Should time trial helmets be banned in road races? Luke Rowe urges UCI to take action; Giro chaos: Roglič abandons, Carapaz attacks, Del Toro suffers; Jeremy Clarkson “amused” to hear BBC journalist’s “ridiculous” cargo bike stolen + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Bank Holiday round-up: From the latest hire bike hysteria and Mathieu van der Poel’s Tour-risking MTB crash to the story of the greatest cyclist you’ve never heard of, here’s everything you may have missed while out riding your bike over the bank holiday
Watt Van Aert: Belgian records best ever 10 minute power output at the Giro – averaging a monstrous 518 watts
After a patchy, turbulent start to both the season and this month’s Giro d’Italia, over the last two weeks Wout van Aert has been looking more and more like his old self.
Zac Williams/SWpix.com
The Visma-Lease a Bike star used all his strength and tactical nous to hang on to a rampant Isaac del Toro on the white roads of Tuscany on stage nine, outsprinting the pink jersey in waiting in Siena, before finishing second to an equally on-fire Mads Pedersen on stage 13’s tough uphill drag to the line in Vicenza.
But arguably Van Aert’s best ride of the Giro came the day before in Viadana, where he piloted Olav Kooij to the stage win with a monster, kilometre-plus lead out.
And, in an Instagram post last night, the Belgian showed he has the numbers to back up his new-found form on the road.
According to his TrainingPeaks data, Van Aert recorded his best one-minute power of 2025 last week at the Giro, averaging a staggering 852 watts over 60 seconds.
But even more impressively, the 30-year-old also recorded his all-time highest power output for 10 minutes – an absolutely monstrous 518 watts, working out at 6.6 w/kg for a 10-minute effort.
My legs hurt just thinking about that. As the Belgians say, Wout is definitely back.
Would the real Giro d’Italia please stand up? The peloton finally hits the real mountains as they enter the Giro’s third, decisive week – and it’s already looking extremely grim
It’s been one of those editions of the Giro d’Italia where a lot has happened, but nothing has happened at the same time.
And, as the peloton finally enters the proper, big mountains of the final week following 15 days of largely phoney war – starting with today’s brutal 203km, four-climb route to San Valentino – there are plenty of unanswered questions still lingering around.
Is Isaac del Toro strong enough to hold the pink jersey all the way to Rome?
Will Juan Ayuso – rumoured to have trained alone on the rest day – spark some classic Giro internecine conflict within UAE Team Emirates?
Can an injury-ravaged Primož Roglič mount a comeback?
Will Simon Yates, Richard Carapaz, or Egan Bernal launch a daring raid on pink?
But before we get on to all that, the riders are currently being forced to endure a 60km slog in the valley through cold, pouring rain.
That was one weird crash by poor Garofoli, his back wheel was sliding like on ice. 🧐 Quite a miracle that he didn’t take the whole peloton down and he continues the race too.#GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/MmNf60yPIW
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) May 27, 2025
And in treacherous conditions as the breakaway fought to get away, Soudal-Quick Step’s young Italian Gianmarco Garofoli bizarrely slid right across the width of the peloton, bringing down Ineos GC contender Thymen Arensman with him, but miraculously avoiding a bigger crash.
Welcome to the proper Giro, eh?
Councils would be able to buy land for cycling routes without owners’ consent under MP’s new proposal
Councils should have more powers to purchase land for cycling and walking routes, even if landowners do not give consent, according to a Liberal Democrat MP who has tabled an amendment to the government’s Planning and Infrastructure bill.
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> Read more: Councils would be able to buy land for cycling routes without owners’ consent under MP’s new proposal
Heartbreak for Josh Tarling, as young Welsh rider crashes out of debut Giro d’Italia after sliding out on roundabout and colliding with barrier while riding in breakaway
Awful news from the Giro, as Josh Tarling – who won his first ever grand tour stage earlier this month in the time trial in Tirana – has abandoned the race, after sliding out on a roundabout and crashing heavily into a barrier.
The 21-year-old Ineos Grenadiers rider had forced himself into a strong breakaway, also including Wout van Aert and Irish champion Darren Rafferty, at the time of the crash, which saw him hit the roadside barrier, located just before the exit of a roundabout, at speed.
Tarling looked to be in considerable pain, lying on the road and holding his collarbone, in the immediate aftermath of the crash, though it has been reported that he was seen moving shortly afterwards.
However, his Giro – which up until today represented a breakthrough grand tour ride for the young Welshman – has unfortunately come to an abrupt end. We’ll have more on this as we get it.
