“Do you think you’re Cycling Mikey bro?”: Camera cyclist catches phone-using Birmingham drivers and things get heated immediately — as social media suggests he’s “not going to last like that in Brum”; Gaudu out of Tour de France + more on the live blog
First Published: Jun 27, 2025
SUMMARY
“We’re a bit like monkeys in the circus”: Van Poppel slams chaotic Tour de France route and lack of rider input ahead of sprint-heavy first week
Danny van Poppel doesn’t seem too keen on the opening week of this year’s Tour de France — and it’s not because he’s out of form. The Dutchman, who’s expected to be part of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe’s lead-out for Jordi Meeus and support team leader Primož Roglič, has taken aim at a route design which he says puts spectacle over safety.
“Nobody likes it. We’re a bit like monkeys in the circus, right? For the public, it’s interesting and more fun, so they throw it in again”, van Poppel told In de Leiderstrui.
“For us, that’s very frustrating. First and foremost for Primoz, but also for everyone who is preparing for a goal with the team. It looked like bad luck, but by now it’s also part of cycling”.
What he’s talking about is the opening ten days of the race — a tightly packed stretch of flat and hilly stages across the north of France that are unlikely to create major gaps in the peloton and the general classification. But by keeping the peloton closely bunched, it sets up a perfect storm of stress, crashes, and positioning chaos — especially for riders trying to stay upright while contesting sprint finishes or keeping their GC leader safe.
If you remember, Roglič was forced to abandon both the 2024 Tour and this year’s Giro d’Italia after crashing. And while the UCI and rider union CPA have made repeated pledges to improve safety, according to the 31-year-old Dutch, little has changed.
“As riders, we have little to no say and I think that’s a shame in cycling,” he said. “After that, I sent Adam Hansen [CPA president] a message via WhatsApp, but I simply got 0 response. And I was very disappointed about that. He wants to do everything safely and well, but then I have written down a lot of advice and I don’t get any response. I’ll be cycling for a few more years and then I also think: we’ll just go for it, as a rider I don’t have much say anyway”.
He added: “Look a bit at how it works in other sports and put people on it who really understand sprinting. If you look at other sports, cycling is still amateurish. But they don’t want to listen to it completely and the UCI has so much power that we can’t really do anything. There’s no point in continuing to waste negative energy on it and then you just focus on performing.”
Van Poppel’s criticisms come just months after another Grand Tour route raised eyebrows — in the opposite way, as the 2025 Vuelta a España offers barely any incentive for sprinters, with only one flat stage and just four that look likely to end in a bunch sprint.
Plan to scrap bike racks at major railway station over car bomb fears “paused” after backlash from cyclists and MPs
“Are his hands made out of Gatorade?”: A follow-up worthy of the “crusty” sweat-corroded handlebars… and cyclist asks if the tape can be “reused”
Just when we thought yesterday’s corroded handlebar horror story — featuring a snapped aluminium bar, a titanium frame, and a very sweaty ex-NBA player — couldn’t be topped, the same mechanic has returned with a sequel. Different bike, same nightmare.
“Yall loved the first crusty bar,” the Reddit poster wrote. “This one is from just a few weeks ago. The handlebar tape was original. He got very lucky. Bike came in for tune up and to replace just the rear brake cable/housing since it was getting hard to pull. Customer asked if we could reuse the handlebar tape after we removed it. We installed a new handlebar obviously.”
To be clear: the bar was corroded nearly through, and the rider wanted to re-use the tape.
Yall loved the first crusty bar
byu/thebeekeeperson inJustridingalong
The comments, as expected, were equal parts horrified and fascinated. “Holy crap… well I’m glad he brought it into the shop and you were able to get that replaced. I can’t imagine how bad that crash would’ve been if he’d kept on riding it,” one person wrote.
Another asked the real question: “Are his hands made out of Gatorade??? What on earth! I’ve never seen galvanic corrosion this bad. This is wild.”
Some suspected this was another case of turbo trainer sweat destruction, but the mechanic clarified: “Not indoor bikes. We do live in the mountains of Tennessee so I feel like low speed climbing causes the sweat to drop instead of back. Most of the rest of the stuff on the bike was in okay shape considering the miles.”
