“Point of infrastructure is to make cycling easier, NOT keep cyclists out of the way of drivers”: Council plan slammed for lack of protected direct bike routes; Pro cyclist says organiser “stole victory”; Football pitch v bike path + more on the live blog

The share price of the UK’s largest retailer of cycling products and services, Halfords, has plummeted following an announcement from the business that its profit forecast has been downgraded by at least 17 per cent, amid a slow start to 2024 that saw cycling-related sale numbers drop by eight per cent compared to last January, and which the company has blamed on this year’s rainier, milder weather hitting footfall.

Read more: > Halfords share price plunges 25% as retailer downgrades profit forecast amid continued weak cycling demand

Yep, it’s that time of the week again folks, when we take a trip down to Keynsham to gawp at its now-world famous “optical illusion” cycle lane, the scene of over 100 trips, falls, and scrapes since it was first introduced two years ago.

The bizarre situation in Keynsham has been well-documented on road.cc and beyond, after constituency MP and general parliamentary layabout Jacob Rees-Mogg caused headlines last year when he called the project a “failed experiment”.

In the first year of its use, 59 injuries were reported from people tripping over the kerb, with that number now believed to have passed 100, after more pedestrian injuries were reported at the start of this year.

> More pedestrian injuries reported on “optical illusion” cycle lane, with one casualty claiming it must have been “designed by toddlers”

Works to try to prevent Keynsham’s residents from tripping on the infrastructure included painting the bike lane surface red in August 2022. However, this touch-up does not appear to have had much impact, with residents and visitors still tripping due to the differing kerb heights between the cycle lane and pavement, a layout made worse by the similarity in appearance of the white kerbing and white lines.

Just last week, we reported that Bath and North East Somerset Council announced that safety works on the “optical illusion” lane will be carried out as soon as the weather allows, after a road safety report recommended installing double yellow line markings adjacent to the kerb between the cycling infrastructure and the kerb.

The under-fire council said the solid white line marking the edge of the cycle lane will be broken, to better separate it from the kerb and hopefully reduce the amount of people tripping on the change in levels.

It should go back to being a two way street. This experiment has failed.https://t.co/WFHQpj8HHl

— Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) April 26, 2023

And now, with practical safety works set to take place, it’s finally time for some academic chin stroking, as researchers from the University of Bristol have sent out a call for any “victim” of the cycle lane to get in touch as part of an academic study into the infrastructure’s mysterious, nefarious qualities.

Bristol professors Ute Leonards and Nick Scott-Samuel, along with Cardiff-based Simon Rushton, all experts in the human visual system visited Keynsham last summer (ah, those wild academic days), and are now looking to speak to people who have tripped or stumbled on the cycle lane, in order to better understand its problems and how to solve them.

“This is an interest from the academic side. We need to find the evidence,” Neuropsychology expert Dr Leonards said.

“When we have the evidence we can go and we can do evidence-based suggestions.”

> Safety works on “optical illusion” cycle lane imminent after more than 100 trip incidents

Dr Leonards has been working with local Lib Dem councillor Hal McFie to get in touch with potential participants, is now asking anyone who has been caught off-guard by the bike lane to email visionandfalls@gmail.com with a contact number and the specific details of where and how they fell.

According to Dr Leonards, this research could eventually lead to a change in guidance to prevent similar issues happening in the future (so, unlike my PhD, it could actually have real-world relevance).

And yes, for those nerdy souls wondering, that is indeed a tortured E.P. Thompson reference in this story’s headline. Perhaps Dr Leonards would appreciate another Thompson-related title suggestion for her research: ‘The Transforming Power of the Kerb’?

Alright, I’ll get my elbow-padded coat…

Just like that grim early spring in the late 2000s, when my 17-year-old self would play 90 minutes every Saturday, before pinning a number on my back and racing my bike the following day, football and cycling have come into conflict in Cardiff, where a park pitch has been temporarily removed for eight months to make way for construction work on a new bike path.

