Bike to Bedlam: James Blunt calls for “patience and tolerance” between cyclists and drivers after Jeremy Vine’s cycle lane encounter with delivery van – but Vine says “sharing the space results in 1,700 road deaths a year” + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Still searching for a podcast episode analysing the biggest and most bizarre cycling stories of the year, from aero airbags to bike industry woes and dodgy PSPOs? Well, we’ve got just the thing for you…
Quick, get it in your ears before 2024 runs out and everything we said becomes irrelevant!
> “If you don’t want cycling on footpaths, support bike lanes and 20mph zones”: Town centre cycling bans and the fight against “cowboy” wardens + the year in cycling reviewed
“His team directors gave me a pat on the back”: 17-year-old amateur cyclist recalls “unforgettable experience” of clinging to Tadej Pogačar’s wheel for two kilometres – and pushing 490 watts – during world champion’s KOM ride on Coll de Rates
Just before Christmas, you may remember, Tadej Pogačar put down an ominous marker ahead of the 2025 road season by absolutely destroying the Strava KOM on the Coll de Rates, a long-established benchmark climb for pros training in Spain.
The world champion, helped by his UAE teammates, engaged in full mountain train mode, covered the 6.43km, 5.5 per cent climb, located near the Costa Blanca training camp hotspot of Calpe, in a time of 12:21, at a downright ridiculous average speed of 31.2kph, knocking 17 seconds off Peter Øxenberg Hansen’s previous KOM.
And along with striking fear into the hearts of his rivals, Pogačar’s record-breaking Rates ride also gave one aspiring young racer the experience of his life, as he clung on to the three-time Tour de France winner’s wheel for two kilometres on the climb – earning him a “pat on the back” from UAE Team Emirates’ sports directors.
17-year-old Belgian Quinten Muys, who rides for the Crabbé-Dstny youth team back home, was training with his friends on the Coll de Rates when the Slovenian star blitzed past them – prompting Muys (wearing a Visma kit, of all things) to quickly jump on his idol’s back wheel.
“In the first corner, we saw someone from UAE standing there with a stopwatch,” Muys told Sporza about his close encounter with his sporting idol.
“That’s when we knew something special was about to happen. About 2.5km from the summit, we suddenly heard a car honking, signalling us to move aside. Then Pogačar flew past us.
“I managed to stay in Pogacar’s wheel for two kilometres. I was pushing 480 to 490 watts.”
Unfortunately, Muys didn’t quite make it to the top alongside the greatest cyclist on the planet, after being forced to let go when the Slovenian accelerated on a steep bend near the summit.
“Afterward, his team directors gave me a pat on the back,” the 17-year-old continued.
“It was an unforgettable experience. Something really cool. Before our holiday, we were already hoping to meet Pogačar. At first, we were disappointed when we encountered the whole team without him.
“And then, suddenly, you’re in his wheel. That’s something that will stay with me forever.”
Someone quick, sign that kid up…
RIP Jimmy Carter – America’s greatest bike-loving president?
Here on the live blog, we love ambushing a major news event with a tenuous link to cycling.
But when it comes to former US president Jimmy Carter, who died at the weekend at the age of 100, we didn’t have to try too hard this time.
The peanut farmer from Georgia was a big proponent of cycling, urging people to swap their car for a bike for short journeys to lower their environment footprint, and was photographed down the years riding everything from old-school mountain bikes and Rivendell steel frames to Raleigh Dutch bikes and even the odd tandem with First Lady Rosalynn:
A civil rights champion, the first US president to take climate change seriously, and a lover of all things two wheels – it makes you wonder whether we’ve entered an alternate universe where we’ve got the world leaders of the 1970s and 2020s the wrong way around…
Van der Poel ditches the Lambo… for a private jet
World champion Mathieu van der Poel has been cleaning up since his return to the ‘cross field last week, continuing his 100 per cent record for the winter with another dominant display in bitterly cold Besançon at the UCI World Cup yesterday.
And while all eyes – off the course and in the VIP carpark, anyway – have been on MVDP’s £500,000 Lamborghini Revuelto, the Dutch phenom was forced to ditch his bright orange supercar for the 600km trip from his home city of Antwerp to France’s Jura mountains…
Because he was taking a private jet, instead.
No Lambo tomorrow, but Mathieu van der Poel will fly to the Besançon World Cup in a… PRIVATE JET!
Today he confirmed it to the Wielerflits that yes, that is indeed true. The drive to Besançon would be 600 kilometres so MVDP is taking a private jet.
🎥: nieuwsbladsport pic.twitter.com/WVIcwbBUol
— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) December 28, 2024
According to Wielerflits, while the rest of the cyclocross field settled in for the long drive south, the 29-year-old booked his rather luxurious form of transportation – apparently due to the lack of any major airports close to Besançon – and was scheduled to arrive on Sunday morning at an airfield 10km away from the World Cup course.
However, dense fog meant MVDP and his private jet were diverted to another airport, 60km away, meaning the poor fella had to make do with an extra hour’s drive to the venue. It’s tough being the world’s best cyclocross rider, no wonder he looked a bit sluggish on that first half-lap…
And if you’re thinking to yourself, ‘all that petrol money for the Lambo and the plane must add up’, don’t worry – La Gazzetta dello Sport reported at the weekend that Van der Poel’s entry fees for non-World Cup races have risen from around €15,000 to €20,000 last year to a whopping €50,000 this winter.
