Special Forces 'leaked' secret locations to Putin using Strava; “I had zero control”: Team car driver crashes at Tour of Britain; Roglič crashes; Fair Fuel UK founder blasts “sad” road.cc story; Not your usual letter to the editor + more on the live blog

And if we adhere to the Daily Mail and Fair Fuel UK’s survey-reporting standards, 12 percent of all people think Howard Cox will be wearing red in Madrid come Sunday.

That sounds right, doesn’t it?

As any avid reader of the live blog will know, ‘why don’t cyclists use cycle lanes?’ is an evergreen topic, often providing us with a plethora of images of parked cars and debris scattered across the designated bike lane, if it even deserves to be defined as such.

Responding to our latest examples of shoddy or mistreated bike lanes on the live blog last week, road.cc reader Peter got in touch to highlight another issue when it comes to some aspects of cycling infrastructure: bike paths that give way every 50 metres to junctions, private drives or side roads, creating a riding environment that Peter argues transforms cyclists into “high-speed pedestrians” or, God forbid, glorified skateboarders...

Here’s what he had to say:

I am grateful for cycle lanes where they exist and almost always use them, but I rarely use segregated cycle paths because they effectively remove me from the road and turn me into something analogous to a high-speed pedestrian (like a skateboard user!).

For example, the A59/A565 Preston/Southport Road near me is quite well provided with alternating stretches of cycle lanes and segregated cycle path for much of its length. The sections of cycle path are generally quite wide and in a fairly good state of repair.

But when I move from a section of cycle lane to a section of cycle path, I am effectively removed from the A59/A565, and instead of having priority over vehicles joining from side roads and driveways I am now obliged to give way to them.

This might not matter if the side roads and driveways were very infrequent, but they are not. In some sections they come up very frequently if you are doing any sort of speed, and each time you are obliged to slow down and check for traffic joining or leaving the main road, before crossing.

The constant slow-stop-start-accelerate-slow cycle is not only inconvenient and tiring, it often feels more dangerous than remaining main road. (For example, approaching a side road with high hedges and a sharp turn as it joins the main road, it is necessary to pull forward and crane your neck to try to peer down the side road, at the same time guarding against fast-moving traffic coming up behind you turning into the side road from the other direction – it’s like trying to cross a road from the inside of a blind hairpin bend, somewhere you’d never site a road junction!)

These problems could be obviated by making segregated cycle paths notionally part of the main carriageway, so that drivers were required to give way to cyclists as they do to motor traffic on the main carriageway.

However, as things stand, I’d be surprised if that got much compliance even if it were instituted, and I’d certainly be nervous of powering across a junction expecting drivers to stop and give way at the cycle path, rather than rolling forward to the verge of the main road.

All in all, I’d say that segregated cycle paths are a good idea for people travelling very short distances at slow speeds (e.g. with small children) but that cycle lanes with similar priority arrangements to the road they are on are a much more suitable idea for cyclists as a whole.

We should be claiming a (protected) space on the road, not allowing ourselves to be surreptitiously transformed into a type of pedestrian.

What do you think? 

Mathijs Paaschens on the tactics of Alex Richardson in the @TourofBritain stage 3 finale: “If he’s going to race like that, he might as well stay home.”

— Andy McGrath (@Andymcgra) September 6, 2022

Alexandar Richardson’s tactics today haven’t gone down too well with his breakaway companions, it seems…

Kamiel Bonneu (@TeamSVB) wins stage three of the @AJBell Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 in Sunderland 🏆@benjefperry takes second, @AlexandarRicha2 third after the day-long breakaway stays clear. #TourOfBritain 🔴🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Tj0tq7hC4N

— AJ Bell Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) September 6, 2022

Today’s sodden stage of the Tour of Britain to Sunderland almost provided another textbook example for the university module, ‘Breakaway Failures 101: How to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory’.

Fortunately for Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise’s Kamiel Bonneu, who took the biggest win of his fledgling career with an impressive 500-metre-long sprint, the peloton – which had relied on Ineos Grenadiers’ Kwiatkowski-Amador axis for most of the day – had dithered during a crucial part of the stage, allowing the break enough time for the cat-and-mouse antics that almost derailed their own chances on the flooded streets of Sunderland.

