewrite Highway code to favour cyclists fine, BUT law must mirror their responsibility on the road and other road tax playing motorists safety so HELMETS MUST BE MANDATORY!!

— C19 GET SERIOUS!! Judes Butt (@JudesButt) August 25, 2021

Let's start Friday with some local politics silliness. Cllr Judy Butt from Poole's hot take stemmed from the proposed Highway Code changes that will see cyclists given priority at junctions when travelling straight ahead. It will also establish a hierarchy of road users, with those with the potential to cause the most danger to others deemed to have greater responsibility.

"HELMETS MUST BE MANDATORY!!" is Judy's price for the changes and she couldn't help herself having a sly point about the "law must mirror their responsibility on the road and other tax playing (sic) motorists safety". Yes, sometimes it does seem like we play road tax when talking about cycling online.

In fairness to Cllr Butt she was happy to engage on the subject (if you can give a local politician credit for explaining controversial their opinions?) 

Saves lives and if precedence given to cyclists then they need to be responsible and like motorist not all of them are! Re Road Tax if you want to hair split fine but cyclists pay nothing to use the roads..now there's a gov revenue opportunity!! https://t.co/oOYrbkJPR6

— C19 GET SERIOUS!! Judes Butt (@JudesButt) August 25, 2021

 And here it comes...

Road tax clearly the generic term for the £30 to over £200 paid by motorists each year depending on car to put yr car on the road. Cyclists pay no such levy, if they did perhaps finances would be available to provide better safety measures for them? https://t.co/f0P5IvkS6G

— C19 GET SERIOUS!! Judes Butt (@JudesButt) August 26, 2021

Thanks for this info. I agree there are many other ways too. Thank you for advising me much appreciated. J. https://t.co/AEbxzEZ1jf

— C19 GET SERIOUS!! Judes Butt (@JudesButt) August 26, 2021