Is Pas Normal’s latest advert all about swapping marginal gains for fringe benefits?
Err… Now, I’ve seen plenty of weird, wacky, and downright awful cycling adverts over the years (looking at you, basically every cycling clothing ad of the 2000s), but this one recently released by divisive Danish brand Pas Normal has baffled even me:
Ma, quick grab the bowl. I have a photoshoot with Pas Normal later!
Maybe, as a few people on social media have noted, they’re just fully embracing cycling’s recent 1990s nostalgia trend by opting for Jim Carrey’s classic Dumb and Dumber look?
Or… Is this the start of aero hair to go along with the new penchant for time trial helmets in road races? Quick, someone tell Luke Rowe.
Free pop-up bike storage unit set to close in shopping centre to make way for new shop, as “gutted” campaigners brand it “as good a place to lock our bikes as we’ve found anywhere in the world”
Cyclists in Worcester say they are “gutted” after the city’s Friary Walk Shopping Centre announced the closure this week of its pop-up bike storage unit, which was originally introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic to support sustainable travel.
Since its introduction, the free-to-use unit has stored over 28,000 bikes a year, while also serving as a repair station. However, the space has now been leased to a rent-paying customer, as part of the shopping centre’s “broader regeneration”, and will close tomorrow.
“We’re incredibly proud of the role we’ve played in encouraging more sustainable travel in Worcester. Hosting the bike unit was the right thing to do during a difficult time for the city,” the centre’s manager Michael Lloyd said in a statement.
“Now, as we celebrate a full return to occupancy at Friary Walk, a real milestone for the local economy, we must transition the unit back into retail use.”
Lloyd also said Friary Walk is currently working to install external bike racks, and is donating its repair station and cycle stands to Worcester City Council for potential relocation. Cyclists in the city have also been told they can continue to drop off bikes to be refurbished, repaired, or rehomed through Bike Worcester’s Cycle. Repair. Recycle initiative at Friary Walk.
“We remain committed to supporting active travel and the community-led work being done to make Worcester greener, healthier, and more accessible,” Lloyd said.
Meanwhile, Dan Brothwell, the chair of Bike Worcester, said: “It is with a heavy heart we say farewell to the Friary Walk bike store, as good a place to lock our bikes as we’ve found anywhere in the world.
“Whilst we’re gutted to see it go we’d like to take this opportunity to thank Mike Lloyd and the entire Friary Walk team for making this brilliant facility available for free to the community for the last four years.
“We’ve used it to store our bikes, fix our bikes, and help others fix their bikes. We’ve struck up friendships there, have used it as meeting point for other friends, and it’s been instrumental in growing Bike Worcester. And make no mistake we’ve made use of the shops, cafes, and bars in Friary Walk and the immediate vicinity more frequently as a result of this generous provision. It has been absolutely outstanding, so chapeau to Mike.”
He continued: “This clearly demonstrates the need for high quality and secure bike storage in the city, so now is the time for this to be provided by the City Council, County Council and housing providers.
“If we’re serious about increasing rates of active travel we shouldn’t be relying on community champions like Mike on behalf of private companies to provide it.
“Increasing the number of journeys by bike benefits everyone in the community. It’s time for Worcester to catch up with other towns and cities in the UK.”
Look who’s back (on the Zwift bike)
Yes, just two days after fracturing his wrist in a double crash during his ill-fated return to mountain biking at the UCI World Cup in the Czech Republic, Mathieu van der Poel is back on his bike as he builds his form ahead of the Tour de France.
Well, he’s back on the Zwift bike, anyway:
That clip bodes well for the Paris-Roubaix winner’s road racing summer, including a scheduled debut at the Critérium du Dauphiné, which was thrown into doubt when his injuries were confirmed by Alpecin-Deceuninck yesterday.
But more importantly, where were those fancy BOA dialled casts when I broke my wrist back in the day?
Pink jersey favourite Primož Roglič quits Giro d’Italia after suffering yet another crash in treacherous conditions
After suffering through Sunday’s stage and losing 90 seconds to his pink jersey rivals, Primož Roglič has pulled the plug on his Giro d’Italia bid, following yet another crash in treacherously slippery conditions on today’s mountain stage to San Valentino.
After three heavy crashes in the space of a week, 2023 Giro winner Roglič looked seriously under par on stage 15 to Asiago, getting dropped on the second category climb to Dori, and admitting this morning that he was purely in “survival mode” as the race entered the decisive mountainous final week.
However, in grim conditions – which have led to several crashes on the descent of the Carbonare climb – the 35-year-old hit the deck again this afternoon on a roundabout, alongside Richard Carapaz, with around 100km to go.
