Timmy Mallett pedals up UK’s steepest road; Huge finish line crash causes debate; Bike porn; Cycling in focus at local elections; May the 4th be with you; Climbing Sa Calobra; Forget panniers, wheel a suitcase; Giro countdown + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Huge finish line crash causes debate..."but it’s easy to say with hindsight" argues rider involved
Yesterday’s opening stage of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque probably would have flown under the radar for all but the most committed racing fan. A race with a smattering of WorldTour talent, but mainly pro and continental teams. However, the sprint finish on day one has been thrust into the spotlight after a frightening crash as the sprinters lunged towards the line.
🇫🇷 @arviddekleijn flies to second place on stage 1 of #4JDD, avoiding danger in a hectic final 🥈 #HumanPoweredHealth pic.twitter.com/GDJLp5VZBb
— Human Powered Health (@HumanPwrdHealth) May 3, 2022
Lotto-Soudal’s Arnaud De Lie thought he saw a gap between Brit Dan McLay and Sam Welsford. Aussie Welsford poked his elbow out to shut the door, only to nudge the surging De Lie into McLay, causing one almighty fall. Ultimately, Welsford was relegated, Arvid De Klijn — who somehow evaded the contact — won, and De Lie crossed the line on his back in sixth (but later abandoned the race with concussion).
So…what to make of it?
Despite some pointing blame at the finish…
As long as organisers break the parcours guidelines and add bends in the final sprint, we’re destined to have sprint deviations. #4JDD
— Benji Naesen (@BenjiNaesen) May 3, 2022
That was disputed by one of the riders involved (and most-badly impacted), McLay, who also stuck up for his rivals too…
1. The finish was pretty straightforward, I’ve not seen many more simple than that and I don’t think the road had much to do with the incident. For the rest of the parcours there was plenty of things we could talk about.
— Dan McLAY (@McLAYDan) May 3, 2022
3. I’m more or less ok incase anyone is interested
— Dan McLAY (@McLAYDan) May 3, 2022
Back at home, others had different views on the incident…
Clear elbow by Welsford. Minor deviation but it did clearly cause the crash. There was a gap, Welsford closed it, if anyone’s at fault it’s Welsford. De Kleijn definitely deserves a relegation for the elbow, though #4JDD
— Jens Dekker (@jens_dekker) May 3, 2022
Another race another serious crash, fortunately seemingly without serious injury. Blame is an interesting topic. ~19/20 crashes are rider error, a mistake in the heat of battle which is only human 1/2
— Dan Martin (@DanMartin86) May 4, 2022
Hardly ever is a crash intentional but the stakes, pressure and desire to win are higher than ever meaning less caution is take = more crashes. Whoever causes the crash will feel terrible. There’s no reason to point the finger 2/2
— Dan Martin (@DanMartin86) May 4, 2022
What do you think?
Bike porn
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The new Colnago TT1 will debut racing at the next @giroditalia #ColnagoTT1 #Colnago #LaBicicletta #giro #GiroDItalia #uaeteamemirates #polimi pic.twitter.com/hfxb6FfcS8— Colnago (@Colnagoworld) May 4, 2022
Last chance to ask candidates to stand up for cycling
Cycling UK got in touch with the following message ahead of this week’s local elections…
You’ve only one day left to ask candidates where you live what they’ll do, if elected on Thursday, to get more people cycling.
Cycling UK is asking people to email the candidates for your council to ask whether they support their manifestos for cycling. Cycling UK has contacted every candidate to ask them, but many haven’t committed yet.
Find out where the candidates for your council stand, it only takes a few minutes to ask whether they support our manifesto.
They want your vote on Thursday, so if you want councillors in your area to push for safer cycling and to get more people cycling, email them now to ask them what they’ll do to make that happen.
Cyclists are not funny...Oh, wait...I stand corrected
How realistic is indoor cycling? Climbing Sa Calobra
How close to Ed Laverack’s time can Brad and Dave get?
