"You can watch these 'tourists' in the Tour of Flanders": Pro women's team mistaken for fans as Van Aert climbs the Koppenberg; Hot Fuzz's Sandford Police look after cyclists (sort of); But cyclists... + more on the live blog

The year is 2023...

That's a nice photo, I hear you say... Wout van Aert getting some support from his 
CERATIZIT - WNT Pro Cycling counterparts just days before they all take to the Ronde van Vlaanderen course for their respective races. What isn't so nice however is the circled caption on the side, which has seen Het Laatste Nieuws land themselves in hot water online...

As per one translation: 'Toiling but also smiling among the cycling tourists on the Koppenberg.'

One exasperated fan (an actual fan, not a pro rider) wrote on social media: "Meanwhile, at the self-proclaimed Flemish #1 sports newspaper they still know f*** all about women's cycling, even when Kopecky is one of the biggest stars."

https://t.co/mFAKpPffsZ pic.twitter.com/HbnncbllXq

— CERATIZIT - WNT Pro Cycling (@ceratizit_wnt) March 31, 2023

The team added: "Well, this is disappointing. The girls were told to 'get out of the way for the pros' by a photographer during their recon yesterday… think we found which one it was… You can watch these 'tourists' in the Ronde Van Vlaanderen this weekend."

Of course, those of you in the UK will probably remember something similar back in 2017 when Cycling Weekly apologised after publishing this caption...

Editor Simon Richardson said the incident was an "appalling lack of judgement by an individual" and "not a reflection of the culture in the CW office".

"Unfortunately during the magazine's production process a member of the sub-editing tea decided to write an idiotic caption on a photo of one of the female members of the club," Richardson said. "The caption is neither funny nor representative of the way we feel or approach our work. Sadly in the rush to get the magazine finished it was missed by other members of the team and sent to print."

Active Travel England recently scored all English local authorities outside of London's active travel credentials...

> Active Travel England rates councils' capability to deliver infrastructure — 94 per cent fall in lowest three categories

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the headline figures weren't positive... 94 per cent in the lowest three categories and more than half in level one. One of those level one authorities was Lincolnshire whose executive member for highways Cllr Richard Davies has insisted the poor rating "won't affect schemes we are working on or considering".

"We will still be able to bid for funding, although it should be noted that government has dramatically cut the amount of funding available to Active Travel England," he told the Grantham Journal.

You've been having your say on the dreary news about the Women's Tour this morning...

Matthew Acton-Varian said it is a "sad indictment of the state of the professional sport away from the men's WorldTour."

"Not enough investment, not enough sponsorship, and not enough opportunity for female cyclists to show their mettle from the bottom up. Whilst recent additions such as the Paris-Roubaix and TdF Femmes are great news, the fact that other women's calendar stalwarts are struggling is very sad indeed."

Awavey: "I'm not sure it's an indictment of the whole sport, just the sport in general in the UK, those London Olympics were over a decade ago now, I suspect the Tour of Britain's finances are equally perilous, given the piecemeal fashion the event is being announced,and has the same lack of sponsors and potentially lack of vehicle provision.

"That to me was the most shocking part that Skoda didn't want to be involved in the Women's Tour at all. You could tell just last year the Women's Tour was struggling, and struggling to engage people too, so I'm not the least surprised it's come to this."

Over on Twitter, Matt L asked if British Cycling is doing enough... "Last year Shell joined British Cycling as an official partner. For the Women's Tour to go ahead they needed to find £500,000. Why did I mention Shell? £500,000 is less than eight minutes of profit. Want to help British Cycling? Save our races!"

This is more terrible news with regards to not only Women’s cycling in the U.K. but British cycling overall. Collapse of pro teams, pro races, tour series reduction, etc. when there is funding for British Cycling. What actually are @BritishCycling doing?

— Charlie Pilkington (@ChazPilks) March 31, 2023

We appreciate mistakes happen but they still happen too often.@HLN_BE you're welcome to come join us on Sunday so you can get more insight on our side of the peloton

If not Sunday @martusialach would be happy to take you bikepacking instead. Just let us know which you prefer😊 pic.twitter.com/uWvSrY8O1B

— CERATIZIT - WNT Pro Cycling (@ceratizit_wnt) March 31, 2023

A bit of fun to kick off the live blog this Friday...

Working with Sandford Council we have improved the signage along Swan Lane pic.twitter.com/ispC4R2NDf

— Sandford Police (@Sandford_Police) March 30, 2023

Of course a few who presumably have never seen Hot Fuzz get caught out by the apparent English police force each time it puts something on social media. The clue is probably the bio (presented in its unedited original form)... "Englands smallest Police Farce, committed to catching crinimals & swans #TheGreaterGood" ... oh, and the "parody/satire" warning.

Anyway, there are always a few...

One reply asked: "You don't think the sign is actually blocking the bike lane and creating a hazard?" 

Others suggested it was the work of Peter Ian Staker (P.I.Staker) to better protect the village's swans (it's just the one swan, actually)... hopefully those reference land and you don't just assume I've lost the plot...