Those private jets don’t pay for themselves after all…
Oh dear, I really hope Grimsby Council’s PSPO zealots don’t spot this ‘no cycling’ sign from Sydney – the loudspeaker message was bad enough…
[catastrophic underinvestment in cycling infrastructure] + [rise in exploitative food delivery companies] = this sign
— Ketan Joshi (@ketanjoshi.co) December 27, 2024 at 7:18 AM
WorldTour points-chasing Astana confirm controversial decision to drop sprinter Gleb Syritsa to development team following signing of Chinese climber Haoyu Su
In one of those weird developments that sometimes happen during the off-season and leave cycling fans scratching their heads, Astana this morning confirmed that their 24-year-old Russian sprinter Gleb Syritsa has been demoted to the Kazakh squad’s development team for next season – just months after signing a new contract.
At the end of a winter of upheaval following the retirements of Mark Cavendish and Michael Mørkøv, along with the departure of Samuele Battistella to EF, Astana are set to enter 2025 with the aim of collecting as many points as possible to stay in the WorldTour, a strategy underlined by the signings of stage hunter Diego Ulissi and sprinter Mike Teunissen.
And as part of that ambition, somewhat bizarrely, comes the decision to drop sprinter Syritsa (perhaps best known for his shocking road rash at the Four Days of Dunkirk in 2023) to Astana’s third-tier development team, despite the 24-year-old bagging four stages of the Tour of Langkawi in recent years and showing increasing promise in flat bunch sprints in Europe, including nabbing four top fives at this year’s ZLM Tour.
Ouch… Talk about adding insult to injury
But with Chinese climber Haoyu Su signing for the rebranded XDS Astana team for 2025, there was no place left for Syritsa, who turned pro with the Kazakh outfit in 2023, and who signed a one-year extension with the squad in October.
According to team manager Alexandr Vinokourov, Syritsa’s move will allow him to pursue his own ambitions at a lower level, while he will still be able to race for the pro team at non-WorldTour events.
“It’s no secret that the team’s main goal in 2025 is to secure enough ranking points to retain the WorldTour license,” Vino said this morning in a statement.
“To strengthen the team, we’ve made significant changes to the roster and brought in several specialists to help push the team toward achieving better results. Additionally, during our December training camp, we conducted individual meetings with each rider to refine their race calendars and set goals for the season.
Syritsa riding as a neutral athlete in the time trial at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
“As a result, Gleb Syritsa will move to our Continental team. This decision aligns with the interests of both the team and the rider. For the team, it’s crucial that Gleb fully dedicates himself to team objectives in races where he’s selected for the main squad.
“For Gleb, it’s important to have the chance to pursue his own ambitions, which he will have with the Development team. In a points-focused strategy, some riders will need to set aside their personal ambitions in the next season. However, if there’s a way to both support the team and seize opportunities for personal growth, why not take it? I believe this is the optimal solution for both the team and the young rider.”
Whatever you say, Vino…
Five Cool Things: Christmas Present edition
And the winners of some nice road.cc post-Christmas swag are…
> Five Cool Things at Christmas 2024/25: here are the winners who have bagged themselves some extra cycling swag
How do you motivate yourself to complete the Festive 500? By getting all festive with the Strava art, that’s how
Ah, the Rapha Festive 500, that annual clothing company-mandated period of avoiding family gatherings and suffering through the hangovers and meat sweats, in order to complete 500km on the bike over Christmas, sometimes for charity, sometimes for an intense winter training burst, and sometimes just for the sake of it. Because we’re a weird lot, cyclists.
But one Leicester-based cyclist has decided to combine her Festive 500 attempt with another of those cycling trends that you can’t be bothered ever attempting – Strava art.
Civil engineer Rebecca Laurel – whose Strava creations have popped up on the live blog before – has decided to add some colour to her 500km between Christmas and New Year by ‘sketching’ some festive routes on the ride-sharing app, from snowmen and reindeers to robins and the dreaded Christmas pudding.
“I started doing creative routes in 2020, the first one I did was a reindeer,” the 25-year-old told the Standard about her creative take on the Festive 500.
“It’s not in the rules that you have to do shapes, it’s just riding 500km. But I did the challenge for the first time last year, and I thought it would be quite nice to do routes in the style in shape that I usually do them in.
“The one I did on Christmas Eve was a Santa sleigh with a reindeer. Santa’s sleigh was west of the city centre, and then the reindeer kind of went into the city centre and zig zagged around there. That was just over 40 miles. It’s quite slow, zigzagging around the city centre, so it took me over three hours.”
She continued: “The Believe one I did on Boxing Day was inspired by the Polar Express golden ticket. I drew the rectangle for that first. This was all based in the city centre, and then zigzagged my way through to write out the word ‘Believe’ in the middle of it. It was 38 miles and took me over three hours.
“I completed the Christmas pudding shape on Friday. So the Christmas pudding shape was about an hour and a half, and that was less zigzagging through the city centre and more in the countryside.”
Meanwhile, her massive snowman drawing from yesterday covered 83 miles and took almost seven hours to complete.
Think I might just stick to eating and drinking over Christmas, sorry Rebecca.