"It's interesting how different sports apportion blame in crashes": Reader reaction to Four Days of Dunkirk shocker
Frightening finish line crash at Four Days of Dunkirk prompts finger pointing — but British sprinter Dan McLay sticks up for those involved: “neither intended to cause the crash” https://t.co/XSB0S4T3sm #cycling pic.twitter.com/0imwOqutuH
— road.cc (@roadcc) May 4, 2022
Velophaart_95 commented: “It’s interesting how different sports apportion blame in crashes. In this instance the view is ‘it wasn’t intentional, so no action should be taken’……..
“Yet it will continue to happen. The massive pile up in Liège–Bastogne–Liège; no action was taken as to who caused it. There is a lot of reckless riding in cycling which goes unpunished; we can’t be surprised when crashes keep happening.
“Very different in motorsport; they want to know who did what, so action can be taken – even if it was accidental.”
Miller said: “I watched that finish and I straight away thought Welsford was likely to be relegated. The finishing straight had plenty of room. It looked to me that Welsford put out his elbow to block a rider coming through who then couldn’t stay upright. Sprinting, eh. Not for the faint-hearted.”
Peted76 added: “That crash was/is pretty dramatic, a bit touch and go whether Welsford would be relegated and it was reported yesterday that he’d kept the win. He was not celebrating after the line, he was talking and looking concerned. Clearly the decision was overturned and he was relegated.
“I think the only person who ‘deserves’ the win is Dan McLay, who did nothing wrong and was in the lead until Arnaud De Lie tried to squeeze through a very small gap and Sam Welsford closed that gap. Any other result in my eyes is irrelevant. The deviation was wrong, but minor in the scheme of things and elbows are expected.”
66km to go on stage two…fingers crossed for no repeat of yesterday…
"It's never my intention to bring anyone down or cause a crash. Having contact in the sprint at 70kph is hard to control": Sam Welsford comments on yesterday's crash
2/2 Again it wasn’t my intention so I apologise for what happened and sincerely hope all involved are ok.
— Sam Welsford (@sam_welsford) May 3, 2022
May the 4th be with you...
Happy Star Wars day! 👨🚀👾🚀 #MayThe4thBeWithYou pic.twitter.com/XICsWJm106
— Broken Riders (@brokenriders) May 4, 2022
"I pedalled up it fully laden with my panniers, art stuff and me": Timmy Mallett recalls UK steepest road ascent
“I pedalled up it fully laden with my panniers, art stuff and me,” Mallett wrote on Strava. “I even videoed it as I panted… And I managed it! I have officially pedalled up the steepest street in the world.” (Unfortunately Guinness World Records might have something to say about that)
“That’ll do. I am an athlete! Harlech castle is stunning perched on the craggy cliff top. Artists through the years have painted it and so did I today. The lovely team at the castle took photos and pointed me to the rocky but where the view is amazing. It was. I sketched out and tonight I’ll work something up in my hotel room.
“Then I discovered a puncture. In the back tyre. It was tricky getting the small hand pump to make any difference. At which point Joe arrived. Joe lives in Harlech and we headed down the steepest hill to his house to use the big foot pump.
“Clearly I hadn’t got rid of all the thorn via after a cuppa the tyre was going down again. So another new tyre [tube] was needed and I’m so glad Joe was there to lend assistance and encouragement.
“Joe also had as good tip. To head to Ynys for a view like no other. Straight across the water to Portmerion and over to the mountains of Snowdonia. Amazing. Especially as the sun came out and the afternoon was bathed in warm full sunshine. My day is done. I’ll be painting this evening.”