“To race just to finish, there’s no point in that”: David Gaudu out of the Tour de France as French hopes continue to thin
Another big French name is out of the Tour de France. David Gaudu has confirmed he won’t be on the start line in Lille next week, citing poor form and lingering fatigue after a tough spring and a punishing Giro d’Italia.
“Given my current level, I’ve been honest with the team. In any case, they have my data and we’ve decided together to miss out on the Tour this year,” he told AFP. “To race just to finish, there’s no point in that.”
Gaudu, fourth overall in 2022 and ninth in 2023, would have hoped for a similar strong performance this year around too — especially with the race passing through Brittany, his home region. “It’s hugely disappointing,” he said. “Particularly as the race goes through Britanny this year and my relatives were going to come see me there.”
His absence follows that of Benoît Cosnefroy, who earlier this week confirmed he’s skipping both the Nationals and the Tour due to a knee injury sustained during the Tour de Suisse. That’s two of France’s most recognisable riders out before the race even begins — and after Romain Bardet’s emotional farewell at the Dauphiné, it’s been a bleak few weeks for home fans.
Gaudu’s 2025 season started promisingly with a win in Oman, but since then he’s struggled with crashes, a fractured hand, and what he described as an ongoing lack of feeling on the bike. “I held back on a decision until the last weekend to do a training camp, do some mountain climbs and exercises off the bike. But my feelings still aren’t good.”
He finished 66th at the Giro and, by his own admission, was “completely exhausted” at the finish. Whether he lines up for the Vuelta later this year remains to be seen.
In the meantime, Groupama-FDJ will turn to Guillaume Martin to fly the flag, with stage wins and a top ten on GC the stated goal. “We have a good, cohesive team, and we hope to achieve good results,” said team boss Marc Madiot. “Guillaume is a very good stage racer… He may not be a very spectacular rider at first glance, but he’s tenacious and mentally very strong. He never gives up.”
The team’s had a rough time of it lately — Stefan Küng is also out of the national champs after a crash in training — but if Martin can bring his Dauphiné form into July, there’s still something to fight for.
“I hope to win the yellow jersey in the future”: Mountain bike star Puck Pieterse hints at Tour de France ambitions
Puck Pieterse has done it all — cyclo-cross, mountain bike, and now, slowly but surely, the road. The 23-year-old Dutch rider is already known for her explosive one-day racing and managed to get the better of Demi Vollering in the fourth stage of last year’s Tour de France, but in a new interview with Domestique, she made it clear: the Tour de France Femmes is very much on her radar.
“I’m used to racing every weekend from cyclo-cross. It was not really difficult to get focused before every race,” she said. “I have a feeling that you only come out stronger because these races are so good trainings as well. You train your endurance, you train your sprints, you train everything.”
Racing constantly has also sharpened her tactical instincts. “The more you race, the more race situations you get to know, and the easier you can maybe read how a race is unfolding.”
As for the Tour, Pieterse isn’t targeting the overall just yet. “We have not really had a chat about it with the team, actually, so I don’t know exactly what my role will be. Last year proved that I can win a stage. I think for this year, it will be mainly stage-focused as well.”
That said, she won’t be deliberately losing time to get into breakaways. “I’ll just keep riding, I think, with the GC contender to see where I end up. But I don’t think GC is a goal for this year already.”
For now, the GC focus at Fenix-Deceuninck lies with Pauliena Rooijakkers. “It would just be super cool to maybe be able to follow longer on the climbing stages and help her towards maybe another podium or even better,” Pieterse said.
But the long-term plan? That’s clear enough. “We have to see this year how the preparation on the longer climbs will work out in the race, and afterwards decide if a GC would be an option. But of course, now, after how last year went, I hope to win the yellow jersey in the future.”
“That has to be a premeditated attack”: Egg-pelting car passenger slammed for “unprovoked assault”, as cyclists share more horrifying stories of being attacked with “glass vodka bottle” and “full beer can”
Yesterday’s story about a Cambridge cyclist being struck by an egg thrown by a passenger in a passing Land Rover has sparked a wave of anger — and a grim flurry of similar stories from other cyclists, some of whom have had a range of gubbins hurled from people inside other vehicles.
