Dame Sarah Storey teaches safe passing; Cyclist's viral reply to Elon Musk claiming traffic cannot be defeated; Perfect pro racing photos; Two wheels good: Snake Pass still cyclists' paradise; Group riding (+Poll); Weekend action + more on the live blog

Not many people can live with Filippo Ganna when he hits numbers like these 😳
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🇮🇹 #TirrenoAdriatico pic.twitter.com/xyt8AZzTI3

— Velon CC (@VelonCC) March 7, 2022

Filippo Ganna took the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico as expected, putting out some quite frightening numbers in the process. Remco Evenepoel did the best of the GC hopefuls, perhaps taking advantage of Tadej Pogačar only getting one day rest post-Strade Bianche to build a seven second advantage on the Slovenian.

Brit Alex Dowsett was fifth...

5th in the @TirrenAdriatico opener, happy to be back at the sharper end of the leaderboard@IsraelPremTech & our sponsors have been working hard to optimise our equipment for go faster improvements. Ran a new disc wheel from Black Inc on the @FactorBikes Hanzō. The setup works 👌 pic.twitter.com/yNv48MEpXx

— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) March 7, 2022

Ganna took the shortest possible riding line in bend. There weren't very many cms between him and barrier. #TirrenoAdriatico pic.twitter.com/aeVPmDXCaK

— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) March 7, 2022

Plenty of people tell me they’re worried they’ll overtake a person cycling wrong. I tell them not to be & to overtake with 1.5m at <30mph & much more when travelling faster. Some people need that in a visual format & I think this video from my ride today shows it done well 👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/0cUtVIUM48

— Dame Sarah Storey (@DameSarahStorey) March 6, 2022

Britain's most successful Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey has been using her platform to highlight road safety issues, sharing a video of drivers passing her during a training ride to show how it's done. 

The mirror opposite of our Near Miss of the Day series, Storey's video only includes the best, safest passes from motorists keeping at least a 1.5m gap while travelling at 30mph.

Apparently in reply to people who tell her they are concerned about not giving cyclists enough room, Storey said: "I tell them not to be & to overtake with 1.5m at <30mph & much more when travelling faster. Some people need that in a visual format & I think this video from my ride today shows it done well."

Including by a driver who's still got the L-plates on...

Back in September, Storey joined South Yorkshire Police on a close pass operation, with almost one in five drivers getting pulled over for some roadside advice.

> Dame Sarah Storey joins South Yorkshire Police on close pass operation – and almost one in five drivers get pulled over

Today's video comes as it has been announced the 17-time Paralympic gold medallist is stepping down from the role of Active Travel Comissioner for South Yorkshire, having been appointed as the region's first back in April 2019.

"It has been fantastic to lay strong foundations for the active travel network and I am looking forward to seeing the next phase being delivered soon," Storey said.

Working alongside Mayor Dan Jarvis, the pair created the Active Travel Implementation Plan for South Yorkshire, which details how over 1000km of routes, 800 safe crossings and 230 sq. km. of low traffic neighbourhoods will help to transform the region by 2040.

Click here

See below for all our top reasons not to group ride...

Spring is just around the corner and Stolen Goat is the latest brand to have revealed its new spring/summer collection, with a new range of vibrant designs on jerseys across its Bodyline, Climbers and Epic lines. 

From classic stripes and fresh spring colours, to graphic designs and gradient fades, Stolen Goat certainly remains the brand to go to if you want to stand out. 

Stolen Goat’s Bodyline jerseys are the brand’s all-rounder for all day comfort. The new Lebowski design is very tropical and then there's another bold look available, with paint drip effect on the bright Waffle jersey.

The Epic jerseys are all about delivering an aerodynamic race fit for speed and now come in an ultrabright pink and green Jelly design. 

The lightweight Climbers jerseys are the most subtle with cool tone gradient fade designs with the Minty green and the Skint light blue options. 

A photo for cycling history. Unforgettable day. #ParisNice pic.twitter.com/nGrHcbJXdK

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) March 6, 2022

How good was Jumbo-Visma's three-up TTT at Paris-Nice yesterday? There's word of potential crosswind chaos on stage two, so maybe we'll see a repeat performance later today?

Over in Tuscany the most photogenic race of the year didn't disappoint. Once again providing us with an album of iconic Strade snaps...

Early candidate for sports photo of the year. The beauty of cycling. https://t.co/cdXkYlaMNA pic.twitter.com/08ZGH3NFSo

— Brian Nygaard (@nygaardbn) March 5, 2022

Just like his attacks, Julian Alaphilippe's crashes are also the most photogenic. Tremendous shot by Tim de Waele. #StradeBianche pic.twitter.com/XsibZ1ydBD

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) March 5, 2022

There's so much beauty in this picture. There's so much beauty in this sport.

Thank you, Pogi.@TamauPogi #Colnago @StradeBianche

/credits @bettiniphoto pic.twitter.com/XJiPXeDsXI

— Colnago (@Colnagoworld) March 5, 2022

First it was crash drama, then Pogačar's power at Strade Bianche on Saturday. Better than the men's race was the finish to the women's edition, with Lotte Kopecky and Annemiek van Vleuten slugging it out up the final climb in Siena, before the Belgian narrowly got the win.

Elsewhere on the sit this weekend, we brought you the news of a serial Bristol bike thief jailed for 52 weeks after admitting six thefts. The sentence was handed down to Ryan Hack in same week that Avon & Somerset Police is named top force for fighting bike theft.

On the Near Miss of the Day front we're up to number 728 now...although this one at least had a happy ending.

> Near Miss of the Day 728: “A bit of a happy ending on this one with a positive outcome”

It's still a bit nippy out there. My numb fingers could attest to that fact out on the bike yesterday...and with winter not over just yet, here's our winter training nutrition guide...

And finally, our bike at bedtime last night was Trek’s Emonda ALR 5 with an advanced alloy frame that ‘looks and performs like carbon’, so if you're just off the nightshift, have a read before your head hits the pillow...

"Defeating traffic is the ultimate boss battle. Even the most powerful humans in the world cannot defeat traffic," Elon Musk dramatically told his 76.8 million Twitter followers yesterday evening...

Traffic has been one of the Tesla CEO's obsessions for a while...prompting his ingenious brainwave of 'Teslas in Tunnels', which would (apparently) "solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic" by shoving all his electric vehicles into an underground tunnel network. More roads, presumably more cars...less traffic?

> Tesla using Full Self-Driving Beta crashes into cycle lane bollard...weeks after Elon Musk's zero collisions claim

Anyway, Lava Sunder suggested a solution to Musk's traffic tribulations. Something a fair bit cheaper than digging out thousands of miles of tunnels too...something accessible to the vast majority of people currently sat in a traffic jam, something cheap, easy to maintain, and most importantly...which doesn't cause traffic jams.

Surely no such thing exists, right?

Grateful and humbled to announce that I am one of the most powerful humans in the world https://t.co/z6eVcg5JIX pic.twitter.com/Upw9ag1CrM

— Lava Sunder (@LavanyaSunder) March 6, 2022

Congratulations to Lava on the new 'one of the most powerful humans in the world' status.

Cue the memes...

pic.twitter.com/NgoayjQxbm

— David Thompson (@thompsondtt) March 6, 2022

pic.twitter.com/hzKeywEgVA

— Schrödinger's Mountain Lion (@schroedinger_) March 7, 2022

So, Elon, what do you reckon? Found your solution?

Abandoned car and biked across London. Super fun! Next time minus the tweed jacket. pic.twitter.com/N93Vg4yy

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 27, 2012