“An unwelcome visit from Santa’s little helpers”: Cyclist reports close-passing driver who “just had to hold back for 10 seconds”, but gets accused of “hogging the road” by not “riding single file”; Van der Poel’s new Lamborghini + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Everything wonderful and weird... Here’s road.cc’s 2024 cycling Tech of the Year
From “walkable cleats” to crank length debates and whether or not you should use your drops at all, we take a moment to reflect on some of the biggest bike tech stories of 2024…
TotalEnergies or TotalEmergies? New kit divides fans… and title sponsor
Big Canva graphic designer on this one, as TotalEnergies’ new kit has sort of left an uninteresting taste in many fans’ mouths. Launched this morning, it’s basically a white kit with some embellishments on the sleeves and hem, and with a load of sponsors splashed across.
However, what’s “divided” most of the fans is the continuation of the title sponsor’s awkward placement on the zip, with the ‘n’ in TotalEnergies once again split.
Another thing of note for niche fans and kit collectors might be that Sportful is no longer making the kits for the team, with Bioracer instead announcing a two-year partnership that will see the Belgian speedwear specialist become the team’s performance apparel supplier.
Mathieu van der Poel arrives at Azencross Loenhout in a Lambo ahead of clash with old rival Wout van Aert
Yesterday’s Boxing Day race in Gavere was another show of complete dominance by the one and only Mathieu van der Poel, who even admitted to “losing focus” and making “a lot of mistakes” and still ended up winning the race almost half a minute ahead of Michael Vanthourenhout.
And he arrived at the UCI World Cup race in a bright orange Lamborghini Revuelto worth at least €511,000 — after all, he did become the Lamborghini Antwerp ambassador last year and even got himself a shiny new SUV (which he was apparently more excited for than his new Canyon).
MVDP… what a king 👑
🎥: Pieter Scmp pic.twitter.com/ksRyIfkBlk
— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) December 27, 2024
“I didn’t choose that colour myself,” Van der Poel said. “It certainly doesn’t drive badly, but it was very busy on the road.”
In other news, cyclocross legend Richard Groenendaal showered praise on the cyclocross world champion and claimed that it wasn’t his fault that no one else in the field could match up to his prowess on the bike.
In conversation with Wielerflits, Groenendaal said: “The most important reason is simply that he has always been the best. When he was a rookie, he was already by far the best, and he still is now. In the meantime, he has only become stronger, also because of his way of making annual plans.
Commenting about the lack of desire amongst other riders to challenge Van der Poel for the win, he said: “For us — and by that I mean: all the other teams and riders — there’s not much to it… You could just see everyone shrugging their shoulders and thinking: that’s it. But to be clear: that’s not Mathieu’s fault, that’s more the fault of the rest.”
But amidst all the talk of dominance, there’s one rider who has been missing all this while and is set to make his return to bike racing at Azencross Loenhout this afternoon, four months on from his crash at the Vuelta: Wout van Aert, who apparently doesn’t want to make it a “duel” with his old rival.
“I’m nervous today,” the 30-year-old Belgian told Wielerflits, who said that he watched Van der Poel win yesterday from the massage table. “Not only yesterday, but in all three races Mathieu was as good as ever. It is absolutely not the goal to make a duel out of it. I hope it goes well, that I can ride a good race and compete. Of course, if I am in the front, I am not going to give up beforehand. But realistically speaking, he is the better one.”
He added: “You are curious about your performance. I don’t have the highest expectations, but there is always a lot to deal with when you arrive at such a race for the first time. There is also a very technical aspect to cyclocross. I haven’t flown through the field at that speed for a long time, that does cause some stress.”
However, if you were to believe his training partner Daan Soete, he would tell you that he’s coming back to win. He told Sporza: “Watch out: it’s more than just preparation. Something is always expected of Wout and Mathieu in the field. If there is an audience, you don’t want to finish 15th. That way, the knife is always between your teeth.”
With the race starting in a few hours, we’ll be watching with bated breath.