Saint-Piran’s Alexandar Richardson – a live blog favourite for his mind-bogglingly long training rides – may have been the driving force behind the break in its early stages, but almost became responsible for its downfall, his brinkmanship tactics and short-lived digs slowly chipping away the cohesion of the four-man group without ever giving the 32-year-old former Alpecin rider a real shot at winning.

In the end, however, it was the slow-awakening peloton which made the day’s biggest tactical blunder, while the Belgian Bonneu proved the strongest and most resilient ahead of Benjamin Perry, Richardson and Mathijs Paasschens.

In a cruel twist of fate, however, second-place Perry was denied the red leader’s jersey, as the commissaires decreed that there was no time difference between the Canadian WiV SunGod rider and the charging bunch, led home by Bora-Hansgrohe’s Jordi Meeus.

Perry now sits in second overall, agonisingly on the same time as leader Corbin Strong, a rather fitting ending to a chaotic, brutal day.

It’s all a bit serious in the comments today (the live blog, serious? What’s going on?)…

So, when I was out on my lunchtime dri- I mean ride! I was cycling, of course I was cycling. I don’t just drive around in my 4x4, with a helmet in the passenger seat, looking for a place to take a photo… No, that would be mad…

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes – over lunchtime I thought we should brighten the mood by having a poll on the aching cycling question of the week: Will Remco Evenepoel win the Vuelta?

ASO/SprintCyclingAgency

The 22-year-old Belgian was looking invincible for most of the opening two weeks of his first proper crack at winning a grand tour. Until the weekend, that is, when he ceded time to chief rivals Primož Roglič and Enric Mas in the mountains of southern Spain.

However, while Evenepoel looked briefly on the ropes on Saturday’s summit finish to Sierra de La Pandera, before rallying late to limit his losses, the Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl rider appeared much more under control when first Mas and then Roglič distanced him on the dizzyingly high Alto Hoya de la Mora, operating a Big Mig-style tempo to keep his rivals with 40 seconds.

Evenepoel now leads three-time Vuelta winner Roglič by 1.34 and the in-form Mas by 2.01.

Do you think Remco (or Red-co as I call him – it hasn’t caught on) can hang on during what is unchartered territory for the young Belgian, starting with today’s relatively flat stage? Or do you think the mountains around Madrid on Saturday will prove his undoing, just like they did for Tom Dumoulin on his first GC bid back in 2015?

Super Survey

Following the news that Tom Pidcock has pulled out of this month’s UCI road world championships citing mental and physical fatigue after a long, successful season, British Cycling has today announced their 26-rider squad for the week-long event in Wollongong, which starts on 18 September.

In the elite men’s category, Ethan Hayter and Fred Wright, who have both enjoyed breakthrough seasons on the road, will lead the team.

Hayter will contest both the time trial and road race in Australia. Last month, the 23-year-old Ineos rider won the Tour of Poland, before he was forced to abandon his debut grand tour, the Vuelta a España, after testing positive for Covid despite a strong start.

Fred Wright and Ben Turner lead the group at the 2022 Commonwealth Games road race (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

Bahrain-Victorious’ Wright represents another possible rainbow jersey contender in the British ranks, following a strong season which has seen him secure a seventh place at the Tour of Flanders, along with a string of near misses at the Tour de France, Commonwealth Games and Vuelta.

They will be joined by Jake Stewart (an agonisingly close second at the Tour of Britain yesterday), Connor Swift, and Ineos teammates Ben Turner (who had another outstanding spring classics campaign), Ben Swift, Ben Tulett and Luke Rowe.

Pfeiffer Georgi rides on the front on stage four of the 2022 Women's Tour (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

For the women’s races, Team DSM’s 21-year-old star and former British champion Pfeiffer Georgi will head the team. Georgi played an invaluable role for team leader Lorena Wiebes at the Tour de France Femmes in July and has enjoyed some impressive recent results, including second in the Postnord Vårgårda WestSweden last month.