But this time, it’s the councillors and local residents doing the screaming, and not my poor, battered legs.

Work began this week on the first phase of Cardiff’s Roath Park cycleway, which will see the installation of a new segregated bike path around the recreational ground, along with improved cycle crossings, footpaths, junctions, and bus stops. Cardiff Council says the work constitutes the first phase of its wider plans to improve cycle and pedestrian accessibility in the area and create a city-wide bike network.

📣 Construction work has begun on the first phase of Cardiff’s Roath Park cycleway. As well as delivering a new cycleway around Roath Park Recreational Ground, the work will see improvements to footways, highway junctions, and bus travel 🧵 pic.twitter.com/EQqknk8zaa

— Dan De’Ath (@DeAthCardiff) February 26, 2024

“This scheme is a significant investment into cycling and walking routes in this part of the city, providing better facilities for recreational cyclists, as well as those that want to go shopping, go to work, or go to school,” the local authority’s Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport Dan De’Ath said in a statement.

“The council is committed to improving cycling and walking routes across the city and this scheme is a further step towards developing a city-wide, segregated cycle network, that will interconnect with public transport routes, to provide a credible alternative to travelling by private car.”

However, the news that the construction of the cycleway – which is expected to last eight months – will lead to the temporary loss of one of Roath Park’s four sports pitches hasn’t gone down too well with some locals.

Cardiff Council has said that all matches that currently take place in Roath Park can be accommodated on the remaining three pitches, which have already been reconfigured, while football league secretaries were informed in September that one pitch would be removed, before being reinstated once the work is complete.

Not that that explanation has appeased the usual suspects, however, who claim they were “blindsided” by the brief removal of a solitary football pitch (despite the council noting the plans to reduce the number of playing fields – albeit without clarifying whether the move would be permanent – in a July 2023 consultation report).

“At the very least, the council has badly handled the communications around this… The information has come out in a very haphazard manner,” Penylan councillor Rodney Berman told WalesOnline, after the local authority confirmed that the fourth pitch would, in fact, be reinstated.

> Footballers who cycle XI — the Premier League stars who love life on two wheels

Berman added that a “confusing reason” had been provided for reducing the pitches, claiming that the consultation report “suggested it was to move the [cycle route and footpath further into the playing field] away from the trees on the roadside, but now we’re being told that it’s about facilitating the construction phase.”

Meanwhile, Penylan resident Jeremy Sparkes said: “It seems that the council is prepared to sacrifice our public open space, doing the bare minimum legally in terms of notice and consultation.

“I think Covid has shown us more than anything how important open space is to communities and I think it’s really damaging that the council has not taken that on board.”

Meanwhile, over on the always-balanced debating space of Twitter, Rich Lewis wrote: “Surely it would have been better to schedule these works over the winter months, not with the spring and summer forthcoming when the Rec is at its busiest and used for several different sports?”

> Cycling group’s “real concern” over “minor lake” and huge puddles on city cycle lanes

Although Louis provided a pretty foolproof explanation as to why the cycleway works should start as soon as possible: “Looking forward to a safe route down Ninian Road. Scary place to cycle.”

“I’m personally looking forward to this expansion of the cycling network. Long overdue,” added another Twitter user.

But, but, but, what about the football pitch that’s not actually needed and will be back in October, anyway? Won’t anyone think of the fourth superfluous football pitch?

Yeah, a new innovative ‘strapless’ helmet, I can get on board with that. But wearing your glasses under the straps? You’ve lost me there, Canyon. Lock ‘em up and throw away the cycling fashion key…

> Unreleased Canyon helmet that ditches traditional helmet straps in favour of new mono-strap leaked 

Looks like the new modal filter on Sheffield’s Glover Road, opened just this morning, is going well, judging by the number of motorists abandoning their cars on the pavement and double yellows beside it…

First day of the lovely new bike filter on Glover Road and some silly billy parks their BMW on the pavement/double lines right next to Lowfield School. @ParkinginSheff @SheffSW_NPT @SheffCouncil pic.twitter.com/fRIzgSrZuq

— Tweets from the hills (@twunderclap) February 28, 2024

Well, it didn’t take long, did it?