Following that crash, a torn and tattered Roglič – who held the pink jersey on two occasions during the race’s first week, after entering the Italian grand tour as the big favourite – then decided to step off the bike and get in the team car, his bid for a second Giro and sixth grand tour victory in tatters.
Horror crash at the Giro, as Alessio Martinelli reportedly loses consciousness after sliding under barrier on descent and falling 10 metres off road – team says Italian rider’s condition is “stable”
Minutes before Primož Roglič pulled the pin on his Giro bid after suffering his fourth crash in a week, VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè’s young Italian rider Alessio Martinelli was the victim of a horror fall on the treacherously wet descent of the Carbonare climb.
The 24-year-old slid off the road and under the safety barrier, and according to reports fell 10 to 15 metres down the ravine, which was covered by trees and branches.
He was immediately treated by medical staff, who lifted him back up to the road on a stretcher, and taken to hospital, where his team says he is conscious and in a “stable” condition.
🚴🇮🇹 | Het is opnieuw glijden geblazen. Wat een lelijke val. We hebben inmiddels van Bardiani vernomen dat Martinelli niet in gevaar is gelukkig. 🙏 #giroditalia
📺 Stream koers op HBO Max pic.twitter.com/pzTpPwIKrC
— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) May 27, 2025
Reporting from a motorbike at the race, TNT Sports’ Adam Blythe said in the immediate aftermath of the crash: “The good news is that the ambulance is with him, and the mountain rescue team are lowering a stretcher down to him. But he was a good 15, 10 metres down, fingers crossed he’s okay.
“The ambulance is with him, the medical assistance is there, they’ve got about four or five guys being lowered down to him to assist him.
“The guy that I spoke to said ‘all okay, he’s with the medical crew’. So fingers crossed.”
According to other reports, Martinelli lost consciousness in the crash, but now appears to be alert. The extent of his injuries are currently not clear, though Bardiani have just confirmed that he is being treated in hospital and is conscious.
“Martinelli, victim of a fall, was transported to the hospital,” the team said. “He is currently conscious and his condition is stable. Further updates on his health will be communicated during the day.”
We will provide you with updates on this story when we get them.
The UAE soap opera continues: More drama as Juan Ayuso forced into bizarre chase after botched gloves swap and Egan Bernal crashes, provoking UAE Team Emirates revenge acceleration
It may not make for the most comfortable viewing, but you can’t take your eyes off this Giro stage.
In a move that won’t do any favours for his team leadership challenge, Juan Ayuso – the centre of UAE Team Emirates’ bubbling internecine rivalry with pink jersey Isaac del Toro – was bizarrely left stranded around a minute behind an Ineos-led peloton, after drifting back to the team car to drop off a pair of gloves.
A frantic chase, eventually involving a few teammates, later and Ayuso made his way back to the bunch; but will we see the effects of that unnecessary energy expenditure on the final climb?
And UAE’s penchant for creating tension isn’t just confined to within their own team bus.
Ineos Grenadiers’ leader Egan Bernal crashed, in seemingly innocuous fashion, on the following descent – prompting UAE to start drilling it at the front as the Colombian worked his way back to the group.
That move appeared to be an act of not-so-subtle revenge for Ineos’ decision to up the pace on Monte Grappa on Sunday, just as Ayuso was caught adrift off the back. Don’t believe me? Well, the second Bernal made it back on, UAE knocked off the pace. Coincidence?
Better get the popcorn ready for the last 60km, this is the kind of drama we want to see. And the sun’s finally out, too!
And now for something completely different: The joys of bikepacking (or not)
It’s funny because it’s true…
“The road has spoken”: UAE Team Emirates’ leadership dilemma solved in dramatic fashion as pre-race favourite Juan Ayuso dropped early on penultimate climb
At the start of this Giro d’Italia, there appeared to be only two big favourites for the pink jersey: Primož Roglič and Juan Ayuso.
But in the space of just a few hours, both riders’ Giro bids have gone up in smoke, an injury-ravaged Roglič’s crash-related abandon followed by Ayuso struggling and being dropped on the Santa Barbara climb.
With murmurings about a potential knee injury, as well as discontent with the team, Ayuso was distanced with over 40km to go to the finish, as EF piled on the pressure for Richard Carapaz, and quickly lost a minute to the rest of his main GC rivals.
And just like that – with pink jersey Isaac del Toro still looking comfortable in the favourites’ group – UAE Team Emirates’ leadership dilemma, a narrative that threatened to overshadow their impressive display at this Giro, has been decided.