The cyclist, who described the incident as an “unprovoked assault”, posted a clip showing the egg hitting him square in the back before smashing on the road. He was left physically unharmed, but warned that a less experienced rider could easily have been destabilised and fallen into traffic.
While many road.cc readers condemned the incident outright, with one person saying on social media: “That was a premeditated attack by a smug, arrogant motorist and his passenger”, others shared their own chilling experiences of being targeted on the road.
road.cc reader Rendel Harris wrote: “Memories of a full beer can being thrown at me totally unprovoked from an oncoming vehicle early on a Sunday morning (I know it was full because it exploded when it hit the ground behind me).
“Police attitude was that it’s just someone playing silly buggers and not even worth reporting. I pointed out that a full can of beer weighs nearly half a kilo and we had a closing speed of something approaching 40 mph, so more than enough to kill.
“The response was a shrug (this was way before cameras, I reported it at the police station) and ‘If it had hit you we could do something but as it is we’ve only got your word for it that they were throwing it at you…’”
Over on Facebook, Gavin Bennett wrote: “Was hit by a glass vodka bottle thrown at me from a wanker in a red car a few years ago, when cycling in a cycle lane at the side of the A road in Matlock.
“The bottle hit the mountain bike I had at the time, smashing two spokes in the rear wheel and causing a puncture. When it smashed on the surface, the large shards of glass rebounded off the ground and one of them hit the side of my trainer.
“As soon as I stopped the bike, I walked back and looked at the shard which had hit me — it was about five inches long. The driver didn’t stop. I reported the incident to Derbyshire Police, who were not even interested. Personally, if I witnessed someone breaking into a car, I would never report it to the police. I now have no sympathy with any car driver — unless I personally knew the driver, then I would report it.”
> Car passenger throws rubbish at man cycling with his 4-year-old son
Ian Atkinson also shared his experience: “Two kids on an illegal e-bike threw a glass bottle at me as I cycled in the cycle lane. It missed and smashed on the ground beside me. They didn’t look quite so relaxed when I decided to give chase, but had it hit me, it could have been really bad. There’s no way they would have thrown it at a pedestrian or a car.”
Other readers were just as scathing. Elaine Laverty asked: “Who drives round with eggs to hand? This is premeditated.” David Walters added: “There would be uproar if cyclists went round throwing eggs at cars.”
Several questioned the police response — or the lack of it.”Oi! Cambridgeshire Constabulary! How about tracing the driver of the vehicle, registration clearly seen in the clip, and asking them?!” road.cc reader mitsky wrote. “It really is not rocket science, nor should it even be that hard. If you cared enough.”
And as another road.cc reader hawkinspeter pointed out: “Just imagine their response if it was a McDonald’s milkshake” — which does beg the question: why is it that cyclists getting eggs thrown at them is treated as a prank, but when the self-appointed mouthpiece of grumpy nationalism gets a bit of dairy-based protest chucked his way, it’s a matter of national security…
So, anyone else had something lobbed at them while out on the bike — a Tesco sandwich, a Lucozade bottle, half a Greggs sausage roll? Leave us a comment, and judging by the reaction so far, I’m guessing a lot of you will have a story.
Cyclists furious as “completed” bike path blocked by locked gate after opening delayed by two months – forcing them onto busy “unsafe” road with narrow tunnel
Anyone interested in “photographic evidence” of the fact that Ricky Gervais has been cycling every day?
I think we can unanimously say no… and maybe recommend some creams to Ricky while we are at it…
I’ve also been cycling every day but you don’t want photographic evidence of that 😂 https://t.co/wXU8gzFkEo
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) June 26, 2025
> Best chamois creams 2025 — keep your bum happy on long rides and turbo sessions
“Unbeatable”: Lotte Kopecky crushes Belgian Nationals to win seventh straight TT title (and nearly catches silver medallist on the line)
There was no rust to shake off — back from a training block and straight onto the top step, Lotte Kopecky stormed to her seventh consecutive Belgian time trial title on Thursday with a crushing ride through Brasschaat, setting a time of 24:37 on the flat 20.1km course.