New infrastructure at Glover Road.@ParkinginSheff #parkinglikeatwat pic.twitter.com/RKbEsnpqTo

— 💤 (@a_non_e_mouse) February 28, 2024

Plans to allow people to ride their bikes through a pedestrianised town centre street, at least for an 18-month trial period, have been criticised by opposition councillors, who say the scheme will make it difficult to “safeguard” pedestrians and other road users.

Oxfordshire County Council is currently carrying out an initial consultation on plans to implement a trial which would enable two-way cycling on Sheep Street in Bicester, a long-established pedestrianised zone in the town centre’s conservation area.

Conservative county councillors Donna Ford and Michael Waine, however, have urged the council to hold a full consultation before beginning a trial.

> “They have all the resources in the world to pick on cyclists”: Council slammed for stopping and fining cyclists on pedestrianised city centre street

“I am totally opposed to the proposal to allow two-way cycling in Sheep Street 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Waine told the Oxford Mail.

“Sheep Street has been a pedestrianised area for 30 years or more and has become an area used for markets, street cafes, exhibitions, and other events.

“If the scheme goes ahead I do not believe that the county council would be able to safeguard pedestrians and other users, especially on busy days when the street is full of people.”

He continued: “There is no clear rationale for this project given that, as with vehicles, there are readily available roads for cyclists around the town centre. And, there is no indication as to how the two way movement of bicycles will work particularly in the more restricted parts of the street. This is too major a proposal to agree an experimental 18-month period.”

Bicester councillor Ford added: “Oxfordshire County Council should be open and honest with the residents of Bicester and conduct a full public consultation on this change before implementing it by stealth without seeking public opinion.

“There are lots of questions still to be answered around how this would work with regards to two-way cycling vs one-way traffic, the effect on the much-loved Friday market, and other public events.”

Meanwhile, Lib Dem councillor Chris Pruden even questioned the need for the trial, arguing that a lack of enforcement means cyclists are essentially free to ride on Sheep Street at the moment in any case.

“Effectively it’s not like there’s a ban any way,” he said. “Bollards don’t seem to work. Unfortunately Cherwell doesn’t have the community resources to enforce anything.”

Pruden also suggested that alternative cycling provision in Bicester should be considered and agreed with the Tory councillors that a proper assessment needs to be undertaken before any decision is made concerning the trial.

> Council “escalates war on cycling menaces” with new town centre ban, saying: “We will not stop until we eradicate this behaviour”

“Oxfordshire County Council is carrying out initial consultation with key stakeholders to inform a formal decision about whether to implement an Experimental Traffic Order (ETO) to allow for two-way cycling on Sheep Street,” an Oxfordshire County Council spokesperson said.

“Should Oxfordshire County Council decide to progress with the ETO, the views of everyone will be gathered during an initial six-month period once the experiment is in place. The information received from this public consultation will be used to help decide whether the scheme is made permanent or not after the 18-month trial period has ended. Additionally, it should be noted that the scheme can be amended at any time during its operation and even ended early should officers feel that necessary.”

Well, it’s safe to say that Christopher Schwenker’s opinion piece on the UAE’s investment in cycling, and whether its intentions (gulp) are genuine, has divided the crowd.

And by ‘divided’, I mean ‘place them firmly against the article and its arguments’.

> The UAE is investing heavily in cycling — but can we trust that its intentions are genuine?

Along with a whole conversation about ex-pats and their clothing choices, as well as a plethora of references to Betteridge’s law of headlines, here are some of your thoughts on the murky ol’ world of sportswashing and human rights abuses.

“Define ‘genuine’!” Nicholas wrote on Facebook “Like Shell for British Cycling, Esso for Belgium? I’m pushed to think of a ProTour sponsor I’d sleep at night supporting.”