She will be joined by Commonwealth Games silver medallist Anna Henderson, current British road race champion Alice Towers, Lizzie Holden, Anna Shackley and double junior bronze medallist Elynor Bäckstedt.

Bob Donaldson, Sean Flynn, Ethan’s little brother and baby Giro winner Leo Hayter, Oliver Stockwell, and the in-form Sam Watson make up the U23 men’s team, while Zachary Walker, Jed Smithson and Ineos-bound Josh Tarling will line up in the junior ranks.

Multiple world champion Zoe Bäckstedt will aim to defend her rainbow bands in the junior women’s road race (and perhaps add a time trial gold to her collection), and will be joined by her worlds winning Madison partner Grace Lister, track worlds medallist Izzy Sharp and national champs runner-up Awen Roberts.

“Competition for places in our road teams gets fiercer every year, and every single rider selected for the squad should feel incredibly proud to be pulling on the jersey as we go in search of rainbow jerseys down under,” says GB’s Performance Director Stephen Park.

“The UCI Road World Championships, and the chance to wear the rainbow jersey, continues to be incredibly special for our riders, and we have some incredibly strong contenders across the events. I’m sure that our fans back at home will be setting their alarm clocks early and cheering them on through the night.”

It may only be the start of September, but the half-term results are in for London’s cycling infrastructure and it’s safe to say that the much-debated Cycleway 9 has so far ‘exceeded expectations’.

This morning, the capital’s Cycling and Walking Commissioner Will Norman revealed that Chiswick High Road – where the cycle lane was built as a temporary measure during the 2020 lockdown and made permanent (for 18 months anyway) the following year – has seen the biggest increase in people riding their bikes, rising by 37 percent from 2019’s daily high.

pic.twitter.com/mDDjY4FEpv

— Will Norman (@willnorman) September 6, 2022

> Conservative councillors say people going for brunch are 'ruining cycle lane experiment'

This news prompted one Twitter user to remind outspoken Tory councillor and anti-cycle lane activist Joanna Biddolph of her rather bleak prediction from back in 2018:

I think it's fair to say the cycleway exceeded expectations. https://t.co/ybTHsPlSkJ pic.twitter.com/J3S8NZvRjx

— Drew White (@drewsnx) September 6, 2022

I’m not sure Chiswick High Road’s impressive cycling numbers will halt Biddolph’s crusade against active travel and LTNs, however…

Three temporary roads schemes in London, introduced during the pandemic to make cycling and walking safer in the capital, will be made permanent, says Transport for London (TfL) after data collected during the recent trial period showed that the measures have boosted cycling by more than 25 percent – without negatively impacting motor traffic.

Following public consultations, TfL have confirmed that the protected cycle lane on Tooley Street in Southwark (installed to make it easier for people to travel between existing cycle routes in the area, including on London Bridge and towards Greenwich along Cycleway 4), the new sections of protected bike lane and bus lane on Cycleway 8 between Chelsea Bridge and Wandsworth town centre, and the 24-hour bus lanes on Cycleway 7 between Elephant & Castle and Oval, will all be retained.

According to TfL, data collected during the schemes’ experimental period has demonstrated that the changes have been successful in increasing the number of people cycling.

On Tooley Street and along Cycleway 8, the number of cyclists increased by more then 25 percent since the schemes were implemented.

More than 9,500 people on an average weekday cycle along some sections of CS7, putting it in the top five percent of routes in London, according to TfL, “with the greatest potential for people to cycle”.

> Cycling levels dropped in England because “short-sighted councils pulled out protected lanes”

Before Howard Cox comes along to complain, the data also shows that the measures have not delayed motor traffic, with very little change occurring to the road network – and the time spent queuing in cars – since the cycle lanes were introduced.

On Tooley Street, vehicle numbers have fallen by a third, making the area – as TfL says – “more pleasant for people visiting”, while bus journey times westbound are now quicker and more reliable.

“We’ve seen a huge rise in walking and cycling over the past two years as more and more Londoners enjoy using sustainable ways to get around the capital,” says Will Norman, London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner.