Marion Norbert Riberolle pips teammate Sanne Cant to win the Azencross in Loenhout, with British rider Imogen Wolff coming third
Team Crelan-Corendon absolutely dominated the foggy conditions in Belgium, with the team’s riders in the driving seat for most of the race. But it was a slow dismount in the penultimate lap that cost Sanne Cant the win at Exact Cross Loenhout – Azencross, and freed up Marion Norbert Riberolle to go solo, finishing ahead of her teammate by 23 seconds.
“She’s absolutely crushed this race!” 🔥
Marion Norbert Riberolle seals the win at Exact Cross Loenhout 👏 pic.twitter.com/90le9hymmH
— Eurosport (@eurosport) December 27, 2024
“I am super happy. I decided in consultation with my coach and the team to start here because it was a chance for a win,” Riberolle said after her win. “However, I didn’t feel so good today during the recon. My legs were very heavy and it was not easy. I was also sleeping a bit too much at the start.
“I have a lot of respect for [Cant]. She used to be my idol. But in the final, I didn’t wait and I took my chances. For my morale, it’s very good that I can win here.”
Meanwhile, 18-year-old promising British rider Imogen Wolff rounded up the podium places, a further 40 seconds behind Riberolle after a lot of hard work in chasing down the Crelan-Corendon riders.
The road.cc comprehensive controversial cycle lane guide
From success stories and safer roads to further protests and councils backtracking, here’s what happened with some of Britain’s most controversial cycling projects…
Van der Poel makes it four in four at thrilling Exact Cross Loehnhout, as Wout van Aert misses out on podium on his return to racing
Not the return to cyclocross Wout van Aert would have hoped for, as despite a strong start and holding a slender lead for the first five minutes, he missed out on securing a podium finish at the Exact Cross Loehnhout, hitting the deck three times in a thrilling race.
The 30-year-old Belgian first made a mistake on a tight, tricky U-turn section, allowing Van der Poel past him, and then on the final lap as he was chasing was his old rival, he slid out while under pressure from a divebombing Thibau Nys, costing him second and eventually third place as well, which was taken by Laurens Sweek who was in the right place at the right time to pick up the spoils of the faltering former world champion.
In the end, it was once again, Mathieu van der Poel who was just too good, too strong, and too fast for the rest, as the reigning champion took his fourth victory in less than a week. But even he suffered a scare in the penultimate lap, sliding out in a turn just before the mechanical zone and being forced into a bike change.
FOUR WINS IN A ROW 🔥
Mathieu van der Poel makes it four in a row as Wout van Aert finishes fourth on his return to racing at Exact Cross Loenhout 👏 pic.twitter.com/Coj4uOYnzd
— Eurosport (@eurosport) December 27, 2024
“It was a difficult race, it wasn’t easy to make the difference,” Van der Poel said. “It’s a course where it’s difficult to really ride much faster than someone else, because then you quickly make mistakes. But I think it’s a nice circuit. Furthermore, I had cold hands for the first time. So it was definitely the toughest ‘cross race so far, especially after the tough cross yesterday.
He added: “My saddle was broken, which meant I had to change bikes. But Sweeck also rode strongly, I certainly didn’t let him come back. After that, I just had to keep doing my thing and then I could extend my lead a bit further. And that worked out.”
Thibau Nys and Laurens Sweek put up a brilliant show and an even better fight for the fans, putting Van der Poel under at least some pressure and duking it out until the finish line and separated by just one second, finishing 14 and 15 seconds behind the flying Dutchman respectively.
‘Friends of Mortirolo’ submit request to close iconic Italian climb until “safety of cyclists” is ensured
The iconic, fearsome Italian mountain Mortirolo, where Marco ‘Il Pirata’ Pantani made his mark on the global stage winning his second stage in as many days during the 1994 Giro d’Italia, could close down to cyclists in 2025 if a request made by a campaign is accepted in order to resurface the road and improve safety for cyclists.
The Friends of Mortirolo have launched an appeal for the proposed closure of the Foppa pass to cyclists departing from Mazzo, demanding new alsphalt and widening of the road, which has now been taken up by the Comunità montana di Tirano.
