Cyclists want to “control the roads” through lower speed limits, claims driver – who asks: “What right does a cyclist have to tell anyone what to do?” amid call for cycling insurance and number plates; MVDP: “I don’t like the Tour” + more on the live blog

Ah, the angry anti-cycling letter to the editor, a staple of the local press and a somewhat perverse favourite of the live blog, thanks to its insight into the world of fuming, often grammatically challenged, car at all costs motorists.

And one particular letter, published in the Daily Echo this morning and courtesy of David Chapman from the Dorset town of Ferndown – the scene of several anti-bike lane protests last year – has staked an early claim to be the angriest anti-cycling letter of 2025.

Because, it seems, Mr Chapman is concerned that cyclists are aiming to take control of the roads… by lowering speed limits.

“We’ve seen many stories from the cycling community regarding their wishes to control the roads to have lower speed limits despite having their own purpose-built safety lanes away from traffic,” David wrote in his letter to the editor.

“But isn’t it time cyclists took a look at themselves before telling others how things should be? Why do we need lower speed limits on roads with cyclepaths [sic] that keep cyclists away from traffic? Should we impose speed limits on cyclepaths?

“Until cyclists have insurance, licence plates, annual vehicle [sic] inspections carried out by government officials, cycling proficiency (for children, carried out at schools) and mandatory fixed lighting, what right does a cyclist have to tell anyone what to do on the roads?”

All good points, Dave, all good points.

> Furious former Ferndown fish fryer fumes at fietsers — chippy owner blames bike lane for takeaway's demise, despite roadworks ending last year and several negative reviews for "dreadful" food online

Of course, Mr Chapman’s point about cyclists having “purpose-built safety lanes” would be somewhat weightier if the residents of Ferndown hadn’t just spent much of 2024 arguing against that very kind of infrastructure.

As we’ve reported on a regular basis over the past few months, the new two-mile cycle lane on Wimborne Road East in the Dorset town – completing a bigger project that was dubbed by the Daily Mail “Britain’s biggest bike lane” – has attracted the ire of some disgruntled locals and business owners, who have branded this final section, expected to cost £7.9m and funded by Active Travel England, a “waste of money”.

Some residents opposed to the scheme have also been accused of “spreading misinformation” after unfounded rumours emerged on social media claiming that several trees will be cut down during a future phase of construction, allegations dismissed by the council as “factually incorrect and negative”.

And in July, the former owner of Ferndown Fish & Chips blamed the construction of the cycle lane for his takeaway closing, claiming it hit his business takings by 40 per cent – despite the council pointing out that the specific phase of works highlighted by the owner was completed last year, while others suggested the multiple negative reviews online could also be a factor behind the chippy’s demise.

In August, meanwhile, a publican claimed the works are costing her business £5,000 a week and placing the pub in “survival mode” by driving customers away – though the council pointed out that the business owner had only recently “engaged” with the local authority about the disruption before going to the press.

The story’s also the same in nearby Poole, where a cycle lane made national newspaper headlines in November after upset locals claimed they had been “blocked” in their driveways by wands installed to segregate the route from traffic.

"It’s bad enough cycle lanes have been put there. Trying to reverse out now takes a lot longer and it’s a lot harder. You can’t just reverse out fast anymore,” one local said.

But Dave, you’re absolutely right, it’s the cyclists who wish to control the roads.

> “Chaos could be coming our way” – Adrian Chiles asks whether e-bikes are “a new menace in need of tighter regulation” on BBC Panorama

Right, that’s me off for the evening – but remember to set your recorders for 8.30pm, in time for Panorama’s special on ‘E-Bikes: The Battle for Our Streets’.

Unless you’d prefer a nice relaxing evening not shouting at the tele, of course…

The weekend’s cyclocross action may have belonged to the flying Lucinda Brand and Wout van Aert, who both secured back-to-back victories in Gullegem and Dendermonde, but there were plenty of other eye-catching moments from a grimly muddy, freezing, and chaotic few days on the fields of Belgium.