“The UAE is investing heavily in cycling — but can we trust that its intentions are genuine? Well the UAE’s intention is to sports wash its reputation for repression and enslavement,” jaymack added in the comments section.

“So, as long as you accept that’s their motivation, then answer to the question is ‘yes’. The real question is should cycling take the money? I know what Gordon Gekko would say, I just don’t agree.”

While over on Twitter, Just a bloke on a bike summed the response up rather succinctly:

No https://t.co/Agam0X9FAZ

— Just a bloke on a bike 🚵🏻‍♂️ (@Berk_On_A_Bike) February 27, 2024

It’s fair to say that one of Belgian cycling’s brightest prospects, Arnaud De Lie, wasn’t entirely pleased with how Le Samyn, won by Laurenz Rex in an almost embarrassing photo finish, unfolded yesterday.

As we reported on the blog at the time, the Lotto Dstny rider – the hot favourite at the start of the day – saw his chances of winning the cobbled one-day race vanish as quickly as the material holding together his shorts, following a bizarre crash while chasing back through the race convoy, which prompted the aptly nicknamed ‘Bull of Lescheret’ to launch a blistering verbal assault in the direction of his own team directors.

After suffering a number of mechanicals, De Lie was moving back up through the team cars with around 30km to go when he slid out on a rather innocuous right-hand bend, hitting the deck hard. After initially looking like he was going to jump in the Lotto Dstny car’s backseat and call it a day, De Lie eventually chose to wait for his second spare bike of the race, all while turning the air blue with a very public show of frustration in the process.

🤬 Arnaud De Lie had some words for his team car after this crash… 💥#LeSamyn pic.twitter.com/UQVgDQ8qBX

— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 27, 2024

“What am I doing in such a shitty race?” was apparently one of the many profanity-laden questions posed by De Lie before he remounted, helpfully translated by the Belgian media.

Back at the team bus after a brief forlorn chase and an early shower, the 21-year-old claimed to the press that the crash had been caused by the race director’s car (which you can see just ahead of the green Kern Pharma vehicle as De Lie slid out) slowing as it entered the bend.

“I don’t know what possessed that man to slow down and almost stand still in that bend,” De Lie told reporters. “Okay, I arrived quickly – a little too fast, you might say – but if those cars keep the same speed, I can approach the bend better and I am guaranteed to stay upright. I am really convinced of that.”

“Thanks to those involved for stealing a victory from me,” he added, with all the confidence of late noughties era Cavendish.

“Collectively we rode the perfect race, individually I was always where I should be. And I felt legs to win. If you see how the sprint goes, I think the chance of success would actually have been very high. Frustrating.”

Meanwhile, Lotto Dstny DS Dirk Demol – in another case of pro cycling’s Wacky Races approach to driving – said he drove up to and alongside the race organiser’s car to “ask for answers”.

“But of course they didn’t know anything about it. It wasn’t their fault, so to speak, when really it is,” he said.

I imagine this won’t be the last we’ll hear of motoring interferences in bike races this year.

Though it’s all a bit rich coming from Lotto Dstny to accuse someone else of poor driving, eh?

> “Very unfortunate and unacceptable”: Lotto Dstny sports director suspended for running over race marshal, as police investigate footage

For the person driving:
Best case = save a few minutes
Worst case = cops catch you, lose a few minutes, pay a fine

For the person cycling:
Best case = live to tell about the driver who threatened your life
Worst case = death https://t.co/W6LnupZAlh

— Andy Boenau (@Boenau) February 28, 2024

Deary me… I wonder if this American cycle lane variant of the Sir Alex Ferguson school of driving will now perhaps twig that the key to a quick commute in the city is, you know, actually riding a bike on the cycle lanes?

I’ll not hold my breath, though.

Everyone’s favourite post-race interviewee Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig won’t be facing the microphones in Siena this Saturday, as the attacking Dane faces a lengthy spell out of action after fracturing her sacrum in a crash during last weekend’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

“Medical examinations revealed a fracture of the sacrum, which will result in a period of unavailability for the athlete, the length of which is so far undetermined,” a statement from Uttrup Ludwig’s FDJ-Suez team confirmed today.