The group said: “We knew perfectly well that the request we presented to the municipal administration of Mazzo regarding the closure of the iconic Mortirolo climb would cause a stir. Much has been said and written even at a national level, sometimes inappropriately. We appreciated the exhortation made by [journalist] Beppe Conti who in a simple and clear way asked those responsible to finance the project presented by the municipality of Mazzo.
“Everything else is pure rhetoric if not hypocrisy and unsolicited advice. We would have liked to hear the same words spoken by Beppe Conti from the Valtellina administrators, in particular from the mayors of Livigno and Bormio, who have received so much from the Mortirolo. We reiterate that the safety of cyclists and those who ride the climb is non-negotiable.
“Therefore, if the money for the intervention is not allocated, we confirm the request to close the road as early as the 2025 season.”
“I could have ridden for second or third place”: Wout van Aert reveals spectator “hanging completely over the course” caused his final lap crash at Exact Cross
Although to most viewers as well as the commentators, it initially looked like Wout van Aert had slipped on the outside of a turn on the final lap, the Belgian has revealed that it was a “fan hanging completely over the course” who made him miss out on a podium on his return to racing after 91 days at the Exact Cross in Loenhout.
As Van Aert, along with Thibaut Nys and Laurens Sweeck were chasing down Van der Poel, Nys tried to overtake Van Aert on the inside of a turn, forcing the former world champion to go wide and collide with the spectator.
From the replays, the fan was cheering the riders when his outstretched hand hit Van Aert as he got too close to the barriers, with the person seeming recoiling into the crowd after realising what happened.
Les images qu’on n’aime pas voir : percuté par le coude d’un spectateur imprudent, Wout van Aert a chuté dans le dernier tour du cyclo-cross de Loenhout…
Suivez la saison de cyclo-cross sur Eurosport pic.twitter.com/qrLDLEywwy
— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) December 27, 2024
Speaking to Sporza after the race, the 30-year-old said: “It certainly wasn’t Thibau’s fault. He did a nice manoeuvre to get to the front — only I was on the outside of the bend, and there was a fan hanging completely over the course. Unfortunately I came into contact with him.”
“Too bad, because I could have ridden for second or third place. But hey, I’m happy with how it went. I had a successful day.”
He added: “I wanted to get off to a good start, but it took a long time before I got into my pedal. I thought: this is already a bad start. But suddenly there was space on the left and so I unexpectedly dove into the field at the front.”
Before the race, the Belgian fans greeted Van Aert with a loud wave of cheers. “I felt it,” he said. “That felt good. I felt good in that first lap. But when Mathieu accelerated, I noticed that technically, I was really not good enough.”
“It’s too bad, but I still had a successful day.”
“An unwelcome visit from Santa’s little helpers”: Cyclist reports close-passing driver who “just had to hold back for 10 seconds”, but social media users accuse them of “hogging the road” by not “riding single file”
No, not the elves, not even the wee dog from The Simpsons, but apparently a cyclist has been getting a bashing on Twitter after they posted a video of a driver who close-passed a group riding two-abreast with oncoming traffic in Co. Down… for the age-old lampoons of “hogging the whole lane” and “not riding single file”.
The cyclist, who goes by the username of CountyDownCycling on social media, shared the video of the close pass which took place during their training ride on the A2, near the entrance to Murlough beach on the road to Dundrum, near Newcastle in Northern Ireland, writing that the driver “will get an unwelcome visit from Santa’s little helpers after this Christmas Eve”.
> Why do cyclists ride two abreast?
Driver of SEAT reg BEZ1182 will get an unwelcome visit from Santa’s little helpers after this Christmas Eve #ClosePass 👮 #OpSnap pic.twitter.com/3J0fzsHc0A
— CountyDownCycling (@CyclingDown) December 24, 2024
However, while cyclists commenting under the post were more concerned about in Northern Ireland’s close pass reporting services, others found fault in the cyclists riding two-abreast.
“Shouldn’t be hogging the whole lane in your wee pack.”
“You should be riding single file for starters.”