Nevertheless, the 25-year-old also noted that cycling, thankfully, is about a lot more than Rapha challenges and Strava drawings.
“Cycling is a massive part of my life. It’s a great way of making friends and going out and seeing the countryside and exploring new places,” she said.
Now that’s a Christmas cycling message I can get behind.
“I only have one idea in mind: to start Brabantse Pijl”: Remco Evenepoel eyes return to racing at Ardennes classics ahead of Tour de France bid – but admits Giro d’Italia is unlikely after dooring crash during training
Weeks after Soudal Quick-Step’s now-retired boss Patrick Lefevere admitted that Remco Evenepoel’s schedule for 2025 was up in the air following a ‘dooring’ crash in training, the double Olympic champion has set his sights on a return to racing at April’s Ardennes Classics – though he admits a planned tilt at a maiden Giro d’Italia victory is now unlikely.
At the start of December, Evenepoel suffered fractures to his rib, right shoulder blade, and right hand, as well as torn ligaments and a dislocated collarbone, after a postal worker opened their van door into his path during a training ride in Belgium.
After undergoing surgery and a period of rest following the crash, Evenepoel told La Derniere Heure that he’s “getting better, but slowly” – and that he hopes to resume training on the rollers following a scan on 9 January.
(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
“I feel small daily progress. In terms of exercises, I can’t do anything except a little manipulation of my shoulder so that it’s not too stiff,” the 24-year-old world time trial champion said.
“They also massage the muscles in my elbow, my arm, but that’s it. And then, I still sometimes feel pain in my shoulder. This means that the injury is still healing and that it was quite serious. It’s not pleasant.”
Evenepoel added that he is expected to regain full strength in his shoulder six to eight weeks after the crash, and that his initial plans for 2025 – which including an early March start followed by either Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico – have now been scrapped.
(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Instead, he hopes to return to racing at Brabantse Pijl on 18 April before racing for the win over the following week-and-a-half at Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the monument he won in 2022 and 2023.
“If I can start training normally around February 4-5, I will only have three weeks in my legs before these two races,” he said of his initial March stage racing plans.
“But I do not intend to go there without ambition for results. So, it is no longer an option.
“Today, I only have one idea in mind: to be at the start of the Flèche Brabançonne [Brabantse Pijl] and follow up with the three other Ardennes classics with the ambition of playing for the win.
“For the moment, my idea is to take part in these four races. I have to. Otherwise, I will miss competition before the Tour de France. If there is a way to add a race to my programme, we will do it but I don’t know anything about it at the moment. With this injury, it’s a special year and I have to adapt.”
(ASO/Billy Ceusters)
Asked about his original plans for a third attempt at the Giro d’Italia, a noncommittal Evenepoel said: “We have to wait and see how the first weeks of training go. But I can’t reasonably envisage a return to competition before the beginning of April, at the earliest.
“So, it will probably be too short for the Giro, even if you never know.”
Fancy killing time during this weird, aimless week by experiencing some of the joys of cycling without any of the real-life benefits? Well, we’ve got just the guide for you…
> Tour de Sofa — the best computer games for a cycling fix during the cold winter months
To be honest, that article has got me all nostalgic and really wanting to play Pro Cycling Manager right now.
The 2005 edition was a classic – I think I won the Giro with Jens Voigt…
“The ‘cross itself is actually the least of it all”: Mathieu van der Poel’s father Adri says “everything around” cyclocross racing is “intense and tiring”
If you thought swanning around in a garish orange Lamborghini and a private jet, on the way to dominating every race you enter and demolishing your opposition, looked easy, well think again.
Because, according to Mathieu van der Poel’s former world cyclocross championship-winning father Adri, that whole ‘racing around a muddy field while displaying ridiculous tekkers’ thing is the easiest bit about being the best cyclocross rider in the world.
As part of his analysis for PlaySports, Adri admitted that the intensity of the past week or so – which has seen Van der Poel Jnr secure five victories in eight days since his season debut in Zonhoven on 22 December – has taken a physical and mental toll on the six-time world champion.
“It’s the journey there, the reconnaissance, the warming up, the competition, the cooling down, and then the whole ceremony for the top three. Doping control and so on, so you’re busy all day long,” Van der Poel, a Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Amstel Gold winner during his heyday in the 1980s and early 1990s, said.
“And then you have to get on the bus and go home, after which the story starts all over again at the next ‘cross. The ‘cross itself is actually the least of it all: you’re just busy for an hour. But everything around it makes it intense.
“And then the races follow each other very quickly. Mathieu feels that he has already ridden five ‘crosses in seven days. His first ‘cross was great, but after that you could see the difference when he rode against fresher riders. We saw that with Laurens Sweeck in Loenhout, and then the differences are smaller. Then it is up to Mathieu to stay focused.
“But it is a tiring period. The attention? Mathieu grew up with the attention, so he has learned to deal with that.”
See? The private jets and flashy cars are all necessary then – just don’t mention climate change…
The ugliest gravel bike of 2024?
Those late entries just keep coming…
Que loucura pic.twitter.com/3gH1D03sHh
— O País Do Ciclismo (@opaisdociclismo) December 30, 2024
“I couldn’t breathe for the first ten seconds”: Jonas Vingegaard reveals he thought “I’d either drown in my own blood or die from bleeding to death” in immediate aftermath of horror Basque Country crash
Almost nine months on from the horror crash at the Tour of the Basque Country, which upended his entire season and left him with several serious injuries, Jonas Vingegaard has revealed that he feared he was going to die in the immediate aftermath of the shocking, high-speed spill.