The Tour de France Femmes stage winner is set to miss this weekend’s Strade Bianche, where she would have been one of the big favourites for the win, while she is likely to miss at least the first batch of spring classics.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

“The sole priority for FDJ-SUEZ is Cecilie’s well-being and full recovery,” the team added. “The team is working to provide Cecilie with the best support possible, and is working on a personalised recovery programme in order to facilitate optimal recuperation and a return to competition in the best conditions possible.

“Although Cecilie’s recovery period cannot be precisely determined at this point, we are totally confident in her ability to overcome this challenge. Cecilie has always shown extraordinary determination, a quality which will without a doubt benefit her in her preparation to return to competition.”

While Uttrup Ludwig’s absence will be a blow for FDJ-Suez ahead of the cobbled and Ardennes classics, Vittoria Guazzini’s win at Le Samyn yesterday will nevertheless boost the team’s hopes of securing a big result before their talismanic star’s return.

> Vittoria says Thomas De Gendt crash at UAE Tour “unrelated to hookless rim design” and caused by “impact with rock”

While Jim and Dave may be busy plotting Manchester United’s summer transfer business (and a potential change in the dugout), those left on the cycling side of the Ineos sporting empire are also thinking of the future while hoping to reawaken a fallen giant, tying precocious American Magnus Sheffield to the British team until the end of 2026.

21-year-old Sheffield, who burst onto the scene as a neo-pro teenager with Ineos in 2022, winning Brabantse Pijl and stages of the Ruta del Sol and Tour of Denmark, has started this season in fine form after an injury-interrupted 2023, placing second behind Remco Evenepoel at the Volta ao Algarve’s time trial.

“Growing up it was a big goal of mine to join this team, with riders that I looked up to, and who were role models for me, so just to be a part of it is a massive accomplishment. And I’m really excited to be part of its future for the coming years,” Sheffield said in a statement issued by Ineos today.

 “The opportunity to be in this environment which has been incredibly supportive – both on and off the bike – is a real privilege and I see it as the perfect place for the next chapter of my career.

 “This year is important to me with the Olympic Games in Paris, which is a big goal of mine especially ahead of my home Games in LA in 2028. Another goal this year is to win my first WorldTour race, as well as a stage race, and I would really like to go for one of the Monuments or one of the big Classics, there’s so much to aim for!”

LA PHOTO 😵 pic.twitter.com/WBdjx8Iblt

— Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ (@GroupamaFDJ) February 28, 2024

Is this France’s next grand tour winner?

Alright, alright, maybe I’m getting carried away. But Lenny Martinez is currently enjoying a storming start to 2024, and looking very much the real deal in the process.

The 20-year-old was first responsible for Tobias Johannessen’s red-faced moment on Mont Faron at the Classic Var, nipping past him at the death for the win, before the Groupama-FDJ rider followed that victory up with a strong second place behind a rampant Jonas Vingegaard at O Gran Camiño.

And today, on the Ligurian coast, the diminutive Martinez added the Trofeo Laigueglia to his increasingly impressive palmares with a constantly aggressive, and immaculately poised, ride on the race’s finishing circuits.

🏆🇫🇷Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) gana el Trofeo Laigueglia 2024 🇮🇹 #TrofeoLaigueglia #Noticiclismo #Ciclismo pic.twitter.com/Gh8VIt5Nnv

— NotiCiclismo 🇮🇹 #StradeBianche (@Noticiclismo1) February 28, 2024

After a series of attempts to bludgeon his way out of a lead group containing several of the sport’s most promising youngsters – including 19-year-old Swiss rider Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates) and EF EasyPost’s 20-year-old Northern Irish star of the future Darren Rafferty (whose own start to his debut pro season has been frighteningly strong) – Martinez eventually winched himself clear with 9km to go on the Colla Michere.