“Poor pass but just do the decent thing and ride single file. There is no need to fill the whole side of the road up. That is selfish really and so frustrating as a driver when you can’t pass. You won’t concede that you would be equally frustrated I know that.”
The ironic thing here, is of course the median strip with hatched markings, implying that drivers shouldn’t be entering the zone between the lanes unless necessary, and most would agree that overtaking seven cyclists riding two-abreast — and that too with oncoming traffic — wouldn’t arbitrarily fall into that category.
While one person seemed to point this issue out, they still made out that both the cyclists and drivers were in the wrong: “Riding two abreast when there is a hazard strip is an offence, isn’t it, causing an obstruction. But the driver shouldn’t overtake and cross into the hazard strip or drive so close. Both cyclists and driver at fault.”
Replying to a person who accused the cyclist of “racing with his pals on a public road”, the cyclist explained: “We weren’t racing, it was a leisurely training ride. If we wanted to race we would go to a licensed event. The driver just had to hold back for 10 secs and the road widens round the bend with plenty of overtaking space and clear view. Instead, he went for it with oncoming traffic.”
At least a few people seemed to sympathise with the cyclist. One Twitter user wrote: “I live close to that section of road and that’s approaching a bend so poor driving there from the motorist.”
Another person said: “Endless ‘rIDe sIngLe FiLe’ nonsense from people who shouldn’t be on the roads. You would have all overtaken a twenty-metre-long train of cyclists too close just like you do to lone cyclists. I think I’ll consider getting a camera next year so I can report you all too.”
Yet another person said: “The cesspit of responses to this recorded dangerous driving clearly demonstrates why there is a significant way to go before drivers realise they must obey the law. Poor policing and levels of enforcement are contributory.”
What do you make of the close pass? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
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I should know, I was one Must be why you're so good at writing bollocks, especially pro-police bollocks
the excuse that cycles are not fitted with speedometers seems very lame in this day and age The police just love their dodge that no cyclist speedometer is anything other than a worthless child's toy, rather like the bike it's monitoring, so I'm not keen on the idea that the b******s can suddenly choose to accept them when looking to victimise cyclists. LancsFilth initially said they couldn't do anything about offences like this because I 'might have been travelling at less than 10 mph which would make the manoeuvre legal '. https://upride.cc/incident/t27gjh_astra_dwlcross/ This was before they hit on the Master Dodge of just ignoring all reports of driver offences from cyclists.
Well done for doing the research. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/20/suv-risks-warnings-road-safety-buyers-uk-study
Not as rare as they should be after taking milage into account. Clearly part of that equation is better education of pedestrians , but I have no issues with making cyclists subject to the speed limits. The majority do not exceed 20mph, except for the rare occasions they have a good breeze or an incline in their favour. Those that have the capability are often already recording their data anyway, the excuse that cycles are not fitted with speedometers seems very lame in this day and age.
But then there would would have been grounds for prosecuting the driver in that circumstance as he would have been substantially exceeding the speed limit. The cyclist was innocent under the law but I consider him profoundly responsible for that death. We ask for considerable consideration by motorists and we have now been given legal backing for it, it does not become us to defend hairing round public park roads in substantial excess of a speed limit considered to offer reasonable safety to vulnerable road users.
Not as rare as they should be after taking milage into account. Clearly part of that equation is better education of pedestrians , but I have no issues with making cyclists subject to the speed limits. The majority do not exceed 20mph, except for the rare occasions they have a good breeze or an incline in their favour. Those that have the capability are often already recording their data anyway, the excuse that cycles are not fitted with speedometers seems very lame in this day and age.
I believe "hi-vis" isn't actually worth that much - certainly not compared to eg. the value of "reflectives" as soon as it gets darker. But even those are still just PPE though - this is the lowest rung (least effective) on the hierarchy of health and safety hazard controls. And "visual aids for drivers" do nothing if drivers don't do their part, no matter how much is worn...
Not the best timing, but not the major issue he's trying to turn it into either. Fitness amongst young people is a problem when it comes to armed forces recruitment, as many are having trouble with the requirements needed to pass the tests because of their inactive lifestyles. This investment will help deal with the problem.