As Robbie McEwen said in commentary as Ayuso, shirt flapping forlornly in the wind, drifted further and further from contention: “The road has spoken”.
And it never lies.
Bernal dropped! But can the battling Colombian champion make it back into contention?
It’s all happening at the Giro this afternoon.
Egan Bernal, a constant attacking presence at this year’s race, was dropped off the back of the main group with around 5km to go on the Santa Barbara climb, just as up-and-coming British star Max Poole attacked along with Michael Storer, and Visma-Lease a Bike’s Simon Yates forced the pace.
However, just as I write, the Colombian champion, ever the fighter, has battled his way back into the group after keeping a steady tempo amid all the accelerations.
He may still struggle on the final climb up the San Valentino, but Bernal, three years on from his life-threatening training crash, has certainly proved over the past two-and-a-half weeks that he’s back right near the top of the sport.
Oh, and while I’m here and we’re nearing the top of the climb – the yellow-clad Yates twin is looking ominously comfortable close to the front. Is he ready to roll back the years to 2018 and strike for pink on the San Valentino?
“It’s more interesting to wait and see what’s actually being proposed”
Cycling campaigners in Edinburgh have promised to “fight to maximise conditions for cycling, and all forms of active travel” once plans for a controversial new tram route in the city have been announced by the council, but suggested it is better to wait for a proposal to be finalised rather than speculating amid an “information void”.
The latest discussion about the location of a proposed new tramline in Edinburgh, and whether it will be built on the city’s roads or, in part, alongside and potentially impacting an off-road cycling and walking route, comes after schoolchildren’s ‘save the bike path’ signs were vandalised.
Read more: > Campaigners will “fight to maximise conditions for cycling” once controversial tram route plans finalised, but warn against “huge speculation”
Four Mexican tourists rescued after getting stuck in Cairngorms during e-bike ride
Four Mexican tourists, who had ventured into the Cairngorms on hired e-bikes, were rescued early on Monday morning after one of the cyclists twisted their ankle.
According to Braemar Mountain Rescue, who were called out by police at around 8.30pm on Sunday following a report of an injury, the four tourists had hired e-bikes in Blair Athol, which they used to ride up Glen Tilt before planning to head to Aviemore.
“One of them, we think the group leader, twisted her ankle,” the rescue team’s operations manager Malcolm MacIntyre told the Press and Journal.
“Another person was concerned about a sore back. Fortunately they had met with two experienced bikers on a camping trip. They put up their tent to give the group shelter.”
MacIntyre said that 16 team members were eventually used to conduct the rescue mission, which eventually concluded at around 1.30am on Monday morning.
“We took the injured person out in our ATV to the nearest estate track and also walked the rest of them to that point,” he said.
“From there we were able to transport them all – and their bikes – to our base in Braemar. They were met there later by someone in their wider party with a van to go back to Aviemore.”
Pro cycling: A brutal sport
Zac Williams/SWpix.com
Battle for pink roars into life as Richard Carapaz launches ferocious attack, Isaac Del Toro suffers, and Scaroni and Fortunato break Italian duck with XDS Astana one-two in chaotic thriller at Giro d’Italia
Never underestimate Richard Carapaz.
The Ecuadorian’s two greatest victories – the 2019 Giro d’Italia and the Olympic road race in Tokyo – were founded on his ability to operate as the eternal outsider, to fly under the radar, to lull his rivals into a false sense of security, even as he’s repeatedly stabbing them in the front. Before they even realise their skin has been punctured, they’ve already bled to death.
And with seven kilometres to go on the Passo San Valentino, history repeated itself. By then, Roglič was long gone, and Ayuso definitely dropped, doomed to concede over 14 minutes by the finish.
Simon Yates, dancing on the pedals all afternoon, was the first to attack, dragging with him Carapaz, Derek Gee, and the pink jersey Isaac del Toro, newly installed as UAE’s sole leader following Ayuso’s capitulation.
But Carapaz’s move was something else entirely – a rapid lurch over to the other side of the road, a ferocious, blistering stamping of the pedals, a whirlwind of movement set against the stunned stillness of his rivals.
As Yates and Del Toro watched each other, in shades of Nibali and Roglič in 2019, the Ecuadorian was gone. For Yates, that initial lapse may have been tactical; worried about the young Mexican in pink sitting on his wheel, the British rider’s chase lacked any kind of urgency, at least initially.
