Work on next stage of controversial cycle lane which some traders claimed would “kill” village set to continue, months on from Dame Sarah Storey defending project and stating “a bike lane doesn’t close a village”; Viral MTB crash + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Mountain biker miraculously walks away uninjured from horror crash into gate, as shocking video of 30mph smash goes viral online
Pain.
We shared the short vid of this on Tuesday’s live blog, but more details have now emerged — including the miraculous news the teenager involved walked away unharmed — so here’s another look, if you can face it.
Incredibly, the 14-year-old mountain biker seen hitting the gate, Lloyd Bennett, walked away with just a cut to his finger, his father Terry (the rider behind Lloyd in the clip) reporting to the Mail he’s mainly “devastated to see his £4,000 x works GT professional bike snapped in half”.
The incident happened back in January, on the One Giant Leap track near Llangollen, North Wales.
“The gate at the bike park is always open, but we were the first down the track that morning and the wind must have blown it closed,” Terry explained, saying he has renamed his son ‘Lucky’ after the 30mph crash.
Both were running cameras, Lloyd’s Instagram post sharing the footage going viral with 1.8m likes and more than 29 million views since he shared it earlier this week.
In the longer video Lloyd is apparently up on his feet almost instantly, his father’s comment “that’s the end of your bike” an immediate disappointment, even if he’d somehow managed to avoid any injury beyond a cut to his finger.
With Lloyd’s health confirmed, the Instagram comments naturally did what they do best… make jokes…
“Cheers for opening the gate mate.”
“I’m sure there’s a good joke about a gate here… but ya might take a fence.”
Praise the cycling gods! Tadej Pogačar "very close" to making Roubaix debut, report suggests
Info @Gazzetta_it – As we early reported in our paper editon last sunday (2 march) sources confirmed us that @TamauPogi @TeamEmiratesUAE can be considered “very close” to be at @parisroubaix this year. Obviously things can change but this is the situation at this stage
— Ciro Scognamiglio (@cirogazzetta) March 5, 2025
Cyclists slam council's decision to spend millions on "pointless" figure-of-eight loop "bridge to nowhere", instead of fixing muddy quagmire around it
Patrick Lefevere spends night in hospital after feeling unwell yesterday evening
Soudal Quick-Step have put out the following statement regarding their former CEO Patrick Lefevere, who spent the night in an intensive care unit after falling ill yesterday.
After feeling unwell yesterday evening, Patrick Lefevere was taken to hospital in Gent, where he spent the night under medical examination. This morning, Patrick is feeling well and the team wishes him a speedy recovery and hopes to welcome him soon at one of the races. We kindly ask that you respect Patrick’s privacy at this time.
Decathlon's cycling brand Van Rysel launches first carbon wheelsets, starting from €799.99 and suitable for road or gravel riding
Concerns raised about possible attacks on cyclists after popular family cycle path sabotaged with piles of logs “deliberately” left by "idiots" and hooded men spotted shouting threats at passing riders
☀️☀️☀️
Right, I’m back from a lunch spin for some more live blogging. It’s glorious out there (at least where I am)… even had to find the shorts from the back of the draw. No gloves, shorts, nearly 15 degrees… lovely.
UCI Cycling Esports World Championships to be held in Abu Dhabi again this year
The UCI and MyWhoosh has announced this year’s Esports World Championships will once again be held in Abu Dhabi, as it was last year. It will be held on 15 November and will see the top 20 male and female athletes from the semi-finals compete for the discipline’s rainbow jerseys.
Our press release from the UCI states Abu Dhabi “continues to foster the growth of cycling”. Translation: Abu Dhabi continues to chuck loads of money at cycling. In addition to hosting this year and last year’s UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, the city will also host the 2028 UCI Road World Championships, the 2028 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships and the 2029 Tissot UCI Track World Championships. Abu Dhabi also hosted the 2024 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships last December.
Tadej Pogačar practises his Strade Bianche victory parade
Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself with that post title, let’s hope Tom Pidcock can make Saturday afternoon somewhat more competitive than some of Pogačar’s 2024 dominations. Here’s the defending champ refamiliarising himself with that famous finish.
Pidcock vs Pogi: who have you got?
Tadej Pogačar : "I prefer the idea of being a Classics rider who wins Grand Tours"
Talking of the main man, Pogačar spoke to French newspaper L’Équipe about his cycling philosophy, the world champ explaining he “prefers the idea of being a Classics rider who wins Grand Tours” rather than a Grand Tour specialist who can pick up some one-day races along the way.
“I love the Classics, they’re pure adrenaline, a one-day shock that has nothing to do with suffering spread out over three weeks,” he explained. “You have to be physically and psychologically ready to battle for six hours, often in bad weather, on roads that are always the same and that everyone knows by heart. The good move can start anywhere, you have to be a bit of a gambler, not make mistakes.
“On that one day, you have to be the strongest, the luckiest, the most inspired, everything has to line up, there are no catch-up sessions. As everything is decided in a single day, the emotion of victory is incomparable.
“Milan-San Remo is the least predictable race on the calendar, but it’s the one where I really want to improve and try to win it again and again.”
And what about Roubaix? “I can’t say if it will be this year or next year, but I can’t say no to the fact that it will be this year, there is always a chance. We will see, let’s leave a little surprise, I really love this race. I thought it would be too hard for me, but when I did the reconnaissance I said to myself that maybe I could do it. If I am in good shape, maybe I could try… For now I am focused on Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo, after these two races I think I will make my decision.”
