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

While you’ve been stuffing your face with Celebrations (and complaining about the new tiny tubs), drinking out-of-date Baileys, and watching the daily deluge of cyclocross on the TV, I’ve been diligently keeping note of all the cycling debates and titbits that popped up over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.

> Jeremy Vine rides penny-farthing along cycle lane... gets blocked off by a driver who ignored cyclist priority

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.

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

[image or embed]

— 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…

Those late entries just keep coming…

Que loucura pic.twitter.com/3gH1D03sHh

— O País Do Ciclismo (@opaisdociclismo) December 30, 2024

> 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…

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.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Rebecca Laurel (@rebeccalaurel06)

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.”

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Rebecca Laurel (@rebeccalaurel06)

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.”

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Rebecca Laurel (@rebeccalaurel06)

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.

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…

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…

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.

> “His training’s started well”: Tadej Pogačar obliterates famous Strava KOM – with help of lightning-fast UAE Team Emirates train – during 205km, five-and-a-half-hour winter ride

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…