For Del Toro, it was all about the legs. The 21-year-old had possessed a swashbuckling aura throughout the first 15 stages. But on this first real mountain test, the cracks began to show. Yates soon dropped him, Gee disappeared up the road, Bernal – suffering the effects of an earlier crash – even left him behind at the finish, where he shipped 1.36 to Carapaz.
Not that the EF leader put the race to bed on the San Valentino, by any means. Del Toro clung on to pink by 26 seconds to Yates, Carapaz now sits a further five seconds behind in third. The Mexican, so assured before today, may be down, but he’s not out. Yet.
Derek Gee arguably enjoyed the best last three kilometres of the climb, coming within 13 seconds of Carapaz to sit just 1.31 down in fourth, while Red Bull-Bora’s Giulio Pellizzari, now free from Roglič duties, even dropped the Ecuadorian towards the finish, vaulting himself into the top ten.
So, rather than proving decisive, today’s first big mountain test has instead blown the Giro wide open. But, then again, cycling is all about momentum – and that big pink pendulum has certainly swung in Carapaz’s failure.
“We knew it was a really key stage, and I think I went well. I demonstrated how hard I’ve worked and everything it’s cost me to be here. Over the last few years, I haven’t had the shape, but that’s given me the motivation to be here and try for it again,” the EF leader said at the finish.
“We’re here to battle for the win, and we’ve demonstrated we’re the strongest and we’ll go all the way to Rome.”
Meanwhile, up ahead, Italy’s joint longest stage win duck at the Giro – 17 stages – was broken in superb fashion, as Christian Scaroni led home a XDS Astana one-two-three, after he and King of the Mountains Lorenzo Fortunato, now safe in that blue jersey, worked over Jefferson Cepeda before holding off a charging Pellizzari, who secured an Italian clean sweep of the podium.
Now that’s the way to end a winless run. And to get the tifosi excited about what may still prove a final Giro week for the ages.
“Like the back end of a bicycle had been welded to a wheelbarrow full of scrap”: Jeremy Clarkson “greatly amused” to hear BBC journalist’s “ridiculous” cargo bike stolen – and says “surely you’re better off using a car”
It’s been over a week since the BBC journalist Anna Holligan’s e-cargo bike – the famous ‘bike bureau’ responsible for Dutch News from the Cycle Path – was stolen by thieves outside her apartment at The Hague.
And speaking to road.cc over the bank holiday weekend, Holligan said that, despite her world getting “smaller and slower as a result of not having a bike at my fingertips”, she has been “overwhelmed” by the reaction to the theft, both from within her local community and on social media.
“It has shown me how much people loved the innovative bike bureau, but also how much they connected with Dutch News from the Cycle Path and enjoyed the uplifting, nature-based news by bike content creation,” she said.
“So if there’s anything positive to come from this, I hope it will be a renewed sense of mission and purpose in my work.”
However, not everybody was angered by the foreign correspondent’s mobile broadcasting studio being nicked, or inspired by Holligan’s example that you can do anything on a bike.
In fact, everyone’s favourite (cough) commentator on all things cycling, Jeremy Clarkson, even admitted in his Sun column at the weekend that he was “greatly amused” by the crime, which apparently made him “laugh”. Delightful.
As part of his latest batch of outrageous, politically incorrect opinions he has every week to a deadline for the Sun (thanks Stewart Lee) – under the headline ‘Two-wheel transport for a slow news day’ and another evocative rant on “castrating nonces” – Clarkson wrote: “I was greatly amused to hear this week that a BBC correspondent’s bicycle has been stolen in Amsterdam.”
(Anna’s bike was actually nicked in The Hague, do keep up Jeremy.)
Anyway, the former Top Gear host continued: “It was no ordinary bike… It looked ridiculous. Like the back end of a bicycle had been welded to a wheelbarrow full of scrap.
“What made me laugh though is that Ms Holligan said that when she arrives at a breaking news story on it, people feel more comfortable with her as a journalist. Really? I only ask because if you want to cover a breaking news story, surely you’re better off using a car.
“If you go there on a bike, especially one that looks like it weighs about three tonnes, you won’t get there until the story you’re trying to cover has become as about as topical as the volcanic eruption that destroyed Pompeii.”
Ah, classic Jezza, bang up to date on how best to navigate a busy city (didn’t Top Gear do a segment on this about 20 years ago? And the bike won?), especially in – checks notes – the Netherlands of all places.
Fortunately, Holligan’s colleague Kate Vandy, who helped develop the ‘bike bureau’, saw the funny side, and even ‘agreed’ with Clarkson’s assessment that the broadcasting machine was “no ordinary bike”.
“One of the things I love about Kate,” Anna wrote on social media, “She always manages to find the positives…”
Even in a Jeremy Clarkson article.