First up, after nursing a knee injury which kept him out of the first two races of 2025, on Saturday four-time Dutch champion Lars van der Haar was back doing what he does best – popping his shoulder back into place mid-race.

After a good start in Gullegem, which saw him battling among the top five, Van der Haar’s race – and his attempts to dislodge Niels Vandeputte at the top of the season-long Superprestige rankings – were soon derailed by a crash on the fifth lap, which appeared to pop his previously dislocated shoulder out of place.

But instead of heading straight to the showers, like a normal person, the two-time European champion simply employed his by-now infamous – and wince inducing – ‘press down extremely hard on the saddle’ technique to pop his shoulder back in and carry on with his race:

Ouch.

Shoulder relocated without much fuss, the 33-year-old raced on and eventually finished 10th, as up ahead Wout van Aert capitalised on a late Eli Iserbyt mistake to take his first cyclocross victory since last January’s World Cup round in Benidorm.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Van der Haar has opted for the casual saddle-based shoulder pop-in during a race.

In November 2023, the Dutch star performed another impromptu mid-race self-examination after crashing at the Superprestige race in Niel, prompting Eurosport commentator Marty McDonald to exclaim “He’s gone full Mel Gibson, Lethal Weapon there!”

And it seems Van der Haar’s party trick (although I’m not sure he showcased it over Christmas dinner, to be fair) is still impressing ‘cross fans… who weren’t eating at the time, I assume.

“Oh my goodness me, there is a sight I do not want to see,” Jez Cox, on the mic for Eurosport at the weekend, said at the time.

“We have seen him do that before. What a hard man.”

“Watching on delay but did Lars van de Haar pop back his shoulder again? Just casually standing in the mud there? Yikes,” Cox’s fellow Eurosport commentator José Been wrote on BlueSky later.

“What a legend,” added another social media user, while Dennis noted Van der Haar’s “interesting technique”.

“These guys are something else,” concluded one gobsmacked fan.

Meanwhile, Van der Haar, for his part, appeared to be completely nonplussed about the whole episode.

“It took a really long time to get it back in,” he said after the race. “"I also crashed, so it really wasn’t my day.”

Now that’s an understatement, Lars.

 

 

 

 

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Brilliant misuse of the apostrophe there – that’s what I call attention to detail.

‘Van Gerwen Sniff Is Bike Seats’? Did Dave from Ferndown write that sign?!

Bike messenger-turned-demon descender Safa Brian here, showing that anyone, even a cyclist who can follow Tom Pidcock downhill, is capable of the odd random spill:

 

 

 

 

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> “It’s a safety issue”: New cycle lane blocks driveways and kerbs are “too high”, residents claim... but council insists “ample visibility” and tells drivers “to be suitably careful of all road users when accessing their property”

And now for something completely different…

In news that is guaranteed to give you whiplash after a morning of muddy cyclocross round-ups, London has retained its coveted position as Europe’s most congested city, a new study from transport analytics company Inrix has found.

According to the study, motorists in the capital spent 101 hours on average sitting stationary in traffic last year, a two per cent rise on 2023’s gridlock times, and four hours more than the average time recorded in 2022.

Meanwhile, London’s A40 Westway – where plans to install a protected cycle lane were scrapped back in 2016 – was awarded the most congested road in the UK prize, with 5pm-6pm unsurprisingly deemed the worst time to be travelling on the A40.

Inrix also estimated that the cost of all this congestion to London comes to around £3.85bn, or £942 for each of the city’s four million drivers.

> BBC U-turns on article blaming London’s ‘most congested city’ title on cycle lanes

Paris, meanwhile, despite its active travel efforts in recent years, finished second on the company’s standstill leaderboard, clocking up 97 hours of delays, while Dublin – which is only beginning to slowly embrace protected cycling infrastructure – is third at 81 hours.

Bristol and Leeds were second and third, albeit a long way behind London, in the UK charts, with 65 and 60 hours of delays respectively.

Manchester, in fourth place, saw a 13 per cent increase in delays compared to 2023, while Birmingham’s congestion apparently dropped by 10 per cent, moving it down to sixth in the UK for traffic.