The two-time Tour de France winner was one of several riders, including Remco Evenepoel, Primož Roglič, Jay Vine, and Steff Cras, who crashed with 36km to go on a fast descent during stage four of this year’s Itzulia Basque Country.
Vingegaard was one of the worst affected in the pile-up, suffering two punctured lungs, a broken collarbone, a fractured sternum, and seven broken ribs, which also saw 11 riders abandon the race, as organisers were forced to partially suspend the stage in the catastrophic aftermath of the crash.
But despite what appeared to be at the very least season-ending injuries, the Danish star miraculously recovered in time to make the start of the Tour de France, where he won a stage and finished second overall to Tadej Pogačar.
But, in an emotional end-of-year interview with Danish TV broadcaster dr.dk, alongside his wife Trine Marie Vingegaard Hansen, Vingegaard confessed that, as he lay on the ground after the crash – the first time, he says, he didn’t immediately attempt to get back on his bike following a fall – he believed he was about to die, or at the very least that his cycling career was over.
“I had some internal bleeding that means I’d either drown in my own blood or die from bleeding to death,” the 28-year-old told the ‘Sportsommeren 2024: Sekunder vi husker’ programme.
“So, yeah… I thought that was the end of it. I couldn’t breathe for the first ten seconds. I already knew that something was wrong.
“When I finally could breathe again, I coughed up blood. That’s when I know it was completely crazy.”
(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Reflecting on the crash itself, which took place on a fast, sweeping bend, Vingegaard admitted that he felt a “tension in the bunch that shouldn’t be there”.
“Because there has been a battle for position and due to bad road conditions, I couldn’t really brake. And then the bike just slips in front of me because I’m simply going too fast,” he said.
His wife Trine Marie then discussed her own reaction to the crash, as the TV images lingered on the site of the crash – a decision that was criticised as “voyeuristic” at the time by the likes of riders’ union president Adam Hansen and Peta Cavendish.
Trine Marie told the programme that, despite being pregnant, she immediately began making plans to fly to the Basque Country and that by the time Visma-Lease a Bike had contacted her 30 minutes after the crash, she was already on her way to the airport with her daughter.
“I was glad he’s alive, and I hoped he didn’t have any brain damage. We can live with everything else,” she told the programme.
(ASO/Charly Lopez)
Vingegaard also revealed that he initially seriously considered retiring from the sport following the crash, but changed his mind as his recovery progressed.
“When I was lying on the ground, I thought that if I survive this, I will end my career,” the Visma-Lease a Bike leader said.
“But later we talked about it a lot, and we both thought I should continue. Because it is still my passion.”
“Now do cars”
Looks like we’ve got a late, late contender for the ‘Most pointless cycling headline of the year’ award, courtesy of the Wellington Post in New Zealand:
Now do cars
— The Wellingtonista (@wellingtonista.bsky.social) December 28, 2024 at 12:48 AM
“Pretty confident motor vehicles would have been involved in 95 per cent of those ‘cycling’ injuries,” one Kiwi cyclist noted.
Meanwhile, Auckland-based spatial planner Ben pointed out: “Cycling DSIs cost $100m a year. Car and truck DSIs cost $9.4 BILLION a year. Perspective matters.”
Perspective? In a cheap anti-cycling headline? You must be joking…
It’s going to be a long night, it’s going to be alright, at the night ‘cross…
Some of the big names may be missing from the start sheet, but this evening’s night-time Superprestige cyclocross race, under the floodlights in Diegem, is still one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the calendar for every ‘cross fan.
(Cor Vos/SWpix)
It’s got the unique atmosphere, the crowds (25,000 are expected to be in attendance, Van der Poel or no Van der Poel), and brilliant racing, more often than not. Forget Christmas, Diegem is the real highlight of December.
And with the women’s race about to start any minute now, I’m off to the sofa. I’ll see you all in 2025…
Bike to Bedlam: James Blunt calls for “patience and tolerance” between cyclists and drivers after Jeremy Vine’s latest cycle lane encounter with delivery van – but Vine says “sharing the space results in 1,700 road deaths a year”
While you’ve been stuffing your face with Celebrations (and complaining about the new tiny tubs), drinking out-of-date Baileys, and watching the daily deluge of cyclocross on the TV, I’ve been diligently keeping note of all the cycling debates and titbits that popped up over the festive period, to help keep you entertained during the sleepy post-Christmas, pre-New Year period on the live blog.
[Disclaimer – I’ve been doing all of the above too, especially indulging in that sweet, sweet cyclocross, but I’ve also been taking the odd screenshot on my phone of any particularly interesting cycling-related social media posts. The grind never stops, eh?]
Anyway… First up on this leftover turkey sandwich of a live blog is what I’ve been pitching to Channel 4 as a new alternative to the King’s Speech – James Blunt on Cycling.
(He’s got a posh voice, was more popular 20 years ago than he is today, and his links to the military are constantly brought up out-of-context – are we sure Blunt isn’t a royal?)
In any case, the You’re Beautiful hitmaker/self-deprecating social media clapback supremo/Cockney rhyming slang subject decided to join the murky world of bike-themed Twitter arguments – on Christmas Day, of all days – after spotting Jeremy Vine’s latest penny-farthing video.