“Time trial helmets are for time trials”: Luke Rowe calls on UCI to ban TT helmets in road races – because “we’re going to look like a bunch of Starship Troopers and aliens”
Wearing a time trial helmet during a road race is all the rage these days, it seems.
And that aero-conscious, marginal gain-focused headwear choice has proved a roaring – if aesthetically divisive – success at this month’s Giro d’Italia, with Picnic PostNL’s Casper van Auden and EF’s Kasper Asgreen picking up stage wins while donning TT lids.
However, despite their proven track record, the use of increasingly aero helmets on the road has sparked quite a bit of debate in the fashion-savvy world of pro cycling (hey, we did bring you the Carrera jean shorts after all), something even alluded to by Van Auden after his sprint victory on stage four.
Zac Williams/SWpix.com
“With regards to helmets, I reckon they’re just faster, so when it’s faster, sometimes you just have to do it,” the young Dutch sprinter said.
“Maybe it doesn’t look the best, but I don’t care about looks, and we also said if we win today, then nobody will care. It is fast… Fast is maybe not always the most sexy or the nicest to look at, but if it makes me fast, then I’m wearing it.”
And that argument seems to have won over one of the peloton’s old timers, Geraint Thomas, who supported the ubiquitous use of time trial helmets in pro cycling on the latest episode of his Watts Occurring podcast.
“Fair play to Asgreen – I’m all in for aero helmets now,” the 2018 Tour de France winner said, reflecting on the Dane’s TT helmet-aided breakaway victory in Nova Gorica on Saturday.
Zac Williams/SWpix.com
However, Thomas’ co-host, former Ineos rider and now-Decathlon-AG2R DS Luke Rowe, wasn’t impressed at all with Asgreen’s helmet choice – and even called for a total ban on TT lids in road races… purely on style grounds.
“Wash your mouth out with soap mate,” he interjected.
When asked by his old mate G whether he would rather win a road stage wearing a TT helmet or fail to win a stage without one (while still “looking cool”), Rowe replied: “I’d rather retire with class, man. Never sacrifice style for speed, you have to keep a bit of class.
None of that TT helmet nonsense here, lads (Zac Williams/SWPix.com)
“Asgreen is a classy bike rider, but those helmets… I’m sorry. Time trial helmets are for time trials, and normal helmets are for road races.
“Otherwise, where does this sport end up? In 10 years’ time, kids are going to turn on TVs and we’re going to look like a bunch of UFOs, Starship Troopers, and aliens riding bikes.
“And it’s not on the teams, it’s on the UCI. Ban them. Come on, let’s have a bit of class in this sport. Just get a nice helmet, pair of shades, off you go.”
Come on Luke, tell us what you really think…
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Some years ago (before there was a cycle lane) I used to commute on Sidmouth St. But only because I worked on the London Road campus, from anywhere else there are better alternatives. As a cycle route it runs from between two busy roads, neither of which are exactly cycle friendly. So it's hardly surprising that no cyclists use it.
The officer's comments unfortunately reflect the reality of UK law. While the Highway Code guidance indeed refers to 1.5m, that is not anywhere in the law. And the criteria in law for proving a charge of careless driving does in fact rest on whether the rider is being "inconvenienced", as the discovered several years ago when the Met prosecuted a taxi driver who nearly hit me when cutting into my lane from the left near Marylebone. The prosecution lawyer was a barely competent newbie who fumbled over his words. The court computer was barely capable of playing the video footage, which kept freezing and crashing. The cabbie had an highly assertive defence lawyer who immediately seized on this point, and argued to the magistraite that I clearly hadn't been "inconvenienced" because I had not stopped or swerved, and had carried on my journey. Never mind that didn't have time to do either of those things, or that I was centimetres from being hit - the magistraite acquitted him on those grounds. That is unfortunately the outrageous reality of actually prosecuting a close pass incident. I know it's popular to blame the police and the CPS for not prosecuting enough close passes ... but the fact is the law is inadequate, and if the driver has a good lawyer then they can likely get off most close pass prosecutions.
Let's not forget the protruding "side" mirror...
HTML rules are clearly only partially implemented
please can we have the ability to use bold and italics for emphasis back as well?
As a Reading resident and cyclist, I can say I cannot think of a single occasion when I have seen a cyclist using the Sidmouth St cycle lane, nor can I think of any reason I'd use it myself. It doesn't connect to any other useful cycle routes. I don't rejoice that some of it is going back to motor traffic but I can see why the council is proposing to do that. Reading could really do with a cycleway to cross the town centre west to east and east to west but I'm not holding my breath on that.