Mallett hammers UK's steepest road
— Timmy Mallett (@TimmyMallett) May 3, 2022
Ffordd Pen Llech…before you ask. An excruciating 230m @ 21 per cent…but all about that 37.5 per cent max gradient. The road was once considered the steepest in the world before those pesky Guinness World Record jobsworths (joke) saw Baldwin Street in New Zealand…
> Utterly brilliant: An interview with Timmy Mallet on all things e-bike
It’s not the first time the legendary entertainer has taken on an epic e-bike challenge. In 2018, he set off from his home town of Maidenhead on a 2,000km ride across Europe to Santiago de Compostela.
“I like the unexpected adventure of cycling. It’s not how far you go, or how fast; it’s how much fun you have along the way,” Mallet explained. Words to live by…
Oh, and of course he’s on Strava too…
It's that time of the year...EF Education-EasyPost release special Giro d'Italia kit
New kit, who dis’ 👌
👌
The Maglia Rosa of #Giroditalia is so iconic so we’ve switched out our traditional pink colours. This limited edition kit will be available on @rapha soon!Maybe you’ll see us in Pink at the Giro 👀👕 pic.twitter.com/WaI41TAOKe
— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) May 4, 2022
EF Education-EasyPost and Rapha’s annual maglia rosa deviation kit announcement is here (why not give us another bank holiday, eh?)
Two years ago it was the Supreme special, then last year the ‘switch out kit’…
> Expert trolling of UCI rules as Rapha and EF Education-Nippo unveil new kit
This year, Vaughters’ boys have gone for a very classy-looking black (with every colour under the sun) number. Kind of how ‘paintings’ by toddlers could look if the spray and pray approach actually worked…we like it…
Your Giro countdown is under the two-day mark…
Ineos boss Jim Ratcliffe's £4.25bn bid to buy Chelsea FC has been rejected, according to reports
Majority shareholder of Ineos, the chemical group that owns the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been informed his £4.25bn offer for Chelsea Football Club has been rejected, according to reports.
A consortium led by LA Dodgers owner Todd Boehly is believed to be the preferred bidder. “We’ve been rejected out of hand,” Ineos director Tom Crotty told Bloomberg.
On Friday, it was reported that Ratcliffe, and Ineos, were interested in adding the Premier League club to their sporting portfolio, which already includes the aforementioned cycling team, Ligue 1 outfit Nice, Swiss team FC Lausanne, as well as interests in Formula 1, athletics and sailing.
Is there an active travel class divide?
Over on a Dorset active travel group on Facebook a post has attracted a fair few comments. It is titled: Do you think there is a class divide over active travel? You’ve probably heard the line about cycling being a middle class sport before, or that only those with plenty of disposable cash can afford the top-end carbon bikes and Rapha kit…but when a car (and fuel) costs so much, why has the humble bicycle attracted such a reputation? Is there a distinction to be made between ‘sport cycling’ and active travel?
Here are some of the comments:
“Not a class divide more a financial divide. It gives mobility to the less well off.”
“I would say the class or financial divide is real, I generally see far more cyclists and bicycles ridden costing several thousands of pounds. Just last weekend I saw a family of four enjoying a Sunday ride on matching ebikes, what appeared to be Giant Fathom E+ or visually similar. The sub-segment of Lycra-clad enthusiasts being the most obvious example of this. Yes, there are some that embrace the cost effective means of travel that is to be had on two wheels. I in my past have been one of these folks, it was short-lived. Unfortunately the placement of cycle lanes thus far does show a certain bias to user groups.”
“I think this question is too generic and undefined to really get any useful feedback on it”
“Yes, I don’t know how people afford to run cars. Ok my bike was a bit of an investment for me but still cheaper than most second-hand cars and I don’t have to pay out for fuel costs and parking at work. But we weren’t well off growing up so my parents didn’t have regular access to a car until my teens so I grew up a lot more independent than some of my peers and am used to getting about under my own steam.”
“When I grew up on a council estate I cycled as it was an affordable option. Today I cycle because I enjoy it. Very different bikes too. But in each case I cycled.”