Riding last as defending champion, the SD Worx-Protime rider made it look routine — almost catching Marthe Goossens, who started ahead and still managed to finish second, 57 seconds down. Lotte Claes took third at 1:48, well clear of the rest.
“I had a good feeling, as far as that is possible in a time trial,” Kopecky said afterwards. “I was immediately on a good pace and was able to continue it well to the finish.”
By the first time check at 10km, she was already 35 seconds up on Goossens — and her advantage only grew. A brief scare saw her skim a kerb late on, but she recovered quickly and still backed off slightly in the final kilometres as she closed in on the silver medallist. “It feels good when you can almost catch up with number two,” she said. “So I can confidently go into Sunday’s road race.”
European TT champion. World road race champion. And now seven-time Belgian TT champ. It’s a run that shows no sign of stopping. But Kopecky knows Sunday will be tougher. “That will be a very difficult race to win. I will have to make the right choices and dare to lose at times. I expect more opposition on Sunday.”
Amy Hudson to ride every stage of the men’s Tour de France — plus all the transfers — in 6,400km solo charity challenge
Endurance cyclist and author Amy Hudson set off this morning from Lille on a solo mission to ride every stage of the men’s Tour de France route — including the transfer distances between stages — to raise money for mental health charity Shout.
Hudson will cover around 6,400km in total, with just one full rest day and one half rest day scheduled across the next 30 days. She’s aiming to finish in Paris on 26 July, a day before the men’s race concludes.
“Normally, the teams would get a bus between the different stages, but I’ll be riding those as well,” she said. “I decided I was doing this before they announced the route, but now that they have, this has over 3,500 kilometres worth of transfers, so I am actually riding twice as much as the pros!”
Hudson, who started cycling in 2020 to help with her own mental health while working as a mental health nurse, is aiming to raise £10,000 for Shout, which offers a 24/7 text support service. Almost 70 per cent of the goal has already been raised at the time of writing, and you can help Amy reach 100 per cent of it by donating here.
“When I started cycling, I was really unwell mentally,” she said. “I know the impact charities like this have. The goal is to raise £10,000 for a great cause.”
“I started cycling four years ago, and while I do endurance races, I am not part of a professional team, so being the first female to undertake this challenge will be a big test for me.”
She’ll be supported along the way by her partner and is sharing regular updates on TikTok, Instagram, and through a live tracking link in her bio.
“Do you think you’re Cycling Mikey bro?”: Camera cyclist catches phone-using Birmingham drivers and things get heated immediately — as social media suggests he’s “not going to last like that in Brum”
It was only a matter of time before Birmingham got its own CyclingMikey — and now that moment’s here, it’s unfolding exactly how you’d expect.
Going by the moniker of Big Haytch, he’s riding around Brum catching phone-using drivers with a camera on his head, a mate filming up the road with a gimbal, and even a drone in the sky.
He’s only just started posting to TikTok and Instagram (full videos “coming soon” on YouTube), but he’s already gone viral: dubbed ‘roadman’ CyclingMikey for his delivery and confrontational style, and well, Birmingham being Birmingham, things get heated very quickly when you’re calling out phone-using drivers in geeked out BMWs and VW Golfs with more speakers than sense.
In the first video, he catches a phone-using driver and greets him: “Wagwan mate” before hitting him with a classic Mikey line: “Can’t be doing that mate… that’s six points bro.”
The driver initially asks him not to report it, but Big Haytch has already nailed himself to the cross, with a crown of thorns and all, as he replies: “I have to do it.”
After repeating that the offence will result in “six points” more times than anyone asked for, the driver becomes less concerned with due process and more interested in violence: “I heard it, now move… fam I’ll park up now and we’ll go round the corner… I’ll punch your fucking head in.”
Big Haytch doesn’t flinch. “Are you mad fam? You ain’t punching my head in bro.”
What follows is essentially an elite game of TikTok-era ‘ragebaiting’:
“Turn that camera off.”
“Six points bro, on your licence.”
“If you say six points one more time, I’m gonna come out.”