Dear @Ocado,
Cyclists have priority over your vehicles in cycle lanes. Especially when they are on penny farthings.
Thanks so much pic.twitter.com/jBwlW4473V— Jeremy Vine | thejeremyvine.bsky.social (@theJeremyVine) December 22, 2024
In the clip, the cycling broadcaster was forced to “bail” and jump off his penny-farthing after an Ocado delivery driver pulled out across the protected bike lane.
“Dear Ocado, Cyclists have priority over your vehicles in cycle lanes. Especially when they are on penny farthings. Thanks so much,” Vine wrote.
After watching Jezza’s latest cycle lane encounter, Blunt – presumably while preparing the garlic mushrooms – decided to interrupt his Christmas lunch to publicly call for some festive goodwill between cyclists and motorists.
“As both cyclist and driver, I don’t think we should pit ourselves against each other,” the 50-year-old tweeted in response.
“Maybe try to share, rather than compete, for the space… and a little patience and tolerance would go a long way – especially to the Ocado guy delivering people’s turkeys. Happy Christmas.”
Well, at least he didn’t just write ‘So long, Jeremy’… What? Nobody a fan of the deep cuts?
And to be fair to Blunt’s “as a cyclist” comment, he did post a photo of himself in March arriving at a gig in Berlin by bike:
Nevertheless, regardless of his intentions, Blunt’s intervention unsurprisingly inspired the classic anti-cycling reaction from the usual suspects on Twitter (though many did note the poor design of the junction in question, while Adam Tranter even weighed in with a questionable pun-based version of Wisemen).
That inevitable pile-on then prompted Vine to reach out to the 1973 singer (sorry, I don’t know any of the post-2007 material) to argue the point that patience and tolerance also need to be supported by safe infrastructure and decisions by drivers.
“‘Sharing the space’ results in 1,700 road deaths every year,” the broadcaster wrote. “We know now that vulnerable road users need segregated lanes to keep them safe.
“I uploaded this post in a good-humoured way (I’m laughing at the end), just because it shows how even segregated space gets encroached on. The more encroachment, the more danger, the fewer people cycle, the more drive, the more danger.
“The pile-on I’m getting as a result of your (totally rational) reply indicates the dangerous levels of anger many road users carry with them, much of it, weirdly, directed at people cycling. Happy Christmas James, I love you man!”
To be honest, I thought ‘Patience’ was a Take That song, anyway… I’ll get my coat.
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Latest Comments
He "never thought of that" and "some of my best friends are" . Sounds like he doesn't think of much and is just blinded by his hatred into inventing things. Why is road.cc giving him air space!
Barry Shitpeas (Philomena Cunk's sidekick) was a very prescient character. Basically a quarter-wit expressing ignorant opinions without any understanding of the issues at hand, with ample doses of Dunning-Kruger.
Never mind the police - many cyclists (at least in the UK) would be totally unfamiliar with a velomobile, so perhaps police can be forgiven for ignorance there. (I've "normal" recumbents and even those cause lots of head-turning). And for "e-things" the tail of the market is very much wagging the dog of regulation. Or rather there's almost zero political interest in that. In an ideal world someone would find the money and time to get the police trained - but I wonder if most of them even keep abreast of things like the highway code wording tweaks? (Do those not specialised in road policing / pursuit driving get any more training than the average driver eg "enough to pass the test, once per lifetime"?)
I thought that the lengthy technical downhill section on narrow roads was a poor piece of organisation. It was inevitable that faster riders with their team car would catch up with team cars of slower riders. Riders passing each other was a bit of a lottery at times. The camera motorbikes struggled to get out of the way at times.
It's not a 'statement' though - it's road.cc's words, based on l'Equipe's interpretation. The actual statement issued on it said that the judge authorised it "guaranteeing strict proportionality between the infringements on the rights of the athlete and the stakes of the fight against doping in terms of fair competition and protection of his health."
Trust me Callum, if you'd grown up watching the Tour in the 1980s, as I did, you would not be hankering after those long flat stages that weren't even as exciting as watching paint dry, it was more like listening to paint dry. As for the supposed benefits of those long TTs, what did they give us? Indurain winning five Tours in a row without winning a single road stage in any of them. As McT says below, you simply can't Pogacar-proof a course and we just have to accept, and enjoy, the fact that we are watching the greatest GT cyclist of all time. Anyway I think it has been a great Tour so far, yes no enormous drama about the inevitable winner (though of course Vinegaard and now Lipowitz have shown us that anything can happen) but just about every day has had a fascinating plot and multiple subplots. Some time in the future there will be another Indurain-style winner, playing it cautious, following moves, making incremental gains and winning without ever lighting up the race and we'll be saying I wish the old days of Pogacar making those spectacular solo breaks were back.
The main issue is the layout of the stages with the bigger climb first then a shallow finish climb. It means pogacar can get a gap at the top of the big climb and then stretch 10-15 seconds to a minute plus at the finish over smaller riders like Vingegaard. A summit finish on the hardest climb might not lead to the most exciting racing but equally would keep the gaps closer. I totally agree with the TT kms though, they should have 60+km tts in the grand tours.