“To maintain this success, we are continuing to make our roads safer as we build a better London for everyone. I’m delighted that these cycle schemes have been made permanent, enabling even more Londoners to choose greener, cleaner and healthier modes of transport.”

A consultation has also been launched to allow locals to have their say on another of the schemes introduced during lockdown between Clapham Common and Oval.

TfL says that the scheme has shown peaks of more than 870 people per hour cycling southbound on the corridor with highs of nearly 3,500 people cycling in both directions each day. The consultation remains open until 9 October.

We love a good letter to the editor over here on the live blog. Especially when it’s about cycling and addressed to the editor of a local newspaper (though we do enjoy our own angry ‘fan’ mail from time to time).

For one thing, they allow us to crack out our anti-cycling bingo cards, like when Brighton resident Phil Reay told the Argus in January 2021 that it was “time to crack down on cyclists” and that we should all be “taxed, insured and have number plates”.

A true visionary, Mr Reay.

> Anti-cycling rant to local newspaper sabotaged by sensible comments

His letter continued: “I know some cyclists have insurance (probably about two percent) but if they hit something, it is what they hit that has to pay and surprise, surprise, it isn’t always what they hit that is at fault.

“They use the roads and expect cycle lanes to be provided so, like other road users, they should pay tax, just like other vehicles. It doesn’t have to be a lot and I would suggest something in the region of £10 would be sufficient.

“There is no way of identifying them if they break the law.”

Line!

Or when a jeweller blamed his shop closing after 42 years on, yep that’s right, the pesky cycle lane outside.

“I always thought I’d be carried out of here in a wooden box but the day they started putting the bollards down I said, ‘that's it’, and we closed,” he told Extra.ie in May, presumably while taking a long, melancholy drag of his cigarette and staring into the middle distance.

However, today’s featured local letter about cycling, you’ll be pleased to hear, takes a rather different line than its illustrious, red-faced predecessors.

> Cyclists WON'T need number plates — Grant Shapps again insists "we're not going to do number plates"

Writing to the Plymouth Herald – which, for some reason, has insisted on implying that bike number plates could still happen, despite Grant Shapps’ belated declaration that they’re off the table – Cathy Slaughter argued that the government should make cycling safer for everyone to help tackle the current cost-of-living crisis.

She writes:

Speed limits for cyclists seems like an issue being introduced to distract. Why not just stick to existing limits for cars?

The risks from people on bikes are tiny compared with the risks from motor vehicles, because the weight difference is massive. Yes, we need to protect pedestrians, but let’s do that simply and sensibly. Keeping bikes off pavements would be a good start and having fewer cars on the roads, so it is safer for bikes, is a great next step.

What really concerns me is the proposal to require number plates and insurance for people on bikes. That’s ridiculous! Such restrictions on cyclists will lead to a dramatic reduction in people prepared to cycle when we need more.

It would mean more journeys by cars, leading to more serious injuries and deaths; 99 percent of current road deaths involve motor vehicles. It would also cause more pollution, more carbon dioxide emissions and a less healthy population. Do we want higher costs and more work for the NHS? The net loss to society would be massive, and for what? It makes no sense when the Government is funding a pilot scheme to prescribe cycling to improve mental and physical health.

With the cost-of-living crisis, cycling is a great way of supporting those in fuel poverty. We need cycling to be safe, so that means better provision for people wanting to get to work, school or the shops by bike. It is a key part of our transition to net zero. It is to be welcomed and encouraged.

Now that all seems a bit sensible for a local paper, Cathy. What about road tax? And lycra? And the Tour de bleedin’ France?

It’s sad @roadcc know only 1 way to get their way. Complain at honest people who believe cyclists should adhere to the rules of the road & ignore fact. Drivers are fed up with a renegade bunch of cyclists who ruin it for all road users @David_Churchill https://t.co/OP7teW7NcT

— Howard Cox (@HowardCCox) September 5, 2022

Does this mean I’m famous now?

Yesterday evening, everyone’s favourite motoring mouthpiece Howard Cox, founder of the esteemed pro-car lobby group Fair Fuel UK (once again, Laura K, I’m being sarcastic), tweeted his frustration concerning a road.cc story from the weekend.