“Six points, my guy.”
He says it three more times. The driver gets out. The video cuts. Edge of the seat stuff, I tell you, and ends on a cliffhanger too.
In another, he pulls up alongside someone with music so loud he doesn’t hear the confrontation starting. Once he does, Big Haytch doesn’t waste time, cutting straight to the chase: “You can’t be using your phone while driving, that’s six points.”
The driver replies: “Do you think you’re Cycling Mikey bro?” before turning the rhetorical line of questioning into threatening: “Wanna get run over bro?”
But the Brum version of Mike van Erp is fearless. “You can’t run me over even if you tried,” he says, before calmly repeating “six points” until he’s told: “Go f*** yourself.”
Commenters are already split. “Can’t be doing that out here in Brum bro,” one person wrote. “Best not do it in Birmingham,” said another. “People have road rage, no insurance, no licence and be doing balloons at the same time. So could end badly.” One TikTok user predicted: “I give you a few more hours, not days, in Birmingham.”
But others are here for it. “Birmingham needs one,” Musaddiq Akhtar commented. Another added: “I used to hate Cycling Mikey but seeing the amount of accidents, people dying, high insurance prices — I get it.”
Full videos dropping on YouTube soon, apparently. Let’s hope Big Haytch does a good job of stayin’ alive until then.
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Latest Comments
Oh sir! sir! Johnnys riding his bike without a helmet, he’s going to die when he falls off!, Yes what a silly boy he is ! Anyway jump in the car we’re going to be late for school and I hope no one gets in my way especially bleeding cyclists!! I wonder if AI will see what fools we are..
It's more about the nomex suit, car helmet and five point harnesses (with HANS), but "reply" ain't what it used to be...
'Gotten' ? The word is 'become', as in, I have become sick of seeing 'gotten'.
OK, all the stuff I said elsewhere on this thread in defence of helmets, I take it all back. I'd sooner be seen as an anti-lidder than be associated with that heap of steaming ordure.
Exactly my thoughts. A real shame, they're amazing bikes, same as Islabikes. Really sad to hear the news. Having said that, we probably didn't do enough to help them. My son had one Islabike and two Frogs, all second hand that we resold for about the same amount.
I couldn't agree more, and when we have all that everywhere I might think about leaving off the helmet, but until then if I have to share the road with huge fast-moving chunks of metal, many of them piloted by persons of limited intelligence and even less self control, I'm going to keep the lid, which even Burt agrees can "probably" offer some protection from injury.
And the irony is that helmet promotion and mandation kills lots of people and they don't reduce the death rate of cyclists. The benefits of cycling vastly outweigh the risks, and helmet promotion and mandation deter cycling (the only proven effect) so those deterred lose those benefits and die earlier.
I see Mont Pythons upper class twits have been replaced by male anti helmet twits who probably ride under 10000 km/year while wearing bike gloves, ladies bib capris, power meters to register the watts they dont produce ,gps because they are easily lost on a tiny island, a mobile phone to call the wifey in case the ride gets too hilly or wet or fast or windy, all while complaining their tushy hurts. They always ask for proof..you could crash a few times on purpose without and with a helmet and send us the pictures. Do pros complain about helmets?..if you rode in a country with sun you would know that styrofoam actually keeps your head cool.. Ps ice hockey players say they dont need mouthguards..ask them to smile
If it saves one life...
Pro cyclists wear helmets as it is mandated. Before it was mandated, very few wore them. Infrastructure, separation, 20 mph, traffic calming are far more important.
20 thoughts on ““Do you think you’re Cycling Mikey bro?”: Camera cyclist catches phone-using Birmingham drivers and things get heated immediately — as social media suggests he’s “not going to last like that in Brum”; Gaudu out of Tour de France + more on the live blog”
‘A three-week drama in daily
‘A three-week drama in daily episodes’: curtain to fall on free-to-air Tour de France coverage (Grauniad)
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/jun/27/cycling-tour-de-france-gary-imlach-channel-4-itv
Their Dauphinoise coverage
Their Dauphinoise coverage was superb, so much race, so little filler.
And I will miss their, often inspired, closing montage tunes.