@MaxiMinimalist I mean, that statement makes it sound like they had reason to think those two are doping. Either they didn't follow procedure and are making shit up to cover themselves up or something is going on.
Quite possibly. But the changeover time loss would be a bit more significant if it was done on the flat just after the downhill when the riders are travelling faster, the deceleration, changeover and acceleration loss could easily be around 30 seconds, which is quite a lot of a 34 minute effort.
So Skoda have taken a leaf out of Dung-Old Karen Taco Trump's book and are re-naming something when they have no authority to do so?
43 thoughts on “Bike to Bedlam: James Blunt calls for “patience and tolerance” between cyclists and drivers after Jeremy Vine’s cycle lane encounter with delivery van – but Vine says “sharing the space results in 1,700 road deaths a year” + more on the live blog”
so a civilised exchange
so a civilised exchange poisoned by other people on social media it’s almost as if social media is the problem isn’t it?
Secret_squirrel wrote:
What social media? It was all scrapped decades ago in favour of anti-social media, in the interests of oligarchs and tight-righties who have an allergy to that socialism; and to other people in general.
Even this media tends to encourage we readers to indulge ourselves with dollops of othering, stereotyping and general pitchfork-marching. I’m personally thinking of getting a burning brand as well!
Social media has never close
Social media has never close-passed me though? (Although it may be that drivers who were interacting with social media on their phones have. Or were encouraged to by it…)
There’s a requirement to give
There’s a requirement to give way here, a requirement to be considerate to other road users, and a requirement to look out for the safety of more vulnerable road users. The Ocado driver failed at all three.
Now, it’s very common for a vehicle turning right to block the near lane while waiting for a gap on the far lane. They shouldn’t be doing that either, because they’ve failed to give way and failed to be considerate, but so many drivers do it that they must think it’s the correct way to drive. It isn’t.
Ah, the typical Roadcc
Ah, the typical Roadcc response……Try living in the real world.
Vine once again makes an issue out of very little……
What then is the point in
What then is the point in building those cycle lanes and putting in a ‘Copenhagen’ style junction if it’s going to be ignored by drivers? When I am riding and a driver is required to give way to me I should be able to expect them to stop and give way, but just yesterday a car pulled out in front of me forcing me to brake to avoid a collision. This happens more often than not.
It makes the cycle path pointless and more dangerous than the road. So, in most cases I’ll ignore any cycle infrastructure and ride in the road.
If you think that living in the real world means that it’s okay to drive like an arsehole then I think it’s obvious what my opinion of you is.
“I’m alright Jack!”
Well, kind of. But also that is “I’m alright Jack!”
As things stand there will only be more drivers and almost certainly more driving (and roads, parking, crashes…). As a cyclists your road tax * is going towards supporting all of that. This one incident is maybe small beer, but it and the responses to it are another indication of – if we do want less driving ** – an attitude which has to radically change in the UK.
* Ho ho ho!
** Currently the only places to have imposed some kind of a brake on the growth of driving have been those which have provided support for another private transport mode as an alternative to the private motor vehicle for some journeys. Currently the best option for that is cycling. (Of course cycling is just one part of a much bigger picture. However it’s a part which is a very well understood technology. And when combined with other changes to reduce motoring it has the least cost / fewest problems and the most side-benefits).
I thought Harrison Ford was
I thought Harrison Ford was America’s greatest bike loving president
While I have all the sympathy
While I have all the sympathy for Jezza and his mad bike, also, that van was in that position for a good long haul up the cycle lane. I encounter this a lot in one of the Glasgow cycle lanes where the give way line is inside the cycle lane and everyone creeps forward for a better launch into the traffic. My preferred choice of action would be to slow down, and probably pass behind the van, while recording plate and indulging in a little “cyclist’s Tourrettes”. The situation was allowed to develop purely to make a point. Yes it shouldn’t have happened, yes the Ocado driver is overwhelmingly at fault, but there’s also a little of situation creation going on as well.
I guess the questions are a)
Acknowledging JV so always the suspicion of “content creation”… I guess the questions are a) “what is the cost of this behaviour (by drivers)” and b) “how do we make the situation change”?
a) is sometimes “not much – just delay to the cyclist”. This is what most people seem to think – “just share the road! It’s give and take!”. BUT … it’s not give and take by everyone. Overwhelmingly it’s “cyclists / other vulnerable road users give, motorists take”. Even where as here priority is specifically marked.
An extra cost to cycling is imposed since this is always the case. For some, knowing the extra costs (of slow down, wait, speed back up) may make the difference between deciding to cycle a journey and not (and probably driving it). For many it may be yet another prompt saying “why cycle at all?”
Plus letting the behaviour of “just push on ahead” being a default by drivers can have more serious consequences.
b) You’ve said what you would do. That is fair and thanks for making the (often significant) extra effort to report people. (Noting again – this work is on the vulnerable road user… and it may be essentially impossible to do in many places e.g. good luck reporting in Scotland via the police).
But … what does that actually do? Our police forces already have a policy of “very occasional road policing”. We know what that does. What does adding an extra handful of actioned * reports per year achieve?
It’s a genuine question – it’s clear that official “education” is unlikely to make much impact (occasional adverts, a driving test once per lifetime). How to do “practical” education? Of course, via the medium of social meeja may not be the best way either!
* I believe the most common action after “did nothing” is “sent the registered keeper a polite note asking them not to do it again”.