"This whole trip is a pain in the ass": Bauke Mollema gets into the Giro spirit
🤩It’s getting crowded…
🤩La piazza si sta affollando…
🤩La gente se aglomera en la plaza…#Giro pic.twitter.com/NXRGG0bltT
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 4, 2022
The crowds are building in Budapest for the team presentation…
But, one man who’s a bit pissed off to be in attendance is Bauke Mollema. The Trek-Segafredo climber called the Hungarian Grande Partenza a “pain in the ass” this afternoon while speaking to the media.
“I don’t really have a Giro feeling yet. I’ve only been there a day. After the team presentation later today, I expect to have a bit more feeling. During a round of free riding here we did not meet many cyclists. I didn’t feel very safe here in the traffic,” he said.
“This whole trip is a pain in the ass, I find it quite disturbing that we don’t start in Italy and have to fly after only three days. The rest day is also not a real rest day, because you have to travel. Flying Sunday evening would have been nicer, but we don’t do that until Monday morning. I am happy when we are in Italy.”
Tell us how you really feel, Bauke…
4 May 2022, 08:09
4 May 2022, 08:09
4 May 2022, 08:09
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Latest Comments
@kil0ran I'm sorry, but clearly you haven't read everything about this case. The bloke easily needed jailing for 25 years. It was indisputable intentional brutal murder (Followed by significant threats against the cousin in the car who was the main witness for prosecution). That doesn't stop the separate discussion on WTF he still had access to a car (or van) given his driving record (fixing this might have removed the ability to commit said murder, but he was a violent thug regardless). I would argue that we need to allow for banning owning/keeping a car; Banned and 'inherit' one = required to turn it over immediately (say within 72 hours) to appropriate authority (solicitor, Office of Public Guardian, Car Auction?) Keeper/owner then has significant legal risk of getting banned if they let a banned individual use the car. Also need significant modernisation of transfer of ownership - insist it is done digitally (if you can't do it online, you HAVE to do it at a DVLA office or post office) at the time, with the checks done as part of it. Don't do the change of ownership; then you retain owner/keeper liabilities in full.
@Jimmy Ray Will Unfortunately affray and ABH both have a presumption in favour of bail under the Bail Act 1976 whereby defendants will usually be bailed unless they are a proven flight risk or are likely to attempt to interfere with witnesses or the accuser. Additionally bail is almost always granted if it is regarded by the presiding authority as being likely that the defendant will not receive a custodial sentence at trial. So it's hard to say without knowing the exact details of the affray and ABH charges he was facing, if they were relatively minor, e.g. pushing and shoving someone in a pub argument, it's likely that he would not get immediate custody, most likely a suspended sentence, so that may be the reason for his being bailed. I think, although I'm not sure, his previous driving record wouldn't be a factor that would be considered when looking at bail for non-driving offences.
@kil0ran We test vehicles every year at a cost of (from memory) £65 so let’s bring in a 3-year or 5-year re-test window for the drivers... Not in Lancashire we don't- MOT and VED are optional in the land of Bent Coppers. This isn't from 7.8.26, when I last filmed WU67 BLF, but from the J France Facebook pages. So if the police arrange to not enforce MOT, what do you think they'll do about this projected tidal wave of non-retested drivers? The police are actively working against road safety- and against cyclists.
I think the headline should be something like 'should' , because the final sentence is unfortunately spot on. I'll give it a few hours before I read irrational hatred of cyclists (or anything else for that matter which can be singled out) :-(
@mitsky I wonder if there are grounds for the victims family to take legal action against the justice system for its failure to protect the wider society against a clearly dangerous individual. How he got bail in December 2024 with his previous record is unfathomable. How that case, as serious as it was, involving an individual with such a terrible track record, could be left untried for such a long time is unforgivable. Appreciating that courts are backlogged, but when prioritising cases for trial, surely the risk posed by the defendant, their track record etc. is taken into account? Assuming so, just how bad are the wrong 'uns whose cases were put first?
