Prosecutors claim cyclist deliberately kneed five-year-old girl; RBKC councillor says segregated cycle lanes will get "jammed"; Geraint Thomas leads Ineos at the Tour; Free Lime ride to your vaccination + more on the live blog

#ICYMI Crash in the last 500 meters of stage 2 of 🇫🇷@Etoile_Besseges taking out several favorites for the stage win #EtoileDeBesseges #EDB2021 (📺@sporza_koers) pic.twitter.com/Un0nXlBFSS

— World Cycling Stats (@wcsbike) February 4, 2021

Having a roundabout at 500m to go during a bunch sprint wasn't the smartest idea...There was a major pile up on day two of Étoile de Bessèges with several riders hitting the deck. Former World Champion Mads Pedersen somehow managed to stay upright as he skated across the road before unfortunately clipping a Bingoal - Wallonie Bruxelles rider. After the chaos, Timothy Dupont of Bingoal came out on top, winning the sprint ahead of Pierre Barbier and Giacomo Nizzolo.

But that finish at #EtoiledeBesseges was stupid. Who the hell puts a roundabout in at 500 meters to the finish? And also again with the press taking up half the finishing straight and riders having to duck out of the way.

— Chris (@Vlaanderen90) February 4, 2021

Putting a massive roundabout that close to the finish was....yikes. But a nice sprint from Timothy Dupont to upset the World Tour guys. #EtoiledeBesseges

— Gavin Day (@gavinlday) February 4, 2021

Cyclist knees a young child to get her out of his way from r/ActualPublicFreakouts

The Brussels Times reports that Belgian prosecutors have accused this cyclist of deliberately kneeing a five-year-old girl. The man, appearing at Verviers Criminal Court, insists it was accidental and happened while he was "rebalancing himself". The incident was filmed on Christmas Day and quickly went viral, and after a call for witnesses the cyclist voluntarily went to the police.

The 60-year-old was questioned and is now in court facing charges of intentional assault and battery to a minor. A video of the incident has been widely shared on social media. The prosecution claims the cyclist was fatigued and frustrated that he had to slow down.

During his hearing, the cyclist insisted he had no intention of hurting the girl. "When I left my home and set off, there was hardly anyone there. There was one stretch of the route of about 1 km, near Baraque Michel, where there were a lot of pedestrians," he said.

"I braked, I adapted my speed and I activated my 120-decibel horn. I felt that I had touched the little girl but I did not immediately realise that she had fallen. Her father grabbed me by the shoulders and shouted. I apologised and told him I hadn’t seen her. As he was threatening me, I continued on my way when I saw that the little one had got up and that she was not injured."

The judge’s ruling is expected on 3 March.

56^ #TirrenoAdriatico: 7 tappe per una corsa che promette spettacolo. Guarda il video percorso! | 56th Tirreno-Adriatico route announced: a 7 stage spectacle awaits. This is the route! pic.twitter.com/XeFOLqQoPy

— Tirreno Adriatico (@TirrenAdriatico) February 2, 2021

The route for the 56th edition of the Race of the Two Seas has been released and includes the usual mix of lumpy, unpredictable stages and some old favourites. The highlight of the route is the stage four summit finish at Prati di Tivo where Chris Froome was victorious the last time the race visited the climb. There should be several opportunities for the sprinters as well as a few tough finishes for the puncheurs. As usual the week-long stage race finishes with a short individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto. Geraint Thomas, Julian Alaphilippe, Wout van Aert, Peter Sagan and last year's winner Simon Yates are all on the provisional startlist for the race.

Vincenzo Nibali is also planning on tuning his Giro d'Italia form at Tirreno. "It is an unmissable event in the early stages of my racing calendar, it’s an important test of form that I don’t think I could do without. It’s a race where I have had a lot of joy," he explained.

Cherie Pridham is the first female sports director in the men's WorldTour. When it was announced that she'd be joining Israel Start-Up Nation we took you back to the days of Kuota-road.cc (the cycling team we sponsored back in 2010). Cherie was the team's director but has clearly moved up in the world since those days. This year she'll be one of the sports directors in charge of a much improved Israel Start-Up Nation squad, including star signing Chris Froome. Here she speaks to Eurosport about women in cycling, the season ahead and the challenges of the role.

The Giro d'Italia 2021 will start from…. PIEMONTE! Did you guess the Grande Partenza? | Il Giro D'Italia 2021 partirà dal… PIEMONTE! Avete indovinato la Grande Partenza? pic.twitter.com/9OF0O7at3v

— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) February 4, 2021

The Giro d'Italia will start with three stages in the Piemonte region, in the north west of the country. An opening day 9km individual time trial in Turin is followed by two road stages with opportunities for the sprinters and puncheurs. The race will return to the region in the third week for stage 19 which finishes at Alpe di Mera in Valsesia. 

So this momentous event just happened, nearly 8 months after being knocked off & breaking my back in several places - I rode my bike! 🚲
Only 100 yards or so and I’m shaking all over - but I did it!! pic.twitter.com/vodwxCI3rw

— Grandad Martin 👴🏻💙 (@MartinKPearson) February 1, 2021

Those locks are my friends! She lost her like on 30/01 as she was volunteering her weekends in the ITU ward @uclh - I'm raising money so that we as a department can get her another bike as she's a true NHS hero and deserves better then this - https://t.co/iKRqiH6Y0Q

— Kalp (@KalpPatel_) February 3, 2021

Humayra is the second NHS worker at University College London (UCLH) to have their bike stolen as they worked on a Covid ICU ward in the past week. On Tuesday, we brought you the news that the first theft victim's bike had been returned. Now, Humayra's friends and colleagues have set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for a new bike. Shockingly, hers was stolen while she was working voluntary extra shifts on weekends to help the ICU look after Covid patients. During the first wave she volunteered to help at London's Nightingale Hospital too.

The hospital security didn't get any identifiable footage of the thieves so the police have said there isn't much they can do. However, the thieves apparently spent several minutes cutting through her lock before taking the Trek Domane AL3 with frame number Trek-047-RD. Yesterday the London Cycling Campaign found several cut locks scattered outside UCLH's bike parking area. The GoFundMe page has already raised £974 of the £1,000 target.

Humayra had not only been the backbone of the unit during the pandemic, she’s volunteered at the Nightingale in the first wave and on the wards now. This is dreadfully upsetting https://t.co/GV3scLqgM4

— Anton Emmanuel (@AntonEmmanuel2) January 31, 2021