Videos like that from Jezza
Videos like that from Jezza trivialise the real dangers cyclists face on the roads every day imo
It really was a nothing burger of an issue that JV could have handled easily as most of us do out riding all the time without any comment, annoying for sure but like Blunt alludes to sometimes you’ve got to sync to allow smooth movement for everyone not be the rusty cog sticking all the time.
It annoys me more because past two days I’ve actually felt it was getting so bad on the roads with the close passes, the stupid overtakes and general dangerous driving, my risk for reward-ometer was telling me it ain’t worth risking your life just for a bike ride.
If only I had a badly positioned Ocado van to get grumpy about on a ride instead of the half dozen people i meet every ride who seem set on trying to kill me.
stonojnr wrote:
Why can’t the answer be “neither”?
I suspect both “nothing burger” occurrences and “risking your life” ones largely stem from the same places: drivers not paying enough attention / not prepared to make a bit of effort / accept a tiny bit less convenience. And road designs which reinforce this.
All of which ultimately comes from our goals / understanding of what roads (and public spaces) are “for”. Which currently always includes “convenience for (lots of) drivers” because “driving is important” and in fact subconsciously “drivers are more important people than non-drivers”. And which doesn’t include enough emphasis on “making it easier to travel without driving” or even “preventing people from getting killed and/or injured”.
because Im realistic, I dont
because Im realistic, I dont know how Jezza has commuted through London for so many years and still finds the energy to get worked up about stuff like that,it cant do his blood pressure any good.
whereas all he has to do is hop on his bike for a tour of the Surrey Hills or Box Hill, and he’ll find a whole new set of problems cyclists encounter which I dont think he has ever covered in his videos, probably because he thinks those rides can be abit unsafe.
one of the cars I encountered yesterday who couldnt be bothered to give enough space, the reg is clear as day, yet the car tax system says it doesnt exist, which probably means its not insured or MoT’d either, how unsurprising their manner of driving belies an air of uncatchability.
and if the driver had hit me, theyd probably just have driven off anyway,and yet we arent talking or even focussing on issues like that, or the cyclists who have been killed on the roads the past week, theres been at least 2-3 reported in the press, probably a bunch more seriously injured that arent reported or followed up on, yet were focusing about how slightly annoying it is to occasionally have to accomodate other vehicles whilst riding in a city where you pretty much have to do that all the time to stay sane.
I don’t think it would be a
I don’t think it would be a great idea to pass behind a vehicle with a big blind spot, especially on a penny farthing.
I’m guessing not that very
I’m guessing not that very manoeuvrable either.
“About 2.5km from the summit,
“About 2.5km from the summit, we suddenly heard a car honking, signalling us to move aside.”
Is this a road open to the public to use?
If so … what legal right is there to do this, and if this was a BMW driver on Clapham High Street, there would be several posts castigating the driver [rightly so].
If its a roadway open to the public, training is no excuse for bad manners – especially when it’s treating other cyclists like shit.
Oldfatgit wrote:
Similar to the ‘slow down do we can get past you’ shout I got from a group of club cyclists.
Jeremy Vine- giving cyclists
Jeremy Vine- giving cyclists a bad name since 2011
squidgy wrote:
Riding a “penny farthing” isn’t that objectionable, surely?
As long as the rider is
As long as the rider wears tweeds, brogues and a deerstalker, it is perfectly acceptable.
Incidently, when time
Incidently, when time trialling was introduced in the UK in the 1840s, it led to the decline of the stovepipe hat; sad as it was a splendid look.
Was that why Isambard Kingdom
Was that why Isambard Kingdom Brunel never designed a bicycle? If so is that an early example of the deleterious effect of cycle helmet propaganda?
(Brunel pictured next to an
(Brunel pictured next to an early bike lock).
A steam-powered road bike is
A steam-powered road bike is an exciting idea.
I feel he’d be bigger on e
Well I certainly produce a considerable steam by-product at this time of the year.
I feel he’d be bigger on e-bikes now (or at least compressed air ones). He was an early adopter of “smokeless propulsion” for rail use. (A bit too early for the technology).
Mr Blackbird wrote:
You may be interested in this bit of tinkering: https://hackaday.com/2020/01/08/the-ruscombe-gentlemans-steam-bicycle/
Paging brooksby – that front
Paging brooksby – that front triangle just needs wrapping in foil and silver tape…
chrisonabike wrote:
Why should he give us a bad
Why should he give us a bad name, any more or less than another Jeremy, Clarkson, gives motorists a bad name?
In fairness Clarkson’s name
In fairness Clarkson’s name is taken in vain everytime a motorist does something stupid. So maybe not the best example
stonojnr wrote:
There’s quite a substantial difference in that Clarkson actively encourages stupid and illegal driving, including running over cyclists, so it’s natural that his name should be associated with stupid and illegal drivers, whereas as far as I’m aware Vine doesn’t encourage, advocate or engage in stupid and illegal cycling.
well I could ask for you to
well I could ask for you to show an example where JC has actually encouraged others to be stupid & drive illegally. But its not like he’s filmed himself driving through a red light is it.
however it kind of backs up my point, even if you couldnt find an example, you still firmly believe it to be the case he does & you believe it influences other motorists bad behaviour on the roads. So Clarkson absolutely gives motorists a bad name, because its inexorably linked with him whenever bad motoring is discussed.
and him alone, not May, not Hammond, not any of the other ex Top Gear presenters.