@Rendel Harris yup, unfortunately this is far too easily ignored because it's so abnormal (eg. murder charge due to very strong evidence of deliberate killing) and "you can't stop murders". Indeed it will likely reinforce people's current positions / beliefs that eg.: - Road crime is being tackled effectively and indeed "real criminals" who drive are severely penalised by the legal system ("see - they got him, bang to rights, and threw the book at him"). - Their own (better or worse) driving is of a relatively high standard and certainly doesn't merit the attentions of the law ("look at what the *real* criminals do").
@Bungle_52 Thanks, yes I am familiar with the various elements of the scheme and the local history - I refuse to click on the links for the local comic though! I would also agree that some parts do work well and the link to Bishops Cleeve is better - going through the racecourse and down Kayte Lane worked just as well though. One of my old commutes was over racecourse hill and it could could be a bit sketchy especially in the dark - will never forget being showered by the remains of two car sides mirrors one evening when they chose to pass at speed! My children do also benefit from some of the off road elements for their rides to school though it has to be said that most of that is historic stuff and where they have to use the new bits it is because other recent 'road improvements' have increased traffic capacity and speeds to the point that existing crossing points are too dangerous to use. Trouble is that two way cycle paths on one side of the road are just rubbish. You will always be on the wrong side at some point. In the dark you will end up riding into headlights in one direction often on the edge of the road. They even make a mess of cycle to cycle priority e.g. underpass at Arle Court roundabout, and everything seems to be done to impede progress. I simply do not understand how GCC manage to do it so badly! What's so frustrating is that they also refuse to listen to any advice or comments and just plough on regardless.
@flowboy no need to hold out for panaceas, nor give up because "change ... and that will take time..." "What works" in terms of infra / interventions is now *very* well tested and understood. (Indeed several starts were even made in different places in the UK, at different times, before being abandoned...) I think there's also some knowledge of the "human / political engineering" to facilitate change, albeit that's sensitive to local context. Certainly there's always the objection "but you can't get there from *here*" ... and that can be *incredibly* hard to overcome. But it has, in many different places in different countries (even if just looking at Europe). Even NL wasn't always as it is; it was on exactly the same "knock down the historic city / houses to make room for the motor vehicle" path as the UK. They just started a bit later and had a headstart in terms of existing walking / cycling infra. And hadn't lost cycling as a normal mode of transport by that point.
I fear this appalling case won't shift the dial an inch in terms of empathy towards cyclists or better driving around them. People are appalled, and rightly so, at the murder element of the case, i.e. the fact that the perpetrator drove for so long with the victim trapped under his car, even after he had got out and seen that he was still there. If the incident had stopped at the original point, i.e. when Mr Mullins was hit by Richardson speeding through the junction, it probably wouldn't have been reported anywhere apart from a few local news outlets and maybe on road.cc. People then would doubtless have come out with the usual garbage about it was probably the cyclist's fault and if it wasn't so many cyclists break the law all the time how can they complain? The next cyclist to be killed by a driver who just wasn't concentrating or didn't look properly or was only driving a little over the sensible speed for the conditions, without the murder element, will bring the same filth out again, I'm certain.
@flowboy Refreshing frankness. Several folks here will know the location very well, Bath being the road.cc back yard. Alas, Yorkshire has some "UK standard" fairly terrible cycle provision - and I believe non "motoring-focussed" design is generally rare. (I've only experience of Leeds and York, and that mostly decades back; though i do occasionally look up what's changed). For "what we could win" I recommend a perusal of what happens in The Netherlands (the Bicycledutch blog is a good starting point, or notjustbikes on YouTube for a Anglophone perspective). But what they have done in NL goes way beyond "cycle infra" - indeed that is just the tip of the iceberg of what results from a different transport philosophy. For more a more believable "what the UK could start doing right now" see parts of Scandinavia, or (closer) Paris, or Seville. Or ... parts of London!