A calm, studied descent meant that, by the coast road, the Frenchman’s nearest challenger (and perennial tactical thorn in the side) Christen was gone, leaving Martinez time to savour yet another step towards becoming the next great hope of his nation, as Andrea Vendrame won the small group sprint 30 seconds behind for second.

A late-surging Juan Ayuso (practically creaking in this company at the grand old age of 21) managed to bridge across to the front following Martinez’ race-winning acceleration to secure third, while Christian Scaroni, Christen, and the brilliant Rafferty (excuse my bias) rounded out the top six on a day where, as has become the norm in cycling in recent years, the kids are more than alright.

Darren Rafferty. Remember the name. Sixth place at the Trofeo Laigueglia is just the beginning for the young Irish climber, who attacked the Italian classic right to the end today. pic.twitter.com/neeuh68Axl

— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) February 28, 2024

Okay, perhaps I really am getting carried in the wake of an early season Italian one-day race on a Wednesday afternoon, but you can screenshot this prediction for future reference:

The 2030 (or thereabouts) Tour de France will start in Belfast, and three weeks later Darren Rafferty will be back in Northern Ireland with the yellow jersey on his shoulders.

Give or take a year or two, and disregarding my clear provincial bias, I’m convinced I’m going to be proved right. So, no pressure Darren!

Remember the name, alright.

> “Others have promised and failed”: Controversial cycle lane becomes battleground for rival mayors

Walk Ride GM, an active travel group based in (you guessed it) Greater Manchester, has criticised Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council’s plans for highways improvements along the A6 and A560 corridors, which according to the group fail to provide direct, protected routes for people on bikes, instead forcing them onto quiet, “wiggly”, unlit parallel routes which roughly double a cyclist’s travel time.

Earlier this week, Stockport Council launched a public consultation on “improving journeys on the A6 corridor from the Manchester Boundary to Stockport Town Centre”. Aiming to “develop cycle routes parallel and across the A6 to make it easier to walk, wheel, and cycle”, the council’s plans include improved quiet road and off-carriageway routes.

However, in a statement criticising the proposals and the council’s promotion of a non-direct ‘parallel’ route for commuter cyclists, Walk Ride GM said: “At Walk Ride GM we are incredibly disappointed to see the proposals don’t include protected space for cycling on these two key roads connecting Stockport to Hyde, to Levenshulme and Manchester.”

“Cyclists are still sent down winding back streets and unlit paths instead of safe, direct routes recommended by national and regional guidance.”

To highlight that cyclists in the area are basically caught between a rock and a smoother, but much more convoluted place, two of the group’s members posted a video detailing the current routes available to cyclists from Stockport to Manchester.

The first of these is a direct 4.4km route on a non-protected carriageway (except for some obligatory licks of paint), mingling with motor traffic that takes about 14 minutes but is “just not safe”, while the other is a longer 27-minute meander along quiet, often “wiggly” roads and the odd, more pleasant (albeit unlit) off-road towpath section.

“Which would you prefer: cycling in a straight line in hazardous conditions, or taking a quieter but much more roundabout route? We don’t think either of those options are acceptable,” the group says.

“The point of walking and cycling infrastructure is to make active travel an easier, more attractive, more accessible option. NOT to simply keep pedestrians and cyclists out of the way of drivers.

“Stockport Council’s A6 Corridor consultation, is an opportunity to drastically improve both routes. Instead, the plans maintain the status quo.”

> Campaigners welcome council’s U-turn on installing “discriminatory” barriers on cycling and walking routes

Walk Ride adds: “Both roads are included on GMCA’s ‘Bee Active Network Vision’ map launched by Dame Sarah Storey in December. We’re asking Stockport Council did they not see this, or are they deliberately ignoring it?

“The funding for both schemes comes from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, so we’re also concerned that the A6 scheme doesn’t do enough to prioritise bus passengers… This will also improve cyclists’ safety on busy roads which don’t yet have dedicated protected cycle tracks.”