Does whoever in Sydney
Does whoever in Sydney council (presumably) that created that sign need to go back to primary school to re-learn English?
Dogs walk… as in “I’m going to walk my dog in the park.”
Since when do bikes walk?
Shirley it should be “Wheel Your Bike”…
RE: Sydney sign – isn’t it
RE: Sydney sign – isn’t it “walk your (oversized) bike backwards”?
chrisonabike wrote:
I think it’s “tame wild bikes in the Crocodile Dundee stylee”
RE: drivers across cycle
RE: drivers across cycle paths and “possible design issues”.
This is completely standard in Edinburgh and there are certainly some contributions from certain designs.
1) A local street has (from over a decade ago) completely separate cycle paths (distinct from the pedestrian path) *. BUT at every side road (these only give access to parking behind the flats) the footway and cycle path give up. Result is not just that cyclists need to yield when on a direct “through route” but of course people park as close as they can to the entrances – often directly across the cycle path crossing, double-yellows or no…
* Essentially bi-directional on both sides. This astonishing state of affairs may be due to planning for trams, I don’t know the full history.
RE: drivers across cycle
RE: drivers across cycle paths and “possible design issues”.
2) The Roseburn to Haymarket part of the new CCWEL route has what seems to be a pretty-close-to-Dutch-type arrangement. Of course it’s not uncommon to see vehicles sat across the cycle path and possibly the pavement also, like this:
(2) In this case I think the
(2) In this case I think the design doesn’t help. A very brief look about suggests that this isn’t quite Dutch. There are two treatments I’ve seen examples of there:
a) “Continuous footway / cycleway” – for very minor side roads joining larger roads (but not major ones I suspect). Here there is *no* deviation of the cycle path or footway. So the Edinburgh design is not this.
b) Essentially a “T-junction with minor arm” – something like this one (which is a 4-arm cross-roads with two minor arms). Here there is no continous footway – what is happening is the cycle path is crossing a (side) road but it (and a cyclist) has priority. So there is a space for one car to wait completely out of the way of the main road, the cycle path bends away from the main road to give waiting space for a car, there are give way marks on either side of the cycle path.
In the Edinburgh case we have neither fish nor fowl. I think they were going for a “continous footway” case but “because UK drivers” and “motorist priveledge” and “our traffic volumes” they’ve backed off (what if a car had to slow down – or worse, stop – on the main road and wait for a cyclist or pedestrian?!). They’ve ended up with something like Robert Weetman’s classification of continuous footway designs “D3b – D3 design but with additional minor bending of the cycle track”. However because of the additional give way markings for motor traffic (possibly legal requirement in UK?) this becomes more of a “fail” (“D5: Confused visual signals”).
There’s also a bit too much pedestrian space (holdover from an original “continuous footway” design)?
Hopefully there is a
Hopefully there is a breakdown of the CAUSES of the $100million “cycling injuries”.
Be they
– (accidentally) self-inflicted by the cyclist with no one else involved
– injuries suffered by pedestrians or other cyclists when hit by a cyclist
or…
– could it be that the vast majority are due to dangerous DRIVERS hitting cyclists … ?
“…most bizarre cycling
“…most bizarre cycling stories of the year…”?
A late entry is BBC R4 this morning, the Today programme, starting at 6am with Dame Laura Kenny as guest editor. Very heavy on obesity and getting children exercising regularly: no mention of Active Travel. My gob has never been more smacked. I missed some of it, so maybe it was there, but not in anything I heard, which discussed obesity and exercise.
I wonder if Today would have St Chris of Boardman as a guest editor?
Cycling injuries cost $100m
Cycling injuries cost $100m annually
I did a quick search for this and found a few articles, link below. Some highlights:
“Taking to two wheels on a road bike or mountain bike is the most risky leisure-time activity for summer holiday-makers.
Latest statistics from ACC compiled for 2023 show 28,059 new claims related to road cycling were lodged, costing $76m – by far the most risky summer leisure activity and more than twice to (sic) cost of the next most injury prone activity, swimming (7751 claims at a cost of $31m).
Other cyclists, mountain bikers, made 4152 claims at a cost of $21m, pushing the cost of cycling in general to close to $100m.
Every year ACC accepts around two million claims, which comes at a cost of $5bn to help people recover. Over one million of those injuries relating to those claims occur during the warmer months of October to March.”
Astonishing that half the claims occur in six months of the year. Of course there is no mention of who is at fault in road cycling incidents, or what the other $4.9bn claims were for.
https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-press/20241228/281659670659813?srsltid=AfmBOorF47oWVHWFGR5TDrjhYPLRrgZS_WDEL33FSFJhkL81NF5CWOdL
Seems likely to be something
Seems likely to be something of a base rate fallacy going on there – how much cycling was being done in the first place, relative to swimming and whatever other activities they were looking at?
Indeed – I suspect “people
Indeed – I suspect “people who walk a mile a week doing themselves a nasty on a walk up Snowdon” and the like would be the big one – but presumably fewer claim for that sort of thing.
Having said that I can imagine people who haven’t cycled since childhood disproving “it’s just like riding a bike” – especially when equipped with their own children to manage and/or holiday drinking.