17 thoughts on “Timmy Mallett pedals up UK’s steepest road; Huge finish line crash causes debate; Bike porn; Cycling in focus at local elections; May the 4th be with you; Climbing Sa Calobra; Forget panniers, wheel a suitcase; Giro countdown + more on the live blog”
That crash was/is pretty
That crash was/is pretty dramatic, a bit touch and go whether Welsford would be relegated and it was reported yesterday that he’d kept the win. He was not celebrating after the line, he was talking and looking concerned. Clearly the desicion was overturned and he was relegated.
I think the only person who ‘deserves’ the win is Dan McLay, who did nothing wrong and was in the lead until Arnaud De Lie tried to squeeze through a very small gap and Sam Welsford closed that gap. Any other result in my eyes is irrelevant. The deviation was wrong, but minor in the scheme of things and elbows are expected. First big crash of the year?.. lets hope they are few and far between.
peted76 wrote:
Been a few other big ones sadly … not least the one involving Alaphilippe at Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
I watched that finish and I
I watched that finish and I straight away thought Welsford was likely to be relegated. The finishing straight had plenty of room. It looked to me that Welsford put out his elbow to block a rider coming through who then couldn’t stay upright. Sprinting, eh. Not for the faint hearted.
It’s interesting how
It’s interesting how different sports apportion blame in crashes. In this instance the view is ‘it wasn’t intentional, so no action should be taken’……..
Yet it will continue to happen. The massive pile up in Liege-Bastogne-Liege; no action was taken as to who caused it. There is a lot of reckless riding in cycling which goes unpunished; we can’t be surprised when crashes keep happening.
Very different in motorsport; they want to know who did what, so action can be taken – even if it was accidental.
Given the emphasis being
Given the emphasis being placed on local UK elections at the moment, youd be forgiven for thinking the whole country was going to the polls on Thursday, instead less than half of all councils in England are holding any election at all. The contrast is most obvious when you see the actual election map.
Of course all 32 London boroughs are voting…so you know obviously it becomes a nationwide impacting election of critical importance
Not forgetting all councils
Not forgetting all councils in Wales and Scotland, and the NI Assembly…
Even combined the number of
Even combined the number of council seats Wales,Scotland & NI are electing for, doesnt even make 2/3rds of the total in England up for election, and in England they are electing less than 1/4qtr of all possible seats.
All the same, complaining
All the same, complaining that the emphasis on the local UK elections is London-centric might come across as a little anglocentric and dismissive to those in the other nations, all of whose seats are up for election.
There’s a steeper one in
There’s a steeper one in Bamford, Peak District now it’s been tarmaced.
Needs to be urban though for
Needs to be “urban” though for the record.
Join the rebel alliance
Join the rebel alliance
https://twitter.com/tomflood1/status/1521822797818912768
We meet the first Friday of every month in the parish hall to discuss our apparent control of councils nationwide. Please bring cake.
Mallet puts the hammer down!
Mallet puts the hammer down!
Star Wars day?
Star Wars day?
Pffft – Motorhead Day on Sunday. It’s the eighth of May. The eighth of May.
Ha, I’ve done the suitcase
Ha, I’ve done the suitcase thing! Moving my son into college, we took a train. It only runs once a day and arrives around 4 AM (very small town.) When we arrived, we tried Uber, Lyft, and taxis, and got nothing, so we started walking the 2.5 miles to his place with two bicycles, two very heavy large suitcases, and one smaller one. This was slow going, so we tried cycling it. It worked okay, but the wheeled suitcases would follow nicely for a minute or so, then get unstable and flip, especially on crappy concrete roads. Still, it was faster than walking.
Presumably the caption on
Presumably the caption on that suitcase cycling video (“Participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt”) relates to the driver using the phone while driving?
i thought it was listening to
i thought it was listening to the soundtrack on it.
Bike porn – is that what
Bike porn – is that what Green MPs are watching, in the house of commons?