Giant are one of the most trustworthy brands out there when it comes to manufacturing components given that they actually own their own production facilities. None of that matters though when it comes to road hookless, I and most other people won't touch it with a barge pole. We're surely at a stage now where it's toxic amongst consumers and it's only a matter of time before the UCI ban it for racing.
Filling the road with one person per car is using the road space more efficiently, amazing, I never realised that.
I bought a Giant Defy recently and immediately sold off the hookless wheels at a pretty big loss and won't ever do that again. I'm not buying hookless for road ever. Giant in particular has very short list of what tires they test with their rims so it's way too restrictive even if I was going to ride hookless wheels. Which I won't. Very short sighted by Giant.
Insulting someone on the basis of their ethnicity, gender or sexuality is a hate crime, calling them fat isn't. It would be the homophobia, not the fat-shaming, for which he was charged.
33 thoughts on “Should time trial helmets be banned in road races? Luke Rowe urges UCI to take action; Giro chaos: Roglič abandons, Carapaz attacks, Del Toro suffers; Jeremy Clarkson “amused” to hear BBC journalist’s “ridiculous” cargo bike stolen + more on the live blog”
And for more on the so called
And for more on the so called “war on motorists”…
“Matthew Parrott, 42, from Newtown, Powys, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for three years.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cyvmny7gn32o
With such a minor sentence, presumably if he had killed a cyclist rather than a driver then it would have been suspended…
Why ban aero helmets and not
Why ban aero helmets and not do away with skin suits? Ban aero socks then. Better still allow no helmets at the riders choice.
Unfortunately Clarkson is
Unfortunately Clarkson is still mostly in tune with majority opinion on this one. a) there isn’t a great deal of public sympathy about bike theft – it’s seen as easy (true) and no big loss (only a bike) – plus you could get a car and lock that?
And b) despite growing amounts of deliveries by bike, cycling window cleaners / gardeners, the odd paramedic on a bike in city centres, and even (at least in Edinburgh) very occasional sightings of police on bikes * … people still think it’s “weird” if you say you’re using a bike for work. “Why aren’t you using a car / van – you could fit more stuff in there / get places faster / go further?”
I think it’s still very much “bikes are toys / for kids” and also about rank / social status. Motor vehicles are the “minimum dress standard” – it’s something like turning up to a business meeting in shorts and a T-shirt with a goofy design. People just won’t take you seriously or consider you’re competent.
* Not the old kind – but ask yourself if this isn’t the kind of mental image you form? Quaint … and not very effective? (Despite being far faster than on foot, able to cut through urban areas / traffic where a big police car can’t, to carry kit without being seriously slowed down by it etc.)
On one of the aftermath
On one of the aftermath pictures of the Liverpool horror there was a discarded paramedic bike, big yellow panniers.
ktache wrote:
Anyone else annoyed by the coverage of the Liverpool horror? It’s lots of “car drives” or “car ploughs” rather than “car driven” or “car ploughed”. All the language seems to indicate that the car performed the atrocity without a driver.
hawkinspeter wrote:
At least they were very quick off the mark at describing the driver
(thus pre-empting the opportunity for people on X/Twitter to explain how it had all been done by Osama bin Laden’s brother in law, who was an Ethiopian trans woman and had been personally escorted into the country by Kier Starmer (or something like that). (Some) Lessons have been learned from the Southport incident, clearly).
Yeah but that’s just a cover
Yeah but that’s just a cover story see, put about by the establishment libtard remainer elite woke snowflakes, to try & silence our Nige.
I’m sure the likes of Tommy
I’m sure the likes of Tommy Robinson (wouldn’t want to be anti-woke and mis-name him) won’t be making any comments along those lines now that he’s out and has promised not to repeat the specific offense that he was jailed for…
But yeah – another reminder that we can’t see the drivers for the cars.
[/quote]
[/quote]
At least they were very quick off the mark at describing the driver
(thus pre-empting the opportunity for people on X/Twitter to explain how it had all been done by Osama bin Laden’s brother in law, who was an Ethiopian trans woman and had been personally escorted into the country by Kier Starmer (or something like that). (Some) Lessons have been learned from the Southport incident, clearly).
[/quote]
I found it quite sad that they had to imediately describe the race of the driver just to stop a load of racists from smashing a load of hotels up.
DrG82 wrote:
I totally agree.
I think this incident has
I think this incident has generated more content than any other so far on this:
“wow, that car did that all by itself?”