“While the UK did see a slight increase in congestion again this year, overall congestion has remained steady,” Bob Pishue, Inrix’s transportation analyst and the author of the report, said upon its publication today.

“Roadworks in key corridors such as the M25 Wisley interchange caused considerable traffic on a main artery into the capital.

“Interestingly it was cities outside of the capital that saw the greatest increase in congestion, with Manchester seeing a large increase, up 13 per cent.

“While London only had a modest increase in time lost, it still represented half of the entire country’s delay.”

> London's cycle lanes ease congestion, rather than cause it as cycling keeps growing in capital

Responding to the sobering figures, a Transport for London spokesperson said: “We are committed to making sure Londoners can move around the capital as safely, sustainably and efficiently as possible.

“We support the movement of everyone across London and our investment in walking, cycling and public transport is making it easier to choose sustainable ways of travelling, helping to cut congestion.

“Our network includes some of the busiest roads in the country and we continue to invest in world-leading programmes to make sure roads are used as efficiently as possible.”

Forget Wout van Aert splicing through the thick Dendermonde mud, or powering over the seemingly impassable washboard sections, this is proper Belgian ‘cross tekkers:

Ciclismo. pic.twitter.com/VMQQyRtwGr

— La Fiamma Rossa (@lafiammarossa) January 5, 2025

Lars van der Haar’s rugby-style shoulder relocation wasn’t the only example of headline-stealing antics during Saturday’s Superprestige race in Gullegem.

In the women’s race, as Lucinda Brand timed her trademark blistering final few laps to perfection to take the win – teeing up her superb solo triumph in Dendermonde a day later – it was all kicking off in the battle for second behind.

As Zoe Bäckstedt and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (who looked set for the victory until Brand’s late late show) turned onto the crucial muddy running section just before the finish, the 20-year-old overhauled her Dutch rival, before cutting across her to take the inside line.

😵⚡ Un finish 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲̀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝘂 et un 𝗱𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘂 entre Alvarado et @Backstedt_Zoe ! ⚡😵

Lucinda Brand réalise la belle opération à Gullegem 🏆🇳🇱#cyclocross #superprestige #Gullegem #LucindaBrand #Alvarado #Backstedt pic.twitter.com/myMVI0gBTw

— Pickx Sports (@PickxSports) January 4, 2025

While Bäckstedt’s move was entirely warranted as she had nudged her bike ahead of Alvarado before cutting across (in fact, if both riders had been on their bikes, the move would barely have been noticed), Alvarado clearly didn’t take too kindly to the manoeuvre, shoving the young British star twice before remounting.

As Brand celebrated just ahead, the in-form Bäckstedt managed to just edge out the Fenix-Deceuninck rider in a thrilling shoulder-to-shoulder sprint to the line, to take an extremely encouraging second place.

Not that Alvarado, who ceded her Superprestige lead to Brand after finishing third, was in the mood for congratulating Bäckstedt after the race, however.

“She passed me and immediately cut me off, right towards my line,” the 26-year-old said when asked about the late shoving match between the pair.

“She was pushing her bike against me, and I didn’t like that very much, to be honest. She could’ve done it, sure, but maybe a little farther down the course. I tried to nudge her back onto her line, that’s all it was.

“I’m not sure if it affected the final result. We sprinted all the way to the finish, so I have no idea.”

> Zoe Bäckstedt “not thinking” about Paris-Roubaix yet – “otherwise I’ll start getting nervous” – as British star puts stop-start road season behind her with strong performance to secure “unexpected” first cyclocross podium of the season in Dublin

Meanwhile, a “satisfied” Bäckstedt didn’t seem too concerned about Alvarado’s retaliation in the mud, during what the ever-improving 20-year-old described as a “fight for second place” – which, thankfully, didn’t become completely literal.

“I passed her as we entered the run-up section, and after that, it was a battle to the finish,” she said. “She came over me in the final chicane, but luckily I had enough power to secure second place.”

And more than enough grit, too.