Work on next stage of controversial cycle lane which some traders claimed would "kill" village set to continue, months on from Dame Sarah Storey defending project and stating "a bike lane doesn't close a village"
The extension of a cycle lane between Castleton and Rochdale town centre is set to begin next month, junction upgrades and new crossings also part of the project that is the second stage of a scheme heavily criticised by some locals and business owners last year.
“This project will transform a major, well used route in Rochdale town centre, with improved journey times for motorists and significant safety improvements to support walkers, cyclists and people using wheelchairs and prams,” Councillor Shah Wazir, cabinet member for highways, said.
Last year, traders in Castleton claimed the cycle lane had “killed” the village and was “ruining business”. Their main complaint was that on-street parking was replaced by the cycling infrastructure, shop owners claiming if customers “can’t park outside, they can’t stop here”… that despite the project seeing the addition of 80 new off-street spaces.
Dame Sarah Storey, Greater Manchester’s Active Travel Commissioner, responded to the complaints, argued “a bike lane doesn’t close a village” and pointed to other economic factors that have hit people across the country in recent times.
She said: “It’s a coincidence, not an unexpected consequence. The timing in Castleton was really challenging, with the cost of living crisis and coming out of the pandemic. When you’ve two things like that colliding, they’ve had to take it to experts to discuss how they can sort the economic side out.
“A bike lane doesn’t close a village. It opens it up and enables more people to choose to move. Not everybody can drive, not everybody owns a car and they’re now connected to a train station and soon to the town centre through the extension.”
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The cyclist here needs to look into Section 142 of the Magistrates' Court Act 1980, firstly because there was no offence, and secondly because it appears that the police mislead the Court. "A magistrates’ court may vary or rescind a sentence or other order imposed or made by it when dealing with an offender if it appears to the court to be in the interests of justice to do so;] and it is hereby declared that this power extends to replacing a sentence or order which for any reason appears to be invalid by another which the court has power to impose or make." https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/43/section/142
I wonder how well advised the cyclist was in Court? And in this case would cycling legal insurance cover the cost of a specialist solicitor?
@quiff I would expect the police had not been trained with the change, perhaps.
@courteousdriver The Highway Code does not differentiate between cars and bikes in this instance, it says that when overtaking parked cars you must give way to oncoming traffic. It's not for you to decide whether or not they have sufficient space in your opinion, you should not drive in the oncoming traffic lane if there is any oncoming traffic, full stop. Not a difficult rule to understand and one that one would have thought a self-named courteousdriver would have no trouble obeying.
@mctrials23 It seems to me that the car moved closer to the kerb on his side of the road, and the cyclist was able to proceed entirely within his own lane - both at very slow speed. So there is no ground for an offence. The concerning point is that the copper thinks that the same "gap" should apply to the different types of vehicle. That's peak carbrain.
Peripheral to your point, but parking facing oncoming traffic is advised against at all times, but only an offence at night, I think?
@mac f 1896 If you look closely at the video you will see that the cyclist remains entirely in his own lane on his side of the white lines as he passes the oncoming vehicle, which also stays entirely within its lane. There is therefore no need for either road user to give way to the other and as they are both travelling at low speeds there is no danger to themselves or to any other road users. I would love to see a transcript of the magistrates' court proceedings as prima facie there is no justification in law for the guilty finding or for the penalty imposed.
@perce pedantry but I think Séamus Ennis would be scunnered with that ... had he not been Irish... (Uilleann pipes are bagpipes of course, though personally I'd much rather those - or small pipes - than the GHB)
@quiff I think you are probably right here - but - is that _really_ being inconsiderate to the oncoming driver? Looking again at the video, the oncoming driver appears to be over the centre line when approaching the parked vehicle and just seems to be straightening the bend a little, so you would expect them to be moving towards the kerb anyway. As driving interactions go, it's about as benign as it gets. I expect the magistrate has never ridden a bicycle, but I also wonder if they've ever driven a car?!
Thanks - I only had a quick peek on Streetview and I'm glad it works for locals, but it looked like "you say 'shared used facility', I say 'same old not-over-generous footway now with the odd blue sign". We don't need cycle paths absolutely everywhere, but looking at the size of the road, where it goes and runs though I would be thinking more like this (minus parked cars): https://maps.app.goo.gl/gswbQefKzc47nEJm8 Or... declare it an urban freeway and get rid of the junctions and houses next to it! Maximum flow...
3 thoughts on “Work on next stage of controversial cycle lane which some traders claimed would “kill” village set to continue, months on from Dame Sarah Storey defending project and stating “a bike lane doesn’t close a village”; Viral MTB crash + more on the live blog”
Go for it Pogi! I will be in
Go for it Pogi! I will be in the velodrome on 13th April and it would be fantastic to see him arrive.
Work on next stage of
Work on next stage of controversial cycle lane which some traders claimed would “kill” village set to continue
I tried to get on LBC’s phone in at 12 today to ask the question “Why do so many people in this country hate cycling despite the fact that it’s the answer to so many of our problems, like congestion, pollution, health, obesity.” Sadly didn’t make the cut, but I think I’ll keep trying: it’s a subject that needs airing, and if they wanted to increase their caller figures, a sure fire way of doing so.
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Ahem – other esporters(?) might be rather surprised to hear that the UCI has taken over their events – I think that would be the Cycling Esports World Championships.