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3331869633536303/
Do cars never get stolen,
Do cars never get stolen, then?
There is only one answer for
There is only one answer for Mr Clarkson – deny him the oxygen of publicity. You quote him and you become part of the problem and validate the obscene amount of cash the S*n pays him.
The problem is The Sun, not
The problem is The Sun, not Road.cc
The Sun is the root cause yes
The Sun is the root cause yes. Road.CC is an enabler. Because both know Clickbait sells and both are part of the problem.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
As the late, great Linda Smith once said, “They shouldn’t be given the oxygen of publicity; in fact they shouldn’t be given the oxygen of oxygen.”.
Jeremy Clarkson being crassly
Jeremy Clarkson being crassly insensitive, and writing the stupidest-possible reactionary opinion piece, in order to appeal to his army of moronic fans? I’m shocked, shocked!
(Well not that shocked.)
Travelling around in a car
Travelling around in a car makes people unfit; travelling around on a bike makes people fitter.
kingleo wrote:
An advantage of which one would think Clarkson would want to avail himself, it being less than a year since he had stents fitted in his severely clogged arteries and being apparently weeks away from pegging out. Even he acknowledges that his problems derive from an horrendously unhealthy lifestyle including driving everywhere and yet it’s a lifestyle that he seems determined to continue to promote.
Mixing up the location of the
Mixing up the location of the theft – Amsterdam rather the The Hague, is syntomatic of that whole genre of ‘opinion’ writing and readership. A dull lack of enquiry or intelligence; where Amsterdam is The Hague is Rotterdam as they are all the same anyway and ‘over there’ and the back end of a bike stuck to a wheelbarrow, who cares what that is – it’s just a silly bike used by a woman. The saddest thing is that Clarkson probably doesn’t even think like that – he is paid handsomely no doubt – to vomit ignorant doggerel for a thick readership. Perhaps he doesn’t even write it – and just puts his name to it, for a fee.
I wait in vain for Mr
I wait in vain for Mr Clarkson to make a joke about posh boarding school blokes. Or how an obsession with broom-broom sports cars isrelated to penis length.
Or is it just other people he likes laughing at?
Edit: I believe this is called the “Bernard Manning test” – after the famous, and famously racist, comedian. His defence was that he can’t be racist because he was prepared to make jokes at the expense of anyone. Except that he wasn’t and he failed his own test – he wasn’t prepared to make jokes at the expense of himself, people like him, or his audience, only others, preferably weaker groups in society. Mr Clarkson similarly fails the Bernard Manning test.
I believe cars are inversely
I believe cars are inversely proportional to penis length
the little onion wrote:
Mr Clarkson is a joke about posh boarding school blokes.
Or about farmers like James
Or about farmers like James Dyson and Jeremy Clarkson having to pay inheritance tax again.
lesterama wrote:
FTFY.
Quote:
Not sure there’s anything that bizarre about it – looks like the rider in front flicked his front wheel, redirecting him at 90 degrees to the road.
That Pas Normal model looks
That Pas Normal model looks familiar…
That looked a very hit for
That looked a very hit for Josh. Shame to see the Brit fail in completing the race.
How was this individual
How was this individual allowed to keep it’s driver’s licence?
“Drug-fuelled driver who caused girl’s death jailed…
The court heard he had a number of previous convictions, including being jailed in 2017 for three years for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, after he torched a car involved in a fatal hit-and-run collision which killed a 25-year-old man, in Chorlton, Manchester.”
If the authorities had done their job, then this tragedy could have been prevented.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3qdj0qdp7o
But cyclists.
I just put that in drivers
I just put that in drivers and their problems.
12 years does not seem enough.
Not that bothered about aero
Not that bothered about aero helmets in terms of identification as it’s just about as difficult to identify many riders wearing normal lids and big shades. What I think should be compulsory is for every rider to have their name on their helmet (as JV did a few years back but seem to have stopped?) and on the back of their jersey and rain jacket (especially the latter, trying to follow what’s going on in a peleton of riders nearly all wearing black rain jackets is a nightmare). For heaven’s sake, even test cricketers wear numbers now, cycling must be the last sport that makes it almost impossible to identify the particpants without a closeup shot of a tiny number. Give every rider an ID for the year (e.g. Pogacar would be UAE1) and have it in big characters on their backs. Why not?
From that point of view, aero
From that point of view, aero helmets would be better – you could put big numbers on the top of them like police cars so you can identify them from the helicopter shot.
I think riders should be
I think riders should be allowed to where TT helmets during road races, if they sign a disclaimer that they’ll go in a solo breakaway!