But I think they did miss using SL2s on a ragga tip as a tribute to Roman…
An almost full strawberry
An almost full strawberry milkshake from McDonald’s right in the kisser is probably my worst moment with twats lobbing crap out of their window. Oh, how they laughed.
They weren’t laughing that much when I caught them up a few miles down the road, reached through the drivers open window, nicked his car keys and lobbed them over the adjacent high hedge into the adjoining field.
Karma can be a bitch….
This you?
This you?
https://road.cc/content/news/195338-bolton-abbey-car-key-snatcher-gives-his-version-events
Not guilty your honour.
Not guilty your honour.
I’m way worse than that. Go totally batshit when I see red, always have done. I pretty much gave up driving almost 30 years ago due to my inability to control my rage behind the steering wheel, yet on two wheels I am, for the large part, quite sane.
I’ve done way worse than hedging keys, but I’m not going to admit to it on a random, public site.
Was hit by a tomato chucked
Was hit by a tomato chucked by a passenger in a car coming in the opposite direction once. Glancing blow off the right shoulder – at the closing speed in question (I was just at the start of the Pebble Hill descent if you’re familiar with the Box Hill locale) it felt more like something more solid. Wouldn’t have fancied it connecting with my face in those circumstances.
Lots of it about! I heard of
Lots of it about! I heard of someone being injured by a lettuce flung at them, and that was just the tip of the iceberg…
And nobody wants to get squashed by some idiot in a motor vehicle.
chrisonabike wrote:
I know someone who had a rocket thrown at them….. just ‘cos.
Things I’ve had thrown at me
Things I’ve had thrown at me in entirely unprovoked incidents whilst cycling:
Water, water bottles, beer bottles (empty), half-eaten takeway burgers, punches, and a lot of abuse.
Yeah, but cyclists
About ten years ago I had a
About ten years ago I had a water filled balloon thrown at me by some kids driving an orange coloured Astra. It burst over me, soaked my front and caused me to hit the pavement and fall into the road.
The car was travelling in the opposite direction to me and drove across the central line for the rear seat passenger to throw it.
I was shaken but decided to pursue and got close enough at some lights to get the registration. I retrieved the burst balloon and went to the police station who did not treat it seriously.
There were some reports on social media of similar incidents on the same day by other cyclists and pedestrians on social media so I contacted the police again but was again not treated seriously.
More years ago than I care to
More years ago than I care to remember, I got hit in the thigh by a stone from a slingshot from the passenger of a passing van. That hurt.
The egg throwing Land Rover
Edited: The vehicle was sold on 23 May 2025
So the advert was by the previous owner.
Holbeach has a Co-op, a
Holbeach has a Co-op, a Londis and a Tesco! Some egg-cellent options for any vigilantes…..
“Vigilantes”? Have to admit,
“Vigilantes”?
Have to admit, I showed my prejudices by watching the video and looking at the stills and wondering where the nearest caravan park was. One out-group taking it out on another https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11gtw0dGuAA
Bravo sir!
Bravo sir!
Edit : Also Bravo for taking it down when you realised it may have been sold.
What I can say, it would
Edited.
Impressive detective work.
Joining the edit train
I’ve had an egg, half full
I’ve had an egg, half full McDonalds milkshake, and water, thankfully due to poor aim I’ve avoided the worst of it.
Knew a rider though who had a full 1.5litre bottle of coke chucked at them, which burst when it the road and showered a bunch of pedestrians instead . They vowed never to ride without a camera after that.
Given the nature of social
Given the nature of social media, particularly the likes of TikTok, I was wondering when someone like Big Haytch would show up.
(Though, of course, I don’t know every helmet cam cyclist channel.)
Will be interesting to see the full videos.
Anyone else try to watch the
Anyone else try to watch the UK championship men’s road race today? The TNT/Discovery coverage of this race was an utter embarrassment. They seemed to have two camera bikes, no aerial coverage, the commentators couldn’t tell us where anyone was because of the lack of cameras, both sound and visuals were continuously dropping out and they couldn’t even manage an onscreen graphic to tell us the distance remaining. This is for what they quadrupled the price?