Seemed pretty visible to me - and she was sporting light-coloured hair, bag, footwear and bright trousers. What if she'd been approaching a motorist "out of the sun", or passing a field of oilseed rape or stand of autumnal trees later in the year? If you think that's flippant, note that "sun" and "tree leaves" have been advanced as defense / mitigation in court despite cyclists following guidance ('should'). Frankly she's already done the best preaching possible: been a "normal person" riding a bike.
@60somethingcyclist Looks like you've stepped straight into silly comment mode without looking at all at the actual facts of the case. It has nothing to do with shared paths, the cyclist was on a public road on the vehicle carriageway, the pedestrian was standing on a traffic island waiting to cross. Evidence from independent witnesses shows that the pedestrian stepped out into the path of the cyclist without warning when he was around two metres from her. Much has been made of the fact that he was possibly riding at 5mph more than the motor vehicle speed limit for the road but he could have been riding at 10 mph and he still would have had no chance of avoiding her. The pedestrian was solely responsible for the incident and no amount of "mutual consideration and respect" would have changed that. Suggest reading the articles and evidence in future before commenting with such nonsense.
14 thoughts on ““An unwelcome visit from Santa’s little helpers”: Cyclist reports close-passing driver who “just had to hold back for 10 seconds”, but gets accused of “hogging the road” by not “riding single file”; Van der Poel’s new Lamborghini + more on the live blog”
Meanwhile, in Ormskirk, a
Meanwhile, in Ormskirk, a cyclist was killed in a hit and run attack on the evening of Boxing Day. However, the police appear to have tracked down the villain
“a 29-year-old man from
“a 29-year-old man from Burscough has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and driving whilst unfit through drink/drugs”.
Dicks Lane is a rural, unlit road and it was foggy all day yesterday in Warrington which is not far away from Ormskirk, so I would guess the weather conditions were similar there. The accident happened when it was already dark outside.
I did my usual 40 mile rides both on the Christmas day and yesterday here in Wazza and while the traffic was scarce on both days a lot of the remaining drivers on the roads were speeding and jumping red lights like I had never seen before. I suspect a lot were also driving under the influence of alcohol. I cycled in the morning when the roads are the quietest in festive periods when people stay in bed long having been drinking the evening before. There is nothing that would make me go cycle after it gets dark on these days on lit roads, never mind unlit though, especially having seen cars doing easily 50mph on 30mph roads in the middle of the town.
whosatthewheel wrote:
Those will surely be cyclists who just happened to be driving that day…?
Apologies if this has already
Apologies if this has already been shared but I came across this heartwarming story on the Beeb over Christmas.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg3nz69gx6o
Not too long until she
Not too long until she discovers the challenge of getting a driving licence, getting her own brum and how driving everywhere can give her even deeper sense of belonging in this society.
Ah Wout, clutching at straws
Ah Wout, clutching at straws is not a good look. You made a mistake and crashed. Nys, at least, would have still beaten you.
I agree, he had locked up
I agree, he had locked up going in and was sliding out along the barriers anyway. There was a slight contact with the spectator but he wasn’t “completely hanging out over the course” by any means, in fact as far as I can tell he was outside the barriers and WVA only touched him because he was sliding into them. The contact might, at a generous assessment, have made the crash 10% more likely. Good to see him back nonetheless!
Quote:
Is that the South Downs or the Wessex Downs?
mdavidford wrote:
Is that the South Downs or the Wessex Downs?
It’s next door to County Ups, which for obvious reasons isn’t so popular with cyclists.
Rendel Harris wrote:
When I was a small child, I thought Epsom Downs was “ups and downs”.
I used to believe as a small
Can anyone explain why you’d
Can anyone explain why you’d cycle on a muddy towpath in your gravel bike but not even have clip on mudguards? I don’t think it’s lack of funds !
Some folk have them, some
Some folk have them, some folk dont, it’s the same as MTBs and nothing new. Some terrains will see them clog up or break. Having your front wheel clog up can be dangerous.
There is no way on that
There is no way on that terrain the wheels would clog up.