Written by yours truly (so you know it’s good stuff), the article reported on Cycling UK’s complaint to press watchdog IPSO over what the charity described as a “misleading and unreliable” MailOnline piece which suggested that there is wide public support for tougher cycling regulations such as mandatory registration plates for bikes.

> Mail’s cycling number plates poll story “misleading and unreliable”, says Cycling UK

So, why’s Howard getting all gammony about that, I hear you cry?

Well, because the online survey of 1,500 people used by the Mail to determine that the majority of drivers on the road were categorically in favour of cycling number plates was conducted by none other than, you guessed it, Fair Fuel UK.

As the poll was shared widely by Cox and his band of merry men, Cycling UK said that “it is more than likely that poll respondents also support the views of Fair Fuel UK meaning results may be affected by self-selection bias” and therefore can’t be said to represent all drivers.

> "Lunatic Highway Code" encourages road rage and gives cyclists carte blanche, Fair Fuel UK boss claims

Out on Highway 61, poor Howard wasn’t too happy that a cycling charity complained to the press regulator about a potentially misleading Daily Mail article, and directed his anger towards the obvious culprit: the messenger.

“It’s sad road.cc know only one way to get their way,” Mr Cox tweeted yesterday, in what can only be described as a Trumpian style. Sad!

He continued: “Complain at honest people who believe cyclists should adhere to the rules of the road and ignore fact. Drivers are fed up with a renegade bunch of cyclists who ruin it for all road users.”

The Fair Fuel UK head honcho also tagged his apparent partner-in-poll-related-news-stories, the Mail’s Transport Editor David Churchill, as part of his rant (Churchill, as of this morning, is yet to publicly respond).

Howard, it must be said, didn’t quite get the reception he might have hoped for with his tweet.

Some users were quick to refute Cox’s accusation that “renegade” cyclists are at fault for the dangers on our roads:

I drive a lot. I’m fed up with crap drivers.
Cyclists - they’re fine. They’re not going to tailgate me aggressively for doing the limit in a residential area. They don’t threaten me with 2 tonnes of metal. And they don’t hog the middle lane on motorways.
Drivers are the problem.

— Rich Warner (@rgwarner) September 5, 2022

Have you ever stood at a set of traffic lights and counted the number of drivers not wearing their seat belts?

As with the most drivers, most cyclists are law abiding... We just want to be allowed to cycle in safety...

— Tim Schofield 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@chiefoldmist) September 5, 2022

They weren't complaining at honest people, they were complaining about dishonest ones.

— Pudsey Pedaller (@PudseyPedaller) September 5, 2022

Shame @HowardCCox only knows one way to (try and) get his way - be dishonest

— rdekanter (@rjdekanter) September 5, 2022

Others, however, pointedly advised Howard to actually *read* the articles he chooses to publicly criticise:

They didn't complain, they're reporting on a complaint that was made, helps to criticise if you read what you want to criticise first

— ReCyclingDave (@cycling_dave) September 5, 2022

Is FairFuel a British Polling Council member, Howard? CUK (not rCC) complained on the basis that publishing an unscientific, self-selecting and unweighted survey is misleading. I haven't seen this poll but having seen previous efforts they're full of loaded and leading questions.

— Black Country Ste 🇺🇦 (@CCSteV) September 5, 2022

Seems a fair criticism of any poll on #twitter as not representing the wider population.
As for @MailOnline Wikipedia has it similar to RT but a less reliable source than China Daily.

— EastbourneEcoTransport (@EcoTransportEB) September 5, 2022

Either he’s not read the article he’s posting, or Howard needs to work on his comprehension skills… https://t.co/ShY3QSm61I

— Cycling in London (@Cycling_In_LDN) September 5, 2022

That or he’s purposely missing the point of the article to push his anti cycling point, but that doesn’t sound like him…

— Cycling in London (@Cycling_In_LDN) September 5, 2022

Nope, doesn’t sound like him at all.

Right, I’m off to the framers this morning…