Death, taxes and... Jeremy Clarkson slagging off anything to do with cycling are just facts of life, as we all know. Speaking at the press launch of the new series of The Grand Tour (not the cycling type), he bemoaned London's new pop-up cycling infrastructure.
"It took me three hours to get to where I am this morning, because the Mayor of London is an imbecile. He's just turned the whole damn city into a cycle lane. I don't mind one or two cycle lanes where it's convenient but he's put one in the Euston underpass. I mean, the man's a maniac and must be stopped," Clarkson said.
A spokesperson for Mayor Sadiq Khan responded to Clarkson: "London is facing an air quality crisis which is causing thousands of deaths per year and exacerbating the physical effects of Covid-19. Half of toxic emissions in the city are caused by road transport.
"These policies are about saving lives and Sadiq makes no apologies for the temporary emergency measures he has put in place to encourage the huge increase in cycling we've seen since the pandemic began which is also enabling social distancing on public transport. We mustn't get through one public health crisis only to face another caused by congestion and toxic air pollution."
Clarkson has a long and consistent history of taking issue with cycling. In the past he has said that "bikes can f*@% off" and that cyclists are "idiots waging war on normality."
However, it isn't all bike hating on The Grand Tour - James May loves cycling and urged Boris Johnson to "bomb us with bicycles", and even Clarkson himself lost 2st through the power of two wheels.